This Chap, The Typical Kenyan

There is something that multinational corporations do a lot these days and it is pretty instructive about the times we live in. Every couple of years they completely rejuvenate their marketing department with young fresh blood. Not only to keep with the times but to get rid of the inevitable human tendency to stick with the old tried and tested.

Actually conservatism can be pretty expensive in this rather fluid world we live in these unpredictable times where things are changing way too fast for any accurate analysis to be written and still be completely up-to-date by the time the book is published. Let me give you just one example.

Every right thinking Kenyan knows that education is critical and so many parents have sacrificed everything, even selling their land and property while rubbing their hands in glee and looking forward to the day their son or daughter will finish their PhD knowing very well that the cash will surely pour in with a vengeance then. Many of them have ended up very disappointed with well educated people they spent a fortune on still jobless at home. Yes education is still important but so is exposure. A friend of mine put it very well early today when they said that people have gone all out of education and ignored common sense with disastrous results.

Well this chap the typical Kenyan is pretty conservative. A few more examples;

• A vast majority of Kenyans in the 2007 general elections wanted change badly and yet most Kenyans thought that an old man called Raila Odinga was the most suitable candidate to deliver that change. Our brothers in Central were even more hilarious and were firm in their belief that the current member of parliament representing Othaya (in close collaboration with the likes of Njenga Karume were the most suitable candidates to deliver the radical change we need.

• I am greatly relieved that after 3 years of constant campaigning here and numerous emotive posts, more and more Kenyans have finally arrived at the rather obvious conclusion that to get genuine change we need brand new faces in politics. But those same Kenyans believe that to sit in State House you MUST have volumes of experience. Now the problem with that is that because Daniel arap Moi, Mwai kibaki, Njenga Karume, John Michuki etc. have never believed in voluntary early retirement (only the forced kind very late in the day) how the hell would any other younger person have gotten the opportunity to gain that State House experience? And besides how experienced was Jomo Kenyatta (even with his advanced age) when he took over the reigns of power in 1963? Please do youb research and tell us.

• The government in its’ efforts to re-settle IDPs is pretty nervous about any initiative that will lead to the examination of historical injustices. Conservative folks avoid like the plague the discussion of anything sensitive and maybe “improper.” So instead they came up with the “brilliant” idea of establishing more police stations in the worst-hit areas of Rift valley in their failed effort to re-settle the suffering IDPs. The idea seems to have been to have one police post for every IDP. Wow!! That one is straight from the old colonial rule book and my oh my, did it work pretty well in the Rift Valley or what?

• Retired President Daniel arap Moi is the best example to prove that old conservative ideas don’t work any more. Every single political scheme he has tried since he left office has fallen flat on its’ face. The latest one is going to be even more spectacular in its’ failure, just wait and see. The idea is to revive the old Kanu with Nicholas Biwott as party chairman. Biwott has already received backing from Gideon Moi who has been going round dishing out lots of cash (pesa yetu iloyoibiwa) in the Rift Valley. The game plan is to have the Kalenjin community sheepishly trooping back to Kanu in droves when the inevitable fall out in ODM happens. Some people think the professor of politics has got it right this time… I am not one of those people.

• The reason why Narc Kenya still exists and is such a strong political party is because some people close to the president are busy doing “a Kanu” within PNU. They all know that Kibaki has to leave office after his current term so chances are that we will be treated to another “professer Kimya” drama soon when some wannabe loyalist finds at the last minute that their name is NOT on the ballot paper for party chairman to succeed Kibaki.
• Many, many, Kenyans desire change. However they want somebody else to make the sacrifices. Somebody else to do all the work. Somebody else to risk getting arrested or killed. So everybody is currently waiting for somebody else to do something. (More on this subject and what I propose to do, in later posts).

• Finally just watch the comments to this post to see many more examples of the nature of this chap, the typical old school Kenyan.

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Transition to a Common Market should be a gradual process, Tanzania Maintains

In my last article, Tanzania should be “Sent packing”, I suggested that Tanzania should be left out of the common market implementation for it seems not to be ready for it. A commentator here at Kumekucha said that it would not be fair to come to such a conclusion without knowing the reasons for this dilly dallying by Tanzania.

Well, I agree it is important for us to know why Tanzania is behaving this way. There are three key issues that are driving Tanzania “crazy”. These are: Land ownership, Free movement of people and Permanent residence.

Kenya and Uganda want free for all land policy under which East Africans could be allowed to acquire land in other countries in the region. This is hotly contested by Mwalimu Nyerere’s country “for public interest”.

Tanzania fears that there will be an influx of people from the neighbouring countries to take pieces of land in Tanzania which has bigger arable land. Only 15 percent of 946,000 square kilometers is under cultivation in Tanzania. Kenya is more densely populated and there is scarcity of land to cultivate hence the fear of free movement of people and permanent residence.

Another thing, Tanzanians do not want the use of identity cards for travel within the region because these could easily be forged. Instead they want the use of passports which are internationally recognized. [Tanzanians do not have national identity cards. They are currently doing an evaluation on what is needed to afford a national identity card to each and every eligible Tanzanian].

The other bone in Tanzanians’ collective soup is the issue of free movement of labour. They feel that free movement of labour within the region would lead to a loss of jobs in the formal sector to Kenyans. (Yes, you heard me right…loss of jobs to Kenyans! ). They feel that the advantages that Kenyans have in the job market are integrity, hard work, sharp communication skills and aggressiveness. They feel that Kenyans would snatch jobs from right under their noses – a nightmare to them to say the very least.

These are the reasons (or rather, some of the reasons) that have been making Tanzanians go round and round in circles.

Elsewhere:

Tanzania Media: Are we “wool gathering” the East Africa Federation?

This guy said it just right

Tanzanians’ Gripe

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Theatre and theatrics can sell products like hot cakes (scroll down to see Churchill live himself)

Download free DVD movies, Nairobi, Kenya