Sifuna’s Chicken Analogy Was About People-Centred Development, Not Mockery, Says Pauline Njoroge
According to Njoroge, Sifuna was not mocking Western Kenya residents, as claimed by his opponents, but was making a case for differentiated development — a model that respects regional realities.
Digital strategist Pauline Njoroge. Photo: Courtesy.
By Robert Mutasi
ODM-allied digital strategist Pauline Njoroge has defended Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna over his now-viral remarks on affordable housing and chicken rearing, accusing his critics of engaging in deliberate distortion.
In a statement on Sunday, July 27, Njoroge said the political class and online commentators had chosen to isolate the word “chicken” from Sifuna’s argument to score cheap political points, instead of interrogating the core of what he was saying.
According to Njoroge, Sifuna was not mocking Western Kenya residents, as claimed by his opponents, but was making a case for differentiated development — a model that respects regional realities.
“Some people deliberately missed the point Edwin Sifuna was making on affordable housing in Western Kenya. His argument was about chickens in a contextual sense. Those fixated on the chicken missed the context. Those who understood the context understood the message,” she said.
The controversy began after Sifuna questioned the logic of pushing high-rise affordable housing units in rural parts of Western Kenya, where land ownership is relatively high and livelihoods revolve around smallholder farming, including poultry keeping. He sarcastically asked how residents would rear chickens in apartments.
President William Ruto seized on the remarks, accusing the opposition of having no agenda and terming their possible election as “the biggest accident” Kenya could face. Ruto has been a fierce defender of his affordable housing program, which is funded through a mandatory housing levy.
But Njoroge insists the Senator’s underlying argument was valid and timely.
She noted that for many families in Kakamega, Busia, Bungoma, Vihiga and Trans Nzoia, the pressing needs are not flats in the sky, but feeder roads to markets, clean water, subsidized fertilizer, healthcare, quality education and jobs for their youth.
“What works in the centre of Nairobi may not necessarily be the priority in a rural village in Western. Their greatest concerns may be better roads to markets, water, affordable farm inputs, value addition, healthcare and jobs, not high-rise apartments. That was the point Sifuna was making,” Njoroge explained.
She argued that many households in the region already own land and have built their own homes. Their economic survival is tied to farming. Imposing a single national blueprint, she warned, ignores these lived realities.
“Leadership is about listening to people and investing in what improves their lives, not imposing the same flagship project everywhere simply because it makes for a convenient political talking point, while the Kenyan worker is squeezed to the last coin to fund it,” she added.
To drive her point home, Njoroge likened Sifuna’s analogy to a parable.
“Jesus often spoke in parables, but only the wise understood the message. In our case, the chicken was the parable. The message was about people-centred development,” she said.
The debate underscores a widening national conversation on whether Kenya’s development agenda should be uniform or devolved to reflect local priorities, especially as Kenyans continue to feel the pinch of statutory deductions.
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