Kenya will remain poor because of the corruption and impunity

Very soon, we may get to know all the gory details about the Rio fiasco that saw our star athletes living in shoddy accommodation with no food or transport while some joyriders enjoyed five-star treatment at the Rio Olympics at the Kenyan public’s expense.

However, do not expect any heads to roll after this monumental cockup. Neither the government nor the anti-corruption commission, nor indeed the public’s disgust, is likely to dislodge the officials who ruined Kenya’s sporting image.

Yet there are people in Kenya who withdraw their children from primary school because they do not have Sh500 to buy uniforms. (If we are serious about free primary education, I would suggest that we abolish the mandatory wearing of uniforms and “extra-tuition fees” in primary schools so that those children whose parents cannot afford them can still send their children to school.)

There are university graduates in the country who resort to selling mitumba because they cannot get jobs. The small business of a young entrepreneurial man I know does not make him enough money to pay for a much-needed surgery that will cost Sh70,000.

These are honest, hard-working Kenyans who need a break in life, but they will probably never get it because our government is too busy taking care of the rich.

A young woman I know whom I would say is not particularly politically conscious, or even well read, recently said to me, “Kenya is only for the rich.”

Now if this woman, who has a reasonably well paid job but who is struggling with school fees in private schools for her two children (because the quality of education offered in most of our public schools has deteriorated), is feeling the pinch of the high cost of living, including artificially inflated school fees at private schools, then imagine what the average Kenyan must be feeling.

When the middle classes in a country become restive and disgruntled, the leadership should take note.

The country’s moral compass has not only shifted, it has disappeared completely. This was brought home to me recently by the blogger/columnist/cartoonist Patrick Gathara, who asked why President Uhuru Kenyatta has pledged public funds for the funeral of former Cabinet minister William ole Ntimama when the latter was known to be an extremely wealthy man.

PAID FOR FUNERAL

And why Kenyans paid for the funeral of former first lady Lucy Kibaki when her husband not only receives a very generous presidential pension, but is also one of the richest men in the country.

And why she merited a State funeral when she was neither a stateswoman nor a former president. (I am sure she herself would have not approved of a funeral paid for by taxpayers.)

And though he did not pledge public funds (he cannot because he is not in government), even Raila Odinga is reported to have volunteered to pay for Jacob Juma’s funeral, even though everyone knew that Juma was swimming in money.

Meanwhile, the Auditor General’s report, which consistently shows that at least a third of Kenya’s revenue cannot be accounted for every year and that some ministries are notorious for dubious and opaque procurement processes, barely makes it to the front pages of our newspapers.

It is as if we, including newspaper editors, have become numb to the looting.

Recently a few sceptical Kenyans have been querying where this public money has gone and whether it constitutes a war chest for the 2017 elections.
It certainly seems as if the Jubilee party is awash with cash, or knows where it can access it quickly. The gaudy display of the party’s shiny new Toyotas last week and the smug look on party officials’ faces point to a government that has lost touch with the people, most of whom cannot even afford a bicycle, let alone a car.

The Rio fiasco and other types of blatant looting of public coffers have underscored the short-sightedness and primitive accumulative tendencies of our leaders and public officials. They are the reason Kenya will remain a poor developing country.

As a wise person once said, “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars but where the rich use public transport.”

The insensitive and crude display of wealth by our political elite and the wanton and irresponsible use of public funds may come to haunt all of us some day.

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