PRESIDENTIAL SUFURIAS SSn 1

10 things Kenya’s next president MUST do (In my humble opinion,)
1.      Forget his mother tongue

Seeing that successive Kenyan governments have governed the country in “mothertongue”, this will be his hardest task.  That said, if Kenya wants to move away from this ethnic cocoons that we are building the new president will have to very vocally and boisterously govern from the middle.

2.      Restore the pride of being Kenyan.

Over the past few years we have lost the sense of ownership of our country. We now prefer a village polytechnic in England to a University here and not because of quality. We act as if we have another better Kenya outside there that we will emigrate to when we are done killing this one. Why is it the president’s problem? Because he is among the three things that define our nation  along with our flag and national anthem. He has to think, talk, look, eat and feel 100% Kenyan.

3.      Fix our Balance of Trade

We import too much. Any supermarket now stocks upto imported water. It’s sheer madness. Nobody needs this kind of thing and it’s not socialist to protect your market even USA does that. It’s ok to say No to things that we already produce or that we have the ability to produce e.g eggs and toilet paper. No one needs imported toilet paper to be happy.

4.      Restore (create) the idea of equality before the law

In our country, if you steal a loaf of bread you will be jailed for 4 years meanwhile Sam Ongeri who oversaw the loss of 4Bn still has a job. Tom Cholmodeley had to kill twice before we built him a special cell in Kamiti.

5.      Create a culture of Responsibility

Leadership is responsibility. It may not be your fault but it’s your responsibility to solve the problem. If 4Bn shillings gets lost while you are in charge , you have two options: find the money and prosecute the thugs or get out so that we can hire someone who will.

6.      Reduce the Re-current expenditure

We have a very big government. It can surely be reduced. We also have a lot of duplicated functions. I mean, what do we need an entire ministry of Tourism if we have agencies such as Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forestry Service, the Kenya Tourism Board and Brand Kenya.  In my humble opinion this country only needs four ministries, the rest can be done by agencies.

7.      Quit his day job

Being president is not easy at all. So I have no idea why we like to complicate it much further by adding other odd jobs to it. Mr Moi was even footballer/mkulima namba moja while President. We can’t have our president as a patron of a Golf Club. It’s against the law of tort and quite simply un-presidential.

8.      Sort out our Energy Sector

Only 1.4 million households and businesses are connected to the power grid. This is approximately 20%. Our Oil refinery is operating 35% below capacity and the the pipeline is a further 15% below capacity. How we are getting by is a miracle. If we want to develop we MUST have energy. The current situation is untenable.

9.      Restore the rule of law

The law of the jungle “mwenye nguvu mpishe” is not exactly what we are going for here. If you have ever been to Harambee Avenue at 4.30 pm when the high ranking GoK officers drive out then you understand what I am talking about. Do the rules change for you when you acquire a higher rank?

10.  Buy a teleprompter

Mr Kibaki is always looking down when reading statements. It makes him look unsure and dishonest. Technology can help.

Comments

  1. yneNovember 2, 2011 at 2:23 AM

    On sorting out the energy sector, I would like to point out that Kenya is energy resource RICH. If the thuggery and phantom attitude could be removed around the geothermal sector, we would have enough electricity to sell even to Somalia! A local resource that is free of charge!! I worked with kenyan energy policy makers for 10years, Nyoike was my 'boy'but I tell you, its the mafia world over there! people stand to benefit if we declare every year there is a power shortfall, coz every year they get a govt. contract for emergency power! :) that's my 5cents on that subject!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gicharu Ndung'uNovember 2, 2011 at 3:05 AM

    The “Presidential Sufuria” braising #7 & #10 could sure do with a dash of the proverbial grain of salt.

    Quite an illuminating piece.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KevDaNativeNovember 2, 2011 at 6:40 AM

    Nice read.
    P.S: A teleprompter only works if the person reading it can see that far. #OkThanksBye

    ReplyDelete
  4. sharkNovember 7, 2011 at 12:49 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. sharkNovember 7, 2011 at 12:51 AM

    I think we should import MORE, not less! The quality of some things available here is beyond terrible. What we shouldn't have to import is kawaida table sugar simply because we always produce a deficit. We shouldn't have to import kawaida maize because we're too stupid to be food-secure. But importing some kind of sugar/maize that massages the stomach and makes pupu smell like cake? I say import away.

    ReplyDelete

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