Honestly, how do you lead or govern people whom you do not care about? And, if this is the mindset of our Kenyan and African leaders, then tell me what business do we have voting for them and tolerating their impudence?

Today, Kenya is hanging by a thin thread of hope. Our leaders are way too self-centred and arrogant to put national interest first. Soon, when we begin burying our dead, our leaders will begin to shed crocodile tears. They honestly do not seem to care about the many Kenyans who are suffering and dying.

What is the point of being a president or prime minister of dead people?

Yes, hopefully, some of us will be lucky to be alive and well when all this cruelty and wanton madness ends. Many of our hearts will be bleeding. Many of us and our children will be traumatised. For many of us, we will be hurting so bad, deep inside. Our souls and spirits will almost dead, numb with pain and agony.

After moaning and burying our own dead relatives, friends and neigbours, Kenyans will surely have little faith in democracy, government or our leaders.

Today, some of our leaders are fence-sitting. Honestly, with all the fence-sitting, bickering, and jostling for power, we will never arrive at an objective view or even a single rational solution to the problems Kenyans are facing.

It is amazing how apt our leaders where to troop, like ants as the scent of sweet sugar or bees homing in on yummy necar. We watched all the drama, as our leaders streamed to the Kenyan Parliament to be sworn in as elected members of parliament. For a moment they all shared a room together, and did what they needed to do, so that they could start being paid their fat paycheques.

I wonder what happened to that same corporate spirit, albeit lack of humility? What happened to the oath that all our honourable members of parliament (yes, even Mwai Kibaki is the Member of Parliament for Othaya constituency), swore in parliament, in the name of God, to uphold in order to serve our nation? They swore to serve and protect the people of Kenya.

Or did our MPs simply swear by oath, in order to be placed on the payroll, that is financed by the poor Kenyan tax payers?

Anyway, let us move on to something else…

With all due respect to all our past and current leaders, none of them has been remarkable in leadership and management/governance. If we, the Honourable people of Kenya, were to grade our leaders, it is with no appology, that I confidently say that none of them would get a perfect “A” GRADE. Very few will be lucky, if they even managed to squeeze out a weak GRADE “C”. Because, it is obvious, barely one month into their terms as honourable members of parliament, that their leadership and governance skills are wanting.

The majority of our leaders and politicians are mere opportunists. Self centered ( “tumbo-mbele” ) politicians. Full of empty rehtoric and not much results to show for it.

Let me illustrate what I mean… Let us have a look at, and appraise some of our leaders, starting with Raila Odinga

1. RAILA ODINGA: Let us have an honest look at Raila. During his career in politics Raila has developed charm and some charisma. Yet, if we look at the majority of the people in Kibera – Raila Odinga’s constituency–we will see hungry, naked, and sick children. Most of the people in Kibera constituency are the wretched of the earth – very poor.

2. MWAI KIBAKI: Kibaki, in his previous term, helped to improve the Kenyan economy. Now let as look at majority of the people in Othaya where President Mwai Kibaki has been an MP for about 30 years. Majority of the people in Othaya constituency are poor. Luckily, the Kikuyu, Embu, and the Meru blessed with very fertile land at the slopes of Mount Kenya. Also, the Kikuyu are very enterprising and have been able to initiate and thrive in business, with or without the help of the Kenyan Government. Still many more Kikuyus, Embus and Merus live in poverty and have merely enough subsistence to survive.

3. DANIEL ARAP MOI: As the second president of Kenya, Moi’s story is like a fairy tale. He rose from grass to grace. He seemed very humble, pious and charismatic. People seemed to enjoy listening to him. But let us look a little futher. Let us look at the people in Baringo Central, where the former President Daniel Arap Moi was MP for over 30 years–a constituency that his corrupt son Gideon inherited for a while. Today, the Tugen (Moi’s tribe), are among the poorest tribes in Kenya. Mainly because their land is not very fertile. Even after many years of Daniel Arap Moi’s long rule, the majority of the Tugens and majority of the Kalenjin (Tugen, Kipsigis, Nandi, Elgon Maasai, and Pokot) and the Kamatusa (Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana, Samburu, and Rendile) tribes are still extemely poor. Many Kalenins and Kamatusas still survive by relying on ancestral land that is getting smaller and smaller as it is subdivided among sons. Their pride, cattle, are also reducing in number with the reduced grazing land. Illiteracy, infant mortality, marternal-related deaths, are all very high, despite the former President Daniel Arap Moi being head of state for 24 long years and his community being percieved to have “eaten” a large share of the Kenyan national cake.

4. JOMO KENYATTA: Jomo Kenyatta was our founding father. He was widely respected among Kenyans and abroad. Let us look at Gatundu. Jomo Kenyatta was the MP of Gatundu (now Gatundu North and Gatundu South) for 15 years. His son Uhuru inherited the Gatundu South constituency. However, many of the people of Gatundu are still poor. Jomo Kenyatta’s story is intertwined with Kibaki’s story. For two reason: (1) Jomo Kenyatta and Kibaki are from the same Kikuyu tribe, and (2) Kibaki was Jomo Kenyatta’s protegee and “blue eyed boy.” It was Kenyatta who offered Mwai Kibaki his first job with the new government of Kenya, shortly after Kenya’s independence.

5. Musalia Mudavadi: Musalia seems very rational and full of potential. He was once choosen as the Kenyan Vice President in Moi’s government. Yet, Musalia is one other person who inherited his wealth and political constituency from his father. Musalia like many other Kenyan leaders has not done much for the people of his province and region, Western Kenya. Musalia comes from the Luhya tribe in western Kenya. And, like most other Kenyans, many of the Luyhas are poor and struggling to survive, both in the rural areas and in the cities and towns of all over Kenya.

6. Kalonzo Musyoka: He has been an MP and a Cabinet Minister for over 15 years, for many of those years he was a cabinet minister. And yet, his constituency and people, the Kamba, are extremely poor.

7. Dr. Oburu Odinga:  Raila’s brother inherited his father’s (Jaramogi O. Odinga) constituency but the people in that constituency and the whole of Nyanza province are still very, very poor. The only respite for a few lucky Luos from Nyanza province has been pursing education and getting degrees, and, thereby, hopefully securing good careers. Many other Luos work as labourers and live in in the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa. Yet, many more Luos work as labourers in the large international tea estates in Kericho. What a life to live, eh!

The story is the same, or even much worse in the Coast, Eastern, and North East provinces of Kenya. Essentially, this is because the land in these provinces is not very fertile and rainfall is scarce or very sporadic. To compound the situation, other potential economic ventures, such as mining, horticulture, ranching, tourism, fishing, are very politicised and thus contentious, or the development projects and sectors in the vast Coast, East and North Eastern provinces have been totally neglected by the various Kenyan governments. The resources in these provinces are either grossly under-utilised or totally unexplored.

What is my point?

My point is simply that many of the people in Kenya are very poor. The majority of Kenyans were poor, sickly and uneducated during independence. Today with over 40 year of independence, perhaps even many more Kenyans are pathetically poor, sickly and uneducated. Poorer than ever before…!

So why on earth do we still vote for leaders who merely politic (wana ropoka ropoka bure na tena ovyo). Many of our leaders are blatantly corrupt, without shame ((Wana pokonya mali ya uma). In fact, some of our leaders brag and are proud of being corrupt.

What surprises and bewilders me the most is that, many ignorant Kenyans idolize corrupt leaders and view them as tribal heros or heroines, at their own expense.It defeats logic that the rational Kenyans who moan, groan, and complain about corrupt government would regard corrupt leaders with awe and amazement.So what baffles and astonishes me is, why do we Kenyans continue to vote for leaders who seem to make us poorer and poorer?

Well, with all due respect, Kenya’s first President and found father, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta is dead.

Jomo Kenyatta’s son, Uhuru Kenyatta, in now a minister in Kibaki’s current government. Daniel Arap Moi’s son, Gideon Moi, was until recently an MP of the constituency that he inherited from his father. I believe the poor Tugens finally woke up, felt they’d had enough. The Tugens got fed up and kicked him out. They elected a new MP: Honourable Samuel Mwaita.

Uhuru and Gideon are like clones, the two of them often appear to be much worse then their fathers. Uhuru and Gideon carrying on, each one of them, the father’s legacy, inheritance and mindset into our generation. Honestly, Uhuru Kenyatta and Gideon Moi are no better in governance, transparency, upholding democracy, respecting the law, setting up structures of justice, and serving the people and they do not even have the charisma that their fathers (Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Arap Moi) had in their time.

It is an open secret in Kenya that Gideon is very corrupt. He amassed alot of wealth, land, and property fraudulently. Gideon Moi took advantage of his father’s reign, and he stole or acted as a proxy for those who stole for the President of Kenya. Yet Kenyans still elected him as Mweshimiwa, an honourable Member of Parlarment.

Wonder of wonders, eh…!

Similarly, Raila is following in the footsteps of his father, Musalia Mudavadi is following in the footsteps of his father… and the list goes on and on…

In summary, none of these “younger” men, have proven that they have the acumen to be worthwhile leaders. Their fathers helped to take Kenya down the drain. And their sons (together with Mwai Kibaki) are all following in the same footsteps. Otherwise we would not have the problems that we are facing todayin Kenya.

Where and when will we get able and truly patriotic leaders in Kenya and in Africa?

These dynasties are a disaster for Kenya and Africa.

These men are are riding on the fame and respect that Kenyans had for their fathers. They are getting sympathy votes. They buy votes using money that their fathers stole from Kenyans. And Kenyans blindly vote for them. God have mercy on us ignorant and mere mortals. For, alas,look at how pathetic and poor we are, eh…!

Kibaki is living and ruling the country from state house like a tyrant. He does not have control over or the respect of more than half of the people of Kenya. He does not have much control of members of his Kikuyu tribe. He does not have much control of the police. Kibaki does not have much control of the GSU. He has no control over peaceful demonstrators. No control of the Kalenjin warriors. No control of the Mungiki sects. No control of vigilante groups. No control at all over members of his cabinet. Kibaki does not even have sufficient control over his kitchen cabinet. It is also scary that Kibaki does not seem to have the adequate control or goodwill of the Kenyan Armed Forces. And Kibaki definitely does not have much control over or respect from his own wife Lucy Kibaki. How sad.

So, where and when will Kenya and Africa get able and truly patriotic leaders?         Kiprotich Arap-Ruto
        Canada
        E-mail: safari_africa123@yahoo.com