NCPB saga is just a symbol of how deficient we are of honesty

The issue of non-payment of farmers by the National Cereals and Produce Board is not unique. Kenya has had problems with dishonesty since time immemorial. We have let it fester to the point that farmers, who work hard to feed us, are the first to be starved. It is a big shame and a stain on our collective conscience.

Here is my story on dishonesty. My first job was as support staff in the civil service. I looked forward to my first salary with much excitement but it was not to be. Nearly a year later, I was still living hand to mouth and, literary, at some point surviving on bread and water and facing eviction by my landlord because of rent arrears.

MISSING FILE

I was not a vagabond but a ‘paid’ civil servant whose salary just never came through. When I enquired, I was told that I needed to travel to the headquarters and demand my pay. I arrived in Nairobi on borrowed money only to be told that my file could not be found! Little did I know file disappearing was euphemism for bribe!

But what did my innocent, young, trusting self know? I went back to my rented room to wait for my file to resurface the following month. Naturally, it never did. Nearly a year later and I was still out of pocket and starving. Not that I was in a famine but in an employment where some individuals felt they had the power to eschew earnings of their fellow employees.

LEGITIMATE ACTION

After many empty promises, I dragged myself back to the headquarters and demanded to know exactly what was going on. Of course, I was told my file was still missing. I had had enough of it by then. I wandered up the lift to the highest floor looking for any senior person to help me.

I knocked on the first promising office and, as luck would have it, got an audience with an under-secretary. After hearing my predicament, he became furious. With one phone call from him, voila! my file mysteriously appeared and I went home that day with my paycheque in full. Thank you again, whoever you are.

Years later is when I learnt that many other Kenyans have suffered this way in the hands of corrupt individuals. File disappearing is just corruption lingo to get you to part with money and desperate Kenyans are forced to accept it as legitimate action.

MINIMUM WAGE

I would later file a case in court and, having heard nothing for a couple of years, I inquired, only to be told that the file has disappeared too. As if that is not bad enough, you hear of cases of under-paid lawyers selling files to opponents in a case. Fake title deeds and academic certificates have become an acceptable new normal.

For a long time, the NSSF was notorious for losing files of those who put their life savings in the State pension fund. People have died waiting for their pension file to appear. How low could we stoop! We just have no compassion.

Free labour is not a problem in the public service alone. It is not uncommon to hear of those who work for the minimum wage fleeced by their employers despite putting in the hours. Yet again, another coach of the national football team is lamenting lack of payment.

WITHOUT BLINKING

Only recently, a prominent lawyer was taken to court by an employee who hadn’t received a salary for the many years worked at the law firm. I can attest to it as I was once paid by a top law firm with just a day’s matatu fare, at Sh300, after a month of legal work for the company. That is Sh10 a day — for all my years of study and experience!

We con one another unashamedly, without blinking. Artistes have been left high and dry by promoters who, after pocketing concert fees, disappear into thin air without settling the performer’s pay.

People in the diaspora have shed many a tear, having been defrauded by Kenyans (even relatives) whom they’d entrusted with management of their projects. They return later and realise that the photo of the “villa” they paid to be built for their retirement ‘back home’ was photoshopped and their millions of shillings squandered on meaningless stuff. The list goes on.

FINANCIAL TORTURE

Employers not paying is simply slavery. NCPB not paying farmers is a classic Kenyan case of impunity. If there was any justice in the world of NCPB, payment to farmers would have been prioritised over that of faceless traders. I, therefore, disagree with President Uhuru Kenyatta only making threats to the agency. It just won’t do.

This is a clear case of serious criminality and those behind the psychological and financial torture of the poor farmers need to be hauled to court. Getting rid of corruption means dealing ruthlessly with the perpetrators — as a deterrent.

This is where we, perhaps, need proper education on what integrity is about. In any other name, integrity is just honesty and we must inculcate it from school age. Installing digital record management systems in our institutions would greatly reduce fraud. Consistency in tackling corruption would also help Kenyans to access services with ease and less frustration.

Ms Guyo is a legal researcher. [email protected].