WHY ARE KENYANS KILLING EACH OTHER RECKLESSLY? On various occasions, questions have arisen as to why most people in African countries are poor. The big question has been who is responsible for the poverty situation in our individual countries. In trying to find answer to these questions, various economic and philosophical theories and paradigms have been put forth to explain it. Unfortunately, none is able to give concrete reasons as to why Kenya is poorer than small European countries like Britain, Sweden, Canada and Germany. In my view, lack of good education, development facilities and employment opportunities in areas like Turkana, Tana River, Samburu, Wajir, Isiolo and Baringo is as a result of the elites in government who divert money meant for development of those regions coupled with corruption, mismanagement and bad governance. The above may lead to hunger and death of innocent people. The correct question to ask would be who is the cause of these deaths? Is it God or satan? Is it the killers? If it is the killers, what motivates them to kill innocent lives? When people can’t have access to good life because others have put barriers in the way, they will always find other means of making ends meet. They will resort to violence, theft, cattle rustling, banditry, kidnap and all sorts of criminal acts while painting the picture of a hopelessness society. The point am making is that people engage in bad things not because it is their hobby, but to improve the state of their lives. The above reasoning brings us to the next scenario feared by leaders all over the world known as “revolution”. The question is, why do people have to challenge the proper authority of a government? When is a government legitimate? Is it at the time a leader is overwhelmingly voted in by the majority voters or it is in the people’s conscience? I think it is the people who have feelings that their elected leader’s actions are good or bad. For instance, despite the fact that the people of Turkana have a big lake, it is worrying that they are unable to use it to develop their region in terms of irrigation and infrastructure. Consequently, the only option left is nothing but a “revolution” to fight for their economic, social and political rights. It is interesting to note our nationalists erred in bringing independence to our people which we can’t enjoy. Instead of transforming our politics to improve the lives of majority Kenyans who are basically poor, they brought power to themselves. In my opinion, Kenya’s independence has not yielded any development and prosperity because the nationalists [elites] turned the fruits of independence into their own personal benefits. The African civil service for instance became notorious by earning salaries and other allowance 10 times more than what the Europeans used to earn. The truth is that the state left behind by the colonialists does not represent the interest of the majority Kenyans, instead a class of petty bourgeois. The good thing is that the circumstances we are witnessing now in the country is not an isolated case to Kenya alone but is the same problem we have seen in Egypt, Tunisia, Somalia, Angola, Sudan, Zaire, Eritrea, North and South Korea, Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. What this means is that we have not succeeded in our independence because those who took over the reins by disposing colonialists have re-created a similar system of violation and repression that have made it difficult for the common mwananchi to acquire real political power to change the society. Christopher Amasava Aspiring candidate [MP] - Vihiga Constituency christopheramasava@yahoo
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 11:32:26 +0000
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