All is not well with the one political party where most Kenyans have placed their hopes on. Indeed the main problems now threatening the stability of this political force all point to one basic and fundamental principal of a democracy which the government of the day continues to ignore for obvious reasons and nobody wants to address.
The issue is wrapped up in the following simple question;
Can democracy thrive and mature when the electorate and its' leaders are allowed to belong to more than one political party at the same time?
The answer to that question should be obvious. It is a resounding "NO".
But what can anybody do when even the President has been linked to several different political parties who all claim that he is their candidate for 2007?
ODM Kenya is a political party. But at the same time it is a coalition of sorts bringing together a number of political parties including LDP, a faction of KANU, numerous MPs formerly linked to NARC etc. Yet in the dictionary political party does not mean the same thing as political coalitions. Coalitions of parties are usually hastily put together after an election that produces no clear winner.
The biggest thorn of contention with ODM Kenya right now is whether the party should accept corporate membership or insist on individual membership. Raila Odinga believes that individual membership is the way forward.
It will be ironical if this issue of membership and not the presidential nominations does the most damage in the widely predicted demise of ODM. In my view the cause will still be Narc Kenya.
Quick Question:
Why are all these grand plans about the future of the Kenyan economy, blah blah, coming out now and not in 2003 when there was enough time for us to have seen the implementation being carried out?
It is the general elections, stupid.
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See also the 2 Problem Tribes in Kenyan politics
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Saturday, October 14, 2006
EIU Confirms Kumekucha Suspicion About Real Heroes Of The Kenyan Economy
It is interesting how my comments on the economy seem to get such wide readership and heavy traffic via search engines. (Even the presidents’ advisors are hurriedly trying to implement some ideas suggested in my blog in the recent past – it could be just a mere coincidence).
I say this because in my journalism days everybody knew that boring economics does not sell and hardly ever gets read. But I guess times are changing.
In a recent report by The Economic Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU), they estimate remittances from Kenyans abroad to be somewhere in the region of Shs 50 billion. Past Central Bank of Kenya projections show that tourism generates about 48 billion.
Interestingly we have to thank the man we all fought so hard to remove from power, former President Moi for this. He made life in Kenya hell but at the same time rapidly expanded university education. The result is that today, Kenya probably has one of the highest expatriate community of any African country (yes, competing neck to neck with Nigeria and even white South Africa)
But the main comment I wanted to make was on this issue of most Kenyans being worse off now than when Moi was leaving power.
My view is that the generation of leaders in government now does not have the imagination or the political will required to implement creative economic policies that will enable the majority of Kenyans to participate in the economy. For instance they promised 500,000 jobs a year without understanding or caring about the fundamentals required to achieve such a number. It would have to be heavily dependant on small and micro business and entrepreneurs. It also must include the de-centralizing of things from crowded Nairobi. We need to develop our other cities and towns. Parliament in Kisumu, government head offices in Nakuru and the man State House in Mombasa, DOD headquarters in Garissa. Instead this government spent a lot of time trying to revive old factories and luring foreign investors. These are good things and they worked very well in the 70s but their impact in 2006 will be minimal at best. The correct approach now is to get a rapidly growing domestic economy going, and the investors will soon start beating down the doors to be let in. That is exactly what happened in China.
That is why I have always said that Kenya needs a new younger generation of leaders to carry her to the next level.
==============
Join in the raging debate here at Kumekucha over this thorny Luo-Kikuyu relationship issue
(Please scroll down to the bottom of the page (and click on the "Post A Comment" button) to post your comment.)
========================
See also the 2 Problem Tribes in Kenyan politics
Software That Will Make You Millions From Adsense And Blogger
I say this because in my journalism days everybody knew that boring economics does not sell and hardly ever gets read. But I guess times are changing.
In a recent report by The Economic Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU), they estimate remittances from Kenyans abroad to be somewhere in the region of Shs 50 billion. Past Central Bank of Kenya projections show that tourism generates about 48 billion.
Interestingly we have to thank the man we all fought so hard to remove from power, former President Moi for this. He made life in Kenya hell but at the same time rapidly expanded university education. The result is that today, Kenya probably has one of the highest expatriate community of any African country (yes, competing neck to neck with Nigeria and even white South Africa)
But the main comment I wanted to make was on this issue of most Kenyans being worse off now than when Moi was leaving power.
My view is that the generation of leaders in government now does not have the imagination or the political will required to implement creative economic policies that will enable the majority of Kenyans to participate in the economy. For instance they promised 500,000 jobs a year without understanding or caring about the fundamentals required to achieve such a number. It would have to be heavily dependant on small and micro business and entrepreneurs. It also must include the de-centralizing of things from crowded Nairobi. We need to develop our other cities and towns. Parliament in Kisumu, government head offices in Nakuru and the man State House in Mombasa, DOD headquarters in Garissa. Instead this government spent a lot of time trying to revive old factories and luring foreign investors. These are good things and they worked very well in the 70s but their impact in 2006 will be minimal at best. The correct approach now is to get a rapidly growing domestic economy going, and the investors will soon start beating down the doors to be let in. That is exactly what happened in China.
That is why I have always said that Kenya needs a new younger generation of leaders to carry her to the next level.
==============
Join in the raging debate here at Kumekucha over this thorny Luo-Kikuyu relationship issue
(Please scroll down to the bottom of the page (and click on the "Post A Comment" button) to post your comment.)
========================
See also the 2 Problem Tribes in Kenyan politics
Software That Will Make You Millions From Adsense And Blogger
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