By Lukoye Atwoli
Sunday Nation 03 May 2009, Page 10
The recent resurgence of the Mungiki sect in central Kenya must serve as a beacon of the depths of moral turpitude this country has become inured to.
After a lull during which suspected members of the sect were attacked and brutally murdered by vigilantes, the outfit armed itself and mounted a counter-attack so bloody it left many wondering where to run for safety.
As is usual in this country, the government declared that it would foot the funeral costs of the victims of the attack, and crocodile tears were shed for the benefit of cameras before the ‘leaders’ went back to their continued squabbling over positions and power.
THESE EVENTS MUST NOT BE VIEWED IN isolation. The culture of violence is so deeply entrenched in this country that most of our heroes are violent warrior-leaders, and those leaders with no violent streak are lionized with some imaginary violent exploits in order to make them more ‘respectable’.
Our discourse is replete with violent metaphors, with common use of phrases like ‘heads must roll’, ‘blood will be shed’ and so on.
In any society, there are some factors that increase the risk of violence beyond what can be viewed as ‘normal’.
Studies have shown these to include youth (15-25 years old), male gender, poverty and poor social support. Young people often have a lot of energy which when left idle inevitable drifts to risky behaviour. The changing roles and expectations imposed on them by society often lead to violent confrontations with peers and authority figures.
It therefore follows that a country with a large proportion of young people, as is the case in Kenya, would be sitting on a powder keg of potential violence.
A program that keeps this important population group engaged would therefore considerably reduce the probability for violence, and one way of dealing with this group of youth would be to ensure free (or affordable) education upto tertiary level.
The National Youth Service of the years gone by would be a useful addition to many young people’s lives, as it would keep them occupied and serve as an opportunity to develop a national ethos.
Gender is a major determinant of violence, and indeed this has given rise to the fast-growing field of Gender-Based Violence, with men often being cited as the main perpetrators.
A government that is focused on reducing violence would therefore seriously consider increasing the number and influence of women in key decision-making positions in order to balance out the violent tendencies of at least some of the men.
The token statements from government that a third of all government positions will be reserved for women are useless when they are observed more in the breach than in reality.
Poverty is inevitably linked to a higher occurrence of violence, often due to competition for scarce resources. Indeed, most of the post-election violence last year occurred in poor neighborhoods, and small-scale farmers bore the brunt of evictions in the Rift Valley.
The implication at the national level is that those with a smaller stake in the economy would have no compunction destroying it through violent means. This would explain, for instance, why the economically disenfranchised youth in Kibera would have no qualms destroying a railway line or vandalizing property whose economic value means little to them.
A GOVERNMENT WITH SERIOUS INTENtions of fighting this violent culture would therefore be expected to take measures to reduce unemployment and poverty, as well as the gap between the rich and poor.
Instead of continually improving the living conditions of the rich and mighty, such a government would spend most of its time seeking ways of empowering the poorer segments of the society and distributing resources equitably.
Finally, social support refers to the safety net afforded one by an extended network of family, friends and government social services. People with access to this network are less likely to resort to violence whenever they feel they have reached the end of their rope.
Unavailability of supportive family and friends would explain why violence would be rife in urban centers populated mostly by the poor trying to eke out a living and support many relatives in the rural areas. Supporting rural economies and providing social amenities and forums for interaction in urban areas would therefore help reduce violence considerably.
Recognition of these factors among others as key contributors to the national culture of violence would be a beginning in “civilising” our nation and preparing it for true democracy, where an opponent’s rhetoric would be countered not with violence, but with reasoned responses.
Failure to address these issues is tantamount to surrendering the future of this country to angry louts whose vision of a future is riddled with blood and gore.
Dr Lukoye Atwoli is a consultant psychiatrist and lecturer at Moi University’s School of Medicine.
lukoye@gmail.com
Sunday, May 3, 2009
New websites
Today we are pleased to announce the launch of two new websites related to this blog in one way or another.
www.psychiatrykenya.com is the official site of the Kenya Psychiatric association, and as it develops it will provide an opportunity for people to interact with Kenyan mental health professionals. Please pay it a visit and be sure to improve it with your comments!
www.lukoyeatwoli.com is the personal website of this blog's author. Please visit it too, and enrich it with your comments.
This Sunday's commentary is posted on that site, but it will also be made available here in the course of the day.
www.psychiatrykenya.com is the official site of the Kenya Psychiatric association, and as it develops it will provide an opportunity for people to interact with Kenyan mental health professionals. Please pay it a visit and be sure to improve it with your comments!
www.lukoyeatwoli.com is the personal website of this blog's author. Please visit it too, and enrich it with your comments.
This Sunday's commentary is posted on that site, but it will also be made available here in the course of the day.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Politicians blind to what Kenyans really want
By LUKOYE ATWOLI
Sunday Nation, April 26 2009, Page 19.
The release of a recent opinion poll indicated that the majority of Kenyans do not believe this grand coalition will last upto 2012, and that they actually would welcome an opportunity to elect a new team to run the affairs of the State.
Interestingly, instead of listening to the voice of the people, politicians are once again mistaking their own personal interest for the welfare of their constituents.
Their argument that “Kenyans are not ready for another election” smacks of transparent self-interest.
Paralysis
Several reasons may be put forward for the calls for early polls, but the biggest reason would be the apparent paralysis in government.
Key decisions are being made late or not at all because the coalition partners keep second-guessing each other, unsure how the other will react.
The current arrangement where there are practically two governments in power is untenable in the long run. What is needed is a government with clear lines of responsibility and an ultimate office where the proverbial buck stops.
When religious leaders called for fresh elections they were quickly condemned by the political class and asked to first attend to the logs in their eyes before trying to remove the specks in the eyes of the political elite.
Opinion columnists followed suit, and both arms of the grand coalition asked the “media” to stop fuelling unrest with “irresponsible journalism”.
Now the ordinary Kenyans are speaking, and they are saying that no matter who won the election, they all voted for bountiful harvests, better security, education and health, none of which is forthcoming.
No Kenyan voted for the current discord in government, and indeed no Kenyan voted for the triumvirate of the current President, Vice-President and Prime Minister to serve in the same government.
The three and their cohorts found themselves working together after a bungled election and the resultant mayhem, so none of them should delude themselves that they have the overwhelming mandate from Kenyans to do as they wish.
The argument that a fresh election is impossible at this point in time since Kenyans have neither healed nor reconciled with their neighbours does not hold much water.
At the current pace of doing things, Kenyans will be no better off in 2012 than they are presently. In fact, all indications are that they will be worse off if nothing is done now to forestall inevitable conflict.
Little focus
There is very little focus on national cohesion and reconciliation today.
The meagre peace-building efforts going on in the countryside are being supported by non-governmental organisations and humanitarian agencies with very little support from the government.
Instead of berating Kenyans for telling them to face them at the ballot, our “leaders” should finalise the formation of the transitional electoral and boundaries machinery and hopefully put in place a new constitution before paving way for a fresh election.
Sunday Nation, April 26 2009, Page 19.
The release of a recent opinion poll indicated that the majority of Kenyans do not believe this grand coalition will last upto 2012, and that they actually would welcome an opportunity to elect a new team to run the affairs of the State.
Interestingly, instead of listening to the voice of the people, politicians are once again mistaking their own personal interest for the welfare of their constituents.
Their argument that “Kenyans are not ready for another election” smacks of transparent self-interest.
Paralysis
Several reasons may be put forward for the calls for early polls, but the biggest reason would be the apparent paralysis in government.
Key decisions are being made late or not at all because the coalition partners keep second-guessing each other, unsure how the other will react.
The current arrangement where there are practically two governments in power is untenable in the long run. What is needed is a government with clear lines of responsibility and an ultimate office where the proverbial buck stops.
When religious leaders called for fresh elections they were quickly condemned by the political class and asked to first attend to the logs in their eyes before trying to remove the specks in the eyes of the political elite.
Opinion columnists followed suit, and both arms of the grand coalition asked the “media” to stop fuelling unrest with “irresponsible journalism”.
Now the ordinary Kenyans are speaking, and they are saying that no matter who won the election, they all voted for bountiful harvests, better security, education and health, none of which is forthcoming.
No Kenyan voted for the current discord in government, and indeed no Kenyan voted for the triumvirate of the current President, Vice-President and Prime Minister to serve in the same government.
The three and their cohorts found themselves working together after a bungled election and the resultant mayhem, so none of them should delude themselves that they have the overwhelming mandate from Kenyans to do as they wish.
The argument that a fresh election is impossible at this point in time since Kenyans have neither healed nor reconciled with their neighbours does not hold much water.
At the current pace of doing things, Kenyans will be no better off in 2012 than they are presently. In fact, all indications are that they will be worse off if nothing is done now to forestall inevitable conflict.
Little focus
There is very little focus on national cohesion and reconciliation today.
The meagre peace-building efforts going on in the countryside are being supported by non-governmental organisations and humanitarian agencies with very little support from the government.
Instead of berating Kenyans for telling them to face them at the ballot, our “leaders” should finalise the formation of the transitional electoral and boundaries machinery and hopefully put in place a new constitution before paving way for a fresh election.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Split of health ministry a failed political move
By LUKOYE ATWOLI
Sunday Nation 19 April 2009, Page 22
As Kenyans mark one year since the swearing-in of the grand coalition cabinet, it is almost unanimously agreed that the government has failed in all the key performance measures it set through the four agenda items listed in the National Accord.
Despite attempts by those in government to put on a brave face and pretend that all was well, their disagreements dramatically emerged when talks meant to evaluate the coalition’s performance on key indicators collapsed over the agenda.
One of the most important social indicators of a government’s performance is the health of its populace.
During election campaigns, many of the pledges made included improvements in the health sector, with some promising free or subsidised health care, while others promised better terms and conditions of service for health workers.
Health docket
When the Cabinet was announced this time last year, many were eager to find out who would hold the important Health docket and what sort of ideological bent the ministry would take. Instead, we were rewarded with two Health ministries, one in charge of medical services and the other in charge of public health.
How the determination was made that medical services and public health are distinct, separable entities was left to the imagination of Kenyans.
As a result of the split of the ministry of Health, there has been a duplication of bureaucracy and expenditure without any discernible improvement in service delivery. What we are treated to are daily squabbles over which ministry is in charge of what activity or funds.
Indeed, in many offices in the ministry of Health one will today find two heads, one representing the ministry of Medical Services and the other representing the Public Health ministry.
This is the situation prevailing at the National Aids/STD Control Programme (NASCOP) and at the provincial level there are two senior medical officers generally duplicating each others’ roles in service delivery.
The two ministers have taken to communicating through the media, as though they do not get to meet during Cabinet meetings. Last week they engaged in theatrics over the registration of a body to regulate nutritionists and dieticians, with one minister using the head of nutrition services and the other using the deputy to run parallel bodies.
Meanwhile, the cost of health care continues to climb, and many are now seeking health services only when they are very severely ill. Services offered at most government health facilities remain quite basic.
Money that should have been used to improve services is instead being used to maintain a parallel bureaucracy whose net effect is just to enrich individuals and massage the elephantine egos of ministers and their sidekicks.
Indeed, the government appears to be so flush with cash that it is even considering building a “state-of-the-art” referral hospital in Karen!
Why they do not use the money to improve Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital as well as the provincial hospitals defeats logic.
As another big hospital is built in Nairobi, many provincial and large district hospitals are still grappling with staff shortages and lack of equipment and supplies. Key facilities at these large hospitals with huge catchment areas have been built and are maintained by NGOs and other donors.
Service delivery has suffered due to this ambiguity and lack of clear policy direction. The ministry of Health was in the process of implementing a strategic plan, and the split threw a spanner into the works by stalling the process and blurring the lines of responsibility for all those involved.
Indeed, there are many functionaries at Afya House who are no longer sure who their political boss is, and others have multiple supervisors spanning the two ministries.
The time has come for Kenyans to get serious in demanding accountability and good governance from those they elect to serve them. We must stop making excuses for the two main members of the coalition.
Whenever things appear to stall, they often come out blaming their coalition partners for the failure, forgetting that by agreeing to serve in the same Cabinet they also agreed to share responsibility.
Sharing responsibility should not only be done during the good times such as when they are appointing CEOs of parastatals and heads of government departments. The partners must be ready to share responsibility even when they fail.
Kenyans must hold them collectively responsible for the problems they face every day when they seek health services in government facilities and come away disappointed.
It is hoped that as they scramble to replace the minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs, the “principals” will be persuaded to re-unite the ministry of Health under one political head in order to truly improve service delivery.
Dr Lukoye Atwoli is a consultant psychiatrist and lecturer, Moi University’s School of Medicine
Sunday Nation 19 April 2009, Page 22
As Kenyans mark one year since the swearing-in of the grand coalition cabinet, it is almost unanimously agreed that the government has failed in all the key performance measures it set through the four agenda items listed in the National Accord.
Despite attempts by those in government to put on a brave face and pretend that all was well, their disagreements dramatically emerged when talks meant to evaluate the coalition’s performance on key indicators collapsed over the agenda.
One of the most important social indicators of a government’s performance is the health of its populace.
During election campaigns, many of the pledges made included improvements in the health sector, with some promising free or subsidised health care, while others promised better terms and conditions of service for health workers.
Health docket
When the Cabinet was announced this time last year, many were eager to find out who would hold the important Health docket and what sort of ideological bent the ministry would take. Instead, we were rewarded with two Health ministries, one in charge of medical services and the other in charge of public health.
How the determination was made that medical services and public health are distinct, separable entities was left to the imagination of Kenyans.
As a result of the split of the ministry of Health, there has been a duplication of bureaucracy and expenditure without any discernible improvement in service delivery. What we are treated to are daily squabbles over which ministry is in charge of what activity or funds.
Indeed, in many offices in the ministry of Health one will today find two heads, one representing the ministry of Medical Services and the other representing the Public Health ministry.
This is the situation prevailing at the National Aids/STD Control Programme (NASCOP) and at the provincial level there are two senior medical officers generally duplicating each others’ roles in service delivery.
The two ministers have taken to communicating through the media, as though they do not get to meet during Cabinet meetings. Last week they engaged in theatrics over the registration of a body to regulate nutritionists and dieticians, with one minister using the head of nutrition services and the other using the deputy to run parallel bodies.
Meanwhile, the cost of health care continues to climb, and many are now seeking health services only when they are very severely ill. Services offered at most government health facilities remain quite basic.
Money that should have been used to improve services is instead being used to maintain a parallel bureaucracy whose net effect is just to enrich individuals and massage the elephantine egos of ministers and their sidekicks.
Indeed, the government appears to be so flush with cash that it is even considering building a “state-of-the-art” referral hospital in Karen!
Why they do not use the money to improve Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital as well as the provincial hospitals defeats logic.
As another big hospital is built in Nairobi, many provincial and large district hospitals are still grappling with staff shortages and lack of equipment and supplies. Key facilities at these large hospitals with huge catchment areas have been built and are maintained by NGOs and other donors.
Service delivery has suffered due to this ambiguity and lack of clear policy direction. The ministry of Health was in the process of implementing a strategic plan, and the split threw a spanner into the works by stalling the process and blurring the lines of responsibility for all those involved.
Indeed, there are many functionaries at Afya House who are no longer sure who their political boss is, and others have multiple supervisors spanning the two ministries.
The time has come for Kenyans to get serious in demanding accountability and good governance from those they elect to serve them. We must stop making excuses for the two main members of the coalition.
Whenever things appear to stall, they often come out blaming their coalition partners for the failure, forgetting that by agreeing to serve in the same Cabinet they also agreed to share responsibility.
Sharing responsibility should not only be done during the good times such as when they are appointing CEOs of parastatals and heads of government departments. The partners must be ready to share responsibility even when they fail.
Kenyans must hold them collectively responsible for the problems they face every day when they seek health services in government facilities and come away disappointed.
It is hoped that as they scramble to replace the minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs, the “principals” will be persuaded to re-unite the ministry of Health under one political head in order to truly improve service delivery.
Dr Lukoye Atwoli is a consultant psychiatrist and lecturer, Moi University’s School of Medicine
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Migingo and Mau show how State has failed us
By LUKOYE ATWOLI
Sunday Nation 12 April 2009, Page 24
A number of disturbing occurrences are going on in this country while those with the responsibility of safeguarding the welfare of the citizenry are practically sleeping on the job.
Although a lot has been said about them, there is troubling silence from officialdom, with senior government officials only busying themselves with politically correct survival measures. Sample the following two instances.
Further talks
The Government of the Republic of Uganda recently hoisted a flag on territory most people know is Kenya’s. After some dithering and dissembling, the Kenya Government entered into negotiations with junior functionaries from Uganda, resulting in an agreement on “joint patrols” and a timeframe for further talks.
The agreement was promptly dismissed by junior patrolmen in the Ugandan armed forces and they vowed to continue controlling the territory “until they get orders from their superiors”.
Meanwhile, the Kenyan citizens living on Migingo island are paying tax to the Uganda Revenue Authority, the Ugandan flag flutters in the breeze from Lake Victoria and the Uganda People’s Defence Force patrols the island.
As if that is not bad enough, the Kenya government dispatched the Commissioner of Police to Kampala to negotiate! He appears to have been mostly ignored by government officials in Uganda, and there is no indication of what he achieved there.
All this time our senior government officials continue to enjoy their cushy positions and club memberships, our military continues to organise “joint exercises” and enjoy a tax-free existence, and our politicians continue to bicker.
In the second scenario, scientists have come up with incontrovertible findings to the effect that destruction of the Mau forest complex will lead to the death and desertification of most of the western part of this country. This vital ecological lifeline may yet be salvaged if those currently resident in the forest are asked to leave and trees are replanted.
As is customary in these parts, this is the point when politicians with vested interests start crawling out of the woodwork making all sorts of threats.
Further examination of the evidence indicates that most of the noise makers own huge tracts of irregularly allocated land in the forest.
Yet without batting an eyelid they seek to present themselves as champions for the rights of “their people” and make political mileage out of a matter of survival for this country.
In all this grandstanding, nobody is offering an alternative solution to counter the apocalyptic scenario the scientists have presented. Instead, some people take it upon themselves to cause further destruction of the forest by setting the forest on fire, ostensibly to create more space for human settlements!
As usual, the Kenya Government dithers and prevaricates in its response. It appears clear that nothing will be done about Mau forest in the near future, at least until after the next General Election.
In jeopardy
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the future of our children is in jeopardy, but most of those in power care little since they do not see themselves in that future.
As it is, they are fully preoccupied strategising how to become the country’s next CEO in a few years’ time.
They do not mind if the country ceases to exist in the next 30 years, since most of them will have kept their appointments with their Maker by then, leaving their children and grandchildren to grapple with the messes they leave behind.
These two scenarios are symptomatic of this government’s handling of critical matters, and it is doubtful that one could find better illustrations of a government that is not in control of its own territory.
Put together with corruption at all levels of government, armed militias freely roaming the countryside and invisibility of government in large swathes of this country, the indicators of a failed state are all in place.
Kenyans need to ask themselves some really hard questions if we are to emerge from this phase of our history with some lessons learnt.
Whose interests does this government serve? Is there any among the entire political leadership who thinks beyond their stomachs and the next General Election?
It may be time, as argued by many in these columns, for us to earnestly start the search for alternative leadership to save this country from these predatory leaders with no vision for our future.
For those that truly hold reformist ideals, this is the time to stand up to be counted. We must begin pushing a pro-Kenya agenda, and push aside those that persist in chauvinistic, self-centred politics.
Dr Lukoye Atwoli is a consultant psychiatrist and lecturer at Moi University’s School of Medicine. Email: lukoye@gmail.com
Sunday Nation 12 April 2009, Page 24
A number of disturbing occurrences are going on in this country while those with the responsibility of safeguarding the welfare of the citizenry are practically sleeping on the job.
Although a lot has been said about them, there is troubling silence from officialdom, with senior government officials only busying themselves with politically correct survival measures. Sample the following two instances.
Further talks
The Government of the Republic of Uganda recently hoisted a flag on territory most people know is Kenya’s. After some dithering and dissembling, the Kenya Government entered into negotiations with junior functionaries from Uganda, resulting in an agreement on “joint patrols” and a timeframe for further talks.
The agreement was promptly dismissed by junior patrolmen in the Ugandan armed forces and they vowed to continue controlling the territory “until they get orders from their superiors”.
Meanwhile, the Kenyan citizens living on Migingo island are paying tax to the Uganda Revenue Authority, the Ugandan flag flutters in the breeze from Lake Victoria and the Uganda People’s Defence Force patrols the island.
As if that is not bad enough, the Kenya government dispatched the Commissioner of Police to Kampala to negotiate! He appears to have been mostly ignored by government officials in Uganda, and there is no indication of what he achieved there.
All this time our senior government officials continue to enjoy their cushy positions and club memberships, our military continues to organise “joint exercises” and enjoy a tax-free existence, and our politicians continue to bicker.
In the second scenario, scientists have come up with incontrovertible findings to the effect that destruction of the Mau forest complex will lead to the death and desertification of most of the western part of this country. This vital ecological lifeline may yet be salvaged if those currently resident in the forest are asked to leave and trees are replanted.
As is customary in these parts, this is the point when politicians with vested interests start crawling out of the woodwork making all sorts of threats.
Further examination of the evidence indicates that most of the noise makers own huge tracts of irregularly allocated land in the forest.
Yet without batting an eyelid they seek to present themselves as champions for the rights of “their people” and make political mileage out of a matter of survival for this country.
In all this grandstanding, nobody is offering an alternative solution to counter the apocalyptic scenario the scientists have presented. Instead, some people take it upon themselves to cause further destruction of the forest by setting the forest on fire, ostensibly to create more space for human settlements!
As usual, the Kenya Government dithers and prevaricates in its response. It appears clear that nothing will be done about Mau forest in the near future, at least until after the next General Election.
In jeopardy
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the future of our children is in jeopardy, but most of those in power care little since they do not see themselves in that future.
As it is, they are fully preoccupied strategising how to become the country’s next CEO in a few years’ time.
They do not mind if the country ceases to exist in the next 30 years, since most of them will have kept their appointments with their Maker by then, leaving their children and grandchildren to grapple with the messes they leave behind.
These two scenarios are symptomatic of this government’s handling of critical matters, and it is doubtful that one could find better illustrations of a government that is not in control of its own territory.
Put together with corruption at all levels of government, armed militias freely roaming the countryside and invisibility of government in large swathes of this country, the indicators of a failed state are all in place.
Kenyans need to ask themselves some really hard questions if we are to emerge from this phase of our history with some lessons learnt.
Whose interests does this government serve? Is there any among the entire political leadership who thinks beyond their stomachs and the next General Election?
It may be time, as argued by many in these columns, for us to earnestly start the search for alternative leadership to save this country from these predatory leaders with no vision for our future.
For those that truly hold reformist ideals, this is the time to stand up to be counted. We must begin pushing a pro-Kenya agenda, and push aside those that persist in chauvinistic, self-centred politics.
Dr Lukoye Atwoli is a consultant psychiatrist and lecturer at Moi University’s School of Medicine. Email: lukoye@gmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)