. Harambees Don’t Develop Country, They Corrupt Voters And Buy Power. By 2002 when Kanu lost elections to the opposition, harambees were so corrupted by Moi government that they were beyond rescue. When Narc government came to power, it set up a Task Force that I chaired with the express mandate of investigating the desirability of ending or continuing harambees. In particular investigations were to include why Moi institutionalized harambees but left the country in total ruin and why had the word harambee had become synonymous with corruption and oppression? Tragically, when harambee contributions were made, the question where the money had come from or whether the money was clean or not was never raised. With the acceptance of harambee money irrespective of where it came from, harambees became money laundering exercises for cleansing corrupt money that was stolen from government, government corporations, civil servants and poor peasants. Churches that were expected to be the conscience of the nation could not take harambee money without questioning its sources without cleansing the money and its contributors and also compromising their own consciences. The failure to question harambee money could only encourage corruption. The Task Force felt no God could sanction contributions of stolen money to church harambees which continue to date. People who lacked courage to question the sources of harambee money also auctioned and mortgaged their individual and national morality to the highest bidder. Equally the Task Force felt there could be no justification of contributing dirty money to a holy or worthy cause could morally cleanse it. Nor could Churches that partook in receiving dirty money remain morally clean. In fact, harambee had made churches dens of thieves, not houses of God. Rather than soil Churches with dirty harambee money, the Task Force felt that if society felt such an absolute need for churches, then it was up to the State to fund them as in Norway. Though harambee had started as people’s effort to supplement inadequate government development efforts, it was felt when people took over development efforts from government, they allowed public officers to steal government money that had become dispensable to people who seemed happy to pay a second tax disguised as harambee without asking why the first tax had not paid for their missing development. Harambee contributions, however voluntary, are extra taxes that can only increase the burden of taxation without development. But as harambee was given an economic and social function, it also had a political function as a political public auction where leaders bought power and people sold leadership to candidates who paid most for their votes during elections. Harambees as a public auction ensured that wealthy persons gained power, leadership, government and presidency while poor leaders were excluded from parliament, government and top leadership of the land. When Deputy President Ruto, Governor Kidero, senators and some MPs today engage in illegal harambees, it is from the bad habit of buying leadership through harambees disguised as charity, philanthropy and bleeding mercy for poor people. Without harambees by leaders, Kenya will lose nothing but its corruption. Harambees have never developed a country in the world. Kenya will develop not by the corruption of harambees, but by well spent funds from national budget, county and CDF funds. For those who genuinely wish to help the poor, social democracy, not harambee is the way to go.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:22:17 +0000
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