Social structures part III

You often hear people calling on the government for help for things they can easily solve for themselves. This is partly because they don’t know what they or the government is responsible for i.e. their rights and duties as citizens. 

One of the problems caused by this ignorance is a perpetual disconnect between the government and the people, in the sense that voters elect new people because they believe that the problem lies with individuals. The politicians can’t/won't change the narrative fueling cynicism amongst the electorate that only keeps the incumbent ethnic leaders in power. This isn’t to excuse the poor governance issues in Kenya but there should be an honest discussion between the people and the government on the role played by each. 

A concept lost in the Kenyan society in terms of public service is that if they don’t act for themselves then no one will act for them. This kind of civil responsibility could be found in schools and other organizations and if open to all it would permeate all spheres of society including political leadership. 

Civic engagements like parents associations and the trust it makes possible allows for people to know their rights and consequently their duty. Furthermore, involving citizens empowers them and mitigates a perception of being victims and helpless.  

  

 In a modern society people should have several connections ranging from personal to political. Multiple connections expose people to divergent views. Often in Kenya outside of family and church there are no other mediating institutions. This means many Kenyans don’t encounter habits, rules and procedures of formal institutions. This has an effect on our democracy and economy.

In dealing with the government, most people only interact with civil service on matters of acquiring ID; this gives formal institutions an aura of enigma, further fueling opportunities for insiders to be corrupt or a need for brokers. Furthermore, it creates room for propaganda, conspiracies, and various untruths because of lack of knowledge. Again this creates a cycle whereby the leaders can distort facts leading the public to further shun formal institutions out of fear and therefore cannot hold the institutions or politicians accountable.