SELECTIVE AMNESIA: A Case Study of Kenya.

As a country, Kenyans have suffered so much already. The list, here, is endless because wherever you look, a complaint, a violation, or abuse exists. This country is a hotbed for all things infractions. But this is a story for another time. Today’s focus is that Kenyans are suffering from a severe illness that causes loss of memories and an inability to collect and process new ones. This disease is called selective amnesia.

However, I said ‘selective’ because there is a catch. We remember what we want and forget everything else. We have decided to bury even the most painful of memories in pursuit of material gain. We read set books of officials who misappropriated government funds and the people chose to forgive and forget., ‘kuzika kwa kaburi la sahau’, they called it. But, let’s be honest, are we really gaining in material? Allow me to elaborate.

If you have been in this country long enough, you have heard of a scandal. Not one where there is suspicion of infidelity, but one where billions of shillings have gone ‘missing’. I’ve used quotation marks because if you really think that these funds really are missing, wewe ni mgeni Kenya. Worry not, because, whether it’s naivety or arrogance, I will have fixed it by the end of this piece. So, where were we?

The first scandal that I remember is that of the Artur brothers. They arrived in the country in December of 2005, and within no time, had become a superpower. They had connections in State House, which they used to register shell companies, but my favorite part, wait for it…is where they were made deputy police commissioners. Find out who the police boss was then and you already know that we may never get the full picture of this scandal. The Armenian duo was afforded certain rights such as control over JKIA which allowed drug trafficking and no one batted an eye. Yes, you read that right! Foreigners were controlling our country in a way, no one has dared to do before. It makes you wonder what the fuss is about the lawyer who is not really one, the EACC officials who don’t work for EACC and the police officers who are not really officers. But I’m getting off-topic. Many high-ranking officials were implicated in this scandal and if you know Kenya, where a scandal has happened, a cover-up is afoot.

Even though we are sick, cough cough, there’s one thing we do exceedingly well. We learn from others mistakes. People who were practically nobodies in 2005, have embodied the Artur model and techniques and become the new drug lords. You know them, don’t you?
Subsequent to this, many scandals have followed because the one thing we love more than politics is money. There’s the Anglo-leasing scandal where government officials colluded to steal about Kshs. 55 billion, the Chicken Gate scandal where election material was procured with Kshs. 50 million, the NYS Scandals, where approx. Kshs. 791 million was stolen or the NCPB Scandal where money meant for farmers was also stolen. The list is endless.
I want to draw your attention to a pattern. One where government officials have been implicated in these scandals. What baffles me is how quickly they betray their sworn obligations for money.

Before you point a finger, let me re-strategize. Corruption is subjective. To us, those individuals who stole all that money are shameless thieves. But to their kin, they are victims of a system that is out to get them. I’m sure you would feel the same, were the roles reversed. This is why the people of Kirinyaga elected Anne Waiguru as Governor after her role in the NYS Scandal, and former Gichugu MP, Martha Karua, as Raila’s running mate after she did little for them and our fifth president even with a pending ICC case against him. Because we remember what we want.

If you got into a government position, would you amass enough money to last all your generations or would you remain faithful to the citizenry of Kenya? Usinidanganye. I know the answer and so do you. It is corruption if it doesn’t involve you and ‘favor ya God’ when it does.

For most people with selective amnesia, memory eventually returns albeit gradually. I don’t know about Kenyans though. We have been brainwashed to see what they want us to and to remember only what is relevant. No other diagnosis can explain our behavior as Kenyans. We are terminally ill and our end is nigh. How long will we remember what we want to?