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Until the Kibaki administration started showing off their performance on the Kenyan economy, economics was a very boring topic to most Kenyans, usually left only to the so-called experts. Today we have every Tom Dick, Njenga and Onyango, not to mention the Kamene’s and Wanjiku’s hotly debating economics.
Basically the big argument is over why the growth has not been felt by most Kenyans.
The bear truth is that the characters who have benefited from the Kibaki administration are no ordinary folks. Let us put our spotlight on one of them. His name is Nicholas Kipyator Kiprono Biwott. His flagship Kobil Oil has expanded tremendously over the last four years or so and today has interests in Rwanda, Uganda Tanzania and a handful of other African countries. The company has also won lucrative government contracts including one to supply oil to the mostly government owned Kengen.
Nothing worng with that of course. After all private business people are free to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, that is business. Or is it?
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Kumekucha golden oldie
My encounter with Lucy Kibaki
First published in this blog on May 12th 2005
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Actually this the perfect example of what has gone wrong with the Kibaki administration economic growth. Apart from not favoring the ordinary man on the street, the government policy has deliberately been to favor big business while ignoring completely the sort of people they are dealing with.
We know how the late Mandattaly Manji (founder of Hpuse of Manji) made his money. Everybody also knows how Bill Gates made his cash. But my big question is how did Muheshimiwa Bwana Biwott make his money?
The message to the young people of Kenya is clear. We are saying that it does not matter how people make their money even if it is through corruption and from dipping their hands into the public kitty.
Internet Home Based Business: All You Ever Wanted To Know, As told to you by an expert who makes a good living online
Mystery of sleeping arrangements in a polygamous home
Hi Chris
ReplyDeleteTo me, this post hearkens back to when i first started reading Kumekucha blog in 2005 and the common thread that i found running through majority of the posts that quite excited me was the message that integrity was lacking in the leadership of Kenya and the time had come for it to be restored
But sadly, i agree with you when you say the winds blowing in the sails of Kenya at the moment is "it does not matter how people make their money even if it is through corruption"
I'll never forget that the first order of business this Govt got down to was increase their salary when the economy was still 0.3% or whatever it was in 2002!
Later on, the president beningly turned down a salary increase of...was it 100%?
excuses befuddle KACC about why no one has been prosecuted over mega corruption ala Anglo-leasing/Goldenberg
If integrity is not there, nothing is believable-not even the latest robust economic figures
Thanks for the post and staying true to the song
It is a well known fact that Kenya is one of the world's most socially unequal countries. And our problems are essentially political. A non-representative constitution, poor governance and widespread high level corruption have seriously undermined the real economic growth and served to widen the gap between rich and poor. Lack of transparency in handling public affairs is another. In equality in Kenya is not just the difference between the have and the have nots but also the large disparity in in access to education, health, land, legal representation and most importantly access and enjoyment of political rights and representation.
ReplyDeleteWhile most people who have gained tremendously in the current constitutional order are always quick to condemn the proposed parliamentary system of government - it should be lost to Kenyans that constitutional reforms will be the first step in brining about transparency and accountability in government and eventually create equal socio-economic opportunities for all citizens. But it appears Kenyans shall have to be prepared to fight ruling elite whom will strongly resist changes in the status-quo. These individual will go to great lengths to protect themselves and their families even if it means thousands dying in order for the country to remain as it is. Kobil is just one of them "success" stories where one Kenyan is deemed to be running a clean business. Afterall business is cut throat competition, or is it? How about KBS? Or Uchumi Supermarkets? Or Muhoroni & Miwani Sugar companies? Or the NSSF? How many individuals woke-up overnight billionaires from the woes of these once profitable government corporations? Recently the Kenya government wrote-off Kshs. 20 billion loan to the National Bank of Kenya. Kshs. 20billion is a huge some of money Chris - although am told some public servants have a networth of 50 times more than that. And it seems no one can remember a list of shame was once tabled in parliament - and that list was mainly composed of defaulters who deliberately failed to pay back NBK loans. Does it now mean NBK will now write-off loans to these individuals - who are roaming freely in Kenya and elsewhere pretending to be running clean businesses. Some are even using these funds to finance parlimentary and presidential campaigns!
One area that needs considerable reforms is access for opportunities to supply goods and services to government institutions. Government procurement is where most of the corrupt networks thrive, both in the former and current regimes. For instance, going by the current procurement regulations, it is now virtually impossible for a young college graduate to register a company at the AGs Chamber and compete fairly with "estbalished" companies. If the young graduate will be able to meet all licencing requirements including KRA tax compliancy, he/she will encounter a host of rigid and unrealistic requirements in the tender itself that will automatically disqualify their bid. And even after meeting all these requirements, the procuring government institution still retains the right to discontinue the tender process without giving any reasons for its action - and preventing any aggrrieved parties from seeking legal redress in a court of law. How then, will young enterprenuers or even slum dwellers and rural communities be expected to fairly trade and earn revenues when their own government is putting unreasonable roadblocks on their way? Even a simple business like hawking is no easy task in this country. Just by following the goldenberg commission enquiry, Kenyans realised how one individual can incorporate over 500 firms in cahoots with government officials in order to dishonestly win tenders. But then, the bigger corporations with connections in the right places keep getting bigger and registering mega profits each year - while the poor mwananchi continues to scratch the floor for any falling breadcrumbs. Where in the world have you seen employees (read Kenyan parliamenterians) deciding when and how to raise their own emoluments and employment benefits? Only in Kenya, my friend Chris.
hi chris! i am not a regular commentator on your blog but i am a keen reader of your writeups!! however as we await your authoritative reports on the explosion that rocked the nairobi city this morning i would like to take you back to your archive dated Wednesday, December 20, 2006. indeed as mainstream media quotes you it is a reflection of how thorough your predictions seem to be!! it is 6 months down the line since this article was posted on the mungiki and how true can it get! by now am sure you have the answers to your 7 questions. so my simple request is to enlighten us on the truths about the mungiki sect and the aledged suicide bonbing in nairobi this morning. at the same time let us know if there is any connection because it is diffucult for any kenyan to believe there is no connection whatsoever!!!
ReplyDeletejane
It matters atleast to me how we make our wealth. Kipyator Biwott and those others who belong to that species of human beings should be hanged. 80% of the 12% that control almost 85% of kenyan's wealth have looting experience one way or the other. That is a sad fact and it is getting to apoint where we are hailing thieves. If professional swindlers like Biwott and KAmlesh PAttni are people any constituency would want to call their leaders then integrity has no place in our minds and hearts.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful piece Chris and the reason I am so determined to join politics is the need and duty to bring some sanity in the management of public affairs. I am not a loud proponent of Vijana Tugutuke because they seem to put a lot of emphasis on the age which to me is just a number. They should be calling upon the voting masses to not only elect young people but young people who have prudence and integrity as their driving forces. I have argued here before that Simeon Nyachae and Moody Awori are far much more better leaders than Mbwa-tana and Mwangi Kiunjuri who are in their thirties.
The best way of achieving sobriety in running the affairs of this country is by strengthening institutions. We need to break from the old way where governments run national matters as if they were clan matters. The constitution, as Phil puts it, is the first institution which needs to be respected and we can only respect it if it contains sound laws. In my opinion, the Bomas Draft came close to a good document but it is important to note that institutions need good people who are prepared to adhere to regulations to run them.
About the growth of the economy, Chris you are right the growth is benefitting only the super rich. As in every other economic setting, when the millionaires get richer, it should be felt by the masses who work for these millionaires. The kenyan problem is not economic growth. The problem is that the trickle down effect has been very slow which can to some extent be attributed to our very own character as kenyans. The other problem is that very few sectors of the economy are growing. Mwai Kibaki has offered a small improvement on how Moi distributed state goodies. But being more educated, he is doing the same things Moi did in a rather clever way. When he ensures the coffee and tea sectors grow faster than every other sector, then in essence he is repaying political loyalty just as Moi did.
About the remuneration of members of parliament, it is important to say the truth. The Mps didnt award themselves pay hikes. It was the Majid Coacker led commission that proposed the new perks. Granted, there was an increase in the gross pay but not in the net pay. Whilst only 10,000 was taxable in the last parliament, now Mps pay tax on Ksh 200,000 of their income.
There is an apparent intellectual dishonesty being displayed here.
ReplyDeleteBiwott controls very little of the economy and the expansion of his Kenol/Kobil conglomerate has been more of opportunity exploitation than merely theft. That Kobil is one of the largest oil operators in Zambia is not indicative of corruption, but opportunity seeking. You may accuse him of taking advantage of his position, but I am afraid that is all you can accuse him of.
But then there is also this notion that you can only steal to be rich. Note that I use the word steal rather than corruption as I think the two words are mostly confused. In Moi's era, theft of public resources was more prevalent than corruption which is the direct opposite today. We probably have little or no theft but corruption is still common.
Having said this, I am aware of very many Kenyans who have made it -that is are multi millionaires - by simply using their brains, and they are turning over billions of shillings. Take a guy like Mike Chege of Sasanet, any Kenyan who knows how to make money has recently dealt with Sasanet, and this company has grown to be a big institution in the ICT sector. Mike is only in his mid 30s, and can count himself in the ranks of Kenya's recent multi-millionaires. But then this is one of those one-off success stories.
I am sure you all read how NSSF sold 675 houses at Embakasi in one day last May - now these houses are being bought by your ordinary middle class who now have access to credit that was not there before.
The trickle down we all seek will not be with Kibera folk for another couple of years until the economy expands sufficiently to generate that trickle.
Finally, why do not Kenyan wean themselves of this notion that it the government that holds the key to their success and not their brains and brawn? I have grown myself economically well these last few years and my only interaction with the government was in payment of my taxes. I do not need the government to get me to work every morning!!!