Post COVID-19 Reconstruction Strategies Needed In Kenya

As a country, we thank God, that the COVID -19 curve is and will eventually flatten, and life will return to a new normal. The pandemic has caused untold challenges to all facets of life, hence new strategies must be put in place to make it easy for people to adapt. We require adequate mitigation measures to what looks like a period of war and great suffering. COVID -19 has been a destructive occurrence which borders on the force majeure and which now calls for stakeholders to develop strategies to address and rebuild the shattered economies and livelihoods.  

Addressing the impacts of COVID -19 requires strategies akin to the Marshal plan, which was meant to rebuild the shattered economies of Europe, after the second world war. It involved the provision of humanitarian aid, cash grants, loans to poor developing countries, strategic advices and also military support as needed in different countries.

The government should be congratulated for taking the first steps in stimulating the economy at the onset of COVID -19 pandemic in Kenya. It piloted an expanded public works program in eight counties most affected by the disease. This illustrated that the government was interested in the welfare of its people, by undertaking such a program despite it not having been budgeted for. The contingency and emergency allocations would not match the magnitude of the problem and hence innovation is necessary to keep the economy moving. The program has since been expanded to cover all the counties, in addition to increasing the scope of the program to long lasting or legacy projects. It has mainly involved youths because statistics show that the median age in Africa is 19.2 years.

Counties and stakeholders must now work with the government to make such programs lead to greater reconstruction efforts post COVID-19, through additional financing and in kind support. Research has shown that implementing activities like housing development, construction of infrastructure, promotion of business opportunities, technical and capacity building and social support programs are effective in rebuilding damaged economies. These activities have the potential to employ and engage many people who are therefore provided with an opportunity to improve their economic conditions. We must be guided by the words of former US president, JF Kennedy that “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”.