By Odiwuor Alala
Raila Odinga left us with a monumental, unshakeable legacy: devolution deeply entrenched in our land. He fought to ensure power and resources flowed down to the grassroots, and that is a victory no one can ever take away from the people of Luo Nyanza.
However, with that constitutional foundation secured, our battle line as a community has shifted. The ultimate salvation for Luo Nyanza will not come through political rhetoric or patronage. It will come from our resolve at the ballot box to elect policy-oriented and development-focused leaders, particularly in the governor’s seat.
Look around as campaign seasons heat up. I shudder at the staggering amounts of money being peddled across our towns and villages—buying voters, purchasing instant loyalty, and treating the public’s trust like a commodity in an open market.
We must pause and ask ourselves a hard truth: when has leadership bought with cash ever truly served the people?
When an aspirant spends millions buying votes, they are not serving a calling—they are making a business investment. Once in office, their primary goal will never be fixing our county hospitals, building feeder roads, or creating jobs for our youth. Their priority will always be recovering their spent capital with interest. Leadership gained through money seldom, if ever, serves the electorate.
Devolution pours billions of shillings directly into Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, and Migori every financial year. The office of the governor is the ultimate executive engine of regional transformation. If we hand that engine over to money-wielding merchants of transactional politics, our counties will remain locked in stagnation.
It is our solemn duty as voters to break this cycle:
- Reject the Cash-Wielders: Refuse to let our dignity, healthcare, and infrastructure be bought for a few thousand shillings at a political rally.
- Demand Clear Policies: Ask every gubernatorial candidate for a concrete manifesto. What is their actionable plan for agricultural processing, youth employment, water provision, and trade?
- Focus on Executive Merit: A governor is essentially the CEO of a county budget running into billions. We need managers, policy strategists, and visionaries—not deep-pocketed political merchants.
The devolution legacy given to us is a powerful tool for economic emancipation, but a tool is only as effective as the hands that hold it. Let us safeguard the future of Luo Nyanza by saying a firm NO to transactional politics and electing leaders of policy, integrity, and development.
