Kenyans at past national day celebrations. [Photo|aljazeera.com]
Kenya is a nation of fools, a legal scholar has claimed.
According to Prof Makau Mutua, this is one lesson he learnt about Kenya in 2017, the year Kenyans went to the ballot to elect their leaders in various political offices.
In an opinion piece published by the Standard, Mutua accuse Kenyans of blindly rallying behind their political leaders, without interrogating what principles they stand for.
"The political class fooled Kenyans not once, but serially and repeatedly. And every time, Kenyans took the bait and swallowed the damn thing whole. This is a painful conclusion for me to reach because I am a ‘Kenyaphile’," he writes.
The US-based scholar describes the last year's elections as a "contest of tribes", accusing politicians of engineering and manufacturing the hate witnessed during the period.
"The political class treats Kenyans like herds of cattle. And like herds of cattle, Kenyans are willingly driven to drink from the river of hate. Look at social media – the stupidity and foolishness there defy description," he notes.
Mutua further claims that Kenyans love their political leaders more than they love themselves.
He says that the habit of Kenyans to viciously defend the political class whenever they are accused of corruption or any other wrongdoing is a 'mental slavery', which they must strive to free themselves.
"Most are dirt poor. But they will defend to the death their 'leaders.' This false consciousness – the pedagogy of the oppressed – is our bane. Kenyans are politically deformed and ideologically stunted," Mutua adds.
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