A politician’s last term is always about the legacy they want to leave behind. It’s about how they want to be remembered by the people and the development they brought while in office. Last terms are mainly about mega issues and projects that will live an indelible mark for many years to come. While majority leave behind positive legacies, there are others who are remembered for negative legacies.
Unfortunately in Kenya, presidents are remembered mainly for negative acts. Jomo Kenyatta’s rule is associated with the assassination of political opponents such as Pio Gama Pinto, Tom Mboya and JM Kariuki. Moi’s time is known for the infamous Nyayo House torture chambers and detention without trial. Kibaki’s time saw the 2007-08 post-election violence, where hundreds were killed and hundreds of thousands internally displaced. So what is the legacy so far that President Kenyatta is leaving behind for Kenyans, and more specifically for communities at the Coast?
Over the last nine weeks Mombasa residents, under the leadership of Fast Action Movement, have been taking to the streets every Monday to protest over the dying economy. In what has now become known as Black Mondays, residents are complaining about the government’s decision to forcibly transport all cargo from the Mombasa port via the standard gauge railway.
This directive means no business for tens of thousands of trucks, and all other businesses that are connected to the road transport industry, including petrol stations, spare parts shops, tyre sales, lodgings and even food vendors, car washers and tuk-tuk drivers. In essence hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost in order to service the Chinese debt of building the SGR.
According to a study done by the University of Nairobi’s School of Business, Mombasa county has already lost Sh17.4 billion since the implementation of the government policy requiring mandatory transfer of most import cargo through the SGR. Besides redundancies in the transport, manufacturing, real estate and construction sector as a result of this illegal policy, the study documented losses in the hotel and warehousing sectors as well as a drop in Mombasa county’s revenue collection. According to the Kenya Transport Association, upto 100,000 jobs stand to be lost if importers are asked to exclusively use SGR.
The irony of the whole situation is that even if the government was to have its way and have all goods transferred via SGR (which is impossible because the SGR does not have the capacity to do so), the revenue collected would still not be enough to service the loan.
Mombasa residents and all those that live along the Mombasa road corridor from Mariakani, Voi, Mtito Andei, Emali all through to Mlolongo, are therefore being made to suffer unnecessarily.
The SGR remains to date an Achilles’ heel in President Kenyatta’s economic blueprint. The Chinese loan is not payable through the same SGR project and coastal communities as well as the Mombasa road corridor are made to carry the burden of poor economic decisions made by a few corrupt technocrats.
To reverse this negative trend which is fast becoming the President’s legacy to the coastal communities, it is imperative to immediately revoke all policies and directives requiring that goods from the port be transported via the SGR only.
These policies and directives are not only unconstitutional and illegal but also go against the principle of ensuring public participation in all government decisions. There should be free trade over the port where all business entities and persons have a right to choose the services they want to use.
Further, the Mombasa government should be made part of the port community and allowed to charge levy for all goods leaving the port. This will supplement the economy of Mombasa and allow for local income generation.
Finally, for the good of all Kenyans, the government must make public details of the loan agreement with China on the SGR and immediately renegotiate a workable payment plan. The Executive should also come up with avenues to ensure that all sectors of the economy, including tea, coffee, dairy and tourism, contribute to the repayment of the loan.
