Patriotism is described in the Cambridge dictionary as “the feeling of loving your country more than any others and being proud of it”, and I love the description of patriotism in Wikipedia the most.
It states that patriotism “is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to a country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one’s homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, political, or historical aspects. It may encompass a set of concepts closely related to nationalism, mostly civic nationalism and sometimes cultural nationalism.”
Politicians have been bandying the word patriotism around lately, especially in relation to Kenyans’ opposition to Adani holdings takeover of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Kenyans have been equally vocal about many projects and policies initiated by the government that reeked of scams.
They include affordable housing, attempted sale of KICC, SHA/SHIA replacing the beloved NHIF, higher taxation for stealing, budgeted corruption, diplomatic immunity for Bill Gates and pathological lying by government officials. That’s just the shorter version.
Kenyans protesting against poor governance and what they deem as pilfering and plundering of the country’s resources has been met with fierce and sometimes deadly response from the government. Every politician on the payroll to support dubious deals has convinced him- or herself that it is, in fact, Kenyans who lack patriotism for standing in their way as they intend to rob the country dry together with local or foreign entities.
While politicians are outward-looking to find where to hide billions stolen, Kenyans have been steadfast in looking inwards to protect their country through patriotic gestures. Kenya ni home (is home) is on the lips of Kenyans whether they are in the diaspora or indeed at home. The Kenya ni home mantra has grown stronger as the government continues to coerce Kenyans to look for work abroad as they abrogate their duty as a government of creating jobs at home.
Politicians who think Kenyans are not patriotic, if that is indeed true, need to remember that patriotism is a feeling that is inculcated in a people, that would help them love their country unreservedly. However, given little benefits accruing to the people from their representatives, it is too much to ask the people to be patriotic when they have little to celebrate that would automatically inculcate the feeling of patriotism.
Many aspects of Kenyans’ lives, minus the wealthy corrupt and the few bona fide rich Kenyans, are facing hardship from many angles. The economy is hitting even the middle class, which is the strongest indicator of how a country is doing. This is confirmed by none other than Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, who is reported to say that “the high cost of living has largely hurt the middle class”. It does not bear to think then how the poor in Kenya are faring as Infotrak Survey puts the figure of Kenyans suffering from “severe financial difficulties or struggling to make ends meet” at 73%!
The emergence of a grim picture in the economy does not seem to have dented the pockets of those in government. Every week, the President and his officials make huge donations to various causes and the total sum does not seem to be commensurate with their official earnings. Churches, which have been the biggest beneficiaries of weekly donations, are now questioning the source of wealth of senior government officials and huge donations to them and are distancing themselves from it. Allegations are that the huge donations from officials are linked to embezzlement of public funds. If that were factual, how patriotic is it for government officials to embezzle huge sums of money just to bribe Kenyans to stay in power, rather than use the money to improve the lives of Kenyans as they are mandated to do?
Stealing from one’s country is proof of lack of patriotism. Theft of public funds has been normalised by government officials and a few civilians who care less for the public or the country. Love and pride for the country also start by respect for the rule of law. As things are, the government is the first to rip up the rule book and play fast and loose with the law. A whole deputy president of a country justifying withdrawal of corruption cases from court is nothing short of lacking patriotism.
Before rogue government officials ask Kenyans to take the cog out of their eyes, they ought to take the cog out of theirs first by walking the talk on patriotism. They need to set a good example first by showing love and pride for the country, then the masses will follow suit. Let the government give Kenyans things that will make them proud of their country. It starts by making sure all government systems work, and they work fairly, equally and justly for all, not just for politicians on the lookout for deals and votes.
