Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The alarming new trend in Kenyan politics

From the just concluded by-elections in Juja, Makadara and Starehe, I have realized Kenyans have decided they are tired of the old political class of well educated individuals from Makerere, Harvard, Nairobi University etc..., or from CEOs and Directors of reputable organizations of Government institutions. Kenyans are now going for whoever is loaded with lots of cash. We care little of political parties, how the individual became rich, his/her background and the kind of business these people are involved in. All we know they are business men and women.

These so called businessmen/women know how to lure hungry Kenyans by “putting a meal on their table”. Some even boast women's small scale businesses because they know women have a lot of influence. I wonder if this trend is going to improve the lives of Kenyans, however am worried because these kinds of leaders cannot be good role models for the society and especially for our children.

We should look deeper into this trend before getting over excited that Kenyans are changing the political scene in Kenya by bringing in a new crop of leaders from the young generation and do not care about political parties. May be I should have written this before the by-elections but it is not too late, we have two years to the coming elections of 2012. Let us watch out before we ruin our country's reputation by electing leaders with questionable backgrounds.