JEXJALUO ****
Our president must act now
As of April 2, 2003, the NARC government has been
in office for a total of
115 days. If you account for the New Year's holidays and Easter Weekend
(less
Saturday and Sunday), NARC has only 2 (two) days to accomplish some
milestones it promised Kenyans on the eve of the 2002 elections.
To be fair, we cannot expect the President to accomplish all that was
promised by his lone self. We however, do expect him to formulate a serious
team that will not let him and his coalition party down. It is mainly on
this
backdrop that this short piece is based upon.
NARC promised the Kenyan populace a distinctively different path than the
one
that has squandered our national resources, institutionalized corruption
and
legitimized ethnic and political eliminations. If that was not enough, Kenya
was given a promise that we would have a new constitution in place within
100
days. No soothsayer will convince Kenyans that this will happen in the next
couple of days, or indeed in the next week or month.
In the recent past, we have witnessed discontent from various quarters,
including NARC itself, where different political entities have expressed
displeasure in political and public appointments, government priorities
and
public policy. This can be expected in a culture trying to promote
self-reliance and accountability. The discontent is largely based on the
lack
of transparency and the apparent assumption that Kenyans cannot see through
the smoke screen being put up to hide the obvious. It might be a good idea
for those that have assumed office to take note that KANU was displaced
because of the same devious tactics they are trying to re-invent. Insistence
on these tricks will result in changes before they realize it.
The over-riding issue that concerns most Kenyans though, is the ease with
which the various political divides have in compromising their differences
in
order to reward themselves. It seems very hard for this same group of people
to agree on compensation for teachers, policemen and other suffering civil
servants, especially if they have to do it in the next 2 days. That is why
NARC should be very concerned.
Doubt abounds whether the unanimous support to boost millionaires' salaries
and to flatter them with Kshs. 3 million cars will be replicated in other
issues where the common mwananchi stands to gain. Let us also qualify this
by
understanding that some senior ministers and parastatal heads in the new
government are recycled material that never had the wherewithal to stop
the
previous two administrations from their excesses.
President Mwai Kibaki should immediately arrest the situation before it
gets
any worse. Any MP salary increases should be shelved until the more urgent
issues that concern wananchi are addressed. In particular, no motion in
parliament, including the now urgent measures to hike MPs' benefits should
precede the Constitutional Review, the National Reconciliation Effort and
the
various promises made to teachers, health workers, police force and other
civil servants that are the backbone of our country.
Let us face it: Anybody that can afford to run a parliamentary or national
campaign for office is doing much better than 98% of the Kenyan populace.
How
is it that this 2% takes precedence over the overwhelming majority of
Kenyans? NARC has embarked on a very inauspicious start to its regime, which
it may never recover from.
Kenyans want a focused and responsible leadership towards a renaissance
of
Kenya. Ignoring wananchi cannot be good for a government that was charged
with this responsibility. President Kibaki, you must come out strongly and
lead your troops that seem to be blundering at every opportune time. Every
one of them (appointed officials) is dispensable because they report to
you
as Head of State; hence, since the public is losing confidence in them,
you
must reassure us that we are not being led by a bunch of people that are
only
worried about filling their stomachs. The reassurance we want will be in
the
form of solid and identifiable actions that alleviate hunger, poverty,
disease and unemployment. Nothing less.
Kind Regards,
Frank Mwaniki
Ka in gi mari moro ma di wandik ka to orni
Akelo,Nyar
Kager
jaluo@jaluo.com
Daher
winjo dwondi in bende, iwinjo?
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