Blame crises on despicable leadership, not the weather

By Edward Kisiang’ani

Last week, President Kibaki chaired a special Cabinet session to address numerous disasters. At the top of the agenda was a deliberate effort to deal with the water, energy and food crises. Recognising the magnitude of the calamities, the Cabinet decided to put the country on the State of Emergency so as to implement a raft of measures that would alleviate human suffering.

Besides involving military, police and the National Youth Service in providing logistical support to distribute food, water and medicine to hunger-stricken citizens, the Cabinet has resolved that about 6.5 million poor Kenyans will now receive direct food rations. Furthermore, installation of emergency power generation capacity to make up for the dwindling hydro-generated power will shortly be undertaken.

Aware that most parts of the country have registered total crop failure, Cabinet too allowed the importation of duty-free maize to continue up to June next year. It was agreed that the Ministry of Livestock buys off pastoralists’ threatened stock to cushion them against losses. In addition, the Cabinet resolved to put thousands of acres of land under irrigation. As a follow-up to the decisions, the Government is expected to launch a Sh24 billion Emergency Plan tomorrow. Crafted to reverse our deteriorating situation, the foregoing measures remind me of the US during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Beginning with the crash of the stock market on Thursday October 29, 1929, followed by a collapse of the banking sector, the American Depression was marked by reduced economic activity, poverty and high unemployment. Farming in the rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by about 60 per cent. This was because the end of World War I had constricted the demand for American products.

It took the genius of President Franklin D Roosevelt to restore the peoples’ confidence in the ability of the Government to bring change. Not only did Roosevelt bring hope to miserable citizens but also advised Americans the only fear they needed to conquer was fear itself. Throughout the nation, Roosevelt observed, men and women looked to the leadership of the country for guidance on the equitable distribution of national wealth.

Promising to implement a complex package of economic and social reforms to reverse the situation, Roosevelt pledged a New Deal for the people. He persuaded Congress to pass critical legislations that enabled the Executive to undertake reforms in the shortest time possible.

Relief programmes

Beyond endorsing the establishment of the Works Progress Administration to deal with relief programmes, Congress authorised urgent modernisation of the industrial and agricultural sectors through the National Recovery Administration. It was also during the leadership of Roosevelt that the Tennessee Valley Authority was established to enhance the supply of water and electricity to American homes and industries.

However, while the American Depression was partly caused by the sudden end of World War I, the Kenyan tragedy should be attributed to many years of wretched leadership. Since independence, successive governments have failed to protect the environment.

Apart from condoning the wanton destruction of forests, the Government has failed to punish those who have encroached on water towers. The diminishing forest cover is a damning indictment of national leadership. Blaming the weather for problems emanating from our own administrative misadventures will only serve to give us a false start in tackling the crises.

Kenya’s outdated land policy cannot enhance increased food production. You cannot achieve food security in an environment where thousands of acres of cultivable land — owned by absentee landlords — continue to lie fallow, while the majority of the people are squeezed on tiny parcels that can hardly produce sufficient food for the nation.

It is amazing that it has taken 46 years for our national leadership to realise rain-fed agriculture cannot assure us of food security. Similarly, our continued overdependence on hydro-generated power is unacceptable. Anachronistic power-producing practices cannot work in the modern world.

Both Kibaki and Raila need to borrow a point or two from the strategies used by Roosevelt. The two leaders should provide leadership by persuading Parliament to confront national issues with one voice. How can the Government pretend to be addressing the crises of food, energy and water, when some MPs and members of Cabinet cannot even support efforts to save the Mau forest from destruction? Even though the Cabinet has initiated an emergency reform and recovery agenda, it does not have the necessary legislative backing to raise money to meet its targets.

Past mistakes

Our country craves a new deal not just to address past mistakes, protect the environment and modernise agriculture and energy sectors, it requires a fresh arrangement to build strong institutions that will neutralise the culture of impunity and corruption.

President Kibaki and Raila should understand what we need now are not the many conferences or commissions. Change will only come when we talk less and act more. America is not great because of its resources. It is great because of its leadership.

The writer teaches history and political studies at Kenyatta University. [email protected]