People: The Ultimate Resource

Published on 21st February 2011

London smog                                  Photo courtesy
Sometime back in December 1952, an estimated 12,000 Londoners died and trains, cars and public events came to a halt due to thick smog. Famously referred to as the Great Smog of 52; it propelled government authorities to put in place The Clean Air Act of 1956. The World Health Organization reported that alcohol causes nearly 4%, of deaths worldwide more than HIV AIDS, tuberculosis and violence. It further noted that an estimated 2.5 million people die due to alcohol related causes. This is a wake up call for governments in Africa to emulate steps taken by Londoners to put in place legislation to safeguard their citizens.

Kenya must be applauded for enacting the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act of 2010. The news that the National Agency for Campaign Against Drug Abuse Authority (NACADA) is working on new quality standards for Chang'aa production is promising. No one wants a nanny state.States need healthy citizens in order to run their affairs. The quality of what goes into one's body, determines its state of health. Mechanics will tell you that the quality of fuel and oil put in a motor vehicle engine determines performance.  

In a similar fashion to the above Acts of parliament; a new constitutional dispensation was put in place to safeguard lives and property after Kenya lost over 1,300 of its citizens to electoral violence. A sound political climate demands that the political class engage each other on issues and ideology as opposed to personality and hero worship. A recent Synovate survey indicates that 60% of Kenyans believe that "raw" politics (politics outside the structure of constitution) dim prospects of economic growth. 

All these attempts geared towards securing life, safety and tranquility cannot be effective if both the citizens and those charged with responsibility of enforcement fail in their duties. Are citizens duty-bound to ensure clean air, reduced alcohol induced deaths and a sound political atmosphere? 

A resident from Mt. Masaba, lamented how the forest line had receded: "As a small boy, I never used to see the mountain from our home, it was all forested. Now, all is gone." On clean air, in the Kenyan context; think in terms of respiratory diseases, fights over access to water, grazing space, the political hot potato - Mau forest and famine. A Cornell University Ecologist, David Pimentel, estimates that 62 million deaths per year (40% of all deaths per year) can be attributed to environmental factors, particularly organic and chemical pollution.  Both the government and individual citizens must take charge on the quest for reforestation, securing water sources, push for technologies that increase food productivity and clean air.  

Pre colonial African chiefs lost to mzungu colonists, partly because of alcohol; they opted for adulterated gin instead of an engagement to spur productivity among their subjects. Kenyan women have been to the forefront to safeguard the health of their men from ill effects of alcoholic abuse.  

Londoners do offer vital lessons to Kenya on how they acted on their "pea soup smog" of the 50s. The protests from central Kenya women, scientific reports on harm caused by alcohol abuse and finally NACADA led to the enactment of the "Mututho rules." The quest for economic development ought not to blind Kenyans from the negative impact of pollution. The perennial famine that kills Kenyans and by extension Africans must spur each one to action to push for laws that increase productivity in the agricultural sector. People are the greatest resource for a country; governments exist because of the people. 

By James Shikwati

The author [email protected] is Director of Inter Region Economic Network.


This article has been read 1,547 times
COMMENTS