NASA SHOULD STICK TO AGENDA NOT TRY TO BE-DEVIL UHURU WHEN IN CENTRAL; SHOULD NOT IGNORE THE VOTING BLOCK

NASA SHOULD NOT IGNORE THE CENTRAL VOTING BLOCK; SHOULD TALK AGENDA NOT TRY TO BE-DEVIL UHURU WHEN CAMPAIGNING THERE.

By Armstrong K. Abala.

There has been a perception that the central and Mount Kenya region cannot be convinced to vote for a different individual apart from their ‘own’.

Having spoken to several friends from the region, they are all in agreement that what NASA needs to do is make inroads in the central region to seek support in the coming elections.

However, they also agree that that while campaigning in the region, NASA should not give a perception that their main aim is to remove Uhuru/ Jubilee out of power but that they should sell their transformative agenda and leave the people to decide on who to vote for.

It is not a hidden truth anymore that many of the central people feel dissatisfied by the Jubilee Government, it is not a lie that they are also affected by the high cost of living that has bedeviled the nation since the Jubilee regime took over. What the people of central lack is a suitable alternative.

NASA must present itself to the region as the alternative and must sell Raila Odinga’s candidature as the best to save the country in a styled way bearing in mind the negative perception the region has had about him and his family since the era of Jaramogi Odinga.

Generation after generation in the Mount Kenya region has been brought up with the perception that top leadership of this nation ‘belongs’ to them and that they shall lose big if it were to move to any other person (especially Raila Odinga) or region.

This is a perception that has made them ‘enslaved’ in poverty because even if they wanted to have a difference in the leadership they would not dare vote against their ‘own’ in an election.

The truth is, the people in that region experience the same problems the rest of the country faces. When public funds are stolen, they are among the tax payers. If the cost of living hikes, they are also affected, if hunger strikes, it also strikes them. When the prices of commodities go up, it goes up for them too.

There are no shops or supermarkets labelled specifically for them to have commodities at lower prices, neither are there special matatus where they pay less fare. They are in the same country that the rest of Kenyans live in.

This is the ideology that the National Super alliance should sell to the people of Mount Kenya and try to tell them that, it is time to try out new leadership. That the new leadership could even be much better that what they have gotten in the previous years.

In history, we have had people from other regions unite to support an individual from the region not once and not twice. We had Jaramogi Oginga Odinga refuse to form the independent government in favor of Jomo Kenyatta from the region who was in prison then. We also have had Raila Odinga (NASA presidential candidate) galvanize the whole country and single handedly campaigning for Former President Kibaki after he was involved in a road accident in 2002 campaigns, he is also from the same region.

William Ruto now deputy president, gave support to now President Uhuru Kenyatta who is also from the same region. We therefore cannot live in the perception that the region cannot support another. They can always reciprocate. The question is, who will convince them.

Indeed, many are willing to give their support but lack the reassurance that their people and region will not be neglected and abandoned. This is the reassurance that the people of central need from NASA.

If NASA can manage to get the people of central assured that development to the region will not be cut off, that they will not be persecuted (as they have been made to believe), that they will be viewed as Kenyans, then per my observation they are willing to support a different candidate.

They also feel let down by the current dispensation the same way the rest of the country feels let down. The runaway corruption, massive wastage of public resources, huge wage bill in the country, huge public debt has also affected them in the same measure the whole country is affected.

It is therefore my opinion and advise to the National Super Alliance (NASA) that when they hit the ground rolling in the region, they should not try to sell the agenda of removing Jubilee from power but rather the transformative agenda that they intend to roll out in the whole country.

It will save them great, if they decide to stick with a development agenda rather than personal vendettas.