Yesterday the CORD Alliance launched its manifesto at KICC to great pomp and glamour. I got a chance to go through the manifesto and though i feel its a nice document for campaigning, i feel it has some shortcomings which i will hilight as under.
Poverty and Cost of living:
Point three states that Cord will promote investment over consumption with measures favoring a combination of high- profit taxes and low interest rates. ( Emphasis mine)
This in my opinion is that CORD is seeking to increase taxes on corporates/companies and individuals with high profits/incomes. This will lead to reduced investments in the economy and lead to fewer companies setting up localy and hence no job creation. With the coming into force of regional markets with free movement of goods and labour, what will prevent a company from setting up shop just across the border in Arusha and export finished goods to Kenya so as to avoid the high taxes.
The world over, no economy has ever developed through a regime of high taxes as this reduces the amount of disposable income thereby reducing investment and consumption which are the drivers of a growing economy. France recently increased taxes on high net worth individuals to 75% and this has seen the emigration of lots of people to countries with low tax rates.
Instead of raising taxes, CORD should focus on widening the tax base by roping in more companies and individuals who are evading and avoiding paying taxes by giving more teeth to the KRA, education on the importance of paying taxes and making tax evasion punitive.
Control Exchange Rates
While the aim of this policy is laudable ie. reducing the cost of imported goods, the method is flawed as active government intervention in exchange rates has seen the counties suffer from massive shocks as was seen in the Asian financial crisis when speculators crashed the financial markets of the Asian tigers.
To control the cost of imports, the government should endeavor to improve the quality of locally manufactured goods through empowering the Kenya Bureau Of Standards, giving incentives for local manufacturing, linkages of our universities and polytechnics with industries so as to produce graduates who are market ready and as for energy, promote the exploration of renewable energy and fast tracking of oil production and extraction so that they come online sooner.
Social Equality.
Design tax policies for redistribution of income and wealth by focusing on counties with limited capacity.
This point looks harmless but when taken together with other policy statements in the manifesto, it comes out that the CORD intends to use the poverty index of the counties to target tax increases that will hit some counties harder than others. The reason why i say this is that the constitution through the revenue allocation authority already has an equalisation fund and anything else is clearly meant to punish counties such as Kiambu for being rich.
I would also like the CORD alliance to define the methodology in everluating the richness/poverty of a county.
All in all, the CORD manifesto has a heavy socialist lean to it and will transform our country into a welfare state. While this is not entirely bad, they have not shown us how they intend to finance all the freebies and handouts apart from increasing taxes on the wealthy.
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Monday, 28 January 2013
KCPE RESULTS-MURANG'A
The results for the 2012 KCPE were released today by the Minister and my home county has improved marginally from position 41 in 2011 to 36. While this improvement is commendable, i believe that alot can be achieved in Murang'a and here's why.
1. While poverty is a reality in many parts of this county, it is not as pervarsive as other counties and with a poverty index that is better than the national average. What this means is that our children are able to go to school, have a meal at lunch and get basic learning materials including books.
2. In the 1980s, Murang'a embarked through harambees the task of building more schools both Primary and Secondary for our children and therefore i believe that no child has to walk for long a distance to attend school. This ensures that our children are not undully tired when they arrive in school.
So with this advantages and may more, why do our schools continue to perform dismally and what can we do to remedy the situation?
a) Security: Security in the county is poor this is affecting the students in terms of their parents not being able to invest and improve their lives economically. The solution to this i believe is to bolster security patrols by the police and establishment of active security intelligence networks. Though the duty of security provision is vested in the National government, the elected leaders in the county must lobby the government to take the matter seriously.
b) Alcoholism: The major social problem in the county is alcoholism. Alcohol has contributed to low investment in the school going child by parents who contribute neither money or time in the development of their children. Its a proven fact that children whose parents take an active role in their lives generally perform better all round. So the solution to this is to encourage parents to go easy on alcohol and help bring up the next generation of leaders.
c) Attitude: Alot of parents nowadays think that since the government is taking care of education through " free primary and day secondary education" that they don't have anything else to do. This is a big mistake. A casual observation of schools both private and public that perform well indicates that the parents participation in the school is high. Participation includes follow ups on how the child is faring in school and discussing progress and remedy with the teachers, ensuring that the child completes and does their homework and provision of incentives to the teachers.
I believe the leaders who will come into office must ensure that education is a priority and the county education office will be staffed with dedicated educationists who have passion for child development.
1. While poverty is a reality in many parts of this county, it is not as pervarsive as other counties and with a poverty index that is better than the national average. What this means is that our children are able to go to school, have a meal at lunch and get basic learning materials including books.
2. In the 1980s, Murang'a embarked through harambees the task of building more schools both Primary and Secondary for our children and therefore i believe that no child has to walk for long a distance to attend school. This ensures that our children are not undully tired when they arrive in school.
So with this advantages and may more, why do our schools continue to perform dismally and what can we do to remedy the situation?
a) Security: Security in the county is poor this is affecting the students in terms of their parents not being able to invest and improve their lives economically. The solution to this i believe is to bolster security patrols by the police and establishment of active security intelligence networks. Though the duty of security provision is vested in the National government, the elected leaders in the county must lobby the government to take the matter seriously.
b) Alcoholism: The major social problem in the county is alcoholism. Alcohol has contributed to low investment in the school going child by parents who contribute neither money or time in the development of their children. Its a proven fact that children whose parents take an active role in their lives generally perform better all round. So the solution to this is to encourage parents to go easy on alcohol and help bring up the next generation of leaders.
c) Attitude: Alot of parents nowadays think that since the government is taking care of education through " free primary and day secondary education" that they don't have anything else to do. This is a big mistake. A casual observation of schools both private and public that perform well indicates that the parents participation in the school is high. Participation includes follow ups on how the child is faring in school and discussing progress and remedy with the teachers, ensuring that the child completes and does their homework and provision of incentives to the teachers.
I believe the leaders who will come into office must ensure that education is a priority and the county education office will be staffed with dedicated educationists who have passion for child development.
Thursday, 24 January 2013
NOMINATIONS AFTERMATH
Its now one week after the nominations debacle presided over by the two dominant coalitions in Kenya and almost everyone is foaming at the mouth looking for the apt adjective to describe them. For me, i would describe them as an apt lesson for all of us, i will get back to that in a while.
Alot of the favorites went through and there were surprises here and there but all in all they conformed to expectations given that in every election about 70% of incumbents always get thrown out.
So what lessons can we take from all this?
a) The IEBC needs to be super prepared since its evident the turnout will be massive and the people will not accept shoddy work. The voters are really passionate about who they want to serve them and in many areas, they were still waiting to vote as late as mid night and nerves will get freyed when people are tired. So enough polling stations will have to be provided at each centre. Any thing out of the ordinary will be seen as an attempt to manipulate the out come and the masses have shown their willingness to protest at times violently.
b) Political parties/coalitions must realise that the peoples say overides the "leaders" wishes and they are not shy about forcing it. Both sides of the devide have shown their total disregard of the will of the people, the Jubilee side atleast later realised their folly and back tracked but the Cord side seems to be stuck in the 90s KANU way of doing things and for all intents and purposes, they are more KANU than KANU itself. The upshot of this is that where the party has defied the wishes of the voters, i foresee voter apathy of sorts and this may hurt the dorminant party there.
c) Politicians need to realise that their every move is closely monitored by the voters. A carefull analysis of the fallen will show you that the voters dont like arrogance and most of the arrogant types have been rejected. From the likes of Midiwo, Anyang, to Githae and Nguyai, while the humble are embraced. The politicians/aspirants who are painting themselves as high mnded are being swept aside, Wanjiuku wants some body who can explain to her issues in a language she understands not jurgon. Case in point, Waititu Vs Mbaru.
d) All of us need to get involed in the affairs of our parties as alot of policies and procedures are being formulated now at this level and their effects may be huge. Case in point is the ODM debacle regarding the choice of their ticket holder for Nairobi Senator. Though its abhorrent what the party has done to Elizabeth Ongoro in denying her the chance to vie and handed it to Margaret Wanjiru, a carefull scrutiny on the party constitution reveals that they are withing their right to do so and every member of the party has signed to these absurd rules. This same rule has been used to hand certificates to the likes of Kajwang, Nyong'o, Midiwo etc.
These elections need to be approached with a sober mind and we need to scrutinise and interogate all pronouncements by politicians and quiz them accordingly. When they say that they will build 100 dams in two years, get them to tell you where the funds will come from and the details of it all. All in all, if we ask tham the tough questions, they will atleast not make empty promises.
In the end, please remind your polician friend the recall clause becomes active after two years and if they don't deliver, we will not wait for two years but we will instead through them out early.
Alot of the favorites went through and there were surprises here and there but all in all they conformed to expectations given that in every election about 70% of incumbents always get thrown out.
So what lessons can we take from all this?
a) The IEBC needs to be super prepared since its evident the turnout will be massive and the people will not accept shoddy work. The voters are really passionate about who they want to serve them and in many areas, they were still waiting to vote as late as mid night and nerves will get freyed when people are tired. So enough polling stations will have to be provided at each centre. Any thing out of the ordinary will be seen as an attempt to manipulate the out come and the masses have shown their willingness to protest at times violently.
b) Political parties/coalitions must realise that the peoples say overides the "leaders" wishes and they are not shy about forcing it. Both sides of the devide have shown their total disregard of the will of the people, the Jubilee side atleast later realised their folly and back tracked but the Cord side seems to be stuck in the 90s KANU way of doing things and for all intents and purposes, they are more KANU than KANU itself. The upshot of this is that where the party has defied the wishes of the voters, i foresee voter apathy of sorts and this may hurt the dorminant party there.
c) Politicians need to realise that their every move is closely monitored by the voters. A carefull analysis of the fallen will show you that the voters dont like arrogance and most of the arrogant types have been rejected. From the likes of Midiwo, Anyang, to Githae and Nguyai, while the humble are embraced. The politicians/aspirants who are painting themselves as high mnded are being swept aside, Wanjiuku wants some body who can explain to her issues in a language she understands not jurgon. Case in point, Waititu Vs Mbaru.
d) All of us need to get involed in the affairs of our parties as alot of policies and procedures are being formulated now at this level and their effects may be huge. Case in point is the ODM debacle regarding the choice of their ticket holder for Nairobi Senator. Though its abhorrent what the party has done to Elizabeth Ongoro in denying her the chance to vie and handed it to Margaret Wanjiru, a carefull scrutiny on the party constitution reveals that they are withing their right to do so and every member of the party has signed to these absurd rules. This same rule has been used to hand certificates to the likes of Kajwang, Nyong'o, Midiwo etc.
These elections need to be approached with a sober mind and we need to scrutinise and interogate all pronouncements by politicians and quiz them accordingly. When they say that they will build 100 dams in two years, get them to tell you where the funds will come from and the details of it all. All in all, if we ask tham the tough questions, they will atleast not make empty promises.
In the end, please remind your polician friend the recall clause becomes active after two years and if they don't deliver, we will not wait for two years but we will instead through them out early.
Thursday, 17 January 2013
TNA Nominations Postponed
Buy this time i guess you know that due to logistical hitches, the TNA has been forced to postpone its primary elections for 24 hrs.
So what does this mean? For starters, most of the nomination centres will not be available due to the simple fact that most of them are in public schools and the though the ministry of education had been gracious enough to grant them Thursday, i hardly think they will extend the courtesy for a second day given the chaotic school calendar they are facing what with the delayed 2012 exams and an election in the middle of a school term. Secondly, alot of voters are simply angry and frustrated and may not bother to show up again, third, alot of doubts are being expressed about their ability to organize themselves given that they knew all along that they would hold the primaries but just couldn't deliver, fourth, with the apathy, expect alot of the thuggish contenders to go through and all of these factors may end up hurting the party at the general elections of 4th March 2013.
So how can the party control the damage? The party supremos should as a matter of urgency come out and publicly re-assure their supporters that nothing under handed is afoot and that all is well and the intagrity of the process is still in place
So what does this mean? For starters, most of the nomination centres will not be available due to the simple fact that most of them are in public schools and the though the ministry of education had been gracious enough to grant them Thursday, i hardly think they will extend the courtesy for a second day given the chaotic school calendar they are facing what with the delayed 2012 exams and an election in the middle of a school term. Secondly, alot of voters are simply angry and frustrated and may not bother to show up again, third, alot of doubts are being expressed about their ability to organize themselves given that they knew all along that they would hold the primaries but just couldn't deliver, fourth, with the apathy, expect alot of the thuggish contenders to go through and all of these factors may end up hurting the party at the general elections of 4th March 2013.
So how can the party control the damage? The party supremos should as a matter of urgency come out and publicly re-assure their supporters that nothing under handed is afoot and that all is well and the intagrity of the process is still in place
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Murang'a Leadership
So January 17th is the day most of the political posts in Murang'a will be decided. I know you are asking why 17th Jan when we all know that the general election is on the 4th of March 2013? You see my good friend, most is a " red state" ie. its a TNA region and who ever wins the party primary is virtually guaranteed a win in the general election.
Is there anything wrong with the above painted scenario? Well, alot. You see, for most seats, this will be the "general election" but without the scrutiny and fair play rules set by the IEBC and what this means is that any of the contenders can employ the so called "Embakasi" style, which is outright thuggery and get the seat. This scenario is not far fetched considering the number of unemployed and underemployed youth in the county and the potential for gruesome violence has been proven to be not far in their minds.
So what does this mean? For starters, we get some brain dead leader who has no real agenda for the county. The kind of potential in terms of agriculture, trade and commerce and education is just too enormous to take chances. The national unemployment rate is 46% while that of Murang'a stands at 29%. This means that we are already ahead of other counties including Nyeri at 36% and this even without any meaningful industrialisation. This beautiful county is endowed with lots of resources, but you already know that.
This county needs a focused leader with proven managerial and entrepreneurial skills who is humble enough to listen to the small scale tea farmer in Kanyenyaini, the mango farmer in Mareira, the dairy farmer in Kandara or the shop keeper in Koimbi and translate their suggestions into workable policies that will improve their livelihoods. The gentlemen running for the post of governor of this eminent county have gone round selling their ideas and promises. So as you walk to the polling station tomorrow for the nominations, think care fully and clearly where you want your county to be in the next five years
www.facebook.com/james.wagatu
.
Is there anything wrong with the above painted scenario? Well, alot. You see, for most seats, this will be the "general election" but without the scrutiny and fair play rules set by the IEBC and what this means is that any of the contenders can employ the so called "Embakasi" style, which is outright thuggery and get the seat. This scenario is not far fetched considering the number of unemployed and underemployed youth in the county and the potential for gruesome violence has been proven to be not far in their minds.
So what does this mean? For starters, we get some brain dead leader who has no real agenda for the county. The kind of potential in terms of agriculture, trade and commerce and education is just too enormous to take chances. The national unemployment rate is 46% while that of Murang'a stands at 29%. This means that we are already ahead of other counties including Nyeri at 36% and this even without any meaningful industrialisation. This beautiful county is endowed with lots of resources, but you already know that.
This county needs a focused leader with proven managerial and entrepreneurial skills who is humble enough to listen to the small scale tea farmer in Kanyenyaini, the mango farmer in Mareira, the dairy farmer in Kandara or the shop keeper in Koimbi and translate their suggestions into workable policies that will improve their livelihoods. The gentlemen running for the post of governor of this eminent county have gone round selling their ideas and promises. So as you walk to the polling station tomorrow for the nominations, think care fully and clearly where you want your county to be in the next five years
www.facebook.com/james.wagatu
.
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