Enter the ‘millionaire hustlers’

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.”

This well-known homily in the biblical Sermon on the Mount is the bane of many prosperity preachers – and politicians – in this country because it exhorts them to shun mindless materialism.

Mammon is the Syrian god of riches and the Hebrew demon of crass acquisition, greed and unjust worldly gain.

When Jesus was preaching against such traits, the conditions obtained 2,000 years ago were no different from the ones pertaining to today, meaning the excessive quest for wealth at the expense of spiritual well-being is nothing new.

At the moment, money – loads of it – is in the minds of Kenyans. It is difficult to remember the last time when such huge figures were bandied about publicly and one can understand why there is so much excitement, especially in the blogosphere.

It so happens that the men and women picked by President William Ruto to assist him as Cabinet Secretaries are all multimillionaires – at least in asset value.

That is why newspapers had a field day with crafty headlines like “Filthy Rich Hustlers” and “Millionaire Hustlers” after the vetting by Parliament. The irony in these headlines could not have been lost on many.

Mind-blowing figures 

The mind-blowing figures of personal worth declared by those being vetted could only lead to diametrically opposed reactions.

There are those left seething with frustration that works as hard as they try, but they are forced by circumstances to live from hand to mouth.

But again, there must have been chaps who gasped in admiration at the prowess of their leaders in stealing millions of shillings from the public purse and getting away with it.

More than 50 million Kenyans will live and die without ever dreaming about reaching such lofty heights.

They cannot really comprehend what a million shillings in the bank means, let alone 4,000 times this figure, as Mr Musalia Mudavadi, for instance, says he has within reach.

Nobody ever said we should all be equal and even the diehard egalitarians know this, for we are all made differently.

Social, political and economic stratification defines the human condition; some are born poor and remain so all their lives while others raise themselves up by sheer willpower and luck and make it big.

The difference comes in when the go-getters eventually grab the opportunities available, while others waste their lives envying the rich and cursing the vicissitudes that made them poor.

These last are the darlings of politicians during elections for they are cheaply bought.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with someone owning great property and money. Not all of them must have acquired their wealth illicitly and not all must have looted the Treasury.

Some are astute businesspeople who know the value of timely investments.

The trouble comes when, during such pursuits, they forget their humanity and fervently believe that the end justifies the means, thus trampling on the sensibilities of others.

And, of course, not all those approved for recruitment as ministers are as clean as they ought to be, for there is a saying in Kenya that you do not make great wealth without leaving too many bodies strewn all over the place, figuratively speaking.

Another lot steals whatever they can lay their hands on so long as they are not caught.

It is, therefore, getting quite difficult to tell the difference between those who genuinely seek to serve and those who seek to loot.

Considering there are suspicions that notorious thieves are being officially sanitised daily by the prosecutorial authorities, it appears the era of blatant impunity is truly upon us.

However, since the “innocent until found guilty” doctrine obtains fully, none of the Cabinet Secretary designates is likely to be rejected by Parliament, nor are they likely to face any further scrutiny even if their stories do not add up.

No follow-up

In such a situation, one would be forgiven for asking: If there is no follow-up, does this vetting have any utility value? 

One would want to know the character and worth of these individuals after five years and compare them with the figures given today. 

If they do not tally, the CSs should explain the source of their new-found wealth.

Carried to excess, of course, this sensible scrutiny may come to be regarded as a witch-hunt, with the unfortunate effect of discouraging otherwise qualified people from seeking public service.

One notable thing about these nominees is that none has volunteered any information about wealth-creation ventures like manufacturing; they are all into farming, collecting rent, or, in the case of one, rearing camels.

That is understandable; one should not expect them to run both factories and ministries at the same time, but they can, and should, try making things right by seeking inventive ways to create jobs for the real hustlers. 

There is nothing as dehumanising as grinding poverty and nothing as glaring as the ever-widening gap between the very poor and the small elite who actually own Kenya.

Mr Ngwiri is a consultant editor; [email protected]