With Kenya's El Nino Billions Expect 'El Nino-preneurs'

Photo courtesy: Internet

This is the season of the year when we perfectly exhibit our love for last-minute preparations. We are told El Nino rains are set to ponder Kenya like never before. We have seen government - and non-government - top honchos popping from one conference hall to the other to lay down strategies of countering this monster.

Down at the village the presence of heavily-built, city-based government bureaucrats/experts is no new thing. They are there - again we are told - to stop these rains from sweeping away those tiny villages. While at it, a government agency has set aside close to Ksh 2B to "repair roads that will be swept away by these rains". Another one is running notices in our rural hamlets urging people to move to "higher grounds" even where no higher grounds exist.

Two things come out of this El Nino drama: 1) with the coming of El Nino rains, Kenyans should expect an El Nino corruption scandal. You all know we perform well when it comes to tragedy-profiteering. Many examples come to mind. The many droughts and famines “tormenting” Kenyans in the northern part of this country have had one visible effect. They have helped groom millionaires who can hardly explain the sources of their wealth. So, get ready to see more El Nino millionaires.

2) What the government has so far proposed as measures to mitigate the effects of El Nino have little to do with the plight of poor Kenyans - (not really poor but those outside the eating circle). At the core of these is an elitist ploy dressed as a people-centered approach. This is why. You cannot set aside cash to repair roads where roads do not exist. I will explain. The biting effect of El Nino - and by extension, floods - is the risk of contracting waterborne diseases. Cholera and typhoid are no new things in Kenya. 

I will pick my home county, Turkana as an example. A whopping 80% of people in this vast county have no pit latrines. Bushes, valleys, hills, rocks, and plains (of course you only go there at night) come in handy as "public toilets". Of its 20+ electoral wards quite a significant proportion of them will happily bag the tag of a toilet-free ward. Simply speaking, latrines do not exist in this part of our planet. Even the "urbanized" county capital (Lodwar town) cannot escape this verdict. More than 1000 toilets (in my own estimation) will be needed to pull it out of this condemnation.

So, you still cling on that El Nino-preparedness-script propelled by your able government? Curse be unto you and your lineage if you do that. Can we find our way out of this drama? Yes! Is there any cash to facilitate our exit? Yes! What about the political will? We will create it where none exists.

Still on Turkana county. There is too much noise out there about youth unemployment. Lodwar alone has close to 60% of its young people roaming in the villages aimlessly. With this idleness comes the existential challenge of criminal activities and promiscuity. This story repeats itself across Turkana. Now, multiply it by forty-seven and you get the picture of our republic.

What is my point? Away from the pessimistic narratives attached to El Nino and amplified by our expert tragedy-profiteers, we can actually squeeze something positive out of this "El Nino effect". One, those idle youth need jobs. Building pit latrines should top our priorities to keep cholera (and other health risks) off our limits. It is equally a labor-intensive exercise. A conscious governor will miss not to "steal" this show by unleashing the might of his youth so as to put food on their table. Fellow Kenyans, it is that simple.

Two, going by the huge amounts of money that will land on these young people's pockets, there will be a greater need to think beyond El Nino. I would propose that a percentage of their daily wages be set aside to finance village polytechnics - or rather barefoot colleges. Any working government will find it easy to befriend a people equipped with skills. But these skilled people do not fall from the sky. They are a product of our collective investment. Someone somewhere must seize this opportunity.

As a side-note, I find it a bit insensitive to condemn young people for being drunk, disorderly, and aggressive while doing nothing to know why they "picked" that route. S/he who finds happiness in preaching about youth uprightness must be ready to accompany that gospel with a gospel of action. Talk and no action leads to nowhere. It is the Holy Bible that declared that - not yours truly. Now, be ready to face El Nino.

Lemukol Ng'asike is an architect. Twitter:  @mlemukol.