Open Letter to Speaker Kinengo and MCAs

Kinengo Katisya 

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen of the House.

Today we want to address you from a different standpoint; that of neutrality and sobriety. 

By now you must have reconciled with the idea that you are running the second arm of the County Government. It should also worry you that among the 47 County Assemblies in Kenya, yours is the most chaotic and divisive. And valid questions are being asked out here. 

When you were sworn in, the majority of you being youth in the full meaning of the word, Kitui residents expected that you will channel your energy towards making Kitui better. This expectation was valid because for the last 5 years, our beloved county had been vandalized and brought to its knees by the merciless economic vandals who operated the infamous mbee nzei regime. 

You will also remember that Governor Julius Malombe was elected back on a strong wave of public approval and confidence.

The people had seen and resonated with his development record and willingly decided to stand with and for him. That public confidence still holds todate.

Therefore, the people were right to expect you - the House - led by the youngest and energetic Speaker Kinengo Katisya to hurriedly join hands with the Governor and lift the county from the mbee nzei abyss.

But alas! How wrong they were. The youngsters in the Assembly have turned out to be tormentors of the people who elected them to office! 

Robert K. Greenleaf, the founder of the Modern Servant Leadership Movement once stated "the most serious failure of leadership is the failure to foresee."

Young, energetic and youthful, you folks in the Assembly are failing to foresee the future. To foresee that the future of this County is in your hands. And more importantly, that the future of your political destiny is in your hands as well.

Instead of being the County Executive's partner in development and service delivery, you have opted to become scud missiles, with awful brinkmanship, power games and infantile tantrums. 

You have decided to hold the County Executive hostage through political contestation just to flex your muscles. Sadly, that is not in line with the spirit of devolution. Oversight is not about erecting blockades, No.  Robin Sharma, a famed lawyer and Author once remarked that "leadership is not a popularity contest, it is about leaving your ego at the door". This should run deep into your conscience, folks of the House. 

While you are flexing your muscles, the people of Kitui are hurting. Come to think of it, by delaying the County Executive budget, how are you winning? Where is the victory? It is a lose - lose situation. 

We have news for you though. Give it to him, Speaker Kinengo has a special gift, and he has temporarily succeeded in blinding you to fix your buttocks in his corner, figuratively speaking. This is dangerous, for you and for Kitui nation. Below is why.

Honourable MCAs, when you retreat back to your respective Wards, the people will ask what you did with regards to the mandate they bestowed on you. Your electorate will not be interested in who the Speaker was and what he/she told you. 

If there is no development in your Ward because you have delayed the budgets, the people will hold you individually accountable. Look at the recent history, and you will see the verdict thus delivered by voters at the ballot.

Having said that, we wish to commend those MCAs who have shown willingness to stand for development and for the people of Kitui. Let the others remove the blinds from their eyes and join this team. 

To our good Speaker Kinengo. A clever scholar said that a man who is intoxicated by alcohol can recover, but a man intoxicated by power rarely recovers - until the hammer falls. You surely need to climb down from your ivory tower. Above all, you need to release your hostages - the MCAs. Be a neutral arbiter in the Assembly and a genuine partner in development and service delivery.

This might be hard for you because you feel consumed by the desire to revenge against those who did not support your Speaker's bid. 

But a man of your age - a beginner in politics cannot be so consumed by vengeance to lose sight of the future. Do not allow yourself to live in the past. 

You have an opportunity to ride on Governor Malombe's public confidence and build your future political prospects. You should be remembered as the Speaker under whose youthful leadership Kitui County excelled in development, not the Speaker who - as a political toddler - got drunk with power and launched a scathing revenge against those who opposed his bid. And destroyed Kitui in the process.

Ladies and gentlemen of the House, Kitui county residents want development. Not endless political contests and teenage tantrums. 

Folks, hatch your eyes and look into the future. There is hope!

So long.