Picture yourself having a well-paying job that allows you to travel abroad every available chance. You have a young family, a few siblings to see through their studies and aging parents to take care of. Then with a twinkle of an eye, you lose your job. Reason? Elections.
It is the picture that Ben Omari had before the 2013 elections. He worked as a chef at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Kibaki, having finished his two constitutionally recommended terms, retired, and a new regime took over. The loss of jobs came without warning. Omari lost his job alongside a million others as new leaders installed people of their own in key positions.
“It’s better to have someone of your own up there. I am telling you the food I used to eat can’t be compared to anything…I went to Dubai, South Africa, so many countries,” Omari recalls as he cuts and weighs balls of dough at a small bakery in Flax, Uasin Gishu County.
Indeed, it is the true picture every election year, where people vote ‘their own’ not only in Uasin Gishu but also countrywide. It is the safe course of action. Sometimes it is coated with a promise such as being enlisted in the army, which is the common promise for the youths in this region.
The elections day approaches and these youths throng the polling station, not for a better society but for a better life for them as individuals. Their preferred person may win or not, but it does change a thing. They go back to their businesses, as the politicians suddenly become unreachable.
The county government employees often face a tough challenge. It is almost with certainty that a new governor will bring with him, new people. They have no choice but to side with the incumbent, for the security of their jobs. They even campaign for him or her.
A change of regime is a turbulent affair for many people. Because we’ve grown so individualistic, dividing ourselves even to the point of clans, we want something to identify with as our own – even the smallest thing. The reason for this trend is we’ve become a country that places personal interest above the public interest.
In the euphoria of elections, we become so blind that we cannot see simple facts. The repercussions will be felt, and the people who will be celebrating will be those who did not have one of their in office, telling people: we told you and you didn’t listen.
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