GEDI RUINS - NEAR MALINDI -
COULD BE A MAJOR ATTRACTION
TO MAKE KENYA INTO EUROPE'S "NUMERO UNO"
DESTINATION IS NOT REALLY ALL THAT DIFFICULT
Coastweek - - Although the tourism industry has seen some recent signs of robust growth a lot more needs to be done to make Kenya the number one tourist destination in Africa.
Tourism not only creates direct employment through the investment of capital but it also creates indirect jobs in related sectors such as transport companies, car hire firms, hardware shops, food processing factories and so on.
The problem however, is that the current set of incentives for the tourism industry are completely exclusive of the local people.
They are segregated and uninvolved in many tourism activities and decisions.
.
INVOLVEMENT CREATES A SENSE OF PRIDE
If the local community in certain tourism destination were involved more, they would feel a greater sense of pride in contributing to development of their areas.
This would automatically sustain a sustainable way of promoting tourism- ecotourism.
Last summer, while on Holiday at home, a trip to the Coast filled me with grief as I saw the abundant potential that still exists to boost tourism.
The stretch along Mama Ngina Drive is a perfect example of the many opportunities that exist.
Here alone exists the historic lighthouse, the popular Florida nightclub, and a golf course with the most magnificent view of the sea at large.
By evening this place becomes a bustling hub with the locals selling the traditional Swahili food - mandazi, mhogo cooked in various forms and madafu.
But does one ever see bus loads of tourists venturing to try these delicious fares?
.
Insecurity, pothole filled roads
and a general lack of publicity.
Why, what or who is to blame?
Insecurity, pothole filled roads and a general lack of publicity.
With some private investment and help from the government, the place could become just like one those popular touristy night markets that are found in Malaysia and Singapore.
The historical Fort Jesus, a slightly more popular and visited attraction is still not exploited to its full potential.
It is the main attraction in Old Town which offers lovely colonial era architecture and typical Arabic and Lamu style buildings, all of which could be offered as walking tours of the city that once was.
The city council could help restore and clean up this area by giving local inhabitants incentives to maintain their buildings.
The Vasco de Gama pillar in Malindi, a famous colonial era monument is also probably even unheard of by tourists who visit the Coast.
In fact Malindi is now only known to be a 'party' town.
There also used to once exist an underground wartime tunnel between the now derelict Hotel Manor and the watchtower on Mama Ngina Drive.
Developers with innovative ideas wanted to turn this into a major tourist attraction were prohibited from doing so due to politicizing of the issue.
Also near Malindi lie the historic but unexplored Gedi ruins, which is another place that could be a major attraction.
Tourists in other parts of the world, in Rome for example solely visit the city for its ruins in Fora Romano and the Colesseum.
Perhaps the Gedi ruins can become like these places.
Just like the "Gondola" trips in Venice, we can have "dhow trips" from the Likoni Harbour.
Tourism in Kenya is the most feasible and viable way forward since the primary infrastructure already exists.
All that is required investing in secondary infrastructure - improving the roads to these particular areas, encouraging the tourism board to market Kenya for more things than just the Big Five, and most important of all, maintaining these sites by ensuring that they are easily accessible by all, have tourist police on site and have public facilities.
To make Kenya Europe's number one destination is not all that difficult as it may seem even in the era of 'travel advisories'.
With the right incentives to the private sector and little help from the government, Kenya could very soon overtake Tanzania, Egypt and Mauritius.
Shreya Hasmukhlal Shah, Kenyan graduate student, International Business School, Brandeis University, U.S.A.
cherieshez@gmail.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © '96, '97, '98, '99, '00, '01, '02, '03, '04, '05, 2006.
Coastweek Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Jul 23, 2006
Jul 15, 2006
MEDIA COVERAGE ON AFRICA
THE UNTOLD TRUTHS FROM THE DARK CONTINENT-
WHO WILL BE THE REAL VOICE OF AFRICA?
It is said that Africa is the worst of all continents, a continent of ‘doom and groom’. Yes we may not be the richest, but we certainly are the world's staunchest optimists.
Despite all its difficulties to overcome its economical, social and political problems, Africa is a warm and happy continent. For that, the most important thing in the heart of all the Africans is "HOPE".
Most people in the US, however, don’t know enough about the other side of Africa because the current media coverage is reactionary and suffers from the “if it bleeds, it leads” syndrome. The western media tends to overplay the negative side of events in Africa to serve their “domestic audiences, corporate interests and home governments”.
The most interesting stories are not Africa’s problems but the hope and heroism throughout the continent in the face of those problems. The lack of consistent media attention is obscuring important positive developments in Africa. Today there is a second wind of change blowing across Africa, a trend towards greater democracy and a growing confidence that goes uncovered by the media. Disasters in Somalia, Darfur and West Africa dominate, while transitions to democracy in Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Namibia, and elsewhere are ignored.
Understanding the day-to-day stories of Africa means abandoning preconceived notions. Reporters should try to portray people in ways that are recognizable to Africans. With better media coverage, the United States and the world would realize that there is more to Africa than death, disease, disaster, and despair.
The promotion and visibility of a brighter Africa within society-at-large will play a significant role in creating cultural pride, encourage good business practice and sound investment in African businesses.
WHO WILL BE THE REAL VOICE OF AFRICA?
It is said that Africa is the worst of all continents, a continent of ‘doom and groom’. Yes we may not be the richest, but we certainly are the world's staunchest optimists.
Despite all its difficulties to overcome its economical, social and political problems, Africa is a warm and happy continent. For that, the most important thing in the heart of all the Africans is "HOPE".
Most people in the US, however, don’t know enough about the other side of Africa because the current media coverage is reactionary and suffers from the “if it bleeds, it leads” syndrome. The western media tends to overplay the negative side of events in Africa to serve their “domestic audiences, corporate interests and home governments”.
The most interesting stories are not Africa’s problems but the hope and heroism throughout the continent in the face of those problems. The lack of consistent media attention is obscuring important positive developments in Africa. Today there is a second wind of change blowing across Africa, a trend towards greater democracy and a growing confidence that goes uncovered by the media. Disasters in Somalia, Darfur and West Africa dominate, while transitions to democracy in Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Namibia, and elsewhere are ignored.
Understanding the day-to-day stories of Africa means abandoning preconceived notions. Reporters should try to portray people in ways that are recognizable to Africans. With better media coverage, the United States and the world would realize that there is more to Africa than death, disease, disaster, and despair.
The promotion and visibility of a brighter Africa within society-at-large will play a significant role in creating cultural pride, encourage good business practice and sound investment in African businesses.
Jul 13, 2006
TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN NAIROBI
High parking fee not a solution
Story by: Shreya Shah
Publication Date: 7/13/2006
The proposal by the Matatu Welfare Association's chairman, Mr Dickson Mbugua, that the daily parking fee in Nairobi be increased from Sh70 to Sh500 will do little to ease the traffic congestion.
The reasons for the city's congestion are multiple and have been a key concern for decades.
Nairobi expanded out of a work camp of builders of the Mombasa-Kampala railway when the primary means of transport was the ox-wagon. Since those humble beginnings, few major changes have been made to the road grid in the city centre.
The problem grew with the emergence of reconditioned cars as many urban middle-income families, who could not previously afford personal cars, were now able to drive to work.
Since then the city's roads have become choked with motor vehicles of all kinds and in numbers never initially envisioned. The mushrooming of housing estates in rural peripheries in the 1980s has played a part.
While these estates were going up, the city planners failed to plan. Houses were put up but with no thought of schools, clinics, post offices, fire stations and employment centres alongside.
No provisions were made to develop footpaths or even alternative forms of public transport. A smooth traffic flow can be facilitated by installing lights, four-way and three-way road signs such as "Stop and Yield" at strategic junctions and intersections.
These key elements would not only make driving in Nairobi easier but also allow for a smooth flow of traffic and minimise accidents. Apparently, this noble concept is unheard of in Nairobi.
The experimental set of traffic lights at the Westlands/Mall roundabout is a classic example and causes even bigger traffic jams. Because there are absolutely no road signs or traffic lights, you find cars stuck right in the middle of the road, disrupting the whole flow.
Often the congestion is not due to too many vehicles being on the road, but to the absence of regulating signs or devices. Thus all motorists drive, stop and yield as they feel like.
Mr Mbugua's plan is rent-seeking in nature. It can only work in a city with a well-developed public transport network, where motorists abide by the law and roads have no potholes. Clearly Nairobi is not one of these.
Shreyah H. Shah,
Massachusetts, US.
________________________________________
© 2005 NationMediaGroup All Rights Reserved
Jul 8, 2006
QUOTES ON LIBERTY AND PROSPERITY
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
Abraham Lincoln
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin
"The claims of these organizers of humanity raise another question which I have often asked them and which, so far as I know, they have never answered: If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?"
Frederic Bastiat
In reference to the Roman Empire: "Here is the classic example of that kind of insincerity in both foreign and domestic affairs which permeates not only avowed motives but also probably the conscious motives of the actors themselves--that of a policy which pretends to aspire to peace but unerringly generates war, the policy of continual preparation for war, the policy of meddlesome interventionism. There was no corner of the known world where some interest was not alleged to be in danger or under actual attack. If the interests were not those of Rome, they were those of Rome's allies; and if Rome had no allies, then allies would be invented. When it was utterly impossible to contrive such an interest--why, then it was the national honour that had been insulted. The fight was always invested with an aura of legality. Rome was always being attacked by evil-minded neighbours, always fighting for a breathing space. The whole world was pervaded by a host of enemies and it was manifestly Rome's duty to guard against their indubitably aggressive designs. They were enemies who only waited to fall on the Roman people ..."
Joseph Schumpeter, The Sociology of Imperialism
The areas in which the country has done well are the areas where the government doesn't have its hand, which is information technology and beauty. We have had a whole string of Miss World contestants. We are known for our spirituality, because we don't have a ministry of religion
Kiran Karnik - President of Nasscom
Sustainable Development
“Those who fear a sudden depletion of resources do not understand economics. Predictions that we will run out of oil and other resources are notoriously inaccurate. Remember the Club of Rome? In the early 1970s the Club, a private international association of about 75 businessmen, scientists, and scholars, predicted that the world would run out of gold by 1981, mercury by 1985, tin by 1987, zinc by 1990, petroleum by 1992, and copper, lead, and natural gas by 1993. They were wrong on every single count. Not only were they wrong, but proven reserves (reserves that we know about) of most non-renewable resources, including oil, are higher than ever before.”
Laura Jones – “Is Calgary a Sustainable City”, Fraser Forum, July 2002
"What is needed to stop the trend toward socialism and despotism is common sense and moral courage"
Margaret Turnbull
The great virtue of free enterprise is that it forces existing businesses to meet the test of the market continuously, to produce products that meet consumer demands at lowest cost, or else be driven from the market. It is a profit-and-loss system. Naturally, existing businesses generally prefer to keep out competitors in other ways. That is why the business community, despite its rhetoric, has so often been a major enemy of truly free enterprise
Milton Friedman
An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought.
Simon Cameron
Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for.
Will Rogers
The proliferation of bureaucrats and its invariable accompaniment, much heavier tax levies on the productive part of the population, are the recognizable signs, not of a great, but of a decaying society. Historians know that both phenomena were especially marked in the declining eras of the Roman Empire in the West and of its successor state, the Eastern or Byzantine Empire.
William Henry Chamberlin
If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that, if it is comfort or money it values more, it will lose that too.
William Somerset Maugham, 1941
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
Abraham Lincoln
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin
"The claims of these organizers of humanity raise another question which I have often asked them and which, so far as I know, they have never answered: If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?"
Frederic Bastiat
In reference to the Roman Empire: "Here is the classic example of that kind of insincerity in both foreign and domestic affairs which permeates not only avowed motives but also probably the conscious motives of the actors themselves--that of a policy which pretends to aspire to peace but unerringly generates war, the policy of continual preparation for war, the policy of meddlesome interventionism. There was no corner of the known world where some interest was not alleged to be in danger or under actual attack. If the interests were not those of Rome, they were those of Rome's allies; and if Rome had no allies, then allies would be invented. When it was utterly impossible to contrive such an interest--why, then it was the national honour that had been insulted. The fight was always invested with an aura of legality. Rome was always being attacked by evil-minded neighbours, always fighting for a breathing space. The whole world was pervaded by a host of enemies and it was manifestly Rome's duty to guard against their indubitably aggressive designs. They were enemies who only waited to fall on the Roman people ..."
Joseph Schumpeter, The Sociology of Imperialism
The areas in which the country has done well are the areas where the government doesn't have its hand, which is information technology and beauty. We have had a whole string of Miss World contestants. We are known for our spirituality, because we don't have a ministry of religion
Kiran Karnik - President of Nasscom
Sustainable Development
“Those who fear a sudden depletion of resources do not understand economics. Predictions that we will run out of oil and other resources are notoriously inaccurate. Remember the Club of Rome? In the early 1970s the Club, a private international association of about 75 businessmen, scientists, and scholars, predicted that the world would run out of gold by 1981, mercury by 1985, tin by 1987, zinc by 1990, petroleum by 1992, and copper, lead, and natural gas by 1993. They were wrong on every single count. Not only were they wrong, but proven reserves (reserves that we know about) of most non-renewable resources, including oil, are higher than ever before.”
Laura Jones – “Is Calgary a Sustainable City”, Fraser Forum, July 2002
"What is needed to stop the trend toward socialism and despotism is common sense and moral courage"
Margaret Turnbull
The great virtue of free enterprise is that it forces existing businesses to meet the test of the market continuously, to produce products that meet consumer demands at lowest cost, or else be driven from the market. It is a profit-and-loss system. Naturally, existing businesses generally prefer to keep out competitors in other ways. That is why the business community, despite its rhetoric, has so often been a major enemy of truly free enterprise
Milton Friedman
An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought.
Simon Cameron
Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for.
Will Rogers
The proliferation of bureaucrats and its invariable accompaniment, much heavier tax levies on the productive part of the population, are the recognizable signs, not of a great, but of a decaying society. Historians know that both phenomena were especially marked in the declining eras of the Roman Empire in the West and of its successor state, the Eastern or Byzantine Empire.
William Henry Chamberlin
If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that, if it is comfort or money it values more, it will lose that too.
William Somerset Maugham, 1941
FACTS ON CORRUPTION AND AID
from: Corruption and foreign aid in Africa,’ by Herbert H. Werlin
A 2004 World Bank report on corruption noted that bribery has become a trillion-dollar industry; causing far more wealth to flow from poor countries to rich countries than these poor countries receive in foreign aid. Whereas an estimated trillion dollars of foreign aid has been given to poor countries since World War ii, at least 5 percent of the world's domestic product (amounting to $1.5 trillion in 2001) goes into the financial markets of wealthy countries in the form of money laundering. According to a recent study of 30 sub-Saharan countries, those countries' ruling elites had private overseas assets equivalent to 145 percent of the public debts that their countries owed, and about 80 cents on every dollar borrowed flowed back to the West as capital flight. Robert Guest, the Africa editor of the Economist, estimates that this amounts to about 40 percent of Africa's privately held wealth
Typical definitions of corruption include three, often overlapping categories:
(1) misuse of money or favors for private gain;
(2) inappropriate exchanges of money or favors for undue influence or power; and
(3) violations of public interest or norms of behavior.
A distinction can be drawn between primary corruption-excessive partisan behavior, or greed, within an existing governmental system-and secondary corruption-partisan behavior carried out in the absence of viable statesmanship or governance. There is, in most cases, fear and shame associated with primary corruption, whereas with secondary corruption there is little fear of punishment or concern about dishonor. Where corruption is systemic, or secondary, the value judgments that are necessary in the standard definitions are undermined.
What prevents efforts to help countries like Ghana and Nigeria from being successful is the secondary corruption-the poor quality of the social relationships necessary for the functioning of institutions. Such relationships cannot develop unless political power takes an "elastic" form, allowing it to be delegated or decentralized without losing control and to predictably affect the behavior of subordinates and the general public.
A 2004 World Bank report on corruption noted that bribery has become a trillion-dollar industry; causing far more wealth to flow from poor countries to rich countries than these poor countries receive in foreign aid. Whereas an estimated trillion dollars of foreign aid has been given to poor countries since World War ii, at least 5 percent of the world's domestic product (amounting to $1.5 trillion in 2001) goes into the financial markets of wealthy countries in the form of money laundering. According to a recent study of 30 sub-Saharan countries, those countries' ruling elites had private overseas assets equivalent to 145 percent of the public debts that their countries owed, and about 80 cents on every dollar borrowed flowed back to the West as capital flight. Robert Guest, the Africa editor of the Economist, estimates that this amounts to about 40 percent of Africa's privately held wealth
Typical definitions of corruption include three, often overlapping categories:
(1) misuse of money or favors for private gain;
(2) inappropriate exchanges of money or favors for undue influence or power; and
(3) violations of public interest or norms of behavior.
A distinction can be drawn between primary corruption-excessive partisan behavior, or greed, within an existing governmental system-and secondary corruption-partisan behavior carried out in the absence of viable statesmanship or governance. There is, in most cases, fear and shame associated with primary corruption, whereas with secondary corruption there is little fear of punishment or concern about dishonor. Where corruption is systemic, or secondary, the value judgments that are necessary in the standard definitions are undermined.
What prevents efforts to help countries like Ghana and Nigeria from being successful is the secondary corruption-the poor quality of the social relationships necessary for the functioning of institutions. Such relationships cannot develop unless political power takes an "elastic" form, allowing it to be delegated or decentralized without losing control and to predictably affect the behavior of subordinates and the general public.
Jul 6, 2006
MAKE CORRUPTION, NOT POVERTY, HISTORY
Among the recommendations made at the G8 shadow meeting in Moscow in preparation for the St Petersburg summit is that international organizations such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organization be overhauled. The concern is that these outfits now entrench poverty and inequality.
One year after the G8 Gleneagles summit, there is little wonder why no progress has been made by the ‘group of rich’ in reducing poverty in Africa. The answer is corruption. Kenya’s problems are a classic example of those that plague the rest of the continent. Corruption in Kenya is widespread because conditions are ripe for it. The motivation to earn income is extremely strong, exacerbated by poverty. Furthermore, risks such as illness, accidents, and unemployment are high as people generally lack the many risk-spreading mechanisms including insurance and a well-developed labor market that are available in wealthier countries.
Corruption has prevented Kenya’s economic development and has rotted her democracy; it has been the gangrene making the country’s other problems untreatable. It is the single biggest reason for Kenya’s economic meltdown. In a poll commissioned by the agency Rope Starch International in nineteen developing countries, corruption was the fourth on the list of top fifteen national concerns of citizens, after crime, inflation, and recession.
Kenya is a true yet sad example of what can happen to a country when corruption becomes pervasive and of how once corruption becomes a way of life -- transition out of it is extremely difficult. Corruption becomes institutionalized; it becomes a way of life. Kenya's corruption problem is rooted in the African tradition of presenting gifts as a token of appreciation. After the country became independent from Britain in 1963, a benign custom turned institutional as unscrupulous individuals began demanding "gifts" in exchange for services. Proud of their new-found freedom, Kenyans initially turned a blind eye toward the mounting corruption. It didn't matter how you acquired your wealth, if you were a rich man you were a hero. And now we are trying to change the mentality of some 32 million Kenyans that if you acquire wealth the wrong way you are a thief.
Corruption in Kenya is both a symptom and a cause of institutional deficiencies, thriving because of poorly designed economic policies, lack of competition, and weak accountability of public authorities. Corruption inevitably results as people try to circumvent the extensive controls and regulations, and take advantage of the loopholes. The ruling class, comprising the exploitative capitalists and the corrupt public servants emerge as the winners.
Addressing corruption effectively means tackling these underlying causes. The World Bank country director Colin Bruce said that despite laws like the civil service code of conduct and the declaration of assets by public servants, Kenya is close to loosing the war on graft. If any real progress it to be made, emphasis must be put on prevention through reforming economic policies and institutions such that opportunities to engage in corruption and incentives to be corrupt will weaken. Efforts to improve enforcement of anticorruption legislation using the police, ethics offices, or special watchdog agencies within government will not bear fruit otherwise. It is then no wonder that Kenya with its numerous anti-corruption commissions and taskforces have had little success.
If the West is truly dedicated in helping Africa then it should spend all its resources in making corruption, not poverty, history. The rich countries could begin by helping African governments to retrieve the money politicians have stashed in Western banks. If this is done, the continent will request fewer loans from the West. Everyone will be happy -- the West will have more peace of mind, and Africans will have enough to live on without putting their bottomless begging bowls
Offshore banking and tax havens are world champions in building empires for crooks and then protecting them behind smoke screens. This facilitates the corrupt elites and oligarchs to own businesses with very complicated structures. The practices of some foreign banks are also debatable. However unethical practices by foreign banks and defects in the international economic system and other external factors alone are insufficient to explain Africa's economic crisis. Nor could foreign companies exploit African economies without the connivance or active encouragement of corrupt government officials.
Shreya Hasmukhlal Shah,
Kenyan graduate student at the International Business School,
Brandeis University
One year after the G8 Gleneagles summit, there is little wonder why no progress has been made by the ‘group of rich’ in reducing poverty in Africa. The answer is corruption. Kenya’s problems are a classic example of those that plague the rest of the continent. Corruption in Kenya is widespread because conditions are ripe for it. The motivation to earn income is extremely strong, exacerbated by poverty. Furthermore, risks such as illness, accidents, and unemployment are high as people generally lack the many risk-spreading mechanisms including insurance and a well-developed labor market that are available in wealthier countries.
Corruption has prevented Kenya’s economic development and has rotted her democracy; it has been the gangrene making the country’s other problems untreatable. It is the single biggest reason for Kenya’s economic meltdown. In a poll commissioned by the agency Rope Starch International in nineteen developing countries, corruption was the fourth on the list of top fifteen national concerns of citizens, after crime, inflation, and recession.
Kenya is a true yet sad example of what can happen to a country when corruption becomes pervasive and of how once corruption becomes a way of life -- transition out of it is extremely difficult. Corruption becomes institutionalized; it becomes a way of life. Kenya's corruption problem is rooted in the African tradition of presenting gifts as a token of appreciation. After the country became independent from Britain in 1963, a benign custom turned institutional as unscrupulous individuals began demanding "gifts" in exchange for services. Proud of their new-found freedom, Kenyans initially turned a blind eye toward the mounting corruption. It didn't matter how you acquired your wealth, if you were a rich man you were a hero. And now we are trying to change the mentality of some 32 million Kenyans that if you acquire wealth the wrong way you are a thief.
Corruption in Kenya is both a symptom and a cause of institutional deficiencies, thriving because of poorly designed economic policies, lack of competition, and weak accountability of public authorities. Corruption inevitably results as people try to circumvent the extensive controls and regulations, and take advantage of the loopholes. The ruling class, comprising the exploitative capitalists and the corrupt public servants emerge as the winners.
Addressing corruption effectively means tackling these underlying causes. The World Bank country director Colin Bruce said that despite laws like the civil service code of conduct and the declaration of assets by public servants, Kenya is close to loosing the war on graft. If any real progress it to be made, emphasis must be put on prevention through reforming economic policies and institutions such that opportunities to engage in corruption and incentives to be corrupt will weaken. Efforts to improve enforcement of anticorruption legislation using the police, ethics offices, or special watchdog agencies within government will not bear fruit otherwise. It is then no wonder that Kenya with its numerous anti-corruption commissions and taskforces have had little success.
If the West is truly dedicated in helping Africa then it should spend all its resources in making corruption, not poverty, history. The rich countries could begin by helping African governments to retrieve the money politicians have stashed in Western banks. If this is done, the continent will request fewer loans from the West. Everyone will be happy -- the West will have more peace of mind, and Africans will have enough to live on without putting their bottomless begging bowls
Offshore banking and tax havens are world champions in building empires for crooks and then protecting them behind smoke screens. This facilitates the corrupt elites and oligarchs to own businesses with very complicated structures. The practices of some foreign banks are also debatable. However unethical practices by foreign banks and defects in the international economic system and other external factors alone are insufficient to explain Africa's economic crisis. Nor could foreign companies exploit African economies without the connivance or active encouragement of corrupt government officials.
Shreya Hasmukhlal Shah,
Kenyan graduate student at the International Business School,
Brandeis University
Jul 4, 2006
TECHNOLOGY NOT TO BLAME FOR KENYA’S UNEMPLOYMENT
TECHNOLOGY NOT TO BLAME FOR KENYA’S UNEMPLOYMENT
Re: Daily Nation, Monday 3rd July, ‘Why there aren’t 500,000 new jobs a year’, Kwamchetsi Makokha, http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=25&newsid=76419
Yes Kenya is an agricultural country but must it also be a backward country? Mr. Makokha (‘Why there aren’t 500,000 new jobs a year’, Daily Nation 3 July) makes dangerous conclusions on why Kenya’s unemployment rate remains high. That we managed to sustain the economy when the donor taps ran dry is indeed a fact to be proud about. But to imply that ‘foreign business interests’ have resorted to taking away the jobs they promised is nothing but hot air. As for the corruption scandals, they had every right to expose the truth and it was Kenya’s own Mr. Githongo who really blew the whistle.
Ever wondered why a country such as Brazil is the world’s largest coffee exporter Kenya isn’t? It is certainly not because Brazil resisted technology. Brazil is considered to be a trend setter in the coffee sector. In fact, Brazil was a pioneer in innovations on production, giving high tech access to even the smallest of growers. Drought is perceived as the biggest risk for Brazilian coffee growers so an industry and government consortium helps farmers access irrigation techniques and conducts research to improve quality and production efficiency. Additional techniques include issuances of bonds for production on coffee not yet harvested. Brazil has created a risk management model now being copied by other countries.
Logistical improvements in highways and other transportation infrastructure helped growers distribute production more quickly and easily. Privatization efforts also improved rail systems and harbors. Domestic transport costs declined, allowing even small scale grower to tap into the export market. According to a World Bank report- ‘Why is the Brazilian Coffee Sector so Competitive?’ technology remains the key to lowering production costs and making greater efficiency gains.
It is indeed very easy to blame Kenya’s problems on ‘the rest’ but before we do so we must analyze what really has the government done lately to create an investment friendly climate in the our key agricultural sectors in terms of investment in infrastructure and institutions. As it is, Kenya risks losing its premier position in many industries such as horticulture to more cost effective and technologically advanced nations such as South Africa, and suggesting an import tax of 300% on agro-machinery will only speed up the process.
Shreya Hasmukhlal Shah
International Business School, Brandeis University
USA
Re: Daily Nation, Monday 3rd July, ‘Why there aren’t 500,000 new jobs a year’, Kwamchetsi Makokha, http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=25&newsid=76419
Yes Kenya is an agricultural country but must it also be a backward country? Mr. Makokha (‘Why there aren’t 500,000 new jobs a year’, Daily Nation 3 July) makes dangerous conclusions on why Kenya’s unemployment rate remains high. That we managed to sustain the economy when the donor taps ran dry is indeed a fact to be proud about. But to imply that ‘foreign business interests’ have resorted to taking away the jobs they promised is nothing but hot air. As for the corruption scandals, they had every right to expose the truth and it was Kenya’s own Mr. Githongo who really blew the whistle.
Ever wondered why a country such as Brazil is the world’s largest coffee exporter Kenya isn’t? It is certainly not because Brazil resisted technology. Brazil is considered to be a trend setter in the coffee sector. In fact, Brazil was a pioneer in innovations on production, giving high tech access to even the smallest of growers. Drought is perceived as the biggest risk for Brazilian coffee growers so an industry and government consortium helps farmers access irrigation techniques and conducts research to improve quality and production efficiency. Additional techniques include issuances of bonds for production on coffee not yet harvested. Brazil has created a risk management model now being copied by other countries.
Logistical improvements in highways and other transportation infrastructure helped growers distribute production more quickly and easily. Privatization efforts also improved rail systems and harbors. Domestic transport costs declined, allowing even small scale grower to tap into the export market. According to a World Bank report- ‘Why is the Brazilian Coffee Sector so Competitive?’ technology remains the key to lowering production costs and making greater efficiency gains.
It is indeed very easy to blame Kenya’s problems on ‘the rest’ but before we do so we must analyze what really has the government done lately to create an investment friendly climate in the our key agricultural sectors in terms of investment in infrastructure and institutions. As it is, Kenya risks losing its premier position in many industries such as horticulture to more cost effective and technologically advanced nations such as South Africa, and suggesting an import tax of 300% on agro-machinery will only speed up the process.
Shreya Hasmukhlal Shah
International Business School, Brandeis University
USA
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)