MPs overlook citizens' struggles in favour of partisan, selfish interests

 

National Assembly in session during the approval of Deputy President Elect nominee Prof  Kithure  Kindiki at the Parliament building, Nairobi. October 18, 2024. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Parliamentarians, unable to answer the people’s real questions, have resorted to setting their own questions; marking them themselves, awarding themselves, crowning themselves the best in Africa, and giving themselves a holiday! Who asked the Deputy President question? Not the people. The people ask questions on the choking cost of living, joblessness, corruption, and insecurity. They remain unanswered as parliamentarians manufactured questions of their own. The Deputy President's answer is not the answer to development questions.

The eloquence displayed in the Senate reveals that Kenya is not lacking in bright minds. Our true poverty lies in the fact that these minds have lost their independence—they have become intellectual mercenaries. They do not think unless they smell a cheque. If only they could regain their independence! If only they could outwit Mammon, their master! Then they would reunite with imagination to freely envision what Kenya could and should be. They would wrestle—not for clients, but for conscience. They would operate in that priceless zone—where beautiful thoughts are born but never for sale.

But far from here are the chanting and shouting characters in Parliament. What is wrong with them? Even when you have been bought, and when you must impress your boss, you can do so while still maintaining some decorum. If you are hired to remove your shirt, do not proceed to remove your shorts! These elected men and women use the fanaticism highway to bypass the intellectual expressway. Who elected them? We did, and how we regret it! They definitely no longer wake up to serve us; they have since found other masters who have given them new duties. One of the qualifications of their new mandate is that in any place where reason appears, they must lower their dark glasses and claim not to see. Wisdom is their enemy. Their mantra is, “I do not care if I look foolish as long as I’m rich”.

What happens when professionals—lawyers, engineers, accountants—become politicians? If Kenya’s intellectual stock was free, we would have long picked up our mart and walked! Something bad that is uniquely Kenyan sterilizes intellect—so that it bears crude fruit. How else would you explain the ease with which bright minds go full lights towards blindness? These same individuals, placed in another country, would likely become Nobel Peace Prize or Pulitzer Award nominees. Yet, within Kenya’s boundaries, this intellectual prowess is reduced to actors in self-serving political theatrics.

It is this condition of intellectual mercenarism, intellectual blindness and intellectual sterilization that Gen Z sought and still seeks to heal. Their proposed remedy for the malady? Truth. Their diagnosis is that we have resources but no values. Resources without values as guardrails go wild. And wild we are!

Gen Z recognises that without a solid moral foundation, our society becomes chaotic. This new generation understands that true progress cannot be achieved through material gain alone; it requires a commitment to the principles that foster humaneness. On the surface, values may seem like they are for the weak. Those who think this way often deem values as constraints. However, a closer look at life reveals that values are the wings to freedom. To mock values is to laugh at life—and to kiss fulfillment goodbye. Values are a force that even vices learn to respect. Vices may come and go, but values outlast the most vicious of vices. It may be a vice world, but it caves in for a values eternity. Embracing values is not a limitation; it is an invitation to live authentically and fully.

Truth matters

One critic of the impeachment motion questioned its authenticity: Was it based on truth? Some have said that true or not, it doesn’t matter—what matters is what gets the task done! However, going by the Bible verses quoted in the proceedings, we must maintain that truth matters. Interestingly, God’s word was used by both the proposers and the opponents of the motion. What does that say about God’s word? There are the sentences, and then there is the spirit of the text. Beyond the spirit of the text is the reality that the text itself is Spirit. The Spirit does not have multiple interpretations—only a singular interpretation in any situation. That interpretation is the truth.

In the Senate, both the text and the spirit of the text were manipulated, but the Spirit that is the text was dodged. The Spirit that is the text would ask: “What does God want us to do?” This can be reframed into the question, “What is the loving thing to do?” If this question had been asked, then the outcome would have been strikingly different. They used the text to support their biases. They could not dare face the Spirit that is the text—why? Because that would mean betraying the Master to whose service they have dedicated their intellect. All the eloquence is aimed to please a man! This ultimately displeases God.

The inclusion of sacred texts to fortify political gain may make the user feel as if they were consistent with God’s work but the fact is that there is a disconnect between true faith and political ambition. When leaders prioritize their own interests over divine guidance, they fail both their constituents and their Creator. The winner is the one they are working for. A close look at the Kenyan moral terrain reveals that integrity does not imply rightness—it implies loyalty. But even after getting the big cheque for the legal services, the hired cannot keep up with the weight of the lies—they either turn into imps or lip out of the deception business. After some time, the liar realizes that as they lie, they are lying to themselves too—lies lie to the liar too.

We can count on Parliament to carry out its business, but we cannot count on it to carry out the people’s business. There is not even a demonstration that the present majority is interested in the people. They are beginning to get drunk on their own power, behaving in ways that scream, “Nothing is impossible with our numbers!” Pride is beginning to build. But may they all know that pride is sweet; however, it thrives on division, severing mighty men and their systems from their anchors. Pride enjoys watching things fall—big systems tumbling make a great show.