Give voters realistic election manifestos

National elections in any country are special constitutional moments, serious and defining occasions when citizens seek to influence economic and political directions they want their country to take, and specific changes required to meet their basic aspirations in life. Will the coming elections deliver on these broad expectations?

I first voted in the 1969 elections— having attained the minimum voting age of 21 years — and I have voted in every subsequent election, except the notorious 1988 queue-voting elections.

My observations over the years are that successive governments could have delivered much more to the citizens had the elected leadership cultivated and maintained basic governance discipline; demonstrated patriotic service as opposed to pursuits for self-gain; and above all developed trust among various stakeholders. Absence of trust and openness creates wasteful conflicts.

Subsequent governments have often been pre-occupied with correcting excesses and abuses of previous governments, leaving less time and resources for new development opportunities. For every two steps forward there was usually a step or two backward, reducing capacity to sufficiently enhance average quality of lives and per capita GDP improvement.

New generations come and find us fixated on historical issues and challenges. This is how Kenya was overtaken in socio-economic development by our 1960/70s Asia contemporaries.

Absence in Kenya of serious “permanent” political parties with strong and well-resourced organisational bases and coherent platforms for policy and strategy making denies our country the benefit of policy and socio-economic development continuity.

Temporary parties formed in a hurry tend to form loose blocs for the mere purpose of fighting for leadership in elections. This does not permit clearly formulated medium- and long-term policies and action plans when alliances win elections.

By now it is clear that the next government will be formed by either the Azimio alliance or Kenya Kwanza group. The two blocs should as early as possibly prepare and publish their election manifestos, for indeed we have voters among us who will be motivated to vote, not by euphoric campaigns but by clearly analysed deliverables.

Manifestos should include realistic plans that are actionable and affordable by the economy. The coming government will be starting off with a prominent level of national debt, which limits the number and size of projects to be implemented.

There is also an obligation to complete many ongoing infrastructure projects to avoid wastage of public resources, and this will further limit the available cash. Pending bills will also not evaporate as these will remain a legal liability.

In a situation of cash-strapped public coffers, opportunities abide in mobilising and facilitating private capital and enterprise to undertake various development projects, and this includes PPP model of project funding.

This will leave the Treasury with more room to fund social projects like universal health care and the ongoing educational reforms. Containing recurrent budgets in both the national and county governments should be an item in any serious manifesto.

Any manifesto that does not address corruption and public resource wastage is incomplete. Adding more taxes, levies and tolls on the economy while avoiding tackling leakage of public finances is both hypocritical and negligent.

The most impactful socio-economic pluses often do not involve large budgets, but brave policy and legal changes to structurally correct trends that are harmful to the economy and citizens. And these changes are usually the ones voters remember longest because they touch on daily lives of Kenyans.

More specific inclusions in any manifesto are continued and relentless revival of agriculture and related value chain industries. This is the sector that carries the majority of Kenyans and the sector with the highest capacity for self-employment, enterprise, and household incomes.

If we do agriculture well, manufacturing will logically follow because it will be multiplying agricultural value and jobs. It is in agriculture that the majority of “hustlers” are domiciled. The manifesto should also include a review of existing EAC trade protocols to ensure that our food security is ring-fenced from unfair competition.

It is obvious that the extractive sectors — mining and oil/gas — have become dormant, and these need urgent rejuvenation. We need to see the economic successes of Kwale Titanium project replicated everywhere in Kenya, and the stranded oil in Turkana monetised.

Manifestos are a contract between parties and voters, and this is why they should be realistic and well-articulated. They should reflect the political and economic philosophies of contending parties.