And I have promised to bring you
Up out of your misery ... into the land
... flowing with milk and honey. Exodus 3:17
For over forty years, Israelites wandered through the desert. They left the colonial lush fields for the Promised Land. Amidst the treacherous desert, they held on to the hope that had been promised. The harsh elements of nature in conspiracy with plagues slowed the journey. Many leaders were lost on the way because they refused to focus on the destination. Even Moses faltered in his faith. Only Joshua and Caleb maintained the faith. At long last, Israelites crossed River Jordan into Canaan. This was made possible because Israelites had a Joshua.
For fifty-four years, Kenya has been in the desert. From when we were let go by Pharaoh in London, our desert journey hasn’t ended. There are moments because of little manna that we assume we have reached Canaan. Politicians give us freebies in the form of t-shirts, caps and Kshs. 50/=, and we are in delirium. We are shown one project here and one there, and we jump in joy. But are we in Canaan? Nyet!
Envy of many
Meanwhile, our country age-mates of Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand have leap-frogged us. In 1963, Kenya stood tall. Our land covers over 580,000 sq km, and we had 11,000km of tarmac road and a railway line built in 1901. We were the envy of many. Poor Malaysia and Singapore came calling to learn from us. 54 years later, our roads have not extended in length. We have been re-carpeting the same distances. The gleaming photos of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) may make us go into a reverie. But all economists I have spoken to, including those working in Government, tell me that SGR is a phantom project. The little progress we have made is unevenly distributed. Many parts of Kenya are without motorable roads or power supply. We may have connected all primary schools with power, but 80 per cent of Kenya’s population doesn’t have electricity.
Singapore that was a slum and occupying meagre 700 sq km of useless land is now an economic giant with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $300 billion. And so is Malaysia. These countries like Kenya didn’t have natural resources. But transformative leaders filled what they lacked in natural resources. Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore is the gold standard of these leaders.
For them, leadership was for service to the country and never personal aggrandizement. Leaders are supposed to provide an enabling environment for everyone but them to succeed.
Singapore has some of the biggest billionaires in the world, but the family of Lee Kuan Yew, were left a modest house, which in his will, he said it be pulled down to avoid a shrine. Lee Kuan Yew wanted to be remembered for what he did. No street or building in Singapore has his name. These Asian countries have developed a true Canaan, where the rains pour on all. Where, each citizen has equal chance of succeeding in public and private life. And the law applies to all equally.
Because we are surrounded by pygmy economies, Kenya thinks it is a giant. This false conditioning has persisted for too long. Kenya doesn’t deserve trinkets of development in the form of Huduma Centres, poorly constructed roads and buildings, and poorly paying jobs. Instead, we need bullion of development in massive infrastructure such as roads, dams and housing that touches every Kenyan.
And a civil service that serves all. Development is not a favour from the Government, but its only mission. Once the Government provides the enabling environment, and then as John F Kennedy implored us, we will not ask our country what it can do for us, but instead ask, what we can do for it. Tunaomba serikali (We beseech the Government) will disappear in our lexicon.
More knowledgeable
On August 8, we will stand on the banks of River Jordan. We can look back at 54 years, and decide to go back, or take a leap of faith and cross the river. The world became a better and richer place when Marco Polo, Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus and others took sail to new waters. The world became more knowledgeable when Socrates, Gregor Mendel, Nicholas Copernicus and others, challenged the wisdom of the day.
Kenya needs a new direction. At 54 years, our economy is paltry $70 billion. At current growth rate, we will not be a truly middle-income country in one million years. And it isn’t an exaggeration. For us to catch up with the Asian countries, we need to grow at more than 10 per cent per annum for fifteen consecutive years. A new foundation has to be laid. It is for this that I urge we vote in Raila Odinga. We will then join John Milton, the great English poet of 17th Century, in reciting his poem Paradise Lost and say:
With loss of Eden, till one greater man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat
Sing heavenly muse, that on that secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
Together, let us cross to Canaan. Let Canaan come. Let Canaan be.
Postscript: On August 9, 2022, I will vote William Ruto as our sixth President. We have been friends for over 25 years. Of all the friends around him, only Farouk Kibet has been his friend longer. All others, including the President, met him the other day. So, my friend, we are still friends. Thomas Jefferson said that difference in opinion, politics, religion and philosophy isn’t a reason to lose a friend.
- The writer is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
