...The end of starvation reflects a shift in the entitlement system; both in the form of social security and—more importantly —through systems of guaranteed employment at wages that provide exchange entitlement adequate to avoid starvation - AMARTYA SEN (in Poverty and Famines).
I have gone through the newspaper pullouts enumerating the successes, visions, and plans of the County Government of Turkana. The move, at least for now, is commendable for it reflects the need to improve the living conditions of the people of Turkana.
Looking at the milestones one easily arrives at three conclusions: 1) the acknowledgment that poverty exists and is taking a toll order on the peoples' social, economic and political constructs; 2) Development - human and material - is highly needed to give life to the people; and 3) there is need to infuse the people with a new-found pride in themselves, their value systems and their land so as to bolster their confidence to claim their rightful place in the pyramid of life.
But before blowing our trumpets in celebration of our new-found blessings in determining our priorities, I think it is high time we recheck all our steps and straighten all our thoughts.
I insist on this for two concrete reasons: 1) time to lament and blaming others is gone. We have the resources that must be used prudently and for the simple reason of injecting life in the people. And 2) time to experiment and talking much while doing less is also gone. People want results. They want to feel and be part of the fruits of devolution. Yes, the masses want to own up the process.
While it is unrealistic to have all these in place in one year, I think, it carries weight to use the successes and/or failures experienced (in the last one year) to determine what awaits us in future.
A people yearning for success must be thirsty of knowledge. They are always on the lookout for new progressive thoughts.
In this regard, and with due respect, I have a deep feeling that the interventions made during the last year are not (have not been) at par with the expectations of many. They can only be likened to a process of "calming down the masses" and to keep them hopeful that one day the tide will change and fruits will start falling.
Are we not capable of doing it ourselves? Must we fumble in any venture we find ourselves in?
The myth of development as propounded in the county report card as a top-down initiative must be cracked and killed because it makes people believe that something is being done when in reality there exists only soporific edifices. It works from a false premise that because there are so many challenges facing the people, the only way to deal with them is to "scatter your energies" with a view to curing all of them at the same time.
It does not work like this, brothers and sisters! We must diagnose the biggest cancer causing all other cancers.
Anyway, I do not possess powers (not now and even in future) to be a knowledge police. Monopoly of knowledge is the mother of all challenges bedeviling humanity. How then can we run away from this curse? Consultation, consultation, consultation... is the answer. Talk to people. Listen to them. And voila, things will never be the same!
Some thoughts are here:
Water: I have stated several times that the day we provide water to the people is the day the people of Turkana will claim their prized position in the club of successful people. Leave the security nightmare aside, water - and by extension, pastures for livestock - is the virus that fuels the tumor of hostility and killings. The time to deal a blow to water scarcity is now.
How then can we do it? Team up with Tullow Oil, the Church and other development stakeholders and embark on life-changing activities.
Drilling boreholes that can hardly sustain a single village is not the way forward. It only appeals to the people in the medium term. Put your feet down and build dams! The Kingdom of Morocco is a good teacher in this. Consult them. Talk to them and learn.
Education and health: I must admit that a great deal of work has been done in these two sectors. But it must be recalled that education, especially in a place like Turkana County, should not just be an activity confined to building new schools. For the record, I'm not calling for a stop in building schools. I support this 100%.
It is a fact that the biggest victims of lack of education are the older folk. Those who are past-school going age. In this light, isn't it constructive to also think of a way to open the minds of these chaps? Please, Mr Governor think about it.
Trade: Perhaps the most tragic of Turkana's problems is its failure to reach its economic potential. Several reasons suffice: Lack of business knowledge among a majority of residents. Parasitic local authorities disconnected from the lived economic realities of the people. Local elite that finds refuge in other places other than pumping the resources they have into the local economy…
You see, it adds no value to stick to this old painful episode. But a quick look into the county trade and industrialization blueprint cements the perception that economy matters is a preserve of some invisible "business community". It negates the thinking that the first line of investment is the people you govern. I mean the mama mbogas, the mkokoteni pushers, the subsistence farmers/herders etc.
A population that takes a leading role in matters economy is more secure than the one that is fixated in sourcing for external investors to power the local economic engines. Investors are the poor people you by-pass every day.
The county needs to up its efforts by reaching out to the masses directly. The idea on cooperatives is highly welcome. It is commendable. But more must be done.
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And to those in charge of Public Communications and Media Relations; what value does it add to dedicate much of taxpayer funded media space in highlighting CVs and Bio-datas of leaders? Tell us what they have done and we shall go out to look for information about them.
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