[kictanet] My 2 cents on settling the Mau evicties

Tue Dec 8 20:47:11 EAT 2009

Dear Robert,

That is the essence of development - convert every rural area into an urban
centre with workable social amenities in order to curb the trend of thinking
that urban centres, read Nairobi, are the only place where one can get
source of livelihood. Imagine the many man-hours wasted on our roads every
weekday because of traffic jams. People stream to the city because that's
where government offices are based, thus an easy reach for them to get
services which they need.

When I look at Vision 2030, I see a really committed government aimed at
improving the social welfare of the people by providing services (education,
hospitals, telecommunications etc) closer to the people.

I'm also seeing a situation where the Mau evicitees, squatters and any other
landless people will be a thing of the past.

Creating these clusters is indeed an important milestone to develop Kenya
fully, into a middle level industrialized nation by 2030, then we are
heading in the right direction.
There is something which I have not seen in the Vision 2030 (corrections are
welcome). We are not talking about diversifying services. For example, (even
in the Harmonized Draft Constitution), all the services are driven towards
the capital City, Nairobi e.g. parliament is to be in Nairobi etc
If we do like South Africa, where  the Capital City is not the Judicial City
or the Industrial City, then growth of Kenya would be achieved in the
shortest time possible. From my GHC, in Primary School, Thika and Eldoret
were strategically placed where  they are as industrial towns. No wonder
fish is harvested in Kisumu, but the fish processing factory is in Thika!
Nairobi can be left to be the capital city, Mombasa be the tourism city,
Kisumu (?),  then Parliament be transferred to, say Kisii, Law courts be
transferred to, say West Pokot. This does not mean that the other towns will
not be having tourists, or courts, but we have main cities having these
agencies/services.

I'm not a civil planner, but I think this can be viable means of developing
Kenya.

Regards,

2009/12/8 robert yawe <robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk>

> Hi Solomon,
>
> Once the government has developed the rural areas to have schools, sewage,
> power, hospitals and the rest would this not have become an urban area?
>
> Definitions
>
> An urban area is an area with an increased density of human-created
> structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ...
>
> Urban areas have a population of at least 1,000 and no fewer than 400
> persons per square kilometre. They include both census metropolitan areas
> ...
>
> What this tells us is that for urbanization there needs to be concentration
> thus making it cheaper & easier to provide services or amenities.  A good
> reflection is the recent outbreak of cholera, in the prison it was
> identified and stopped within a few days as the trend of infections was
> easily picked up.
>
> In North Eastern the full effect is still not known as the population is
> spread out.
>
> What the president is advocating is that for us to develop faster we need
> to create clusters where services can be easily provided.  Kenya Power
> realised that there was greater potential in Kibera, Soweto and Nyalenda
> than in Mandera, El dama Ravine or Garsen.  Rome was not based on 5 acre
> blocks but multi storied structures.
>
> We do not need to recreate the wheel resettling the Mau people in 5 acres
> blocks is just propagating perpetual poverty.  Regards
>
>
> Robert Yawe
> KAY System Technologies Ltd
> Phoenix House, 6th Floor
> P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
> Kenya
>
> Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696
>
> --- On *Tue, 8/12/09, Solomon Mburu Kamau <solo.mburu at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Solomon Mburu Kamau <solo.mburu at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] My 2 cents on settling the Mau evicties
> To: "robert yawe" <robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk>
> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Date: Tuesday, 8 December, 2009, 9:08
>
>
> While the president might have meant well with his statement, the
> political elite see the evictions as a threat to their political
> survival. It is imperative that for development to take place, the
> traditional rural-urban migration be stopped by developing more rural
> areas and putting in place all the necessary functional amenities such
> as schools, hospitals, sewarage systems etc for accomodating people. I
> wish we had a time to add input in Vision 2030 as we are with the
> constitution!
>
> On 08/12/2009, robert yawe <robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk<http://mc/compose?to=robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk>>
> wrote:
> > After reading the presidents Kenyatta day speech he actually set the
> agenda
> > meeting the 2030 objectives.  I feel that if the government has the good
> > will they should start by applying this issue in Mau.
> >
> > Extract from President's Kenyatta day speech
> > "For the better
> >   part of our history, Kenya has been a rural-based economy, with a few
> > cities
> >   and towns. These lifestyles and livelihoods cannot sustain us much
> longer
> > under
> >   the double pressure arising from relentless rapid population growth and
> > the
> >   changing climate.
> >
> >
> > This reality will
> >   make it very difficult for the bulk of our people to draw their
> sustenance
> > from
> >   farming or livestock keeping.
> >
> > We have no choice
> >   but to plan for rapid urbanization and rural eco-cluster settlements.
> We
> > must
> >   plan for several large metropolitan areas in various parts of the
> country
> > which
> >   will serve to hold the bulk of the population. We must also plan for a
> > highly
> >   effective rural cluster eco-programme for both agricultural and
> pastoral
> > communities."
> >
> > Those evicted from the Mau should be resettled in a new settlement
> providing
> > all the necessary amenities.  They can then be employed to replant the
> trees
> > while the government in association with the private sector creates new
> > employment opportunities that would absorb them after completion of the
> > afforestation exercise and also their children as they come of age.
> >
> > I asked a friend who plants maize in the region and she tells me that
> they
> > make a net profit of 100,000/- per year from a 14 acre farm.  This
> equates
> > to about 9,000/- per month, so someone with 5 acres can only make 3,500/-
> > per month from maize.  If the government hired them at a salary of
> 10,000/-
> > and provided a mortgage scheme for the houses we can resolve this issue
> > while also making strides towards 2030.
> >
> > There are 1,500 people which translates to about 400 families, all can be
> > accommodated on a 10 acre plot in 3 bedroom flats.  The construction of
> this
> > units using precast concrete structures would take less than 12 months
> and
> > would cost 1 billion including all amenities.
> >
> > Lets urbanize as the President is advocating and stop sending people back
> to
> > rural settings that are unsustainable.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Robert Yawe
> >
> > KAY System Technologies Ltd
> >
> > Phoenix House, 6th Floor
> >
> > P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
> >
> > Kenya
> >
> >
> >
> > Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Solomon Mbũrũ Kamau
> P.O. Box 19343 - 00202 Nairobi
> Cell: (+254-0) 735 431041
>
> Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all
> the same way to the side of a hill!
>
> AND
>
> It is better to die in dignity than in the ignomity of ambiguous
> generosity!
>
> http://dawn-in-kenya.blogspot.com
> http://smiley2.wordpress.com
> http://mburu.sikika.co.ke
>
>
>

-- 
Solomon Mburu Kamau
P.O. Box 19343 - 00202 Nairobi
Cell: (+254-0) 735 431041

Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the
same way to the side of a hill!

AND

It is better to die in dignity than in the ignomity of ambiguous generosity!

http://dawn-in-kenya.blogspot.com
http://smiley2.wordpress.com
http://mburu.sikika.co.ke
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