Dirty national politics buds from tribal campus politics

 Campus elections in public varsities are one of the annual events that leave many happy and at the same time disappointed. Many candidates will jostle and sail around the main campus and satellite campuses seeking votes from students.

The expenditure for elections have for a long time been a headache to many who after being challenged financially, will humble themselves and leave the bid to other well equipped and financially stable candidates to proceed.

Universities consist of students who hail from different ethnic backgrounds therefore tribal politics have been noted to be key over the years. is alive and well. The alliances we often witness in national politics have slowly percolated into campus politics or vice versa. Each tribe will retreat into ethnic cocoons and fight for their own. You will for instance witness alliances of Kikuyu and Kalenjins, Luhya Luos and Kambas.

The divide has been widening each single day and even in class groups the rule still stands. Why can’t we enslave ourselves from the York of ethnicity? As the norm has been, if a candidate thought to be winning looses under unclear circumstances chaos erupts as what we witnessed in Moi University.

We carry ethnicity on our lips and in our actions. Institutions of higher learning are government institutions meant to unite students from various tribes to have one and unified nation. More so in public institutions where leadership is still inclined on tribal lines. This hampers effective leadership. Furthermore in some institutions elected leaders are the choice of university administrations who choose stdents who can dance to their tune.

Those who have attempted to go astray have faced the wrath of the law. Worse is when some students are expelled for good. In circumstances when elections are marred we should not expect good leadership. The chosen leaders will tend to run in favour of their side if not their tribe.

We should exercise the democracy we preach each and every day. It is of no use to talk for hours about democracy which is rarely practiced. Another important aspect is regulation of money to be used in campaigns. It is not a new thing to find many candidates accosted with fleet of cars and giving hand outs when launching and during their campaigns as if they are millionaires when in real sense they are just mere students. As we clamor and crave for  vision 2030 we should bare in our minds that one of objectives is to end ethnicity and tribalism which has eaten our institutions to bits.