Western Kenya’s Galaxy of Stars That Beam Nothing

By LAWRENCE CHITERI
Published November 1, 2009

The other day, I was thinking aloud about how politics affects the economy in Nyanza and Western Provinces. Someone will really have to liberate the ordinary mind; otherwise for the time being, the exploitation mentality contributes to vast, and abject poverty in this region, also known as Western Kenya. Granted, this region has provided some of Kenya’s erstwhile political luminaries, and heavy weights as it were. Names such as Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Masinde Muliro, Moses Mudavadi, Tom Mboya and a host of others, dot the political map like a galaxy of stars.

Politics has been defined as the affairs of the people, and therefore politicians, who lead the people, are expected to champion those affairs, to the hilt. This is not to say that politicians have absolutely reneged on their duties, but that they can do better. This stand point is taken, motivated by glaring cases of neglect, want, and serious abandonment of areas, where the affairs of the people would have been handled better.

Let us dissect Nyanza Province. In the formative years, this province was known to specialize in sisal production, during which time, political rivalry between the late Walter Odede, Member of Parliament for the present Rarieda Constituency,  and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, then Member of Parliament for the present Bondo Constituency, simmered to the point of  Odinga, dissuading Rarieda residents from planting sisal, ostensibly because snakes reside in them! This was a sure case of political undercutting, for the sake of regional supremacy. Do not mention the fact that, the synthetic fibers industry was most lucrative around this time.

The Nyanza cotton industry died a silent, painful, and sudden death, which today exists in the scar of Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI), and saw several jobs lost, alongside the livelihood of a whole region. Again politics was at the head of this flop, and yet no hand has risen to effectively redress it, other than the whining of vote seekers, at least on paper. As if these were not enough, someone came with the idea of Kisumu Breweries; a plant was established, and things went right, till people discovered that the brewery idea in Kenya is supposed to be exclusively owned by one community and run in one region.

That community had to have their people imported to Kisumu, leaving menial positions, for the grabs of the indigenous population. Your bet is as good as mine; the locals were riled. The result – major brewing processes, and other operations, were summarily withdrawn, and many high ranking positions returned to source, to the rightful owners! What remains in Kisumu today, is a pale shadow, or shell, of the original initiative. Speak of selective breeding! This is it. Nyanza region is also blessed in sugar production, and to its credit, several sugar factories line what can be decorated as a sugar belt.

Today, most of these factories have literally wound up, are on receivership, or barely groan, and moan for days on end, for less than paltry production. Who cares to explain why, or even redress the situation? Tell it to the birds! The managers of the affairs of the people want to point fingers, as time whiles by; so the people totter, and their fortunes depreciate. The province is blessed with the second largest fresh water lake in the world! Sounds like a blast, doesn’t it? Yet people in Kisumu, stare at dry taps everyday – that is if their houses have pipes at all. Someone once joked, “The day my daughter will see water drop from a tap, she will scream for help.”

Kisumu is awash with carts, filled with jerry cans, pushed by sun-baked bare-footed people, from door to door, not to mention the unhygienic standards of the cans. The water is no doubt more expensive than if it were metered. Many residents still use well water, to supplement their supply, yet many sewage lines, burst daily, pouring filth onto the wells, adding to the pit latrines, which dot Kisumu’s residential areas. Only God is on the side of these people, because, the managers of their affairs are fully behind the water selling points, which are handled by cartels, and monitored by council chiefs. Some of the players in this sordid game are very highly placed, and untouchable. Talk of the enemy from within.

Lake Victoria is the biggest repository of fresh water fish in this region; many people from this region therefore, naturally partake in fishing. The question is, has this resource significantly affected their livelihoods? The answer is obvious. The people here settle for dredges, why? They toil overnight, in the risky business of deep lake fishing, bring their product to the shore, to the reception of big cartel figures, who determine the price! After all, they are the owners of capital; if you do not sell to their bidding, the fish will rot, and you have no means to store your fish! So you “throw it away”, they have the means to transport it, you don’t; and they know where to process it, you do not!

The vehicles that transport the fish are owned by nonfishermen; they rush the fish to Kisumu, from the beaches, and straight to Thika, for processing. Granted, some element of processing takes place in Kisumu, but in what scale? Fish from Nyanza is processed in Central Kenya, and exported from there. Their leaders, have let slip another golden chance, to marshal resources, harvest fish in Nyanza, transport it within the province, and process it right there.

Locals have lost good returns, that do not carry cost of transportation, thus handsome pay for fishermen, employment opportunities for the indigenous population in processing plants, and of course internationalization Kisumu airport for direct export!

Who is still listening?
Cast your sight to Western Province, and the story is replicated. There has been talk of harvesting of gold in Kakamega, for ages. Where is this mineral? Who ever saw it? Does anyone want to find out, if it has positively impacted the lives of the local people? Some multinational company, has camped here for ages, one only sees flies where an animal is slaughtered. Come on people, what are you doing? Where are you? Only recently Pan Paper Mills went to its knees; a lot of hot political air was emitted, and as usual, what remains is impotent ash; someone once “credited” Kenyans with short memory, we have forgotten!

The biggest asset in this province-the Mumias Sugar Factory is run by, and for the sole benefit of, the multinational Booker Tet Company, which is based in Britain. Some few people think the white gold, has enriched everyone in Western Province. Ask the truly indigenous populace, most farms here are no longer owned by them. When they venture into the business, they are fleeced, how? The sugarcane seeds are charged exorbitantly, the fertilizers, the harvesting, and transportation, all slash the gross takings; and after 18 months, if one is lucky, you look at the net returns, and wish you had planted maize and harvested in three months. The locals say, “When the mouse bites, it blows cool air,” so you do not feel the pain. To add salt to this injury, “foreigners” who lease their farms make a tidy sum – for they are shielded from the winds of disenfranchisement, by the powers that be.

Will there be any respite? We live in a world where capital dictates relations, and our politicians are numbed. They are engrossed in what they take home, and they think that is capitalism. When Jesus said, “The one who serves is the greatest,” He did not have our leaders in mind. They are the greatest, even when they do not know our interests, leave alone serve us!

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