Post by Ed on Oct 11, 2005 1:48:42 GMT 3
Rot in House microcosm of society
By Farook Shah
The breakdown of civility and decorum in Parliament last week is illustrative of a society whose moral bearings and compass are now misplaced or gone. A fish rots from the head, and Kenya has been rotting from the head for a while, thanks to our now conspicuously institutionalised practice of governance by open corruption. What we see in Parliament is a microcosm of what is happening in the Kenyan society at large.
The government endorses and participates in open bribery and corruption; the parliament passes dubious bills without quorum; the clergy abdicates all responsibility regarding teaching the flock about wrong and right; the press colludes with those who sell the soul of the country to avoid investigative and informative journalism; and the populace clings to an elusive hope of a positive turn of events while things get bad and worse and worst. Kenya lacks credible leadership at the executive, legislative, judiciary, and societal levels all combined. What we are seeing in Parliament are the results of the voids in these segments playing themselves out.
There are people in Parliament who call themselves representatives of the people but who in the first place have no business being in that House. They are only in parliament because they stole or bought their way there. No right thinking constituent would condone these shameless gossipy contributions as the reasons they sent a man or woman to represent them in a national House.
Charity begins at home, and should not end there, we were taught in primary schools. What is the charity coming from the Kenyan Parliament these days? We see an example of a governance whose leaders teach their people by word and action that it is okay to steal public monies and to use public office to defraud helpless citizens. We see a government teaching its younger generations that it is all right to auction the soul of one’s country for pieces of silver like corn and cattle in the marketplace. We see a nation whose tyranny decides for its press what the journalists can think and write; and for its readers what they are allowed to read. We see through Parliament a governance which lacks any sense of right or wrong whatsoever, and which steals openly and arrogantly without shame, a posterity of its people’s present and future generations.
In short, we see a Parliament with thieves and felons and betrayers who posses no dignity whatsoever worthy of address as representatives of the people of Kenya. These people are running this country down a cliff. They have no manners, they have no sense of history, and they have no qualms about rotting the country to the core. And their actions are encouraged by the lack of leadership in that august House. And by the Kenyan spineless press and clergy which has failed miserably to smoke these traitors out and to expose them to the public for what they truly are. I challenge anybody to provide one single instance when the Parliament of Humphrey Slade sunk as low as the Parliament of the Kenya of today. The members of this parliament represent a good percentage of people who have no clue why they are MPs.
Thank God, a nation is bigger than an individual, and there remains in Kenya a sizeable number of dignified and patriotic men and women, who deserve the titles of statesmen and stateswomen because they have earned it, not because they have stolen it or bought it from the market with pieces of silver. Some of them are serving us in Parliament today. We know these patriotic sons and daughters of our motherland by the way they carry out their official duties; the quality of their debates in the House; the sober content of their writings outside Parliament; and the substance of their intellect as perceived by their constituents and Kenyans at large. They are men and women of action not talk. Their actions affirm their commitment to the worth of their country and create an ideal of the aspirations of their people. And they put their lives on the line for the country.
These patriotic sons and daughters of Kenya refuse to play the lackadaisical politics of yesteryear and status quo; they refuse to remain indifferent to the bare raping and squander of the dignity of their countrymen and women; and they fight with might to secure for each and every Kenyan a liberty and a dignity of a lifetime.
A great majority of Kenyans are able to see through the fake representatives of yesteryear and to pick the patriots from despots. Kenyans: follow and support these sons and daughters of our motherland whose convictions are informed by the history of our country and its aspirations; and restore the dignity of our Parliament by refusing to elect to the House the people whose ideas are representative only of the politics of belligerence and gossip.
microcosm of society
By Farook Shah
The breakdown of civility and decorum in Parliament last week is illustrative of a society whose moral bearings and compass are now misplaced or gone. A fish rots from the head, and Kenya has been rotting from the head for a while, thanks to our now conspicuously institutionalised practice of governance by open corruption. What we see in Parliament is a microcosm of what is happening in the Kenyan society at large.
The government endorses and participates in open bribery and corruption; the parliament passes dubious bills without quorum; the clergy abdicates all responsibility regarding teaching the flock about wrong and right; the press colludes with those who sell the soul of the country to avoid investigative and informative journalism; and the populace clings to an elusive hope of a positive turn of events while things get bad and worse and worst. Kenya lacks credible leadership at the executive, legislative, judiciary, and societal levels all combined. What we are seeing in Parliament are the results of the voids in these segments playing themselves out.
There are people in Parliament who call themselves representatives of the people but who in the first place have no business being in that House. They are only in parliament because they stole or bought their way there. No right thinking constituent would condone these shameless gossipy contributions as the reasons they sent a man or woman to represent them in a national House.
Charity begins at home, and should not end there, we were taught in primary schools. What is the charity coming from the Kenyan Parliament these days? We see an example of a governance whose leaders teach their people by word and action that it is okay to steal public monies and to use public office to defraud helpless citizens. We see a government teaching its younger generations that it is all right to auction the soul of one’s country for pieces of silver like corn and cattle in the marketplace. We see a nation whose tyranny decides for its press what the journalists can think and write; and for its readers what they are allowed to read. We see through Parliament a governance which lacks any sense of right or wrong whatsoever, and which steals openly and arrogantly without shame, a posterity of its people’s present and future generations.
In short, we see a Parliament with thieves and felons and betrayers who posses no dignity whatsoever worthy of address as representatives of the people of Kenya. These people are running this country down a cliff. They have no manners, they have no sense of history, and they have no qualms about rotting the country to the core. And their actions are encouraged by the lack of leadership in that august House. And by the Kenyan spineless press and clergy which has failed miserably to smoke these traitors out and to expose them to the public for what they truly are. I challenge anybody to provide one single instance when the Parliament of Humphrey Slade sunk as low as the Parliament of the Kenya of today. The members of this parliament represent a good percentage of people who have no clue why they are MPs.
Thank God, a nation is bigger than an individual, and there remains in Kenya a sizeable number of dignified and patriotic men and women, who deserve the titles of statesmen and stateswomen because they have earned it, not because they have stolen it or bought it from the market with pieces of silver. Some of them are serving us in Parliament today. We know these patriotic sons and daughters of our motherland by the way they carry out their official duties; the quality of their debates in the House; the sober content of their writings outside Parliament; and the substance of their intellect as perceived by their constituents and Kenyans at large. They are men and women of action not talk. Their actions affirm their commitment to the worth of their country and create an ideal of the aspirations of their people. And they put their lives on the line for the country.
These patriotic sons and daughters of Kenya refuse to play the lackadaisical politics of yesteryear and status quo; they refuse to remain indifferent to the bare raping and squander of the dignity of their countrymen and women; and they fight with might to secure for each and every Kenyan a liberty and a dignity of a lifetime.
A great majority of Kenyans are able to see through the fake representatives of yesteryear and to pick the patriots from despots. Kenyans: follow and support these sons and daughters of our motherland whose convictions are informed by the history of our country and its aspirations; and restore the dignity of our Parliament by refusing to elect to the House the people whose ideas are representative only of the politics of belligerence and gossip.
By Farook Shah
The breakdown of civility and decorum in Parliament last week is illustrative of a society whose moral bearings and compass are now misplaced or gone. A fish rots from the head, and Kenya has been rotting from the head for a while, thanks to our now conspicuously institutionalised practice of governance by open corruption. What we see in Parliament is a microcosm of what is happening in the Kenyan society at large.
The government endorses and participates in open bribery and corruption; the parliament passes dubious bills without quorum; the clergy abdicates all responsibility regarding teaching the flock about wrong and right; the press colludes with those who sell the soul of the country to avoid investigative and informative journalism; and the populace clings to an elusive hope of a positive turn of events while things get bad and worse and worst. Kenya lacks credible leadership at the executive, legislative, judiciary, and societal levels all combined. What we are seeing in Parliament are the results of the voids in these segments playing themselves out.
There are people in Parliament who call themselves representatives of the people but who in the first place have no business being in that House. They are only in parliament because they stole or bought their way there. No right thinking constituent would condone these shameless gossipy contributions as the reasons they sent a man or woman to represent them in a national House.
Charity begins at home, and should not end there, we were taught in primary schools. What is the charity coming from the Kenyan Parliament these days? We see an example of a governance whose leaders teach their people by word and action that it is okay to steal public monies and to use public office to defraud helpless citizens. We see a government teaching its younger generations that it is all right to auction the soul of one’s country for pieces of silver like corn and cattle in the marketplace. We see a nation whose tyranny decides for its press what the journalists can think and write; and for its readers what they are allowed to read. We see through Parliament a governance which lacks any sense of right or wrong whatsoever, and which steals openly and arrogantly without shame, a posterity of its people’s present and future generations.
In short, we see a Parliament with thieves and felons and betrayers who posses no dignity whatsoever worthy of address as representatives of the people of Kenya. These people are running this country down a cliff. They have no manners, they have no sense of history, and they have no qualms about rotting the country to the core. And their actions are encouraged by the lack of leadership in that august House. And by the Kenyan spineless press and clergy which has failed miserably to smoke these traitors out and to expose them to the public for what they truly are. I challenge anybody to provide one single instance when the Parliament of Humphrey Slade sunk as low as the Parliament of the Kenya of today. The members of this parliament represent a good percentage of people who have no clue why they are MPs.
Thank God, a nation is bigger than an individual, and there remains in Kenya a sizeable number of dignified and patriotic men and women, who deserve the titles of statesmen and stateswomen because they have earned it, not because they have stolen it or bought it from the market with pieces of silver. Some of them are serving us in Parliament today. We know these patriotic sons and daughters of our motherland by the way they carry out their official duties; the quality of their debates in the House; the sober content of their writings outside Parliament; and the substance of their intellect as perceived by their constituents and Kenyans at large. They are men and women of action not talk. Their actions affirm their commitment to the worth of their country and create an ideal of the aspirations of their people. And they put their lives on the line for the country.
These patriotic sons and daughters of Kenya refuse to play the lackadaisical politics of yesteryear and status quo; they refuse to remain indifferent to the bare raping and squander of the dignity of their countrymen and women; and they fight with might to secure for each and every Kenyan a liberty and a dignity of a lifetime.
A great majority of Kenyans are able to see through the fake representatives of yesteryear and to pick the patriots from despots. Kenyans: follow and support these sons and daughters of our motherland whose convictions are informed by the history of our country and its aspirations; and restore the dignity of our Parliament by refusing to elect to the House the people whose ideas are representative only of the politics of belligerence and gossip.
microcosm of society
By Farook Shah
The breakdown of civility and decorum in Parliament last week is illustrative of a society whose moral bearings and compass are now misplaced or gone. A fish rots from the head, and Kenya has been rotting from the head for a while, thanks to our now conspicuously institutionalised practice of governance by open corruption. What we see in Parliament is a microcosm of what is happening in the Kenyan society at large.
The government endorses and participates in open bribery and corruption; the parliament passes dubious bills without quorum; the clergy abdicates all responsibility regarding teaching the flock about wrong and right; the press colludes with those who sell the soul of the country to avoid investigative and informative journalism; and the populace clings to an elusive hope of a positive turn of events while things get bad and worse and worst. Kenya lacks credible leadership at the executive, legislative, judiciary, and societal levels all combined. What we are seeing in Parliament are the results of the voids in these segments playing themselves out.
There are people in Parliament who call themselves representatives of the people but who in the first place have no business being in that House. They are only in parliament because they stole or bought their way there. No right thinking constituent would condone these shameless gossipy contributions as the reasons they sent a man or woman to represent them in a national House.
Charity begins at home, and should not end there, we were taught in primary schools. What is the charity coming from the Kenyan Parliament these days? We see an example of a governance whose leaders teach their people by word and action that it is okay to steal public monies and to use public office to defraud helpless citizens. We see a government teaching its younger generations that it is all right to auction the soul of one’s country for pieces of silver like corn and cattle in the marketplace. We see a nation whose tyranny decides for its press what the journalists can think and write; and for its readers what they are allowed to read. We see through Parliament a governance which lacks any sense of right or wrong whatsoever, and which steals openly and arrogantly without shame, a posterity of its people’s present and future generations.
In short, we see a Parliament with thieves and felons and betrayers who posses no dignity whatsoever worthy of address as representatives of the people of Kenya. These people are running this country down a cliff. They have no manners, they have no sense of history, and they have no qualms about rotting the country to the core. And their actions are encouraged by the lack of leadership in that august House. And by the Kenyan spineless press and clergy which has failed miserably to smoke these traitors out and to expose them to the public for what they truly are. I challenge anybody to provide one single instance when the Parliament of Humphrey Slade sunk as low as the Parliament of the Kenya of today. The members of this parliament represent a good percentage of people who have no clue why they are MPs.
Thank God, a nation is bigger than an individual, and there remains in Kenya a sizeable number of dignified and patriotic men and women, who deserve the titles of statesmen and stateswomen because they have earned it, not because they have stolen it or bought it from the market with pieces of silver. Some of them are serving us in Parliament today. We know these patriotic sons and daughters of our motherland by the way they carry out their official duties; the quality of their debates in the House; the sober content of their writings outside Parliament; and the substance of their intellect as perceived by their constituents and Kenyans at large. They are men and women of action not talk. Their actions affirm their commitment to the worth of their country and create an ideal of the aspirations of their people. And they put their lives on the line for the country.
These patriotic sons and daughters of Kenya refuse to play the lackadaisical politics of yesteryear and status quo; they refuse to remain indifferent to the bare raping and squander of the dignity of their countrymen and women; and they fight with might to secure for each and every Kenyan a liberty and a dignity of a lifetime.
A great majority of Kenyans are able to see through the fake representatives of yesteryear and to pick the patriots from despots. Kenyans: follow and support these sons and daughters of our motherland whose convictions are informed by the history of our country and its aspirations; and restore the dignity of our Parliament by refusing to elect to the House the people whose ideas are representative only of the politics of belligerence and gossip.