The Kenyan politics has taken a direction to vote Bribery and changing that might be a challenge unless a law is passed on the same.
Kenyans have taken it as a necessity that for you to vie for any political seat you must give out cash during campaigns (The Gonya Syndrome) however a good leader you might be.
This is why these politicians will have to mishandled public funds to keep them for you during the campaign period.
However much and louder you make noise over this, it shall never stop because you are the cause of it. When will we stop this cheap politics where you get lured to vote somebody in with Ksh. 100 then you will never see him/her again in the next Four years?
Every campaign period these candidates use as much as Ksh. 50million in vote Bribery (Each Candidate). Where do you think all this money come from? It is not my concern anyway because I’m not a government auditor. My main interest is what they do with this money at the ground level.
Giving youths Ksh. 50 each to go and destroy a bodaboda shed donated by an opponent is not a development. Paying an idler to go and stone a building worth millions of money to revenge for something is not a development neither.
Giving out Ksh. 100 to every voter in your area is not helping in eradicating this poverty we have. You will use that amount of money for breakfast,howaboutLunchandsuper
Two weeks after the election you will be suffering from water Shortage, Your kids will be out of school because off arrears, you won’t be able to yield any farm produce because of drought, Your little farm produce won’t reach the nearest market because of poor roads, You won’t be able to stay in the market passed 7 PM because of security lights, you won’t be able to buy something worth for dinner because of high tax rates…
AND you will never see your elected leaders solve all these problems because they bought you and so they owe you nothing.
- How about if they could use the Ksh. 50 M to dig boreholes and Dams for us for what conservation during dry seasons?
- How about if they could use it to open up and maintain some impassable roads in our rural areas?
- How about if they could use it to set up some irrigation systems our farms? This will also create employment to our youth who will be working in these farms.
- How about if they could use this money to install security lights in our market centres and along the streets?
- How about if they could use this money to aid some poor child somewhere, who is out of school because of fee arrears? And to give out bursary to some needy students? Couldn’t this be great?
I believe when we do this Kenyans won’t suffer anymore, there will be enough food for both and at an affordable price, there will be clean water during any season.
The rate of corruption in various government offices will slow down and Kenyans won’t suffer from high taxation rate and high inflation rate.
I know it is illegal to bribe voters, but no one has been jailed over the same so we cannot keep on cheating and be pretending that it is illegal.
The government should put a jail term for whoever is found bribing voters and there should be no bail for such a case.
It’s only by law where we can finish this Syndrome.
Kenyans should know better.
BY Daniel Otumba Jr.
Feature image of Activitist, Boniface Mwangi originally on Quartz Africa
