Nairobi — Kenya marked 46 years of independence on Saturday. And, as President Kibaki said in his address to the nation, those years have seen the country surmount many challenges and achieve remarkable development in some spheres.

It is, therefore, an appropriate time to reflect on some of the success and failures of those years of self-rule and determination.

At independence, the founders of the nation envisaged a country where every Kenyan would have access to water, medical care, education, food and freedom from poverty by the year 2000.

NINE YEARS PAST THE DEADLINE when the noble goals were to be achieved, these shortcomings still present serious challenges to millions of Kenyans.

However, we feel obligated to acknowledge that some progress has been made. Today, millions of children have the opportunity to attain basic education while many more access higher learning.

Efforts, too, have been made to provide water to as many households as possible and health centres closer to the people than at independence.In terms of food security and, as the recent drought has taught us, the country is still woefully vulnerable. A situation where more than a third of the population can face starvation in this day and age is simply unacceptable.

Poverty, too, is still a major problem afflicting millions of Kenyans who have little hope of ever working their way to a better life. Sadly, with an increasing population and limited employment opportunities, more people are joining the ranks of the very poor every year.

And, while some regions of Kenya can boast of development in terms of infrastructure, schools and health facilities, there are many marginalised areas that still lack the most basic services. This not only creates a disillusioned section of the populace but also severely compromises the opportunities of the residents of such areas.

It is widely acknowledged that Kenya finds itself where it is today largely due to poor leadership that promotes and thrives on ethnicity and skewed mobilisation of resources.

Fortunately, and as the President noted in his speech, Kenya's sickness has been accurately diagnosed and mitigation measures are being rolled out.

Key among these is a new constitution, a draft of which is undergoing p ublic debate. It is hoped that the new constitution will usher in a new order that should, in turn, create opportunities for better standards of living for all Kenyans, wherever they live.

However, institutions can only serve the purpose they were created for if they are manned by officers of great integrity because some of the problems we are grappling with today are direct products of corruption.

WHEN NATIONAL COFFERS LEAK like a sieve, attempting to achieve meaningful development is an exercise in futility. This is why it is encouraging that the President announced new measures to fight corruption in government departments.

But he must also be aware that such announcements will be received with scepticism because such undertakings have been made in the past with zero results.

All in all, the future is still bright for Kenya. There exists a firm foundation on which to launch the proposed new socio-political and economic order.

All that is needed is selfless leadership.