Contradictions in rural economies 13 years into devolved governance

Through the Easter weekend, the gods of adventure took me for a long walk that traversed three counties including Kisumu, Siaya and Homa Bay. In total, we covered a distance of 204.8 km, 170.5 km of which was walking on foot in five hiking days. The rest was accounted by water bus, ferry and boat rides to access Mbita/Rusinga, Takawiri and Mfangano Islands that were mapped in our hiking route. I was in the company of seven other hikers.

This was my third expedition after a 164 and 120 km traverses of Mombasa - Kilifi and Machakos County in July 2025 and February 2026 respectively. Despite the physical pain and sometimes blisters that come with walking for so long distances and many hours each day, the cheers and love hikers receive from local communities can never be explained in any written words. It is an experience that can only be felt by those who dare to stretch the limits of both the body and soul out there in the wilderness of hiking.

This is in addition to exploring of the country’s diverse cultures, food, economic activities and sometimes the surprises of the ingenuity of the Kenyan people at the individual and community level. Yet, despite these amazing stories of ordinary people, a curious observer cannot miss out systemic leadership failures and betrayal of the people by those they put into power. This becomes more evident the moment one ventures into the inner streets of urban and peri-urban areas. It gets worse the deeper you go into our rural villages.

For example, on our first day walk from Kisumu to Orindo through Kit Mikayi, the local shopping centres remain highly underdeveloped, lack decent basic amenities and the economic activities are trapped in the 1980s models. This is despite them being less than 30 km from Kisumu City, being along a main highway and of course the tourism potential from the naturally sprouting rocks that cover the entire area. The Kit Mikayi rocks, locally known as the ‘stone of the first wife’ of the Luo people is both a tourist attraction and a religious site, managed by the local community.

The rock is a stunning 120 metres high, a three-story rock formation. It is a sight to behold, yet the nearest decent hotel facilities are about 30 km away. While the site is preserved as a sacred and heritage area, it is easy for a development-conscious mind to see the enormous cultural tourism potential that has been left to waste. Zoned properly by the county government, the entire ward can easily be turned into a multi-billion ecosystem, generating millions of shillings for the local government and creating thousands of jobs to the local community.

That notwithstanding, the Orido Campsite, about 10 km ahead was our surprise testimony of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Kenyan people wherever you go. It is located at Kadela village, East Otany sub-location, Central Seme ward, tucked in rocks and bushes. The campsite beautifully weaves together eco-heritage of the area, creative arts and wilderness for bush life, including open showers in the bush.

The nearest fishing port at Orindo tells the story of the fishermen of Lake Victoria.

Despite being a lucrative trade, the deplorable shanties where the fishermen and their families have lived for generations is depressing for a country with over six decades of self-rule. The story remained the same in all the fishing sites of the lake that were able to visit.

Listening to the tales from the local communities, daily incomes are quite good, but for some reason, the residents remain trapped in poverty through generations.

It is in these fishing points that leadership failure and lack of foresight from those in power become clear.

Typical politicians would rather these folks remain poor and never get economic empowerment.

That way, the voters are enslaved with handouts never to realise their economic potential. The political elites have literally trapped these local communities as voting machines.

The poorer they are, the longer the political elites get to keep their power. This story is not only that of the Nyanza counties that we were able to walk through over Easter, but it is the stories of every county and constituency across the country.

On day three, we trailed on the twenty-four-kilometre loop of Rusinga Island in the morning. Here, you get connected to the country’s checkered political and development history. At the Tom Mboya mausoleum, the clock of time rewinds back into the early years of our independence. Gunned down at the City for what we now understand were for political motives, one can only imagine how remote and poor this community was back then.

What did it take Tom Mboya to overcome such great adversity, not only in national politics, but also to leave behind footprints that not even the bullets that eternally silenced him can erase.

How different would Kenya be today, had he been left to explore his full potential and live a full life? Are these some of the events that diverted the nation from the path of true Singapore? What dreams did he have in his mind with the famous airlifts of young, promising Kenyans to find good education in America?

We will never know the answers to many of these questions.

However, the words on his grave that intone on his visitors in death to go out there and continue the fight for the battles unworn offers solace to souls that grief for what could have been for our nation.

The Takawiri and Mfangano Islands are tourism giants that sleep due to lack of ingenuity from local leadership. Looking at the breathtaking beauty of sunrises on the Lake, the giant Nile Perch are plentiful around the Islands, proper development planning could create the dream holiday or retirement homes that many Kenyans crave for.  

Instead of proper zoning and well-structured development masterplans, the Islands, together with the local communities, have been left into their own devices, reducing such a beautiful ecosystem into our typical ‘tu-plots’ and peasantry farming and livestock activities that never even make it into official data. At best, the Lake Victoria eco-systems is operating at its primary and primitive economic level.

Strange enough, this autopilot form of development and land subdivision is happening in the 21st Century with all the advantages of telecommunication, internet of things and global exposure to current and emerging trends.

Imagine if such wonder Islands could have be located somewhere in Europe, United States of America or in Singapore itself? What sort of villages would they have built if they have created beautiful commercial hubs in villages that do not have as much commercial potential?

Summing it all up, criss-crossing the country’s countryside exposes a curious mind to the consequences of bad politics regardless of political affiliations.

As a nation, we seem trapped in a transactional level of development as opposed to strategic long-term thinking. As a result, local communities suffer while their leaders live large on their sweat.

Otherwise, how can one explain that Kisumu County contributes less than three per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) despite having a city status? This is similar to Uasin Gishu, which is home to Eldoret City. The second largest county, as per GDP Nakuru accounts for less than six per cent of the national GDP. Simply put, did we create counties to remain as villages forever?