How Kenya can work for Kenyans

This week, the President disbanded the cabinet as one of the aftershocks of the Gen-Z-led anti-Finance Bill protests. In a move that is expected to assuage the belligerence of the Gen Z protesters, against the excesses of the government profligacy, the decision is welcome.

Kenya is at a crossroads between the forces of change yearning for a paradigm shift in our political culture and the intransigence of the usual personality - politics. At this defining moment of self-realisation, how President Ruto cruises the country in the political and economic storm will reverberate positively or otherwise in years to come. As the country and the continent listen to the voices of Gen Z, it is also stealthily watching the goodwill of the political leadership.

While President Ruto has acknowledged the legitimate issues and concerns raised by Gen Z, his expression of willingness to address the raised issues is progressive. However, it may end up being counterproductive if it is devoid of a Kenyan solution to a Kenyan problem, especially on the exacerbating issue of unemployment. How? Time and again, the President has consistently and enthusiastically reassured the Kenyan youth facing skyrocketing unemployment of his administration’s bilateral agreements for labour export to other countries as a panacea to unemployment. President Ruto’s proposal on labour export, however, negates the spirit of home-grown solutions to local problems.

It has been barely days since the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Musalia Mudavadi, released stinging statistics of the number of Kenyan workers who have died in the gulf at 316 since 2002. Notwithstanding, Mudavadi stated that the government is in the process of negotiating 19 labour memorandums of understanding. Despite glaring numbers of Kenyan deaths abroad, proposals to send more young Kenyans to bail out the fiscal and policy imprudence of previous governments is modern-day slave-like and demeaning to the estimable national pride and sovereignty of the Kenyan people.

Economic emancipation

While we appreciate that the world has become multipolar and multi-lateral, safeguarding the safety and homegrown economic emancipation of the Kenyan people should be sacrosanct. A country that is progressive seeks to retain its young, educated and energetic human capital rather than send them away to unchartered, sometimes unwelcoming, foreign lands.

President Ruto should refer to the nascent years of Kibaki’s new administration when the economy was initially in a wreck. Despite the then prevailing economic climate, Kibaki did not encourage emigration as an unemployment and economic fix, but rather adopted prudent socio-economic policies such as free education and, balanced budget and expanded the tax base to empower the people. Within 5 years the economy had turned around and the Kenyan diaspora basking in the confidence of economic recovery started coming back home to invest and work in Kenya.

The long-term costs of exporting young skilled labour to other countries may also outweigh the anticipated benefits. In the recent Twitter Spaces with the Gen- z, President Ruto enthusiastically stated that the country was exploring the export of skilled and semi-skilled labour such as engineers abroad. This begs the question, does this policy work for or against our national interest?

It is crystal clear as the daylight sun that brain drain keeps sucking away Africa’s talent and innovation for decades. According to a World Bank report, brain drain in developing countries also comes at a cost to the source countries. For example, the unit cost of training a medical doctor or an engineer at a university for 6 years should yield dividends to the country in terms of much-needed skills and innovation.

Embrace local solutions

What President Ruto ought to do is embrace local solutions to empower the Kenyan youth by empowering them socially and economically just like President Kibaki did. Lack of merit-based culture in Kenya has denied a lot of youth opportunities and stagnated efficacy even in the civil service. Instead of creating enmity with the Gen-Z, systems should be put in place to tap innovative and tech-savvy minds to critical government services such as transport and healthcare at local and national levels.

Nations all over the world, including the biggest economy, United States, undergo tumultuous economic eras such as the 2008 economic recession. However, despite a collapsing mortgage industry, unemployment and other challenges, American citizens didn’t emigrate in droves to Singapore or Luxembourg for opportunities. The US government fixed its economy by working with the American people.

Kenyan youths love their country. They want to succeed in Kenya, build and innovate in Kenya, marry in Kenya and grow in Kenya. Going by the recent protests by the Gen Zs, President Ruto should embrace the clarion call and effect disciplined fiscal and governance changes while the goodwill lasts. Kenyans are innovative, hardworking and resilient to withstand the test of the harsh economic times. If President Ruto strengthens institutions by embracing constitutionality, and tame rogue corrupt leaders, then Kenya should work for all Kenyans.

As a country we should find homegrown solutions in Kenya and not run away from the problems.

John Irungu is a PhD Candidate in Computer Science and Engineering, University of the District of Columbia. [email protected]. @GatambiaIrungu