STOP IT! MARGINALIZATION IS A TOOL OF MASS CONTROL

I must admit this. For long I have been a big believer - and trumpeter-in-chief of marginalization talk. I have always stood by those who mentioned marginalization as the chief culprit and central reason for the inequality and development disparities in Kenya as embodied in the sad state of affairs in northern Kenya.

Over time I learned to train my mind to accept that poverty up there must have been caused by some external forces, both in Kenya and outside Kenya. The locals, politicos and the elite, through this perspective, had no fault.

From this angle, I saw them as victims of 'marginalization as espoused and implemented by people from outside the region with motives to enrich themselves and run away to their mother lands'.

While it is difficult to dispute this, I find it hard to cling to it for one simple reason. All this talk is mere escapism. It is a tool of mass control. It is meant to keep the locals - majority of whom are illiterate - glued and pointing fingers to Nairobi (National Government) as their sons and daughters eat and dance and spit on the hungry, poor mass.

It is a one-sided philosophy for the propertied, the powerful, the moneyed, and the schooled. It is wholly founded on oppression and plunder. Nothing more. Let's look at it.

A March 2014 report on the Audit of U.S. African Development Activities (USADF) in Turkana County lays bare the complex web of looting and thievery in the corridors of Non Governmental Organizations (N.G.Os) operating in northern Kenya.

The report lists several loopholes through which donor funds are fleeced and/or lost: 1) projects made limited progress towards targets, 2) poor follow-up of development policies, 3) inaccurate reporting and unreliable performance results, 4) under-performing projects, 5) lack of measures to vet and manage contractors adequately, and 6) failure to capitalize on host communities' strong economic points.  

N.G.Os cannot - at least to the best of my knowledge - be wholly faulted for this. The monster eating my people is down there roaming and laughing and dancing. It is not the donors whose only link to the crying mass is the images of emaciated and dying children they see on televisions. 

Wait; let me show you how this one comes about. Humanitarian Enterprise - not aid - comes in three layers. Placed at the top are donors (foreign governments, individuals, organizations, agencies). The second in line is a bunch of grantees. Their role is to identify projects, draw working plans and establish links with local communities or target groups, and source for funds. At the bottom of the eating chain is a team of local elites, sub-contracted agents, and all those pot-bellied chaps you see being chauffeured in fuel-guzzlers.

The deciding power in this three-layered pyramid is embodied in the workings of those we refer to as sons and daughters of the land. They determine who gets what and when. In the eyes of the gullible, ill-informed communities, they are symbols of hope. In the hearts and minds of grantees, they are just but comrades-in-eating. It is simple; they are complicit in all malaise you see out there.

Regrettably, some of them now call the shots and move around town masquerading as leaders. They keep on shaping public discourse on matters development. Theirs is a classic case of robbers-at-home speaking the language of a Pope.

Which makes one wonder; if those at home can’t get it right, who will uplift the people? Are my people cursed?

A quick look: Not all talk about marginalization is legitimate. Not all disease, hunger, anger, school drop-outs should be blamed on some external spirits. The role of restoring the dignity of this hitherto locked population rests with those from the region.

This is not to claim that the government of Kenya is as clean as cotton. It has its own faults. But we cannot stick to this mindset forever. We must think outside the box.

The bitter truth is: we cannot dwell on blame-shifting, looting, underhand maneuvers and short-changing the people for fifty years and expect progressive change. We must first conquer – and discard for good - marginalization of the mind for tangible results to trickle down and be felt by all.

The writer is an Architect. Twitter: @mlemukol.  Email: lemoseh89@gmail.com .