{UAH} Too many elections and not enough social service delivery

Too many elections and not enough social service delivery

SUNDAY JULY 26 2020

Musaazi Namiti  

In Summary

• This is just one example, of course, and it would be misleading to use it to conclude that Kenyatta National Hospital does not work. But everything counts in a first impression. Anyone who has been to decent hospitals will tell you there is something wrong with Kenya's main hospital.
• As we hold elections, we need to reflect deeply and soberly on the kind of leadership we get. My sense is that we go for popular but not necessarily competent leaders. But since popular leaders are the ones who win elections, it is hard to see the way out of this trap.

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By Musaazi Namiti

Tanzania will go to polls in October. The Central African Republic (CAR) will hold its election in December. Uganda will hold its presidential and parliamentary elections in February 2021. Needless to say, these elections will generate a lot of excitement and will be watched keenly—just like those that have been held in the past.

Then there are those that are already behind us. In May, Burundi held its presidential election and got a new president, Evariste Ndayishimiye. Malawi was forced to hold another election in June after the one it held in 2019 was annulled because of irregularities. Kenya did the same in 2017 because of irregularities. And in the Democratic Republic of Congo, paradoxically, one of the candidates that lost the election was sworn in as president.

There is no shortage of elections on our continent. It is hard to find an African country that has not held elections. The notable exceptions are Eritrea, South Sudan and Sudan. Eritrea and South Sudan have never held any election, yet they look every bit like the countries that have held elections regularly.

In Uganda, we have a very good excuse for incompetence and poor social service delivery. It is the fact that we have been led by one politician who is tired and ran out of new ideas, having been in the job for three decades.

But our neighbours who have changed leaders are not necessarily different, which is not to say that it is pointless for Uganda to get a new leader. Tanzania, for example, managed to attain middle-income status only this year—and that does not mean it has lifted its people out of poverty. It remains a poor country.

I have taken a not-so-thorough look at social service delivery and how public institutions work in East Africa's largest economy, Kenya, which began holding multiparty elections in 1992 and has changed leaders (Daniel arap Moi–Mwai Kibaki–Uhuru Kenyatta), and I have not seen a big difference. Because of limited space, I cannot cite many examples, but there is one that is striking.

Last Saturday, I visited Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya's equivalent of Mulago, Uganda's national referral hospital. I was there to consult a doctor, and I deliberately chose to go to a public hospital because I wanted to see if there are major differences between Kenyan and Ugandan public hospitals.

The customer service desk in the accidents and emergency section was unmanned from the time I arrived at 10am until I left in the evening at 8pm. The pharmacy within the hospital where I took my prescription note did not have the medicine I wanted to buy. I bought it from another pharmacy.

In one of the rooms where I was examined, the toilets were broken. It is hard for women to use them. What is more, the lights were not working. Many Ugandans will tell you they have seen the same (and probably worse) at Mulago.

This is just one example, of course, and it would be misleading to use it to conclude that Kenyatta National Hospital does not work. But everything counts in a first impression. Anyone who has been to decent hospitals will tell you there is something wrong with Kenya's main hospital.

As we hold elections, we need to reflect deeply and soberly on the kind of leadership we get. My sense is that we go for popular but not necessarily competent leaders. But since popular leaders are the ones who win elections, it is hard to see the way out of this trap.

Mr Namiti is a journalist and former
Al Jazeera digital editor in charge of the Africa desk
musaazihnamiti@gmail.com @kazbuk

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"Even a small dog can piss on a tall building", Jim Hightower

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