Seven stagnating vices we must discard for the country to grow

Demons could not stand Jesus. When they dared to negotiate, it was for the exit to take but never allowance to stay. For Kenya to truly grow, there are some vices that must go and no longer stay.

Deceit

We lie and are lied to - a lot! If lies were an exportable commodity, they would rank in the league of our big cash crops. Deceit can, unfortunately, be ranked as a national language. From politicians to priests, they speak it perfectly.

Where truth is unknown, mistrust and suspicion abound. Deceit denies people the opportunity to truly know themselves. The consequence is that we live a lie. The lies we live deceive us too. We become victims of our own vice.

This contributes to our identity confusion as a country. We deny ourselves a sense of originality and become a "copy nation." We have lied so much that we cannot tell who we truly are.

Mediocrity

A radio commentator was reporting on an Olympic medal presentation ceremony. It was one of those paired water sports. One of the pairs on the podium had a long history of winning gold medals. As the final race began, even the thousands of screaming fans had it that the battle was for second place - the first was taken months before the race began.

But to everyone's surprise, the golden pair found themselves in third place. As they climbed onto the third-place platform, the commentator told of their visible uneasiness; "Going by their body language, it is clear that they don't do bronze." To this pair, third was a strange position.

We are country of low standards. We have even learnt how to co-exist with garbage and not have an issue! We have believed we deserve poor leadership so we elect and re-elect leaders of a pathetic standing.

Excellence which stirs extremes of goodness is not reared. In the absence of extremes of goodness, we remain unimpressive.

Our athletes remind us of the value of thoroughness every time they bring a medal home. But that excellence remains in the racing track and we do not transfer it to the larger Kenyan life. Excellence then remains a tactic rather than a culture.

Greed

Greed-induced obesity is a widespread Kenyan condition. The issue is not only the distended bellies but that they are made possible by eating resources that belong to others. Boundaries of possession are continually compromised as people encroach on what belongs to others to satisfy their insatiable wealth and power addiction.

The greedy have become so shameless that they grab in broad daylight. Like the man at the pool of Bethesda who every time the pool was stirred was beaten at getting to the water, many Kenyans are beaten to the table of the national cake. They no longer even run. Contentment is purged from the list of possibilities and in the absence of an antonym, greed reigns free.

Oppression

Shortsightedness makes some imagine themselves as having a superior humanity than others. Such exert their power on the lowly for the sake of selfish gain. They delight in effecting powerlessness and disfranchisement. Where greed abounds, oppression is inevitable.

We have a lot of innocent blood crying out for justice from the ground. Too many wounded Kenyans pursuing an elusive justice because the powerful already bought it and in its place installed their falsehood. A country's leadership must be constantly aware that it exists for the unending mission of emancipating its people.

Lust

Homes that once shone with joy grow rusty courtesy lust. Marriage vows are quickly being reduced to a mere chant in a wedding liturgy. Virginity and marital faithfulness are threatened with extinction. Boundaries are being pushed to normalise hedonism. The joy of family has been short-circuited by ferocious forms of infidelity.

The menace of this vice is hushed and hardly engaged. Men are battling depression out of the infidelity of their wives. Women are broken and shattered by their men who have no honour for the marriage bed. Children have been destabilised by conflicts between their parents. Many homes have no memory of joy because it has been corroded by love triangles and lust polygons.

Hypocrisy

Promises are made with a seeming passion but the makers know they do not intend to keep them. They manipulate people by telling them what they want to hear. People cry with you in public but rejoice over your loss in the dark. They put up a face to imply solidarity, but that is all it is - a face.

Jesus described them as "Whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean." Hypocrisy makes demand on others which they are not willing to keep. Hypocrisy cannibalises authenticity. Without authenticity, working above board is impossible.

Idolatry

Though we are a heavily religious country, our worship is not of God alone. We practice a syncretism that makes us worshippers of power and money. Even priests are intimidated and impressed by the powerful which leads to highly regrettable and damaging compromises.

Prospects of big money have a way of making spiritual values vapourise. Means are often sacrificed for the sake of an end as if the destination is more important than the journey. God has guided creation not to mix Him with idols. Such a mix up proves expensive when we are in dire need of God yet all along we have accorded Him split attention.