Uhuru accomplishments risk being buried in mud

Lance Kping’etich

As the general election approaches, political temperatures are bound to rise. As is the norm in Kenyan polls, we will witness well-oiled propaganda machines go into overdrive. Voters must, however, be careful lest they are swayed into swallowing phantom promises.

Having participated in numerous elections, we ought to have realised that promises are not what determine good leaders, but actions do. You can tell a good leader by his or her track record and not by how lofty his or her promises.

So when politicians tell us that they will take us to heaven on Earth, we must weigh these promises against the scale of their achievements in the positions they have been entrusted with before.

Young and gutsy

Some will stop at nothing in their quest for power. If whipping up tribal sentiments will get them votes, that is precisely what they will do.

Such power-hungry individuals will also not hesitate to drag the names of their opponents through the mud. Some presidential hopefuls, for instance, have been trying to water down the achievements of their rivals by dwelling on frivolities and non-existent integrity issues.

Some of them want us to believe that William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta are all about ICC cases and the post-election violence.

They want us to forget the exemplary performance of the two in the ministries of Agriculture and Finance respectively. They want us to forget that the two assumed leadership positions, that call for strength of character, when they were just in their thirties. It is not everyday that you find young people gutsy enough to plunge into the murky waters of politics and admirably hold their own.

Unpredictable weather

Uhuru brought radical reforms in the Treasury, which has transformed the way public finances are being handled. It is a pity that such changes, which will be felt for a long while, risk being swept under the rot of politics-as-usual.

Economic Stimulus Programme is almost on the lips of policy makers daily. However, few know that Uhuru spearheaded its introduction.

The programme, abbreviated as ESP, aims to spur economic growth and create jobs for thousands of youth. The project also seeks to encourage entrepreneurship and enable poor Kenyans to lift themselves out of poverty. Several health facilities have been set up in rural areas thanks to the programme.

Food security in the country is in a precarious situation more than before thanks to unpredictable weather patterns. Year in year out, Kenyans have been ravaged by hunger and this is bound to get worse if watertight measures are not put in place. The ESP seeks to find lasting solutions to this challenge.

The food security objective under the initiative is tied to conservation of the environment, which is now a critical aspect of development. All over the world going green is the dominant currency as it is the only way to ensure sustainable development.

It was also during Uhuru’s tenure at the Ministry of Finance when the integrated financial management information system. This initiative brings in its wake a novel way to check corruption, a cancer that has ravaged the economy for decades.

The system was designed to foster transparency and accountability in managing public funds. Hitherto, the management of public coffers was, to paraphrase wartime British PM Winston Churchill, shrouded in a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

Uhuru also established a kitty from which micro and small entrepreneurs access loans to expand their businesses. The programme, unveiled in March last year, has already made great strides with the government now partnering with Co-operative Bank of Kenya, Equity Bank and K-Rep — to advance loans to traders. Without doubt, SMEs can play a central role in spurring economic growth and reducing poverty if given an enabling environment.

The Deputy PM also played a vital role in bringing back investor confidence that had been terribly shaken after several stockbrokers collapsed and with them, millions of Kenyans money. Uhuru introduced the Investor Compensation Fund to compensate such investors.

 Down garden path

Last but not least, Uhuru in 2009, replaced the fuel guzzling Mercedes Benz that ministers and top governments officials were using with Volkswagen Passats. The initiative considerably cut public costs, saving millions of shillings, which are now being channelled to other more deserving and worthy projects.

His opponents, who have nothing to show for all the years they have held public position, want us to give these stellar achievements a blind eye and focus on distractions such as the charges at The Hague.

Kenyans should not be led down the garden path in the next elections by demagogues whose stock-in-trade is empty rhetoric and sterile political machinations.

The writer comments on politics.