No Kitale-Lodwar Road, No Oil: Even 'Small People' Must 'Eat'

A section of Kitale-Lodwar Road.

The rain pouring on many corners of Kenya has brought to the surface the pain experienced by many hardworking Kenyans, who despite their generous contribution to our national development, have remained at the peripheries of public engagement and thinking. Anyway, not voluntarily but as a result of our governance design and practice.

It is an experience that catapults the often-ignored unwritten edict that Kenya is not divided along ethnic lines but on the basis of whose pocket is heavy, and by extension, whose noises can attract the attention of Kenya's big men and women. It is a classic situation of who determines who gets what and when. Again, it is a case in point of how the so called small people navigate against these man-made currents and still succeed to lead their lives – at least for one extra day.

Take the case of Lodwar, the headquarters of and the largest (some people say, the most urbanized) town in Turkana County.

From the standpoint of a person who has always advocated for inclusivity (especially when it has to do with the poor and the unsupported), this place embodies what can be described as a ‘two-in-one’ syndrome. That is, a community seen from the outside as a victim of historical marginalization (allegedly) sponsored by national authorities but internally built on social cracks flowing from how (local) resource control and/or distribution is done. It is an image that has refused to disappear – even with the advent of devolution plus its billions.

I will demonstrate it here. Let no person mislead you about ‘unproductiveness’ of pastoralist women. Lodwar town, in particular, and Turkana County in general exist because there is something special. These places are built by the ingenuity, sacrifice and resilience of Turkana women. Women make it rain there. Lodwar's handicraft sector, for instance, is wholly under the belt of women. They make up about 85% of the town's petty traders. Though unrecognized, they are their families’ pillars. Yet with all these fruits women still patronize the ugly, dark rooms of our socio-economic edifice. The local powers-that-be seem to have their mission elsewhere.

And this is why I find it wise to remind them that they are off the tarmac. The sooner they take note of this the better.

These mamas want results. Results founded on the realization that for such a people to succeed, they need to be armed with information, skills, financial backing, infrastructure like markets, roads, water points, public toilets etc. 

Lodwar town is yet to get this largess. Remember this is where the fountains of power are located. Which provokes the question: what happens in the remotest of all places in Turkana? (Lodwar officialdom must provide answers through actions, not words).

Another level. There is this road connecting Turkana and the rest of Kenya. It runs from Kitale to Lokichoggio through Lodwar. Lately, it has attracted the eye of Nairobi’s power men. Of course, this change of heart has something to do with the discovery of oil at Lokichar basin in Turkana South Constituency.

What disturbs me vis-a-vis this road thing is the loud silence coming from Turkana’s political class. See this: the other day Energy Minister Mr Charles Keter was quoted by a reporter from one of Kenya’s major newspapers asserting that this road has been built and is ready for use (read ferrying oil). The truth of the matter is: the road to Hell is better than the said Turkana road. The Minister shamelessly and openly put on the table the economic discrimination that the people of Turkana have shouldered since independence.

There is a reason why such hollow ministerial (or high-level) utterances keep popping up. No politico from Turkana rose up to challenge these lies. The local leadership’s indifference tells everybody that the small people of Turkana, including its farsighted women who depend on this crucial road have no leader to stand with them. They are on their own!

That this road is important is not in doubt. It is what demonstrates whether Kenya remains true to her declarations on empowerment of women and the marginalized. By extension, it shows that our leaders are yet to pin together points that make a direct impact on women – and the society in general. That they still swim in that ideal world that dictates that empowering women is all about giving them soft loans and organizing expensive jigs.

No, I refuse. There is no real empowerment when these women have to spread their wares on dusty or flooded streets because they have no market stalls. There is no progress when these women have to risk their lives on bumpy, pot-holed roads!

To ensure that these women of Turkana get a slice of the national cake, Kitale-Lodwar-Lokichoggio road must be built before oil production commences. Else, a catastrophic meltdown will ensue.

This is not a war cry. It is a socio-economic declaration of a forsaken Kenyan population.

Twitter: @mlemukol