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22:27
From: Rants, Raves & Reviews
Read This Entry & More At Rants, Raves & Reviews
Vote john "nguruwe" koech out... after all you don't want greedy pigs like him back in parliament again!!! (Apologies to the real pigs...) EAST Africa Cooperation minister, John Koech yesterday defended the controversial gratuity perks for legislators, saying the lawmakers, like other civil servants, deserve gratuity after expiry of their contract, adding that this is similar all over the world. The MP cited Tanzania as one of the countries where parliamentarians were awarded token handshake after expiry of their term in office and said Kenya should follow suit. Koech said it was sad to note that former legislators who contributed immensely to the development of this country were leading miserable lives after exit from the august house. Said Koech: “Let’s not see MPs package in the negative light and those politicking the issue should stop. It is shameful to see some former lawmakers soliciting for handouts despite their contributions.” Speaking in Kericho, Koech defended the current emoluments of MPs, saying the pay was okay.
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22:15
From: Rants, Raves & Reviews
Read This Entry & More At Rants, Raves & Reviews
Yes... I say... yes...
Unfortunately, the mayor is elected by his fellow (corrupt) councilors... otherwise she would have an awesome chance if Nairobians were allowed direct elections...
Comments?
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15:24
From: Kenyanentrepreneur.com
Read This Entry & More At Kenyanentrepreneur.com
Someone mentioned BET News and I remembered that there was an interview on the founder that I’d wanted to post here.
Robert Johnson was the second African-American to be listed on the Forbes list of the richest people in the world (Oprah was first, I believe) - he was bumped off the billionaires list after he [...]
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12:23
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
My dear brothers and sisters,
Over the last two weeks or so, I have appeared to be a little paranoid to many of you and some of my actions here have puzzled many of you. However today, what has emerged is the clearest evidence so far that I have not been boxing with mere shadows.
Somebody has been very busy today posting pornographic posts here. It seems that because we have managed to smoke out the guys with some strange objectives, they have now come up with a Plan “B”.
Today alone I have deleted about 4 pornographic posts so far.
As it is, it looks like I will soon be forced to moderate all comments, which will greatly reduce our enjoyment of this blog and probably help these people achieve their objectives. I am still monitoring the situation closely.
What do you guys think? Any other ideas of how we can fight these people?
One thing I can assure you. They WILL NOT WIN.
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12:04
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
archiveThis is the most difficult post I have ever had to make here since Kumekucha started (now going to 3 years). It is difficult because I am faced with the prospect of disturbing the peace in this blog and losing a very good dear friend I have made here. Nobody has contributed so many useful insider scoops to this blog than this good friend of mine that I am talking about. I value this guy very much and I am not ashamed to say that I need him here in this blog. Not only that, this guy works amongst the less privileged Kenyans, the masses of voiceless-down-and-out Kenyans—which already gives him a very soft spot in my heart. You all know that I believe the key to the future is with this group that many of us hardly understand. I asked a question here about how many people have visited the slums and as you can see the silence is deafening—apart from a few counted people (including this treasured friend of mine). I am praying against all hope that he will not only remain my friend after the information that I am about to disclose, but will be a closer friend because we have one thing in common. We both desire nothing more than a better Kenya. The motherland first, our friendship second... Read more
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12:03
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
archiveIt is with great joy that I present today three links that will lead you to view some very rare footage of Tom Mboya's funeral procession. Tom Mboya is the fallen patriot to whose memory this blog is dedicated to from the first word that was ever written here. See the dramatic scene where the widow collapses in grief as she enters the church and has to be held from hitting the ground. See the frightened policemen with crowds surging forward. See the funeral car arrive in Rusinga Island and splashing in the waters of Lake Victoria before touching the soil that was TJ's final resting place. See people from all walks of life arriving for the funeral. And a lot more. If you find tears flowing down you cheeks, don't be too surprised. This was... Read more
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12:01
From: You Missed This
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archiveThank you guys for being real. I am not perfect and I openly accept criticism. There is a huge difference between criticism and vulgar abuse that says nothing but call somebody names (which I have also tolerated a lot of here). And yes, I am human and I showed a lot of that human part yesterday and shared a little of my life with all you nice guys out there who I consider to be my best friends. However the issue between me and PKW is not about emotions. When I come here, I leave my emotions at home. How many comments do you think I would have deleted if I came here emotionally? Some comments you good people have even begged me to delete and I haven't. Because anybody can say anything here without fear, except abuse the intelligence of others—I'm going to be very tough on that one and that's why I made a point yesterday. There is a lot I cannot tell you guys now, but stick with me... Read more
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10:12
From: bankelele
Read This Entry & More At bankelele
 watch me inflate my salary while dodging taxesThis week has been spent learning the ropes of learning new core banking system. We are in a test module, posting transactions and simulating scenarios, testing what/if limits of the system. So I can award myself a seven digit salary increase, borrow ten times that amount, draw cheques, and even transfer funds from someone else's account to repay my loan, all at the click of a button - a real Cool world. This week our members of parliament gave us another bile inducing moment with yet another attempt to raise their salaries. These are people who live in an economic matrix where they believe that ordinary laws do not apply to them. They raise their own salaries (which other job can claim that?), pay a pittance in taxes, and are able to propose and play with myriad bills – that all concern other peoples money. From day one, when they blackmailed arm-twisted the then Finance Minister (2003) to increase their salaries they have been on a tear as the rest of the country watches. Now there's a proposal to increased their number either through more constituencies or women seats. I'd like to see more women parliamentarians, but I believe i can already name most of the women MP's who will sit in parliament next year – just add up all the defeated candidates and past women MP's, and activists and you get an idea of the next group to get paid by the exchequer. As much as this parliament has accomplished - sexual offenses bill, CDF, education, health, anti-corruption etc. - this parliament will be remembered for salary increases and lack of quorum. As a citizen, I applaud the economic gains made, but as a taxpayer I lament the waste that the increased tax collection has not been prudently applied. We don't need more ministers or MP's who live an economic matrix of their own. Anyway, on to other news Barclays- has opened 32 branches since it's change of direction last year - You can pay for Kenya Re and other shares with Barclays Visa card at Sterling, Suntra, CFC, Ashbu and Discount stockbrokers. - Barclays stretching personal loan repayments from 1 year to 5 years. This way, they will earn more money interest income while postponing some potentially bad debts (in duplum era) after co-op bank did the same earlier this year. - CFC has an arrangement with postal corporation of Kenya to enable people to buy shares at post offices throughout Kenya. This is the third major attempt to extend a stockbroker's reach after Suntra/Postbank and K-Rep/Ngenye Kariuki partnerships. Equity bank to take up 20% of housing finance. Spruce up on the banking act, as this is not a popular activity with the Central bank i.e. banks owning shares in other banks. Still, it's amazing how many records Equity continues to break. Last year, they attained the billion shilling profit mark; this year, they achieved that in six months ICDCI stock to watch according to bloggers - Fintrade Capital and Smart Biz Africa National bank: Having sorted out its non performing debt problem, will it become a target for Stanbic again, after CFC merger is done? Also Equity is a long shotNIC: In the week it was dropped from the 20 share index (in favor of ICDCI), it was also the best performing stock after announcing a rights issue and bonus share proposal . This former Barclays subsidiary has been the leading provider of asset finance to individuals and corporations in Kenya. Other Kenya Airways receives the first Embraer 170 LR(two more to follow) plane which will serve Zanzibar, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam routes. Nation media group has had another record profit half year and an interim dividend of 3/= to be paid. They launched the business daily a few months ago, but could they be about to launch yet another newspaper in September? It may be called the Daily Star, and will come a few months after Kiss FM's Nairobi Star. Both Business daily and the Nairobi Star (where's the John Githongo column and news website?)have faded somewhat from public presence of mind since their high profile launches. B-Daily is a great read online, and should remain so. The Minister of Finance talks about having virtual meeting to cut costs – perhaps like Vodafone which has an AGM page with webcast and voting items online Award opportunityopportunity for 5 dynamic African companies from either Burundi Rwanda Tanzania Uganda or Kenya to earn up to $50,000.
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8:54
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
Read This Entry & More At Kikuyumoja's realm
Fortunately, I haven’t yet come across the “Raila Virus” on my systems, but my colleague in Embu told me earlier this week that it took him two days to organize someone who cleaned all machines - one by one.
Some months ago, I switched from an older Kaspersky 5.0.x release to FreeAv/Avira AntiVir by the (German) company AVIRA. A free English version (PersonalEdition Classic) for private use is available online (~16 MB). Standalone virus definitions are also available from this (more or less hidden) source, so anyone who wants to update some computers only has to download the definition files once.
Mimi sijui if this is of any help, but according to this list from July 26th 07, there’s a “Raila” definition included with the latest release. I actually installed freeAv on some GoK computers last year and managed to clean them of a nasty worm that kept on coming up. All of this within just 30 minutes! McAfee & a Norton suite often come shipped with new computers, but frankly said: they suck. Norton even more than McAfee. So in case you want to save some mbeca on the computer guy (sorry folks, I know this is killing business :-), pls feel free to try out Avira AntiVir if you haven’t yet done so.
Oh, and btw: once downloaded, pls save the setup executable on a write-protected medium (protected flash stick, CD-ROM, etc.) so it doesn’t become infected itself.
Hmm. I guess this is just another proof of how much we actually need to have free and open source, reliable, stable, compatible and secure operating systems installed on all computers that are running within government institutions. Dito in Germany (some cities actually already switched). Aahh, politics… (and there you go wondering why it was called Raila in the first place! What’s next - ThikaRoad Traffic Jam Virus? :-)
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8:19
From: Black Looks
Read This Entry & More At Black Looks
There’s been much controversy surrounding the case of Atlanta Falcons football player, Michael Vick and the allegations of animal cruelty that lead to his arrest. Police found all the makings of an illegal dogfighting setup on his rural Virginia estate.
–”The case began April 25 when investigators conducting a drug search at a [...]
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0:22
From: The Benin Epilogue Part I: Africa-Ready for Business
Read This Entry & More At The Benin Epilogue Part I: Africa-Ready for Business
 There is someone that I would like to tell you about. His name is Mr. Ogo Sow, he hails originally from Senegal and to his tens of thousands of radio listeners from New York City and across the globe he is affectionately known as Mr. Africa. He is a special advisor and consultant to the Africa Travel Association and was also a special invitee to the African Union's 9th Assembly of African Heads of State in Accra, Ghana. He has many achievements, among them being an African television pioneer, a producer, and a publisher whose work has touched millions radio, but I look up to him for because for many years he has enlightened Western audiences on the untold other side if Africa; while inspiring African expatriates abroad to look back and do something for the distant land that they once called home. Something else that I admire in Mr. Sow is how balanced he is with showcasing the entire continent of Africa, not just Senegal or just that of those who speak his mother tongue-Fulani (in this regard he is kind of like someone else that I admire who is known as African Liz). Recently, he has taken me to the task of participating in some of the round-table discussions that he organizes relating to the African continent. His latest discussion interests me very much and was inspired by a speech made by French President Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy. The question that Mr. Sow or Mr. Africa asks is in light of President Sarkozy's comments made about the African continent, what can Africa do to become economically free. My response is below. This is a great discussion Mr. Ogo Sow, AKA Mr. Africa, thanks for inviting me. I have also invited others by adding them (in the bcc field )to this message, so that if they would like to participate, they can just jump in. In this instance, I am inviting anyone reading this piece...
Lets look at a statement made by former Mali President and current Chairman of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Mr. Alpha Oumar Konare, "This speech was not the kind of break we were hoping for". So why was AU Chairman Mr. Konare upset? What was he expecting to hear from the French President Mr. Sarkozy? Well let's look at the statement that the French President made for a possible answer.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says about Africa should face up to its own problems he says, "Do you want to end the arbitrary corruption, violence? That money is invested instead of being embezzled. Do you want the rule of law?" Ok, in and of itself, what he is saying makes sense. However, maybe Mr. Konare felt that for a French President to say it was a bit hypocritical. Right now if we were to count the Western Sahara as a country, Africa has 54 countries. Throughout the last 15 years the continent, at any given time, the continent has almost consistently seen six out of her 54 nations in serious trouble. If you look at some of the nations which have had large scale conflicts over the last fifteen years, how many of these nations are in Francophone Africa? Let's try to find out...in the last fifteen years the following African nations have had serious issues or conflicts affecting them-Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Chad, Guinea-Conakry, Central African Republic, Burundi, Algeria, Liberia, Sierre Leone, Angola, Somalia, Zimbabwe, and Eritrea. Eight out of these fourteen countries share heavy French influence as a commonality. Now this is may not be by design, but it is difficult to ignore this trend. So if the French President says that France will be an unwavering friend, then it seems that accompanying that friendship would be a public policy toward Africa should somehow address this issue, rather than sweep it underneath the rug. However, this did not seem to be the case, judging from the tone of Mr. Sarkozy's speech and French public policy. Maybe this is why Mr. Konare was unhappy.
Me personally, I would like to say that in spite of major problems affecting a small group of countries on the continent, since the 1990's amazing things have been happening across different regions of the continent. Very notably many of these achievements have been in entrepreneurship and governance. This to me signals that Africa has already started to take her future into her own hands. This is probably what Mr. Konare expected the French President to say. That is where I agree with Mr. Konare. However, where I have disagreed with him was on his stance, while serving in the capacity of AU Chairman, towards Zimbabwe. I'll just summarize it by saying that his approach to the crisis befalling the nation of Zimbabwe seems to be very "hands off". This would almost underscore at least part of what France's president mentions. However, dwelling here on the particulars of the speech, appears to be a distraction.
The question of how to bring about economic freedom to Africa is multifaceted. Therefore, the answer should also have several layers.
The following are some of the items that I believe African nations could focus on to begin controlling their own economic destinies:
- Continuing to embrace and empower entrepreneurs
- Focusing on service oriented export industries
- Strong governance
- Continual investment in infrastructure
- More intra-continental trade
- Making education more accessible to economically disadvantaged children
- The continent re-claiming her own public relations and image, so that the tragedies affecting six countries don't need to dissuade investors from investing in the other 48 nations
- Finding ways to include the informal market sectors within growth strategies
- Eliminating the barriers for women in business
I would like to add to this list something along the lines of either the African Union or Africa's regional bodies prioritizing or fast tracking conflict resolution and crisis management/prevention for member nations facing crisis. Then there was the corruption and nepotism, arising partly as a response to overly centralized governments, that Mr. Gavin Chait referenced in his response to this round table.
"I continue to believe that Africa's greatest problem is an over-reliance on central government. For as long as government and aid constitute the bulk of an economy there is no market beyond patronage, no entrepreneurial class, and no respect for ability instead of "connections"
I am not sure how to stop this but have seen Nigeria and Kenya trying to tackle it by closing leaks and adding more transparency measures, but it hasn't been an easy battle. Mainly, what I wanted to mention is this idea that instead of just focusing on the law enforcement and punishment, that reducing the opportunities to participate in corruption presents a more balanced approach and therefore might be more easily attainable for nations fighting corruption.
Of course this is all easier said than done, but the fact that a number of nations have already begun making efforts to tackle one or more of these issues, some with moderate to concrete success is very positive, I believe. To me that list of nations would include-Senegal, Ghana, Liberia, Tunisia, Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Nigeria, Mali, Namibia, Angola, Rwanda, Uganda, Benin, Zambia, Ethiopia, Seychelles, the Canary Islands, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Malawi, Madagascar, Libya, Sao Tome, and Egypt (side note: I have been re-reading Africa Unchained and am aware that though some of the nations mentioned above have made small steps, many of them would not make Prof. Ayittey's cut, again they are listed because they have taken one or more of the measures listed above).
Finally, tax collection and fiscal spending. I guess these could have also been included within the good governance category but they are so heavily weighted in this equation that I felt they deserved a specific mention. Tax collection is the one area where many of Africa's nations face difficulty. 1) because the combined informal and traditional sectors are often larger than the formal sector and taxes there are very much noncollectable 2.) tax collection is loosely enforced in the formal sectors. Loose tax collection is probably the easier of the two points within this tax collection piece to tackle, because only good leadership and management are needed to improve tax collections on registered activities. Again, this is one of the reasons that I think that the emphasis on the informal sector should be so thorough. Of course, it also points to the importance of strong governance and leadership. With strong tax collections, governments may undertake stronger educational policies or do more to enable a sound and efficient business environment; which in turn result in better local economies.
Again, I know that nothing is as easy as it may sound, but this was just my way of participating in the discussion.
Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook
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