Prayers on a mountain of impunity

 

Let us rest God for now until we put our country in order. The annual prayer breakfast that the government holds rings hollow amidst runaway corruption and breakdown in social order. Clearly, our prayers are bouncing back given the negative reports on governance that are not going away.

We are now not only stealing money but also Kenyans’ rightful heritage. The government cannot say its conscience is clear when it names a road after Cotu secretary-general Francis Atwoli and politicians when people who have brought pride to the country are side-lined. What exactly has the likes of Atwoli done for the country except working for self-aggrandisement and sinking workers he claims to fight for into more poverty?

It’s also difficult to quantify what exactly most public figures have done to deserve their memory being kept alive on road signs. I would understand why freedom fighters — Kenyan and pan-Africanist, like Mandela, should be remembered, but most modern politicians have brought the citizens nothing but shame and misery.

By naming roads and stadiums after themselves, politicians in Kenya prove they are self-centred and will go to any length to extinguish profiles of superstars such as record holder Kipchoge Keino, Eliud Kipchoge, teacher Thabiti, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai for their benefit. Wangari should have been held in the highest esteem, but sadly, she’s an example of Kenyans celebrated abroad but shunned at home.

Politicians and sycophants

Kipchoge Keino, grandfather of Kenyan athletics, is still on the lips of many people in the West decades later for his record-breaking athletic prowess. He does not seem to share the same prominence at home despite his success. Kenyans who should be in museums and their names written in lights on street signs and buildings are pushed to the periphery in favour of useless politicians and sycophants.

The thieving I’m talking about is not only confined to economic crimes, which all the prayers have failed to stop. Politicians naming everything under the Kenyan sun in their names when the honour should be going to deserving Kenyans are stealing citizens’ moment of glory.

In the last few years, there has been stalemate on appointment of 41 judges to the courts. This is personnel that is desperately needed to boost capacity in the Judiciary to fight such crimes as corruption. The longer the stalemate stays, the more Kenyans are going to be denied justice.

Prayerful people think in a just way. Obtaining justice for others and treating everyone in a just way are attributes of religious and prayerful people. Any other action to the contrary is distanced from God. If I were the government, I would ensure that before all the arms of government gather to pray, it has nothing outstanding that would undermine the prayers.

Not confirming the 41 judges fits into the category of things that would occlude prayer routes.

The recent Kemsa scandal touching on Covid-19 management has not been dealt with effectively. More efforts went into defending those implicated in the scam than patients affected by such scandals.

Prayers should be what complements our good actions and not mechanical motions to go through for the sake of appearing religious. The government’s hang-up on yearly prayers despite socio-economic injustices, high crime rates, poverty and poor healthcare comes across as hypocritical.

Oversight role

Parliament that was the venue for this year’s prayer breakfast is a first institution that needs soul-searching. This is a house with members that have been implicated in impunity. Some of them see no contradiction of playing oversight roles while standing shoulder to shoulder with politicians charged with economic crimes in private and in court. 

What the government needs to pray for is a heart to help her live by the rule of law, justice and respect for court orders. If there is somewhere that the government has miserably failed, is in respecting the decisions made by the courts, which are binding to all.

Tribalism has also been hard to get rid of. In the last few years, most appointments have gone to a small group of people sharing tribal lineage with those in power. The handshake between President Kenyatta and former PM Raila Odinga, left many more tribes out of the latest appointments as individuals from their tribes got the lion’s share of government hirings. Surely, discrimination could not be an act of prayerful individuals?

If the leaders aren’t doing right by their mandate, all the prayers in the world won’t solve our problems. Let them be led by their conscience. Two rules to live by would be ‘Thou shalt not steal’. and ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ .

That our leaders should honour others deserving of honour first if they wish to be honoured is all I am arguing for. Prayers on a mountain of impunity cannot wish it away. Let us affirm integrity in our leadership before we bother God with prayers.    BY DAILY NATION