Social media is awash with pictures of Kenyan politicians alongside images of beautiful European and US cities. The politicians have proudly shared images of themselves walking on spotless pavements in these orderly cities.
Even President William Ruto, who attended the 80th UN General Assembly, was photographed while crossing a well-painted zebra crossing in New York City together with members of the Kenyan delegation. From the smiles on their faces, they seemed to be enjoying their stroll in New York.
My observation of the missing Kenyan female officials in the site-seeing party is not why I am here. I am here to tell you that our politicians are so blind to the fact that their pride should come from the beauty they build at home, and the security built for all Kenyans. Not from the beautiful foreign lands.
The same lot of politicians happily enjoying peace and security in the streets of the developed world, would return home and demand hundreds of bodyguards. They remain averse to the streets of their own country with mounds of uncollected garbage and where muggings are rife.
Who is supposed to make a the city better? Politicians with the mandate, or citizens who paid taxes to have safe, well lit beautiful towns and cities?
The need for security in Kenya is one borrowed from a template of ego and wastage of public funds. Just about every politician in Kenya has a police officer or two as bodyguard and driver. This culture tells the world the country is so dangerous, that its own politicians do not trust it.
As they share the police personnel among themselves for their own safety, our politicians think the only way the public can access security is by fuelling police cars themselves. The public is expected to pay taxes and be taxed again to service police cars if they want to be secure.
The fact that the Interior Cabinet Secretary himself failed to see the irony of supporting such a venture, tells Kenyans that they will always be on their own. Despite funding huge wages for officials and paying their many bodyguards while they live in fear in the streets and villages due to lack of police resources to help them.
The leaders of the developed countries that our politicians enjoy visiting with no security in tow, do not have as many bodyguards or hundreds of escort cars as is the case in many African countries. The most ridiculous image ever is of African leaders who travel to their airports with very expensive cars and tens of equally expensive escort cars to fly out of the country and beg for aid abroad.
Clearly, to fund more expensive cars and bodyguards. That is because there is still very little to show in Africa, particularly in Kenya, where development is still a pipe dream, as most of the loans given by donors are embezzled.
Only a foolish leader would take pride in the development of another country, enjoy their safe streets and pay for services such as hospital care and education while their country is in ruins.
Insecurity in Kenya ebbs and flows. It is on the rise again, and in a more deadly way as boda boda riders have become the latest addition of perpetrators of heinous crimes such as drive-by shooting.
As insecurity escalates, the skeleton police officers will be left to pick up the pieces. It is difficult to succeed if a huge number of police officer have been moved from their core duties to guard politicians. They could never succeed either if they are poorly funded to reward politicians who are doing very little to keep the country safe.
To think that a police officer is stationed to guard a politician’s mansion built with his/her taxes, then retire to colonial-era leaking mabati house, is the most unjust thing that is going on in Kenya right now.
The streets should belong to all. For that to happen, they must be safe. Which means, focus should be on building a robust police service that will keep the country safe for all, and safe enough for a president to walk to mama mboga’s kiosk and buy food. Politicians’ bodyguards’ culture is a fool’s paradise.
