RETROGRESSIVE FORCES PLACE HURDLES ON THE PATH TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION

Since its promulgation, the new constitution has faced several hurdles in its implementation and this has only left many of us wondering whether our political leadership is committed to the implementation of the new laws. Just recently a cabinet minister argued that Kenya under the new constitution is like a baby that is learning to crawl; this was in defense as to why he had not adhered to the stipulations as set out in regard to public participation in preparing the budget. This is just an argument from a very ignorant and arrogant point of view which should be treated with all the ignorance it deserves. The Kenyan nation was born when we attained our independence from the British and we have been crawling since. The clamor for a new constitution was thus necessary for the nation to start walking and eventually takeoff in speedy social-economic development and growth. The argument was just another illustration of how ignorant many of our political leaders are. Kenya has been on its knees for 48 years which can only be attributed to poor governance and lack of accountability and prudence in the use of public funds.

A NATION OF MISPLACED PRIORITIES

While our MPs are at the Hague singing patriotic songs to show solidarity with the Ocampo6, IDPs still sleep in tents three years after they were displaced from their homes, yet none of those MPs has gone to the camps to sing patriotic songs with them. As church leaders fell over one another to organize prayer meetings for the O6, IDPs still whiled away time in camps with no one to share a word of prayer with.  The six will arrive back and we will be so engrossed in holding homecoming parties and prayer meeting yet no one is thinking of how the IDPs will finally get to their homes. Talk of a country of misdirected priorities.

Those that accompanied the six to the Hague claim to have gone there to in a show of solidarity and patriotism but to me that was a show of solidarity with impunity. Our politicians have turned the ICC process into a mudslinging and name calling contest with there biggest spectators being the media house that are too quick to turn our sitting rooms into arenas for the same. Much attention is given to politicians yet the more deserving cases of displaced persons and other victims of the PEV are left out. The utterances that we are hearing from our politicians now are similar to those that we heard in 2007 which culminated in the violence of 2011. Kenya a thriving economy and democracy has reduced itself in the eyes of the international community into a failed state. The governement which is meant to be protecting its citizens and ensuring that the rights of the everyone and especially the minority has abdicated this role. It has become more interested in fighting for the rights of the suspects than for the rights of the victims. So who then will protect the ordinary wanainchi?

IMPUNITY MAKES STRIDES IN KENYA

The headline in one Daily Newspaper in Kenya reads, "Kenya Wins Round 1". This is after the AU Ministers meeting in Addis voted in favour of Kenya’s quest to defer the ICC prosecutions for the six individuals who have been named as bearing the greatest responsibility in the post election violence that rocked the nation after the bungled 2007 presidential elections. This is a not so correct headline considering this has been as a result of the efforts of one side of the ruling coalition. The question that all Kenyans should be asking is what did we win? As far as I am concerned the win was only for the six and the headline should thus have read “Ocampo Six Win Round 1” or better still “Impunity in Kenya Wins Round 1”.

DEAL WITH CASES OF CORRUPTION DECISIVELY

An American professor opined that corruption has a considerable effect on our lives because it is all around us. He continued to say that the emphasis on getting rich, no matter how, is so tremendous that it influences virtually every aspect of the society. This desire to get rich is driven by greed; the greed for money, greed for property and greed for wealth. That is why people will go to all extremes to acquire any piece of land or any other property they come across regardless of who it belongs to. These land grabbers have not spared our forests too. The forest cover has been depleted so low that even areas that never used to experience drought are now experiencing it. It is common knowledge that our forests have been destroyed by the same people who are supposed to be championing for our rights; either by allocating themselves pieces of land in the forest or by displacing the poor from their land and driving them into the forest lands. People have become so materialistic that they would even kill their kin just to get a bigger portion of property than what they rightly deserve. It is this same greed that is carried into our institutions. Our forests, our road reserves and land meant for public amenities have all been lost in the frenzy to amass wealth.