[kictanet] A good piece by Dr. Bitange Ndemo

Tue Nov 19 12:08:59 EAT 2013

We also have a Kenyan company doing flyovers and bridges for China Wu Yi
(Lot 1) as a sub contractor and hired by the Japanese funder to do Yaya -
Westlands Link (Motorways Construction Group)

Then we also have the Kenyan firms behind Upperhill roads(if there is such
a thing) (Mattan contractors) and re-carpeting of Waiyaki Way (SS Mehta).

The quality of the works is a matter of why you know and who is funding the
project. It is easier to spend taxes :-)

On Tuesday, 19 November 2013, Mark Mwangi wrote:

> We have Kenyan companies building Highways in Botswana. They are led by
> Njoroges and Kamaus and Ochiengs. It is not a matter of local capacity but
> complacency and impunity. A contractor is paid according to milestones
> right? No delivered product no payment. Why would a contractor waste  years
> if he is not getting paid? Best incentive in my opinion.
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 9:38 AM, Emmanuel Khisa <oloo.khisa at googlemail.com<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'oloo.khisa at googlemail.com');>
> > wrote:
>
>> @ Mark, I do think that we would *ever* have heard roads done if ever
>>
>> we used Kenyan Contractors...sorry to say this but look how far we got
>> during the pre Kibaki era with contractors that did a 10km of a road
>> for 5 years and still never completed them...I think one credit I
>> would give the China Bridge and Co and H Young and Straberg is that
>> they actually did up the game...
>>
>> I otherwise agree with you on the rest of the points raised above.
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 9:35 AM, Emmanuel Khisa <
>> oloo.khisa at googlemail.com <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
>> 'oloo.khisa at googlemail.com');>> wrote:
>>
>>> @ Mark, I do think that we would never have heard roads done if ever
>>> we used Kenyan Contractors...sorry to say this but look how far we got
>>> during the pre Kibaki era with contractors that did a 10km of a road
>>> for 5 years and still never completed them...I think one credit I
>>> would give the China Bridge and Co and H Young and Straberg is that
>>> they actually did up the game...
>>>
>>> I otherwise agree with you on the rest of the points raised above.
>>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 9:12 AM, Mark Mwangi <mwangy at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > I agree with Adam albeit partly. Running to make everything under the
>>> sun is
>>> > no a smart move. However building horizontal industries where products
>>> from
>>> > one industry feed another and by products are the base of another
>>> shoulfd be
>>> > encouraged. Building spare parts for local cars is an example.
>>> >
>>> > A knowledge economy is a good foundation but we still need to build
>>> and make
>>> > stuff. e.g Swiss chocolate, german cars, American Missiles, Chinese
>>> iPhones
>>> > etc. Am yet to see a stable economy that doesn't manufacture and export
>>> > physical goods.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 10:03 PM, Adam Nelson <adam at varud.com> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> The first sentence does not lead to the second and third:
>>> >>
>>> >> "We cannot have high unemployment, and at the same time import clothes
>>> >> from Sri Lanka or mitumba, when we can grow cotton and make our
>>> clothes.  We
>>> >> must defy economic explanations on what works and what does not work.
>>>  If we
>>> >> deployed thousands of youth digitizing land records, we would reduce
>>> >> caseloads in courts, become more efficient, and create more wealth to
>>> grow
>>> >> our economy."
>>> >>
>>> >> Kenya should go towards counter-cyclical employment of youth doing
>>> >> productive infrastructure work: being teachers, building railroads,
>>> >> digitizing land records, etc...
>>> >>
>>> >> However, you can't forget Adam Smith who talked extensively of
>>> Comparative
>>> >> Advantage (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage).
>>>  Sri Lanka
>>> >> (or really Bangladesh) has a far more economical solution for
>>> producing
>>> >> cotton clothing than Kenya has.  This mostly has to do with the port
>>> of
>>> >> Mombassa being a stranglehold and the fact that a 40M person economy
>>> (Kenya)
>>> >> doesn't have the same economy of scale as a billion person economy (a
>>> guess
>>> >> at the number of people a Bangladeshi factory can export to easily).
>>> >>
>>> >> Kenya is a small country and a small economy and if it wants to bring
>>> in
>>> >> more money and reduce unemployment, the solution is around creating an
>>> >> amazingly well-educated population and doing more knowledge work - not
>>> >> producing more clothing.
>>> >>
>>> >> --
>>> >> Kili.io - OpenStack for Africa: kili.io
>>> >> Musings: twitter.com/varud
>>> >> About Adam: www.linkedin.com/in/adamcnelson
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 9:21 PM, Kivuva <Kivuva at transworldafrica.com>
>>> >> wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Dr. Ndemo has struck a cord that has been played in this list
>>> >>> countless times before. I  remember him saying in another thread "you
>>> >>> cannot have unemployed youth yet we have countless garbage lining our
>>> >>> streets and estates!"
>>> >>>
>>> >>> His argument on us importing cloths yet we can do it here is basic
>>> >>> economic that any country can master. India went that way through the
>>> >>> leadership of Mahatma.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> But Dr. Ndemo, in the previous administration that you served so
>>> >>> ardently, the government shipped billions worth of capital on works
>>> >>> that could be done by Kenyans. I'm talking about the massive
>>> >>> infrastructure development that took place in the last 10years. That
>>> >>> capital could have done our unemployed generation justice if it was
>>> >>> utilized here home. I believe Kenyans can build decent roads, brides,
>>> >>> buildings and ports. What happened to national pride? It's the same
>>> >>> argument of importing cloths or planting cotton and producing our own
>>> >>> garments.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> We're still not out of the woods yet, remember the Korean firm
>>> >>> implementing the PKI?
>>> >>>
>>> >>> My cent-less
>>> >>>
>>> >>> On 18/11/2013, Dorcas Muthoni <dmuthoni at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >>> > A good piece by Dr. Bitange Ndemo
>>> >
>>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/oloo.khisa%40gmail.com
>>> >
>>> > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
>>> platform for
>>> > people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>>> > regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>>> > sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and
>>> development.
>>> >
>>> > KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
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>>> > share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy,
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>>> > not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> "Service to Mankind is the greatest form of service"...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Oloo Khisa
>>> P.O. Box 24324-00100
>>> Nairobi
>>> 0721321086/0731849128
>>> http://ke.linkedin.com/in/olookhisa
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> "Service to Mankind is the greatest form of service"...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Oloo KhisaP.O. Box 24324-00100Nairobi0721321086 <0721321086>/0731849128
>> <0731849128>http://ke.linkedin.com/in/olookhisa
>> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/olookhisa>*
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Mark Mwangi
>
> markmwangi.me.ke
>
>
>
>
>

-- 
with Regards:

blog.denniskioko.com <http://www.denniskioko.com/>
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