| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
In three weeks, the voters in Kenya are going to decide whether President Kibaki or the opposition headed by Mr Raila Odinga is best qualified to deal with these formidable challenges. Unfortunately, there are signs of trouble. An opposition candidate has been murdered by gunmen; an opinion poll has been accused of manipulating the results in favour of the Government; language that incites ethnic hatred is being used on some radio stations; and the UNDP has accused TV and radio of favouring Mr Kibaki. The chief election commissioner’s term of office having expired on 2 December, it was renewed for another five years by President Kibaki, contrary to the advice of the EU mission at the 2002 election that renewal should not occur close to an election. In deciding how to assist the Kenyan people, DfID and other international donors will no doubt consider whether they have truly chosen their Government in free and fair elections.
8.08 pm
Baroness Verma: My Lords, my noble friend Lady Rawlings is very disappointed that she cannot be here for this important debate.
4 Dec 2007 : Column 1686
Reform of the public sector in Kenya must lie at the heart of addressing the chronic issues of governance and corruption—issues that head the priorities set down in the Kenyan Government’s Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation reform programme. That is the key that the Department for International Development must press in delivering greater progress. With DfID providing millions of pounds in assistance, there must be a clear and driven timetable showing how far the Kenyan Government have reached their key priorities. Can the Minister say whether Kenya has managed to reach the target of creating 500,000 jobs a year, and how far has the Minister’s department been involved in reshaping the DfID-Kenya team and relationships with the wider international community?
There is little doubt that Kenya has huge potential. There is a reasonably sized, skilled workforce and of course Kenya boasts an extensive road network in east Africa, as has already been mentioned, yet the past decade has seen Kenyans becoming poorer. Life expectancy has fallen from 57 to 47 years, and more and more people find themselves on the margins of extreme poverty. Does the Minister envisage that Kenya will meet its commitment to achieve the majority of the millennium development goals that it, along with 190 other countries, signed up to in 2000?
An important aspect of Kenya’s endeavour to meet the MDGs is the equalisation of gender inequalities. What is the Minister’s department doing to ensure that Kenya brings about equality for women, who make up 75 per cent of the agricultural workforce but still own only 1 per cent of the land? What specific programmes are in place to ensure that women receive better access to education and skills training?
Of course, in 2003 we all warmly welcomed the National Rainbow Coalition’s declaration of free primary education and the abolition of charges for children. That has undoubtedly led to a significant increase in the number of children going to school. However, there is a challenge to ensure that these children complete their education. More effort must be made to reach out to the many children who are still not in education, including AIDS orphans, who are extremely vulnerable to exclusion.
Approximately 300 people a day die from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses. There are around 1.2 million AIDS orphans—the figure is growing—and approximately 1.2 million Kenyans are living with HIV. The Kenyan Government must make a concentrated effort to ensure that the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS remains high on their agenda. Does the Minister remain confident that the commitment by the G8 to provide universal access to prevention and anti-retroviral treatment by 2010 is on track?
Rising poverty over the past decade has dealt Kenya’s economic growth a harsh blow, with roads, railways, telecommunications, power, water and sanitation deteriorating at a pace that will take billions of pounds to rehabilitate. The Kenyan economy has increasingly become uncompetitive, and there is a lack of confidence from investors facing wholesale corruption and further economic instability. Has progress been made in getting reassurances from the Minister’s counterparts in Kenya that these matters are being dealt with as a matter of
4 Dec 2007 : Column 1687
What is the Minister’s assessment of the interest shown by China in the African continent, and does she have any information on how this is being translated into economic growth for African countries? Is Kenya part of that economic investment? Does the Minister agree that trade and access to markets is visibly more advantageous than reliance on aid programmes? However, I accept that the latter must continue its path for some time yet.
We all strive to reduce our carbon footprint in our fight against climate change, but does the Minister agree that countries such as Kenya need entry into globalised markets and that we must be careful that we do not inadvertently close the doors just as they get started?
Kenya is a water-scarce country, which adds to its difficulties. It is vital that aid programmes and funding, through both government and non-governmental organisations, are directed at projects that utilise the skills of the agricultural sector, which still employs more than 80 per cent of the population and accounts for nearly 30 per cent of Kenya's GDP. Kenya struggles to achieve food security—we witness this with the rising numbers of malnourished children.
Does the Minister have any progress reports on irrigation potential being increased in Kenya, and on whether there is a timeframe to meet these plans? I am sure she will agree that tackling food security and improving sanitation systems will greatly decrease mortality rates and the incidence of sickness, from diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea.
Improvement in water supplies will—I am sure the Minister will agree—go a long way in assisting Kenya to meet its commitments to the MDGs. We are well aware that poor governance and corruption have undermined Kenya's socio-economic performance, adversely affected investments and increased poverty. But can the Minister say whether the Kenyan Government have made progress in strengthening governance institutions?
Although Kenya and neighbouring countries face the problems of poor governance and corruption, there remains and will remain the problem of east African borders being wide open and easy to exploit for drug trafficking, human trafficking and terrorism. While we think it is vital that Kenya is supported in wishing to achieve the goals that have been set, it is also important that aid agencies, and the scrutiny of British aid, be evaluated by an independent body.
My honourable friend in another place, Andrew Mitchell, has said that a truly independent watchdog is needed to commission, totally independently, DfID’s work and to report to the International Development Select Committee. Will the Minister agree with my honourable friend that outcomes and outputs should be the focus of her department?
Leading aid agencies have echoed the Conservative Party's call for better independent evaluation of British aid. If we are to maintain public confidence in, and support for, the British aid programme, it is crucial
4 Dec 2007 : Column 1688
I conclude by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, for initiating this debate. An economically strong African continent, with good governance, will bring great benefits to us all. This is a hugely important subject in which, my Lords, you have much greater in-depth knowledge than I do.
8.17 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for International Development (Baroness Vadera): My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, for initiating this debate 23 days before Kenya’s general election. This time five years ago, expectations of the last elections ran high. Kenyans looked forward to change, growth, jobs, free primary education and zero tolerance for corruption. This time, perhaps, disappointment has tempered hope.
Ethnicity and patronage are still important determinants of the outcome of elections and a career in politics is still one of the quickest ways of accumulating wealth. The incumbents and the opposition are mostly cut from the same cloth. So it is with sadness for the country of my mother that I say, in response to the remarks of noble Lords, that I fear that, whatever the outcome of this election, we cannot expect a dramatic step-change in governance and corruption.
Nevertheless, issues of substance are being increasingly discussed and the electorate are showing interest in the progress, or lack of it, that this Government have recorded. What looks like a close election has created at least the possibility of a democratic moment, to break the hereditary principle that the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, talked of—an election in which both incumbent and opposition have equal chances. The results of the parliamentary primaries on 16 November suggest that two-thirds of the Members of Parliament are likely to be new faces.
As the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, indicated, there is a track record of managing election days, and there will again be a number of international observer missions from the EU, the AU, the US and others. But the acid test will not be just whether elections are free on the day but whether they are fair during the campaign in the use of government resources. We continue to monitor, and to press for a level playing field.
Alan Greenspan says that there is only one difference between a developed and a developing country—and that is the rule of law. Thirty years ago Kenya was a prosperous middle-income country. But from the 1970s to the turn of the century, we witnessed the economy contract, life expectancy fall from 62 years to 49 and poverty increase from 48 per cent to 56 per cent. As the analysis of our country assistance plan shows, at the heart of much of this decline lie deep-rooted structures of economic and political patronage and corrosion of the very system of checks and balances designed to deal with corruption.
4 Dec 2007 : Column 1689
Corruption is more than the loss of income from a series—however relentless—of headline-grabbing scandals. I cannot comment on the individual cases which noble Lords have raised except to say that we urge a successful prosecution, however difficult, as the clearest indicator that the Government of Kenya are serious about removing the culture of impunity among the political elite. Corruption is one of the biggest hurdles in the fight against poverty. Every day, ordinary Kenyans must bribe to get a job, to operate a business or to build a house. The police are widely regarded not as a source of law and order but as an informal tax on the poor. One national survey showed that 25 per cent of Kenyans face frequent demands for payment in their efforts to obtain the healthcare to which they are entitled.
This year, Kenya, with help from DfID, has been one of the world’s top reformers in the “Doing Business” indicators. But while the private sector is reviving, businesses still name corruption as one of the main barriers to accelerated growth. There are also serious problems with human rights. We urge the Government of Kenya to investigate the alleged killings associated with the Mungiki gangs.
Some have argued that the mere presence of donors such as DfID creates a moral hazard, props up corrupt Governments and even adds to the incentives for corruption, and that donors should walk away. It would be an easy thing to do and, for some, not without a sense of personal moral satisfaction. But the problem with these arguments is that they offer no alternative solutions and no evidence to show that disengagement leads to change. They ignore not only the sheer human cost of punishing the poor for the sins of their Government but the opportunity of empowering, with human development, a generation of Kenyans to bring about change in their lives and the governance of their country.
Our approach to fighting corruption, as set out in our governance White Paper, focuses on the long-term political drivers of change. Corruption is a symptom of weak governance, poor political accountability and inadequate systems. So, first and foremost, we protect UK taxpayers’ funds. We give no budget support in Kenya but use financial management agents and civil society to deliver aid directly. Secondly, to help protect Kenyans’ funds, since the last election we have had programmes to strengthen governmental systems of public finance management, procurement and, as the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, said, public sector reform.
Thirdly, we work with local civil societies to strengthen their voice in holding their own Government to account. We fund one of the most active Transparency International chapters in Africa which produces a bribery index, naming and shaming organisations, and we have just funded the start-up of a national taxpayers’ association.
Fourthly, we have supported the introduction of extensive anti-corruption legislation which, for example, makes bribes a criminal offence, protects witnesses, and requires public officers to declare their wealth. We are also awaiting legislation on money laundering and whistleblower protection. In response to the question from the noble Lord, Lord St John of Bletso, although there was an attempt to change legislation to undermine
4 Dec 2007 : Column 1690
I refute the comparison of the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, to party funding issues. In response to the noble Lord’s question, I can confirm that we have not been asked by the Government of Kenya to investigate the Kroll report or any assets in any bank accounts or other cases. As to any action we can initiate, I can neither confirm nor deny whether investigations are ongoing or being considered, as this would negatively impact on police operations. I can say, however, that we actively support the International Corruption Group and my officials work closely with the Serious Fraud Office. Lastly, we exercise targeted visa bans for those involved with corruption, including government Ministers.
However, in the spirit of balance which the noble Lord, Lord St John of Bletso, evoked in his thought-provoking remarks, our country assistance plan also recognises the potential and opportunities for Kenya, and the catalytic role that it could play in east Africa.
A one-sided representation of Kenya would be inaccurate. There are some changes. The economy has seen three years of positive per capita growth and, showing a glimmer of what is possible with capable government leadership, the introduction of free primary education in 2003 was an overnight success. Accompanied by school feeding, teacher training, rehabilitated classrooms and strong donor support, it has led to 1.8 million more children in school. Gender parity is at 96 per cent and, as the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, points out, more needs to be done to reach orphans, vulnerable children and those in remote areas. Nevertheless, Kenya is on track to meet the second MDG to get every boy and girl into primary school.
There have been innovative approaches to deal with local accountability and corruption. DfID’s early leadership in the education sector meant that each of the 18,500 public primary schools has an individual bank account controlled by a school committee of parents and teachers. Government and donor funds are directly deposited into these accounts. Each school publicly displays its receipts and expenses on blackboards for the public and parents to see, as I saw for myself at the Olympic primary school in Kibera. Showing that successful development can shape political debate, all three major parties have announced that they will from January 2008 meet all tuition fees for secondary school, which would make Kenya one of the first countries in Africa to make secondary education accessible to all.
There has been success in the fight against malaria and HIV/AIDS, which are the largest and second largest causes of deaths. DfID has supported the distribution and use of more than 12 million bed nets since 2004 and, as part of a comprehensive package of prevention and better treatment, that is leading to real epidemiological changes and a dramatic 44 per cent reduction in mortality in sentinel areas in just two years. As many noble Lords remarked, HIV/AIDS prevalence is an issue, but it has dropped by half to 5 per cent as a result of concerted efforts to change behaviour, lower incidence levels and, unfortunately,
4 Dec 2007 : Column 1691
However, overall Kenya, like the rest of the continent, is off-track in meeting the health-related MDGs. Child and maternal mortality rates are the most powerful indicators of the effectiveness of an underlying health system. Infant, child and maternal mortality has increased rather than deceased in Kenya over the years so Kenya was picked as one of the eight first-wave countries in the international health partnership launched by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister in September. Its purpose is to ensure that donors co-ordinate and back country plans to provide sustainable, comprehensive and universal healthcare beyond the focus on individual diseases. That is why half of DfID’s programme focuses on healthcare.
The proportion of those living in poverty has reversed to 46 per cent since the publication of our country assistance plan, but the impact of growth has been uneven. Only 50,000 of the 500,000 jobs have been created, and 16 million people, mainly in the arid or semi-arid lands, live on the edge of survival. The cycles of droughts, floods, disease and even conflict have taken their toll. At the height of the 2005 drought, 10 per cent of the population needed emergency humanitarian assistance. So DfID is pioneering a new programme to protect the assets of the most vulnerable, to keep children in school and to break the cycle of dependence during emergences.
As the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, rightly points out, poor governance is not the only serious threat to poverty reduction. There is clear and consistent evidence in the IPCC climate model that Kenya, especially northern Kenya, will get warmer and wetter and experience more severe droughts in coming decades. We are therefore conducting a climate change risk assessment and developing adaptation options for all our programmes, including water. We are also working along the lines of the Stern review to analyse the risks of climate change to growth and poverty reduction in Kenya.
In response to specific questions of the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, the IMF has recently approved its final review of the poverty reduction growth facility, and the Kenyan joint assistance strategy was approved by 17 donors and provides a robust basis for a stand against corruption.
I am proud of what DfID has achieved in Kenya. Our work on terrorism, working with the Government, does not affect our evaluation of our own work in DfID. An independent country programme evaluation published this year states:
4 Dec 2007 : Column 1692
“The Kenya country programme has in large part been successful in delivering what it set out to achieve. This is a good outcome in a difficult governance environment”.
“DfID has made a positive contribution to political accountability and a relatively peaceful election and political transition with examples of effective public information, civic education and advocacy”.
In addition to governance, poverty and climate change we know that the challenges of migration, urbanisation, exclusion, radicalisation, terrorism and regional integration will all play out in Kenya.
There are many in Kenya who deserve our support through these challenges—the Nobel peace prize winner Wangari Mathai, the world renowned anti-corruption activist John Githongo, dedicated teachers, health workers, civil servants and civil society. We will remain committed beyond this election to the people of Kenya, to its vocal activists and its many silent heroes.
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken. Your Lordships will have noticed that we have largely been singing from the same hymn sheet. I do not think the debate has been any the worse for that. The debate has been topical and timely, and I thank the House authorities for squeezing it in for us at short notice.
I thank the noble Lord, Lord St John of Bletso, particularly for his experience in rural areas. He is right; we must not be too negative. My noble and indefatigable friend Lord Avebury asked some penetrating questions on the Kroll report and made a very powerful point about the distortion of American aid under the current Government; let us hope that that will change soon.
The noble Baroness, Lady Verma, gave some stark warnings—perhaps a little too stark, but none the less fair I suppose—about how Kenyan industry has drifted from what was a very competitive position a few years ago.
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: My Lords—
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: My Lords, I am sorry, have I gone on too long?
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: My Lords, with respect, this is a Question. The Minister has replied. Usually the noble Lord does not respond.
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken and I thank the Minister for her frank and comprehensive reply.
- House adjourned at 8.32 pm.
| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |