Vision Delivery Secretariat? Huh?
Folks, I’ve been experiencing visions ever since I read this announcement in the standard: “Kibaki has appointed 40 year old Mugo Kibati as Director General of the Vision Delivery Secretariat.”
At first glance, the appointment sounds like you are reading an announcement from Che Guevarra’s revolutionary poetry: Director Generals, secretariats, from the Sierra Maestra mountains, a vision will emerge…..
At second glance, my reaction was the following; “What on earth is the point of this appointment? there’s 3 years left till Kibaki has to leave. Why bother now? It’s too late.”
Then, I began to think about how semi-criminal economies operate and it all began to come together for me.
You see, this secretariat has been set up as a semi-autonomous government agency, which means, that it is going to require a budget. My understanding is that they are going to pump a lot of money into this semi-autonomous agency and that is where the tale begins.
So, I’m thinking to myself, okay. You have been put in charge of this “agency” and you’ve been given a budget to run it. Now, that office is going to need to be staffed with employee’s, it’s going to need stationary, furniture, computers, cars, etc, etc….Are you following me?
Now, if I was the Director General I’d quickly realize that I am going to control what is going to be quite a large amount of money and because I’ll find a way to make it work for me. The question is, how? The answer is, by over-inflating the contracts that will be expensed to that offices budget.
What else do you need? flowers? chocolates? catering services? travel expenses? bank. bank. bank.
I feel like I’m talking about the British house of commons here, except that in England, 10 million people aren’t facing starvation. They can afford a little “corruption”. Kenya can’t.
I don’t know who this guy Mugo Kibaki is, but if I look at his background, I can’t help but wonder where he’s getting his legitimacy from. What makes him so qualified to run this semi-autonomous white elephant agency ?
People are not just going to listen to anyone. Your legitimacy has to come from somewhere. Usually, it comes from having either money or power and maybe this was Githongo’s problem: he possessed neither of these things and no matter how good his intentions were, he simply could not have done it without these things.
So, how do you get money? for most people, that process will involve starting their own companies and making lots of money in the private sector. Bill gates has earned his legitimacy by becoming the richest man in the world and when he speaks, people will listen to him.
What about power? In a democracy, you earn power by winning elections or in Africa, where there is no democracy, you earn power by picking up a gun, fighting and grabbing it by force. Paul Kagame has power. He picked up the gun, fought and grabbed it.
At this point, I’ve simply come to the conclusion that Kenya’s fundamental changes will not be solved by these bureaucratic paper shuffling appointments, given to people who have no real money, no real power and no real legitimacy from the people.
I think the change is going to be brought on through violence. We’ve tried democracy and it hasn’t worked so what’s left, but violence? My only question now is whether the violence will morph into a full scale civil war or whether it will descend into a Mexico City situation. i.e. a situation where the urban crime rate spirals out of control making live almost unlivable for those at the top.
These endless corrupt schemes are creating an unjust society and eventually, people are going to figure out that they are being fooled and they are going to react. The demographics of the country should be a warning sign to everyone that this reaction is on it’s way.
This vision 2030 is a scam. They are going to use it to eat and the money is going to be diverted through Equity bank. Yes, James Mwangi just happens to be the Chairman of the vision 2030 committee. Like I said before, ponzi scheme’s need a continuous flow of cash to keep going. Equities customer deposits are too low to keep the scheme going. The difference will be made up by government funded projects like this vision 2030.
There’s three years left till Kibaki leaves. Nobody knows what’s going to happen after that. This is the time to eat.
***In the middle of writing this story, the Standard has now come out with yet another story on the disappearing money given for the youth fund. (quote on Equity here: “Of the 41.2 million, which should have beein in the main account at Equity Bank as of June 30, last year, the cash book indicated a balance of only Ksh. 18.5 million, meaning the whereabouts of about Ksh. 22.7 million could not be explained for that particular account.“)
Is Equity running out of cash?
Its not rocket science. These visions have been there albeit recycled. Look at them, take time, all they do is perform some cosmetic surgery to move with the anticipated developmental progressions of the world. They have not been realised, who does the Director General think he is to deliver?
He has been unemployed
He had a lifestyle of press conferences, breakfasts, travels and hobnobbing with the who’s who in Nairobi.
All these things costs money and are draining. What better way to reinvent and rebrand in the name of having/dealing/delivering/coordinating a vision. What’s he meant to be doing by the way?
I again come to the issue of the poo. Has anyone consulted or addressed their wants? Does this new official have a clue who the majority of his “constituents” are? We glorify theft, we don’t want to look beyond our eye lashes and we are a credential based, not practical/realistic based society. Even Githongo had to go back to basics and he is a more senior and credible individual than Kibati is.
The masses are watching, as each day goes by the clock ticks, let no one ever say that they never saw it coming. Empty debes make the most noise, lets see what mabati kibati is made of.
I want to add some additional points here, which I believe will fortify my argument even further about why I believe this is essentially a scam.
Usually, these kinds of broad policy plans that governments undertake are designed by public policy wonks.
A public policy wonk is usually someone who has a Ph.D in economics or some other similar discipline and who also has spent years in academia studying these issues, thinking about them and writing about them in their research.
When these wonks are plucked out of academia and hired by governments, it’s usually their chance to prove to themselves whether the ideas they’ve spent reading and writing about can be implemented in the real world.
Nothing that I have seen in Mugo Kibati’s background, suggests that he was a policy wonk of any kind. He was basically a young executive in the private sector who was running a company, but was eventually forced to leave by it’s owners. He doesn’t have the background for this kind of work.
However, they are others in Kenya who have this background and if given the chance, they could have done it, but the political situation is all screwed up and that’s why I believe that this vision 2030 thing is just a scam for a few individuals to mint money.
Anyang Nyongo has the background for this kind of work, but the politics are not on his side.
Professor Michael Chege, who is a consultant at the ministry of national planning, has the background for this kind of work, but he’s not a political thug and is not going to run a scam.
My last point here is that the Kibaki government is just not committed to change and without this committment, absolutely nothing is going to change.
If you look at what India did when they hired their policy wonk (Manmohan Singh) – the committment to change was there. India was broke in 1991 and Manmohan was told to come in and fix that economy and he did, but the government was fully behind him and he had the background required to get the job done. He was a policy wonk who had spent years studying India’s problems and when he was brought into the government, he implemented the ideas he had been thinking about and studying for years. You can’t just walk in and do these things. Years and years of prior work is usually behind these success stories.
These people are wasting (and stealing) taxpayers money with these stupid offices when people are starving and it’s not funny.
TIA
KE.
Why are you guys so quick to condemn? Why not wait and see what he will do? I remember people who said free primary education would not work when Kibaki came to power well it did work. Some said Kibaki’s ideas were too ambitious but his first term was proof he has the right strategy.
Now about Mugo Kibati the guy has some serious qualifications. He has degrees from MIT, George Washington University, Harvard and Oxford. He has worked for the American firm Lucent now known as Alcatel Lucent, Bamburi Cement, Kenya Petroluem Refinery and EAC. It seems to me when Kibaki appoints anyone it’s never the right person for some of you.
First people say he is appointing only old golf buddy’s from Mt. Kenya. When he appoints young technocrats like Kibati people criticize because he has only 3yrs left. Githongo was unsuccessful because he choose to deal with a foreign govt instead of the person he was supposed to report to.
This issue of Equity is pure speculation. How come you choose to see only Equity and not Barclays or StanChart. Is Safaricom also a ponzi scheme? You havent proved the so called political connections or produced accounting irregularities. Without those you really cant make such definitive statements. Anyang Nyong’o hah what a joke the guy cant even run his own ministry. If you are talking of practical realistic academic policy Kibati’s your guy.
To familiriaze yourself check out this links http://www.financialpost.co.ke.....%20131.pdf
http://generationkenya.co.ke/m.....xcellence/
http://www.zoominfo.com/people.....24962.aspx
Author of the following research papers
http://en.scientificcommons.org/mugo_kibati
http://flowplayer.org/video/1_.....tml?config
Then give the guy his chance to prove you all wrong. If he fails then you can talk all day. If you guys are so bright and have all the prescriptions for Kenya’s problems why not offer your services instead of being arm chair coaches. Like I have constantly said criticizing without offering solutions is equivalent to a terrorist who destroys without ever building or offering a way out. No matter how justified he may be in his criticism it doesnt help if he doesnt offer an alternative.
JF,
I knew from the first post you wrote. You are fraud.
Mugo Kibati never attended any Havard or Oxford. Please get you info straight buddy !!
MIT and George Washington are not the same institutions as Havard and Oxford. Ndugu yangu… hata kama ni blowing the trumpet… Get the facts.
His first degree is from Moi University…. and we all know where that university is…
Need I say more…
nowadays I can’t read this guys posts beyond the first paragraph, some I just read the headline
If you are such a genius why not come back home and run for president!
JF,
Point of correction – He attended Havard and Oxford for some seminars but no accreditation was given.
Anyways, I still think you are a fraud. How come you praise the everything. I mean at which point in life are you in ?
You must be living really good in Kenya to be dishing some of the comments you have been.
noni,
KE for president ? What about the typing errors ?
Vision 2030 is a reasonably good plan that we should all commit to. Mr Mugo Kibati is credited with turning Transcentury’s East African Cables to a gold mine. I have two friends about 24 years now who made millions from that companies meteoric rise.
The Mwangi guy for Equity Bank has been recognized by the United Nations and Harvard Business School who i believe have a better way of vetting than any of us.
Lastly Mugo Kibati and Mwangi richest Kenyans in their generation therefore logically it would be best to entrust them with Vision 2030 because they have the capital and the acumen to take on the International Competition e.g Barclays in Mwangi’s case.
Raila and Mwangi are also in relatively good terms and Raila himself understands the markets more than people give him credit for.
In the end Mwangi and Mugo may end up being very rich but at least they will have used their capacities to developed the Kenyan and East African Economy.
Before i forget Equity is now in Sudan and Uganda which makes it Kenyans first multinational bank substantially owned by Kenyans.
So K.E. please give a balanced criticism and stop promotion other peoples agendas.
Jelly fih and John Karanja
Thanks for the positive. I’m so tired of people preaching gloom and doom especially if you are not in Kenya. We are here. You are not. You have even less authority than those you critic. why don’t you bring your so called entrepreneurial skills here and improve things instead of just complaining
Didier.
I dont think I have ever laid claim to anything here. So the issue of fraud is neither here nor there. The fact that I choose to focus on the positive and progressive doesnt mean that I am a fraud. If you had been following my posts as you claim to have done you would realise I dont live in Kenya. I do have a democratic right to hold an opinion dont I?
I see you contradicted yourself after telling me to check my facts but since you corrected the anomaly I dont hold it against you. Let me just clarify something about the comparison of Universities. In the USA the top universities are termed Ivy league colleges. They specialize in certain fields and some are better than others in certain disciplines. Harvard and Stanford are perhaps the most famous. Harvard however is recognized most for its business and legal courses. Yale is most famous for law. MIT is the most prestigious for technical courses. George Washington is also an Ivy League college very famous for it’s humanities courses. John Hopkins is very famous for medicine.
So yes you can compare his education at MIT to Harvard and Oxford. As you rightly pointed out he did attend Harvard and Oxford. During his semester at Oxford he studied a course specializing in Europe’s Economic & Monetary Union. His course in Harvard was Internet Business and Law. You are right that those were not his main Universities though but were pursued while in MIT and GW which reinforces the fact that they are comparable. I include the following link for you to learn more about this guy that you are criticizing without having a full picture of.
http://www.propertykenya.com/news/532963-cobrand!-
In case you still want to bash his credentials you might like to know it’s not just my opinion but the World Economic Forum’s as well. They have him listed in their business category. You know the problem of bashing and negating is seriously addictive and stunts growth of ideas. The world is full of enough negative things. Kenyans are aware their country is not the richest or most advanced but we wont develope by criticizing everything we do or think. We need to look for the light within the darkness. Mugo Kibati should be given his chance to try and succeed or fail. Afterall many have failed before him.
Given the difficulties facing Kenya some not of or own making like the weather the chances of failing are high but that would make success even better. The problem with negative thinkers is they will ignore all the good and focus on a single negative as the basis for judgement. Since non of us are angels I quote the following from the holy scripture “Let He who has no sin cast the first stone”.
John karanja:
I’m not here to give balanced viewpoints. I write what I want and you are free to either agree with it or disagree with it.
I don’t know why Kenyans can’t seem to get this point: blogs are not tools of indoctrination. Read them if you please, but think for yourselves and come to your own conclusions. I’m not one of those people who wants a blog where everyone is just agreeing with each other. That would be boring and unrealistic.
But I still don’t think you are getting the point here. The world is defined by power and if we are to be honest here, we have to ask ourselves, why, if he was doing such a good job at EA cables, why was he kicked out? In the end, it didn’t make a difference what he did because he didn’t have the power.
This entire vision 2030 thing just doesn’t make sense. They’ve had 7 years to make a difference. What have they been doing? Besides, where is the money for this program going to come from when the coalition government is chewing up 80% of the countries revenues?
Githongo tried and failed and quickly realized that the fundamental structures for change were not present.
There’s 3 years left and people are going to eat, eat, eat because nobody knows what will happen once Kibaki leaves and everyone understands that without money, you are nothing. So, they’re going to load up their sufuria’s with boat loads of cash.
If they couldn’t do it with Githongo then nobody else is going to do it because I think Githongo was the only person in the entire cabinet who was genuinely not interested in making money, but these vision 2030 guys are not like Githongo. They want the money and they are going to steal it.
The crime here is that they are getting rich with the publics money in a country where 10 million are facing starvation. The taxpayers are getting screwed and they’re refusing to see it.
KE,
EA cables is a classic kenyan politically connected company. It’s no surprise that transcentury, a political firm, owns 70% of it today. Akina moi and co., started selling off these companies to kibaki’s pals’ after they lost power.
The same thing will happen when kibaki leaves office. These companies will be flipped again to new people who are politically connected to statehouse. That’s why the economy can’t grow. These guys are interested in quick cash, not long-term growth and sustainability.
Transcentury made its first ripples in the stock market in 2004 when it bid for acquisition of the East Africa Cables. The company share price then stood at Shs 27- a world apart from the present price of Shs 600.
Transcentury bought the company at Shs 300 million from Sameer Investments,a joint venture b between business magnate Naushad Merali,retired President Moi,and former Intelligence head,James Kanyotu.
Acquisition of the East African Cables by the Merali/Moi group in the year 2000 was yet another story in corporate thuggery.
In that year,then managing director of Kenya Power and key insider in Moi government,Samuel Gichuru,abruptly cancelled East African Cables supply contract. At the time,East African Cables was owned by Delta Engineering company of the UK.
Within two weeks,the share price of the cable manufacturer tumbled from Shs 31 to Shs 7. The UK owners of the company had no option but to sell and get packing.
At the juncture,the Merali/Moi group pounced. They hurriedly patched up a company,Yana Trading,as a subsidiary of Sameer and made a quick purchase of the cable manufacturer. They bought the company at a throw away price of Shs 110 million against its market value of Shs 274 million.
As soon as the deal was sealed,Kenya Power reinstated its contract and re-negotiated better prices for its products.
Since then,the picture has only been rosy for the cable manufacturer. Last year,it expanded by acquiring a 51 per cent stake in Tanzania’s Daesung Cables. The price tag was Shs 160 million. And for now the sky is the new port of call for the cable manufacturer.
Operating in uganda and southern sudan makes you a multinational company?
Didier.
To understand why I am such an optimist check out my latest blog post on http://jellyfishcoolman.wordpr.....naissance/
I believe in the TED concept which emphasizes on spreading ideas that could change the world. Listen and learn and you will have a wonderful life full of happiness and hope.
JF,
Those are some nice Public Relations clips. I think some people want to build their resume. This is a classic show biz stuff though. Who gave you guys the job of doing a public relations exercise for Africa ?
You keep on saying Africa needs positive reviews but we can’t keep on telling people what they want to hear. The truth is bitter pill which has to be swallowed.
Dude, you know there is a saying we used to be told in kindergarten… Empty Debe’s make the most noise. I think it fully applies here.
Dude I don’t think even this Okolloh woman can stand a conversation with a person like me. I say the truth …. and nothing stops me from that. Whatever phase you guys are going through… have fun going through it alone. I personally think about the people who are suffering and going hungry everyday…. not the people who have a full belly and blogging praises of a failed system.
*************************************
KE is right entrepreneurship is the way out, Stop trying to change what other people think about us(Kenya). Let us change our mistakes first. This thing about positive reviews is that … we cannot keep on living in denial. Someone has to come out and say the truth. This Image nonsense is what is going to make you guys ruin Africa by lying to people.
Why don’t they think the same way about South Korea…. Because they’re creative and they pace themselves with developed world.
I hate it when i see educated Kenyans talking about how the west views us. Who the heck cares what they think. If Kenyans are doing dum things… then i really don’t care what they say or think… Because some really dum things go on in Kenya.
Real Talk.
Talking about a semi-criminal economy and the continuing theft of public funds, the AG and CJ just got a pay raise.
$26,000 dollars a month or Ksh. 1.7 million!, which translates into almost $300,000 dollars a year!
Amos Wako is a multimillionaire with bank accounts in New York City. 30 Years as the AG has made him a very rich man, but he is still taking….
This system is going to explode one day
KE
Firstly i would like to say your blog is helpful because at the very least you raise issues for which we discuss openly and freely. But you must ask yourself this if i am a Kenyan in the diaspora or just a foreign investor searching for Kenyan Enreprenuers i would most likely land on your website.
Sadly your website has consisently bashed the real Kenyan Entreprenuers and does not even target the really corrupt fellows.
You have argued with unverified facts and when JellyFish gives you a detailed assessments with links and facts you brush them away casually.
This is clearly not the best way to go but as you have said before its your blog and you do what you please.
Back to the topic when i was in Kenya last i visited the new Equity bank headquarters on Upper Hill and it really is a fantastic building designed with an African feel and colours. This is what we want majority owned Kenyan companies staying in culturally aesthetic buildings that signify our proud heritage.
The fact of the matter is companies like Equity Bank and Transcentury haved in the recent past done a lot of good for the country. Like i have said they have made many people in their 20’s, 30’s rich through NSE trading.
Equity Bank has given millions of Kenyans access to somewhere safe they can keep there money.
Though having said that we now need oversight commitees to ensure this banks are regulated and do not just rely on the genius of one man i.e Mr Mwangi.
Lastly Kenya has many challenging issues like the emergence of gangs and organised crime however this ironically is symbolic of a country that is advancing to a more sophisticated economy and as result will now need to move to a more digital way of transactions… Wait and See.
Lastly the the political elite has realised that in the long run it would be better if they link up the country with fibre optics, build a new port and rail track to South Sudan. Are they doing this particularly because the love Kenya or East Africa so much. Not neccesarily they are doing this because they know that super richness awaits them.
This is true for Dubai, London, Seoul and New York. The Economic Elite control the Political Elite. Its just that in Africa the Political Elite and Economic Elite are one and the same.
It is our duty as bloggers to educate our readership about the facts but do so without deamining efforts of real entreprenuers. We should be showcasing what the country has to offer and building business networks that we can also exploit to our own economic advantage.
We must protect our interests. What say you?
John Karanja.
Amen to you John K. Couldn’t have done better myself. Once again Amen and Bravo.
@JK & jf
“”We must protect our interests.”
Whose Interests are you talking about here ?????
In Kenya there are only TWO Interests – of the Poor and the Rich !!!!! So which interests are you trying to protect here ???
Like…. I mean can you withdraw such a cynical and reckless comment.
Little buddy always remember you can’t lie to Kenyans abroad. Taking on Kenyans in diaspora for saying the truth .. Is at the very least dim. We unmask your little clouded political talk and trust me we are going to change that country whether you like it or not. Dual CitizenShip is around the corner the clock is ticking.
Wait until we start running for those posts. All this small talk will end.
@Didier we must protect our collective interests as Kenyans and ensure that Kenyan founded companies survive and grow into multinational companies.
Remember it is Kenyans like you and me who utimately own companies like Equity Bank and Transcentury via the NSE. Having said that i agree with K.E we need to have controls and regulations to minimize all types of crime.
Poor Kenyans who are about 50% of the country primarily need access to land,capital and technology(through education). The land and technology will be provided by the government through resettlement and schools but the Capital will come from NSE and Venturists through bonds ands microfinancing. Please see http://stopaid.org
Lastly i am a member of the diaspora and i can assure you our impact is being felt VERY GREATLY.
@JK
I’m starting to get really pissed off with you casualness…
What do you mean 50% poor…. Are you trying to say that only 50% of Kenyans are living in poverty ?
Are you serious?.. You see, I’m really not interested in knowing where you got that figure…. You go around Kenya you realize that there is more than 85% people living a poor life…
I have traveled vastly in Kenya… I’m sorry to say the things I’ve seen in Kenya i have never seen anywhere else in this world.
The so called “middle class” either work for the government or doing some subsistence level of living e.g kiosk, duka, mama sokoni + peasant farming etc.
The first step in going the right direction is ADMITTING where we stand TODAY. We cannot talk of a VISION 2030 when our own politicians do not know what it takes to turn around an economy. If you begin a journey you need to know what type of journey you are going for and what will get you there and what will not.
This I’m afraid this is the problem. None of our politicians is ready to take the POLITICAL SACRIFICE to get there. Nobody wants to cut down on the spending spree that our COLLISION government has gone for i.e AG salary hike, MP Tax EVASION, Grand illusion Cabinet of 80+ Ministers and their Assitants.. Some with no job description, recurring hate speech and tribal clout realignment, A budget that WORSENS the already high Inflation and Increased cost of doing business due to a meagre Infrastructure development allocation AND Misplaced Budget Priorities by our drunken Finance Minister.
Any prudent person would ask the same questions that KE is asking. These issues have to be raised whether its within the country or without. Whatever happened to freedom of speech ?
As much as I see you interest in these things. I’m afraid to say ACTIVISM should not be mis understood.
A country’s Interests and IMAGE are protected by the checks and balances that are in built within itself. No amount of lip service can deter Kenyans from fighting their oppressors who have colluded against the Interests of the Country.
My point is this Activism should not be confused for anything else other than a fight against oppressors who have colluded against the vulnerable 85%.
Again I ask you MR. JK WHOSE INTERESTS ARE YOU PROTECTING ?????
@Didier
I share your concern about the Kenyan people otherwise why would i commit my time to discuss this issues. But from my training and my business experiences. I have seen fundamental changes or realignment if you like of the Kenyan Economy. This has been shown by the high economic growth rate pre PEV and the expansion of crucial sectors such as ICT, Education, Banking, Construction and before PEV Agriculture. For example KCC in 2002 was making a net loss of 80 million a year today its revenues are Kshs 300 million and could go to the NSE for IPO in a few years.
Majority of Government owned banks are back in profitability and have already been sold to the public on the NSE. National and Consilidated Bank are about to follow.
Construction industry is booming properties in Nairobi cost as much as the ones in London today. because of demand.
ICT is about to explode as the government and private companies including KPLC have laid fibre optics in almost all major towns and villages. All that awaits is the connection to the now landed TEAMS,SEACOM Cables.
Each province with exception of NEP and Coast has at least 2 universities.
Those are a few examples to show you we are on the move and that is why i disagree wholly with bad mouthing this efforts.
However KE does do some useful analysis with regards to setting up of regulatory bodies to monitor this organisations, deals and project. I am 100% of that.
So as you can see i am interested in the development of Africa. Please see my blog.
The number of Kenyans below the poverty line is about 50% according to UN. Look it up. The goal is to reduce this to 15% by 2015.
Yes we can.
JK and JF,
You people are going to destroy the country. I’m sorry to say. I have seen where you type of people are going and you are no different from the current crop of politicians who are there right now.
Good luck Anyways.
Didier:
85% poor? Expound on that point please.
KE,
All I’m saying those statistics kept by the Kenya Bureau of Statistics office and UN are NOT all genuine and they should include a caveat that they depend on so many factors which are definitely not constant e.g adequate rainfall, good infrastructure, proper prevention of diseases e.g Malaria and proper sanitation. Look,
Why do you think we have over 10 Million people facing Starvation right now…. The main form of making a living in Kenya is Agriculture. The agriculture sector employs over 80% of the Kenyan population, either directly or indirectly. Less than 20% of the Kenyan land mass is suitable for cultivation, of which only 12% is classified as high potential (adequate rainfall) agricultural land and about 8% is medium potential land. The rest of the land is arid or semiarid.
Did you hear that or Do I need to repeat that Again. THE REST OF THE 80% is either Arid or Semi Arid.
Dude I could go on and on… but we all know as we read this someone in our own extended family who have to deal with realities as such.
When i hear some people like JK talk I really wonder… If he’s really ever been in Kenya because I know some of my friends who never crossed past Harambee Avenue to go to the other side of town where they really see whats going on and they lived in Nairobi for their whole life.
This is the type of person you have to be really wary of, because they’ll only tell you what they have seen on their own side or at least where their parents have told them to go and they’ll never tell you of what is on they other side.
Anyway by virtue of our what our land mass has to offer in terms of agriculture. Most Kenyans find themselves living a subsistence type of living as the numbers above suggest. This being the case and given the precarious nature of our rainfall and harvest many Kenyans find they cannot afford many basic needs for house hold e.g piped water, electricity, basic health care and proper sanitation among other things. One other thing that worsens the situation is the corruption which JK and company are saying nobody should talk about because it spoils Kenya’s Image. Well excuse ME ??? Hellow !!!
@Didier if you unable to provide facts dont resort to making personal attacks. You dont know me. If you want to live in a negative world do so but dont drag others with you.
I am talking of the experience of young guys from all walks of life who have made tonnes of money from various opportunities that exist in the country today. I know of a guy who transports sacks of potatoes from Kilimambogo to mombasa and mangoes from mombasa to nairobi. Hi makes 100,000 from that round trip.
I know another guy who borrowed money from Kenya Youth Fund. Bought sasini and recouped 5 times the amount within 2 months got a another loan from Faulu Kenya. Pulled a power line to a room he rented in nanyuki town and runs the only data center and cyber with P3’s for all those villagers. He makes 300K a month.
A few examples from meeting people of all shades of life.
My point is that companies like Dyer and Blair and Equity Bank provide a crucial service that this friend of mine exploited. So when this companies are constantly bad mouthed with speculation it does more harm than good.
Didier:
Interesting analysis. You seem to know a lot about agriculture. So, tell me how you see this playing out in terms of Kenya’s continually growing population?
I do think you make a valid point when you say that more people need to leave Nairobi & see more of the country because Nairobi does not represent what is happening across the country.
John:
I do believe your stories of your friends and I’m not sayiing those stories don’t exist. They do. What I am saying however, is that Equity, in a broader sense, is a company being run by a thief (look @ the story of Alnoor Kassam & James mwangi).
I am also saying that Equity bank has benefitted greatly (maybe even unfairly) from it’s connections to Kibaki. Is Equity giving out loans to some people? I’m sure they are, but I also think that the bulk of the money they are getting from it’s other depositers and from government run programs like the youth fund are being diverted into a few people’s pockets.
You simply cannot ignore James Mwangi’s background and you also should not ignore people like Eddy Njoroge who is tied to transcentury, who is the head of Kengen and now the head of the NSE. These things are not coincidences. These guys are connected and they are stealing. However, I can see them telling themselves that they are helping the economy (even though they may be stealing a little) – what I’m suggesting here is that they are overating their business acumen. They are stealing an enormous amount & that’s why the economic gains under Kibaki weren’t really filtering down to the bottom half. It’s because their theft is no different than the theft that took place under Moi.
And it’s going to get a lot worse between now and 2012. The stealing is going to be astronomical because no one knows what’s going to happen after that.
KE,
Cost of living will increase to new levels as time goes by. The country will have to supplement the increasing food shortage with increased Importation.
You know we cannot live in denial, lets please accept the realities on the ground first. Lets admit what is there and then we can start from there.
We cannot continue lying to ourselves and living in a false world which is not the reality.
JK,
I believe you don’t know me either so I think we are even.
I don’t see any personal attack, am just trying to show the callous nature of your remarks. You can say all you want, but the truth remains, until we turn the tide of corruption and impunity in Kenya nothing will ever improve.
So don’t blame me, I’m just the messenger. When you open the envelope don’t kill the messenger. Sit down and accept the truth by the word.
KE
How do you explain the accolades Equity bank has got from Harvard Business School and the UN. Dont you think this instituitions have credible vetting systems?
Criticism should be fair and just.
Didier.
Now that you know the truth I havent seen you give a prescription of how to turn things around. All I hear is gloom. I have been to Loyangalani and all 8 provinces of Kenya. I have also travelled around the world. I currently live in Europe so I have seen both worlds.
If you visit India’s Calcutta and Mumbai you will see poverty on a scale you can hardly comprehend. But the Indians and Chinese depite having some very bad sides have projected to the world their positive sides which is attracting investment and helping the poor find employment and generate wealth. What you are doing is giving general and vague statements based on your hatred of the politicians leading Kenya.
I can understand your frustration if the people you had hoped led Kenya didn’t make it but remember we lived with Moi for 20+yrs without necessarily liking him. If you put politics aside what would you do to transform Agriculture, Finance, ICT and Infrastructure and reduce unemployment? Assume for a minute that you were in charge or that we had the best govt in the world what would you do? Give concrete policy proposals. Saying things like I would eradicate corruption doesnt count, tell us exactly what policies you would put in place to eradicate corruption, generate employment and increase arable land.
Did you know a country like Israel is many times drier than Kenya and has a serious shortage of water? Yet it competes with Kenya in the horticulture industry which Kenya does very well in by the way. Lets hear some positive things you would do.
John Karanja I salute you we need many more Africans like you at least you are doing something positive on the ground. I know things are not easy but you are soldiering on. That is the right strategy. Did you know even the Americans some 100yrs ago went through the same problems and they overcame by diligently working against the odds. I am playing my part by sending remittances and encouraging investors to come invest in Kenya. I have already brought some investment into the country that is quite significant. You are a true son of Kenya who loves his country and is doing something positive. I checked out your website and it is quite good. May God give you the energy to do even more.
John:
Ah, yes, the harvard business school. Churning out business leaders who almost brought the global economy to his knee’s with all of their cocamamy theories on finance.
Anyway, I think I know what you are referring to. I have seen the case study that HBS did on Equity bank and there’s also another case study on Kencall, which I’ve ordered and I’m looking forward to reading, but generally, these case studies are written by HBS faculty members, academics who are often American and who often don’t have that inside perspective on a particular countries politics and culture.
The only time I’ve seen an instance where the professors have insights into their home countries is with the Indian professors, who teach there, but who grew up and went to school in India.
So, just because Harvard says you are good doesn’t really mean anything. The founder of Satyam, the Indian outsourcing company, which was later found to have been a fraud was on the advisory board at the schools’ global initiative program in India and was frequently hailed by the harvard faculty. (see link here: http://www.boston.com/business.....as_enron/) – it turns out that the harvard faculty had no idea what he was up to when they praised him and they were forced to release him from their board when they later discovered the fraud.
So, my point here is that you shouldn’t let the name “harvard” intimidate you. Many of the professors are disconnected from the real world and many of the educational programs they run are nothing more than money minting machines for the school. The executive education program (the one which Naikuni attended is one such program. KQ probably paid about $50,000 dollars for Naikuni to attend that 3-week program). They know that people around the world are desperate to have the “harvard” certificate on their walls and they know companies will pay to send their employee’s to these programs.
95% of the stuff that goes on at the harvard business school is geared towards raising money and if they have to write a favorable review for a company in exchange for a donation, they will do it. I don’t think they did that in Equities case because they generally don’t really care about Africa (the real money is in India & China) – but occasionally, you’ll get a few people who’ll do research on African issues and poverty, but you can’t spend too much time on it because like I said, they want people to spend their time raising money from richer countries, not studying poor countries that won’t bring in large donations!
I will not mention the United Nations because most people stopped paying attention to that useless organization years ago.
JF,
I said above I can only say the truth… I am not claiming to know all the solutions to the problems that the Country has.
All I’m asking is why is your friend JK against naming and shaming individuals who have been involved in corruption and impunity.
We will continue shouting to the top of our lungs until these people are either dismissed and put behind bars. How can the same individuals who have been in scandals after another be the same people who miraculously show us a VISION. You people need to start waking up.
What other policy do you want ? Round them up seize their assets and put them in jail simple!!
Thanks JellyFish your Blog is also quite inspiring as well. I think you have a knack for identifying opportunities and i will surely make my small investments whenever i can.
@KE you have some good points and after all start very interesting debates.
My only problem is that your blog is an entreprenuership blog which should also show more of Entreprenueral Kenya and the positives, but then again you decide what you write.
I think we need to shame the corrupt but only after we have all the facts and have analysed their situation in the right context.
Dont forget that some of the instituitions that are criticized unfairly are crucial for the robustness of our fragile economy.
Didier i am still waiting for real solutions from you. Yes you can.
It is funny in a very sad way the way people are defending Equity and Transcentury. They are both pale imitations of a model that is broken, has collapsed in the West, but is now being defended as indigenous to Kenya. AIG? Bear Stearn’s anyone?
Nobody seems to look at the origination of the economic model, it was started during the era of the Structural Adjustment Programmes advocated by IMF, World Bank the “Chicago Boys”.
If Kenya’s goal is to emulate some of the Asian nations, then maybe we should emulate their economic strategies. During the 90’s they ” resisted the Washington consensus. They put restrictions on capital flows. The giants of Asia—China and India—managed their economies their own way, producing unprecedented growth But elsewhere, and especially in the countries where the World Bank and the I.M.F. held sway, things did not go well.” (Vanity Fair article, http://www.vanityfair.com/poli.....ebt200907).
If there is to be true economic growth, we need a better vision. For those concerned about KE’s observations, his thoughts are what quite a number of overseas investors can see in the Kenyan economy. Also, this focus on overseas investors, interesting… hmm?
Btw, are there still discussions of privatization of water? Can you imagine what that effect would have on ordinary people?
It is telling that someone would think that only 50 percent of Kenyans are in poverty. This is how the PEV happened and yet it seems nobody in Special Branch knew what was happening.
Keep up the work, KE. Let the people know the Emperor is naked.
John:
I understand your need to want to hear about more entrepreneurial stories and I have tried to do a few of those where I think the ventures started have largely been honest, but the truth is, there are few of those around, especially in Kenya.
However, talking about corruption is not just to shame people. I don’t think the people in Kenya really give a damn about this little blog here. So, the main purpose is to really highlight for people (especially for aspiring entrepreneurs)what the environment they operate in is really going to be like.
So, in the broader scheme of things, you should be looking at these stories and asking yourself, how can one operate in a wheel & deal culture (or a semi-criminal economy) when the playing field is either not level or totally corrupt? To think you can do it just on hard work or innovation would be quite naive.
Working Stiff:
I think what Equity bank and Transcentury are doing is not even what the world bank or IMF advocated. It is worse. One is stealing depository money from poor kenyans and diverting it into places nobody really knows, while the other is stealing from state parastatals and diverting the money into private hands.
This is the basic problem: They are not really creating anything. They are simply diverting other people’s money into their own pockets. It is nothing more than corrupt banking at it’s core.
JK et al,
Why don’t you tell President Obama to stop using Kenyan examples in reference to the problems bedeviling Africa.
President Obama admits that he knows the issues facing Africa in very personal terms since his cousins and immediate Kenyan family cannot get jobs since they have to bribe to get virtually anything from any government institution.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/w.....index.html
Personally,I believe to say the truth is not an option- If you’re genuine about saving the situation in Kenya. Obama is certainly not giving negative reviews to Kenya but he’s opening up a discussion on these issues facing the continent. And I believe that’s the same thing KE is trying to do here.
Why don’t you first tell us how many times you paid bribes JK- U probably paid bribes to get your Strathmore University credits, so why should i even pay attention to your jib jab.