The 13th parliament is the most diverse ever, including a record number of women. In Northern Kenya, where clan politics - a system that is entirely out of date, cumbersome and unbusinesslike method of running a whole region - is the order of the day in every election, quite a number of youthful leaders resisted the archaic model of politics and emerged winners in the recently held general election and many see this as an opportunity for the region to overcome some of the barbaric political cultures it has practiced since time immemorial.
Since the advent of devolution a decade ago, Northern Kenya has witnessed the emergence of huge numbers of clan-less, well informed young people who have a powerful desire for change and who could dramatically influence the region’s future.
Northern Kenya’s youthful leaders are burning with ambition and have a desire to see a better region, one that is free from hunger, diseases and droughts.
In an attempt to understand what the young parliamentarians from NEP are up to, I did a virtual one-on-one with Mandera South MP Abdul Haro.
Here are the excerpts…
Who is Abdul Ebrahim Haro (Kore)?
I was born in at the old town of Elwak, in Mandera South, Mandera County.
Kore is a Masters’ degree holder in Diplomacy and International conflicts Management.
As a candidate, I believe I was the most experienced in the politics of Mandera South than any of the Candidates in the 2022 parliamentary race. I’m also most focused in terms of ensuring there is equity and building of trust between all the stakeholders in Mandera South in its cosmopolitan nature.
The 2022 election was a special moment for me. Some twenty years ago (2002), I made my most serious attempt in contesting for the Mandera Central Parliamentary seat (now Mandera South). Hon Kore, as a candidate and now an MP, has cut an image of one who is not isolated from the people, who feels the pain of the common man and woman, and one who shares the dreams of his constituents and one who draws his strength and wisdom from the people he represents.
Twenty years, ago when I made my first debut, I was a young man in his early twenties, fresh from university and a political greenhorn. I touched the hearts of many but was not lucky to make it to Parliament because I was pitted against well experienced and resourced politicians at the time . Most of my supporters then were the youth and women, majority of whom had no IDs and votes by then.
The last twenty years have therefore been like a school for me, politically speaking. I must have learnt a lot during the period. In that period, I had seen 4 MPs ascend to power in Mandera South (Kerrow, Abdikadir Lawyer, Huka, Kullow) and had also witnessed all of them voted out at some point. I therefore believe that I learnt many lessons from their ascending to and descending from power; also learnt about the vision and development issues for Mandera south during this period. During that period, I have had the opportunity to work with international non-governmental organizations and acquired useful experience in leadership and development.
Simply put, the last twenty years I have been “studying” Mandera South Politics and it has taught me useful lessons about how leaders miss the point, how the citizen priorities are ignored and how bad politics have caused misery and bad life for the people.
I believe that integrity, courage, hope and people sensitive development are important ingredients of good leadership.
What is your plan for Mandera South? Having studied the constituency for the last twenty years, I know what is affecting Mandera South, the energy crisis (power blackout), water crisis, drought and livestock Matters, the economy especially those running small businesses, I have talked about the Elwak Market issues on several occasions and equally we have talked about matters of security, peace, coexistence and boundary disputes. We have also talked about youth joblessness, identity cards, bursary etc. I know my constituency well and know the problems of my people and we have concrete plans for Mandera South and I promise to narrow the problems of our constituency to three enemies… illiteracy, Poverty and hunger.
There is currently a devastating drought in your constituency in particular and Northern Kenya in general. What’s your take?
The drought is cyclic and we have tried short term fixes from time immemorial. While this has helped in the short term, we need long term solutions in terms of addressing issues/ policies that will create an enabling environment that will make it easy for our people to live with the drought situation. The drought will not go away. We need to prepare to live with it.
What are your plans and is there is any support for small businesses and start ups by the youngsters in your constituency?
Yes, this is an issue of priority for my constituency. Unfortunately, CDF does not cover this area directly but I will work with the County Government to push for workable programmes to realize this objective. My Governor has prioritized this in his election manifesto and we will push the county government to actualise this. We will also talk to friends and well wishers in the non governmental and private sector to invest in this area.
The world is flat and technological advancements have opened up places than never before. How do you plan to use technology to transform Mandera South?
The first priority for me is to make sure that all the areas in my constituency are not covered by electricity are covered and the mobile networks are fixed because without these many opportunities that are available online to many youth in other parts of the world will not be available to youths in my constituency and the region. We will then build the capacity of the youth through training and awareness programs to make use of technology to advance their socio economic well-being
The county government of Mandera has pledged to support and reduce the burden of doing business. Any contribution to this in relation to your constituency?
Yes, we will definitely contribute to this both in terms of encouraging and ensuring there is public participation and citizen engagement in the whole programme…we will support assessments and development of strategic plans to advance this course.
Mandera generally bearing the brunt of insecurity. As an MP for a border constituency, what’s your plans for handling insecurity in partnership with relevant stakeholders?
Indeed this is one area I will make sure I have cooperated with the relevant national government institutions as well as ensuring that security policies and guidelines are applied on a conflict sensitive manner as welll as ensuring that there is trust building between the security service providers and the security services consumers. I will make sure we address all security matters proactively with prevention in mind instead of reacting to incidences when they happen.
Mandera suffers from acute shortage of teachers and insecurity has contributed to the mass relocation of teachers. How are you going to handle this crisis as far as Mandera South is concerned?
The TSC policy of encouraging non local teachers to live Northeastern while at the same time using the region as recruitment ground for non local teachers is unfortunate to say the list…this must change and favorable policies developed to make sure education in the region is given equal attention like the other parts of the country for the country’s attaining universal education.
And finally: What is your association with the Hustler government, if any?
We have signed a post-election agreement with Kenya Kwanza therefore we are a key stakeholder in the Hustler government. We are happy to support the legislative agenda of the hustlers government. The bottom up policy which is the cardinal tenet of the hustler government is what we need in my constituency and the northeastern region.
