There is no distinction between personal commercial interests and the public interest in the conduct of national affairs and I believe this conflict-of-interest gene is deeply embedded in the Kenyatta family DNA.

This is the reason why, despite all the hullabaloo about “not stopping the reggae” when bulldozers were knocking down illegally constructed properties in Nairobi, this captivating initiative died a quick death.

The failure to distinguish between personal/political and national interests is now popularly referred to as “state capture”, where governance institutions are “repurposed” to serve these personalised interests.

In Kenya’s case, however, “state capture” was built into the very design of Imperial British East Africa ((IBEA), the forerunner of what was to become Kenya; the entire political ecosystem is designed to serve the corrupt purposes of the elite.

The many massive scandals are now having macroeconomic consequences and have served to increase despondency and anger, particularly among the youth.

It is clear, given Jubilee’s approach since 2013, that

managing the Kenyatta succession—fixing an increasingly broken economy,

soothing our polarised politics in time for the next general election,

dealing with corruption comprehensively enough that Kenyatta can walk into the sunset with something of a legacy

—makes for too many governance balls in the air for even the best of political jugglers.

Much as Kenyatta is an experienced and skilful political performer, some balls are definitely going to drop.

Interestingly, given the divisions that appeared within the Jubilee alliance almost from the beginning, Kenyatta has been forced to hand over political problems to bureaucrats.

(He is most partial to securocrats and intelligence officers.)

Moreover, although the BBI initiative emerged out of a handshake between two politicians, as the BBI team set about its work, it became clear that the bureaucrats were managing the process on a day-to-day basis—a reading of the BBI report leaves one with this impression.

But the conundrum in our kind of system is that bureaucrats will first act to preserve themselves, especially after all the looting that has happened and which implicates almost every minister and cabinet secretary.

As a senior politician explained it to me as he tried to enlighten me on all the infighting and scandals within Jubilee, “The most powerful bureaucrats are doing the scheming for the Kenyatta succession, but bureaucrats are like ticks on a cow’s back—they hang on for dear life even if the cow is nearing its end.”

Read more at: https://www.theelephant....ion-a-kikuyu-conundrum/
The Elephant - Speaking truth to power.

Comments fupi fupi please, ni twedi twedi.

In other words, Kenyatta 2 will leave without a legacy

Comments fupi fupi please, ni twedi twedi.

In other words, Kenyatta 2 will leave without a legacy

He did the same for Kanu and NARC and still ended nowhere.

LAMU Port is still Kibaki's legacy, sustained by Kasuku. When UK came in he diverted most of the funds to SGR, i think museveni blackmailed him. If he was really serious about Lamu port he would have made sure S.Sudan and Central African republic are stable.

Through magic or witchcraft?

Another street is talking of the medical cover tender that is supposed to be given to Amarco but then again AMARCO does not do health insurance so it could be Idle talk on the 38th day of January.