Arise and make the next 50 years count more

By Ken Opalo
twitter@kopalo

On Thursday we celebrated 50 years of independence. At Kasarani there was much singing and dancing, and with good reason. There are things that we take for granted, but which should be reasons for us to celebrate the last five decades. When African countries left, right and centre were driving their economies on the ground we stayed on the steady path. Many imploded and went into civil war while we remained an oasis of peace. Stability in the region became a Kenyan thing. Our human capital resource base is unmatched in the region. Kenya is Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest non-mineral economy. Our wealth has largely been the product of the sweat and ingenuity of the Kenyan people. These are all good things that we ought to celebrate.

But if the last 50 years have been about holding it steady, the next 50 must be about taking off. Most people like to compare Kenya with South Korea and the other Asian tigers. The argument usually states, wrongly, that in the early 1960s Kenya and these countries started off on the same footing and that 30 years later they had outpaced us by leaps and bounds. This is a wrong reading of history. The state in Korea was hundreds of years old before Japanese occupation in 1910. Japanese colonialism was also very different from British Colonialism in Kenya.

In 1960 Korea may have been as poor as Kenya in economic terms. But it was ages ahead in terms of human capital development and social cohesion. At the time of occupation the country already had a written alphabet and hundreds of years of statehood under its belt. Kenya had a lot to do to catch up.

The last 50 years are proof that we have settled the question of Kenyan nationhood. We Are One. Most Kenyans eschew the idea of separatism. We may not always be in good terms with one another, but we have accepted that Project Kenya is here to stay and that we are going to keep working on improving it.

Now it is time to think about where we want to go. And for this we shall need strong and visionary leadership. This is not to say that the Kenyan people cannot do it themselves. Far from it. The Kenyan people have thrived since independence despite the abject failure of our leaders. But in order for us to jump to the next level we shall need better leadership than we have had over the last 50 years.

Our leadership must understand that we are still a country of mostly poor and uneducated people. The average Kenyan makes about Sh77,000 a year. That is the average. Most people actually live on less than that.

 If our next 50 years are to be a success, the policies we adopt must reflect our key priorities as a country. We are a country that gave the world M-Pesa and Ushahidi yet we still cannot adequately feed, clothe and house our people. Before we go crazy about technology – including laptops for every child – we must take care of the basics. We certainly must keep abreast with technological advancements. But this should not give us the illusion that we have arrived. I reiterate, Kenya is still a poor country. This means that both our private and public investments must not have only the middle class in mind. We need also consider the millions who still languish in poverty. We need a national big push to fight poverty.

My challenge to President Uhuru Kenyatta and his administration is this: Does it shame you that our people still live in huts and under the power of the elements? Does it shame you that infant mortality rate in Kenya is at 43 children for very 1,000 live births? Does it shame you to see the spirit of our people crushed by poverty and a sense of resignation to the hardships of life?

In this column I keep saying that most Kenyans desperately want President Kenyatta to succeed and deliver on his promises of socio-economic transformation. It is not a matter of politics. It is about affording our people the decency they need to lead fulfilling lives. We cannot become full members of the global community of nations as long as every now and then we see our people in the international media receiving canned foods from nations far beyond our shores. And we certainly cannot engage in equal terms with the countries that come to our aid during these times if time and again we fail to take care of our own business.

Here is a belated Happy Jamhuri Day!