What is Wrong with our Politics?

Something is very wrong with our politics. Why do politicians have such an obscene sense of entitlement to our votes and what gives presidential aspirants the audacity to expect our votes yet they are not clearly defining the issues that affect us and spelling out how they will address them? Just as it has always been, the Kenyan public is taking the forthcoming general election very seriously not because the electorate is acutely aware of the importance of quality leadership in nation building but because it still matters to a vast majority of Kenyans from which ethnic community the president is going to come from.

Tribalism therefore is readily considered what is wrong in our politics. I am however of a different opinion. The strong desire people have of seeing someone from their own ethnic community at the centre of power is no different from the passionate desire we all have of seeing our fellow countrymen winning a gold medal in international athletic competitions even though the individual athlete comes from a different ethnic community than ours and they alone and their families get the direct benefits of the accomplishments. In much the same way, the desire to see our kinsmen ruling the nation is legitimate and proper and demonising that desire and labelling it tribalism is misplaced and rather simplistic.

The Rise and Inevitable Fall of Njeru Githae

I must admit, I am not easy to impress but Robison Njeru Githae, the minister for finance has pulled off that extraordinary feat; he has won my admiration! Unlike his predecessors, the minister is actually a dynamic and forward-looking man. Personally, I did not know much about the ill-famed man whose bizarre gastronomic proposal on how Kenya should deal with the problem of food shortage became a rich source of biting political satire. Given what was clearly a lack of judgement on his part through his ill-timed and deeply repulsive culinary proposal, I did not know what to make of his appointment to the crucial docket.

Be that as it may, the highly imaginative finance minister is a man with a mission and his forward-looking nature has come in handy in his current assignment.

The Story of Peanut Farmers, Worlds Apart[i]

The people around the village of Jalab, in Senegal, West Africa, and many rural towns of Georgia in the United States depend upon the same essential crop: peanuts. West Africa and United States are two of the biggest commercial producers of peanuts in the world. However, the story of their cultivation and marketing of peanuts is the story of two very different worlds.