Ukambani political leaders’ poor record

Police dispense demonstrations along the Kibwezi, Mutomo, Kitui road, the residents were demanding that the road be tarmacked.

A lot of negative sentiments have been said and published on Ukambani as a semi-arid area whose inhabitants rely on relief food year in year out.

However, contrary to such misleading reports and assumptions, Ukambani has been and remains an underutilised Kenya’s economic powerhouse since independence.

Ukambani sits on enormous opportunities, which if utilised well would improve the livelihoods and incomes of the inhabitants of the area. Some of the opportunities include suitable land for irrigation that does not require a lot of grading hence reducing the cost, suitable soils for a variety of crop species and human resources. There is also a ready market for the produce given that that the area is food-deficient.

It’s true Ukambani lies in both the semi-arid and very arid climatic zones. However, this should not be used by the political leadership as a scapegoat for the myriad of problems affecting the area. Key among them are high poverty levels, unemployment, low levels of education, poor health (as illustrated by the high morbidity rates due to malaria and water-borne diseases) and lack of clean drinking water.

The main economic activity in Ukambani is Agriculture, where the locals practice rain-fed agriculture. There are also those who practice pastoralism. However, farming practised by the locals is mainly small-scale subsistence farming and livestock production.

The main constraints to agricultural production in Ukambani affecting both rain-fed and small scale irrigation activities include inadequate and unreliable rainfall, lack of irrigation systems for crop production, dependency on relief food, improper and inadequate use of farm input.

Others are inadequate extension services, inadequate and inaccessibility to credit services, inadequate farm power and mechanisation, insufficient and improper plant protection against pests and diseases, shortage of farm labour and poor farm road networks.
What Ukambani is lacking in essence is the the right political magic charm from its elected leaders. More than 50 years since Kenya attained independence, some areas and places in Ukambani region are yet to see and experience a kilometre of tarmacked road, access to safe drinking water and electricity in their homes.
When I was a primary school student in the 1980s, my teachers then used to tell me that by the dawn of the new millennium, in the year 2000, the Government priority was to ensure that every homestead would have clean tap water. That remains a pipe dream in most Ukambani households to date.

The political leadership in Ukambani has been a big let-down to its inhabitants since independence. Ukambani has lagged behind in economic development owing largely to the poor performance of its political leadership over the years.

There is a narrative that has been implanted on the majority of Kamba politicians and passed to subsequent generations of political leadership in the region since the reign of the Kamba supremo, the late Mulu Mutisya.
The narrative seems to dictate that for anyone to survive politically in the region, one has to lie low like an envelope once elected, protect his interests and be submissive to the assumed political kingpin of the region.

This has been the state of affairs in Ukambani region, which has seen most of the elected leaders reverting to being mere political zombies neglecting the people they represent. This has given rise to a vicious cycle of poverty in the region.
However, all is not lost in Ukambani for complete realisation of her dreams. A new generation of political leadership is brewing comprising young men and women who have been born, bred and educated in poverty and are ready to overturn and make Ukambani the canaan of Kenya.

The old and tired politicians in the region should therefore pave way for the next young and energetic generation of political leaders who already have the political dose needed for the realisation of Ukambani economic dreams.The future of Ukambani is bright with this new generation of leaders at the steering wheel.