In post-Covid-19, food, jobs, housing and healthcare will be our main challenges

The English Romantic poet John Keats once wrote: “Nothing ever becomes real 'til it is experienced.”

The world is in unchartered territory thanks to the rapid spread and dangers of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Not since the Spanish Flu just over one century ago has the world known such a fast-spreading and deadly virus.

Very few people on earth are still alive who experienced that pandemic and none with any practical experience about how to prevent the spread of such a pandemic.

That is why it caught countries like Italy, Spain, France, the UK and the US completely by surprise.

Beyond the deadly spread and trying to get a virus that has no known vaccine, the economic devastation has brought down markets all over the world.

In fact, some global economic experts argue that there could be a global economic recession.

With that in mind, it is very easy for local self-declared “experts” to try and postulate what the government should be doing.

The heads of the World Health Organisation have got many things wrong in the last few months and the leaders of the US, China, Russia, India and in the European Union have made grave mistakes.

A few nations are prepared for the effects of the Coronavirus. Instead, what commentators should be looking at is Kenya’s preparedness to fight the virus.

To fight such a devastating pandemic we need as big a budget.

For decades, billions of shillings have been stolen, misappropriated and mismanaged. Each year, up until recently, a significant amount of our annual budget just slipped through the government’s fingers, and the people’s hard-earned money was lost.

Only in the last few years, thanks to the government’s war on corruption and the repatriation of large amounts of stolen funds. The highest levels of government, industry and business have had their day in court and the message has been sent out that every shilling of public money is accounted for.

CRISIS
Secondly, to fight such a crisis a country needs to be as united. We have seen how political squabbles between the government and opposition have slowed the pace of the response to the pandemic in many nations. If bills to provide aid packages to the people are slowed because of politics, then it can prove devastating.

The Building Bridges Initiative which has opened up a brand-new way of doing things in Kenya. There is an openness to our system that simply did not exist a few years ago.
Kenyans understand the constitutional, political and electoral systems and the challenges and opportunities they pose.

Fourthly, the Big Four Agenda, whether food security, affordable housing, manufacturing and affordable healthcare, are all essential areas that need bolstering.

Food, jobs, housing and healthcare will be main challenges in the months ahead.

While some nations are only waking up to this in the middle of the crisis, Kenya has already made massive strides. This means that the pain will not be as great.
We have to deal with the pandemic that is bringing wealthier nations to their knees.