ODM's regional manifestos

In an innovative departure from the dull and meaningless campaign adopted by each of its opponents, the ODM party of Raila Odinga has been rolling out regional manifestos. Call them vote shopping wish-lists but I think it is time we paid attention to this revolutionary approach of decentralising the campaign issues in order to magnify the needs of the regions rather dealing with them in the haphazard nature that fails to delineate the regional pressing needs from the national obsessions. This is indeed in keeping with the confessed Majimbo system of governance which is espoused by ODM and which it wishes to introduce upon clinching power. While we find this approach to be appropriate because it gives prominence to the needs and aspirations of each region, we find stark contrasts with the other contestants. PNU, when they are not involved in those endless in-fightings (sic) are busy telling us about the yesterday of (good) Kibaki and (bad) Raila. But they only mention the yesterday of Moi to drive the point that Kibaki's yesterday is miles apart from Moi's (terrible) yesterday. Forget that the two are at the moment scheming to stymie Mr Odinga's (brighter) tomorrow for Kenya. At the same time, when the PNU is not involved in internecine fighting and squabbles, they are busy lumping together the needs of all Kenyans as ONE. It is as if the priority for a cattle-rustling victim in the North Rift is same as those of a victim of fishing-territory offender from Uganda. Much the same way that Mungiki is not an issue to Kakamega, the tribal clashes we witness in Molo and Mt. Elgon are not the concern of the people of Marsabit in the marginalised NFD (a derogatory colonial tag this!).

ODM's approach needs, therefore, to be critiqued against the background that the country has been developing since independence and even before that in a skewed manner only beneficial to the ruling class. Kenyatta grabbed and amassed land at the coast and in the Rift Valley and the greater Kiambu in proportions that we cannot comprehend. Moi after him grabbed forest land and relocated the Ogiek to pave way for his tea at Kiptagich while spreading his wings far and wide including grabbing of the East Africa Tanning and Extract (EATEC) farm. Kibaki is equally a beneficiary of massively faulty land allocation policies, he owns large chunks of land in Bahati among others and it will not be lost on any casual observer that the war in Kenya's 2007 election is a class war. In this regard, the have-nots are waging a war against the haves and it is interesting that Raila, an equally wealthy and 'landly (sic)' investor is the champion and epitome of that class contest pitting the bourgeois class against the proletariat peasants. Incidentally, those who own the means of production (land as an indispensable capital) under-utilise it while those who are itching to eke out a decent living have nothing to do because of deliberate state-sponsored (or failure to act otherwise) deprivation and failure to redress land distribution.

ODM's patent-like political ideation therefore invites a thorough re-examination of our approach to Majimbo. If there be anything compulsive about the need to go regional and devolve not only power but agenda and resources, it is the absurdity with which our governance system continues to treat the down-trodden regions. Any sensible Kenyan should be excused for wasting the optimism about Kibaki, read Hon Kirwa' ministry of Agriculture, to rid Kenya of the begging basket and the eyesore of famine and starvation. Some of these scenes, we hasten to add, are always witnessed notwithstanding the glut in harvest in the areas that have the ecological conditions to feed the country. ODM wishes to deal with each region as a unique entity and in this way provide a local agenda which will address 'local' issues and concerns. After all we were educated by the fractious PNU that politics is 'local', so have a taste of your own medicine! ODM wishes to strengthen farming for example where this is a priority, it will protect the farmer against the vagaries of rustling and drought (by introducing an insurance package) to the pastoralists.

In today's climax, ODM has rolled out a clear agenda to restore order and governance to Nairobi (once touted as the city in the sun) and spur economic growth. Now we are likely to hear Hon. Musyoka, he of the miracle (forget about Bishop Deya of the miracle babies infamy for a while), crying of political plagiarism and theft of his ideas. But we have seen how disjointed an idea his (Kalonzo’s) 24-hr working nation is. It needed things to fall in place; people are secure if and when there is not only security but something worthwhile doing. It is meaningless to engage farmers in the farm working for returns as ridiculous as KShs 400/acre/year. A regional panacea for each and every nook and cranny of Kenya is needed and ODM’s devolution of its grand manifesto is political innovation akin to none in this campaign.

Back to my question, how workable then are ODM's agenda for the Rift Valley (or your region for that matter) after the elections or are they mere shopping basket trap decoys to woo the votes? How well are these 'local' agenda resonating with people in the respective regions? One thing is clear, though, that whether the issues are realised or not the regional manifestos are going to gain currency with every coming election and who knows whether this may not lead to an evolution of a regional 'scorecard' for the office-seekers. Where the yardstick is improved, the voter stands a better chance to evaluate the re-election seeker against past promises made and contained in ‘regional mini-manifestos’.