Items by Gathunuku

Gathunuku

• The fall guy falls

  Posted: July 8, 2008, 6:11 pm by Gathunuku

  It couldn’t have been more starkly different. Amos Kimunya was on his way to delivering 6-7% growth as was clearly evident in the confident noises he was making at this forum. And he proved he could walk the walk albeit right into this snare. But the Member from Kipipiri isn’t one of them. He is [...]

• Notes 01-07-08

  Posted: July 1, 2008, 6:31 pm by Gathunuku

  - Musings from Parselelo Kantai in The Africa Report on the state of the nation in the wake of last December’s elections and the tragic ensuing events. His article “Now the Hard Part” opine that the deep chasm between the ruling class and wananchi will continue to be a significant obstacle to progress on every [...]

• Zimbabwe’s a buy

  Posted: May 8, 2008, 2:57 am by Gathunuku

  Michael Orme makes a compelling case for why this is perhaps the most apt time to invest in Zim. The man is by no means immortal and can clearly lose an election. Sooner or later he will leave and when that happens, as Mr. Orme argues, opportunities abound. Right from a diaspora returning home with US$2-3 [...]

• It’s the centre, stupid

  Posted: November 1, 2007, 2:11 pm by Gathunuku

  Getting comfortable whenever they may be, KTs have become almost indifferent to PNUs, ODMs and Steadman polls. That’s what I thought until that became the topic of conversation in one of those swallows you know you shouldn’t be in. Yes Central Kenya was rather well represented and the views were predictably one sided.
  Perhaps they all needed to take another look at the opposition. I steered it thus.

  Vote for that chap? No Way! One asserted. He went on, put everything the country has achieved so far at risk in the hands of ODM (read Raila)? Not a chance.

  So why is this subject (or more rightly, this man) so polarising? The incumbent has indeed delivered growth and economic stability unprecedented by a whole generation. Only natural to want that sort of continuity, predictability. A sort of chance to consolidate the gains made even further. Fair enough, I thought. He has however not led from the front and his hands off style has been a bit disengaging with wananchi still very much familiar with the previous, dominating twenty four years. But what is with that almost MOU- ish buzzword coming up again, equitable distribution.
  Of course the highly attractive growth rates are generating wealth at an incredible rate but that’s all pie in the sky to the family getting by in Kibera, the one having to spend half their days looking for clean water in Garissa, the one without any health care in Kisii and the one struggling with Malaria in Siaya. Posed with the same line of questioning, the Transcenturys will surely tell everyone how well it’s going.

  No it’s not enough to allot billions into some constituency fund controlled by a politician and wish them well. More government involvement via agency type outfits that work on the terms of get-the-job-done-well-or-we’ll-find-someone-who-can would probably work better.

  Disparities must be decreased.

  Raila does appreciate this and social justice is a big theme in his Vision document published earlier this year. So then where does it go so wrong? For starters, gaffes such that statement suggesting that drug money is being laundered through a stock exchange that has taken decades of utter sweat to build are just precarious. One can’t be surprised when such extreme labels as communist are pasted on the man when he so vehemently attacks a glowing example of capitalist success. Such labels are however an over reaction. The man is in private business.

  Besides such worries and ensuing photo opportunities at the NSE to reassure a worried business community, that talk of majimboism he has to drop. Attitudes are still the same from the 90s when that talk brought untold misery. Unfortunately, moderation is not a particularly Kenyan trait. Majimbo will without doubt be interpreted as carte blance for an us versus them existence. One that can only be described in three most apt words;

  Hair raising experiment.

  No way to protect and grow what has been achieved so far. Populism like that coupled with an almost cultic following is plain worrying. So are plans to introduce “an independent, small Presidential Public Appointments Commission, to ensure that appointments to public corporations are based on merit and reflect the ethnic diversity of Kenya.” That statement (taken in verbatim from Raila’s Vision document) can quite easily be interpreted as a witch hunt. How about letting parliament vet those appointments?

  So do yourself some favours, find the centre. Learn it, love it, live it.

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• 7th Heaven

  Posted: October 24, 2007, 2:13 pm by Gathunuku

  

  They have had the most consistent start to the season, have £70M in the bank for Arsene to buy up players as he wishes and are now hitting seven past the opposition at a Champions League game.

  Incredible.

  The only thing missing last night was a Theo Walcott hat trick. Who needs Henry? This is indeed the time to win trophies before Old Trafford catches up or worse still Stamford Bridge shakes off the blues.

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• Telkom Kenya Restructuring III

  Posted: September 22, 2007, 6:28 pm by Gathunuku

  Yes a third installment and no they haven’t sorted this yet. Telkom’s debt problems and bloated workforce (see this story on BDAfrica and good luck with the typos and sloppy grammar) are too blame now.

  GOK’s apparent promise to sell off Telkom completely debt free seems like bending over backwards. They have done a great job, some might argue, of protecting the status of what should rightly be a national champion in the wake of Neanderthal management practises. Hiring and maintaining a lot more workers than necessary and responding to competing new technologies in a most lethargic fashion was never going to turn a profit.

  Neither substantiate Twasema Twatenda.

  But the past is just that and the potential in Telkom is still there in abundance. So hurry up, the good men and women at Treasury sort the inevitable staff downsize. Debt swaps can wait to see another day. Telkom is still in a much enviable position of realising it’s full potential, as it is demonstrating with the modest wireless roll out, and suitors should not be put off by a spot of debt.

  The much more politicised staff downsize should be the only grievance such suitors should have.

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• Not so special

  Posted: September 20, 2007, 2:22 pm by Gathunuku

  

  After that lacklustre draw with Rosenborg and the inevitable egg on Jose’s face, the writing was on the wall. Him and Roman of course fell out of love quite sometime ago and reports of the Russian bizarrely grinning ear to ear after Rosenborg took the lead on Tuesday night clearly indicates where his thoughts lay.

  Mourinho had to go.

  Two league titles in three years, one FA Cup and two Carling Cups is anything but failure. So why is Jose leaving? Of course Chelsea have missed out on the Champions League so far but that’s just an excuse. When you don’t play the striker the boss bent over backwards to bring over and are pretty strong headed in not giving way to the new manager in waiting masquerading as Director of Football who also happens to be the boss’s mate then that’s a problem apparently.

  Undermining such a strong character as the Special One was also going to end up like this but maybe Mr. Abramovich need only look at another aspiring giant who having spent obscene amounts on both super star players and high profile managers expected instant success of the invicible kind. Money just can’t buy that kind of success.

  Los Galacticos know that first hand. This could be bigger and more unsettling than Thierry leaving.

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• Not so special

  Posted: September 20, 2007, 1:22 pm by Gathunuku

  After that lacklustre draw with Rosenborg and the inevitable egg on Jose’s face, the writing was on the wall. Him and Roman of course fell out of love quite sometime ago and reports of the Russian bizarrely grinning ear to ear after Rosenborg took the lead on Tuesday night clearly indicates where his thoughts lay. Mourinho [...]

• links 06-08-07

  Posted: September 6, 2007, 8:28 pm by Gathunuku

  - Thank God for StumbleUpon, how else would one ever find out about this man who obviously has problems with taking no for an answer. Utterly hilarious and a bit inspiring actually.

  - He’s still at it and still creating a buzz, the chap is so good that they had to name him twice. Jay Jay moves back to English football. Who can ever forget that fantastic gold winning team at the Atlanta ‘96 Olympics! Celestine Babayaro, Taribo West, Kanu, Tijani Babangida, Victor Ikpeba. Great days for African football.

  -They can run but clearly cannot hide. Tech doing its bit to bring sense (hopefully) to the next lot.

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• links 06-09-07

  Posted: September 6, 2007, 7:28 pm by Gathunuku

  - Thank God for StumbleUpon, how else would one ever find out about this man who obviously has problems with taking no for an answer. Utterly hilarious and a bit inspiring actually. - He’s still at it and still creating a buzz, the chap is so good that they had to name him twice. Jay Jay [...]

• Anglo who?

  Posted: August 23, 2007, 4:14 pm by Gathunuku

  

  Pale pale…

  Another day, another master stroke from the man’s strategists.

  This one, about that haplessly flawed piece of legislation, was delivered a lot better than the last. Remember the one last December about rejecting a substantial pay rise? It seemed almost desperate then. Not now though. Referring the Media Bill back to Bunge has scored him quite a few points. The choreography is perfectly timed too. No coincidence in the almost simultaneous announcement of a 300 member team, that reads rather impressively of respected captains of their chosen fields, to raise a billion and ensure re election.

  Great times for the incumbency.

  That billion shilling Kibaki Tena luncheon, scheduled for September 1st, reminds one of the famous KANU Kamukunji rally in mid 2002. A similar mix of invincibility and awe was going for the incumbency and his project then. Until a handful, albeit significant, spoiled the party aggrieved at having a rank outsider sprang on them. Don’t see that happening this time round but one’s thing for sure, that re election committee is certainly earning its money.

  Anglo who?

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• Upping the ante…

  Posted: July 31, 2007, 12:53 pm by Gathunuku

  … and driving (almost) the last nail in?

  

  Mutations are this man!

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• Ubuntu on Dell

  Posted: May 2, 2007, 4:51 am by Gathunuku

  Sense at last .

• No, wii don’t have a problem

  Posted: April 24, 2007, 9:10 am by Gathunuku

  For a late 20 something, I am pretty useless at it, video games. I, of course, get awed by the coolness of the names, the hi-def graphics and incredible specs of the latest game consoles (xbox360, ps3) but to actually play games on them? Nope, am utterly useless. I had just about given up until Nintendo [...]

• Not quite the tone, Mr. Irungu

  Posted: April 15, 2007, 12:57 am by Gathunuku

  Geoffrey Irungu’s article in the excellent Business Daily Africa didn’t quite read the mood right, I thought. The IMF’s decision to ‘unlock’ loans worth Kshs4 Billion ( as part of a 2003 initiated Kshs17.7 Billion Poverty Reduction & Growth Facility lending program) has been given more gravity than it perhaps deserves. The Treasury’s Budget Outlook Paper [...]

• IncREDible!

  Posted: April 11, 2007, 2:44 am by Gathunuku

  I must admit it, I hate their guts but what a great performance!

• links 17-03-07

  Posted: March 17, 2007, 10:52 pm by Gathunuku

  - Ramit Sethi on all things personal finance, his blog iwillteachyoutoberich is just great -On lessons and habits one wishes they had learnt and picked up a lot earlier!   Never too late - MainaT on why the forthcoming KenGen offload might be a case of fools rush in. Excellent commentary. - myStocks on how they are easily head [...]

• Of Jailed Egyptian Blogger

  Posted: February 24, 2007, 3:51 am by Gathunuku

  Wouldn’t want to be you, mate Where is it? The patronising, bien pensant sermon on freedom of speech, human rights et cetera. CNN, BBC, Dubya, Tony, Amnesty, leaders of the free world, anyone? Where is it? Most disappointing. Perhaps Mugabe should jail Zimpundit.

• 14 Shades of Grey

  Posted: February 19, 2007, 12:50 am by Gathunuku

  Never just black and white Web wandering the other day I stumbled on these people, the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance. In their words, they “seek to defend equal marriage in Washington state by challenging the Washington Supreme Court’s ruling on Andersen v. King County.” The ruling made in July 2006 declared a “legitimate state [...]

• links 11-02-07

  Posted: February 11, 2007, 10:00 am by Gathunuku

  Post Secret on a place to share your deepest hush-hush bits anonymously Barack on how to be a rock star politician, what a great chap! Catholic Archbishop Zachaeus Okoth on why the men and women of the cloth should remain just that

• The Fat Lady Man is singing, it’s nearly over

  Posted: January 24, 2007, 4:32 am by Gathunuku

  Political party funding is a difficult issue the world over. Democracies with considerable more experience than our forty three year old one are still struggling with it. Africa’s (and Kenya’s) struggle with this has obviously been keeping politicians’ hands out of the certainly tempting public treasure chest. We haven’t got peerages to give (sell?).

  It seems our own December2002-born redeemers lost the fight against temptation. They have gone on and vindicated the reputation of African politics being an entrepreneurial activity.

  “We have got to keep this going”, the brightest of the pack thought out to the rest of them. “I hear financing companies are in vogue these days” and he went on, “We can’t just export air now.”

  What the Big Men didn’t count on was how far another big man (of a different sort) was prepared to go to end the shenanigans. Thank God for the apparent inverse relationship between tech savvyness and age. Voice recorders (wearing a wire) are the most basic trick in the book. And I am talking of a really bad one, think James Hadley Chase. They fell for it, hook line and sinker. So the Big Men sang and one man, who ordinarily should have been another poster boy, had the courage to look beyond the quiet whispers at goat eating parties, take an extraordinary stand and switch on his voice recorder.

  “Are you wearing a wire?”

  One would think that the rest of the lot of politicians, especially the next redeemers styling for another liberation(second, third?) would see this as an invitation perhaps an opportunity to rethink business as usual. No, not this time. They go on to suggest that they are going to bankroll their campaigns to the tune of US$28M (ODM) and US$70M(NARC-K). In a country with a GDP of US$16B? The figures just don’t add up. To the incumbent; wananchi now know, thanks to Moi & Co, that they can actually use their votes to seek a better life for themselves. To the opposition; those figures do not inspire confidence in your abilities to fight familiar temptations. Upcoming tales of repaying “investments” in your campaign now with inflated public contracts later seem eerily likely in the Daily Nation’s edition of 23rd April 2009.

  His efforts must be costing Mr. Githongo an arm and a leg. They gave you a job and you are doing it rather well is what I would say to him. If it’s nearly the end of this constant stream of anecdotes about enterprise in our politics, if Swiss banking loses some business (even marginally) then you are succeeding at your job.

  Courage under fire?

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes