I believe everyone of us have their own idea of paradise. In my case it would be a secluded island with clean beaches and crystal clear waters where I could just while away my time reading books and watching the waves. I have to say that there is something therapeutic about the ocean. The same goes for our country Kenya, in as much as it is corruption ridden and almost everything seems not to work right. I would like to believe that every one of us has a vision of the kind of Kenya that they want or would like to see.
Here are my 5 cents on this;
Accountable Leaders
In Kenya we have a crop of leaders who feel that they are only accountable to themselves and their party leaders and not the citizenry who elected them. This has seen these leaders behave with impunity from inciting the populace to violence, outright corruption among other ills. These leaders only come back to the citizenry during the election season as is the case right now. Case in point I have never seen nor heard from the Senator or the Member of Parliament for my area of residence 5 years down the line.
I would like to see servant leaders who understand that they are employed by the people who elected them. Consultative leaders who actually take time and listen to what the people have to say and act accordingly.
A good example of such a leader is Hon. Kenneth Okoth, the MP for Kibra constituency. When others have been busy politicking, he has been hard at work developing the community that he represents and this has seen his constituency win various awards for the good work done. If we had more of such leaders, I dare say Kenya would go far.
Corruption free country
Corruption can be described as dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. The “Kitu Kidogo” culture has become so common place in our society that we have accepted it as a normal occurrence. Yet it is not and should not be!!!
According to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Kenya is losing about Ksh. 608 Billion every year to corruption which is basically a third of the budget which is in the range of 2 trillion shillings. In the past people used to steal in millions now they have graduated to billions and it has reached a point the we have become desensitized to the amounts involved. The sad thing is that these thieves never get persecuted.
If all this money was properly utilized just imagine how far we would be as a country. We could have free medical care, free and quality education, good roads among other nice things and our leaders would not saddle us with huge amounts of unnecessary debt.
Rule of law
This is basically the principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced, the principle of government by law.
This is ideally how things are supposed to be but in this our motherland how much money or influence you have is what determines whether you will follow the law or not. This has seen some of the rich and well connected act with impunity simply because they feel protected from persecution. These are the people who grab other peoples property and even evict them, cart away billions of taxpayers money in gurney bags and even cause deaths on the road due to reckless driving among other misdeeds.
On the other hand the poor are judged guilty until proven innocent in the eyes of the law. This has seen hundreds of young men in the poor neighborhoods fall victim to arbitrary arrests and even killings because when you are poor who will speak up for you.
I would like to see a Kenya where everybody is subject to the law regardless of their social status. A country where the poor and the rich are equal in the eyes of the law.
Negative ethnicity
Ethnicity can be described as the state of belonging to a social group that has a common cultural tradition. Ethnicity in itself is actually a good thing in that due to our different cultures and traditions we all have something different to offer.
Think of how boring this world would be if we were all the same. In Kenya, we have the Luos with their swag, the Kikuyus with their biashara mentality, the Luhyas with their love for tea and ingokho and many other examples. Our differences are what makes Kenya such a vibrant nation and makes us stronger as a nation.
Negative ethnicity which pits one tribe against the other is perpetuated by our politicians for their own gain. They have simply perfected the art of divide and rule which was used to subjugate and colonize Africans. They do this to ensure that they hold on to power and act with impunity knowing fully well that their tribes will protect them using the tired line “Our community is being targeted.” Note that when it comes to “eating”, our leaders forget about tribe and eat together up till election time and that is when the show begins.
If we as Kenyans refuse to be polarized by selfish politicians the country will surely be better for not only will we be able to hold them accountable but the future generations will have a better place to live in.
We will be having a twitter chat on Monday 29th May 2017 to discuss “The Kenya I Want” and more, join us on the hashtag #WajibuWangu.