Of Waiguru, NYS and Kibera Youth and Toilets

  An old common NGO story goes… A wealthy Missionary visited a pastoral community in arid area in the north where water and grazing land were scarce. He felt very sad and knew he had to do something to relieve himself of the bad feeling and get the poor community out of their misery. Upon return to Europe, he contacted an NGO that was operating in the country and donated couple of millions for the construction of a few boreholes.

Two years later, upon return to see how his donations improved the life of the poor community, he found the villages deserted and tall grass covering the boreholes.

The moral of the story can be illustrated in the Kibera drama when the youth decide to burn a newly constructed toilet and steal construction materials. How did ‘bad politics’ persuade Kibera residents to destroy the provision of these basic needs? Goodwill from ‘caring President’ and his cabinet? Surely, the kibera people must be ungrateful, just like the community in the north that ‘rejected’ the boreholes.

But wait a minute!  The residents of Kibera are not used to ‘these things’. This modern way of life they are being persuaded to adapt to. In the first place, they are not even aware they need proper toilets and clinics. Indeed, it did not take them time to opt back to their old lifestyle and misery.

Like the people in the north who must continue walking miles and miles for pastures and water and allow the grass continue coving the boreholes, so will Kibera people confine themselves to their old uncivilized flying toilets. Like the good hearted Missionary who knew very much what the poor people needed, Waiguru demonstrated her compassion, insight and commitment by giving Kibera, what it badly needed. In fact she even mobilized the highly professional and energetic NYS. Kibera needed to just sit back and wait to be served.

Meanwhile, the NYS and the youth who know better, rightfully filled the streets to remind opposition politicians that 800m shillings supposedly stolen was nothing compared to the work of charity the government has done for Kibera people.

Surely, it cannot cross anyone’s mind, that such great intention and heart can permit theft of that magnitude.  Like the very hard earned cash of the missionary, government funds must not face such scrutiny from the opposition and Kenyans who cannot even fathom where the hard working government has scraped through.

Let’s be honest, we should be ashamed that in stead of being grateful for the implementation of Article 43 (1) of the bill of rights, we criticise and scrutinize the commitment and intelligence of the leadership.