Nothing works in Kenya, despite all the denials

In the Book of Genesis, God said, let there be light, and there was light. Let there be darkness, and there was darkness. Let there be the earth and heavens, and so was it. And He ordered things to happen as He desired. And they happened.

When we elected President Kibaki in December of 2002, his desire was to lead an economy that was growing at above 5% pa. He ordered Prof Anyang Nyongo, to play with the figures to ensure that the desired 5% economic growth was achieved. Anyang did his magic, played with the figures, and the envisaged 5% was realized.

Thereafter, the President has been mouthing the figures he desires, and they are always achieved, in paper. He recently said that he anticipates 6.2% economic growth for this year, and I doubt whether he will fail.

The beauty of all these falasies is that unlike in the times of creation, God said, let there be light and there was light. But our government gloats over impressive, or rather figures impressive to them, but we do not see the realities of those figures.

Nothing seems to work in Kenya. I will give a few areas I hold dear, areas which if they worked, the economist's imagination of a utopian Kenya in 2030 would be a reality. It will be like at creation time when things happened on order.

Roads; our roads are a mess. And this is a phenomenon capturing the entire country, but worse in Nairobi, the seat of this feel good government. If you took a drive through Eastleigh, you would think you are in outer Mongolia. Our road engineers maybe forgot how roads are built and maintained. And they earn their salaries every month.

Traffic Management; No traffic lights seems to work in Nairobi. You will always find traffic policemen manning most round abouts. The funny thing always is that the traffic police who are meant to man the traffic rules, always seem not to know the same rules they are enforcing. They are busy with bribe seeking at the detriment of enforcing the traffic rules.

Public Transport; Nairobi is the only City in the world without organized public transport. They killed our beloved Kenya Bus Service the moment they took charge. They then brought in funny personal transport companies to rake the dollars in Nairobi. We do not have options, so we must use their transport companies, however filthy they are, whatever they charge.

Rule of law; The president himself has perfected the disregard to the rule of law. Court orders mean nothing to him and his government. They even seek new legislation to circumvent the rule of law.

Regular Police; Our police force seem not to know the difference between citizens and criminals. They pursue safe citizens with more zeal, while criminals roam the streets killing, raping and maiming Kenyans. Does it make any sense to pursue bar patrons to ensure that the bars are closed at 11pm, while a stone throw away, some one who came from town late is being way laid by thugs? Where is the priority?

Storm Drainage; when it rains, you would not want to be in Nairobi. The City Centre becomes some massive ocean. You have to wad through water. This is because those charged with storming the drainage system do not do that. Maybe they do not know how to remove dirt from blocking the drainage system. And this is a working nation.

Shop Keepers; The shop keepers have forgotten about ethics. Prices of essential commodities are shooting daily without any corresponding wage increase. And apparently nobody talks on behalf of the common man in this working nation. Unga that used to cost Kshs 20.00 when we removed Moi from power in 2002, is no costing Kshs 70.00 or 80.00, 4 years down the line. And yet we have a super economist, whose desired economic target is always realized!

Commuter fares: Matatus and buses charge fares as they wish. If it rains, fares change. If it is Christmas time, fares change. And nobody bothers in this working government. Maybe, the plight of the common man is not common to the powers that be.

TV Stations; Our TV stations air programmes that leave you wondering who is the director of programmes there. You will see people making love on the screen in most of these funny music popular at those stations. Nobody bothers. Even the Managing Editors at the TV stations have joined the government in the feel good attitude, a world where you hear nothing, feel nothing and care less, so long as money comes in.

And that money is our tax.

What then works in Kenya? What exactly will make you vote back into office this feel good government?

Is it their zeal for corruption? Is that what you want as a decent, hard working, tax burdened Kenyan? I bet not.

Is it their zeal with promoting tribalism? Is it the kind of dalliance they are engaged in with Mungiki? Is it their I-dont-care attitude in disregarding the laws of the land?

What will make you vote for this government? What will prevent you from looking for a bridge to a better Kenya?

Odhiambo T Oketch
Komarock Nairobi