Social media has become a place that politicians turn to these days to spew lies to fool the voters.
It is interesting to note the Principal Secretary for Health lamenting that the crisis facing the health sector in Kenya, with perennial strikes by healthcare workers, is due to governors not paying salaries. Wait for it?
He confirmed that governors have been “receiving money” from the central government to not only pay salaries but also ensure public hospitals are fully functioning and serving patients. However, the reality is that many public hospitals are in dire straits, and healthcare workers not getting paid has become the norm.
The question is: Where do governors take the money meant for healthcare workers and hospitals? Obviously, the healthcare funds are stolen by governors! It is for this reason that I have advocated in the past that health, like security, should never have been devolved!
Patients at public hospitals have become cash cows for governors, and nothing seems to be done to reverse the trend. If anything, corrupt governors end up being given lifelines, after serving two terms, to go to Parliament and make laws to protect them from prosecution. This political narcissism needs to end.
The disconnect between politicians and voters as soon as the former are elected is quite staggering. I don’t think most Kenyan politicians, whether elected or nominated, fully understand their responsibilities. If they did, they would put voters first, and their greed last. It is for this reason that perhaps Kenya needs to follow the example of the devolved Welsh government in the UK that recently passed a law that made it “illegal for political candidates to lie during elections”.
The ban on lying was to “rebuild trust and confidence in political institutions”. The Welsh government’s ban on lying during elections “prohibits the making or publishing of false or misleading statements of fact before or during an election”.
Fool the voters
Social media has become a place that politicians turn to these days to spew lies to fool the voters. This tactic failed recently in Kenya when Gen Z went around the country to dispute the development projects politicians were posting online that did not even exist in some areas.
The glossy social media handles by politicians were a complete contrast to unfinished buildings, or, in some cases, copied and pasted from other countries. These sort of lies now needs to stop. Bringing lies to the health docket, for instance, leads to early deaths and limits research and development that is crucial to the health of the nation, not just the patients.
The Social Health Authority (SHA) has not been free of blame in the current crisis facing the health sector. Statements made to show its achievements are contradicted by Kenyans asking for help, especially those facing long-term illnesses or long stays in hospitals. Harambees to help families pay off huge hospital bills are going on, despite SHA saying it was the silver bullet in ending cries and crises for patients and their families.
There is no bigger lie told than that of ending corruption. Previously, this one thing has been a campaign slogan by presidential candidates, but none has managed to end the scourge that has blighted lives in Kenya. Governors feel emboldened to steal every cent meant for public hospitals because of the lies told when it comes to ending corruption. If past governors who squandered public funds were jailed and made to repay every cent, we would not be blaming governors for stealing funds meant for healthcare.
Kenyan politicians
Videos that infuriate me online are of Kenyan politicians filmed with loads of money or cutting birthday cakes at five-star hotels. I do not begrudge them for showing off new earned wealth, but the images conjure up the lies I am talking about. If politicians were elected to build a country where every citizen has a decent form of life, perhaps the gap between the rich and the poor would not be so huge.
Kenyan politicians have normalised telling lies before, during and after elections. They forget the promises they made to voters while seeking votes to help improve service delivery as soon as the ink dries on the ballot papers. Kenyans are being taken for fools, and hopefully, they will be wise enough in the 2027 General Election to vote with their heads rather than their stomachs.
The scam that is political lies is one dragon that needs slaying first. If development was promised during campaigns, it must be realised during the term of an elected official. Five years is enough to do as much for the voters. If it takes politicians to grow unimaginable personal wealth in five years, they can surely get Kenyans out of poverty, and realise a better education and healthcare system for them too within five years.
The 2027 General Election should be about truth. I hope we will have the Welsh style of law to ban lies in politics before then. My guess? It will not see the light of day, but I can dream!
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Ms Guyo is a legal researcher, [email protected] @kdiguyo
