Don't politicise projects with a positive impact

The Likoni floating pedestrian bridge at Liwatoni in Mombasa was one of former President Uhuru Kenyatta's legacy projects that was closed after William Ruto took over the presidency. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]  

Every government is keen on leaving a legacy, something politicians at the helm will want to be remembered for.

That is why most politicians will borrow, beg or steal funds to start a project wholly associated with them and nobody else. Kenya is no exception. In fact, I think we have the Intellectual property rights to this malaise because it has been institutionalised at every level of government, be it at the national, county or sub-county where even MCAs have been thoroughly inured in it.

Many politicians will start grand projects and if perchance (often happens) they are out of office before the project is complete, woe unto them; the project will most probably remain a white elephant simply because the new President, MP or Governor would love to spend whatever money available on their pet project, yet it would make more economic sense and have immediate social impact if they finished what their predecessor started.

But, no, they don’t want that. They want a clean slate, erect a huge billboard with the smiling politician on it, stating they started this or that project. Sometimes, you get the feeling that billboard costs more than the public toilet they are trumpeting, as was the case in Nyeri.

At the county level, you find numerous projects that ideally should be completed but are now just wasting away. Hospitals and school projects are usually the most affected. I have seen an MP start a bursary-funded class project right next to his predecessor’s incomplete structures, ostensibly because he wants to take credit. All this time, the children are studying under trees and people dying.

I remember during Mwai Kibaki first term as President, the talk then was about Lapsset and Thika Superhighway, big infrastructure projects with massive local and regional impact. Of course, at the time, naysayers were saying the projects would end up as white elephants, that they would cost an arm and a leg and the country was not ready for such. The petty ones even claimed the highway would benefit a certain community at the expense of others. We all know the impact the highway has had.

There was a lot of hype on another project – a road linking Limuru to Timboroa which would open up Rift Valley and Western. Apparently, the contract was awarded to a French firm as a private-public partnership (PPP) but the new government put a stop to it. I don’t know the current, but these are some of the things we should be keen on because the socio-economic impact should supersede any political biases.

Abandoning projects just because you didn’t start them should be tackled urgently. I was listening to Senator Richard Onyonka (among few honest politicians) as he detailed what happened to Greenfield Airport mooted by President Kibaki when he came into power.

The project was abandoned somewhere along the line; whether there was a good reason or not is neither here nor there. The reality is the Chinese company awarded the contract demanded a payment of over Sh4 billion for the cancellation. And that’s not all. The Uhuru Kenyatta government apparently also attempted to engage another company with the same result: another broken contract.

Now, the William Ruto government has received a dubious proposal (unsolicited?) and entered into a contract negotiation that might see Jomo Kenyatta International Airport ceded to a private entity for 30 years, and thereafter, the said company will still retain a substantial shareholding. We are selling our family heirloom for a pittance.

My take is as much as governments must change every so often, there should be continuity in the projects that have great socio-economic impact. They should not just be stopped or re-tendered just because the new Cabinet Secretary wants in on the cut from the new firm that’s been contracted.

I sometimes wonder what is wrong with our politicians. I truly do. Why can’t we learn from our past mistakes? Are we immune to such glaring lessons?

The writer is a communications consultant and a journalist.