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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Dysfunctionality in government and half-truths are there for all to see

Alexander Chagema

By Alexander Chagema | Nov 19, 2024

**President William Ruto** **chats with former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki during the Consecration and Installation of Bishop Peter Kimani Ndung'u, in Embu County.** [PCS]

Jean Pierre Proudhon's claim that 'property is theft' stands vindicated. Contrary to popular belief, hard work rarely pays, but theft does. There is no nexus between honest, hard work and acquiring property for, indeed, no one works harder than the wretched of the earth, but they remain just that; wretched. Writing in the ‘Anarchist’, Proudhon employed the word ‘property’ in a broader sense to depict a society with capitalistic tendencies and the inequalities therein that create serious social disparities. The properties own the means of production, which they use to ride roughshod over their workers.

While that is true of Kenya as any other country, I use ‘property’ to symbolise the primitive quest by those in positions of power to amass wealth within compressed timelines. This despicable practice, unfortunately, is bankrupting the country and running systems aground. With almost everything grounded, it is not in doubt that Kenyans have hit rock bottom. Everywhere one looks there is desperation, pain and hopelessness, the hallmarks of leadership failure.

It is this failure in leadership that irked the Catholic Church bishops in Kenya into calling out a government that is synonymous with perjury. The king, figuratively, is naked, but those in his court are petrified of telling him the truth perhaps because he brooks no challenge. By default, governments, and those at their helms, do not admit failure. It is their portion. Kenya Kwanza rode to power on lies, or, at best, criminal ignorance. In its determination to wrest power from Jubilee, it believed its own lies. The line between fantasy and the reality of effective governance became blurred, but once in office, the hard reality hit home, and Kenya Kwanza is fumbling.

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That notwithstanding, its leadership believes it must exude machismo because the powerful only exhibit toughness. They subscribe to the unwritten political code that admitting failure is effeminate. Naturally, therefore, they have developed a defence mechanism, a line beyond which they withdraw when pushed or put to task. Abductions and propagation of fear provide that cover. Parliament, instead of checking the Executive and demanding accountability on behalf of those who donated power to the MPs, is complicit in the Executive’s machinations that appear set to sink this country and could succeed unless something drastic is done pronto.

Having had enough, Catholic bishops came out to speak truth to a government that sees no evil, hears no evil and speaks no evil. It remains to be seen how long they intend to continue whipping the government into line, and whether the latter’s intransigence and arrogance will permit it to admit the truth.

The speed with which rebuttals to the Catholic bishops' statements were made was impressive, even though every bit perfunctory. Lecturers are on strike, university funding has been withdrawn, secondary school capitation slashed without explanation, county budgets have been slashed, mama mboga business is wilting, and companies are either relocating or downsizing. Capping it all, the shambolic transfer from NHIF to SHA has caused lots of damage in the midst of which leaders continue to lie that we are on course.

Government mandarins are so egocentric, they insult those who point out shortcomings in governance. Ad hominem has become their stock in trade because for them, they have run short of excuses, but questions keep coming. Discrediting critics gives them some level of false confidence but increases resentment.

Intolerance in government is high. Besides attempts to silence critics through arrests and abductions, authoritarianism is slowly creeping in. This is manifest in the fawning comportment of Cabinet secretaries and other top officials who cannot make decisions without looking over their shoulders for approval. CSs do not have respect for either the Senate or the National Assembly and only honour summons when it suits them. The bishops are right. Stop the lies and correct the dysfunctionality in service provision currently hurting Kenyans. No more rhetoric, act decisively.