Let 2015 be the year Kenyans transform their lives for good

The year 2014 has come and gone but the future beckons through a new calendar year. Is this the year of Jubilee that will see many challenges decimated or will it be a year with more of the same? I can only chart a road map just like I have done through this column for the past two years.

First off is the thorny issue of insecurity that has ramifications cutting right across all sectors. That we have a new Cabinet Secretary for the security docket who has a firm background in the military, including handling intelligence should engender hope that we are starting from a point of knowledge.

Coupled with the raft of amendments contained in the new Security law assented to by the President recently as well as the heightened awareness by all Kenyans that personal security is of overriding concern, I feel we are ready to turn the corner.

A mix of the Nyumba Kumi Initiative, various community policing measures, recruitment of more police officers and National Youth Service personnel, a more motivated Kenya Defence Forces and re-wired/re-focused National Intelligence Service, will complement the war on terror. Our security is a collective responsibility and not the sole preserve of the men and women employed by the State to provide visibility, deterrence and prosecution.

The new year should see the bi-partisanship of our two Houses of Parliament. A disjointed Parliament as well as county legislators locked in almost perpetual conflict is a worrying script. It interferes with their legislative mandate, chokes up development programmes and is an affront to the hopes and aspirations of the taxpayer who is denied quality services.

We must focus on young people if the cycle of dependency that appears to have become a norm is to be broken. It is a fact that almost 80 per cent of the Kenyan population is youthful, while the largest component of this critical mass is aged between 15 and 34 years.

This is a hungry, angry, ambitious demographical segment. Unlike many developed countries saddled with an aging population, our youth present us with many possibilities. They are a malleable tool that can be harnessed to achieve great things in the fields of engineering, agriculture, IT, the arts, sports and medicine.

The converse of this is also true. They are also the most likely to become disillusioned and radicalised by those that need to deploy them in destructive activity. That is why the queues we should be witnessing this year should be of youths at Huduma and Uwezo Fund loan application centres. They need our care and steady hand to stay on the straight and narrow. Agriculture remains the mainstay of our economy. The amalgamated agricultural authority, the slew of incentives by national and county governments will be expected to register an explosion of new producers.

The one main incentive will be how to ensure some form of value addition to improve farmers’ earnings. This must be done alongside active seeking of markets for agricultural goods and services to maximize returns.

Education is a critical pillar and must at all times be addressed. A useful point of departure would be to resolve the ubiquitous wrangling over emoluments pitting teachers unions against their employer.

No good will ever come out of the frequent disruptions to learning which only negatively affects the learners who are the future pillars of this country.

Further, public-private partnership shall be necessary to create more job and business venture opportunities to absorb the armies of fresh graduates that are joining the job market, almost monthly. Whether it means digitizing more operations to find a platform for these graduates’ skills or even engaging neighbouring countries in need of the pool of trained manpower from Kenya, means the possibilities are endless.

These are my prayers and wish list. Happy New Year, Dear Reader.