The CBK governor should cut the jargon

The Central Bank of Kenya governor Professor Njuguna Ndungu has continually failed to communicate to Kenyans. It is hard for any ordinary Kenyan to follow his press briefings because they are just so full of financial jargon.

It was difficult to understand what he meant when he went public explaining why the Kenyan shilling has been depreciating against major world currencies. If his communique was only supposed to be understood by a selective few other than the general public, then he had no point of addressing a press conference. He could easily have sent press statements to media houses and save us the trouble of having to listen to his jargon.

Its time he understood that CBK’s target audience is not just the media and financial institutions. Any communication to the general public ought to be easy and comprehensive. It may be expected that the media will always unpack his jargon but more often than not, it only replicates what he says.

Financial information is not a reserve of a few. Ordinary Kenyans are major stakeholders in the economy too and they deserve to get the whole picture of what is happening to the economy. Professor Ndungu will therefore need to find an effective way of communicating to all stakeholders. CBK might just have to consider hiring communication specialists as well. 

Kosprin

PR practitioners gone rogue

Despite Public Relations (PR) being a popular course taught in Kenyan colleges today, it may soon not be a career of choice for many students. PR is ordinarily communication and activities designed to promote good-will and understanding among the publics and the media. The practice of PR by most companies and institutions is however not portraying well our PR practitioners.

In most cases PR practitioners are the spokesmen and faces of their organizations. They also take charge of customer relations and public information activities. It doesn’t seize to amaze though how worse customer service can get in some companies despite having fully equipped PR departments.

The way KPLC handled its power rationing communication for instance was not the best way whatsoever. There surely had to be a way of preparing customers for the bad news. Dropping the bomb-shell as they did especially on the backdrop of re-branding and committing to enhanced customer service was a raw deal to its customers.

Dr. Alfred Mutual is another example of bad PR practice. No offense to the government spokesman but it is hard to admire his professional skills; especially because he is the senior most PR practitioner in Kenya. He has deliberately perfected himself as a cunning sophist who only understands PR as spin.

PR can only add value when it’s not reduced to just a mare self defense and clean up affair as eminently done in Kenya. A few companies take PR seriously though, but more needs to be done. Practitioners need to carry themselves professionally; otherwise PR students will have no one to look up to.

-kosprin-

Index Insurance key to the agricultural sector

The effects of global warming are now on their worst following the severe drought that is being experienced in parts of Kenya and the horn of Africa. Droughts have consistently destroyed our crops and killed livestock which are the mainstay of our economy. We haven’t quite found a reliable solution to this annual calamity but index insurance may soon be the sustainable way to mitigate its effects.

Index insurance is a brilliant idea which if effected will be a significant risk management tool especially in our agricultural sector. The policy which was recently launched in Geneva will compensate financial loss for properties exposed to climate related risks such as drought.

This is obviously good news to farmers who suffer losses every year due to outcomes beyond their influence. Livestock holders in north eastern Kenya where drought is eminent should brace themselves for this insurance policy which may just be a solution to their perennial problem. Rural smallholder farmers too should not suffer unnecessary losses any more when they can easily be compensated.

More insurance companies need to come out and float this product to Kenyans. This, coupled with large scale farming projects as pronounced by government in Turkana last week will go a long way in eradicating famine in Kenya.

We need more sustainable ways of curbing hunger

Kenyans continue to experience food shortage and skyrocketing food prices. Learning at schools has already been adversely affected with the government being forced to supplement food budgets. Even regions traditionally known for food sufficiency like Central Kenya are facing hunger this time.

This is not going to be easy since the national strategic reserves are reportedly below capacity. While the expected harvests may mitigate the current hunger, they will surely not guarantee our food security next year. It therefore can’t be said enough that we need to employ more sustainable ways of curbing hunger now.

Our food situation will not change if we keep relying on harvests from our small scale farmers. Importing maize is not sustainable either. Government officials and scholars have made numerous trips to food secure nations like Israel. They surely must have learned enough lessons to apply here at home.

Instead of waiting for another famine next year, the government needs to invest in large scale farming projects across the country. This will not only guarantee our food security but also provide jobs for the youth. At a time like this, early campaigns for 2012 elections are unpalatable. Politicians should rather engage themselves in campaigns to save Kenyans from another famine next year.

Kosprin

Nothing is worth trying not-e

No phrase gives me self assurance like ‘why not’. Unlike the word yes which I often use when I ought not to, why not is the most genuine thing that will ever come out of me. I‘ve never thought of any better way to use it than quietly. And when loudly used, it often turns out to be that yes for an ear.

Evidently herein, I wasn’t born to write. I try to put some words together nevertheless. Why not, my best buddy has got my back.

                                                                   

How could I have made it past elementary if why not wasn’t so true to me. Of course its school we’re talking about, approved for that matter. From an approved case to improved as I may have become, it goes without saying that why not is worth her weight in gold.

I remember how I fancied walking along the corridors of justice with some useless wig in my head. That’s right, a damn useless wig if you ask me. It was all in my head, but it’s that clown barrister I indeed wanted to be. Mhh! Nothing could have become further from being fulfilled.

The other option though less attractive had to become an absolute why not. It certainly appeared more practical; mass media practical to me? Ask why not, she will tell you how it has come to dominate every sense I have. If you’ve not thrown some grasp into the bargain yet, I’m in it to stay- I put it.

Of late I have become so obsessed of her. By now my friends may have found a freak in me. I wouldn’t care less anyway, not until she gets it right. She has to get me what I want.

Speaking of what I want, this little damsel in my neighborhood, damn her- she gives me creeps. What a terrible hard nut to crack! But wait, she hasn’t met my buddy yet. It’s just a matter of time before we put her in her place.

By the way, right here in my arms is her place. Yes….ooh! I mean why not?

-kosprin-

STOP THE LOOMING DISASTER IN DADAAB

Recent media reports put the figures in Dadaab refugee camp at approximately 350,000. The current influx of 1800 daily for a camp originally designed to accommodate only 90,000 people is worrying. Most of these refugees who are from Somalia are said to be fleeing ongoing droughts and harsh economic conditions.

Dadaab refugee camp is obviously overwhelmed by this numbers and there may soon be a humanitarian disaster if this trend persists. Due to this reason, the government needs to hasten the re-opening of the new Ifo II camp in Dadaab if the looming disaster has to be contained.

Revelations by the minister for immigration and registration of persons Otieno Kajwang that the provincial administration is opposed to the entering of more Somali refugees into Kenya are shocking. Host communities in Dadaab have for a long time been receptive and coexisted well with refugees even with scarce resources. It therefore needs not to be an issue now. After all, turning away wounded and malnourished refugees at the boarder points cannot be an option especially because most of them are women and children.

The government will therefore have to put its act in order and ensure that the new camp is opened as quickly as possible. Somalia having been rated as the most disastrous country in the world, the least we can do as a country is to host its suffering citizens fleeing disaster. 

-duke kosprin-

Dear South Sudan

As-Salaam-Alaikum my friend, I hope you are doing well. I haven’t heard from you since our famous disagreement a couple of years ago. Quite honestly, I am still interested in your daughter but there is no way on earth I can afford two hundred heads of cows as dowry when I don’t even own a goat. However, you still remain a friend and I know I am your greatest inspiration. That’s rather obvious from your flag if you are asking yourself how I got to know that. 

I hope you don’t mind if I am the first one to congratulate you on your independence day. You have come a long way my friend and you deserve to throw yourself the biggest party of your life. By the way thank you for your invitation which I gladly accept, After all it’s long since I saw your daughter.

We have been friends for a long time and that will not change even as you celebrate your achievement of self rule. If anything, we need each other now more than ever. In your celebration mood though, I would like you to know where you are going as much as much as you know where you have come from. I tell you this because I do not want you to make the same mistakes I made forty seven years ago when I became independent.

I remember how I had to begin from scratch just like you intend to do as soon as the party is over. I scheduled my priorities and promised to prioritize my schedules. I even had economic blue prints like Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 drafted. This was my strategic plan which was intended to eradicate poverty, ignorance as well as disease.

I regret to tell you that drafting of ambitious economic blue prints is as far as I went. I don’t remember how I became vulnerable to dictatorship and tribal politics which beget bad governance. When my good friends Malaysia and Singapore went about catching up with the rest of the world, I unfortunately became a powder keg of ethnic mistrust and corruption which brought me down on my knees. Today 60% of my people live below the poverty index.

I do not want to bore you with my mistakes; neither do I want to scare you. My only wish is that you try to avoid the route that I took at all cost. At least your independence comes in a century of technological advancements and great international vigilance. I know you have some issues you need to sort out with your sister North but that should not prevent you from seeing the big picture. Remember you have a population of 11.5 million than you are now obligated to feed, educate and protect.

Hey, 375,000 barrels of oil at your disposal is quite something to be proud of but nothing to brag about. Remember I have heard world class tourist attractions for many years, some of them like Nairobi national park uniquely located within my capital city. However, my GDP per capita still remains under $1600. You therefore need to focus on maximizing the potential of whatever little you have.

I am told more than 50% of your people live below the poverty index. That should not worry you much because you are just beginning. What matters most is the pace at which you are willing to move forward. Empower your people by entrenching democratic politics in you governance as soon as now and avoid political squabbles by all means.

Attracting investments should be your key priority. The only sure way of achieving this is by building a reliable infrastructure all over within your boundaries. With your rich oil production capacity, you shouldn’t hesitate to supply all of us with energy.   

Finally my friend, I know your human resource is below capacity but you can count on me to start you off. In the mean time, you need to invest heavily in education. What I am telling you is rather obvious but not easy to implement without commitment and accountability. I only realized this a few years ago. That is when I embarked on another blue print of Vision 2030 which I hope not to mess up with again.

I wish you the very best even as I wish I had enough cows to finally get to marry your daughter.

Yours truly,

Kenya

IT’S NOT EASY HOSTING REFUGEES.

Kenya could be home to well over 400,000 refugees, a ratio of almost 1:100 to its total population. This is not easy for a country with an estimated per capita of $ 1600 albeit most of the funding is done by developed nations through UN agencies. It’s encouraging though that the government of Kenya continues to commit itself to protection of refugees under the Refugees Act 2006.

Recent media reports put the figures in Dadaab refugee camp at approximately 350,000 with an influx of about 1,000 refugees daily. It’s amazing how UNHCR copes with this population in one camp, the reason why the government ought to always accord it with all the support it needs.

The host communities in Garissa and Turkana districts where the refugee camps are based however deserve the biggest applaud. For a long time, refugees have coexisted with these communities and shared scarce resources available within their semi arid regions. This is unique and commendable considering that some groups in Kenya continue being opposed to the resettlement of internally displaced persons in their constituencies.

Being a refugee is surely not a thing to be proud of, much less in your own country. In this regard all refugees need to be empathized with even as we hope that our government will find a permanent solution to its internally displaced refugees.

-Kosprin-

FROM KOSPRIN’S DIARIES

I couldn’t have been anything less than surprised the other day when a woman suddenly appeared in my village looking for me. She has since gone around preaching to everybody that she wants her baby back!

No stretch of imagination can dislodge the woman who raised me and inspired the man in me as the best mother in the world. I don’t remember anything from my childhood that could make me doubt her as my mum. I couldn’t care less if she isn’t my biological mother.

My lifetime mum couldn’t have been any nicer than when she offered to adopt me from that south rift hospital where I had been abandoned. With little means, she raised me alongside her man who gave me the fatherly love I would otherwise have missed.

In her endless trips down the tea estate where she traded guava fruits to make ends meet, she always had me in her back. Like her own, she taught me her language and took me to school. Even when her family perpetually pushed me away as a little brat from the other tribe, she embraced me and sealed me from their cancerous hatred.

Now the woman who only did as much as carrying me around for nine months is in town. My village 911 tells me that the doctor by profession is already planning popping bottles when I finally run into her arms. Nothing could be further from happening!

-kosprin-

Kalonzo’s Hobble Misnomer-ncy

So Kalonzo Musyoka, the occupant of the Vice President’s office in Kenya, is again out and about trying to sweet-talk everyone into ceding to ‘Kenya’s’ wish to prosecute its own on its soil. He’s on this special mission-shuttle diplomacy to some but hobble misnomerncy to many-on behalf of Mwai Kibaki, the President of Kenya, and a section of his juniors who apparently may include those he wants to be prosecuted on Kenyan soil.

It’s a noble duty to, once in a while, go greet and pass regards to far-flung friends, especially those you have not seen for a long time. There’s no problem with that. That’s what Kalonzo is doing-greeting friends, donors. However, problems arise when you use a lot of money, let’s say sh65million, to do that job at a time Turkana people are only dreaming of food and filling their stomachs with air. Worse still, if those greetings are coated with requests and demands to support a particular futile course, then trouble arises.

One major problem with this undertaking is the person doing it. If it was someone else, Kenyans would have had no qualms putting their money on such requests but everyone knows who Kalonzo, also Stephen in other arenas mostly spiritual, is. Not so long ago he was the top indecisive person in Kenya. His explosive fence-sitting, which has since cast him as one of the most miserable leaders when it comes to making up minds on a particular issue, is what make many Kenyans lose faith in this mission. What if he gives varying opinions, or fails to make up his mind on any, what would happen? Will he smile, grin or get angry, disappointed? Pick your card there, don’t wait for him, please.

Kalonzo is proving to be a real puppet whose invisible director has all the say, leaving it without any input whatsoever in determining its course of action. The VP has given a deaf ear to many minds and schools of thought including from his initially thought of trusted colleague, Mutula Kilonzo, the Kenya’s Justice Minister who has spoken candidly against his boss’s hobbling from one country to another. 

 

Another noisemaker, lawyer James Orengo has given his ideas too but Kalonzo seems not to have an ear for him either; of course he should not have any for Orengo, who could be covertly acting for a different force with vested interests in the matter-PM Raila Odinga, but for honesty sake Mutula is not a stooge for anyone as far as Info’ e-njection is concerned, so if Kalonzo cannot listen to him then we can conclude that he’s more than possessed with his shuttling diplomacy, hobbling discrepancy.

It’s a move in futility. One, because it’s being advanced on a wrong footing. The government seems to be divided on the move. One side, with different interests, and which likes to play to the gallery-ODM-and eager to prove a point on its rebels, most in the Ocampo Six, would not mind the hauling of enemies to a far country away from them and therefore would support any move which seeks to achieve such and reject in equal measure moves aimed at stopping such hauling.

The other side, keen on retaining power despite raging opposition, is powering on with its single-handed agenda which is believably bigger than a mountain to accomplish. Second is the amount of money being used in this mission. Sh65million is no little money. You know it can buy 812,500 two-kilogram packets of Jogoo (local flour). Third is waste of time. Fourth is...! There are many reasons why this exercise is not really worth anyone’s salt. So unless there are unexplained reasons for doing it at such a cost, then Kalonzo should please come back home, we need him. Or, don’t we?

enjector

How powerful could he be?

 

How much power can one man really hold to himself? In the Kenyan political sphere, one man is ostensibly all powerful. His presumed power baffles friend and foe alike.

So powerful is this chap that my insecure old man had to be sworn-in at night hurriedly to effectively bar him from occupying the house on the hill.


With his humongous fan base, some politicians have had their taste of hard times in public life. Nod to him and you have a career to keep if you happen to come from his political backyard.

It took a miracle for some groups to vote for the new constitution which they strongly believed was his document.

Recently the Ocampo six found an easy scapegoat in him. They say the mention of their names as PEV suspects by ICC was his well crafted plan to fix them and lock them out of the much awaited 2012 elections.

The likes of Wamalwa blame this man for their inclusion in the US ambassador’s list of drag barons. To them, he is a crafty old devil made insecure by youthful leaders.

This chap is so powerful that he unceremoniously terminated my friend’s punch pulling bliss columns at a local newspaper. My friend Mutahi has since reduced himself to tearing apart his political character wherever he finds opportunity to play to the gallery.

With the manner in which the guy is being blamed for anything, I will not be surprised if some people claim his responsibility to the ongoing droughts.

She, I & Her

She looks young and smart, but she is bigger than herself,

She has an amazing smile, which makes everything seem alright,

She sees life from a bright side, and brighter she makes it herself,

She brings comfort to life, abiding in her any time is alright.

Her Latin name is Abril, like a flower symbolizing beauty and love,

She is generous and sincere like basil the herb, folks call her Xabbz,

Her charismatic and persuasive personality, inspires responsibility,

She often inspires tenderness in her shrewd, even when she ‘shrubs’.

I wait for a moment, to let know her mama what a daughter she’s got,

I wait for that momentous day, to let know ‘him’ that she’s all he’s got,

I wonder if she knows! Finding a friend in her means blessings in life,

I let know the world that she is in it to live, for she is so full of life.

She tells me I have a great future that I should hold on in there,

I say she has a greater future, and she should hang on in there,

She says that despite all, sad moments she will never forget,

I say that despite all, happy moments I will dare not forget.



-By Kosprin-

THE TOP SIX FOR THE TOP SEAT IN 2012;

With the media having hyped anxiety over 2012 (now March 2013) as the most important political year for Kenyans, several guys have already made their intentions clear that they will be seeking the top job. One of them will indeed become president but we all have our fears on what kind of presidency these peeps can demonstrate.

I am aware of Peter Keneth, Charity Ngilu, Raphael Tuju and Ole Kiyiapi's ambitions but there are all indications that they will not make it to the top six.

Mr. Wamalwa has always looked and sounded like a man who can make a very effective president. He is a good orator and a hard working member of parliament. He may not have political hair on his chest but who knows, he could pull a surprise as the next Obama for Kenya. He however needs to separate himself from his ethnic ill advised friends calling for Luhya unity and reach out to the  rest of Kenyans.

If elected in March, Mr. Kenyatta will be the first youthful president for Kenya. He could be the second professional president after Mr. Kibaki who will likely  expedite Kenya's economic growth ( I wonder if he still believes in his 2002 dream).

However, this man could turn out to be the bourgeois president who will create a man eat man society and possibly widen the gap between the poor and the rich like never seen before. In the past he has shown some character of arrogance and pugnacity and to this extent, he may turn out to be the most reactionary president just like his former boss in Kanu.

Mr.Odinga is perhaps the new president in waiting if what happened in 2007 and current opinion polls are anything to go by. Being a man who has lived half his life claiming for democracy and state house, he could be the most celebrated president just like Jomo in 1963. He could however turn out to be a “hands on” paranoid president who will succumb to any little pressure from the civil society and the international community.

If he doesn’t change his way of addressing crowds, he may turn out to be the most undignified head of state that everybody will want to ridicule and to this extent, the business community may not take him seriously. His overzealous attitude of wanting to lead the pack all the time may also put him in trouble with his experienced African counterparts.He is a loggerhead anyway.

If she ever makes it as president in March 2013, Ms. Karua will be the third lady president in Africa. Commonly known as the iron lady, she will certainly make women proud not only in Kenya but in Africa as a continent.

This lady could be the one to bring true change in Kenya owing to her no nonsense oomph towards issues of governance. She could however struggle to keep the economy on track since she has little skills and no experience on economic affairs.

Mr. Musyoka is well known for his miraculous declarations. It will indeed be a miracle if he ever becomes president for this country. If his declarations ever come true, the self declared clean diplomat and son of a poor man will be one of the most handsome presidents in the world. He could as well be given it on a silver platter by those who made him what he is today ( Kalonzo's political character and fate are more or less the same like Musalia Mudavadi's).   

Kalonzo will be an ordinary boring African president with no sense of humor just like his role model Mr. Kikwete of Tanzania. He could also turn out to be as arrogant as his former boss Mr. Moi. His dismissive attitude and hypocritical face of Mr. know it all will not do anybody any good.

Mr. Arap Samoei is also said to have ambitions of occupying the house on the hill come March. His popularity is purely built on controversy and chest thumping. If he ever becomes president, he will be a copy-cat of Mr. Moi who economically suffocated this country during his twenty four years reign. This man could turn out to be a viper and a political sadist who will scare friend and foe alike. Following his record in public life, he could be the most corrupt president who may not even be allowed to finish his first term in office.

You may therefore forgive me for believing that we may not have a president of Mr. Kibaki’s caliber any time soon. His maturity and composure are too much for any of the aforementioned presidential hopefuls to mantain. 

By Duke Kosprin