Reinforce institutions
When President Uhuru Kenyatta assumed power a year ago, his Jubilee administration had the daunting task of being the first to begin a five-year term under the 2010 Constitution.
It was particularly important to create and nurture institutions of governance inspired by the new laws that reset the country’s governance structures and psyche.
The situation today is that the Jubilee administration must work hard to correct perceptions that it favours a strategy of weakening such institutions and instead has its focus firmly on development and unchallenged political control.
A disturbing characteristic has been the appetite to attack, or even cannibalise, institutions that do not kow tow to Jubilee’s wishes.
Even institutions outside government, including the media and the civil society, have been targeted. While short-term gains and political expediency are a reality, the country will benefit more from laying a strong foundation for posterity by building robust institutions that support good governance, and consequently secure development. It need not be an either-or scenario.
