Praise singers doing Ruto more harm than good

Governor James Orengo of Siaya is right to criticise those he calls unthinking praise-singers of President William Ruto’s government.

Our politics would be far better if more leaders had a sense of self-respect and were not so prone to herd mentality.

In recent months, we've seen numerous politicians display what former President Mwai Kibaki once described as becoming "suddenly very clever", but only after the fact.

For instance, the former deputy president now poses as a champion of transparency and accountability. Meanwhile, the ex-chair of the National Assembly’s budget committee is suddenly alarmed by our dire public finance practices.

This is nothing more than the Suddenly Very Clever Syndrome.

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The obverse is also true. The same people who not long ago had all manner of choice words to say about the senior leadership of the Kenya Kwanza administration are now reflexive praise-singers.

To them, the President and his administration can do no wrong.

For them, the economy is booming, and every Kenyan is doing well. Those who point out facts to the contrary are labelled as tribalists, or worse.

Indeed, there have been press conferences to discredit anyone opposing Kenya Kwanza’s policies. The newfound obsequiousness is cringe.

Like clockwork, soon enough, this new class of praise-singers will find reason to become suddenly very clever.

They will suddenly remember that we cannot pretend to be implementing fiscal consolidation while allowing obscene theft of public resources by senior government officials.

They will remember that police brutality is bad and offends the Constitution. They will remember that no one is above the law, not even the President. And they will remember that power is transitory.

The point here is not to demand saintly perfection from politicians. All politicians let a fib slip now and then.

However, good people who happen to be politicians always maintain a North Star, despite their failings.

And politicians who do not have a North Star are not worthy of the opportunity to hold office. Kenyans should be careful and listen keenly to their politicians, discern the truth from propaganda.

The writer is a professor at Georgetown University