The Louis Otieno Road Show pitched in Kitui for its eleventh edition in the ongoing election debate series sponsored by the Media Focus on Africa Foundation with support from the UNDP Elections Assistance Programme and development partners.
The theme of the Kitui show was The Role of leaders in development. A panel drawn from the main political parties and civil society organisations were joined in this live television debate by residents from the region.

The audience identified the main aim of development as improving peoples’ livelihoods and ensuring that peoples’ needs were met. Leaders could support development where they were sensitive to people’s needs, were visionary in proposing solutions and had the courage to confront difficult challenges.
Leadership could not mediate effectively on development unless appropriate channels of communication were developed with the people who must be involved in decision-making.

It was felt that where there was a disconnect between leaders and the people, accountability was impaired which in turn, undermined people’s development.
While the responsibility of electing good leaders lay with the voters, the latter needed to sufficiently understand development processes in order to influence their leaders appropriately and hold them accountable.

The audience identified the use of cash handouts and food relief in past elections in Ukambani as among some of the reasons that undermined effective and accountable leadership. Where leaders felt little or no sense of accountability, they would not deliver.

There was unanimity that politicians had exploited the people’s vulnerability and poverty in the past to influence their vote. But there was recognition that voting on the basis of handouts was detrimental to the evolution of responsible and accountable leadership. Vote buying and other forms of influencing voters created a cadre of leaders far-removed from the people’s needs and aspirations.

Reliance on handouts also increased dependence and compromised people’s coping mechanisms. The emergence of good leaders would reduce such dependence by enhancing self-sufficiency and economic empowerment. This could for instance be achieved through linking farmers to researchers, supporting access to resilient seeds and increasing access to irrigation. These issues were identified as critical for the Ukambani region which is largely semi-arid and hence susceptible to crop failure.