Author's note: this is not a story to take to the bank; nor is it a narration from my crystal ball.
Researchers both local and international will tell you that the Kenya Police and specifically the traffic department is the most corrupt institution in Kenya. In fact, whenever a report on the subject is released, the position to look out for is the silver medalist because the risible gold medal is rightly so reserved for our men in blue, or is it white? (pun intended). But we ought not be the first to condemn them. We should actually condemn ourselves for sugar-coating and sacrosanct-ing the trade. Now, before you google the meaning of 'sacrosanct', may I remind you that I've been spending lotsa time reading. And what better way to prove this than to inculcate vocables that you've probably never heard of in my pieces. I digress!
A simple chit chat with a matatu crew will confirm this reality; that we have been in support of corruption - albeit unknowingly - all along. Of great concern is the fact that we've been mendacious in combating this vice, ostensibly heralding ourselves as saints. But are we not the same ones who give the bribes to the officers when on the wrong? Are we not the ones who propose to offer the bribes. And have we not made the phrase, 'mkubwa nitoe ngapi?' an accepted tool of trade? A conductor tells me he parts with approximately four hundred shillings on a one way trip from Murang'a to Nairobi. I actually helped him count so the statistics cannot be further from the truth. Supposing the conductor makes six such trips in a day, how many trips are those in a week? And how much money does he have to part with? I'll let you do the maths.
I am told it is worse in Nairobi town. It's not once that I've seen a traffic officer call out one conductor who then goes to collect fifty shillings from each matatu queuing on a specific terminus, say the Kinoo-Kikuyu route for instance. Many attempts have been suggested to curb the vice but they have proved to be futile. Some have been implemented but the vice seems to me like it always evolves to reduce any chance of it ever being extincted. Now, that we are at this point, do we even have a viable solution or should we sit back, accept that corruption is here to stay, and move on? I say NO! No to this pernicious anathema.
We all know and accept that corruption is deeply pervaded within our social system and defended by blind apparatchiks living amongst us. But when we want to solve this two groups of people sprout out. There are those who say it is not possible to rid ourselves off this diabolical plunder against our morals. They detest any attempt to act otherwise, because they have accepted it as the order of the day. To them I say 'step aside and watch as we act.' There is a second group of people who believe that together we can defeat this monster. It is this group that am interested in. the group that will bring change to this country and continent eventually. You can only be in one of the two groups at any time.
It would be utter balderdash if I eschewed at this point without proposing a solution. This I will succinctly give by suggesting that we embrace liberty. Let everyone be free to do whatsoever he/she deems fit as long as his/her actions do not infringe on the rights of other citizens. What I mean is citizens should be give the opportunity of choosing what is right for themselves. Of what business would it concern the government if I choose to travel in an 'unroadworthy' vehicle? Whose right do I infringe on by bringing my vehicle on the road as an option for people -customers - to travel by? Why does the government feel that it should 'regulate' this industry? I'd have suggested that the matatu saccos conduct the regulation but then that would be transferring corruption from the traffic police to the sacco legislators. I believe that we should do away with PSV inspections. We had it the other day and we saw what happened. Corruption was on the rise. If a vehicle is 'unroadworthy', let the people judge for themselves and not travel by it. Why do I say this? I say this because if the industry is not regulated, then there will be no avenues for corruption. Drivers will be free to operate matatus with no fear of harassment from the police officers and therefore no bribes will be given either. the role of the officers should be to protect the individual, his/her liberty and property. The role should not extend to provision of liberty and property. No!
In the same manner, the government should make it mandatory for matatus to have seat-belts but let no passenger be forced or coerced to fasten the safety belt. I see no sense in forcing me to do something that I can well chose whether to or not to. What makes the government think that it is in a better position to think better for the citizens than the citizens themselves? Is the government not made of persons from the same populace with the same brain capacity? I say the role of the government should be to do those things that I cannot do for myself, otherwise there would be no sense of having a government. By eliminating this regulations, then I will not have to bribe the police officers for 'offenses' committed. I say Yes to Liberty and No to Corruption.
Thursday 5 June 2014
Tuesday 3 June 2014
Meetings That Pay; Climate Change Bill
Imagine yourself at a four star hotel where ambiance is the order of the
day. A place where the waitresses are super beautiful and equally
benevolent. A place where you'll meet the entire county government
administration because that's where they profligate the county's
resources - having sumptuous lunch. Where food that you never knew of is
served in plenty. A place where your intestines are for the first time
introduced to their Mr. Right in terms of food. The many cuisines we
have around and they are for some time saved the grappling from ugali
mix or worse still matumbo. What a major breakthrough! Thanks for
imagining. Now stop (and move on like....)! That's how I spent my
weekend, the fact it was just for a day notwithstanding.
On 30th May, I had the pleasure of representing AYICC-K at the Murang'a County consultative forum on the draft Climate Change Policy and Bill details of which can be downloaded here. A bill that is in Parliament currently awaiting its second reading, the first having been on 6th March 2014. Hotel Nokras was a perfect choice of venue by KCCWG (the event organizers) as you can see from my introduction. Anyway my first task was to find the three ladies who had invited me; Susy Wandera, Annette and Wanja. Shouldn't I just act normal and say that they didn't disappoint, both in their beauty and later on their presentations. I am a man (a straight one for that matter) for Christ's sake and there are some things I can't help but write in a blog. The meeting was called to order by Ma'am Cecilia Chege after a round of introductions. I must say at this point that we really struggled to get someone to pray for us until the rapporteur saved the day. Bad- mannered Murang'a people.
Our main guest Governor Mwangi wa Iria's absence however was accentuated by the empty seats at the front. That didn't kill the spirit though as Hon. Albert Mwaniki welcomed us all to Murang'a County and, being a Friday, stressed that we shouldn't be in a hurry to leave. He promised most importantly that his county would be the first to implement the Bill if it became law. He then excused himself as he had other commitments to meet and so he left. These politicians! The chairman of KCCWG was next in line accentuating the dire need for streamlining of climate change in our development plans including the Vision 2030. He however sent shivers down the members with his jokes on jiggers and occasionally forcing grins from us. He at one point joked that he was shocked not to see any of us barefoot. We almost stoned him. He then gave evidences of climate change including unreliable rainfall and the melting of ice at Mt. Kenya. I can second him on that as some time back we used to wake up and go out to sunbathe in the sun but nowadays the rays of the sun wake you up. To further prove this, there is talk that the boom in tourism around Mt. Kenya and Kilimanjaro is because the tourists want to see the snow before it melts completely. <== I cooked that up though.
The speaker then talked of the many opportunities presented by climate change ranging from selling solar lights to carbon trade. Or is it not true that every disaster provides an opportunity. He summed up by saying that Africa being the least contributor to climate change at 3% is the most vulnerable and suffers the most. My take however is that we shouldn't just sit down and watch as our poor children and women suffer just because we're not the cause. We need to respond by adapting to climate change and mitigating where we can. With that, our stomachs demanded a tea break to recuperate from the agony of sweet smelling delicacies. And delicacies we were served! I am still laughing at the thought of those many guys who - given an option between coffee and fruit juice - chose both. Yes, that's who I am, a morbid snitch! I'd let out a diabolical laughter - albeit silently - as women and men in equal measure struggled to use the cutlery not knowing on which hand to hold the knife and on which to hold the fork. I remember my first time using such 'complicated apparatus' I ended up with more than half of my meal in the dustbin. Chops of meat would slide all the way to the floor. But that was then. At least now I know that the fork should be held in the left hand and the knife on the right. I digress!
The next presenter was none other than the wonderful Susy Wandera whose aura of captivation tethered us to the presentation, not to blink away. Susy is one of those people who you'd want to precede your presentation because she'll successful excite the public for you, and talks longer thus saving you much time. She talked about the roles of the 2nd Medium Term Plan (MTP2) - something I never knew of - and the County Integrated Development Plans in aiding climate change mainstreaming. The Bill, tabled in Parliament in 2002 was discussed in detail with the focal point being the establishment, powers and functions of the National Climate Change Council as proposed in the aforementioned bill. The role of the council to both formulate and implement such matters as pertains to climate change was questioned owing to past failures by other similar bodies. The speaker was however precipitous in clarifying the clearly defined powers of the Council. The presentation deserved no further questions due to the clarity and lucidity conferred to it by the speaker.
Mercy Mburu from KENAFF (Kenya National Farmers Federation), a body that prides itself with representing the interests of about 2 million farm families, was the next speaker in line. She exhaustively talked about the impacts of climate change with a special focus on the farmer. The impacts ranged from droughts, water scarcity, conflicts over resources and the sprouting up of climate change refugees. Agriculture was termed as one of the sectors affected by the climate change menace among others such as biodiversity conservation, energy, fisheries, health, forestry, tourism and water supply. A closer look in many treatises revealed that energy, industries, forestry and agriculture are leading in contribution to climate change.
The discussion was then scaled to the plenary session where many issues on both the Bill and the Policy were raised. Of particular importance was the choice of response Africa had chosen with regard to climate change. there were questions as to why Africa, and in particular Kenya, should be involved in mitigation measures when it's total contribution to the same was a meager 3% half of which came from South Africa. The clarification was that African countries had focused on Adaptation while developed countries opted for Mitigation as their respective responses to climate change.
To sum the session up was Paul Murage from Kenya Meteorological Service whose presentation was mainly on the responses put in place combat to climate change. He briefed us on the Early Warning systems at his organization including monitoring and prediction tools, dissemination of information, risk knowledge and response citing a case study of the landslides in Kiriko-ini village in Murang'a. He advocated for the need for long term solutions top replace the short term solutions that are currently in better as a better response to common hazards within Murang'a. These hazards include: droughts; floods; landslides & mudslides; rising temperatures; and fog. The County is faced with the challenge of meteorological stations with only one station that is at KARI, Thika. The role of the media in early warnings and response was also emphasized. With that presentation, the session was brought to a halt. But not without a hand of appreciation, that was way above commensurate with our participation, from the organizers. We all queued in line to get a token that was to cater for our travel expenses. I don't know about the rest but mine was enough to spend for the Madaraka Day celebrations and lasted till this morning to cater for my fare. I am still in awe. I mean who gives you Kshs 2000 to just sit and listen to them? Not unless these guys at KCCWG have political motives.
With the money safely in our pockets and/ wallets depending on where one found safer, we were then invited for a buffet details of which I won't reveal to avert the dangers it would cause to you. To AYICC-K I say thank you for that chance. To the organizers, KCCWG, I say thank you too. I'd have followed you to Vihiga (the next venue) just to pocket the 2000 were it not that JamboJet doesn't fly that route.
PS. The Draft Climate Change Bill can be downloaded here
On 30th May, I had the pleasure of representing AYICC-K at the Murang'a County consultative forum on the draft Climate Change Policy and Bill details of which can be downloaded here. A bill that is in Parliament currently awaiting its second reading, the first having been on 6th March 2014. Hotel Nokras was a perfect choice of venue by KCCWG (the event organizers) as you can see from my introduction. Anyway my first task was to find the three ladies who had invited me; Susy Wandera, Annette and Wanja. Shouldn't I just act normal and say that they didn't disappoint, both in their beauty and later on their presentations. I am a man (a straight one for that matter) for Christ's sake and there are some things I can't help but write in a blog. The meeting was called to order by Ma'am Cecilia Chege after a round of introductions. I must say at this point that we really struggled to get someone to pray for us until the rapporteur saved the day. Bad- mannered Murang'a people.
Our main guest Governor Mwangi wa Iria's absence however was accentuated by the empty seats at the front. That didn't kill the spirit though as Hon. Albert Mwaniki welcomed us all to Murang'a County and, being a Friday, stressed that we shouldn't be in a hurry to leave. He promised most importantly that his county would be the first to implement the Bill if it became law. He then excused himself as he had other commitments to meet and so he left. These politicians! The chairman of KCCWG was next in line accentuating the dire need for streamlining of climate change in our development plans including the Vision 2030. He however sent shivers down the members with his jokes on jiggers and occasionally forcing grins from us. He at one point joked that he was shocked not to see any of us barefoot. We almost stoned him. He then gave evidences of climate change including unreliable rainfall and the melting of ice at Mt. Kenya. I can second him on that as some time back we used to wake up and go out to sunbathe in the sun but nowadays the rays of the sun wake you up. To further prove this, there is talk that the boom in tourism around Mt. Kenya and Kilimanjaro is because the tourists want to see the snow before it melts completely. <== I cooked that up though.
The speaker then talked of the many opportunities presented by climate change ranging from selling solar lights to carbon trade. Or is it not true that every disaster provides an opportunity. He summed up by saying that Africa being the least contributor to climate change at 3% is the most vulnerable and suffers the most. My take however is that we shouldn't just sit down and watch as our poor children and women suffer just because we're not the cause. We need to respond by adapting to climate change and mitigating where we can. With that, our stomachs demanded a tea break to recuperate from the agony of sweet smelling delicacies. And delicacies we were served! I am still laughing at the thought of those many guys who - given an option between coffee and fruit juice - chose both. Yes, that's who I am, a morbid snitch! I'd let out a diabolical laughter - albeit silently - as women and men in equal measure struggled to use the cutlery not knowing on which hand to hold the knife and on which to hold the fork. I remember my first time using such 'complicated apparatus' I ended up with more than half of my meal in the dustbin. Chops of meat would slide all the way to the floor. But that was then. At least now I know that the fork should be held in the left hand and the knife on the right. I digress!
The next presenter was none other than the wonderful Susy Wandera whose aura of captivation tethered us to the presentation, not to blink away. Susy is one of those people who you'd want to precede your presentation because she'll successful excite the public for you, and talks longer thus saving you much time. She talked about the roles of the 2nd Medium Term Plan (MTP2) - something I never knew of - and the County Integrated Development Plans in aiding climate change mainstreaming. The Bill, tabled in Parliament in 2002 was discussed in detail with the focal point being the establishment, powers and functions of the National Climate Change Council as proposed in the aforementioned bill. The role of the council to both formulate and implement such matters as pertains to climate change was questioned owing to past failures by other similar bodies. The speaker was however precipitous in clarifying the clearly defined powers of the Council. The presentation deserved no further questions due to the clarity and lucidity conferred to it by the speaker.
Mercy Mburu from KENAFF (Kenya National Farmers Federation), a body that prides itself with representing the interests of about 2 million farm families, was the next speaker in line. She exhaustively talked about the impacts of climate change with a special focus on the farmer. The impacts ranged from droughts, water scarcity, conflicts over resources and the sprouting up of climate change refugees. Agriculture was termed as one of the sectors affected by the climate change menace among others such as biodiversity conservation, energy, fisheries, health, forestry, tourism and water supply. A closer look in many treatises revealed that energy, industries, forestry and agriculture are leading in contribution to climate change.
The discussion was then scaled to the plenary session where many issues on both the Bill and the Policy were raised. Of particular importance was the choice of response Africa had chosen with regard to climate change. there were questions as to why Africa, and in particular Kenya, should be involved in mitigation measures when it's total contribution to the same was a meager 3% half of which came from South Africa. The clarification was that African countries had focused on Adaptation while developed countries opted for Mitigation as their respective responses to climate change.
To sum the session up was Paul Murage from Kenya Meteorological Service whose presentation was mainly on the responses put in place combat to climate change. He briefed us on the Early Warning systems at his organization including monitoring and prediction tools, dissemination of information, risk knowledge and response citing a case study of the landslides in Kiriko-ini village in Murang'a. He advocated for the need for long term solutions top replace the short term solutions that are currently in better as a better response to common hazards within Murang'a. These hazards include: droughts; floods; landslides & mudslides; rising temperatures; and fog. The County is faced with the challenge of meteorological stations with only one station that is at KARI, Thika. The role of the media in early warnings and response was also emphasized. With that presentation, the session was brought to a halt. But not without a hand of appreciation, that was way above commensurate with our participation, from the organizers. We all queued in line to get a token that was to cater for our travel expenses. I don't know about the rest but mine was enough to spend for the Madaraka Day celebrations and lasted till this morning to cater for my fare. I am still in awe. I mean who gives you Kshs 2000 to just sit and listen to them? Not unless these guys at KCCWG have political motives.
With the money safely in our pockets and/ wallets depending on where one found safer, we were then invited for a buffet details of which I won't reveal to avert the dangers it would cause to you. To AYICC-K I say thank you for that chance. To the organizers, KCCWG, I say thank you too. I'd have followed you to Vihiga (the next venue) just to pocket the 2000 were it not that JamboJet doesn't fly that route.
PS. The Draft Climate Change Bill can be downloaded here
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