Why Kenyans and dishonesty are siblings with deep bonds

You could argue otherwise, but then you’d be irreversibly wrong, that we Kenyans have talents that we have devotedly nurtured-dishonesty, deceit, corruption and nonchalance. Yes, every single one of us wants more than he deserves so much that if a tout returns a passengers money left behind, we cringe at his honesty. It is so rare an act that he will make headlines and even surpass views of a leaked nude video.

By the time a child is high school, he begins dreaming up ways of skimming the parent. Those whose parents were ‘fortunate’ enough no to step into a classroom will get messages such as ‘we are required to purchase three mitochondria for our biology practical’ and the parent will feel obliged to sell the one and only emaciated cow so his child can have uninterrupted interaction with this marvel he knows very little about. Better yet, ghost trips will be conjured up, which, I suppose, will include the moon by the time millenial’s kids have kids.

Yes. Dishonesty begets corruption, a giant mutant. We may complain so much about leaders stealing from public coffers but down here we are so focused on stealing from anything with a bipedal gait. The makanga wants to overcharge you, the hawker inflates the price of his wares a tad high (although he may actually need the money), a caretaker somewhere will lie to the landlord that a few houses are vacant when the occupancy rate is full…just everyone wants to reap from where he has not sown.

The repercussions of our dishonesty are often dire, but we are willing to cast a blind eye. We are forced to tolerate a government that does not care about its people, a government that blatantly disrespects the constitution yet expects everyone to obey it, poor healthcare services, tribalism, nepotism…just all social evils that cling to every Kenyan like a Woria’s (correct spelling?) perfume. Sometimes in our daydreams we blame the leaders for neglecting us as if they are direct descendants of Hitler. They come from within us. Some are our brothers, and very few our sisters.

We should not even blame anyone for any misfortune that befalls us. A catastrophic error will occur in a national hospital, and you will not care because 1) it is not you 2) it is not your relative 3) you think it may never happen to you. Women will be raped in the dark corridors of this hospital, too and you will subscribe to the three unimpeachable moral ideals. Because of why-we have institutionalized dishonesty, thereby corruption.

You do not even need to look far to see how this dishonesty thing is so pervasive. Give a Kenyan a little power and you will never see an end to terror. The police, the kanjos, and pretty much anyone mandated with the responsibility of seeing that things run smoothly will be up your neck extorting, harassing, maiming and reducing our trust in humanity so much that we celebrate when a nude video gets leaked.

However, as a nation, we need to look deep into our souls and decide that we need change. Begin demanding honesty wherever you are, starting of course with yourself. Ask yourself hard questions: do you honestly desire a world where injustice, corruption is the order of the day? Is that the world you want your children and grand children to grow up in? Every end of the month, your salary is deducted by the government, where does it go? Aren’t you interested in accountability? We should rise up, be honest, demand honest from everyone around us, and the world-this part of the world-may rise from the ashes