ABSTRACT
Kairon’s attempt to use and control factions in the rural areas was part of the process of centralization. Factional support was one of instruments of power used by the cm to attack political rivals and competitors. Kairon’s attempt to control the administration has to be considered in two contexts: first, in terms of the cm’s deep emotional attachment to the rural community and to his own personal vision as to how the rural areas could be developed; second, in terms of the situation he faced on assuming office where an urban-dominated administration dealt with the problems of predominantly rural population in terms of its own set of stereotypes. The levelling of charges of ‘womanizing’ was similarly incongruous in a society where male dominance was enshrined unless these charges were seen as being related to and part of the struggle for the elimination of political opponents and competitors. Kairon’s control of administration and the police served both economic and political ends.
