We Are All Guilty Of Torching Our Learning Institutions

We are a society with little to no moral foothold. The little modicum of morality left in us is oftentimes squandered in selfish pursuit of lofty self-aggrandizement and ideals; in bars, at work or evening classes. As if that is not enough, we either glorify or engorge ourselves in impropriety, indecency and immorality.
 

We spend our adult lives bingeing on alcohol, drugs and casual sexual flings. We entertain corruption and reward the corrupt with influential public offices and political positions. We break the law without blinking. And when we encounter divergence of opinion in politics, we square it out by hurling unprintable words against perceived foes. Do we stop at that? Of course not! We have never shied away from killing our neighbors, maiming our opponents, raping their wives, mothers and daughters and destroying their property.

We express our political dissatisfaction through violence; looting, burning and destroying personal as well as public property at will.

We have conveniently forgotten that children mostly learn by emulating the conduct of adult members of the society; not what we tell them.

And when our children – the so called ‘Xaxa’ generation – turn aggressive, disobeying their tutors and torching our learning institutions in a frenzy of madness, we have the temerity wonder what is wrong with the new generation and the hypocrisy to question their upbringing!

Well, gentlemen and dear ladies, we are what is wrong with our children; for in reality, they are a reflection of the society. They are us! They mirror our intolerance and inability to sort out our differences amicably. They have simply learnt from the best. As we light bonfires on our roads, stone motorists, destroy, loot and burn private and public property in the name of protests, how then do we expect our young ones to act any different?

Sadly, as is our wont, we are forever averse to accepting the role we have so perfectly played in creating the gang of miscreants and rascals that is our children. We are now seeking for quick fix solutions to ‘this menace’ that is threatening to burn down our beautiful homes when they’re done torching their schools. Oh, and we’re so good at the blame game that we’re willing to point fingers at anyone and everyone else, as long as it’s not us.

It comes as no surprise that after creating our little villains in our houses and villages, we have no shame in blaming the government and calling for the resignation of individuals with absolutely no hand in the upbringing of our kids.

What a shame!

IEBC Will Fall, Kenya Will Not Change!

I said it before, and I will unequivocally reiterate it here again - for purposes of clarity, the CORD led anti-IEBC protests are not going to end anytime soon. Not by a long shot!

Going by the (unconfirmed) shooting to death of 3 (peaceful) protesters in the streets of Homa Bay, 3 in Kisumu and 2 in Siaya, it is evidently clear even to a blind person that the police (or government if you may) has clearly doused the flames of discontent in gasoline. Political emotions have reached fever pitch in CORD strongholds, especially in Luo Nyanza.

Kenya will get treated to the unfortunate sights (and sounds) of chaos every other Monday of the week. Until something gives!

It is inconsequential how much the Jubilee government buries its head in the sand, hoping against hope that the demos will miraculously fizzle out like the Okoa Kenya referendum. CORD has already tasted the bitter outcome of failing spectacularly in their Saba Saba attempt to marshal ‘the mother of all rallies’ to march to statehouse (if Jubilee did not yield to their calls for dialogue). As if that was not enough, their Okoa Kenya bid and the Firimbi movement storm in a teaspoon fell flat on their face due to haphazard planning and execution.

Buoyed by the success of their call for resignation of Anne Waiguru and other Cabinet Secretaries implicated in graft and financial impropriety, CORD has been spoiling for a fight. And knowing how indefatigable CORD leader, Raila Odinga is, it is a matter of make or break. Actually, CORD is very content with the constant teargassing, the police brutality on protesters and the killing of demonstrators every Monday. It is what they want. It is sensational and it satiates the hunger for political prominence and relevance. Without bloodshed, demonstrations (or reformist revolutions if you want) are generally futile and devoid of melodrama.

UhuRuto cannot just wish this one away. This is here to stay! And unfortunately, the longer it plays out, the more it succeeds in portraying the Jubilee government (to the international community) as tyrannical and anti-reformist.

For the soft spoken Isaac Hassan and his beleaguered contingent of IEBC commissioners, there is definitely no escaping this either. You must be dispensed with; courtesy of raw power politics of Kenya. You may have or have not eaten the wings the chicken, but that is inconsequential now. It is not about you. This is nothing personal. It is politics, Kenyan style. Your performance is being cancelled and as such, you will have to eventually bow out of the stage and lick your wounds as Jubilee ponders on where to repost you. Either from CORD or Jubilee, you will buckle under pressure. Whichever way you are out! And even if you leave office due to pressure from Jubilee, CORD will still have to take the glory of ‘fighting for the transformation of the electoral body’

In the wake of this power-play, and as is the wont, when two giants duel, the grass must bear the brunt. The grass here is Kenya and Kenyans. As it is the citizens are already paying the ultimate price with their lives and property. This fight is not about having the interests of Kenyans at heart. If it were, the stakeholders would be worried about the measures to put in place once Isaac and his team vacate office. 

The forest might change, but the monkeys will remain the same

The kind of solution suggested by CORD to have political representatives appointed into the commission is short-lived, parochial and does not hold any water.  For one, it seeks to safeguard (individual) interests of political parties (and their individual patrons) instead of thinking about the future of Kenya when all these parties will have disintegrated down in the middle to form other political parties – which will in turn seek to also safeguard their own interests in that future by having their own set of representatives in the commission.

What are the chances of CORD or Jubilee sticking it out five years down the line? Very slim! What happens in that future when alliances will have disintegrated to form other unholy alliances? Another round of spirited efforts to have new representatives of new political outfits into the new electoral commission!

A monkey is still a monkey

A costly affair it will be. And how does having a representative from CORD or Jubilee or any other ragtag political vehicle ensure that the said political representatives are not compromised, just like their predecessors? It does not! Few Kenyans have the capacity to say no to chicken, especially when presented with the juiciest part. In which case, the electoral body will still remain at the beck and call of the deepest pockets in Kenya. A monkey is still a monkey; and a Kenyan is still Mkenya!

But hey, IEBC must go home; because baba has said so! More importantly, it is because it is under tight grips of Jubilee. For Jubilee, CORD must follow the constitution in ejecting the IEBC out of office. That they have been compromised is irrelevant to Jubilee. More importantly, it is because Jubilee has bought favour in the commission.

Let the teargas continue to rain on Monday.