A Political Kenya: Latest Politics and Kenya Economy News

The sudden ostentatious display of wealth by Raila Odinga has left many baffled. Unbeknown to the public, Raila is a fabulously wealthy man with a personal fortune estimated to be in excess of Kshs. 4 billion. Read how the man who wants to be Kenya’s next president acquired his wealth which includes investments in the lucrative petroleum industry and in manufacturing.

How Raila acquired his billions

Raila Odinga’s big break came in 2001 soon after he led his party, NDP, into a merger with Kanu, the then ruling party. As Energy Minister in Moi’s government he was introduced to the family of Sheikh Abdukeder AlBakari, one of the richest families in Saudi Arabia with interests in petroleum drilling, petroleum exploration and export in the Middle East, Asia, USA and Africa.

Through the Saudi contacts, Raila was initiated into the lucrative world of oil business and soon enough he had joined the league of gig independent oil importers via his firm Pan African Petroleum Limited.

Industry sources say that one of the things that helped Raila make a quick buck in the oil business was a concessionary petroleum deal he struck with the Al Bakri Group where he was not only incorporated as a silent partner in the local arm of Al Bakri International but was also supplied with petroleum products from Saudi Arabia at subsidized prices which his firm would sell in the market at normal prices. That way, Raila was able to deftly beat the competition in oil business by occasional price undercutting.

While still Energy Minister, Raila re-established and nurtured his links with the Libyan government of Colonel Muammar Gadaffi where again he not only did good business in oil importation but also got substantial material support during the 2002 general elections.

Besides supporting Raila’s political causes, the Libyans also played a key role in stabilizing Raila in the oil business in a couple of ways. Industry sources say that between 2001 and 2002 when Raila served as Energy Minister, he received at least three consignments of petroleum products at very low prices which were later sold locally at market prices.

The overall turnover from the three Libyan consignments is reliably said to have been in the region of over half a billion shillings, a tidy sum of money in any language, enough to ensure that one crosses the Rubicon once and for all.

Raila’s enviable international links

Reliable sources say that Libyans bankrolled the Narc campaign with some US$ 3 million (about Kshs 210 million), thanks to Raila’s good contacts in the oil-rich land of Gadaffi. There is no doubt that if Raila becomes the ODM presidential candidate he can count on massive financial support from the Libyans once more.

Besides Libya, Raila enjoys good links with the South African government of Thabo Mbeki while in Nigeria he is known to have strong links with Olosegun Obasanjo, who was a close friend of Raila’s late father Jaramogi.

That Libyans, South Africans and Nigerians had enough confidence in Raila to channel campaign funds through him although he himself was not a presidential in 2002 is an indication of how highly regarded he is in some international circles.

Evidently, he could certainly count on even more enthusiastic support from his international contacts should he become the ODM presidential candidate.

For Raila, the linkage between politics and business went much deeper than petroleum business. It is significant that the Odinga family business, Spectre International Ltd, acquired the then state-owned Kisumu Molasses Plant soon after Raila started politically cooperating with Moi.

Raila has consistently argued that the acquisition of the molasses plant was a pure business deal “which had nothing to do with politics”, but his critics point out at the coincidence between the time his family acquired the parastatal and Raila’s shift of political alliance. It is highly unlikely –indeed one may even say impossible-that the Moi government would have sanctioned the Kisumu Molasses Plant deal at the time if Raila had not become an ally of Moi’s.

Former commissioner of Lands Sammy Mwaita offered to sell the 240 acres on which the Kisumu Molasses Plant is built to Spectre International on January 11, 2001 at a price of Kshs 3.6 million at a time when Odinga started working closely with Moi. By June of the same year, Raila was appointed to the cabinet and made Energy Minister.

Significantly, Spectre International had applied for the same land in a letter of February 18, 1999 but the request had been rejected by the government at the time.

Titles were prepared in favour of Spectre International on February 3, 2002 for a 99-year lease backdated to September 1, 2001 and the Odinga family was ready to laugh all the way to the bank.

When the Odinga family started the process that led to the acquisition of the Kisumu Molasses Plant in 2001, Raila had already established good business contacts in South Africa. Energem Resources Incorporated, an international firm quoted at the Toronto Stock Exchange, had been looking for an investment opportunity in Kenya for a long time and the Kisumu Molasses Plant appeared just right.

Soon after taking over the plant from the government, Raila struck a lucrative deal with Energem whereby the Canadian firm bought 55 per cent of the Kisumu Molasses plant. Sources say that the Odinga family was paid over US$ 5 million (about Kshs 420 million) to relinquish the control of the molasses plant. The Odinga family had paid only Kshs 3.6 million for the property.

The Canadians also ploughed in millions of dollars to rehabilitate the plant and it is today one of the largest manufacturing concerns in the country employing hundreds of people and producing at least 60,000 litres of industrial ethanol for local consumption and export.

Ethanol from the Kisumu Molasses Plant is used as a fuel additive in east and Central Africa. Among other products coming out of the plant include yeast, carbon dioxide alcohol and related industrial products.

A valuation of the plant carried out three three years ago placed the Kisumu Molasses Plant at US$100 million (Kshs 7 billion). With the Odinga family owning 40 percent of the plant, putting the family’s stake in the plant in the region of Kshs 7.8 billion. The remaining five per cent shares in the plant are owned by a development trust on behalf of the local community.

Besides Kenya where Energem is in partnership with Raila in the Kisumu molasses plant business, now renamed Kisumu ethanol Plant, other African countries where Energem’s presence is significant include Sierra Leone, Sao Tome, Congo Brazaville, Angola. Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Chad and Central Africa republic.

Raila’s wealth at a glance

Company/Property	Estimated Worth
Spectre International Limited (the holding company for Kisumu Ethanol Plant)	Kshs 7 billion of which Odinga family owns 40 per cent whose value is approximately Kshs 2.8 billion
East African Spectre (the gas cylinder manufacturing plant founded by Raila’s late father)	Kshs 500 million
Raila’s family home in Karen Nairobi	Kshs 50 million
Runda House	Kshs 15 million
Pan African Petroleum Company (the firm through which the Odinga family imports and distributes petroleum products)	Has had a turnover in excess of Kshs 500 million

Scheming that changed Raila’s fortunes

By the time Jaramogi Oginga Odinga died in January 1994, the Odinga family could have been described as just another average middle class family struggling to make ends meet on meager resources.

East Africa Spectre Limited, the family business flagship, was teetering on the verge of a precipice, thanks to political interference leading to bad business and crippling debts.

Raila Odinga’s house in Runda estate was a typical middle class house neighbouring that of self-exiled publisher Pius Nyamora.

But all that suddenly changed in 2001 when Raila shifted political alliances, ditched the opposition and teamed up with President Moi’s Kanu to form what was then known as Kanu-NDP merger.

Soon thereafter, he was appointed Minister of energy and turned a new leaf in his life. With his friend Mark Too, then one of the most powerful personalities around Moi’s state house, holding his hand, Raila was quickly introduced to the world of big business from which he has never looked back.

Indeed, looking back at the kind of fortune Raila managed to accumulate as well as the business links he established during the one year or so he was Energy minister, one comes to the inescapable conclusion that contrary to the conventional wisdom prevailing then, Raila’s rapprochement with Moi was a pure business decision. The man may have made calculated moves knowing only too well that without good money even the best politician might not go very far in achieving his or her dreams.

It is thus not surprising – nor is it by accident – that as Raila prepares himself to make his most serious bid for the presidency, he stands out as one of the richest politicians in the country with a personal fortune estimated to be over Kshs 4 billion besides reported investments in real estate in South Africa and Dubai.

Raila, a calculating schemer, could not have failed to notice the most common denominator between all the three politicians who rose to the presidency; money.

Jomo Kenyatta may not have had tones of money when he became president because he had the benefit of being associated with independence and nationalism. However, when he became president, he moved quickly to amass wealth which he used effectively to sustain himself in power.

His successor, Daniel arap Moi was already a very wealthy man-though discreetly so-when he became president in 1978. And throughout his presidency, Moi used money as his primary tool of political control.

When Kenneth Matiba challenged Moi in 1992 and came second in the presidential elections, it was clear that part of Matiba’s most formidable arsenal was an apparently inexhaustible war chest. Without the kind of money he had at his disposal, there is no doubt Matiba would not have come that close to kicking Moi out of state house.

Another serious challenger to Moi was Mwai Kibaki who came second in the 1997 presidential race. Again Kibaki, like Matiba before him, was not only wealthy in his own right but had a retinue of rich supporters around him who ensured that his campaign machinery was financially well oiled.

It is against this kind of a back ground that Raila must have made the conscious decision in 2001 to drop all pretensions, embrace Moi and make as much hay as he could while the sun shone for he knew well that money is a politician’s best friend, especially one who aspires for the presidency.

For quite sometime, many Kenyan politicians have been dismissing or supporting the outcome(s) of the Steadman Research Group poll ratings. A very good example was the low ratings in 2002 of then presidential contender and current Opposition Leader, Uhuru Kenyatta. He predictably lost his bid, despite having vehemently denied and dismissed that he was far behind current President Mwai Kibaki. These ratings, whether flawed or accurate, continue to shape the opinion of many Kenyans about the type of leaders they want.

The latest opinion polls published in the main Kenyan newspapers on April 1, 2007, have rated President Kibaki far ahead of other presidential candidates, proving that he is “electible”. He has still floored the ODM-K (Orange Democratic Movement of Kenya) leading contenders, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka. Raila, who has opposed many past outcomes of the Steadman polls, has for the first time acknowledged them, probably because he is currently the most highly rated among other ODM-K presidential candidates. In terms of ratings, there is no argument; Kibaki beats all and sundry by taking the 51% lead. The polls have posed yet more challenges to the ODM-K who chart better winning strategies. Kibaki's ratings have risen sharply in the rural parts of the Central, Eastern, Rift Valley and the North Eastern Provinces. The Rift Valley is a leader in the high number of voters in Kenya, so the opposition needs to work hard in capturing them.

The rural folk as key voters

Kibaki has a stronghold in the rural areas that back him because he has revived the collapsed agricultural services and many farmers now get paid in time for their farm produce. These rural folk also enjoy the benefits of CDF (constituency development funds) and are happy about the presidential appointments of their own brothers and sisters to the Cabinet and other plum jobs, among other things. These “politically unadulterated” people are thankful to Kibaki because their children go to school without paying fees. This has eased their former heavy burden of scrapping around for money, which included selling their meager properties. Their profits can therefore be used to improve their farming or get invested elsewhere.

It is a general tendency worldwide for the incumbent to retain office. If elections were held in Kenya today, chances are that Kibaki would defeat the opposition candidate(s). The next results of the Steadman polls might tilt once ODM-K nominates its presidential candidate. The opposition stronghold is in Nairobi, some urban areas, the Luo-Nyanza, and sections of the Coast and Western Provinces. However, if the opposition leaders wish to be favored, they should work very hard to woo the rural folk in those areas supporting Kibaki.

The opposition needs a winning formula

Despite other weaknesses in Kibaki's rule (quite visible among his handlers), he has achieved a lot in his macro-economic politics by reviving some collapsed industries, creating various funds targeting constituencies, women and the youth etc. The trickle down effect might take longer, but it will eventually be felt, if channeled properly. Kenya is once again in the good books of the World Bank, which recently offered the government billions of shillings for its fight against corruption and to improve security. If this money is used appropriately, many voters will be happy and might even vote Kibaki back.

Since the general elections are a few months away, there are a lot of political maneuvers by the government to stay on top. These are clearly seen in top job appointments either favoring people from the President's region, or those whom he perceives to be loyal to him. His GNU (government of national unity) is mainly for political survival. By bringing in Kanu and Ford People inside his Cabinet, Kibaki has won the sympathy of constituents that feel their bothers and sisters have been “remembered”; he has bought their loyalty. This is probably why the North Eastern province is supporting him in the current Steadman polls. The downside of these political machinations is the death of multiparty politics, because he has managed to silence Kanu, which is the official Opposition Party. The poor rating of Uhuru Kenyatta in the polls proves it too.

There is evidence that the allocation of public funds and other services do not favor perceived opposition areas like the Luo-Nyanza and parts of Western Province. An example is last year’s imbalanced budgetary allocation by Simeon Nyachae, the Roads and Public Works Minister. He disbursed very little money to improve the roads in key opposition areas, though he defended by answering that they were already being funded from other sources. This is unfortunate because president Kibaki promised not to block the development progress of areas that are politically against him. To prove that he is a true national leader, Kibaki should launch major projects in these big provinces that are also very poor, especially the Luo-Nyanza. By doing so, he can shake the opposition kingpin Raila Odinga, because he would be directly playing a hand in his province’s development.

However, by physically shying away and using the only Luo in his cabinet, Foreign Minister Rafael Tuju, he is missing out on all those potential votes he may get in this hotbed of politics. Let us not forget that despite the notion held in Luo-Nyanza that Tuju is not electible, he has brought "visible development" in his Rarieda constituency, and might beat all his opponents in the coming elections.

As we await the general elections, the Steadman polls will continue to shape Kenya’s political landscape in favor of either President Kibaki, ODM-K’s candidate or other future presidential contenders. The outcome of these polls should therefore not be dismissed.

Jared - Sweden

Coming from the country’s largest single voter bloc, the Rift Valley Province, William Ruto is clearly the man to watch in this year’s presidential contest; the question being:

• Can he outsmart retired president Moi to “own” Rift Valley Vote
• Does he have what it takes to wrest the ODM ticket
• What are the chances of him striking a deal with Kibaki
• Who will be the casualties of Ruto phenomenon in the RVP
  

In politics, they say, a day can be a lifetime. In the dynamic world of politics, things can change so fast that careers are created and others destroyed within a short span of time. The adage holds very true in the case of William Samoei Ruto, who only a year ago was considered a political novice but has, in recent months, somehow managed to reconfigure himself into one of the most important political players in the forthcoming presidential race.

The more established politicians especially from the Rift Valley Province who once dismissed Ruto as a fly-by-night-single-day-political-wonder-boy have been forced to eat back their words upon realization that the Ruto phenomenon is here to stay.

Today Ruto is the single most-and potentially most influential-politician in the populous Rift Valley Province. As if by magic, Ruto has managed to eclipse the larger-than-life image and influence that was once wielded by former President Daniel arap Moi in the province of close to 3 million votes.

By so doing, Ruto is today in a position to become the king maker not just in the Rift Valley but possibly even at the national level. And as this happens, some of the politicians from the Rift Valley who had hitherto never seen eye to eye with Ruto are today trying to be associated with him in hope that this will help them recapture their parliamentary seats.

There is no doubt too that many politicians from the Rift Valley Province will become casualties of the Ruto phenomenon if they fail to read the writing on the wall and act accordingly. Agriculture Minister Kipruto arap Kirwa is likely to be the biggest victim of the Ruto phenomenon and may even lose the Cherangany parliamentary seat if the Ruto tide continues unabated. So what factors have made Ruto into the political colossus that he is today?

A man who never misses an opportunity
Political analysts have described him as a politician who has never missed an opportunity to see an opportunity-and seize it. It is a description shared with many who have known the 41-year old Ruto at various stages in his relatively short but eventful career.

Talking of speed in noting and grabbing opportunities the soonest they appear on the horizon, who could have guessed that Ruto could have been that quick in positioning himself to fill a political vacuum in the Rift valley so soon after his very mentor, retired president Moi vacated State House?

And though at the very first his ambitions were taken, at worst, as a joke and at best, a proxy candidate for one of the ODM luminaries, at the moment many are persuaded that Ruto is indeed a factor in his own right and he will be in a position to make or break political careers.

Immediately Moi made his exit as Kenya’s president in 2003, Ruto saw and took maximum advantage of three realities of Kenyan politics.

One, that the country’s politics is seriously fragmented into regional/tribal blocs.

Secondly, that at one time or the other there is usually a father figure in command of any large bloc vote.

And three, that such a bloc seriously counts if there is a home boy to stake a claim to leadership once the father figure leaves the scene.

In his case, Moi absence from State House had created a vacuum in the Rift Valley. But most important for Ruto-and what many others could not immediately realize-Moi would not count much in Rift Valley politics-and the country in general- if his name was not in the ballot.

With that far sight, Ruto positioned himself for plan A and B. In plan A, he would try to woo Moi to back him as the home-boy going for big things in the capital. But Moi had other political plans and backing Ruto for the top job was not one of them. So Ruto positioned himself for plan B: take on his former boss and benefit from Moi fatigue in the Rift Valley.

For plan B to succeed-and looks like it is-Ruto saw two other factors not many people could at the time. That old age and the fast changing dynamics of Kenyan politics would make Moi an increasingly irrelevant factor on the national scene. Secondly, and equally important, an overwhelming number of future voters in the Rift Valley and the country would have a dis-connect with Moi come 2007 and beyond. Moi became president in 1978. Children born in that year will be 29-years old in this election and may have little, if anything, to relate nostalgically with the Moi era.

Armed with such home truths, there was no stopping for Ruto, an alleged descendant of the legendary Nandi chief and freedom fighter Koitalel arap Samoei.

But seizing the opportunity is not exactly the same as getting the prize. Inevitably, Ruto will have to steel himself to cross every section of the journey if he is to be the next occupant of State House.

The first hurdle is to clinch the ODM ticket, and that is assuming ODM stays as one united outfit to the end.

When he declared his candidacy in August last year, many did not take him that serious. Three schools of thought emerged at the time. One, that Ruto was merely placing himself strategically for a spoil in ODM by pretending to “own” a bloc vote he could bring to the table.

The second line and the most popular was that the idea to contest was actually not his own but that of ODM de facto leader, Raila Odinga. The thinking was solidified when Raila actually appeared at Ruto’s “crowning” as a Kalenjin elder last September and publicly stated that he is the one who had asked Ruto to contest. It later turned out that there had not been any prior consultations on the matter, an issue that has left Ruto with a bitter taste in the mouth to this day.

The third school of thought was that by declaring himself a presidential candidate, Ruto cunningly aimed at adding political weight to his name and use his elevated stature to stave off the corruption allegations leveled against him.

In case the push came to shove and he was at the receiving end of the law, as a presidential candidate he could always turn tables by shouting martyr.

Playing godfather to Moi orphans
If there is one thing that really helped Ruto elevate himself to the level he is today, it has to be his fight for the rights of the so-called Moi orphans. When the Kibaki government started to prune some of the remnants of the Moi regime from public service jobs, Ruto saw an opportunity to position himself as the defender of ‘the victimized members of the Kalenjin community’.

While other Rift Valley politicians such as cabinet minister Kipruto arap Kirwa stayed on the sidelines on the thorny issue of Moi’s people ‘being finished’ by the Kibaki government, Ruto took the bull by the horns. He shouted loudest in defense of ‘his people’ and by so doing endeared himself as the defender of the ‘defenseless’.

As Ruto’s star continued to shine, that of other Rift Valley politicians such as Kirwa started dimming almost at the same speed. Ruto’s populist approach to politics resonated well with both high and low. Thus, almost over night, Ruto had transformed himself from a mere member of parliament to the patron saint of the Moi orphans.

This gave him the numbers (votes) he needed to position himself well which in turn attracted moral, material and other forms of backing from prominent members of the Moi orphans club who were looking for someone to defend their interests now that Moi was no longer in power.

Today any member of the Moi orphans club who wants to make an entry to parliament has no choice but to sing the Ruto song. Among those who have already signed up in the Ruto camp include former Head of Civil Service Dr Sally Kosgei who is eyeing the Aldai parliamentary seat. Others such as former aide to Moi, Joshua Kulei are also said to be sympathetic to Ruto and could be supporting him materially.

What next for Ruto?
It is apparent that Ruto has indeed transformed himself into a big league player and will be the man many camps will want in their midst as the elections near. Politics is a dynamic business and the fact that Ruto is today committed to ODM may not mean much if he gets a better offer from president Kibaki.

And in the likelihood of ODM breaking up into competing factions, each group will want to have Ruto in order to bag the crucial Rift Valley vote. Whichever camp he chooses to work with will definitely have an upper hand in the elections and may as well be the winning camp barring some dramatic political realignments at the last minute.

RUTO AT A GLANCE

What works for him

• He is aggressive
• He is quite wealthy
• Relatively young and energetic
• He is eloquent
• Being a Nandi gives him the benefit of numbers among the Kalenjin
• Has the support of Moi ‘orphans’ with their deep pockets
  

What works against him

• Viewed by others as arrogant, selfish and thoroughly Machiavellian in his politics
• Has to deal with the tag and claims of having amassed his wealth corruptly
• Is viewed by others as inexperienced
• His past links to the infamous YK ’92 may come back to haunt him
• Internal differences between the Nandi, Kipsigis, Tugen, Keiyo and other members of the Kalenjin community may negatively impact on him
• His stance against Moi may be used by his detractors to undermine him

Born William Kipchirchir Samoei arap Ruto in 1966, the man who wants to be Kenya’s president hails from Sambu village of Kamagut location of Uasin Gishu district.

He began schooling at the Sambut primary school before joining Eldoret’s Wareng Secondary School where he wrote hi ‘O’ level examinations in 1984.

He was admitted to Kapabet Boys High School for his Advanced Level in 1985-86.he was admitted to the University of Nairobi in 1987 for a first degree course in general sciences.

At University, Ruto a staunch African Inland Church (AIC) member was elected the leader of the University Christian Union choir. That gave him the very first opportunity to meet his mentor, retired President Moi, as the choir was occasionally called upon to entertain the Head of State.

Close friends say it was exposure to the glamour of State House in those formative days that inspired the young man to want to be president one day, some day.

While in college, Moi would request Ruto to accompany him in trips overseas. The first such trip was to Indonesia. Ruto talks about it with relish to this day.

On leaving college and having ‘tasted’ proximity to power, there was no turning back even as Ruto was hired as a temporary teacher at first at Sirgoi secondary school and later at Kamagut secondary, both in the North Rift.

He quit teaching and registered a business company in Nairobi ostensibly to use it as a bridge to get where he wanted-in the world of politics and big money. At the same time he found while away as a masters’ degree student at Chiromo while he marked time to get where he wanted.

In early 1990s, he established a company, African Venture Tours and Hotels, which gave him the opportunity to meet his like-minded. They included Cyrus Jirongo, the late Victor Kebenei, Sammy Kogo Boit and Sam Nyamweya. Others were the late Pyman Onyango and Lazarus Amayo. The group finally introduced him to the all important contacts, the Moi siblings Gideon and June. By now he was halfway where he wanted to be.

Come 1992 election, Ruto naturally found himself in the core team that founded the Kanu campaign machine, the Youth for Kanu ’92. The YK ’92 tale about big money, fast riches, and much power is well documented. However, the honeymoon did not last long.

As soon as Kanu was back in power, Ruto and indeed, the entire YK ’92 fraternity were punted to outer edges of power and privilege. But by 1997 election, Ruto & co. had their revenge when they made their debut to parliament as “independents” within Kanu.

Then he teamed up with Kipruto Kirwa of Cherangany constituency, John Sambu of Mosop and Cyrus Jirongo of Lugari to become the thorn-in-the-flesh within Kanu.

But somehow, along the way in year 2000, they changed tune to become chief defenders of their faith.

Ruto was subsequently appointed Assistant Minister for Provincial Administration and Internal Security and made history in being the only assistant minister allowed to attend cabinet meetings.

He quickly eclipsed power broker, Mark Too, and soon became Moi’s point-man in selling Project Uhuru in Rift Valley province. By then he had been promoted to a full minister and posted to the Home Affairs office.

In 2003 Kanu was ousted from power, Ruto stuck with Uhuru and Moi to ward off challenge for Kanu leadership from a faction led by Keiyo South MP, Nicholas Biwott.

The tables turned only when he and Uhuru differed with Moi over Kanu associating with the new kid on the block, ODM-Kenya.

Dan Kipsang

After been the secretary general of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) since 1994, Rev. Mutava Musyimi has opted to retire early from the once fiery religious lobby group. He has however kept mum of his next move until his successor is selected and installed in office in July this year.

It is an open secret that he is geared to face it out with ODM presidential aspirant Joseph Nyagah for the Gachoka parliamentary seat in Embu. Unsympathetic to the course of ODM, it is highly likely he will run on a government friendly ticket.

Musyimi the current chairman of the Kibaki select National Anti-Corruption Steering Committee was once touted in 2002 as an opposition compromise candidate to face it out with Moi. He was the chairman of the Ufungamano initiative on constitutional reforms before it merged with the KANU/NDP government led Prof Yash Pal Ghai commission which later culminated to the Bomas process. He scores highly on integrity, sober judgment, leadership skills in comparison to the current hoodlum of incumbent and wannabe presidents.

Unfortunately, just like another ideal presidential material, Nobel Laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai, he comes from the wrong place at this point of Kenya politics. He is also a novice in hard politics, his religious inclinations though tolerant and accommodative may also cause riots at some quarters. His close association with the powers that be since 2002 may not endear him well in some regions. Once he announces his candidature, he is the man that Kenya needs at this point in time.

MUTAVA MUSYIMI FOR PRESIDENT?

Within the last two months the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) index has dropped from 200 points to its current level of 5,180. This has wiped over Shs 20 billion of investors money, but Kenyans are not worried since most of these investors and shareholders are not aware that there are Shs 206 billion poorer!

This is a fairly huge fall in such a short time. Traditional investors like insurance companies, fund managers of pension trusts, banks and individuals have taken the drop gracefully sighting normal market correction. Some are saying that certain major players had purposely propped up the share prices in order to dampen their shares to unsuspecting new comers in the game.

Raila Odinga also added his concerns by saying that he saw the hands of unscrupulous players with bad money meddling in the stock exchange. Whatever all this means the Capital Market Authority has to come up with a researched explanation now and whenever such a thing happens.

The NSE is still a very small institution in comparison to the size of the Kenyan economy. This is why whatever happens at the stock exchange whether a rise or a fall is hardly felt by Kenyans. At the moment the country’s GDP, that is its wealth, is in excess of Shs 1.4 trillion. The capitalisation of all the companies listed in the NSE has been about Shs 88 billion two months ago but it is now Shs 69 billion. This is a mere six percent of the country’s GDP. This clearly reflects that the performance of companies listed in the NSE affecting the country is like the tail wagging of a dog.

The current government like the Moi regime has not encouraged the expansion of the NSE by selling most of the state-owned companies such as Kenya Pipeline, Nzoia Sugar, Sony Sugar, National bank etc. There are over 75 state owned companies and quasi-government institutions that can competently be run by the private sector through the larger share ownership in the NSE. By listing these non-strategic companies, the government would raise billions of shillings and use it to do what governments are supposed to do; that is improving the infrastructure and the welfare of its citizens.

At the moment the Nairobi Stock Exchange has no impact at all on the management of the economy. We are not therefore able to gauge the performance of the economy and prudent allocation of resources. When a government is managing over 70 parastatals, it is not clear if these institutions are efficient and benefit Kenyans.

For example we are not sure whether the East African Portland Cement or the National Bank of Kenya board of directors are giving their loyalty to prudent business ethics or to the masters that have appointed them as directors.

It is about time that we speed up the privatization of these companies and stop using them as a tool to buy loyalty of the appointees. It is becoming rather expensive for Kenyans to see state-owned companies having endless wars with ministers in the control of different aspects of their operations.

The Nairobi Stock Exchange should also reduce bureaucracy that makes it difficult for privately owned companies to be listed.

The Capital Market Authority must also put its house in order. What happened to Francis Thuo and partners Brokers is quite disturbing. Telling investors that their shares can be sold without their knowledge is sheer incompetence and against the rules and regulations governing the operations of brokers. For example when shares of an investor are sold: why should the cheque be written in the broker’s name? the cheque must be to the investor and posted to his known address. When CDSC statements are posted directly to the shareholder it makes it possible to compare the two statements; the brokers and the CDSC.

In this way one can detect any discrepancies. If the NSE were to pay the proceeds of any shares sold on behalf of the investor directly, it would reduce the temptation of fraud. The NSE has tried and I must say have done a commendable job but there is a lot of room for improvement.

Joe Donde.

Somebody predicted some time back that the African Big Man syndrome would go out of fashion when mtukufu Rais Moi retired. Well, he was wrong. True, when Emilio occupied the Big House on the Hill he did not follow the manual Mtukufu and Uhuru’s dad before him had used to shut up Kenyans with big mouths.

But that is only perhaps because Emilio is a good man (oh, alright, he uses the P word now and then, but an old is allowed to use the P word now and then). Alternatively, Emilio did not follow the manual because he did not find it, Mtukufu having taken it away with him to Kabarak as a memento or misplaced it as he hurriedly vacated to let his successor in.

But then everybody is not as good as Emilio. Look at our western neighbour for instance. Yoweri Museveni was the darling of our foreign masters because he said he will never be a Big Man. Of course he was leading them on because he is a Big Man. Of course he was leading them on because he is a Big Man now and Ugandans are not going to do a thing about it.

Abyssinian Meles Zenawi said he would be a good boy but good boys also like being Big Men and now he is one.

And of course you don’t want to hear about naughty old comrade Bob Mugabe. A little hanky panky with his beautiful secretary, the amazing Grace and before he knew it she was his wife. She asked him to allow her turn Zimbabwe into a banana republic which he did and now poor Zim is a real basket case.

Both Bob and Grace are very, very happy but the people of Zimbabwe are not happy anymore because old Bob is not only a banana farmer but has gone bananas, like all Big Men eventually do. He’s gone completely berserk and is breaking the bones of Zimbabweans with big mouths, like Morgan Tsvangirai’s. by the way have you noticed how much Thabo Mbeki of Azania has been fighting the temptation to become a Big Man? I don’t think South Africans want a banana republic. But you never know.

Sir Charles comes hurtling down

When the gods want to humble or destroy a mortal, a sage once philosophized, they first make him proud. When mtukufu Rais Moi was preparing the humbling of Sir Charles, the Duke of Kabeteshire, he puffed him up, made him think he was a co-president, pumped him up like a balloon and then prick! The Duke came hurtling down from the lofty firmament and, like Humpty Dumpty, he had a mighty great fall.

But, thank heavens, he found humility for only recently Mugane was espied at Uhuru Park, humbly seated among the holloi polloi, the wretched of the earth he once despised to watch a presidential function from the sidelines. Then he was seen the other day dancing Mugithi with the rabble, the commoners.

Oh, I know, I must sound like am gloating over the changed fortunes of Sir Charles. Well, may be I am, but I was also thinking about just how sorely scandalized Sir Charles must be by Uncle Mood’s prison reforms. When he was a mighty Attorney General he once famously said that prisons are not luxury hotels where criminals go to be pampered. Now, a wiser saying hath no other man uttered.

Uncle moody has no business turning jail houses into five star sojourns for criminals. They don’t even hang sadistic cop killers anymore because, in Maina Kiai’s parlance, they have human rights. Well, cops have human rights too, Maina Kiai. And so did old Saddam but the Iraqis hang him by the neck till he was dead.

Now go ye drink and drive!

Alcoblow will be brought back on our roads soon. Daudi Kyalo, the police traffic commandant says that the gizmo will be brought back whether alkies like it or not because it was made to be used on the roads. Agreed. It should be brought back and used on the roads otherwise there was no use of making it in the first place, was there?

Daudi has given Kenyan drivers who want to drink and drive a six month grace period during which they can drink-drive with abandon, kill themselves if they must and take with them any innocent poor sod in their drunken self annihilation. The gadget, if you recall, was withdrawn because it had been introduced by Chris Murungaru without giving those who imbibe time to adjust to the blasted thing being thrust in their faces for them to blow into. I think six months is the amount of time one needs to prepare for such a traumatic experience.

So the drinkers felt hard done by and went to court and told the judge that somebody had introduced a gadget to stop them drinking and driving which was a violation of their human rights. “You can’t do that” the judge said, surprised that somebody had even thought of doing such a thing. “People are allowed to drink in this country. In fact I drink a lot myself sometimes. If you recall, Mtukufu Rais Moi, when he was president, recommended that Kenyans should drink milk and since then I have drunk a lot of it.”

There is no law, he further observed, against drinking other stuff like juice or water, in fact it was quite healthy to do so.

“And did somebody tell you that you are not allowed to drive? Now, I have never heard of such arrant nonsense? I drive all the time myself, in fact, I even have a driving license. Now go ye drink and drive.” They went and drunk, drove and some killed themselves and others. But Alcoblow returns in six months.

The man and his car

When it comes to personal style and substance, Raila Amolo Odinga is second to none. First it was a glitzy wedding ceremony for his daughter where he imported a state of the art jaguar and gave to her as a wedding gift.

This time around, Raila has decided to give himself a present too. And what better can a man give himself than the latest edition of the coveted American motor vehicle Hummer? It is a car that is the preserve of the rich and famous even in the opulent west.

The price? Well, those in the know say it can be somewhere in the region of half a million US dollars, around Kshs 35 million upwards. (This figure has been disputed and new estimates value it at Kshs 7 million). That is no small money anywhere in the world, least of all Kenya. Raila later clarified that the hummer was a gift from friends of ODM in the USA to help ODM hammer Kibaki out of power.

But again, that may be mere pocket change for Raila, a man today reputed to have become one of the richest politicians in the country within a relatively short span of time….

And to think that his late father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and even Raila himself once upon a time toyed with the idea of communism and socialism… Hail the little pleasures of capitalism and free market and perish any thoughts to the contrary.

Kiruri Kamau