There are leaders and politicians, and most of Kenya’s politicians have a long way to go before they become leaders. Many will fail at the first hurdle, which is learning to read the room before implementing any policies or opening their mouths to speak.
If the rule on reading the room was at the fingertips of every politician in Kenya, we would be home and dry in our own Singapore, and not the imaginary one.
Politicians have been in overdrive across the country on the implementation of the Social Health Authority (SHA)/Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) these last few days. It even involved Deputy President Kithure Kindiki who reportedly encouraged Kenyans to register for the new healthcare scheme . He was backed by governors and presidential advisors in beating the drum for the new health scheme, which is being sold as the silver bullet for making access to healthcare easy. All the choristers for SHA/SHIF failed to see the catastrophic results of an untested health scheme that was hurting the very people it is meant to help.
Among those being hurt are women and children. With the death of Linda Mama, pregnant women have been left with limited support. As a result, mothers and newborns have been detained in public hospitals that, for all intents and purposes should be offering Kenyans the dignity and the care that is promised by the government.
Level 5 Thika hospital is reported to have detained mothers who gave birth there for lack of hospital fees. Essentially, children born at this hospital and perhaps others across the country, were born prisoners because the government failed to do proper feasibility studies before rolling out a new health scheme, and stopping Linda Mama, which was crucial for mothers from poor economic backgrounds.
The same problem is experienced in schools, with programmes that no one seems to understand and funding models that are killing learning institutions and pushing children from poor families further down.
A school in Nairobi was reported to have locked students out, at night, due to fees arrears . Punishing students who are not the fee payers is beyond banal to start with. Nonetheless, who is to blame in such a scenario? Is it the students, the headteacher, parents or the government. I will put the blame squarely at the doorstep of the government for failing to ensure that no child is left behind due to lack of fees.
The government has also failed to coordinate with schools to make sure learning is not disrupted for learners whether they have fees or not. It is the adults’ responsibility to deal with money issues, not hapless children who are just victims of incompetence and corruption.
This incompetence and corruption has been the catalyst for failures in the education sector. When politicians share bursaries among themselves, they endanger the lives of learners as we saw in Nairobi recently. It is unfair to ask school administrations to run the institutions on empty coffers while corruption goes on unabatedly, while bursaries are used to pay for private education for politicians’ children. We must take a hard look at how public schools are funded and how corruption is failing poor children.
The other policy that the government keeps talking about is traffic management. It does this without looking at the contribution it makes in creating traffic chaos, especially in Nairobi. When senior government officials drive against the traffic to go nowhere because they think they are more important than other road users, it leads to the gridlocks we see in Nairobi daily.
The President travelling back and forth with a huge motorcade in a busy city is disruptive and adds to the chaos. The whole government entourage seeing off and welcoming the President back at the airports causes unnecessary mayhem. Surely he must know his way to and from the airport by now? We cannot improve traffic flow without government officials taking the lead and cutting back on their journeys and huge entourages.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) has promised to deal with Police brutality, including recent abductions. Their chairperson hanging out with the head of the police (who is a main suspect) is conflict of interest and shows insincerity on Ipoa’s part. Read the room Ipoa. As for the two Speakers, let them know that Kenya is a democracy, and Parliament is for discussing all matters affecting the voters. MPs and Senators are not elected to only sort out political matters. Please allow Parliament to discuss insecurity affecting Kenyans and their families. If the Speakers read the room on abductions, they will see that is what Kenyans want.
I would urge our politicians to read the room before they force unpopular views down Kenyans’ throats if they do not want further unrest.
