(Angela Wahu is the CEO and founder of ChokoraCulture, an outfit helping street families)
Reports of Kenyans dying of hunger in Turkana and other parts of the country put the government in bad light.
As expected, Kenyans have been quick and ruthless on social media; calling out the government for being irresponsible and venting on corruption.
What Kenyans may or may not know is that this venting will only last just a few days. Before long, we will move on to something new.
Unfortunately, this just seems like a pattern Kenyans have become accustomed to.
Here are some of the scandals that rocked the nation and we just don’t talk about them anymore.
1. The Solai dam tragedy
All the cameras have left. All the dignitaries and public figures have stopped landing in their helicopters.
The convoys of vehicles that would race to the area have left; life seems to have simply moved on for everyone; everyone except the survivors of the tragedy.
On the night of May 9 2018, a private dam that belonged to Perry Mansukhlal, burst its banks claiming 48 lives and washing away homes, businesses, power lines, water pipes, schools and churches as well.
The private dam, located inside the Patel farm owned and managed by Patel Coffee Estates Managing Director Perry Kansagara and the General Manager Vinoj Kumar Kansagara and Kumar has left over 5,000 residents homeless.
Today, visitors are welcomed to the area by deep gullies that represent what was once a rich agricultural area, flourishing with all kinds of crops.
A total of Sh35 million was provided by the Patel's to the survivors of the tragedy. The survivors, however, accuse local administration and government officials of taking advantage of their plight and enriching themselves with the money.
2. The NYS scandal
The National Youth Service (NYS) was rebranded by President Uhuru Kenyatta in September 2014.
The rebranded NYS’ main aim is to translate the raw energy and dreams of the youth into the nation-building agenda.
However, the youth service has been a haven for looters with an estimated Sh9 billion being plundered. In 2015, under the then Devolution CS, now Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, Sh791 million was lost through dubious payments to contractors.
Two years later, Sh9 billion was reported to have gone missing in yet another spate of dubious payments to phantom companies which supplied air to NYS.
What followed was the dramatic arrests of those involved. Although the case is still ongoing, there is nothing much that is said about the heist which made the headlines for weeks across all national TV stations.
3. Jacob Juma’s murder
The killing of Jacob Juma was highly publicized. Before his untimely death, the 42-year-old businessman had always been vocal on political issues constantly bashing the Jubilee government, on corruption issues.
The self-made billionaire had an intuition of his death.
In his Facebook posts and Twitter updates, he claimed that top government officials were planning to execute him because he was deeply investigating the Eurobond scandal
In a Facebook update on the evening of January 26 2016, he said: “High voltage intelligence reports reaching me is (sic) that Jubilee leaders have hatched a plot to assassinate me over my stand on corruption. The leaders are so worried about Eurobond revelations and the confidential details that I have on the heist and corruption perpetuated by the Jubilee gov’t.”
Earlier, on the morning of December 17 2015, he had tweeted President Uhuru Kenyatta in what appeared to be fears over his life.
He said in the tweet "@Ukenyatta. Am not a coward. I have reached the pinnacle of my life and am not scared of death. I will not run away from Kenya, my country (sic).”
Juma was eventually killed on May 5, 2016, at around 9:30 pm while heading to his Karen home. His Mercedes Benz was allegedly found in a ditch along Ngong Road.
Inside the car was his lifeless body in a pool of fresh blood. Juma’s autopsy report indicated that he was shot five times in the neck and his right hand was severely bruised.
According to security experts, that was an indication that Juma had either struggled or was begging his attackers for mercy.
The impact of the news of Jacob Juma’s death was tremendous. The political nature of Jacob Juma’s death was undeniable and Kenyans were quick to associate his death with various individuals in both the government and opposition.
Since 2016, the only real evidence that has been found are two cartridges at the scene where the businessman’s body was found.
Investigations into his murder have stalled and detectives have quickly moved on to probe other cases.
The killers of Jacob Juma may never be caught and his case will just be another unsolved crime in the country.