The governor astounded all and sundry by clinching the seat in a chauvinistic region as an independent candidate mainly because the frontrunner politicians split the votes and allowed a party-less candidate to slip through .
the tribe and run all the affairs of the group . Apparently , the men soon got tired of the capricious nature of the women rule and planned a revolution .
Their stratagem was simple but effective in that they conspired to all get their women pregnant at the same time and when the women were all heavy with child and partially incapacitated , the men took over reigns of authority and have not relinquished them since .
To support her case , the grandmother narrated another more recent story regarding the wiles of men and the deceit they continue to employ to keep the womenfolk out of power and in a subjugated position .
The story is of the celebrated kikuyu lady chieftain , Wangu wa Makeri , who achieved legendary status as the only female ruler during the colonial era but the men found her autocratic and authoritarian rule both intimidating and demeaning .
As in the earlier story , the men strategized on how to get rid of this ruthless ruler and the men knowing that she had no regard for cultural norms tricked her into engaging in an exclusive male warrior dance .
During the dance , her grass skirt fell leaving her nude and in the ensuing scandal that exploded by her crossing taboo lines forced her to resign . This was yet another story portraying the misogynistic tendencies of Kenyan men to women rule .
Those inclined to think that the ongoings in the narrated stories portray an extreme version of men aversion to female rule should review the recent drama that was unleashed on the female Meru governor in an effort to oust her .
Ochieng would also like to remind everyone that this is actually the second time that the combined effort of Meru men were attempting to expel her from her seat of power as they have predetermined , she does not deserve it .
The governor astounded all and sundry by clinching the seat in a chauvinistic region as an independent candidate mainly because the frontrunner politicians split the votes and allowed a party-less candidate to slip through .
To get a glimpse of the grossly bigoted stance that her accusers took , one just has to look at the raft of supposed misdemeanors that the lady committed that led to her getting impeached and her case referred to
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The governor astounded all and sundry by clinching the seat in a chauvinistic region as an independent candidate mainly because the frontrunner politicians split the votes and allowed a party-less candidate to slip through .
the senate for determination .
If misappropriation and misuse of county resources is ground to remove a governor then Ochieng is convinced that all Kenyan governors would be making a queue at the senate to answer to their individual cases of corruption .
A charge of nepotism and related unethical practices if upheld would have required most of the current governors to vacate office as the modus operandi in Kenyan politics including the national level is tribal , clannish and family oriented .
On the charge of bullying , vilification and diminishing other leaders one understands that a lot of male egos have been injured solely on the premise that they are receiving orders from a female and that alone galls many a man .
On the charge of illegal appointments and usurpation of statutory powers one only has to look at the national government to realize that the constitution is usually ignored and treated as a suggestion and flaunting its provisions is rampant .
The charges brought against the governor were frivolous and ridiculous in the Kenyan context and if the senate had entertained any of the charges in the manner presented it would have opened a pandora box of similar flippant impeachments .
To be fair , the attitude and demeanor of the embattled governor does not endear her to her assembly where she does not have ground support and perhaps that is why she has opted for a high-handed manner of operation to try and have a voice in the negative arena .
The sad truth is that the extreme posture taken by both sides will made it practically impossible to find a rapprochement since to the men it is clear they simply want the woman out and they are unwilling to compromise .
Since neither side is ready to yield , the midnight oil is being burnt not to ensure the development of the county but to find ways of sabotaging her and making her life a living misery . They are not about to let go of their obsession to oust her .
We might never get to know if she would have been an effective governor because her own county executive and legislature will not let her work as the men have ganged up to paralyze the government and paint her bad .
In the confusion of the never-ending din that is coming from the county , caused by deep-seated cultural biases , everyone has forgotten that she was democratically elected and given the mandate to deliver on her promises to the electorate .
If this exhibition of extremism seems misplaced and silly , Ochieng would like to draw a parallel to a similar but bigger drama that has been playing out on the international arena for decades in Palestine .
Ochieng would like to note that there is hardly another story in the world today that is as intricate as the Palestinian saga and one that evokes such extreme reactions from all parties involved in that endless drama .
What makes this story indeterminable is the fact that the point of reference is a holy book , the Old Testament in which the Israelites claim to be god ’ s chosen people which immediately begs the questions what failings the other people had to be left out .
The Jews trace their story to their patriarch Abraham who lived circa four thousand years ago but the relevant story begins according to their bible account of being led out of slavery in Egypt by Moses bound for the promised land in Palestine .
Interestingly , by their own account , the journey to Canaan was not a walk in the park and the Israelites fought their way to the promised land , apparently their god forgot to send a memo to the gods in charge of the region .
This minor oversight caused a forty-