The tribe is ready to do what the tribal leader says, from Kiambu to Homa Bay

NAIROBI: The fuss is over in Homa Bay. Young Moses Otieno Kajwang is the county’s Senator-elect. He is the heir to his late brother’s position. I say “the fuss” because of the fracas and violence that informed the electoral process. However, “the farce” may be more precise.

The outcome of the election was always known – another exercise in Kenya’s endless electoral fiction. The captain anoints his preferred candidate. The rest is a roller-coaster ride to victory. This is regardless that the electorate hardly knows the candidate. All that matters is that they have been told, “This is the tribe’s candidate.” With this are sown the seeds of poor leadership. The new man does not hold himself accountable to the electorate. His focus is on hymns, psalms and sundry canticles in favour of the leader.