MORE REGIONS? POLITICIANS MUST STOP THE DISSEMINATION OF ERROR AND MENDACITY ABOUT OUR NATIONHOOD.

For the past few weeks, the public has increasingly been treated to a circus by flamboyant politicians who have tried moving clauses in the CoE draft hither and thither (and dither) and threatening that failure to meet their demands would see them rally “their people” to reject the draft constitution at the referendum stage. One such issue is the clamor for additional ethnic conclaves (which are mistakenly being referred to us regions) and counties. In their political gimmick they want to make the unsuspecting public to believe that theirs is a quest for devolution of resources. As it stands now, I am hesitant to accept that the clamor for fair representation (whether viewed through the lenses of geographical size or population) is informed by the politics of the devolution of resources per se. I tend to think that the real argument behind this latest move has more to do with how votes cast in these ethnic conclaves in the prospective general elections will translate into seats won by political parties and by extension how the same seats shall determine who becomes the country’s Chief Executive. Strictly speaking, this is an act of gerrymandering. It behooves the intelligence of the larger populace that there are still politicians out there who are hell bent on steadily building their political careers out of such chicanery. Contrary to their beliefs, their bid to become the regional king makers is steadily faltering; and their perceived balloons of success will soon be seriously deflated. Perhaps, it is only a matter of time before their political balloons burst. The truth is that our nation is not ready at all to be divided into ethnic fiefdoms. It must be crystal clear to all and sundry that to look at issues from the lenses of these self serving politicians is a sure way to reserve for our nation a place in the dust-bin of history. One does not have to look far a field to discern countries who, for like-reason, have suffered that fate. In rebuking their selfishness I draw inspiration from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer that states that “Constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke the vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake.” It is in this light that I dare say that every Kenyan must exercise his or her responsibility and vigilance and to speak truthfully about the constitution making process. In this regard I urge Kenyans from all walks of life to remain faithful and vigilant to the process as it approaches the final stage. In the words of John P Curran, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” To shy away from this enormous and God given responsibility because a temerarious, obdurate and desultory cabal is telling us that ethnic conclaves are good for us will be suicidal. Such persons are hell bent in making us to exchange that vigilance and responsibility for complacency, to idle in the shadow of false images, thoughtlessness, ignorance, and disinformation and to blindly swallow sugar coated lies that they are desperately trying to implant in our minds. They without prospicience want the largely impuissant (intellectually) public to permit without as much protest the dissemination of error and mendacity about the state of our nation. It is upon the patriotic academic gurus to make the public to begin appreciating the fact that when yesterday’s liberation fighters turn into today’s political henchmen who want to employ chicanery as a means to turning the country into ethnic conclaves; they (the public) must be ready to vigorously shake them back to reality. This is the price we have to pay to regain the high standards of truth and democracy upon which our great nation was founded. We must unreservedly say time and again that “never shall we allow Kenya to become a hotbed of political insanity. TOME FRANCIS, BUMULA. http://twitter.com/tomefrancis