Thursday, November 14, 2013 - BY WYCLIFFE MUGA
It
should have been a clear warning sign to his many ardent fans that the
governor of Machakos, Dr Alfred Mutua, did not really know what he was
doing.
The “it” I refer to is the disagreement that arose between Dr Mutua and the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, one Felix Kosgei, who accused the governor of “grabbing” 2000 acres of land in Machakos County, belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture.
But before I get into that, let me emphasize that there is one thing in which Dr Mutua stands out from other governors: he knows how to use the media to further his political ends.
He is never seen at funerals abusing his political opponents. I cannot seem to recall him staging an elaborate and lavishly-funded “homecoming” of the kind which is so popular in Nyanza and Western Kenya.
Instead, when we do see him, he is in a dapper Italian suit, standing behind that finely constructed lectern, which has the words ‘County Government of Machakos’ boldly embossed in it.
All in all, the image of “the working governor” comes across very strongly. But then we have to ask: what is it, exactly, that he is working towards? And does he know what he is doing?
The answer to this, to judge by recent media reports, is that he proposes in one grand scheme to alter the face of Machakos forever, by building what would be properly termed as a ‘technopolis’ in those semi-arid plains that define his county.
If we are to believe the computer-generated "artists impressions" we have all seen, then Machakos will in time put Nairobi’s CBD to shame, by the sheer splendor of the high-rise buildings that will materialize there.
And indeed it has been reported that Dr Mutua signed “an investment MOU worth Sh 56 billion” which is the foundation of his extravagant plans.
As it happens, Dr Mutua is not the only governor with dreams of glory. It sometimes seems that you can hardly turn the page of a newspaper without seeing a photo of one of our 47 governors, putting ink to some deal with “foreign investors”.
There is even a governor whose plans enter into the fantasy realms of “trillions”. This is Governor Cyprian Awiti of Homa Bay County, whose idea is to create an “Agri-City”.
This project will cost an estimated “Sh 595 billion” – which is about 0.6 trillion shillings, and is about twice the total tax revenues which the national treasury used to collect annually in the Moi era.
What is even more amazing is that this phenomenal sum is reportedly, a “grant”, and not a loan. Mr Awiti is well aware that many doubt if this AgriCity will ever be built.
As one newspaper reported, “After signing the MoU, Homa Bay County Governor Cyprian Awiti said: “I am telling the doubting Thomases to open their eyes wide and see what we are going to come up with. ” Again I ask: Do these guys really know what they are doing?
Let’s start with Mutua: it is all very well to present the public with visionary plans for such a far-ranging project. But it would take at least ten years to get all that magnificence fully off the ground.
Was it really in the hope that he would create a new city within their county that the people of Machakos voted for Dr Mutua? Or were they hoping for better (and affordable) services in education, health, water supply and modern sanitation, like the rest of us?
As for Awiti, most of us are inclined to define any particular region as either urban (i.e having lots of modern buildings, and offering opportunities for paid employment) or rural (i.e. farmland where the locals mostly work on their own pieces of land, and grow their own food). Or if it is a modern commercial farm, we may see endless rows of perfect roses, such as are found in the horticultural greenhouses.
Where else in the world is there an "AgriCity" which cost about $7.0 billion to create? What does it produce, and if these products are basically agricultural, then where does the “city” part of it come in.
No matter how you look at it, there is only one conclusion you can come to: these governors may well be pure in their intentions, and determined to see their people prosper. But the plain fact is, they do not know what they are doing.
The “it” I refer to is the disagreement that arose between Dr Mutua and the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, one Felix Kosgei, who accused the governor of “grabbing” 2000 acres of land in Machakos County, belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture.
But before I get into that, let me emphasize that there is one thing in which Dr Mutua stands out from other governors: he knows how to use the media to further his political ends.
He is never seen at funerals abusing his political opponents. I cannot seem to recall him staging an elaborate and lavishly-funded “homecoming” of the kind which is so popular in Nyanza and Western Kenya.
Instead, when we do see him, he is in a dapper Italian suit, standing behind that finely constructed lectern, which has the words ‘County Government of Machakos’ boldly embossed in it.
All in all, the image of “the working governor” comes across very strongly. But then we have to ask: what is it, exactly, that he is working towards? And does he know what he is doing?
The answer to this, to judge by recent media reports, is that he proposes in one grand scheme to alter the face of Machakos forever, by building what would be properly termed as a ‘technopolis’ in those semi-arid plains that define his county.
If we are to believe the computer-generated "artists impressions" we have all seen, then Machakos will in time put Nairobi’s CBD to shame, by the sheer splendor of the high-rise buildings that will materialize there.
And indeed it has been reported that Dr Mutua signed “an investment MOU worth Sh 56 billion” which is the foundation of his extravagant plans.
As it happens, Dr Mutua is not the only governor with dreams of glory. It sometimes seems that you can hardly turn the page of a newspaper without seeing a photo of one of our 47 governors, putting ink to some deal with “foreign investors”.
There is even a governor whose plans enter into the fantasy realms of “trillions”. This is Governor Cyprian Awiti of Homa Bay County, whose idea is to create an “Agri-City”.
This project will cost an estimated “Sh 595 billion” – which is about 0.6 trillion shillings, and is about twice the total tax revenues which the national treasury used to collect annually in the Moi era.
What is even more amazing is that this phenomenal sum is reportedly, a “grant”, and not a loan. Mr Awiti is well aware that many doubt if this AgriCity will ever be built.
As one newspaper reported, “After signing the MoU, Homa Bay County Governor Cyprian Awiti said: “I am telling the doubting Thomases to open their eyes wide and see what we are going to come up with. ” Again I ask: Do these guys really know what they are doing?
Let’s start with Mutua: it is all very well to present the public with visionary plans for such a far-ranging project. But it would take at least ten years to get all that magnificence fully off the ground.
Was it really in the hope that he would create a new city within their county that the people of Machakos voted for Dr Mutua? Or were they hoping for better (and affordable) services in education, health, water supply and modern sanitation, like the rest of us?
As for Awiti, most of us are inclined to define any particular region as either urban (i.e having lots of modern buildings, and offering opportunities for paid employment) or rural (i.e. farmland where the locals mostly work on their own pieces of land, and grow their own food). Or if it is a modern commercial farm, we may see endless rows of perfect roses, such as are found in the horticultural greenhouses.
Where else in the world is there an "AgriCity" which cost about $7.0 billion to create? What does it produce, and if these products are basically agricultural, then where does the “city” part of it come in.
No matter how you look at it, there is only one conclusion you can come to: these governors may well be pure in their intentions, and determined to see their people prosper. But the plain fact is, they do not know what they are doing.
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