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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenya today is a place with a lot of views and opinions and people are finally speaking up because they believe that their voices are being heard. The NARC government has come up with a policy of delegation which, has its positive aspects and ministers make the most of their newly found freedom.
The tangible results in my opinion are the implementation of the free primary education policy at the beginning of last year. This however needs to be improved with the increase in classes and teachers to bring the pupil/teacher ratio to 36:1. The wealth that may be generated from mining should go to this program to strenghten our education system from primary to college.
The launching of the Nairobi Marathon and improvement in the national football team coupled with the stadia. The licencing of a third mobile operator and the inviting of bids for a second fixed line operator.
Though the government should not be selling things it does not provide. It would be wiser to charge a flat fee of one to several million dollars and if a company qualifies let it build its network. Consumers especially in mobile telephony would be the beneficiaries. Wealth is currently being produced at the extreme ends of the Earth, the Far East and the Far West and that is where we should be gathering ideas and not from former colonial masters.
The ministers have also tried to bring some sanity to the public transport sector by coming with innovative ideas and they are attempting to bring order to urban planning. The most interesting prospects are the concessing of major roads and the rail network if they succeed in this they will be worthy of re-election though they should also encourage the local councils to set up joint ventures to concession rural roads which are in bad shape.
If this nation wants to take itself to the next level it not only has to optimise its efforts in traditional areas but also in the neglected areas the so called Arid and Semi Arid lands. It is good to build roads all over the place but priority should have gone to Malindi, Lamu and Malindi Garsen Garissa Moyale with a few choppers and police posts along the way.
Major streets and highways also need to be monitored by camera and the police need to lease 'Non Civilian' offices in the suburbs and centres fitted to their specifications to bring community policing to the people. Also training needs to be lengthened and admission to the force raised. The current administration appears to be against Estate pubs they can perhaps lease some of this places and change them to police posts for officers on duty after that they can go back to the stations.
Regarding North Eastern roads, this will improve security in the whole country and probably spurn other Nairobi's as the Ugandan railway did.
The energy minister is a young man with a lot of vigour and he has bright ideas of encouraging sugar and tea companies who can generate electricity to do so and sell it to the national grid. Another plan is to import power from energy rich Southern Africa by the year 2007 to aid in our economic growth by increasing supply and lowering costs. They should also come up with a formula of independent producers and independent retailers all under the umbrella of the regulations board to increase employment and enhance efficiency.
We need to encourage world universities to set up constituent colleges here to raise and increase our level of education.
We should copy from the college system in India and the UK, which allows a single university to enroll limitless students through the colleges. Provincial and major district schools could be enrolled in this post secondary/high school scheme to ensure that eventually every Kenyan gets at least 18 months of post secondary education and we should continue to improve on the quality as we prosper.
We also need to come up with a more friendly system for our Game parks like setting up a monorail to stop cowboy antics by guides and tourists. The monorail would be more friendly to both plants and animals and will enable Kenya wildlife services (KWS) to add value to its services as well as putting up profitable stops and coaches.
Establish a port rail system running from the north coast to the south coast and establish a northern port to cater to Ethiopia, Somalia, the Gulf and the Livestock industry. A contraversial port can also be encouraged at Tanga to handle Comesa, South Africa and America trade, which usually raises tempo's. Ideally after settling the coast land issue the best policy would be a professionally run free trade zone for the coast specialising in mining, leisure, shipping, fishing and allied industries.
Encourage communication between farmers, the horticultural authority and bodies such as Kari so that farmers can grow more exotic and income generating crops for home and abroad. The MP'S who like to be vocal can be incorporated in this scheme instead of propagating selfish dependancy.
We will be better of by producing more than trying the tired and tested route of income increases without commensurate increases in vehicles, food, clothing, shelter etc.
Off course ideas are as infinite as the people who live here and of paramount importance is, will and consistency in policy. This can be aided by setting up an independent Public Service Commission board appointed by parliament running on fixed terms to safeguard against the whims of politicians. This is one of the recipes for success.