An undated video of Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris' meltdown at the National Assembly surfaced on Monday, October 7.
While giving her contribution to the motion to establish the International Anti-corruption Academy, the lawmaker decried being constantly asked for money by her constituents as well as church leaders.
She further claimed that even the politicians who would generally shun corruption are forced to indulge in the vice because every time they return to their home turfs, they constantly get bombarded with the needs of their constituents that in most cases involve money.
So bad was her situation that she admitted that every time church leaders asked her for money, she always directed them to God.
"If you do not address the concerns of our citizens, the burial, the food and the poverty, then you are forcing me as a leader, when I go to my constituency, to be innovative to be able to help them because they are hungry etc.
"You cannot get food from devolution, your people are hungry and your resources are limited, so what do you do? you find a way to be corrupt. It is very easy to be corrupt not because you want to but because you are dealing with very challenging issues," Passaris lamented.
"If a church leader calls me and tells me that he wants money for church choir or uniforms... I tell them to pray to God because he is the church leader. Why are they asking me, they are the ones who have God?," she wondered.
She also recounted a time she announced on social media that she was broke and the Kenyans online had a field day trolling her.
"I think we need to have self-talk, let us stop blaming each other, let us try and empower our citizens. We should start by family planning because we do not have enough resources," she added.
She further attributed the growing graft to a poor curriculum arguing that school-going children were not being taught integrity which was an embarrassment.
