17/04/2026
As a member of the Coalition of Homa Bay Organizations on Governance Oversight,we joined fellow CSOs from Kisumu, Siaya, Kakamega, and Homa Bay Counties in an information session under the Tupigane Na Ufisadi (TUNU) project, convened by Tisa Kenya .
The session opened up a simple but necessary reflection:
What would it take for us to move from non issues in politics to focusing on real problems?
Across the discussions, one message came through clearly,if politics is to serve citizens, it must be anchored in issues, not identity.
Issue-based politics is straightforward in principle: leadership should be judged by what actually changes in people’s lives.
Whether jobs are created, whether hospitals function, whether schools deliver, and whether public resources are seen in real services on the ground.
But it also requires a shift in attention. When political conversations are shaped mainly by loyalty or identity, it becomes harder to ask basic questions about delivery, accountability, and value for public resources.Over time, expectations of leadership begin to shrink.
The reality, however, is not simple;
Political identity is deeply tied to history and belonging.
Economic pressure is real and for many, immediate needs take priority over long-term governance questions. Information is also uneven,making it harder to separate facts from narratives.
Even so, these realities should not define the standard we set for leadership.
The session emphasized practical steps that can be taken consistently: keeping conversations focused on issues rather than personalities, asking clear and direct questions in public forums, tracking whether promises translate into action, and creating spaces for open and honest community dialogue.
The question is not whether issue-based politics is possible.
The question is whether we are willing to practice it.
Because when politics begins to focus on real problems, it stops being about noise and starts producing real solutions.
TI-Kenya Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
