Kenya’s newly appointed Interior Cabinet Secretary, Joseph Nkaissery, recently issued an order to the police to impound unauthorised vehicles with sirens and strobe lights while exempting ambulances, police, fire engines, the President and Deputy President as per the Traffic Act [Cap 403]. The order came amidst growing complaints about certain public officials moving around with sirens as a means of seeking the right of way and which are equally causes of undue disturbance. Funeral homes have also been singled out as among those guilty of misusing sirens. The Cabinet Secretary equally took issue with public utility vehicles, notably matatus, against installing horns that mimic the sounds that sirens make. This is a bold move to stem the misuse of a vital instrument that usually symbolizes emergencies and caution.

With respect to checking on government officials, except the President and Deputy President, the order by the Interior Cabinet Secretary delineates the status of the two Executive members from the citizenry, an entitlement reflective of their political position. This check on the misuse of sirens and blaring horns is indeed a check on ‘the mindset of entitlement.’ In the Philippines, this check has extended as well to equally symbolize a check on ‘corruption’ by individuals in both the private and public sectors, something akin to Mazingira Institute’s 1996 campaign against land grabbing, corruption and kleptocracy in Kenya dubbed ‘Operation Firimbi.’

In 2010, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III [or PNoy as popularly referred] invoked a popular handle at his inaugural speech as President vowing to eradicate "utak wang-wang," using the image of blaring sirens, to symbolize all things corrupt and crooked in Philippine politics. In this regard, PNoy invoked Presidential Decree No. 96 of January 13, 1973 that was pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081 of September 21, 1972 signed by then President Ferdinand Marcos. Under this Decree, bells, sirens, horns, whistles, blinkers, dome lights and similar apparatuses should only be used by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Land Transport Office (LTO), the fire brigades, ambulances, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). 

The Decree allows the President, Vice President, Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to don sirens.  All the other government officials from the cabinet and further down are officially banned from using the device. The same goes for their escorts and bodyguards. It is interesting how PNoy symbolically translated this traffic law to his anti-wang-wang policy not just against influential government officials and powerful citizens who use blaring sirens to get ahead on the road, but equally against abusive people in the public and private sectors who have the "mindset of entitlement," a typical narcissist behaviour.

According to clinical psychologist Leon Seltzer, two of the things narcissists most desire are money (i.e., lots of money) and power (the more the better) and where these two assets can be tightly interwoven. The writer notes that lust for power, prestige, status, and authority [objects of admiration] not only gratify a narcissist’s need for self-aggrandizement by feeding their oversized ego but also provide them with compelling evidence to confirm their sense of superiority to others, probably the later being their most coveted need of all. It is no wonder that one of the primary characteristics of narcissists is their exaggerated sense of entitlement and where per Seltzer, it is hardly surprising then that so many politicians (or narcissist-politicians) somehow think they "deserve" to game the system.

In his critical essay entitled ‘Narcissism: Why It's So Rampant in Politics,’ Seltzer points out that from a politician’s self-interested perspective coupled with a grandiose sense of self, they are inclined to believe they can get away with most anything. Seltzer thus opines that politicians, especially the narcissist type, tend to exploit their privileged position in such a manner that hardly leaves them plagued with guilt. How could they be if they feel entitled to the objects of their desire poses the author? Seltzer postulates that in such a politician’s mind, their very ability to attain something must certainly mean it was merited and where it is only when they are caught ‘with their hands deep in the till and their various efforts at denial have failed them, that they're ready to admit responsibility, and posture remorse’. But even then, whatever alligator tears they might shed are calculated to lessen the penalties for their misbehaviour—or the time that otherwise they might be required to spend in lockup.

Adding to his analysis of the narcissist-politician, Seltzer notes that with their grandiose sense of self fully ignited, they can easily convince themselves that they deserve everything they receive. Thus, a narcissist-politicians' immense appetite for flattery, praise, and adulation is abundantly gratified. Quite independent of professional achievement, they expect to be treated as superior, and hence setting in the ‘mindset of entitlement.’ Their fragile psyche, writes Seltzer, demands being admired and looked up to, and unquestionably holding high office almost guarantees that this ego requirement will be amply met. In fact, much of their pompous demeanour and arrogant behaviour is inextricably tied to this inflated sense of self stemming from one’s perceived political "tenure."

Closely linked to their amoral or illegal actions is the dominance their office bestows on them. It's this power, or the "corruptibleness" inherent in this power that can create in them a reckless sense of invisibility, thus observes Seltzer. How else can one explain the foolhardy risks some of them take? No wonder posits Seltzer that news headlines about their dalliances, debaucheries, and assorted depravities have become commonplace. But most tragically, as they "successfully" rise to prominence and power, the whole diseased condition of their lives infects the populace as well. For in devoting their lives almost exclusively to selfish, ill-conceived goals, the needs of the larger community surrounding them either get ignored or abandoned. Inevitably, the wananchi [common folk] all suffer from the fraud that so thoroughly envelops them.

Authors Paola Hernandez and Aaron Valdez in their article entitled ‘Noynoy Silences Wang-wangs, Still Causes Racket’ observe that the anti Wang Wang Policy is seen as an effort to ban the wang-wang intends to equalize citizenship notably; ‘no VIPs, no special treatments, no under-the-table negotiations. Let the borders between the elite and the marginalized be broken down. Everyone pays taxes, everyone has a right to the road. No one is above the rest.’

Through this anti-wang-wang commitment, PNoy cuts down the abuse of authority.  He aspires to restore the dignity of its officials and the trust in government’s power. Therefore taking cue from Seltzer psycho-analysis of the narcissist politician and the views of Paola Hernandez and Aaron Valdez, President Uhuru Kenyatta can strongly backup his Interior Cabinet Secretary’s order and symbolically adopt PNoy’s anti wang-wang policy in the context of Kenya to show commitment towards placing a check on the narcissist society Kenya has become given the ‘mindset of entitlement’ exhibited by government officials and powerful citizens who have [mis] used sirens and blaring horns to seek their right of way as a show of their power status and narcissist selves.

By Satwinder Rehal

Professor, Helena Z. Benitez School of International Relations and Diplomacy, The Philippine Women’s University, Manila, The Philippines.