The Kenyan betrayal

The country has successfully managed to dodge the post-election bullet of 07-08. We went into the polls as a nation with a point to prove that indeed democracy is possible without raising pangas and machetes on the heads of those who supported our political rivals. After all, just as outgoing president, Mwai Kibaki once sarcastically noted, elections last a day, after which everyone goes back to his usual life. This is not a life-time affair!

We have recovered from the election mood of the hotly contested 2013 polls and Kenyans are going back to their usual lives, those of daily challenges and hardships. Post-election hangovers are slowly but surely being drowned in the sea of hardships and challenges that best describe the life of an ordinary Kenyan.

However, just like in any other contest, disgruntled and dissatisfied losers have moved their petitions to court, with the big one being that of CORD’s Raila Odinga, who has challenged President-elect, Uhuru Kenyatta’s win. The battle swords have once again being unleashed, luckily this is along the corridors of a now reformed judiciary. The eagerly awaited ruling by the Supreme Court on this tussle, promises to be a big one, one that is expected to shake the political setting of this country. But as the law dictates, we cannot comment on issues presently before the court, and Chief justice Willy Mutunga has rightfully too warned against that. Our learned friends will tell you that this is contempt of court. There is a betrayal of its kind in the country.

Kenyans who earn a living from Industrial area are back to what they do best; trekking  from the Kiberas and Korogochos of Nairobi in the biting cold, work under the scorching sun and go back home under the cover of darkness. They wake up early and go to bed late, only too unsure of how tomorrow will be in these informal settlements. This is the daily process that earns them some paltry coins. These are the very Kenyans who religiously took part in the electoral process, after seeing politicians troop to their homes and lives to woo them with all manner of promises and pledges, that you are sure will never see the light of implementation and realization. Welcome to the Kenyan comedy show that is politics.

Politicians throw their manifestos and promises to the shelves after their election. Never mind that these are what ushered them into the voters’ hearts, and on the other end, an electorate that never bothers to see that these manifestos are implemented keeps mum. These shows go on for five years when the politicians and Kenyans come together once again; it is election time. This is when politicians bombard our ears, telling us that tuko pamoja and all manner of cheap political storylines. Sadly, Kenyans never ask what this means. Immediately, the polls are gone, the politician disappears to the comfort of his Karen and Runda homes, never mind that the people he represents are fighting daily to guarantee their tomorrow, far away in Turkana and other marginalized areas of the Kenya.

Out of this bitter frustration, these Kenyans seek solace in the church. The institution that since the days of Jesus on this planet, comforted the afflicted, dressed the naked, instilled hope to the hopeless and answered the cry and anguish of the society’s down-trodden. This is so reflected in the miracles that the son of Man performed, from turning water into wine and giving food to the hungry to raising Lazarus and others from the dead.

However, this is where Kenyans are economically and spiritually plundered by some religious charlatans, who promise the heavenly goodies, at a fee! Pastors in these churches apparently perform miracles at a rate that would make Jesus Christ turn green with envy! HIV/ Aids is now curable, courtesy of these men and women. Domestic issues become a thing of the past, poverty vanishes in a minute and hardships that wreck Kenyans can now disappear in a minute, at the click of a prayer! At this rate, Kenyans do not have to work and study so hard in life; prayers are an equally able avenue to good life! What a fallacy! The faithful are buying services that the Son of God offered freely to those who cried out to him.

A Nigerian, pastor Chris Ojigbani  came to Kenya, to pray for Kenyan women and help them get their much elusive better-halves! As expected, women thronged the Nyayo National Stadium and the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) on the two instances that this husband-offering Nigerian landed in town. Religiou mesmerization  at its best.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Gospel of prosperity is the in-thing today that has captured the rich imagination of many a Kenyan. Kupanda mbegu is all what a troubled Kenyan needs to do. This trend has turned the word of God into a career that has changed the lives of the congregation and the men of cloth in two contrasting ways. The faithful lose money, families break and Kenyans are slumping into the poverty abyss at a very fast rate. These churches drain these Kenyans dry and yet they have never been known to take part in any charitable endeavors or the so-called works of mercy, like attending to the poor, the sick, widows and orphans. They never take part in any compassionate activities to comfort the aggrieved and afflicted in the society, never mind that is a key responsibility of the church, that Jesus, through his works, taught us to do.

 On the other side, the preachers transform their lives into of flashy clothing, top-of the range cars and state- of- the art houses that even the rich envy. This is the irony of most of these churches that afflict more pain and anguish on Kenyans. They pile misery on the very people they are supposed to comfort and a give a shoulder to lean on when times are thick and uncertain.

The country has eaten her people. Most of our politicians have turned the public offices into milking cows and the fastest way to becoming stinking rich. Corruption, impunity and all sorts of shameful scenes best describe these offices. The church that was supposed to be the shepherd of God’s sheep is not sparing them either. Churches spring up from all corners of the republic, as Kenyans hold the Bible and begin the voyage to flashy lives. Those financially able have moved it to the next level where the holy word of God is preached on our television sets. These are men and women who only accept money as the only form of thanksgiving to God. Any other offering can rightly-fully be described as a non-grata in the church!

At the backdrop of all this fallacious living that the Kenyan society has adopted, our sportsmen and women continually fly our flag high on the globe. Shujaa lost in the semis of the main cup in the Hong Kong 7’s, our cross-country team to Bydgozyk, Poland emerged victorious and Harambee Stars snatched a hugely-deserved one-all draw against the much fancied Super Eagles at their own backyard, in Calabar. Let us not forget the deplorable conditions that they met on landing in Lagos, poor food and lack of a training pitch to prepare for the match.  They defied odds and nearly became the first team to win in Nigeria in over three decades.

These are the men and women that we owe so much to, as a country. Sadly, we hardly appreciate what they have tirelessly done to the country. Maybe they are victims of society that has betrayed its people and is now eating them!