Vihiga County
is probably home to the laziest and empty headed individuals who have lost
sense of vision and foresight. It houses petty hecklers and rampant gossipers
who spend better days gossiping and talking and not doing anything
constructive. The county houses perfectionist by lip-service and professionals
by that hearty rebuke and counter remark. In short, Vihiga is home to the
contractors of castles in the air.
Out of the
180,112 pupils who join primary school, only 36, 413 get to high school. That’s
only 20% of the total primary enrolment! Finally, 12.7% get to finish their
secondary education. That is totally incredulous! It shows a total ramshackle
in the literary world, it clearly inundates a society that has totally
forgotten all about the fundamentals of education and above all does not appreciate
the education system at all! A county that has more teachers than any other
specialist espouses a county that drinks water and serves wine. What is the
essence of producing teachers when there is no one to be taught? The lack of
interest in education has failed to tether youth who resort to illicit brew,
drug abuse, early pregnancy, early marriages, broken marriages, surge in
population, poor family planning and management, livestock and crop theft and
rampant muggings and robbery with violence which are rampant in this region.
Above all this has contributed to high poverty levels a precursor to
overdependence on leaders who of course,
instead of condemning and addressing such issues, have from time immemorial
tried to promise heroism.
The problem
that stem from poor education system can never be solved by the leaders that
be, but by concerted efforts of the community. This carnage can only be put to
a stop if the residents of this county wake up from there deep slumber. There
is no way Mudavadi son of Mudamba will offer a solution to this problems when,
if, he becomes a president reason being, he will have a state to look after. If
he failed to do it while an MP, will he do it when he has a state ahead of him?
Vihiga lies
on goldmine which the residents have refused to harness. The sufficient amount
of rains received in this region could be that tip of the iceberg of bigger
things to come. Could be a stepping stone towards growth but no one seems to
notice. We have so many ideologues in this county who have only put their minds
to work and have their own hands off in tackling issues. They talk about how
something is to be done and negotiate even the tiniest details yet when it
comes to implementation; the project grows cold. That is the cripple in this
county.
Agriculture
was and still is the backbone of the most advanced economies in the world.
Africa as much as she struggles to get to the top of everything, using the
modern and advanced technology, she should understand that, devoid improvement
in the food production sector, there would be no development. A greater
percentage of Kenyan agricultural produce relies on rain-fed production where
rain fundamentally replenishes the soil. Vihiga receives much of the rain and
has two rain seasons that highlights the country’s seasons; the long rain and
short rain season. These rain seasons have more or less been ridicule and a
comedy since they more or less produce less and less produce as the years go.
The rains are underutilized and misused. Instead of this rains being a key
ingredients in agricultural prowess; they have become a tool of agricultural
degradation with much of the top layer being washed away to Egypt. What remain are
useless soils with no nutrients. Thereafter, the residents will try as much as
they can to work at production which thence yields weaklings and unhealthy and insufficient
crop. To add insult to injury, much of the able-bodied population is redundant
waiting for gainful employment or struggling in the city with underpaid jobs
that leaves them struggling to make ends meet.
With surging
population density, one will expect much of the land being subdivided into
units. That is the exact picture; this leaves the county looking like a small slum
village with surging population. What has been left of the land are patches of
brown infertile soils that is slowly being washed away with rain and poor and
uninformed use of fertilizers. It hurts to see someone use tea fertilizer for
planting maize and beans. What is more devastating is, the generous use of the
fertilizer in belief that, the more the fertilizer, the better the produce. In
short Vihiga has failed to nurture her resources for sustainable growth.
In Vihiga,
you stay isolated and malooned in islands of moving heads, fetish smiles and
humble hi’s with verbose dialogues that more than engross you in jaw breaking
laughter, you stand alone in times of disaster and hard work. As an Ideologue
who promises hard work you are looked at with contempt. But as a promising
leader, who dish out kafifty over cup of tea you are adored and people love
your lopsided street talks. It more than beats you what this people regard as a
beautiful life. Vihiga is the promised Canaan where manna and water flows. What
beats one out of wits is the dependency ratio and poverty levels.
You wonder
how a county so beautiful would sire such figures and still brandish high
numbers of population growth. You are taken aback at how rumours spread and a
helping hand is quickly withdrawn. You are left with mouth wide open when you
observe how the downfall of a man is laughed at and sneered in street chat and
how quick they dismiss a hardworking progressive chap. When one is seen to be
making progress either in business or their career the people will work at how
they would pull him/her down. Talk of witchcraft, conniving etc, every body in
this county will try their level best to pull you down. An investor would
receive more clients and customer than that local guy. An outsider would
receive a helping hand than a neighbor. The products of someone from outside
always are of greater quality and quantity than that brother of the county who
is trying to ache a living. In short there is enemity of progress deeply
embedded in jealous of the countisidents of Vihiga.
The county
has four constituencies; Emuhaya, Sabatia, Vihiga and Hamisi, if you asked me
if I have ever seen any of the leaders of this counties working together or
meeting together as leaders from the same region, I would look at you in a
manner that suggests a slap if you were near. Let me be no quick to judge, the
county government is 4 months shy to its implementation, nevertheless, it could
have done no harm if this leaders could have harmonized their shared problems
to work in unity. It could have built not only a sense of national unity but
also steered the county economically. Since there are shared economic
interests! What we see is a nutshell of each leader trying to particularly
distance him/herself from the other leader as is there is a rivalry. I guess
this has contributed so much to the debacle the county is in.
Vihiga is an
otherwise fertile ground for progress. What is only needed is the cultivation
of unity between the different families that so inhabit the county. Unity would
cultivate peace love and harmony. This unity would also table the common
problems that face the county and demand action from the county leaders for
action. What has been experienced in the county in the past where a large chunk
of money allocated for development is either returned to the central government
or ends up in peoples pockets must be stopped by the hungry community that
needs to see action, a community that needs to see its projects being done and
newer projects which gives birth to revenue and employment are being
inculcated.
Secondly,
the county should be steadfast in boosting school attendance. Their must be a
board of dedicated members who ensure that students and pupils attend school.
The government provides a lot of money that goes down the drain as able
students from poor families fail to reach or go secondary school. What In most
occasions has been observed is the money, from CDF and bursary only end up
paying fees for able parents while majority of poor families children languish
in tilling land to support the family. It is so unfair! A society is built
around individuals and if one makes a stride; all in that society have made
strides. Therefore as we keep young minds out of school due to our greed and
selfishness we tether our society in the dark ages of poverty and
deterioration. The only way we can, and could build the Vihiga fraternity is by
not looking at the individual and what they would gain, but at the image they
will bring to the society when successful they become. We have to build a
tendency of loving seeing a neighbours child make a stride and embrace the fact
that that stride was made by our very own. We should share successes and feel
proud of being part of that success story and not look in the sidelines only
waiting for that opportune moment to celebrate when the moment beckons.
Again, the
leaders should not be whistling thorns in the paths of the disintegrating
society. They should be a leader who hails leading a society which slowly shows
a progress as days pass. I don not understand how a leader would campaign and
talk of development year in year out yet every time statistics are carried the
society he so rules tails at the bottom. The four leaders who are voted in
should be ashamed of themselves! They are the real retrogressors, they are the
colonial masters who rejoice in a primitive society to conquer. They like it
that way because an enlightened society will demand what rightfully belongs to
them. The Vihiga society must rise against such buffoons and vote leaders who
have the interest of the community at heart. It is really a shame for society
to take only less than twenty students to institutions of higher learning!
It is that
point in time that Vihiga county woke up from the deep slumber and planted
herself on this country’s map where it rightfully belongs. We can have a county
that is sustainable and self progressive only if we heed to that call of we are
WE and WE shall overcome the forces ME and implant the spirit of “KUNYI” (we)
for KUNYI and only KUNYI have the ability to PROSPER. A divided county is just
but a quagmire of hopelessness and self shame; a rinderpest to its nation.
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