Dr. Christine Ombaka and the politics of work in Siaya offer a powerful lens through which Gem Constituency must examine its future. In every electoral season, a country is forced to confront an uncomfortable truth about itself. Kenya is no exception, and Siaya County offers a sharp mirror of that reality. We have built a political culture that rewards noise more than nuance, slogans more than substance, and theatrics more than thought. In such a landscape, leaders who choose to work quietly are often misunderstood, misjudged, or maliciously misrepresented. Yet, history and development statistics consistently favour the quiet workers over the loud performers.
Hon. Dr. Christine Ombaka, the Woman Representative for Siaya County and a determined contender for the Gem Constituency parliamentary seat in 2027, stands as a case study of this contrast between work and rhetoric. For years now, Siaya has watched her chart a different path. While some leaders have invested their energy in endless press conferences, clan calculations, and carefully choreographed outrage, Dr. Ombaka has invested in systems, people, and structures.
Her approach to leadership has been deliberate and methodical: identify real needs at the grassroots, design organised interventions, and then implement them consistently across the county. She has not confined development to the areas that shout the loudest or sing her praises the most. Instead, she has treated Siaya as a single, interconnected community, where every ward and every household carries equal dignity.
This is not a theoretical claim. It is grounded in a record spread across all six constituencies and 30 wards of Siaya County. In a context where many politicians reduce development to photographs with wheelbarrows or hurried visits to funerals and harambees, Dr. Ombaka has insisted that development must be systemic, not seasonal; structured, not sporadic.
Take, for instance, the development of modern markets. These are not just physical buildings for traders to occupy. They are symbols and engines of dignity, safety, and economic order. Across the county, traders—many of them women who wake up at dawn to provide for their families—have gained access to improved market facilities under her watch. In doing so, she has not only supported livelihoods; she has redefined what respect for the hustling citizen actually looks like.
Modern markets, when properly designed and managed, stabilise household incomes by offering traders a predictable environment in which to operate. They attract more customers, reduce losses due to weather or insecurity, and become nuclei around which other businesses—transport, storage, eateries, and financial services—emerge. These are the ripple effects of leadership that views development as an ecosystem rather than a one-day event for cameras.
Her work with self-help groups and women’s organisations deepens this story. In many rural communities, it is self-help groups that quietly carry the dreams of families: table banking circles, savings groups, farming collectives, and youth initiatives. Rather than use them as mere mobilisation tools for rallies, she has treated them as genuine development partners.
Support has often been tied to organisation and accountability—registration, record-keeping, and planning. This may not sound glamorous, but it is transformative. It shifts communities away from dependency and handouts toward partnership and ownership. It tells citizens that they are not spectators waiting for generosity, but co-creators of their own development.
The same philosophy is visible in her targeted support for the girl child. While many speeches have been made about empowerment, far fewer leaders have followed through with sustained interventions. Dr. Ombaka has understood that keeping girls in school is not charity; it is strategy. A supported girl becomes tomorrow’s professional, entrepreneur, and leader. Protecting her education today builds the human capital Gem and Siaya will rely on tomorrow.
Through bursaries, sanitary support, mentorship, and targeted assistance for vulnerable learners, her programmes have interrupted cycles of poverty, early marriage, and marginalisation. Alongside this, she has championed skills training that matches real labour market needs—driving, vocational training, welding, tailoring, mechanics, and other technical skills. These initiatives have opened doors for youth who might otherwise be trapped in unemployment and despair.
Despite this record, critics persist. Some dismiss her as either a workaholic detached from politics or a non-performer. Others resort to insult and character assassination. Yet such criticism is rarely accompanied by evidence, ward-level audits, or serious engagement with beneficiaries. It is driven instead by what can only be called liquid intelligence—fast, shallow opinions shaped by gossip and propaganda.
Reality, however, lives on the ground, not in WhatsApp groups. Walk across Siaya’s wards and a different story emerges. You meet women whose table banking groups now thrive. You meet youth who hold certificates, licences, and skills that give them dignity and income. You meet families whose children remain in school because support arrived when it mattered most.
This is not the profile of a non-performer. It is the signature of a leader who understands that leadership is not about how loudly one speaks, but how consistently one serves. It is the work of someone committed to institution-building and long-term social investment.
Against this background, Gem Constituency must reflect seriously on the 2027 elections. Gem is intellectually vibrant, politically vocal, and rich in human capital. Yet it has not always translated this strength into development outcomes. The challenge is no longer whether Gem can speak, but whether it can convert its voice into value.
Dr. Ombaka’s county-wide experience offers Gem an evidence-based option. Managing programmes across 30 wards requires fairness, discipline, and coordination. Concentrating that experience within one constituency would only deepen impact. Her leadership style—consultative, structured, and community-centred—fits Gem’s socially active and politically aware population.
As Member of Parliament, with access to NG-CDF and national platforms, she would be well placed to scale the kind of interventions she has already demonstrated. The real tragedy of many constituencies is not lack of resources, but lack of disciplined leadership to deploy them effectively.
As 2027 approaches, Gem must ask itself a defining question: what kind of leadership culture does it want to reward? One built on insult, division, and spectacle—or one grounded in work, evidence, and service?
In Dr. Christine Ombaka, Gem has an opportunity to affirm the politics of work over the politics of noise. Her record as Woman Representative is written in markets, schools, skills, and strengthened communities. These are facts that can be visited, counted, and verified.
Gem deserves more than recycled rhetoric. It deserves leadership that looks beyond election cycles and invests in lasting transformation. The choice before it is clear, and so are the consequences. The era of empty noise can give way—if Gem so decides—to an era of demonstrable results.
James Kilonzo Bwire is a Media and Communication Practitioner.
