Being Kenyan for the first three months of 2015 has been…interesting. The month of March in particular has worked extra hard to close out the quarter with a bang and leave the vast majority of us asking, “Wait, what?”.

The last few weeks of the month have provided us with more than enough to talk and think about starting with international tragedies led by the suicide-by-plane of a pilot who saw fit to take his passengers with him.

There has also been much to be proud of, such as the recently and peacefully completed Nigerian general elections that have so far seen the losing candidate graciously accept defeat in spite of being the incumbent: both of these being major signs of progress in a continent often divided and destroyed in the process of exercising democracy.

There has also been much to be proud of, such as the recently and peacefully completed Nigerian general elections that have so far seen the losing candidate graciously accept defeat in spite of being the incumbent: both of these being major signs of progress in a continent often divided and destroyed in the process of exercising democracy.

Along the same line, Kenya herself has seen some significant steps forward in the matter of upholding the rule of law.

The report tabled by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Committee last week has put the spotlight on a number of Kenyan leaders across various ministries and parts of the country.

The tangible facts showing graft have of course to lent credibility to the fingers pointed, as well as helped quiet down those in the list who have voiced objections to being “victimized” without being informed of the charges.

All eyes are on the EACC and the President to see how the case plays out as we open the book on April, as the decisions made could set a wonderful precedent for punishing corruption, or be more of the same old song and “quietly swept under the rug” dance.

Speaking of song and dance, once reviled and shamed “Pastor” Kanyari recently crawled back into the spotlight with a guest spot on one of the more popular local variety shows.

If ever there was a situation indicative of Kenya’s potential for collective amnesia, this was it. Forgetting what put Kanyari in a place of fame to begin with was a series of fraudulent and brazen con artist operations done in the name of religion, a sad number of us welcomed Kanyari with open arms, conveniently misplacing our memory of the scorn and righteous anger we held for him not so long ago.

Meanwhile, the key personality behind the show, Daniel “Churchill” Ndambuki himself has recently come under fire for comments made after it emerged that one of our “honorable” “leaders”, Gideon Mwiti – he of the pyramid scheme fame- had allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in a bizarre series of events that somehow included a doctor that was present forcibly testing the victim for HIV prior to the assault.

The people of Imenti Central, and indeed the whole country, questioned our choices in MPs even as Churchill firmly attached his foot to his mouth with a social media post implying it was the rape victim’s own fault for being in a questionable place at a questionable time with questionable company. Our disgust, as usual, knew no bounds while the comedian tried to backtrack his words in the PR spin of “trying to spark a conversation”.

For those braver than us, Monday meant an early morning to transport five donkeys into the city center and graffiti them to reflect a protest against rampant corruption and unchecked sexual assault trends perpetrated by the same elected and nominated officials who should be setting an example for the rest of the country- a scaled down version of the blood splattered pigs demonstration of years past when MPs attempted to hike up their salaries in yet another show of how little the opinion of the voters matters to them.

Photo credit: Marlborough Market

With all these maddening, disheartening and terrifying stories, we are only too glad to show the first quarter of 2015 our backs and enter into April with a new resolve to do better, be better and hold our honorable criminals accountable for the good of our country. Here’s to fresh starts, even a little later in the year. Wishing you all a wonderful month.