Investment News Kenya

Are You Calling Vision 2030?

2012-05-19T08:56:08Z

Unlike what many of us say about ourselves, there are many very nice Kenyans. And you meet them everywhere, even on the phone lines. Recently, I tried calling Vision 2030 and the line was promptly answered. Before I could explain my purpose, the man who had answered the phone cut me short.

Telephoning

Understanding

“I know you are calling Vision 2030, but I am sorry this isn’t it. This number keeps coming to me, I don’t know why!” I had hardly told him where I was trying to reach.

“Am I dialling the wrong number?”

“No,” he said without hesitaion , “Its just the correct number you are but it comes to me.”

“I am sorry!”

“I understand.”

Four times, I rang and four times, the same man answered.

“It’s come to me again!” he said with some humor on the fourth time.

“Sorry for disturbing you!”

“It’s quite okey. I understand. Just try calling again.”

I put the phone down and decided to let it “cool.” Maybe I will get through if I did keep ringing – a call on the hot heels of another call.

Yet Another Try

After several minutes, I took up the phone and called again. This time there was a pleant lady on the other hand, who after hearing where I was calling said, “I am sorry, you have come to the office of Hon. Mnister ———— Which number did you call?”

I read out the number. “I am sorry. It calls here quite often.”

I read out the number. “Yes, that is correct. That number belongs to Vision 2030. I don’t know how it rings here!”

“I am sorry,” I said.

“I understand. Try dialing the number again.”

Safaricom

Since then I have tried several times. When I am lucky, it rings and rings and rings, then it goes off. If I use Safaricom, there is a quick answer – as it is with all land lines. A recorded message tells me that the number I am calling is no longer in use. (Is Telkom and Orange listening? Safaricom is killing your business !)

And if I use Orange, the mobile phone company that owns the fixed lines together with Telkom, the answer I most often get is that the number I have dialed “is not recognizable on our network.” (And that is amazing! Orange and Telkom, you are killing your business! How can your line be unrecognizable on your network!).

The reason why Vision 2030 uses these faulty telephone lines when we are spoilt for choice, I don’t know. Or it could be that the fellows working on Vision 2030 have gone home to await the year 2030 when their vision will be useful. Come to think of it, other than take away public funds, do you know what they do?

The Marxist View of Gay, Lesbian and Prostitute Rights in Kenya

2012-05-15T11:54:46Z

The big reason I am interested in the debate about gay, lesbian and prostitute rights in Kenya is that it so clearly exemplifies what the great Jewish thinker, Karl Marx, says about the capitalist society.

US President Obama (right) support gay rights creates problems in Kenya

In a capitalist society dehumanization has gone to the extreme as pursuit for money has become deified. “The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honored and looked upon with awe. It has converted the the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet , the man of science, into its paid wage laborers.

“The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation,” writes Karl Marx in his 1888 Manifesto of the Communist Party.

Capitalist Invention

The favorite invention of the bourgeois society is the doctrine of human rights. With the doctrine of human rights, the oppressor becomes the champion of the oppressed.Those opposed to the capitalists dehumanization of human beings is accused of standing on the way to absolute human freedom where everyone enjoys their “human rights”to the full.

The purpose of this bourgeois technique is to keep living conditions workers in a state of flux. Fluid situations create uncertainty and conflict, the right atmosphere that ensure that laborers – the working men (and women) – do not unite against capitalist exploitation. Before any situation can ossify, the bourgeoisie have thought up a new conflict situation. The worker has no time to complain about their “minimum living wage” that they are paid which only keeps them an inch above starvation, the better to produce more wealth for the rich capitalist.

In terms of world politics and economics, the developing world is the equivalent of Karl Marx’s proletariat and the developed world is the bourgeois society. The developing world – also known as the Third World – owns labor although their countries are rich in natural resources. The resources are exploited – by the workers- to enrich the capitalist in the industrial world where the citizen live in unimaginable comfort.

Targeting the African Family

The family is the easiest target for conflict brewing. Since the colonial times, the family in the developing world – and especially in the resource -rich Africa – has never been at ease.To get cheap African labor, the colonialists harassed African parents who paid taxes for their young men. The young men were kicked out of their homes by the colonialists and taken away to labor in the colonialists’ farms, unleashing one of the biggest catastrophes on African traditional economy and family.

And as if that was not enough, there followed the so-called Women Emancipation campaigns that targeted polygamy and women family labor under “ women rights.” Men found themselves up against their wives and wives against husbands.

And before that could ossify, there was the female circumcision issue. Daughter was set up against parents and brothers and parents against daughters in the manner so well described by Jesus of Nazareth himself . And again, the clarion call was human rights – “Girl Child Rights.”

Now we are up in a new situation – gay, lesbian and prostitute rights. The issue is again classic Marxism “human rights.” Supporters of the campaign are labelled progressive while opposers are labelled unprogressive or oppressive.

The limit of Human Rights

The truth is that we live in a human society. There are rules and codes of behavior must be followed if the society is to operate as a civilized human society. As such we each must forfeit certain of our rights to allow the society to function. For example, we must be decently clothed. If you feel like walking naked in the streets, you dare not. You are limiting your rights so that the society can function.

Recommendations

My recommendations are the following:

Confine gays, lesbians and prostitutes to their houses where they are already happily enjoying their freedom if we accept the argument that many of their species are already living amongst us. This will keep them from offending the sensibilities of those who live straight lives.

The society must start urgently a humane education and rehabilitation campaign. Get these people to see their wrong orientation so that they can be reconverted to civilized behavior.

Some people have become gays and lesbians because of biological conditions. Fear of ridicule has pushed them into their own cocoons. For them, the society should improve medical service and education so that they can fit into the straight society.

As a society, we should protect the rights of each of us. But we should also avoid creating the Shakespearean society of “bare-forked” animals.

6 Cities of Opportunity in Kenya and Their Key Features

2012-05-14T09:36:49Z

Investors who want to invest in high-yield long term investments in Kenya are looking at the future cities of Kenya. The ambitious cities are expected to turn Kenya into a middle income country by the year 2030. And of these the Konza Technology City is possibly the most desirable.

Computer generated picture of Konza city

1. KONZA TECHNOLOGY CITY

The 2,000 hectareKonza Technology City will be located on a greenfield site 60km south of Nairobi. It is already a location with excellent transport and communication links. The major highway and railwayline connecting Nairobi with Mombasa run adjacent to the site. The Konza rail station is less than 4km away and Jomo Kenyatta airport is under 50km.

The city, expected to provide 80,000 jobs and 32,000 homes, will cost some 11 billion euros.

The commercial engine of the new city will be a cluster of technology businesses, financial services firms and other enterprises. It will be developed with world class infrastructure, especially ICT infrastructure, which will enable firms located there to compete on a global stage.

Key Features of Konza Technology City

Key features of the Plan are:

• A radial road structure with the public transport roads providing the preferred means of access to all parts of the proposed city.

• A Central Business District (CBD) in the heart of the city, easily accessible to all residents and workers both by public transport, walking, cycling and by car. A modern city centre will include high class shopping, sport, cultural and leisure facilities as well as utilities like hospitals.

• The city will also include safe, well designed neighbourhoods, providing 35,000 new homes for people working in the city. Schooling will be provided for all age groups from pre-school to university.

• The BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) Technopark is split into two zones to the north and south of the CBD. These areas are easily accessible to local residents expected to work there and also to employees living outside the Technology City. The Technopark provides an attractive setting to attract inward investment into this sector, in accordance with the Kenya government’s Vision 2030.

• The Science Park is envisaged to the south of the BPO Park.

• A central park near the CBD is proposed to be laid out as a public park, providing a green lung for the residents and workers.There will be also an artificial river flowing through the city.

• A site for a university campus has been provided for to the north of the CBD. This will provide an area for academic buildings, student residences and sports and leisure facilities for students. It is accessible to the CBD and will assist in the cross-fertilisation of ideas between the university and businesses on site.

• The residential community occupies much of the remaining areas of the Technology City. This will provide accommodation for employees and their families who will work in the BPO Technopark, the CBD and in the various local community facilities. The residential community will include appropriate provision for schools, health –care facilities, churches and mosques, play facilities and sports facilities.

• Green corridors are proposed along the alignment of the watercourses which are protected in the Plan. This will help to avoid flood risk to the new buildings and also provides additional open space. These could also serve as ecological corridors through the site.

• The Konza Road will be paved to provide easy access for all vehicular traffic.

• A “Greenbelt” control zone of approximately 2 km is proposed around the site to protect the setting of the Technology City and guard against the development of informal settlements on the boundary of the site; to reserve land for the possible future expansion of the Technopolis; and to institute rigorous control of development in the area around the site. This area could also be designated as a Nature Conservancy Zone which could be managed by Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) to minimise the impact of the new town on wildlife.

Lapsset and Future Cities of Kenya

Other government sponsored futuire citiies are those along the Northern Transport Corridor otherwise known as Lapsset. The ambitious Lapsset project will create a northern a gateway and transport hub to the East African Sub-region and the Great Lakes Region. It will also create access to the sea for the landlocked South Sudan and Ethiopia. Eventually, it is expected to be extended to Rwanda, DRC and on up to Douala in Cameroon. The starting point is Lamu where a modern port, railway, road and an oil pipe-line will be constructed. And that where investment opportunities start.

2. LAMU CITY

This is a town which is already a well-known as the oldest, continually inhabited town in Kenya, and as the home of Kiswahili language which is now the most widely spoken along coastal East Africa.The twon is located on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Lamu town is also the headquarters of Lamu County and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lamu and International Trade

Historical records show Lamu as having had a long history of international trade.Among the traders were the Chinese who were there as early as 1415. The Portuguese were in the island in 1506, and before the Arab conquest of the town in 1813. Thus investors in Lamu will enjoy an association with a city with a long history of trade and a continuing interest as a tourist destinantion. In deed, investors areexpected to build upon the islands economy.

3. GARISSA RESORT CITY

Garissa townis the second town along the Lapsset route that is ear-marked for modernization as a tourist resort city. It is the capital and major town of North eastern district. It is a thriving business hub and has witnessed great developments in the last 10 years.

Industries in Garissa City

Located in a desert region of Kenya, along the Tana River it lies about 350 km east of Nairobi and is linked by road with Nairobi and Mombasa. Industries the the town are involved in processing food, beverages, and tobacco products and manufacturing of a variety of items including plastic containers.

4. ISIOLO RESORT CITY

Isiolo, an hitherto little known town is already being referred to as the ‘Las Vegas of Kenya.’ Isiolo is set for a major facelift that will see it become a tourism resort city complete with casinos, international filming facilities and all the trappings of lavish living.

Features of Isiolo City

A boiling point of cultures, Isiolo is strategically located as a link between the sparsely populated Northern Kenya and the rest of the country. When realized, the vision is expected to change the fortunes of the small town which is mainly supported by a livestock industry, transit vehicles on their way north and a few government offices.

Availability of land in Isiolo isseen as important for its development as a resort city. Isiolo is surrounded by vast areas of idle arid land which is seen to be vital for development of the needed facilities.

Isiolo City and Tourism

Isiolo is already a part of the Northern tourism circuit and is centrally placed between some major parks which include Meru National Park, Samburu National Reserve, Shaba Game Reserve, Kora National Park, Mwingi National Reserve and the Bisanadi National reserve. To the North of Isiolo are located Marsabit National Reserve and Sibiloi National Park.

5. MOYALE CITY

Despite its small size, Moyale, a market town on the border of Kenya and Ethiopia, has an interesting history. A Greekremembered only as Zaphiro, settled in the town asearly as 1901. He helped set up a station named “Fort Harrington”. When C.W. Gwynn visited in 1908, Zaphiro’s station consisted of a garden that covered several acres and his house, located on a spur projecting from the Boran highlands, and providing access through the line of cliffs that run along the border.

“This route may well become some day a considerable trade artery,” Gwynn is said to have predicted. And that day may well be now. For “Fort Harrington” is now well placed to become a major resort city benefitting from its location as the Kenyan exity and enntry town on the Lapsset route to Ethiopia.

6. TATU CITY

Billed as “the most exciting urban development undertaken in Kenya – by Kenyans, for Kenyans,” Tatu City is the only “future city of opportunity” that isn’t a Kenya government project. Itspromoters have – in an apparently myopically promotional strategy – placed it against government planned future cities, especially Konza Technology City and are therefore missing out on natural promotional efforts that could benefit their project.

Despite this, the promoters say their city is “aliigned with the (Kenya government) vision and purpose of the Nairobi Metro 2030 Strategy – which is part of the overall national development agenda for Kenya .”

The cty will be located on Thika-Nairobi Highway and is expected to house 62,000 residents and to received 23, 000 visitors per day. It wil be built on the 1,000 hectares piece of land.

Internal legal battles and poor promotion may, however, affect the construction of the city whioch is already running behind its construction schedule.

Names of Places Hold Interesting Myths

2012-05-01T13:08:54Z

One of the best ways of passing your time gainfully is listening to tales about the origin of names of places. This is exactly what I did this weekend and was amazed by how much people know about places that we take for granted.

A modern estate at Embasi, a place with an interesting story

Did you know, for example, how Thika – that industrial town that lies some 40 kilometers north of Nairobi – got its mysterious name? David Maillu, a foremost Kenyan writer, spent some time researching the name and found out an interesting tale behind it.

Kiambu

Long time ago, the Akamba –also known as the Kamba – used to graze their cattle in an area they called Kyambuu. “Mbu” is a call for help. So Kyambuu means a place where such calls were frequent perhaps because of dangerous wildlife. Today, the place is called Kiambu.

It happened that to go to or return from Kyambuu, you had to cross a river. Sheep weren’t anxious to cross, so the owners would be urged to carry them across. That in the Akamba language is to “Thiika.” So they referred to the place and the river as Thiika, a place where you carry a heavy load on your shoulders or your back.

Embakasi

But if that isn’t exciting enough, think of Embakasi – the eastern division of Nairobi City where everyone wants to own a plot of land. But you will better remember it as place of the Embakisi International Airport (now the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at Embakasi). Here is the story behind its name.

Long time ago, there was a man who lived there. The Akamba didn’t live in plains where they grazed cattle under constant threats of attacks by wildlife and fierce cattle raiders known as the Akavi (a culturally influential, if war-like clan of the Maasai group that spread the Ngai god and skin clothes to the Akamba, the Agikuyu and the Ameru, and which latter became assimilated to the Agikuyu).

Mbaka, the Cat

Fear of these dangers and lack of water made the Akamba stay on hills. But this man defied all of them which made the Akamba nickname him Mbaka – the Cat. Mbaka became wealthy and famous earning himself the rare distinction of having “Ee” added to his name. The Akamba added “Ee”to a name of a man who had made an important contribution to society, similar to the British “Sir”. Thus Mbaka became known as EeMbaka.

When the White colonialist arrived, he was told the area belonged to EeMbaka. To describe it, the Whitman added the possessive “S”. Thus it became known as Embaka’s – the place of EeMbaka. This was corrupted to today Embakasi, I guess, this time by the natives.

Eembaka has had not only an area named after him, there are rivers and hospitals named after him, too. And his name continues to grow. Of course, if you have a different myth, let us know.

Commission on Revenue Allocation: Dividing the Wealth of Kenya

2012-04-27T10:48:28Z

Commission on Revenue Allocation is aking for Sh200 billion to be allocated to finance county governments up from the Sh160 billion approved by the Cabinet

Some 47 counties have been established in the new constitution in an effort to decentralize government and remove disparities in development in regions of the country. The counties will come into operation with the new government expected to be in place in March 2013.

Micah Cheserem, Chairman of the Commission on Revenue Allocation

Funds Allocation Formula

Meanwhile the commission has established criteria of allocated the resources according to:

· population (60 per cent),

· poverty levels (12 per cent),

· size (six per cent), and

· fiscal responsibility (two per cent).

A reserve of 20 per cent will be shared equally among the 47 counties.

Allocation for Coast Counties

Of the approved funds, the Coast Province will get a total of Sh20 billion which will be divided among the counties as follows

Kilifi ………………………………Sh5.59 billion,

Mombasa…………………… Sh4.42 billion,

Kwale ………………………..Sh3.73 billion,

Tana River…………………. Sh2.63 billion and

Taita Taveta………………….Sh2.34 billion.

Lamu……………………… Sh1.4 billion.

Other County Allocations

Allocation for counties outside the Coast Provices are as follows:

Nairobi……………………………………. Sh11.7 billion,

Nakuru…………………………………… Sh6.9billion,

Kiambu…………………………………… Sh6.5billion,

Kakamega…………………………………… Sh7.3 bn,

Bungoma……………………………………………………. Sh7.2 billion,

Turkana……………………………………………………… Sh5.7 billion,

Kisii ……………………………………………… Sh5.5 billion,

Kisumu………………………………………………………… Sh4.6 billion

Uasin Gishu………………………………………………… Sh4.3 billion

Meru ………………………………………………………… Sh5.7 billion

Mandera …………………………………………………………Sh5.7 billion,

Kilifi …………………………………………………………………… Sh5.5 billion

Kisii ……………………………………………………………………Sh5.5 billion

Kitui…………………………………………………………………..Sh5.4 billion,

Machakos ………………………………………………………….Sh5.2 billion,

Wajir ……………………………………………………………… Sh4.7 billion,

Homa Bay,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Sh4.5 billion

Makueni …………………………………………………………….Sh4.5 billion

Isiolo…………………………………………………………………… Sh1.9 billion,

Samburu………………………………………………………………. Sh2.2 billion,

Tharaka Nithi…………………………………………………….. Sh2.3 billion

Elgeyo Marakwet……………………………………………….. Sh2.4 billion

Laikipia ………………………………………………………………. Sh2.6 billion

Kirinyaga …………………………………………………………… Sh2.8 billion,

Embu ………………………………………………………………….. Sh2.9 billion

Busia …………………………………………………………………. Sh2.9 billion

,Vihiga ……………………………………………………………….. Sh3 billion,

West Pokot …………………………………………………………. Sh3.1 billion,

Marsabit…………………………………………………………….. Sh3.2 billion

Nyamira……………………………………………………………… Sh3.2 billion

Nyandarua ………………………………………………………… Sh3.2 billion

Baringo ………………………………………………………………………Sh3.2 billion

Migori ………………………………………………………………………..Sh4.4 billion

Murang’a …………………………………………………………………Sh4.3 billion.

Narok ……………………………………………………………………… Sh4.2 billion,

Garissa ………………………………………………………………………Sh4.1 billion

Trans Nzoia……………………………………………………………… Sh4.1 billion

Siaya……………………………………………………………………………Sh4 billion

Nandi …………………………………………………………………………Sh3.8 billion

Kericho……………………………………………………………………… Sh3.8 billion,

Bomet…………………………………………………………………………Sh3.7 billion

Kwale…………………………………………………………………………Sh3.7 billion

Kajiado…………………………………………………………………… Sh3.5 billion

Nyeri ………………………………………………………………………… Sh3.4 billion.

Division of Revenue Bill

Two Bills – the Division of Revenue Bill and the County Allocation of Revenue Bill – will need to be passed by parliamenment before the funds are dispersed.

The former deals with sharing revenues between the national and county governments, while the latter relates to the sharing of revenue among the counties.

Equalization Fund

In addition to these, there will be an Equalization Fund (0.5 per cent to be dispersed to the county governments. The funds are expected to be used mainly forsectors improvements on water supply, education, health services, energy and rural access roads.

Salaries: Why Rich CEOs Earn More

2012-04-15T13:01:03Z

Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) who help company owners to make profits deserve to earn as much as they can. In contrast, public servants whose work is important but cannot be measured, should be paid sufficient salaries based on seniority (level of responsibility), education, length of service and training. Frequent strikes in public sector in Kenya show that this principle is frequently flouted.

Dalmas Otieno, the minister in charge of public service

Kenya Airports Authority Workers Strike

Take the case of the Kenya Airports Authority workers strike which ended a few days ago with the authority sacking most of the workers. The complaint was the salaries paid well not equal to the demands if the work performed.

According to the workers, the average employees earns less than Shs 20,000 which sit-down bosses earn excess of Shs 750,000 per month. The discrepancy is enormous, but it is not unique to the KAA employees. The entire civil service is full of the same rot. A messager – office assistant – who is a secondary school failure in a quasi-government organization earns many times more than a middle-level university graduate in civil service proper. On what basis does the salary structures depend?

Salary Review

I am aware a salary harmonization commission- the Salary and Remuneration Commission – which took office in January this year and which was set up to look into the salary structures. But so far, the little we have heard from them shown they are totally ignorant about how to go about the work. I am not looking forward to dramatic changes from people who up to down still dusting their tables and chairs. It’s amazing what politics of patronage has done to this country!

Below we publish salaries (compensation) of the richest CEOs in wireless companies in the world. In doing so, we want to show thta the CEOs are paid compensation in relation with the incomes they bring – the wealth they create for their company owners.

What to CEOs Earn

1.Apple CEO, Tim Cook

Total compensation (2011): $377,996,537

Salary: $900,017

Other compensation (stock awards, etc.): $377,096,520

2. Motorola Solutions CEO Greg Brown

Total compensation (2011): $ 29,329,052

Salary: $ 1,200,000

Other compensation (stock awards, etc.): $28,129,052

3. Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam

Total compensation (2010): $7,195,900

Salary: $1,400,000

Other compensation (stock awards, etc.): $21,720,499

4. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson

Total compensation (2011): $22,018,334

Salary: $1,550,000

Other compensation (stock awards, etc.): $20,468,334

5. Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs

Total compensation (2011): $21,722,333

Salary: $1,150,591

Other compensation (stock awards, etc.): $20,564,617

6. Sprint CEO, Dan Hesse

Total compensation (2011): $11,882,651

Salary: $1,200,000

Other compensation (stock awards, etc.): $9,853,329

7. Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop

Total compensation (2011): $10,374,581

Salary: $1,331,947

Other compensation (stock awards, etc.): $8,424,885

8. AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega

Total compensation (2011): $9,898,542

Salary: $854,167

Other compensation (stock awards, etc.): $9,044,375

9. Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead

Total compensation (2011): $5,660,641

Salary: $725,000

Other compensation (stock awards, etc.): $4,935,641

10. Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg

Total compensation (2011): $5,033,911

Salary: $1,738,775

Bonus (total remuneration costs): $1,245,232

Other compensation (stock awards, etc.): $2,052,904

You can read more here.

4 Ways to Get Rid of Corrupt Leaders and Their Politics of Patronage in Kenya

2012-04-14T12:32:47Z

To stop the dangerous, retrogressive confrontational tribal politics that has gripped Kenya in the wake of the announcement by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, that it will trial four Kenyans for their part in the 2008 post election chaos that left thousands of Kenyans dead, maimed and homeless, Kenyans may have to learn to be innovative in their approach to national unity. I suggest these fours ways to stop these wrangles once and for all and to set up the country on issues-based politics.

Kenya Parliament

1.Change the political arrangements

Currently anyone who wants to stand for election has to do so where he was born. Generally, that encourages tribalism and nepotism as it forces the politician to appeal for votes from his tribesmen and women.

This arrangement creates plenty of opportunities for die-hard tribalists to engage in destructive politics. But it must be admitted that much of the tribalism and nepotism is occasioned by the nature of our political system. You cannot win elections if you do not connect with your voters emotionally. In Kenya, for example, you must convince your voters – in this case, your tribesmen and women – that you will fight for them to get a part of the national cake. “Heavy weight” politicians have tended to skew the national wealth towards their communities. Thus for example, the richest province has been Central from where most president have come. The poorest has been Nyanza from where most opposition leaders have come since the time of President Jomo Kenyatta.

Even when you are very careful, it is difficult to avoid talk and promises that can be classed as tribalism. You can almost paraphrase the message of politician: “You ladies and gentlemen, you have been left behind by development. You have been denied your rights as Kenyans. We must stand together and fight to get our piece of the national cake.

“Now ladies and gentlemen, elect me because I am the right man to fight for you to get your piece of the national cake!” Some of this will be said in vernacular to increase rapport .

To a listener who doesn’t belong to the community, that’s pure tribalism. It becomes worse in places where large populations from outside the area have settled as is the case in the Rift Valley.

A radical political reorganization can instantly change all this. Supposing I was a Kikuyu standing for election in Kisumu or Kibwezi where nearly everyone is another tribe, the same message would possibly be praised. Secondly I would be forced to speak in Kiswahili, the national language, fostering the national image and spirit.

I actually suspect that this political arrangement was what most Kenyans expected at independence in 1963. I am told there were politicians who, being nationalists, had already mapped out the campaigns in this pattern before limiting clauses were introduced into the constitution.

2. Start rigorous education

Politicians are a mixture of people – educated and uneducated, civilized and uncivilized, youth and the aged and so on. To align their sensibilities, we need to improve their skills and knowledge and to educate their sensibilities, capacity for empathy and commitment to modern nationhood. Many of them are still in the precolonial days where your neighbors were a fair game for cattle raids. This wasn’t a crime. It was heroism.

Although times have changed, attitudes take long to change. It will take some generations and rigorous education campaigns to completely eliminate these attitudes. Unfortunately some of the people in parliament, limited by thus attitude, behave like the proverbial man who turns himself into a hyena at night to eat a neighbor’s cow. There are modern hyenas. They think Nairobi and the government are the places to stage new “cattle raids.” And they are praised by their equally backward tribesmen and women.

Ethical behavior must be inculcated through constant education campaigns. Standards must be set and enforced.

3. Punish – really punish - offenders.

The story of Gema and Kamatusa tribal groups would not have arisen if such offenders knew they would be punished. It can be argued, of course, that Mr. William Ruto of Kamatusa (Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana and Samburu tribes) and MP for Eldoret North and Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta of Gema (Gikuyu, Embu and Meru tribes) and MP for Gatundu North, the originators of the current tribal debate that is threatening to tear the country apart, are already facing the most severe punishments at the ICC and they have not been deterred. If they are not deterred, what punishment can deter? And that’s a fair question.

But it must be remembered that ultimate punishments such those meted out by the ICC cannot be deterrent on those they are applied on. When delayed, they in fact disillusion and infuriate, and can even encourage more destructive behavior.

4. Elect ethical leaders

Unethical leaders are born out of politics of patronage such as we have practiced in Kenya since independence. History shows that charismatic leaders maintain their support through a political system of patronage. Loyal supporters are given greater access to the country’s instruments of power and wealth creation. That is exactly what happened in Kenya.

Most important jobs were filled at the prerogative of the president. Anyone could be a leader if he pleased the president. Such leaders do not need to please the electorate. Corruption, impunity and witch -hunting become the order of the day.

The trouble with this kind of politics is that it disillusionsvoters who may continue to vote in corrupt individuals because they have come believe that all leaders are corrupt – “politics is a dirt game.”

To get ethical leaders, we must educate the voters so that we can remove this disenchantment. They must know what ethical leaders “look like, think like and act like,” so that they can tell one when they seem him or her.

Ideally,all these measures should be combined. And, I believe, we shall have a corruption-free, tribalism free country where all are committed to the national good.

Standing at the Dawn of the E-book Era

2012-04-11T13:43:10Z

I don’t know whether people writing on the internent expect to be understood or not. The other day, I read an analysis of the growth of e-books. I must say that it was a very informative article if it didn’t open with very unlikely statement:

Kenyan kids getting initiated into the new e-book culture

“Remember the good old days before the war when you could sit down and enjoy reading a voluminous story?” I don’t whether I remember such good old days. And I am sure that most of the readers don’t. And yet these meaningless ways of explaining things persist not only on line but off-line.

A writer won’t think twice before he tells you that from Karachi to Bombay is as far as from Lilongwe to Cape Town. Is that really very helpful?

Experience

Granted this is an old way of explaining things – comparing the unknowns to the knowns. But it relied on shared experience. I remember back in the village as kids when we made such mistakes of explaining an unknown thing by drawing on another unknown thing, people would burst out laughing.

As children, I must admit we made such mistakes often. Firstly because we just immitated those who looked to us cute. Often such “cute” people were urban dwellers and we would crowd aroud them like mosquitoes to a candle light, listening to their “wisdom” of the world.

“The Kikuyus have ears like the Maasais,” they would inform us with authority. We had neither seen a Maasai nor a Kikuyu. Or we would be told that a lion is as firece as a rhino. We were supposed to shudder, but we had seen neither a lion nor a rhino.

Internet Culture

Admittedly, writing on the internet (or is it in the internet?) is more complex. You don’t know who is reading, where they are reading from and their prior knowledge about your topic. Some things are common, many are not. On the internet, you are relying on the common – or what we assume to be common. You only know how common when you begin to get a responsive.

Hopeffully, of course, there will evolve an internet community with shared experiences. Like the e-book. An e-book is unlike a print book because it isn’t physical. It stays up there in the clouds, in computers or in other reading apps. The e-books are part of our shared culture as internet writers and users – some may even say, it is the very basis of it.

With it, there will come new things that can be compared with understanding. For example, we shall desribe the hare an animal that looks like Bugs Bunnie only it walks four legs.

The E-book

In regards to international culture, the pop music made some contribution. And so did the movies. And the print book industry.

But with the e-book and its world wide distribution channel, things won’t be the same. As one writer said, “We are at the dawn of the tablet era.” There is going to be an explosion of the e-book, and with it, a new culture, a new way knowing and understanding.

Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo and Company Walk Away with Billions from the Workers Pension Fund In an Out of Court Settlement

2012-04-10T09:16:13Z

Kenya’s corruption-ridden workers pension fund, National Social Security Fund, has paid the Lugari member of parliament Mr Cyrus Jirongo Sh490 million and Sh342million to a Ugandan businessman who owned Mugoya Construction and Engineering Company, in a controversial out-of-court settlement.The Ugandan, a favourite contructor during the retired President Daniel arap Moi’s rule, was paid for a project that never left the ground.

MP for Lugari Cyrus Jirongo

Investigations

And the office of the Prime Minister Mr. Raila Odinga quotes more than Shs 1.4 billion which has been irregulalry spent by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). In a letter, the Prime Minister wants the authenticity and legal and commercial basis for the payments made to Mugoya Construction and Engineering Company Limited, and S K Jirongo/Sololo Outlets and Pan African Builders and Contractors investigated.

“The Office of the PM is alarmed by the recent adverse media reports regarding operations of the NSSF. I write to inform you that, in view of the foregoing, EMU has been directed to investigate and report the circumstances leading to the loss and efforts by the Fund for the recovery of Sh1.4 billion placed with Discount Securities,” the letter signed by the permanent secretary in the Prime Minister’s office Dr Mohammed Isahakia said.

Efficiency Monitoring

“I write to inform you that the EMU Efficiency Monitoring Unit) has been directed to investigate and report on matters with regard to the operations of the Fund. EMU has been directed to complete their audit within 21 days (from April 2). Consequently any pending payments by the Fund to entities under enquiry should be stopped forthwith and the employment contract of the MT (Managing Trustee) should not be terminated until completion of the audit exercise,” the letter addressed to the Ministry of Labour said.

Mr. Jirongo rose to fame in 1992 when he led the anti- change Youth for Kanu ’92 (YK ’92) movement supporting the then Moi and his ruling KANU party to keep Moi in power ahead of the first multiparty elections in Kenya. YK’92 was so influential and well-funded that new Shs500 currency note, issued in the face of a collapsing economy, was nick- named “Jirongo.”

Integrity

Mr. Jirongo, a former student of Mang’u High School, became the chairman of AFC Leopards football club in 1991. He formed his political party, Kenya African Democratic Development Union (KADDU) through which he hopes to run for the coming presidential elections.

The controversial payments are expected to create a storm in parliament when it reopens soon. And the chairman of the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee Dr. Bonny Khalwale has advised Mr. Jirongo to cooperate with investigations into the payments and to tell the public the truth since he was a presidential candidate and the matter of his integrity would come into question.

6 Top Spots to Invest in Kenya

2012-04-04T10:25:19Z

Kenya is quickly becoming a hot investment place not only in Africa but around the world. The following are the hottest investment places in the country:

1.

An artist's impression of a section of Lapsset project

Turkana County

Two highly high income projects make Turkana County one of hottest places. The first is the discovery of oil near the shores of Lake Turkana. And the second is the so-called Wind Mill Farm. Both of the projects are expected to radically change the economy of Turkana County and the entire country. In deed, investors are already looking at the high money making opportunities starting from establishment for transport system for the remote area to schools, hospitals and oil mining.

2. Kitui County

Like Turkana County, Kitui is classed as a marginal area because of poor rainfall. But that will all change with the discovery of large deposits of coal and lime. Coal deposits are said to be so large that they are capable of supplying cheap electricity to Kenya for years to come. And lime is used in the manufacture of cement, a product whose demand grows by the day.

3. Machakos County

Machakos County owns its fortune to its proximity to Nairobi City coupled with vast empty land. This is further improved by a good transport system. The Mombasa road and railway pass through it and the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is located near it. Large scale construction work is focused on the county.

The largest of these is the Konza e-City which is expected to launch the country into a middle income status. The city is the third in Africa after those in Egypt and South Africa and will bring with it varieties of business oppounities for the technologically savvy. In deed, it is expected to produce most of the jobs for school leavers

4. Kakamega, Migori and Narok Counties

These are gold zones in Kenya. And government has intensified efforts to boost the industry. Last year the government made its first ever gold mining lease tomorrow to Goldplat, a gold dealer listed at the London Stock Exchange. The mining lease effective allows Goldplat to exploit the large gold deposits in the Lolgorien area of Narok County, where Kenya expects to earn billions in gold revenue.

And surveys undertaken by both the Kenya government and interested private mining companies, it was revealed large gold deposits abound around Migori and Kakamega in western Kenya, which could help the country diversify its revenue streams with the aid of large scale mining activities. The country mostly relies on horticultural and tea exports, tourism and remittances from abroad.

Estimates from show that Migori’s gold capacity stands at 34 tonnes, translating to some $670 million a year in revenue for the country.

5. Taita –Taveta County

Continuing with the minerals is Taita-Taveta County said to be endowed with vast mineral resources. In fact, it has over 40 high value gemstones.

Some of the gemstones found in the area include Tsavorite, red and green garnets, ruby, change colour, blue sapphire, pink sapphire, green tourmalines, yellow tourmalines, rhodolites and kyanites.

6. Lamu,Garissa and Isiolo Counties

These counties have become investor hot spots following the conception of the northern corridor, a transport system linking Lamu port with the South Sudan and Ethiopia. Popularly known as Lapsset corridor, the project will be one of the most ambitious of its kind.

Under the project, there will be a railway line running parallel to a road. Two resort cities will be constructed on the way. These are Garissa and Isiolo. Already the government has acquired land at Garissa for the city and is inviting investors interested in establishing tourist resort facilities.