THE KENYAN INTEGRITY ROT!

Integrity by office holders, both elected and appointees has become the latest yardstick for determining suitability of candidates, thanks to the new constitution. The integrity clause that the new law has introduced has literally the country into a swirl state. Politicians and all leaders in public officers have never been under such pressure to exercise integrity and uphold it. This is a stark contrast from the yesteryears where integrity was the preserve of the willing, those naturally used to the integrity-driven way of life! Integrity was simply a faux-pas.

The scrutiny of the integrity lens has shattered the dreams and careers of senior civil servants. Politicians are next in the casualty line! One wonders just how our leadership of the past 49 years had literally pushed integrity to the back foot. Perhaps it explains why our national leadership has delivered mega-scandals; looting of the public coffers and unmatched lust for misappropriating money, yet the culprits hang onto office. Political witch-hunt and apparent tribal decimation are the potent tactics of defense that the suspects use. This is how suspects of Grand-Regency, Anglo-leasing, Goldenberg, Kazi kwa Vijana and Free primary education scandals among others are still in office and command a near fanatical tribal and ethnic following. These guys promise us heaven while they are so sure that hell is what they give the ordinary Kenyan. But is this rot only from the leadership side? No, I do not think that is the case. On the contrary, it is a rot by the Kenyan society. A people who have lost respect for morals and values, yet demand morally correct leadership!

We expect so much from our politicians, as though they come from a different planet! These men and women are our dads, mums, uncles and aunts.  They are victims of the societal rot. University students use mwakenya’s in exam rooms, cause mayhem, vandalize business premises and stone innocent motorists under the guise of strikes. These are the same students who call for responsible and exemplary leadership from our legislators. Whenever honorable law-makers throw stones and engage in some primitive theatrics, these students come out guns blazing, united in condemnation of the culprits!  Is this the double-faced society that Kenya has become?

The Kenyan roads are not different either. Motorists bribe cops to buy their way out of traffic offences. Motorists no longer heed common-sense calls meant to ensure their safety. This explains why warnings such as Do not Drink and Drive have been relegated to the gutter. Kenyans completely drink out their senses yet take to the wheel and drive their way to the grave. It literally takes the government to save the lives of these Kenyans, who apparently care less about their own lives! Kenya is indeed the ushenzi society!

Corruption is a deeply rooted vice that represents the real face of the Kenyan society. It is the incurable ailment. Kenyans engage in corrupt dealings every other day. Kitu kidogo and chai are the fees that determine how services are delivered. However, whenever, one solicits for these bribes in bigger offices, Kenyans cry foul and decry the corrupt offices.

Votes are traded for money. Unruly youths are given some few coins and cheap brews, just to cause chaos at political rallies. The country is balkanized along tribal and ethnic lines, yet we flock churches to pray for peaceful elections. Politicians and ordinary Kenyans alike, dance with the devil at night and shake hands with God’s angels during the day. This is the double face that our society has become. A society of double standards where justice to the poor and marginalized is still a distant cry!

However, we not yet doomed as a nation. We have a minority people who are spearheading change and reform in the entire society, both in small and big ways. These are the people who need our unwavering support for the well-being of our society.

 We need to grow up as a nation before we demand for grown-up leadership.

WHAT NEXT FOR KENYA?

After a fractious four years of a coalition government, the March 2013 polls are barely three months away. An election is looming in the horizon and we must get a new tenant to occupy the house on the hill. This is an election that has showed all the signs of being an explosive one. Ground-shaking alliances and separations have already shaken the political landscape to its core. Battle lines have already being drawn and potential candidates are raring to go.  The punda na farasi wawili storylines have become real, at least going by the CORD and JUBILEE alliances. These two divides have brought together strange bed-fellows, all by a myriad of reasons. Form political survival to the Hague nightmare, these are the unshakable inspirations that have driven our politicians to these alliances.

However, at the backdrop of all these is the politically instigated bloodbath of 2007-2008, that as a nation, we are yet to recover from, at least fully. The world is watching to see if we have truly learned from that bitter post-election experience. As the late minister for Internal Security, Prof. George Saitoti, said, the world is indeed watching and we can ill-afford to fail, for if we do, the world will not give us a second chance. The man is sadly gone, leaving in our hands this huge responsibility. We have tremendously moved, in an effort to ensure that the ghosts of 07-08 do not revisit us; a new constitution is in place and surgical reforms, both in the police force and the judiciary have followed suit.

The key suspects of the post-poll quagmire are awaiting full trial at The Hague. The so –called small fish are also facing their moment of truth in our Kenyan courts. However, poor Kenyans, who bore the brunt of this post-poll bloodletting, are still in the tents, four years down the line. But as a country, have we really moved in a direction that will help us remain a united nation after next year’s elections? This is a question that the entire is grappling with. My instincts, compounded by the ugly scenes that are unfolding in some parts of Kenya, tell me that we are yet to learn. Talk of poor students of history!

The Tana Delta is burning. Barely three months since the infamous Kilelengwani massacre, where at least 100 Kenyans were butchered, has violence struck once again. In the latest attack, at least 40 people were killed. It is only after the deaths that the police come out, guns blazing to assure already disillusioned residents of their security. Welcome to Kenya, where the massacre of more than 30 civilians is apparently not big enough to demand the attention of the country’s bigwigs. Some distance away Mombasa; there is the issue of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) that must surely keep the region’s security apparatus on their toes. Funny groupings like Nyuki, all bent on causing havoc in the region have cropped up.  Must all these groups rise in the run-up to the general elections?

In Kisumu, the Chinese and Marine groups are up, all meant to cause mayhem in this tense political climate. These are really uncertain times for the country. Sadly, a section of our country’s youths never learn and will always be there to execute primitive political tactics in exchange for some cheap brews and a few coins! When you see able-bodied young men publicly being coerced to swear that they will part company with stone-throwing, even in the madness of political heat, then you realize that indeed this is a people who have lost the plot.

Then there is the Baragoi massacre, where at least 40 police officers were slaughtered in Suguta valley; the valley of death. This is the worst attack on our police force in post-colonial Kenya, where some daring cattle-rustlers unleashed havoc on the very people entrusted with ensuring the respect of the rule of law. In its aftermath, the chilling stories of what could have led to this massacre must have surely scared the nation. You must see the trouble that as a county we are in, considering that police officers are mercilessly killed, then what will happen to the ordinary Kenyan? Grenades and other improvised explosive devices are now claiming the lives of both the officers and the citizens. Then in what many will consider the height of daring the devil, three officers of the armed forces were shot at in Garissa. They all succumbed to the bullet. This is unpalatable.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and his people at the now reformed judiciary, offer the only hope to all these madness. The perseverance of our judges and magistrates is what is deterring some old-fashioned fellows from engaging in primitive behavior, under the guise of political tension. The judiciary is literally living every word of our national anthem that, justice be our shield and defender. They are the soldiers of reform, fighting tirelessly to slay the merchants of impunity and disrespect to the law.

As the election countdown enters its homestretch, politicians are all making all manner of promises. As usual, this has sent the country into frenzy and Kenyans, in their masses are getting lost in this heat. We have literally forgotten that election swill come and go and that these problems call for our undivided attention. President Kibaki famously said that elections are not a lifetime event. We will cast our vote and go back home to our problems and challenges. This is what Kenyans never listen to. As a country we eat and live politics while teething problems continue to give us tiring days and sleepless nights.

A truly sad Kenyan scenario!

WHAT NEXT FOR KENYA?

After a fractious four years of a coalition government, the March 2013 polls are barely three months away. An election is looming in the horizon and we must get a new tenant to occupy the house on the hill. This is an election that has showed all the signs of being an explosive one. Ground-shaking alliances and separations have already shaken the political landscape to its core. Battle lines have already being drawn and potential candidates are raring to go.  The punda na farasi wawili storylines have become real, at least going by the CORD and JUBILEE alliances. These two divides have brought together strange bed-fellows, all by a myriad of reasons. Form political survival to the Hague nightmare, these are the unshakable inspirations that have driven our politicians to these alliances.

However, at the backdrop of all these is the politically instigated bloodbath of 2007-2008, that as a nation, we are yet to recover from, at least fully. The world is watching to see if we have truly learned from that bitter post-election experience. As the late minister for Internal Security, Prof. George Saitoti, said, the world is indeed watching and we can ill-afford to fail, for if we do, the world will not give us a second chance. The man is sadly gone, leaving in our hands this huge responsibility. We have tremendously moved, in an effort to ensure that the ghosts of 07-08 do not revisit us; a new constitution is in place and surgical reforms, both in the police force and the judiciary have followed suit.

The key suspects of the post-poll quagmire are awaiting full trial at The Hague. The so –called small fish are also facing their moment of truth in our Kenyan courts. However, poor Kenyans, who bore the brunt of this post-poll bloodletting, are still in the tents, four years down the line. But as a country, have we really moved in a direction that will help us remain a united nation after next year’s elections? This is a question that the entire is grappling with. My instincts, compounded by the ugly scenes that are unfolding in some parts of Kenya, tell me that we are yet to learn. Talk of poor students of history!

The Tana Delta is burning. Barely three months since the infamous Kilelengwani massacre, where at least 100 Kenyans were butchered, has violence struck once again. In the latest attack, at least 40 people were killed. It is only after the deaths that the police come out, guns blazing to assure already disillusioned residents of their security. Welcome to Kenya, where the massacre of more than 30 civilians is apparently not big enough to demand the attention of the country’s bigwigs. Some distance away Mombasa; there is the issue of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) that must surely keep the region’s security apparatus on their toes. Funny groupings like Nyuki, all bent on causing havoc in the region have cropped up.  Must all these groups rise in the run-up to the general elections?

In Kisumu, the Chinese and Marine groups are up, all meant to cause mayhem in this tense political climate. These are really uncertain times for the country. Sadly, a section of our country’s youths never learn and will always be there to execute primitive political tactics in exchange for some cheap brews and a few coins! When you see able-bodied young men publicly being coerced to swear that they will part company with stone-throwing, even in the madness of political heat, then you realize that indeed this is a people who have lost the plot.

Then there is the Baragoi massacre, where at least 40 police officers were slaughtered in Suguta valley; the valley of death. This is the worst attack on our police force in post-colonial Kenya, where some daring cattle-rustlers unleashed havoc on the very people entrusted with ensuring the respect of the rule of law. In its aftermath, the chilling stories of what could have led to this massacre must have surely scared the nation. You must see the trouble that as a county we are in, considering that police officers are mercilessly killed, then what will happen to the ordinary Kenyan? Grenades and other improvised explosive devices are now claiming the lives of both the officers and the citizens. Then in what many will consider the height of daring the devil, three officers of the armed forces were shot at in Garissa. They all succumbed to the bullet. This is unpalatable.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and his people at the now reformed judiciary, offer the only hope to all these madness. The perseverance of our judges and magistrates is what is deterring some old-fashioned fellows from engaging in primitive behavior, under the guise of political tension. The judiciary is literally living every word of our national anthem that, justice be our shield and defender. They are the soldiers of reform, fighting tirelessly to slay the merchants of impunity and disrespect to the law.

As the election countdown enters its homestretch, politicians are all making all manner of promises. As usual, this has sent the country into frenzy and Kenyans, in their masses are getting lost in this heat. We have literally forgotten that election swill come and go and that these problems call for our undivided attention. President Kibaki famously said that elections are not a lifetime event. We will cast our vote and go back home to our problems and challenges. This is what Kenyans never listen to. As a country we eat and live politics while teething problems continue to give us tiring days and sleepless nights.

A truly sad Kenyan scenario!

A COUNTRY PLAGUED BY PERENNIAL PRETENDERS

Ee Mungu nguvu

Ilete Baraka kwetu

Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi

Natukae na undugu

Amani na uhuru

Raha tupate na ustawi........ goes the first stanza of our national anthem. These are the sweet tunes that were first sung when we attained independence in 1963, a song that the freedom fighters of this nation proudly sang and walked every word. They dreamt of a Kenya that will be a true manifestation of this anthem. These words of our national anthem are supposed to rally the country for a common cause, sadly the very opposite happens.

Sadly, as we prepare to celebrate 50 years as a sovereign state in 2013, we are living the exact opposite of our national anthem! Kenya has been plagued by a pretentious political class coupled by an equally ostentatious electorate and a religious class that has lost its original cause and consequent command of God’s sheep!

Whenever we flock Nyayo National stadium for national celebrations, waving miniature flags and humming patriotic tunes, one gets the fallacy that Kenya is indeed a great nation that is home to some of the best people on the planet. No, I beg to differ with this. I have substantive reasons to back my stand.

Our politics are dictated and played along ethnic contours, whereby tribal power-brokers and chieftains determine who gets which post. Welcome to a country whereby candidates with issues and policies but wanting on the tribal factor never get the opportunity to ascend to positions of leadership. We do not see rivals from other communities as Kenyan leaders; rather we view them through the tribal and ethnic lens. The same old leaders are recycled back to power every five years. The result is mega-corruption and scandals that shamelessly loot from the public coffers. Integrity of these high offices is unheard off. Looters of public money continue to hold offices yet petty-offenders like chicken thieves and wallet- snatchers are ruthlessly dealt with!

We have created so much fuss about the new constitutional dispensation and how it will change our lives for the better, yet we are still holding strong to the impunity and disregard of the law, that characterized the yester-years. New laws that threaten the status quo are passionately fought by our politicians. Kenyans, in their masses join in the bandwagon to fight the truly patriotic Kenyans. The politicians hold hands together with Kenyans and merrily savor victory! The ethnic factor has been successfully used by some politicians to mobilize Kenyans in perpetuating corruption, incompetent leadership and abuse of office that has brought unmatched pain to the tax-payer. Politicians, who try to straighten the unfortunate bents of our history, are warded off by the negative ethnicity that continues to dominate our politics. Perhaps this explains the sad reality that the Peter Kenneth’s and Martha Karua’s of this nation may never lead the country! Remember, the late Wangari Maathai, despite her unmatched patriotism and work to the nation, just served a single term as a legislator! These trends tell you that indeed, just as Jesus Christ; the Kenyan prophet may never be recognized at home. Instead this is the responsibility of the outside world!

Our religious leaders have lost control of the very people that they are supposed to lead. Whatever we are getting from this Holy profession is gospel prosperity, whereby miracles have apparently replaced hard work as the key to prosperity! Churches have popped up in every corner of the city. Apparently, more and more Kenyans are embracing the teachings of the holy book. But flashing back to the 2007-2008 bloodbath, you begin to see the religious hoodwink that has become of Kenyans. The very Kenyans across the country who flock churches and other places of worship are the same people who hacked each other with machetes, swords and pangas. Others managed to use the deadly arsenal such as bows and arrows and guns to destroy God-given lives in the name of settling political scores! Religious hypocrisy is slowly but surely breaking the Kenyan back.

Our founding fathers envisaged the fight against ignorance, communicable diseases and poverty as the pillars of building Kenya. However, 49 years down the line, this endeavor has proved elusive. We are still far from achieving this. Huge disparities in infrastructural development and access to health, education among other fronts characterize Kenya today. The gods are not to blame for this. As Kenyans, we have been the engineers and architects of the troubles facing the country.

We must act decisively and make the future brighter. Destiny is in our hands!

WE MUST TAKE THE TOUGH DECISIONS

Road carnage has turned out to be one of the most lethal killers of the Kenyan population in recent times. Bloodbath on our roads has tainted the newly- constructed ultra-modern Thika Highway and other roads across the country. The joy that these developments promised to Kenyans has turned to be the very cause of tears, anguish and misery to Kenyans who have lost their loved ones. Those lucky enough to survive have been permanently maimed and their lives turned upside down. They have been left with telling scars of the brutality of road carnage.

Death caused by careless driving: The offence will be punishable by life sentence. Overlapping, obstruction, driving on pavement or through a petrol station to avoid traffic: A fine of Sh100, 000- 300,000 or one year in jail or both. Careless driving: Penalty of Sh500, 000 or 10 years imprisonment or both. These are some of the new traffic rules meant to curb the carnage that has been on an all-time high in the past few years. They are set to take effect as from the 1^st of December, this year.

However, in a sad twist of events, a section of matatu operators have boycotted work to protest these stringent traffic rules that are meant for the benefit of the Kenyan road user, the striking matatu operators included. Thousands of Kenyan commuters are now paying the price; they have been forced to walk long distances to and from work and fares have been hiked. For example, in Eldoret, fares rose to Sh100, up from the normal Sh20!

In spite of the hell that an unfortunate Kenyan matatu user is going to live through, these rules should stand. Matatu operators should not use their go-slow to hold the government hostage. It will be tantamount to preaching impunity on our roads; social abhorrence that we are all trying to slay.  Matatu operators have come up with all manner of lame excuses to back their protests, including allegations that these amendments are punitive and meant to push them out of business. 

But should the governments give in to their demands and put on hold these amendments? No. Ordinary Kenyans are now feeling the heat due to the go-slow but let us hold on, for light and safety is now near, more than ever. A Kenyan politician once said that as a country, Kenya must be prepared to bite the bullet, take the hard and unpopular decisions, for the well-being of her citizens in the years to come. This is the way to go with regard to the traffic amendments that have drawn a hue and cry from a section of matatu operators.

Let the matatu operators remain in their go-slow, but the traffic amendments should stand.  The reckless abandon with which some motorists carelessly drive on our modern highways, have made these rules a necessity. Drunken driving, dangerous overtaking , driving along pavements, speeding way beyond the speed limits and picking and dropping off passengers at non-designated places, have turned our roads into hell. It is a jungle where the rule of the fit surviving has become all too common. The courteous and polite motorists are at the mercy of their rude and careless counterparts.

 Traffic police must always be there to ensure sanity on our roads and their shortest absence reveals behavior that is all too common with the motorists; rudeness and non-compliance to the traffic rules.

Issues may be raised about how some rogue police officers might use these stringent traffic amendments as a milking cow, to extort money from motorists who find it hard to comply with these new requirements. But again, matatu should not use this as an excuse to launch a petition in accordance with the law. It is no rocket-science that most of our motorists especially matatu operators are seasoned law-breakers with regard to the most basic of traffic rules. They will find it hard to adjust but at last, they will learn to adjust to the law that is now fighting impunity, more than ever, at all fronts.

We have already killed our past on our roads; sadly we are busy killing the future. Ghastly accidents, mostly as a result of human errors and recklessness have taken away the joy that these ultra-modern roads were supposed to bring to Kenyans.  It is sad to see how Kenyans drive their way into death traps, and the rest of the country, casually looks on, only to shed tears when death strikes! We cannot afford to sit back and only whine when deaths occur on our roads. We must act and save our roads before they rival terror attacks as leading killers in our country!

We cannot have roads of the 21^st Century and still posses mindsets of the 19^th Century! These developments must cut across the board. All motorists should be ready to abide by these stringent rules for the benefit and convenience of all Kenyans.

It has apparently become the responsibility of the government to ensure that Kenyans take care of their lives! Most of the motorists have become care-free with their safety to the extent of endangering the lives of others. These laws are meant to put this to an end.

While we embrace and toss champagne over the Chinese- built Thika superhighway and other roads all over the country, we must be equally prepared to accept the heavy responsibility that comes with it!

Let us spare a moment for our diligent officers

It has once again happened. Our men in uniform came under a vicious attack from cattle raiders in Suguta Valley, Baragoi, and Samburu County.  In the latest attack, police officers reservists on the trail of cattle rustlers in this valley of death were ambushed and overcame by the rustler’s  heavy gunfire and sophisticated weapons. The results were a deadly blow; at least 42 were left dead and others critically injured.  Their bodies were left decomposing for two days in this valley, before they were airlifted to Nairobi’s Wilson Airport. Grief-stricken and shattered families, relatives and friends of the slain officers were at the airport to receive the bodies. This daring attack by heavily armed cattle raiders on our police officers and reservists in the forests of Samburu is the deadliest so far in post-colonial Kenya.

The year 2012 is an annus-horribils to our disciplined forces. Attacks on police officers, the very people entrusted with safeguarding the security of our nation, have become all too common. The statistics of our fallen soldiers are getting grimmer day by day. The sad thing is that a majority of Kenyans care less whenever this happens to police officers.

Men and women in the duty to keep the country safe have fallen to all manner of attacks. Terror attacks have meted their fair shares of anguish on our police force. Bullets, grenades and Improvised Explosive Devices, commonly referred to as IEDs have been used to kill our innocent and diligent officers, who have put their lives on the line to guarantee our safety.

However, at the backdrop of all these, it is interesting to note that neither our political class nor the ordinary citizens have taken interest in these troubles faced by our police officers. Not even the human rights watch groups have came out to condemn. One then begins to wonder if our officers are less- humans or proof to pain! Families, husbands, wives and innocent children have lost their breadwinners and loved ones.

These Kenyans are left to wallow and suffer in misery and grief. But where is the concern that we as a country should have towards the families of our disciplined officers, whenever their loved ones are killed in the line of duty? Members of the police force put their lives on the line in order to guarantee our security. Whenever we tremble as gunfire rents the air, police officers come out to confront the enemy, albeit coming closer to death. At night when the whole nation goes to bed, police officers leave the comfort of their families and loved ones, to ward off criminals and those who are bent on causing insecurity. They are not sure of what is going to happen the next minute and have God to thank whenever they see the next morning.

To our officers, death is always lurking in the shadows. Their families and loved ones live in constant fear and doubt of what happens to their bread winners in the line of duty. Police officers, despite their difficult working conditions and inevitable danger they are faced with, never give up or shy away from their responsibility. They offer security to our legislators who do not pay tax, yet they do not grumble.

Police officers are at times forced to fight an enemy who has far more sophisticated weapons and tact, especially in this age of modern technology. But they never give up on the fight despite all these. Yet when they threaten to go on a go-slow, they are threatened with punitive action by their bosses, high up the administration chain. Nobody comes to their aid and show solidarity in their fight for better conditions.

It is the time when as a country, we set out to share in the troubles of our police officers. It is our responsibility to lend them a helping hand and listen to their plight. Let us watch no more as burdened and weighed down officers commit suicides. This is a loss to their loved ones and the country as a whole. Police officers are our unsung heroes and we should work towards making them feel appreciated.

My heartfelt condolences go to the bereaved families, friends and relatives and all Kenyans who have lost their loved ones in the line of duty. May God the Almighty give you strength to bear the loss.

Rest in peace our fallen officers.

IF ONLY WE COULD GO THE AMERICAN WAY

It is Wednesday, the 7^th day of November 2012, chilly morning in Nairobi due to the long rains of December.  Thousands of miles away in Obamaland, the man from K’Ogelo has just been re-elected for his second and final term at White House. After a grueling and close run against his Republican rival, Willard Mitt Romney, incumbent Barack Obama managed to hold off the Republican onslaught in the race to White House. He has once again rewritten his name into the annals of history by being the first black America to be re-elected into office. Congratulations are in order for Obama, the Democrats and also for Romney and the Republican Party for humbly conceding defeat.

As a country, Kenya is celebrating Obama’s re-election and as protocol demands, President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, among other leaders have sent him goodwill messages. But empty rhetoric from our politicians aside, have we as a country stopped for a moment and deeply given a thought about our politics? We are heading to the delayed 2013` polls and it seems that it is still politics the old Kenyan way, despite a new constitution that we have given so much hullabaloo about.

The unique Kenyan rule of ethnic-founded politics still holds strong.  Votes are still being sought on grounds of ethnicity, cash for votes is still prevalent. The punda na farasi storylines have become the latest political vocabulary as the race to State House in 2013 hots up. The race to succeed President Kibaki is slowly exposing the ugly under-belly of the Kenyan politics.

Politicians are changing parties, all in the name of seeking alliances with like-minded parties. But what they do not exactly tell us is the basis and issues that inform their party hopping. Parties are not founded upon any concrete ideologies and our politics are not issue based. What Kenyans are exposed to every other electioneering period is mudslinging, that sadly seems to attract quite a chunk of the Kenyan votes. Whenever candidates lose in their party nominations, they cry foul play, allege bias and election malpractices. They immediately jump ship to other parties, with their eyes fixed on the coveted seat that it seems nothing can stop them from acquiring.

Whenever on goes against the political viewpoints of the so-called political big men from his or her community, he or she is threatened with political brimstone and called names. Fierce castigations flow in from all directions. This is Kenya, the country where the ethnicity of a politician is apparently key than the issues and policies at hand. As a result, we have continued to abundantly fill our baskets with perennial disappointments from a political class, whose majority cares about its narrow self interests!

The Grand-Regency, Kazi Kwa vijana, Anglo-leasing and the Free Primary education funds scandals are some of the numerous scams and shameful tales that we, as a country have had to put up with. These are times when public offices have been turned into milking cows by selfish individuals, much to the chagrin of the poor Kenyan taxpayer. These are the returns that we reap as a result of poor decisions made at the ballot.

It is sad that politics in this nation have become a cause of constant pain and agony, tears and anguish. When will we ever get a Kenya where politics is the cause of joy at the triumph of democracy, for when a party loses to her rival in any election, democracy prevails? When are we going to get that country where Parliament and other public offices is not a milking cow to some few greedy individuals, but the basis and concrete rock upon which meaningful legislation and policies are enacted for the well-being of the ordinary Kenyan? When is it that the plight of the Kenyan electorate will become the rallying call of all honest politicians?

When will politicians be judged not how fat their purses are but by what they stand for? When will politicians engage in meaningful politics for the good of the country and stop the mudslinging? When will politicians garner votes not by the large tribal and ethnic blocks that they control, but by the policies and issues they stand for?

As a nation we must recollect our senses and borrow a cue from the issue based politics, conducted by our distant cousins in Obamaland and other countries, where politics are meant for the greater good of the entire nation. Mahatma Gandhi once said that politics without principle is one of the seven deadly sins. As a nation, this is what we have been doing every other election period. Our politics lack principles and issues in that matter.

Let us always be proud of Obama and also work towards replicating this decent form of politics in our beloved country. It is in our hands to either make or break our nation’s future!