Kenya is not out of the woods yet, says visiting top author Micere Mugo

NAIROBI: Kenya has not realised any significant changes in leadership and nationalism despite recently celebrating 52 years of self-rule, a top Kenyan author has said.

Corruption, poverty and negative ethnicity were Micere Mugo's main talking points when she appeared on KTN’s Jeff Koinange Live show on Wednesday, during which she said the country had not changed much since she went into exile in the early 1980s.

The playwright and poet, who teaches at Syracuse University in the US, also said the country may not reap the benefits of the new Constitution if successive regimes cannot make a clean break with practices entrenched by previous governments.

Prof Mugo said while decentralisation of governance was a good idea, Kenyans may not reap its full benefits if corruption was also devolved in the process.

“Devolution is a good idea, but when the corruption at the national level gets transferred to the lesser units, it becomes a disaster,” she said.

However, she added despite the challenges, devolution had a chance to succeed.

“There is sadness when you see a repeat of the same mistakes. It’s a pain that there are people still languishing in poverty despite the fact that we have a new Constitution,” she said.

The professor said Kenyans had a duty to put pressure on the Government to end corruption.

“It’s tragic. Once a nation lets corruption become a part of its ethos, part of its fabric, over many years we become socialised into it. It becomes a way of life,” she observed.

UNITED NATION

On nationalism, Mugo said the country can borrow a leaf from Tanzania.

“Sister countries like Tanzanians can teach us something on nationalism. There are many good things about Kenya, but the first President failed to create a nation. We failed to create a united nation.”

The human rights crusader also opened up about her struggle with cancer, saying the disease took a toll on her after the death of her daughter, Njeri Mugo, who died of cancer.

“We are going to triumph over cancer and later come here for national service or lectures,” she said.