By Ndiritu Muriithi

I first heard it in Kikuyu, spoken in Laikipia last weekend. And it translates roughly to “a political party is not River Jordan that on joining, your leprosy will be cured. The context is frustration that while no work is going on at County level, staff go unpaid for months and hospitals have no medicines, most of the top officials are out campaigning for the 2027 general elections.

It prompted me to take a closer look. No less than six County chief officers, including the ones for finance, administration, water, livestock, education and sports departments have so far declared interest in Member of Parliament seats. Three members of the country executive committee including the county secretary, are also on the campaign trail, seeking to be elected governor.

Questions abound. If no work is going on now, how can the citizens be sure that these officers will perform if elected?

The matter of non-performance featured prominently in a recent meeting between the assembly and the executive, where Members of County Assembly (MCAs) disputed many claims from the executive (as much as 70% of the projects by some accounts), of completed projects.

In Senate hearings, the county executive have been put on the spot for carrying 1.15 billion shillings in pending bills that lacked any supporting documentation or verification records. All this suggests a serious disconnect between budgets as approved by the County Assembly, and actual implementation – could money be finding its way into officers pockets?

Laikipia has the 4th highest proportion of wage bill in the annual budget, operating at roughly 55%—well above 35% legal threshold. There are serious payroll concerns, including unverified personnel records. Past and recent oversight reviews have flagged irregular allowances, procurement lapses, and non-adherence to standard public finance management guidelines. And as all this is happening, staff have not been paid for four months.

Senate oversight committees have cited the current county executive for prioritizing newer bills accrued by the current administration while neglecting historical vendor payments, some of which have been outstanding for over four years.

The Auditor General recently held a stakeholders meeting in Nanyuki, calling out these persistent bills as fiscal indiscipline. In response, the Laikipia County Executive stated that they have officially budgeted to clear these outstanding debts during the 2026/2027 financial year.

Audit and fiscal reviews show that the county’s payment delays have severely hit basic local supplies, directly affecting medical consumables and drugs: Unpaid debts to pharmaceutical and medical suppliers have left shortages in critical supplies to hospitals.

Outstanding service bills have left key hospital machinery and emergency equipment broken down and unmaintained. All this has left the critical health sector struggling.

When public servants take to partisan politics, it greatly undermines democracy. It also creates the possibility that officers could be siphoning from the budget (our taxes!), and using the same money to campaign to persuade us to elect them!

The account of leprosy and the River Jordan is told in 2 Kings 5:1-14. Naaman, the mighty and respected commander of the army of Aram (Syria), is healed of leprosy after grudgingly following the prophet Elisha’s simple command to wash himself in the river seven times.

Dipping seven times was not a medical formula. Rather it was a test of total obedience to God’s authority. It required humility and submission. River Jordan was muddy. Washing in it forced the proud commander to strip off his armor and royal status, symbolizing that spiritual cleansing requires stripping away ego.

In Luke 4:27, Jesus said “… there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

As Jesus read scripture in the synagogue, the local crowd initially praised him, expecting him to perform miracles for them just as he had done elsewhere, but Jesus directly challenged their sense of entitlement. The folks in Nazareth assumed that they had an automatic right to his blessings.

Jesus explains that there were countless people with leprosy inside Israel during Elisha’s time, but they lacked the faith or humility to seek God’s prophet. Naaman, despite his initial pride, ultimately obeyed. Jesus was warning his neighbors that closeness to holy things does not equal true faith.

The message by the Laikipia people is simple, clear and direct. Those who have failed in their current duties, taken or misused public money, cannot expect to hide in political parties!