[kictanet] Bitange for President? Extended due to Public Demand-internet price?

[bitange at jambo.co.ke]

Walubengo,
Watching news this evening you begin to see that even our media has never
quite understood the role of government.

I see Media castigating government for not having capacity to distribute
relief food.  This I call preposterous because government has never been
good in distributing anything.  The role of government has been and should
always be facilitating through provision of infrastructure, security,
legal and regulatory framework.  The rest is the people or better the
entrepreneurs.

These are real opportunities that we must take every advantage to educate
people how to exploit these opportunities.  You recall in my earlier post
I said that we need Uchumi or Nakumatt up North.  Then provide the
citizens with smart cards.  The intervention of government should have
been simply to top up these smart cards.  They will then walk to the
retail store and pick what they want to eat and not forcing them to eat
maize.  This is more efficient and cheaper.  Further, the majority in
Northern Kenya would most likely prefer milk and at the same time Uchumi
will buy their Camel milk for re-distribution to other affected areas.

In my view we are all failures and instead of correcting our mistakes, we
load the blame on government.  We must remember that communist countries
tried to control distribution of food in their respective countries and
they all failed.  It is time the government let the food supply chain to
private enterprise and only manage it through fiscal policy (give tax
incentives when production is threatened as well as incentives for storage
facilities) intervention.   This change will reduce the perception of
corruption in government by some 30%.

With or without “Candidate” Ndemo.  Issues such as this one that goes a
long way in managing our food supply chain must be raised with the real
candidates.  I am willing to shed more light on food security so that we
are all ready for the candidates.  In my view we must begin to define what
we need in our country’s chief executive.  In view of the new constitution
we must start working on the job description.  We need the lawyers to
interpret how Chapter 7 (Leadership and Integrity) relates to the election
of our future leaders.

If that will be the case, we must interrogate their decisions with respect
to CDF.  If someone was not able to manage a CDF kitty of Ksh. 100
million, that person will not certainly manage trillion shilling national
budget.

Ndemo.



> Bw PS,
>
> nice insights you have below.  Mine is simply to ask what your thoughts
> are, in terms of making consumer internet prices affordable. Yes, cost of
> bandwidth at international gateway level used to be 5,000USD per MB (over
> satellite) but now it has dropped below  500USD per MB.  Basically it
> has dropped by 10 times - HOWEVER- in our cyber cafes, the cost of
> accessing internet is still 1/- to 2/- per minute, pretty much what it was
> during the satellite days.
>
> Mobile data internet which is the more common form of access is not any
> cheaper either.  There's has been NO  drop per-se, just marketing
> gimmicks of increasing the amount of bandwidth for the same (HIGH) price.
> It is like saying lunch costs 2,500/= at some 5star hotel, but since there
> has been good rains/harvest, for the same 2,500/= you are free to eat ALL
> you want...sounds good, but ONLY for those who could afford the 2,500/=
> lunch bracket in the first place - who unfortunately are not
> many....particularly in an economy whose average monthly income is around
> 8,000sh.
>
> So how do you intend to tackle the internet price problem when you get to
> be President?
>
> walu.
>
> --- On Fri, 8/12/11, bitange at jambo.co.ke <bitange at jambo.co.ke> wrote:
>
> From: bitange at jambo.co.ke <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Bitange for President? Extended due to Public
> Demand
> To: jwalu at yahoo.com
> Cc: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> Date: Friday, August 12, 2011, 9:01 PM
>
> Harry,
> Yes there is a crisis virtually in every country at the moment.  The
> difference is how you handle the situation.  In Britain the Prime
> Minister
> thought he can take a vacation in Italy and forget what is going on at
> home but he was forced to dash home.  Before I respond to how we take
> care
> of our crisis, I felt there is a patriotism lesson that we need to learn
> from Britain.
>
> The first reports we got in our News papers here and even in electronic
> media, there was no cause of the crisis in Britain.  It was simply
> reported that London is burning.  Some of our best media houses with so
> many journalists forgot to ask questions like what, where, when, why, etc.
>  This would have helped us understand.  This is because the British Media
> (from where our Media got the story) first looks at their country’s
> interests first and everything else is secondary.  Does our Media have
> what they call Kenyan or African interests?  If they did, they would have
> raised issues relating to racism and African Diaspora.  We shall be more
> respected if we had the interest of those in the Diaspora at heart be they
> from Bahamas or Nigeria.
>
> How do we respond to our crisis?  This should not be a government
> project.
>  The entire society needs a lesson on respecting other human beings
> because this where our problems start and will open up greater opportunity
> and sustained harmony for all humanity.  In other countries they make an
> effort to socially integrate all citizens of different economic classes.
> Let me elaborate.  In Kenya a good mechanic will never be found drinking
> with a corporate CEO but in other countries it happens and sometimes you
> find they are neighbours.  It is not common you find a woman with an
> undergraduate degree married to a plumber for example.  We have defined
> classes that we try everything to belong to.  We do not have good
> plumbers, mechanics, carpenters etc in this country yet we have thousand s
> looking for white collar jobs.
>
> I am sure most of you have watched Cheers.  The artists in the bar are a
> postman, a doctor, other professional, bar maids and men having a common
> goal.  Where no one thinks or feels they know more than the other.  This
> is the begging of building a harmonious society that no one feels left
> out.  The rift we have created just needs a small thing like shooting a
> drug dealer (as in the UK) then hell will break loose.  We must not
> forget
> that this happened in China in 1949 when the Maoists took over.  They
> literary killed anybody who seemed to be from upper class.  Land reform
> was the major focus of policy as a result of China's vast rural
> population, around 90% of the population were farmers. Lands of former
> landlords were confiscated by the government and subsequently
> redistributed to the lower-class peasants.  Do not forget the French
> revolution.
>
> Discrimination in any form should be shunned.  This is because it is the
> basis of all problems be it class or tribalism.    Three of my close
> friends have experience that summarizes what I have tried to explain. 
> Mr.
> X got six and eighteen points at O and A levels respectively.  At
> university he came out with 1st class in Electrical Engineering and joined
> the then EAPL and later obtained an MBA.  Mr. Y had division II and could
> not afford high school but went to Kenya Science Teachers to become a
> teacher.  Mr. Z also passed his O levels with Division III and joined
> Barclays Bank as a Clerical officer.  They have struggled in their own
> ways and of the four of us Z is the wealthiest.  Any time I am with X, he
> complains why I should even have time for Y and Z.  Y by the way has
> struggled for many years and he will soon get his PhD.  According to X
> these are not our class of people.  He loathes Z as one who failed and
> now
> possibly has earned his wealth through corrupt means.  In spite of the
> fact that I have tried to ask X to forget the past, he feels he belongs to
> a different class and hangs around some of the “successful” people.
> Although I have never disclosed this to Y and Z their sixth sense leads
> them to discriminate X from some events.  At some point we were four
> young
> lads who enjoyed life together but now pulling a part because of
> differences in the way we led our lives after high school.  I hear and
> see
> this kind of stories often and make me feel bad about class division in
> our country.
>
> I have had the privilege of deciding who my assistants should be but not
> once have I ever picked someone because we spoke the same vernacular
> language.  My current office is a living example and after leading by
> example, all of my senior officers followed suit.  This is how we should
> begin to tackle the problem of tribalism.  We also must ensure equitable
> distribution of resources and start connecting all the counties with
> roads, energy, water, schools and hospitals.  We have already connected
> fibre optics to all the counties and are in the process of covering the
> pockets that exist.  Even with difficult times we have managed to balance
> infrastructure development to all parts of the country.  We shall
> continue
> with similar strategies.
>
> To achieve my objectives, I take you back to building sustained regional
> influence and develop the HUB concept in everything here in Kenya.
> Transportation, ICT, Industrialization, and practically everything Hub.
> Of course some of our neighbours will feel jealous.   This is what we
> need
> in a sustained way because it will help galvanize Kenyans against some
> external “aggressor”.  President Museveni used this effectively to
> get
> Ugandans behind him when he claimed Migingo as a strategy to get
> re-elected.  Let us do good to the entire East Africa by building the
> rail
> up to Goma, Adis, Juba, Dar and Arusha all terminating in Nairobi.  We
> must build major transit and logistics airport and make it cheap to access
> it to all rail destinations.  Develop capacity to serve the entire world
> back offices.   From this we shall create a pull effect on our
> agriculture.  Let me not disclose the entire strategy.
>
> Regards
>
>
> Ndemo.
>
>
>
>
>
>>
>> Bw Ps,
>>
>> Thanks for your articulative responses... Indeed looking at events
>> cutting
>> across the globe
>> now, one wakes up to a realization that we face similar socio-economic
>> challenges. Bottom
>> line, is how do we respond. And respond we must. But consequently this
>> is
>> what makes the
>> huge difference between moving forward purposefully to achieve progress
>> and
>> backpeddling on
>> the other hand.
>>
>> We'd also wish to understand what strategies would be put in place to
>> ensure
>> a balanced
>> infrastractural development across the regions. I suppose much of the
>> concentration right
>> now is around the Capital and it's environs at the expense of the rest
>> of
>> the country.
>> How about dealing with the great tribalism "monster".
>>
>> 3rdly, what strategies/plans do you have in place to achieve this dream
>> you
>> have.
>>
>> Harry
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>> [mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On
>> Behalf Of bitange at jambo.co.ke
>> Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 3:32 PM
>> To: harry at comtelsys.co.ke
>> Cc: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Bitange for President? Extended due to Public
>> Demand
>>
>> Grace,
>> Thank you for extending the debate to Monday.  I hope I get time to
>> articulate some of the issues that will impact our lives in the next few
>> years.  Earlier I said that we are not alone in how we are dealing with
>> our
>> social development.  I went ahead and gave examples from the US and UK.
>> Although it is an unfortunate for the British people, it has come to
>> pass.
>> Even the Central Bank we got some good debate out of my post.
>>
>> Leadership requires selfless commitment to the people they lead.  It is
>> a
>> sacrifice one makes.  In this respect, I will seek for advisors who
>> have
>> demonstrated ability to serve their country with dedication.  We have
>> these
>> people but they have never been given a chance to lead. The constitution
>> has
>> accorded us the opportunity to search for such people.
>> If you read today's front page Standard, it has the requirement for
>> those
>> who want to join the electoral commission.  If we follow the
>> requirement
>> to
>> the letter, we shall get credible people.  It is this process that
>> lacked
>> before and political operatives took charge in many posts within
>> government.
>>
>> Indeed there will be a policy guideline on all organizations registered
>> under Societies Act.  It is in the interest of the public that these
>> organizations file annual returns to the registrar because they are tax
>> exempt.  Tax exemption means that we the public partly fund their
>> activities.  Further the state has a responsibility to protect its
>> citizens
>> from being taken advantage of.  We cannot burry our heads in the sand
>> on
>> this issue no matter how sensitive it is.  We shall also be
>> implementing
>> our
>> constitution with respect to Bill of Rights.
>>
>>
>> Regards
>>
>>
>> Ndemo.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Listers
>>>
>>> We have received requests  (offline) that we allow "Candidate" Ndemo
>>> more time for him to respond to more concerns being raised.
>>>
>>> This is to let you know that the 'official campaign period" has been
>>> extended up to Monday August 15, 2011.
>>>
>>> And now Dr. Ndemo, Harry Delano did ask you to say what kind of
>>> advisors you would be looking for to help shape policy. Can we hear
>>> you on this one too? You also make a valid point about churches and
>>> the fact that they are not audited. I know for example in Washington
>>> DC, Parish priests have to present audited accounts to Parishoners
>>> once a year, while the Bishop fundraises through a system that is open
>>> to public scrutiny. Would you then make a policy decision on this? On
>>> a light note, may I remind you that your responses will go into the
>>> 'manifesto' and translate into more or less "votes" :)
>>>
>>> Listers, let the debate continue.
>>>
>>> Rgds
>>> GG
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> ------------- If you have the strength to survive, you have the power
>>> to succeed. Life is all about choices we make depending upon the
>>> situation we are in. Go forth and rule the World!
>>>
>>>
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>>
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