Coalition government has failed Kenya

The report by a consulting firm hired by Mr Kofi Annan to audit the government’s performance correctly captured what Kenyans feel: the Coalition Government has failed.

First, it has not delivered on the reform package it pledged.

Just a year into power, the government is under fire over corruption, nepotism, profligate spending and lethargy.

Political squabbles have become the order of the day as ministers, their assistants and MPs quarrel openly and pull in different directions.

In the meantime, the top leadership exhibits an unnerving lack of interest in the welfare of Kenyans, as it tends to look the other way as looting from State coffers goes on unabated.

Food and fuel shortages that have hit the country in the past several months are just a tip of the iceberg.

When President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga signed the peace agreement a year ago today, they undertook to do several things within a set timetable.

One, they pledged to implement Agenda Four which provides for constitutional, legal and institutional reforms, tackling poverty, inequality and youth unemployment, consolidating national cohesion, carrying out land reforms, enforcing accountability and transparency, and ending impunity.

Very little has been done on these things, yet they are at the heart of the problems afflicting this country.

We are yet to witness any radical economic move to save the majority poor from the jaws of poverty.

Instead of redressing inequality, the system accentuates class division. The masses are exploited or neglected, whereas the ruling class swims in opulence.

What is particularly galling is the inability of President Kibaki and Premier Odinga to provide real leadership and pull this country out of economic and social morass.

Why can’t they rein in their rogue lieutenants who are tearing the country apart?

Without conviction and a real desire to lead, the coalition will not take Kenya anywhere.