A whining Nation

It is no secret that Moi messed up Kenya. It is equally no secret that Kenyans have acquired a whining mentality-that things are not working well as they ought to.

In the spirit of whining, the civil service has been painted as pathetic and lazy, corrupt and inept. The public has been accused of ignorance and illiteracy.

While the indictment may be true, I guess we should always give room for change. When we ever know the situation is changing if we do not give people a chance, every act is condemned.

Most of the people working in government offices are our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and cousins, who probably we hold in very high esteem. These relatives have organised their homes, pushed kids through school with peanut salary and clothed all of us somehow.

I am not in any way condoning the ills that wreck the country but I think its time we gave people a chance.

Change comes from within, we must change our outlook.

Most of the people who whine and trash the government do not queue for its services, don’t visit our hospitals, don’t go to our schools- they have access to the best services.

We may want things to move faster but even Rome was not built in a day. It takes time.

For instance, America took almost a century to make meaningful gains in the fight against child labour and efficiency in government.

We all want an efficient civil service and an informed public but it has to start somewhere.

I always feel good when I visit an office and am served well. Not because it’s a favour but because it reminds me that the situation is not that bad after all. Of course there is room for improvement but for once, stop whining.

Without fear of contradiction, I can say that at times I don’t like the services offered but if you get to know the level of poverty or the residence or salary of the person serving you, I think you say THANK YOU!

Ends