Editors Note:

“During the four and half decades of our country’s independence, Wajir South Constituency realized no significant developmental objectives worth observations or mention. The general reasons attributed for this state of affairs are due to the remoteness of the area from Nairobi, the national capital, the arid and harsh environmental conditions prevalent there, coupled with poor communication and bad road network. General central government marginalization of the constituency has combined with alternating severe weather patterns that took a toll on the people and their livestock; their main source of lively hood.”
(General Farah, Candidate for South Wajir’s parliamentary seat, 2007)

As part of our commitment to highlight positive developments and new political realities with which Somalis are engaged wherever they are, we bring you the candidacy of General Ahmed Sheikh Farah.  General Farah is a decorated commander in the Kenyan national army, an educator and a keen reader of his community’s aspirations. WardheerNews enthusiastically endorses the candidacy of Major General Ahmed Sh. Farah for the Kenyan Parliament.

Given the high quality of Somali candidates and the political environment (free and fair) in which they are poised to run, a new democratic political realty is seemingly ushered for Kenyan Somalis.  Unlike Ethiopian Somalis, where inferior candidates are handpicked by the ruling Tigrian dominated EPRDF, and where elections are nothing more than nominal process, Kenyan Somalis are reaping the fruits of a major democracy.  And for that, we wish them well and we urge the community to elect these qualified candidates. 

General Farah is an exceptional candidate and needs the support of all good citizens hungry for change.


I  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

My vision for Wajir South people in aspiring to be their next member of parliament is to enable them to be an economically strong and prosperous constituents who are united and cohesive society in which all have an opportunity to realize their potential in a secure environment. During the reign of the Kenyatta and Moi regimes the area was marginalized because  of  the prevailing bad security, remoteness from the seat of the government, the arid and harsh weather conditions and the poor local political leadership and representation. Since 1992, when Kenya’s democratization process began, the emergency rule in force in the area was lifted, the security improved as banditry ended, yet the poverty levels increased. The economic advancement of any people will only take place in a secure environment. In the security field a special regional police force, reformed and retrained to win the hearts and minds of the people, needs to be established. The police also need to be efficient, neutral, corruption free and accountable to the community they serve.

The crime information and intelligence system should be integrated to include all key agencies dealing with internal security. The judiciary should harmonize its operations with those of the regional police and prison service to ensure an effective legal service to the residents. To deal with our porous border an effective border control unit need to be established to man our border with Somalia. Combine this with a people’s friendly administrative service and the security state of the area not only improves but that the residents’ attitude towards the government changes for the better and that their sense of belonging and commitment to the nation improves.

 In the political arena, the constituents’ democratization process lags behind that of the rest of the country due to the entrenched clanism. This growing ethnicization of the areas politics threatens to destabilize the political stability of the constituency. The recent inter-clan unity marshaled by the leaders to acquire the district is likely to be reversed as we head towards the December 2007 general elections. Political competition will tend to shift focus towards clan competition rather than democratic principles with issues as center stage. This scenario is complicated by the fact that the nation’s constitution still contains provisions that are inconsistent with multi-party dispensation. The array of political parties have yet to penetrate the grassroots to ensure ownership and legitimacy. Consequently the residents voting in the national elections will  mainly be influenced by individual candidates rather than the competing political parties.

The constituency economic strategy requires an able, informed and focused parliamentary representative to harmonize and incorporate the area economic objectives in the national 2030 vision. Despite the existence of this national economic vision, Wajir South Constituency will not automatically gain from it because of the subsequent political competition from the eleven districts grouped under Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL).

Policy formulation, enactment of relevant legal framework and parliamentary, ministerial and executive lobbying will be essential for the benefit of the electorate. The area economic strategy should encompass human capital investment and adoption of appropriate technology, investment in research and development and the rehabilitation of the physical infrastructure. The core area economic sectors of growth are livestock and animal bye-products as well as promotion of small scale subsistence farming.

With regard to food security for the area, the focus should be on availability, access and affordability and Livestock  production, the bedrock of achieving this goal. Nevertheless the sector is faced with various impediments like policy inconsistencies, overdependence on rainwater, lack of infrastructure, deterioration of existing ones, inadequate services, marketing constraints and lack of credit finance. The strategy for food security should also address Early Warning System from approaching sever weather, establishment of provincial food security audit as well as establishment of special North Eastern Provincial Water Board and codification of explicit and specific famine prevention strategies.

To implement the above strategic plans, we country has to strive to improve its capacity to mobilize resources locally. Naturally, because in the short and medium terms funding from external sources is still required, the government should improve its macro-economic management in order to access donor funds and attract foreign investments. Special marketing of the ASAL area potential should be pursued through our foreign missions abroad especially in the untapped Middle East and Asia regions to attract grants loans and private investment.

II. INTRODUCTION:

III  VISION:

To represent in Parliament the residents of Wajir south constituency so that they can realize their potential to enable them attain progress and prosperity in all spheres of development equitably and fairly. To change the political course of leadership, devoid of the past ills, and to eradicate the negative effects of clanism, favoritism and eliminate conflict, especially resource conflict among the residents. 

IV   MISSION:

To change the political leadership style of Wajir South Constituency through representing them in Kenya’s tenth parliament through the pursuit of mature, able, fair and good political considerations based on the people’s needs in order to enable them realize notable progress and prosperity through the improvement of their living conditions.
   
V. CONSTITUENCY SITUATION:

The review of the constituency state is designed to assist the local and national political leadership as well as the provincial and district levels of government to understand and appreciate the constituency resident’s aspirations to utilize their full potential to enable them achieve progress, prosperity and development in all area of their lives. To achieve this the following must be considered, appreciated and a solid strategy should be designed and harmonized to address all these issues.

1. Political Affairs
2. Economic Affairs
3. Security stability and Harmony of the People
4. Faith and psychology and ethics of the People
5. Geographic location of the Constituency
6.  Livelihood and potential of the People

1  POLITICAL AFFAIRS

For any people to prosper it is imperative that they are represented by a visionary and committed political leadership. In the Wajir South case, it is important to initiate change from the usual monotonous two clan contest with the resultant winner take it all. It is necessary to introduce mature politics based on issues rather than clan considerations. This need has even been made an urgent priority as result of the recent  upgrade of the constituency to district status. It is only then that the resident’s desires and aspirations can be taken care of and represented in the national political arena where currently the national constitutional review process is ongoing. This will eliminate the resident’s anxiety and uncertainties in the current national political evolution, because a new constitution document will determine how they are governed; especially with regard to their faith, culture, lifestyle, aspirations and living conditions.

2.  ECONOMICS

To improve the living standards of Wajir South Residents those planning the national economy, and its growth, have to understand the constituency, its location, the people, their potential and needs for adequate resource allocation. It is only through able and honest political leadership that the central government is assisted in targeting and marshalling the meager resources to the needy and priority areas, that the people will achieve notable economics growth. In particular the following sectors need to be addressed urgently and attended to adequately for resource allocation and project initiation.

1. Education
2. Lands’ Potential
3. Water resource
4. Livestock care and marketing
5. Communication
6. Infrastructure                                                                                                                                                                 

3.  SECURITY, STABILITY AND HARMONY 
  
The security needs of the public requires that a policy be formulated to enable the government perform its role to govern the citizenry in peace. This calls for the coordination and cooperation of the elected leaders and the executive arms of the government for effective peace that should be jealousy guarded against all threats. This obligation calls for the constant creation of awareness on the role of the government and the governed. Security peace mutual co-existence and harmony among the residents is essential to the advancement of the people. The constituency leadership must therefore remain focused on the maintenance of peace, stability, unity and clan harmony at all times
 

4.   FAITH PSYCHOLOGY AND ETHICS

The common faith of Islam of the residents and their rich cultural heritage should be understood by the administrative, security and judicial officials in the executive arm of the central government posted to the area. Community leaders and religious and non religious elders provide a wealth of experience to assist the government in upholding ethics. Naturally this automatically calls for the practice of fairness and honesty with due regard to the maintenance of law and order.

5. GEOGRAPHY AND LOCATION

Wajir South constituency, currently also known as the Wajir South District, located in the larger North Eastern Province is part of the larger Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASAL).The area has a dry and hot climate between September and April of each year and a bit cooler and windy climate in May, June, July and August. Rainy Seasons are between April and June- the long rains- and  between October and November- the short rains. In the last two or so decades adverse weather patterns have taken root causing ELNINO and LANINA phenomena in alternating cycles.
The people are nomadic and rear cattle, camels, goats and sheep.

The constituency has good grazing areas which is sometimes over-utilized during the dry seasons and water is the most treasured resource. The people are hardened, agile and resilient to the prevalent hardships, however this adverse weather patterns at times takes a big toll on them and their livelihood. Lack of proper planning and early warning mechanism has made the government to react to the people's plight rather belatedly. This phenomenon recurs at least twice in every decade and causes the ingredients of community resource conflict.

6.   LIVELYHOOD AND THE PEOPLE’S POTENTIAL

The residents livelihood is very much dependant upon their cattle, camels, goats and sheep. Therefore the abundance of their grazing land and adequate water supply for their animals is extremely essential to their well being .It is absolutely important for all leaders to focus on this issue in order to improve their economy. Naturally there are threats that will always undermine the well being of these nomads; which must be recognized and government policies put in place to reduce their effect.

VI  THREATS

The following issues are the threats that undermine the Wajir South Constituency resident’s peace, security and economic developments and which, if not addressed, will retard their prosperity .              

1. security
2. severe weather effects
3. ethnic and political rivalry
4. water scarcity
5. Somalia’s conflict
6. Government functional constraint.

1.    SECURITY

The general state of security is good except for occasional conflict flare  up over resources e.g grazing areas and water points in times of severe drought. Cattle rustling is in uncommon within the constituency, but occasionally occurs from outside the constituency internally or across the border with Somalia.

General banditry and proliferation of small arms also emanates from Somalia, which is currently unstable, however, fortunately there exists traditional methods of conflict resolution among the residents and with neighboring constituencies.

2.    SEVERE WEATHER EFFECTS:

Prolonged drought periods lasting sometimes a couple or so years followed by unusual      heavy rainfall  with resultant floods usually takes heavy toll on the people and their livestock. The effects of these phenomena are made worse by inadequate and late response by the government which results in reducing most residents to destitute and dependant on famine relief assistance from Government and NGO's. Consequently the gradual economic decline of the residents has translated into increased poverty levels in the area; currently 75% of the population live on less than a dollar a day,

3 . ETHINIC AND POITICAL RIVALRY

Since independence there existed clan and political rivalry, however, fortunately this rivalry has always been based on healthy political competition devoid of any political or inter clan violence. To avoid any ethnic or political animosity, the current calm situation prevalent in the constituency must be guarded jealously and the winner take it all syndrome and favoritism practiced by the winning clan which takes all gains must be changed and services and political developmental goodies must be distributed to all on equitable terms.

4.  WATER SCARCITY

the water available for use by residents is not adequate. The situation will create conflict as the people compete for the little available resources, thereby threatening peace and harmony in the area. The rain water evaporates at a higher rate than the precipitation rate and the available underground water is found at great depths at some places and can be saline. Although the government has created Northern Water Services Board, which is one of the seven boards nationally, in its effort to reform the water services sector, the board is ineffective due to the large area it covers. The government should create one special board for the North Eastern Province.

5.   SOMALIA’S INSTABILITY

The prevailing instability in Somalia poses a number of threat issues that will affect negatively the constituency residents life and development goals.
The spill over negative effects are:-

1. Proliferation of small arms
2. Cross border banditry
3. Influx of refugees
4. Smuggling of Goods

6.   GOVERNMENT FUNCTION CONSTRAINTS

The overall budgetary allocation for the National Public Order and Internal Security is only 8.5% of the total government expenditure. Up to 80 % of these allocations are normally spent on Personnel Emoluments. Only 20% is spent on both purchase of equipment as well as operational and maintenance costs. These figures are the nationally available resources and divide this by all the districts in Kenya and the small balance is what our district is allocated.  Consequently this led, over time, to the following:-

1. Shortage of manpower
2. Shortage of equipment
3. Inadequate police stations
4. Inadequate communication capability

VII    CONSTITUENCY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

1.     Political Strategy

The past ethnicisation of politics in the constituency posed a threat to destabilize peace and development and undermined the process to instill democratization principals and entrench democracy among the residents. This can be achieved through the pursuit of mature leadership in the political field. Once a member of parliament with these qualities is elected and the administrative and security agents develop the culture of neutrality and fairness in the dispensation of government services and all leaders cooperate and network to follow this strategy naturally the conditions for development and progress are created and can easily be built upon.

2.    INTERNAL SECURITY STARTEGY

The internal security situation in Wajir South constituency, now called Wajir South District, has been relatively calm and stable in the recent past despite the existence of major insecurity and crime in other parts of the Province and elsewhere in Kenya as well as the turmoil and violence in Somalia.To maintain this and even improve the prevailing stability this strategy suggests the following proposals. All aspects of internal security, apart from security intelligence, are the responsibility of the Kenya Police whose mission is to uphold the rule of law and apply it firmly and fairly without fear or favour. This will ensure the peaceful and secure co-existence amongst all communities in the constituency, with the Police acting professionally, compassionately and courteously while enforcing the Law and regulations.

The following actions are recommended:

 
3. ECONOMIC STRATEGY

The current economic mainstay of the people of Wajir South is Livestock farming and their economic growth is heavily dependent on the environment and the weather. There are no any currently known hydrocarbon or mineral deposit of any significant economic value even though oil explorations have taken place in the past. Hence the available  resources to concentrate on for maximization and utility to spur economic growth are as follows:-

1. Education: Human Capital is developed when the local people are exposed to modern education. As is evident in countries like Israel or Singapore, an educated and scientifically oriented people can create wealth using technology against all odds. To do this the government should develop special mobile nomadic education and post to the area trained locals or highly qualified  outside manpower.
   
2. Infrastructure: Infrastructure is a major impediment to the economic performance of the constituency residents. In its effort to advance the economic improvement of the Wajir South Constituents the focus of the Central Government should be on the infrastructure that supports the people. The immediate infruscture to be addressed is roads, which will involve both the rehabilitation of existing ones as well as upgrading the main ones. Other infrastructures to be addressed include telecommunication, aviation, water conservation and health facilities. Finally infrastructural development for Wajir South cannot be complete without livestock product industries i.e abattoirs and bye product industries like leather factory being developed.
   
3. Energy- The immediate installation of generators in Habaswein  for the supply of electrical energy to the District Headquarters is a priority. The capacity should initially cater for at least two industries up and above the resident needs. The core sectors that will drive the Economic growth of the area are ;-

1. Administration and security sector
2. Educational sector
3. Infrastructure sector
4. Energy sector
5. Agricultural sector
6. L livestock development sector
7. Manufacturing sector
8. Service sector.

III.  STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION:

X   CONCLUSION:

This strategy remains compelling in the life of the people of Wajir South Constituency principally because they expect from their leaders a vision of where they want to be taken and how to get there. Good governance and visionary leadership will therefore be crucial to the realization of the anticipated goals. The government under the present circumstances has already upgraded the constituency to District status in order to bring better services closer to the residents. The people of Wajir south deserve to have able, mature, focused leadership with vision to elevate their quality of life. To achieve the vision I intend, if elected, to address the security stability, development, progress and prosperity of Wajir South constituents, through pursuit of political, economic, security, social and environmental matters in this strategy in parliament and with the National leadership.

This strategy identified impediments to the achievement of my vision, the available resources at the disposal of the government and set policies and strategies needed to attain the set goals. It is important to note that even though all the set goals may not be implementable in the next five years priorities and choices will be deduced from this strategy in order to initiate the process. In this regard priority ones (short term projects) in all sectors have to be complimentary and relate through linkages with synergetic effects to trigger growth. As we approach the elections of December 2007 and as we embark on the way forward, the people of Wajir South have to make sacrifices. They must choose to elect to parliament the leader able enough to offer them good vision, finally I advice them to forge unity discard clanism and vote wisely. I urge them to vote for me.

Major General (Rtd) Ahmed Sheikh Farah
Aspirant Member of Parliament
For Wajir South Constituency                

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