The awful and mortifying spectre of African heads of state or their agents prostrating themselves before western donors with begging bowls firmly clutched in their hands is not news.
The irony is that when it comes to minerals and other resources, it is not in dispute that Africa is one of the most richly endowed continents. It consequently beats logic why a continent that is brimming with vast resources is still shackled to such infuriating and overwhelming levels of poverty.
Few will refute the fact that there's nothing to celebrate about poverty. The havoc that poverty has and is still wreaking in many lives is there for all to behold. It is, as a matter of fact, man's worst adversary against whom we must wage relentless war. This then calls for a thorough and honest interrogation of the question why in the midst of so much, we are still victims of sickening poverty.
In about one year's time, Kenya's third President Kibaki will be leaving office after a two five-year stint. If he were to be judged against his predecessor and the country's founding President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Kibaki has performed appreciably well in his service to the country. He will go down the annals of history as the president who gave Kenya's infrastructure a serious face lift.
It is, nonetheless, the gratuity and a gamut of other benefits that Kibaki will be entitled to as he leaves office that has got me thinking about Africa and what ails her. As he vacates office, Kibaki will be entitled to a Sh50 million gratuity. Apart from this hefty pay, Finance minister Robinson Githae has also proposed that the retired Presidents' annual allocation be increased from the current Sh17.7 million to Sh30.2 million.
Besides, a retirement home for President Kibaki, estimated to cost taxpayers Sh500 million, is currently under construction on a 1,000 acre farm near Mweiga town on the Nyeri-Nyahururu Highway. He will also be entitled to hundreds of thousands of shillings as housing allowance, utilities, fuel allowance, security and entertainment allowance, all to be paid for by the taxpayers.
Looking at this plethora of benefits that will be due to retiring Presidents, the question that quickly springs to mind is, do they really need all these? Bearing our Gross Domestic Product and the state of our economy in mind, can we really afford all these? In view of the squalor and despicable conditions in which the majority of Kenyans live, is it not obscene to accord an individual who is already affluent all these benefits?
At least this gives us a glimpse into what is ailing Africa. The maladies stalking Africa are traceable to substandard leadership. African leaders are the principle architects of the woes besetting her. They run their countries like personal property. Many are a law unto themselves and anyone who dares to question their excesses is met with unparalleled cruelty.
Apparently, it is majorly in Africa that sitting heads of state have managed to arm-twist legislators into altering constitutions to afford them more terms in office. It is in Africa that octogenerians who have clearly outlived their usefulness still cling onto power and are showing no signs of making way for younger blood. Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, former Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and many others are fitting examples.
African leaders are, nonetheless, not the only ones in this madness. Their cronies have done everything to urge them on. In Zimbabwe for instance, Mugabe's cohorts have been unremitting in their insistence that he should rule until death. Each time matters to do with his failing health are mentioned, they come out like wounded lions ready to do battle with the President's real and imaginary enemies.
In 2006, the Kenyan Parliament in its wisdom or lack of it increased the President's basic monthly pay from Sh2 million to Sh3 million to the chagrin of many Kenyans. Luckily, President Kibaki rejected this and pointed out that his conscience could not permit him to earn so much when many Kenyans are languishing in poverty.
And now it is Finance minister Robinson Githae who has proposed that the annual allocation for retired Presidents be increased. Githae should be privy to something that is alien to the rest of us. Otherwise why would he make such outlandish proposals when doctors and a host of other public servants are on a constant warpath with the government due to their poor pay?
A paradigm shift is long overdue in Kenya and Africa at large. It is foolhardy to expect our lot to change for the better yet we are not prepared to adopt new and reasonable ways of doing things. Time is running out and the sooner we realise this and change, the better. I appeal to President Kibaki to reject these excessive benefits.
This article was published in the Star Newspaper on May 5, 2012
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