Our rotten VIP culture to blame for death of innocents in Garissa siege

Shame on you, Col (rtd) Rogers Mbithi. You freely admit that while our children were being mercilessly slaughtered on the cold floor of Elgon Hostel in Garissa, the plane that would have sent help their way was fully occupied ferrying your relatives from Mombasa.

“There is nothing to hide,” you told the Nation. “(The plane) came back with (my daughter-in-law) and two small children. I took full responsibility and explained that.”

You should explain, too, how you will live with your conscience for the rest of your life when you are willing – and not for the first time as we saw from evidence on social media – to use critical security equipment to entertain your family on trips to the Coast.

LAX APPROACH

Yet, of course, Col Mbithi is not alone in taking an exceedingly lax approach to public resources.

The VIP culture in the country is one of the biggest drains of taxpayer funds and a direct contributor to the death of so many innocents.
Two weeks after the terrible massacre in Garissa, minister Joseph Nkaissery and police chief Joseph Boinnet are yet to offer Kenyans an explanation as to why they decided to fly to Garissa many hours before the elite commando unit which ended the siege.

Why do leaders take such a casual approach to the jobs given to them? And how is it that the Kenyan elite is so happy to conspicuously consume public resources while offering taxpayers very little in return, a culture which manifested itself so clearly during the Garissa attack?

When a minister or MP plans to fly to Mombasa – on first class tickets, of course – their drivers and bodyguards normally have to drive the 480 kilometres down to the Coast so that when Mheshimiwa arrives on the plane, his convoy will be standing by to ferry them to a five star hotel.

FIVE STAR HOTEL

Remember the ludicrous standoff when Moses Wetang’ula felt he was so important that airport security rules did not apply to him? His explanation for why he did not have an ID was that his driver had driven down to Mombasa and taken it with him.

Why cannot these worthies simply hire a car in Mombasa and get some local security if that’s absolutely necessary?

In his time in the Cabinet in the Daniel Moi years, Uhuru Kenyatta made headlines for his modesty and frugality, even initially insisting on continuing to use his VW Golf vehicle and avoiding stretch limousines.

Kenyatta seems to have forgotten this humble approach to public office, cruising around nowadays in 20-vehicle convoys. Yet, at his level, he sets the tone for all those below him.

This rotten VIP culture was on vivid display in Col Mbithi’s admission that a police plane was used to transport his relations even as the Garissa siege unfolded.

(READ: Airwing chiefs grilled over corruption claims)

Here is a man to whom Kenya has been exceedingly kind. Not too many people rise to the level of colonel in the military. Even after leaving the security forces, he landed a cushy job as commandant of the air wing.

But still, he feels that he is so important that he should not be bothered to purchase air tickets for his relatives to travel to Mombasa.

One can only imagine the pain of the grieving parents who have been reading all these revelations over the past fortnight.

Imagine the agony of a mother whose daughter called them at 7 a.m. and, seven hours later, called again to say the Shabaab gunmen had reached their cubicle and now it was time to say goodbye.

SHABAAB GUNMEN

All this while our bumbling security forces were sending ministers and police chiefs to the ground while the Recce team – mobilised and briefed on the crisis at 6 a.m. – was still stuck in Nairobi.

Then you have the likes of Col Mbithi freely admitting that the plane which eventually delivered the commandos to the ground was on a family jaunt.

It is a national tragedy.

In any properly functional country there would have been numerous resignations after the scandal that was the Garissa attack, including by all those who failed to take decisions to better secure a facility which was such a soft target in that region.

But this is Kenya. Where life goes on no matter what.

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