Lessons for Mombasa from Kisumu

I am writing this from my hotel room in Kisumu. Well there is nothing to write home about the Hotel which though a masterpiece of its time, it is now run down and a litany of complaints is what I have heard from my colleagues and those who have been here before us.

In fact one of the thoughts that hit me was that it must have a connection to Government and which was confirmed by one of the employee who told me that it’s a ministry of tourism run establishment. What hit me was that the government has been spending millions to promote tourism abroad for the benefit of the private sector but its very own establishments are run down. What a contradiction.

However what concerns me is not the discomfort of my room and that I have had to shift rooms because an attendant broke a key to the lock while I was out, but what is happening in Kisumu.

In 2008, Kisumu was at the centre of the post election violence. We saw images of wanton looting and burning and to an outsider this was the epitome of how badly to express frustration and venting out over a democratic process gone awry.

Even though other areas were also affected, Kisumu was worst hit because the looters did not only target supposed political enemies but also big business with looting and burning becoming the norm.

To date, there are still scars of the violence in various parts of the town that reminds one of a path that a country that wants to progress forward through honouring the spirit of democracy and free speech should not take.

However, Kisumu is a good example of what rising from the ash literally means. It’s also a good indicator of how public affairs should be run and as I sit here I am wondering what lesson the town can teach my home town Mombasa and many others in the country. To begin with, the town is clean and you could be forgiven to think that there are no people who use plastics here. There are no plastics papers in the town, there are no mountains of garbage, the roads are good and coupled with that is a new refurbished airport and many more good things that would do with a well run town.

Comparing it with Mombasa, Kisumu ranks far much better in terms of image and what the city fathers could be doing to address the dented image that was projected by the post election violence.

One of the things that I am sure of is that the managers in Kisumu have held several high level forums with investors in which they have pledged to work together for the benefit of the city. I am not sure that I have ever seen such a forum in Mombasa and the most that comes of it is where the city fathers attack their perceived enemies.

Our very own Minister for Tourism Najib Balala cannot see eye to eye with Mayor Abubakar Mondhar and they would rather spend time competing on who has the greatest ability to publicly smear and attack each other perceived political  alignment.

Our very own frontrunners for the Governors seat Messrs Mohamed Shahbal and Ali Hassan Joho can never share a table and every time they try it is always disaster.

While other counties have been drawing up roadmaps for their areas, Mombasa is yet to even think about it. Like it has happened in Kisumu, there is need for local leaders to come together to mobilize support for the improvement of infrastructure in the town despite their political affiliations.

I am sure that the all stakeholders in Mombasa would support such an initiative. After all when the town suffers everybody feels the pain, when the roads are in tatters and congested, it is not the council that people think about but everybody who comes from the area carries the blame.

Ends…….