I take this opportunity to humbly thank all of you who came out in my defense over the recent venomous comment left in this blog by somebody whom I believe is an old school mate whom I know very well. I am only puzzled at their possible motives in leaving the comment which most of you hit out at.
To be honest I am shocked that some Kenyans still think in terms of the class they belong to. However I am delighted to discover that I belong to the lower class. No wonder I seem to understand the masses so well.
I am very touched by your strong support and faith in me. Let me also say that I am following to the letter, the excellent advice given to me by most of you that I simply ignore the “sour grapes” and continue with my work, which many of you seem to appreciate. Ahsante sana.
So the aim of this post is not to go back to where I have said I will not go. It is to highlight an interesting truth that has emerged from the whole incident.
The main point I want to draw Kenyans attention to is to the reason why we do not seem able to attract enough younger people to stand for elective office. While it is agreed that age is not a factor in these things, it is also agreed that Kenyan politics badly needs a fresh infusion of new and mostly younger blood. Folks who can attempt (or is it dare) to think out of the box.
The venomous comment left here proves something that has happened to many people who are about my age (mid forties and below). These people have never really stopped being school boys and they live to impress their friends and to do what is right according to public opinion and peer pressure. One of the most important rules in this game is that one should never make a fool of themselves. In other words, one should never lose face in front of their peers. Standing for political office and losing is losing face badly, after all these guys live in an illusionary world where everything has to succeed at the first try. Businesses must be established and prosper immediately, like in the movies. And this is where corruption comes in. Some of these age mates of mine whom I know personally have made money from deals like supplying the city council with chalk labeled as chlorine for treating city drinking water. Imagine the damage to people’s health, deaths etc. And these guys are very proud of the fortunes that they have raked in doing this sort of thing.
The really sad thing is that in the process of playing to the gallery some of these talented individuals completely lose their calling and end up as nothing better than corrupt Kenyans calling themselves entrepreneurs.
That is the new generation of Kenyans we are looking up to to take over the reigns of power as soon as possible. May the good Lord have mercy on us. Let me also be the first to apologize to all you readers for misleading you and selling an unfeasible idea in this blog. Despite the evils of the older generation, one thing I am sure they never did was to sell chalk to the city council labeled as chlorine for treating drinking water.
Yet another business practice by some of these so-called young entrepreneurs is that of supplying stuff and then stealing it back from the stores to re-supply again. Of course this is done with a lot of help from insiders. In one particular case this entrepreneur supplied street lights to the city council and then stole the whole lot and marched to City Council for an order to replace the stolen street lights.
These are the characters whom you will find at popular night spots in the city on Fridays and weekends oozing “success in business.”
When we cry for new younger leadership we will have to be very careful in scrutinizing the characters who present themselves for public office.
Incidentally the person who left the venomous comment has stood for political office before and failed to be elected. I will say no more.
