Anti-graft war frustrating, but we must never give up

What you need to know:

  • We may have to be careful not to devolve corruption.
  • The fight must go on though.

Over the last five or so years, I have repeated one or two things in this column and it seems to me that I may have to keep doing it.

The first concept that I have mentioned and repeated before is that in this country there are people who understand government as a cake that must be eaten in the here and now by those who are near.

I wonder if the current argument about a Sh17 billion — or is it 28 billion? — hospital renovation is about that kind of mentality.

A hospital is usually about the good of humanity. Here the most important issue seems to be a deal that did not go as intended. We have heard of many other such instances.

One time it is about free primary education, another time it is boreholes and the provision of water, another time it is about land.

Let us not forget that the promised laptop project has not taken off two years later due to procurement issues. The litany is long and I am sure there are people among us who have information about many such.

DEVOLVE CORRUPTION

Another thing I have said before is that while devolving power is such an important constitutional requirement, we may have to be careful not to devolve corruption at the same time.

Since the coming of the county governments we have seen and heard many things.

Governors and other county officers are even being taken to court over procurement issues or other forms of corruption.

Whichever way one looks at it, there must have been some intention of corruption by someone in the manner in which the Moi Referral Hospital incident was handled.

At one time I also talked about the merger between old money and new money.

This was the time of the coalition government when people of very different political and economic backgrounds were forced to “share a loaf”.

Even before then we had seen associations and disassociations among our politicians that were sometimes bringing together very strange bedfellows.

Indeed our politics has seen very many turns and twists choreographed by our political class. Some of these marriages have been about power but I am sure there are some others that had monetary considerations.

One might ask themselves how good the argument between the Deputy President and the former Prime Minister is for the fight against corruption.

The fundamental question is why all these revelations about the Hospital came out.

Was it truly about the fight against corruption or was it a case of people who also wanted to be corrupt but did not manage? I am sure many of us will never know. The fight must go on though.

Fr Wamugunda is dean of students, University of Nairobi; [email protected]