TIANIA - THE SICKMAN OF MERU

The Tiania people still remain the most backward among the Meru Sub-tribes due to natural and man-made (either by omission or commission) factors. The area lacks surface water (in rivers and dams) save for a few swamps which are now threatened by human encroachment. The poor rainfall patterns with regular droughts have continued to cause poor harvests and resultant famine every year with little intervention from either the government or local political leaders. Due to the common food shortages, school drop-out rates for children is high with few completing their education and therefore rendering them ineligible for formal employment which could take them out of the cycle of poverty. Lack of formal education has left people out of formal employment resulting in many idlers while others opt for menial domestic jobs in the neighboring districts. Due to grinding poverty the neighboring cousins, only see the Tiania in the light of misery, making them the butt of the crudest of jokes.The biggest tragedy however is the failure of local political leadership and the elite who seem to have conspired to perpetuate the suffering of the poor. Otherwise, how else do you explain the nonchalant behavior and lack of intervention by them over the years? The new constitution has now put the Merus in one large county which may disenfranchise these poor people in Tiania even further unless there is a deliberate intervention to allow them to catch up with their cousins. However, even if the Tiania were allowed their own county it would still take a concerted effort from a new leadership which would need to craft a totally new approach from what has eluded the past 9 MPs in the area since independence. With the kind of elitist political system in our country the people of Tiania will be very lucky to elect new leadership to get them out of the current state. Tiania Trust, in my opinion, is so far the best solution to our problems because it's people centered and oriented.