We seem to agree that corruption and antipatriotism are the root cause of underdevelopment. So my suggestion is to outsource on trial and error basis. Simply pack key institutions with white folks with untainted genetics.
-Anti corruption judicial branch - police, EACC, courts, prisons. Top bosses to be foreigners (whites) of international repute in economic crime bursting.
-Mandate extra resources for this same purpose to avoid subversion by MPs or PORK or court orders.
I don't think the problem is that we are fundamentally incompetent or incapable or that we want to solve the problems but don't have the means. Nobody really wants change----I mean really, really wants it---so the proposed solution is impossible:
* The top 1%---and they control the "levers"---would vigorously oppose it because they like the current "subversive" situation just the way it is. The last thing they care for is anything that would turn off the taps of looting. Keep in mind that people are not appointed to critical positions in order to solve any problems; they are appointed to look busy but ensure that nothing changes (and a few others are appointed because they are "our people"). If they do well, then in retirement they get appointed to head parastatals, directorships of government-owned enterprises, etc., where they can enjoy their retirement (i.e. no work) but still get paid; and that's an additional incentive to do "well" in the former positions.
* The bottom 99%, who get the shit, could force change, but they simply don't care enough, their claims notwithstanding. When it comes to voting---the one place where they could directly exercise some power---use of the head goes out the window and the issues don't matter; neither do integrity, past performance or potential for performance, etc. It's all about "our man". That they might have little to show for "our man" being in place matters little to them. (Raila might be doing his "job as Opposition" but is largely wasting his time by focusing on issues like corruption, which will have absolutely no effect on how people vote.) Post-elections, how many people ever make performance demands of their MPs, protest at their office, and generally make demands for performance?
Think about this: In any well-run place, the types of corruption scandals that we get almost weekly would have brought masses of citizens onto the streets. In Kenya the closest we have come to mass protest is a few hundred comments by readers of the three main dailies. The same goes for various retrogressive laws that are regularly passed with hardly a whimper from the populace.
Kenyans appear to have hard heads that need some cracking before the owners move to real actions. Post-independence, we have had only two major changes. The first was after Moi socked it to people so hard and for so long that they decided enough was enough. (Has there ever been a better show of Kenyan unity than when people rallied around Kibaki? Have Kenyans ever been happier about the outcome of any elections?) The second was in finally passing a new constitution when, after the PEV, people woke up from their complacent belief that Kenya could never go the African way. (Kenyan could easily have gone that way, had it not been for outsiders, who were subsequently insulted for their assistance.)
My guess is that the third change will come from the youth. The high unemployment rates of this lot is a disaster waiting to happen, and it will happen when they get tired of the empty "
you are the future of Kenya" and decide to forcefully grab their share. The possibility that the masses will wake up in a mindful way is nonexistent for now; it will eventually happen, but it will take too long. Likewise the possibility of leadership-driven change is nonexistent: the current landscape does not reveal anyone of the right caliber, and to change the character of the present lot, or at least moderate their venality, would require a wide-awake populace. So until the next disaster, we will continue to stumble along, with things increasingly getting worse.
