Traditional African social fabric has been eroded by wazees
In summary
- · Youths lack role models to ape in a corner cutting society that give elders an edge for opportunities
- · The young people in my WhatsApp group agreed that they didn’t get Census jobs because of lack of qualifications.
- · Some even made fun of ‘connections’ that favoured wazees as they lost hope of what was meant by the youth being ‘leaders of tomorrow’
By Chris Vundi and Musyoka Ngui
African culture has been eroded by interaction of African
societies with the West.
With the interaction, Africans are slowly losing their
identity. A glance of a name of an African man will portray that person is a
mzungu. Not first name nor last name. Middle name and ‘baptismal names’. I put
baptismal in quotes because some have never been dipped in water for Holy
Baptism and those that have don’t follow the commandments of the Bible.
In my shallow knowledge,
I understand that being baptised connotes being born again. Leaving old ways
and embracing new lifestyle. Much like being saved in Christianity. But you’ll
find an African with Christian names but engaged in rotten corruption scandals
and other immoralities.
I don’t profess
moral highroad but what I find hypocritical and being later day Pharisees is
the notion of preaching water and drinking wine-literary and figuratively.
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| Musyoka Ngui coauthors this piece to remind the Kenyan society that wazees have been a let town to Kenyan youth. Photo/FILE |
Nowhere is the
rot of African morals exemplified more than in Kenyan public service transport-
PSVs. I’ll cut both ways.
Police bribery
This being Africa,
there is no denying that people are crammed together and the number written as
the maximum loading is ignored for profit of the entrepreneur at the expense of
the commuters. The passengers. The police who are supposed to check overloading
don’t and won’t mind getting a bribe and looking the other way as the
overloaded and speeding PSV flout all rules of the book. Some end up causing horrible
crashes which could be avoided if traffic rules were enforced and observed.
In the same
matatu, you’ll find an elder standing while a youth sitting. Granted, African decency
doesn’t provide for such a situation but why does an elderly board a full PSV? Anyway,
they could have run out of options as a whole African village could be boasting
of a single PSV which if it leaves you in the morning, you better cancel your
plans for the whole day-however urgent.
African Politician
But the worst
rot of African decency is in politics. People who are entrusted with keeping
watch of government becomes the first to breach the same laws. The recent proposals
to increase MPs 17 allowances when punda amechoka clearly underline the selfish
nature of our politicians. Some tell the youth to employ themselves when they themselves
have never employed themselves in anything.
Big names are implicated
in corruption, some resign, some don’t. Life goes on. Any convictions? Children
lack role models who work hard and make it in life and can be aped. The common
cadre is the need for short cut which involves plunder and disregard of all
common decencies.
Perhaps it’s
time to rewrite the African culture which was hereditary and authoritative in
wazees teaching vijana to man up and do the right thing. When the wazees crowd out
our vijanas in census jobs by taking leaves from government and private
practice to snatch the opportunities from the young people, there is no hope. Kenya
went to the dogs. That was my line in a comrades group that went unchallenged
as the hopeless youths acknowledged that they didn’t get the census jobs
because they don’t sit well with their local chiefs and none mentioned lack of qualifications.
Some even, dejectedly, agreed that your qualification can be your
disqualification in a deeply insecure public service. Sad but very true.
