We must hold our leaders into accountable

Harry S Truman, the 33rd president of the US had on his desktop a sign that read ‘the Buck Stops Here’. It meant the president has the right to make decisions for the country and accept the ultimate responsibility for the decisions. His simple philosophy was, if you can’t stand the heat, then you better get out of the kitchen.
This is the kind of initiative we lack or rarely see in our leadership systems. We are lame in development because there is no goodwill from the men and women to whom we have entrusted the responsibility to make decisions that affect our lives.
It’s funny how the leaders never worry that the new Constitution allows us to move to court, to file suits against their wanting performance. Should we win, it would send them packing. Their greed surpasses understanding.
However, the leaders must now understand the days when they could come to us with a Sh50 note to ‘buy’ our vote are long gone.
Kenyans now understand better how to differentiae between performing and non-performing leaders.
 
Improve situation

 For instance, Nairobi’s Eastleigh area has one of the worst infrastructures yet it’s a leading business hub. It is the route you would not want to invest your brand new matatu in. The roads to Eastleigh often scare investors away. Amazingly, our ‘turn-to-eat’ crop of leaders never see the need to improve the situation.
If the buck must stop somewhere, then Government must devise ways to harvest floodwater in Budalang’i and use it for irrigation in Ukambani to save lives in both areas. You may think it’s impossible. But if Government constructs a pipeline to transport oil from Mombasa to Kisumu, then, given the required goodwill, it surely can construct tunnels or irrigation pipes from Lake Turkana to the nearest vicinity of Turkana residents.
This is why we must hold our leaders into accountability. A good leadership must first feed its population.
It’s not morally good to expect food donations from Egypt, or Libya, countries, which are prone to drought. Kenya is blessed with fertile land for agriculture. It only requires individuals to decide policies and implement them to stabilise food prices for the common man.
It sickens me to see food prices skyrocket here while in Japan, with poorer arable lands, the prices there are more stable.
Asked the same question Ronald Reagan asked Americans during his 1980 presidential campaign; "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" I would give a big no answer.
Arguably, four years ago, before the Grand Coalition was born, life was much better and prices of basic commodities fairer. I wonder, are we suffering today because the Government has paid more technocrats and thinktanks to work out on how to make our lives more reasonable?
Joblessness 
To turn around, our leaders must get priorities right. For instance, there is nothing as poisonous as having educated but jobless youth in a society. Our education systems must change. We have scarcity of engineers and instead of training our own, we keep importing experts to expand or maintain our infrastructure.
However, if our leaders can’t stand the heat, let them get out of the kitchen.
{Chweya Iteba, Nairobi}

IRONY DEPICTS AS NORTH KOREA MOURNS DEATH OF THEIR LEADER

The news is all over globally, scenes of desolate Korean residents are mourning the death of their ‘Dear Leader, Kim Jong- II. For exposing their patriotism is their right but some issues must be solicited if Kim Jong deserves such tears especially when men are shown on the screen emotionally weeping for him.  

Kim Jong has been on international news for all wrong reasons. He has severally defied UN sanctions over his nuclear extension plans his people notwithstanding the injustice they have suffered from his iron fist rule inclusive; hunger, rights abuse, imprison and isolation. What is there to cry for when North Korea residents are living under freedom limitations? To make it more badly, they have branded the despot as their Dear Leader.

Naked irony is seen here; first the remarks from international society. Us Secretary for State Hillary Clinton has given a speech acknowledging the mourning period of Kim Jong, which is from December 17-29^th. Nevertheless it is known how the relationship between the two states have been bitter as US campaigned over its nuclear   plans. On the other hand, North Korea has not been pleased with US’s military personnel in South Korea about 30,000 soldiers minding that South Korea is t North’s rival.

Of course the no nonsense Republican John McCain has put it right for the world to hear.

“I hope he is in a warm corner of hell…the world is  better off without Kim Jong II who is gone to join Gaddafi, Bin Laden and Hitler. The world is better place now that Kim Jong II is no longer in it.” That is John McCain who is not far from his political counterpart former US president George w. Bush who denounced North Korea as a member of an “axis of evil” that also included Iran and Iraq. For George bush, Kim was a tyrant who starved his people to build nuclear weapons.

This is neither fabrication. Recent past, March 2010, North Korea sunk South Korea’s ship killing 46 sailors. Eight months later, North Korea again shelled South Korean island killing two solders and two civilians all that attributed to the late Kim Jong’s directions.

Like China’s Mao Zedong, the leader has developed a cult of personality from the 24 million population whom majority live below a dollar day. He is feared like a god. Maybe like father-like-son. During 1980’s, a party newspaper was quoted that Christians must not go to Jerusalem but rather visit Korea. It urged people not to fear God but fear the great man, Kim II Sung, Kim Jong’s father whom he took power upon his death on 8^th July 1994. Now his 24-yaer-old inexperienced son is expected to take over from him.  

Now are the tears worth it? Is the world forgetting how is North Korean arsenal of atomic weapons and nuclear facilities that are sailed through rogue states including Iran and Syria touching formidable challenge to international security? Where are the outstanding speeches coming from or the world leaders are are short sighted? If that is how world leaders behave then I don’t blame the anchor who was full of tears as she broke the news on North Korea state television stating; “it is the biggest loss for the party….and it is our people and nation’s biggest sadness!”  It is totally against journalistic   principals according to my journalism lecture who taught me to report the news and not to be in news.

Back closer to home, the trend is the same. We have worshipped party kingpins, tribal chiefs that we have limited our thinking that they are leaders to be held accountable. That is why stiff necked fools take machetes to maim and cause harm simply because their ‘Dear Leaders” has said so. We need to think how to choose leaders or we will face the fate of North Korea yet again pretend to cry when such leaders meet their designated doom.  

CHWEYA ITEBA NAIROBI.

  

PERMANENT POLICIES WILL FORESEE THIS COUNTRY GOING TO THE NEXT LEVEL

PERMANENT POLICIES WILL FORESEE THIS COUNTRY GOING TO THE NEXT LEVEL

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35^th president of United States of America (may God rest his soul in peace) gave one of the memorable speeches on January 1961 during his inauguration ceremony that should be hammered into the heads of our leaders permanently.  On that day, he admitted that American problems will not be solved within the first 100 days or will they managed in the next 1000 days. In short he urged Americans not just to sit and waits for government handouts but to think on how to make America a prosperous nation.

He then went to install projects among them going to the moon which was later accomplished exemplary although he had already died.

Back at home the trend is different.  Our leaders keep procrastinating problems or they pretend to sole them. Such are the circumstances which makes them to find themselves in difficult situations especially in this era of strikes. Normally, when such strikes do happen, the common man is to suffer. Take for instance the current doctors strike, patients are dying in hospitals who happen to be ordinary citizens who in this context cannot afford private hospitals. You don’t need rocket science studies to know that most of the doctors own private hospitals and clinics as they belong to that class which can afford insurance covers inclusive special ingredient packages that can fly them out of the country for medical check-ups!

I’m not feeling any ill to our beloved brothers and sisters in the name of doctors and nurses but I’m feeling ill for Wanjiku or Mogaka, back at the village. The government must put priorities right. When teachers go to strike, common man is first affected because our leaders don’t take their children to public schools which they implement policies to build.

Just for a thought, when such strikes do happen, the government is forced to sit down and for agreement of course they concur to pay. Where is the money kept not to solve the problem earlier but upon demonstrations, it is found? Where is the spirit of negotiation comes from or our leaders must be forced to work for the job they are paid? How can you pass quickly to purchase a  200,000 shillings worth chair but fail to reason that a primary school teacher need  a medical  allowance rise of 300 shillings?   

 Until they sit down and implement the policies they keep on telling us, all will not be well. The Prime Minister admits during Jamuhuri day cerebrations that we have been having many problems among them hunger caused by poverty, and of course the infamous floods. I can see here that imagination is bemused by facts. He should tell us for instance what his office is doing to improve the situation. How many times are Kenyans going to die of floods and droughts instead of thinking of how to curb flood waters and use it when times of drought?

Kenyan problems will not be solved by leaders who campaign with promises of solving everything within the first 100 days in office. Adam Smith, the father of economics once said that the tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspiration. Take for instance the sick KAZI KWA VIJANA program. Is that solving unemployment or postponing a problem? It reminds me of Josiah Mwangi Kariuki the slain Nyandarua MP then. He said of how youths will turn into rogues if not well addresses and not that they will turn rogue of their wish, but because circumstances force them. After teachers, doctors, Matatu Owner Association has rung a warning bell as COTU is promising industrial strike. I’m not a prophet of doom but next likely, Kenyan youths will go to the streets. For how can you explain to someone who has been in college for six years that there is no employment for him? Kenya is 48 -years –old but she is living with 1950,s problems among them unemployment factor, squatters, hunger, mayhems e.t.c.

Until our leaders go to the drawing board and implement permanent policies, all will not be well. Let them sit and find permanent solutions for us to move towards attaining vision 2030.  

CHWEYA ITEBA, NAIROBI.

WHY WE MUST THINK TO REVISE OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM.

A child mis- educated is a child lost. That is one of JF Kennedy’s famous quotes and when I look at our education system, surely something must be done to recuperate it. we are mis-educated!

We need education system that can line up with the current generation and able to help people to solve problems in real life experiences. Our education system has been a mess as we are taught some subject which we can't apply anywhere as far as real life situations are concerned.

It’s not wrong to ape how some countries are achieving excellently but one must consider whether the system he wants to import will work effectively.

If I reminisce back in lower primary, our teacher used to send us bananas and fruit samples and during the lesson, she could eat them while asking a question; “class, what is the teacher doing?” then we could shout, “the teacher is eating the banana.” Up-to-date I wonder how the lesson was relevant but come standard four; we were introduced to rounding off figures and estimations. The key figure here is that we were never told not to round off elections results something which people under-estimate leading to political mayhems and loss of life.

Can someone think to give us education system that can help tap the talent? During my upper primary we had some boys who could dismantle radios and then proceed to mend them. Some could repair watches. These boys have never heard of electronics lessons nor could they define that word. Yet Kenya is importing cheap electronics up-to-date. With ambition of driving to vision 2030 we need education system incorporating workshops where students can exhibit their various talents.

Take a country like Singapore for example. It has revised its education system from 1981, 1992, 1994, and 1999 for the content to focus on technical details rather than conceptual understanding that is no longer relevant in real world practice.

They have rather involved thinking skills and integrated the use of information technology in lessons. The system has been revised to mainly develop citizenship skills and values in the Singapore context. Again there was a need to bring in hardware and software technology in schools and lastly for critical thinking purposes.

That is why we must question when someone terminates subjects like art, craft and music which in real life circumstances have helped individuals to earn a living. Bring education system that can help individual to think and start something extraordinary to earn a living. It’s not morally good to see a university student lying useless in the village that even a school drop-out who makes bricks for sale  is living comfortably. This even kills the morale of young people who want to pursue higher learning as some villagers term education to be useless.

Unlike in Kenya where an A or B+ will give you a straight ticket to university, in America, university admission officers demand an application from high school students showing they have participated in 

 extra curriculum activities as an indication that such students have learned valuable life lessons like team work, leadership or civic responsibility.

That is not enough; there is a reasoning test during final year in high school which is a must for a student to gain admission to university. Students again are required to write an essay as part of application process each admission office determining the length.

Again, if Kenya wants to reform the education sector, let them bring subjects which incorporate our culture. We must not forget our culture and copy everything from the West. Singapore education ministry works hand in hand with ministry of tourism to enable sell their culture as well as enabling students to study their country.

Also on reformation, let the ministry think of improving infrastructure and pay the teachers well. Our students are studying in house dangerous even for animals to take shelter in. Many are teachers involving in busy business that you wonder when they finish their syllabus.