Residents of Nyamira County have been urged to choose leaders based on their tract record rather than by their party affiliation for the sake of progress.
Led by Prof Ondigi Abaya, Nyamira scholars said the county was lagging behind due to persistent choosing of leaders based on political loyalty rather than performance records.
They warned of a continued slow growth if residents continued with the trend while urging residents to look behind party lines when electing leaders.
“One thing that has made our region lag behind in development is the paradigm of believing in political partiers rather than individuals. If the residents continue adopting the same methodology, the county is likely to continue doing poorly,” Ondigi said.
According to them, democracy in many political parties in the country was questionable since the parties were unable to carry out free and fair elections at the grassroots hence picking a candidate based on his or her loyalty to the party rather than his credibility.
“Our party structures are still at infant stages and it’s difficult to hold free and fair nominations. The parties ends up nominating people with questionable character but due to the parties dominance in the region, the candidate is likely to win an election,” said Dr Stella Omari.
They further urged the county government to iron out persistent corruption issues by sacking officials implicated in a report tabled at the Nyamira County Assembly.