Why northeastern region needs political kingpin
What you need to know:
The time is ripe for a paradigm shift in local and national politics.
Our region has come of age and needs a political kingpin whose mission would be to make political bargains on our behalf and enhance, protect and defend what belongs to us.
Kenya's northeast region is unarguably the only region that lacks a political kingpin. Other areas have one or two individuals who decide their political destiny and champion their social, economic and political rights. That they share the same challenges, some of which cannot be singlehandedly tackled by any of the three county governments (Garissa, Wajir and Mandera) such as insecurity, poor infrastructure, grinding unemployment, underdevelopment, perennial droughts, dismal educational standards, social and political marginalisation, inter alia, makes unity of the Somalis and the emergence of a political messiah a sine qua non for success.
But the title and task of a genuine political kingpin is literally not a honoris causa. It is hard-earned in the pursuit of “the good of all”. Unlike political mercenaries and wheeler-dealers, kingpins are selfless and a courageous lot. Take the examples of Martin Shikuku and William ole Ntimama, together with Raila Odinga and Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho. All these leaders have neither minced their words nor spoken flattery to the powers that be. Let’s face it, while other regions have already received signals from their kingpins on their political direction in the coming elections, the north-east, sadly remains a leaderless and divided house where clans are paraded before the highest bidder both locally and nationally as a symbol of political endorsement. I was recently saddened to see on social media viral pictures of Somali clan delegations that were invited to State House, Nairobi. Though there is freedom of association, what didn’t go well with some local residents and leaders is why go for clans in a representative democracy where the people belong to one ethnic group grappling with the same challenges?
FARAH MAALIM
It reminds me of a thought-provoking story I once heard from former National Assembly Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim about a Somali politician who ran for public office in Canada and faced competition from a native.
The white man said he would use the rival clans of the Somali brother to defeat him. What a shame that even outsiders know of our weakness and are able to exploit it to their advantage! The leaders have failed the unity test due to clannism and other petty considerations. When Senator Billow Kerrow and other Mandera leaders were humiliatingly arrested in late 2015 just because they relayed to the media their concerns following a report about a mass grave that had allegedly been found in the terror-stricken county, nobody stood with them. Even though the news was false, the issue of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances is a big problem in the region.
POWERFUL LESSON
Somalia holds a powerful lesson for us all on how pettiness can despoil even the most homogenous of societies. Despite having the same culture, tribe and religion, the people made the folly of sacrificing this homogeneity on the altar of clan interests and supremacy. This led to the disgraceful plunge into a failed state, from one of the most promising economies in Africa before the 1991 civil war.
The time is ripe for a paradigm shift in local and national politics. We should “issuefy” our campaign agenda to yield wholesale development. Our region has come of age and needs a political kingpin whose mission would be to make political bargains on our behalf and enhance, protect and defend what belongs to us. As former United States President Barack Obama once said: “We are the change we have been waiting for”. Let’s go for some soul-searching.
Hassan Malik Mohamed is a 'Nation' correspondent based in Garissa Town.
