By Salwa Mahmoud
Leadership is about choices. Every budget, every project, every decision reflects what leaders value most. In Lamu County, those choices have exposed a bitter truth. Our leaders value prestige and showmanship more than the well-being of the people.
The recent nurses’ strike says it all. For over a week, our health system has been paralyzed because nurses, the backbone of healthcare, have gone unpaid for three months. Patients are left unattended, mothers suffer without care, and lives hang in the balance. Yet, in the face of this crisis, what did our county government choose to prioritize? Lavish festivals.
While patients groan in pain in understaffed hospitals, the county spent millions to stage colorful events with little to no lasting impact. While nurses demand their rightful pay, leaders parade on festival stages, drinking, dancing, and congratulating themselves. As nurses are on the streets crying saying “PUNDA WAMECHOKA” they are busy on stages screaming, “Ni RAHA SI RAHA?” The message is clear: image is more important than lives, celebrations are more important than service, and prestige is more important than justice.
This is the bitter truth of Lamu today. Our leaders have misplaced their priorities so badly that saving lives comes second to entertainment. They would rather fund tents, sound systems, and photo sessions than pay the very people keeping the health system alive. It is a betrayal so deep that it cuts into the very soul of the community.
The people of Lamu are not asking for luxury. We are not asking for festivals, roadshows, or endless ceremonies. We are asking for the basics: medicine in our hospitals, salaries for our nurses, jobs for our youth, clean water for our villages, and dignity for our people. But until our leaders learn to put people before prestige, suffering will remain our daily reality.
We are tired. We are bitter. And we demand better.
