We are the ones we have been waiting for

What you need to know:

  • Corruption has become so routine and everyday in public office that you remember the courteous or honest person because they are the exception.  
  • The late Wangari Maathai once introduced a button campaign with the acronym SKK (Sitoi Kitu Kidogo) emblazoned on her lapel.

The other day I used the public facilities at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, as I waited for a delayed domestic flight.

The toilets were exceptionally clean, but as I washed my hands the attendant approached and suggested that I might like to buy him a late lunch.

He took me for a generous tourist in what appeared a well-rehearsed and profitable begging routine.

I was enraged by the young man’s brazenness and my outburst had him at first sweating and later weeping as he pleaded me with not to report him.

I had a similar experience with police the previous day, when they were disappointed to discover that I had both a First Aid kit and fire extinguisher in my borrowed vehicle.

Corruption has become so routine and everyday in public office that you remember the courteous or honest person because they are the exception.  

A taxi driver narrated to me a long list of police charges for unrecognisable offences, which he duly pays without complaint.

He expressed utter disbelief when I told him that I had never paid a bribe in 30-something years.

My advice for missionaries and charity workers is also quite blunt: the day you pay a bribe in Kenya you should leave the country as you are only adding to the rot.

There is something grotesque about being asked for a bribe. You feel violated and objectified.

Pope Francis reminded us that corruption is like a cancer, it spreads and corrupts the whole body, bringing decay and death.

The events this week surrounding the appointment of an acting VC at Moi University illustrated how Governor Jackson Mandago turned his shameless tribalism into an opportunity to popularise himself as a hero and defender of the Nandi nation.

PERSONAL WILL

A pathetic indicator of how low the country has sunk.

The silence of Deputy President William Ruto on this critical national matter is also extremely disturbing, coming from a man who aspires to be President in 2022.

Fighting corruption must begin at State House but that should not excuse each of us from playing our part in curbing the vice.

The late Wangari Maathai once introduced a button campaign with the acronym SKK (Sitoi Kitu Kidogo) emblazoned on her lapel.

It was a simple and profound message to her fellow citizens: be honest, fight back and resist.

For decades Kenyans have been waiting for politicians, the Judiciary and the various anti-corruption bodies to slay the demon of corruption.

Each of them has failed and only added to the cynicism and despair about finding a solution.

Truth be told we have the solution within each one of us. Our own integrity, values and courage are the weapons for the struggle.

We should not underestimate our ability to confront powers, systems and cartels.

We are the ones we have been waiting for. If we fail to take our responsibility seriously just remember that we are in turn corrupting our own children, the flesh of our own flesh.

Take a step today where you live confront the mzee wa mtaa, the policeman, the hospital official or everyone else who wants you to believe that service is a privilege not a right.

[email protected] @GabrielDolan1