Leaders have failed to illuminate

Leaders have failed to illuminate
Using people as bargaining chipRift valley leaders have once more put into disarray the plans to relocate people who settled on the Mau, a major water catchments area in Kenya . Led by agriculture minister Hon Ruto, Kalenjin Mps argument seems to suggest that the relocation of the settlers from the Mau must be on their own terms irrespective of the legality of their status of abode. But as Ruto and his ilk continue to incite people against the very government he is part of, environmentalist have warned the government of grave dangers posed by the carving off a section of Mau for human settlement, witnessed by the un wanton destruction of the water reservoirs for the western Kenya region.Water crisis in Kenya can not be overstated. Although other factors have contributed to the climatic challenges we are faced with, poor land use, particularly the encroachment of water towers has helped shape the bad climatic conditions our region is currently faced with.In the 90’s, there was a total disregard of the environment by the Moi administration, despite warnings from Greenbelt movement and other environmentalists. Caving to pressure of a waning political career, Moi’s government resorted to hand out to appease the spirits of the disenchanted populace. City lands, mortuaries and schools were dished out to loyalist to win them from the opposition. But city land was growing thinner and the spirits of the dead yarned for a peaceful rest, Moi and his strategist in disregard to potential dangers to the environment began carving off land from forests for votes. What mattered to the government then was winning votes and not the projected lurking dangers.Today boreholes in areas surrounding the Mau are running dry, a warning that the water level has sunk deeper as the surface continues to bake. Egerton University that has relied on boreholes had to sink deeper as the wells dried. Presented with open challenges like the Mau, one would have expected the cabinet to confront the issue in one front. Yet cheap politics “of my people’ has marred leaders from objective thinking. Mau calls for sound thinking, beyond rhetoric’s and the benefits transcend the smaller geographical area where it located.The government approach to this issue is laudable and well measured. The government is aware that to some people, the Mau has been a new home. They were duped and believed they were the rightful owners of a trust land. Instead of forcefully driving them out, a compensatory scheme has been developed to help them relocate. But the appetizing freebies from the government has now attracted more illegal settlers, who keep on pouring to the area to benefit reap from the government generosity. Some have been incited by the local leaders to move in and lay claim in order to be compensated. The Mau is an exhibit of lack of leadership and direction Kenyan people have been denied all along by selfish leaders. Our leaders do not think out of the box, their tribal cocoons.Leaders must desist from ‘cheap politics of my people’ are being finished. A minister just like the president or prime minister is a national office holder, with a larger constituency than the one that elected him/her. Once appointed a minister, one ceases to be a village hero, with a wider lens that can illuminate the entire country.Patrick Opondi,Wasio-Migori