Former Karachuonyo MP and one time political detainee, Paul Adhu Awiti, says he knew Kenya was headed for trouble when leaders chose to cling to a Constitution inherited from the colonialists.
Awiti says Kenya will not realise its dreams and development plans hatched at independence if leaders continue to drag their feet on a new constitutional order.
"The problem with Kenya is that we have had poor and selfish leadership anchored at the State House and with little regard for the common man," says the former MP.
Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta at his inauguration in 1963.
An economist and planner, Awiti says Kenya’s woes have tripled because successive regimes have overlooked land reforms, which is important in creating balance in wealth creation.
"At independence, our founding fathers promised to address the land issues. They also promised a new constitution, better healthcare and educational facilities. Little progress has been made.
Poor leadership
"The problem is failed leadership. We have not had a reform agenda. Tribalism that was planted at independence has worsened over the years," he says.
Awiti, who worked in the Kenyatta and Moi governments before plunging into elective politics, said government plans of introducing free primary education at independence failed because of poor planning.
"It was not until 2002 when the Ministry of Education introduced this system, which is still faced with many of challenges," he said.
But Awiti says there is still hope: "If we give Kenyans a new constitution and carry out comprehensive land reforms, we could still achieve our dream, albeit belatedly."
He said the country has never achieved its pledge to fight poverty, illiteracy and diseases.
genesis of our woes
"People still die of treatable diseases because of the high cost of treatment. Successive governments have failed to introduce comprehensive health insurance cover," he says.
Dr David Kodia has a different view on why the country failed to realise development goals.
"We started off well but trouble started when peasant farmers were ignored. The attention shifted to politicians."
This, he says, has put us in a scenario where we cannot feed ourselves.
"Honestly, I think the rain started beating us when granaries started disappearing from rural homes. That is the time we drifted into the danger zone of unending poverty," he says.
Kodia, the Principal of Bishop Okullu Theological College, says the Government erred in ‘killing’ agricultural extension services.
"Rural agriculture is dead because there are no officers to advise farmers. This is why there are no more food stores. A country with no rural food stores is a country sitting on a time bomb," says Kodia, an Anglican Church of Kenya cleric.
He says the country’s key sectors have been neglected resulting in poverty, corruption and social imbalances.
Leaders, he says, have failed to better the country.
