BONYO'S BONE: Who cares for Kenyans?

Globally, governments are entrusted with a sacred duty to protect the lives and interests of their citizens. In democracies like ours, that duty is not just moral—it is constitutional.

Every five years, Kenyans head to the polls. We queue in the rain and in the heat, in long, snaking lines full of hope. We choose leaders we believe will serve and protect us. Leaders who we believe will deliver on the promises they made to us.

But once elected, that duty is to every Kenyan, not just those who cast the vote.

Today, we are losing too many lives. Not to war. Not to disease. But to failure. Failure to act, failure to plan, and failure to care. These failures are preventable and unacceptable.

The rains are here and once again, tragedy flows with the storm. In Nairobi, families are grieving, children are uncertain if they will report back to school next week, and houses are drowning.

And what is the response? Press briefings, television appearances, excuses and empty assurances. The sum total is a theatre of leadership and a circus of inaction.

A downpour should not mean death, and in equal measure, floods should not mean fear. The fatalities, the injuries, and displaced families are an indictment of the current county leadership. Not acts of nature, but of negligence.

It’s not just floods. Police brutality has returned to near full force—journalists are not spared either. We’ve heard the pressers. We’ve read the IPOA promises. But where is the justice? Where is the speed? Justice delayed is justice denied.

To the long list of tribulations adds the recent Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (KUSCCO)—the umbrella body for SACCOS—where over Ksh.13 billion were lost.

At the State Department of Co-operatives, under whose watch the billions were stolen, officials remain in office, promising action on others—but not themselves, with no shame.

Power is not a shield—it is a responsibility. Public office is not a reward—it is a duty. Leadership, at whatever level, must embrace humanity.

This country cannot keep bleeding while those meant to heal it look away. Elected leaders and appointed state officials, you were given power to protect life, not to preside over its loss.

Duty bearers must venerate the life and livelihoods of every Kenyan.