Page 47 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 14

Economy

fore to neglect them and their many
needs which have resulted from this
neglect, has historical roots in, you
guessed it, Colonialism: “The gen-
esis of the injustices of the people
living in what the colonialist termed
the Northern Frontier Districts
(NFD) and later christened North
Eastern Province (NEP) by the
Post-colonial government was in
the attitudes of the colonialists and
later the post-colonial rulers.

Both the colonial and post-colonial
that Marsabit, as a County, is not effects of fuel prices on the county. governments came to view the in-
as industrialized as the capital and A person who fuels their car in Nai- habitants of this region as stubborn
therefore is not producing as much robi with roughly ten dollars of fuel and indifferent. This indifference
and doesn’t need as much in terms will get about 7.87 liters, while in (in itself an observer’s description
of resources. However, that in Marsabit County, one would get 7.4 and therefore likely to be biased)
itself is a problematic perspective. liters. So, in a car that’s giving about gave rise to conflict between the
It condemns a low-income county 10 kilometers per liter, the one who state and the communities in this
to remain under-developed due to fuels in Nairobi can expect to get region. The conflict manifested
a lack of resources that would help 78 kilometers out of their vehicle in the form of exclusion, partisan
it grow. In so-doing, it condemns while the person fueling in Marsabit administration or systems and a
them to a standard of living that is will get about 74 kilometers. Again, manipulation of populations to
undesirable because a decision has it doesn’t seem like much, but serve interests of the state and state
been made to keep them that way. when the closest petrol station to functionaries. Such was the state of
Marsabit town is 224 kilometers affairs not only in the Kenyatta and
Consider this in contrast to what away, every little bit counts. By con- Moi regimes but also in the current
John Perkins reports of the Sau- trast, Nairobi County is filled to the one.” These words are taken from
di approach to the dignity of its brim with petrol stations. Indeed, a policy paper titled, “Historical In-
citizens. They made a decision as far the person running a public trans- justices a Complementary Indicator
back as early 70’s that their people port business in Marsabit County, for Distributing the Equalization
would not be confined to carrying whose vehicles travel thousands of Fund”, written during Kibaki’s
out menial tasks such as the col- kilometers in a week will tell you presidency. It goes on to say, “The
lection of trash. They leave that to the difference that that 7.8 shillings colonial government in Kenya, in
others. And when you examine the makes to his costs and the fares that an effort to control the movement
way they operate even today, hiring he charges – as will his passengers. of the peoples of Northern Kenya
manual laborers from Afrika who And, when one considers that about into the hinterland of East Africa
they treat just like slaves, you can 45% of that fuel price goes to the and of their integration with others
see that the mindset of the Saudi government in taxes and levies, it’s in Kenya, enacted several legisla-
is that they are fit for more ‘noble’ even more disheartening. tions specifically targeting NFD.
pursuits than those they put their
workers to. Meanwhile, Afrikan A county such as Marsabit, indeed, The first was the Outlying District
governments appease the Saudis for all counties in the north of Kenya, Ordinance 1902, which applied
the Saudi’s own mistreatment of have largely been neglected by the exclusively to NFD. The effect of
the Afrikan people, which tells you central government and have had the Ordinance was to declare NFD
the value that Afrikan governments to rely on representatives from their a closed area. Movement in and out
have for their people. As does their regions to speak for and fight for of the area was restricted and only
treatment of the inhabitants of them in parliament or the senate in under a special pass. The second
Marsabit County. an environment that just seems not was the Special Districts (Admin-
to ‘see’ them. This failure to ‘see’ istration) Ordinance, 1934, which
Let’s look at an example of the our brothers and sisters and there- together with the Stock Theft and

WWW.MSINGIAFRIKAMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 14 | AUGUST 2021 47