Kenyans yearning for fresh leadership

With exactly nine months to go before the next general election, Kenyans are grappling with more issues than they did five years ago. Corruption has not dwindled and if we are to go with the Auditor General’s audit reports, the reality is dim and grim with the Kenya government able to account for only 1% of their 2015/2016 expenditure. Kenya still remains one of the most corrupt in the world, Transparency International ranking it as among one of the most corrupt. In the last five years, the corruption cartels in Kenya have gotten bolder, stronger and more ruthless.

 Using a problems tree analogy, the exponential growth of corruption in Kenya has had a multiplied domino effect on other ills including tribalism and impunity. The resultant effect of impunity has been general disregard to the rule of law with justice going to the highest bidder. The government’s failure to tackle corruption head on has emboldened the tribal kingpins with fresh arsenal to fan the tribal flag high.

Kenya has been reduced to a country of us and them, with the ‘us’ daily jostling on the high table from the spoils of ill-gotten wealth and corrupt deals. Kenyans are yearning for a fresh breath, a new hope and a new dawn. The current regime was voted in, on the premise of a digital platform that will amongst other things slay the corruption dragon and make Kenya a better place. They’ve miserably failed on that front. The opposition has not been helpful either with too much time spent on criticizing and opposing every move the government makes, without offering any concrete solutions.

As proud and loyal citizens of this country, isn’t time we stood up and demanded a fresh start devoid of established political zeitgeists and kingpins? Isn’t time we claimed our country back by fronting pro mwananchi issues based leaders who will steer Kenya to new heights? Time is ripe for Kenyans to put aside their tribal affiliations and refuse to be cornered into electing leaders on the basis of tribe.

To pull us out of this quagmire of corruption and tribalism, what we need is fresh blood, right from top leadership cadre up to the bottom.  With only twelve months to go before the elections, I hope and pray for a eureka moment that will yield pro-mwananchi new leaders that will rise to fill and take the leadership mantle and take Kenya forward. Leaders free from historical political baggage and with a thirst to offer servant leadership.