A fire engulfs part of JKIA                      P. Courtesy

Successive governments since independence have failed to put in place effective disaster management and preparedness mechanism to counter and control disasters. Fire outbreaks, famine, flooding, landslides, collapsing buildings, among others, are frequent in Kenya and yet nothing has been put in place to deal with such when they happen. , the government has been reactionary.

In Japan, citizens including children are taught precautionary measures against disasters in schools, for example, steps to take in case of disasters like earthquakes which can strike any time.

“The Tsunami incident was the biggest disaster to happen in Japan after a long time. It was devastating and the government of Japan cannot afford the effects and implications of such incidents when they occur so they are always preparing for disasters in case they occur,” observes Toshimitsu  Sawai, head of foreign news service of Kyodo News, Japan. “You can imagine the situation in Tokyo if electricity or water supply fails for even one minute,” he adds.

Like Japan, developed and developing countries are not only prepared but are always preparing in advance in case of fire outbreak or other disasters. The recent fire incident at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport would have been averted if the airport management had put in place effective and efficient mechanisms to control it.

The government should not muzzle people from speculating the cause of the fire. Kenyans have a right to know what caused it. In fact, people should demand for immediate answers from the government and action to be taken against civil servants who do not perform their duties.

Cabinet Secretaries in charge of Transport and Infrastructure, Internal security and Immigration should come out clearly to tell Kenyans  what caused the fire and why it was not dealt with immediately before spreading engulfing almost the whole airport. It cannot be business as usual when a prestigious and international facility like JKIA falls victim to negligence. How can people believe  they are safe when a highly guarded facility like JKIA is gutted by fire and  closed down?

Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) as the custodian of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and other airports across the country must come out clean and explain to Kenyans and other international investors what actually happened. KAA has no business within the country’s airports if they cannot guarantee safety and security of travelers and other Kenyans working there. If the airport authorities can detect drugs from travelling passengers, how comes they were unable to detect the fire?

Many questions are now being raised regarding safety in other institutions like Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya Ports Authority, Universities or even State house. What about huge buildings like Nyayo house, Kenya Times Towers, Kenyatta International Conference Centre, hotels and  lodges?

The government through relevant Cabinet Secretaries should ensure that emergency and disaster management strategies and mechanisms are put in place ready to evacuate people immediately a disaster strikes or happens. Prevention is better than cure. Many Commissions formed by the government previously to probe and investigate disasters have not yielded any fruit and has proved futile in the past.

In developed countries like China, UK, America, Germany and Japan among others, where operations are systemized, governments cannot afford to play around with administrative issues touching on peoples’ lives such as evictions let alone sitting down pretty waiting for disasters to happen or even allow anything to disrupt the operations at essential and sensitive facilities.

Disasters are envisaged and preparations to counter such are already developed and put in place just waiting for re-activation in case of danger.  In developed countries, alternative disaster preparedness measures are already developed and put in place because they know the effects and consequences of systems failure.

In early June when I was in Budapest, Hungary to attend Budapest- Africa Forum, I witnessed disaster preparedness strategy by the government  put in gear when the city was threatened with flooding as a result of heavy rains in Austria and Germany.

The entire police force in the fire brigade and the security forces were mobilized and put on alert when the government noted the swelling of the river as early as one inch high. All security forces were assembled and summoned to retreats to discuss how to deal with the emergency. People living along the riverside were evacuated and roads closed as the situation was being monitored closely.

Kenya should be serious with its operations. The country should not wait for disasters to happen. African governments should always be ready and be prepared with control mechanisms to counter any pitfall or disasters that are likely to happen.

By Denise Kodhe,

Executive Director, Institute for Democracy & Leadership in Africa (IDEA).