These days you cannot go through a newspaper without coming across one or two articles proclaiming land having been 'set aside' for an 'industrial park' in some rural part of the country.
There is barely a county government that does not have one such 'industrial park' prominent among the priorities in its 'vision' document.
The only projects that to any extent rival such proposed industrial parks in prominence are the 'level 5' county hospitals which in some cases are already complete, and in other cases, under construction.
It is easy to see why these two ideas are given such prominence. First, of all the functions to be devolved under the 2010 constitution, none is more important, or has a bigger budget allocation than health.
And as for the industrial parks, they seem to hold a promise of job creation, right there within the county. If the young voters of any county can be made to believe that the empty acres that they see not very far from the county headquarters will one day boast many rows of giant warehouses and have heavy trucks moving in and out of this industrial park 24-7, they can easily be persuaded to vote for whoever is likely to bring about his miracle.
However, both these priorities are somewhat misplaced. And they reveal the lack of policymaking capacity that has plagued this country for decades now.
Let us start with health facilities. Whereas we would all like to see ordinary Kenyans who fall sick, treated at advanced medical facilities, the construction of such facilities is not really what should be the top priority in addressing public health challenges.
Effective policy in this field aims first and foremost at keeping you out of hospitals – not at providing advanced treatment after your illness has advanced to the point of threatening your life.
I first came to see this when I was on a sabbatical at an American university, almost 20 years ago now. I got this email asking me to apply for an appointment for a “flu shot” at one of the medical centres that served the university community.
Never having so much as heard of a “flu shot” – much less received one – I asked the Kenyan undergraduates I had got to know who had spent more time there than I had, what this was about. They told me that it was a standard measure during “flu season” – something else I had not heard of before. And that this flu shot would ensure that I did not catch the flu, which would soon be all over the place.
So it is that I came to see that the kind of flu, which – from time to time – had in previous years had me shivering under my blankets here in Kenya, and taking all kinds of prescribed medicines, was actually something that could be prevented by a flu vaccine which was apparently widely available in the US.
And this was much the same thing I saw here in Kenya just a few years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our Ministry of Health did not wait for Kenyans to fall sick, before offering treatment. Rather we could make online appointments and go out and get vaccinated against this deadly infection – that is after the vaccine became available.
So, I would argue that effective public health initiatives at the county level need not require the construction of level-5 hospitals (which are basically research, referral and training medical institutions).
A comprehensive scheme for early detection and prevention of infections – and an anticipatory approach to seasonal illnesses – is what would be most cost-effective.
But of course, few elected leaders are beyond the temptations of setting up a massive 'legacy project' that they hope will be remembered as proof of their enlightened leadership.
Also, there is a frequent suspicion that such large construction projects offer plenty of opportunities for consultants and contractors favoured by a governor and his political insiders, to make a killing.
Next week I will look into the futility of most of these planned 'industrial parks'.
