Of a ‘silent’ governor and Kaimenyi’s threats

By Ferdinand Mwongela

I have been hearing talks of governors right, left and centre, so much that every time I hear the word ‘governor’ on TV, I flip channels.

Not because they are boring, oh Lord no, those chaps make Linturi and company along Parliament Road look like a bunch of non-starters. But then we would not expect anything less from ‘presidents’, as I have heard a good number of them call themselves in their backyards.

It is probably out of jealousy. I come from one area of this land that looks like a badly planted patch of cabbage, namely Isiolo. Bordering Meru and Laikipia, and with Mt Kenya in the distance, you would expect this great county to be a little more than a footnote in conversations about arid and semi-arid areas.

But this is not even the ‘beef’.Isiolo people, like other Kenyans, voted in one of these gentlemen called governors. But His Exellency Godana Doyo, however, has hardly been mentioned anywhere, for good or bad.

There is nothing as intimidating as a politician you rarely hear anything of, especially if the chap sits on a strategic county that some people say is the gateway to the north and home to a number of Lamu Port and South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) and economic recovery projects

I really wouldn’t mind to hear my governor mentioned somewhere; even if is something about fighting pornography or slapping Sh100 million on the renovation of a manyata.

For heaven’s sake, why can’t he even join those making noise about the miraa (khat) ban? Given the strategic positioning of the Isiolo airport, it would require an elementary level of education to figure out who would benefit the most from the miraa business. It is like waking up one day and missing the loud noises from Parliament and members calling each other names. Considering noise is a standard expectation from you and your colleagues Mr Governor, you can even insult someone, throw a stone now and then, or even steal a little, or just do anything to avoid fading from public discourse.

Talking of which, this man Prof Kaimenyi, that is the Education Cabinet Secretary, is a good man.

He really wanted to see Kenyan children go back to school as soon as possible, but I would hate to be in his position. Issuing impotent threats sends wags murmuring about whether you are a man, in the village sense of the word.

Not to insinuate anything about the good old prof. But to hold a press conference, veins protruding and nostrils flaring, I know you must mean business.

The problem is, when you are dealing with this Sossion man, who flares his nostrils quite a bit and loves issuing an impotent threat or two as well, it gets hard to tell who of the two is really a man.