It amazes me that in this time and age,
tribalism still takes center stage in our nation. While Kim Jong Un is building
weapons of mass destruction and the Chinese are launching space ships to Mars
we are busy arguing over an issue as minute as tribe.
If you thought that tribalism is extinct, you
are as wrong as you will ever be. If anything, it is growing stronger and
fatter by the day.
Moi University is the latest target of this
barbaric trait that makes us so Kenyan. For over a week now, there have been
protests over the appointment of the acting Vice Chancellor, Mr. Laban Ayiro.
Being the cowards that we are, we can’t call it what
it is, so the good people of the Rift Valley have decided to go with ‘he was
not the most qualified candidate’ as the reason for the uproar.
I dare say a majority have no clue of the
criteria used to select V.C’s or the scores scored by each candidate. Whether
or not they know what a VC even does is a debatable issue.
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At the center of all this are some of the
region’s leaders! It is so sad that Governors and MPs could find nothing better
to do than to insight people to take to the streets. Are there no roads that
need to be built? Are there no hospitals and schools that need expansion? Are
there no unemployed youths in those counties?
One would think that all is sunshine and
rainbows but we all know the leaders could spend their time on more important
things!
As it is right now ‘our people’ mentality will
be the downfall of us all. It seems that tribe comes before competence of the individual.
From replacing sacked cabinet secretaries to electing our officials, tribe
seems to be key criteria. So I ask; competence or tribe?
Am sure that Prof. Laban Ayiro is qualified to
be Moi University’s VC. I will go as far as saying he is qualified to be the VC
of any university within and outside Kenya. However, the fact that he is not
‘our person’ makes him unqualified.
It is time we all grew up and realized that
tribe does not matter. It should not even be a factor. We ought to be after the
man’s/ woman’s ability to deliver.
Think of it this way, would you rather have a
quack doctor from your tribe or a real doctor from another tribe?
And to the leaders, higher learning remains
under the national government and they have no jurisdiction over who is appointed.
Their (governors’) role starts and ends with nursery schools! For God’s sake do
us all a favor and focus on more pressing issues!