Kenya: Robert Mugabe has been so demonised by the Western world that Africans have also started to sing the same tune. African leaders have been heard to condemn Bob, as he is fondly known, to the extent that they lose sight of their own excesses.
But when you look at the African political landscape you realise that comrade Bob is in good company from Pretoria to Cairo. The guy may have become senile, but he has done much more than all current Kenyan parliamentarians put together.
Mugabe repossessed the fertile lands long held by the British who were treating the natives as if they were aliens in their own land. The idea was noble but the methodology may have been the problem as there was no structural or even legal framework for it. However, he has a large Zimbabwean constituency behind him.
The Kenyan MPs pretend to know nothing beyond their mostly distended bellies and upturned noses. Now they want to wriggle out of the ‘state officers’ bracket so that they cannot be checked. How cunning! They have been accused of being in the business of the ‘stomach’ and have even complained over this ‘slur’ but have not done much to change their habits. Their foremost uniting factor is salary and control of CDF.
On legislation, they’ve become trivial and partisan to the extent that there is rarely intellectual or objective debate and most only articulate their party bosses’ views on practically every bill. Governors, senators and county representatives are doing a good job catching up with the MPs. Are they really any different from Mugabe? The guy is a saint.
However it should be noted that there are a few good guys in there whose voices get lost in the cacophony during debates and salary agitation sessions.
These good men and women will forever be lumped together with the rest because they recoil when the public needs them most.
{Titus Ndege Pala, Migori}
Latest reports have indicated that MPs are preparing ground for the amendment of Article 260 of the Constitution, a move that would see them take full control of their remuneration affairs. A bill, which will be given first priority when House resumes from recess on September 3, has been finalised.
The bill seeks to cripple the powers of Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). Besides the MPs, the bill seeks to exempt judges and magistrates, the offices of the DPP, IGP and county assemblies from being listed as state officers.
The new development comes only weeks after a series of public protests were organised by the civil society to protest MPs greed.
In one of the protests, the activists poured blood and unleashed piglets outside Parliament.
If past experience is anything to go by, chances are high the bill will sail through. If this happens, the move would deal a devastating blow to the SRC. What then would be its purpose?
Clearly, the new push by the MPs is not in the public interest. It is ill-advised and depicts them as a selfish and greedy lot.
{Joseph Mutua Ndonga, Nairobi}
