Wolfs in Ships Skin — Why BBI report failed
Wolf in a sheep’s skin- Kenya’s Building Bridges Initiative report
Evans Wadongo
This week, Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga released the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report that was commissioned after the ‘handshake’ that took place after the disputed 2017 elections. I have taken some time to digest the report, and like many other Kenyans, I am disappointed at the raw deal being given to Kenyans.
The report which has taken over two and half years to prepare and cost billions of shillings fails to address fundamental issues that Kenyans face, especially the youths. The very few promising proposals in the report are meant to be lumped together with the bad proposals and forced onto Kenyans as a whole, like a case of a basket of 99 rotten fruits with one good fruit.
In Kenya like a few other countries, political leaders are often the richest persons. [HK1] The BBI report seeks to increase political leaders for an already over burden country. It seeks to increase the number of legislators at the national level and hence increase their annual budget by at least Kenya Shillings 324 million (US$ 3M). There are also about 2,243 Members of County Assembly (MCAs), earning an average of Kenya shillings 500,000 (US$ 5000) each month. The BBI report creates an imperial Presidency, a Deputy, and a Prime Minister, two Deputy Prime Ministers, which are all meant to reward political leaders.
The net results of increasing political leaders is increasing avenues for corruption and increasing the gap between the very poor and the rich. Already Kenya’s wage bill is huge and is becoming unsustainable. Focus should therefore be on creating an efficient, lean and accountable government and not more selfish political posts. Many Kenyans I have talked to favor scrapping constituencies and remaining with two elected members of national assembly from each of the 47 counties — one woman and one man and some nominated legislators representing special groups such as youths and persons with disabilities.
Kenya, like many African countries, has a huge population of young people. In fact, over 40% of the population is below 35 years. The BBI report proposes 7-year tax holiday for youth led businesses. On the surface this may look like a good proposal. However, the reality is that many of the micro and small enterprises often called “juakali” are informal, do not pay corporate related taxes and yet they provide massive employment to many young people. This proposal is meant to hood wink youths to support the flawed document.
The reality is that the unemployment rate more than doubled in 2020 alone. Various experts indicate that Kenya loses about one third of its budget to corruption each financial year. It isn’t lack of legislation or government policies that is causing massive unemployment. It is lack of prudent leadership which cannot be solved by increasing positions for the very political leaders who misuse them.
Further, government jobs have been skewed to favor politically connected individuals from few tribes, often leading to feeling of exclusion among many Kenyans. The Kenya government indicated that over 80% of top public service jobs are held by only six communities out of Kenya’s 43 tribes. This feeling of exclusion if often preyed upon by politicians to create ethnic violence. Again, the BBI cannot address this fundamental issue which can only be resolved by leaders who are pragmatic and care for ordinary Kenyans.
Issue affecting women and girls are neglected by Kenyan government and political leaders, not because of lack of legislation or policies but a lack of leadership. The government has failed in ensuring gender balance in executive appointments — no law and report can replace this lack of political goodwill.
The Basic Education (Amendment) Act, 2017 that was already signed into law requires government to provide free, sufficient and high-quality sanitary towels to girls in public basic education schools — to date, it’s still a pipe dream and millions of girls are affected each year. There already exists sufficient laws and regulations to protect citizens against gender-based violence — however government has failed to provide effective leadership to combat the issue.
Government can easily write off debts owed by youths to give them a fresh start. Government can easily start investing in investment funds that invest in Kenyan led startups. Government can easily scale up programs such as the Kenya Youths Employment Opportunities Project which can provide skills and economic opportunities for youths. Government can easily reduce taxes and simplify licensing for businesses; some of the youths I interact with often lament that starting a viable high growth business in Kenya is one of the ways to die young since you require so many licenses at both national and county level, face many obstacles and you can often burn-out.
I have often had some government officials demanding bribery or shareholding in order to provide some licensing required. Recently, some youths in manufacturing have complained of being harassed by scrupulous police for having counterfeit goods, when actually they are manufacturing locally with approval of Kenya’s standards agency. Government can easily help create massive tourism opportunities apart from the traditional beach and safari; and hence create millions of jobs for youths. Government can easily re-focus its education to train young people for the next generation of well paying jobs instead of current trend of focusing on opportunities that will eventually be replaced by machines and technology.
Government can focus on providing good and efficient public services, infrastructure and conducive environment for all its citizens. On average, a Kenyan spends more money on services that ought to have been provided by a well-functioning government, which then limits their ability to invest in improving their livelihoods or their businesses. For instance- Poor roads increases cost of transport, impacting many sectors of the economy. High cost of power due to unscrupulous energy contracts affect all citizens, including making goods and services from Kenya less competitive. Lack of facilities in schools means our children are disadvantaged and cannot explore their full potential irrespective of the system of education the government tries to enforce. Many children lack playing grounds, desks, reading books, laboratories, computers, adequate teachers among other basic needs. This does not require the BBI report or a referendum. It requires leadership that cares.
The author is a social entrepreneur, development expert and impact investor.
@evanswadongo
