Sparkly, like that, thinking beyond just the profits, kudos!!!!

@VituVingiSana I think I should I should come down a little to the level of this forum and respond to some of your myopically driven comments. After all mimi ni mtu wa ground.
It is not rocket science to brew beer.... cavemen were brewing 10,000 years ago so it is a farce to insinuate that Diageo brings in any technology to this country – they are here for a singular mission .


@ sparkly
Yes we live in a capitalistic world but you cannot mention China in the same breath...
The distributorship chains, the bars and the drinkers would still have existed without Diageo – or do you want to convince the forum that these were part of the “technology transfer” that someone is drumming about.
I cannot also adequately address the issue of big company malpractice which is exposed all over the world apart from Kenya – the land of saintly Church goers and Mosque attendees – no crime ever happens here , no wonder no malpractice ever gets exposed or prosecuted. Recently Microsoft has been slapped with several antitrust suits in Europe and in America – do you still want to convince me that business here is run with the best of decorum thats why no such action has been taken so far.

@ guru267 @VituVingiSana @sparkly
We blame Kenyans from not participating in the stock market yet the explanations for rising poverty and inequality vary, and while I do not discount changes to the domestic and global economy the action (or inaction) of the state and many actions of the bourgeoisie have played a great part. The inadequacy of private-sector wages (paid to majority of the guys who work for these blue chips), made possible part by institutionalised anti-union activity in the private sector – sanctioned, if not aided and abetted, by government. Coupled with high cost of housing and health care, even full-time workers are pinioned, trapped at lower rungs of the income scale while their CEOs (who are usually not natives) earn millions.

I end with a quote Cecil Rhodes made more than 100 years ago “In order to save the forty million inhabitants of the UK from a bloody civil war, our colonial statesmen must acquire new lands for settling the surplus population of this country, to provide new markets... The Empire, as I have always said, is a bread and butter question”

@chaka maybe waragi is an acquired taste kenyans may not be used to and hence it may not be able to compete favourably

@dukawalla - Erm, then please start brewing beer... kwani, who has stopped you? [I would advise you register the business...]

And I notice... you do not address facts... Please provide facts about EABL or any other listed firm you have gripe against & we can discuss...

Technology... surely, you are not daft... Bicycles have been around for years YET we see new & improved models... why? TECHNOLOGY...

Cars - So many improvements since the days of Henry Ford...

Brewing - LOL... So you claim "cavemen were brewing 10,000 years ago so it is a farce to insinuate that Diageo brings in any technology to this country"... Are you serious?

I despise people who say 'I am not paid enough by my employer' over & over again while staying at the same firm for years!

Well, unless you are a slave... quit your job & become an entrepreneur... or find another job... NO-ONE has the RIGHT to a job or salary... create your own job...

A jua kali artisan or a farmer with a small shamba or a mama mboga or a street peddler... has more integrity & my respect than an employee who gripes about being 'underpaid' by an employer...

@gathinga - I think EABL came up with a non-malted non-barley brew (the name escapes me or could it be Senator?)... to compete at the lower end... but then GoK jacked up taxes & essentially killed it off...

BTW, Senator Keg sales dropped 31% in 1Q...

I think eabl misconception that there's no real competition has made them seat back and relax. I can bet you Safaricom would be making their revenue from voice and sms only if there was no Orange, YU and that other schizophrenic provider. I hope Keroche would shakes the beer market the way Equity shook the banking industry.

HOT ONE on a hot sunny day.

@VituVingiSana and @dukawalla, you have to agree the main thrusts of your arguments are both true.

I think it's fair to say that government could have inordinately supported EABL in the past at the expense of smaller players or other alternatives. Hence Keroche's complaints but this is improving.

On the other hand, it's also fair to say EABL is a professionaly run company, that contributes significantly to Kenyan economy, and it's foreign ownership is a positive. In the modern global village, I dont believe in fake nationalism that only criples companies.