Put aside your differences and serve Mwananchi, wrangling Isiolo leaders told

Some Muslim clerics have implored Isiolo's elected leaders to tone down political temperatures and focus their energies on delivering on their promises to the electorate.

Led by Sheikh Mohammed Abdi Gure and Imam Jibril Sagar of Al-Faruq Mosque, the religious leaders said it was sad that the leaders were politicking nearly two years into office instead of working towards uplifting the lives of the residents, the majority of whom were wallowing in poverty.

The county has, in the recent past, hit the headlines over feuding between Governor Abdi Ibrahim Guyo and Senator Fatuma Dullo, which has roped in other leaders, including local MCAs, and spread to their supporters.

Sheikh Abdi said that having been elected to respective offices, the leaders should put aside their differences and unite in serving the Mwananchi, expressing fears that little or no development would be realised while they continue showing their political might.

"You all have a responsibility to ensure improved lives of the electorates and specifically the poor. God will punish you if you do not uphold the integrity and fulfil your mandate," he said.

He cited hunger, youth unemployment, poor road infrastructure and insecurity among the challenges facing the residents.

"Many of our people cannot afford three meals daily and when humanitarian aid is released, some rogue officers amongst the team tasked with the distribution divert it elsewhere," he noted.

Accompanied by the Mosque's committee secretary, Hajj Adan, local elder Jarso Halkano and youth leader Osman Shariff, the clerics also appealed to the security agencies to beef up security along Isiolo-Garbatulla and Isiolo-Merti roads following last week's killing of a Form Three student.

The St Paul's Kiwanjani Secondary student was shot dead while travelling home for a holiday in a bus in Babala.

Muslim faithful outside Al-Faruq Mosque in Isiolo town on April 5, 2024. (Photo: Waweru Wairimu)

Hajj said security should be beefed up within urban centres such as Isiolo town that are expected to receive an influx of students, currently at home for the holiday.

"The police should intensify operations to ensure the students who are expected to frequent the towns are safe during the holiday break," he appealed.

Osman hit out at the government over ongoing plans to deploy police officers to Haiti that he termed ill-advised at a time when the region and counties in the Rift Valley continued to grapple with the insecurity menace.

He said it was sad that the government was pumping billions into the Ministry of Interior but getting it wrong on dealing with the region's thorn in the flesh, which continued to hamper development.

"Calling criminals by all manner of names will not help to end banditry but changing the approach," he said.

Blaming the National Intelligence Service department for laxity, Osman wondered how criminals who raid homes and steal livestock are hardly arrested.

"There is an urgent need to end the senseless killings that have robbed families of their breadwinners, women of their husbands and children," Osman noted, adding that improved security in the region would spur development and lure investors.

The leaders also appealed to the Muslim faithful to show compassion to the needy as the Holy Month of Ramadan nearly comes to an end.

"Let us share with the needy and pray for others without ceasing," Imam Sagar appealed.