THE GUILT OF MAKING POLITICAL CHOICES
6/11/19
I want to start by making a disclaimer, that I do not have political hair on my chest. Just like many of my kind I make observations and try to make sense of the political environment I exist in. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way. I watched Hon. Moses Kuria the member of National Assembly for Gatundu south making some public apology on behalf of Parliament for what he termed as "errors of omission".
The honourable member did not just stop there, he also said that he is a Roman Catholic and he was making a "confession". He said that parliament has been lying to Kenyans that things are rosy while indeed they are not, that the Kenyan books of accounts are cooked and falsified and that they have collectively committed treason on this country for the last seven years. Treason in our criminal justice system is a capital offence. What essentially the Honourable member was saying is that parliament has committed a crime as an institution and the members are equally and individually guilty and therefore the precincts of parliament should be cordoned off as a Crime scene.
Hon. Moses Kuria also told us that our trusted treasurer at the treasury has been taking commercial instead of concessional loans, short term instead of long-term loans and that these bad economic and planning decisions have brought the country to a standstill and made the lives of Ordinary Kenyans very difficult. Hon. Moses Kuria who shares a name with Prophet Moses of the Bible who led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt into the promised land is a man who speaks his mind. The only problem was the people he was speaking to. Kenyans.
It is documented in the book of Exodus that at some point the children of Israel started questioning Moses of the Bible and wondered whether the God and the land he had told them about really existed. This had angered Moses to a point of breaking the tablets with the Ten commandments and he drew a line and asked those who believe in him stand on one side on the line and the others on the other side (you know the rest of the story) . But they had made a choice of following Moses.
The choices we make as Kenyans every five years determine and dictates the kind of life we will live for, not only the next five years but also the environment for which our children and the future generations will live. I have no idea what happens at the ballot and how we end up not soberly interrogating the people we elect. To paraphrase Prof PLO Lumumba who said "when given a choice between someone with ideas and someone without ideas, its amazing how Kenyans will robotically choose the fellow without ideas and expect something better from him"."we buy a tuktuk and expect it to perform like a Mercedes".
Every five years we are given the opportunity to rewrite our wrongs and choose individuals who we will hold up against the dreams of our fore fathers and the hopes of our future generations. Every five years we collectively commit crimes of both omissions and commissions. Hon. Moses Kuria is only saying what everyone knows.
Granted, Parliament has not lived up to its highest ideals, it has been dogged with issues ranging from sugar report scandals, maize scandals that stars from here to beyond the Namib dessert. County assemblies have not been better either these county assemblies are filled with a number of individuals who cant read and comprehend notices of motions, bills, and policies. There are individuals who cannot even speak in English. The most interesting part is that these individuals were elected or appointed by people who are well educated and learned.
How should we expect these individuals to know what their role is? How do we expect the assemblies both National and county to oversight the executive while still applying for tenders and getting other favours from the same executive? How do we expect them to perform the role or representation and legislation while they cant even read or speak in the languages that those roles require of them?
I have argued before that what we need in these houses are individuals elected independently without party Euphoria. Because Moses Kuria has confirmed to us that they have committed these crimes of omissions because they belong to the ruling party and what the party wants the party will get and if you disagree you will be shown the door (read Aisha Jumwa and ODM).
"We go into the elections having been so empowered, we elect individuals based on their tribal affiliation, depth of their pockets and party affiliations. When they mess the country we come back again and say they are bad, but they are ours" PLO concludes and asks a question, "should we even be allowed to vote?
The country is at a cross road, the people's hopes are diminishing, our economy is in a crisis, our healthcare system is wanting. We have an agriculture that needs to be brought back on track and a global warming and climate change challenges that we need to addressed. We have a young generation who are about to move from "infinite potential to definite disaster'. This things cannot wait for the coming of Christ, they need to be fixed. We need our president to borrow the economic Advisers of the retired President Mwai Kibaki. There is no harm in substituting a player who doesn't seem to add value in the team.
I agree with Moses Kuria that parliament has failed but I also want to add that as a people we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of our country, our fore fathers and our children. But now we need to rise up and save the future generations. Is there a Moses of the Bible among us to lead us into the promised land? Can you stand and be counted?
Juma Hemedi
No comments: