In the last one month, Kisii woman representative Dorice Aburi has been a victim of public intolerance, a habit that must condemned.
First, it was at a function at Keroka where a section of the audience heckled her, forcing her to cut short her speech after being invited by President William Ruto to greet them.
A few days ago, a function she had organised where she intended to donate wheelchairs to physically challenged residents was interrupted by armed gangs.
The incident happened at Nyakeyo in South Mugirango. Hired goons armed with crude weapons stormed the venue and attacked guests and villagers, chasing them away. A journalist covering the event was also roughed up.
A few months ago, Ms Aburi again found herself on the receiving end when a funeral she attended, among other leaders, turned chaotic with her official car being stoned. It emerged that she was once again the target.
She blames her tribulations on fellow elected leaders who she claims to have fallen out with politically. The law enforcers owe the woman rep and the peace-loving members of the public an explanation on why Aburi has continued to be a target of such hostility.
Thuggery directed at any elected leader deserves condemnation from fellow leaders and also legal action by the law enforcers.
Whenever there is a case of political thuggery, police chiefs promise action but rarely do we see suspects being arraigned.
Just like in the past chaotic scenarios, the police have promised action against those who planned and executed the ugly incident at Nyakeyo.
Already a few suspects are said to have been apprehended but residents will only be satisfied once they are all arraigned together with the leader(s), if any, who financed the mayhem.
Political intolerance is bad but it is primitive when it is a woman leader being targeted.
It cannot be that goons who have made it impossible for the woman rep to carry out her functions peacefully do so without external help/coordination.
It’s against African culture for somebody to assemble members of the public and ferry them to the function of a fellow leader with instructions to stop the leader from addressing her electorate.
If anyone is displeased by the said leader, the best, civilised thing is to isolate her and wait for her on the ballot in the next elections.
Intolerance breeds separation, misunderstanding and even hostility among political groupings. Elected leaders who belong to different formations ought to respect each other and, if possible, create room to discuss any differences among them.
Gusii region leaders belong to either the Raila Odinga-led ODM or President Ruto’s UDA, competing formations that have now found a working arrangement in the based-based government.
It beats logic how ODM and UDA national leaders led by Raila Odinga and Dr Ruto manage to work together but their grassroots lieutenants keep playing tricks against each other.
The national comradeship between the President and the opposition leader must be replicated at the grassroots. Political intolerance discourages common critical focus on a community’s interests and must be discouraged. Democracy thrives when people respect each other.
Mr Omanga is a media practitioner. omanga4@gmail.com
