Relief food doles across the country should be an 'eye-opener' to managers of public affairs. They have closed their eyes for far too long to the politics of basic needs.
Every national disaster since 1963 has always been described as a potential 'eye-opener'. But the eyes that should see the degrading consequences of dependence on relief food have remained closed.
Citizens of fair conscience should also find the 2022 drought a moment to demand accountability. Yet such situations are forgotten as soon as it rains.
Destructive consequences of floods are forgotten as soon as the rain stops. Official responses have always been unsustainable firefighting.
Kenyans should not be treated to handouts every time drought and floods strike. The irony sucks. Leaders are crying crocodile tears instead of finding long-term solutions to national challenges.
Relief food distributors often arrive at supposedly emergency service venues in heavy duty and expensive fuel-guzzling vehicles. The officials of the magnanimous state sit under especially designed tents, furnished with chairs, which are hired for the occasion.
The supposedly generous government officials spew more promises, express generation-old good intentions, even as they cast aspersions on those who would like to see the situation handled differently, and more respectfully.
The Kenya Red Cross Society projects about 6,100,000 Kenyans will be relying on relief food by January. The victims of hunger could be more if the current drought runs through to the New Year.
The official pleas for food and cash donations, so far, have targeted about 5 million people in 30 of 47 counties. The magnitude is worse than a disaster; it's a recurrent emergency.
This would mark the sixth season of crop failure across many parts of the country. Three consecutive years of crop failure have not opened eyes wide enough to consider sustainable solutions to these perennial challenges. Plans of irrigated agriculture are shelved as soon as the promises are made.
The gravity of the current crisis should be an 'eye-opener'.
The Monday Jamhuri Day marked the 59th year of promises and good intentions that hardly go beyond policies and strategic plans. It's a vicious cycle of promises to advance, which often results in regression.
This cannot be a result of a poverty of imagination. There should be a theory to explain national stagnation, and the infectious amnesia that afflicts managers of public resources and tax-burdened masses in equal measure.
Will the three-month-old Hustler regime be different? It's too early to make conclusions, but the signs are ominous.
Consider the experiences of three beneficiaries of the Hustler Fund:
Case One: The beneficiary borrowed Sh500 from the kitty. The credit is his borrowing limit. He used the money to buy two packets of unga and sukuma wiki. He has not repaid the loan in spite of numerous reminders to do so.
Case two: The man borrowed Sh500, which is his limit. He bought a quarter kilogramme of meat, two tomatoes, two small onions, kadogo-size cooking oil and one kilogramme of unga. He had his best meal of the year. He is yet to refund the money, in spite of reminders.
Case Three: The man borrowed Sh500, which is his Hustler Fund credit limit. He bought vegetables at Ngong market for Sh450. He resold the stock for Sh650. He made Sh150 profit, which he spent on fare to work in Nairobi's Industrial Area. He is yet to refund the loan.
Successive regimes have promised to end poverty, disease and ignorance. The Hustler regime made the same pledge, in different terms, on Jamhuri Day. But a country cannot progress on promises that don't produce sustainable results.
Countries don't advance by stepping on their tails.
