@ poundfoolish, say it again, a lil' louder. .

It is the so called "PRUDENT" who remind of this story.


Some two guys are walking down a foot path in some meadow. In front of them, they see white stuff, from a far. They look like sheep,they look like birds. Guy A says those are sheep,guy B disagree and says "can't you see are birds,are you blind?" On drawing closer,the white stuff flew. Guy A says "look, i told you". At which guy B retorts "even if they fly, they are sheep".

"PRUDENT", theirs make good stories,sometimes.

Looking at the estimated cost of constructing Konza city and that of Lamu port they are similar:Sh2Trillion.

In the case of Lamu port the cost is meant to be shared between 3 states...so thats doable..

In the case of Konza we are telling investors to believe on a dream that The KSh will be stabilised,The energy cost will come down and our manpower will cost less than in Asia because the country knows how to control Inflation and access to credit is not only easy but also cheap since the government will guarantee most of it...Well Those are high stakes for any investor.

The problem with us is not the lack of Dreams but the lack of realism and workable strategies.

When the kibaki govt embarked on the construction of Muthurua market the plan was to make a market that will be modern, accommodating a Matatu terminus that would serve the whole of Nairobi.Visit the market today....the chaos,mess and disorganisation is baffling.

The same goes for kariobangi light industries,industrial area,Thika and other Govt projects that can rake in billions if the plans are executed in an efficient manner.

Konza city is a brilliant Idea but the question the govt should be asking itself is does the country have the capacity to compete with the world given the resources we have.

The other day a student of JKUAT was employed by twitter it became a national news how many indians,chinnese or Asians work for twitter as engineers.

The reason India,china and the other Asian countries are now leading in technology is because of embracing policies that tune up the citizenry into a collective vision which ensures that from school the curriculum is geared toward a certain goal.The paradigm shift is gradual and with time a country emerges as a top producer of something.

IF you were to ask me what is our education policy I wont tell you,even the Vision 2030 is so ambiguous that when you look at the three pillars and the reality on the ground you are more confused about the future.

eishh. Nasi tumesema we meet in Konza in 2032?

This is a very interesting book to read especially for those of us privileged to work in the Public sector and in charge of making decisions on behalf of the people of Kenya e.g the Konza City project.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/..._of_an_Economic_Hit_Man


According to his book, Perkins' function was to convince the political and financial leadership of underdeveloped countries to accept enormous development loans from institutions like the World Bank and USAID. Saddled with debts they could not hope to pay, those countries were forced to acquiesce to political pressure from the United States on a variety of issues. Perkins argues in his book that developing nations were effectively neutralized politically, had their wealth gaps driven wider and economies crippled in the long run. In this capacity Perkins recounts his meetings with some prominent individuals, including Graham Greene and Omar Torrijos. Perkins describes the role of an EHM as follows:
Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly-paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.


http://www.guardian.co.u...an/28/biography.politics

Listening to both sides of this debate you understand that there are serious challeneges facing this project; to be or not to be? remains the big question.
my 2 cents view is that let's dream big and as we do so let's also try to fix the basics? africa has not been poor for lack of ideas or resources rather poor leadership; but we cannot runt forever and need to make do with what we have.
let's embrace the project, encourage gok to consult both from within and without and continue to pile pressure for general infrastructural growth. we may not hit v2030 in entiretity but even half a loaf is better than none.