Covid-19 bares corruption as our pre-existing issue
The World Health Organisation has consistently warned of the risk Covid-19 poses on people with pre-existing medical conditions, diagnosed or not.
According to the Health Ministry, over 50 per cent of Covid-19 deaths are of persons who had non-communicable diseases.
My friend has this theory that the pandemic has highlighted all pre-existing conditions.
Diabetics, people with hypertension and obesity know they are at greater risk as their pre-existing issues can potentially cause great damage.
His theory is that it is not just medical, but also emotional and can equally be applied to companies, politics and government. Whatever is a weakness before the pandemic will exacerbate it.
Corruption was and is this government’s pre-existing condition. And it is now manifesting in a way that has shocked the country.
The government may not be moved by its own behaviour, but the dismay in the people is hard to miss. It didn’t happen in a day.
This and previous governments just chose to ignore it and to misdirect an attention to it.
It’s hard to imagine the lack of humanity it takes to be able to plunder Covid-19 funds earmarked for the most vulnerable in our society.
It is hard to imagine the same government that has been falling onto itself proclaiming its commitment to fight against corruption, that has galvanised efforts of Multi-Agency Task Force and strengthened anti-corruption agencies, has reduced itself to this level.
Kenyans have been in an abusive relationship with the Jubilee Government for years now.
They have been gaslit by ruling party who have taken little, if any, responsibility for letting down the same people they were elected to serve.
Promises have been as empty as the coffers that have been looted and now nothing, but shame and regret remains.
Gaslighting, is a form of psychological manipulation, in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgement.
Using denial, misdirection, contradiction, and misinformation, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilise the victim and delegitimise their beliefs.
Instances can range from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents occurred, to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim. Thanks Wikipedia.
The term was first used in a British play in 1938. In the story, the husband attempts to convince his wife and others that she is insane by manipulating small elements of their environment and insisting she is mistaken, remembering things incorrectly, or delusional when she points out these changes.
The play’s title alludes to how the abusive husband slowly dims the gas lights in their home, while pretending nothing has changed, in an effort to make his wife doubt her own perceptions.
Sound familiar? Jubilee Government has been gaslighting us for years. When President Uhuru Kenyatta stood before the nation and asked “Mnataka nifanye nini jameni?” suggesting that he has done all in his power in the fight against corruption and further proclaimed that it mattered not who was involved in corruption as they would face the full force of the law, was doing just that: gaslighting.
I am positive the country will survive this pandemic despite the pre-existing condition, I am, however, sceptical the people will recover from this betrayal.
Let me use this platform to condole with family and friends of those who have lost their loved ones to this pandemic and wish a quick recovery to those infected. Keep safe! — The writer is a legal officer with EACC. The opinions are his own
