When Heroes Disappoint | Page 119

Whether the man chose to pay the fare just because it pricked his conscience that a man was being berated because of him or because he craved the adulation of those in the bus since he cannot tell them that his calling is that of a thief .
Ochieng has never been able to recall this story without drawing a parallel with the strange relationship that Kenyans and indeed most African countries have with their politicians under the guise of a democratic system of government .

Ochieng marvels at how the Kenyan pick-pockets have styled themselves as men of God and have crisscrossed the country profiting from a gullible public who trust them since they all portray a god-ordained demeanor .

Ochieng has stated in his earlier discourse that Kenyan politics attracts scoundrels and criminals since that is the only place that they can escape the so-called long arm of the law which in Kenya is actually very short .
If one wishes to escape the consequences of criminal activities in Kenya , the best place to hide in the open is to be elected into political office as you will be among peers whose crimes are probably bigger than yours .
If you fail to snap a political seat then the best alternative is to befriend a politician and ensure you are appointed to the many government agencies that are simply conduits for grand larceny and misappropriation of public funds .
The currency that oils this duplicitous political machinery is money and the only reason any Kenyan gets into politics is to either acquire money as fast as possible or to protect the money that was stolen in the past .
In Kenya , we made it even easier to dip your hands into the public till by passing what has been extolled by the same politicians as the most progressive constitution in Africa , meaning that the points of pilfering have been increased exponentially .
Kenya , in its wisdom , created forty-seven counties , where eight was probably the right number and fifteen would have been pushing the viability limits . With a stroke of a pen Kenya devolved corruption to unprecedented levels .
Kenya , by any standards , was never and is
not a poor country , the problem is that the
system has created too many pick-pockets
by establishing too many bus stops where
nifty
fingered
political
pick-pockets
thrive .
The government is run by taxes extracted from the citizenry ’ s income , payroll , sales , property and social insurance . When there is a short-fall the government is permitted by the public to borrow internally or externally to bridge the gap .
If you then place pick-pockets in the system then one has introduced a risky leakage since dishonesty is expected from pick-pockets , one needs to remind them that they are actually paid by the taxes that the public pays .
In a major glitch in the progressive constitution , Kenyans somehow managed to allow the politicians to set their own salaries . This unprecedented oversight attracted conmen and their cousins to the public service . Those who do not like to work could then fleece with abandon .
It is a prudent financial tenet that one should live within their means , so how did Kenya find itself supporting a humongous wage bill totally out of proportion to its income ? It is because it allowed thieves to infiltrate the government .
If you have ever wondered how Kenyans ended up with the horrendous loan burden that is being used as an excuse to overburden an already burdened populace , one just has to go back to the same pickpockets .
If you scrutinize the Kenyan budget , a matter that Senator Omtatah seems to be the only man in government willing to delve into the details , then it becomes clear that Kenya is a wasteful country and the shadowy allocations are actually theft channels .
Ochieng marvels at how the Kenyan pickpockets have styled themselves as men of God and have crisscrossed the country profiting from a gullible public who trust them since they all portray a god-ordained demeanor .