Abagusii, we need to vote for Visionary leaders Former cabinet Minister Simeon Nyachae, who has since retired, is perhaps the only leader from Gusiiland who tried to unite the Abagusii community and occasionally brought their issues to the national radar.
As he enjoys retirement, is leadership is sorely missed in the region. I'm not implying that the former MP's leadership styles were flawless but I want to state confidently that compared with the current Abagusii MPs, Nyachae was a stronger leader. None of the seating MPs has tried to advocate for cohesiveness as a formula to chat the way forward for the community's social and political interests both locally and nationally. Two senior Cabinet ministers, Prof. Ongeri and Chris Obure are only interested in pursuing personal interests from the two aisles of the grand coalition government.
They have completely failed to articulate the Abagusii interests as well as tackling the myriad challenges facing the community like, youth unemployment, debilitating education standards, rampant poverty, insecurity and poor infrastructure.
It's saddening those MPs who were voted in the last election on a progressive platform like honourables Momoima Onyonka and Dr. Robert Monda have dismally failed the leadership test and therefore betrayed the confidence they were bestowed upon by the electorates especially the youth.
Are these not enough reasons or a wakeup call for a new generation of aspiring leaders both from Kisii and Nyamira Counties to prepare and take over democratically in order to inject better leadership practises which will mitigate the crisises we are in as a community? Aren't we tired to see a hard working community continue to sink in socio-economic development because we give mandate to wrong people who have failed to represent our interests before the government?
Brothers and sisters, behold the Kikuyu, Luos and Kalenjins... They may have challenges just like us but at least they read from a similar script on community interests. They are as solid as granite; purely unbwogable! This unity of purpose is bearing fruit for them.
The only remedy out of these malaises is to vote in men and women into leadership who augur a consciousness to salvage our two Counties –Nyamira and Kisii from ruin.
We must be prepared to vote for governors, senators and MPs with values and a transformative agenda for the community and Kenya. Without doing so, development will always be fiction.
Can you imagine having a hardworking community with development conscious leaders?
It's imperative also for voters to remain macho on Presidential candidates who are capitalizing on the Abagusii liberal voting patterns thinking that they will just come and harvest our votes.
I admire the resolve of our people especially women for coming out and asking the candidates, tough questions. Presidential candidates must spell clearly their agenda for Gusii and the nation of Kenya. Otherwise, it's not going to be a smooth ride to get the Abagusii votes. Folks, this is the best way to go.
I want to encourage women aspirants to step forward and take advantage of the current constitution so that we can tap visionary and balanced- leaders with skill, knowledge, experience, and people-based to develop our community.
Good leadership is all about directing people to make good choices geared towards improving their standard of life. That is why our farmers, business community, professionals, youth, and other social groups should be incorporated in running constituency affairs through an inclusive approach by our leaders. We need to vote for leaders who will bring all cadres in our community together, and introduce them to new and existing government programs to make them productive and self-sustaining, in order arrest economic stagnation to overcome poverty.
Leaders are the first avenue for civic education in any democratic society. Therefore, we must try at all costs to avoid voting for those who cannot interpret government policies and programs to the people.
For instance, it's shocking that a big percent of Youths in Gusiiland do not access the Youth Enterprise fund. Elected leaders who should be at the frontline in availing and actualizing it to the target population have failed to educate the electorates on how to go about it.
We can't blame the government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports or Finance, since it lies squarely on our elected leaders to ensure that every government program is made available to the people they represent in the national assembly.
It's also saddening that the Tea sector, which is the backbone of Gusii's economy, is not given adequate attention by our leaders. There are constant outcries from farmers which range from, underpayment, poor transportation of fresh leaves to the processing plants and mismanagement of the regional factories which is often caused by political interference.
It's high time voters focused on candidates whose ideas and issues are in tandem with the aspirations of the Abagusii community. Let us be wary of those who want to acquire power for their selfish ends.
Voters in the Counties of Kisii and Nyamira have the best opportunity to use the ballot wisely in order to define the future of Mwamogusii by voting leaders who will lift our community from the present degradation.
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