Turkana's economy can't be built on contracts alone

I have always thought that to infiltrate the mind of a pastoralist with a view to introducing therein other profitable economic ventures is the hardest challenge pro-empowerment champions face. With time, and more so with County Governments in place, I have come to realize that my earlier judgment was wrongly placed, and that, the real obstacle rests not in active pastoralists but in the hearts, minds and spirits of those who abandoned pastoralism – those people occupying public offices, in business or in high-paying NGO bodies.

                                                         

Let's take Turkana County as our specimen. For everyone but the classes of persons I have mentioned above, the economy of Turkana is broken, premised on sandy foundation and in need of renewal – serious renewal.

This is why. One thing: The fallacy that doing business with the Turkana County Government spreads benefits across all social classes in the county must be ventilated. For without this step, our empowerment evangelism won't go far.

There is something horribly unpleasant when county government contracts become the bedrock of the economy. That it is normal to have lobbyists and political go-betweens cashing in for ensuring that contracts go to their sponsors, then you get to know that the connection between poverty economy and political domination is alive. And majority of innocent Turkana people are victims of this dominance.

These points don't just highlight the issues of inequality and the diminishing influence of the citizens. They bring to the fore the reasons with which to attack the very heart of this poverty business. They also indicate the birthplace of county elitist mindsets and how they shape political thinking and control of the masses at the grassroots.

Besides, they push us to ask questions such as: Why should ordinary persons permanently close their businesses in favour of county government contracts if they aren't assured that they will secure them? What materializes this kind of hope? What impact does this kind of engagement bring to the quality of works or services rendered by the said persons? And crucially, how do we assess that public largess isn't reduced to private wealth to be doled out to those deemed to be in the "correct books"?

The story goes that in Lodwar town, to be a millionaire (at least by meeting local standards) one must "work" with county government. And to know who "works" with the county government, take a look at their private projects and the duration in which it took to bring them up.

Of greater scrutiny here is how this contract thing will kill democracy. It is common knowledge that political freedom backed not by economic growth is a farce – a deadly one. For real pro-people democracy finds it fit to demolish any thoughts that give rise to groupings whose interest is to accumulate power and economic dominance so as to pursue the interests of the plutocracy.

Turkana County is no different from this. It is crystal clear that poverty in connection with political generosity have dominated rulers-wananchi dialogue in this part of the world. Now the question is, how worse will this be if this contract thing takes root? Will the populace be liberated from the control of pro-poverty honchos?

Again, won't banking on contracts as the only means of subsistence create a conditioned class of citizens who will rather ignore the faults of their leaders so as to not jeopardize their chances of getting contracts? Aren't we already on the path of this self-backed destruction?

My message to all those who love Turkana and its humongous mass of poor, ill-informed people: Turkana's economy can't be built on contracts alone. We must get it right from now henceforth.

Lemukol Ng'asike is an Architect. Email: lemoseh89@gmail.com. Twitter: @mlemukol.