“THE SLAVE NATION”-
LESSONS FROM THE “KABOGOS” AND “SONKOS “OF AFRICA
An American
satirist Dorothy Parker was full of sayings wasn’t she? And I got one that
really got me thinking a lot. “I don’t know much about being a millionaire, but
I’ll bet I’d be darling at it.”
 |
| THE FLASHY KENYAN MP MIKE SONKO |
 |
| PARTY LEADER-MARTHA KARUA, MP KABOGO AND MP SONKO |
They are the new
walking ATMS- similar, as both are fabulously rich, staged dazzling campaigns
and won, ran on the same party ticket and their opponents claim they could be
distant relatives, who share a multi
billionaire friend in politics and in business.
 |
| MP KABOGO |
But then again,
hasn’t Africa seen this? Ask any African
statesman and he / she will tell you that this isn’t new. I do not know what
their merchandise is but I respect the mere fact that they are astute
businessmen and if we were all like them, maybe Kenya would have no need for vision
2030.
Forgive me,
however, I must confess, like framed English cleric Charles Caleb Colton; “many
speak the truth when they say that they despise riches, but they mean the
riches possessed by others.”
But again, I want
to be rich as Kabogo and Sonko, but I am constrained by the mortal fear of what
Leonardo Da Vinci warned; “he who wishes to be rich in a day, will be hanged in
a year.”
But then, how many
of those who have tried to be overnight millionaires have we hanged? You
guessed right-none! That is why we have commission of inquiries almost the age
of our forefathers that have inquired nothing. Because I ma unaware of any who
has been hanged, I am still tempted to push my luck through.
I suspect,
however, it would be burdening God too much trusting Him to walk me up this
ladder to the honey- pot in a year or two. It may take the rest of my life waiting
on God to bless me to the point I do not hanker for sh. 1 million and to make
myself the “mister IMF” for the less fortunate.
You see, in my
pride of Africa land- Kenya, money really does earn one respectability, a place
at the high table, the choicest meals, the choicest sitting places, powerful
friends, human nature which is like a prostitute in the Dark continent as only
those who can pay the bed get it and a million fanatical beggars praising you
as they wait eagerly for the bread crumbs.
As a former
colleague asked another; “will KBC play martial music when you die and how many
shops will close in your village when you die?”
The “Sonkos” and
“Kabogos” of Africa are greenhorns. They
always eye what is ahead of them, even before they attain what is before them.
Vying for an Mp seat, you will hear them say that they are now eyeing the
senate or governor. They claim they won’t pocket a cent of their salary but
will instead divert it to the projects in their constituencies. They come with
promises of free education, free electricity connections- all in the name of
wooing the voters.
 |
| MIKE SONKO-AH RASTA MAN |
This brings me to
the question which if I had an opportunity to seat with them I would ask. But
since I am not seeing that happening anytime now, I will ask it here; what is
this God-blessed business that makes sh. 1M equivalent to the sh. 10 coin we
grudgingly throw to street beggars?
But then again, I have
2 worries about the “Kabogos” and “Sonkos” in politics; first, money and
generosity do not necessarily make one a better leader and we need leaders who
can “uncurse” us from the curse of depending on the being fed fish to teach us
how to fish on our own. This is because; the dependence they create will make
us their own beck and call slaves.
This is because
many such leaders will live in gold- encrusted homes, cry about how poor the
poor are, and still scramble for C.D.F and other state largesse and fruits of
corruption.
So, until Africa stops being dazzled by the rich man’s and woman’s
‘chapaa’ (money), and bartering our votes for cash, we shall remain one big
slave family pretending to be free. We shall even lynch the pickpocket but
sprawl over ourselves on the ground when our legislators pass by.
No comments:
Post a Comment