OKECH KENDO: Pokot won't hawk vote for a lie

The Pokot won't sell their vote for a lie – they want a proportional share of the national cake. They want to bake, and they want a seat on the national table.

This is a new consciousness for a community that has always lived on the fringes. But they are not alone. Other Kenyans should also demand accountability.

Kenyans, for a long time, have always sold their birthright for a song. Coins and lies have always blurred public sense of right and wrong. Choices can have devastating consequences courtesy of rigged consciences.

Poverty and low civic consciousness have been blamed for the missed opportunities. But the excuses don't explain infectious blunders during elections.

The vote sells cheaply at the altar of political mendacity. Every voting season has been a moment to lie, without as much as public reflection on the falsehoods of five years ago, and the thievery in between.

Everyone who has a vote – Communities, constituencies, counties, and Kenyans at large – should have a right to a new beginning: A transformative moment.

The Pokot are saying, let our 300,000 votes count. They want a bargain. They want contractual engagement with all presidential aspirants.

The Pokot want recognition as a community. They don't want to be bundled with the Kalenjin. They want an identity code that recognises their values and interests as the Pokot community.

The Pokot were 'Kalenjinised' during the Moi regime. Moi wanted a substantial home turf to augment his minority Turgen, a sub-tribe of the Kalenjin. This was about the time the Suba were told they weren't Luo.

An identity code is one of the many demands the Pokot will be tabling to presidential aspirants, who bait their vote. ODM leader Raila Odinga received the Pokot demands, last week, during Azimio La Umoja convention in West Pokot, through their spokesman, Governor John Longanyampuo.

The governor read the Pokot memorandum to an excited audience that recognises the 2022 election is a historical moment for them to stake a claim.

The Pokot want at least two of 21 Cabinet secretary and principal secretary positions. They want ambassadorial appointments for their people. The Pokot want a commensurate share of police, teachers, and military recruits for their people.

The Pokot also want 10 post-graduate government scholarships annually. They realise they have lagged behind as other communities advance in education.

The Pokot want two additional constituencies, two electoral wards, hospitals, infrastructure upgrades, schools, and better housing in their town – Kapenguria.

They also want a multibillion-shilling stadium to be named Kapenguria Six International Stadium. The landmark would be a memorial for freedom fighters Jomo Kenyatta, Paul Ngei, Achieng' Oneko, Bildad Kaggia, Fred Kubai and Kung'u Karumba.

The six were arrested in 1952 and jailed in Kapenguria during the Mau Mau war of independence.

They want the Kisii University campus in Kapenguria upgraded and named Kapenguria University of Agriculture and Technology. They want historical injustices redressed, and compensation for their victimisation and marginalisation across regimes.

The 4 million or so votes from the Agikuyu have always counted.  This may explain why Deputy President William Ruto makes hundreds, if not thousands, of trips to the Mt Kenya region. The DP claims he has not started campaigns: He is 'inspecting' government projects. He is also seeking feedback on the performance of the shared Jubilee or UhuRuto regime.  

It would seem central Kenya has a huge share of these projects. The DP visits these 'projects' with obsessive regularity. Really, but what about delegations hosted at the official residence of the DP in Karen? What 'development' projects are the visitors inspecting in Karen?

The Gema consortium is dangling 6 million votes for a partnership bargain in the succession election. They are demanding one-vote-one-shilling. They know the value of the vote; they have seen the value of the ballot. Every voter should demand the ballot.