[kictanet] A good piece by Dr. Bitange Ndemo

Tue Nov 19 12:54:23 EAT 2013

That would explain the ludicrous design of a single lane that is also a bus
stage

On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 12:08 PM, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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> 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> 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
>>>> > online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and
>>>> bandwidth,
>>>> > share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect
>>>> privacy, do
>>>> > 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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> 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
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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