Ol Kalou constituency shares the name with the headquarters of Nyandarua County. The name has Maasai origin, just like Ol Joro Orok, Shamata, Kipipiri, and Kinangop, among others. Like the US states that bear the names of the Native Americans, this county has names of its original owners: the Maasai.
The agreements of 1904 and 1911 turned their once-grazing land into white highlands. For curious reasons, Ol Kalou was popular with Boers - Van Staaten, Van Odendall, Joubert, Botha, Van Blerk and Kruger once made Ol Kalou and its neighbourhoods their home.
Next time you are in the Western Cape, South Africa, just drive over Lowry Pass to Hermanus or Hauston, and see the uncanny semblance to the Ol Kalou area. The Boers must have felt at home except for the wineries.
The presence of Boers and the British brought workers from other parts of the country to Nyandarua. During Mau Mau, the Gíkúyú workers could not be trusted; they were replaced by other communities, with fewer ties to Mau Mau. It’s not unusual to find Turkana or Kamba fluent in Gíkúyú in this county.
Ol Kalou constituency is bounded by the cold but beautiful Aberdares plus Lake Ol Bollosat to the East. To the west, there is the famous Dundori and its legends, including planting roasted maize to harvest and reduce the burden of roasting.
To the north is Nyahururu (Thomson Falls) and to the south is the infamous Happy Valley (Wanjohi). I'm told the religiosity of Nyandarua is a bold attempt to exorcise the ghosts of Happy Valley where drugs and wife-swapping were standard in the rolling 1920s.
Except for a few buildings like Tower Sacco, a new railway station, county headquarters and JM Kariuki Hospital, there is nothing spectacular about this town or constituency. A university will soon grace the constituency.
Dairying, potato growing and greenhouses define the economic activities of Ol Kalou. Wheat used to be the king during the colonial period and just after uhuru.
From the physical and historical description, Ol Kalou should not attract such attention. But politically, the constituency is a magnet after its MP passed away. Leading the campaigns are carpetbaggers.
The by-election has brought resources voters can’t believe. Beyond goodies like mattresses, gas cookers, foodstuffs and money, dry humour is plenty. One popular joke is that a dead MP is more “useful” than a living one.
It’s more hilarious when translated into Gíkúyú. New roads, power lines, water and other services are flowing in. Did I hear even boats? I got a photo of a dinghy on Lake Ol Bollosat dated 1934 shared by Jeanette Pockley, whose family lived around the lake. Now aged 98, she lives in Australia.
What is missing in Ol Kalou are job offers. Joblessness is making it easy to give handouts and get audiences. I visited the constituency recently; I've got genetic links to Ol Kalou.
To understand why Ol Kalou has attracted so much political interest, we need to cross oceans and go to Vietnam. Now a leading coffee grower. This country was once a battlefield pitting the United States against communists. Over 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam. The country fell and was reunited; it used to be North and South Vietnam.
Why did Americans fight such a bloody and long war? They feared that if Vietnam fell, more Southeast Asian countries would too fall to communism, the so-called domino theory. Seen dominoes falling?
Is UDA or Kenya Kwanza haunted by the ghosts of Vietnam? If Ol Kalou falls to DCP, more constituencies would fall? There is another ghost haunting UDA; they won a seat in Kiambaa before the 2022 polls. They fear that if DCP wins, the party and her allies will gather momentum for 2027. Let's also remember the Ol Kalou by-election is “lonely.” The constituency is being pampered like an only child.
Unfortunately, the UDA reaction has exposed its soft underbelly. Fear of losing and the 2027 game plan. If so much money can be poured into one constituency, what of the 2027 polls with Members of County Assemblies (MCAs), women reps, senators and the presidency? A bigger question would be where will that money come from? Where is it coming from?
Ol Kalou by-election and the coming 2027 polls are haunted by yet another ghost: KANU’s 1992 polls when money flooded the country. That set off a series of inflation pressures that reverberate to this day.
Where did the money for the 1992 polls come from? Hint: we got new bank notes; Sh500 even with a nickname. Where will money for the 2027 polls come from? Do we really need to overthink that? Let’s hold our breath.
Our biggest fear in Ol Kalou is not who wins; it’s the economic consequences. Citizens are learning you can get free money. That has long-term consequences: lower productivity. Why work? Yet, money does not grow on trees. The money for goodies must be from somewhere; it’s not anyone’s pocket money.
Was it budgeted? Lesson two, if you want to win an election, don’t focus on the quality of ideas and proposals (and jokes in Ol Kalou) but the money and you can give to voters. Can they reject? Or eat and vote the other way?
Three and more ominous is inflation. With so much free money on the ground, the prices of goods and services will go up. The men and women who earned genuine money will lose. If a goat costs now Sh10,000 because of free money given to voters instead of Sh8,000, the owner of genuine money loses Sh2,000. The free money owner does not feel it.
Apply that simple model to the whole country and the economic consequences are fearful. Think of the inflation consequences of “free money.”
An economic ghost haunts me; a weak shilling. Will the current exchange rate hold with so much “free money”? A combination of free money and a weak shilling would create a perfect economic storm. Remember the aftermath of Goldenberg?
It gets more interesting, or is it annoying? The rise in inflation makes us poorer and more vulnerable to political manipulation and bribes. No one from Karen or Muthaiga will go for handouts. Unfortunately, such voters are the minority.
Ol Kalou jokes are entertaining, but soon your pocket will not be laughing.
