THIEVES IN THE GOVERNMENT HOUSES

The phrase ‘A thief in the government house was coined by the  London prosecutor in referring to James Ibori former Nigerian governor who was sentenced to 13 years-in-jail for fraud and corruption cases.
Election over, we are now expecting the leaders to get down to work and proof us their honest and living up to their promises or else we will end up having thieves in the government house.
For the first time, we are going to have a devolved government under chief bosses in the name of governors. My attention has gone to this governors owing that they are going to encounter the trappings of power and the huge budget entrusted in their hands. For most of these governors, the budget is heavy considering their former jobs or even private business.
From their acceptance speeches, they have promised to perform spellbindingly. The country is expecting to grow economically under this guys but that is if the buck must stop. The buck will only stop if the resources will be distributed evenly among the people of their respective regions. We expect them to compete within themselves for the benefit of the common man. For instance, I would like to see the Kisii County Governor making use of bananas and avocado by creating a juice-making industry and then export it to other counties to generate income for his people. This can be achieved if the respective governors will kill nepotism and clan favors.
I have heard that they are going to earn equal salaries. But unless they live modestly to what their salaries will accommodate, they are going to find themselves in the fate of James Ibori. He had stolen 200m pounds which he stashed in London accounts with numerous mansions and state-of-the-art vehicles. In fact he was arrested while trying to purchase a 20milion dollar jet minding that his salary was below 25,000 pounds per annum. His wife and sisters will also fall on the same axe. And I fear the same will happen to our governors if they try mischievous spending.
It’s greedy which will make them not to work. For instance they should not frequent themselves with foreign trips with a message to their people that they have gone to woo investors. Yes, wooing investors is good idea but it should not be an excuse of squandering public money. Another issue is the residence. A part from Kidero, the Nairobi governor, the governors should take much of their time staying in their respective counties. The world is a global village but being in your County will speed the performance of projects.
If they embark of selfish competitions, they will find themselves in trouble. It will be improper if they try competing on who has the latest jeep in town, which one of them is paying expensive private tuition fees. I read a story where a Nigerian Governor had to take his visitors to Dubai in first class travel to witness the marriage of his daughter and guess right he was using state money.



Some counties are blessed in one or two things economically be it minerals, business or factories. They should be renovated to increase production.
For instance, the governors should dream of building a stadium as one way of promoting sports in the region. If counties will produce a football team and compete, we will have a competing national team and kill the malady we watch during Harambee Stars matches.
But if they will eat and remain fat babies in office, then I will agree with Sola Odunfa the Nigerian writer who said that, “all I know is that when politicians go into government they look like the he-goat which has just finished a cross country trek to the city market, but when they reach mid-term they are like the show horse in the emir’s palace.”
CHWEYA ITEBA,
Nairobi.