Editorial: Government must go beyond the usual rhetoric

Kenya: Kenya celebrated its 51st Madaraka Day Sunday, capped by an address from the President listing his regime’s achievements and his goals for the remainder of his term.

The attainment of self-rule over 50 years ago was preceded by a bitter struggle by our freedom fighters. Things that informed that struggle included oppressive laws, segregation and the loss of fertile land to the colonialists. Independence and self-rule were supposed to remedy these ills and deliver Canaan as promised.

Progressively, none of the colourful promises has been delivered while the country slips back into the pre-independence period when only a few enjoyed what the State had to offer. The attendant disillusionment is manifest in the little faith citizens have in the Government.

The President’s assurances and promises, though welcome, must be accompanied by action so they don’t become yet another set of clichés. It is true that in some aspects the Government has given its best, but what is of primary concern to the common man remains largely unresolved. These include security, affordable food, clean drinking water, affordable quality education, effective medical care, food security and employment.

Attendance to matters of State is perceived to be perfunctory, with both the President and his deputy having spent much of their first year in office outside the country, in part due to the ICC cases, but also in the search for new development partners like China, among others.

But hostility towards the West is not helping our economy and is unnecessary. It has affected the country’s economy negatively, especially with the mass pull-out of tourists. Tourism is our main foreign exchange earner.

The uncertainty surrounding devolution has seen county governments spend the better part of the year in court looking for protection. The shakiness of the ground on which devolution stands has also occasioned a brain drain, with many doctors opting to look for greener pastures elsewhere. Strikes by civil servants over remuneration did not help economic growth. The number of jobless Kenyans is increasing yearly, with no solution in sight.

The Government has been the architect of its problems because of its failure to deal firmly with issues like corruption and insecurity.

 Politicking, at the expense of everything else, dominates our daily routines. When the Jubilee coalition is not desperately trying to contain internal strife, it is warding off the Opposition’s onslaught.

There are just three years left for Jubilee to actualise its promises before Kenyans go to the next ballot.The Government must, therefore, get its priorities right and do what it was elected to do by implementing Jubilee’s manifesto.

The best part of the celebration was the President’s agreement to dialogue with the Opposition. We hope these were not just words but a sincere commitment by the Government to lower political temperatures.