With looming elections, the “Free Education” carrot is being dangled by all presidential hopefuls, besides other ‘free’ goodies.

It is time that Citizens realized that nothing comes for free. The government is indirectly auctioning the future of the country to foreigners by engaging in "free goodies" projects that give donors an entry point to control our educational system.

Education shapes the future of any country. Surrendering primary school education to external planners through their string-attached donations not only messes the future of the country, but also destroys the self-image of the future generation.

If the government does not take the donor line, it will take the taxation path. The latter in a way will be Kenyans supporting their own education and their future. The government should therefore not cheat Kenyans that it is offering free education, for it has nothing to give anybody except what it takes from somebody. A government that is big enough to give you everything that you want is big enough to take away everything you’ve got and spend your money without prudence.

Kenyan elites should develop educational systems that will enable our graduates to respond to our village, national and global needs as opposed to embracing politically spiced free education goodies that simply churn out "statistical graduates" who find it difficult to offer solutions to the simplest of our challenges while focusing on seeking to catch the next flight to Europe and America. The key then is not providing free goodies but creating a conducive environment that will enable individual citizens to manufacture the goodies.