Five colonial relics Uhuru should discard Asap
The people who introduced them to us may have long since abandoned them. But 52 years since Kenya attained internal self-rule, we are still stuck with inexplicably long list of colonial relics which by their very nature have become part of our tradition, many serving the country little expect gobbling public funds.
Today, we take a look at some of the colonial customs and symbols that serve little but which for some reason we have refused to let go.
1. Aide-de-camp
Have you ever asked yourself of what relevance the presidential aide de camp (ADC) is or what difference it would make if he’s withdrawn?
From the time of Marsden Madoka who was President Jomo Kenyatta’s ADC to Colonel Peter Njiru who currently stands behind President Uhuru Kenyatta, the military has continued to provide the ADC who is the personal assistant to the President in his constitutional position as the commander in-chief.
Did you see how great US president Barack Obama looked without an omnipresent lurking ‘shadow’ behind him?
“It is one of the things we inherited from the British but sincerely doesn’t make a difference because the ADC does not do any protection duties. The office is largely ceremonial and just symbolises the old royal authority,” retired military Major Bashir Haji Abdullahi said.
2. Military parade
Ahead of the public holidays like Madaraka Day, security personnel rehearse for at least a month for a four hour display on the day of the celebrations.
Meanwhile, the government and the public claims that there are not enough security personnel to man our borders.
According to Major Abdullahi, nothing will be amiss in the celebrations if the military parade was done away with.
3. Flying presidential speech
This is another outrageous relic that Kenyans continue to sink public funds on. In case you are not aware, the president’s speech is flown to every part of the country on national holidays.
The speech is read to the public by the county administration, previously the provincial administration.
A nagging question is why that should continue happening yet more Kenyans have access to radios and televisions to listen and watch the celebrations live from Nairobi.
Besides, with the growth in the information and technology sector, one wonders why the speech has to continue being physically flown across the country when a simple e-mail would do it a lot faster and incur less costs.
4. President’s open top vehicle
At every national day, the President rides in a special open top vehicle – previously the British-made all-terrain Land Rover though the military has recently replaced it with an armoured Toyota Land Cruiser – as he goes around the track waving at people.
The shiny and spotless military vehicle only comes out on national days and the level of security accorded it almost matches the State House itself.
5. Seeing off/receiving president at the airport
This is an outdated practice that was permeated during the autocratic Kanu regime where the head of state would been greeted by pot-bellied top military and police bosses.
This was meant to show would-be-coup-organizers who was in charge and warn them against such thoughts. It is both a waste of time and public resources.