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Mr Mundia Kamau <amboseli@hotmail.com>
Michael Mundia Kamau
P.O. Box 17510
00500 Enterprise Road
Nairobi
Kenya
$ 102,000,000
The economic downturn in Kenya continues to leave a trial of
devastation with the latest victim being confectionary giant House of
Manji, put under receivership last week. Over the last three weeks, the
Kenya Power and Lighting Company reported a loss of five billion shillings
in it's recently concluded financial year, and another age old giant,
Kenya Bus Services Limited, laid off 1,400 workers. Certainly, the latter
two corporations have little reason for being in their kind of predicament
given the strategic
positions they hold in their respective markets.
In spite of the the general economic malaise no solution appears
forthcoming from the government or the people. This country has a serious
attitude problem so that even as we stare doom in the face, our focus is
on less pressing issues. Ask the average Kenyan what he or she thinks is
the problem and a finger will very likely be pointed at the government.
Much as this may be the case, we must also challenge ourselves to account
for the gains we have managed to make left on our own. A case in point is
the remarkable speed with which cell phones have been purchased over the
past one year
despite persistent cries of strained finances. It is estimated that
480,000 units have been subscribed.
In the last year the cost of a hand set has come
down significantly from about 12,000 Kenya shillings per unit (depending
onthe model ), to 5,000 Kenya shillings per unit. Assuming the 480,000
subscribers have each paid 5,000 Kenya shillings for their cell phones
over the past one year, then this works out to revenue of 2.4 billion
Kenya shillings ( approximately US $ 30,000,000). If we further assume
that every cell phone user spends 1,000 Kenya shillings per month on
calls, then this works out to 5.76 billion shillings ( approximately US $
72,000,000 ), spent over the last one year. US $ 102,000,000 is alot of
money by any standard, comparing monumentally with the US $ 20,000,000
sought by Kenya from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and we cannot
claim that there is no money in Kenya. No wonder the two cell phone
providers in Kenya can afford to sponsor golf tournaments and
produce expensive one year commemorative brochures.
The value of cell phones and the role they play in modern communication
cannot be downplayed. Were it not for cell phones, we would probably
have never known what transpired aboard the airlines that crashed into the
world trade center twin towers and the pentagon. Were it not for cell
phones, it would have been harder to rescue survivors from the site of the
collapsed twin towers. In spite of this and much more, a small
impoverished Nation like ours seriously needs to question the efficacy of
committing US $ 102,000,000 to mobile phones while numerous other
undertakings of a much more pressing nature, remain unattended to. The
very determining of where
to start in the re-birth of our Nation is a daunting task given the vast
problems we are faced with. Do we start with unemployment, with income
generation, or with sensitisation ?
This notwithstanding, had we saved up that US $
102,000,000 over the last one year and divided it equally among the eight
provinces ( US $12,750,000), it would have impacted significantly, put to
proper use. We would in many ways be, set for life. It is crucial that we
start being guided by such indicators and not by wishful thinking. This
country has quite easily raised US $ 102,000,000 over the last one year,
but we don't have much to show for it. Desperation is taking root like
never before. I recently encountered a compatriot in his late 50s in the
process of desparately disposing some of his assets to pay off his
electricity bill and avoid disconnection. According to him, he had been
abruptly retrenched and left in a difficult position. The striking thing
was his polished english and mannerisms that were no doubt acquired from
an institution like Alliance High School, Mangu High School, or Maseno
High School, pedigree institutions then and now. Not too long ago also, a
young polished lady, about 24 or 25, entered the early morning bus that I
was in and started preaching to us, something not uncommon in Kenya today.
Her english and mannerisms were also very polished suggesting that she had
either attended an institution like the Kenya High School or Limuru Girls
High School. Nothing seemed to make sense until she asked that we pray,
prayers that were partly for those "recently retrenched".
The prosperity of a few in the face of the wider despair of the Nation is
not however restricted to the two cell phone providers above. Depleting
incomes have amongst other things, resulted in the emergence of budget
meals that go under varying local pseudonyms such as "chafua" ,
"poesha" , and "special" , that retail for between 10
to 25 Kenya shillings . The retailers of these products have ingeniously
devised ways of meeting a need at minimal cost and reaping from it, and
are indeed living the Kenyan dream. A number of years back, I watched a
television series of Charles Dutton's "Roc" that focused on the
dealings of a drug peddler whose operations were devastating the local
neighbourhood. When confronted, the drug dealer said he was
living the American dream "the only way he knew how". In the
same way, those
behind "chafua", "poesha" and "special" are
living the Kenyan dream "the only way they know how" , with
networks that spread far and wide. They do not speak or write fancy
english, or engage in inspirational albiet ineffective bourgeois
discussions on ways of reviving the economy. Indeed, it is they if anyone,
that need cell phones to effectively co-ordinate their operations.
The perceived enemy as mentioned above, is usually seen as the government.
The government indeed apparently lost a crucial vote in parliament in
August of this year, that would have seen to the re-establishment of an
anti-corruption and the resumption of donor funding, a defeat that was
welcomed as a sign of the waning influence of the government on it's hold
on this country. Nothing could be further further from the truth, and the
stage is being set for something very dramatic in Kenya President Daniel
arap Moi has just returned from an eight day trip abroad, a loud statement
of the confidence on his grip on power. He recently appointed the son of a
bitter political opponent as chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB),
breaking new frontiers in expediency. The Matiba family whose son Raymond
is the said new chairman of KTB, badly needed something like this to help
revive the family owned Alliance Group of Hotels, currently under
receivership. In this regard, President Moi has surpassed even his
former boss, President Kenyatta. After a bitter confrontation with
his former vice president Oginga Odinga in Odinga's Luo Nyanza in 1969,
Kenyatta never set foot in Luo Nyanza again until his death in 1978. It is
hard to imagine that Kenyatta would have appointed any of Odinga's sons to
any government position, let alone that of chairman of the Kenya Tourist
Board.
The ruling elite in Kenya are also closely linked with the two mobile
phone providers and technically therefore, partly have US $ 102,000,000 in
their cash reserves, in a pre-election year. How do you beat this ?
Further, President Moi's government is perenially being attacked for it's
inability to effectively deal with donor agencies, yet the chief
executives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank
made a cordial stopover in Kenya in February this year, hosted by none
less than President Moi himself. The scheming at hand is very
sophisticated and beyond the comprehension of many of us, myself included.
As this goes on, we are busy deceiving ourselves with hastily hatched
commercial ventures. The capital city Nairobi has for instance been
transformed into a myriad of small busines outlets called
"Exhibitions". Many are being set up on whims, and are
owned and manned by largely ill equiped, ill advised, ill trained and
inexperienced individuals. We somehow hope to achieve in one day what it
has taken the Coca Cola Company 115 years and 34 promotional re-launches ,
to achieve.
If we are so hot at addressing issues, why were we so
silent last year at the height of water rationing, when trucks were
rushing all over Kenyan towns selling us our very own "clean soft
water " ? ( another thing is that the English language is undergoing
remarkable transformation in Kenya ! ). If we are so hot at addressing
issues, why are we letting the plight of Kenya's 43rd tribe, Street
families, get out of hand ? It is because we are not starting from and
with basics. It is because we are jumping the gun. It is because we need
to re-invest US $ 102,000,000.
Michael Mundia Kamau
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