President Kibaki’s legacy will not be an easy one to judge. During his watch, we saw neighbours turn against each other in some parts of the country at a scale never witnessed before.
One school of thought remains has it that he failed to use his authority and the State instruments at his disposal to quash the 2008 post-election violence before it escalated.
Another argues that strong-arm tactics would have hardened opposition to his ‘victory’ and fuelled systematic national protests, with Madagascar style results.
Kibaki is accused of leaving his Ministers and some junior politicians to call political shots. This blurs national focus and confuses the citizenry. This style of state management baffles quite many.
But those familiar with former president Moi’s approach aren’t quick to condemn. ministers and State officials close to Kibaki perhaps understand him well and haven’t drawn quick conclusions. They may once help to resolve Kibaki’s governance puzzle.
Kibaki left all State universities to other managers, a thing never done before. He has littered the country with numerous districts, an approach we are yet to quite figure out. He has made bold steps towards free primary and secondary education.
He hasn’t gone on a land allocation spree, like others before him.
But it is his achievements in our infrastructure, particularly roads and ICT, that mark him out. Literally every urban centre in this country counts a new road constructed during Kibaki’s tenure.
Road networks, economists will tell you, have a tremendous multiplier effect on economies. We now have undersea fibre optic cables linking Kenya to the rest of the world, greatly boosting e-communication.
This is a gain that will trickle down to the grassroots and boost businesses, transparency in governance and democratic space.
But it is the recent focal shift to Kenya’s North, occasioned by today’s’ political spectrum and the looming famine, that will uniquely define Kibaki’s legacy.
In naming his Cabinet, Kibaki created a Ministry for Development of Northern Kenya & Other Arid Lands.
It may not have achieved much as yet; indeed, it even flaunts a “baby budget”, but the very creation of such a Ministry is symbolic and draws focused policy attention to the region.
I could go on and on but like most of us we conveniently forget the pros and focus on the cons!! a defeatist mentality perhaps! naaahh..i think it's just sheer ignorance.
The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday's logic.