Saturday, March 2, 2013

Maisha Bora


Kenya is developing and if indicators of this phenomenon are scarce, one just needs to remember the recent presidential debates and some governorship ones to see what I mean. Kenyans, both candidates and spectators carried themselves with maturity and decorum and left some of us wondering if maybe Kenya has finally come of age.

All is not rosy however, and we still have traits that we need to get over to realize that elusive dream of a mature nation. We need to remind ourselves daily that we do not need to be micromanaged and prompted all the time to live and act positively. We are still dying in scores on our roads mainly because we still board either overloaded vehicles or unroadworthy ones. We are still rushing towards overturned fuel tankers to collect spilt fuels for crying out loud! We litter our environment without care and pollute our rivers knowing very well that our healthcare is still wanting-we ignore the simple teaching that hygiene could keep dangerous and expensive (to treat) diseases at bay. We are still inclined to crossing the super highway not over the 'monkey bridges', but on the road itself- we are too much in a hurry to get to the other side- In more mature societies, low speed traffic is prohibited on super highways let alone pedestrians!

We witness unscrupulous wananchi/public officers giving and receiving bribes and go about our business as if all is normal-'ni kama vindeo, ni kama ndrama!' We watch as thugs harass us day in day out and go on our way as if it's our noble obligation to be harassed. We watch politicians play with our national psyche, cheat us in generating our national income and at expending of the same. We watch helplessly as our national pride and national heritage is degraded and defaced by a few with criminal intent-our wild life is threatened with extinction by poachers and road signs/street lights are stolen by scrap metal dealers. We really do not need by-laws to practice what is right. We do not need Michuki rules to avoid unroadworthy or overloaded vehicles. We just need a more positive and realistic self-evaluation.

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