USA
I am disturbed just like millions of Kenyans are by the current state of affairs in Jogoo House. This famous house where education matters in the country are handled has become not only a theatre of comics but also a platform where two well known professors have let bare the fact that they have no conscience.
To say that Prof Sam Ongeri and Prof Karega Mutahi should be sacked is missing the point. The two gentlemen should have relinquished their positions voluntarily as soon as the news of the billions of shillings that were looted under their watch was made public.
Firing some junior officers in the ministry is a cosmetic exercise of shielding the real culprits. Ongeri and Mutahi have failed in their capacity as caretakers of public funds entrusted to them and the only honorable and justified way to investigate the matter is first by having them vacate their plum offices.
Holding a public office is not a right but a privilege. When Ongeri appeared in front of media cameras on the eve, he was emphatic that he will not resign; things were not different when Mutahi held his own press conference. There is no doubt in any one’s mind that these two professors were doing was putting up a fight and pushing back on their accusers. Unfortunately, the two good professors missed the point. This was not a typical political fight pitting them against Kenyans, this was a case of millions of Shillings meant for the education of Kenya’s future leaders siphoned and diverted to private accounts while the intended beneficiaries suffered without adequate supplies. The same funds are donations from friendly countries that are using their tax payer’s money for what they believe is a worthy cause yet all these facts have not been strong enough to instill some level conscience in the minds of the two professors.
If we are going to raise a generation of Kenyans who will inherit our beloved country and preserve it for the future generations, we need to live a life they can emulate and definitely as long as the role models in the society continue to preside over plunder of public resources and cunningly shrug off any calls to take responsibility, we are setting a bad example to our children.
If this scandal happened in the western world, the minister concerned would have been the one calling the media to announce their intention to resign (not to step aside) as a consequence of their failure to protect looting of public funds, in Kenya things are done differently, the media have to smoke out the Minister and his Permanent secretary who once in the glare of the camera go on the warpath in self defense.
At this point, the mood in the public is that they have lost faith in the way the affairs of the Education Ministry are run and it is only prudent that the appointing authority cracks the whip if only to show that someone is in charge.
As for you Prof Ongeri and Prof Mutahi, you are learned enough to know that taking responsibility does not amount to admission of guilt and Kenyans are smart enough to know the difference. There is no way a proper investigation or audit will be carried out while you are still in your current positions. If you are thinking about giving any one a good New Year present then you don’t have to think further, tender your resignation letters so that Kenyans can believe in the investigations being carried out. Let your conscience prevail and do the right thing. As I have pointed out in a previous paragraph, public survive is not a right but a privilege.
