Kenya now has perfect chance to alter course

Coronavirus has exposed our weaknesses and highlighted the challenges of our society. This crisis has also brought to the forefront hard questions that as a nation, we need to ask ourselves. Crisis is opportunity and we have a chance to make fundamental decisions that will, or could change our country for the better for generations to come.

The big question is, will our rulers who make decisions see these issues and act decisively on them – or will we be compelled to force these issues on them? Crisis has always brought out the best leaders, and nations have often emerged from crises stronger and better. Kenya has such opportunity now.

Is there a Kenyan dream? The idea of a national dream is based on the ‘American Dream', the idea that a family can, with hard work, eventually own a home, have proper schools, medical care; that our workers will work diligently and their rights will be protected and most important, that our children can have equal opportunities.

In Mombasa, I can see poverty increasing all around us while the country brags of a 6.3 per cent GDP growth. How does this growth translate into food, better schools, water and opportunity when unemployment is increasing and young Kenyans are losing hope?

Is there a social contract in Kenya? The idea of a social contract emerged from the French Revolution where French philosopher Rosseau argued that those who govern have a contract where the people will allow them to govern but in exchange they will provide citizens with food, security, medical care, education and so forth. The question here is whether our successive governments keep the social contract.

Coronavirus has laid bare our problems. Our medical services, while much better than most in Africa, have been found to be wanting in our hour of need, so has the American, Italian, Chinese, French and many others in the so-called First World. However, let us not benchmark ourselves against failures and console ourselves that we have all failed. What do we do to improve once Covid-19 ends?

We always knew we had huge income inequalities, but we never realised how serious and threatening this disparity was. Kenya has a working population of 17.8 million, of which 15 million are in the informal Jua Kali sector. When this crisis hit us, we realised that most of these people live on daily wages, and that this type of pay cheque is not sustainable in a crisis. We all know that the best way to stop coronavirus is to shut down the country, but then, people will starve. We thought that social services like those provided in Europe can only be offered by rich developed countries. We are now being forced to rethink this as we have no guarantee that this is the last crisis that will hit us.

Coronavirus has warned us of the risks of depending on China and others for basic items. Kenya needs to re-look its trade policies all over again. We have fallen into the trap of free trade and globalisation.

By allowing free trade, we have all but decimated our industries and created a nation of tailors sewing clothes for the West masquerading as export zones; full of companies owned largely by foreigners taking advantage of AGOA. Strategic industries such as medical and pharmaceuticals have all disappeared. We don’t manufacture face masks, let alone ventilators.  

Again this crisis shows us the opportunity. South Africa became an industrial powerhouse because of the sanctions imposed on it. They took that opportunity to create their own industrial base. Certain basic industries have to be protected and encouraged not only for our own security, but to create jobs. Kenya needs to do the same.

Kenya should prepare for the coming economic and financial storm. We will soon see an increase in bankruptcies followed by massive unemployment. Income disparity is no longer a political debate but a demand that "my kids will not be kicked out of school and my kids will not starve just because I don’t have a job".

Medical services

Uhuru Kenyatta had envisioned some of the solutions. The Big Four initiatives – housing, universal health, manufacturing and  food security - all aimed at addressing our big challenges. In a way, it was slowly leading us all towards the great Kenyan Dream. If you own your home, government provides free education and medical services, then surely you can find a way to bring home a two kilo packet of unga.

We can no longer pretend that social services such as providing food in a crisis is not necessary, we must prepare for it. Food security is no longer just the Galana Project, it has just been proven to be so critical that Kenyans may die of disease simply because we cannot feed our vulnerable. Is it too late? Kenya needs decisive action and less political talk. Crisis is opportunity. I hope we will not waste this opportunity.

Mr Shahbal is Chairman of Gulf Group of [email protected]