Digital Communication Strategist Pauline Njoroge /HANDOUT
Digital strategist Pauline Njoroge has come to the defence of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, saying his controversial remarks linking affordable housing to chicken rearing in Western Kenya were misunderstood and taken out of context.
Njoroge said critics had focused on Sifuna's reference to chickens while overlooking the broader message about tailoring development to the needs of different communities.
The Nairobi senator had argued that Kenyans need better healthcare, education and other basic services before investing in large-scale housing projects.
However, President William Ruto took issue with Sifuna’s
remarks concerning the affordable housing project.
Ruto scathingly attacked opposition leaders, accusing them of lacking an agenda and warning that electing them would be "the biggest accident" to befall Kenya.
The President particularly aimed at Sifuna, who has opposed the affordable housing programme and sarcastically questioned the practicality of keeping chickens in high-rise affordable housing apartments.
However, according to Njoroge, Sifuna's remarks were meant to demonstrate that development should be planned around the realities of the people rather than applying a uniform approach across the country.
"Some people deliberately missed the point Edwin Sifuna was making on affordable housing in Western Kenya. His argument was about chickens in a contextual sense. Those fixated on the chicken missed the context. Those who understood the context understood the message," she said.
She argued that people should
understand that different regions have different social, economic and cultural
priorities.
"What works in the centre of Nairobi may not necessarily be the priority in a rural village in Kakamega, Busia, Vihiga, Bungoma or Trans Nzoia," she said.
Njoroge said many families in Western Kenya own land, build their own homes and depend on small-scale farming, including poultry keeping, for their livelihoods.
She added that development cannot be a "one-size-fits-all" model and urged leaders to invest in projects that respond to the specific needs of local communities.
"Their greatest concerns may be better roads to markets, water, affordable farm inputs, value addition, healthcare and jobs, not high-rise apartments. That was the point Sifuna was making," she said.
"Leadership is about listening to people and investing in what improves their lives, not imposing the same flagship project everywhere simply because it makes for a convenient political talking point, while the Kenyan worker is squeezed to the last coin to fund it."
Using a biblical analogy, Njoroge said Sifuna's remarks had been misinterpreted because critics focused on the literal reference rather than the intended message.
"Jesus often spoke in parables, but only the wise understood the message. In our case, the chicken was the parable. The message was about people-centred development," she said.
