Jubilee Government should reorganise after false start

By Mohamed Wato

Jubilee is a hundred days old and there are clear signals Kenyans are growing restless yearning for deep change that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto promised before they got elected.

Their Jubilee manifesto is a detail of many programmes, presented in an attractive language and reinforced by graphics. Recall a picture is a thousand words; it captured the psyche of many Kenyans. Their panoramic and choreographed agenda suggested that Kenyans will soon be enjoying the benefits of upgraded infrastructure, a modern transport and communication network of railroads and super highways.

That was not the end; a secure environment in which a reformed security system will reverse the spiral of crime incidents gone out of control is another big promise they made.

They said, the economy will be expanded and maintained to grow by double digits, and with such an ambitious plan, they declared significant improvements of the condition of life for the average citizen.

And even though some of the promises they made are long term, requiring considerable time to accomplish, the coalition lacks strategic direction needed to lay foundation for these reforms. Yet, the coalition’s vision must evolve with devolution, a completely new governance model.

Talk of a Jubilee quarter results, and what you get is a false start. In three months, if you overlook what they call "teething problems", a shield to ward off criticisms, what Jubilee is demonstrating is a discouraging narrative of a false start, instead of exploiting the good-will they have, to turn into opportunities that builds public confidence.

Their performance has suffered setbacks from unproductive issues such as turf wars, diplomatic gaffes, labour strikes, wasteful spending, insecurity, and spirited attempts by stalwarts to miscarriage devolution at the early stages.

It appears the driving force behind Jubilee’s agenda does not seem to understand the value of cross functional decision making in a strategic change management environment.

To meet Kenya’s urgent needs, the digital formation must bring everybody including the opposition on a round table and bargain for the implementation of their priority programs. Two things which they need to learn today are, people and communication are vital ingredients that merge to cause or influence transformational development.

Political representation is the channel through which progressive and negative signals are conveyed to steer or scuttle a change process.

So far, Jubilee has failed to build bridges it needs to execute their primary objectives. They must now reorganise, or continue to get distracted and pay back when the time comes to revert to the electorate.

The writer is an independent analyst and an employee of an international organisation

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