Ghost Political parties and Leaders

One may be forgiven to imagine that our country, Kenya, is one of the most democratic states due to proliferation of political parties, particularly as the general election approaches. However, the truth is that this is a deceptive façade that seems to have been crafted over the years by political players who have taken advantage of the lack of regulation for political parties which makes them masquerade as bona fide elected leaders when the opposite is true. Hypothetically, you may find an MP who has been elected to parliament with 50,000 votes in a constituency of 120,000 registered voters but strangely, his sponsoring political party with only 10,000 registered members! If this is not outright case of misrepresentation, then I wonder what is. Under normal circumstances, the said MP should not have got more than 10,000 votes and the balance of 40,000 should be treated as ghost votes and results declared null and void. The matter gets even more complicated when he gets a position in the House Business Committee through sponsorship by his party and thereby participating fully to lay down rules that govern the conduct of parliament during that session. I guess, as citizens, we should demand, as a minimum, that we have political parties with structures to enable them elect party leaders before we accept to participate in general elections where they are candidates.

CDF is not Brick and Mortar

CDF which is funded from taxpayers money should never have been allowed to take root if it's about physical structures and a conduit for politicians to deepen corruption at community levels. Instead, CDF should have come in to help stir community entrepreneurship spirit and social awareness so as to spur genuine sustainable social and economic development. However, what has been witnessed in constituencies in the last seven years should now be an eye opener to provoke us to rethink the whole CDF concept and come up with a workable and sustainable new framework to lift our communities from poverty. The MPs as patrons of CDF have used their positions to influence the selection of members who in turn decide what projects to fund. the thrust of projects supported has been in building and construction where tenders for supplies and construction have been awarded to political cronies and associates thereby compromising accountability of public funds. It would be necessary to de-link the MPs from CDF in the first instance so as to reduce the level of political interference as a starting point for reforms. Due to the fact that food, health, sanitation and education are priorities in that order in most communities, funding should follow likewise. Something like 50% for food, 20% health and sanitation, 20% education and 10% others is a good starting point.

Religious Cults and Neo-colonialism

Have you noticed the proliferation of churches in our country in the last couple of years such that every village has now two or three new churches? Let nobody be deluded, even for a moment, to imagine that God has favoured us better than any other country or race because the truth of the matter is, whereas the colonialist came with the Bible and the gun four centuries ago and managed to take our land and steal our dignity, we need to be very afraid this time round because he is now even smarter than ever before, for he is armed with new weapons of mind control to make us zombies. Equipped with limitless resources which he has accumulated over the years through the plunder of our continent, the former colonialist can afford to invest in religious cults, NGOs, education, health, information technology, etc. which will all appear on the outside very innocent but potentially lethal weapons that can be used elaborately as vehicles to divide us and continue with his subjugation. The violence and anarchy in Somalia, Sudan and Nigeria are just a tip of the ice-berg because unless we are brave enough to call his bluff, we shall soon be boxed in a corner and it will be difficult to extricate ourselves because we shall instead be demanding theocracy! The only way out is to demand secular states independent of any religious influence, cults or otherwise.

Party for the Future

Now that all political parties including Independence party KANU and second liberation FORD have failed to deliver an acceptable government to spur development in our country, I think we should go back to the drawing board and come up with a party that looks into the future. The party should not be in a hurry to take political power but rather it should first ensure that structures are put in place to develop a comprehensive democratic system from the grass roots to national level that is cross-cutting enough to attract the Youth, women and people from all walks of life. It must be people oriented so as to guarantee good family structures, education, health and employment opportunities for all together with equability in political representation and resource allocation across ethnic, racial, religious and gender groups. We need a dynamic and robust party that is ready to cater not only for the present needs of the citizens but also be well focused to anticipate and capture the aspirations of a modern state in a highly competitive world environment.

The Reluctant Land Tillers

The Tiania, unlike other sub-tribes of the Meru who all well known land tillers, are die-hard cattle keepers at heart and only passive crop growers. Perhaps, this explains why they have not bothered to convert fully as small scale crop growers despite dwindling grazing land and frequent devastating droughts that have decimated their cattle herds over the years. Long time ago, and to some extent in the present day, anybody who didn't have cattle in Tiania was regarded as poor because they could not afford to fulfil their obligations such as paying dowry and school fees for their children. Large and healthy families were only associated with those with large herds of cattle. High population pressure, frequent droughts coupled with cattle rustling have forced the Tiania to the drawing board because the dwindling herds of cattle have forced them to look into the unfamiliar area of land tilling to sustain themselves. Now, because of lack of surface water like rivers, frequent droughts and contracting land size, many families have to go without food for long periods which has greatly disrupted family life with attendant malnutrition and very high school drop-out rates. The best option available is to convert to intensive crop production to grow food for the family and the market.

End to Clan Rivalries

Like the rest of the country where ethnic/clan clashes have occured due to inequality in political representation and resource distribution, Tiania, which has five main clans has suffered similar fate before. Tiania (Tigania) is divided into East and West Districts and Constituencies respectively. The two MPs unlike the DCs have to come from any of the five clans and therefore, unless a transparent and equitable formula is used n electing the MPs, some clans could feel short changed which is likely to lead to resentment and possible rivalry. One way of addressing this is to ensure that a clan nominates its candidate for MP and is in turn supported by the other clan(s) at election time because it will be expected to return the favour when their time comes. In order to offer a fair chance to all the clans, the MPs will have to contend with only one term in parliament. The MP will have the special advantage because he will be seen by all as their true representative having come out of a consensus of all the clans. In order to facilitate this, clans will be expected to set up local council of elders who will be charged with the responsibility of nominating candidates for elections. This is a novel idea which I think has merit.

Small Scale Grain Dryers

It has been reported recently that a lot of maize is going to waste because of the prolonged rains at harvesting time. This should not be left to happen particularly at the moment when we are experiencing huge deficits and many people are going hungry in some parts of the country. In any case, why should the farmers incur losses after they have produced food to feed their families with extra for the market, when there is simple technology available elsewhere in the world, which could be easily adopted locally? I would like to challenge the Ministry of Agriculture, KARI, KIRDI, and local universities to come up with a locally designed small scale crop dryers and storage bins that may take up to two tonnes of dry cereals such as maize. The dryers should use natural air for drying to make them affordable, and as much as possible locally available materials so that they can be easily assembled at home using local craftsmen. This, I guess, is the best option available to reduce post-harvest grain losses, encourage farmers to grow more food for their families so as to ensure food security at community level.

Perpetual Corruption

It's well known that politicians in our country bribe their way to win elections. Once they are in office they will secure jobs and lucrative government tenders for their relatives, friends and cronies. In order to recoup money spent during campaigns they will ensure that government oversight roles in public spending are disregarded so as to earn fat kickbacks. The devolved government funds such as CDF and LATF can't be effective at the grass roots because of misuse by cartels of politicians. Thus, a new political campaign is followed by a new regime that spawns a new breed of corrupt officials and the cycle continues unbroken. I guess, this could be addressed by well informed citizens who have to demand that government systems that guarantee accountability, transparency, checks and balances are put in place. It's envisaged that the New Constitution will give an impetus to the growth of these much awaited structures, otherwise, taxpayers funds will continue to be misused and service delivery will remain a pipe dream due to unabated corruption. We need, as a country, to break this cycle of corruption in order to lay the basis for development to improve our status from the current sorry third world state. The leaders and citizens have somehow to work in tandem for this to happen.

Family Empowerment

The continued annual cyclical food shortages in Tiania is augmented by intimidation of the people by politicians coupled with fear for reprisals to anybody who attempts to challenge the status quo. Obviously, an informed and well fed people are likely to stand up to politicians who don't represent their interests and hence the continued intimidation by local politicians. The devolved government funds such as CDF and LATF are still controlled by politicians who don't want people to access them transparently for fear that it will empower them economically. The only recourse now is for the people to realise that without economic empowerment of their families, they are likely to live in political subjugation for a long time to come. The solution is home grown solutions to local problems.

Opening Thoughts

The estimated population of Tigania (Tiania) people, a sub-tribe of the Meru people of Kenya is 300,000. The Tiania occupy an area that has diverse climate, comprising the tropical forests of Nyambene Hills, where small farmers grow tea and the Savannah lowlands that have erratic rainfall, but hosting about 3/4 of the population that engages in subsistence agriculture. The community suffers from cyclical annual food shortages which have until now not been adequately addressed. However, I recently helped found a Public Charity, Tiania Trust, which we hope will help mobilize the community so that they may come up with viable agricultural projects to address the annual food shortages. These annual food shortages have caused many children to drop out of school and resulted in malnutrition for the general population. This is the problem that Tiania Trust hopes to address in the long run. This is my first post and I welcome your thoughts and suggestions that will help us tackle our community's problems to give a bright future to our children.