Governors should lead anti-ethnicity talk

Next week, Kakamega County will be a world of mixed fortunes.

Locals will be treated to a spectacle of blaring sirens, chase cars and burly, barrel-chested bodyguards as the lords of the counties congregate for the fifth Council of Governors Conference.

Like many conferences before, Kakamega’s will be a ritzy display of newly begotten wealth.

Governors will hold hands and laugh in the most of bonhomie fashion. And money will also flow like River Tana.

Restaurants and discotheques will enjoy a windfall as Kenya’s nouvelle riche compete on who can spend the most.

Already, Kakamega is sold out, and the local governor lamented the lack of accommodation.

ETHNICITY
Yet, this camaraderie is a façade. Hypocritical even.

Deep in the thought process of county political configurations are deep tangled veins of ethnic jingoism and protectionism.

Most governors and leaders are averse to investors and workers from other counties — read ethnicity.

One of them flagrantly sought legislation to bar non-natives from county jobs. How myopic!

Well, it’s easy to appeal to the base instinct of the masses for rewards, albeit ephemeral but in the long run such stunts turn out to be tremendously injurious.

Sadly, balkanisation of counties to suit the whims of tribal chauvinists is our greatest undoing as a nation.

PEACE
This needs to change. Devolution did not mean divisions.

And that’s why the Council of Governors (CoG) should courageously surf above the scum to rebrand the counties.

They must rework the social architecture to make counties bastions of peace, embrace all and sundry and open business.

They should take this stand as governors and preach integration, establish strategies for integration and drive the integration agenda.

There are umpteen benefits accruable from a pacified and integrated society. A quick win is the investment they attract.

Indeed, no one wants to have their life savings or loans go up in flames or to looters due to ethnic animosity.

VIOLENCE
Peaceful counties will attract pedigree intellectuals who will help find solutions to diverse challenges.

They encourage innovation and are also easily patronised by leisure seekers. The CoG should strategise towards such a dispensation.

The converse is true. And one outpost that scares the hell out of many is Naivasha.

Both on the eve of 2013 and 2017 election there was a massive exodus of people.

The usually vibrant town that attracts holidaymakers from Nairobi turned dreary. Businesses suffered an awful deal.

Now, this is not the kind of scenario that we desire. Nor do we want a business as usual attitude at the CoG.

LEADERSHIP

The governors must come out strongly in support of unit in diversity. They need to change the narratives on ethnicity and cohesion.

Thus, the CoG should be a robust institution of intellectual and moral thought.

This is the time leadership is required of this institution as a critical voice to the myriad of challenges that face this country.

For instance, we should be expecting clarity of thought on such pertinent issues as environmental degradation, the rule of law or the spectre of alcoholism.

It makes nonsense of CoG’s image if the members of this club cannot control their urge for ethnicity.

The conference should not be the usual talking shop but a platform where radical reforms are agreed and pledged.

Mr Wamanji is a Communication and Public Relations adviser. [email protected] Twitter: @manjis