Corruption is deadlier than most Kenyans realize.
For instance how safe can our borders be if a little bribe can get you across with all kinds of merchandise? Indeed there is a direct link between corruption and the number of Kenyans who die every year as a result of violent crime.
Not surprisingly Kenya is the number one drug trafficking country in the region and beyond. Cocaine, heroine and all manner of hard drugs flow freely in and out of Kenya. Many foreigners have quickly learnt the truism that there is absolutely nothing one cannot achieve in Kenya as long as you have plenty of cash.
One of our reporters on the ground was shocked two days ago while traveling on the Mombasa Nairobi road when the matatu he was on was stopped by half a dozen road blocks fairly close to each other. The procedure was the same at every road block. The driver handed over his driving license as the policeman (and in some instances policewoman) took it and went round the front to check their licenses on the windshield. Just before they arrived in Nairobi the driver struck up a conversation with the other passenger seated in the driver’s cabin and our source was shocked to learn that at every stop Kshs 100 had been handed over to the police. The driver grimly announced that there was no way they would have passed the roadblock without parting with the said sum of money.
This blog has been at the forefront of screaming about the extra-judicial killings the police have been accused of, more so during the tenure of police commissioner Brigadier Ali. However as painful as it is to have people killed without due process, sometimes when they are completely innocent and were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, one can clearly see the wisdom of such a policy. The latest figures show that violent crime has fallen dramatically and it seems that many violent criminals have simply been executed.
Major General Ali was appointed police commissioner from the military early in the Kibaki tenure. The difference between soldiers and policemen incase you did not know is that policemen are trained to enforce the law while soldiers are trained to kill. As much as I hate to say it and as much as there have been terrible, terrible human rights violations, it seems that Ali’s tactics have worked after all.
That is the Kenya we live in.
And as quite a number of commentators here have quite rightly pointed out, we are calling for change in our leadership. BUT that change must start with us. How can we demand an end to corruption in high places when we greatly admire that girl next day who globe-trots trafficking drugs under the cover of being an international businesswoman? Or even worse we do not mind slipping Kshs 100 to that policeman to avoid the inconvenience of going to court to answer for our smooth tyres.
Special offer Christmas offer for fridges and LCD TVs only for Kumekucha readers.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
TSC Planting Big Parents-Teachers Tension
Kenyan institutions never cease to amaze with colourful blueprints that are purposely authored to generate plenty of heat and no light. So now the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has introduced the so-called radical measures to select, appoint and deploy head teachers.
Never short of lofty and high-sounding nouns, TSC has developed a policy document, Identification, Selection, Appointment, Deployment and Training of Head Teachers, in an attempt to improve the management of learning institutions.
Nothing wrong with this marvelous new policy if only it was meant to be implemented as authored. But alas, in Kenya you have to be overtly and covertly optimistic to divorce expediency in such grand schemes.
You don’t have to be a neurosurgeon to see the impending tension between communities left to build their own schools only for TSC to deploy a professional head teacher whose modus operandi is at odds with the local interests. Not employing their sons and daughters who may not be qualified is a definite source of tension and eventual fallout.
TSC has professionally proposed that heads of post-primary institutions only become eligible for deployment outside their localities and communities. That would be sweet music to educationists since the move would effectively sever the links of patronage and nepotism in addition to reducing pursuit of personal interests often seen in running matatus and kiosks.
Social integration among the youth at their formative ages would be a great leap into banishing retrogressive mindset moulded in ETHNIC SUPERIORITY. We have witnessed the perils of being a student of Chepkoilel primary school proceeding to Chepkoilel Secondary and then qualifying for Chepkoilel Campus. Him who is not travelled/exposed often thinks his mum is the best cook. Long gone are the good old days when Mr. Mwamburi was a revered teacher in Suneka Primary School his not speaking Kisii notwithstanding.
TSC’s new directive amounts to making micro fundamental policies in a flawed national fabric. Granted secondary education is the best platform to plat the seed of national cohesion among the numerous Kenyan tribes. But Moi’s ruinous ERROR witnessed populist expansion of education at the expense of quality and structure. 8-4-4 is a marvelous idea working flawlessly in Canada but Moi never left implementation of Mackay’s commission to professionals. The end product was to have specialized professions like music and art/craft bastardized to juvenile levels.
Slaying flies with a hammer
Apologists to the present political dispensation will readily jump to the cliche tokenism to use Moi's low bar for Kibaki. Education is such an important corner stone of a country's identity and prospect that must not be left at the whims of populism and machinations of scoundrels. The last six years have been no better as evident in populating the Ministry of education with the right DNA top heavy with dinosaurs.
It is not difficult to see the localized version of our quest to SUCCEED academically at whatever cost. Last years KCSE fiasco is a case in point where parents conspired with teachers to finance widespread exam cheating. Apologists may downplay that as an isolated episode but not for those conversant with Kenya’s steady decline in education standards over the past years. The nationwide cheating was only evident when the scandal gained CRITICAL MASS.
The TSC policy is a right move that only scratches the surface of a national affliction education with potential long term consequences. Kenya prides itself in her enormous human resources. But leaving educational infrastructure in the hands of villagers only to shove head teachers down their throats is a recipe of rural tension and subsequent downturn in quality.
Until we prioritize education and leave its policies to professionals, Kenya will continue living the national lie of being a regional hub of excellence. Inferior politics that never spares any sector its ugly claws is our bane.
Never short of lofty and high-sounding nouns, TSC has developed a policy document, Identification, Selection, Appointment, Deployment and Training of Head Teachers, in an attempt to improve the management of learning institutions.
Nothing wrong with this marvelous new policy if only it was meant to be implemented as authored. But alas, in Kenya you have to be overtly and covertly optimistic to divorce expediency in such grand schemes.
You don’t have to be a neurosurgeon to see the impending tension between communities left to build their own schools only for TSC to deploy a professional head teacher whose modus operandi is at odds with the local interests. Not employing their sons and daughters who may not be qualified is a definite source of tension and eventual fallout.
TSC has professionally proposed that heads of post-primary institutions only become eligible for deployment outside their localities and communities. That would be sweet music to educationists since the move would effectively sever the links of patronage and nepotism in addition to reducing pursuit of personal interests often seen in running matatus and kiosks.
Social integration among the youth at their formative ages would be a great leap into banishing retrogressive mindset moulded in ETHNIC SUPERIORITY. We have witnessed the perils of being a student of Chepkoilel primary school proceeding to Chepkoilel Secondary and then qualifying for Chepkoilel Campus. Him who is not travelled/exposed often thinks his mum is the best cook. Long gone are the good old days when Mr. Mwamburi was a revered teacher in Suneka Primary School his not speaking Kisii notwithstanding.
TSC’s new directive amounts to making micro fundamental policies in a flawed national fabric. Granted secondary education is the best platform to plat the seed of national cohesion among the numerous Kenyan tribes. But Moi’s ruinous ERROR witnessed populist expansion of education at the expense of quality and structure. 8-4-4 is a marvelous idea working flawlessly in Canada but Moi never left implementation of Mackay’s commission to professionals. The end product was to have specialized professions like music and art/craft bastardized to juvenile levels.
Slaying flies with a hammer
Apologists to the present political dispensation will readily jump to the cliche tokenism to use Moi's low bar for Kibaki. Education is such an important corner stone of a country's identity and prospect that must not be left at the whims of populism and machinations of scoundrels. The last six years have been no better as evident in populating the Ministry of education with the right DNA top heavy with dinosaurs.
It is not difficult to see the localized version of our quest to SUCCEED academically at whatever cost. Last years KCSE fiasco is a case in point where parents conspired with teachers to finance widespread exam cheating. Apologists may downplay that as an isolated episode but not for those conversant with Kenya’s steady decline in education standards over the past years. The nationwide cheating was only evident when the scandal gained CRITICAL MASS.
The TSC policy is a right move that only scratches the surface of a national affliction education with potential long term consequences. Kenya prides itself in her enormous human resources. But leaving educational infrastructure in the hands of villagers only to shove head teachers down their throats is a recipe of rural tension and subsequent downturn in quality.
Until we prioritize education and leave its policies to professionals, Kenya will continue living the national lie of being a regional hub of excellence. Inferior politics that never spares any sector its ugly claws is our bane.
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