MY STAND

I could try and put my thoughts on the Kenyan political scene across in a more creative way like write a poem, or a satirical letter but I feel that being direct at times doesn’t hurt at times. Here’s what I’ll do, since am a student answering questions in an exam situation is my specialty so here goes…
1. Give three characteristics you require to be a successful Kenyan politician, include a detailed example for each.
i) Corrupt.
A good example is the maize scandal which involved the Ministries of Agriculture, Special Programmes, Finance and the Office of the Prime Minister. Maize from the Strategic Grain Reserves was allocated to certain briefcase millers, holding imported maize at the port and claiming that it is contaminated only to later sell it at a throw away price. All of this happened when this country was facing a drought. Read more about this here. Note that this is just an example, there are so many corruption scandals to name but a few: Anglo-leasing Scandal, Goldenberg, The one that involved the Ministry of Defense, etc.

ii) Ignorant.
The MPs just passed a Price Control Bill can’t say more about it. Read about it here. Here’s what the local media had to say about it.

iii) Selfish.
Self-centeredness is the most important factor. The best example is our good old President, when he called a state address just to make some ‘clarifications’ about his family ignoring a lot of national issues. This is what a local paper said about it.

2. Indicate whether the following statements are true or false.
a) Kenyan MPs vie for parliament with the noble goal of improving the society and not just to enrich themselves.
Did you say Kenyan MPs, in that case: FALSE
b) 100% of Kenyans are satisfied with their MP.
FALSE
c) MPs act like they are from different planets unless it’s an issue about their salaries.
TRUE

Finally, most of the issues affecting us Kenyans are not solely the fault of our politicians but we are also partly to blame. So urge you my fellow countrymen to be the change you want to see in this country as we try to change our leaders.