The ending week was one
that had political events that were intriguing and interesting. I think Kenya and
especially the Kenyan politicians will always hit the headlines for reasons
that are apparently negative. They will always carve out the negativity out of
the positive situations and events of nation-building. Hitting the nail on the
head, there are specific happenings that I will write about.
First, what was the
exact reason why some of the residents of Kibra (Kibera) decided to burn some
of the public facilities the national government is putting up in this part of Nairobi?
Definitely, somebody is likely to answer by uttering the usual political
shenanigans. I found this incident to be queer and bizarre. Look, here is the
central government trying to better the lives of the Kibera residents who have
always cried foul of why they are never helped by the government and due to
some skewed thinking, physical destruction was hence in the offing. I wish to
dissect the precursory events to the Kibra happenstance.
So, our dear former
Premier the Right Honorable Raila Odinga claimed that the Cabinet Secretary in
charge of Devolution and Planning, Anne Waiguru was responsible for the scam at
the National Youth Service where it has been alleged that over Kshs.800 million
was embezzled. This resulted in protests in the capital city by some of the
youths who have benefited through employment from the on-going NYS projects. These
young Kenyans took to the streets to discredit the opposition chief for not
changing the lives of the Kibrans for the entire period of time he was the
Member of Parliament for Lang’ata. In due cause of the peaceful demonstrations,
there were allegations that Raila Odinga was being abused by youths hired from
Kiambu County.
The abuses apparently
angered the supporters of the Orange party leader who saw it fit to destroy
some of the NYS projects initiated by the national government. This is a state
of myopia and backwardness. Do these people really know that at the end of the
day, Raila will not troop to their
houses to wine and dine with them? Do they have the imagination that Raila
lives a royal-like life and uses luxurious facilities? The bile that exists
between Raila’s supporters and those of President Uhuru is so intense. It is illogical
and politically incorrect to set ablaze social facilities set up by the
government with the misplaced view that it belongs to the other side of the
political divide. The misconstrued notion is that the NYS projects in Kibra
belong to President Kenyatta, his entire government and supporters. This is
political immaturity at its highest point.
In any case, the
president is a symbol of national unity and we should thus embrace whoever wins
this seat irrespective of our political inclinations and ideologies. Therefore,
it is the right of each citizen to have better living standards and in the same
spirit, it is the responsibility of each government to ensure that this is
effected. I choose to sympathize with the Kenyans who took part in the chaos
that ensued in Kibera due to their ignorance which is sometimes an incurable
disease. It is the nature of such events that we are truly pictured as
politically immature as we always tend to drag political affairs in matters
that deal with development or rather we smear the development issues with
destructive politics.
The bailing out of
Mumias Sugar Company elicited politically charged emotions with political
temperatures also rising. A delegation of 15 MPs from western Kenya lead by the
ODM Secretary General, Ababu Namwamba paid a visit to President Uhuru in State
House in a bid to rescue the sugar miller and their efforts were rewarded by
the issuance of a cheque worth Kshs.1 billion. Personally, I never saw anything
wrong with it provided that the local farmers are enduring harsh and unbearable
economic moments.
However, others chose
to see it as a political gesture by Ababu Namwamba to lean towards the
government side for political gains and survival. It might be true or false but
in my own opinion, it is a bit of tomfoolery for some of the opposition members
to berate their colleagues who were at State House. They were scolded because
western Kenya is considered as a backyard of Raila Odinga. But again who said
that any part or region of Kenya belongs to somebody? In other words, since
Raila didn’t capture the presidency then this means that western Kenya should
remain largely undeveloped. This is what some of the opposition members are
communicating. This is again political immaturity at its highest.
We should change tact
in our political way of thinking by engaging in politics that enhance
development instead of crippling development through the promotion of
destructive and negative politics. Being in the opposition doesn’t mean that
its members should be resigned to such positions and state where they cannot
engage with the government for the sake of the welfare of Kenyans. Before I forget,
what is the point of a political leader stripping naked just because of
allegations that Raila was abused by the Deputy President William Ruto? And is
it foolhardy for one to refer to Raila as Raila
baba, Raila mwana, Raila roho mtakatifu ( Raila the father, Raila the son
and Raila the holy spirit) ? To me, these are not only jokes taken too far but
also insanity that stems from political sycophancy.
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