Have you seen your local Member of Parliament lately? If you have, it’s because the head of state was in town, perhaps you are among the elite, or a member of the political cronies in the nation’s capital. In many parts of the country, MPs are selected rather than elected. They get into office and disappear to the suburbs of Nairobi. They become inaccessible to the constituents they were supposed to represent and neglect the plight of their constituencies. Even more problematic is that in just a few short years into office, your local MP becomes extremely wealthy and arrogantly out of touch.
It is not just because the MPs earn exorbitant salaries or are generously compensated for worthless representation. They are adept at illegally siphoning public funds which were intended to develop and improve the livelihood of the people whose behalf they claim to champion. Instead, they construct mansions outside their constituencies, accumulate assets, and build tremendous wealth. They engage in an elaborate waste, fraud, and mismanagement of the Constituency Development Fund, best known as CDF. Monies intended for the development of the constituency often ends up in the pocket of your local MP or his cronies.
One such MP is Abdikadir Ore Ahmed, the do-nothing, say-nothing Member from Wajir West. While it saddens me wherever I see poor leadership and misuse of public funds, it pains me more when I see it happen in my own constituency.
In the last election cycle, the elders and the well-connected selected Mr. Ore to represent us. Well, he has been a complete failure to say the least. Like his predecessor, Mr. Ore never fails to disappoint. He failed not only to articulate a vision for the future of his constituency but also failed to produce any tangible improvement in the lives of his constituents. Even though he never indicated he is running for re-selection, he will more than likely come back to the constituency expecting he will be given the post on a silver platter.
Our local MP has taken his constituents for granted in the past and surely will take them for granted again. I am hoping that Mr. Ore and people of his ilk will have a rude awakening when they come to the constituency and find the voters unwilling to buy what they are selling. Voters this time around are armed with facts and figures. They are aware that every year millions of shillings are allocated through the CDF but to no one’s surprise, the money is at best wasted on white elephant projects or worst is embezzled through financial shenanigans.
If someone tells you to vote in again for the current MP at Wajir West, kindly tell them that he has no record to run on but a reckless mismanagement to run from. Tell him or her, thanks, but no thanks.
By Mohamed Aden
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