Today I am wound up about a peculiar Kenyan affliction: our government’s incurable addiction to announcing mind-bogglingly ambitious projects that, more often than not, dissolve into a quagmire of scandalous expenditure and Dunning-Kruger incompetence.
Remember when the discovery of oil was going to catapult us into the same league as OPEC nations? 
The headlines were ecstatic, the pronouncements grand. We were practically swimming in black gold, visions of sovereign wealth funds dancing in our heads. A few years later while the oil is still there, the dream of becoming Africa’s Saudi Arabia seems to have hit a few snags. Logistical nightmares, hesitant investors, and the small matter of actually getting the crude out of the ground and to market have capped those initial jubilations. The ambition was a ten; the follow-through, a solid “labda.”
Big white ellie?
Then there is the shimmering mirage of Silicon Savannah, our Konza Technopolis a wondrous IT wonderland. Billions were earmarked, lots of big talk everywhere. We were poised to become the undisputed tech hub of Africa, and no question about it, we do have the ability. Yet the vast Kapiti Plains designated for this digital utopia tells a different story. While some progress has undoubtedly been made, the harsh realities of infrastructure, attracting massive long term investment, creating an ecosystem beyond a few impressive office blocks, has collided head-on with the hype. Is it a total failure? Not yet. Will it be the roaring success we were promised for the billions sunk, some 58 of them so far we hear? The jury is still out, and seem to be taking a very long lunch break.
But these are just the headline acts in our theatre of the absurd. The Galana Kulalu Food Security Project, the masterstroke that would end hunger in Kenya, a million acres of irrigated bounty. The promises were as vast, but it became a model for how not to do things. Contractual wrangles, shady procurement, and shockingly low yields turned this dream into a sinkhole for public funds. It was a great idea, on paper, but utterly failed by a catastrophic lack of proper planning and execution. We aimed for an agricultural revolution. We got a few sacks of expensive maize and a lot of head-scratching. And a few guys up to no good, pocketed a lot of money.
Oh and the icing on the dung pile has to be our infamous Arror and Kimwarer dams. The billions that vanished into thin air for dams that never saw the light of day! The sheer audacity is almost admirable in a perverse way. Grand plans for water and power, shook hands with grander schemes for personal enrichment. The only things that materialised were debt and deceit. These weren’t just poorly executed they were phantoms, invisible monuments to an idea that was perhaps never intended to be. A deja vu moment would recall the Turkwel Gorge Dam of the Nyayo Era. But at least that was actually built, even if it did take 30 years to fill.
No.. This one is real – somewhere else on the planet
These aren’t isolated incidents; they are symptoms of a deeper rot, regardless of which administration initiated them. We announce, we launch with fanfare, we spend, and then… silence, or worse, a blame game. The initial vision is often commendable – say Konza City, even necessary – say food security. But the journey from concept to concrete reality is just a litany of poor planning, non-existent oversight, and no actual interest to see things through.
We won’t go into our Space Agency or the Kenya Nuclear Program. Only 500 billion needed for these two projects, thankfully not yet foisted on us, but already suffering the same fate as the big two above, with some 6 billion already spent on them, respectively. Wait for it, though. It will be a mind bender when they announce the budget approvals at our expense. Space Agency? – here we can’t even keep Nairobi powered up and we’re going into space.
One has to wonder, are these genuine attempts at progress, or merely “Concepts of Plans”, as a certain Orange Taco loves to crow about, – distractions designed to create a fleeting sense of forward momentum while the real issues fester? Lets feed a starving nation before we think of nuclear energy programs.
Perhaps it’s time we traded in our grand delusions for a dose of boring, practical, and meticulously executed reality.
Just a thought and I am even staying calm.
June 27, 2025
Last Updated on June 27, 2025
