Science, Community Development and Local Resources: Where is our Private Sector?
By Patrick Ochieng
Why would a private company founded solely for the purpose of profit find a venture of community environment clean up so important? This is precisely the question I asked myself on Saturday August 10, 2002 while I listened to speakers who turned up at a clean up in Floringi, in Bondeni Ward, Mvita Constituency of Mombasa City. Al- Aman Social Welfare Association, the organisers of this event have a long-term strategy to address the problems of environment, health, education, and socio-economic and welfare concerns that afflict the 1000 plus residents of Floringi, a settlement in urban Mombasa.
“In rolling out a strategic plan, we were motivated by the bid to incorporate science in execution of the development solutions that we identified in our strategy”, Hussein Athman under whose docket the clean up activity fell, told me. Most residents of Floringi still see politicians as the panacea to all their problems as are most of the officials of the Alaman Welfare Association. “To change this, we thought that we must first come up with a long term plan, set up an all inclusive association to expose the residents to a new way of doing things and raise the profile of Floringi hitherto little known even to the Mayor of Mombasa”, continues Athman.
One of the activities of the plan under the social, welfare and environment committee was to organise a cleaning day campaign. The association made this its first priority “to showcase the fact that there are enough resources available locally to undertake such activities. The planning took three weeks and we were able to mobilise support from Prima Bins who availed vehicles, T-shirts and their employees; Al-Fauzein Insurance Company who donated ten rakes; Yes Boss Communications who donated 20 T-shirts, Master Screen Printers who printed the T-shirts; Lamu Handicrafts who donated innovative jua kali rakes that proved better than the conventional ones; the Environment Trust of Kenya who donated 20 T-shirts, 50 brooms, 5 shovels and 10 rakes; the Mombasa Municipal Council who brought their battery on which to have the garbage offloaded, wheel barrows, and their staff; the Clean Up Mombasa Committee who donated 50 T-shirts”. Hon Minister Shariff Nassir provided 800 soft drinks while the association only put in Kshs. 5,000/=.
According to Hussein who spoke to the companies it was difficult to convince them that they stood to benefit from supporting this venture. “Why would you expect me to spend money on T-shirts for a clean up, how will that impact on my business?” some asked. However he sold to them the ideology of partnership that the gains were not short term and would take long in coming but were worth investing in. Being companies whose ownerships knew Floringi, the residents and the officials having been to school with some, the idea was eventually bought. Representatives from Al-Fauzein and Prima Bins were conspicuously present on the clean up day at which people started streaming from as early as 8 am. The dignitaries included the Cabinet Minister Shariff Nassir who was the chief guest, the chairman of the Environment Trust of Kenya, Mr. Z. K. Nderu, the Mombasa Mayor Abdulatif Ubwa, the Chief Kadhi Sheikh Abdullahi Nassir, the area councillor who was the master of ceremony and a plethora of people from all walks of life. The banners spoke volumes, as did the speakers who spoke on environmental issues as well as other contemporary issues of the day including the KANU presidential debacle. The meeting was political as it was developmental one would have thought this was a major campaign rally.
They took positions; they offered public education; invoked the place of the environment and social responsibility in the Q’uran; pledged support for this movement of communities taking up their own development without waiting for leaders and they were cheered on as the hot sun kept glowing and the huge crowd kept swelling.
One political statement was poignant and this underscored the adage that politics and development are inextricable linked. Hon Nassir presented to the chairman of Alaman Mr. Ali Bafundi an allotment letter to land that the association has been utilising as a social centre against the wishes of a private developer with whom they have been locked in an ownership dispute. This Title Deed has eluded the association for the last 15 years when they began occupying the land through a temporary occupation licence issued in 1995. Originally this open space was a bush, which the youth of the area cleared to pave way for a sports club, but the club later degenerated in to a drug den and thus the area became a social menace. While the drug problem persists to this date its ugly ramifications that gave impetus to the formation of Alaman Social Welfare Association. The temporary building on the plot, which is used as a social hall, nursery and madrassa, can now be fully developed as planned by the association.
The long term plan aims at constructing a permanent structure, which will incorporate the nursery school, gymnasium, library, social hall, health centre, vocational training centre all in a bid to realise the overall vision of promoting socio-economic advancement of the area residents through initiating sustainable development activities. This position was ably emphasised by the chairman in his address to the clean up audience. Perhaps these could have been the motivating factors behind the presence of the private sector players who lent support to the clean up initiative. Indeed Prima Bins are already discussing with the group possibilities of a future partnership on waste management after witnessing the ability of the group to mobilise and deliver, they have intimated that they could be willing to wholly sponsor a similar event in future. Yes Boss Communications, an internet service provider in the Floringi neighbourhood benefited from the advertisement and this is beginning to show in the number of people visiting the cyber café and in order to cope with the increasing number of customers they are already thinking of purchasing extra computers. The association is issuing certificates to these companies for their sterling contributions and it is their hope that this is the beginning of a relationship that they aim to nurture in the long term.
If there was any lesson on this occasion it is that for the first time a community has shown that with the help of its Diaspora self-help initiatives are possible that totally rely on local contributions, in fact from the most unlikely sector, the private sector and that if the targets are clear, a strategy exists and mutual benefits are visible then it is possible to tap resources for local development. Indeed it this conversation that Ufadhili has had opportunity to share with the steering committee of Alaman. This presents an opportunity for the private sector to create real and durable linkages with the community directly without going through any intermediary. First the association has carried out a census, followed by a strategic plan outlining the major problems and possible solutions with a firm plan of action but the emphasis is on mobilising resources locally to implement the plans. Some companies are beginning to take social responsibility on board albeit informally and it is interesting that these companies are small, indigenous and local companies. May be the leaderships of these companies are also people who have given enterprise a hard look and they know the future depends on how best the corporate sector builds bridges with society in a manner that for the first time compromises neither the aims of profit nor the long term development goals of communities.
|
