For those who use matatus in Nairobi, I am sure you have come across a telephone conversation that is far too common. By default, you become part of a lie being told by a fellow passenger who does not tell a caller on the other end of the phone the truth about their location.
Judging by the telephone conversation, you learn that the passenger is late. But rather than admitting that and apologising, they would rather come up with a tall tale. Let’s say you are in a matatu that is just leaving Kiserian, and then you overhear a fellow passenger lying over the phone that they are on Jogoo Road.
Yet, if the person is lucky and there is no traffic jam — which is unlikely in Nairobi — it may take more than an hour to reach Jogoo Road.
Still on matatus, at the start of a journey, the crew often assures passengers about the final stop. But somewhere along the route, before reaching the bus stop, the matatu driver stops the car, and passengers are told to disembark. This is despite paying fare for the full journey.
The lies being told here and there in the Kenyan society have become normalised. And Kenyans swallow them and roll with life.
During every election cycle, manifesto after manifesto is drawn up. Kenyans are promised heaven on earth. But no sooner do the leaders assume office than the promises are forgotten. The “people’s representatives” roll up their sleeves, not to work for the voters, but for their personal hustles.
Elections have become more about personal enrichment than public service. This is not uniquely a Kenyan problem. Politicians in many countries take the electorate for granted. Voters are used as stepping stones for politicians’ personal development. In fact, it is not easy to quantify what elected leaders do. Most hardly show up in Parliament to address the needs of their constituents.
Recently, President William Ruto toured Northern Kenya, where there has been a furore over leadership in the face of severe hardship, drought and hunger. It’s a similar scenario in other parts of the nation with their own set of problems.
In most parts of the country, I won’t be surprised if people do not know their Member of the County Assembly. Others have seen their MCAs on posters and briefly in person during the campaign phase. Thereafter, it’s a game of cat and mouse between voters and their representatives until the next election.
It is no secret that some leaders from Northern Kenya govern remotely from the comfort of their city homes. Further afield, reports indicate that the Cameroonian President, Paul Biya, 93, lives abroad most of the time. He extended his 43 years in power when he swept to victory during the General Election in that country in November 2025.
At home, absentee MCAs, Members of Parliament, governors and senators get away with absenteeism. There is this myth that elected leaders report to no one, and that is why they can decide to operate from Nairobi, Dubai, USA, Switzerland and Europe. There is nothing further from the truth.
Once elected, leaders are supposed to report to the electorate. Failing to show up for work is fraud. Elected leaders should be at the beck and call of the voters. If they have time to post photos of their new mansions and cars on social media, then they must create time to report periodically about the work they are doing for the voters.
Kenya is considered one of the countries with the highest penetration of fast internet globally. The country also has very high literacy levels among the millennials and Gen Zs. I would forgive leaders for ignoring our parents’ generation — some of whom are illiterate — but they have no excuse for not engaging with the younger generation that voted for them.
With the advent of technology, leaders should step up their performance by making full use of it. Barazas are not the place for discussing budgets. Accountability ought to start by sharing information with the voters. Corruption in Kenya is such a big problem because development is done in an abstract way, which makes it easier to misuse resources.
It should become mandatory for elected leaders to own websites, where they periodically post their expenditure and the development work that they have done. That way, transparency is enhanced. When leaders work in the shadows, their sense of, or lack of development, cannot be tracked. No wonder corruption is very high in the country.
