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Sunny Bindra
VituVingiSana
#21 Posted : Monday, November 23, 2009 7:00:00 PM
Rank: Chief

Joined: 1/3/2007
Posts: 18,380
Location: Nairobi
It&rsquo;s not easy to be optimistic in Kenya these days,and most conversations about the future are laced with gloom

He is right... @flywhisk are you a diasporan?

I face the problems he talks/writes of... It is easy for those who have it (money,peace,security) to be 'positive'... bindra also offers solutions but in 1/2 a page???

Greedy when others are fearful,Very fearful when others are greedy - to paraphrase WB
Greedy when others are fearful. Very fearful when others are greedy - to paraphrase Warren Buffett
mozenrat
#22 Posted : Monday, November 23, 2009 9:40:00 PM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 5/18/2008
Posts: 796
@flywhisk,I happen to agree with him about the mkokoteni pushers.... There comes a time when a nation has to say,we're too good for this... when we start importing foreigners to our country (their diaspora) to clean our elderly peoples bottoms and to wash our toilets...

My background saw me nearly take up a mkokoteni and you know what adults around me were doing... encouraging me to pursue it as a career... eti,its bettter than kupiga watu ngeta... Until I met someone who wouldn't accept mediocrity... who pushed me out of that hole without spending a single coin on me...

On harambee stars... we were absolute crap... the bloody team lost to an unranked team... That's like losing to a bunch of netball players who keep reaching for the ball with their hands... There was nothing to be proud of.... when we stop accepting mediocrity,only then will we be able to resist the verbal diarrhoea our politicians spew at us every 5 years and go for quality...
tony stark
#23 Posted : Monday, November 23, 2009 11:52:00 PM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 7/8/2008
Posts: 947
@ Flywhisk i totally agree with you. That article was not well thought out. The service mkokoteni carts provide are reaped by everybody. If the mkokoteni was to phased out as he suggest the perosn feeling the most pain will be the poorest. The price of the tomatoes being transported from marigiti to ngara will treble or quadruple overnight. We all know when this food prices rise inflation goes up and the first and hardest hit are the poor then the middle and upper class who are complaining that the traffic is too congested with mkokoteni on the road.
The argument of that it is an inhumane act is hog wash. This is a man earning a living and fending for his family. Do not belittle the mkokoteni guy he is doing his part in cost control and building the economy.
Using sunny arguments we should also get rid of stone masons because there machines that can do that,we should also get rid of KYM at factories and other place unloading cargo because there are fork lifts.
Safaricom is a technology company and as such is not labour intensive. But they hire so many more people indirectly through there distribution network,mpesa agents etc. So safaricom is also a very big employer and so is EABL. All the farmers on contract for EABL and the farm hand who inturn work there!! We need labour intensive methods period.

SK A.L.U.M.N.I (Alcoholic Liason and Undergarments Manager of Nakedness Internationally)
mukiha
#24 Posted : Tuesday, November 24, 2009 4:31:00 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/27/2008
Posts: 4,114
@Tony Stark & Flywisk;

The Mkokoteni in that article was a metaphor. Bindra was only trying to get us thinking about the whole Jua Kali mentality that glorifies a very inefficient system that produces very poor quality products! You might think of that as being elitist,but it still remains the truth. If doubt me,consider the fact that we have even coined a phrase to describe any work done unprofessionally...we say 'it /he/she is so Jua Kali'

In any case,earlier this year,the Kenya Private Sector Alliance KEPSA commissioned a study to establish the social economic value of Jua Kali. They found that while this sector employs about 65% of all working Kenyans,it only contributes 14% to the GDP.

The solution,of course is not to shut it down,but to figure out how to transform this sector from a subsistence activity [similar peasant farming] into an industrial one. Glorifying its mere existence will not get us anywhere.

Behind the gardens...Behind the wall...Under the tree (Including: Red...Dark Blue...Yellow)
Nothing is real unless it can be named; nothing has value unless it can be sold; money is worthless unless you spend it.
mukiha
#25 Posted : Tuesday, November 24, 2009 4:41:00 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/27/2008
Posts: 4,114
Here is how Sunny responded to the same criticism recently..........

Moses Otieno said:
Sunny,I have wanted to say this for a long time: many of your posts and articles on this website and the Sunday Nation appear to be very negative.

Sunny Bindra said:
Moses Thanks for the challenge - appreciated.

Negative - no. Provocative - yes. I am deliberately in the face of those who take us backwards,for they do not want to face the reality. And this is a country very good at not facing up to issues: I recall very well some CEOs I know playing golf when the country was up in flames last year!

Behind the gardens...Behind the wall...Under the tree (Including: Red...Dark Blue...Yellow)
Nothing is real unless it can be named; nothing has value unless it can be sold; money is worthless unless you spend it.
flywhisk
#26 Posted : Tuesday, November 24, 2009 5:18:00 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 11/13/2009
Posts: 20
@ Mukiha,I do agree with what you're saying as it makes a lot of sense. However,in the here and now,Jua Kali remains the only hope for majority of our uneducated young men and women...what with all the mess that has been Kazi kwa Vijana. What needs to be done is to find ways to make the sector more productive and relevant to our economy. Which brings me back to my original argument,don't just criticize and criticize,offer solutions as well! In that mkokoteni article,I did not see any such solution offered.
@ Vitumob,I am not a diasporan but a Kenyan living in Kenya. In fact,I have only ever visited two foreign countries in my entire life...Uganda and Tanzania.
tony stark
#27 Posted : Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:52:00 AM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 7/8/2008
Posts: 947
@ Muhika,
I doubt KEPSA are right. How do they define jua kali artisan? I also thought agriculture is still the main employer in kenya because at 65% jua kali seems to be leading.If they did include agricultural workers well it wont be 15% of the GDP contributuion. How did they calculate the economic output of this sector. I know it is a challenge and they therefore probably used statistical imputation technique,but until i know where there primary data was from and where the imputation was done i have to doubt the 15% of the GDP. I cant seem to find the report on there website,though.

The jua kali sector is very progressive. They will quickly take up technology that is appropriate and affordable. The natural evolution of jua kali will force them to become efficient and take up technology.

Sunny bindra did not even provide a reasonable solution. Get all mkokoteni out and put in tuk tuk?? Mkokoteni costs 2500. Which is a large investment for a large number of kenyans. Tuk Tuk would cost 200000 at least dont count registration,insurance,etc. Is that not elitist.

SK A.L.U.M.N.I (Alcoholic Liason and Undergarments Manager of Nakedness Internationally)
eduu
#28 Posted : Tuesday, November 24, 2009 9:08:00 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 5/29/2009
Posts: 351
The Mkokoteni article was published on 9th Dec 2007.

Since then he has written about 52 articlies in 2008 and about 40 in 2009. Why go back so long ago to come up with an example?
mukiha
#29 Posted : Tuesday, November 24, 2009 9:23:00 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/27/2008
Posts: 4,114
@eduu;

anecdotal evidence to support a preferred position,perhaps.

Behind the gardens...Behind the wall...Under the tree (Including: Red...Dark Blue...Yellow)
Nothing is real unless it can be named; nothing has value unless it can be sold; money is worthless unless you spend it.
VituVingiSana
#30 Posted : Wednesday, November 25, 2009 9:18:00 AM
Rank: Chief

Joined: 1/3/2007
Posts: 18,380
Location: Nairobi
@flywhisk - When a foreigner criticizes Kenya... I start defending Kenya... sometimes its (mis)placed patriotism...

LAKINI sunny bindra writes for us... and not all his articles are negative... I think we need to start doing better... we can but 2007 really crushed my spirit...

I - like many Kenyans - was so HAPPY in 2002 after we kicked dan 'allocate mau' moi out (well,his chosen one) but 2007 kicked me in the teeth...

We were so optimistic in 2002...

Greedy when others are fearful,Very fearful when others are greedy - to paraphrase WB
Greedy when others are fearful. Very fearful when others are greedy - to paraphrase Warren Buffett
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