Must we forever worship idols with feet of clay?

THIS MAY BE THE SEASON of goodwill and all things festive, but that notion might as well be as alien as life on Mars for us, given the political cloud that looms over us. Extraordinary circumstances call for exceptional responses. Can we rise to the occasion?

The choice is stark. We can continue to court destruction or systematically work at ending the misery once and for all. It is a no-brainer, really. You never get used to pain.

The survival instinct should be to confront it with all the artillery at our disposal. We have tried sedatives and handling political troublemakers with kid gloves, but it is now abundantly clear that we have to uproot the tree by its roots if we are to get rid of the rot.

That would take intense massaging of our moral constitution, not just the political one. Much as we desire an improved covenant, it is unlikely to stop hate speech, never-ending bickering and back-stabbing among politicians — whom we have given too much power over our lives.

This is the reality check: We are ending the year 2009 pretty much as we did last year, the year before it and the 20 years before that — with rogue politicians and their partners-in-crime holding the country hostage with a series of activities that can only spell shameless get-rich-quick schemes.

If we persist in doing business as usual, Kenya at 100 may still find us eating our children. This is outrageous, but not improbable, given how we love to run around in circles. Evolution suggests constant improvement of the prototype, yet we appear unable to break free of the past.

It boils down to an insatiable greed for money and power. In between jostling for headroom in the crowd and issuing threats, someone has somehow contrived to spirit away huge amounts meant for free primary education. Minister Sam Ongeri and PS Karega Mutahi call press conferences to sneer at critics.

Elsewhere, our Next Generation leaders spend Sh4 million of God-knows-whose-money to raise Sh3 million from the public for “elders” who never asked for charity in the first place. And it turns out that Parliament committed us to handing over Sh2 billion to dubious title-deed holders in the Mau.

We just do not know when to stop. The mere thought of such shenanigans should be enough to get the average citizen up in arms. What it does, instead, is turn too many of us into gulls.

If the national leadership is unwilling or unable to rein-in rogue politicians, sober citizens have a duty to fill the void and take back our country. But we can never bring down the Machiavellis in our midst if we are divided.

AS IT IS, WE ARE IN AN UNTENABLE situation. The Prime Minister is like a deer caught in the headlights and the President generally gives the impression of having gone away without official leave as the country grapples with each crisis. MPs rattle around the country rabble-rousing and the population is almost at the end of its tether.

We are good at mounting campaigns for endangered wildlife. We should do no less for those leaders who are valiantly trying to hang on to sense and sensibility in these trying times. Shout this from the rooftops today: “Hello there, holler back if you believe in principled leadership.”

We will have to reverse engineer the Kenyan politician and the idea of leadership if we are to get out of the rut. On average, people are expected to learn from their mistakes. Yet we routinely fall prey to a leadership style that is devoid of moral fibre. What is the use of a generational change if we continue dancing to the same tune?

We have codes of conduct and public officers paid handsomely to promote ethics, but leaders who care to listen are the exception rather than the rule.

The most steadfast soul in today’s catatonic political dispensation is Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka. His unshakeable faith in the parting of the Red Sea (to allow him to cross to the land of milk and honey without getting his pretty hands and feet wet) would be admirable were it not so escapist. Get some backbone, man.