Rise and Rise of Kenya's Grabatullahs!

From mostly humble origins in, say, Garbatulla, Kenya's political leadership seems increasingly like a bunch of, you got it, Grabatullahs!

They (and if not they, their relatives or surrogates) grab anything in sight: Public land, forest reserves, the nation's strategic grain reserves, public tenders, food for the poor, CDF funds, bursary funds, donor funds, donations to IDPs, ECK returning officers, political power (through rigged party nominations or national and civic elections, and through gerrymandered constituency and administrative boundaries), civil society organizations and leaderships, community organizations, public appointments (through nepotism and other forms of particularism), funeral gatherings, and anything else you remember (that I have inadvertently omitted). And they protect each other by: lying, cheating and more grabbing.

Matters have become decidedly worse in the last 12 months or so. Meritocracy is a fairy-tale.

This is the reign of the Grabatullahs.