Decay in our nation so deep we ought to engage the best brains
What you need to know:
A broader inquiry and a more thoroughgoing purge is required.
More often than not, corruption is not the act of a solitary individual; it is a conspiracy between many cogs in the machinery.
In any case, when the juniors notice that their boss is on the take, they, too, jump in the eating bandwagon.
If there is a genuine interest to clean up the Treasury, the ongoing investigation can only be the beginning
The arrest of National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and his principal secretary, Dr Kamau Thugge, has earned Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji a new nickname in the streets. He is now referred to as “reggae man” — from the track Reggae Strong in late South African star Lucky Dube’s 1993 album, Prisoner.
In the song, Lucky Dube sings:
Nobody can stop reggae
‘Cause reggae’s strong
It’s a reference to the fact that, though many people thought all was lost, against all odds, what is left of the fight against corruption somehow seems to flicker back to life. How much political will still exists to stamp out graft in a government wallowing in it? How many of our leaders, and how many Kenyans in general, have their hands in the till?
In Moi’s thuggish state, corruption was institutionalised and tightly controlled. From my own analysis, the big theft deals appear to have been cut with, if not explicit permission, then the tacit agreement of very powerful figures. The Moi state was tightly controlled with Mr Moi’s iron fist poised over the malcontents who misgoverned the country. I don’t think anybody who went on a freelance theft spree survived, let alone prospered.
Under the Kibaki regime, it helped that the President was not out with the ‘tenderpreneurs’ hunting for maize, fertiliser and fake gold deals. Many people who served under Mr Kibaki will confirm that he was not the kind of leader who received bulging briefcases at night or made calls to push tenders or payments for friends. He may have cunningly turned a blind eye to a spot of eating by a political favourite but, once you were caught, he would tuck you deep under the bus and move on without a second thought.
From what we have observed of Jubilee, it appears that nearly everybody has lost their heads and are like cows in a rich, grass patch: They are munching away ceaselessly in an independent manner, confident that there would be no consequences. From that perspective then, it is likely that this is the worst corruption ever in our history.
DECAY
I am an architecture buff; I like old buildings. If I were a wealthy man, I’d spend the rest of my life building great structures. What worries me is when I see that modern buildings are shabby, aesthetically embarrassing and, possibly, structurally weaker than the older ones. It means that either we have lost the skills and discipline to build well or we can’t do today what our colonial masters could 100 years ago.
And this tendency of decay runs across every aspect of society: We once had buses that ran on time, our trains made sense, there was little cheating in exams and so on.
One would have expected us to be progressing from a bad position to a better one. But it appears that the opposite is true. And this, I fear, is what has happened in matters corruption.
In my opinion, there is weak political will to punish corruption and recover stolen public property. Whereas the political leadership has said all the right things, it has not done all the right things. Kenya still remains one of the safest countries in which to steal public property.
The chances of being caught are slim, the chances of punishment slimmer and the chances of losing what you have stolen slimmest. Until this is reversed, no progress will be made in the effort to eradicate theft of public money.
The corruption being alleged at the Treasury is not your average corruption. The Treasury is the country’s accountant; it is supposed to mind our money and ensure that it is used well. If the Treasury is then not only complicit but a key conspirator in the theft of public funds, aren’t we in a very bad place? And would the prosecution of the finance minister and his PS be enough to restore the integrity of that institution and the public faith in it? I think not.
PURGE
A broader inquiry and a more thoroughgoing purge is required. More often than not, corruption is not the act of a solitary individual; it is a conspiracy between many cogs in the machinery. In any case, when the juniors notice that their boss is on the take, they, too, jump in the eating bandwagon. If there is a genuine interest to clean up the Treasury, the ongoing investigation can only be the beginning.
Some things I’ll never understand. If you fight over the family pet with your spouse and decide that you are totally fed up with each other and wish to go your own way, some of the country’s brightest legal brains, a judge, will be on hand to hear your dispute. If, on the other hand, somebody steals Sh10 billion from the public, destroying the lives of children who miss school, or causing the death of thousands because of lack of medicine, such a case is heard by a magistrate.
Not to say that magistrates are not good, but they are not at the top of the food chain.
What is our priority? Where should our best brains be engaged? Why aren’t our best deployed to save the country? The experts will tell me that this is the law. Well, why haven’t we changed the law?
The reggae might still be playing but it is largely a lonely tune.
