needed to run and develop the country.
From the outset the people that the
missionaries and the administration
could attract were the outcasts that the
families could spare since they were not
only suspicious of the white man but
many loathed them and there was passive
resistance to the occupation.
There were of course willing collaborators
that saw the coming of the more powerful
colonialists as a way to grow their personal
power and influence and those that had
to strategically cooperate and toe the line
to avoid annihilation but even these gave
their weakest sons.
At independence these were the people
that could read and write and they
automatically took over the running of
the administrative machinery which was
dependent on the ability to comprehend
the language of the colonialist.
Independence had inadvertently created
new class of leaders based purely on
the ability to read and write and soon
the most important trait that these new
leaders instilled in their children was that
progress in life was tied to going to school
and to a degree being Christian.
Please note that this exhortation to go to
school was not based on what the leaders
had identified as a necessary vehicle to
develop the country but was a means
to perpetuate and maintain the new
class of leaders that had been created by
independence.
So they maintained a curriculum in school
that was geared to produce white collar
jobs that would soon be scarce and since
the polytechnics had been created to train
artisans for the colony they were deemed
inferior and shunned.
It did not take too long for us to realize
the education system as taught was not
producing the type of workforce that we
needed as a country to develop. It was
a case of all Indians and not chiefs and
it was taking us nowhere on the road of
self-reliance.
Unfortunately our experiment with a new
education curriculum to remedy what
was missing in the first one, got us into
more quagmire and we generally replaced
it with an unworkable one. Hence we are
still trying to find an education system
Whoever controls the world economy by
definition is the new global boss and wields
the same powers as the former colonial pow-
ers did the only difference being that it is
now not by the use of brutal force but by a
clever manipulation of world resources.
that works.
Since education is what determines the
type on manpower a country has is it a
wonder that we have been unable to make
any significant strides in development
metrics and the more reason we are
puzzled as to how we have become a
middle income country. superior to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda
that justifies our inclusion in the middle
income category?
Why is there no African country in the
Security Council yet the majority of the
conflicts that the United Nation has to
intervene in are in Africa? Why are other
nations speaking on our behalf and when
do we hope to have our voice heard?
Since we are classified in the same league
with India why is it that we are all trooping
to India for medical attention? How and
why is India able to produce excellent
doctors and have excellent hospitals and
we don’t? A faulty education system produces paper
qualifications and not skills and until we
fix the education system to align it with
what the country actually needs to develop
economically we are doomed to exist on
the sidelines of the world.
Why is it that after all these years the
leaders of this country still travel outside
the country for medical attention and
do not trust local facilities? What is the
meaning of Universal Health Care if the
leaders do not even trust the best that we
can offer? What is worrisome is that even when it
is apparent that the education system has
failed, we as a country seem to be unable
to come together and reason as to the best
way to get out of this morass. It is as if
nobody knows where we should be going
yet we are in motion.
If we are classified with China why is
it that they are building our physical
infrastructure? Where are our engineers
to build the roads, rail and airports? Why
are we so indebted to a country that is
supposed to have the same capability as
us? A bad education system produces bad
leaders and in Kenya we have several
education systems running concurrently
and we have always wondered which
system is supposed to create the type of
manpower we require. Who is currently
carrying the Kenyan Vision?
Is this an indictment of our education
system that we produce paper pushers
and not productive workers? If we are
unable to produce the requisite manpower
to create economic prosperity then why
are we going to school? Yet Kenyans are
obsessed with school. We had a leader that created and defined
a liberating vision for the country ‘Vision
2030’. We have not attained that vision
and since the document was a roadmap
on how to get there, who currently is in
charge of that vision as we keep asking, are
we really independent?
Why are there no African countries in the
G20? This in itself informs us that we have
not been invited to the global economic
table and we are not producers of wealth
but consumers of products. We do not
know how to add value to our products
with all the education we consume.
So where is this wealth coming from that
has promoted us into a middle income
country? What can we say we are doing
The cover piece was crafted by Mr.
Mutua M. Mutua, a seasoned
Marketing hand specialist and
trainer. For feedback or any more
discourse please drop us a line at:
[email protected].