Kenya risks collapsing unless we get a grip, restore sanity

State House, Nairobi. [Photo: Courtesy]

They say a fish rots from the head down. I’ve written before – and reiterate here – that no state, or civilisation in history has ever achieved greatness without a great elite. This includes global hegemonies like the United States, China, France, or the United Kingdom. You can count tiny Singapore, South Korea, and Israel among the select few. In the Africa of yore, the Buganda Kingdom, the Zulu Empire, Ethiopia, Benin, Mali, Kongo, Ashante, and others come to mind. In contrast, the artificially invented – and imposed – Eurocentric African post-colonial state is a disaster. These humpty-dumpties yoyo between sterility and collapse. Kenya, once a promising beacon, has retarded to the “African norm.” Blame no one, but our putrid and bankrupt elite.

It gives no pleasure – in fact I am deeply pained – to pen this column. I say so because the collective failure, the malignancy, is our shared shame. It’s true that the white man gave us a poisoned chalice. He mutilated our souls and fed them to the proverbial devil. He planted culturally demonic chips in us. Every time we try to right the ship, the demon punches the self-destruct button, and puts us in reverse. A number of African states have reversed themselves all the way into obsolescence. Think Somalia, CAR, DRC, and others that have been revived from the dead like Uganda, Rwanda, and Liberia. Despair hangs in the air as our elites devour and eat their young.