Dear Sir/Madam,
Legislators are yapping that they have more dirty farce in the pipeline should the government not accede to their inimical demand for yet another gorgeous pay hike. But before they go further with their ruse they ought to pause and calmly and judiciously consider the terrible consequences of the actions they are engaged in.
They ought to consider likewise the socio-political and economic route the country has recently travelled and ascertain whether they have arrived at their current position on their salary increase in a manner that is compatible with their position as people`s representatives.
Should they do that I am steadfastly convinced that they will realize that they were elected into the August House in order to ensure the sacred preservation of public faith; encouragement of agriculture, education, security, health and commerce among many other salient duties. These are our nation`s handmaid to the much needed development. These principles form the bright constellation which must go before us and guide our nationhood.
These principles are our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should they wander from them in moments of error (as they are currently doing) let them hasten to retrace their steps and to regain the road which alone leads to stability, liberty, and safety. For this was the dream of our founding fathers: ad astra per aspera.
Unfortunately our MPs are a perfect prototype of what Henry David Thoreau described; “those who do not lay honest eggs but wear their breasts bare upon an egg of chalk! Their great game is the game of straws…” It is despicable that they are preoccupied with personal gratifications and have thus allowed the spirit of carpe diem to seize the day. They have adopted the gypsy philosophy of accepting and enjoying the present as it is, rather than wasting time in reliving the past or anticipating the future.
Perhaps Robert Lowell aptly captures the predicament that the Kenyan electorate finds itself in when he said of MPs: “…they come here bright as dimes, and die disheveled and soft.” Indeed, our MPs seem honest and even exhibit flushes of intelligence at the time they are elected but a few months down the line; greed clouds their conscience and makes them lack sufficient imagination to realize the misery they subject the country to. They suddenly want to be praised and petted, to be pampered and caressed. Reality then dawns fast on the electorate that these ready-witted MPs have real hearts of stone.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis