There is need to tilt the balance of trade

At the moment Kenya imports almost three quarters of the goods used in the country. The dream of playing the same field as the Asian tigers will not be realized if such move is not stopped. The reason being the little money we make from exports will be consumed to import and still not meet the demand this leaves us having to utilize donor funding and other credit measures to balance out the deficit.

It’s time we started seeing Kenyan made TV sets and radio sets. If for forty something years since independence nobody has thought of it then it’s time to take the leap of faith. It doesn’t have to be electronics only; we can start with things that are not as complex like making a bicycle or a gas cooker then rise up to more complex ones.  There are many people out here with money but have no idea how to invest their money. If a mechanism can be established where these people act as angle investors for people with the know-how of making Kenyan goods and not necessarily fresh ideas then we will be on our way of waking up from the dream.

The Need for Efficiency

There is an urgent need to ensure efficient management of  resources to make meaningful head ways towards the vision

 

More often than not it is the knowledge of how best to use your resources than how much you have that makes the difference. Kenya has very minimal resources if at all any; this doesn’t mean that we can’t make it. If we learn to use what we have to the maximum benefit we will do just as well as countries that have abundant resources at their disposal. We are not reaping enough benefit from agriculture which is the backbone of our economy yet we want ICT to work for us.

If you ask me Agriculture is the place we should be wasting our many because a hungry economy is as good as dead. Instead of spending millions of dollars to lay fiber optic cables across oceans we should be looking at how we can make the entire north eastern province arable by irrigation. What value will communication give a country that has a food deficit each year?

I heard the other day the Prime Minister say that the Kenyan Government was taking action to avert the hunger crisis by inviting donors to help. That to me is barbaric and silly. The same way we invested in laying an oil pipe network is what we should have done 40 years ago for water. We cannot seat back and expect donors to come to our rescue each year when it rather obvious that rain fed agriculture never seems to work for us. Maximum utility of the land must be achieved and that can only be done if irrigation is taken seriously.

To industrialize or not is the question

We have a very good document in the Vision but visions only happen at night.  I mean a good number of them are in the form of dreams. You don’t dream when you are a wake, if you do, that becomes a day dream meaning the chances of it happening are very minimal. We do not want to end up with a pipe dream, do we?

The best way for Kenya to industrialize at this time is to force us there and not wait for the market to do it. There must be deliberate concerted effort by the government to lead the market. I mean we have to go the German way. The story of how Hitler put engineers in one room and demanded to get the world cheapest car is our best bet to make meaningful change in the way we get industrialized.

If we let the market lead us, we will only end up with our resources making things that will benefit a small percentage of the population based on the ability to pay and not on the need to satisfy the real needs of the people.

The Kenyan Education Scandal

The scandal nation never has enough. Kenya should acquire an aka if the happening in the scandal sphere is anything to go by.Am told the not very honorable Ongeri said the money they are claiming he stole helped the people of Kisii so those guys should back him now that he is being followed. This leaves me wondering does the KACC and the police need any investigations really?

so we are fighting corruption

The government is a dog, otherwise why would it let people mentioned adversely for drug trafficking go scottfree. The Mwaus and Kabogos should have been handled longtime ago. If we are serious in dealing with the problems that bedevil this country a stern leader is required.Someone who will not think twice when it comes to handling the elite crooks