Stop Crying for Cheap Praise; End Corruption Now!
I saw one Dennis Itumbi both on PressPass and on JKL with
lists of things that GoK has, in his view "done so well" since Jubilee
took power. On the same PressPass I saw Njoki Thorne insist that GoK is doing a
lot of good things and that media is only highlighting negatives. Dr. Muraguri
is reading from the same gospel that GoK is doing a lot of positive things but
media is only highlighting the negatives. Well, all these individuals should be
reminded that people and systems are never rewarded for doing what they are supposed to do but
they are admonished for not doing what they are supposed to do and rewarded for
pointing out of their way to do more than what they are expected to do. This
cheap search for praise by the GoK is totally misplaced. The media has no
business reporting how many vehicles reached their destinations well: it should
report on that one vehicle that never reached well. If GoK has built 1,000 KM
of tarmac for 3 years should we parade it and clap for it? No thanks. Why?
Because it has only done what it is meant to be doing. If 20% of total budget
of the ministry of health is stolen why should you tell the media to go report
on the number of women giving birth freely? The question is: how much more
could have been done with the stolen money to better the lives of poor Kenyans?
We cannot be measuring progress in terms of where we have come from but in
terms of where we should be. The major issue in Kenya is not that some good
things are happening but that if there were no such high levels of public
theft, very many good things could be happening. That is the debate. The single
most important thing that is threatening Kenya and Kenyans is corruption and
the media MUST keep on highlighting this corruption when and where it happens
especially now that the President has already openly told the nation that he is
unable or unwilling to tackle rampant public theft. Someone tell these guys to
stop lecturing us on so called positive reporting!
Stop Crying for Cheap Praise; End Corruption Now!
Reviewed by Ibrahim Magara
on
October 27, 2016
Rating:
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