Michael Mundia Kamau P

Michael Mundia Kamau P.O. Box 58972 00200 City Square Nairobi Kenya 29th May 2004 ZERO GOVERNANCE The announcement of the appointment of a Kenyan zero-tolerance anti-corruption commission by President Mwai Kibaki is another bizarre effort to buy time by the NARC government, now living on borrowed time. The announcement of the commissions’ appointment is being made when revelations are emerging on the luxurious expenditure by the unproductive Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC), which in proportional terms, exceeds the budgets of the much more productive Kenyan corporate sector. The ongoing Goldenberg Commission of Inquiry into gross financial misconduct, was also the subject of a 2003 circular from the Head of Civil Service, asking for a reduction in expenditure and costs. Other than being the subject of media frenzy and drama, the wide array of expensively constituted commissions are yet to justify their existence and bear fruit. It is apparent that there no real desire for true change in Kenya. The actions by the present government are geared towards protecting certain minority interests. Rebellious behaviour is currently rife in Kenya, a reaction to this intransigent and insensitive behaviour from the administration. A brand new fleet of luxury vehicles for cabinet ministers was ordered by the NARC government soon after it’s ascension to power, despite an already existing and relatively new fleet. The fate of the old fleet, it’s disposal or otherwise, is yet to be made public. A newly constituted NARC dominated parliament, also moved quickly to secure generous packages for parliamentarians which includes a US $ 41,250 grant per member of parliament, for the purchase of a motor vehicle of choice. These are undertakings funded by Kenyan tax payers, the Kenyan tax payer who on 1st May 2004, received a paltry 11% wage increment on already severely strained incomes. The Planning Minister announced that the Kenyan economy grew by 1.3 % in the year 2003, which effectively means that fewer opportunities were created for the majority that support the minority. The ruling elite in Kenya have the privilege of legislating financial gain in their favour, which leaves the majority in a desperate state of abandonment. This is the reason behind the current widespread industrial unrest across Kenya. Thinning patience is being fuelled by continued opulence and excesses on the part of the NARC government, to the point that the Secretary General of Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU), has made a reckless, illegal call for factories to be razed down by retrenched workers. 2003 was wasted by homecoming parties, accusations of corruption in government, constitutional review infighting, insistent harping about the implementation of free primary education and clashes over a private treaty known to the Kenyan public as Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This cost Kenya the chance to surge forward and quadruple the modest 2003 1.3 % economic growth. These are the issues that should be dominating public attention in Kenya and not the appointment of unnecessary and costly commissions of inquiry. It is clear that Kenya is in need of fresh leaders, fresh direction, fresh values and a fresh way of thinking. The performance of the NARC government so far, proves this. There is no fresh infusion, other than a perpetration of old and detested values. In the week of 23rd May 2004, the public registered shock and dismay at the discovery of butchered foetuses in a country rife with nudity, fornication, adultery and churchgoers. The irony is that leading figures in the current NARC administration have contributed to this situation through alleged links with Nairobi’s red light Koinange street, yet no action has been taken. This is precisely the point. The NARC administration has not taken action on leading figures in government that have been implicated in massive corruption, save for low key bureaucrats. This situation will not be remedied by commissions of inquiry. We can no longer pretend that this country is not faced with serious problems. We can no longer pretend that this country is not in the midst of a serious crisis. The time for fresh leaders and majority rule in Kenya is ripe, rule that addresses the needs of the vast majority of our people. Elite Kenya is shamelessly living off the sweat of the vast majority of impoverished Kenyans, and this is wrong by any standard of measurement. As is put by Waweru Mburu of Radio Citizen, there are only two tribes in Kenya, the rich and the poor. The interests of poor Kenyans are not under threat, because they do not exist. Great contemporary leaders like Jomo Kenyatta, Everlyn Baring, Nelson Mandela, Fredrick de Klerk, Mao Tse Tung and Fidel Castro, emerged from pressing needs brought about by the times they lived in. Kenya’s Nation Media Group’s “Outlook” recently carried a classic 1972 photograph of Mzee Kenyatta and former Governor Everlyn Baring taken at State House, Nairobi, that indeed spoke a thousand words. It is amongst other things, a fusion of two times, two worlds, two different ways of thinking, and two men that made history possible. Mzee Kenyatta appears to be saying “Eat your heart out !”, while Governor Baring appears to be saying “These things happen”. Daniel arap Moi has long and unjustifiably been regarded as the Governor Baring of ven if this may be so, the Mzee Kenyatta of our time is yet to evolve. Michael Mundia Kamau