Kenya , like so many other countries in the south , has been chasing the illusive holy grail of economic development which is supposed to be the magic potion that would transform its populace from penury to plenty .
Kenya has indeed made effort since independence to uplift itself from the morass of scarcity and the embarrassment of forever having a begging bowl in hand at international engagements as a result of failing to achieve economic take off .
There is absolutely no national pride in being referred to as a Less Developed Country and the perpetual state of stunted growth that the country finds itself in . Yet the mirage of economic prosperity seems to progressively get beyond the county ’ s reach .
Kenya , like so many other countries that find themselves in that unfortunate LDC category live a supervised independence by the prosperous north , usually former colonial masters or the international development institutions created by them .
After six decades of trial and many errors it is time for Kenya to admit that something is certainly not working . To continue using the same unsuccessful development formulae hoping for different outcomes is not only irresponsible but a definition of national insanity .
There is something inherently incoherent about making your former oppressor your principal advisor on matters development especially when you take into consideration that they did not willingly give up their privileged former position .
It is time that Kenya re-evaluates its development agenda and figured out why so little progress has been achieved and why the country is still grappling with the very same development and social issues it inherited at independence .
Kenya , as a country needs to go back to the drawing board and ask the tough and uncomfortable questions that will shed light as to why Kenya is simply spinning wheels at very high speed and expending energy yet going so fast to nowhere .
The Kenyan understanding of development is what the politicians tell them periodically every five years before elections and the refrain is the same , building of schools , the creation of employment , the provision of clean water and access to electricity .
Interestingly at the end of every five year stint the measure of the administration ’ s success is usually not the attainment of the promises but the glorification of legacy projects , usually big infrastructural undertakings , as a badge of success .
In the international arena different metrics are used to determine whether Kenya is doing well and as an example , the five years prior to 2020 the country ‘ grew ’ at an impressive GDP rate averaging 4.8 % per annum .
When one reads in the international media that seven of the out of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa then the general pervading feeling is that it ’ s just a matter of time before it is Africa ’ s turn for a seat on the prosperity table .
In the same international media , one reads statements like - Kenya is the commercial and industrial hub of the East African region and is considered a globally strategic country . One then has to wonder why things on the ground look totally different .
One also hears that Kenya has been upgraded into a middle-income country and although that entails losing the right to getting interest free loans due to the new status , a Kenyan would be hard pressed to explain what tangible benefit that reclassification delivers .
Perhaps it is a good time to abandon the development metrics given to us by the Bretton Wood ’ s institutions and the figures Kenya slavishly tries to improve so as to qualify for the next round of loans and avoid becoming an international economic pariah .
The time has come to stop defining Kenya ’ s development in abstract statistical averages and get back to a developmental definition that is based on the attainment of basic needs which are both quantifiable and observable .
Since Kenya does not undertake developmental activities just to be included in the international league table but to impact on the lives of Kenyans then the endgame would be something manifestly observable .
If Kenyans basic essential needs were met and they lived in harmony , they would be a happy lot and one would be able to say that Kenyans enjoy a good quality of life . Development is the process that creates this outcome by meeting the aspirations of the people .
If people are willingly risking to be on the streets demonstrating because of the harsh and worsening quality of their lives , then you don ’ t need the World Bank or IMF to tell you that the Kenyan economic growth has slowed down or that the country is experiencing a recession .
Development should ideally benefit all sections of society by creating growth , progress or positive change that adds to the economic , social , physical and environmental wellbeing of the society in question .
In the last elections , people were heard loudly making derogatory statements to the sitting president that they did not need roads since they don ’ t eat them clearly demonstrating that they did not understand the dynamics of a country ’ s development .
But in the same vein they captured the real issue and that is the lack of gainful employment and the dwindling economic activities that left a young and restless population restless . This group holds the potential to development or destruction .
Kenya has been finetuning the development blueprint for far too long , sometimes aligning with the west and then aligning with the east to stave off predatory tendencies of the west to no avail since the end result is still a dependency partnership .
Kenya has oscillated precariously between the problem of neo-colonialism that was threatening to invalidate the very meaning of independence and the odium of a debt trap of the east that would lead to mortgaging of the country .
To quote the author Oren Harari ‘ The electric light bulb did not come from the continuous improvement of candles ’, it came from a disruptive and novel way of thinking yet the end result was the same , the provision of light .
Kenya needs to adopt a new and radical development blueprint since what has been recommended and tried is obviously not working and Kenya needs to switch off the five-year re-set button that keeps Kenya permanently running on the spot as though on a treadmill .
A close study of history points to the fact all those countries that are now called developed achieved that status after many decades of oftentimes bloody patches in their history that forced them to identify as national units or perish .
In Kenya the center does not hold because even though as a multi-ethnic society we shared a common history of subjugation to colonial rule , as a people we do not share a common culture , values or even ethics .