Safaricom goof in ignoring north in new contest only a sign of deeper problems with Kenya

A section of the Ngong wind power farm in Kajiado. A project in Loyangalani, Marsabit County, will see the construction of the largest wind farm in Africa, producing 300MW of power a year, or roughly 20 per cent of the country’s total output. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The project in Loyangalani will see the construction of the largest wind farm in Africa, producing 300MW of power a year, or roughly 20 per cent of the country’s total output.
  • The story, illustrating the fact there is no taxation-representation link between the state and the people in remote parts of the country should trouble all policy makers.
  • The goof by Safaricom when it ignored the north east in its latest competition, triggering a backlash on the social media platform, Twitter, was not surprising.

At a giant wind farm on the southern tip of Lake Turkana in Marsabit the other day, the managers told a tale, which illustrates just how stark the difference is between various regions in Kenya and how little appreciation there is of this fact in places like Nairobi.

The project in Loyangalani will see the construction of the largest wind farm in Africa, producing 300MW of power a year, or roughly 20 per cent of the country’s total output.

A 204km road is under construction to link the Loyangalani/South Horr area to the nearest proper road in Laisamis, a development that is expected to open up that much-neglected region.

Naturally, hundreds of locals have been employed to take part in the project. But there was a big crisis in the first month when it came to pay day.

Construction workers, drivers and other newly hired members of staff had been offered salaries on paper which were in the region of, say, Sh30,000 or Sh40,000.

NOT CONVINCED
On pay day they received much less than they had been promised. So they armed themselves and surrounded the project office accusing the managers of short-changing them.

No, the managers explained, what had happened is that part of the salary had been submitted to the government as tax.

From every salary, the manager explained, the government takes away some money including some to pay for pensions and another amount to the National Hospital Insurance Fund.

This explanation didn’t help because locals were truly convinced that daylight robbery was in progress. It took the swift mediation of some local elders to calm tempers.

The story, illustrating the fact there is no taxation-representation link between the state and the people in remote parts of the country should trouble all policy makers.

It sums up post-colonial Kenya’s total failure to overcome the colonial logic that “development” could only come from the green areas of the country hence the focus of resources on the heavily populated areas near the British-built railway line.

FOLLY OF NEGLECT
How can someone in Loyangalani or South Horr understand the logic of NHIF deductions when there are barely any health facilities in the region and there is essentially no government in a region where roads are un-motorable in all seasons?

The irony is that Kenya’s economic fortunes now depend heavily on the massive resources to be found in the neglected north.

From oil and gas finds in Turkana and Lamu and further expected ones in the old north-eastern province, the folly of neglect has been on display in recent years.

Instead of claiming that the north rigged the census to get more resources, a wise government would formulate a Marshall plan to dedicate huge amounts of money to improve lives in that region.

The LAPSSET idea is good but it must be accompanied by softer investments in health and education.

The goof by Safaricom when it ignored the north east in its latest competition, triggering a backlash on the social media platform, Twitter, was not surprising.

One of the quotes I remember from the WikiLeaks cables was one where former CEO Michael Joseph complained that the government was spending too much money building the fibre-optic cable in areas where he implied it didn’t make business sense to: “We don’t need fibre to Garissa, we need it in Nyeri,” he said in the cable dated October 30, 2007.

ATTITUDE CHANGE
That attitude needs to change. It is a good thing that Safaricom chief Bob Collymore swiftly apologised and announced the competition will be extended to the north east.

There needs to be a more systematic rethink of these issues by policy-makers and more travel by Kenyans around the country to understand that the term “historical injustices” is not just an empty phrase and that the people of Loyangalani have a genuine objection to paying taxes to Nairobi.

No. Of course I don’t believe in witchcraft or the occult. In fact, you will find that only one in 100,000 people in the village still endorses the divinations of wizards.

The piece last week on Mzee Kathata was simply an acknowledgement of our past and a call to remember that managing the disorderly transition from the familiar comforts of the past to the new world is one of the African’s major challenges.