The recent chaos in South Africa that left 200 people dead and more than 2,000 others arrested should be a wakeup call for our leaders who intend to form the next government.
Although the unrest began shortly after former President Jacob Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail for contempt of court in a corruption cases, economic inequality among the majority blacks, poverty and unemployment are arguably the key drivers to the looting.
South Africa, a country with state of the art infrastructural projects such as roads, bridges, airports, ports, has had her priorities wrong since the end of apartheid regime in 1994. In 2019, the World Bank reported that South Africa was the most unequal country in the world, where 20 per cent of the people control 70 per cent of resources.
The late Tanzania President Julius Nyerere said, ‘’In a country, you can have skyscrapers, luxury cars, great monuments, but if such things are owned and enjoyed by a few, while the majority remain in poverty, then such things/development are ultimately meaningless.’’
Our leaders are taking us into this direction. They are focusing more on building roads, SGR, renovating classrooms, rural electrification, dishing out handouts to the youth to heckle and cause violence in political meetings, while others donate cash to churches.
While we may agree some of these are great projects, as long as the masses remain poor and cannot even afford basic needs such as food, then the projects are meaningless.
Our leaders should now focus on real development that is people-centred. Their aim should be to empower Kenyans economically and avoid greed and temptations of stealing public money. They should listen to former President Mwai Kibaki: That leadership should be a privilege to better the lives of others and not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed.
It’s absurd that our main economic activity is agriculture but still, people in counties such as Baringo die from hunger. Poverty level is high. Slum dwellers are increasing, water shortage in Nairobi continues to bite, parents can't afford school fees, and businesses are closing down, yet our leaders are debating about succession politics. They are not having a genuine discussion on how to end poverty or how to create jobs for the millions of unemployed youth.
We are still talking of perfecting things for the future instead of utilising what we have now to better our country. Politics of one individual verses the other is old-fashioned and has no place in the 21st century. We should now have a conversation on real issues that affect us. That’s the only way Kenya will achieve real and sustainable development.
There is no leadership without clear vision. Moving forward, our leaders should design and implement measurable, concrete and sound economic policies that have deadlines. For example, they should ensure farmers are well informed on farming methods and give them farming equipment to ensure better yields. Also, encourage citizens to better storage to ensure food security.
We should have a country where everyone is given an equal opportunity to thrive. Where the right to education, good healthcare system and an environment conducive for business environment is accorded to all and not enjoyed by few.
In the book Why Nations Fail, James A. Robinson and Daron Acemoglu opine that the reason why countries such as the UK and the US became rich is because their citizens overthrew the elites who controlled power and created a society where political rights were much more broadly distributed, where the government was accountable and responsive to citizens.
Such focus is what we need post-2022. A people-centred government whose main aim is to empower Kenyans politically, socially and economically.
Alex Gikima is a researcher @GikimaAlex
