Uasin Gishu can do without a tribal warrior for a senator

A Google search doesn’t reveal much about Isaac Melly, the Uasin Gishu senator.

Other than his parliamentary position, the only somewhat notable mention is of him having been a dean of students at Mount Kenya University.

A Capital FM online article analysing the race for the various elective seats in the county in the last election predicted his victory but took a dim view of his leadership credentials.

“Young and political greenhorn URP’s Isaac Melly may become the senator of Uasin Gishu County though he will face a tight race from ODM aspirant, lawyer Paul Birech, who has also been serving as Governor of the Red Cross.

“Birech, a renowned lawyer in the region, is viewed to have the necessary capacity to serve better in the Senate than Melly. But the URP wave is quite strong and will advantage Melly,” wrote Judie Kaberia, the special projects reporter and author of the booklet, Justice and Peace in the Kenyan Eye, in the article published on February 19, 2013.

Ms Kaberia couldn’t have put it better. Mr Melly hasn’t had a distinguishable performance by way of debates on the floor of the House or originating Bills about two years into his term in the Senate.

According to Mzalendo, the citizen watchdog that tracks the performance of MPs and senators based on Hansard records, the Uasin Gishu senator spoke on average three times a month between April 2013 and December 2014.

The far-and-between speeches don’t exactly make Mr Melly a joyrider or a tongue-tied politician considering that the latest report released last week by Mzalendo showed that 13 MPs did not contribute to House proceedings at all in 2014.

TRIBAL WARRIOR

But Mr Melly’s lead role in the violent demonstrations that forced the closure of the University of Eldoret last week portrayed him more as a tribal warrior than an honourable member of the Senate.

The protests were ostensibly staged to demand the removal of the university’s vice-chancellor Teresia Akenga, accused by the senator of nepotism and not hiring enough locals.

But some members of the county assembly have come out to say that Prof Akenga is being targeted because she is perceived to be from the wrong tribe.

The facts also seem to be on Prof Akenga’s side, with the employment analysis report tabled in the Senate last week indicating that 75 per cent of the management board members hail from the Rift Valley region which has also produced 77 per cent of the senior staff.

Either Mr Melly is onto a hate campaign here, or he is clueless about the dynamics of the county he represents in the Senate.

Uasin Gishu has been the epicentre of tribal clashes since 1992. The wounds of the victims of the 2007/2008 post-election violence, including the Kiambaa massacre, haven’t healed.

Surely, the county can do without a tribal warrior for a senator.

Otieno is chief sub-editor, Business Daily. [email protected].@otienootieno