Thursday, July 7, 2011

TAXATION: HON. EUGENE WAMALWA MUST REDEEM HIMSELF FROM THIS SORDID MESS.

H.L Mencken once opined that "a good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar." It is on the basis of this assertion that I choose to address Honorable Eugene Wamalwa. I choose him among his ilk for the reason that he epitomizes all that is youthful. He has even anchored his campaign for the highest political office in this land on the plank of transformative leadership. However he has chosen to spend thousands of man hours digging through the new constitution in search of any "faithless and slippery" word that he can hang on not to pay taxes. To date his search has come to naught. Unaccustomed to taking defeat graciously Eugene Wamalwa has held numerous press briefings to viciously curse the new constitution for obliterating his tactical advantage over the national interest. Grapevine has it that he fervently wishes to grab hold of and nail to the mast clause 3 of article 210. In his estimation it contains "crude" words that have literally snatched from him and his ilk the “honorable entitlement” to huge untaxed allowances. In what can only be described as a "monstrous intimacy" Eugene Wamalwa and other idolaters of totalitarianism are planning to display the grandeur of their political power by misdirecting their flak at the Prime Minister. They are now planning to censure the PM of reminding them the obvious: that the pre-referendum pact that saw them overwhelmingly vote for the new constitution was merely a "gentleman`s agreement" which has no place in the new constitution. Of major concern to the electorate is that even as honorable Eugene Wamalwa alongside a horde of other watermelons went around the country to campaign for the new constitution last year it is now emerging that he had not thoroughly read the provisions of the new constitution. Yet he claims to be among the crème de la crème in the society! This is why he has the gall to say that he was misled by the PM. However, the issue of being misled is neither here nor there. What is important is that the new constitution is now in place and Eugene has no choice but to demonstrate his unquestionable faith in the country`s constitution. But that is not what is happening. Instead each passing day we have seen Eugene Wamalwa dine and wine with the saboteurs of the new constitution. My question to him is this: How can he seek to lead a nation whose constitution he does not value nor understand? Isn`t he, in the words of Adlai Stevenson, "the kind of a politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation." I wish to remind him that before he makes a sordid mess of himself he must appreciate the fact that although moving a vote of no confidence against a leader of the PMs stature is the standard practice in many democracies around the world, responsible legislators use this arsenal only with a view to checking on executive misconduct, or its effect, especially if the official`s unbecoming behavior subverts the structure of government or undermines the integrity of the office or the Constitution itself. Certainly being reminded of the constitutional requirement to pay taxes does not in any way go against the letter and spirit of the new constitution which the PM swore to uphold. In this regard the attempt at censoring the PM is not only ill advised but is also indicative of the new heights of absurdities that he is engrossed in. He comes out as a politician who will readily invoke this power on account of not liking the PMs nose! Eugene Wamalwa must understand that the PM is simply supervising the implementation of the new constitution as per its letter and spirit. I thought that it would have been the failure on the PMs part not to jealously guard the new constitution against desecration that would have engendered a vote of no confidence against him and not the other way round. Moving a vote of no confidence against the PM based on pure lies will most certainly prove counter-productive. My unsolicited advice to honorable Eugene Wamalwa is that he must earnestly guard himself against fading to irrelevance. He must begin to redeem his image by paying his taxes now or choose to be a burglar. Whatever option he chooses I can assure him of one thing-the debt clock continues to tick each passing day.

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KYVA