Emperor Nero Fiddles...How Lovely!

Once again, we are being treated to another circus by the Government but even a good comedy get boring when overdone! In our sense it is now frustrating. A lot of people I interact with, from both sides of the political divide, seem fed up by Kenyan politicians. People who only a year ago would give an arm for Raila are now fed up with the ODM brinkmanship, and those who were willing to die for Kibaki cannot also understand the PNU arrogance and detachment from the common mwananchi. The priority now is to set up oneself for 2012, with those with certain advantages seeking to consolidate their positions and those looking like lagging behind trying to set themselves up to a vantage position. But what seems lost on this coterie is that there might be no Kenya as they know it to govern come 2012.

There are two events that happened in the last 1 month that I noticed did not draw the kind of outrage that I thought it would, and I was a bit disappointed. Actually it was one event but two issues. First there was the talk of the Kikuyu - Kalenjin alliance. Granted, a few politicians came out to talk against it but it seems as if it was more from the point of selfish political alliances. The so called civil society barely commented. It was in this context that the MP for Kamukunji, a rather dodgy character (and stupid I may add) by the name Mbugua (I no longer acknowledge them as honorable) talked of the evil from Lake Victoria that had confused their brothers the Kalenjin. That he was not hauled into custody for such an irresponsible remark is not surprising - this is Kenya - but the lack of outrage against this remark given the context that the country is coming from was telling. We are not in a hurry to sort ourselves out.

Meanwhile the ODM and PNU fools continue to squabble over who should eat what as the country continues to stagger towards the brink of chaos. The reform agenda has been hijacked by partisan interests, public anger at political mismanagement continues to swell, the economic crisis begins to bite...

I am writing this out of frustration but my biggest frustration is the lack of organization by alternative voices to craft together a coherent alternative agenda for the country. You turn on the TV and you find the Chinedu-Akinyi drama instead. And the opinion poll question on NTV prime time news is who do you believe, Akinyi or Chinedu? Now I know what it felt like when Nero fiddled!