Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 04:57:14 -0800 (PST)
From: Joseph Okumu
Subject: Re: [Jambo] Fwd: The Kibaki Story


To All,
I find the piece from this writer and Kibaki admirer quite interesting. Kenya missed a big opportunity to Industrialize and be at par with SE Asia tigers when Kibaki was the Finance Minister. The corruption that brought Ken-Ren the fertilizer project, Kisumu Molasses Utilization Project, The Halal Meat, the Eldoret Furfural, all happened under his watch.

The wastage of coffee boom money from 1974 to 1980 was all under Kibaki. The generation of Kenyans who graduated from 1978 to 1985 is like a lost generation, under utilized, under employed, people who could have made a difference to Kenya's industrialization. The Nyayo Pioneer Car, Roads that were built to last for only five years: Thika Road, Nakuru Eldoret Road, Naivasha- Nakuru road, Mombasa Road etc who was in charge of Treasury?

Kibaki, the economist forgot a basic fact in economics that: money is the net foreign assets plus net domestic savings. When he got all the net foreign assets from Coffee boom what did he do? He squandered it on Imports of Mercedes Benz and other useless luxury goods not useful for economic growth.

He has come back to do the same, hence Anglo Leasing and other mega corruption. How do you do business when interest rate is over 10%? Do you know of any country which has ever industrialized with this level of interest rate? What is this high interest rate a sign of? Is if growth or inflation?

There is no legitimate business that can turn profitability of over 10% continuously unless you are living in a Utopian world. That would be exploitation and not business.

When you pay 15% mortgage rate, is that something to be proud of?

Please let us not talk nonesense and start being realistic. In UK even an interest rate rise of 0.25% causes uproar, yet these ignorant people are proud of it!

If you borrow money at that rate you are not helping yourself or business. If you pay inflation cost for maize or sugar at above world prices you only benefit the merchant and not the farmer.

These pseudo economists are killing enterprise in Kenya by supporting unsustainable system with built in inherent weaknesses: it if like building a carton house, and you call it growth?

Bus fares have to be affordable, food has to be affordable, housing has to be affordable, there has to be clean water supply, power to the homes at affordable rates, fuel at affordable rates, jobs available to match the skills, not under employment: if you think a graduate working as a check out till person is a job you are mad. Then you don't know why you need education. Have you heard of R &D? How much money has Kibaki put in R & D since he came to power?

We have fallen behind Uganda on per-capita income, almost at the same level with Tz, and you think that is an achievement?