<font face="georgia,serif">Dear Robert,<br><br>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.<br>
<br>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. <br><br>I'm also seeing a situation where the Mau evicitees, squatters and any other landless people will be a thing of the past.<br>
<br>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.<br>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<br>
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!<br>
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.<br>
<br>I'm not a civil planner, but I think this can be viable means of developing Kenya.<br><br>Regards,<br><br><br><br></font><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/12/8 robert yawe <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk">robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk</a>></span><br>
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Hi Solomon,<br><br>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?<br><br>Definitions<br><br>An urban area is an area with an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ...<br>
<br>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 ...<br><br>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.<br>
<br>In North Eastern the full effect is still not known as the population is spread out. <br><br>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.<br>
<br>We do not need to recreate the wheel resettling the Mau people in 5 acres blocks is just propagating perpetual poverty. Regards <br><div class="im"><br><br>Robert Yawe<br>
KAY System Technologies Ltd<br>
Phoenix House, 6th Floor<br>
P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200<br>
Kenya<br>
<br>
Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696<br><br></div>--- On <b>Tue, 8/12/09, Solomon Mburu Kamau <i><<a href="mailto:solo.mburu@gmail.com" target="_blank">solo.mburu@gmail.com</a>></i></b> wrote:<br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;">
<br>From: Solomon Mburu Kamau <<a href="mailto:solo.mburu@gmail.com" target="_blank">solo.mburu@gmail.com</a>><br>Subject: Re: [kictanet] My 2 cents on settling the Mau evicties<br>To: "robert yawe" <<a href="mailto:robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk" target="_blank">robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk</a>><br>
Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <<a href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>><br>Date: Tuesday, 8 December, 2009, 9:08<div><div></div><div class="h5">
<br><br><div>While the president might have meant well with his statement, the<br>political elite see the evictions as a threat to their political<br>survival. It is imperative that for development to take place, the<br>traditional rural-urban migration be stopped by developing more rural<br>
areas and putting in place all the necessary functional amenities such<br>as schools, hospitals, sewarage systems etc for
accomodating people. I<br>wish we had a time to add input in Vision 2030 as we are with the<br>constitution!<br><br>On 08/12/2009, robert yawe <<a href="http://mc/compose?to=robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk" target="_blank">robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk</a>> wrote:<br>
> After reading the presidents Kenyatta day speech he actually set the agenda<br>> meeting the 2030 objectives. I feel that if the government has the good<br>> will they should start by applying this issue in Mau.<br>
><br>> Extract from President's Kenyatta day speech<br>> "For the better<br>> part of our history, Kenya has been a rural-based economy, with a few<br>> cities<br>> and towns. These lifestyles and livelihoods cannot sustain us much longer<br>
> under<br>> the double pressure arising from relentless rapid population growth and<br>> the<br>> changing
climate.<br>><br>><br>> This reality will<br>> make it very difficult for the bulk of our people to draw their sustenance<br>> from<br>> farming or livestock keeping.<br>><br>> We have no choice<br>
> but to plan for rapid urbanization and rural eco-cluster settlements. We<br>> must<br>> plan for several large metropolitan areas in various parts of the country<br>> which<br>> will serve to hold the bulk of the population. We must also plan for a<br>
> highly<br>> effective rural cluster eco-programme for both agricultural and pastoral<br>> communities."<br>><br>> Those evicted from the Mau should be resettled in a new settlement providing<br>> all the necessary amenities. They can then be employed to replant the trees<br>
> while the government in association with the private sector creates
new<br>> employment opportunities that would absorb them after completion of the<br>> afforestation exercise and also their children as they come of age.<br>><br>> I asked a friend who plants maize in the region and she tells me that they<br>
> make a net profit of 100,000/- per year from a 14 acre farm. This equates<br>> to about 9,000/- per month, so someone with 5 acres can only make 3,500/-<br>> per month from maize. If the government hired them at a salary of 10,000/-<br>
> and provided a mortgage scheme for the houses we can resolve this issue<br>> while also making strides towards 2030.<br>><br>> There are 1,500 people which translates to about 400 families, all can be<br>> accommodated on a 10 acre plot in 3 bedroom flats. The construction of this<br>
> units using precast concrete structures would take less than 12 months and<br>> would cost 1 billion including all
amenities.<br>><br>> Lets urbanize as the President is advocating and stop sending people back to<br>> rural settings that are unsustainable.<br>><br>> Regards<br>><br>> Robert Yawe<br>><br>> KAY System Technologies Ltd<br>
><br>> Phoenix House, 6th Floor<br>><br>> P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200<br>><br>> Kenya<br>><br>><br>><br>> Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696<br>><br>><br>><br><br><br>-- <br>Solomon Mbũrũ Kamau<br>
P.O. Box 19343 - 00202 Nairobi<br>Cell: (+254-0) 735 431041<br><br>Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all<br>the same way to the side of a hill!<br><br>AND<br><br>It is better to die in dignity than in the ignomity of ambiguous generosity!<br>
<br><a href="http://dawn-in-kenya.blogspot.com" target="_blank">http://dawn-in-kenya.blogspot.com</a><br><a href="http://smiley2.wordpress.com" target="_blank">http://smiley2.wordpress.com</a><br><a href="http://mburu.sikika.co.ke" target="_blank">http://mburu.sikika.co.ke</a><br>
</div></div></div></blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table><br>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Solomon Mburu Kamau<br>P.O. Box 19343 - 00202 Nairobi<br>Cell: (+254-0) 735 431041<br><br>Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!<br>
<br>AND<br><br>It is better to die in dignity than in the ignomity of ambiguous generosity! <br><br><a href="http://dawn-in-kenya.blogspot.com">http://dawn-in-kenya.blogspot.com</a><br><a href="http://smiley2.wordpress.com">http://smiley2.wordpress.com</a><br>
<a href="http://mburu.sikika.co.ke">http://mburu.sikika.co.ke</a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>