Chamaa mentality for Kenya's transformation PDF Print E-mail
Written by Al Kags   
Monday, 05 January 2009

In the Aberdares, a small group of villagers got fed up with waiting for the government's electrification programme to reach them and decided to take matters into their own hands. They formed an electricity company, the Gatiki Electrical Company, in which they had bought shares of 10,000/- each. The villagers' plan was to develop three electricity generating plants along the Gikira River - Chiki, which is set to produce 0.75MW of electricity; Kiawambogo, which will produce 0.375MW and Gacharageini which will generate 0.25MW of electricity. The seven thousand villagers will all have their households lit up, where they will pay between a mere $ 0.65 and $1.25 for their electrical usage - a minute fraction of what most Kenya Power and Lighting Company customers have to pay.

This is an exciting initiative for Kenya because it could portend the beginning of the adoption of a microgrids strategy for Kenya's power problem. The fact is, that while Kenya Power and Lighting Company is currently serving about 20% of Kenya, they will not be able to cover the country in the next decade even if they tripled their efforts - not using the current operational framework.

Kenya's power problems - and indeed all of Kenya's problems - are also its opportunities. The Gatiki project is a clear example of how the Chama culture that Kenyans have so perfected can be taken to the next level so that they will aid in Kenya's transformation efforts.

The idea here would be that communities could form companies such as Gatiki and generate power from wind, solar, water and biogas for themselves. Under existing law, communities will be able to generate a maximum of 1MW per installation - beyond which the extra power would need to be shed into the national grid and a power purchase agreement be signed between the national electricity company and the local one. Either way, communities will be lit up faster and they will make extra income.

It is important to be clear that the payoff for such radical ventures goes beyond the electrification of villages around the country. The impact on education, health and small businesses cannot be underemphasised.

The chama culture that we Kenyans have done so well would come in handy when Kenyans in remote villages get tired of the long distances that their women and children must travel and come together to build a dispensary near them and go as far as take responsibility for their running and sustainability. It will be revolutionary when villages in Loitoktok, Kijabe and Pokot - to name three examples - set aside a piece of land and build a police station near them and then go to Commissioner Ali and ask him to staff it.

The idea here is that for Kenya to be a middle class nation by the year 2030, then some fundamental changes must be made in the way the challenges are handled. Gone must be the days when the villagers look to their parliamentarians to sort out their problems. While it is true the government has a lot to do for the with regard to the transformation of the country and the provision of essential services to the people, we must accept that the most aggressive of transformational efforts will take years - especially, when governed by the government's rules on procurement and so forth.

Also, from a prioritisation perspective, it may be a while before government reaches village roads and so forth as they must begin with the bigger corridors and towns where the return on investment for the nation would be highest and use the proceeds to repair and develop smaller roads. However, the main pain points of a country are normally the sum total of small aches at community level.

I may not feel, at a personal level, the damage to Kenya when the Mombasa - Kisumu corridor is not functional but I do tend to be most aware when the road in my estate is full of portholes. The deplorable state of national hospitals is lamentable and a subject of whiny conversation with friends in an evening, but the lack of maternity services at the local dispensary or the lack of medicine, or indeed, the lack of a roof at my child's school is what I feel strongly about. Why then should I wait for technocrats who can only see the big picture to prioritise my project, when it is in competition with so many others?

Assuming that we can accept that neither government, business, the citizens or any other person can effectively sort out the country's challenges, it is incumbent upon us to take on a more transformational perspective to our approach to solving Kenyan problems at a local level. We must get fed up as Mzee Ngai, the convenor of the Gatiki projects did. Speaking to The African Business magazine, he said, "For 14 years, I waited patiently for KPLC to come and bring electricity. In 2005, I just got fed up. I was getting no younger."

I don't suppose that any of the rest of us is, either. 

Al Kags
About the author:
Al Kags, the founder of the Desturi Trust writes prolifically on Kenyan and global matters. He is the programme officer at the Kenya ICT Board. He publishes a poetry anthology, the Quarterly Colour Series and the Al Kags blog here .





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Last Updated ( Sunday, 04 January 2009 )
 
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