Blueprint for regional development is an idea whose time has come
What you need to know:
- I would imagine that securing the Nyando and Kano plains where, every year, hundreds if not thousands are uprooted by floods, would come first in the list of their priorities. This deadly annual “calamity” can, and must be, contained.
- This is great. It will obviate the need for the national government to intervene in everything, and lessen the high-decibel noise that results from the perception that some areas are being denied the resources that would grow their economies.
- Too many brilliant ideas are stillborn, either due to the rent-seeking behaviour of those meant to implement them, or because politics always reduces the objectives to ridiculous power contests between their drivers.
- I also hope that the obsession with national and local elective politics will subside, because no human preoccupation is more destructive than the year-long politicking that has become the hall-mark of that region.
When the governors of 13 counties announced a blueprint for the Western region’s development and even ensured, in line with protocol, that the national executive gave the effort their imprimatur, one would have expected that this announcement would make headline news.
But it was not to be. Instead, the readers were regaled with the amount of money those merchants in Kisumu who were savvy enough to capitalise on the annual devolution conference hosted there would make. Beyond that, I cannot remember anything else of significance that came out of the conference, which is why MPs probably gave it a wide berth.
As for the media, one would have expected in-depth analyses of what was being planned, its viability, and the end-game. But regardless, the governors, their think-tanks and their bureaucrats, are on to a good thing and one can only hope the matter will not end there.
Too many brilliant ideas are stillborn, either due to the rent-seeking behaviour of those meant to implement them, or because politics always reduces the objectives to ridiculous power contests between their drivers.
But what is it that the leaders and opinion-shapers from the 13 counties really want to do? They reportedly want to set up a regional bloc to drive the region’s economy.
Under the umbrella of the Lake Region Economic Bloc, the governors want to establish a number of initiatives, including an agricultural commodities exchange platform, a tourism circuit, a regional bank, an ICT hub, and centres of excellence (schools, presumably) in every county.
And of course, they want to build roads, a definitely laudable idea, for you cannot market goods and services without a good network and other communication and transport infrastructure.
In short, the governors wish to do all those things normally associated with the National Government, but at scaled-down proportions, and without all the rancour that accompanies such undertakings.
INTERVENE IN EVERYTHING
This is great. It will obviate the need for the national government to intervene in everything, and lessen the high-decibel noise that results from the perception that some areas are being denied the resources that would grow their economies.
This could be true. The development agenda of past governments has been greatly lopsided, and we are now reaping the fruits of this neglect through rampant insecurity in both the north and coast regions.
What is even more appealing about the idea is that the regional powers want to use local labour to carry out the projects. This will at once create employment for youth, put paid to the tunaomba serikali mantra, and ensure the 10 million souls dwelling in Western really reap the fruits of devolution.
It could even make sense of the agitation for more money from the centre to the counties, though, to be sure, in some of these units, both in the lake region and elsewhere, it is hard to tell what happened to the funds already allocated.
It is not for me to second-guess what the 13 governors really intend to do and we shall, hopefully learn more as time goes by. In that case, there would be no need to remind them that the most immediate task should be to tame run-off water during the heavy rains seasons through timely interventions.
I would imagine that securing the Nyando and Kano plains where, every year, hundreds if not thousands are uprooted by floods, would come first in the list of their priorities. This deadly annual “calamity” can, and must be, contained.
I also hope that the obsession with national and local elective politics will subside, because no human preoccupation is more destructive than the year-long politicking that has become the hall-mark of that region.
The third issue is demographic. The leaders have not hidden their excitement about mobilising the millions of current and potential voters. There is nothing wrong with doing so, and if, indeed, they end up uplifting the living standards of this huge group of people, they ought to be amply rewarded by being elected to high office.
However, if their primary aim is just to garner votes through demagoguery and then abandon the voters, they will be given very short shrift, and the noble idea will die.
The result? They will start crying foul, claiming sabotage by the most convenient scapegoat, the Jubilee government, and even saying they have been rigged out by almost everyone else but themselves. Nevertheless, this is an idea whose time has definitely come.
