WILL VISION 2030 MEET ITS OBJECTIVES? The vision 2030 is built on the platform of what was known as government’s economic recovery strategy whose purpose was to bring social, economic and political changes in our eroded systems through reforms. By this I mean, people want to see the following things done right:- unbiased justice by judiciary when it is interpreting laws, creation of new employment opportunities to enhance the living standards of people, unite communities, equal distribution of public resources and lastly integration of women, youth and people with disabilities into the mainstream society to ensure their participation in decision making. The problem is that the economic pillar [industrialization] which was supposed to be the mover of the other two pillars namely social and political pillars is not properly managed to enhance equity in the distribution of resources despite the fact that we now have devolved county governments which in our dream we thought would bring services closer to the people by allowing them plan their own self-development agendas which unfortunately is not the case now. My argument is that having identified pillars of development, it wasn’t wise to implement the three pillars at the same time - wisdom demands that if you want to kill a bird while chasing two, you shouldn’t try to kill both at the same time using same stone. It would have been better if the government had chosen on one pillar, define all its sectors and implement them fully - for instance, we could pick on agriculture and carry out a conclusive research in that field to make it the starting point for the development of the other pillars. In order to actualize the above, we need capital, however, the question will be, where do we get it? The answer is simple - we could for instance reduce certain government allocations e.g. reduction in salaries of MPs, senators, independent government offices, commissions, ambassadors, etc. through an act of parliament and save money for this cause. We could also reduce unnecessary development projects e.g. terminate certain departments and ministries whose functions are not a priority at the moment to save money and use it to develop arid and semi-arid lands [ASALS] through irrigation schemes. Assuming the above was perfectly done, it would become the first step in addressing the problem of marginalized regions in the country as far as distribution of resources is concerned. Once we have enough water for irrigation and livestock farming, the government could subsidize on crop seeds and fertilizers for farmers and if this project is given a framework of 5-10 year period, we could get enough food for domestic use and export. If the above conditions are adhered to, we could add value to the surplus and through such arrangements industrialization and development could begin. The reason why we didn’t achieve some of the major objectives in the vision 2030 in its 1st and 2nd phases is because we tried to implement all the three pillars at the same time. For example, the education sector is a long term activity and therefore it is not wise to engage projects like laptops in schools when actually we don’t have classrooms, electricity, trained personnel, security and food for the nation. This means that we cannot implement our educational systems and agricultural activities at the same time. We need some time to plan one activity after achieving the objectives of the other. Development is a ‘process that involves changes in our social structures’ and therefore it is important that those changes be gradual. Christopher Amasava Former ODM Aspiring candidate Vihiga Constituency Christopheramasava@yahoo
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 14:12:40 +0000
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