By DAN KAMAU

Kenyans in the Diaspora are doing great work to develop their own country. Some are into housing projects, finance and others embarking on different ventures. However, a different initiative known as Diaspora University Town Project is set to be a breath of fresh air as it is unique, dynamic and with great potential to transform and improve the economy.  

Diaspora University Town Project is a jobs creation venture focused on housing development and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. It is a project developed based on the human resource productivity approach that has in the last 40 years, since 1980, progressed the growth of the World Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from about $18 trillion to over $80 trillion.

The project is developed by Diaspora Kenyans, Ndara B Community and Partners. The goal of the project is to achieve Kenyans social and economic constitution rights of food, housing, healthcare, education, information communication technologies, clean environment, children rights and others through jobs creation.

The jobs creation plans include building of University, Town, Medical Hospital, Medicine Vaccine Plant and 500 Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The construction of the aforementioned will ensure 20,000 Jobs or more are created and a town settlement of 30,000 residents developed. The university town development plan will develop a town GDP of about Kshs 20 billion ($200 million).

The 30,000 residents of the town will benefit from the housing plan that is based on Kenya Constitution 43. (1) Every person has the right— (b) to accessible and adequate housing, and to reasonable standards of sanitation. (d) to clean and safe water in adequate quantities.

Diaspora University Town House Development plan has a budgeted production cost of each house. A house will be produced based on an individual developer capital input and a loan capital input as set up by the DUT THIDA system.

The project development system further integrates jobs creation and houses development such that those who get jobs in the town have accessible and adequate housing. The system is setup to ensure no slums and unclean, unhealthy environment results.

The project master development plan (MDP) applies jobs creation and housing development systems that are based on GDP growth. These systems are similar to those that create jobs and develop housing in countries that Diaspora Kenyans migrate to.     

The University project is a plan founded and developed by Diaspora Scholars and will apply the WPI project-based learning approach. Led by Prof. Phillip Mutisya in Raleigh, NC more than 30 scholars are already working on the project. This plan is expected to create about 10% of the town jobs.

The University Medical Hospital project is developed by healthcare professionals in the Diaspora whose goal is to achieve the healthcare envisioned by Kenya Constitution 43. (1) Every person has the right— (a) to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care; (2) A person shall not be denied emergency medical treatment.

The medicine and vaccine plant plan by Daktari Biotechnology Ltd. is led by scientists Dr. Wilson Endege of Boston, MA and Dr. Benson Edagwa of Nebraska. The scientists are applying their technologies and intellect to innovate COVID, HIV, Malaria and Other drugs that will be produced at the plant.

Prof. Arch. David Mwale of Riverside, CA has designed the Medicine and Vaccine Plant based on the land allocated at Diaspora University Town. Diaspora Kenyans and Kenyans in Kenya are investing to build the plant.  

Kenyans, especially Ndara B Community members, are excited and happy that Kenya scientists have the technologies and have started to work on the medicine and vaccine products that will make Kenya a producer of medicine and vaccines. The medicines and vaccines will help increase the life expectancy rate of Kenya.

“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it,” is a quote that continues to progress nations and people to be achievers. The imagination that every person should contribute toward the development of the U.S led to the jobs creation that grew the U.S. economy from $57 billion GDP in 1933 to the current $21 trillion GDP.

Diaspora Kenyans who are part of DUT are today imagining a Kenya where every Kenyan is contributing gainfully toward the development and sustenance of Kenyans and Kenya. They see their role as one of opening up Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that create jobs as Kenyans produce goods and services that advance Kenyans rights. 

The biggest resource lost in Kenya is the human resource. Every day and year, millions of hours are lost to unproductivity or underproductivity. With about 80% of the 25 million Kenyan workforce unemployment and underemployed the human resource lost is currently estimated at Kshs 25 trillion.

It is through jobs creation and making the human resource productive that those working achieve their rights of housing, healthcare, education, clean water, clean environment, children rights and other rights.

The housing deficit is estimated at 3 million units. In next 10 years there is a need of another 3 million units. This means that in the housing sector the production needed is for about Kshs 30 trillion if every family right of housing is to be met in next 10 years.

The other resource lost is the Diaspora cash resource. From 2004 to 2020, the 17 years CBK records show the total Diaspora Remittances as $22.43 billion dollars (About Kshs 2.3 trillion.) In the last 5 years 2016 – 2020 the Diaspora remittances are recorded by CBK as $12.25 billion dollars (About Kshs 1.2 trillion.) About 50% of Diaspora remittances that would have created jobs went to donations.       

The Diaspora Kenyans developing DUT are today asking fellow Diaspora Kenyans to invest their money in jobs creation. The goal is to have about 5% of the projected remittances of $30 billion remittances in the next 10 years (About $1.5 billion or Kshs 150 billion) be applied in DUT projects.

To encourage the Diaspora and to ensure the Diaspora make a return, DUT Credit has been started with a goal to be part of Kenya credit or loan advances grow. Kenya deposits from 2015 to 2020 grew from Kshs 2.3 trillion to Kshs 4 trillion deposits. This was a growth of Kshs 1.7 trillion in 5 years. The deposits growth supported loan advances growth from Kshs 2 trillion to Kshs 2.6 trillion. A growth of Kshs 600 billion.

DUT projection is that Kenya deposits fueled by jobs creation, houses development and GDP growth will pass the Kshs 10 trillion before 2030 and loan advances will reach Kshs 8.5 trillion as SMEs take loans to create jobs and good houses are built.