There is little doubt, Kenyans have nothing to be proud of
Posted December 10, 2011
I am grateful Government Spokesman has stopped, albeit for a while, his Najivunia Kuwa Mkenya (I’m proud to be a Kenyan) pronouncements
Probably by default or design he too must be thinking what is there kujivunia in Kenya today.
You don’t need to look far to comprehend the despair that has put a stranglehold on the nation. Things are out of control.
The most conspicuous has been the effort expended by the Executive to appease Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.
The International Criminal Court has indicted Bashir and it was rather obvious that on the surface of it, Kenya, as a signatory to the Rome Statute, fulfils what the international community expects.
The whole thing has turned into one big mess.
Bashir has the temerity to issue ultimatums not because he is so big but simply because we have made ourselves look too small.
The Executive is not only rubbishing Justice Ombija’s ruling, but also going ahead to issue the Sudan leader with an invitation to the country to see if we can make good the ‘threat’ to arrest him.
Do we have even a loincloth to cover our nakedness as a nation? I doubt it.
Whether Bashir comes (and whether he is arrested) is neither here nor there for the ordinary Kenyan.
Of greater concern is the choking inflation.
The prices of food and transportation have shot through the roof and it is just not possible to have a decent meal anymore.
What makes the situation even grimmer is that our very own Central Bank Governor has just been rated the least effective in Africa. Not long ago, the shilling was the worst performing currency in the world.
Unemployment has steadily gone up forcing many a youth to turn to crime to earn a living.
But no one simply cares.
An aerial view of Nyatike and Budalang’i would make one think we have invented floating houses. The floods have done so much damage.
Let us assume the Government could not do anything about the torrential rains. But is the State aware of an impending dry season?
The better part of this year, Kenyans were involved in the ‘Kenyans for Kenya’ campaign because millions were starving.
Farmers did not harvest enough food, flour was unaffordable and the scenario was crazy. One mitigating act the Government said it would initiate was to harvest rainwater for a rainy day.
Has it done any such thing? Will we be where we were come next year and the rains fail?
Recently, I was forced to stay for three days without electricity.
An explanation was given about how rains damaged a billboard that subsequently damaged the power cables. Granted the explanation was believable and understandable, but I chuckled when a power company boss said they cannot harvest this water since it may not be businesswise as the floods could be temporary.
That may sound plausible but what can we do so that it does not go to waste? Thinking of what can be done, instead of what we cannot should help us get out of the nasty cycle we are in.
Kofi Annan was in town this week to assess the progress the Coalition Government has made a year to another General Election.
The issues discussed were pertinent to the country and any leader should have made time and attended.
I did not see President Kibaki in the hall. Maybe he followed the proceedings from somewhere else.
If he did not, then it simply means he cares little about what happens in the country now or in 2012 and could probably explain why things are fast spiralling out of control.
The writer is chief sub editor at the Standard, Weekend Editions
