Kenyans have exactly the "leaders" they *want* and deserve. The real problem is not the "leaders"; it is the people who get them into those positions. Every 5 years, Kenyans elect their "leaders" on the most questionable of basis and then proceed, between the elections, to profess all sorts of "surprised emotion": they are selfish! they only want to eat and not serve us! thieves and scoundrels, the entire lot! we will throw then out at the next elections!
Sigh.
Things will change only when:
(a) Kenyans decide that enough is enough and they want genuine and lasting change. That will require enacting the change and having the will to sustain it.
(b) People recognize---*really* recognize---that choices have consequences and vote on the basis of who can do what rather than "from my village"/"our man"/"bought busaa for the men and sugar & tea for the women".
The unfortunate reality:
* In 50 years, Kenya has been at (a) only twice and there has been no effort to sustain what had been achieved. The first time was after Moi had really beaten the crap out of them, and even then it took 24 years of savagery; the change was that Moi went out. The second time was after 10 years of Kibaki's shite; the change was the new constitution. In both cases there has not been the commitment to stay away from the past rot and forge a truly new path.
* Kenyans will wail and gnash their teeth---24/7, 365 per---about thieves this and that, but in Kenya if you have a chance to steal big and you don't, you are taken for a fool; and if you have a chance to steal big but steal small, you will be taken for a fool *and* the courts will lock you up for a long time. But if you steal big, you will be a hero, which explains some of the colourful characters that are now governors, senators, etc.
* The same Kenyans of the preceding paragraph will, while unemployed, hungry, etc., show up to cheer the "big men". And that's not even the half of it: they are prepared to kill, rape, and burn for that "our man" who actually does very little for them. How's that for mass stupidity?
* Considering what is at stake, Kenyans are very apathetic about exercising their democratic rights. For the last elections, take a look at (i) the numbers eligible to vote, (ii) the numbers who registered to vote, and (iii) the numbers who actually showed up to vote. And funnily enough, some people look at only (iii) while overlooking the fact that 100% of nothing is nothing.
Those who are concerned about votes and how they count should start at (i) and not just "100% voted for our man; if he lost, the election must have been stolen!". More importantly, we have a very large number of people who don't bother to even get started but will have an endless list of complaints about the results.
* I found it instructive that Peter Kenneth, my preferred candidate in 2013, could not, despite what he had done, get more votes than Uhuru in his "areas". That sort of idiocy, in which "our man" matters more than past performance, potential for future performance (judged on an objective basis), character, etc., is repeated all over the country. And it was truly bizarre to see ODM have "rigged and stolen" party primaries and then go on to complain about "rigged and stolen" national elections!
As things stand, it's hard to see how Jubilee could lose the 2017 elections. Those who claim to detest them---and this includes the political opposition and the "raia"---are not focused on what should be happening. There is no concerted attempt at broad civic education; there is no genuine discussion (at any level) as to what would be better as alternatives; there is no serious understanding that what is required will have to start with fundamental changes at the grassroots, etc. Instead, it is all about "exciting", "headline-grabbing", stuff---a referendum about nothing (at least the governors seem to have something concrete to "referend" about), this huge accusation against that coalition and that huge accusation against this one. And in the meantime, the huge corruption scandals continue to fly in, thick and fast; unemployment and starvation continue to rise; the public health system is so far gone that one can understand the sort of absurd statement recently made by some American religious types, etc.
Things actually don't look very bright for Kenya. Forget the middle-income nonsense, "the Chinese will save us", and whatever the bought-and-paid-for media chooses to peddle. Travel around Kenya and see for yourself.
The current "political leadership" on both sides are simply not capable of bringing about the necessary changes. In particular, it is probably pointless to complain that the government or this MP or that senator is not doing what it/she/he was elected to do. Those folks were not elected on the basis of their ability to do anything, and they know it. So why should they? That leaves us with just three broad options:
(a) Wait for evolution to do its thing. That might take a while, but it seems "guaranteed". In the meantime business can continue as usual: our man! our people! our turn to eat!
(b) Wait for the Forest-Fire. Forest fires frequently start naturally---Veritas can tell you about the gum trees in South Australia when temperatures hit 40C +---and are in fact NATURE's way of a certain kind of rejuvenation. Several countries are currently doing it that way: starting from scratch.
(c) Pray for the miraculous arrival of a new type of political leader .... the "real leader" kind. (Of course while praying don't forget that today's church "leaders" are also mostly scoundrels---money, luxury, booze, pussy, etc.)
HISTORICAL ADVICE FROM KENYAN PRESIDENTS TO THE PEOPLE:
I: "Nita wa siaga kama unga."
II: "Kaeni hivyo hivyo in the shit."
III: "Kazi ya corruption iendelee."
IV: "Accept getting fucked and move on."
Topic: What A Country... (Read 11641 times)