Rationalize expenditure on democratic practice

It is extremely unlikely that Kenyans are happy about our current constitution simply because it promises greater democratic opportunities. I think majority expect that the constitution will make possible to have good politics and good life for the people of Kenya.

As we pass laws to implement the constitution, let us ensure rationalization of expenses associated with the practice of democracy to avoid, for example, a situation where the country appears democratically advanced yet the citizens live poor quality lives due to lack of finance for basic services. Good life should take priority at all times. From Busia to Faza Island, from Mandera to Migori, the state should accept responsibility for influencing the distribution of material goods to ensure that people get a certain minimum below which no person is allowed to sink while encouraging all to raise their status above the minimum by their own effort (Leslie Lipson).

As part of rationalization of the cost of democracy, I am happy that members of parliament are proposing that recall of MP’s as per constitution be made very difficult. If we make it very easy, managing by elections in Kenya will be a major problem.

In addition, in any election petition, if a re-count of votes is made and it is found a politician “A” got more votes than “B” who was declared a winner, why not just declare “A” the winner and have him sworn as MP rather than go through a by-election? A by election corrupts the whole issue as the dispute has to do with the most popular in the circumstance the elections took place and not in the current circumstance.

Also any project started by an MP using Constituency Development Funds should be completed. Due to puerile hatred of previous MP’s new MP’s abandon projects that would have otherwise been useful to the residents of the constituency. The state would continue to have a lot of funds held by white elephants due to bad politics.

Let us be guided in our constitutional implementation by a sound moral principle and never make it appear that democracy is an end in itself. More national income should be directed to human welfare. 

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By

J. M. Mugeni

josephat.mugeni@yahoo.com

People and Nature: earthquakes

A number of cities e.g. Christ Church, San francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver etc are located near plate boundaries. I find it dangerous to establish a city near plate boundaries and this is why:

Japan quake 2011 (Science Cheer Leader)

• If tectonic movements trigger a strong earthquake, the cities near plate boundaries will be hard hit- loss of life and destruction of property.
• A tsunami might be triggered and if so, it will sweep anything on its way and once it makes a landfall, it will destroy life and property. 

Haiti Quake (BBC)

The world has seen a number of earthquakes in the recent past the most recent being the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that hit the Canadian city of Vancouver (9/9/2011), the worst being the magnitude 9.0 quake that hit Northern Japan triggering a 10metre high tsunami (March 2011).

After reflecting on these accounts, it would therefore be logical not to establish cities or any human settlements near earthquake zones, especially plate boundaries, unless buildings that could withstand earthquakes and tsunamis are put in place.  

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Revolution

Even a casual reading of world history in 19th and 20th century you will not fail to note the impact of revolution as a tool of political change. Whether it succeeds or not, revolutions leave behind many mass graves and immense destruction of infrastructure and life as people have got used to. 

Since there are many other ways of bringing about political change, knowledge and wisdom demand that a revolution should only be an ultimate tool for political change. It's very clear from history that sometimes the good that is intended to be achieved after a revolution may not at all be achieved. In fact sometimes the consequences have been worse against expectation. Just like allowing immature people to handle nuclear weapons, those who very casually use revolution to bring about change are themselves a problem to human well being on earth.

Recent events in the world indicate that this tool is not understood. World leaders should make effort to prevent use of revolutions just like they prevent use of nuclear weapons.  

Computer Aided Catastrophe

We people are now experiencing a technological revolution, where computers are being used in almost every aspect of life. Some people think that it would be good if computers are used without any human touch in areas such as defense, among others. This will of course be more efficient but we should consider this; some people will always find a way to destroy what is good. An example ,in this case, is  some programmers making computer viruses in order to disrupt the daily activities of fellow human beings. With this Kind of people, we are warned not to entirely rely on computers to anticipate failure. There should be a human touch in every aspect of life where computers are in use.