Why have we prioritised the wrong projects?
Opinion
By
Mutahi Mureithi
| Feb 08, 2026
Laikipia County was in the news the other day, once again for all the wrong reasons. This time, they unveiled a joke of an invention, a contraption supposed to be a sort of ambulance married to a motorcycle.
It looked like it was put together by some fellows with a blow torch, but no blueprints or anything to suggest any thought went into the process. The thing doesn’t have any shock absorbers, no stability, no brakes, nothing.
To add some pomp and some jocularity to the entire circus, some wisecrack would have thought of sticking a siren on it to warn motorists and pedestrians that a death trap was barreling their way.
As far as I am concerned, a ride to the hospital in that thing would most likely end up being a trip to your final resting place.
Our motorcyclists are not exactly known for level-headedness. Then you add a sick passenger on a contraption launched with so much fanfare? Wonders will never cease.
READ MORE
CBK faces tough balancing act on loan costs ahead of 2027 polls
Kenya, Brazil to address growing trade imbalance
19 Kenyan students land German hospitality training slots
Ruto pitches Sh5 trillion debt-free fund to foreign diplomats
Kiambu mall owner dealt a blow by Appeals Court in Sh3b property dispute
Drop in the ocean: Why analysts have issues with Ruto's tax cuts
China pledges deeper cultural and economic ties with Kenya
Eveready enters EV space with new financing product
Listed agricultural firm inks deal to expand exports to UAE
Global leaders advance supply chain efficiency through digital transformation
And this is a country that touts itself as having embarked on the road to Singapore no less. Perhaps we should opt for a different direction and, instead of facing east to Singapore, we would be facing west to the Democratic Republic of Congo or such banana republic, because, with this kind of contraption, that would be a better direction to aim for.
Laikipia, for some reason, is notorious for these ‘inventions’ that defy logic. Some years back, they had this ‘made in Laikipia’ ramshackle they had ‘invented’ – I will run out of quotation marks at this rate – a three-wheeler version of a Tuk Tuk supposed to be cheap, easy to run and maintain.
It turned out to be nothing more than a glorified wheelbarrow on three wheels.
From what I hear, the poor things never made it past the gate where they were hurriedly welded together. I am sure no insurance company would have been dumb enough to even consider third- or fourth-party insurance on these death traps. They looked like those trollies pushed around by boiled egg vendors.
This was a primary school CBC project gone wrong. Nay, I am belittling those poor rascals: I bet they could have come up with a more functional tricycle.
Sometimes I wonder about the seriousness of our leadership, especially that of county governments and MPs.
How do you, as a well-paid Governor or MP, accept being part of this circus of inventions that do nothing more than elicit scorn and derision in equal measure? Can’t you be more realistic and focus on areas that would have a real and positive impact on the people?
There was a time the central government, working with county governments, had attempted to launch some economic zones to encourage some level of innovation.
Laikipia was among the first counties where such a zone was launched. I haven’t heard much about this zone that was supposed to enhance innovation at the grassroots, but if the nduthi ambulance experience is anything to go by, it was clearly a misinformed and badly executed policy.
Yet, there are many projects our leaders should be spending time and money on. We have education and heath especially that would leave a lasting impact on the people they represent.
Fix education, for instance, and you are investing in the future. But, no, our leaders have more important things to invest public money on.
Recently, we saw a county where close to Sh5 million was spent on a housewarming for the County Assembly speaker or some such wannabe nabob.
In Kakamega, they were on the spot for spending Sh4 million on lighting a Christmas tree. Do they even know what the entire spectacle of a Christmas tree means?
Shouldn’t such money be spent on feeding orphans and the homeless? Our leaders have certainly perfected the art of shooting themselves in the foot.
-The writer is a communications consultant