Devolution wave and politics leave Kibaki’s flagship projects in limbo

Mega projects left by President Mwai Kibaki when administrations changed in 2013 have stalled, slowed down or changed, underlining how Kenya’s politics still weighs heavily on development.

The projects have suffered a twin crisis: Constitutional and political changes have seen some of them moved to different ministries or devolved.

The Transition Authority (TA), the agency that oversees devolution, was first to raise concerns about the abandoned projects last year.

The TA said the projects, initiated under the Economic Stimulus Programme, had been left hanging between national and county governments.

A draft report is expected Monday, detailing the status of the projects and programmes that fell in the middle of regime change.

A team of experts commissioned by the TA has been collating the data on the situation, three years after the Jubilee administration took over, depicting what can only be viewed as little concern it attaches to the projects.

The TA has also previously decried poor funding as its term comes to a close, with such surveys still pending.

Economic analyst Robert Shaw says Jubilee found itself in the thrust of ambitious and costly projects amid a cash crunch.

The dilemma of carrying on with some of the programmes, compounded with the new regime’s promised projects, puts the government squarely between a rock and a hard place.

“Times are tough and shorter since we are already gearing up for another election. Citizens will also be demanding to know what promises were fulfilled. As much as some of the projects designed by the previous president were good, their financial sustainability is key for Jubilee as well."

"They have to be cautious and approach the whole matter with prudence, as they have to avoid getting stuck in some of these very financially demanding projects,” Mr Shaw told the Daily Nation.

DEVELOPMENT PILLARS

In its June 2015 report, the TA said most of the projects that were under way at the time Kenyans went to vote in 2013 stalled, as the new county governments started their own priority projects.

“At the time of the General Election in March 2013, the national government was implementing many projects in all counties. After the elections and the coming into being of the counties, some ministries of the national government abandoned implementation of the projects, which have stalled after spending colossal amounts of money on them,” said the TA report.

From markets that were being constructed by the former Ministry of Local Government — currently under the Ministry of Devolution and Planning — to those under the Economic Stimulus Programme, most of these projects were frozen after the new regime took over.

The TA gave an example of a trauma centre at Nakuru Level 5 Hospital that was being constructed under the former Ministry of Special Programmes.

Instead of completing the project, the Ministry of Health is planning to construct another trauma centre at Salgaa, only 23 kilometres from Nakuru town.

Other initiatives conceptualised during Kibaki’s 10-year tenure and facing uncertainty fall under the Vision 2030 economic blueprint.

On October 30, 2006, President Mwai Kibaki presided over one of the most optimistic events of his tenure — the launch of Kenya’s Vision 2030.

In his speech, Mr Kibaki outlined the three pillars on which the Vision would be anchored — economic, social and political.

The first pillar would ensure that Kenya achieves and sustains an average economic growth of over 10 per cent per annum over the next 25 years.

The second pillar sought to build a just and cohesive society, with equitable social development, and a clean and secure environment.

The third pillar aimed at producing a democratic political system that nurtures issue-based politics and the rule of law while protecting all the rights and freedoms of every individual and society.

Close to a decade after the dream, its attainment remains far from reality, with  Kenya’s GDP swinging between a low of 4.4 per cent in 2011 and high of 8.4 per cent in 2010 and currently still shy from reaching six per cent.

STALLED PROJECTS

While we are already in the final 15 years before the year 2030, there is very little substance to crystalize the hopes of doubling the GDP that has averaged at 4.2 per cent for the last 14 years.

A majority of the priority areas identified for the realisation of this dream — tourism, agriculture and livestock, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, business process outsourcing, and financial services — are yet to find the momentum they need to take off.

The plan to establish three tourist resort cities — two at the coast and one in Isiolo — tourism marketing, premium parks, 1,000 home-stay sites and business visitors initiatives has received no meaningful attention, let alone mentions, by the ministries concerned.

Other crucial projects for this pillar, such as manufacturing, trade and financial services, have received mixed attention but nothing near a clear path to what they were envisioned to become.

Business process outsourcing, which is among the other key economic strategies, has had its share of absurdities too.

The Malili Ranch, whose land was purchased in 2010 with millions of shillings allocated to market the ICT hub, is yet to kick off.

A similar plan, the Konza Techno City is stranded, in the wake of several launches after being hit by geographical politics.

Machakos and Makueni counties are both claiming ownership, in addition to allegations of corruption during the acquisition of the land.

The Sh793 million allocated in the 2013/2014 budget for Konza in the Jubilee administration’s first budget barely moved the project an inch further.

The project is expected to cost Sh800 billion over two decades. Most of this will come from the private sector partners, but the government is expected to invest heavily in basic infrastructure.

Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana called on President Kenyatta to take a more proactive role in steering its development.

HINDRANCES

While Konza has stalled, Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua is forging ahead with his own techno city, which some stakeholders see as rivalling Konza.

President Kenyatta has supported this project, having presided over its launch in November 2013. 

On March 2, 2012, a year before he left office, President Kibaki launched the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor project, consisting of an oil pipeline, a railway and a motorway linking Lamu to South Sudan and Ethiopia.

South Sudan would use the Lamu port as its main oil export outlet. The plan is still on, but the oil glut and the shaky relations between the two Sudan nations now threatens the scheme.

Land acquisitions have also derailed the project timelines.

In September 2012, Mr Kibaki also launched a housing scheme of 30,000 units, expressing confidence that construction would commence in "a few months".

“It is commendable that the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) will shortly embark on developing (the housing scheme),” said Mr Kibaki at the fund’s first annual general meeting in 47 years.   

But the project that he said would include infrastructure to transform the Mavoko Municipality into a city-within-a-city is yet to take off.

The project was to be funded by the NSSF and was touted as one the flagship initiatives under the Vision 2030 blueprint.

The project has experienced difficulties due to the goings-on at the pension fund, first with former Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi suspending all projects to pave the way for an audit amid corruption claims.

Mr Kambi has since been sacked and little is spoken about the housing project.

CORRUPTION
The 96km² dam proposed at the common border of Tharaka-Nithi, Kitui, and Tana River counties at Kivuka on the River Tana is yet to start.

The government, in early 2014, opened talks with China, seeking funds to finance construction of the country’s giant dam, six months after halting work on the project due to cost exaggeration claims.

Revised project plans would later put the cost at Sh148 billion, the amount that is being sought as a loan from China.

Deputy President William Ruto said there had been suspicion that some individuals implementing the Sh150 billion project had inflated the cost.

“We detected that there were some elements of graft involved in the project. The people who were handling it were not straightforward,” said Mr Ruto in Chuka.

The dam is part of the Sh1.5 trillion Lapsset project.

It will supply water to the proposed Lamu resort city and port, while generating between 500MW and 700MW of electricity. Not a word has been heard regarding the project.

With a year before a General Election and a government grappling with a cash crunch and shifting political priorities, the future looks bleak for the Kibaki projects.