Irungu Kangata

The People

August 8, 2011

 

The Thlka-Nairobi Highway which is being constructed by three Chinese companies is about to be completed and many Kenyans are happy with the project.

 

In less than two years, the firms have transformed the road which is well known for traffic jams.

 

Using heavy machinery and working day and night, they have constructed bridges, dug undergrounded trenches and even fly overs to mention just but a few.

 

Perhaps it is about time Kenyans focused on the builders of the road and learn lessons from them.

 

The road is being built when China is on the verge of being a superpower. But China has a chequerred history. In the turn of the last century, China was a poor country that had just been conquered by the British during the famous “Boxer Rebellion”.

 

Foundation

 

Japan would later invade and occupy the country in the run-up to the Second World War. By the time Mao Zedong and his communist Party were assuming power in the late 1940’s, China was a poor country in the same league with many developing States.

 

Mao’s reign that extended upto the 1970’s is not credited with bringing economic progress but it set the foundation for what China is today. President Deng Xiaoping who assumed power in the early 1980’s is hailed as the father of modern China.

 

Since his reign, China has been the fastest growing economy in the world to the extent in 2010. Its Gross Domestic Product surpassed Japan’s, making it the second biggest economy after United States.

It now holds the largest dollar reserves and it is the biggest United States creditor.

 

It has made history by lifting millions out of poverty within the shortest period recorded in history. It is now the world number one manufacturer. The irony is that there is no democracy. The ruling party does not tolerate dissent.

 

On the other hand, United States influence is on the decline as evidenced by its battered economy. But how did China make its Pundits say China invested heavily in education, science and technology. It also punished heavily corrupt people thereby safeguarding public property.

 

It also concentrated in economic progress instead of wasting its time politicking. That is exactly what Kenya needs to do -- concentrate on economic progress. For a very long time, leaders have focused on politics to the exclusion of other facets of life.

 

Kenyan budget, for instance, devotes much resources to appeasing political interests by setting aside huge amounts of money for recurrent expenditure likeinstead of boosting development budget that helps to achieve economic goals.

 

For example, the education sector takes the largest share of the national budget (about Sh 200 billion) but most of that goes to pay salaries instead of funding new schools or buying books.

 

A lot of money is also spent on commissions where commissioners draw huge salaries but do not achieve something tangible or their recommendations are never implemented.

 

Presently, commissions like Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission and Commission for Implementation of the Constitution among others pay their staff millions of shillings that can be used to set up irrigation schemes and lift millions out of poverty.

 

As Kenyans celebrate a new constitution that has expanded their civil liberties, they must remember, as Deng once said, that people will never eat democracy - and what matters is their ability to feed, house and cloth their children.

 

 

The writer is a lawyer based in Nairobi.

 

 

A lot of money is spent on commissions where personnel draw huge salaries but do not achieve anything or their recommendations are never implemented.