Safina Party deputy leader Willis Otieno has launched a blistering scorched-earth attack on Kenya’s political class, accusing them of engaging in "legislative tourism" while the economy burns. In a fiery address, Otieno dismissed the ongoing Naivasha retreat as a lavish insult to the suffering taxpayer.

Speaking from Nairobi as MPs convened at the Lake Naivasha Resort for their annual legislative bonding session, Otieno did not mince words. He characterized the retreat not as a strategy meeting, but as a crime scene where public funds were being hemorrhaged under the guise of planning. His critique comes at a time when the government is preaching austerity, yet spending millions to house over 300 lawmakers in five-star luxury.

"Governing or Plundering?"

"They are in Naivasha eating sausages and mandazi while Kenyans are sleeping hungry," Otieno charged, his voice dripping with contempt. "We have a political class that has cumulatively been in power for over 200 years if you sum up their tenures. And what do we have to show for it? Two hundred years of opportunity wasted. Two hundred years of failure."

Otieno’s mathematical indictment—summing up the decades MPs, Senators, and Cabinet Secretaries have held office—paints a picture of a recycled elite that has perfected the art of survival but failed the test of service. He challenged the electorate to stop celebrating "experience" when that experience is merely a track record of looting.

"When they tell you they have experience, ask them: experience in what? Governing or plundering? Leading or looting? Building the nation or bleeding it dry?" he posed.

• The Cost of "Bonding": The retreat, themed "Marshalling House Business," is estimated to cost taxpayers upwards of KES 50 million in allowances, accommodation, and logistics. This expenditure flies in the face of Treasury’s warning that the government is broke.
• The Irony of Austerity: Just days ago, Parliament was debating budget cuts for critical services like health and education. Yet, for their own comfort, the purse strings seem remarkably loose.

A disconnect of "Marie Antoinette" Proportions

The disconnect between the leaders and the led has never been starker. While MPs discussed "synergy" in air-conditioned conference rooms, their constituents in Nyanza and the Rift Valley are grappling with the rising cost of unga and fuel. Otieno likened the MPs’ behavior to the infamous French aristocracy before the revolution—oblivious, entitled, and dangerously out of touch.

"They don’t lack time; they’ve had time. They don’t lack resources; they steal resources. What they lack is a conscience," Otieno concluded. As the MPs wind up their retreat this week, the challenge from the Safina deputy is clear: bring back solutions, or don’t come back at all. But for a weary public, the expectation is that they will return only with fuller bellies and empty promises.