Just because you ignore politics doesn't mean politics will ignore you

So, this is my first blog post this year and I must say I’m proud of myself for always starting the year on a high writing note with high spirits but somehow abandon my blog for months afterwards.

I want y’all to know that I’m grateful that you, my lovely, lovely readers still come back here and read my thoughts, some important, others not, lol. Our relationship is quite toxic but too strong to be broken. Or so I like to think. Henewe, I hope you are good.

This article is about those who do not want to get involved in politics because they think politics do not or does not - whatever works - affect them.

You "don't engage in politics" because "it doesn't affect me" because your life is alright, no matter who is in power.

But oh, you complained when your people in the village didn't receive COVID-19 masks whose money was released by the government but embezzled along the way and no action has been taken yet.

You'd like to drive a 2018 model car but you can't import it because URA will ask 130% of its value in taxes now you're driving a 2008 car that pollutes the environment, is triggering your kids' asthma but you can't get them better, affordable healthcare because the government only puts 8% of the national budget in the health sector.

You do not engage in politics because there is no way politics is at play with budget allocation.

Ok, maybe you are a 25-year-old with no kids so that does not affect you. You have a good job, and you stay in an affluent neighbourhood. But you got CCTVs everywhere and a 10ft wall fence to protect you from thieves who wouldn’t be thieves if the government cared to create jobs for them. 

You are robbed, you go to the police to report the crime, and the police ask you for kitu kidogo (bribe) before working on your case.  

You do not engage in politics because well, there is no politics in police and you have never heard of corruption.

You have a smartphone and you pay the highest rates on data in the region and almost all over the continent because the regulator cares more about regulating your time and what you say online than regulating the exorbitant fees by telecoms.

You do not engage in politics because politicians do not appoint regulators.

The road you are driving on has that big a pothole that your brain has mastered so well you can navigate around it even if your eyes are closed because it has been there for ages. The contractor that "won" the bid to work on that road was seconded by a big person in government no one can question the company's shoddy works, which by the way "won" the bid through unfair competition. 

In a few months, you will complain about how fast your tyres are being worn out. You do not engage in politics because there were no politics at play there.

An “investor” comes to invest in your country but instead secures a loan from the government. Talk about a money-lender turning around to borrow money from you. Anyway, the same government that is hoodwinked into giving “investors” money to invest in this country will come and tell you there is no money to give teachers a 20% salary increment, interns keep complaining, and doctors go months without pay.

You get a health emergency but you cannot get an ambulance because the driver has gone to attend to his side gig to complement his cartoon salary. And if you're lucky to get an ambulance to the hospital, you'll get to the hospital and find no drugs for your condition there.

At this point, you will not engage in politics because you will be dead after your emergency was not attended to in time or you were attended to by a hungry, poorly paid, and tired doctor.

Friends, politics, directly and indirectly, affects us all. It might not be in equal measure, but at some point, something happens and it gets to you. The earlier we realise this, the better. We ought to get involved and choose leaders who will be accountable and will serve the people, rather than their selfish interests.

Happy new year, everyone.