Open Letter To President Uhuru Kenyatta

Dear Mr. President,

Thank you for your great speeches that have given comfort and hope to many Kenyans during this trying time. I would also like to pass my condolences on the loss of your Nephew and his fiance, the loss of your/our country men and women. It is unfortunate that Kenya has to go through such a horrific tragedy. It has been said and it looks like there was a failure in the part of the government security apparatus resulting in the tragedy.

I will not get into the past but will put a few pointers for the post tragedy. Mr. President, I have never been a fan of yours and I doubt if that will change any time soon but there is a possibility that you could. I will start with the main message that I got from your speech. Many liked your speech and I must say that I was looking for every opportunity to dig holes into it but I was not successful. The only thing left for me after trying my best was to rush to a conclusion that it was all rhetoric and no action. So Mr. President, you have a chance to win me over and if you do, so will you win over many more Kenyans who do not care for you.

The main message that I got from you is that “WE ARE ONE.” My understanding of this is that, even though we have 42 tribes in Kenya, we are all Kenyans and belong to one Kenyan family. I hope I got the message right Mr. President. Your predecessor President Mwai Kibaki was a good man, I wouldn’t say I was a fan of his but I respected him as an elder. The problem I had with him was that he demonstrated a negative attitude towards the message “WE ARE ONE.” He may have said the words but his actions demonstrated otherwise and it is what I’d like for you to fix.

It was whispered to me that you will be chairing a National Security Council meeting today. Out of curiosity, I looked up who would be attending the meeting and my list came up as follows Uhuru Kenyatta, Githu Muigai, Mutea Iringo, Thuita Mwangi, Ndegwa Muhoro, Micheal Gichangi and David Kimaiyo. I know when you sit in that meeting, something will strike you about your “WE ARE ONE” message. You have spoken and declared that “WE ARE ONE.” From the National Security Council meeting that you had, I feel left out of the equation and so do many other Kenyans. The “WE ARE ONE.” message gets distorted and takes on a different meaning that I’m sure is not what you meant in your great speech.

The Westgate tragedy brought out the true Kenyan spirit Mr. President. You managed to capture that spirit in your speech. Can you capture that spirit in your actions? Ordinary Kenyans showed the world that “WE ARE ONE” by their actions and with their blood. Many lost blood and in their moment of need, many more lined up to share blood with those who needed it. A true “WE ARE ONE.” action. The ball is now in your court Mr. President, will you emulate them? Normally leaders provide the direction but this time Mr. President, the ordinary citizens have provided you with a direction to follow. You said “WE ARE ONE.” in words but Kenyans have signed a covenant and symbolized through their blood that “WE ARE ONE.” It is time for you to show commitment to this covenant by your actions. If you do Mr. President, you shall have won me and many Kenyans over. Kenyans await!!!!!

In Solidarity,

Eric Otiende

Real Devolution Comes With A Challenge To Perform

As the new Kenyan Governments(yes governments) settle into office, I would like to wish them well and implore the leaders to serve those who elected them. This obviously means those who voted for and against them because it is from the net total that they sit in their respective offices today. Here at RealTalkWithEric we will simplify devolution so we can all understand what it means and be able to constructively engage the government in developing ourselves, communities, the county and the country as a whole.

Having said that, I’d like to delve into our new devolved system of government that is generating a lot of excitement. What we are seeing is a new dispensation that has brought government closer to the people. What the people need to do now is to understand government so that they can take advantage of it to prosper. Government in itself is not prosperity and very few ever prosper from government the world over other than through corruption. Prosperity is an individual’s effort, investment, persistence and ideas.

One of the arguments that I have heard is that devolution will bring funds to the counties. This is true but the funds will be of no use to the individuals who sit back and wait to be fed. One has to prepare his/herself to participate in the County economy to benefit from these devolved funds. I will use Kisumu county as an example since it is the county that I understand the most. If you are a university graduate who has not had gainful employment for the last five or more years, it may be time for you to stop looking and apply yourself differently. Get with your county representative and seek some county land to lease for food production. The county government has access to huge parcels of land that can be placed on leasehold. Also encourage your county commissioner to push the county government to allocate some grants to unemployed university graduates who want to invest in farming. I would encourage the graduates to form a cooperative union or lobby groups that would champion their interest as well as buy and sell their products at the best advantage. On the contrary, waiting for the politicians to create jobs will be an act of futility. To the Governor of Kisumu County(this applies to many other counties too), you are in a unique position to spur prosperity and create a legacy. I would ask you to be careful and start small. Create sustainable projects that will spar prosperity in the long run as opposed to short-term thrills. Realize that your job is not to please special interest but to appease economic growth. The central government will give you money to run your county but you also need to find alternative revenue. I urge you to find idle land in the county and unleash the knowledge of a few experts and the many university graduates and start a food production project that would make the county self-reliant in food within the next five years. This will achieve additional revenue, create employment and a new economy, broaden your tax base, spar growth in other industries and lower food cost.

Many will ask, how does this create a new economy? It really does. Most of the food currently consumed in Kisumu is imported from other parts of the country thus making Kisumu County a consumption economy, by producing the food locally, the economy balances into a consumption and production economy but it doesn’t end there. There will be need for storing, packaging, branding and distribution of the food and who would be doing that? The unemployed will pick up these duties thus providing them with gainful employment. I had mentioned lowered food prices, yes. Food prices will be lowered by eliminating the transportation costs that are currently levied on the food imported from places as far out as Muranga.

There are many other areas that the County Government may get involved in but I think in Kisumu County, this would be the best investment because it not only provides the county government with additional revenue, creates employment and increases food production, it also traps the money that the county loses to other parts of the country by purchasing their food thus growing the Counties economy. Kisumu County unlike many other Counties, starts from a position of advantage in that it is an untapped market in itself. That is a luxury many Counties do not have.

Related articles

• Part One: What Devolution means for the people of Kenya (governanceanddemocracyineastafrica.com)
• Jostling in Kisumu ahead of deadline for CDF positions (nation.co.ke)
• Nyanza counties explore common investment plan (businessdailyafrica.com)
• Governor, county commissioners clash looms (capitalfm.co.ke)
• Devolution, a poisoned chalice? (sakunian.wordpress.com)
• Governors threaten to amend devolution law (nation.co.ke)

Mr. Co-President

Chants of “Ni mkate full” filled the air at Kasarani as Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto were inaugurated to lead Kenya. Oblivious to the fact that the constitution provides for devolution and the fact that Uhuru and Ruto signed a pre-election pact that made them co-presidents. Ruto gets 50% and Uhuru gets 50%. So here we are at the inauguration ceremony and such chants fill the air.

Kenya! there is a problem. I say there is a problem due to the fact that there were two loud messages at Kasarani that fell on deaf ears. Prior to the gathering at Kasarani, there had been a common enemy and a common task to rally behind(Raila) but at Kasarani, the noise from the fading enemy muzzled the message from a house divided.

The first message was in the speech eloquently delivered with the pride and passion of a true leader who believes that he is rightfully where he is supposed to be and owes no gratitude to anyone but his hard work. Ruto with utmost humility clearly said that he had arrived ready to work as an equal and with a mandate to do so. He demanded his position in the government and clearly sent a warning short to the Moi family that he is thankful to them but it was time for them to line up behind him or it will be a bruising battle ahead. How is it so? Well. Ruto in his speech went further than what Deputy Presidents do to the extent that the headlines the following day went into a frenzy talking of the most powerful Deputy President. The papers were right but lost in the analysis was the fact that Ruto a besieged man had no option but to sound an alarm and to reassure his people that he was relevant. The Moi’s are playing vultures, the Kenyatta’s have fattened the prey and are waiting to fell it before the Moi’s move in to take the remains. Ruto on the other hand is not going out easy, he has the numbers and no amount of intimidation will break him. Is that true? Well, I could be wrong but this is what I see. Ruto’s case at the hague has left him an empty shell. In 2008, I was told by some PNU sympathizers that Ruto is a dead man walking. In our discussions, they had claimed that the PEV were planned and were very bitter with Ruto. Fast forward to now, they still maintain that the PEV were planned but are silent on Ruto’s involvement. They now say that Kibaki and Raila should be held responsible. When you probe further about Ruto, you realize that the silence is not a denial but a distraction. This tells me that Ruto is not out of the woods with them. They understand that Ruto has a constituency that they cannot upset right now but as soon as they replace him as the leader of that consituency, they will have their way with him and that is where the Moi’s come in and are waiting.

The second message at Kasarani was sent by the predominantly TNA crowd but delivered by Uhuru. What was said was that there was a whole loaf on the table and it would not be shared. When all is said and done historians will ponder at how both sides missed what the other side said. The reality is that the air was so polluted with the hate for Raila that both sides missed the noise that the other side was making. Having shouted so loudly that Raila was the reason for his problems at the ICC, Ruto missed the confession of the crowd at Kasarani telling him that “we will see you at the Hague.” All around Ruto were his accusers smiling at him and waiting for his demise was the professor of politics whose project, Ruto was oiling the engine. Many will wonder why Ruto cried when he was among his people? Here at Kasarani, amongst strangers there were no tears. Take your time to ponder that question. That is the mark of a warrior besieged knowing that the end is here and all the silver and gold he has taken, cannot replace the trust of the people.

So depending on your side of the political divide, you will only hear one side but the truth is that until there is a resolution, the elephant in the room continues to fatten and will soon take up all the room and at that point, some will suffocate, while the house breaks into pieces…..