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!