By Gitau Gikonyo
A lot has been said about the new Makadara MP popularly known as ‘Sonko.’
Time has come for Kenyans to be told what business makes people want to go to Parliament. ‘Sonko’ says that he will not touch his salary as an MP, that the same will go towards helping the poor.
Now, that begs the question, why is he in Parliament in the first place? Why waste so much money in campaigns if you are not interested in making money?
‘Sonko’ is on record saying that he spent 150 million shillings in his campaigns, though he later denied saying it. Let’s consider the salary of an MP, from this month up to the end of August 2012, when a new Parliament is expected.
The current MP’s monthly earning is Sh851,000, which comes with huge tax-free perks. If ‘Sonko’ was to serve as MP until August 2012, he will have served 23 months in Parliament, earning a total of Sh19,573,000.
The question is, what is the logic of spending so much to enter Parliament if one is not even interested in the salary? Is there something we are missing here? And what are his views on education? The MP for Makadara proudly stated that although he does not have a degree, he has employed degree holders as his touts and waiters.
Makadara is at the heart of Eastlands, an area associated with drugs and gangsterism among the youth, thus a very negative attitude towards education. For long, the hallmark of a young man in Eastlands has been using illegal substances, chewing miraa, speaking ‘sheng’ and being a tout in a flashy matatu.
What kind of a message, then, is the young MP sending to the youngsters? Is this the kind of message that should be heard coming from a leader, particularly one with a huge following by the youth? But ‘Sonko’ is really no different from most of his colleagues in that august house.
In reality, these “honourable men” (to borrow from Mark Anthony’s funeral oration) are a bunch of self-seeking individuals who either have criminal minds, criminal antecedents, or a criminal record. The irony of it, however, is that it is not only the Kenyan Parliament that harbours criminals.
Several American Congressmen have, over the years, been sentenced to jail. In India, a report in Newsweek last year indicated that Coal minister, Shibu Soren, stepped down after he was convicted of murder. He had, unbelievably, become coal minister after being put on trial for the alleged kidnapping and murder of his former personal secretary and the alleged massacre of 11 people in sectarian violence.
According to the report, of the two main political parties in India, about a fifth of their representatives have been under investigation for criminal activity. Several MPs were serving life sentences for murder; 128 of the 543 MPs have faced criminal charges, including 84 cases of murder, 17 cases of robbery and 28 cases of theft and extortion.
One MP alone faced 17 separate murder charges. But the difference is our total inability to punish, choosing instead to condone and protect the criminal elements in Parliament. Here the big men do not go to jail. As right-thinking citizens, we must consider what to do about this mockery of our law-making process.
Public life must be cleansed and each candidate seeking elective position must furnish information and be vetted, including vetting by sponsoring political party, on whether they had been convicted/acquitted/discharged of any criminal offence in the past — if any, whether they had been punished with imprisonment or fine.
As voters, we must appreciate that our right to know the antecedents, including the criminal past, of the candidates contesting to be MPs, Senators or Governors is fundamental for the survival of democracy. This right is not dependent on the whim of Parliament, but flows from our fundamental right under the new Constitution.
We must, therefore, refuse to allow ethical violations or unethical behaviour, graft, bribery and corruption on the part of those who make our laws. Our lawmakers should, like Caesar’s wife, be entirely above reproach.
Source: Daily Nation
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