Here are six priorities to move Kenya forward

By Moses Kuria

In established democracies, it is customary that a new administration is given sufficient space to put a foundation for its strategic direction while in power.

n this situation, there is an unwritten rule that opposition is muted within the honeymoon period and criticism coated with annoying diplo-speak. This honeymoon period normally just over three months.

Hence the reference to the first 100 days in power that was popularised by American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the reconstruction that followed the Great Depression in early 1930’s.

Unfortunately for the Jubilee administration of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, it would appear they will not enjoy the luxury of the customary honeymoon. From the day they were sworn-in, the opposition and their detractors went on an overdrive. They had to endure a tense court process challenging their election. Then there emerged a flurry of industrial actions by teachers, doctors et al. By the time they were done with that, the devolution animal was brought in and they had to fight off claims that they were centralists out to frustrate the counties.

Even before the embers on the devolution fire have cooled off, the dragon of the ICC has been dragged into the main living room. In a new calendar, President Kenyatta and the Deputy President are required to be at The Hague jointly from November 12th to December 13th and even miss the celebrations to mark 50 years of Kenya’s independence.

In the adversarial and hostile environment that the duo has to set up the foundation of their regime, the fabled Pareto rule may come in handy. According to Pareto, you achieve 80 per cent of your outcomes through 20 per cent of your activities. I see six areas that will help them move the country forward even as their detractors dig in.

One, food security.  Any food crisis within the next five years and the opposition will have them for breakfast. The 1 million acres irrigation project in Galana should be implemented with God speed. The big lesson of the French revolution is that when you are faced by a hostile enemy, ensure there is food on the table for the population otherwise you are cooked. Two, land, land, land. When the two ‘clerks’ went on an overdrive to issue 60,000 title deeds in the Coast, Raila Odinga and CORD saw red. I should add, and rightly so. The one issue CORD relied on to lift their vote above the lower thirties in the March 4 election was land. When the Jubilee government goes for the jugular of the land problem especially in the Coast, they strike right at the core of CORD’s political heart. Not that this should be a political issue. In parts of Kenya, the first title deeds were issued in 1959. Coast region has, therefore, a gap of 44 years to catch up and there is no one single day to lose. They need the titles to borrow loans from  banks and develop the region.

Thirdly, if there is one legacy that the two can bequeath this country, it is to bring down the cost of energy. Our efforts to move to middle income status will amount to zero if we don’t reduce the cost of energy by at least 50 per cent. The transition to alternative sources such as geothermal, coal and Liquefied Natural Gas has to be accelerated. Fourthly, the country cannot afford to sit on its laurels of yesterday in terms of infrastructure. Whereas the last 10 years can be described as the era of roads, the next decade belongs to railways and airports. I still do not understand why there is no direct flight between Kisumu and Mombasa or why I should feel free to leave my car at home and take a high speed train to the city centre. The Mombasa-Malaba standard gauge railway should mark the railway revolution.

Fifth, Uhuru and Ruto have an opportunity to bring back discipline, law and order to this country. That opportunity is historic. They can merge the strength of willpower and capabilities of modern technologies to ensure that as a nation we stop favouring the shortcuts over what is right. From our homes, roads, offices and farms, we will have no country worth calling so if we do not respect the rule of law.

Finally, the contract with the future and posterity must be upheld. The two vowed to move the nation from analog to digital generations. Opposition or no opposition, strikes or no strikes, ICC or no ICC, this promise must be upheld. The laptops project is the poster-boy of the digital promise and it must be safeguarded at all costs. If we are to focus on these six areas, we will make Kenya a shining example in Africa.

This, to me, should take priority over going to The Hague.