Mwalimu-G
Elder Lister
C&P
ECONOMY
Forget lustrous economic models and focus on fighting corruption
Runaway theft has made it hard to do business, difficult to trust a Kenyan, and even harder to hope for a better future. The deleterious effect of the pervasive corruption in Kenya has been a crop of lazy national brood who believe corruption is as good a career as being a doctor or engineer. As we analyze campaign promises, it is the unbridled itch to steal from the public coffers that we need to stop in its tracks
November 13, 2021
By
Mark Bichachi
On August 09, 2022, Kenyans will go to the polls to pick their next set of leaders. With less than a year to go, political activities have hit top gear; alliances are being brokered and broken—and is often the case—and political pledges are dominating the airwaves. It is that time when the political class will share a meal with you in your local kibanda festooned with party colours, proposing magic bullets to curb poverty, pay our national debt, improve our lives and basically, give us utopia.
The nation is embroiled in constant debate about trickle down, bottom up and other fantastical ideas about the economy. We imagine that somehow if we remodeled our economy while leaving intact our sickening moral fibre, we would then be able to make significant steps toward a better Kenya and improve our livelihoods. The desire to escape poverty is a natural and positive human instinct and one to be encouraged. Every nation desires the best for itself and its people. The economic debate in campaigns is, therefore, more than welcome and it is refreshing.
We, however, tend to forget or ignore the fact that economic models in themselves are not the answer; if anything, they can be smokescreens. Models need the accompanying support system and complementing structures for them to succeed. For instance, whichever model we choose, there must be roads built because where will the nouveau riche drive their new cars? How will the new businesses supply the world if we don’t use the new Lamu port and fill the SGR with goods for sale outside Kenya?
For instance, there are those who tarnish road projects, and ask whether we eat will roads (Actually, some people in the Mt Kenya region have told President Uhuru Kenyatta that he can fold up the tarmac, put it in his pocket, and take it with him as he retires). Yet the ugali on their plate today came by road and if there was no road, it would have been that much more expensive or they would have to make do with the unsifted flour variety from the local riverside kishiagi. As for the stew, the Sukuma wiki and the traditional vegetables would obviously rot on the way to their plates.
It is a bold-faced lie that any nation can simply focus on business without building the infrastructure upon which the business will be run. The fact is the more of us who upgrade our lifestyle, who do more business or get jobs, then the more the demands made on the roads, rail, telecommunications and energy sector will be: we eat, live and breathe infrastructure!
Curiously, it the part of Kenya with the best infrastructure that is outraged by the new infrastructure. You certainly do not hear people in Western, Nyanza or the Coast complaining against the new infrastructure. Perhaps the next government should freeze building infrastructure in the areas where citizens are complaining. Ten years of no new infrastructure should certainly provide a good localized lesson.
The other issue with modeling is that it ignores the core issues that bedevil our nation and hinder progress. You see, government interventions such as CDF, cash transfers to the elderly, relief to drought-stricken areas, free primary education and ever more affordable secondary education are all aimed at alleviating the pain of Kenyans. Of course, the expansion of such programmes, including those targeting empowerment of youth and women can only do better.
The germane, poignant and most pressing issue with Kenya is not bottom-up rhetoric or some Ksh6,000 monthly stipend; Kenya’s main problem is the immeasurable greed for filthy gain, shortcuts, wash-wash, dishonesty, impunity and mediocrity. The problem with Kenya is that the worst seem to have the most!
Were we not corrupt, more Kenyans would certainly be escaping poverty annually. The cost of corruption has made it so hard to do business, so hard to trust a Kenyan, so hard to even have hope. The resultant effect is a crop of children who believe corruption is as good a career as being a doctor, engineer, or chemist.
How will the economic models being peddled address the alacrity and gall of a rich boy harassing a woman because she refused his advances? How will these models keep our land safe from grabbers? How will these models ensure that the next time we give aid to the poor someone won’t waylay a truck and steal from the hungry? How, pray tell me, will any of these models ensure that the Ksh6,000 M-Pesa is not taxed by the corrupt before it gets to the two million families? How will the money from the top reach the bottom without a cartel and a middleman demanding a share?
If there is a model that obtains in this nation, it is a model of corruption and cartelism. It is cartels who render Kenya Power powerless, literally, make coffee, tea, sugar, maize, chicken and farming in general, unprofitable for the farmer; rename Afya to Mafya and turns Kimwarer into a metonym for grand corruption. Our model of a society that eats itself and its own is what we urgently need to dismantle.
Kenya is a great land, with some of the smartest, most hardworking and resilient people. We boast a well-educated, smart and articulate workforce and a highly trained and equipped civil service. Sadly, all that good is tainted by a section of our nation that employed the same wit, dedication and vim to corruption and lustful misuse of the public purse.
The unbridled itch to steal from the public coffers depresses Kenyans who toil honestly for a decent living. It is this model of greed that we need to stop in its tracks. There is, therefore, no economic model change needed in Kenya. We simply need to do ourselves a favour and stop being sheep who hire wolves to run the daycare for our lambs!
ECONOMY
Forget lustrous economic models and focus on fighting corruption
Runaway theft has made it hard to do business, difficult to trust a Kenyan, and even harder to hope for a better future. The deleterious effect of the pervasive corruption in Kenya has been a crop of lazy national brood who believe corruption is as good a career as being a doctor or engineer. As we analyze campaign promises, it is the unbridled itch to steal from the public coffers that we need to stop in its tracks
November 13, 2021
By
Mark Bichachi
On August 09, 2022, Kenyans will go to the polls to pick their next set of leaders. With less than a year to go, political activities have hit top gear; alliances are being brokered and broken—and is often the case—and political pledges are dominating the airwaves. It is that time when the political class will share a meal with you in your local kibanda festooned with party colours, proposing magic bullets to curb poverty, pay our national debt, improve our lives and basically, give us utopia.
The nation is embroiled in constant debate about trickle down, bottom up and other fantastical ideas about the economy. We imagine that somehow if we remodeled our economy while leaving intact our sickening moral fibre, we would then be able to make significant steps toward a better Kenya and improve our livelihoods. The desire to escape poverty is a natural and positive human instinct and one to be encouraged. Every nation desires the best for itself and its people. The economic debate in campaigns is, therefore, more than welcome and it is refreshing.
We, however, tend to forget or ignore the fact that economic models in themselves are not the answer; if anything, they can be smokescreens. Models need the accompanying support system and complementing structures for them to succeed. For instance, whichever model we choose, there must be roads built because where will the nouveau riche drive their new cars? How will the new businesses supply the world if we don’t use the new Lamu port and fill the SGR with goods for sale outside Kenya?
For instance, there are those who tarnish road projects, and ask whether we eat will roads (Actually, some people in the Mt Kenya region have told President Uhuru Kenyatta that he can fold up the tarmac, put it in his pocket, and take it with him as he retires). Yet the ugali on their plate today came by road and if there was no road, it would have been that much more expensive or they would have to make do with the unsifted flour variety from the local riverside kishiagi. As for the stew, the Sukuma wiki and the traditional vegetables would obviously rot on the way to their plates.
It is a bold-faced lie that any nation can simply focus on business without building the infrastructure upon which the business will be run. The fact is the more of us who upgrade our lifestyle, who do more business or get jobs, then the more the demands made on the roads, rail, telecommunications and energy sector will be: we eat, live and breathe infrastructure!
Curiously, it the part of Kenya with the best infrastructure that is outraged by the new infrastructure. You certainly do not hear people in Western, Nyanza or the Coast complaining against the new infrastructure. Perhaps the next government should freeze building infrastructure in the areas where citizens are complaining. Ten years of no new infrastructure should certainly provide a good localized lesson.
The other issue with modeling is that it ignores the core issues that bedevil our nation and hinder progress. You see, government interventions such as CDF, cash transfers to the elderly, relief to drought-stricken areas, free primary education and ever more affordable secondary education are all aimed at alleviating the pain of Kenyans. Of course, the expansion of such programmes, including those targeting empowerment of youth and women can only do better.
The germane, poignant and most pressing issue with Kenya is not bottom-up rhetoric or some Ksh6,000 monthly stipend; Kenya’s main problem is the immeasurable greed for filthy gain, shortcuts, wash-wash, dishonesty, impunity and mediocrity. The problem with Kenya is that the worst seem to have the most!
Were we not corrupt, more Kenyans would certainly be escaping poverty annually. The cost of corruption has made it so hard to do business, so hard to trust a Kenyan, so hard to even have hope. The resultant effect is a crop of children who believe corruption is as good a career as being a doctor, engineer, or chemist.
How will the economic models being peddled address the alacrity and gall of a rich boy harassing a woman because she refused his advances? How will these models keep our land safe from grabbers? How will these models ensure that the next time we give aid to the poor someone won’t waylay a truck and steal from the hungry? How, pray tell me, will any of these models ensure that the Ksh6,000 M-Pesa is not taxed by the corrupt before it gets to the two million families? How will the money from the top reach the bottom without a cartel and a middleman demanding a share?
If there is a model that obtains in this nation, it is a model of corruption and cartelism. It is cartels who render Kenya Power powerless, literally, make coffee, tea, sugar, maize, chicken and farming in general, unprofitable for the farmer; rename Afya to Mafya and turns Kimwarer into a metonym for grand corruption. Our model of a society that eats itself and its own is what we urgently need to dismantle.
Kenya is a great land, with some of the smartest, most hardworking and resilient people. We boast a well-educated, smart and articulate workforce and a highly trained and equipped civil service. Sadly, all that good is tainted by a section of our nation that employed the same wit, dedication and vim to corruption and lustful misuse of the public purse.
The unbridled itch to steal from the public coffers depresses Kenyans who toil honestly for a decent living. It is this model of greed that we need to stop in its tracks. There is, therefore, no economic model change needed in Kenya. We simply need to do ourselves a favour and stop being sheep who hire wolves to run the daycare for our lambs!
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