SAM’S SENSE: Public projects, private praise

This week, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) directed state and public officers to ensure that no public projects bear the names, images or identities of public officials or their political parties. This, I must say, is a directive that is more than two decades late.

We have grown accustomed to billboards bearing the names and identities of politicians adjacent to public projects. From cattle dips to classrooms, footpaths to cabro roads; school feeding programmes to farming inputs.

Mwananchi has been left in awe to see the image of their local politician on a bag of fertilizer. They plant their crops in the farm with a constant reminder of expected allegiance.

And they become so advanced that when they come up with a school-feeding programme, they brand milk for schools with their faces. The political indoctrination at work, where young minds whose only desire is to quench their afternoon thirst must do so from a tetra pack bearing the image of their local governor.

As they go back to class, they cannot help but see the branding on their classroom's fascia board that bears the nickname of their local MP, who has now had it entered into his political brand name. A classroom that was built using resources from the NG-CDF kitty, allocated by Parliament and the law. Money meant for constituency projects that are identified by the community and steered by the CDF committee. But the MP claims responsibility.

And when the young boys and girls are leaving for home, they cross a bridge that has been branded by a former MP when they held the informal title of patron to the NG-CDF kitty in the constituency.

And if the learners require a boda boda ride home, they meet their rider waiting at a boda boda shed built using county resources, but claimed by the ward representative who writes: "Boda boda shed, courtesy of the area MCA Hon. X Y Z, MCA of ABC Ward." And on the side is a towering image of the said MCA with a broad smile, a suit and a clean haircut.

In some counties, you will find branding of the boda boda shed shared by the MCA and the governor.

Now, you may recall that an MP in a rural constituency in Samburu had a statue of himself erected at a public secondary school. The school claimed they were honoring the MP for development projects he had initiated.

You see, public projects are not a donation. They are the right of the community. The Constitution requires public participation in all spheres of public governance. And when communities identify projects, the political leader must never imagine that it is their generosity at work. These are public resources for the people.

Imagine if we were to extend branding of public projects with the names of those in office. The Thika Superhighway would bear the image of a smiling Mwai Kibaki. The Standard Gauge Railway would bear the brand of a generous Uhuru Kenyatta. And the Talanta Stadium, which is nearing completion, would pay tribute to President William Ruto, complete with a statue.

But wait, this habit goes back to our forefathers. How many institutions bear the names of Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi?

Well, naming in honour of a national leader or hero is allowable, especially if done posthumously to memorialise them. See the case of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport or the proposed Raila Odinga Talanta Stadium.

However, when serving leaders with appropriate public projects in their name, or allowing it, something must be wrong.

How many institutions are named after the first two presidents of the republic? Did they donate them?

Many have attended institutions and universities named after the two presidents. Please note that those presidents did not fund the institutions with their private resources. It was public money.

And so the EACC advisory is most welcome. It tells state and public officers they must not use public resources to promote personal, political or partisan interests.

And where recognition of effort is necessary, it must only reflect the responsible government entity and state whether it is the national or county government that funded the initiative.

At a time when serving MPs and office holders champion their re-election using community projects bearing their names, the EACC directive could easily be the start of levelling the political playing field, where people compete based on vision, not on how many projects bear their names.