LET THEM EAT CAKE.

Its been long... We are back!

Let them Eat Cake for sure. That became a common phrase, originating from the one time queen of France, Marie Antoinatte who was approached by a delegation of French officials concerned by the lack of bread for the common civilians, and as ignorant as they may get, Marie Antoinatte thought, if there was no bread, then cake would serve the purpose!
Last week on Thursday I was more than surprised after listening to Dr. Alfred Mutua's media briefing talk, and just like any Kenyan, I was utterly annoyed by what he had to say concerning the current drought situation in Kenya. However, as much as it shows his personal ignorance and probably that of his employers, it brings a more interesting thought into play. For me, I saw a barbaric system of bureaucratic administration still embedded deep in the systems of Kenyans governance, coupled with reluctance and unwillingness to deal with problems immediately as they appear, or preferably, to stop them even before they occur!
What did he actually mean by official? First and foremost, this was actually an insult to the media. He tried to dilute the work they had been doing, that of covering every corner of drought stricken regions to ensure that every Kenyan had a clear picture of the situation, and arguably, to discredit the government. So this was probably a move to try and make it look as if the media was exaggerating the situation. What is clear though from what me and you have been seeing from the newspaper captions and television clips is that the drought situation has taken a major toll, and surely the cases of death are not ogre tales. The government was surely caught napping and the were simply trying to save their faces. It even beats logic what the excuse of no officially reported deaths was meant to justify. Since, even if the government had not reported any deaths, wasn't it clear that the drought situation was detrimental, and would have cost life sooner or later?
As said earlier, this also shows the kind of administration that is holding Kenya from optimum development, which luckily though might be dealt with by the new constitution once it is fully implemented. The government has always been centralised to such a worrying extent, that things affecting people in certain regions have been left unattended to, and even more worrying, unidentified. What did the government spokesman really mean by not having received any official hunger-related death information? Who should be gathering this information in the formal manner that is expected by the government? Well, should we expect those who have already died to wake up and go report to the government that, 'Hey, I'm so and so and I died due to hunger?' Surely it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. One thing is certain though, the manner in which the government handles these situations is very slow and requires to be changed. Some National problems such as these should be handled with urgency and priority.
The identification of the problem is intriguing though, since as much as the systems are currently a flop, the crop of leaders is equally wanting. Maybe just to show a perfect co-relation, when the millers raised an alarm concerning the maize shortage, the government was quickly to question the validity of the claims and even went ahead to give an assurance that there was enough maize in the silos. Barely three months down the line and here the government is rushing to send maize in military jets. Talk about confusing motion for progress.
Finally, the sentiments given by Dr. Alfred could also show that the government and its officials are so much deep into the waters of personal affluence and wealth, that they wouldn't understand how somebody would die for not having food. One time a commissioner to Kenya termed the politicians as greedy people who eat and vomit on the feet of the same people they eat of. It goes to show that our leaders are only concerned about their own well-being and do not prioritise the needs of the people who elect them to parliament. Otherwise, I wouldn't understand how such a situation would be so casually downplayed, its like they think its fiction!

Photos like this aren't enough it seems.

All in all, Dr. Alfred's statement was personally an element of self-imposed agony, self-imposed in the reason that, the ability to change lies with me, and every other Kenyan, and their votes. Yes, its done, he already said it and we can hardly do anything now. But lessons have been learnt and every wise Kenyan should never forget the words of that ignoramus. Similarly, we need to start holding these people accountable for their words, that way, we shall be able to do away with a crop of leaders with such 'chameleon like' character. Through their serpent tongues they have slowly slayed our minds and caught us into their webs of 'puppetisation'. That is why we should demand an apology from Dr. Alfred and probably even his resignation, because they have made us look and look like fools.
For any civilised society, you will realise that leaders are held accountable to their statements so much, that is why they will not just make ignorant statements. In Kenya, they talk today and say the exact opposite tomorrow, yet we still run back to lick their boots. It's time we learnt.

cc Dr. Alfred Mutua, Government Spokesperson (I have tried contacting this guy for a week now. Does anyone know how I can find him? An asylum maybe...)

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