The qualities lacking in our MPs

We are halfway through the election cycle and I believe it is time we issued a report card on the performance of our MPs. This post was triggered by the virulent response by our “honorable” members of Parliament to the request by the Finance Ministry to return their gas guzzlers in exchange for more fuel efficient vehicles. As we all know, some complied while others delayed and others were openly defiant. One MP claimed that small cars are for teenagers and thus he cannot be seen driving in one. This will certainly not endear him to the youth come election time. Another MP quipped thus, “The newly mandated small cars would not be able to take me to my constituency”. We say: develop your constituency sir! Build a road or two, then you will be able to visit regularly and your constituents will enjoy smooth roads to drive on when they finally get around to affording a car.
The point of this article is try and point out the value system of these leaders and where we sit on their priority list. Do I want an MP who will chase me down the street while hurling rocks in the general vicinity of my cranium? This inglorious episode is documented on NTV. Do I want my MPs to take a taxpayer sponsored sojourn to the Coast while I sit in darkness trying to conjure up Ugali into my empty bowl? Do I want my MP to be traversing the country trying to launch the “tujipange” express train to state house while I walk many miles to work or to find work?
Anyway I would like to ask the reader some questions to ponder.
-Have you ever met your MP in person? Has anyone you know met him or her?
-Does he or she have any contact information? Is there an official phone line, Email or a website to forward inquiries or leave feedback? If there is a line of communication, how timely, if at all, is the response time?
-How often do they travel back to their home towns to give you a progress report and partake in afternoon tea?
-Are there any public projects they have initiated that have touched your life personally? Examples would be paved roads, increased security, schools with adequate teachers and supplies or a well serviced hospital or clinic. Has he or she even planted one miserable stringy tree?
The overriding question would be: Has your life taken a turn for better or worse since he or she has been in office? One would argue that it is up to the individual to advance themselves but at the moment we Kenyans are obsessed with the political elite, acting on their noxious utterances with no regard to self or neighbor as happened after the bungled 2007 Elections.
We will offer some suggestions that may be tweaked to become solutions.
Approach that member of your community who has devoted themselves to the service of the public without regard to their personal safety and with no expectation of a reward and request them to run for office. Many examples abound that are peculiar to their particular communities. We will highlight a few. There is this gentleman Peter Kithene who started a clinic in his home town Muhuru Bay by the shores of Lake Victoria through funding he acquired abroad. This is a man who chose to invest in a public project in his home town that will outlive him and benefit many. There is this lady Mary Njeri Kamau who started the Kihara Feeding Program making lunches for needy school children. Olympic gold medalist, Kipchoge Kieno now teaches children and tends to orphans among the other things he is doing to improve his community. There are others and we invite you to share their stories here.
In a later post we will try to construct a road map for community based aspirants seeking public office. Feel free to offer suggestions.