Let’s ensure human dignity is the legacy of 'Big Four' agenda

What you need to know:

  • Let carton houses, flying toilets, cholera and low wages be a thing of the past.

  • We should impart dignity, especially to those who yearn for but have no means to obtain it.

  • Legacy should be in a project that will outlive generations, not one that goes up in smoke at the end of a Presidency.

I got the idea of writing this article while having coffee at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford, London. Looking out from the coffee shop, I saw changes that were not there the first time I visited East London over a decade ago. Like the famous Olympic Stadium.

The East London I knew was deprived, poor and crime-ridden. You heard all kinds of depressing stories about it. It felt dingy and looked it. What I perceive now of East London from the swish coffee house is an area beautified beyond recognition.

REGENERATION

Stratford, in particular, is bursting with opportunities of all kinds for the residents. From employment to housing to entertainment, the area has a renewed confidence. It is energetic and upward-looking. Seeing major organisations setting up shop in Stratford means East London has an elevated status that can challenge any major city.

Of note for me is the way the area and its residents have been dignified through better schooling, hospitals, job opportunities and housing. To a large degree, the compliments go to the organisers of the 2012 Olympic Games who saw the need to link the regeneration of this once-poor area with such a major global event.

I recommend East London as an example that we could borrow from in establishing our ‘Big Four’ agenda: Food security, affordable housing, manufacturing and universal health coverage.

‘Big Four’ must, therefore, be about maintaining human dignity. It should not be overcast by political interests. When the emphasis is legacy, then that legacy should be about enabling Kenyans to live a decent, dignified life.

HOUSING:

Kenya’s aim should not be just about addressing housing shortage but improving the standards too. We must first work towards eradicating slums: It is a sure way of addressing perennial problems of open sewers. Pit latrines and “flying toilets” must be replaced by decent toilets.

Public health issues such as cholera outbreaks could easily be expunged through decent housing, provision of clean piped water and efficient sewerage. What we must, however, guard against is the hijacking of the projects through ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the poor by corrupt and unscrupulous ‘private developers’ — the poor being forced out through exorbitant house prices or rent. We will just be shifting the slum problems elsewhere.

MANUFACTURING:

There is, no doubt, that manufacturing will increase jobs. The industrialisation phase should have labour laws that are fair and genuinely protective of workers’ rights. Wages should reflect the living standards of an area.

We must, therefore, replace the minimum wage with a living wage commensurate with living standards. It is one way to help workers lead a dignified life. Which means they can earn enough to put a permanent roof over their heads and support their families without undue financial pressure.

HEALTHCARE:

Universal health coverage has to live up to its billing of catering for all healthcare needs of the citizens.

It is self-defeating to increase wages for workers but fail to cushion them from high cost of healthcare. As things stand, the cost of healthcare is too prohibitive for many Kenyans and it has made it difficult to lift people out of poverty. We can’t give with one hand and take away with the other. I am in favour of totally free and holistic healthcare to maintain a healthy work force and nation.

FOOD SECURITY:

The most challenging part in making Kenya food-secure is in mitigating the perennial drought that leads to famine. We should have done so by now and staved off hardship of those who live in the drier parts of the country.

Improved farming techniques must now include the arid and semi-arid lands (Asal). Israel is food-secure despite being arid, through use of technology in farming. We could follow suit to expand our food production acreage by including Asal regions.

Most importantly, we may need to start moving towards diversifying food storage to include canning and curing techniques to increase its shelf-life. A lot of fruits, vegetables and meat from domestic animals go to waste because we lack sufficient cold food storage and production industries.

GENERATIONS

A change in our eating habits won’t kill either. We are getting ugali overloaded.

Let carton houses, flying toilets, cholera and low wages be a thing of the past. We should impart dignity, especially to those who yearn for but have no means to obtain it. Legacy should be in a project that will outlive generations, not one that goes up in smoke at the end of a Presidency.

Like a fortune teller, I look inside the cup. I can confidently say the coffee dregs are shaped to show that, in the right hands, ‘Big Four’ can succeed. My next coffee break will be in a swish café in post-Big Four Kibera, I hope.

Ms Guyo is a legal researcher in Kenya and the United Kingdom. [email protected].