15 June 2008
opinion
Nairobi — On Thursday, Finance Minister Amos Kimunya told the country that Kenya had experienced the most consistent and buoyant growth in 30 years, over the last five years. He was right.
Nevertheless, economists years ago differentiated between quantitative change, which is the variety we have experienced, and fundamental change in the quality of life otherwise referred to as development.
Encouragingly, however, the explosion of the country into violence this year appears to have foisted a sense of urgency on our planners on the need to harmonise growth and development.
GOING THROUGH THE BUDGET DOCuments, it is clear policy planners agree that the "feel good" factor evoked by robust trading at the bourse and equally encouraging numbers from the elite service sector was misplaced.
As a matter of fact, Mr Kimunya's Budget appears like a ready response to critics. Practical measures were taken to tackle structural poverty and unemployment as well as reduce regional imbalances - issues arguably at the core of the post-elections violence.
If implemented well, they will integrate regions and the poor into the mainstream economy and eliminate desperation that makes them easy prey for political self-seekers.
Significant amongst interventions was the largest-ever allocation to road construction, of Sh42 billion, likely to have a major multiplier effect on the economy. Importantly, some of this is to be employed in labour-intensive road construction projects, notably the Sh900 million Garissa-Hola Road in North Eastern Kenya.
This region in addition gets special attention in resource distribution through a special purpose ministry.
Other specific investments targeted at reducing poverty will focus on Nyanza, Coast, Rift Valley and Western which have the highest incidence of poverty.
Mr Kimunya, in the meantime, said Treasury would support business incubation to leverage some 100 small and medium enterprises and allocated Sh300 million to support industrial innovation.
He will again invest heavily in updating leather technology to support cattle rearing regions and hundreds of millions in construction of low-cost houses for the urban poor.
The Government is on the side to sink hundreds of millions in supporting business outsourcing - which unfortunately has to contend with VAT that may not apply to competing regions - and software development.
The above, read together with fiscal interventions on food inflation and agriculture productivity plus efforts to de-bottleneck the economy by boosting the port, railway, telecommunications and power infrastructure, were long overdue. All these constitute an inspired attempt at reactivating the economy while infusing a measure of equity, for the sake of social stability the country badly needs.
INDEED, ONE MIGHT NOT BE WRONG in attributing the relatively "pro-poor" Budget to inclusiveness associated with the Grand Coalition government.
But while the inclusiveness is a positive thing, it comes with the danger that good prospects much hinge on politics. Arising from this, we ask the Coalition to depoliticise and institutionalise the Civil Service which is charged with implementing Vision 2030, of which the yearly Budget is part of.
To have the momentum halted and reversed as happened this year is too painful to contemplate for a country where poverty afflicts nearly half the population.
It is not within our powers to get the politicians to dedicate all their energies toward the cause.
But, in view of the fact that all of them made grandiose promises to the electorate, we advise them to do so as there will be no one to blame for their failure. Shifting blame should not wash this time round.
President Kibaki and his coalition partner appear very keen on taking the country forward. But unless they take personal charge of the programme and root out anyone bent on slowing down the train, at the end of the day they will be considered miserable failures.
THEY HAVE A GOOD EXAMPLE IN former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammad who took personal charge of the economic transformation - even chairing daily a committee which successfully steered the country off the Asian meltdown last decade.
The two principals may not go to that extent but they owe it to their individual legacies to give it a good shot.
Kenya has squandered a lot of time in the last nearly 50 years which we need to recoup if this country is to catch up with its 1970s peers that sadly include Malaysia - who at one point sent emissaries to study what Kenya Civil Servants were doing right - and Korea.
Rather regrettably, both countries employed a mix of "inspiration and perspiration" which is not the direction we are taking when we oppose the six-day working week.
The Budget was a great piece of policy workmanship. But Kenyans have to work overnight to make it bear fruit. It has successfully been done elsewhere and we can do it!
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