GAPS THAT THE NEW KENYAN COMPETENCE-BASED CURRICULUM MUST ENDEAVOUR TO ADDRESS

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ith the turn of the year always comes the opportunity for a fresh, new perspective, a period of solemn oaths to eschew the errors of the previous year. More often than not it is a time not just to get new calendars but to formulate audacious, fresh resolutions with a clear goal to achieve them this time round. But apparently someone was caught flip-flopping and flailing trying to grope at the by-gone. It is none other than the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Education Amb. Amina Chawahir Mohamed. In Roman mythology there existed the god; Janus, a two –faced deity of beginnings and duality. January was ostensibly named after this god as it holds the special position of not just being a time to reminisce about the previous year but also to yearn of the promise of the impending one. But my comparisons of Amb. Mohamed with Janus have nothing to do with promise but unfortunately with an egregious immersion into the mire of ambivalence albeit indecision. The lady was caught in two minds between flagging off the implementation of the new, progressive curriculum vis-à-vis pandering to the inertia of the status-quo and cleave to the old, predictable one just for a little longer. She was even called to task by a Parliamentary Committee on Education to explain this insipidly awkward turn of events, to which with a sleigh of the hand she just shooed away waxing lyrical about her right to change her mind even if it were “a thousand times a day.” Philosophical as she was, I do not in any way envy her in this dilemma but it’s one any incumbent CS would have had to have. But I personally would have desired to see a more resolute commitment to a predetermined and solidified policy position if not for any other docket on matters education. In public discourse opinion was tectonically spit down the middle. Thanks to the aforementioned conjecture, there was a school of thought by the conspiracy theorists that money had changed hands and as such forced the CS’s hand to revert to a position she had previously deferred for at least a year. In aversion of conflict I chose to believe in her inalienable right to exercise her volition consequent to authority that stems from her auspicious office.  But that is neither here nor there.

No one could ever put it better than the sages of yore who postured that the only constant in life is change a hyperbolic contradiction no less. In the fullness of time we had to get to a juncture where we streamlined our systems with not just best practice but with globally acceptable standards. Due to rapid technological advancements and a transition from the archaic way of life to the modern, chalk circles are gradually getting blurred expanding the planet to merely a global village. Business Process Outsourcing, shared infrastructure, cloud-hosting, co-location, pitch decks and cross-border collaborations are the new buzz words everyone now utters at every twist and turn. With a liberalization of markets and opportunities for career manifestation, Kenya has no option but to tailor itself to global trends on the same. The dictates of the anthropic principle are that a day would come when someone intelligent enough would arise to pop the question, why do we need to make a transition from the old to the new, competence-based curriculum? Each of the aims are noble and as such I will itemize them:

·      Tooling of the future generation to become productive and conscientious citizens able to take their right of place in the world with pride, professionalism and confidence.

·      To build a set of future leaders as all-rounded personalities that cherish co-operation, independence, inspiration, proactivity, focus able to apply their know-how if not in employment then in their own self-initiated businesses.

·      Promotion of the contradictory aims of both patriotism & globalization equipped with skill, competence, attitudes, puissance and a value-set to thrive anywhere in the World-wide web that their odyssey of life will spin for them in their pursuit of sustenance but keeping the dignity and esteem of their rich cultural heritage.

·      Enable Peer-to-Peer co-operation globally, an excellent result of digitization and technology advancement that has fomented digital literacy.

·      A new consciousness that promotes appreciation of extra-curricular means to sustenance like art, sports, music and film that are a very lucrative employer in the developed world.

There is an oft-touted adage that, ‘learn a skill today so that you earn from it tomorrow’. This is a universally accepted norm that education furnishes upon humanity. Personally, I am not so well versed on what the new curriculum will entail in view of the fact that I may not have been personally engaged in whatever multi-sectoral forum the education stakeholders in this country have had. However, as one nursing ambitions of one day being a father, I have a dream that my expectations of a progressive education system will come to fruition. If not for any other reason, merely to furnish my progeny with all the opportunities for the attainment of their full potential I may have missed on. The 8-4-4 Education System had its moments for effectively tooling human capital but glaring lacunae existed that going forward will have to be addressed.

To set the ball rolling youth unemployment, underemployment, depravity and misery have been the unfortunate destiny many of my compatriots have had to grapple with. What is learnt in school and the realities of the Job market and industry exist in mutual exclusion to each other. Employers complain about their apprehension about hiring fresh graduates due to a mismatch between their pedagogical development and the requirements of Industry. Indeed, there is an episode of jest going round that in school you will spend so much time learning about calculating the mass of the sun only to leave school and realize no-one cares about the mass of a source of light that has existed for eon instead there is a greater need for solar panels to harness the same sunlight! So much theoretical knowledge is gained that you question not just if you will ever have sufficient days in your life to expend it all for your benefit but wherein? From the job market stem a torrent of complaints about employers having to spend at least two-years re-tooling fresh graduates to the needs of the workplace some of whom may have spent as much as 6 years to earn that under-graduate degree in University. This is a clarion call to the KICD, NITA, Individual Universities, Professional Bodies, Industry and the Ministry of Education to work in tandem while developing policy frameworks for human capital development. Plenty of good men and women find themselves feeling frustrated, disenfranchised if not down-right robbed when after many years in school, graduate only to find out they cannot secure a job because employers say they did not get the requisite skill from a course that ostensibly was supposed to offer the same. A few were given banal tasks not concomitant with their aspired competency outcome during industrial attachment and internships. Others still because they studied a course not recognized by the respective professional licensing and regulation bodies of their fields. Many more studied using a curriculum not approved by KICD for Kenya. Let’s not even talk about tribalism, gender discrimination, nepotism, sex-for-jobs scandals and other impediments to getting a job in Kenya that no doubt leave a myriad of professionals ill at ease. We need tales of hope.

A crucial stricture I hold is to make Entrepreneurship a compulsory subject / course throughout one’s learning process. Many a time I see great business moguls who created empires beyond even their own wildest imaginations with little or no education and I am cerebrally cajoled to query if only they had the slightest shred of formal training on business and best practice coupled with their innate aptitude where would they be? As such going forward I postulate the above mentioned solution. Ironical as it is the fact that incidentally many are the graduates that haven’t an inkling how or where to monetize their long-polished areas of expertise from university. You see many tarmacking into disillusionment and oblivion looking for jobs yet the truth is that within them is ensconced that boss they seek to employ them. From a young age teach children to become creators, free-thinkers, producers, solutions-architects not dependent on anybody but themselves to drive the cogs of the gear that is their future prospects. Competence is built from consistent practice and if from a young age when the mind is still nimble, one is mentored to develop an appreciation for the value of a skill by the time he becomes an adult he would be a virtuoso and would never depart from the well-beaten mental tracks of routine for all time. I urge Academic Policy makers to re-evaluate the existing structure and have Entrepreneurship as Plan A not something to do after wasting the idealist phase of your life looking for that office job that we all know you won’t find. If available it is not in a critical mass sufficient to cater for all the new entrants into the job market annually. In the backdrop of constrained employment places & many Graduates who can't monetize their skill, failing to nurture a business psyche from a young age is tantamount to breeding poverty. Poverty will in turn wrought inequality, the working poor, sorrow, destitution, social upheaval, drug abuse and ultimately the double whammy of terrorism & violent crime. A responsible Government must never allow its future to be sucked into this unsightly and soul-sapping wormhole in their full-knowledge.

Modern trends have birthed the concept that Mentorship is just as important as learning and know-how acquiescence. Many entrepreneurs, business leaders and seasoned professionals are a precious repository of knowledge that can potentially help future generations reach their presumptive destinations faster. Learning from the masters who have been there and done that can never be gainsaid for all who aspire to fill the shoes of these titans in years to come. Mentorship by an expert baker who had to change various ingredients, whole recipes, ovens, even burn many cakes before finally hitting the sweet-spot of near-perfection is the most valuable and irreplaceable gift you can give to a budding baker. Going forward all schools should have career days where those who have made it in life cross-pollinate with potential scions to the empires they intend to replicate and be advised accordingly. As the saying goes iron sharpens iron. An honest learning experience from one who has been there and done that by far supersedes theoretical information gained in the classroom majorly parlayed by a tutor who may themselves never have been part any of the hands-on process in the attendant fields and as such has no real-life experiences to offer. There are excellent coaches who have never themselves played the game. However, let’s live with the nuances of the proverb, ‘experience is the best teacher.’

I submit that any meaningful process for Education system review in Kenya must cater for the holistic individualized talents of the students it seeks to address. An abridged look into past experiences with Education systems in Kenya paints a picture of a concerted preoccupation with nurturing albeit elevating one form of intelligence above all others, the academic and cognitive erudition (book-smarts). Those who excelled in school were deemed the intrepid manifestation of humanity that virtually had the world at their feet. But introspection and insight from books like ‘Frames of Mind (1983)’ by Howard Gardner paints the picture of many differently-abled variants of genius. There are those in possession of:

1. Linguistic flair.

2. Spatial (Visual) artists.

3. Logical-Mathematical Thinkers.

4. Kinesthetically gifted.

5. Musical virtuosos.

6. Interpersonally intelligent.

7. Intrapersonal Intelligence.

Hindering one from aggressively pursuing their niche from a young age is equivalent to caging your child’s potential and dooming him to a future of subservience to others. You curtail their joy of life and cap their future earning potential when you think that book-smarts are the only way to go. As a matter of fact, from Sir. Alex Fergusson’s autobiography we learn that he doesn’t regard his former superstar Wayne Rooney as the ‘Sharpest tool in the shed.’ Academically this guy was out of his depth but ultimately we have all been regaled with his football playing capabilities and a coterie of exquisite goal-scoring skills. Talk about kinesthetic genius at play. Everyone has his special artistry which if whetted they will virtually never work a day in their lives as a consequence of enjoying what they do and perpetuating their passion which is basically living the best versions of themselves. They will perform in front of kings and queens and earn acclaim. We have all borne witness to how exorbitantly the western world pays their musicians, movie stars, sportsmen, architects, sculptors, photographers, career coaches as compared to what used to be the traditional careers that every kid was pushed towards by their parents. With globalization these opportunities are available even to Kenyans, and more than any other time we have role models like Victor Wanyama, Macdonald Mariga (Football), Lupita Nyong’o (Film), Daniel Adongo (NFL) among many others to hold up to future generations. The competence-based curriculum must identify one’s strength and sharpen it early in life so that by the time you become a young adult you can easily have the confidence to take on the world and its challenges and do all that pertains to the attainment of your long cherished dexterities.

With the new system I pray for an end to this vexation that is the preoccupation with coaching students for examinations as opposed to actual broad-based learning. In our time, acing the examination was the Holy Grail and all stops were pulled to ensure a student gets good grades, constrained learning notwithstanding. Rote-learning as opposed to actual mastery of subject matter was the order of the day which is actually reprehensible because many are the high performing students who lack even the basics of critical and analytical thinking not to say any form of mastery of the coursework they were supposedly studying. Many forget all they learnt after the exam as for most part their minds were forced to play the role of a sponge that absorbs so much fluid rapidly but with slight pressure releases it all with little or almost nothing retained going forward. In Kenya this system had brought forth an intricate web of examination cheats and was a thriving business. My worry then was if integrity was not enforced in the academic process, how the hell are you going to produce upright citizens who uphold professional ethics and thus have virtue inculcated within the structure of their being? When Dr. Fred Matiang’i was made the Education Cabinet Secretary many cartels for this perversion were smashed and as such meritocracy found its way back to society. As variously stated corruption fights back, court injunctions were flashed around but ultimately sleaze was dealt a death-knell and the much vaunted ‘fruits of one’s labour’ found precedence as a way of life.

In penultimate remarks I would urge the formulators of the new curriculum to never forget the importance of our historical figures who made great contributions to our nationhood. Pre-independence freedom fighters, the Mau Mau, heroes of the second liberation & multi-partism in Kenya and environmental champions should not just be a footnote but have whole chapters of history dedicated to them. Also heroes of the global negritude movement and black emancipation from slavery like Toussaint Breda and François Mackandal should never be forgotten. These are the real men and women worth their weight in gold and as such we must hold them up to our children as examples of what we expect of them in future. The veracity of the statement that those who fail to learn from history risk repeating its errors and missteps must ring ever so true. A dearth of eminent personalities worthy of emulation exposes our children to the vagaries of the TV culture that in the current state portrays the leading lights of the day as nothing more than delinquent leaders who go as low as hiding marijuana in their socks to smoke it in the sanctums of parliament. Is this the future we envisage for our sons and daughters? If not, then equip them to idolize sanctified epitomes of virtue. Failure to include tutelage on our own history exposes our future generations to mental slavery and doctrines to the effect that other people are superior human beings to them when in actual sense that is a whole sack of poppycock. We could wheel our children unknowingly back into servitude at the altar nothingness and all because of devaluing their own national heroes which is just imbecile grease.

In Conclusion as the great figure of African emancipation; Nelson Mandela, once put it Education is the most potent weapon that can be used to change the world. We must also live in the cognizance that after surmounting the hill of education there are many more to climb. Let’s not allow poorly-formulated strategy on Education to widen further the divide between the haves and have-nots and break the limbs of our own children. Instead empower them with education that like wings will enable their flight soaring far above anything they have ever dreamt of. As empirical wisdom mandates there is not a cap to human potential but only shackles of the mind and as such we should aspire to lose any that exists.

WHAT A MEANINGFUL REFERENDUM PROCESS IN KENYA MUST ENTAIL

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t one time the Roman Empire stood regal and sturdy. It was obvious to all and sundry that nobody else had the mettle to challenge their military might and splendour. By the time Rome wreaked Armageddon on the great Greek and Macedonian realm at around 197 B.C, their reign had been consolidated as insurmountable. Their over-arching tentacles extended from Modern day Western Europe to the region half-conquered by Alexander the Great in Hydaspes currently known as Jhelum in the Punjab region, modern-day Pakistan. It was not always like this. Right at the most critical period of this consolidation there existed a smaller power yet so organized as to come within an inch of crumbling the mighty Rome to rubble. That mini-juggernaut was the much vaunted military tactical ingenuity of Hannibal Barça of Carthage. For African-pride junkies, Carthage was an ancient Kingdom headquartered in modern-day Tunisia. At the height of its power Carthage had dominion over an overseas territory of the whole Iberian Peninsula that domiciles modern day Spain and Portugal. Hannibal was Commander-in-Chief of the entire royal army. From childhood he had sworn to curtail the destiny of Rome by ‘Fire and Steel.’ When he came of age his plans started to crystallize into strategy. When his brother in law, Hasdrubal the fair – Ruler of Hispania was assassinated, he set off on a land odyssey with an end-game to conquer Roman troops and triumphantly stomp into the auspicious seat of the Roman Empire in Rome. He did well in this regard; marching from Hispania, into Gaul (France) and ultimately the Pyrenees. Impressively, he not only had a standing army of patriotic Carthaginians but also cobbled an alliance of the conquered nay friendly tribes, mercenaries – dogs of war and used guerrilla war-fare effectively. More pristine was his use of battle elephants that were virtually a battering ram against any opposition on land. They trampled opponents in the battle field but could also be used as a means of transport where horses could only have done so much. The greatest of his conquests was in the Battle of Cannae where he used the previously unheralded military strategy of envelopment to obliterate a massive force of the Roman army. For context, Cannae was a major food supply depot to the Roman military at the time also by and large most of Rome. Despite having only a mish-mash army of no more than 40,000 men he took to the field against a combined infantry and cavalry, the Roman war machine totaling to slightly over 100,000 men. Daunting as this challenge seemed, it was fickle to Hannibal who rather than having a block of soldiers in open warfare found a way to narrow the battling spaces by spacing out his echelons, creating a pseudo-corridor between their ranks then encirclement to massacre the enemy forces. This may go down as the costliest battle the Roman-empire ever had the misfortune to preside. A quarter of the then Roman ruling class was lost in a single day of carnage! A noble-rich contingent not confined to but inclusive of then incumbent Consul (Prime-Minister), his two predecessors, 80 of the existing 300 Senators of Rome, 500 Centurions their regiments notwithstanding and an elite fighting force of the numerical strength aforementioned lay slain by dusk! Most fortuitous was the escape of wounded Roman officer dubbed Scipio Africanus by the skin of his teeth at the twilight to fight another day. His father; Publius Cornelius Scipio, the commander of the elite squad of Centurions in battle that day was not so lucky. Hannibal immured himself into the pantheon of legendary war-lords for all time. Being one to fancy a souvenir, he cut off the Roman officials’ corpses fingers, removing their Golden cygnet rings of authority and took them by the crate on the voyage back to Carthage. He sought to use these as a bargaining chip to coax the King of the time to send reinforcements for his initiative to lead the final push to utterly extinguish Rome from the face of the earth. Meanwhile, Rome was marooned within the confines of her own city gates starving and waiting without any hope for their imminent fate. To the bewilderment of the entire civilized world at the time, Carthage now had Rome on its knees begging for mercy! If the Carthaginian brigade was to dig in for much longer, starvation would certainly have killed off all of Rome obviating any need for battle in any case. Then the unthinkable happened. Out of what can vaguely be categorized as apprehension - fear of the unknown, very poor counsel from the royal court or much more subtly as spite the king denied him the requisite reinforcements. He argued that should this wounded behemoth ever rise again, in typical vulpine fashion she would deal Carthage an iron upper-cut from which there would be no salvation. In one fell swoop Hannibal’s achievements were undermined and consequently his gains reversed. Hannibal had brought his forces to camp at the gates of Rome, to within an inch of conquest of this world super power only to be failed by his own king with glory at hand.

In the epilogue of this story Hannibal’s gains were severely regressed. He lost men to the harsh winters of temperate Europe in the Alps without replacement, the elephants out of hunger turned into a rogue and cruel liability trampling their erstwhile trusty masters, he was forced to disembowel his own men trying to force back reverence only to inspire revulsion, morale went flaccid, a startling retreat without defeat commenced and as is expected the mercenaries mutinied for monetary reasons. This tactless withdrawal was met with ceaseless onslaughts from hostile if not vendetta-spiked tribes they passed by on their perilous catabasis back home. Most ominous, a better armed naval fleet took advantage of this lacuna to open the city gates and sailed out commandeered by the single-mindedly determined Scipio Africanus to Carthage to deliver fire and fury into the heart of Carthaginian authority and avenge his father. The ensuing battle at Zama was nothing to write home about for the ‘Scourge of Roma.’ It was his first, most crushing and decisive defeat by a young man who copied Hannibal’s own military style. Scipio instead of mindless slaughter had the presence of heart to be cerebrally gracious in victory and offer Carthage the proverbial olive branch albeit, with a punitive peace treaty that included payment of annual tributes and a war indemnity to Rome. Also in the package was an honourable retirement for his inadvertent mentor and worthy competitor Hannibal. Both men died 20 years after that final battle. Pending the full decomposition of these titans’ remains; just 40 years after their deaths, the Third Punic War ended in the absolute decimation of Carthage, its burning to the ground and salting of its fields by the young, uncompromising but equally capable son of Africanus, Scipio Aemilianus. In the backdrop of this cataclysm, it begs the question: When in Hannibal’s hour of glory, his own King denied him troops to finish the job, how was the ultimate legacy of Carthage salvaged by this selfish move? [Feel free to label me subjective and emotional here!]

In spite of well-founded skepticism, I find myself compelled to exercise concomitance to well-worn sentiments doing rounds in the Kenyan political discourse, compliments of one of the well-heeled front runners for the presidential succession that, “Kenya suffers from an acridly acute shortage of ignoramuses.” In appreciation of that, I must reiterate a statement of empirical wisdom mentioned in a previous blog that, ‘no army in this world is strong enough to suppress an idea whose time has come - an invasion of armies can be resisted but an invasion of ideas cannot.’  This statement gained credence about 200 years ago when it was quipped by the famous playwright and poet Victor Marie Hugo but rings ever so true even today. I’m plunging headlong into the referendum that Kenya needs to hold before the next election. When we bequeathed upon ourselves this new, progressive constitution nearly 9 years ago, it was beyond a shadow of doubt that changes would have to be effected in due course to address the lacunae left in the implementation of the same. Just like all man-made edifices, this was not meant to be a perfect document but one in need of constant refinement to serve the best interest of those upon whom sovereignty rests, which is the populace of the Republic of Kenya. Contiguous to this, many loopholes have been noted, grey areas are teeming and toothless provisions find themselves an unfortunate tapestry of this contemplated as noble document. I am not here to criticize instead just prescribe areas that may require a little polishing just as any diamond that ever found its glimmer.

Yes, we need a reform of the constitution but how do we go about the entire process? Before March 9^th 2018, Kenya has been through a perilous wormhole where an unpopular elected executive sought to lord its will upon the majority of Kenya. It did not help matters that due to calculated strategy and the power of incumbency, the ruling coalition found itself with a healthy majority in parliament that muddled the entire equation further. Complements of this majority, plans were hatched to among other things dilute the ‘National Bible’ through uncalled-for legislative and political amendments. The Judiciary had been threatened with ‘re-visitation’ after their ruthless feat flexing their independence by annulling the Presidential win consequent to an incorrigibly flawed process. Why would one arm attempt to arm-twist the other in spite of the expected doctrine of separation of powers? Devolution too has been put on trial through under-funding so that the desperate Governors would run back to the national coffers seeking patronage and a favourable work-around in return for their support. The Handshake between Raila and Uhuru Kenyatta opened a portal through which good-will now flows universally but the window may be short. This is the window for beneficent constitutional reforms to bode well for our collective future destiny as a state.

So what Changes do we envisage to have?

·      Electoral Reform – To the best of my knowledge going forward Kenya has determined to use an ICT-based polling, election monitoring and management system. Hard-boiled and constitutionally enshrined provisions should be made to ensure nobody fiddles with this delicate process. In the past regulations and statutes have existed. But these are weak and unable to stand the taste of both our overly litigious contestations and inherent need for mischief. Also we need to style up the election watchdog body the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission. We have heard in the past horror stories regarding the use of exercise book pages as a tallying tool and admissible as Form 32. That is just quixotic and pales into the asinine. Liberalization should be exercised in the award of tenders by the IEBC to guarantee us even the sheer perception of transparency. Then we have the fiasco with the Election Result Server. Up to now, nearly 2 years after our bitterly contested elections we are yet to determine either where that Server is located or who has the authority to open it and analyze its logs for certainty on the matter! In a parallel universe this would have either saved us frivolous litigation, strengthened the case of the petitioners or eschew the cost of the second election. But as fellow Blogger @Owaahh summarizes it, “Of importance is aliveness, owada?” Does IEBC even have the authority to utterly ban the purveyors of hate speech, intimidation and violent posturing from marring the polls? We needn’t have an arbiter who is also an active player judging the contest. Lastly, integrity can only be enforced with constitutional torts. This saves us inconsistency and the cacophony of arbitrary pronouncement after midnight meetings merely to execute basic operational nuances.

·      Executive structure - The Presidency in Kenya has been made to be quite an attractive proposition. This same guy is the Head of State, Government, C-I-C of the Armed forces fully with the attractive ceremonial regalia. He has the authority to influence policy, spending and has veto powers over even the National Assembly on many issues. He controls our destiny figuratively in the words of Chinua Achebe holding both ‘the knife and the yam.’ He is basically a demigod among us. So, why wouldn’t there be a blood bath when one senses he is losing all this largesse more so to the results of a tainted process? Ugly scenes have been our staple over the years just merely to have the derrière of our kinsman kiss the hallowed seat of power! In this regard is it in good conscience to continue having all these transcendental powers resting with one man or should we have a Prime Minister to share the authority? People will argue about the lack of a Centralized figure-head of authority and all the additional offices and expenses to the exchequer but would you rather be a sitting duck vulnerable to slaughter, consistently chocked by tear-gas every Monday just because of an electoral process of which you are not even a key player? Who needs disrupted business schedules, mini-civil wars and nomadic migrations to perceived safe-zones just to escape civil strife? We are tired of bleeding for no solemn reason other than simply having our tribal elites lead! A Nation must consistently be deemed more important than an individual as the good Professor the late George Saitoti once quipped. Indeed, time is ripe to consider William Kamket’s proposal of having a ceremonial president serving a single 7 year term and concerning himself purely with the matters of state and its progress. The Premier’s office will entail the day to day running of the business that is government and the holder is ably assisted by two deputies.  Pretty much like a corporate entity with a Chairman and a capable CEO! Another tough ask I judge as timely is: Should we continue with the presidential system or break with tradition and now try the parliamentary system? With our cultural diversity, a parliamentary system will go a long way to pander to the need for inclusivity in this tribally concocted jurisdiction.

·      Separate Elections – The age old quandary strikes again. Isn’t it cheaper to hold all these elections in a single day? We must emancipate ourselves from the mental slavery that gives us the impression that cost is much more important than an informed, unrushed decision on governance. We need to give room to sincere popular participation in elections and make it less disruptive to their lives as embedded in our constitution.

·      Balancing Devolution vis-à-vis Over-representation – Devolution of government resource is good but how much representation is too much? Do we need all this tiers of leadership? What with MCAs we see traipsing around engaging in needless fist-fights and self-effacing scandals without getting the true value for their exaggerated numbers? Time has come to have fewer elected officials with constituencies being converted to the most basic unit of representation and having two representatives of opposite genders just for affirmative action. This lessens the burden on the already overtaxed polity.

·      Enhancing Devolution – County funds should forthwith be constitutionally provided for at 40% of the National budget and not fiddled with for political expedience.

·      Security Apparatus – We have all borne witness to the situation where members of the National Police Service act merely as a private militia for the executive. They also throw professionalism out of the window to become cooks, drivers and farm-hands for the elite. We have also seen a worrying trend where graduate officers have had their salaries reduced and dignity trampled. Also we find ourselves saddled with a service that is more inclined to brutality and bribery instead of service to the republic. We need a paradigm shift in their operation not an evolution to the grotesque in the colours of their uniform! We need these aberrations addressed constitutionally.

·      Recall Clause – We have a moribund clause in our constitution that furnishes us with the authority to recall our elected officials after two years if their performance is unsatisfactory. The threshold to effect this endeavour is so high that nobody could really find the time to fulfill all the obligations to make this a reality and still maintain their own sanity. Either we improve this provision or accept our fates as we have many a time and strike this one out. 

·      Article 10 – This is the one that behooves all state Officers to act in sympathy to our national values and strictly adhere to the sound principles of governance. We need stern, constitutionally ratified guidelines on the punitive measures to take on anyone who contravenes these provisions. Corruption should forever cease being the Kenyan way. Love for the neighbor is the way to go.

·      Cap on Reckless Borrowing – In our current dispensation we are stuck with a government keen to live beyond her means. Because attempts at reaching out to their conscientious soul have failed, we as a nation need to constitutionally tame this unnatural, insatiable, unrestrained and unsustainable appetite for high cost infrastructure projects with minuscule returns before we auction our kidneys to the Chinese!

·      Health care - the greatest joy of any professional is the prospect of one day being able to specialize and hence have a shot at self-determination of among other things his earnings, schedule and general destiny of his life. This is one of the rare instances I speak in antipathy to devolution but Healthcare should revert to the national government. In public discourse many friends who are medical practitioners complain of being nipped in the bud in terms of their career advancement. When posted to the devolved units they now find themselves adorned in a crown of thorns, becoming tied-down to the county and are grafted at the county’s hip for all eternity. They cannot take a break, sabbatical or study-leave for fear of victimization or reprehension by their bosses. This is callous, as how can any workman get better in his skill devoid of consistent career improvement, training and specialization? Forthwith, it should be cast in stone that doctors are a national resource and should henceforth be answerable to the national not county government.

The raft of potential changes is so wide it could potentially turn this blog into the New Supreme Law of the land! Jokes aside, time is ripe for a review of our constitution as there will never be a better time than today when the simmering tensions are out, hard-lines have been blurred and the juice of goodwill flows ever so free.