urn:mashada-com:feeds:atom Mashada Blogs » December 11, 2008 Mashada Blogs » December 11, 2008 2009-11-21T08:01:32-05:00 http://kumekucha.blogspot.com/2008/12/media-bill-product-of-living-national.html You Missed This: Media Bill Product of Living National Lie 2008-12-11T19:33:00-05:00 2008-12-11T19:33:00-05:00
This must be a very delicious pre-Christmas meal to the media just as we mark 45 years of independence whose tenets have been reduced to serve personal interest at the expense of the national good. Our myopic politicians may have just tightened the noose around their own necks albeit unwittingly so. They may smile from ear to ear cheating themselves that they have eventually nailed the press oblivious of the fact that the scribes will be their first port of call when they are out of political favour.

The present political class have summarily disabused us of the hitherto call for fresh political faces. They have proved no different from Shariff Nassirs of yore. Their selfish antics is an arrogant confirmation that all the high-sounding rhetoric were nothing but decoys meant to blind us from their ambitions to replace the eating at the table of impunity.

But again they are not alone. We have seen right here bigots clothe their tirades in unrivalled eloquence that redefines learned demagogy.

The good old adage that all that goes around comes around mean nothing to our political elite. A simple historical lesson would inform them that then Vice-President Kibaki ARTICULATELY seconded Njonjo’s 1982 bill to make Kenya an official dictatorship only to RUE his misplaced with and ELOQUENCE during his long stint in opposition politics.

Poisoned eloquence
Freedom is never granted but instedad it is bitterly and painfully fought for. Forget the entire fad that Kibaki has given Kenya the present freedom they enjoy. Times have changed and people have commensurately raised the bar. Only our politicians still draw pleasure and pride in primitive gimmicks.

Legalizing police raids on media house is akin to watering the seed of political incest where the Government would pretend to police itself in Parliament. Well, the politicians have selfishly made the bed and must accept to lie of it with all the thorns sprouting underneath. Self-regulation with independent arbiters is the practice the world over to have media remain responsible but not in Kenya.

That Kenya will never be the same after last year’s bungled election is no cliche. The truism that life changes fast and furiously and the villains of today can easily be tomorrow’s victims cannot be gainsaid. Double standards remain our bane to national progress.

Only Kenyans joyfully live the national lie in killing institutions and turn around to decry dearth of the same even before the burial ceremony if over. The Artur brothers must be exposing their post molars in obtuse exhilaration at the present turn of events. ]]> http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=1309 kenyanentrepreneur Kenyanentrepreneur.com: The Freedom To Remain Speechless 2008-12-11T18:41:47-05:00 2008-12-11T18:41:47-05:00 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=1310 kenyanentrepreneur Kenyanentrepreneur.com: [nt] 2008-12-11T18:41:12-05:00 2008-12-11T18:41:12-05:00 http://lovelymoney.blogspot.com/2008/12/waiting.html For Love and Money: Waiting............ 2008-12-11T18:01:00-05:00 2008-12-11T18:01:00-05:00 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blacklooks/mUCi/~3/482411380/why_i_blog_about_africa.html Sokari Black Looks: Why I blog about Africa 2008-12-11T15:34:59-05:00 2008-12-11T15:34:59-05:00 http://wherehermadnessresides.blogspot.com/2008/12/globality-came-to-town-riding-on.html What An African Woman Thinks: Globality Came to Town Riding On A Telenovela 2008-12-11T14:02:00-05:00 2008-12-11T14:02:00-05:00 a new era of competition in which enterprises from the developed world which once dominated the flow of business are suddenly finding themselves competing with everyone from everywhere for everything.

I was absentmindedly channel surfing on Wednesday when I landed on Channel two. A South American Telenovela, was on (and yes, I confess, that was my hand in the cookie jar already), I paused and watched more than a little.

Later, I found out that it’s called Juana la Viroen and that the original Spanish edition is from Venezuela. (There’s precious little that isn't within the reach of google these days, I tell ya.)

So. Telenovela. Names like Alfredo, Armando, Juana tossed about casually and the actors looking every bit like every other actor or actress from the plethora of telenovelas on Kenyan Television.

Nothing particularly remarkable about that.

Except.

The English translation dubbed over the Spanish was rendered in a variety of Nigerian accents, strong and not so strong.

It knocked me back a little.

I was absentmindedly listening to a conversation in Nigerian English, but the images were South American. It took me a while to draw the line that joined the dots, I confess.

It was so weird and so different and so a sign of the times.

Some enterprising individual somewhere figured English is English is English, isn’t it, so why not try something different?

Why not indeed. I’m loving it. Not likely to watch it again but loving the idea of it nonetheless. It is so the next thing after Indian BPO outsourcing.

I wonder where we go from here.It's my window, but I don't own the view. ]]> http://coldtusker.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-is-jimnah-smoking.html Rants, Raves & Reviews: What is jimnah smoking? 2008-12-11T13:56:00-05:00 2008-12-11T13:56:00-05:00 this article or was it ghost-written for him?

It started off well but as the effects of whatever the writer was chewing or smoking got hold of him...

GoK - Government of Kenya
CBR - Central Bank Rate. Rate at which the CBK lends KES to Kenyan banks.
CR - Cash Ratio. % of customer/bank deposits that have to given (interest-free) by banks to the CBK. It also acts as a brake on lending but increases lending rates.

1) Lower Interest Rates & Cash Ratio:
I agree a lower CR will increase lending as banks will have "more" funds to lend as they can go after additional deposits. As interest rates for loans fall, firms can take on additional risk/investments due to lower project costs.

Lowering the CBR will encourage 'cheaper' lending but this is dicey in that banks often have to be 'forced' (after adjusting for default & borrower risk) to lend at cheaper rates unless there is sufficient competition.

In my view, its better to privatize - or transfer the management to professional hands - additional government owned/controlled institutions e.g. KPA, KPC and KAA then lend them 'cheaper' funds - with private sector oversight - for big-ticket items. This is a long-term view but worked well for the USA during FDR's time with the New Deal...

KPA - A 2nd port + better facilities at Kilindini + new bulk grain handling facility.
KPC - Longer & larger fuel pipelines to Kisumu then Uganda & all the way to Rwanda.
KAA - A 2nd runway is desperately needed + new terminals + FAA Category 1 certification for N.American flights + upgrade existing terminals.

2) Buy SafCon (& other shares) from the market to inject liquidity:
The Hong Kong government did that successfully but HK ran a surplus (GoK has a deficit) & HK's gov't financial dealings are considered relatively 'clean' whereas 'GoK' & 'clean' are not in the same dictionary let alone sentence!

Unless the buying process is managed independent of any political influence, buying shares opens up multiple avenues of insider trading and corruption e.g. merali (a pal of dan moi's) can influence the government to buy shares in his shitty firms (eveready, sasini and sameer) which are among the NSE's worst performers!
Or the GoK buys shares in Tea firms to 'support' the tea industry whereas tourism might be a better investment.

It is short-sighted & stupid to bar Kenyan Fund Managers from investing off-shore. A Fund Manager's job is to get the best returns for his clients NOT support Kenya's economy! What next? Ban forex transactions to 'save' forex? Ban foreign travel to encourage domestic travel?
Just was we want foreign money (FDIs & stock-market investments) we have to allow foreign investments or how different are we from the Tanzanians?

BTW... mbaru was intimately involved in selling SafCon at a preferred price to 'hidden' foreigners who were supposedly 'long-term investors' but these mbaru-supported foreigners were the first to cash out.

3) Borrow to Lend to other countries- Great in theory but not smart in practice... not for Kenya. How will the GoK control - with minimal bureaucracy (read corruption) - that the funds lent are spent on Kenyan goods?
At what interest rate does Kenya borrow & lend?
Will some firms be favoured exporters (esp those connected with politicians)?
How will the minimum 'local' content be regulated so its not just mere trans-shipment of goods?

The only way out is to create an EXIM bank run on a PROFESSIONAL & COMMERCIAL basis which also provides sustainability.

These countries already buy Kenyan, the problem is INFRASTRUCTURAl DEFICIENCIES to deliver the goods. The Rwandese complain about delays in transporting goods. Kenyan exporters have to bribe the Kenyan customs so the trucks are allowed through without inordinate delays. Building a railway to S.Sudan will do more for them & Kenya than lending S.Sudan money. As is... they might just buy more T-72 tanks!

(BTW... who was that idiot wentagula think he was fooling when he said the T-72s were for the Kenyan armed forces?)

Solution is to cut down on spurious customs & inspections when goods are exported to our neighbours. Yes, watch out for smuggled ivory, sandalwood, etc but not the hassles with exporting locally produced goods.

Instead of the GoK borrowing money... how about reducing taxes? Almost the same difference regarding 'deficit' but a much faster way of getting liquidity into the economy... and its also egalitarian!

4) Building Sewers:
Isn't this a job for municipalities?
Why were houses allowed to be built without sewers?

How do cash-strapped consumers build ditches or pay to be connected?
Unlike MPs, the Kenyan taxpayer does not get subsidized housing mortgages or tax-free allowances.
Shouldn't other municipalities be included in the programme?
What happens if a home-owner (with a mortgage) can't afford to be 'connected'?

It's better to have a comprehensive New Deal rather than simply building sewers in Nairobi!

5) Sale Lease-backs:
The chances of buying the properties back at a reasonable price is almost zero... unless the economy is in the gutter... in which case the situation would be similar to what it is now...

And the corruption involved would be phenomenal!

It is more efficient and cheaper to (a) outsource most government functions (b) issue long-dated bonds than sell and lease back properties (c) encourage private entrepreneurship (d) fire 70% of the cabinet. ]]> http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Kenyanpoet/~3/481673982/forget-erykah-badu-angie-stone-and-jill.html N.W Kenyanpoet: Forget Erykah Badu, Angie Stone and Jill Scott, discover new underground Neo Soul Artists 2008-12-11T10:11:00-05:00 2008-12-11T10:11:00-05:00 I met a guy today under totally different circumstances(he'd been called to our office for net support). Let us just say, my mind has been opened up to a whole new world where Neo Soul Music and artists thrive beyond my wildest imagination.
I discovered such artists like Rare Earth, N'dambi,Ola Onabule, Kendra Ross and many more. They can all be found on www.justsoul.net

( Image - Yahzarah)
One can also sample their music through two deadly online live streaming sites(for those with good bandwith). Projectvibe, Soul tracks and Aol radio.
Just to give you a sample of how much Neo-soul is out there, below is a calendar of recent album releases over the last couple of months as well as upcoming releases.
Maysa -Metamorphosis -October 14
LaBelle -Back To Now -October 21
Ledisi -It's Christmas- October 28
John Legend -Evolver -October 28
Rahsaan Patterson- Ultimate Gift- January 2009
Jody Watley -Chamaleon -February 2009
Choklate -TBA -April 2009
N'dambi - TBA- April 2009
Daryl Hall -Hall -TBA
Marlon Saunders- Birth Of Revelation -TBA
James Day -Natural Thing -TBA
Maxwell -Black Summer Night- TBA
Rare Earth -A Brand New World - TBA
Aretha Franklin- A Woman Falling Out of Love- TBA

Thanks S.O for inspiring this article and sharing a collection of your music. Bookmark and Share ]]> http://bankelele.blogspot.com/2008/12/iphone-to-kenya.html bankelele: IPhone to Kenya 2008-12-11T09:47:00-05:00 2008-12-11T09:47:00-05:00 Orange mobile.

You could say it’s a case of bad timing as Kenyans are going through tough economic times and perhaps entering a recession period.

Recession or not?: With (very) high prices of petrol (until recently), electricity, maize and other foods, a spike in the government deficit, global financial turmoil, fewer tourists, reduced remittance volumes all signs would point to an economic slow down. Right?

But not the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK): I have been in the past ‘impressed’ (did I say it was the best bank site?) by the volumes of reports published by the Central Bank, mostly because they are timely, though difficult to decipher the message.

The CBK reports have predicted some hardships, but remained very optimistic and rosy about the country economy. But it appears that the messages are tailored to suit the tone of the day because Kenya’s leading business newspaper has taken note.

Today's Business Daily has a very harsh critique of the CBK reports (which many banks, funds, government departments use to formulate their policies). The BD editorial laments the consistency of presentation, shifting periods for which data is presented, differences in figures published by KNBS (statistics bureau) and a determination by its authors to manipulate data through a series of omissions and change of periods under review that makes it nearly impossible to keep track of ongoings in the economy.

Former Nairobi Stock Exchange boss Jimnah Mbaru (who's also a sometime author) thinks Kenya is headed for a recession and has published a column which ran in some newspapers and appears at Capital FM website titled How Kenya can escape recession . He advocates (like US President-elect Obama) that the Kenya Government spend its way back to robustness. Some of the proposals he suggests include reduce interest rates and cash ratio (which have already happened) but also some strange ones like the government should buy Safaricom shares, sell buildings, and mandates that more sewers be built he also says hedge funds cashing out brought down the NSE this year...hmm.

Blog views: In the absence of as Finance Minister, the Government is engaged in a series of Voodoo economics.

i-Phone outlook: Looking around Nairobi with all the Hummers, new Range Rovers, new apartments complexes etc., it is clear that there’s an affluent class that does not feel the pinch of a (possible) recession and despite the tough year it has been, there have been several new entrants in Kenya.

The i-Phone which has been a worldwide smash, and impressed many (not all) its customers, can be expected to do well here also. Like with the Blackberry before it - which was circulating here unlocked/hacked before its official debut, it will now be licensed and supported after the official launch. ]]> http://wherehermadnessresides.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-want-to-be-unreasonable-woman.html What An African Woman Thinks: I Want to Be An Unreasonable Woman 2008-12-11T06:26:00-05:00 2008-12-11T06:26:00-05:00

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.


George Bernard ShawIt's my window, but I don't own the view. ]]>