First of all, I would like to start by thanking those who have taken time to write to me. Feedback from readers is very important to me so please feel free to write comments, questions, critics or even suggestions.

These past few weeks, I have deliberately focused on topics that highlight the (mis)governance across 'global Africa'. From Haiti to continental Africa to the USA... Africans are marginal, deprived, diseased and resigned to repeating the same mistakes again, again and again. Haiti, after 200 years of trying is now totally dependent on the goodwill of the international-community. Their political elites saw to that. Africa seems headed the same way. The question we must ask is why?

Why can't Africans govern themselves responsibly? Let's ask a different question: how do contemporary Africans differ from many other people? I will answer this question by spotlighting the way many Africans deal with difficult situations, be it wealth creation, disease, perceived enemies or guilt: witchcraft. Some modern Africans are sacrificing their own children as they believe the witchdoctor will make them rich (see my earlier article on cannibalism). Others practice witchcraft because they believe it will heal them from whatever ailment they have. Contemporary African culture is too dysfunctional to thrive in the modern world. And this is worsening as we continue to underdevelop ourselves.

One scholar, Scott Lee has examined this subject by asking the following question about AIDS: why does a well-educated African man who is clearly dying of AIDS deny that he is HIV-positive and instead attribute his illness to witchcraft or taboos (chira)? My simple answer is that we are dealing with two diseases: the HIV, and pellagra. Both cause malnutrition and lead to extreme wasting; both leave the body susceptible to opportunistic diseases, both cause underdevelopment which is passed from mother to child (e.g the HIV vs heritable anemia and niacin deficiency). This underdevelopment weakens our immune systems, and even our brains. Pellagra is the reason we have many people with AIDS-like symptoms, but if properly tested are found to be HIV-negative.These issues are explained in my book, A HEALTHY YOU: Tame Africa's Child Malnutrition (http://www.nutritionafrica.com).NB An E bay stall (Amazon market place)has now been installed on the website-book corner. We provide fast shipping with tracking within 2 days.

I have heard that Africans don't read, but this is far from the truth. Africans do read, but they tend not to read about empowering themselves. Africans seem to be happy presenting themselves to the world as victims. There is nothing that has happened to Africans that has not happened to other peoples (including a maize diet). India for example was also colonized by the British; yet today, they are able to feed most of their one billion people. Why can't Kenyan feed 40 million people?:mis-governance. Africans need to read books about themselves that will empower them (and by extension their children) to be more functional in the modern world. We cannot claim to be free people if we still feed on the same imperial slave diet.

Getting several degrees should not be the destination: it should be a means to greater empowerment. Kenya's current government has the most educated people in the country. Yet look how they focus their energies on stealing from the public and covering their tracks. And when starvation sets in because they are too busy politicking to ensure food security, they buy white hybrid maize (which causes more malnutrition) for the masses. Belief in the power of the occult, witchcraft, taboos to create wealth etc reflects a people who lack creativity necessary for modern life; varying degrees of intellectual underdevelopment/mental illness tend to be common among affected.

A maize diet ensures consumers continue to be poor and dependent. The political elite earn world class salaries for doing very little for Kenya's masses. Politicians happily exploit the masses, herding them into voting blocks during elections only for a narrow political agenda. No country can develop with the level of impunity occurring in Kenya. The mis-governance across 'global Africa' is possible because the people are too dis-empowered to provide effective checks to the politicians.

And the politicians know and exploit this to their advantage: with no agricultural policy,they feed the people on more "mahindi kavu" whenever necessary. Those who have ruled Kenya in the past and enjoyed immense powers are mobilizing in order retain the imperial presidency, and to retain power and wealth amongst themselves. Kenya's masses will probably simply follow blindly, unless supported to make better decisions. Many are ailing and dying off in large numbers due to malnutrition-related disease. Former South African President, Nelson Mandela has even described what is happening to Africans as "a genocide." Sadly, our own leaders are the ones promoting the same 'slave diet,' and killing their own. And we continue to let them.

Kenyans should jealously guard the gains in the draft constitution until it becomes the law of the land. Kenya belongs to all of us, not just to the political class. Kenyans have made sacrifices for a new constitution. It beats logic that politicians now want to retain the status quo.It should be an eye opener that the UK has decided to channel any aid to the education sector direct to schools: they have lost confidence in our ability to govern ourselves. This could be the beginning of a new donor engagement; uhuru without responsibility is not possible.
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000005835&cid=4&ttl=UKtochannelcashdirec
Reference:

***Please support this author.Buy a book @ http://www.nutritionafrica.com/ Thanks.

1. Scott Lee: Contested meanings, contested lives: Interpretation of AIDS in a rural Kenyan community. University Committee on Human Rights. Thesis Report.
2. Alex Ndegwa: 'UK to channel cash direct to schools.' The Standard 17th March, 2010.

I have read that, at Kenya's independence, civil servants could not engage in private enterprise, because the constitution did not allow it. Civil servants were supposed to be focused on the core functions of governance: overseeing the provision of services to wananchi, instilling discipline, ensuring accountable use of government resources,fighting corruption, providing sound vision for growth of the ministry... During those days, the government was the biggest employer and consumer, but the private sector was the better employer, with superior remuneration, after trading with government. After a few years of independence however, our politicians changed this: they wanted to be the traders as well.

Since those humble beginnings, civil servants have grown in stature. Many have private companies which sell to the government whatever the government, as the biggest consumer, wants at a handsome fee, even if the government doesn't need whatever is on offer. Worse, the government pays much more than the 'market value,' because the accounting officer decides the price. That is African Capitalism for you right there! Of course the private sector has failed to grow at the rate it was supposed to grow! Hence, the massive youth unemployment vs the obscene wealth of a few people. Kenyan leaders seem to see nothing wrong with this distortion because everybody now aspires to wear the same shoes.

Today, senior civil servants are some of the richest and most powerful people in Kenya. They control their Ministry's budgets, do the necessary shopping for the ministry (e.g buying furniture and plots), sell their goods to their ministry (e.g furniture and plots), invest on behalf of their ministry (e.g in plots, stock market), they help negotiate for loans, from the World Bank, or African Development Bank, and even help export monies for safe keeping/ property speculation on behalf of their appointing authorities (e.g. foreign villas and foreign bank accounts). So when do these people actually do their 'civil service jobs'? How can they be expected to fight corruption when they are no longer 'servants'?

Kenya's private sector continues to shrink, at the expense of the 'bully civil service' which now concentrates Kenya's monetary resources under one roof. Unfortunately much of these resources end up in private bank accounts instead of creating jobs for Kenya's youths. Don't worry, though. If we need to invest in Wananchi, there is always donor money (some of which can be rechanneled, after all, nobody will notice), and international lending institutions (they are always ready with 'expert advice'), and we are "independent!"

Go through the newspapers in any given week and you won't be disappointed. Scandals are guaranteed, "expert advice" too. This week, the papers tell of a cemetery whose price was inflated many many times over, so that both the seller and the ministry people could get their cut. Then there is also the story about "expert advice" to "Universities to be allowed to borrow from lending institutions like the World Bank." In addition to this, "public universities are to increase fees... and interest on student loans," and "sell key assets such as land."

When it comes to such "expert advice," we cease to be independent minded. These people are so focused on trading that any new opportunity to trade is grabbed at without a thought to its long term implications for the country. Is this how Kenya lost in the Rift Valley Railways deal with "a known international conman," because of their refusal to pay due diligence? Read for yourself, and see how our over-paid Waheshimiwas gamble with people's lives and livelihoods. It seems Kenyans have forgotten their colonial history: promises were made, gifts were exchanged, and voila, Kenya was a colony. Our voting patterns allow a few people get obscenely rich in a globalized world? What will happen to Kenya if they all decide to sell off their vast lands to outsiders? Just a thought.

You cannot give a man so many responsibilities, and wealth, and power, then expect them to remain "servants." So this is why many have become a law unto themselves. They choose to do only that which interests them. When corruption is exposed, they get spin doctors to turn the problem into a political contest, complete with a tribal agenda. In the meantime, nobody talks about the stolen money. This culture of stealing public funds has become Kenyan culture: our young people have watched their wealthy leaders steal while they starve. Now the cynical youth are hitting back at an innocent public which watches as disparities between communities continue to worsen and changes nothing. All Kenyans pay, sometimes the ultimate price: death via violent robbery. Do our leaders realize that these young robbers model their values on theirs? In the meantime, the high disease burden is interfering with food production. But our leaders have no worries: they simply buy mahindi-kavu for the wananchi.

Did you know that Kenya is now the largest importer of food in the East Africa region? Did you witness how KCC poured "excess milk" down the drain in a country all too frequently torn by famine and chronic malnutrition? I have heard that this was a political statement by somebody who is now too big to be fired. Did you know that the fish in Lake Naivasha are dying because of excess chemical run-off from flower farms? Did you know that the Mau seedlings are beeing uprooted? Did you know that Kenya's deficit is really climbing? These are just some of the few things I thought you should know this week.

In my humble opinion, our civil servants are too busy chasing deals to deliver on their mandate. They are swindling various parties of a lot of money, for which the taxpayer will have to pay. Our poverty stems from this culture of thievery. And this will not change so long as we protect those who practice corruption using tribal reasoning.

Selected References
1. Nick Wachira, How plan to privatise Railways became Kenya's public sector reform nightmare. http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/848882/-/vpfdph/-/index.html
2. Rasnah Warrah, Ignore this 'expert' advice on higher education. http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/-/440808/870626/-/view/printVersion/-/ha90ql/-/index.html
3. Karanja Njoroge, Mau seedlings face teething problems. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000004616&cid=4&
4. Cosmas Butunyi, Food crisis looms in the region in spite of current season of bumper harvest. http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/201002230434.html
5. James Anyanzwa and Reuters, Spending up as Treasure targets higher deficit.
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/print.php?id=2000003976&cid=14

http://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=27625

The Island of Hispaniola in the Western hemisphere is divided into two countries: the western one third of the island is Haiti, while the Eastern side is the Dominican Republic. The aboriginal people of Haiti, who were known as the Arawak, lived under Spanish rule. Their numbers dwindled, leading to their near extinction. After Spanish rule came French occupation and African slave labor. In 1804, after a decade of revolt, Haiti became the first independent Black nation. But after two centuries of independence, Haiti is in desperate need, with her people the most devastated by AIDS in the Western hemisphere.

The last time I read about Haiti before the current earthquake disaster, Haiti was in the headlines because the citizens were said to be eating "mud cakes," for lack of money to buy real food. According to the article, mud cakes were first "consumed by impoverished pregnant women seeking calcium." Later, it became a national staple, because of extreme poverty. Haiti doesn't lack food; the people are just too poor to afford whatever food is available on the market (1-3).

So why are the people too poor to afford food? Haiti's is a very long story, rooted in the country's colorful history. It started when Haiti's slaves (about a half a million) first rebelled against French colonial enslavement, beginning in 1791. After a decade of insurrection, mainly under Pierre-Dominique Toussaint, Haiti finally triumphed under Jean-Jacques, who named the new republic 'Haiti,' an Arawak name. Haiti's declaration of independence was an embarrassment, not just to the French, but to the Western world in general. This is because it inspired enslaved/ colonized Black peoples globally and had the potential to incite slaves to rebellion and destabilize production in other colonies in the Western hemisphere. Before this, Haitians had endured the worst form of slavery in the Western hemisphere. In fact Haiti had been highly productive because of the brutality of her slave masters.

To avoid influencing other slaves, therefore, Napoleon had tried to suppress the rebellion. Haiti had been France's richest colony, contributing up to 25% (some references cite 50%) of the country's economic wealth. Haiti was their leading producer of sugar, coffee, cocoa, tobacco and cotton among other exotic products. After the addition of ‘value’ (through processing), these products were sold all over Europe, making France very wealthy.

In 1801, Haiti became the first black colony to become a republic. Because of the international community’s boycott of the new republic, Haiti found herself free, but surrounded by hostile neighbors; simple transactions like accessing commercial outlets for her goods proved troublesome. In part, this helped empower the emerging elites as they had the necessary commercial links.

Haiti's elites were made up of two groups of people: mulattos, children of white slave masters (mainly German) and African slave women, and African slaves who had been set free because of "good deeds." This group was allowed to go to school, own property and engage in commerce, just like the French. The elite group quickly learnt to influence both the economy and the governance of the island. In the meantime, the French insisted that they "pay a large indemnity to France (150 million Francs)," for lands previously owned by former slave owners, but now taken by the revolution. Haiti therefore, like many African countries that would follow in her path, started off on a negative economic footing, i.e. with a large foreign debt to clear and an adverse commercial environment. But Haitians, I have read, are a proud industrious people, and they were determined to succeed after tasting their freedom.

Apart from the French debt, the decade long insurrection had wrecked the economy. In addition, leadership wrangles emerged soon after independence. Haiti's economy, was now dominated by the light-skinned mulattos, who were determined to preserve their privileges (many Germans had married Black women, in part to gain access to Haiti land, because the law limited ownership of Haiti lands and industries by foreigners). They also had a large influence on the politics of the island. Disputes with their neighbors were also quite common. There followed a succession of dictators who, together with the ruling elites did not have the interests of the people at heart. By the end of the 19th century, Haiti was declared bankrupt, prompting the USA to move in and declare "custom receivership from 1905-1941." This stabilized the situation somewhat, although there are those who believe that "by the time the US pulled out in 1934, Haiti's own governance institutions had atrophied."
Haiti continued to underperform under a series of dictators. Between 1957 and 1986, the Duvaliers, starting with Francois Duvalier (Papa Doc) ruled Haiti. He died in 1971, giving way to his son, Baby Doc. It was during this reign that Haiti became one of the first countries in the Western hemisphere to be devastated by AIDS. There followed a collapse of the tourist industry, and Baby Doc had to flee in 1986. In 1986, Baby Doc fled Haiti due to social unrest. Jean Aristide was installed in 1994, but stayed for only 9 months... When the earthquake hit, he made requests to be allowed back in the country.

Prior to the 1980s, Haiti had been relatively self sufficient in food. Haitians had become efficient at growing their "West African Rice," which they had done for two hundred years, among other starchy foods like maize and cassava. Decline had set in during the later years because of loss of soil fertility, soil erosion, deforestation etc. Food aid to help feed the poor had pushed Haitian farmers out of business, worsening the agricultural decline. Professionals started leaving as did foreign investments (1-5).

In the early 1980s, when the HIV/AIDS epidemic was documented in the USA among young homosexual men, the other group found to be at risk was that of new Haitian immigrants, because of their underlying malnutrition. In fact, this came to be known as "The Haitian connection": "The health status of the new immigrants mirrored their poor economic conditions; TB, parasite infections, salmonellosis, malaria and malnutrition were common." A look at Haitian society on the island helps explain why: "90% of the population is made up of powerless farmers... The Haitian farmer... is one of the poorest in the world... Wealth lives adjacent to abject poverty... voodoo thrives amidst Catholicism." Haiti has the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the Western Hemisphere. According to the UN, 6% of the population is infected with HIV. And the government "will not be able to provide the resources to educate the nations next generation" (6).

By many indicators, SSA is readily comparable to Haiti. HIV/AIDS rates are much higher, especially in the Eastern and South African regions, as are infant mortality rates and maternal deaths. Food scarcity has become a problem, just as it is in Haiti. Medical services are also scarce in both regions. Kenyan women (and, I suspect, other sub-Saharan African women) also eat "stones" in order to get the antenatal minerals that their diets no longer provide. This is because the traditional cereals like the millets and sorghum, which they no longer eat as much, were better sources of minerals, including calcium, than the current dietary staple of white hybrid maize. Sub-Saharan Africa's infant mortality, malnutrition and AIDS rates are among the highest in the world, just like Haiti's. But at least Haiti has been independent for far longer than SSA countries. So what does the future hold for the continent's peoples (6-7)?

Haitians have tried, considering their humble beginnings. But they need to do more, in order to truly free themselves. Like in sub-Saharan Africa, leadership remains the main problem. When Hurricane Jean hit, 2,400 people perished. The earthquake that hit Haiti recently has been described as the worst in its 200 year history. Her neighbor, the Dominican Republic, has remained largely untouched by the extremes of weather. And there is a very good reason: "Deforestation and soil erosion worsen the impact of hurricanes... (flying over the island), you can see the green forest stop, and it’s barren on the Haitian side." Haiti, like SSA needs leaders that respect the population enough to initiate real changes that can help integrate them into the international community (4).

Below is a poem of solidarity with Haiti: 'I had a Dream: Haiti will Rise Again.'
http://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=27623

Selected References
1. Haiti: infoplease.com.
2. Roy Carroll: 'Haiti: Mud cakes become staple diet as cost of food soars beyond a family's reach.' The Guardian, 29th July, 2008.
3. Haiti: People to People Incl. The Haiti Project Newsletter, 1986.
4. Karen Fragola:' Haiti: A Historical Perspective.' Newsweek, 16th January 2010.
5. Josiane George: 'Trade and Disappearance of Haitian Rice.' Ted Lase Studies, Number 725, June 2009.
6. K Kahil: The AIDS Epidemic. Hutchinson Co. Publishers, 1984.
7. The Haiti Micah Project - available on the internet
8. Gathura N: 'City Women Eating Tonnes of stones per week'. Daily Nation.
9. IPS: ‘The Second Scramble for Africa Starts New form of investment reminiscent of colonialism.' 26th September, 2009.

Kenyans need to take some time and examine what happened at Naivasha. Before they left for the retreat, ODM gave Kenyans the impression that they were in favor of a parliamentary form of governance. PNU remained consistent in rooting for a presidential system. Within a couple of days however, a consensus had been reached: ODM was now in favor of a "pure" presidential system. Apparently, they had had a change of heart in order to ensure that we got a new constitution. PNU had threatened to walk out unless their demands were met. Again this was consistent with a "normal PNU" reaction. But while wananchi were busy celebrating, the MPs got busy and reversed all the gains that a "pure presidential system" should offer. At the forefront of these reversals were PNU MPs, who took advantage at every opportunity to threaten to walk out. Since this is not the first time this has happened, the question has to be raised: Why? (Article 1 and Article 2)

First, the MPs weakened the separation between the executive and parliament by allowing the head of state to pick half his cabinet from parliamentarians, contrary to the earlier agreement. This act increases further the number of MPs because those appointed to cabinet have to resign so that new MPs are elected. Then they attempted to increase regional governments from 18 to 33, after first opposing devolution. They are always opposed to devolution. This is why the committee was forced to settle for counties. Then there is the contentious issue of "one man one vote": basically they want more parliamentary seats, because, they are many. The irony which seems lost to them, of course, is that the large numbers (including more MPs) come at the expense of fellow Kenyans: there are many Kenyan communities which have endured marginalization since independence. The regions largely represented by PNU, on the other hand, benefitted from the first 15 years of an African Presidency; they benefitted developmentally in many ways: Article . (Similarly, certain branches of the Kalenjin community benefitted from Moi's years in the presidency.) How does this partisan approach to development in Kenya's national politics help the nation?

When privileged members of a community that has patronized government resources for many years stand in the path of better governance for the whole country, it is surely a self-serving act. What if other communities insisted that they should also get the kinds of benefits that have spurred their faster development and stabilized their population? (In fact, this is the mentality behind the "It is our time to eat" attitude held by Kenyans whenever someone from their community acquires a position in high office.) Could the country afford it? There is no denying that favorable factors dating from the independence years have played a significant role in shaping the fortunes of Central Kenya. In Michela Wrong's book, It's our Turn to Eat, David Ndii, a well respected economist from the region affirms that, relatively speaking, the Kikuyu are not marginalized: "If you look at any indicators-health, education, access to water, access to electricity- the Kikuyu always come on top." He further denies the notion that Central Kenya contributes most to the economy: "When you examine the data, it turns out to be bullshit. The most productive people in Kenya are pastoralists." It is possible that because the central region's contribution to the economy is mainly from cash crops (which bring in foreign exchange), the contributions of other communities, most of which are consumed locally, have somehow been devalued.

So, when it comes to national issues, this hardliner self-centered attitude has come to define the political elite of Central Kenya; the average Kenyan, who is quick to draw direct connections between the political elite of the Kikuyu community and the regular Kikuyu citizen, has consequently come to view the Kikuyu as a "bully" tribe. It doesn't help matters that the average Kikuyu mwananchi often naively expresses support for the agendas put forward by the leaders from his/ her ethnic group. Now, it has to be said that the same is true for the average Luo, Kalenjin etc mwananchi. This unquestioning agreement with the "tribe's leaders" is an unfortunate Kenyan 'syndrome'. It has the gravest repercussions when the ethnic group in question is relatively large and has great political, military, religious, or economic clout regionally or nationally. For proof of this statement, simply take a look at the way politics plays out all over Kenya. This precise attitude has been behind the many eruptions of violence all over Kenya since the state gained her 'independence' in 1963.

Because of the way Kenya has been governed since independence, there are many ethnicities who now admit openly that they were better off under colonial rule. The Maasai, for example, after watching their herds die needlessly year in and year out because of the now common droughts openly declare that they were better off when the British governed: the British ensured that their herds had water, even during drought conditions. Many communities in independent Kenya are similarly dehumanized by malnutrition, disease, ignorance and poverty. But the leaders of Central, who happen to be enjoying their political ascendance at the moment, see only the suffering of the Kikuyu. Government statistics show that some Kenyan regions have been declining in population, while Central Kenya's initial 20% of Kenya's population has been increasing steadily, with a significant spill over into the Rift Valley (the focus of the post-election violence) and other parts of the country. Note that I am not claiming that all Central Kenyans are well off and thriving. Every Kenyan knows Central Kenya to also be home to brutalizing poverty. However, when you look at the health and other developmental indicators of the country's various regions, Central Kenyans are, on average, better off. The solution is not to marginalize Central Kenyans and 'uplift' people from other regions. Rather, the solution is to develop and maintain a just and balanced national agenda so as to bring all the people of Kenya to a developmental par. This agenda should include all regions of Kenya. However, what is the likelihood that such an agenda would come into existence when it is not even on the minds of those at the top of the Kenyan pyramid? Is it a surprise that many Kenyans dream of some form of federalism as the only viable solution? When we need PNU to be true leaders and show us the way forward, where are they?

One would expect PNU MPs, the leaders of a relatively successful region of the country, to be more magnanimous, especially when putting together a constitution for posterity. After all, many Kenyans have been killed or brutalised in diverse ways simply for expressing views contrary to those of the executive. Instead of recognizing their pivotal/ privileged status however, this ruling class uses its numerical strength and political clout to bully the country into accepting an inferior document that doesn't differ significantly from the current one. The politicians that now dominate PNU may have been at the forefront of agitating for better governance during the Moi years, but in retrospect, it seems that this was only because power was not in their hands. PNU should be at the forefront of getting Kenya the kind of constitution that can withstand the whims of any dictator. Why would they condemn the country to the risk of perpetual misgovernance for another half century? Article .

The leadership culture since independence has been predatory: the weak are shoved aside as the moneyed and powerful hold the country at ransom. Kenya's potential remains stifled in part because of the impunity of Kenya's leadership. Kenya's economy used to be bigger than Uganda's and Tanzania's combined. Today, the two sister countries are almost catching up with Kenya: Article This is not because Kenyans are not hardworking, but because many are deliberately denied opportunity. Although we espouse capitalist ideals, we have turned Kenya into a resource to be milked at every opportunity by a greedy few, well-placed to 'eat'. Kenya's lands, for example, have become the avenue to wealth for the well-connected people. A lot of Kenya's project funding is routinely pilfered by the well-connected. Our MPs are some of the highest paid in the world. This in itself is ridiculous for a poor country like Kenya. To add more parliamentary seats to the current burden is not justifiable. What PNU MPs are asking for is very self-indulgent and bad for the country.

As the gap between the rich and poor continues to widen, even in Central Kenya, the risk of social disruption is real. Already, in some parts of Central Kenya, youth anarchy is a reality. Last year, some people from the region couldn't celebrate Christmas in their rural homes as is the Kenyan tradition, because of insecurity. Some communities have degenerated to the point that, if a vehicle arrives in the home, the owner has to pay in order to protect his guests. So what kind of country are we building? There are those who now believe that the young people are simply modelling their behavior on that of Kenyan leaders. We cannot forge a nation if a privileged few insist on getting what they want all of the time. Compromises have to be made for the sake of the country: Article

Central Kenya's own sons and daughters have started questioning this "winner take all" instinct of the ruling elites, which pays no attention to the chaos created in its wake. According to Muthoni Wanyeki, the Executive Director of Kenya Human Rights Commision, an initiative, 'Kikuyus for Change,' which 'seeks to both understand why the rest of Kenya hates Gikuyus, and why Gikuyus (or rather, the Gikuyu economic and political establishment) are so adamant about the need to hold on to power' has been launched. She thinks that 'they lack a clear understanding of what equality or non-discrimination actually mean and how, from independence on, the equality provisions in our current constitution have failed to be realized by the public.' Under the circumstances, when MPs from Central Kenya prioritize the issues of marginalization and equality as pertaining solely to the region they hail from, they are rubbishing the Kenyan experience of poverty and marginalization, particularly in the many other regions which are much worse hit: Article . As long as these legislators continue to think and act in greedy and selfish terms, it should not be a surprise to them, or to the larger public, when other communities clamour for "autonomy." Kenyan voters need to learn to condemn the selfish actions taken by their leaders, supposedly on their behalf. These actions ultimately affect the whole of Kenya: Article

After the NARC revolution (many, myself included, voted for Kibaki), a relative died and I had to rush home for the burial. I decided to use an early "Wepesi" so that I would arrive home before burial by around 2 pm. At 6.00am, I was at the Wepesi terminus, only to discover that Wepesi no longer existed. I was directed to Nyama Kima, where I got into a minibus. The operator of the minibus took the necessary bus fare, then "sold" me to another minibus an hour later. These changes occurred two more times, with the last change in Eldoret where we had to sit for 2 hours. I arrived home finally at 6 pm, frustrated, tired and bitter, as I was too late to attend my cousin's funeral. This incident made me wonder what had happened to the young men who used to forge their livelihoods at Wepesi. When I returned home, I started to focus my attention on what was happening to the transport sector in general. Basically the same thing that was happening to national resources: Public transport was changing hands in favor of the politically correct (and their bank accounts); even the Kenya Bus service was not spared. Other upcountry routes have been affected similarly.

"The need to hold on to power" has given rise to a culture which has cheapened lives and livelihoods for the sake of money; and now our children are copying this culture. Muggings have become an accepted way of life; the police often describe violent deaths from muggings as "normal thuggery." Our own children force us to "pay taxes" in order to buy our own security in our villages and homes; and we have no choice because they can kill us right there!!!! Yet we keep doing the same things we have been doing for forty seven years. Life has become so cheap in Kenya, in spite of the fact that we are supposed to be a peaceful country. When leaders are allowed to do so much harm to fellow citizens without sanctions, it becomes difficult for them to give up power. The obscenely rich elites in the country have to protect their wealth; hence the ethnic political groupings. In my humble submission, this is what ails Kenya. This is why you don't hear of a true national agenda for reform. Maybe to these people there is nothing wrong with Kenya. This why they want to retain the same kind of constitution; after all, it has served them very well so far. And yet we all know that if power was to shift into the hands of another ethnic group under the ridiculous 'new' constitution, the same political elites in PNU would be out on the streets, leading wananchi in protest against whoever the new totalitarian dictator happened to be.

I have been highly critical towards PNU MPs for their selfishness and greed in this article. But it takes two to tango. This brings us to ODM MPs, who supposedly had a different stance from their PNU colleagues before they set foot in Naivasha. Why was it so easy for PNU to bulldoze ODM into laying aside their own demands? Were they ever really serious about presenting a different perspective or is it possible that the whole 'negotiation' was just a facade? Is it possible that 'the air up there' is so sweet that ODM MPs have forgotten what life is like for the average Kenyan citizen? ODM owes Kenyans an explanation. Do they believe this is the constitution that will change Kenya? If not, why did they agree to it? If it is no different from the one we have, why change the constitution at all? The average Kenyan is surely shaking his/ her head with bitterness at the amounts of time and money (national resources) wasted so that our MPs could have a nice holiday in a beautiful setting. This is precisely what we call non-productivity, and if our MPs were the employees of a private corporation, they surely would all have been fired. Nelson Mandela spoke some wise words: "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects the freedoms of others." As our MPs sit in luxurious resorts, eating delicious delicacies funded by wananchi, and under-performing, they should remember that the Kenya they are making is the very Kenya that they, their children and grandchildren will have to live in. It makes no sense to make bad choices today, and then turn around and start leading national prayer meetings to appeal to God when the catastrophic weight of the bad decisions they have been making for decades starts to suffocate the nation. When sitting down to create a constitution, they must assume that the next president will be their political rival. That way, the constitution they create will be one that keeps any self-centered Kenyan president or political class in check.

Selected References
1. Jibril Adan: 'Team that ensured we got "white smoke."' The Standard, 5th February 2010.
2. Peter Thiatiah: 'Land sharks, vandals, push community to the wall.' Sunday Standard, 22nd January 2006.
3. Tom Wolf: 'Pure or not, system has fault lines for MPs, President.' The Standard, 5th February, 2010.
4. Job Weru & Winsley Masese: 'Can country's economy sustain seats created by PSC?' The Standard, 5th February 2010.
5. Ochieng W: Themes in Kenyan History. Heinneman Kenya, 1990.
6. Munyoni Wanyeki: 'Loving each other will not cure "negative ethnicity."' The East African, Ist January 2010.

Kenyans should take a fresh look at what the parliamentary system of governance offers versus what has been proposed by the Parliamentary Select Committee. In fact, now that devolution to counties is potentially formalized in the draft, it will be very easy for anybody running for president to form a governing coalition with their ethnicities of choice, thus usher an Imperial Presidency. Such a coalition can be put together (Kenya style) soon after parliamentary elections, when all the key players are known. The President can then rely on civil servants (as has been happening), who really are the ones who implement government policy in the presidential system, totally unsupervised. That is why some are so arrogant even to development partners who help fund the country's programmes. In the current Presidential (forced coalition)system, some civil servants are even more powerful than the PM can ever be. Such civil servants usually facilitate only the President's agenda. They are also the ones who prop up dictatorships, once a governing coalition (starting with parliamentarians) is in place.

It would be very embarrassing for Kenyans to have spent so much time, money and effort, only for us to start complaining after a few months about the failure of the "new constitution," to deliver on its promises. But the reason would be quite simple: constitutions can't deliver the changes we desire, unless the people make those changes possible -all the people. Yet this is Kenya and we know what we have endured. Lets take time and be sure this is what we really want. Then we should accept the consequences and live with whatever monster we have accepted: the prospect of winner-take-all is still very much alive in this draft.

Prof Anyang' Nyong'o has outlined the benefits of the parliamentary versus presidential system in the following article: http://www.marsgroupkenya.org/multimedia/?StoryID=278676
I will highlight two points from the article:
1. As opposed to what has been highlighted in the press, MPs don't choose the PM. By voting in the most popular party, the people automatically choose their PM, because the PM is the leader of the most popular party in parliament. This is the person (and his team) who goes around the country soliciting for support for his/her party.

2. A parliamentary system has the potential to reduce the ethnic polarization in the country because it allows you to vote for your favorite MP and at the same time vote for your favorite party. There is no opportunity to forge ethnic coalitions as has been happening in the presidential system. Parliament then gets the opportunity to interrogate the PM, regarding government programmes, and you are able to interrogate your MP. I suspect scums like what is happening to the education sector funds would be carried out in a less audacious manner if a parliamentary system were in place.

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