[kictanet] Interesting Piece ...

[Phares Kariuki]

On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 1:40 PM, simiyu mse <kensimiyu at gmail.com> wrote:

> What will putting billions of shillings into making a Kenyan plane aid us
> if we still have hungry people in our midst? Wouldn't a fraction of that
> being channeled into making boreholes and expanding the footprint of arable
> land be a better bet.
>
> Granted, We are at the consumption end of the line. We will not make
> an iPhone contender that will lift us out of poverty or what not. We need
> to know what we can do within our means that will solve our perennial
> problems affecting our basic needs. Address our reliance on good weather to
> have food security. Come up with cheap housing. Address
> our inefficient transport channels that add an unnecessary cost on goods.
>
> Use our ideas to inject simple technology into mundane activities. Use our
> Kenyan peculiar nature to squeeze some commerce out of it. The idea in the
> article of the stone crusher is an excellent example.
>

If we leave out the tone and nature of the article, it has some very
accurate and painful facts:

   - We can't feed ourselves (we will have a crisis in Northern Kenya,
   where corporates will be involved in another 'Kenyans4Kenya' campaign -
   remember Kiss FM used to spear head this, now Safaricom).
   - We can't build basic roads - Waiyaki Way developed potholes less than
   3 months after completion.
   - We can't build railways - The london subway system was opened up in
   1862. We've not had any significant additions to our railway infrastructure
   in the 50 odd years we have been 'in charge of things'.
   - Our political system is a mess - The fact that we have people facing
   war crimes charges still in Public office says a lot about our ethics and
   values.
   - Our education system is a mess.


Before we think of building airplanes etc, why can't we start with the
basics? e.g. KPLC have proven that incompetence can actually be embedded
into a company's corporate DNA. Given that, many companies/individuals are
buying inverters and battery banks to insulate them from the 'KPLC effect
(darkness)'.  We have many guys in the informal sector who build basic
inverters. Why can't the government increase taxes on imported inverters to
aid in the sale of the locally assembled ones (which can also be modified
for use with solar panels)? This will give the Kenya a skillset in
inverters etc. Given that the basic physics behind them is the same as that
used by KPLC's high voltage step down transformers, we can then start using
locally assembled transformers and slightly fix our balance of trade whilst
creating a new industry. Our engineers will have practical experience in
building products and more will be employed. They can start building other
products such as windmills/motors/power backup systems (just random
thoughts).

Basic product innovation is what we need to do. Affordable and within
reach. Policy just needs to aid this.


-- 
Warm Regards,

Phares Kaboro Kariuki
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