We are making first steps in slaying the dragon of graft

By Kamotho Waiganjo

This should have been a week of celebrations as we received instalments of positive developments on the war against corruption. The City mayor spent a night in jail. Two Cabinet ministers and a PS - once touted as a possible successor to the Head of the Public Service - were sent packing. However, I am convinced Moses Wetang’ula and Mwangi Thuita did not jump but were pushed. A former Cabinet minister, a former power broker and one sitting MP landed in Court One over corruption.

A seemingly enthused KACC Director, PLO Lumumba, reopened investigations on four Cabinet ministers and scores of public officers over corruption. Parliament expressed an intention to reopen old commission reports so as to look into any ministers who had credible allegations of corruption.

On the same subject, President Kibaki restated his determination to rid the country of corruption.

Part of the cynical me wanted to brush all this off as drama, with lots of activity but no movement. But I want to believe that we are slowly internalising the realities of a new Kenya.

The Nyayo Stadium stampede and deaths spoilt what would have been a good week. On Sunday the organisers of a much anticipated football match had the audacity to pack more than 30,000 Kenyans in an animated stadium without emergency gates. Keys to gates that would allow free exit in the event of an emergency were missing. Only a couple of ambulances were available in case of injuries. This is nothing short of criminal negligence. Any event manager with elementary understanding of crowds would have predicted the possibility of disaster, including the possibility of hooliganism from some fans and the accompanying stampedes. What is most annoying is that deaths caused by stampede have occurred before, at this very gate. What will it take for the lives of Kenyans to be taken seriously? Did the fact that the dead and injured were largely poor Kenyans, from Kibera and its environs determine the casual manner in which this matter has been treated? A week after the disaster only the usual condolences and assistance for funerals have been mentioned. Families have been left to bear the burden of all other aspects of losing their kin.

In democracies where human life is treated with more respect, the minister of Sports would have taken political responsibility for the disaster and resigned. Holding a ministerial office is a tremendous honour with many perks. It demands men and women of honour who will take responsibility when things go so wrong under their watch. But in Kenya, at most this will mean another commission report that will be forgotten until the next tragedy.

We owe it to the Kenyans we lost so senselessly to ensure that they did not die in vain. Someone must take responsibility for these deaths. We must demand a greater commitment to ensure predictable disasters do not happen again. If we let this become just another accident, we will have disgraced the lives of these fellow citizens.

—The writer is an Advocate of the High Court