I have a complicated relationship with the microphone.
As one of the poorest public speakers you are ever going to meet, I have long accepted that politics and elective office are not my thing.
On the few occasions that relatives and friends ambush me with the microphone at functions, with the line “say a few things”, I simply wave my hands and return to my cocoon.
Surprisingly, one of my greatest pastimes is watching speeches of great orators such as Martin Luther King Jr, Barack Obama and Malcolm X. I remind myself, often not too convincingly, that in another world, I would have spoken like that!
However, in all our circles, there are those who, sometimes at a relatively young age, are able to effortlessly master the courage to not only conquer the public speaking stage, but to go on and articulate common issues, enough to become leaders in their own right.
Since elective politics is about one person representing many others, there is always the quiet philosophy where those around us naturally say the things we may not be able to, or represent our aspirations, in their own way.
I know many people who will be running for office in the 2022 polls, but I’ll tell you about a few of the unsung heroes, who may not register on the political Richter scale for now but maybe the faces of the future.
The first one is Dr Kevin Dan Osuri, until recently the chairman of the Nyanza Branch of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union.
Over the years, unionists have tended to take to politics like fish to water, but this one is no ordinary unionist.
Osuri is a fearless, uncompromising and firm fighter for what is right. If you were looking for a lone buffalo to charge into and disrupt a pride of lions, he is the one you would call.
I have never met a better ground mobiliser and someone who turns challenges into opportunities with such ease.
Rumour has it that he is set to be the running mate for one of the leading contenders for governor in Siaya.
If, for instance, that candidate turns out to be Senator James Orengo, with huge responsibilities on the national presidential campaign platform, having a running mate with the pulse of the grassroots right on his stethoscope, would be a huge plus, because Osuri gets things done, the hard and the easy way.
He is also a brilliant man with a nose for negotiation where confrontation doesn’t stand a chance, as the doctors he has represented for years will tell you. I still wonder why he didn’t throw his hat into the ring of elective politics earlier.
But there are those who stepped onto the scene earlier and have been making waves already.
Like Nereah Amondi Oketch in Homa Bay. A nominated member of the Homa Bay county assembly, she contested the Miss President TV Show two years ago and emerged winner.
I have never met anyone with more passion for community empowerment. Oketch can don gum boots and overalls, put aside everything else and join village women in the shamba all day.
She is the lioness to whom leadership comes so naturally. She is also very articulate and very details-oriented.
Her exploits in the recent Bonchari by-elections, when mostly MCAs stepped in to campaign and protect the vote for the ODM candidate, point to steel and determination she carries into the political field, a very unforgiving arena where the weak whine as the strong march on.
She is running for Karachuonyo MP, and given her eye for detail and powerful legislative agenda, she would be one of the real iron ladies in the house.
Still in Homa Bay, I know someone running for the post of Woman Rep, namely Lavender Ojalla.
There are those who eat political ideology like breakfast cereals, and bring out the missing intellectual ingredient in it. I know Ojalla as one such person.
I have a feeling the next generation of politicians will be of this mould, when we finally retire from ethnic and regional calculations to ideology and manifestos.
When my friend Winnie Majani told me she was running for Vihiga Woman Rep, my first reaction was, “why not start small, from MCA?”
I clearly underestimated her resolve and resilience.
Like Oketch, Majani had been on the Miss President TV Show and had acquitted herself quite admirably.
Many Kenyans may have been seeing her for the first time, but those who know politics and advocacy will remember her work dating back years, with political action and community groups.
She has the unique daredevil attitude that makes for the best politicians, and the in-your-face approach to problem-solving.
If she becomes the future representative of Vihiga women, they will have in her a dependable ally who has your back, no matter the weather.
Across on the other side, in Athwana, Tigania West constituency in Meru, is Victor Mutuma, the serving MCA and Majority leader in the Meru County Assembly.
Someone I knew many years back in the conservation industry, it has been fulfilling watching him navigate the delicate interests around politics, the relationship between county assemblies and their executives, and speaking for MCAs across the country.
Still quite young, and defending the seat before probably gunning for a bigger dive in 2027, the transformation from a young shy conservation activist to a leading light in assembly politics is amazing.
But the youngest of “my cast” is Collins Kamol, running for MCA in West Seme, Kisumu county.
Initially the reluctant journeyman, Kamol falls bang within that category of professionals who debate long on whether to jump into politics, because it is never usually an occupation for clever people.
But the balding young man with a Phd is attempting to unseat an elderly incumbent, the quintessential dinosaur who goes into extinction kicking and panting.
I have watched the young man speak, and marvelled at the transformation, for in this field, especially going up against an old man, working the crowd and throwing in native proverbs count for so much.
In honesty, Kamol is the sort of persona that county assemblies need if they want to grow in the modern world; suave, educated and forward-looking. The people will decide though.
You too know friends and relatives, especially from the younger generation, who seek to effect change, not behind the keyboard like the rest of us, but by putting their names and reputations where their mouths and money already are.
I respect this ability to decide to go in and do something about the country’s future.
This diverse mix of characters gives me hope that the future is in good hands, and the more people we know and can vouch for put their names on the ballot, the more that change we sing about daily will come.
To “my cast” and all those who dare to dream, and who put their name on the ballot to be the change we desire, we celebrate you and wish you the best next year!