Thoughts on the Week #13 – Corruption Will Kill Us

This has been a disappointing week as far as Kenya is concerned. Honestly, I don’t know where we are headed as a country. I was one of those that was disappointed with the President’s State of the Union Address as I felt it was full of empty rhetoric (pay that speechwriter though coz it was a good speech except for the obvious hyperbole) and I felt it fell short of what I as a Kenyan wanted to hear. This was last week but the mood seems to have tumbled into the new week. Corruption is killing us.

With the cases against our Deputy President, William Ruto and former journalist Joshua Sang both declared mistrials, the divisiveness of the country became even more apparent. In as much as the two as well as their supporters want to celebrate this ‘victory’, I feel it is in bad taste for those who were affected in one way or another by the PEV. We as a country shouldn’t be wasting funds throwing a party to celebrate people who honestly can afford to hold their own private parties but should instead focus on making sure that all PEV victims have been resettled, compensated, received adequate healthcare especially for psychological trauma and most importantly that those who were perpetrators in the violence are brought to book.

I want to believe in a better Kenya. I want to believe that we are moving forward as a country but sometimes I am reminded that we have so much yet to resolve and so much yet to learn. The fact that a number of Kenyans still vote along tribal lines and throw all logic out the window when ‘one of their own’ is criticized, is concerning. The fact that a number of Kenyans think when you speak out against Uhuru you are pro Raila and vice-versa is troubling. I am for neither. I am for Kenya. My allegiance lies with whoever can lead Kenya forward and as of now, that is neither Uhuru or Raila.

Corruption is at epidemic levels. I was one of the victims of the Chase Bank meltdown and I am still livid at the blatant theft that took place and the shifting of blame that has followed. How long are we supposed to pretend that Kenya isn’t being ran into the ground? At some point, the corruption will have robbed us of all the funds we need to function as a country. It is immoral for one individual to have a Ksh 7B unsecured loan. You would need to spend just a little over Ksh 400,000 every day over 50 years to finish that money. How can that be allowed in the same country where some people don’t even have Ksh 50 a day for food?

Patriotism is not blindly accepting the way a country is being run. To truly love anyone or anything, you must be ready to ask hard questions. We have so many brilliant minds in this country that aren’t being given opportunities because of corruption. People are literally dying because of mismanagement of funds. All this looting is benefiting a few while the majority of us who are honest hard workers suffer the consequences. It’s time to put aside tribal differences and realize that we have more in common with one another than we think. If this country is destroyed, we are destroyed with it. Unlike our wealthy ‘leaders’, we don’t have offshore accounts or holiday homes in other countries to run to. This is home and we have to do everything to make sure it prospers, for ourselves and for our children.