I have followed the debates in our local Newspapers in the recent past especially those debates touching on Performance contracts, Mau Forest evictions, school unrests etc with mixed feelings of sorrow and disdain for our beloved country Kenya.
I am saying with mixed sorrow because the way our leaders, especially the elected ones whether as MP’s or those elected to represent various professional Associations or Unions are behaving, portray a sad scene and narrows our focus on handling national issues with the openness of mind and grasp of facts as they are stated.
Take the issue of Mau Forest for example; it is common knowledge to all Kenyans that this is the largest water tower in Eastern Africa and several rivers feeding Lake Victoria originate from here. Any interference with this catchment means putting millions of people, wildlife and Marine lives into a state of jeopardy. Egypt relies solely on the river Nile as its source of drinking and irrigation water. If the lake is not able to sustain itself through the Feeder Rivers that originate from Mau and other catchment areas, it naturally means that the other dependants of the lake through the rivers such as Nile will suffer.
It is not too late to reverse the damage already done to the Mau forest by the past government; the current government seems ready to take the bull by its horns once and for all. It has shown that it is possible to salvage the damage done and restore the forest back to its feet and is even willing to take the onus of settling all the illegal squatters currently living in land hived off the forest. A good gesture indeed that should be appreciated by all.
I do not see a better way a government can serve its purpose other than marshal all in its wake and fight the challenges of global warming by replenishing a dying international heritage. Despite all these, there are people who for pure selfish reasons have by design refused to believe that this issue, hot as it is, is worth undertaking because it is going to interfere with their constituents… (read here the people who got me the job as an MP etc). What else would you say of a university educated legislator, well informed and savvy about environmental issues but refuses to engage in serious discourse and simply grumbles about an issue as serious as global warming?
The other lot are those who think that performance contracts are supposed to send employees home when they don’t perform to expectations. Whose idea is this if I may ask and who tells you that if you don’t meet your targets then you are fired? There are always genuine reasons that can make a person not to meet the targets and these could be both internal and external factors. A good example is the post election political upheavals that faced the country; it means that for a good part of the first quarter of year 2008 most targets could not be met due to a lot of insecurity and displacements etc. Some internal reasons could be funding problems or lack of necessary resources to undertake the tasks earmarked in the contract.
There is no better way for an institution or a person to show what they have been doing over a period unless they state what it is they want to do over the same period and work towards achieving that. In other words set targets for your work. World trends are catching up with us and if we truly want to achieve our blueprint of growth and development as envisioned in the 2030 document then this is the stage to start from. Whether you are a teacher, doctor, driver or judge of the High Court, the times have caught up with us, we just can’t hide under any other guise. Sign contracts now.
Now it is the talk on where the perpetrators of the post election violence that rocked the country should be tried. Groups have emerged supporting either the Hague option, Local tribunal as suggested by Waki and even the Truth and Reconciliation modelled alongside the S.African version. The people of Kenya who have suffered most in all these are now held captive by Selfish leaders who do little but defend their own interests. The leadership of our country currently steered by a duo in the form of Kibaki and Riala are themselves torn apart between party loyalty and duty to nation. It is quite sad that the cabinet which is meant to be a collective think tank and highest decision maker has openly defied the principals on almost all matters that in the past and currently need consensus to enable the nation move forward. Then there is the parliament, made up of hyena in the name of Hon members. These are the worst lot...more like Assasins for hire, they are bought left and right both within and without the precints of the August house...they will do duty to the highest bidder.
But all these objections to whatever the government wants to do can be achieved if an element of iron hand is employed to steer the projects on the tracks, push them several kilometers of the rail and then once momentum is picked let to roll down easily. Kenyans will always hide in democratic rights but we must realize that too much democracy breeds democrazy people. People must be cajoled and threatened and sometimes made to do things they don’t like as long as the results anticipated will help save the country or mankind.
Take a family comprised of father, mother and children, the children always want their way in all things and if given a chance would neither undertake any chores nor even attend school. All of us were forced to wake up in cold weather, sometimes in rain, bathe with cold water and trek several kilometers to school. I know if I were given a choice I would say to hell with school and stay at home. But our parents were firm in the knowledge that this was going to shape our futures and more importantly put food on our tables and make us better people. Many a times we were flogged and then frog-marched to school and handed over to teachers for further discipline. If our top leaders listen to these opposing voices and give them a chance to operate; we will forever remain hungry and worthless.
Together we should stand up in solidarity and develop our country through painful and hard decisions so that our children and grand children will rejoice in the knowledge that we sacrificed a little and used steely measures to make them comfortable. Above all we shall have done a commendable duty before God and mankind! Does the saying “nothing comes easy” come to mind?
