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10:51
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
A couple of KP readers have written to ask why I haven’t done a post on this issue…it’s simply because I have nothing to add beyond what everyone else is writing/opining. It’s a travesty, Kenyans are being ripped off, MPs are happy to get back at Kimunya, the sale financed PNU, Kimunya will [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Grand Regency / Kimunya", url: "http://www.kenyanpundit.com/2008/07/04/grand-regency-kimunya/" });
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12:20
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
PLEASE HELP GET THE MESSAGE OUT. THE WOMEN ARE BEING DETAINED FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO PAY THE DELIVERY FEE OF KSHS 3,400.
We, at KENGO believe that it is our responsibility to hold all public
institutions accountable and to ensure that in the delivery of
services the right of all to dignity is respected. [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Poor women being detained at Pumwani Maternity Hospital", url: "http://www.kenyanpundit.com/2008/06/28/poor-women-being-detained-at-pumwani-maternity-hospital/" });
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5:20
From: Mentalacrobatics
Read This Entry & More At Mentalacrobatics
The Kenyan government, like most governments around the world, is well versed in the art of deploying and utilising smokescreens. As the name implies the purpose of the smokescreen is to hide something from view or atleast divert attention away from an issue or subject that the government would rather was not noticed, leave alone discussed or debated at all. These smokescreens come in various forms but they all share some of the same characteristics.
For example the smokescreens usually contain something completely ridiculous which leads us to wonder what planet members of our government come from. This was the favoured tactic of the Moi regime. Here is an example. Did you notice how when there was a negative and potential very damaging story about the government dominating the news agenda one of Moi’s ministers would stand up and give a speech in which he would make some ridiculous claim? My favourite one was that Kenya was about to bid to host the Olympics. Predictably we would all get outraged and froth at the mouth and spend the next month partaking in debates with our friends and colleagues, remarking to each other that there are other priorities for the government to focus on, we would chuckle at the idea of the creaking Kenyan infrastructure being asked to host such a large event, and we would write articles to display our intellectual fortitude informing the minister that Olympics are hosted by CITIES not COUNTRIES so Kenya could not bid for the Olympics but Nairobi could. Of course by the time we had exhausted all this energy we would have forgotten what issue we were discussing before the minister made his ridiculous statement. And as we laughed all the way to our bars and coffee shops content that we were smarter than our ministers, our self proclaimed Professor of Politics was laughing at our constant ability to be played.
More recently we have seen another smokescreen deployed occasionally. When difficult questions started surfacing about what we now call “Anglo-Leasing type contracts” the First Lady would go out and do something totally ridiculous, such as raid a private party at the World Bank country director’s house in her pyjamas. When the questions about corruption would not stop the First Lady would either storm a police station and demand the cops arrest somebody or storm a media house by herself in the dead of the night and proceed to slap reporters – an act that is 110% guaranteed to dominate the media’s new agenda. Where was Kibaki, we would ask, why didn’t State House intervene when the First Lady’s security detail first reported her irrational and illegal actions?
Well maybe State House did not intervene because they had just deployed their smokescreen. And soon afterwards whispers about medication being deliberately withheld from the First Lady to ensure her irrational behaviour continues started to surface. These days whenever the First Lady does something outrageous I check the newspapers from the previous week to try and figure out what they are trying to hide.
In June 2008 we have been thrown yet another smokescreen, this time by the Minister of Finance, Amos Kimunya. This smokescreen, brilliant deployed it must be said, centres around Budget and the issue of whether Members’ of Parliament should pay tax on their salaries and allowances. Of course they should. That is obvious and indeed it is ridiculous that in 2008 we can still debate this. Of course Members’ of Parliament should pay tax on their salaries and allowances. Predictably many MPs are resisting all attempts to pay tax and that is the debate that has dominated the Kenyan news agenda in the past couple of weeks.
This debate about MPs and taxation is a smokescreen which Mwalimu Mati the CEO of MARS Group Kenya has exposed with his usually thoroughness. If MPs paid tax the Treasury would save between Ksh. 600 million and Ksh. 700 million. That is good money. However, Kimunya’s latest budget is full of waste, which runs into the HUNDREDS of BILLIONS of shillings. And that is even better money. And all this is probably going to pass unscrutinzed by a parliament full of MPS whose only point of concern in this Budget is whether or not they are to be taxed.
Please download [pdf 48 kb] , read, blog and circulate widely Mati’s article. You can download [pdf 48kb] it here.
Some shocking statistcs:
- Last year the Government of Kenya budget for entertainment of its guests amounted to Ksh 5.7 million per day for EVERY day of the year.
- The Governemnet of Kenya spends Ksh 3.995 billion on rents per annum and only receives Ksh 239.368 million per year from property income and rent.
- Last year, the Government of Kenya spent over Ksh 6.7 million per day every day of the year on foreign travel. This is set to increase in this budget.
- Did you know that State House Nairobi has 149 cars? Did you know that this year Minister of Finance wants to buy Ksh 73 million more worth of cars for State House? Did you know that last year a similar amount of money was spent on cars at State House? Did you know that the Government budget for cars for 2008 has gone up by 1 billion shillings, even as public attention is consumed by the debate on MP’s allowances?
And the best one
- Every year the Minister of Finance presents lump sum budgets for the National Security Intelligence Services, the Armed Forces and the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission. This year their collective budgets will pass the Ksh 47 billion mark – and yet they will be no debate on the budget items in them because the Minister of Finance has helpfully provided none.
Ksh. 47 BILLION!
Kenyans let us demand that our MPs accept that they have a duty to pay taxes but let us not allow this debate on MPs allowances to distract us from the bigger picture. Do not be fooled by the smokescreen! Demand equally that your MP take his or her constitutional responsibility seriously and scrutinise Amos Kimunya’s ridiculous Budget.
Please download [pdf 48 kbs], read, blog, and circulate widely Mati’s article. You can download it here [pdf 48kb].
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© Mentalacrobatics for Mentalacrobatics, 2008. |
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5:04
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
Statement from George Nyongesa of Bunge La Mwananchi:
Two nights and three days after wananchi led by Bunge La Mwananchi demonstrated on the streets of Nairobi to protest against high food prices and the escalating cost of living, ten Kenyans are still being held at the Central Police Station in Nairobi because “the matter is [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Bunge la mwananchi protestors arrested", url: "http://www.kenyanpundit.com/2008/06/02/bunge-la-mwananchi-protestors-arrested/" });
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6:02
From: Kenyan Pundit
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Interesting analysis of how the (in)famous Sessional Paper no 10 authored by edit Tom Mboya (mea culpa for previously attributing to Kibaki and thanks to those who corrected, great background on Mboya can be found here) is relevant to the current situation in Kenya.
EDIT: (Woz, here’s a better link, Cheers). Full text [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sessional Paper No. 10", url: "http://www.kenyanpundit.com/2008/05/13/sessional-paper-no-10/" });
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8:47
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
So me and the fam were out of town for the holiday weekend…while driving to one of the tourist sites we visited, we came across groups of people parked on the side of the road waiting for cars participating in the Sasol Rally (never heard of it before) to drive by. It reminded me of [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Mental Break: Safari Rally", url: "http://www.kenyanpundit.com/2008/05/06/mental-break-safari-rally/" });
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9:25
From: Kenyan Pundit
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How else do you explain how Uhuru Kenyatta is getting away with his ridiculous traffic de-congestion plan? Only in Kenya, can you attempt to ease congestion in the CBD by banning public transport. This solution comes from a guy who’s never ever even dreamed of taking public transport.
Beyond the ridiculousness in [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "You can apparently fool Kenyans all of the time…", url: "http://www.kenyanpundit.com/2008/03/25/you-can-apparently-fool-kenyans-all-of-the-time/" });
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5:33
From: bankelele
Read This Entry & More At bankelele
Kenya’s National Social Security Fund finally released their year end results in the newspapers today after many years of pressure by governance experts and regulators. The scheme hopes to convert into a pension fund and states that it plans to hold an AGM soon While the statements show improved performance over the last four years (NSSF-K was abused in the 1990’s and forced into bad property investments and lost billions in collapsed banks), how does it compare with NSSF Uganda who released their results last week? approximate conversion to US$ Buildings/property/landNSSFK $434 million (35%) NSSFU $76 million (13%) Government SecuritiesNSSFK $115 million (9%) NSSFU $289 million (51%) EquitiesUganda list their holdings. – as Uganda Clays , Baroda, Nsimbe, DFCU, Stanbic, Serena, HFCU, Victoria properties. Kenyan one does not list but would include Unilever Tea, Nation media group, HFCK (11%) KCB (8%) British American Tobacco (20%) East African Breweries (8%), EAP cement (27%), and National Bank (48%) NSSFK $618 million NSSFU $54 million Current assetsNSSFK $50 million NSSFU $350 million Current LiabilitiesNSSFK $20 million NSSFU $11 million Members FundsNSSFK $1,240 million NSSFU $548 million Totals assetsNSSFK $1,240 million NSSFU $564 million Income: NSSFK $61 million NSSFU $38 million however the Kenyan one include changes in market value of shares in last year, adding another $80m to bring total income to $141mCostsNSSFK $41 million NSSFU $7 million Net Gain/ProfitNSSFK $147 million NSSFU $31 million Earlier: - Under its current format, the ultimate payout will be low from NSSF(K) and the benefits at retirement will not be enough to sustain a majority of retirees - Comparison between Stanbic Kenya and Stanbic Uganda.
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5:16
From: bankelele
Read This Entry & More At bankelele
 nice poster here from Lunch over IP on urban transport solutionsThe traffic crunch in Nairobi has gotten worse in the last week since 1/3 of the city’s commuters had restrictions placed on their access to downtown Nairobi. It’s fait to say that over ¾ of cars from KAP___ onwards (cars registered in the last five years) are financed with asset or bank loans - so they are a reflection of the amount of credit in the economy. But the traffic crunch will continue unless some serious measures are taken as there are few new roads or new parking spaces coming up in the city What are some solutions? - Better public transport as the image above shows. - Restriction on vehicle imports/registrations; But bad for the economy, encourage corruption - Restrictions on asset finance lending; but bad for banks - Restrictions on vehicle use e.g. only use vehicles ending with odd number on one day, even the next: but favors the rich (with more than one car) and will encourage fraudulent license switching - The India way (as adopted by Uganda) and small town in Kenya which is to have motorbikes as taxis. This would be great for those who work in the upper hill area - Car pooling, temporary parking meters, new capital city? The list is endless
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9:12
From: bankelele
Read This Entry & More At bankelele
 Compared to last year’s expo, the first tourism expo of the year at Sarit Center had fewer stands, foreign exhibitors, and focus was on getting domestic tourists to rediscover the usual haunts. You have to salute the industry for going ahead and trying to rebuild after two months of violence wiped out a decade of steady growth. While they were advertising Easter packages (discounts of about 10% if booked at the fair), their goal was to get the sector back on track in the long term. Here are a few of the offerings still have a bias for the Coast; new- Holiday Homes Kenya, a network of fully staffed private homes for holiday. – New Man Eaters Camp by Voi Wildlife Lodge at the site of the infamous man eating lions that terrorized railways builders in 1898 - Mombasa Continental hotel (former intercontinental hotel) opened in December 07 (days before election) has introductory rates valid up to December 20, 2008 - Wild Waters theme park in Nyali - which closed in January when the tourists left, but reopened over the weekend (March 9) Coast– Jacaranda Beach flying package from Nairobi for East Africa residents for Kshs. 22,400 (inclusive of 2 nights) - Kenya Bay Beach Hotel has these prices for 2008; Kshs. 3,700 (up to April 30), Kshs. 3200 up to June 30, and Kshs. 3,500 (July up to December 31) (all half board, per person sharing)– lock in these low rates for the rest of the yeat before the tourism prices pick up – Sun n Sand no special offers, but the hotel is still a favorite for state and private sector retreats at the coast, so may not struggle Wildlife safaris- Discover Wilderness has flying packages to the Mara (keekorok) and Samburu for Kshs. 24,950 per night and Kshs. 11,950 for extra night – (includes 3 game drives, full board valid up June 30) - Serena have flying package to the Mara, Amboseli, Samburu, (2 nights, 2 game drives at 40,000 pp) other- Kenya Wildlife Services: who have self catering bandas in Amboseli, Tsavo and Mt. Kenya as well as Homa Bay, Marsabit, Mt. Elgon, Malindi and Kisite-Mpunguti (Kwale) - Nairobi's Silver Springs Hotel has two new sister premises in Sangare Tented Camp and Green Hills Hotel in Nyeri Airlines- Discovered some ‘truths’ behind Fly 540 airline: low special offers; that $79 Entebbe and Juba $199 fare to Juba re one way and translate to $135 and $279 after the hefty taxes on both routes. So a round trip to Entebbe costs $270 while Nairobi-Juba and back is $558 - Air Kenya with their point to point flights are the best way for a tourists to avoid Kenya’s roads and get around in as little time as possible – so you can fly from Mombasa to Masai Mara, Mombasa-Kilimanjaro, fly from Nairobi to Lewa , from Samburu to Masai Mara etc. - Virgin Atlantic have $425 Nairobi to London and $829 fares to Los Angeles or San Francisco Elsewherenot at the trade fair, but in the news over the weekendLewa marathon sponsored by Safaricom is open for registration up to 23/5 - Vipingo Ridge, a housing estate/golf course under development in Kilifi (40km north of Mombasa) by Rea Vipingo was a sponsor at the Kenya Open Golf Course. Some plots of land are still available but not much info is online yet about it.
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5:08
From: Mentalacrobatics
Read This Entry & More At Mentalacrobatics
The last two months have been eye opening not just for me but for all Kenyans and all friends of Kenya. I have been shocked by some of the nonsensical narrow minded views that swept through the country, and it has to be said, through the blogs. Undoubtedly some friendships will never be the same again as people could not help but show their true colours.
However, the blessing of being so involved in the response to the post election crisis that engulfed Kenya is that for all the nonsensical, narrow minded views that I encountered, for every person I came across who was hell bent on stirring up hate, I would find ten people who would do anything to pull the country back from the brink.
Patriots would put careers on the line, friendships on the line, family relationships on the live and others even put their lives on the line to stand up and be counted as an agent for peace not for division. While some bloggers would announce that they could never take someone from another tribe home to their parents, other Kenyans were busy organising a media event where couples with each partner from a different tribe would publicly declare that they will not be part of any nonsense which insisted they leave their partners to show their loyalty to tribe.
Apart from the personal relationships another trend which warmed my heart was that professionals would rise up and find ways through which they could utilise their professional services to help save the country. A group of writers gathered and formed the Concerned Kenyan Writers coalition which aims to use writing skills to humanise the crisis, the techie community such as Skunkworks offered technical IT and ICT support to the relief efforts, the legal fraternity came up with similar initiatives, the top musicians and producers in the country got into the studios, journalists as well. Bloggers usually wear more than one hat and in each of the other groups mentioned above you will find bloggers.
Some initiatives are blog driven, they were born in blogs and grew in the blogs, were lead by bloggers and publicised by blogs. They are blogger lead and blogger dominated. One such project which I am honoured to work on is the Ushahidi project which was born out of Kenyan Pundit thinking out loud on her blog and Hash hearing those voices and running with them. The site was born on the blogs and brought in to existence by David Kobia, a guy who has been a huge supporter of Kenyan blogs and bloggers, in JUST TWO DAYS. I am yet to hear of another project that launched so successfully, that proved to be so ground breaking that was launched in such a short period of time. Kenyans across the globe showing what can happen with cooperation and commitment.
Ushahidi is the Kiswahili word for witness.
From Hash
Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election times. You can report the incident that you have seen, and it will appear on a map-based view for others to see.
From Kenyan Pundit
So what’s Ushahidi.com about… (for those who don’t know Kiswahili, ushahidi is the Swahili word for witness). The website was mainly set up to document incidents of violence, lotting etc. during the crisis (and soon to follow - information about ways to help on a micro-level). The website is still very much a work in progress and will be updated as we go along.
We believe that the number of deaths being reported by the government, police, and media is grossly underreported. We also don’t think we have a true picture of what is really going on - reports that all have us have heard from family and friends in affected areas suggests that things are much worse than what we have heard in the media.
From Afromusing
We want to continue mapping not only the violence, but also the ‘doves’ or peace efforts happening in Kenya. The last two months have been traumatic to our collective psyche, and we would like to be well equipped to continue this important project. While we will not hide from the trauma of the events; we want make Ushahidi even more relevant to other countries in Africa.
Since the launch of ushahidi the support from within the blogging community and from the main stream media as well, has been phenomenal. I have lost count of the number of radio and print interviews that have come my way because of interest in the project. Now Ushahidi needs your help again. Ushahidi has been entered in to the $100,000 Netsquared Mashup Challenge for further development. This is big in very many ways. It helps secure the future of the project and it helps secure the independence of the project, it allows the project to grow beyond Kenya, it give the opportunity for a powerful and increasingly necessary tool to achieve its potential.
Please show your support for Ushahidi by voting for the project on Netsquared you have to register to vote, registration takes less time than it took you to read this sentence and voting takes even shorter. Help us to drive this project forward. Please read and link Hash’s post on the Ushahidi NetSquared challenge and remember to VOTE!
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0:59
From: Kenya Imagine
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The Africa Policy Institute, a Kenya based independent think tank has released a report titled The Lie of the land: Evictions and Kenya's crisis. It argues that while Kenya, like other former British white settler colonies such as South Africa and Zimbabwe have yet to decisively deal with the legacy of colonial and post-colonial injustices relating to land ownership, the link between the on-going systematic evictions in the Rift Valley and Western Kenya and “post-colonial injustices” relating to land is very tenuous. A much more plausible explanation is that Kenya is reeling under a deadly intra-elite power game that has come to characterise multi-party politics here. Read more from Patrick Mutahi here.
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5:17
From: Kenya Imagine
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America's involvement in Kenya's post-elections political crises must be seen against the background of its "war on terror"- and the unilateralism that propelled it. The State Department at first congratulated President Mwai Kibaki on his re-election but later rescinded as European Union and other observers reported irregularities in the vote-count. Since then, the Bush administration has been trying not to take sides in the election dispute and his Ambassador taken unofficial role as the Spokesperson for the entire International community pressuring Kenya's political elite to come to a compromise. To America, it is unfathomable that one of its most reliable and crucial partners in the "war against terror" was going to crumble in its lap. Read more from Patrick Mutahi here.
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1:41
From: Kenya Imagine
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US President George W. Bush departs for Africa in an effort to highlight his commitment to the benighted continent and burnish his foreign-policy legacy. In Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia, he'll tout initiatives to encourage democracy and combat poverty, disease and corruption. What follows here is his speech at the Smithsonian Insititute last evening.
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13:45
From: bankelele
Read This Entry & More At bankelele
Run for the border
After a month of being cooped up with elections and politics, it's a welcome opportunity to take a brief trip out of town.
The drive to Namanga is pleasant and with many causal things to observe. However it takes about an hour to leave Nairobi, owing to the traffic from the City Center up to before the airport.
The expansion of Mombasa Road (to three lanes) contributes to a major traffic jam as we pass the still-under-construction new Standard/KTN building, Vision Plaza - an office complex that was slightly ahead of its time, and is still looking to fill some vacant spaces, and Panari Hotel – host of an ice rink, Brazilian restaurant and affordable convenience for transit passengers. As we pass the Jomo Kenyatta Airport in early afternoon, one of new Fly 540 aircraft swoops in to land.
Traffic is slow, at the by-passes and diversions of what used to be Mlolongo infamous meat eating area, towards Athi River which now has an almost -complete cement factory by Tororo Cement who will be the fourth major local producer.
Then there's the Rattansi peace village, proposed site of new Hindu University of Kenya, and numerous single houses. Whatever real estate prices are in the area, they will probably triple in the next dozen years, after the by pass and dual carriage way roads are completed.
On into plains area with occasional zebra sightings. There are numerous chicken-rearing farms for Kenchic and flower estates. Flower farms are visible even from aircraft, and i wonder if it is possible for a media company to draw up some adverts to be displayed on these roofs for long-distance advertising.
Then the curio shops, some which say 'welcome' in German (and other languages) to attract tourists, a well-maintained railway, trains and wagons belonging to Magadi Soda Company. Magadi also have a trial farm growing jatropha seedlings, and this is the road to Amboseli which I wonder why it is not as world famous as the Masai Mara.
Amboseli, has arguably the same wild life concentration, is closer to Nairobi and has better road access. To (cap it all) it has Mt. Kilimanjaro as it's background.
Finally get to Namanga is about 130 kilometres from Nairobi (from where one can branch off to the gates of Amboseli 70km away, but on murram roads). Namanga is the border of Kenya and Tanzania, but a stop for petrol is not the best decision if you have a travel van. We get hit with high pressure Masai saleswomen – who I had read about but never met – they have very aggressive sales tactics aimed at tourists with dollars. They all chatter and take turns to persuade you to buy their trinkets - pressing beads or amulets to your arms or chest and refusing to take them back, saying they are gifts. Yeah, right!
On into no-man's land at the border. You have to fill out a departure form on the Kenya side and an arrival form on the tanzania side – all in a space of a 100 metres.
On both sides, there are border 'fixers' who are residents of this zone, and who traverse both country offices on foot helping people crossing with bureaucracy, currency, tax difficulties. If you don't use them, it can take over an hour to cross, with most of the delay comes from the insurance requirement for every personal vehicle at the border.
The Kenya side is the domain of Somali businessmen and they have imposed their law here; it's like a mini-Eastleigh, clean, orderly, no alcohol, but with tea houses and many super-markets with names like Libaan, Dubai, Taafrik, Mubarak, and Mandera.
The trans-border business acumen of Somali business people is something to be admired as even people in Dubai and China shop and collect their gods from Eastleigh. One day, after the political temperature has gone down, some local university should offer business classes on Somali, Kikuyu and Hindu business, trade, and management models -with business cases to study. I'd pay to attend that class
Namanga is also a mark of contract for two countries, and Kenya loses this time. The Tanzania side of the border is also clean and air-conditioned. But the pen's to fill out forms actually work and there is an eye-scan device for those requiring Tanzanian visa's. Once you step into Tanzania side, it's like you stepped in to coast province, with many buildings having Makuti (coconut thatch)roofs.
Also you can now buy roast tilapia fish and the chips are more generous and healthier than those on the Kenya side, with more drink varieties (Heineken, Pepsi).And that's a day at the border
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2:17
From: bankelele
Read This Entry & More At bankelele
Unit trusts In all the political news this week, some may have missed this story on collective investment schemes (funds, unit trust), who will now have to get more aggressive (take on more risk) to deliver commensurate returns - and are now asking the regulator (CMA) to relax some of the rules that restrict their investments. A year ago this post discussed unit trusts and the cost of investment being a major deterrent to the returns they offer (and at the time the NSE was in a much better position). I still have issues with the 3 – 5% initial fee and 2% annual fee charged by many unit trusts. Real estate The post-election violence will have a mostly negative impact on property values and in rural Kenya, and in towns like Eldoret, Kisumu, Nakuru and especially in Mombasa (where the real estate boom was driven by visitors/tourism numbers). The cost of building will also go up as demand for supplies will be great. So buy cement company shares (Bamburi, ARM, Portland) the day Kofi Annan succeeds in his mediation efforts In Nairobi, properties near slums like Ayany (adjacent to Kibera) have been badly affected owners and/or tenants moving out. However there is also increased demand in some of the same areas – perceived to be safer parts of the city, such as Kileleshwa and Westlands. They will also benefit from residents of other towns like Kisumu relocating to Nairobi. These are also the areas that many Diaspora Kenyans have invested in or are considering investing; and while many have postponed their real estate investment decisions, those already in (with mortgages to pay) will have to wait out the storm. Also it may be wise to set up several investment companies to keep rental turnover and sidestep new tax lawsAlso Kasarani which is one place you can still buy land cheaply to build, will have values of land increasing as will parts of Central Kenya.
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8:03
From: Kenya Imagine
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If Kenya was reduced to a village of 100 people, 22 of those people would be Kikuyu, 14 would be Luhya, and 13 would be Luo. Of the remaining, 11 would be Kamba, 6 Kisii, 6 Meru, 15 of other African tribes, and 1 Asian/European. Only 1 would be Maasai. 10 people live in Nairobi, 3 in Mombasa and almost 2 in Kisumu. Read more from Nanjala Nyabola here.
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6:54
From: Afromusing
Read This Entry & More At Afromusing
Thank you to our dear blogger friends for supporting Kenya, and for spreading the word on the ‘Support Kenyans in Distress’ campaign with Mamamikes.com
Georgia of Caribbean Free Radio
African Loft
Kikuyu Moja
As the Mamamikes blog updates, the amount is exceeding $1900.
May i reiterate the thanks to the following people….
Omolo, Kuria, Kimura, Nyokabi, Miaud, Edgerton, Monyo, Kimeria, Dsouza, Kangethe, Muthoni, Coseac, Barbieri, Patel, Jabbar, Mann, Warungongo, Wairimu, Juergen, Njoroge, Laurance, Wanja, Wambui, Romanos, Lutz, Popplewell, Walsh, Kamau
Thank you to the following Kenyan Bloggers for committing their time to volunteer on the 17th.
M of Thinkers Room
Bankelele
Josiah Mugambi of Skunkworks and Mission Driven
Mentalacrobatics
The list is growing, so if you are a kenyan blogger/blog reader in Nairobi, please leave a comment if you can make it. we understand the situation might be tenuous but we hope it will be calm on Thursday. If you have any questions please feel free to send me an email, afromusing at gmail dot com
Date: Thursday January 17th 2008
Location: Mamamikes office - Kingsway Hse opposite Nairobi Outpatient Center on Muindi Mbingu Street
Time: 5pm
PS: Ushahidi Update: Local number to report an incident is +254 711 862 149 6007
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8:58
From: Startups in Kenya
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Yesterday was a proud day for me. Our business incubator Genius Executive Centre launched the Genius Heal Kenya Initiative. This initiative's main objective is to assist families displaced by the Kenyan crisis through prayer and material donation (foodstuffs, clothes, blankets, toys etc.). With over seventy entrepreneurs as members of the Centre we are confident that this initiative shall make a real and positive difference in the lives of fellow Kenyans.
We have partnered with the Karen branch of the Red Cross to distribute the donations to the displaced families. Any contribution you can make towards this initiative is welcome.
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5:17
From: bankelele
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Citigroup (CITI) - Limited impact on economy if political crisis is resolved. It Matters little to the economy who won the election as private sector will continue to drive growth - Share sell off at NSE could be a good buying opportunity as economic fundamentals unchanged - President will use police and military to clamp down on protests which themselves will not last more than a few weeks - Parliament loyalties will be split by president as MP’s vote with their stomach - There’s little the international community can do besides pushing for reforms. - Also in the pre-election period, the opposition may have been falsely buoyed by opinion polls which are not sound (& could the same thing have happened to Obama in New Hampshire ?) Renaissance Capital (RENCAP) - Crime wave has emerged under the guise of political riots - Government may take all 12 nominated seats in parliament - Reemergence of the civil society and NGO’s as source of political pressure and search for solution - Main threat is if two parties don’t agree so may revise down the 6 – 7% GDP projections. - Also prices have not factored in the chaos, so investors should hold off on buying. Thanks to Silaha for the 2 reports – and who has also blogged some post-election predictions for Kenya Treasury Officals:– from Business Daily- Damage on the economy could cut the projected growth by as much as a half, if not worse. As agricultural, financial services and tourism sectors are likely to under perform - Treasury could be forced to craft a stimulus economic package to help reconstruct the affected regions and - Lower the interest rates in the economy. Central bank Governor - from Reuters- Kenya can still achieve 8% growth in 2008 - Disruptions were temporary and will have a major impact on GDP growth - Shilling’s depreciation was due to holiday period - Safaricom IPO in first quarter of 2008 - Interest rates will not change World Bank(Hat tip Kumekucha) There’s a controvery brewing of the World Bank’s assessment of the election and resultant crisis Excerpts;
- The considered view of the UN is that the ECK announcement of a Kibaki win is correct. More irregularities of consequence on the Odinga side than on the Kibaki side.
- The process of arriving at the result created a crisis of confidence due to missteps by (a) the ECK chair (who joked about possible rigging during a news conference), (b) the vocal EU observer who was not thorough and precise in analyzing information provided to him (c) the lack of preparation by Kibaki’s party in dealing with a highly media-savvy opposition.
-Moving forward. One option being explored is getting them to agree to a recount which, by law, has to be done through a petition to Kenya’s High Court. Eminent persons from abroad would monitor this recount. Meanwhile, Kibaki would proceed to form a Cabinet, possibly with some participation by Odinga supporters. It is unclear what would happen if the exercise arrived at a different result from the ECK decision. The gamble is that this would not happen and that even if it did, both sides would have a face-saving way to accept a change in course via-a-vis their supportersThis is not the first time the first time that the land-lord-tenancy arrangement between the President and the World Bank has been put to question – see here and hereFinally; Not sure if she’s a banker, but Kenyanentreprenur argues that what Africa needs are development minded dictators since we are not ready for democracy – and i hope we won’t be having this debate in 2012! My own take is that the people at the Coast, Nyanza, Rift Valley and Western provinces need to start rebuilding their lives and their industries - otherwise they will be left behind. Rioting in your own community is dumb as you destroy businesses that deliver services and create jobs within the community. So pass that message along with any peace & sympathy messages you convey. Also watch NTV's great Voices of Reason program on Youtube that looks at pre- and post-election issues (more on that later).
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7:49
From: bankelele
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Talks are ongoing, marches have been postponed and parliament possibly opens next week - January 15 , paving the way for the country to focus on re-building - but these initiatives can’t begin until a proper government is in place that is seen as legitimate internationally: Finance: We have companies who have not done business in two weeks, or received their just-in-time supplies - yet they are expected to pay full installments to banks at the at the end of the month. There’s even a mega tourist hotel opened over Christmas in Mombasa! The financial sector will have to chip in terms of waivers and new financing for businesses destroyed. These include; (i) Debt forgiveness: at a minimum a waiver of installments for three months. Loans can be refinanced and the Kenya bankers association (KBA) to agree on modalities. (ii) Rebuilding Fund: Last year we had women’s fund, youth fund and another funds is needed, with the support of the international community. Business people should be allowed to re-build in new areas if they are not comfortable re-investing where their businesses were destroyed (iii) Insurance fund: Since it appears that those whose cars or businesses were looted and burnt will not be compensated by the insurance companies. (iv) Some form of specific assistance to farmers e.g. livestock, crop replacement, (see a past initiative) Banks : may be reluctant to chip in, arguing that their portfolios in half the country have been negatively impacted - but since they are about to announce record profits for 2007 their arguments will not be viewed with sympathy. Employment : Impact will not be seen until about mid-year when companies announce their March 2008 results (they are still competing their 2007 accounts, which were normal up to the end of December, apart form the extended public holidays). The Kiss FM breakfast crew have been vocal about cutbacks if they don’t earn income this month, and this week Barclays has asked casual stuff (who hawk personal loans) to stay home until further notice. International relations: Mr. John Kufuor is the president of Ghana; he is also the head of the African union. He is no doubt a very busy man, yet his name has been bandied about in a cat-and-mouse, back-and-forth, should he-or not mediate the Kenyan political crisis. Either he is needed or we should not waste his time! International media: Al Jazeera has become the channel of choice of since local media has instituted some-self censorship of the violence and politicians. But the international media has been found wanting; they have been called biased by BeckyIT while the Police Commissioner has called them gratuitous in desire for displaying morbid images - which they don’t show in covering their own country stories e.g. 9/11 or London bombing coverage. He asks that they adopt the same standards. Different investor perspective: While local investors fret about falling stock prices, foreign investors may view the market turmoil positively since shares on the Nairobi Stock Exchange are viewed as being ‘over-valued’ compared to their regional peers Also Micro finance in Africa: According to list from Forbes of the top 50 microfinance institutions in the world – only two are from sub-Saharan Africa (both Ethiopian). Finally; parallels in the Cricket world as two giants - India and Australia are also not talking to each other.
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17:52
From: Mshairi
Read This Entry & More At Mshairi
Intoxicated by a fleeting madness
A triumphant thrill courses through his veins
Ears deaf to the wails of desperation
Eyes blind to the sight of destruction
He hurls the child back inside the blazing church
Without a backward glance he walks away
Blood lust sated
Will he sleep that night?
Will he dream that night?
Will he dream of victory
Of vanquished enemies
The stench of [...]
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17:49
From: Mshairi
Read This Entry & More At Mshairi
This is the time
This is the time of the whirlwind
The coming of uncertainty
The establishment of arrogance
The occurrence of intransigence
The naming of indifference
The institution of the indefinite
The creation of the unknown
This is the time of turmoil
The beginning of the end?
kenyaelection07+poetry
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5:25
From: bankelele
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The police are tired, protesters are tired, and many displaced people are stuck and starving as they contemplate rebuilding their lives. The citizens are ready to get started, but the government is not ready to get back. Citizens are out today wishing their banks would open to enable them to start school shopping for next week's re-opening, but the government is the government is still on halt. The presidency is in doubt, and there is no cabinet in place. Kenyans want to get back to ‘normal’ life and citizens in Nairobi are pretty much trying to do that. Solutions are being worked out, diplomat are talking to politicians, there are peace campaigns in the media – and some of us are fiddling and thinking at home while the fires cool outside. what are some solutions? Some are not constitutionality possible government of national unity - this seems to be thee consensus among bloggers and the diplomatic community – But no! We have had that since 2004 and it was about the business of government, not about national unity. Forcing two sides who don't agree, and can't stand each other to sit for an interim period is not going to work interim government followed by new elections in a few months. These however cannot be overseen by the electoral commission of Kenya. In fact, after the 1982 coup attempt, the air force that instigated the coup were disbanded, and replaced by an 82 Air Force which ran for the next dozen years. Same thing should happen with the ECK. Also what will happen in those few months? Who will coordinate the government? Kenya’ can’t afford to remain in limbo for six months. my thoughts: In primary school we learnt that there's the executive (president & cabinet) judiciary, and legislature (parliament). Other bodies are the citizens (who voted about 4 million votes each for either Kibaki or Raila) and remain polarized, as are the media and religious leaders. The judiciary is universally seen as not being partial in this debate. One institution we have intact and legitimate is parliament – whose members were gazetted this week. Parliament to be reconstituted – and they can then vote for the president. The MP's are our elected leaders and all (but 3) of the countries 210 constituencies have duly elected their representatives for the next five years. There elections are not in doubt for the most part and they are a legitimate group of people, many of them new to parliament for the first time. The vote can be in public or by secret ballot. And surely it will be easier to tally 210 votes than 10 million votes. This can be done in a week at most and will result in a legitimate president for the country. With about ½ of parliament this would appear to favour the Orange side, but the race is open to all MP's gazetted –not just Kibaki and Raila only. Any MP would be eligible, provided they meet other requirements so potential successors such as Mudavadi, Kalonzo, Saitoti, Uhuru, Karua, and Bifwoli could all run. The election would take a day, be under the full glare of media, and not require the electoral commission of Kenya. The president elected by parliament - will then form the next government and appoint a cabinet of his liking. His first task of business will be national healing which will include resettlement of displaced persons, rebuilding small businesses affected by riots, relief efforts, rebuilding infrastructure, peacekeeping operations, mending international relations, etc. The idea stems from novel I read recently, (can't remember the title). Anyway, I'd dearly like to get back to posts on banking and stories like these, but until the politic is sorted out, they are not very useful to write about; - Diamond Trust Bank: Taking regional banking to Uganda at no extra cost for cross-border transaction - NIC desperate to go into stockbroking even with an imperfect deal - paid a lot, but don't have full control over stockbroker -Safaricom extended their cheap calls offer which expired on New Year’s Day to January 15. Many people are still on holiday, some unintended and will benefit from the extended period of ‘cheaper’ calls.
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