21st July 1999 

                        10 MILLIONAIRES, 10 MILLION IN THE MIDDLE CLASS, AND 10 BEGGARS 

The ongoing calls for a people driven review to the Kenyan constitution, are in principle and deservedly, becoming a lost cause. The reason for this is that the various lobbies calling for a people driven  change to the constitution, are exhibiting open bias, aimed at advancing vested interests. The Nation media group is an example in this regard. The leading Kenyan  newspaper group has unashamedly dedicated three editorials on this subject in the short span of eight days: "GIVE IN   TO POPULAR DEMAND" ( Daily Nation, 7th July 1999 ), "REVIVE STALLED REFORM PROCESS" ( Daily Nation, 12th July 1999 ), and "SEIZE INITIATIVE TO REVIVE REFORM TALKS" ( Daily Nation, 15th July 1999 ). The Nation media group is also yet to disclose the sources of their recent survey in which the majority of Kenyans are said to have called for a people driven review to the constitution. Did the Nation media group collate views on this important subject from the people of Nairobi, as much as it did from people residing in other areas of the republic such as Lokitaung, Moyale, Mandera, Liboi, Shimoni, Namanga, Suna, and Endebess ? : I highly doubt it.

I can only assume that the Nation media group is eager to have legislation passed that would easily enable them to commence broadcasting in this region, something the group has been trying for the last nine years. There is nothing wrong with this, except that it doesn't cater for the needs of millions of Kenyans. This country is far too young and far too impoverished to be advancing minority interests. 

For several years now, the small man in this country has not had a voice, and has been subjected to all manner of abuse. This is largely the reason for our present predicament. Many years ago , the late member of parliament for Nyandarua North, J.M. Kariuki, indeed prophesised Kenya becoming a Nation of 10 millionaires and 10 million beggars. This has symbolically become very true in modern day Kenya. As we enter the 21st century, the late J.M. Kariuki's prophesy must be reviewed so that we symbolically become a Nation of 10 millionaires, 10 million in the middle class, and 10 beggars.

As mentioned above, the framework in Kenya has for several years been geared towards catering for the needs of a minority. This was the case during the colonial era, during the Kenyatta era, and now during the Moi era. This country has grown in a way  that the structures currently in place are no longer able to meet the Nation's needs. The problems in this country are largely of the mind and attitude, rather than of inability. We need to reform at an individual level before advocating for sweeping reforms. All manner of accusations and abuse (some justified no doubt ), are being levelled at the government nowadays, for instance. However an analysis of our lives at an individual level reveals an equally mediocre and wanting state of affairs : if one drinks away his month's earnings in one night of spending, as many of us are prone to doing nowadays, you cannot blame the government for this; if you bring seven children into this world, and are unable to cater for their basic needs, you cannot blame the government for this; if you engage in reckless sex despite all the factors against this nowadays, and in so doing contract the dreaded AIDS virus, you cannot blame the government for this; if you soo savagely defile a girl of 5 years of age as has become commonplace, you cannot blame the government for this; if you brutally and in a most cowardly manner, assault your wife or husband, you cannot blame the government for this.

This is what we have become and this is what we urgently need to reform : the Kenyan has become his own worst enemy. Life has become soo cheap and one can easily get people to do their bidding in so far as you can provide an intoxicant of one kind or another, or provide a new set of cosmetics. We have to take the initiative, and learn how to fish. Private enterprise must take a lead role in building a Kenya of 10 millionaires, 10 million in the middle class, and 10 beggars. Religious organisations and non-governmental organisations are playing a very crucial role countrywide in alleviating poverty and creating opportunities, by imparting very crucial skills in micro-enterprise. This is an initiative that all of us must support, because this is where the future of this country lies. 

There is also a lot we can learn from our cultural practices, many of which we have abandoned. In the olden days amongst the Maasai  for instance, one had to kill a lion in order to graduate to moranhood. We all know that a lion, when threatened, can be a very vicious animal, capable of killing a fully grown man with one strike. To qualify to be a Kenyan moran in this day and age, one must also symbolically tame a lion. In this regard, the achievement of the legendary American entrepreneur, Lee Iaccoca, can be used as an example. In the early 1980s, Iaccoca salvaged the giant American car maker, Chrysler, from insolvency by paying off all the corporation's creditors, and re-building it into a viable venture, eight years ahead of a recovery schedule that had been put in place. Soo impressed were Americans by this achievement, that Iaccoca was approached to vie for the U.S. presidency in the 1988 election, but declined. Lee Iaccoca undoubtedly passes for a modern day moran, and the giant Chrysler corporation of the 1980s, the lion he successfully tamed. This country needs Iaccocas at all levels and in all spheres of life :- Men and Women of action. There are numerous symbolic lions to be tamed in this country. Indeed, we need to tame the Kenyan Nation as a whole, which has become a vicious lion on the verge of becoming unmanageable. This is what the Kenyan Nation must aspire to achieve in the 21st century : we must aspire to become a Nation of 10 millionaires, 10 million in the middle class, and 10 beggars.