Kenya is at a crossroads. The country is in a situation not seen in many years. Kenya has gone through a lot of transformation over the years. Right now what I see is a situation where the President has to play more in shaping the destiny of the country otherwise, we may be headed for more problems.
The word is reform. To rescue Kenya from potential failure the President has to initiate a lot of reforms urgently. This starts with the composition of the government, rationalising expenditure and the elimination of corruption.
Corruption alone is a major contributor to the failures we have had to endure and the current state of economic mess. Yet we can’t stay still and assume all will be well. It won’t happen. Some magic won’t happen to eliminate corruption from our state affairs. The same for public resources wastage. If we do nothing about these, our failure as a nation will be inevitable. The public anger you see is not just about Finance Bill 2024. The Bill was just a catalyst to spark the fire you see.
Based on our present constitution and laws of Kenya, one person has the opportunity to redeem Kenya from further mess. This is none other than the President himself.
President William Ruto has been provided with a perfect opportunity to revolutionise Kenya to the right political and economic paths. That we have so much to reform is nothing to worry about if there is political will. At any rate the public is desirous for urgent reforms. There was the Nadco report that needed and needs to be acted upon urgently as are matters such as reorganisation of the government, which has become very apparent.
Failure to act, half-baked or cosmetic reforms or actions will breed more trouble. Gen Z is not a problem at all. They have just voiced what many have been having in their hearts. Most reasonable or knowledgeable people living in Kenya today can tell you that we can’t afford to keep on the political and economic trajectories that we have been and are still. The consequences have been pointing to one direction – eventual statehood failure.
Gen Zs have felt the pinch of an economy that has gone numerous cycles but mostly pointing to inadequacy to yield enough fruits for everyone. We have had a situation where it was not just survival for the fittest but on top of it is for those highly privileged to be in high tables of politics and at the top of the economic pyramid. The majority had little or no chance to make their lives better and yet still those on top of the food chain were building more walls and roadblocks against the rest. That is the kind of systems that have been in place. That is why most or all government tenders of all sorts (national and counties) were for the privileged few or influenced in a cartel kind of manner. The same for the little decent employment available in the country. Surely at some point this had to spark fire.
Nonetheless, the past notwithstanding, the situation for reforms and more of them has been created. Seize the moment Mr President. There is a legacy to build and this is the perfect time to start. The country has undergone numerous past painful moments of failures but things can change. They need the leader to lead to this. Moreover, some of the key areas to crack down ruthlessly and put a halt forever is corruption, public resources wastage and discrimination on ethnic or racial grounds for economic opportunities.
Even with the best of reforms without halting these it will come to naught. But we have a chance now to put our past, present and similar failures and evils to a halt forever.
Harrison Mwirigi Ikunda
Political, Economic and social analyst and commentator