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A very knowledgeable and credible source who was close to the inner workings of the Kenyatta administration and then the Moi presidency as well has made a bombshell of a revelation into the way things have been run in Kenya for a long time.
Makes one wonder about the mysterious 5 per cent Safaricom ownership, does it not?
This is what they have told Kumekucha...
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Chris it was, I think a policy in most imperial corporations when they ventured into African countries. I don’t want to be a rumour monger, but as hypothetical as I have read it in other circles, most of these companies believed that having a person appointed by the ruling elite was a sure way of getting what they wanted in a given country.
ReplyDeleteTake Lonrho, BAT, Standard Chartered Bank. In Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and South Africa, all their companies have direct appointees of the head of state or his family. This ensured that their interests were protected. There is a very said story in the Congo where one of the companies has former president Mobutu’s son in law as a top manager, operated a private airstrip, exported minerals without going through the official channels and remained untaxed all that time. When Mobutu left, the company was to be headed by someone from the incoming first family.
In Kenya, I think it was one of the Gecagas and the top of any of these. When Kenyatta passed on, and Moi was prezzy, he appointed Mark Too at Lonrho as his pointman in most of the interests and he was to stay on until they sold out. It was through these connections that they acquired their property. It has even been said in some critical press, that part of the bribery was for the pointmen to monitor the shares and at times buy off any floatation. They were offered a first chance to do so. That is the reason why Lonrho could survive as long as unchecked system ruled in Africa
In a story about Robert Maxwell’s powerful regimes in Africa, it was said that the man could rush to any country to ensure that the interests of his companies, like other entrepreneurs were safeguarded and this meant that taxation, It was written in the same story that he could always entice the African leaders by offering them a chance to plant one of their own in the running of the companies.
Chris, part of the bribery can be confirmed by the insistence that the MD has to come from France, and certain managers from England or Germany. Why is the KQ Finance Man from outside the country? Why is Total man a Frenchman and should Intercontinental fly in a man from outside the country. It is part of the deal they have wit the system. Courtesy call at State House by a group of managers!!!
Laleni Unono.
Chris, we all know what presidents, their cabinet ministers and MPs earn in Kenya. Even if you have been MP or presidents since independence, how do you justify a net worth of US$ 3 billion - since this is the average net worth of most of Kenyan politicians - even those who only served for one or two terms? I still cannot fathom how the 'wanabenzi' families have amassed wealth running into tens of billions of dollars, not to mention having significant interests in all major spheres of our economy like agriculture, tourism, mining, education, transport, media, petrochemical, manufacturing, ICT and even government itself?? I can tell you that if you calculated the total sum of wealth of just three prominent families in Kenya, it would run into trillions of shillings. Infact we wouldnt even need foreign aid if these guys decided to be generous. It is wealth that cannot be exhausted in our life time even if you choose holiday in luxury through out your life.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder these guys are scared of change at the top or in the constitution. Although Kamiti, Shimo La Tewa or Kodiaga Prisons are for jailing poor criminals who cannot afford to hire senior counsels to get court bonds for them, they must surely allow us to have a country whose destiny we shall decide ourselves.
Common knowledge is not a bombshell.
ReplyDeletePandora