Take tougher stand against the corrupt who stifle development

President Uhuru Kenyatta arrive for the State of the Nation Address at Parliament on Thursday 04/04/19[Boniface Okendo,Standard]

In the run-up to yesterday’s State of the nation address, public expectation was high. Yet at the end of it all, many who had anticipated the scent of blood as the president went for the jugulars of partakers of corruption were disappointed. To those expecting a massacre, it turned out as an anti-climax.

It is a feeling many Kenyans can relate to after the hype about fighting corruption; after the regular visits by high ranking government officials to agencies charged with ending endemic corruption in Kenya to record statements.

And yes, as the president admitted at the end of his speech, corruption stands in the way of each and everything positive that the government undertakes to implement. Until, and unless we deal corruption and its perpetrators a decisive blow, we are engaged in a zero sum game.

All is not lost though. Quite a number of positive things were outlined in the president’s speech; among them the health of the economy, which the president said had maintained a steady 5.6 per cent growth in the last five years and is expected to perform even better at 6.3 per cent growth, this year on account of political stability brought about by the March 9, 2018 handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and erstwhile political competitor Raila Odinga. The Kenya shilling has held steady against the dollar at Sh100 to the dollar for several years, even registering a minor gain recently.

The reality, however, is that to the common man, figures denoting good economic performance may not mean much when the effects of that good performance do not trickle down to them.

Last year’s operationalization of the 16 per cent tax on fuel products meant an exponential rise in the cost of living that many have not been able to adjust to. Unemployment among youth entering the job market still stands at 75 per cent, marking that demographic as a ticking bomb that needs to be defused.

There are notable efforts to improve agricultural production, though echoes of grumblings from farmers in in the Rift Valley still reverberate. The government may have constructed 4,400 water pans under the Household Irrigation Water Project, but the question is whether they were constructed in areas that really needed them most. If the Galana- Kulalu irrigation scheme is a measure, there is little to expect from the 6,600 hectares of land earmarked for irrigation.

The president’s expressed support and confidence in devolution, even as corruption in the counties threaten this jewel of the 2010 Constitution. Regrettably though, not much of the Sh1.7 trillion so far disbursed to counties following the advent of devolution in 2013 has been put to good use. Rather than being channeled into development projects and enhancing service delivery, much of the money has either been misappropriated, or used for recurrent expenditure.

This is a call to governors to tighten their control on the public purse strings to minimise wastage that the Auditor General reports on a yearly basis.

Under manufacturing, a key plank in the Big 4 Agenda, the president reported a notable gain, with focus on making Kenya the regional manufacturing hub. Car manufacturers Peugeot and Volkswagen have, since starting operations in the country.

Combined, they have assembled 627 units, with the number projected to rise to 1,500 by end of 2019. Besides the job creation, it is good for our economy once we start exporting to other African countries on a bigger scale.

That Kenya has moved from position 80 up to position 61 in the global ease of doing business index means we are on the right track to attracting foreign investors, and this can only mean a conducive environment for more jobs creation. There is more to write home about, and the governments deserves plaudits.

Kenyans tired of the slow pace of investigations that allow suspects to cover their tracks want a quick fix to corruption. However, this must be done within the confines of law to avoid being labelled a witchhunt.

Meanwhile, let’s take the president on his promise that senior government officials whose cases are taken to court will be ejected. After all, he acknowledged that no matter what the government seeks to do, corruption endangers and compromises it.