African Press International (API)

The 2007 general election in Kenya will bequeath the nation a new political dispensation. New political careers will be built as well as others brought to a halt through retirement, defeats, and others will need to take hibernation and rejuvenation for a future come back. Going by the heated campaigns and opinion polls, Kenya is likely to be in a major paradigm shift no matter who wins the presidency. The level of political awareness amongst the highly demanding electorate is quite high and the country is gearing to performance based leadership.

So what happens after all is settled, and the important presidential election is finally settled? To start with the incoming president whether Kibaki, Raila or Kalonzo will have his plate full of work which need to be urgently done and what need to be planned and what need to be accomplished before the next general election after 2007.The incoming president after the 2007 poll will have no time and cannot afford to engage in boondoggle and other time wasting halitosis politics as seems to have been engulfing the nation.

His job is simply cut out and he will require the energy of a tractor or a thousand horses, and unfortunately he may never have good sleep. It’s a matter of conjecture whether the incoming president will afford the many goodies for his many sycophants and communities who as expected will have their arms ready for. Just to name a few these are issues which he will have to grapple with; tribalism, constitution review, free education in primary and secondary, reforms in the judiciary, reforms in the police force, teachers wages, environmental
degradation, infrastructure improvement, housing, rising fuel prices, slums, unemployment, insecurity, government divestiture such as Safaricom, traffic jams and road congestion, reforms in the money market and capital markets , hawkers menace, the evil and the irritating evil road carnage, tourism, global warming, the hawkers problem, education, devolution of funds and various governance structures, direct election of mayors, diplomacy, the growing and important Diaspora economy and many more. The job is un-enviable but very powerful, enticing, lucrative and highly desired. However to succeed the incoming may need to be ‘insomniatic’.

The promises made during the campaigns are astronomical. But perhaps if implemented properly they are the roadmap to economic take-off. But though some look a bit in the fantasy world, they probably capture some of the desires we would rather achieve in the near future if our nation is to remain cohesive enough to tackle the challenges of the 21st century. The road ahead is bumpy and quite challenging and it will require the courage similar or greater of other pace setters like former presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt both of US, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, former prime minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad, former UK prime minister sir Winston Churchill , former South Korea’s president Kim Dae Jung famed for his sunshine policy with North Korea and Africa’s and South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. The courage required to transform a nation to a modern economy and democracy is immense and any of the victor will need to have so much.

It will also behove him to openly court local and international
investors to invest heavily in the fast emerging economy called Kenya.  It is also prudent to be in good books with all major multilateral donors in as much we feel that we can support the economy with our taxes. Kenya’s diplomatic clout is just too small relative to the opportunities available. By now Kenya should be the diplomatic destination of choice for world powers and emerging powers of the world when they are courting Africa alongside South Africa and Nigeria.

In an upshot, the president will need to be not only always awake but also running. To establish an enduring legacy of excellence is not easy. Not even near ease with due regard to a very tribally conscious and politically charged nation like Kenya. Past history in colonialismand post independence governments have wounded Kenyans so much that they can hardly trust anybody any longer. But the opportunities are there. Good luck to the leader and to all leaders. We have a duty to make Kenya great.

<By Harrison  Mwirigi  Ikunda,
Nairobi, Kenya.

Published by API/APN africanpress@chello.no