Kenyan Members of Parliament during a session when sugar was discussed. PHOTO | NMG
To shoot down a parliamentary report on the mass sugar
poisoning, honourable (giggle!) MPs took bribes of Ksh10,000 each.
That’s $100.
Speaker Justin Muturi, a man not known
for upholding high standards of conduct in the august (giggle!) House,
has even invited the police and the anti-corruption agency to probe
these claims.
Should the claims be verified, then the
12th parliament, from a moral and constitutional standpoint, will have
failed, and should be dissolved with immediate effect if we are to
salvage a modicum of national dignity.
Parliament, in
constitutional democracies, is mandated to check the excesses of the
executive, exercise oversight on how public money is spent, define
national values and goals, protect national strategic interests, shape
foreign policy, and generally craft laws and policies to help a country
attain its economic, political, social and strategic aspirations.
From
this perspective, parliament is not only the protector of the public
good; it is also the conscience of the nation, and key driver and shaper
of nationhood and socio-economic development.
Given
this critical role, it goes without saying that MPs are expected to be
the finest a nation can offer. They should be people of the highest
possible integrity, ready to give up livelihoods and life itself in
defence of the Constitution. They must be among the best educated and
the most intelligent in society.
But in Kenya, we have,
like with everything else, corrupted the concept of parliament and
contaminated the idea of who an MP should be.
Thus, it
is quite common to find in our parliament thugs, corruption kingpins,
hatemongers, foreskin theorists, sexists, and men and women of
questionable education and/or intelligence.
In other jurisdictions, listening to debates in parliament can be an exhilarating intellectual experience.
There
are references to constitutional theory or to oral tradition or Western
philosophy, quotes from literature and film, or from biographies of
highly accomplished people. In these regions, politicians have reading
lists, always eager to expand their knowledge. Barack Obama, as
president and even now, always has a reading list that he shares with
journalists.
It is an eclectic list, not limited to
books by Americans or a particular genre. On his recent visit to Kenya,
for instance, among the books he was reading was A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o.
In
his speech during the Mandela centenary anniversary, the man’s
expansive and scholarly mind was on full display. Those who listened to
the speech came away wiser and freshly inspired.
To
listen to debates in Kenya’s parliament is to lose the will to live.
Many members have a hesitant grasp of English or Kiswahili. I always
wonder why they don’t just speak in their mother tongue and make use of
an interpreter. Others never utter a word (thank God), only making
technical appearances to avoid losing their lucrative seats.
There
were instances in Kenya’s parliamentary history when debates were
lively and intelligent; the days of Martha Karua, Chelagat Mutai, James
Orengo, Koigi Wamwere, Pio Gama Pinto, Tom Mboya, and so on. Then,
parliamentary caucuses were formed on the basis of policy or ideology.
Today,
caucuses are tribal groupings whose aim is to push the agenda as
formulated by the leader of their tribal party or coalition.
There
is a type of speech at which our MPs excel. It is not intellectually
taxing, as its one aim is to mobilise tribal support. It is delivered at
funerals, at ego-stroking “homecoming parties,” or at campaign rallies.
Code words and references are employed to profile
ethnic communities. Fingers are wagged angrily, and threats issued
against unnamed people. Claims of persecution of communities are made.
It is coded war-mongering.
The speech varies little in
content and form, whether in Kiambu or Bungoma. Were the speech to be
analysed for facts, inspirational moments, ideological argumentation,
policy enunciation, and for dignified educated delivery, it would score
zero.
So perhaps we should not be shocked that this
calibre of men and women can line up for bribes in a matter that has
existential implications for the country.
Tee Ngugi is a political and social commentator based in Nairobi
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