Five grand Nyayo projects which millennials are clueless about
When former President Daniel arap Moi took over the reins of power in September 1978, he resolved to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and the founding father of the nation, the late President Jomo Kenyatta.
He soon coined the name Nyayo, a Swahili word for footsteps.
During his tenure several projects were launched bearing his name and the name Nyayo.
For 24 years that he was president, the name Nyayo became synonymous with Moi the person and many of the projects he initiated, a good number of which have since ceased to be.
Here are a few of the Nyayo projects which millenials may have no idea about:
1. Maziwa ya Nyayo – That Moi had great love for children has never been in doubt. In 1979, just a year after ascending to power, he introduced the free school milk concept, known by many as Maziwa ya Nyayo that was enjoyed by all who attended primary school until 1996 when the project was halted, apparently due to lack of funding. The free school milk programme is said to have raised enrollment in primary schools by over 23 percent in just one year from its inception.
2. Nyayo Pioneer Car – In 1986 Moi challenged the University of Nairobi to manufacture a car. The team responsible also comprised experts from Kenya Railways, Kenya Polytechnic, the Department of Defence and the National Council of Science and Technology.
The cars were to be an example of how Kenya, could use locally produced materials and expertise to its advantage, industrially speaking.
Four years later, the president launched the cars at the Kasarani Sports Complex in a televised ceremony. Moi’s administration went ahead to establish the Nyayo Motor Corporation for mass production. Of the 11 plants required for the ambitious undertaking, the government only managed to form the General Machining Complex.
The government was determined to go beyond the prototype cars produced at the time and, in 1999, renamed the Nyayo Motor Corporation the Numerical Machining Complex Limited, with the purpose of turning the idea into a self-sustaining commercial project. The cars – a saloon and a pick-up – still lie at the Kenya Railways workshop.
3. Nyayo Bus Service – The Nyayo buses were launched in 1986 to provide affordable transport for Kenyans. At the time, the Kenya Bus Service (KBS) had a franchise agreement with the City Council of Nairobi which the introduction of the Nyayo buses contravened.
The buses were, in essence, competing with KBS and matatus. The Nyayo buses were a donation from the Dutch government in 1980, and were initially meant for transporting personnel of the National Youth Service (NYS), a paramilitary youth organisation.
The service became too big for NYS, hence the formation of the Nyayo Bus Service in 1988. Within a few years, the new parastatal received more buses from the Italian, Dutch, and Belgian governments, gassing the fleet to over 300 buses that plied routes in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisii, and Meru.
But lack of experience and oversight saw the corporation screech to a halt in mid-1995, when the Controller and Auditor-General declared Nyayo Bus Service insolvent.
The buses charged as low as Sh5, half the going fare, but in seven years, the heavily subsidised but inefficient state venture folded. It left the efficient but unsubsidised Kenya Bus Service in serious competition with the deregulated and untaxed matatu sector.
4. Nyayo Tea Zones – A tea development corporation was established through a Legal Gazette Notice No. 265 of 1986 under his name, Nyayo Tea Zones Development.
The corporation which is in existence up to date aims to promote forest conservation by providing buffer zones of tea and assorted tree species to check against human encroachment into the forestland.
The Corporation also operates Kipchabo Tea Factory in Nandi County, and is constructing the 2nd factory at Gatitu in Kirinyaga County in 19 zones in the country.
5. Nyayo Wards – Constructed to provide affordable and accessible health care to Kenyans, the Nyayo Wards were a healthy idea which, like most Nyayo-era projects. Nyayo Ward was meant to ease congestion, but which stalled at the foundation stage.