The security situation in Kenya seems to be getting worse by the day. Runaway crime has left many Kenyans on the defensive, from wananchi in our towns and the countryside to waheshimiwa in the leafy suburbs.

Talk is cheap. And so lately there has been a lot of talk – from politicians and wananchi alike - about the need to rationalise and reduce the public wage bill and to end grand corruption in Government.

The Rt Honourable Raila Odinga is solidly among the top five most important politicians in Kenya’s post-independence history. It is largely on account of his efforts that we have a liberal Constitution that has the potential of making Kenya a freer, more democratic and prosperous nation.

On Thursday we celebrated 50 years of independence. At Kasarani there was much singing and dancing, and with good reason.

Who runs the Kenyan Parliament? This is a question that will be at the back of the minds of legislative watchers and scholars like myself over the next four years and beyond.

On Thursday, President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned the new Mombasa-Malaba standard gauge rail.

In much of life, those who do not do the work they are hired to do get fired. Not so in the Kenyan government. For 50 years we have developed a culture of non-performance in the public service, where instead mediocrity gets handsomely rewarded.

Next week will mark the beginning of the ICC trial of Deputy President William Ruto, to be followed shortly after by that of President Uhuru Kenyatta. No doubt the country will come to a near standstill as we once again revisit those two dark months following the disputed 2007 presidential election. But the country need not find itself in a worse situation on account of the trials. During the last presidential campaigns the Jubilee candidates assured the country that they could “chew gum and walk,” and therefore their “personal challenges” at the ICC would not adversely affect government operations. They must keep their word.

Our many troubles and faults aside, Kenya is on the right track. Our young institutions are beginning to find their feet and the government has a number of ambitious projects with potential to transform the lives of millions of our people.

Governing a country is hard. Developing a poor country is even harder. Trying to do both with little reliable information on the state of a country — like total agricultural output, unemployment rate, births and deaths, and the like — is like flying without radar on a stormy night over a mountain range.