“Your Friendly Neighbourhood Association” says the notice board extolling it’s virtues and appealing to your wallet for contributions. I am only at the gate and already I have a problem. When you feel the need to convince me you are friendly, I worry.
It is here that wannabe dictators come to roost when they can’t control the party or the government.
Here that the term democratic dictatorship gets a mild airing and we define this oxymoron usually associated with countries – like China and Turkey no less.
My neighbourhood association has been a pain in my ass for a few years now. It has seen several committees and a minority of 64 subscribed residences in a neighbourhood of 224 households.
In a recent push for uniformity someone produced house numbers and tried to convince all residents to pay Shs 800 each and claim theirs. It was a nice idea but, no one was asked if they wanted them. There was some crowing and back slapping about what a wonderful initiative this was. And some 50 houses dobbed up.
3 months later after comments complaining ‘how ungrateful’ we are, we were WhatsApp’d to collect the remaining numbers for free and plant them ourselves. So there! Those that weren’t collected (some 100, including mine) were returned to the manufacturer. I would not be bullied into conforming and didn’t want to part of the herd anyway.
A new committee decided that it was time to repave the neighbourhood roads as the County had not been anywhere near, for over 30 years. Our County like so many has abdicated its obligations to the taxpayer, so our Association decides to take over, despite residents presumably having paid taxes, rates, duties, levies etc…. a familiar rant.
A sub committee produced complex spreadsheets detailing contributions each house must make and once again there are songs of praise – “what a wonderful initiative this is…”
Well of course that went down like a lead balloon. While some paid, others began to berate, demean and bully residents. Almost an organised attack, “Those that cannot pay small contributions like this should go and live in Mathare!!!” Wow!
To date less than 20% of the roads are repaved and members are exiting the WhatsApp groups as the non compliant are being treated like pariahs and tagged as troublesome.
Why must we be compelled by our association to encourage the County Government to further abdicate it duties?
Neighbourhood Associations came in to being as a unified voice for taxpayers to hold County leadership accountable. Now both are failing residents.
Which is worse? A County that provides no services despite all the tax and levy collections, or an Association that harasses and berates residents for not accepting double taxation.
Private gated communities ‘buy in’ to the concept where the County has little or no say. However, in a ‘public’ neighbourhood where less that 30% of households are ‘members’ of a voluntary Neighbourhood Association, we often see examples of a ‘democratic dictatorship’ where a few decide/vote for the perceived greater good of the community (‘the people’) while ignoring or trampling the rights of the individual. Yet in most cases they have no legal mandate.
It should be about winning hearts and minds. Instead it’s a pulpit where the committee can chest thump and have an oompah fan club to dictate policy and bully or shame the weaker into compliance, the original Association concept having been ditched altogether.
Paid up members are expected to comply and agree with everything or face vilification by the ‘club’ that comprises the committee members.
And it does get ugly. Publicly shaming households (on that same friendly noticeboard!) that have not paid up for road and other vanity project contributions, an action which is probably illegal anyway. Protests fall on deaf ears.
I may not pay up just to have my house number on the board! Proudly!
This whole concept is just too Orwellian for me especially when laws and bye-laws are bent or ignored for convenience of a few “special” individuals, so I will rant about it, even if doing so achieves nothing!
October 11, 2019
Last Updated on November 1, 2024
