Khaemba: Devolve all education functions

Trans Nzoia Governor Patrick Khaemba is eloquent and steadfast. Mr Khaemba is also disciplined and ambitious. The former PS is optimistic about the ability of devolution to change the face of Kenya. But he says the country must fix its education system, brand of politics and learn a lesson or two from Rwanda. 

Q: What is the status of devolution?

A: Devolution offers one of the greatest opportunities for growth for the country. It can only be compared with the 2002 Narc moment, which we squandered. I am concerned that commitment for its implementation is not 100 per cent. Any system is as good as the commitment to its implementation.

We are at crossroads. We can’t afford to lose devolution. But our brand of politics must change, be value-driven, accommodate more dialogue and progressive criticisms. We spend too much time hurling insults at each other. That is why some countries develop and others stagnate.

Q: So why has Kenya stagnated?

A: The biggest challenge with Africa is leadership. African leaders are vulnerable and succumb to manipulation and bullying by outside forces. Kenya is a nation of short-cuts and quick results. Most of the time we have no commitment or passion for anything. What values are Kenyans willing or ready to die for?  Nothing. We lack passion to achieve our goals. Look at our politics, we are focused on the theatre of the absurd. A Tanzanian politician told fellow countrymen that if you want to watch comedy, just tune to Kenya’s TV news.

Q: You were a PS and top official at the African Development Bank. What values do you bring to your new job?

A: While working as PS, I was almost doing the same kind of job, but without politics. The focus is on things that can impact on the people and change the way Kenyans do things. The problem with Kenya is we continue doing things the same way and expect different results. That is why countries, which were at our level at independence have left us far behind.

Q: What is your understanding of transformational leadership?

A: Kenya has produced excellent politicians but not leaders. Leaders should have a vision and lead people to achieve it. People without a vision perish. Counties require leaders who can transform peoples’ lives through sound economics, engage in value addition to create jobs, ensure people have water, access medical care, have sufficient food, reduce poverty and ensure that families have stable incomes.

Q: Your colleagues Paul Chepkwony of Kericho and Martin Wambora of Embu are fighting impeachment. What has gone wrong?

A: We have new laws with checks and balances.  My suggestion is that we should dialogue before we resort to impeachment. As things stand, we are eating ourselves. The Constitution never envisaged things will be the way they are. The country should set very high standards, extremely high for impeachment of elected leaders, otherwise the objective may be lost.

We have a situation where if you do not yield to certain demands, some of them personal, it is claimed that you are not accountable and that forms the basis for impeachment. Governors don’t handle everything, we have delegated some of the responsibilities to chief officers. Had the same standard been applied in the past, we will not have had any government since independence.

Q: You face allegations that you have been pushing farmers to use Mavuno fertiliser because you have a relationship with the manufacturer?

A: One of our key plans is to improve agriculture in this region. So after we concluded our budget, we hired a consultant to look at why the productivity of maize in our region had declined. We found out that the soils are extremely acidic because of DAP fertiliser, which had been used over the years. We needed to move to non-acidic fertiliser, for example Mavuno.

We also had to start liming our farms to reduce acidity. It was advised that Mavuno was the most suitable for our circumstances because it has 11 other minerals. So when I went round asking farmers to use Mavuno, some people said that I was an agent of the manufacturer. That is not true.  But we were determined and ensured that unlike before, the deliveries were made at village level.

Q: There are accusations that you have made skewed appointments in favour of certain communities.

A: That is not correct. Majority of Kenyan communities are represented in this county. The few jobs we have had have been equitably distributed amongst communities. An individual making those allegations is the most misinformed person. The governor does not employ; the Public Service Board does. 

Q: In what status did you find the Trans Nzoia economy and where are you driving it?

A: Our reputation is that we are a food basket, but that is not the case. More than 50 per cent of our people live in poverty. Another 60 per cent suffer food insecurity. The levels of unemployment are also very high. We have had to ask ourselves a lot of questions. For instance, why has maize production declined tremendously over the years from 30 bags per acre to 15. People have become poorer over the years. Our aim is to increase maize production. Marketing is another major challenge and inputs have become unreliable. We should stop practising agriculture the same way our grandmothers did.

Q: So what is your new thinking around the sector?

A: As I told you earlier, marketing has been a major challenge. Farmers are exploited by middlemen. Our aim is to help farmers manage their produce after harvest. We are building stores in every sub-county and each will come with a drier. It is unfortunate that the maize produced here is milled in Thika and Mombasa.

We want to put up a major milling plant for maize flour and animal feeds. Cultivation of maize comes with another challenge; the fact that we only harvest once a year. Our lands lie fallow for about five months, from November to March. We must grow other crops alongside maize.

A study has revealed that this county is suitable for the cultivation of coffee, avocado, bananas and even tomatoes. These are areas in which our county suffers a deficit. We can do contract farming with an arrangement in which prices will be pre-determined.

We have bought 45,000 banana seedlings and are asking farmers to get the seedlings. The county government is encouraging greenhouse farming. We have identified 250 model farmers. This way, we hope that we will have added value to our production.

Q: The problem with subsidy is that it denies the farmer control of costs. How would you ensure that farmers get value from the cooperation?

A: Our intention is to link the farmer to the market. The best way is to negotiate the price up front with the hope that the farmer will not require subsidy after some time. It should be a short-term measure. The fact that the president has launched an irrigation scheme that will grow maize in lower Galana at the Coast is likely to have an impact on us.

The area is warmer and could easily produce nearly 40 million bags of maize. This will lower the cost of the staple and our economy, which is depended on maize, will collapse. The same will apply to sugar cane. It takes 18 months for the crop to mature in western Kenya but 15 at the Coast. The Comesa safeguards will soon be ending. That is why we must change tact.

Our dream is to mobilise resources and reduce poverty from 50 to 30 per cent through agriculture and industry. We have three gravity water irrigation schemes and want to expand them to six. We also want to increase food production through construction of dams with a target on the export market.

Q: What have you done to boost road network?

A: The roads are passable. We have done fairly well in the area. We have paved over 1,000 kilometres of rural roads.  But we have a problem with division of labour on construction of roads between the county and national government. The Constitution talks of national and county roads yet we have agencies such as Kenya Urban Roads Authority and Kenya Rural Roads Authority, which should not be there.

Q: And where are the jobs for young people?

A: I am extremely concerned, and I must say this, that our universities are producing people who cannot be employed. They are sending to the market too many unskilled people.  The emphasis is on quantity, not quality. The universities have put too much emphasis on arts instead of science and mathematics.  Kenyans should be in a position to export human labour and earn value from the investment.

The best plumbers in Uganda are Kenyans. Kenyans are the engine of the hotel industry in eastern Africa. That is why I find this talk of brain drain nonsensical. We should invest in training and export of labour.

Q: Do you agree with the proposition that the whole of the education sector should have been devolved?

A: The drafters of the Constitution confined me to handling of polytechnics and nursery school education. I don’t want to be confined. I want to build a college of technology, which is unequalled in the region where essential skills such as plumbing, masonry, welding, electrical work, among others are trained. This way, we will build a strong army of skilled people, which we require to grow the economy and help transform livelihoods. Development of education infrastructure should have been fully devolved. My county has mud-walled, jigger-invested classrooms. Yet the Constitution bars me. That is the confinement I am not going to honour.

Q: Kitale District Hospital is very congested. Is there hope for change of things for the better in the sector?

A: The sector takes 30 per cent of our allocation. I once served as Health PS and I was familiar with shortage of drugs in our hospitals. We had a lot of deficiencies in management of drugs. We are working on Kitale District Hospital, which is one of the most congested in the country.

The county government has also started  negotiations to purchase a building whose construction was abandoned about 11 years ago. We want to make it a level five hospital as well as teaching and referral facility so that we can train doctors right here.

We have already started a medical training college with 40 nursing students. The county government has ordered ambulances for each sub-county.