A citizen has a critical duty of vetting the leaders he or she chooses to represent her. This is because her choice of leaders will be a key determinant on how her life will shape up economically for a period of up to five years.
One region that is currently experiencing this hard reality is the Mt Kenya region whose leaders are now admitting that they did not read the details of the controversial Finance Bill that introduced punitive taxes to businessmen and farmers.
At the same time, it has become quite embarrassing to watch leaders from this region display economic and social cluelessness during media interviews and debates when paired with leaders from other regions in the country.
This has raised the question; what exactly is wrong with Mt Kenya? Well, popular lawyer Lempaa Soyinka shared an interesting opinion on this. According to the lawyer, the biggest problem with Mt Kenya is its fondness for choosing jokers for leaders.
Here is the opinion Lempaa gave:
The problem with Mt Kenya is simple. The social, economic, and political agenda is set by comedians, semi-literate pastors, gospel musicians, and other secular musicians.
Gone were the days when the most brilliant son or daughter would be sent to parliament to articulate the community’s agenda. Going back to the past, Mt Kenya was revered for its robust debators, both in and out of parliament.
Today, village wags have transmogrified themselves into the community’s torch-bearers. Gospel musicians who are, as many as there are churches in Mt Kenya, are also setting the agenda in Mt Kenya. The tragedy is, however, when they get elected and meet Members of Parliament from other areas.
What happens is that they suffer an intellectual shock. They cannot distill or articulate issues in parliament. Due to their lack of mental rigor, they are reduced to voting machines.
Recently, most members from Mt Kenya were shocked when the Fiance Act 2023 was implemented. They did not read it, and when it was taken to the ground, the MPs said that they had not seen toxic sections of the law and denounced it.
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Of course, denouncing it is easier in the mother tongue than in either Kiswahili or English, the Parliamentary languages.
Muigai Wa Njoroge for example is better placed to set the agenda of the Mountain than Prof Karanja Kibicho…..Thamido is more better placed than Wahome Thuku … Louis Kim than Martha Karua etc.