Quote:
Originally Posted by bloggeratti
I beg to differ, Sir Bryo.
Due to my line of work, I was privy to several collabo's between Govt and foreign aid agencies at the planning stages. The job entailed crisscrossing Kenya, especially in the more marginalised areas of North Eastern, Coasta Rica and Kaloosers backyard.
Simply put, Kenya's got serious potential. However its main stumbling blocks are politics and ignorance.
- Imagine the joy when some Ukambani farmer increased his income by 70% just by undergoing a paradigm shift.
- Imagine the elation when the 700 polytechnics countrywide will be revived to bring industrialization down to the village level, India-style.
- Imagine the lives saved through proper nutrition in our public health centres. In Uncle Dan's era, there were only 17 qualified nutritionists countrywide. The number has surged to 217 nutritionists and they've gone a step ahead to form their own society [www.kcann.or.ke].
Sure Emilio's government isn't squeeky clean. But if you delve deep in its bowels, you'll notice good things were happening.
Kibaki's biggest problem is pathetic PR [Dr. Alfie is a crappy publicist!], elitism and cronism. Kenya, under Kibaki, has no room for the poor, unemployed and uneducated.
My humble view is that Kibaki would have been the perfect transitional president. Set the sytem in order, nyonga Kenyans properly [Pinochet-style], then leave his successors to either make a mess of things or add on to his achievements.
ODM had the perfect colour (bright orange), damn good PR, a youthful aura and benovelence for the downtrodden. But (again my humble view), their advantages ended there.
Example 1: How can a developing country pay its unemployed citizens a salary and yet create 1 million jobs? How can you encourage people to work if you pay them for not working all the same? In their bid to get into power, I think ODM went overboard on its promises.
In my profession, creativity goes hand in hand with precision. As much as I'm expected to come up with ideas out of the ordinary, I'm constantly reminded of the boundaries of what's possible and what's not.
On that ideological note, ODM and I parted ways.
For now, as you've advised, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I mean we have Lucifer and Legion both in government - the best we can do is pray hard and hope for the best, innit?
On a lighter note, as for your "precious load", I'd advise you to give the bordello a miss and delve into the world of monogamy and home-cooked meals. It sure rocks!  |
Now that you have brought a few things to the surface, let me concur with you that as a country, we have ernomous potential. I believe with the right structures in place, we could really do some wonders. We have several sectors such as energy ad telecom that are under-utilized. How can we have people begging to get telephone lines, power, passable roads, clean water? All these sectors could generate more jobs, more revenue and ultimatel more taxes for the government.
As you said, and I agree with you, Baks could have made a perfect transitional president. Only that he now messed up the country by attempting to steal the elections. We are almost back to square one.
I am of the notion that the government needs to do everything in its power to act as a resource and steer its citizens, and especially enterprenuers towards more productivity by:
-financing startup companies esp factories
-creating incentives for new job creation
-transfer of technology from other countries
-creating markets abroad for our products
-opening more schools geared towards technology and much more....
A big component of growth of an economy is the ability to attract foreign money. It could be through FDIs but mainly through exports. A good example is Japan's MITI(Ministry of International Trade and industry). These guys did wonders for Japan in the 1950s and 60s. Read up on MITI when you get a chance.
Now back to ODM, it is very true that they promised more than they could offer but sometimes it is good to dream. As they saying goes "aim for the sky, and if you can't get there, at least touch the clouds."
All in all, we are in a very crucial moment as a nation. Now that both sides of NARC are working together again, albeit with equal powers this time, it is a matter of time before we see the real stars from the pretenders.
On the lighter note, thanks for the advice, I am working on that as we speak. I am tired of short term gain without any long term benefits. I will be joining the club very soon.
04-23-2008, 11:33 PM
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