Dear
Leaders,
I hope this finds you in good health, and
I pray that God the almighty gives you the wisdom to run the respective offices.
I would like to congratulate you all in your capacities as County Representatives,
Members of Parliament, Senators, Women Representatives and Governors, from the
deepest of my heart, I do congratulate you. The campaigns are over, it is time
to work.
I believe you are all aware that the challenges we as
natives of pwani, are similar from Kwale county on one end to Lamu county. We
have similar problems ranging from poor educational standards, land ownership,
poor health care, the drug menace to name but a few.
And I believe that most, if not all of you joined politics not
for your own sake but because it is a calling. The responsibility you have is
enormous and we expect you to perform to the best of your abilities. The hopes
of the masses are entrusted on you as leaders and you have to know that we look
up to you.
I decided to post in my blog
after almost two years (this s my first post since 2011) because I had gotten
tired and bored by our politics in particular and the political players in
general but I have been forced my mind and I want to believe in you again.This
is because of the number of new faces in the political scene. we have a number
of young members of Parliament and County
Reps not forgetting Governors.
This can be both blessing and a curse depending on how you embrace leadership.
As I said earlier, we have
similar problems and it is your duty as leaders because you are the bridge that
links mwananchi to the central government. I would like to point out a few of
the problems we have;
1. Poor standards of
Education
We have witnessed
dwindling standards of Education year in year out. We lack motivation on both
teachers and the students. It hurts me every time the Minister of Education
announces the KCPE or/and KCSE results, top performing schools are all from
upcountry save for Sheikh Khalifa Secondary school once in a while. why should
Maranda High always beat our schools? Methinks we need role models and we have
been lacking some for a long time .You as leaders are the mirror of society.
The teachers and students alike need motivation from you. Why not start
convening workshops and exchange ideas on how to improve on this in each
respective county? With the devolved system of governance, why not fight for a
National school in each county? With these National Schools in each county, it
will enhance intake in Higher learning institutions which dot the whole of the
Coast region but whose intake is less than 10% local. Most of the students in
these Universities hail from upcountry hence the need for good Secondary School
to ensure intake of our children.
2. The Drug Menace
Because of poor
standards of Education, most of the students end up getting solace in drugs.
There is so much drug abuse in our schools and society as a whole. This needs
attention immediately. A whole generation risks extinction if no action is not taken.
Why not start by improving our educational standards (it is a vicious cycle),
arrest all the drug dealers and make a swoop on all dens and lock up all the
addicts in rehab centres. I am impressed by the action taken by H.E Hassan Ali
Joho, the Mombasa County Governor. He has shown commitment in this fight, God
willing, he will triumph.
The fight against
drugs MUST not be lest to the
political leaders only. The parents have a bigger role to play. I was dismayed
when I saw boys as young as twelve rolling marijuana in the Majengo area behind
Masjid Azhar. When I asked why this was happening openly, I was warned of the
parents’ ire!!
What beats logic is how these parents let
their children smoke marijuana openly. This is a responsibility of the whole society.
Our leaders need our support. The sellers and addicts are amongst us and we all
know them.
3. Unemployment
The
vicious cycle goes on. Poor Educational standards may lead to drug abuse and
vice versa. This brings us to unemployment. The best way to deal with this is
by improving on Education and fighting drug abuse. With the devolved system, I
believe there will be many openings but do we have the manpower? This takes us
back to Education. Each ward should be allocated a Polytechnic or Vocational
colleges to train our youths. Our youths can be job creators as opposed to job seeking.
And you as leaders are charged with this.
Nurturing
of talents in Sports and the arts is the easiest way of job creation. We have
witnessed many young people making a living out of their talents. A good
example is Harames Stars captain Dennis Oleic, McDonald Maria and his younger
brother Victor Megabit who are now plying their trade in Europe.
We have very talented players who just need a little nurturing. Investment in
Sports academies will be vital towards achieving this. It has worked in Europe
and West Africa, it can work here too.
4. The M.R.C and the Tana river Conflicts
I am very sure we are all aware of this problem. And I am sure our new president,
together with you, will be able to address the historical injustices that
motivate these people. The youths are easy to recruit into these outfits
because of the first three problems i.e. Poor Standards of education lead to
Unemployment which may lead to drug abuse which leads to one easily becoming a
Member of the MRC the first three problems are addressed, the Mombasa
Republican Council will die a natural death.
It will be blind of us to talk of the
solutions to this problem without addressing the land issue. There have been
injustices by the previous governments. An example being the fact that only in
Coast do we have areas where land Title deeds are a dream! Are we Second class
citizens? As I said earlier, you are the bridge between us and the Central
Government.
The
Tana River issue is still about the scramble
for resources between the respective communities living there-The Ormos and the Pokomos. There should be a conflict resolution mechanism to tackle this problem.
The leaders from other counties need to ensure that there is peace in the Tana Delta.
This is important because any bad publicity can affect the tourism industry
which is the backbone of the economies of all the counties in Coast province.
5. Agriculture
Agriculture
is the backbone of any economy but I am not sure if it is sheer laziness or our
people lack the proper guidance. I have visited Central
Kenya and what I noticed is that one needs not have a big chunk of
land to produce a high yield. It is the expertise that we lack. Why not train
our farmers? Take them on learning tours to Israel. The Israelis have turned
desert areas into nice farms. This will help tackle unemployment as well as
ensure food security. We can replicate this here. This can make Coast Province
the bread basket of Kenya.
What
happened to the cashew nut factories? why can’t we make use of the coconut tree
to it’s full potential other than just thatching our houses and fermenting
mnazi? Dear leaders, the ball is in your court.
Lastly
I would like to wish you well in your endeavors and I pray for your good health.
I would also like to remind you that we are in a new constitutional
dispensation where we, the people, have the power to recall you. We demand
proper service.
