Ups and downs of defending the new government
The President and DP are very busy from morning to evening, they just happen to tell us how the government is doing.”
Although I supported Wajackoya in the recently concluded General Election (but did not necessarily vote for him), once a government was selected, I did not waste time whining and complaining about whether the elections were rigged or not, or whether servers were hacked or harked. Long before the Supreme Court ruled whatever it ruled, I had appointed myself the biggest supporter of the new government.
As the seniormost government official in Mwisho wa Lami and its environs, I understood I had the responsibility of promoting the government’s policies and defending it whenever it came under attack from enemies of development, like Saphire, who is known to oppose everything and anything.
There was also a selfish reason; I had no doubt that sooner rather than later, the government would notice my unwavering, unconditional support for it, and reward me appropriately. After all, the Deputy President, clearly said that it is time to reward the supporters, and the rest will have to wait for leftovers. But you and I know that government officials never leave leftovers.
Talking of Riggy G, he became my best politician because of his ability to say what is on his mind. Not just that, he spoke sense every time. There are those who say that he keeps talking about the bad government they inherited, but those are people who have never inherited a bad office. I have, and I tell you that almost a year later, I keep discovering the mess Bensouda left at this school.
Indeed, I will need at least three years, (after formal confirmation) to return this school to the level that Mr Maina (the HM the Bensouda replaced) left it. Bensouda left this school in a despicable, dilapidated state and this is something I will keep saying since the world needs to know.
That is why I told off Sella when, early in the week, she said that the DP had become a whiner. “Can he get on with the job? We are tired of his complaints,” she said. I told her off.
Defending every policy
“Who told you he is not working?” I asked her. “In fact, that is the best government ever. The President and DP are very busy from morning to evening, they just happen to tell us how the government is doing.”
As the leader of government business in Mwisho wa Lami and beyond, I found myself defending every policy. Two weeks ago, I had difficulty defending the DP’s proposal to allow people to farm in the forests. Alex and Kuya had said it was not a good idea. “Kwani who do you think planted all these forests? Are they not people? I have personally planted thousands of trees while also farming at the same time,” I said.
Just a week ago, I had to defend our President's frequent visits abroad. Kuya, a man who should not even have been employed, had the audacity to criticise the government: “Just one month and he has been in London, New York, Dubai, Uganda, Tanzania. I thought they found the government with nothing!” he exclaimed.
“Are you saying Sh93m is nothing?” I asked him. “Do you even have Sh3, 000 on you? And since the government found no money, don’t you think the President needs to visit other countries to seek help?”
But it is not always bad for me. Three weeks ago, there were celebrations when we heard that quite a good number of mobile phone lenders had been stopped from operations. From the staffroom to Hitler’s, we were happy. I personally had loans with at least three companies that were not licensed and I hope they will soon be closed so I do not have to pay.
“This is the best thing that this government has done,” said Kuya, who is always borrowing from everyone and from every lender he hears of. “I am forever in debt and I pay high interests since my whole salary goes into paying debts so that I can borrow again for survival.”
He was not alone. From Nzomo to Nyayo, Saphire to Anindo, loans were our way of life. And we all supported the state in shutting lenders that we owed money!
As teachers, we were very happy with two things that the new administration promised to deal with. First, delocalisation. As you know, any teacher who does not treat TSC offices well is delocalised. It has been very expensive to stay at Mwisho wa Lami school this long. There is someone at the County TSC office that I give something every so often, or else I would have been moved a long time ago. So, we celebrated the government’s intention to abolish the policy.
Considering retiring early
The second was CBC. I can say without any fear of contradictions that there is no (sane) teacher in Kenya who likes CBC. “This thing is making me go mad,” said Lenah, her bad hair in tow.
Mrs Atika also said that just because of CBC, she was considering retiring early. “These are things we did in the early 1990s when we were young girls, I’m now tired.”
So, when the government formed a task force to review CBC, I had to defend it, saying that there had to be a process of scrapping CBC. “You just can’t wake up and scrap it,” I told my colleagues.
We believed this until last Wednesday when the DP announced that for the avoidance of doubt, CBC would not be scrapped, but merely improved.
“Why were they forming a taskforce if they knew what would be done?” wondered Alex
“How can you improve a useless thing?” asked Saphire, who had come to school for the first time since after the polls.
Mr Atika, Madam Ruth, and Sella echoed them. Despite my feelings about CBC, I had to defend it, and say that it just required some minor improvements. I reminded everyone that CBC classes had to continue. One teacher like Mrs Atika and Sella had stopped following CBC curriculum
To my President and DP, defending you is not an easy thing, given the statement you two make every day. I hope that my staunch support for all you do, good or bad, will not go unappreciated. Am sure a reward will come soon. A fat reward!
