By Dorcas S
Luo leaders are a big let down. They are a disgrace to the electorate. If the people were allowed to exercise the right of recall as per the Constitution, most of them would be relieved off their duties because they have failed to use the mandate given to them for the benefit of those that put them into office.
We elected them because they convinced us that they would find solutions for the myriad of problems afflicting us. Let me enumerate just a fraction of the challenges we are grappling with:
1. Collapsed sugar industry. Sony and Muhoroni sugar factories are on their death beds. A lot of our people depended on this industry for their livelihood. Now it is tottering on the brink of demise and our leaders are not bothered. A few months ago the Jubilee administration sanctioned the importation of Sugar from Uganda instead of providing incentives for the sugar farmers to produce more and bridge the gap between demand and supply. Instead of our dear leaders coming out hammer and tongs to oppose this move, they only paid lip service and quickly forgot about it, effectively allowing Jubilee to have their way.
2 . Water hyacinth. This problem has been with us for many years now. If our leaders were serious they would have found a solution to it. One or two of them have made attempts to get rid of this menace but did not sustain and follow up their efforts to fruition.
3.Roads are in deplorable condition. It is unacceptable that with the advent of devolution we still have earth and murram roads. Our MP’s control billions in CDF kitty yet they cannot put it to good use. Governors and MCA’S also receive good chunks of money yet our people still reel under the heavy weight of poverty.
4. Youth/women empowerment. When you go to Central and other areas, notably Rift Valley leaders have organized women and youth into groups for purposes of accessing the fund set aside for these groups. They get loans and tenders which have gone a long way in alleviating poverty and reducing unemployment. We have heard about illicit brews in these areas but that is just one side of the story!
5. Medicare. Since the days of Raphael Tuju and his mobile clinics in Rarieda, no other leader has made significant and notable efforts to better health care among the electorate. Public hospitals are ill equipped and doctors are few and poorly remunerated making them shuttle between the hospitals and private practice.
6. Luo Nyanza has the largest number of professors in Kenya.There was a time Luos excelled in education. They got the best grades and were admitted in the best national schools, taking the best courses, medicine, aviation, engineering, architecture you name it! Now we are a shadow of our fathers as far as education is concerned. Our schools perform poorly in national examinations yet our leaders are doing nothing to stem the tide. They think printing their images on exam papers is a way of improving standards! What cheek!
7. Fishing industry is suffering and we are importing fish from China! Yes China!
As our people get weighed down by all these problems, our leaders are busy dipping their filthy hands in public coffers. CDF is being mismanaged, County funds are being stolen and misappropriated, we are spending more on recurrent expenditure and less development.
Our leaders greed is evident in public rallies and other social gatherings. The other day they were caught on camera exchanging blows in the full glare of the former Prime Minister! They want to follow Raila everywhere and hope that he endorses them. None of them has attempted to tackle the problems afflicting their people. Instead they are busy trying to get the ODM tickets through the back door.
Fellow Luos, the elections are around the corner. Let us interrogate them and elect them on the basis of their development record and not on how loyal they are to Raila. Otherwise we shall continue to lag behind as other regions prosper.
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