THE POLITICS OF ROBBING THE POOR TO PAY THE RICH

NTV report on latest pay hike for Kenyan legislators

You got to admire the nerve of Members of Parliament in Kenya. They refuse to pay tax on their obscene earnings but still see nothing wrong in looting taxpayers' money. Politics being dirty truly makes you filthy rich.

This is the only occupation where you get allowances for actually discharging your prescribed duties. So what pray tell are their salaries supposed to be for? Then, as exposed by the Daily Nation, they get to have their pay increased.

For one to successfully navigate through the Kenyan electoral system, it goes without saying that one needs to have access to an almost unlimited amount of money.

So most of the elected MPs are usually already on the wealthy side of life. Some seek refuge in politics to reduce their exposure to future prosecution given their murky past, while another lot could be so heavily indebted that only the perks that come with elective politics can redeem their situation.

And then there are those who have known no lack in their life, coming from rich families and even inheriting political seats that have been held captive by their kinsmen.

Such is the extent of their opulence that a rumour doing the rounds in Nairobi banking circles has it that one particular MP has so much money in his account that whenever his bank is caught up in an emergency, it occasionally withdraws vast amount secretly from the account and quietly pays it back without the MP ever realising it.

Just like the renowned thespian Jerry Aurah used to say, Kenya has two faces best exemplified by the fact that, whereas one toilet could be serving ten thousand people in the Kibera slums, one person elsewhere could be facing the difficult choice of which among the 5 toilets in his mansion should he use.