Who will save Kenyans from themselves?

I was surprised yesterday to watch on television news the Member of Parliament for Embakasi, Ferdinand Waititu, arguing against the City Council of Nairobi marking houses that need to be pulled down in the area for non-compliance with building regulations. This is rather sad because it is only a few days ago that Kenyans lost their lives after poorly constructed buildings collapsed in Embakasi and in Langata. How callous of the MP to stand with the monied developers who are putting up the houses against innocent tenants who will dwell in the houses? Is it because the poor tenants and potential tenants cannot meet his price unlike the developers, or is it just sheer recklessness and opportunism? As much as the MP has the responsibility of supporting those who have invested in the houses for rent, he must remember that this is an issue of life and death; a life once lost cannot be recovered while a building can be rebuild again. We cannot compromise a human being’s precious life with the greed of a few people who are in a hurry to make quick money by putting up shoddy buildings! The MP has just come out to show where his heart lies and I would not be surprised to find that he is one of the developers, or is working in cahoots with them, and therefore, his actions are being done in self interest and not for the larger interest of the electorate of Embakasi constituency. If a Member of Parliament, elected to represent the electorate in a constituency cannot stand for the many down-trodden and throws his lot with the monied and propertied, who will stand up for the common man who does not have a voice in the running of the affairs of the city? Looking at many of our MPs today, some who even claim to have gone to school, you wonder whether going to school has changed them in any way for the better. Learning is supposed to increase our knowledge and make us wiser in judgement. But our MPs behaviours sometimes seem to go against any conventional wisdom. But besides this, I was also annoyed to be a Kenyan when I saw in the same news clip members of the public speaking in support of the MP. The city council authorities could have their own shortcomings in as far as servicing the residents of the city is concerned, but it is not right for the MP and members of the public to stand on their way when they want to discharge their responsibility. It is these very same residents of the city who will be the first to accuse the city authorities of doing noting to protect them when a building collapses, yet they are quick to join the member of parliament, who I suppose had his own agenda in the whole saga, in stopping city council officials from doing what the law has allowed them to do. Looking at all these recent happenings, I can only ask, who will save Kenyans from themselves?