What Are The Priorities Of Wajir County Residents?
70As we all know the general election isn’t far away whether it’s held on august, December or march of 2013 but what we all don’t know are the persons who are elected as governor, senator, member of parliament e.t.c. whatever the case, the thing that is for sure is that voters across Kenya (wajir county included) will on the polling day cast their votes to elect leaders of their choice to respective elective positions.
As residents of Wajir County and by extension Kenya we are used to politics of handouts where voters sell their votes for money which is by itself a big mistake. this time round we have to say no to vote buying by politicians and decide for ourselves, because that is the only way we will be able to elect visionary and able leaders who have what it takes to transform our county that we all love.
As a voter determine your priorities and see who among the candidates can make them a reality and that person should without doubt merit your precious vote. So what are the top priorities for the residents of the larger wajir county? In other words what are things that the people you elect should prioritize and work on for the good of the county residents or in simple layman’s terms, what development agenda should the people elected into the county government pursue?. Here below are some of the top challenges/problems facing the residents of wajir county as of my opinion and I urge the leaders to be elected to address as soon as possible.
Toilet and sanitation, wajir town could probably be the only place on earth where packet latrines are used. This has been brought about by the shallow nature of the water surface which means digging pit latrines is out of the equation as there is high likelihood of the human waste coming into contact with the precious commodity, water. The only way out of this puzzle is the construction of a sewerage system which could be costly but I believe with the new concept of county governments and devolution, there could finally be a solution to this famous problem. Therefore the first priority of wajir county residents is addressing and finding a permanent solution to the sewage disposal problem that has been witnessed ever since wajir was first inhabited.
Poverty eradication, the second problem facing the people of wajir is poverty. Wajir county is 3rd from last in poverty index if the ministry of planning, national development and vision 2030 data is anything to go by. It’s very sad that more than 87% of the locals are poor when we have the resources and manpower to transform the lives of the local community who are mostly herders. We have water (plenty of it), land (plenty of it) and the required labor but why are we still poor?. The only answer I will give to the question of why we are poor and yet we have the resources is poor leadership. Since independence the larger northern frontier districts have remained marginalized and that is solely to be blamed on the leaders we have elected to parliament. The past is the past and the only thing we can now do is to focus on the future. We have been on a slumber but I believe the time to wake up and make wajir county hunger and poverty free zone is now and for that to happen I urge all the voters irrespective of tribe and political affiliation to vote in leaders who can deliver on their promises and who can initiate development projects that could significantly reduce the high levels of poverty in wajir county.
Job creation, job creation is also another top priority for the county inhabitants. Joblessness mainly affects the youths who remain idle and yet they have the skills and the education. Lack of gainful employment has made many youths in wajir to engage in unrecompensed destructive behaviors like drug abuse. Today miraa (khat) is widely consumed by the youths of the county and is not because they find it interesting and fun to chew but it acts as a way of reducing stress while at the same time making the person busy and engaged. They chew miraa for most part of the day and spend the rest sleeping and this will therefore mean the person remaining unproductive in the job market and remaining dependant on parents and other relatives. Therefore to drive our youth from mass miraa chewing we need the leaders to be elected into the county government to put in measures that may create jobs and absorb the jobless youth into the labour market.
Improvement of roads, driving on many of the county roads is a nightmare for most motorists. The roads are rough and in a bad state and are most of the times impassable especially the rainy season. Today it takes more than 17 hours to travel by bus from Nairobi to wajir but that wouldn’t have been the case if the road network was good. The poor road network of the county is inconveniencing almost everyone. Traders incur high costs transporting goods from one destination to another and thereby pushing up the price of commodities and hence burdening the consumer who may have been living on a tight budget. I therefore expect the county government to address this major problem which if corrected that may transform the county for the better.
Justice for victims and survivors of Wagalla massacre, wagalla massacre is known not only to the residents of wajir and northern Kenya but also to Kenya and the world in general. The wagalla massacre remains a very unfortunate and dark chapter in the history of this county. It’s estimated that the Kenyan security forces massacred over 3000 men who were mostly the degodia clan of the Somali community. Houses were burnt, property of unknown value destroyed, women raped, women made widows, children made orphans, animals shot dead and all manners of evil things were done to the innocent community members. Why would the government brutally massacre its own people and what did it gain by reducing the population of its citizens in such a cruel manner and why did it take so long for the victims to be compensated?
The wagalla massacre of 1984 will forever remain in our minds and hearts. Crimes were committed against humanity for no apparent reason and our only cry now is for the perpetrators to be brought to book and the victims compensated adequetly. We expect the leaders we will elect into the county government to address this injustice committed against the degodia community.
The identity card problem, I also do strongly believe the county government should address the identity card problem facing the residents of this county. The Kenyan constitution gives right to every Kenyan over the age of 18 to be issued with a national identity card but it seems we are getting a raw deal by being denied our constitutional rights. Sadly while it takes less than a month for a person in down Kenya to be issued with identity card, it takes not less than a year for a person in northern Kenya to be issued with the same document. My questions is, are some people more Kenyan than others and are there first and second class citizens? Why the discrimination?. For us to be issued with identity cards and birth certificates we have to be vetted first that we are “real” Kenyans and not Somalis who have illegally crossed from the border to Kenya. While the government might have every right to do that, it’s biased in the sense that other communities in border points are not subjected to the same thing. For example the luhyas live in western Kenya and at the same time on the other side of the border in Uganda and what happens is that those in Kenya are not subjected to vetting to ascertain whether they are Kenyans or Ugandans from the other side. The same is true for the maasai who are both in Kenya and Tanzania.
Addressing persistent draught and famine, majority of the county residents are nomadic people who move from one place to another in search of water and pasture for their livestock. As we all know northern Kenya is arid and semi arid land where rainfall is less in most parts of the year. Less rain being experienced would mean little or no pastures growing on the land and hence starvation of the animals that the community depended for their livelihood. Every time drought and famine is experienced, thousands of animals mostly cattle and goats die of starvation and thirst. Even the camels which are by far the most resistant to droughts die in large numbers when the situation becomes unbearable.
Therefore the challenge for the county government is to address this problem. More Dams and boreholes should be constructed so as to make water plenty for the pastoralists. The county government can also introduce things like livestock insurance against draught so as compensate pastrolists whenever they lose livestock to the draught.
What are your priorities as the residents of Wajir County? Have your say by commenting below
