Shame of disunity as Kaparo goes to sleep

[Photo: Courtesy]

Hon Francis ole Kaparo is resting and has no qualms, and it is irritating. The role of a commission does not start and end with a crisis and statements from politicians that are incendiary. The commission is not a fire service and even if it was the Kaparo team is pathetic at dealing with the hate fire that from time to time erupts in Kenya. 

Just because elections are over does not mean there is no need to improve the cohesiveness of our nation. In fact, this is the best time to act. I have written before, in this very publication, on what Kaparo should do to improve cohesion, hence I will not revisit the matter. 

Instead I will emphasise to him why there is a need for him to act. It is sad that the average Kenyan cannot tell what the commission has done to improve the nation's cohesion. Now, I am sure some commission boffin will want to write to me and explain what they have done. I would advise them not to bother because their kind of job is not done in reports; it is done when it is seen and felt to be done. 

The commission’s work will have been done if in 2022 Kenyans feel safe when they are the only ones of their tribe in another county. Its work will have been done when counties stop passing protectionist laws barring non-residents from getting jobs as though they are aliens in our nation.

What is the commission’s stand on these matters? If we allow such political discourse to continue, soon we will have a county trying to build a border wall to keep people out. 

Equal treatment

Allow me to address the folly of protectionist laws in Kenya. First, in counties such as Nairobi, Kiambu, Nakuru, Kisumu, and Eldoret there is no way you will be tie employment to ethnic origins. For who is by tribe a Nairobian? Should 70 per cent of jobs go to the original Maa-speaking people? 

Second, migration is the biggest pollinator of societies with ideas and innovation. So serious is migration that hundreds of thousands migrate daily from Kiambu and Kajiado counties into Nairobi to work. It is this migration that brings resources to these counties. If you tie your population down and refuse to allow other counties to send their people, what is left to trade with? Who will bring much-needed resources to your county? We cannot think like North Korea and hope to prosper like South Korea. 

My bone of contention is simple; what is Kaparo doing while we are walking around with unresolved issues and ticking time bombs? 

Another pending issue is the campaign to have Tharaka Nithi County renamed Meru South. What is that all about? If we are going to ethnicise the naming of counties, can we be careful about the fate of the smaller ethnicities such as the Mbeere, Tharaka, Kuria, and Dorobo, to mention just a few?

We need to understand that removing the identity of a people is a key issue in society. These are the issues that we need to address. Mr Kaparo, arise. 

Fisticuffs

Worse still, we have a crop of MCAs who are willing to fight physically on matters that can be resolved in a legal and sensible manner.

These MCAs are focused on behaving little better than wild animals, to the detriment of the hopes and dreams of devolution.

We need to train them to focus on the herculean task they face; developing their counties well so that our country's wealth can be well-distributed. 

Kaparo should be training MCAs on how to deal with conflict and pacify tensions. No other elected official is as close to the public as an MCA.

Elected official

If the MCA is violent, then what do you expect to happen in five years when we hold elections again? Mr Kaparo, right now we have only one rotten potato, in five years how many potatoes will have been spoiled because of your lethargy?

It is irritating and unfair that you get resources from Kenyans, yet there is little to show for it. Explain to me what exactly you are doing. In fact, don’t bother to explain, just do something to unify my nation?

Stop behaving as if you have achieved something. Instead, earn a laurel or two, for victory is not the end of a political season; victory is the death of negative ethnicity and the inclusion of all peoples into the ideal called Kenya with a sense of pride and belonging we can all sing about. Anything less than that is a quantified and qualified failure.

 

Mr Bichachi is a communication consultant. [email protected]