Johnson Katuku via FB.
CAPTION: They called Raila the “lord of poverty” but Uhuru and Ruto are really the ones who visited rural areas to commemorate 53 years of poverty since independence.
In the last couple of days we have been treated to images of the PResident (the incompetent Uhuru Kenyatta) and his deputy (William “jamaa wa kutenga Jacob Juma” Ruto) joining poverty-stricken families in shanties for lunch or to launch power connection in mud-walled houses.
What is shocking to me is to see people reacting with awe, rapping about how the duo are humble and down to earth. Unless down to earth means they just dropped from heaven to earth, I don’t see the big deal here. If you want to see a real image of humility, google about Jose Mujica, former president of Uruguay. He didn’t pretend to identify with the poor, he lived a life of the poor.
1. Donated 90% of his salary to charity
2. Lived in a ramshackle farm with his three-legged dog and 2 police officers for security
3. Drove a 1987 blue VW Beetle.
4. Gave ride to neighbours and people walking on the road when driving to his office
5. Left a country high on economic health and very low unemployment
6. Was shot six times,jailed for 14 years for opposing former dictatorship but never sought to benefit from it.
7. He once said “As soon as politicians start climbing up the ladder, they suddenly become kings. I don’t know how it works, but what I do know is that republics came to the world to make sure that no one is more than anyone else. You need a palace, red carpet, a lot of people behind you saying ‘Yes, sir.’ I think all of that is awful”.
Now that’s HUMILITY and being DOWN TO EARTH.
Are we asking our PR president and deputy to be like Jose Mujica? NO. We want them to live with all the trappings of power that our country guarantees for such positions. What we want them to do is to fulfil their pledges and perhaps lie less.
1. Lift 50% of poor Kenyans above the poverty line (not join them to commemorate poverty).
2. Reduce the unemployment rate from the high of 40%.
3. Decimate corruption.
4. Lower cost of living and improve standard of living
5. Clean water and power to most if not all.
6. Education for all
7. Security.
8. Infrastructure.
9. Food sufficiency.
10. Assured healthcare.
But that will never happen as it’s easier to bribe journalists and hype emotions, purporting to be down-to-earth individuals, yet we know you’re the biggest thieves in Kenya.
The psyche of this nation is extremely sick. All virtues rendered useless. Almost like how corporates in Kenya donate peanuts then spend millions buying advertising space and bribing thick-headed journalists and editors to announce their philanthropy.
Kenyans should demand leadership that implements policies that will uplift the masses from poverty, not the sporadic acts of benevolence that we have been treated to in the last few days. Deep in their hearts, Uhuru and Ruto know that what they are doing won’t help anyone, even those “lucky” few who were visited.
It’s just sad when you see Kenyans yapping praises for the two who thrive in poverty-compounding, one sure way of staying in power because the poor (and ultimately the dumbest component of society) are easily duped by such petty gestures.
