Chinua Achebe, in his book The Trouble with Nigeria, which presents a microcosm of Africa, notes that Africa’s biggest trouble is the failure of leadership.

African leaders have demonstrated times above number that they are tribal, inimical to patriotism, corrupt, indiscipline, and part of a cult of mediocrity. In fact, leaders with contrary values either find it hard to survive or they become the target of the people they are meant to serve or other leaders.

The picture Achebe painted of African leaders in 1983 seems to be unfolding in Kenya today, only that it is not so much about leaders as it is about us the citizens. You see, the Riggy G saga presents all our problems rolled into one. The cult of mediocrity, corruption, lack of patriotism, tribalism and political indiscipline. While the leaders seem to enjoy the opulence that comes with such vices, especially the cult of mediocrity, it is the citizens who perpetuate it.

The allegations levelled against the DP are not new. In fact, recent history speaks to our blindness if we did not see this coming. But the drive to hound him out of office is political and are a monument to the cult of mediocrity and expedient politics. Look, we may not have a full picture of what he is accused of, but the accusations seem grave given that a few of his supporters have come out saying people have been forgiven for graver atrocities.

It might even be a lot more grave given that the DP himself has come out to whip up emotions and overtly taken every small opportunity to threaten the President with dire consequences from the mountain if he is touched. Not shocking, because that is what the cult of mediocrity has done to our politics. However, the shocker is the public discourse around it and the role of both our elected representatives in Parliament and the citizenry.

Even if MPs, in their wisdom, impeach Riggy G and present solid reasons for doing so, they will eventually indict themselves as puppets of the established order. There seems to be very little sense, at least from the public-interest point of view, to impeach the DP for a debacle between him and the President on the floor of a House that exonerated some leaders of selling fake fertilisers to the public and turned a blind eye when the public was duped into some edible oil deal and some government-to-government oil deal.

But the problem is not Parliament, the problem is us Kenyans. Ironically, there are two likely scenarios with a 50/50 probability and whether Riggy G goes home or survives many of these legislators doing the establishment’s bidding will, without shame, oil their mouths for yet a different praise tune.

The President might just save Riggy G, inadvertently confirming that we elected individuals serving the establishment at the expense of the public. And it would be hilarious how the same representatives of the people claiming that the DP’s goose is cooked will be torpedoing themselves at funerals and other gatherings praising the President for acting in the interest of the country.

Picture this, in a matter of weeks we will see all the billions that are claimed to be at play here forgotten and the cult of mediocrity will carry the day as the theft of billions that can build level-three hospitals in all the 47 counties will be forfeited on the altar of political expediency.

The cult mediocrity, with the rallying call usiguze mlima, is busy parading the tribulations of an individual as the trouble of Mt Kenya. Interestingly, while the allegations speak to corruption and theft of public funds, the masses are coming out to defend their alleged thief. Not strange, because just recently as the campaigns for 2022 hit fever pitch, the very defenders of our DP were busy telling Kenyans that history is not important.

We evaluated some of these leaders based on lofty promises without any recourse to the truth then that should have given us the signs, let alone history. We had their history of plunder and embezzlement of funds, we saw them paraded in court with corruption allegations but still believed that they had stolen for us as a community.

It is a cult of mediocrity and a corrupt enterprise riding on the naivety of Kenyan voters. Today, the trouble with Kenya is not leadership, but a citizenry that celebrates and elects leaders in this club called the cult of mediocrity.

— The writer is a PhD student in Political Communication