25 April 2011
editorial
Nairobi — For far too long MPs have been accused of corruption every time there’s a vote on a crucial Bill or Motion. And the response has been almost canonical: Show us the evidence.
Now we have it on record from a former MP, and the evidence is as unnerving as it is telling. Mr Joe Khamisi, former Bahari MP, umasks the deceit in our politics in his autobiography, Politics of Betrayal: Diary of a Kenyan Legislator.
What’s most worrying is that our politics revolves around an evil axis of money, patronage and tribalism. The national greed for money makes Kenyans vote for the highest bidder every five years.
And when the moneymen get elected, they immediately start canvassing for deals to recoup the costs of election and prepare for the next battle.
This explains why the country is in a permanent election campaigns mode, and why there can never be any meaningful discourse on political change.
Patronage has seen party leaders swarm Parliament with sycophants; the so-called honourable men who have no higher calling than their masters’.
This group poses the biggest threat to our national aspirations and, unfortunately, it has the numbers.
The situation is compounded by tribalism, where every party leader turns personal problems into community crises to be fought by every loyal tribesman or woman.
This points to a Parliament that is vulnerable to manipulation and calls for radical change.
Yet, as shown by the response to the new Constitution and revised Standing Orders, legislation alone cannot enforce conduct. Systems and processes do.
Perhaps it’s time to focus on the individual to redeem the institution – the same way we are vetting judges for a robust efficient Judiciary.
It may not lock out all the charlatans, but it would fill the politcal system with many good men and women.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Follow this link:
After Judges, Let’s Vet Our Political Aspirants