Advertisement
Published: August 16th 2006
Edit Blog Post
What would you say if I told you I spent yesterday on the campaign trail with 6 members of parliament? I was invited along by a local member of parliament, Julius, who I met at the hotel some two weeks ago. He had introduced himself at breakfast that day wondering if I was with the US embassy. I of course quickly explained not! He and 5 of his colleagues had returned to Kisumu to tour Julius’ constituency. All 6 sit on the Energy and Infrastructure parliamentary committee and they are on a 5 day tour surveying road repairs to monitor and evaluate their progress. Governance in action. Next year is also an election year (5 year terms here) - so they are on the campaign trail as well.
So at 9 am yesterday morning, I piled into a bus with 6 members of parliament, several engineers, handlers, and members of the press. I was one of two women and of course the only white person. And we inspected roads - I have the briefings & pictures to prove it. Julius sat beside me on the bus and provided a wonderful commentary on the challenges and opportunities of getting his citizens
and the land in the constituency productive. He has been personally supporting several pilot programs around agricultural practices and micro-financing. He was also keen to show me his dream for an abandoned missionary hospital - to turn it into a 150 bed full service hospital in the middle of his constituency. I witnessed first hand grass roots politics. We stopped at three rallys where we were greeted like dignitaries. We were entertained and all 6 politicians spoke - mostly supporting Julius’s re-election campaign. I was amazed on how attentive the audience was. And there I was right in the middle of the dignitaries, introduced to the villagers as a Canadian consultant on social affairs. The press even have pictures of me dancing with the local women….my fear of course that it might end up in print somewhere. The press were impressed with my dancing. One young reporter said I was very flexible - I think it was a compliment. - lol. The day finished at Julius’s rural home where he hosted a lunch (late lunch as it was close to 4 pm by this time) for a mere 30 people. And thus I witnessed a regular day in the life
of a MP in his home constituency. As we were touring the bush (common term for country side), I was struck on how dispersed people are living on the land - very tough to reach them with roads, electricity and water cost effectively…hence they have none. Kenya has been settled by millions of small farms and of course once people have land they are not giving it up. Settlement and subdividing appear to be big issues. Another thing I was struck by was how fertile and lush the land is, but it is not productive. There is so much potential if just harnessed right. I think I have mentioned this before. And I wonder about a country wide agricultural plan whereby exportable crops are encouraged to be produced in regions where there are natural advantages - cotton in one region, tea in another, bananas etc. There apparently was a plan and such a mapping many years ago. My sense and Julius seemed to agree when we talked later that there is need for more coordination and a country wide strategy that provides incentives, know how and agricultural inputs (such as fertilizer and appropriate seed) to the locals so that they
have a way of supporting themselves and contributing to the economic development of their regions and thus the country. This kind of experiment is going on in a local village funded by the UN Millennium Villages Project. Sauri is the village and it is in Julius’ constituency. We hope to travel together to see it over the next month. So what a day and what an opportunity to witness a small part of the political landscape! The six politicians left Kisumu today. We were all disappointed that I would not be able to join them again today. I hope to connect with my new friends in high places very soon though…Because the kind of change and development that is needed here has to have government as a strong and able partner. And well let’s just say there are issues with this very young democracy. To finish, I am reminded of one question Julius asked me on the bus. “Why won’t the west give us DDT to fight Malaria?” Of course I replied that I didn’t know. But did know that DDT was toxic and can have poisonous affect on people through crops and the water table. We then got into
an interesting conversation about trade offs…so we will permit people to die of Malaria yet we refuse to provide chemicals that could kill the mosquitoes that are infecting the people. So is it better or worse to prevent death by ingesting another kind of toxin? These are the trade offs and dilemmas facing Africa. Now I am not advocating for DDT - but why aren’t we providing or encouraging other kinds of pesticides or techniques that can be used to reduce the mosquito population? So much to learn and piece together. I am also getting the sense that we in the West are not doing enough! Or are not doing the right things! Until next time….
Advertisement
Tot: 0.115s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0751s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Cari Warner
non-member comment
Amazing...wow
Jan, I can't tell you how much I am enjoying your experiences! My family as well. We hear bit's and pieces from papers, news etc..regarding some of the issues countries such as Kenya are facing..you have given us faces to the problems. I can't think of anyone I know that would represent Canada in a better way...what you have experienced in such a short time...wow!...thank you again for sharing. Head stand.....I'm impressed...I don't think I'm ever letting go of that wall. Take Care xo