In Summary
Kenyans’ indifference
to issues is a cause for concern. In this piece, I argue that Kenyan’s
bystander approach and has contributed significantly to poor governance in the
country. There is need for each one of
us to at least stand for something as things don’t fix themselves. Read on....
A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with a friend of mine just in the wake of the tragic Garissa attack. While discussing the state of affairs in the country, I ask her, just out of curiosity, if she voted during the last general election. “No, I didn’t. Politicians don’t help me in any way,” she (naively) responds. Fair enough. “So how did that help fix poor governance currently being witnessed in the country?” I probe further. Unfortunately, this time she has no response for me.
You
see the tragedy with majority of Kenyans is the tendency to be indifferent
towards issues; be it political, economic or social. For them, they feel it is not their
responsibility. To this end, we are experiencing runaway corruption because
people don’t simply care yet it is their money (in form of taxes) that has been
stolen. The furthest they can go is to
protest through hashtags in the social media but more often than not, it
requires so much more than hashtags to effect change in poor governance. Currently,
the price of Unga has gone up from Ksh.75 to Ksh.105 with some brands retailing
at Ksh.120. While this has significantly increased the cost of living, good
Kenyans are keeping their peace yet it has poked a hole in their pockets.
In the
work environment, characters like my friend referred above who like taking the middle
ground rarely prosper. Apart from being an easy and safe option, they want to
appear modest in the eyes of others. During staff meetings, these chaps will
not say anything but they have notepads and will be writing down other people’s
ideas or views instead of sharing they own. They will keep their peace and
observe others haggle over issues. However, what they fail to realize is that
by playing safe nobody will ever notice their presence even if they their IQ is
150. When promotions come around, the
manager will easily ignore them simply because they are passive and lack assertiveness.
Rightly so.; they don’t stand for anything; nada. Zero. Nobody will know about
your brilliance if you don’t participate in issues. Corporate world is vicious and
with this kind of attitude, you will probably be stack in your position for a
very long time.
In
conclusion, the bottom line is that we should cease the bystander approach to
critical issues that affect the society at large because it’s for the greater
good. You either support the government, the opposition or the civil society
but don’t be a casual observer sitting on the fringes. Things don’t fix themselves. At least stand
for something.
