Shilling de Kenia Tipo de cambio Países que utilizan el código de moneda ISO 4217 KES: Transferencia de dinero a Kenia. Ya sea que vaya de vacaciones y después de las tasas de dinero de viaje o que buscan llevar a cabo el cambio de chelín de Kenia. Vale la pena mantenerse informado. Las tasas de cambio fluctúan constantemente y esta página le permite no sólo revisar los últimos tipos de cambio Shilling de Kenia hoy, sino también la historia del tipo de cambio del Shilling de Kenia con más detalle. El código de la moneda de Kenyan Shilling es KES. Chelín de Kenia Cuadro completo del tipo de cambio (KES): Actualizado: 27/11/16 13:37 1 Chelín de Kenia en Chelín de Kenia Actualizado: 27/11/16 13:37 1 Chelín de Kenia en Shilling de Kenia Actualizado: 27/11/16 13 : 37 1 Chelín de Kenia en Chelín de Kenia Actualizado: 27/11/16 13:37 1 Chelín de Kenia en Chelín de Kenia Actualizado: 27/11/16 13:37 1 Chelín de Kenia en Chelín de Kenia Noticias de KES más recientes de los tipos de cambio Blog Libra Nueva Zelanda Dólar (GBP NZD) Perspectivas de cambio Perspectivas bajistas La libra no pudo avanzar contra el dólar neozelandés el viernes, cayendo alrededor de -0,7 para operar a un mínimo semanal de 1,76. La principal fuente de negatividad. Nairobi: Wikis Nairobi (pronunciado / narobi /) es la capital y la ciudad más grande de Kenia. La ciudad y sus alrededores también forman la provincia de Nairobi. El nombre de Nairobi proviene de la frase Maasai Enkare Nyirobi. Que se traduce en el lugar de las aguas frías. Sin embargo, es popularmente conocida como la Ciudad Verde en el Sol y está rodeada por varios suburbios de la villa en expansión. 2 Fundada en 1899 como un simple depósito ferroviario en el ferrocarril que une Mombasa a Uganda. La ciudad creció rápidamente para convertirse en la capital de la África Oriental británica en 1907 y finalmente en la capital de una república libre de Kenia en 1963. Durante el período colonial de Kenia, la ciudad se convirtió en un centro para el café, el té y el sisal de colon. 4 Nairobi es también la capital de la provincia de Nairobi y del distrito de Nairobi. La ciudad se encuentra en el río Nairobi. En el sur de la nación, y tiene una elevación de 1795 m sobre el nivel del mar. 5 Nairobi es la ciudad más poblada del África oriental. Con una población actual estimada en unos 3 millones. 1 Según el censo de 1999, en el área administrativa de Nairobi, 2.143.254 habitantes vivían en 696 km 2 (269 millas cuadradas). 6 Nairobi es actualmente la decimotercera ciudad más grande de África. Basado en la población y Cuarto más grande en el desarrollo de infraestructura y su tamaño. Nairobi es ahora una de las ciudades más prominentes en África políticamente y financieramente. 7 Nairobi, sede de muchas empresas y organizaciones, entre ellas el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente y la Oficina de las Naciones Unidas en África, se constituye como un centro de negocios y cultura. La Bolsa de Valores de Nairobi (NSE) es una de las más grandes de África, ocupando el cuarto puesto en términos de volumen de operaciones y capaz de hacer 10 millones de operaciones al día. 8 El Grupo de Estudio y Red Mundial de Globalización y Mundiales (GaWC) define a Nairobi como un importante centro social. Historia El área era un pantano esencialmente deshabitado hasta que un depósito de la fuente del ferrocarril de Uganda fue construido en 1899, que pronto se convirtió en el cuartel general de los ferrocarriles. La ciudad fue nombrada después de un agujero de agua conocido en Maasai como Ewaso Nyirobi. Significa aguas frías. Fue completamente reconstruido a principios de 1900 después de un brote de plaga y la quema de la ciudad original. La ubicación del campo ferroviario de Nairobi fue elegida debido a su posición central entre Mombasa y Kampala. También fue elegido porque su red de ríos podría abastecer el campamento con agua, y su elevación lo haría enfriar lo suficiente para fines residenciales. 9 Sin embargo, la malaria era un problema grave, que llevaba al menos a un intento de hacer que la ciudad se moviera. 10 En 1905, Nairobi sustituyó a Mombasa como capital del protectorado británico. 11 y la ciudad creció en torno a la administración y el turismo. Inicialmente en forma de caza mayor. Cuando los colonialistas británicos comenzaron a explorar la región, comenzaron a usar Nairobi como su primer puerto de escala. Esto incitó al gobierno colonial a construir varios grandes hoteles espectaculares en la ciudad. Los principales ocupantes eran cazadores de caza británicos. Nairobi siguió creciendo bajo el dominio británico, y muchos británicos se establecieron en los suburbios de la ciudad. La continua expansión de la ciudad comenzó a enfurecer a los masai. Como la ciudad estaba devorando su tierra al sur. También enojó a la gente Kikuyu, que quería la tierra devuelta a ellos. En 1919, Nairobi fue declarado como un municipio. 12 En febrero de 1926, E. A.T. Dutton pasó por Nairobi en su camino hacia el monte Kenia. Y dijo de la ciudad: Tal vez un día Nairobi se extenderá con calles asfaltadas, con avenidas de árboles en flor, flanqueada por edificios nobles con espacios abiertos y plazas majestuosas una catedral digna de la fe y los museos de país y galerías de teatros de arte y oficinas públicas . Y es justo decir que el Gobierno y el Municipio ya han abordado valientemente el problema y que un plan de la ciudad lo suficientemente ambicioso como para convertir a Nairobi en una cosa de belleza ha sido lentamente elaborado, y mucho ya se ha hecho. Pero hasta que ese plan haya dado frutos, Nairobi debe permanecer lo que ella era entonces, una criatura lánguida, incapaz de reinar sobre un país tan hermoso. Después del final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Esta fricción se convirtió en la rebelión de Mau Mau. Jomo Kenyatta. Kenyas futuro presidente, fue encarcelado por su participación a pesar de que no había pruebas que lo vinculan a la rebelión. La presión ejercida por los lugareños sobre los británicos dio como resultado la independencia de Kenia en 1963, con Nairobi como la capital de la nueva república. Después de la independencia, Nairobi creció rápidamente y este crecimiento ejerció presión sobre la infraestructura de la ciudad. Los cortes de electricidad y la escasez de agua eran una ocurrencia común, aunque en los últimos años una mejor planificación de la ciudad ha ayudado a poner algunos de estos problemas en jaque. La embajada de los Estados Unidos en Nairobi fue bombardeada en agosto de 1998 por Al-Qaida. Como uno de una serie de bombardeos de la embajada de Estados Unidos. Más de doscientos civiles murieron. Ahora es el sitio de un parque conmemorativo. 14 Geografía Distritos y suburbios Nairobi se divide en una serie de circunscripciones, éstas son Makadara, Kamukunji, Starehe, Langata. Dagoretti, Westlands. Kasarani y Embakasi. 20 Las principales divisiones administrativas de Nairobi son Central, Dagoretti, Embakasi. Kasarani, Kibera. Makadara, Pumwani y Westlands. 21 La mayoría de los suburbios de lujo están situados al oeste de Nairobi, donde la mayoría de los colonos europeos residían en tiempos coloniales. 22 Estos incluyen Karen. Langata. Lavington. Gigiri, Muthaiga, Runda y Highridge. Aunque Kangemi y Dagoretti son áreas de ingresos más bajos. El pasado colonial de la ciudad es conmemorado por muchos topónimos ingleses. La mayoría de las propiedades de ingresos bajos y medios bajos se encuentran en el este de Nairobi. Estos incluyen Kariokor, Dandora. Kariobangi. Embakasi y Huruma. Muchos inmigrantes somalíes también se han establecido en Eastleigh. Apodado Pequeño Mogadiscio. 23 Parques y jardines Nairobi horizonte como se ve desde Uhuru Park. Nairobi tiene muchos parques y espacios abiertos en toda la ciudad. La ciudad tiene una densa cubierta de árboles y un montón de espacios verdes. El parque más famoso de Nairobi es Uhuru Park. El parque limita con el distrito central de negocios y el barrio Upper Hill. Uhuru (Freedom) Park es un centro de discursos, servicios y manifestaciones al aire libre. El parque fue construido por el ex presidente Daniel arap Moi. Que quería que sus jefaturas del partido KANU de 62 pisos situadas en el parque. 24 Sin embargo, Wangari Maathai salvó el parque. Quien ganó el Premio Nobel de la Paz en 2004 por sus esfuerzos. 25 El Central Park está al lado del Parque Uhuru, e incluye un monumento para Jomo Kenyatta. El primer presidente de Kenia. Otros espacios abiertos notables incluyen los jardines de Jeevanjee. City Park, Bomb Blast Memorial Park y el Arboreto de Nairobi. Parque de Uhuru, Nairobi Divisiones administrativas La ciudad de Nairobi goza del estado de una provincia administrativa completa. La provincia de Nairobi difiere de varias maneras de otras provincias kenianas. La provincia es la más pequeña de la zona y es totalmente urbana. Sólo tiene una autoridad local, el Ayuntamiento de Nairobi. La provincia de Nairobi no fue dividida en distritos hasta 2007, cuando se crearon tres distritos. La provincia se divide en divisiones que se dividen en lugares. La provincia de Nairobi tiene ocho circunscripciones electorales, que siguen los mismos límites con las divisiones administrativas (que no es el caso en la mayoría de los distritos de Kenia). El nombre de la circunscripción puede diferir del nombre de la división, de modo que la circunscripción de Starehe sea igual a la división central, el distrito electoral de Langata a la división de Kibera, el distrito electoral de Kamukunji a la división de Pumwani en términos de límites. Divisiones Co-operative Bank of Kenya sede Nairobi se divide en ocho divisiones y cincuenta localidades, en su mayoría nombrados después de fincas residenciales. La división de Kibera, por ejemplo, incluye Kibera (el barrio más grande de Kenyas), así como propiedades ricas de Karen. Westlands y Langata. IampM Bank en Nairobi. Nairobi es el hogar de la Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE), una de las más grandes de África. El NSE fue oficialmente reconocido como una bolsa de valores en el extranjero por la Bolsa de Valores de Londres en 1953. El cambio es Africas 4 ª más grande (en términos de volúmenes de negociación) y 5 ª (en términos de capitalización de mercado como porcentaje del PIB). 26 Varias de las compañías más grandes de África tienen su sede en Nairobi. KenGen, que es la mayor población africana fuera de Sudáfrica. 29 está basado en la ciudad. Kenya Airways. La cuarta aerolínea más grande de África, utiliza el aeropuerto internacional Nairobis Jomo Kenyatta como un centro neurálgico. Nairobi tiene una gran industria turística. Siendo tanto un destino turístico como un centro de transporte. El centro de negocios y el horizonte Nairobi horizonte visto desde Westlands. Nairobi ha crecido alrededor de su distrito central de negocios. Toma una forma rectangular, alrededor de la carretera de Uhuru, de la avenida de Haille Selassie, de la avenida de Moi y de la trayectoria de la universidad. Cuenta con muchos de los edificios importantes de Nairobis, incluyendo el Ayuntamiento y el edificio del Parlamento. La plaza de la ciudad también se encuentra dentro del perímetro. Una característica del distrito central de negocios que más golpea a los turistas extranjeros es el horizonte. Nairobis horizonte se ha comparado con muchas ciudades de Asia y América. Esto se debe a un auge de la construcción después de la independencia, y otro auge de la construcción a finales de los años noventa y principios de los años 2000. La mayoría de los rascacielos en esta región son las jefaturas de negocios y de corporaciones, tales como IampM y el centro de conferencia internacional de Kenyatta. El bombardeo de la Embajada de los Estados Unidos tuvo lugar en este distrito, lo que provocó la construcción de un nuevo edificio de la embajada en los suburbios. En 2006 se llevó a cabo un gran proyecto de embellecimiento en el CBD, mientras la ciudad se preparaba para acoger la Cumbre Afri-Cities de 2006. Edificios icónicos, como el Centro Internacional de Conferencias Kenyatta, habían limpiado y pintado sus exteriores. 30 El distrito está bordeado al suroeste por el Parque Uhuru y el Parque Central. El Mombasa al ferrocarril de Kampala funciona al sureste del districto. Upper Hill Hoy en día, muchas empresas están considerando reubicar y / o establecer sus sedes fuera del Distrito Central de Negocios. Esto se debe a que la tierra es más barata, y las mejores instalaciones pueden construirse y mantenerse fácilmente en otros lugares. Dos áreas que están viendo un crecimiento en las empresas y el espacio de oficinas son Upper Hill, que está a unos 2 km (1,2 millas) de la CDB y Westlands. Que es aproximadamente la misma distancia. Las compañías que se han trasladado del CBD a Upper Hill incluyen Citibank y en 2007, Coca Cola comenzó la construcción en su sede central y central en Upper Hill, 31 cementando el distrito como la ubicación preferida para oficinas en Nairobi. El mayor desarrollo de oficinas en esta área es la Torre Rahimtulla. Que es ocupada principalmente por la firma británica PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Banco Mundial también se encuentra en Upper Hill, Hill Park Building. Anteriormente, estaban ubicados en las torres Park View en el CBD. La Cooperación Financiera Internacional - el brazo del sector privado del Banco Mundial - también se encuentra en Upper Hill, en el edificio de la CBA. Para dar cabida a la gran demanda de espacio de pisos en Nairobi, varios proyectos comerciales se están construyendo. Se están construyendo nuevos parques empresariales en la ciudad, incluyendo el emblemático Parque Empresarial de Nairobi. Nairobi está siendo considerado actualmente por una empresa de Oriente Medio que está interesada en construir una sede de gran altura en África. Distrito de negocios en Nairobi el domingo Sociedad y cultura Nairobi es una ciudad cosmopolita y multicultural. Desde su fundación, Nairobi ha mantenido una fuerte presencia británica, y un legado duradero de dominio colonial. Esto se destaca por el número de suburbios de nombre inglés, incluyendo Hurlingham y Parklands. A mediados del siglo XX, muchos extranjeros se establecieron en Nairobi de otras colonias británicas. Principalmente India y Pakistán. Estos inmigrantes eran trabajadores que llegaron para construir el ferrocarril de Kampala-Mombasa, estableciéndose en Nairobi después de su terminación, y comerciantes de Gujarat. Nairobi también ha establecido comunidades de Somalia y Sudán. Como Nairobi tiene una composición diversa y multicultural, hay un número de iglesias. Mezquitas Templos y gurdwaras dentro de la ciudad. Los principales lugares de culto en Nairobi incluyen la Basílica Catedral de la Sagrada Familia. Catedral de Todos los Santos, Ismaili Jamat Khana y Jamia Mezquita. Nairobi tiene dos apodos informales. La primera es La Ciudad Verde en el Sol. Que se deriva del follaje de la ciudad y el clima cálido. 33 La segunda es la Capital Safari del Mundo. Que se utiliza debido a la prominencia de Nairobis como centro para el turismo de safari. Hay una serie de modernos centros comerciales en el área de Nairobi, incluyendo: Puerta oeste, Prestige, Village Market, Centro Sarit, Junction, etc Estos centros comerciales atraen a los kenianos de todo tipo de vida, sobre todo por sus teatros. Literatura y película Kwani es Kenyas primera revista literaria y fue establecido por los escritores modernos que viven en Nairobi. Las editoriales Nairobis también han producido las obras de algunos de los autores más conocidos y respetados de Kenia, entre ellos Ngg wa Thiongo. Meja Mwangi que formaban parte del boom de la escritura post-colonial. Muchos cineastas también practican su arte de Nairobi. La producción cinematográfica sigue siendo joven en el país, pero personas como la productora Njeri Karago y la directora Judy Kibinge están allanando el camino para otros. Quizás el libro y la película más famosos fijados en Nairobi, está fuera de África. El libro fue escrito por Karen Blixen (pseudónimo Isak Dinesen), y es su relato de vivir en Kenia. Karen Blixen vivió en el área de Nairobi de 1917 a 1931 (el barrio en el que vivía, Karen.). En 1985, Out of Africa se convirtió en una película, dirigida por Sydney Pollack. La película ganó 28 premios, incluyendo 7 Premios de la Academia. La popularidad de la película provocó la apertura del Museo Nairobis Karen Blixen. Nairobi es también el escenario de muchas de las novelas de Ngg wa Thiongo. Kenyas primer escritor. Nairobi ha sido el conjunto de varias otras películas estadounidenses y británicas. El más reciente de estos fue The Constant Gardener (2005), una gran parte de la cual fue filmada en la ciudad. La historia gira en torno a un diplomático británico en Nairobi cuya esposa es asesinada en el norte de Kenia. Gran parte de la filmación fue en el barrio de Kibera. La mayoría de las nuevas películas de Hollywood se proyectan hoy en los cines de Nairobis. Hasta principios de los años noventa sólo había pocos cines y el repertorio era escaso. También hay dos cines en coche en Nairobi. Música Nairobi es el centro de la escena musical keniana. Benga es un género keniano que se desarrolló en Nairobi. El género es una fusión de formas de música de jazz y Luo. En los años 70, Nairobi se convirtió en el centro prominente para la música africana del este y central. Durante este período, Nairobi se estableció como un centro de música soukous. Este género nació en Kinshasa y Brazzaville. Después de que el clima político en la región se deteriorara. Muchos artistas congoleños se trasladaron a Nairobi. Artistas como la Orquesta Super Mazembe se trasladaron del Congo a Nairobi y encontraron gran éxito. 35 Los discos de Virgin se dieron cuenta de la popularidad del género y firmaron contratos de grabación con varios artistas soukous. Más recientemente, Nairobi se ha convertido en el centro de la escena del hip hop de Kenia. El género se ha vuelto muy popular entre los jóvenes de África oriental, y los actos de Nairobi se han convertido en algunos de los más populares en la región. Los artistas exitosos basados en Nairobi incluyen Jua cali Nonini y sin nombre. Los sellos discográficos incluyen Ogopa DJs y Calif Records. Muchos músicos extranjeros que recorren África, realizan y visitan Nairobi. La primera visita de Bob Marley a África comenzó en Nairobi. Actos que se han realizado en Nairobi incluyen Shaggy. Sean Paul. Ja Rule y Morgan Heritage. Sport Nairobi es el centro deportivo de East Africas. La principal instalación deportiva en Nairobi es el Moi International Sports Centre en el suburbio de Kasarani. El complejo fue terminado en 1987, y fue utilizado para acoger los juegos 1987 de All Africa. El complejo cuenta con un estadio de 60.000 plazas. El segundo más grande de África del Este (después del nuevo estadio nacional de Tanzanias), un gimnasio de 5.000 plazas. Y un centro acuático de 2.000 plazas. 36 Estadio Nacional de Coca Cola 37 conocido como Nyayo National Stadium es el segundo estadio más grande de Nairobis. Terminado en 1983, el estadio tiene una capacidad de 30.000. 38 Este estadio se utiliza principalmente para el fútbol. La instalación se encuentra cerca del Distrito Central de Negocios. Lo que lo convierte en un lugar conveniente para las reuniones políticas. El fútbol es el deporte más popular en la ciudad por la audiencia y la participación. Esto se destaca por el número de clubes de fútbol en la ciudad, incluyendo Mathare United. Leopardos de la AFC. Gor Mahia y el Tusker FC. Hay seis campos de golf dentro de un radio de 20 km de Nairobi. 39 El campo de golf de 18 hoyos más antiguo de la ciudad es el Royal Nairobi Golf Club, fundado en 1906 por los británicos. Sólo siete años después de la fundación de la ciudad. Otros clubs de golf notables incluyen el Country Club de Windsor, Karen Country Club y Muthaiga Country Club. El torneo de golf Open de Kenia, que forma parte de la Challenge Tour. Tiene lugar en Nairobi. 40. El Hipódromo de Ngong en Nairobi es el centro de las carreras de caballos en Kenia 41. Turismo Nairobi no es un destino turístico de primera, pero tiene varias atracciones turísticas. El más famoso es el Parque Nacional de Nairobi. El parque nacional es único, al ser la única reserva de caza de esta naturaleza que bordea una ciudad capital, o ciudad de este tamaño. El parque contiene muchos animales incluyendo leones y jirafas. El parque es el hogar de más de 400 especies de aves. El paseo safari de Nairobi es una atracción importante para el parque nacional de Nairobi, ya que ofrece una rara experiencia en pie de los animales. 42 Nairobi alberga varios museos. El Museo Nacional de Kenia es el más grande de la ciudad. Alberga una gran colección de artefactos, incluyendo los restos llenos de un muchacho homo erectus. Otros museos prominentes incluyen el museo del ferrocarril de Nairobi y el museo de Karen Blixen. Nairobi es apodado la capital del safari del mundo. Y tiene muchos hoteles espectaculares para abastecer a turistas safari-limitados. Hoteles de cinco estrellas en Nairobi incluyen el Nairobi Serena. Laico Regency (anteriormente Grand Regency), Windsor (Karen), Holiday Inn. East African Safari Club (Lilian Towers), el hotel Stanley, el Safari Park y el casino, InterContinental. Panari Hotel, de Hilton. Y el hotel de Norfolk. Nairobi es también el hogar de la pista de hielo más grande de África: la pista de hielo solar en el centro del cielo de Panari. La pista, inaugurada en 2005, tiene una superficie de 1.400 m 2 y puede acomodar a 200 personas. 43 Centros comerciales en Nairobi incluyen el centro de Yaya (Hurlingham), el centro de Sarit (Westlands), el centro comercial de Westgate (Westlands), el lugar de ABC (Westlands), el mercado del pueblo (Gigiri), el centro comercial de Junciton (calle de Ngong) Ngong Road), Centro Comercial Crossroads (Karen) y T-Mall (Langata). Nakumatt. Uchumi y Tuskys son las mayores cadenas de supermercados con tiendas modernas en toda la ciudad. La Casa Java de Nairobi es una popular cadena de restaurantes con múltiples sucursales ubicadas alrededor de la ciudad, incluida una en el Aeropuerto Internacional Jomo Kenyatta. Otros sitios notables incluyen el mausoleo de Jomo Kenyatta. El Teatro Nacional de Kenia y los Archivos Nacionales de Kenia. Galerías de arte en Nairobi incluyen el Rahimtulla Museo de Arte Moderno (Ramoma) y el Centro de Artes Mizizi. Lugares de interés Transporte Aeropuertos Una antena de la terminal de carga en el Aeropuerto Internacional Jomo Kenyatta. El aeropuerto más grande y más concurrido de África Oriental. Nairobi es servido principalmente por el aeropuerto internacional de Jomo Kenyatta. Es el aeropuerto más grande de África Oriental y Central. 44 y manejó más de 4,9 millones de pasajeros en 2008. 45 El aeropuerto es un importante centro de tránsito para los pasajeros que vuelan a las atracciones naturales de East Africas y otras ciudades más pequeñas de África oriental y central. El aeropuerto está situado a 20 km (12 millas) del distrito financiero central de Nairobis. El aeropuerto sirve directamente a pasajeros intercontinentales de Europa y Asia. En la actualidad se están llevando a cabo importantes planes para ampliar el aeropuerto para dar cabida al creciente tráfico aéreo 46. El aeropuerto de Wilson es un aeropuerto pequeño, ocupado al sur de Nairobi. Maneja los aviones pequeños que funcionan generalmente dentro de Kenia, aunque algunos ofrezcan servicios a otros destinaciones del este africano. El aeropuerto de Eastleigh era la pista de aterrizaje original en la era de la línea aérea del pre-jet. Fue utilizado como punto de aterrizaje en la ruta británica del pasajero y del correo de los años 30 y de los años 40 de Southampton a Ciudad del Cabo. Esta ruta fue servida por barcos voladores entre Gran Bretaña y Kisumu y luego por aviones terrestres en las rutas hacia el sur. El aeropuerto es ahora una base militar. Matatu A Nairobi Matatu. Después de que la regulación cambie. Matatus son la forma más común de transporte público en Nairobi. Matatus. Lo que técnicamente significa, tres centavos para un paseo (hoy en día mucho más) son minibuses de propiedad privada, y la forma más popular de transporte local, 47 y generalmente asiento catorce a veinticuatro. Matatus ama (o) mathree operan dentro de Nairobi y desde Nairobi a otras ciudades. El destino matatus está impreso en el lado del autobús. Los matatus que hacen rutas específicas tienen números de ruta específicos. Matatus era fácilmente distinguible por sus esquemas de pintura extravagantes. Los propietarios pintarían su matatu con su equipo favorito del balompié o artista del salto de la cadera. Estos días algunos incluso pintan a Barack Obamas cara en su Matatu. Eran notorias por sus pobres registros de seguridad, que eran el resultado del hacinamiento y la conducción temeraria. Los conductores de Matatu fueron presionados para hacer tantos viajes redondos como sea posible para maximizar beneficios para su operador. Son muy populares dentro de la ciudad. La mayoría están equipados con sistemas de música de alta y televisores que atraen a los clientes como la competencia es muy alta entre matatus. Los viajes más redondos con los clientes más básicamente significa más dinero para los trabajadores y los propietarios. Sin embargo, en 2004, se aprobó una ley que exige que todos los matatus incluyan cinturones de seguridad y reguladores de velocidad y que sean pintados con una franja amarilla. 48 Al principio, esto causó un furor entre los operadores de Matatu, pero fueron presionados por el gobierno y el público para hacer los cambios. Matatus ahora se limita a 80 kilómetros por hora (50 mph). Autobuses Los autobuses son cada vez más comunes en la ciudad. Las tres compañías de autobuses que operan las rutas de la ciudad son el servicio tradicional de autobuses de Kenia (KBS) y los nuevos operadores privados Citi Hoppa y Double M. Los autobuses Citi Hoppa se distinguen por su color verde, los autobuses Double M están pintados de púrpura mientras que los autobuses KBS Se pintan de azul. Empresas como Akamba. Coast Bus, la costa moderna, Eldoret Express, Chania y Mash ejecutar autobuses programados y autobuses de lujo a otras ciudades y pueblos. Smartbus Smartbus-Kenia es el último operador de autobuses en Kenia y sirve Nairobi y las áreas alrededor de él. Actualmente, la compañía opera autobuses a Kitengela, Kiserian, Rongai, y Ngong. Los pasajeros tienen una tarjeta inteligente que deben deslizar para poder acceder al vehículo. Los pasajeros recargar su tarjeta inteligente y la tarifa se deduce de la cantidad de dinero en la cuenta. La tarifa está determinada por el punto en el que entra el pasajero y el punto en que el pasajero sale del autobús. Smartbus es seguro, confiable y es sin duda una forma moderna de viajar por la ciudad. Trenes Nairobi fue fundada como ciudad ferroviaria. Y la sede principal de Kenya Railways (KR) todavía están situados allí, cerca del centro de la ciudad. La línea atraviesa Nairobi, de Mombasa a Kampala. Su principal uso es el tráfico de mercancías, pero los trenes de pasajeros nocturnos regulares conectan Nairobi a Mombasa y Kisumu. Un número de trenes del viajero de la mañana y de la tarde conectan el centro con los suburbios, pero la ciudad no tiene líneas apropiadas del carril ligero, del tranvía o del subterráneo. Nairobi es también el cruce para un ferrocarril de la rama a Nanyuki. Taxis Los taxis están disponibles en la mayor parte de la ciudad. Son costosos en comparación con matatus y autobuses, pero son una forma más segura y más conveniente de transporte. Park fuera de la mayoría de los hoteles, en las filas de taxis en el centro de la ciudad y en los centros comerciales. Carreteras Conducir en Nairobi es sencillo. La mayoría de las carreteras son asfaltadas y hay señales que muestran direcciones a ciertos vecindarios. La ciudad está conectada al Aeropuerto Internacional Jomo Kenyatta por la autopista de Mombasa que pasa por el Área Industrial, el Sur B, el Sur C y Embakasi. Ongata Rongai, Langata y Karen están conectados al centro de la ciudad por el camino de Langata que funciona al sur. Lavington, Riverside, Westlands, etc están conectados por Waiyaki Way. Kasarani, Eastlands, Embakasi están conectados por el camino de Thika, el camino de Jogoo y la carretera de anillo exterior. Las carreteras conectan la ciudad con otras ciudades importantes tales como Mombasa, Machakos, Voi, (A 109), Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, frontera de Namanga Tanzania (A 104) etc. El centro de la nación de los medios, sede de la nación La mayoría de las organizaciones de noticias y medios de Kenia. La ciudad es también el hogar de los periódicos más importantes de África Oriental: la Nación Diaria y The Standard. Éstos se distribuyen en Kenya y abarcan una serie de cuestiones nacionales y regionales. Ambos periódicos se publican en inglés. Kenya Broadcasting Corporation es una estación estatal de televisión y radio, con sede en la ciudad. Kenya Television Network es parte del Grupo Estándar y fue la primera emisora privada de televisión Kenyas. El Nation Media Group dirige NTV con sede en Nairobi. East Africa Television Channel 5 es un canal musical de 24 horas basado en Dar es Salaam Tanzania y transmitido en Uganda, Tanzania y Kenia. Varias organizaciones multinacionales de los medios tienen sus jefaturas regionales en Nairobi. Estos incluyen la BBC. CNN. Agence France-Presse. Reuters. Deutsche Welle y la Associated Press. La oficina africana del este de CNBC África está situada en el centro de la ciudad de Nairobis, mientras que la oficina de Nairobi del New York Times está situada en el suburbio de Gigiri. Vivienda Hay una gran variedad de niveles de vida en Nairobi. La mayoría de los Kenyans ricos viven en Nairobi pero la mayoría de Nairobians es pobre. Se estima que la mitad de la población vive en barrios de tugurios que cubren sólo 5 de la ciudad. El crecimiento de estos barrios marginales es el resultado de la urbanización. La planificación urbana deficiente y la falta de disponibilidad de préstamos para personas de bajos ingresos. Kibera es uno de los tugurios más grandes de África, 50 y está situado al oeste de Nairobi. (Kibera proviene de la palabra nubia Kibra, que significa bosque o selva). 51 Los tugurios cubren dos kilómetros cuadrados 52 y se encuentran en tierras del gobierno. Kibera ha sido escenario de varias películas, la más reciente es The Constant Gardener. Un suburbio residencial de clase media de Nairobi. Con el Distrito Central de Negocios en la distancia. Otros barrios marginales notables incluyen Mathare y Korogocho. En total, 66 áreas se cuentan como barrios bajos dentro de Nairobi. 53 Muchos habitantes de Nairobi que no viven en barrios pobres viven en condiciones de vivienda relativamente buenas. Casas grandes se pueden encontrar en muchos de los barrios de lujo, especialmente al oeste de Nairobi. Históricamente, los inmigrantes británicos se han establecido en Gigiri, Muthaiga, Langata y Karen. Otras fincas de ingresos medios y altos incluyen Parklands. Westlands Hurlingham Milimani, Spring Valley, Lavington, Rosslyn, Kitisuru y la colina de Nairobi. Para acomodar la creciente clase media, muchos nuevos apartamentos y urbanizaciones se están construyendo en y alrededor de la ciudad. El desarrollo más notable es Greenpark. En la ciudad de Athi River, 25 km (16 millas) de Nairobis CBD. Más de 5.000 casas, villas y apartamentos se están construyendo en este desarrollo, incluyendo instalaciones de ocio, comerciales y comerciales. El desarrollo se está comercializando en las familias, al igual que la mayoría de los demás dentro de la ciudad. Eastlands también alberga la mayoría de la ciudad de la clase media e incluye South C. South B. Embakasi. Buru Buru. Komarock, Donholm, Umoja. Y otros Población Nairobi ha experimentado una de las tasas de crecimiento más altas de cualquier ciudad en África. Desde su fundación en 1899, Nairobi ha crecido hasta convertirse en la ciudad más grande de África Oriental. A pesar de ser la ciudad más joven de la región. La tasa de crecimiento de Nairobi actualmente es de 4,1. 55 Se estima que la población de Nairobis llegará a 5 millones en 2015. 56 Nuevos edificios de apartamentos que se construyen junto a Kibera El barrio de Kibera en Nairobi, con una población estimada de 1,5 millones de personas, es el segundo barriada más grande de África. La mayoría de sus habitantes viven en extrema pobreza y la mayoría de la gente gana menos de 1,00 por día. Las tasas de desempleo son altas. El SIDA es desenfrenado en toda la favela. 57 Los casos de agresión y violación son comunes. Hay pocas escuelas, y la mayoría de la gente no puede permitirse una educación para sus hijos. Como muchas personas no pueden pagar el agua, algunas beben de las aguas residuales. SIDA y otras enfermedades son prevalentes, y la gran mayoría de las personas carecen de acceso a la asistencia sanitaria. La mayoría de la gente vive en shanties. Una delegación de Amnistía Internacional visitó el barrilete y entrevistó a muchos de los residentes. El residente de Kibera, Michael Nyangi, un empresario y jefe de la organización de microfinanzas Lomoro, participó en una conferencia con las Naciones Unidas. el Banco Mundial. Y varias organizaciones no gubernamentales el 17 de octubre de 2008, tratando de aumentar la conciencia, y fue presentado en un video de Amnistía Internacional. Kibera es el tercer barrio más pobre del mundo. Es el segundo barrio más grande de África. Sólo después de Soweto. En Sudáfrica en términos de tamaño y población. El Gobierno está tratando de resolver el problema, habiendo iniciado un programa para reemplazar el barrilete por un distrito residencial compuesto por edificios de apartamentos de gran altura, y trasladar a los residentes a su finalización. Los apartamentos están actualmente en construcción, pero el distrito no tiene suficientes apartamentos para albergar a todos los 1,5 millones de habitantes de la favela. Muchos de los residentes no podrán pagar el alquiler, aunque es barato. El Gobierno espera trasladar eventualmente a todos los residentes a fin de derribar a Kibera. Crimen A lo largo de la década de 1990, Nairobi había luchado con la creciente delincuencia. Ganando una reputación para ser una ciudad peligrosa y el apodo Nairobbery. En 2001, la Comisión de Administración Pública Internacional de las Naciones Unidas calificó a Nairobi como una de las ciudades más inseguras del mundo, clasificando a la ciudad como estatus C. En el informe de las Naciones Unidas se afirmó que en 2001 casi un tercio de los residentes de Nairobi experimentó Alguna forma de robo en la ciudad. 58 The head of one development agency cited the notoriously high levels of violent armed robberies, burglaries and carjackings. 59 Crime had risen in Nairobi as a result of unplanned urbanisation. with a minimal number of police stations and a proper security infrastructure. However, many claim that the biggest factor for the citys alarming crime rate is police corruption, which leaves many criminals unpunished. As a security precaution, most large houses have a watch guard, burglar grills, and dogs to patrol their grounds during the night. Most though occur around the poor neighborhoods where it gets dangerous during night hours. In 2006, crime decreased in the city 60 . due to increased security and an improved police presence. Despite this, in 2007, the Kenyan government and U. S. State Department has announced that Nairobi is experiencing a greater level of violent crime than in previous years. 61 Since then, the government has taken measures to combat crime with heavy police presence in and around the city while U. S. government has updated its travel warning for the country. Education The Majority of schools follow either the Kenyan Curriculum or the British Curriculum. Top Schools include Makini Schools, Riara Schools, Kenton College, Braeburn Schools. Brookhouse Schools, Nairobi Academy. Strathmore School, St. Marys, Rosslyn Academy and Hillcrest School. There is also International School of Kenya which follows the North American Curriculum and the German school in Gigiri. Higher Education in Kenya Nairobi is home to several universities. The University of Nairobi is the oldest university in Kenya. It was established in 1956, as part of the University of East Africa. but became an independent university in 1970. The university has approximately 22,000 students. 62 Kenyatta University is situated 23 km (14 mi) from the centre of Nairobi. The university was established in 1985, offering mainly education-related courses, but has since diversified, offering medicine and environmental studies as well as Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce degree courses. Strathmore University started in 1961 as an Advanced Level (UK) Sixth Form College offering Science and Arts subjects. The college started to admit accountancy students in March 1966, and thus became a university. In January 1993 Strathmore College merged with Kianda College and moved to Ole Sangale Road, Madaraka Estate, Nairobi. Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology . United States International University - Nairobi is a branch of the United States International University. which has campuses across the world. The Nairobi campus was established in 1969. The university has accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, in USA and the Government of Kenya. Daystar University is a Christian liberal arts university located in Athi River. an outlying town south-east of Nairobi, with a satellite campus on Nairobis Ngong Road. In 2005, The Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi was upgraded to a teaching hospital, providing post graduate education in medicine and surgery including nursing education, henceforth renamed the Aga Khan University Hospital. The Catholic University of Eastern Africa which obtained its Letter of Interim Authority in 1989. Following negotiations between the Authority of the Graduate School of Theology and the Commission for Higher Education (CHIEA), the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences was established three years later, culminating in the granting of the Civil Charter to CHIEA on 3 November 1992. The Africa Nazarene University. located in Ongata Rongai, is a private chartered Christian university sponsored by the Church of the Nazarene International and it is a member of the worldwide family of Nazarene institutions. Sister cities See also References Understand Nairobi has a population of between three and four million. The city is the largest and fastest growing city in Kenya and one of the largest in Africa and lies on the Nairobi River. History The word Nairobi (pronounced /narb/) derives from a water hole known in Maasai (an Eastern Nilotic language) as Enkare Nyirobi, which means cool waters. Nairobi, which was a swamp area, was founded in 1899 and was first a railway camp for the Uganda Railway. The city became Kenyas capital, which Mombasa was initially, and it also became the capital of the British East Africa Protectorate in 1905. With the spread of plagues in the early 1900s, the town was burnt down and had to be rebuilt. Having a railroad system in the system helped it to have drastic growth, becoming the second largest city in Kenya behind Mombasa. The city of Nairobi also grew due to administration and tourism businesses (mostly big game hunting). The British, who were one of Kenyas colonizers, set up a port in Nairobi leading to the creation of big hotels primarily for the British hunters. Also, Nairobi has an East Indian community, who are the descendents of original colonial railway labourers and merchants. Get in Prior to entering Kenya. citizens of some countries have to have a visa before entry. These countries are Afghanistan. Jordan. Senegal. Azerbaijan. Lebanon. Somalia. Armenia. Mali. Syria. Cameroon. North Korea. Tajikistan. Irak. Nigeria. Ivory Coast and Stateless Persons. Citizens from most other countries will need a visa which can be obtained on entry at the airport or border crossing (if overlanding). A single Entry Visa costs US 25 (has gone down from US 50) valid for three months and a transit visa will cost US 15 Since mid of 2009 border visa can also be paid in Euro. If you are only traveling through the country via a connecting flight and will not leave the secure area of the airport you will not need a visa. By plane Regular flights are to Nairobi are operated by Air Kenya, Kenya Airways, KLM, British Airways, Turkish Airlines, Emirates and Qatar Airways. Kenya Airways is the national airline for Kenya, and travels throughout Europe, America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Nairobis main airport is JKIA Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (IATA. NBO ), which is 15 km southeast from the center of the city. If taking a taxi from JKIA, use a reputable taxi, many are waiting outside for to give you conveyance, and the cost should be very near or on 1,500KSh (or 13) to the city centre Westlands or such places more west or north will be more. Use xe for exact amp reliable cash currency transfer rate comparisons. When taking a taxi to your accommodation, do not be inveigled into taking their recommendation for accommodation although this is very at your own risk. There is also Wilson Airport, 11 km south from the citys center, that is for domestic flights throughout Kenya 1. more lighter, Cessna-type aircrafts can be seen there. The military/ government airport is in Eastleigh district (pron: East-Lee), a very large residential area of housing in the east/north-east of Nairobi, but the government airport is fenced around and does not handle civilian traffic. From the center, you can take Bus 34 for 50 KSH, to the international airport, from in front of the Ambassador Hotel. By train The city is also accessible by trains, with daily arrivals and departures at the Nairobi Railway station. The Trains go east to Mombasa and West to Kisumu. There are 3 classes: First, Second and General. First and Second are sleepers. First have 2 seats in a cabin, Second have 4. In Second Class genders are separated unless you purchase the entire compartment of 4 seats. First costs around 50 all inclusive: bedding, breakfast, dinner Second is 35 all inclusive. Both can be purchased without bedding or food. Tickets have to be booked through the office on Station Road in south-central Nairobi, or online2 . By bus Kenyas bus system is mostly reliable There are many bus companies that have routes going to and from the countrys different cities, including Nairobi, which is the centre of the bus network. By boat Entry into Nairobi by boat is of course not possible, however one could certainly arrive in Kenya by boat via Mombasa or Lamu, proceeding by road, air or rail to Nairobi. Immigration should be processed at the port facility. Get around Be careful getting around Nairobi. Traffic is very bad like any other major city, but if you use common sense and a local or guide you should be able to get where you want. By taxi Taxis are not very cheap, but will make city life easier, and safer, at least at night. Prices should always be set before the trip, and paid afterwards. They can be found parked around hotels and tourist areas. The taxis tend to be marked with a yellow line on each side. Your best bet is to ask a local or at your hotel. Matatus (public minibuses/ commuter buses) are all right for traveling to the suburbs, but the best choice is probably the City Hoppa bus service and of late the revived Kenya Bus Service. Beware of traffic jams on the large motorways, not only in the rush hours. By foot Walking around Nairobi is fairly easy since the city is small and places are easy to get to. However, there are some areas within the city where tourists should not go, and walking around at night should be minimised. By road Car hire from the airport is possible, and fairly painless with prices in line with other African countries. Nairobi in recent past has had a severe car-jacking problem, but because of increased police check-points it is marginally safer these days. See Nairobi is known as the safari capital of Africa, however the city has still managed to keep up with modernization. Unlike other cities, Nairobi is surrounded by 113 sq km of plains, cliffs and forest that makes up the citys Nairobi National Park. The city is filled with many things to do during the day and the night. Tourists can have their pick from numerous safaris (wildlife, cultural, sport, adventure, scenic and specialist), ecotourism tours, restaurants, culture, shopping and entertainment. While in Nairobi, tourists can also engage in numerous sports from golf, rugby, athletics, polo, horse-racing, cricket and football (soccer). Nairobi National Park . just outside Nairobi. This is home to large herds of Zebra, Wildebeest, Buffalo, Giraffe, Lion, Cheetah, Hippo, Rhino and even birdlife (over 400 species). Here you can also go on the Nairobi Safari Walk, an educational centre to make people aware of wildlife and habitat conservation. Also in the park is the Nairobi Animal Orphanage. Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage . close to the Nairobi National Park. This Orphanage takes in elephant calves and rhinos from all over Kenya which were orphaned by poaching. Giraffe Centre . in Langata right outside of Nairobi. The Centre breeds the endangered Rothschild Giraffe and has conservation/education programmes for Kenyan children. It also has many warthogs. Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park . 65 km from Nairobi, is centred around a 2,146 metre mountain. This is a mountain forest and plain land, with a large population of Buffalo. It also serves as a refuge for Colobus monkeys, bushbuck, duiker, leopard, and a large variety of bird species. 14 Falls . a waterfall at Thika. Tana River . is an hours drive from the city. White water rafting throughout cataracts, which leads to the 14 falls can be done here. The rafting trip also includes a full BBQ lunch. Nairobi National Museum . where visitors can learn about Nairobi, its history and culture. Currently the museum is open again after major renovations. National Railway Museum . visitors can learn more about the history of Kenyas railroads and the Kenya/Uganda railway. It also houses, some of the engines and rolling stock from the countrys colonial period. Karen Blixen Museum . is based on the Karen Blixens book Out of Africa. Her house is now the home of the museum. It is on the outskirts of Nairobi and a taxi or bus can get you to the museum. Bomas of Kenya . portrays Kenyas culture. Visitors can see exhibits of traditional Kenyan homes, artifacts, dances, music, and song. Uhuru Gardens . built in remembrance of the struggle for independence, which Kenya was granted in 1963. The monument is a 24 metre high triumphal column supporting a pair of clasped hands and the dove of peace, high over a statue of freedom fighter raising the flag. The monument is surround by fountains and lush-landscaped gardens. Safari in central Nairobi park. Try the many excellent restaurants in Nairobi. Go dancing and be apart of Nairobis excellent nightlife Go ice-skating at Panari Visit Village Market and Sherlocks with your friends Buy There are quite a number of networked banking machines in major shopping areas of Nairobi as well as the arrivals area of the airport. Most transactions are cash only, so it is best to have enough cash on hand to pay for purchases and transport. Major banks such as Barclays, Kenya Commercial Bank and Standard Bank give better exchange rates than any of the FOREX bureaus. Independent machines such as Pesa-point have lower cash limits and may have a higher fee. As an example, in 2007 Barclays did not charge any additional fee for a cash withdrawal but gave a lower exchange rate than Kenya Commercial Bank. KCB charged a CDN5 fee for a withdrawal with a maximum of 40,000/ per day. Cash is dispensed in units of 1000/. Note that many smaller businesses will not have much change, so before going shopping for curios be sure to have a good selection of smaller notes. Forex Bureaus are located in many parts of the city where tourists are common. They will exchange cash of different currencies, and may also accept a personal cheque for Kenyan cash. They will want a photocopy of your passport before they exchange money. Rates are not bad, but will be worse than a banking machine will offer. Credit Cards Many specialty stores will accept international credit cards, however they will normally tell you up front that they will charge you bank fees, typically 5 of the purchase. The Nakumat and Uchumi supermarket chains would accept credit cards without a surcharge. This may also be a good place to repeat the warning about safety. Pickpockets are rampant in Nairobi and have been known to keep an eye on people getting cash from a machine. It is best to carry cash in a hidden pouch rather than a wallet. Men: do not carry your wallet in your back pocket, and women: do not carry your purse to your side or behind you, particularly in busy locations. The three primary supermarkets in Nairobi are Tuskys, Uchumi, Naivas and Nakumatt. For goods beyond supermarket fare, try either the Sarit Centre, YaYa centre or Nakumatt Westlands, which are both located in the Westlands suburb. The Sarit Centre will be recognizable to any Western traveller as a shopping mall, with an Uchumi supermarket inside. Clothing, shipping and internet are all available here. In addition, there is a small movie theater. Other malls in Nairobi include Yaya Centre near Hurlingham and The Mall in Westlands. Nakumatt Westgate is a just finished competitor to Sarit Centre. It is a large building with many spaces for stores to move in to (they have yet to move in at the time of this writing, however the building is still unfinished). Currently, the primary occupant is the Nakumatt itself, which has modeled itself to emulate a Super Wal-Mart type experience. Any taxi driver will know these two shopping centers by name, so getting there is not a problem. An additional smaller supermarket, catering more to expatriates, is in ABC Plaza, along Waiyaki Way. Chandarana supermarket carries a wide variety of imported goods, Zucchini greengrocer is a highly dependable spot for clean and varied veggies, and Gilanis is a well stocked western style buchery. For local curios and souvenirs, the most easily accessible and tourist-friendly is the Maasai Market, held on Fridays at the Village Market, an upscale, open concept shopping center near the United Nations and American Embassy complexes. Bargaining is necessary, and one should probably not spend more than 1000KSH (20) on one item, except in extraordinary circumstances. For slightly better prices, visit the Tuesday market in town, just down from the Norfolk hotel. This market is less secure, but is larger and offers more variety and opportunity for bargaining. Another Nakumatt is located at Nakumatt Junction, past Lavington towards the Ngong Racecourse (Horse Flat-Racing takes place 3 Sundays a month, and is a great way to spend an afternoon). The Nakumatt Junction shopping complex features a few more boutiques - one of note being Zebu, a store highlighting local Designer Annabelle Thoms leather bags and more, where you will find higher quality and higher prices for beautiful designs. Biashara Street, located downtown, is the spot for textiles. Make sure you pick up at least one kikoi (a traditional wrap for Swahili men, predominantly at the coast). Eat Budget Roast House in the city centre facing the matatu station on Tom Mboya Road. Regular local prices with more selection, excellent food, friendly service. Very busy at lunchtime. Visited on 23 Sept 2009. Mid-range Nairobi has a fantastic array of mid-range eateries. Java House . with quite a few locations, including The Junction, ABC Place, and close to the United Nations, features a western coffee house menu, from bagels to burritos, with excellent coffees and milkshakes, and a full breakfast menu. Prices average about 500KSH - 750KSH (10-15US) for a complete meal. Another popular coffeehouse is Dormans Trattoria is an Italian restaurant. Do not expect anything decent when it comes to the mains (all around 700KSH). However, there is a fabulous and extensive dessert menu, including crepes, tiramisu, souffle, and a coffee granita with fresh cream (250-500KSH). Motherland . is an authentic ethiopian restaurant with great and affordable food (typical of ethiopian restaurants in Nairobi). Havana Bar . Woodvale Grove, Westlands. Popular bar and restaurant, renowned for their sizzling Fajitas, steaks and seafood dishes. A un precio razonable. Open daily til late. Village Market Food Court . Has an array of different ethnic cuisines, including Thai, Italian, Chinese and German, as well as a Mongolian Barbeque. Good prices as well, between 10-20US for complete meals. Venture further into Village Market to find a good Japanese restaurant as well, though with slightly steeper prices. There are also food courts at other malls in the City. Nairobi has a wide range of Indian restaurants that speaks to the significant South Asian community in Kenya. The city also offers other restaurants specializing in different European and Asian cuisins. Common fast food restaurants include Steers . Debonairs . Wimpy . local favourite, Kenchic among others. In addition, there are several local restaurants that cater to local cuisine like sukuma wiki (green spinach-like vegetable, Kale in English), ugali (corn bread, ground maize flour and made to a tasty white bread/porridge form), nyama choma (lit: meat roast), chapati and other specialities. Splurge The Carnivore . located just outside the city, close to the Uhuru Gardens, is a luxury restaurant famous for its meats. In 2006, the restaurant was listed as one of the top 50 restaurants in the world. Once seated, different masaai grilled meats will be carried around on sticks and carved to your plate at request. Very expensive by Kenyan standards, beware of additional taxes and catering levys. Reservations might be a good idea, ask at your hotel. Furusato . located in Westlands, has fantastic Japanese food. For a price. Expect to pay 40 - 50 per person. The Rusty Nail . in Karen, has been super in the past, but mediocre of late. No reason not to give it another chance. Approx. 20 -40US per person. The Lord Errol . past Village Market and into Runda, is said to have very good food, and is popular with the expat crowd. Moonflower, on State House hill at the Palacina hotel, is a very upscale bistro / fusion / grill restaurant in a lovely outdoor setting. Fantastic food, about 50 for a meal with wine. Pango Brasserie at the Fairview Hotel features upscale french and continental dishes. Dinner begins in an underground stone winecellar where the chef will send out complimentary tasters while you sip a bottle of wine of your choice. 40 for a three course meal with wine. Alan Bobbes Bistro is a venerable, legendary restaurant now located on Riverside Drive. Founded in 1962, the restaurant features French haute-cuisine at about a third of what you would pay in Paris 35-50 for dinner with wine. Sleep Budget The area around the main bus station has a ton of budget hotels for around 10, and you can save on a taxi. Milimani Backpackers amp Safari Centre. P. o Box 21005 - 00500. 254 722 347616. 3. A little further out of the city is Milimani Backpackers on Milimani Road. It has internet, cable TV, WI-FI, hot showers, 24hr self-service bar, restaurant, fireplace, and a parking area. They offer dorms, doubles, singles, twins, camping space, permanent tents, and cabins. from 600 KES for dorms. edit International Guest House. UpperHill, Matumbato Road, ( Next to Don Bosco Church, 10 minutes walk from Kenyatta National Hospital ), 254 020 2726966. With 30 years in the tourism business, owner Tom J. Kamau is happy to custom arrange any additional travel or safari needs. Located on a quite street in Upperhill, this family owned and operated guest house is conveniently located just a few minutes from downtown. Airport pickup and transportation is available for a small fee. Single rooms available from from 600 KES to mid-range at 2000 KSH. edit Olive Gardens Hotel. Argwings Kodhek Road, Hurlingham (Opposite Nairobi Womens Hospital), P. O Box 3049 - 00506, Nairobi, Kenya. 254 20 2737854, 2727777. 4. Olive Gardens Hotel is located along Argwings Kodhek Road in Hurlingham, Nairobi, Kenya. Across Nairobi Womens Hospital, the hotel is only a 30-minute drive from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Each of the 62 beautifully decorated rooms is amply furnished with cable TV, Internet access, mini-bar, and refrigerator. A cozy living room recreates the calming ambience of your own home for pure relaxation. edit Country Lodge . 5. On upper hill, the Country Lodge is aimed at the budget business traveler. Single rooms are about 65 (USD) per night including breakfast. Probably the best deal in town. The Heron Hotel: . 6 , Holiday Inn Nairobi . Built in the 1940s as the Mayfair Court Hotel, this historic hotel has retained its charm even as it has joined the Holiday Inn family. Prices around 150 (USD) per night include breakfast. InterContinental Hotel . Located only 5 minutes from the city center and 15 minutes from the airport with views of the city. Prices around 150 (USD) per night include breakfast. Nairobi Hilton . Part of the Hilton family of hotels and located near the city center. Prices between 100 and 150 (USD) per night include breakfast. Nairobi Safari Club . Kenyas only all-suite hotel. Prices around 140 (USD) per night include breakfast. Panafric Hotel . Located in the city centre and only 20 minutes from the airport. Prices around 100 and 120 (USD) per night include breakfast. Karen Blixen Cottages . Located in the suburb of Karen, 20 miles from downtown, the cottages offer a unique change from the normal hotel fare. Prices around 300 (USD) per night include breakfast. Nairobi Serena Hotel . Found in the middle of Nairobis Central Park this hotel offers great convenience as well as a quiet place to stay. Prices around 220 (USD) per night include breakfast. Norfolk Hotel . Opened on Christmas Day over 100 years ago, this hotel that has served many special guests is located only 30 minutes from the airport, and a short distance from the shopping district. Prices around 180 (USD) per night include breakfast. Safari Park Hotel . Started as a retreat for British Army officers more than 50 years ago, this hotel is only 15 minutes from downtown. Prices around 170 (USD) per night include breakfast. The Stanley Hotel . This over 100 year old hotel has recently be renovated back to its days of Victorian perfection. Lcoated in the citys shopping and business district. Prices around 150 (USD) per night include breakfast. Windsor Golf and Country Club . Located 15 minutes from the city center, 45 from the airport. Features a 18 hole golf course on site. Prices around 200 (USD) per night include breakfast. Giraffe Manor . The converted home of the founders of the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife, located a few miles from the city center, sitting on 140 acres of land. The giraffes can be fed at the front door or even from the second floor bedroom window Prices around 600 (USD) per night include meals. Ngong House . Located 30 minutes drive from the city center and airport, the Ngong House is on land that was orginally part of a vast coffee estate. Located on the grounds are five traditional looking, yet elegantly decorated tree houses. Prices around 650 (USD) per night include meals. Ole Sereni Hotel. Mombasa road, Opposite Zain offices/Parkside towers, P. O. Box 18187-00500, Nairobi, Kenya ( 5 km from Jomo Kenyatta international airport off Mombasa road opposite Zain offices ), 7. checkin: 1200 checkout: 1200. Wildlife resort located just off the Mombasa Road overlooking the Nairobi National Game Park. 220-320. ( -1.326888. 36.845956 ) edit Gipsy: . Opp, Barclays, Bank Westland, Box 40322, Nairobi, Tel: 020 4440964,4440836, Mob: 0733 730529, Email:gipsynbi. ispkenya Klub House 1 (K1): . is located along Ojijo Road in Parklands, Box 33003 - 00600 Nairobi, Tel: 254 20 374 9870, Fax: 254 20 374 7099, Mob:254 733 77 22 33, Email. infoklubhouse. co. ke. 8 Klub House 2 (K2): . Baricho Road, Industrial Area is home to K2 Klubhouse Choices: . Majestic House, Moi Avenue, Box 53319, Nairobi, Tel: 254 20 550 629, Mob: 254 722 521, Email: mmuchamiyahoo, Leobag Investment Ltd, Baricho Road Chillers: . Anniv Towers Havana: Its an expats favorite on Thursdays nights. The live band on Saturdays attracts a good cosmopolitan crowd. Bar snacks available throughout the night.9 Apple Bees: (Strip club) Annie Oakleys: Next to Milimani Backpackers, has pool tables, a descent menu, and a big screen with cable TV. another expats favorite hangout. Cockpit: Langata Road opposite Uchumi Langata Hyper, not just popular with Wilson Airport pilots Barrels: Stripclub. Watch out for police raids Red Tape: . Westlands, Mpaka Road, Bishan Plaza, e-mail redtapewestygmail Florida 2000 (F2): . Located at Commerce House, Moi Avenue. 10 New Florida Clubs (F1): . The New Florida, locally known as Madhouse or Madi, is in the heart of Nairobi on Koinange Street. Pango (F3): . Commerce House, 1st Floor, P. O.Box 55381 - 00200 Nairobi, Tel:254-20-229036/217269, Email:infofloridaclubskenya. The Latest addition to the Florida Group Double Inn: Also out in Karen, they show rugby/cricket games and its always full of expats and white Kenyans. The place to get hammered. Contact There are very many internet cafs around Nairobi, but connection speeds and computers are not always super fast, but still you will manage to open your Gmail or YahooMail Beta even probably use a webcam or watch Youtube. Prices are usually at ranges from 0.5ksh/minute to 1ksh/minute, usually with a minimum fee of 5-20ksh. The more expensive internet cafs are rarely better and the best ones charge 1 ksh/minute with discounts for using the internet for longer. Most of the good cafs are found in Norwich Union which has quite a number just opposite Hilton Hotel next to Nandos while the expensive ones are found in malls in Westlands. Although it may be more appropriate for tourists to use the ones in Westlands since they are usually less crowded and are more exclusive but not necessarily faster or better in terms of equipment. Free wireless internet is available at Java House restaurants in the city. The internet cafe in Sarit Centre also has wireless internet available at a good speed and a reasonable price. Mobile Phones are ubiquitous in Kenya with coverage for the two main providers, Safaricom and Zain(formerly Celtel) extending to most populated parts of the country. The phone system is GSM 900 (European standard). Phones and SIM cards are available at many locations throughout Nairobi and the country. Phone prices are very competitive and priced for average income Kenyans. A basic phone may be obtained new from an independent dealer for 2000/. A vast majority of people use pre-paid phones with scratch-card top-ups available at a huge number of merchants across the country. All phones are sold unlocked for use on any network. Much business is conducted via mobile phone, so possession of one for even a relatively short stay in the country can be beneficial. Rates are extremely affordable with in-country calls at around 8/ per minute and SMS at 3/50. Overseas calls cost around 30/ per minute to North America ( USD0.40/minute) if the VOIP feature is used. GPRS/EDGE/3G data service is available in most coverage areas on Safaricom or Zain with enabled phones. Newer mobile providers including Orange Kenya and Econet have coverage in urban areas and competitive pricing. Stay safe Nairobi has a reputation for thievery. Beware of snatch and grab, con artists, or groups of people following you. The best advice for a tourist is to stay in city centre, know where you are at all times, and pretend you know where youre going (even if you dont). Dont carry large quantities of money or passports on the street, and the general rule is that anyone trying to talk to you (there will be many) is up to no good. Scams abound. In recent years, crime has significantly reduced, though one should still be wary. Apart from the inner city centre, Nairobi dies out at night. Streets are mostly empty. Do not walk alone after nightfalls. Always use taxi. The areas north and east of River Road should be avoided, especially if youre not a local Stay healthy It is recommended that before tourists come to Nairobi, that they should be vaccinated well in advance (6 weeks) of their trip. The most common recommended vaccines for people traveling to Africa are Tetanus, Diphtheria, Polio, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Yellow Fever, Rabies and Meningitis. Food and beverages Be careful with the food that you eat. Before eating, make sure that the food is freshly and thoroughly cooked and served hot. Do not eat buffet, re-heated or food that has been exposed to flies. Also avoid seafood, and make sure that your fruits and vegetables have been properly sterilized in clean water. The safest fruits to eat are bananas and papayas. Do not drink tap water or brush your teeth with it. Only use bottled or canned drinks (especially popular brands). Also, do not use ice as it may also be contaminated water, and remember that alcohol does not sterilize a drink. Insects In Africa you are going to be exposed to yellow fever, dengue fever, other viral diseases, sleeping sickness, filariasis and malaria. When insects are biting you should cover up and wear long-sleeved shirts and trousers, socks and pyjamas especially when night falls. It is best to use an insect repellent that contains DEET on your exposed skin and clothing. As for mosquito nets, it is best to use a permethrin-impregnated net along with an insecticide such a pyrethrum coils or an electric mosquito killer during the night. And remember to spray your hotel room every evening. Heat amp Sun Make sure to drink plenty of fluids (not coffee, alcohol or strong tea) to avoid dehydration. To know if you well hydrated, you body would always produce plenty of clear urine. For most people it takes them three weeks to become accustomed to the heat. Try to avoid plenty of physical exertion and try to stay in the shade and keep cool as much as possible. Increase the amount of salt intake in your food and water. Also, apply a lot of high factor sunscreen, avoid direct sunlight, and try to wear a hat and shady clothing. Cope Smoking is against the law out on the streets in the city center (the downtown grid area with numerous skyscrapers). There are certain smoking zones, and outside of the city center it becomes much easier to find locations where it is acceptable. However, a general rule would be to not smoke along the side of any roads or streets with pedestrians and/or vehicles. Be observant and take your cues from other smokers - if there are no smokers or cigarette butts on the ground, it is likely a non-smoking location. Get out Lake Naivasha is worth a days visit, and lakeshore country clubs are a good place for lunch. You can take a boat ride on the lake to see hippos, or go for a walk among zebra and giraffes on Crescent Island. Further afield, Nakuru National Park deservedly warrants a 1-night stay for a late-afternoon and early-morning game drive. This is a usable article. It has information for getting in as well as some complete entries for restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow NAIROBI . April 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The United Nation has commissioned a study on crime in Nairobi . a few months after the organization indicted the city as one of the worlds most dangerous, Kenyas Daily Nation newspaper reported on Saturday. Elijah Agevi, the agencys East Africa regional manager, was quoted as saying that Nairobi was characterized by quotnotoriously high levels of violent armed robberies, burglaries and carjackings. International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) which regulates the conditions of service for the international bodys employees, downgraded Nairobi from a B - station to a C-station. news. xinhuanet/english/20010428/402881.htm U. N. Starts Crime Study in Kenyas Capital - U. N. Starts Crime Study in Kenyas CapitalDr. Njoroge the Politics of the Central Bank under the IMF Post by jakaswanga on Jun 21, 2015 15:31:12 GMT 3 THE DIKTATS OF THE IMF AND THE POLITICS OF THE KENYAN TREASURY LOOK EAST FACE WEST Tell me, O Kenya, If Beijin is where you look for your vision 2030, Where is your heart and where is your head as you go to bed Where are you, O Solomon, that you teach me to divide myself adequately, For being Kenyan feels like a wh-ore of twain loyalties, The body busy with another, the head busy with the other The head belonging to koni, the heart beating only for kocha LOOSING THE MANDATE OF HEAVEN, when high priests stumble. SFO launches investigation into Bank of England liquidity auctions Heather Stewart and Angela Monaghan Wednesday 4 March 2015 The Bank of England is facing an unprecedented criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office over emergency lending measures it took at the height of the credit crisis to inject cash into financial markets. In late 2007 and early 2008, as the authorities struggled to prevent financial markets from freezing up, banks were invited to bid to borrow funds from the Bank of England in exchange for collateral in a series of so-called auctions. It is the conduct of these liquidity auctions that is now being investigated by the SFO, which confirmed it has opened an official investigation. In a statement, the SFO said it was investigating material referred to it by the Bank of England concerning liquidity auctions during the financial crisis in 2007 and 2008. That is the tip of the iceberg. The game is always rigged. Market fixing is the rule. But in the USA the revolving door between the Treasury in Washington and Wall Street ensures what the Banking Lobby wants, gets done. They do not rig indicators as such, they rig the game itself. Total Control. That is how it the Palace at Olympus rules the fate of mortals below. All cards in their hands, or so they think. Note that citi group . a wall street outfit, wrote new derivative trading rules underpinned with taxpayer money and the banking lobby had these rules passed in Washington without debate in congress Take that for lunch WASHINGTON Bank lobbyists are not leaving it to lawmakers to draft legislation that softens financial regulations. Instead, the lobbyists are helping to write it themselves . See how the free market game is played You do not have to have gone to Harvard to read that right, do you. Just a bit of thinking and you recognise co. ck and pu. ssy tend to be willing sinners . ie money and politics, Washington and Wall Street. Lower down the pecking order of Central Bank gods, we have our local carvings . of deities I should say. And it is a mixed image. I was looking for an AUTHENTIC carvED deity representing an African god of money Below is one from Asia. at a first glance, no worries. The Kenyan economy is in good hands, for between them, the Harvard-Yale impi formation of Drs. Patrick Njoroge and Henry Rotich . at the Central bank and the treasury respectively, is really no evil the enemy could work on the shilling which would be beyond their competence. Officially. No, they would engulf, neutralise and outmanoeuvre the financial al-shabaab Behind the two sentries is of course the IMF doping up their resolve with whatever those jabs of cash are called. (temporary facilities). Out there in the big bad world, enemies abound who do really can work evil on a currency of their choice. Free falls can be induced. Recently, very very powerful forces took on the Russian rouble and, for some reason or other, they did it worse things than have been the fate of the most well beaten opponents of Floyd Mayweather . The Great and big Russia writhed until the President himself, Vladmir Putin . had to take matters into his own hands. I suppose unlike us they do not have Harvard-Yale tandems running their money system over there in Moscow, do they. otherwise like their counterparts at the ECB (European Central Bank), the Fed in New York, or the Bank of England, they would just have run the printing press, or thought of something with a fancy name like Quantitative Easing and got going. But Putin, not an economist, thought it was a game of nerves based on geopolitical poker . In a game of nerves one can be bluffed. He looked at the Eurozone . ran by the ECB . and noticed a decade of recession, stagnation and threatening stagflation and the unemployment figures in one half of the Union were reminiscent of a great depression . He also noticed the banks looting taxpayers to recapitalise themselves, and Greece, dying pathetically . Putin slapped his central banker awake, poor woman. Then again Putin took a look at Far-Away USA. He saw opinion was divided as to whether the national debt was sustainable . Even the best of homeland economists had models warning of an inevitable sovereign default . if no massive restructuring of the USA economy was embarked on. The Russian tapped his nose, Obamas military arsenal should scare me more , he thought, economically he is as groggy as I. I can call his bluff And so those of us who did not study economics looked in amazement, as the gods of money in New York, Frankfurt, London and Paris . started to draw back from their attack on the rouble, preferring kindergarten playfield sanctions like bouncing Russia off G7 summits. So where am I going - THE NEW HEAD OF THE KENYAN CENTRAL BANK HAS SPOKE A CLEAR WORD OF MEANING It made me remember the old days when the good old god Alan Greenspan ran the FED. He spoke a language - greenspeak -- which needed experts to decode: oracular incantations in the game of mysticism. But, behold, blessed is the lord that our new kid in town Dr. Patrick Njoroge . who succeeds prof. Ndungu at the helm of the Central Bank of Kenya, is a down to earth type. A layman can hear him straight. For the most significant statement he has uttered is that he will let the market determine the interest rates . Now that is a straightforward marker. We exactly know what the Harvard/Yale axis at the CBK and the treasury, the doctors, ordered for the patient aka Kenyas finances. Everybodys learning curve. (An aside is, speaking of learning curves, he Patrick has worked in Washington but never heard of the great scandals of the market which have usurped the effectivity of the tools of trade of great market central bankers. Neither the Libor scandals nor the decade-long fixing of the interest rates by all leading Western Banks inserts a seed of doubt in his preprogramed neo-liberal orthodoxy. And, apart from hearing of it in economics texbooks and bank-sponsored newspapers running sponsored content, who in the saner, wider world ever used a market-determined rate of interest. Aint that always been fiction -- crystal clear to Asian performing economies . hidden to Subsaharanites with too much boko in the head ---I just went to look at a history of financial crimes in the post world war II period Nobel price economists themselves tell me - thinking of Stiglitz . that even the third worlds best friends like the World Bank and the IMF . are all but your dirty old sugar daddies swinging in town with teen-age girls . The trade is candy for honour, under total subjugation . the bad advice from the IMF is deliberate. Debt servitude, designed outcome. World Bank Bigwig Blames Economists for Bad Advice By Abby Scher and Phineas Baxandall This article is from the July/August 1999 issue of Dollars Sense magazine. The World Banks chief economist took Western economists to task for their blind adherence to the market and blamed them for Russias economic debacle in a scathing speech at the World Banks annual development conference in April. The economist, Joseph Stiglitz, chided his audience that markets are less capable of governing the world than most economists think. For proof, he noted the dramatic gap between the economic health of China 65533 which devised its own economic strategy 65533 and Russia, where Western advisers marched in with their sure-fire recipes for a quick transition to a market economy. But there are also lesser crimes of which, if you have been watching artistic productions - books and films--- tackling wall street and greed, couldnt have escaped you. Hubris, pathological greed and financial power unchecked, like most of us historians know, leads invariably to political despotism sustained by the illusions of grandeur, more hubris, or fallacial invincibility. This is how it comes that the corrupted duo of Mario Draghi of the ECB and Christin Lagarde of the IMF, expect the elected leaders of Greece to unconditionally obey their orders against the will of the Greek electorate. - The imperial money company aka IMF is of course used to getting its way in its debt colonies litering the African continent . RUNNING THE SHOW IN NAIROBI 1. Using the principle of conditionality , a blackmail tool which embeds prerequisites to legibility for further IMF services like emergency loans to defend currency from free falls, the IMF experts cocooned in the ministry of finance in Nairobi, coerced the GCG to write an Integrated Public Financial Management Bill, 2011, (establishing the Single Treasury Account) which, even as operatives in the ministry of government pointed out, laid a bomb under the devolution consensus, as it made county governors state subsidiaries, contrary to their constitutional mandate and the understood spirit of devolution (I remember running into an architect of the popular constitution in a hotel in Kisumu and grabbing him by the collars: omera, dak inyiswa ni Raila ao dwar okelo le miluongo devolution to, rachne, Joka-IMF osediero le duto - why dont you tell Kenyans Agwambos victory to Kenya, devolution, has become pyrrhic, after IMF pirates hijacked the meat He was not worried: governors will be elected at the grassroots and they will be with the people. Dictators from Washington and their local lackeys will ran into the peoples wrath with their machinations. The world has changed. The IMF bill treated governors as Provincial Commissioners of a kind. And, bingo, no sooner were their excellencies ELECTED and inaugurated, than, as Onyango Oloo il Sung . openly predicted in a landmark essay, the first shots were fired under their combative chair, Isaac Rutto of Bomet. This issue is the real GENESIS of the CLEAVAGE between the two Rutos from the Kalenjin Heartland. But, curse the devil, One being Nandi and North Rift . and the other being Kipsigis and South Rift . the issue became a tailor-made fit for sub-ethnic narratives . AND - O Kenya we swallowed the distraction wholesale because of our ethnic obsessed ideological prism 2. When the GCG wanted to use foreign currency reserves to finance some electricity generating projects at Turkana, Olkaria, Tana, Nairobi etc, the Cental bank refused in a show of independence. No one believed Professor Ndungu had that kind of backbone before Kibaki, so a better explanation was needed . On a closer reading, it was an IMF diktat . The enigma and the Othaya-born genius stooped away. They were in power, but they did not have it . Box 1. CBK Kills Cabinet Plan to Use Forex Reserves The Central Bank of Kenya has rejected a decision by the Cabinet to use the countrys foreign exchange reserves to fund five large privately owned power projects that were supposed to add 600 MW of power to the national grid by 2013 . The proposal to fund the projects from the national reserves account was based on a Cabinet paper signed by Finance Ministe r and his Energy counterpart . dated July 5 2010 . Under the arrangement, the Central Bank of Kenya was to release 209 million to an escrow account from which funds were to be drawn by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company to issue letters of credit to the five independent power producers to serve as guarantees for future electricity payments to the IPPs by KPLC. After the Cabinet passed the paper, the Head of Public Service fired off a memo to the Ministries of Finance and Energy and the Central Bank to officially communicate the decision by the supreme policy-making body, directing that it be implemented forthwith. But in an unprecedented display of independence . the Central Bank effectively countermanded what has been agreed by the Cabinet . reportedly informing the government that releasing 209 million from the countrys reserves would put adverse pressure on the exchange rate and have grave macroeconomic consequences. The Central Bank also maintained that it had an obligation to keep national foreign reserves at a level equivalent to four months cover, arguing that releasing the 209 million would cause reserves to fall below that threshold. The projects whose implementation will now be delayed are Lake Turkana Wind Power (300MW), Kinangop Wind Power (100Mw) and three diesel plants, namely the Athi River-based Gulf Power (84MW), the Thika-based Menelec Power (252MW), Triumph Power (84MW) and the geothermal plant Ol Karia Power4 (54MW) lUNCHT TIME, who pays WHERE IS MY BROTHER IN LAW MANK - TELL ME NOW MANK: WHICH MARKET DETERMINES WHICH INTEREST RATES (that matchete I sheathed after our rebate truce, I still have it somewhere amigo) I am told, elementarily, banking starts with a BENCHMARK rate set by the Central bank whose brief is to control currency supply, manage inflation, etc etc. The central bank has some levers to pull in going about this business. Manipulating secondary interest rates by fiddling with the primary benchmark rate behind the scenes, is traditionally one of a central bankers holy equipments, ( though there is now doubt this instrument still works, given major western central banks are currently into experimental policy . after a decade-long recession in which every traditional tool failed - there is a new, mutant market out there or what, Mank One resistant to old therapys) On the other hand me-reasons the free market has only been a lip service . an academic exercise in books taught as a confusionist, obfuscarist, fetishist doctrine Behind the scenes, however, deregulated bankers have always formed an unholy curia running the financial markets as a secret order . An international crime syndicate as we have seen, distorting the market to the bone in a racket of extortion, backed by corrupt and war-making politicians running empire . Tow the line from Rome or be damned and hanged (like Saddam Hussein and Gadaffi). it took public revulsion to come here May 13, 2015 6:05 pm UK forex inquiry comes under US pressure Caroline Binham and Lindsay Fortado in London and Gina Chon in Washington The integrity of a Bank of England inquiry is in question as prosecutors in the US probe what the central bank knew about traders behaviour in the foreign-exchange market. The Department of Justice has secretly requested an interview with a senior Royal Bank of Scotland forex trader previously questioned as part of the BoEs own investigation into whether any of its officials knew of or connived in manipulation of forex, one of the worlds biggest financial markets. US prosecutors are concerned over the thoroughness of the BoEs report and the way its inquiry was handled, according to people familiar with the situation Dr. Mank How is the benchmark rate determined Post by jakaswanga on Jun 22, 2015 18:36:01 GMT 3 INSTALMENT 2. THE THING ABOUT (CENTRAL BANK) INTEREST RATES In polite terms it is an instrument used to nudge Banks to lend on more friendlier terms to business and individuals. But the reality of the economic history of human society, slave-owning or not . has shown money-lenders never miss an opportunity to rip-off clients and that is not inconsistent with the principle of profit maximisation. This fact, this cut-throat practice, would inform the invention of the first (farmers/peasants) cooperative movements which, at least as far as modern Europe is concerned, we will witness (in the course of this essay) to have launched the modern banking industry. NB: it is also a fact that, even if the base interest rate is 0, in which case banks get money free from the central bank, the i-rates at which they lend it out will still be relatively prohibitive . and without supervision, scorching. And bank executives are wont to form a cartels --which is the structural scandal of the banking sector, since time immemorial. NB: Some details which lead to the famous Glass-Steagall act of 1933 are worth a close inspection. Like when banks find it more profitable to engage in speculation than lend money to corporations to invest for growth. Footnote is, under President Bill Clinton, this act was repealed, arguably paving the way for the banking crisis which started with the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008. But, Dr. Mank How is the benchmark rate determined First a standard official look. A bank that is constituted by a government or international organization to issue and regulate currency, regulate banks under its jurisdiction, act as a lender of last resort, and generally ensure a sustainable monetary policy. Often times, central banks are charged with one or more specific duties such as attempting full employment or a certain exchange rate for the currency. Most commonly, however, central banks are charged with finding the balance between maintaining low inflation and high economic growth. They do this primarily by setting interest rates at which they lend to banks under its jurisdiction which, in turn, highly influences interest rates throughout the country or region. Prominent central banks include the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and the Peoples Bank of China. So the central bank is actually a market regulating nerve centre Regulator, huh. Umm, watchdog over the economy, huh. Prefect over other banks and a fine-tuner of monetary policy. So after processing economic data, or the so-called performance indicators, they SET a determinant rate, calculate the best basal/benchmark rate, to influence stuff. Stuff like inflation (which is also a political imperative to sort out) --Right And while at that activism: how come when a finance minister like Henry Rotich is fiddling with the INTENSITY of taxes on food stuffs and else, -----raising prices which the supermarkets and retailers immediately pass on to the consumer------, I never seem to hear this sht about markets know best what the prices should be On the contrary, this is when learned guys suddenly start telling me about deficits which need must be financed by DELIBERATE STATE ACTION OF INCREASING TAX The budget seems to me to be the necessary evil, an artificial manipulation or interference between demand and supply, to serve a collective and recognised, legitimate public good. I will consider government intervention to set the range interest rates can fluctuate within, a necessary evil. Given the history of bankers. If the market is irrelevant on budget day, taxation (state revenue generation) takes priority over all else, I do not see why the government should be ideologically paralysed and watch helplessly when it comes to interest rates, a key instrument in economic propulsion. So forgive me if my eyes move slowly and coldly from the Harvard tonal ranges of Dr. Rotich, to the Yale polish of the Opus-Dei adherent Njoroge who condescendingly says: no state action on interest rates The market knows best I leave it all to it Public good my foot I feel like Ayayayayayayaya these guys are out to gangrape Wanjiku for ideological fun I looked at the genesis of some big modern banks of Europe. I was asking myself: have they always been market fundamentalists ---Man, I was shocked stupid) More about that in due course. Meanwhile me reckons: if he insists on being passive on the commercial interest rates thing --leaving it to the invisible hand of the market to correct or set, the new CBK chairman (Dr. Patrick Njoroge) is obviously an ostrich in a certain theoretical pose. Now, those may be his IMF trojan-horse orders, or, closer to home, his brief from the appointing authority who, after all, is a big commercial banker. On the other hand it could be just a case of orthodox indoctrination, solidified into an rote automatics. Yes, they have a saying of old dogs and new tricks, and whether they mix THE GAP WHERE MPESA SPRUNG: (subtext: the European peasant crisis and the rise of the cooperative banks, over a century ago). Within ten years of its launch, the runaway dynamism of Mpesa was a historical event I am sure will be studied in future as the Big Bang, dare I say, more significant than the second liberation and its new but lame-born constitution. But the lessons from the success of Mpesa do not seem to have been learnt with care, nor have the lessons of history. Three of the current biggest commercial Banks of the Eurozone, Credit Agricole of France, DZ Bank (Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank German Central Cooperative Bank), Rabo bank of Holland, were launched more than 120 years ago to solve exactly the problem many small business face in Kenya today. Lack of credit, or if available, prohibitive rates. That time in Europe, it was the farmers/peasants who were most stricken by misery, yet wholly starved of necessary inputs. It was a crisis. But need breeds creativity, and so they had to invent the COOPERATIVE SYSTEM, which is what served as the foundation of all these (now) multinational banks. Here is a bit of the promised history. During the reform, new structures came about which were supposed to make the division of property more favourable to the small people. The reality, however, was that the situation of farmers got noticeably worse. They were burdened by having to pay off their former lords and were inexperienced in the independent management of a business. Failed harvests and famines in the years 1846/47 further worsened the situation. However, the craft businesses also suffered from the restructuring, as they had no access to bank services and were reliant upon private moneylenders. They got into deeper and deeper debt and often lost their livelihood. In 1847, Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen created the first aid association in Weyerbusch (Westerwald) to support the poverty-stricken rural population. Finally, in 1864 he founded the Heddesdorfer Darlehnskassenverein (Heddesdorf Loan Society), which is now seen as the first cooperative of the Raiffeisen tradition. At the same time, but independently of Raiffeisen, Hermann Schulze began a campaign of aid whose goal it was to come to the assistance of financially struggling craftsmen . In Schultze-Delitzschs view, it was only possible to achieve a sustainable improvement of economic conditions through bringing together weak individual traders and abandoning heteronomy. According to the principles of self-help, self-administration and self-responsibility, he founded the first raw materials association for carpenters and shoemakers in 1847 and the first thrift and loan association the forerunner of todays Volksbank in 1850 . Now if you check the French bank Credit Agricole and Dutch Rabo Bank . you will find the same story. (The bottom line was: Peasants leveraged themselves to private money-lenders where upon they only got deeper into debt and often lost their livelihood - uncannily similar to the modern story of the African state mortgaged to creditors under IMF and WB enticements, and, at the micro-economic level, the story of the one-man enterprise cash starved Meseems Njoroges Central Bank is in the mode of those 18th century European private money-lenders Expropriators of the small man) (but from this vice we will make a virtue in the final instalment of our this missive) NEXT: a review of some statistics summarising the nation. Last Edit: Jun 22, 2015 19:01:11 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by jakaswanga on Jun 24, 2015 21:09:14 GMT 3 PART 3: MAKING SENSE OF SOME STATISTICS Citizen news (24-06-15) reports a woman has committed suicide in Narok county, because of failing to pay ksh. 30,000 accumulated debt. The area chief, Jonathan Sialo, said the loan-sharks had visited her home to assess the goods to be attached (and confiscated). They settled on a pregnant heifer, the price family possession. Distraught, fearing the collapse of her marriage in addition to the economic ruin, she took her own life. A Ksh. 30,000 debt sends a rural Kenyan to her grave. But Nairobi is a citadel of graft, and this story does not even register with the elite. That is the micro-level. How about this at the macro-level Uhurus 2-year loans surpass Kibakis last term debt BY Paul Wafula Updated Tuesday, June 23rd 2015 Treasury data shows that by March 2015, the Jubilee administration had borrowed Sh874.5 billion between 2013 and 2015, overtaking Kibakis regime, which borrowed Sh738 billion in the Grand Coalitions last term in office. This debt is expected to soar further this year with the Sh569 billion the Government plans to borrow this year. This will include S h340.5 billion from external sources. Another Sh229.7 billion will be borrowed from the domestic market. A Sh118 billion loan from China to fund the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is the single largest loan for a particular project this year. At the current borrowing rate, every Kenyan child born next year will have to shoulder a debt of Sh71,000 from the current 62,000 with an average population of 42 million. The Government has defended the growing appetite for debt, which has seen the Jubilee regime more than double year-on-year borrowing to fund ambitious infrastructure projects . The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank raised the red flag as early as last year on Kenyas growing appetite for debt. In a joint statement, the two institutions warned that Kenya must put a tight lid on its debt load to keep its economy on a steady growth path. Ambitious infrastructure projects like private hotels and lodges and inflated construction tenders. --Mismanaged, wasted loans, we have been there before: the debt servitude which came with SAP (I want to hear the new man at CBK doing some sooth saying on how we will avoid debt servitude if, as is presently clear, we pilfer the loans with impunity) Does he believe in miracles of the cult When the loan sharks, long after Rotich and Jubilee are no longer in power come for the family silver and priced heirloom . how will our suicide look like --I have a pretty good idea: I have been following the current tribulations of Greece . prostrate before her kachinjachinja creditors, aka the Troika. It would appear every business needs credit to grow. So does our country. That is an iron rule. Market-rate creditors have conditionalities, of which some are screened through stuff like cash-flow profiles, guarantors, and ratings of credit worthiness. Lower down the food chain, you are a meal for loan-sharks, doomed like that poor Narok woman if undefended, and at 15 going interest rates . Kenyan commercial banks are exactly that, loan-sharks making a killing. (Haha 32 April 1994) Let us remind ourselves how banks laugh all the way to the central bank: Kenya Bank Lending Rate 1971-2015 Data Chart Calendar Forecast Bank Lending Rate in Kenya decreased to 15.46 percent in March of 2015 from 15.47 percent in February of 2015. Bank Lending Rate in Kenya averaged 16.37 percent from 1971 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 32.28 percent in April of 1994 and a record low of 9 percent in January of 1972. tradingeconomics/kenya/bank-lending-rate And if you consider the average income of But what do we know about the real sectors of the economy According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, based on a five-year average from 2009 to 2013, the agricultural sectors contribution to GDP is estimated at 25.4 up from 24.1. The contribution that small-scale farmers like Kimwaki make cannot be overemphasised, with government statistics showing that small-scale production accounts for at least 75 of the total agricultural output and 70 of marketed agricultural produce. . World Bank statistics show that more than four out of 10 Kenyans live in poverty . The country has a population of 44.3 million . With an economic growth rate of 5.7 . the country is still a long way off a double-digit growth rate of at least 10 as outlined in Vision 2030, the countrys economic blueprint, Ndebu said. But if, after the recent rebase . 25 of the 54 billion GDP is still contributed by farmers, what of the Kenyan labour force does this sector employ ( a trick question whose statistic I will hoard for now) Other macro indicators can be stunning. For instance the average Kenyan salary is 150K . That is good loot, statistically speaking at face value. Average and Median Monthly Salary Comparison in Kenya Maximum: 1,500,000 KES Average: 146,694 KES Median: 80,000 KES Minimum: 10,000 KES Salary Comparison By Job sector. here below yet, when the finecomb is run through these wonderful aggregate figures, it is like peeling back the mask of a dandy to reveal a shrivel. DEMYSTIFYING KENYAS GROWING MIDDLE CLASS GROUP Kenya joins Middle Income Countries becoming the 9th largest economy on the continent 1. Estimated Monthly Household Income (By All Those Who Gave Estimates) 2. Main Source of Income Base: All Respondents (n2,021) According to KNBS, 12 of the Kenyan working population is employed (14 Million Kenyans) . The Private sector employs an average of about 1.6 Million Kenyans while the Public sector employs about 2.4 Million . This therefore translates to only 4 Million Kenyans which infers that about 10 Million Kenyans are in the informal sector (Self-employed. entrepreneurs etc). To qualify for a Kshs 2 Million Loan payable in 60 months, one would have a monthly deduction of about Kshs 50,000 hence must retain a net salary of Kshs 100,000 . But less than 5 of Kenyans employed in the Public Sector have a salary net worth of Kshs 100,000 . 95 of public service workers do not come ananywhere near the 100K net, but the aggregate figure is, average salary Using those aggregate figures . a 15 interest rate does not look that bad No But if you take your time to demystify them, then, Yesu ibiro duogo karango yawa ires piny - Come back save the world Jesus Lord, meeting the eye is but a vicious reality propagandised as a middle class paradise. Unbelievable superb from a birds eye view And flip side. The city in the sun is a swamp of slums in the main Okay, a middle class swamp if you insist Dr. Patrick Njoroge, are we still together crunching away at implications at the frontline of the real economy. From another summary kenya Post 86 of Kenyan HOUSEHOLDS (87765 people) earn LESS THAN Sh40,000 per month and 75 earn less than 25,000/ 15-20 of Kenyans are employed formally (private and public sector wage earners). IPSOS Media Spec Survey May 2015. Monthly Household Income (ALL members of the Household): Less than 10,000 - (42) 10,001-25,000 - (33) 25,001-40,000 (11) Even buying a new bicycle, let alone a second hand motorbike will be a challenge. (423311 86) households earning less than 40K But WE is a middle income country . And a middle income country is define as ( Ha Ha Mank ) AGGREGATE ININDICATORSNLY (I billionare running a 1 million slaves in a plantation sure would qualify, aggregate figures only) This micro economic picture of Kenya is PLANE MISERY, and it needs an outside THE BOX intervention, a solution outside the formal market determined interest rate of pious Dr. Njorog e yes indeed, just like the miserable farmers of Europe Over a century and a half ago: the misery for which they launched coop banking to escape. - That is how they CONTROLLED THE CONDITIONALITIES OF LENDING, to avoid loan sharks, and the servitude which was wont to be their lot, had they left their fate to seal according to the unmitigated model of Dr. Bretton Woods Njoroge DOES IT MATTER OPUS DEI PIETY AT CBK Now we can go tabloid and call him an Opus Dei neo-liberal fundamentalist creep in the service of a financial aristocracy A local quisling Even in industry, every sector, realising commercial bankers in it for profit were going to fleece them to death, developed their own cooperative banks --the so-called industrial banks Aim friendly terms outside the sharks who preach free market, but slam you with rigged rates like the LIBOR and the others recently fined Why is China launching the Asian Industrial Investment Bank They want to CONTROL their won INTEREST RATES when they borrow money for some mammoth investment project No Now, everybody for free market interest rates say Aye, and everybody for controlled interest rates say BYE . Part 3: MAKING A VIRTUE OF A VICE. And how the cooperative movement was killed in Kenya (remember KFA and KPCU). and now the SACCO craze again. The cooperative bank would now be our Industrial financer bank had all gone relatively well Not yet edited. Gotta go. later. Last Edit: Jun 26, 2015 23:04:07 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. High interest rates lock most Kenyans out of home loans By JOHN GACHIRI, jgachirike. nationmedia Posted Thursday, February 12 2015 at 11:30 The KBAs Housing Price Index (HPI) released Wednesday found that ---four out of five homeowners construct own houses and --less than half of the own homebuilders do not intend to borrow any cash for construction. The index also found that 49 per cent of potential homeowners, in the next two years, plan to acquire houses without borrowing from banks. All have cited high interest rates as the reason for not borrowing. Mortgage rates stood at between 12.3 per cent and 22 per cent last September, showing the banks were charging high premiums above the Kenya Banks Reference Rate (KBRR) which stood at 9.13 per cent. More than 80 per cent of aspiring Kenyan homeowners are choosing to build own houses as opposed to buying fully developed units, a new survey of the real estate market shows. The survey by the bankers lobby, the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), found that four out of five homeowners construct own houses and less than half of the own homebuilders do not intend to borrow any cash for construction. businessdailyafrica/Why-Kenyans-are-choosing-to-build-own-town-homes/-/539552/2621124/-/5atyuhz/-/index. html Conclusion: Bankin is not a public service. One of the great middle class dreams, and working class hopes, is an own home. Obviously the majority of Kenyans will own homes without official banks That is wiping the floor with the Central Bank. Me says 70 of all working Kenyans should have their adequate houses through official banking. Well, lets see if another Michael Joseph is out there, to start a service to do to our banks what Safaricom did to our Telekoms --wipe out High mortgage prices lock out 90pc of buyers Kenyas ratio is however the biggest in the East Africa region followed by Rwanda 2.3 per cent, Burundi 1.6 per cent, Uganda 1.1 per cent and Tanzania 0.21 per cent. Local players said that this is not a surprise since developers are forced take over the governments role of building roads, sewer lines and other infrastructure and these additional costs are shouldered by the end buyer . The cost of mortgage loans is out of reach for the majority of middle-class Kenyans and compares poorly with peer countries in Africa, a new report by the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) has showed. The Africa Housing Finance Yearbook 2012 by CAHF, a non-governmental organisation, says that owning a house is still a pipe dream for a majority of middle class Kenyans. Only about 11 per cent of Kenyans earn enough to support a mortgage . This means that most middle-income earners cannot afford an average mortgage necessary to buy an entry-level house, says the report. High construction costs for decent housing and low supply are some of the reasons that make it too expensive to buy a house even for those who ordinarily are expected to afford one. The report says that a decent house costs at least Sh1 million and Sh2 million and even at this minimum entry level, few Kenyans can afford a mortgage facility. Monthly payment is 156 (Sh13,260) and 178 (Sh15,130) . Given 30 per cent income to mortgage requires 468 (Sh39,780) and 534 (Sh45,400) per month, earned by less than 10 per cent of the population, says the report. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics classifies middle income as those earning between Sh23,672 and Sh119,999 per month, low income earners get below Sh23,671 per month while upper income earners make more than Sh120,000 per month . The entry level goes up for buyers looking for an apartment in Nairobi. In 2012, the price of a new, one-bed apartment delivered by a developer cost 22,350 (Sh1.9 million). At a 15 per cent lending rate over 15 years, this would require a monthly payment of 313 (Sh26,600), says the report. Kenya has about 16,000 mortgage loans which is a drop in the ocean compared to the population and size of the economy. The mortgage market in Kenya is largely untapped. We see this as a growth area, says Faida Investment Banks report. The World Bank estimates that the Kenyan mortgage market has the potential to grow to Sh800 billion, which is about nine times the current size businessdailyafrica/High-mortgage-prices-lock-out-90pc-of-buyers-/-/539552/1606256/-/ndysvoz/-/index. html A decent house is a human right. Walking through the slums of Kenya, that right is a kind of joke. Aaah, Njoroge take that for a working lunch and lets have a run on your Yale-shaped brains By KIARIE NJOROGE, gkiarieke. nationmedia Posted Tuesday, June 9 2015 at 04:00 In Summary At 15.8 per cent, those borrowing Sh7.5 milli on for 10 years will need to pay Sh124,701 per month and Sh109,108 if the mortgage runs for 15 years. This makes it difficult for those earning less than Sh300,000 monthly to qualify for the average home loans, given that banks demand that borrowers retain a third of the pay after all deductions. The cost of mortgage has defied a new formula introduced last June for banks to use in pricing loans, seeking to bring down high interest rates that have stifled lending to businesses and home buyers. The average size of mortgages increased to Sh7.5 million, making it difficult for a majority of Kenyans to own homes financed by commercia Civil servants face raise in mortgage rate to 7pc The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows that the average home loan rose from Sh6.9 million in 2013 and Sh6.4 million in 2012, a jump blamed on high interest rates, expensive homes and upfront fees. Mortgage lending increased last year by nearly a fifth to Sh164 billion held in 22,013 accounts, up from 19,879 a year earlier and 18,587 in 2012. Banks identified high cost of housing/properties, high interest rates, and high cost of incidental cost as the major impediments to the growth of their mortgage portfolios, noted the CBK. The average mortgage interest rate stood at 15.8 per cent last year, down from 16.37 per cent in 2013. At 15.8 per cent, those borrowing Sh7.5 million for 10 years will need to pay Sh124,701 per month and Sh109,108 if the mortgage runs for 15 years. This makes it difficult for those earning less than Sh300,000 monthly to qualify for the average home loans, given that banks demand that borrowers retain a third of the pay after all deductions. A CBK mortgage market survey in December revealed that 22 per cent of the bankers interviewed cited the high cost of houses as the major impediment to mortgage uptake, with 21 per cent of them blaming high interest rates. Upfront costs such as legal fees, valuation fees and stamp duty were cited by 15 per cent of the bankers as hurdles to accessing mortgage. The cost of mortgage has defied a new formula introduced last June for banks to use in pricing loans, seeking to bring down high interest rates that have stifled lending to businesses and home buyers. Kenyan banks say their operating costs are higher than those in more advanced markets and that they lack a developed credit rating system for screening customers. Geet to work Njoroge. That last line above there is enough homework for 3 years it is an antic system Post by jakaswanga on Jun 29, 2015 20:33:02 GMT 3 Knowing the financial bills were dictated by the IMF, i found the following passage fascinating. Dr. Njoroge will have to shed light. Mr Munya said the system shuts down centrally before the end of any financial year, thus dictating how the money meant for counties is spent . Some of the counties that are said to have encountered difficulties in paying salaries had significant balances in their accounts at the CBK. The amounts are enough to pay their salary bills for May 2015, says a statement published in local newspapers yesterday. Mr Thugge maintained that the Treasury has been disbursing the cash allocated to county governments in the financial year 2014/2015. In the best case scenario, it may be a step in keeping a tight reign over spend thrift governors and wasteful MCAs --in which case the Central bank can just say so (glasnost) In the worst case scenario it can be a exercise in political chicanery, reining in devolution, while at the same time making a killing, temporarily or otherwise re-routing the retained funds to other private or public business. This is big money, a bank could speculate with it at the financial markets abroad or local Last Edit: Jun 29, 2015 20:35:31 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. And the good Governor has shown some of these egomaniacs how one can be a public servant without living large Forget the luxury of Muthaiga and live in a community. Forget about the penchant for large limos, chase cars and a bevy of security men which we see with some of our leaders - this man will take himself to the office in a small car I saw the CJ going in for coffee at a Java on a weekend and the man of the stud had a chase car and security men following him and I wondered how power gets to someone that led an ordinary life prior to the perks and who today has his motorcade harass motorists the way some big headed governors do Kamalet, The Canadian Mutunga has been a disaster, lets forget him, lest we are forced to lock him up at Kamiti for embezzlement. At kamiti he can indulge himself of course. Every now and then something happens to remind us that Kenya may be faced with all manner of grim challenges, but the new constitution seems to be working just fine. Most recent in the long line of such proofs, is the news that the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee has demanded that the Chief Justice, Dr Willy Mutunga . refund Sh1.56 million that he was irregularly paid in leave allowance. This demand may well be a footnote in the bigger story of how the Judiciary allegedly lost an estimated Sh2.2 billion in the course of various payments for purchases and for leases of office space. But it has huge symbolic significance. In deed Dr. Njoroge was a shock to our Mpigs. In fact they were so shocked over his austere life-style that they collapsed into childish tattle. I thought about it, and have this to say. Often we hear the unthought-out banter of state-looters like William Ruto talking about Kenya being a Christian nation which need must raise the banner of The Lord. But here were national political representatives faced with one of the oldest Christian tenets, an adherent thereto, and they were unable to comprehend nor recognise it. A Monk . (Celibacy is a basal religious/spiritual trial). Monks were/are wo/men who turned their backs on wordly possessions (and fleshly pleasures ) in exchange for intense spirituality. Most religions offer variations of this theme - Buddhist monks who own not even their bodies Sikh/Hindi gurus who never leave their temples and live on alms, freeing their minds for meditation. This kind of stuff has apparently gone outside the mental ranges of your average Kenyan Mpig. It is an intellectual degeneration, vacuum which hints at a parliamentary generation wholly rootless in every definition of the word. But Opus Dei remains controversial of course --it is not the only secretive and conservative movement around of course (intelligence services are worse), nevertheless a significant opportunity was missed in parliament to interrogate the new CBK governor as to what his coping mechanisms would be, when Gods work conflicted with the demanded work of political office, mans work. - using interest rates to loot low income people, facilitating international syndicates to enslave nations by debt servitude, fundamental belief in authority even as the authority effects tyranny may be Gods work or not, but still it would be nice to know if there are any doubts in the mind of the governor as to whether Gods work is always in the interest of Kenya, or whether he can, assuming God is too perfect to be wrong, be persuaded to think mans interpretation of Gods work is a work in progress In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by jakaswanga on Jul 13, 2015 20:28:59 GMT 3 I am shuddering as I grasp the details of the accord which Greeces Premier, Syrizas Alexis Tsipras . has had to swallow from his compatriot Eurozone leaders. There is no such thing as a Greek state exercising sovereignty as I write this. Greece is a carcass under receiversship, to be dismembered at will by the vultures from the North. The Greek elite has concluded there is no life outside the Euro . so they sold their national dignity to stay within . Talk about hard choices in life We will see about that: Life without dignity for the nation that gave us the concept of democracy. So, for me is to ask, Is life outside the IMF and the World Bank thinkable for the Kenyan mandarinate, and the African political elite running Kenyas finances, or is it so, that like the Greek elite, we will be sold at a throw away And, what policy and financial mistakes does a nation make . that it becomes so hopelessly indebted, and has to end up throwing itself away at rock-bottom auction prices, and willingful slavery becomes her only option of a meal, like todays Greece And - yes, this is my preoccupation: are we, pray tell, making haste at avoiding such deadly mistakes Are we busy inoculating ourselves against the same Or are we in the yawa dhi kode group (we leave it all in the hands of Opus Or Allah, Amen) - Well, none other than the two brilliant kids on the block will have to convincingly answer that one, yes, Rotich and Njoroge (with their Andrea Chilulu disease) NB: Somehow I do not think neither Uhuru nor Ruto would know what it is, making my mind jump like (some proverbial Achebe frog) with something narrowing on its life in broad daylight. So Dear Central Bank of Kenya, dear Ministry of Finance of the republic of Kenya, RE: AN OPEN WARNING TO DR. HARVARDS ROTICH AND PROFESSOR YALE NJOROGE (After the warning will I run by, and flash at you the tabloid tale of the Reinhart-Rogoff 90 debt/gdp ratio-rule, and the Skylla of an austerity-orchestrated recession which has sucked the Aegean nation to economic oblivion and, now, precipitated a re-occupation by foreign powers holding brief for creditors.). First part of the warning: how the old dictator, the Ankole Longhorn YKM7 . is stealing a run on us Kenyans, in delivery. - Imagine Let us cut down to the chase before we relax and take a drink on the other side. Wine, women and song lure thousands of Kenyans to Uganda Sunday, July 12th 2015 Busia governor Sospeter Ojamoong laments that his government is a victim of a carefree system in Uganda, with no clear taxation rules and trade policies. The situation, says the governor, has exposed business people to huge losses and led to the dumping of cheap goods in the market. The ensuing scenario points to a harsher taxation regime in Kenya. To survive competition in beer business, for instance, most bar owners have resorted to purchasing Kenyan bottled beer on the Ugandan market back to Kenya, where they sell at slightly lower rates. Newcomers to Busia-Kenya would also be forgiven for thinking they have arrived in President Yoweri Musevenis territory. Vehicles with Ugandan number plates are all over the place . Now Drs. Rotich and Njoroge . you guys studied in the USA, and are aware of the unintended consequences of the Prohibition. (when alcohol was banned). Mesays taxing Kenyans to the bone on bare essentials, while across the border - in a free trade region, the state of Uganda isnt as greedy as our Tax-regime, is asking for it. No, not smuggling, that would be if the border is NOT OPEN. I rather mean that is asking for Kenyans to move where life is cheaper for the same income. Move their money and themselves, and their souls Ojaamong is hysterical . He is in denial. He is blaming a carefree system in Uganda. He is a fool and a layman. When taxation systems are not harmonised in a trading region, nomadism is natural and logical, predictable. Artificial attempts to arrest the situation leads to a booming trade known as (my memory is Waragi eroded) In the last days of the cold war, alcohol tax in Scandinavia was 80 or higher. In the Baltic states and Poland, making the fist tentative steps to market economy, barely 1, so for one beer in Copenhagen or Malmo or Helsinki, one could get 20 equivalent units in Gdansk, a doable ferry ride away in a day. (Helsinki to Tallin). So on Friday night through Saturday night, Scandinavian cities would be dead. Mega Ferries ferried the populations across the water to go get drunk on the continent, and the weekend Swedish and Danish entertainment swarms returned on Sunday afternoon, ready to work the next week. This 1994 ferry-boat disaster in which over 800 mostly Swedes died, lifted the veil some, in these weekend migrations. Now, coming back to Ojaamongs woes, let us have a comparative price list, Kenyan side vs Uganda side, same products. I stopped the risky affair of drinking while standing on one leg, in readiness for flight, says Makokha in reference to Kenyan police officers who ambush and arrest patrons taking alcohol outside the official drinking hours of between 2pm and 11pm. In the words of the boda boda rider, a good number of Kenyans eat and drink in Uganda and carry the contents in their bellies for deposit in toilets on the Kenyan side. The cost of a bottle of s oda averages Sh80 in Kenya and Sh30 on the Ugandan side (Kenyan currency). The disparities are even higher in alcoholic beverages. A bottle of Guinness, which retails at between Sh170 and Sh200 in Kenya, sells at between Sh120 and Sh150 in Uganda. The Tusker brand costs Sh160 in Kenya and Sh120 in Uganda. Ugandan brands including Nile Special, which retails at between Sh90 and Sh120, are much cheaper, yet more potent. You got to be kidding, if you think people with a disposable income of less than 80 (ksh. 8000) will ignore such a price difference within a 20Km radius free travel The Ankole Longhorn wins A bit like the old fox Baroka over the boko - dripping Lakunle For those who want to know the truth Find out much ksh. per kilo Uganda sugar sells in Kisumu Gotta know what is on and about before you think ksh. I billion is gonna save Mumias sugar . (that is why I looked at a beaming Ababu Namwamba and did not know what he was all about with the deal. -60km away, 10km away from Budalangi, in Busia Uganda, you will die of shock Sugar is half price) - How do they do it Guys from ivy leagues should know (But if you have read Soyinka, you could work it out in a flat minute) But let us see more of what makes Ojaamong so sleepless. Wine, women and song lure thousands of Kenyans to Uganda By Oscar Obonyo. July 12th 2015 This goes for rent too. A one bedroom house in Marachi on the Kenyan side, for instance, goes for between Sh8,000 and Sh10,000 a month while the same house in Sofia estate in Uganda fetches just Sh3,500. Godfrey Musungu used to run a bar on the Kenyan side but has since moved to the Ugandan side. The businessman used to pay rent worth Sh14,000 but currently pays UG Sh160,000 (about KSh3,500). Musungu, who runs Pembeni Pub in Ugandas Sofia estate, says running a business in Kenya is comparatively too costly. He singles out requirements of various certificates, sanitary facilities as well as various trade licences from the liquor and licensing board, national and county governments as prohibitive factors. Here in Uganda, I only need a single trade licence from the Busia municipality no more paperwork or harassment by police over sanitation or drinking hours, he says . Here is a killer line: PAPER WORK MINIMAL, BUREAUCRATIC RED TAPE ZERO - Ojaamong is nonplussed He can not see the sense But wananchi can, investors can, probably everybody else too And they are not waiting for him and his cabinet to man up The Standard On Sunday further observed that commercial sex traders in Uganda are more innovative. They book hotel rooms in advance, from where they prepare luscious dishes and proceed to lure male patrons. In essence, there is no double payment for the man here. Nalongo is perhaps the most famous joint for this arrangement that puzzles most foreigners. Other adjacent pubs include 99 Kisses, Kagrass, MBig Pub and Black Mamba. See also: They came to Kenya and got trapped by gold diggers However, Busia (Kenya) County Executive Committee Member for Trades, Industrialisation and Tourism, Hillary Makhulu is not amused by what he terms as brothel services being offered right behind bar counters. Ugandan businessmen, he claims, are winning over Kenyans through dirty and immoral avenues. The minister defends the strict business policies in Kenya, saying they are meant to ensure quality services. But the Ugandan mayor views the goings on differently. Noting that the people of Busia are one people separated only by colonial borders . Mugeni calls for peaceful co-existence between Kenyans and Ugandans. standardmedia. co. ke/article/2000168934/wine-women-and-song-lure-thousands-of-kenyans-to-ugandaarticleID2000168934storytitlewine-women-and-song-lure-thousands-of-kenyans-to-ugandapageNo2 The county CEO for Busia, Hillary, talks of dirty and immoral avenues I rest my case because only an UNJUKWAA-LIKE word can describe this trade commissioner His Ugandan neighbour beats him pants down But I know a poem called Nalongo from Uganda. (Nalongo and Salongo --Cunt and Dick) It is an old Buganda rhyme about various sizes, widths and depths of vaginas and dicks, and how their owners know how to moderate them according the demands of that night. One line goes: If the penis this day is as big as the champion cassava tuber from Mbale Nalongo will lie in a way which makes the vagina yawn like the mouth of the Nile I am sure many Kenyans are not conversant with classical Kiganda poetry but now they are living it, no need to read it Last Edit: Jul 13, 2015 20:40:31 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. I am shuddering as I grasp the details of the accord which Greeces Premier, Syrizas Alexis Tsipras . has had to swallow from his compatriot Eurozone leaders. There is no such thing as a Greek state exercising sovereignty as I write this. Greece is a carcass under receiversship, to be dismembered at will by the vultures from the North. . So Dear Central Bank of Kenya, dear Ministry of Finance of the republic of Kenya, RE: AN OPEN WARNING TO DR. HARVARDS ROTICH AND PROFESSOR YALE NJOROGE (After the warning will I run by, and flash at you the tabloid tale of the Reinhart-Rogoff 90 debt/gdp ratio-rule, and the Skylla of an austerity-orchestrated recession which has sucked the Aegean nation to economic oblivion and, now, precipitated a re-occupation by foreign powers holding brief for creditors.) First part of the warning: how the old dictator, the Ankole Longhorn YKM7 . is stealing a run on us Kenyans, in delivery. - Imagine Let us cut down to the chase before we relax and take a drink on the other side. Wine, women and song lure thousands of Kenyans to Uganda Here we go with the promised tabloid tale of the REINHART-ROGOFF doctrine. 1. OF PROFESSORS FROM HARVARD. Yale produced presidents Bush and Clinton . Noam Chomsky ground his teeth to bloody gums. Then he heard the long-awaited Messiah Obama was, too, from Harvard. And he went into retraite. May be he will emerge if Jeb wins. (Jeb went to a more modest college in Texas where, one hopes, the rigours of exacting academia do not completely erase the faculty of common sense. - Anybody with an iota of common sense would not group Iran with the axis of evil, much less a state sponsor of terrorism) And now take two: A main policy plank is riddled with faults, write Robert Pollin and Michael Ash In 2010, two Harvard economists published an academic paper that spoke to the world146s biggest policy question: should we cut public spending to control the deficit or use the state to rekindle economic growth 147 Growth in a Time of Deb t148 by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff has served as an important intellectual bulwark in support of austerity policies in the US and Europe. It has been cited by politicians ranging from Paul Ryan, the US congressman, to George Osborne, the UK chancellor. But we have shown that several critical findings advanced in this paper are wrong. So do we need to rethink austerity economics more broadly The Reinhart-Rogoff research is best known for its result that, across a broad range of countries and historical periods, economic growth declines dramatically when a country146s level of public debt exceeds 90 per cent of gross domestic product. And the Troika 150-the ECB, the European Commission, and the IMF, would use this Reinhart-Rogoff as their bible to baptise Greece as in born-again, free at last, free of the recession In their work with a sample of 20 advanced economies over the postwar period, they report that average annual GDP growth ranges between about 3 per cent and 4 per cent when the ratio of public debt to GDP is below 90 per cent. But average growth collapses to -0.1 per cent when the ratio rises above a 90 per cent threshold. But something would come up to spoil the party. Professor Michael Ash and his student Thomas Herndon . In a new working paper, co-authored with Thomas Herndon, we found that t hese results were based on a series of data errors and unsupportable statistical techniques. For example, because of straightforward miscalculation and unconventional method of averaging data, a one-year experience in New Zealand in 1951, during which economic growth was -7.6 per cent and the public debt level was high, ends up exerting a big influence on their overall findings. /i /quoteDo you see what I see. Suppose you were a medical doctor and you made the kind of mistake Reinhart and Rogoff made You loose your medical certificate to practice any medicine. But we know, their oath apart, doctors can be hired to torture a human beings 150-that is what has been happening in Guantanamo bay for instance. So it is possible the giant Harvard brains Reinhart and Rogoff DELIBERATELY falsified data . deliberately became false prophets. To ruin their reputations like this, the remuneration from the quarters who used them, 150--the financial predators out to own everything, even public beaches where populations go for walks----, must have compensated the duo several fortunes. Professor Michae Ash continues: W hen we performed accurate recalculations using their dataset, we found that, when countries146 debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds 90 per cent, average growth is 2.2 per cent, not -0.1 per cent. We also found that the relationship between growth and public debt varies widely over time and between countries. So what does this mean Consider a situation in which a country is approaching the threshold of a 90 per cent public debt/GDP ratio. It is not accurate to assume that these countries are reaching a danger point where economic growth is likely to decline precipitously. Rather, our corrected evidence shows that a country146s growth may be somewhat slower once it moves past the 90 per cent public debt-to-GDP level. But we cannot count on this being true under all, or even most, circumstances . Herndon became instantly famous in nerdy economics circles this week as the lead author of a recent paper, Does High Public Debt Consistently Stifle Economic Growth A Critique of Reinhart and Rogoff, that took aim at a massively influential study by two Harvard professors named Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. Herndon found some hidden errors in Reinhart and Rogoffs data set, then calmly took the entire study out back and slaughtered it. Herndons takedown 151 which first appeared in a Mike Konczal post that crashed its host site with traffic 151 was an immediate sensation. It was cited by prominent anti-austerians like Paul Krugman, spoken about by incoming Bank of England governor Mark Carney, and mentioned on CNBC and several other news outlets as proof that the pro-austerity movement is based, at least in part, on bogus math From here it of course becomes an insider battle with no camp giving a quarter. There are 1 million methods of processing data (methodology), and your results depend on which one you use So, where do you go from here, if you want to make an important decision based on economic science . decisions like the future of a country of millions (NB: economics as a science is stretching it these days) 1. I want to see the data on which the new Chairman of the Central Bank, Dr. Patrick Njoroge, bases his conclusion that the market determined rate of interest will best serve the Kenyan economy.--and ask some other whizzkids to use an alternative methodology to process the data (I recall within two months the Central Bank has fiddled twice with its basal rate, to so-called defend the shilling) That was our first tabloid story. (is economics a real science) Last Edit: Jul 16, 2015 20:10:46 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by jakaswanga on Jul 16, 2015 23:15:59 GMT 3 The Kenya Shilling as Mr. Karubandika It is a legendary cartoon, the then chairman of the central bank at the end of his wits, depicted as a forlorn laboratory technician abandoning science, reverting to prayers to mediate the situation: Shiringi Shiringi Priiz Ngro up (i think it was professor Ndungu, the immediate former governor. He is a man who, without a protecting angel higher up in the mandarinate, would have been remanded in custody for thievery). New kid at the trenches, Dr. Patrick Njoroge then, is neither the first, nor will he be the last, to wrestle with the value ranges of the Kenyan shilling. And signs are, it has been a baptism of fire for him. More pain for consumers as shilling hits Sh100 mark BY Moses Michira, Tuesday, July 7th The shilling slumped past Sh100 against the US dollar in levels last seen in mid-2011, as the heavy import bill continued to take its toll on the local currency. Little is expected in mitigation measures from the monetary policy meeting today, forex traders are predicting, implying that the shilling could come under more pressure in the coming weeks. We can expect further declines, Joshua Anene, a senior dealer at CBA said. A weaker shilling affects consumers through costly imports and pushes up prices of a number of consumers goods. The current weaker local currency means that more units of the shilling are needed to buy the dollar. And now the fuel price at the pump has been hiked. More about that inflationary multiplier effect later. First: where is our resident econometrist, my brother in law Mank How is the African currency value determined, relative the so called hard currecies (euro and dollar). This is important to ponder. I remember the days when the exchange (or consumer procurement) of foreign currency was the monopoly of state banks in Kenya. There was a thriving blackmarket in dollars and sterling pound, and the blackmarket rate was the better rate for the consumer. Understanding this discrepancy in rates did trigger my interest in financial economics, but not enough to take it professionally. This was because I thought the explanation was easy. The government was enforcing a monopoly, and misusing the monopoly to screw people who wanted to interchange currency. Such a blatant raw deal created the blackmarket, as justice. Of course the government held up this stupidity until it no longer could, then FOREX bureaus mushroomed all over the city. And the bureaus too, began to form a cartel and fix the price of the shilling behind the scenes, to screw the consumer (likely screwing him or her less than would be under state monopoly) Nothing new there, cartels. One got to have lived in a hole not to have heard of the Libor scandal or the interest rates scandal in which all international banks have been fined for having colluded to fix the rates, and screw the consumers. Free market Even freelance prostitutes in a free lease brothel collude to fix the minimum blowjob rate I tell you, being a consumer is a terrible thing What is biting me now Is why the shilling is falling. Was that rebase in which the GDP jumped up a hoax The reasons given do not convince me. In June 2014 the barrel price of crude was 110. Now July 2015, it is just below 60. What did this huge drop in price mean for Kenyan current account - Huge savings I think. But the Kenyan consumer has not seen any dividends, has he To the contrary, fuel is now up again. That is screwy. That, mesays, is the cartel of oil dealers in cahoots with the treasury and the central bank roasting the consumer. The central bank can certainly not be worried about deflation in Kenya, such that it puts in place inflationary policies (raising the price of petrol is a powerful inflationary factor and when the world market oil price is low, a blatant rip-off scheme. Yes, Rotich and Njoroge are being extortionists) I therefore think - and this is where I miss Mank to help me out--- that an increasingly weak shilling to the dollar, plus a high inflation rate in May/June/July, in the background of low to rock-bottom oil prices and massive infra-structural spending, is an anachronism. There is something else happening here There is a racket in progress, and I am being played. (there are comparable economies to Kenya which are registering what the models call dovish monetary policys . tax cuts and jumps in purchasing power --all explained by the huge dip in world oil prices) Which is what brings me to Karubandika . Is the shilling actually over-valued, and has been keeping up appearances not its station to keep Is someone calling the shillings bluff, peeling back slowly its mask of solidity, finding out the actual productivity of Kenya can not sustain the OFFICIAL value of the Shilling to the dollar Forcing it to float toward its true value - the blackmarket rate as it were Before we continue, let us take a look at the song Karubandiku by Marquis Original. Up in the city sometime ago, I trooped with the gang to Ranalo Kosewe in the evening in a repeat trip, and there was this live band doing covers, golden Swahili oldies like Shillingi Maua tena yaua of the Original Simba Wanyika . It did not take long before they hit this all time East African favourite, Karubandika. Long ago, in the days when there was only the VOK, and men like Mambo Mbotela were hits with programs like Je Huu ni Ungwana, and the two Khadijas, Ali and Hassan, would read the 1 o clock news and continue with Je Hujambo, and mwalimu James Onyango Joel would interrupt with his schools broadcast programs, the Voice of Kenya idhaa ya Taifa was very Tanzania pop friendly. Singers like Mzee Makassy . Volcano Mbaraka and Marijan Rajab of Dar International were staples, with star Djs like Eddy Fondo . Salim Manga and George Zenogazake (traditional Kenyan choir) keeping track. The Franco-sounding Big guitar in this recording should be Mose Fan Fan who runaway with Kenyans a few years ago with the hit Papa Lolo (tango nyoso I love you). CHECK THIS LINE OF THE PLAYER FRAUDSTER Karubandika. na akiingia kwenye baa, kazi yake kuomba biya x2 hana hata aibu eeh, sigara pia anaomba, mitaani na kwenye mastovu hujitangazia kuwa yeye ni mkurugenzi wa kampuni fulani oh kumbe sivyo hivyo . Divination: The Shilling as the flagpost of the Kenyan economy, boasts its Kingship in the neighbourhood - among the slum nations of South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Congo and Burundi. (mtaani na kwenya mastovu ) But watch us beg at the big Bars - the IMF, the World Bank, China EXIm (looking for sigara na biya and small change to shore up the shilling and keep up appearances) . Usinione pweke baaba (somebody is pulling the rug from under our feet. And the shilling is nervously rising) Kiswahili Song: Karubandika Artist: ( Nguza Viking 1984) Orchestra Maquis Original kama wewe ungenipenda, kwa nini kunidanganya bwana eeh kujibandika madaraka sio yako bwana wewe (x2) nimesikia tetesi kuwa huna lolote hata kazi huna eeh unazurura mchana kutwa eeh/kupita kurandaranda mitaani (x2) kumbe hukuwa na uwezo wa kunioa ila kuniharibia maisha heri kulialia, ukweli ulivyo kuliko kunidanganya nikuelewe bibi eeh ---babu eeh uaminifu hapo uko wapi eeh --papa (x3) usinione pweke baba usinione pweke baba kwa kukubali wito wako - karubandika eeh kwa kukubali wito wako - karubandika eeh haya yote ni matatizo ya dunia baba haya yote ni matatizo ya dunia baba soloist: nilitaka kujitumbukiza ndani ya moto mie kumbe bwana yule, hana kitanda wala shuka pa kulala hana, analala kwenye stand ya basi pa kulala hana, anakesha kwenye kituo cha unda karubandika yoyo --acha vituko eeh baba 2. Na akiingia kwenye baa, kazi yake kuomba bia na akiingia kwenye baa, kazi yake kuomba bia hana hata aibu eeh, sigara pia anaomba mitaani na kwenye mastovu hujitangazia kuwa yeye ni mkurugenzi wa kampuni fulani oh kumbe sivyo hivyo - oo And that was our second tabloid tale. THE DIKTATS OF THE IMF AND THE POLITICS OF THE KENYAN TREASURY LOOK EAST FACE WEST RUNNING THE SHOW IN NAIROBI So here is an economy, and I think one of my, sort of, reference points I think is very interesting you have China and the United States, the number one and two largest economies in the world today. One economy has no democracy, has deprioritised democracy and its used state capitalism as its engine for growth. The other economy has absolutely got liberal democracy as its ideological frame for politics, and it believes in free markets. But these two economies have the exact same income and equality Gini coefficient, and therefore, if youre sitting anywhere else in the world, where income and equality matters, growth matters, China has a pretty compelling story over the last several years. We have not seen the decline in real wages over the period of course now, there is a lot of pressure, given their population, on wages. Weve seen very significant, even double digit growth numbers, which are very important in very impoverished economies. Weve seen them actually roll out infrastructure. Weve seen them move hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in a very short period of time. There are lots of things to admire and like about that. Of course, its not without its challenges, but, you know, if you look at their political system, and Ive been very lucky Ive had the opportunity, as part of a group, to spend an hour with the Chinese President about a year ago, and I think the way that he expressed concern for the currency of the global economy was, in a way, much more sophisticated than what Id heard elsewhere. What do I mean It was untainted by political strictures. So let me explain. The income inequality point, there was an acknowledgement that on the one hand trickledown economics has not worked, the idea of keeping taxes low because richer people or the owners of capital were going to invest and hire people. He said, thats a great idea, but it didnt work. Neither, though, did the tax and spend redistribution model that has also not worked. So it was quite refreshing to have a public policy, you know, head, someone whos responsible in the political class in China, to say, you know what weve tried these two models and neither of them has worked, and so rather than be hamstrung by one or the other because thats going to win me votes, Im actually looking for a third way. His view was, sort of, in that se I think the fundamental thing Im getting at here, whether its capital, labour or productivity, is that we have a political system in place, particularly in the developed markets, that does not match the structural problems that the world is facing. So if you think about it, if somebody goes and does a call outside now and says, what are the big issues that the world faces, most of us will acknowledge its around education, its around infrastructure and investment, its around the cost of healthcare long-term problems, but we have a political system in place, which is largely liberal democracy, that has cyclicality thats much more short-term and myopic, and therefore doesnt address some of the problems that were addressing right now. Last Edit: Jul 18, 2015 21:23:23 GMT 3 by podp Post by jakaswanga on Jul 22, 2015 20:08:48 GMT 3 And then what the hell is this again Tuesday, July 21, 2015 Senate faults hiring of CBK Governor Patrick Ngugi Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Ngugi during his vetting by the National Assemblys Finance, Trade and Planning Committee at Continental House in Nairobi on June 16, 2015. FILE PHOTO SALATON NJAU NATION MEDIA GROUP In Summary Dr Ngugi was vetted by the National Assemblys Finance Committee and was subsequently endorsed by the House. Mr Wetangula said the President was being misled by his legal advisers. By JEREMIAH KIPLANGAT By DENNIS ODUNGA The appointment of new Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Ngugi is illegal, Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro ruled on Tuesday. Mr Ethuro said the governor should have been vetted by both Houses as indicated in the Constitution and in the Central Bank of Kenya Act. Dr Ngugi was vetted by the National Assemblys Finance Committee and was subsequently endorsed by the House. However, Mr Ethuro said the Senate was not involved and hence Dr Ngugi and the deputy governor were illegally in office. The Senate has not been informed of any nominees for the positions and has accordingly neither vetted nor approved any person for appointment to these positions, said Mr Ethuro. VETTING Last week, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale (UDF) asked the Speaker to give a ruling on the failure by the National Assembly to involve them in the vetting of the Central Bank CBK boss. I, therefore, wish to conclude by responding to Senator Khalwales enquiry by reiterating only that the Constitution as read with the Central Bank of Kenya Act at Sections 13 and 13B require that both the National Assembly and the Senate vet and approve the nominee for the position of Governor and the position of Deputy Governor of the Central of Kenya, added Mr Ethuro. Senators were furious that the House was ignored and threatened to bring an impeachment Motion against President Uhuru Kenyatta for agreeing to a violation of the Constitution. Senate Minority Leader Moses Wetangula (Bungoma, Ford-K) said the remedy was to move to court and challenge the constitutionality and legality of the governors appointment. Mr Wetangula said the President was being misled by his legal advisers to endorse the resolutions of a flawed process. He cited Attorney-General Githu Muigai . President Kenyattas adviser on constitutional matters Abdikadir Mohammed and National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi as some of the people who have failed the head of State. The President is not a lawyer. He must be told whether the dotted lines he is signing is in accordance with the law or not. If the President wants to protect his legacy, he must do the right thing, said Mr Wetangula. Mr Kiraitu Murungi (Meru, APK) blamed some forces within the government for consistently denying that the Senate is part of Parliament as provided for in the Constitution. Although the governor is a good person and has started introducing good policies at the Central Bank, he said, the process that led to his appointment was illegal. Mr Mutula Kilonzo Jr (Makueni, Wiper) said it was necessary for Parliament to come up with appropriate laws to ensure the Central Bank operates within the law. Central Bank as constituted today is illegal. There is no transition provision enacted by Parliament to ensure it operates within the constitutional framework, he said. Senator Mutahi Kagwe (Nyeri, Narc) said although the law was flouted, it is not prudent for the Senate to consider initiating the impeachment of the President. This is not an issue (on which) to call for (the) impeachment of the President. The Jubilee leadership in the National Assembly has decided to embarrass the President, the nominee and this House over this matter, he said. Mr Kagwe added that an audit of what else has been passed by the National Assembly without being referred to the Senate should be undertaken So where do we go from here. ostrich position In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by jakaswanga on Oct 11, 2015 13:39:20 GMT 3 SPECTACULAR TALENT AT THE TOP, WORTHLESS RESULTS IN PRACTICE, so what gives Of course the Swahili live band at the renowned Ranalo Kosewe . just a few meters from Nation Centre going the other direction, - South, offers, apart from hits topically commenting on daily life which is the staple of historical Tanzanian bands, other bests of the poetical world of Tanzania composers. There, recently, and whenever I chance around the city in the sun and has an evening to spare, do I always request for a rendition of the song Marashi ya Pemba . It is a darker, murkier more dangerous delve into the emotions of belonging, than Osito Kalles famous tribute to his home: Asembo Piny Maber . Marashi ya Pemba by Ndala Kasheba with Orchestre Safari Sound . like Marijan Rajabs Zuwena with Dar International . do jerk the tears out my eyes whenever the saxophonist is good, and plays the long goodbye . The long goodbye is a conch sound from the Island of Pemba, and it is blown for the souls of the fishermen who went to sea and never came back. When the line Kuishi viziwani mamaah, kuna utamu wake is sung in Pemba, and the look on the eyes of guitarist Ndala is glazy like the wine-dark sea, and the horns section is savvy like the famed fingers of Apollo on the lyre, then will you instinctively catch why the euphemism - living in an island has its sweetness cuts to the bone for some. And doth I Jakaswanga shed many a rolling drop, thinking of Mfangano Island --Rusinga, Ngodhe na Migingo, visiwa vya kwetu eeeh HERE: Marashi Ya Pemba OSS composer Ndala Kasheba. Alfajiri upepo wa Bahari umenijia, Nikaona nyota ya kanda ya Mashariki, Kuishi visiwani mama, ah, Kuna utamu wake, Mafia. Pemba. Zanzibar visiwa vya kwetu eeh x2 Siku nitafika Pemba, ni siku nitatamani eeh x2 Nitembeze sehemu zote hadi mwisho eeeh, Kuishi visiwani mama eeh, Kuna utamu wake, Mafia, Pemba, Zanzibar visiwa vya kwetu eeh. Etc etc. - Having thus put my soul in order, my heart and head can rhyme and mount an unflinching and sustained assault at forts. The IMF-anointed TRIAD at the top of the Kenyan Treasury is such a fort. Me means Patrick Njoroge (the Yale-bred the Opus Dei loyalist at the Central bank ), Henry Rotich (the Harvard-Kennedy robot), and the charlatan doctor, Kamau Thugge . (PS finance). These are pawns. And that is how their combined would-be formidable technical abilities result into a perfect naught on the ground . The explanation of the financial mess is not that they are stupid nor foolish, but just that they are not decision-makers . For, pray, tell, What is a clever man if he can neither make nor carry out his clever decisions Me says you do not notice the difference between him, the genius, and any other moron around, yeah, they are flower girls like those attractive babes you see atop the dais at Grand prix winner sessions, kissing the ace drivers and titillating male fantasy gawking at TV screens as Onyango Oloo would have it. I mean: (Waawu We have a Harvard and a Yale at the treasury - Bretton woods bonafide match that We Kenyans boast to other Africans, mesmerised and gawking at our GDP and shilling strength) But at home, in the privacy of our bedrooms, we are hurting and lonely. HERE IS A TIP OF THE ICEBERG. Of greater concern though is that Treasury has asked counties to use overdrafts from commercial banks to pay staff and service their day-to-day operations, raising the prospects that interest rates could further rise and shrink the appetite of businesses to borrow from banks. It is now emerging that the State spent about half of the taxmans first quarter collections to settle debts and pensions. Kenya Revenue Authority had collected Sh269.7 billion, of which Sh132 billion (49.1 per cent) went to paying the debts that the country owes local and international creditors. But which imagery shall we use, as we watch those charged with dealing with the crisis talking a soft walk in the park without a worry. Ostriches with head in sand Hard-boiled captains of a sinking ship - they know the ship is doomed, but do not want panic even in death. So they tell fairy tales to the last. No, I think they are just charlatans who know the score, but do not care because their station makes them immune to the effects of economic collapse. - Up the treasury, they do not know what real life is when a teacher 30K goes 1.5 months without that salary. Starvation and total loss of decorum, for even the daily sukumu wiki has to be taken on credit from mama mboga. I see that at the daily markets, and so these Opus dei Grades from Yale running the third biggest economies in Africa -(Yes Kenya GDP is that big on the blurb write)-- are just the latest intellectual litter on the face of Africa passing on. (In Sembene Ousmane phraseology, impotent d. icks facing a nymphomaniac) Almost two weeks after end month, over 240,000 teachers are yet to receive their salaries, despite a court order that the government makes the payments without further delay. Nairobi County Governor Dr Evans Kidero confirmed that there was a problem which had resulted in the lengthy delay of pay for tens of thousands of workers on the county payrolls . Delays in payment of teachers affect every village and town in the country because teachers are among the few regularly salaried officials in the counties and failure to pay them has a knock-on effect on local economies. By CAROLINE WAFULA Thousands of workers are yet to receive their September salaries as the government grapples with a cash crisis, which has raised tough questions about the state of fiscal management at the Treasury . All 47 counties have been affected by the problem, which has also spread to several key institutions and programmes which have been starved of cash due to delays in disbursement of funds from the Treasury. The Higher Education Loans Board and the free primary and secondary education programmes are among those which have been affected. . The crisis was the subject of a meeting between Treasury PS Kamau Thugge and officials of the Kenya Revenue Authority, which has fallen short of its tax collection targets in the first quarter. THERE IS A PROBLEM Ah, Nairobi, twajivuna kuwa Wakenya. (And no Pemba euphemism intended) More hints to follow. Last Edit: Oct 11, 2015 13:43:12 GMT 3 by jakaswanga Post by jakaswanga on Oct 12, 2015 19:58:49 GMT 3 POLITICAL ECONOMICALLY PONDERING PRIME MINISTER JOSEPH KINYUA In an earlier episode ---instalment may perhaps be a better choice of word---- at the Anne Waiguru thread here on Jukwaa, this correspondent is fain to reckon with the breaking of surface by the submarine Joseph Kinyua . the prime minister of Kenya and ace architect of grafty treasury shenanigans through the years, albeit with no smoking gun traceable to his cupboard. It reminds me wry of a famous quote from a not so famous French writer now gone, Charles Baudelaire . The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didnt exist. A brilliant scenario directed by a brilliant director casting a brilliant actor would later give eternal fame to this saying in a blockbuster film called THE USUAL SUPESUSPECTS. It stars Kevin Spacy in the character of Keyser Sze. aka Verbal Kint. Szes ruthlessness is legendary Kint describes him as having had enemies and disloyal henchmen brutally murdered, along with everyone they hold dear, for the slightest infractions, as well as personally murdering anyone who can identify him. Even his own henchmen often dont know for whom they work. Over the years, his criminal empire flourishes, as does his legend remarking on Szes mythical nature, Kint says, The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didnt exist. This statement paraphrases a line in a story by Charles Baudelaire,4 as translated from the original French. Neither McQuarrie nor Singer realized this at the time and they borrowed it from people who were quoting Baudelaire themselves.5 Keyser Soze does not exist . so conclude the police investigation. But as in True Detectives, not every cop is a believer in fictitious criminals. But back to Kenyan reality. You have the busy buddies of Boinnet . you have Tobiko . you have Ndegwa Muhoro . and, behold O Lord. between them they wouldnt have heard of Rutos case at the ICC-Hague, let alone knowing who betrayed Sir William to that imperialist monster why did Joseph Kinyua surface Correct, many no longer have an idea who Joseph Kinyua is. I will refresh your memory. By my notes on Jukwaa, he is the current Prime Minister of Kenya, yeah, Agwambos successor. He is the one who cut Francis Kimemia to size, and finally down to pieces. Kinyua is like a monstrous crocodile he is out of sight, but all your instincts will tell you, step in that placid-looking water to cross or swim a drink, and you are a meal And many tears shall the crocodile shed, if you remember your folklore. Joseph Kinyua is different from the rest. He is a state antic, a historical at the treasury. There is nobody currently in government whose roots outdeepen those of Joseph Kinyua at Finance. Howbeit in that period of time we have had mega scandals whose cumulative bill 150-charged as Wanjikus loss, is better expressed as a percentage of a decades GDP, than straightway dollar - or Eurocount Yet the name of Joseph Kinyua appears and has never appeared on any scandal sheet. That is the calibre of the man Let me repeat. In two decades with the mandarin Joseph Kinyua at or around the top of the finance ministry, an excess of two GDP years have been siphoned off from the Kenyan taxpayer, but Joseph Kinyua emerges cleaner than your fresh toilet paper from the assembly line That is extraordinary calibre. I can just imagine the dead reptreptilians of Paul Kagame showing something akin to human interest at the sight of Joseph Kinyua, even ghosts leave a trace of their theft, the emptied pocket No, Joseph is not Teflon, nor slippery, nay, he is a single-minded ideologue Was the breaking of surface Routine or a scheduled rendezvous or, lord forbid, things are very madongodongo and the heaviest calibre must man battle stations, to hold fort HERE IS A BIT OF POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE MAN A FOOTNOTE TO PUNCTUATE, FOLLOW-UP, OR CONTINUE THE PONDER. FIRST, a few spurts from the Volcano, actively giving warnings. Authority had - in the first quarter-- collected Sh269.7 billion, of which Sh132 billion (49.1 per cent) went to paying the debts that the country owes local and international creditors. . Of greater concern though is that Treasury has asked counties to use overdrafts from commercial banks to pay staff and service their day-to-day operations, raising the prospects that interest rates could further rise and shrink the appetite of businesses to borrow from banks. 49.1 of the revenues went where. The Sunday Nation has established that the government is contemplating borrowing Sh78.8 billion (750 million) syndicated loans from local banks to plug a Sh600 billion hole in the budget in order to pay salaries for civil servants and generally run its affairs that risk grinding to a halt. How much syndicated loans from LOCAL BANKS Data from CBK shows the Treasury has overdrawn Sh43.2 billion, against a limit of Sh46.8 billion, giving it little room to manoeuvre in raising quick cash such as that needed to pay for salaries and allowances as well as maturing debt. This has forced the government to accept highly priced debt from the local market in efforts to raise sufficient cash to cover loan repayments. /i/quote little room to manoeuvre FORCED THE GoK to accept HIGHLY PRICED DEBT That is a loan-sharks ripping interest rate --Rape Granted, it is an open secret that the government has been borrowing heavily from various quarters, prompting urgent calls by experts and highly placed financial institutions for prudence. However, not many Kenyans know where this debt money is being channelled to. The veil of secrecy around State expenditure, coupled with runaway wastage of public resources, has continued despite the rhetoric on transparency and austerity. VEIL OF SECRECY IS TO COVER THEFT AND GRAFT --Of course with girls like Waiguru caught pants down, this veil is like the famous reveal female dress: see-through . The wearer is not naked, but everything is visible. This is where the political economy of the submarine Joseph Kinyua comes in. He knows all, but if you ask him, of course he wont tell. He will never tell. It is all a mystery to him, like Keyser Soze is all a mystery to Verbal Kint . That leaves us with the intellectual exercise of glasnosting him. Glasnost is the Russian word made famous by the communist reformer Mikhail Gorbachov . It means to transparentise to shed light upon and reveal the hidden. 1. What is happening in Kenya is the transfer of public-generated resources to the private sector. But this private sector is an exclusive . oligarchic, royalist clique. In the old days we used to call this process expropriation of the natives, because capitalist colonialism did not bother to hide its true economic nature nor mode . Its business was naked pillage . But these days history moved on, and sensitivities informed by consciousness must be minded. So you have to complicate stuff engage in Public Relations and massive disinformation to hoodwink a mass which, otherwise, would be scandalised and enraged. This is why for instance, when POTUS Obama went to bail-out Wall Street --(the cradle of the economic recession and financial crisis), it was sold to the paying American people as to their best benefit. These banks are Too Big to Fail. If we do not do it, we are gone as a super power And you do not want neither Putin nor the Chinese telling us what to do, do you, O free people of God --NO The good people of God in the exceptional country roared back And the bankers and banks laughed all the way to the bank. Soon, bonuses paid for by the bailout fund topped 100M yearly for some select few That is a net transfer of resources from the public to the 1 who rule and decide. Consensus generated thereto. That is how the big boys do it, --- we can also watch how they dismember Greece: Pensions and savings are confiscated and private real estate over-taxed have to be sold off to repay state debt. Consensus, no alternative. But how does it work for the small boys, that is the comprador nyaparas running the financial colonies like Kenya, where the IMF places her thorough-breds in charge of treasuries to facilitate the looting (facilitate by intellectual gloss for one) CO-OPTING THE FIRST FAMILY INTO BANKING Uhuru Kenyatta and the family, evolving from the primitive accumulation of his father Kenyatta I, has, as an appendage to international finance, become huge in LOCAL Banking. And (2) behind the scenes, courtesy of Joseph Kinyua, we know which clique achieved strategic dominance during the liberalisation of the banking sector, like who, for instance, bought the co-operative bank at a throw-away. I told you Joseph Kinyua is in a class of his own. He is an architect of a system. Now, did I hear that Jubilee hotshot of Jukwaa, Red Onyango Oloo remark, that the likes of Henry Rotich, Anne Waiguru and Kamau Thugge ---up to then junior clerks within the mandarinate at the Treasury, were not going to go up the Jubilee scale without the vetting of vested interests That is a thought to ponder. In terms of political economy: patronage and clientelism. USHERING THE SHEEP TO THE ABATOIR Now, other political economy: the government by mouth of the treasury, is a dmonishing county governments and everybody else dependent on her, to negotiate an overdrat from LOCAL COMMERCIAL BANKS. this to pay for their responsibilities. Howbeit these local commercial Banks boast the family of Uhuru Kenyatta, incidentally the national CEO, as the dominant player. Laughing all the way from bank to bank is the Kenyatta family if you see what I mean. The political economy is, the Kenyan state has being transfixed as the historical debt colony of the first family. And, tabloid reporting, the going interest rate is sky-rocketed. Yet have we not talked of the coming borrowing from local banks to repay and or service the foreign debt: - the weakly shilling, they say, gallops the external debt due to an ever steep exchange rate to the currencys in which the debt is denominated. (Meanwhile, on the other hand, Drs. Kamau Thugges role and Henry Rotichs role is borrow as cheaply as possible, as a STATE ACTOR on the international scene, and award this relatively cheap money (via Dr. Patrick Njoroge of the Central Bank) to the LOCAL COMMERCIAL BANKS, where, deductively, those of the first family will be the first birds who catches the worms. ) These (select and token) commercial banks can then RE-loan the relatively cheap money to the state/government of Kenya at that SKY-ROCKETED RATE which CBK statistics already reported And once again royalty laughs all the way from bank to bank That in a nutshell is the political economy at the top. It is a gameplan which requires a dedicated architect, a man who even made Mwai Kibaki uncomfortable. The submarine Joseph Kinyua. A Keyser Szose of sorts. AND THE REST OF THE CHEAP THIEVES PICK YOUR POCKET. Know your country. Cheap land thieves like William Ruto (on whose behalf primary kids ar tear-gassed ), or Elephantiasis soapbells like Anne Waiguru whose fingers drip in public with stolen honey, are not calibre worth talking about when the political economy of the Kenyan state is glasnotised with Joseph Kinyua in the star role . These queens and hustlers are silly pick-pockets at your bus park. Social vermin or, in this case, comprador vermin, jiggers at the toe of the treasury. We will revisit them --an the likes of Githinji and Kibet etc-- when we dumb down again. When we leave Kinyua alone. Now we know why Uhuru Kenyatta wouldnt make haste tackling the public wage bill. He is a banker, and aims to monopolise the interest rate regime of a Kenyan state prostrate for debt before commercial banks. His commercial banks. Kenyatta is like a cocaine dealer who has turned a prostitute into his private addict, so he can who-re her out at will and exploit her to his fill. Henry Rotich, kwani how long does it take you to figure that out (There then, I figured it out for you then, doc) Now back to tabloid mode. THE TILL DEATH DO US PART CLAUSE for MPIGS New Bill lines up Sh100,000 monthly pay and more benefits for former Kenyan MPs By Alphonce Shiundu Updated Friday, October 9th 2015 NAIROBI: Kenyas parliamentarians have made curious additions to their retirement package. Not only will they continue living off taxpayers money (Sh100,000) for the rest of their lives in monthly stipends, they want psychiatric services or a counsellor too. And this is to be paid for by the taxpayer. That is two weeks after Ababu Namwamba propose a bill to curb stuff Marashi ya Pemba It is a deep song, like the deep sea. But if you are not a sailor, a sea is just a fairy tale. And I will be back Last Edit: Oct 12, 2015 20:39:56 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by jakaswanga on Oct 26, 2015 22:11:07 GMT 3 THE CASE OF ECONOMIC SABOTAGE BY THE BEST OF THE LAND There is so much confusion around the state of the finances of the Kenyan state, that it looks like a deliberate smokescreening exercise . The purpose of all smokescreens around big finance is known since pre-history: massive theft. Fraud in its various mutant forms . all custom-purposed to have the thieves escape a noose around their necks and swinging in the air.. A possible fate for treasury officials in Nairobi if we mean business with the future of Kenya. I am out of humour, spent it all elsewhere, so I reckon if a first class econs from Yale heading the Central Bank . sidekicked by a Kennedy Harvard Major as government fin-sec . are going to leave it to lay jackals like Aden Duale to explain the Eurobond usage to the public, then loosing my temper is in order. And then this calibre of man Dr. Kamau Thugge holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Colorado College, USA Masters in Economics from Johns Hopkins University, USA and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Economics . also from Johns Hopkins. Guys like me have respect, even awe for that kind of stuff. But there is a down side. If with all those world-class Phds and implied expertise I catch some star behaving like a village idiot when such are trusted with the future of the nation, I gonna view such like lice I fished out of my pubic hair. Better off recycling in the nitrogen or carbon cycle. Tuesday, October 27, 2015 Answer questions on funds from Eurobond5 In Summary National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich reports that a large chunk of the cash Sh196 billion was ploughed into infrastructure, while another, Sh53 billion, was deposited in a foreign account with the intention of paying external debts. What is emerging is that the public has not benefited from the proceeds of the bond. The financial crunch facing the government has brought to the fore different issues depending on the discussants and their political persuasion. One of the issues is how the government spent the Sh250 billion that it secured through bonds that were floated in the European market last year, and which were touted as the panacea to the countrys economic challenges. National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich reports that a large chunk of the cash Sh196 billion was ploughed into infrastructure, while another, Sh53 billion, was deposited in a foreign account with the intention of paying external debts. However, the Controller of Budget, Ms Agnes Odhiambo, told Parliament last week that some Sh176 billion could not be accounted for, while Sh53 billion had been withdrawn and supposedly used to pay some loans without the requisite approvals. At the weekend, Cord leader Raila Odinga weighed in with assertions that the money could have been spent irregularly. His contentions were quickly rebutted by the Jubilee coalition. Whatever the case, the public is puzzled. The conflicting statements point to something sinister. HONEST EXPLANATIONS What is emerging is that the public has not benefited from the proceeds of the bond. Arguably, there are many intervening factors that may explain why the fund may not have yielded the desired impact. For example, the astronomical rise in the hard currencies has badly hit emerging economies. Even so, the public requires honest explanations about the Eurobond for it is not a charitable fund. The taxpayers will have to pay for it and woe unto us if the money was not put to productive use. The reason the country is bleeding is because of theft, corruption, lies, and mismanagement. We demand honest disclosure about the Eurobond cash . Why such a confused performance from you boys --no cash crunch. --ah yes there is a cash crunch (counties should borrow to pay recurrents) --No wastage of funds (the auditor general is an incompetent idler) --Oh yeah, there is lots of wastage, there is actually improper accounting too. --Government accounting has been streamlined - IFMIS system and the rest. - Government operates more than 10,000 accounts and nobody really has an idea where they are. But there is enough I dont know how much. cash in them to scale a financial year budget - No, we are forcedly borrowing at sky-high tages --to pay wages - Oh we just had to clear a loan with the proceeds of the eurobond, or our ratings would. Umm, revenue collection 50 went to debt portfolios I am thinking I am watching a band of highly gifted and intelligent Kenyan scholars carrying out a masterplan of economic sabotage chiefly on hire, but a bit on the sidelines for themselves too. With the kind of brains at the top of the treasury now, and the horrible result on the ground for Wanjiku, I think this nightmare is exactly the intended result. National ruin, national impoverishment. Bleeding the land to skeletons, then galloping away like a locust whose business i finished, off to nest elsewhere, far away from the ruined land. Future. What future. There is no tomorrow in your heads. And that means you guys should loose your ruinous heads. But since I do not like decapitations, too much ISIS like for my taste, SWINGING will do. Old school conforms to my old-fashionedness. But before then, you boys could also turn the economy around in one year. If that is too short (economic theory has no room for miracles, no) then you can as well be shot. NB: Soon after Moi in that NAK thing of the first Raila-Kibaki dynamics it was David Mwiraria at finance, right. Six months it was obvious he had turned it around from Mois dead end. Just that you new kids know miracles do happen, and not just in Hjalmar Schachts Hitlerite Germany. now run along boys and get to work. Africas eye darkens into a mask of rage. Tener cuidado. Last Edit: Oct 26, 2015 23:14:01 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by jakaswanga on Nov 8, 2015 10:07:44 GMT 3 Dear Patrick Njoroge, chair of Central Bank of Kenya . bear my Sunday humour with me This episode of the story started for me with this: a long long time ago before the world started. Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba was in Iceland to meet Iceland President, lafur Ragnar Grmsson. The Budalangi MP said their talks further touched on support to oversight over public finance through Accountability Kenya (AK) which he chairs. The politician did not go alone and was accompanied by the wife. He posted a photo of himself and wifey Priscah Mwaro on a plane on May 5. This is the President of Iceland, lafur Grmsson, hosting my hero, General Ababu Namwamba and missus, in Reykjavik, Iceland. OVERSIGHT OVER PUBLIC FINANCE. accounta. The word accountability in relation to Kenya of course gets my instantaneous attention. I do not like the ivy-league ratings Kenya boasts at the global pantheon of the rotten. Otishotish posted a macabre extract from an American paper. Pleading with state robbers to steal just a little, in a country where peanut thieves are routinely lynched like runaway slaves cornered by a white mob Now, Ababu Namwamba is a young star by this account, pale and now perhaps a bit dim, but he sure still up there in the sky, ODM secretary general and all . That is to say Dr. Patrick Njoroge too, is a kind of pale star up there who, similarly, could need some polish. After all you Dr. Patrick is running a predatory financial regime on low-level banking customers loan-shark interest rates in a citadel of corruption is a double wharmy on businessess. So, that I did not call you neither a dead nor a fallen star is not because I can not logically underpin that argument. The idea is I feel humorous today (checking news items American papers do not report) Check the following. ODM and CORD affiliate parties plan to partner with Nordic political parties . says Ababu Namwamba By Stephen Makabila Updated Saturday, May 9th 2015 ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba who is on a two-week tour of Denmark and Iceland on Friday held talks with Icelandic President H. E. lafur Ragnar Grmsson at his residence in Bessastrair, Garabaer, on the outskirts of the capital city, Reykjavik. Coming from the ODM one-party zone which, howbeit, is a mini Anne-Waiguru-like fiefdom of Graft . I thought Hmmm there goes young Ababu to steal the fire and bring light to this Kingdom of Darkness Behold That Opus Dei joker in Nairobi is an Oga Brother in disguise (see the trials of General Buhari and his central bankers) But now 5 months later, General Ababu does not seem to have brought back the fire from land of ice on volcanos. Ababu has not authored a legal framework as a masterpiece proposal to take the battle to the thieves. He appears not to have gotten the import of his host. Echar un vistazo. 2 looks. 1. MwalimuMkuu of Jukwaa, now delegated to NyumbaKubwa from Mukibis caught the General pants down. Namwamba files motion on 50 pay cut for public officers Although a move in the right direction, one wonders why the good friend did not want to file a bill instead of a motion . It is clearly to any observer that this is one of those steps only meant to hoodwink the ignorant masses and boost credentials of the politician. All in all, we will see how the noisemakers will receive it in bunge. why not a bill. Why not the serious work. Even if shot down, the template remains for follow-up at a later politically more conducive date Bluff and blanks Why not a legal scholar and star do a state of the art constitution due respect by authoring a state of the art anti-theft bill. roping in the state of the art econometrics whizkid who went to Yale That is how we teachers think. We see straightaway when our best pupils are behaving like brainless morons. 2. Going to the land of thunder and coming back without fire: first degree negligence Going to war with a gun but forgetting the bullets Iceland Has Now Sent 26 Corrupt Bankers To Prison Steve Watson. Prisonplanet. October 23, 2015 In a story not reported on at all by any Western mainstream media source, Iceland just sentenced another five high level bankers to prison for directly contributing to the collapse of the countrys economy in 2008. This brings the total to 26 bankers now behind bars in Iceland, with most being CEOs of large financial institutions, rather than low level traders. Most of those jailed will serve terms of two to five years, according to a report by Iceland Magazine, which notes that three executives at Landsbankinn and two at Kauping, along with one prominent investor, have been prosecuted. Their crimes include market manipulation, embezzlement, and breach of fiduciary duties. Their market manipulation destroyed the countrys economy and to this day Iceland is still having to repay the global loan sharks at the IMF, as well as governments of other countries, which kept the nation operating. The article explains that the prosecutions have been possible because rather than protect and reward the very institutions responsible for the collapse, and the gangsters that run them, the Icelandic government let them fail, and then created a financial supervisory authority to strictly oversee the banks. Icelands President, Olafur Ragnar Grimmson noted: Why are the banks considered to be the holy churches of the modern economy Why are private banks not like airlines and telecommunication companies and allowed to go bankrupt if they have been run in an irresponsible way The theory that you have to bail out banks is a theory that you allow bankers enjoy for their own profit, their success, and then let ordinary people bear their failure through taxes and austerity. People in enlightened democracies are not going to accept that in the long run. The President added: We were wise enough not to follow the traditional prevailing orthodoxies of the Western financial world in the last 30 years. We introduced currency controls, we let the banks fail, we provided support for the poor, and we didnt introduce austerity measures like youre seeing in Europe. While the countrys economy is far from what it once was, it has stabilized and is in a position to recover. Meanwhile, the governments of the US and Europe bailed out most of those responsible for playing a direct role in the financial crisis that crippled the global economy. In the US, Congress gave American banks a 700 billion TARP bailout at the expense of taxpayers. Not one banker in the US has even been charged with a crime relating to the financial collapse, there is still virtually no regulation of the banks, and they are pulling in a near record 160 billion in annual profits, all from money created out of thin air. The banksters continue to be protected, at all levels, and the effects of their criminal actions continue to worsen every day. Another financial catastrophe is a certainty. If you visit such a man in official capacity, and seriously plan to pair with his party, and five months on you are not briefing Wanjiku on your masterplan to hang the known thieves, then it is reasonable for one to call your bluff and wonder whether the General is retired, and now merely a comedian. He said AK is a registered independent umbrella body that brings together all key oversight agencies in Kenya, including the ---Kenya National Audit Office (KENAO), --- Ethics and Anti-Corruption Corruption Commission (EACC), --- Controller of Budget, ICPAK and all Public Accounts Committees of the 47 County Assemblies and the National Assembly. AK was founded in 2013 and officially unveiled in March, 2014 when I was elected Chair for a 3-year term, renewable. Other officials include MCA Kipyego Kitur (PAC Chair Trans Nzoia County Assembly) as Secretary General and CPA Fred Riaga of ICPAK as Treasure r, noted Namwamba. I was missing the name of the CBK in that roll call of KEY OVERSIGHT BODIES. You know I think the central bank is a key oversight body. It should have the most accomplished sleuth accountants working for Wanjiku. But from the scandals skinning Wanjiku alive and draining her blood like a giant sucker, methinks the CBK accounting department is really the evil genius. Okay, Fragranced Waiguru need not know the price of the choice yoghurt on her desk ordered from Brookside dairies, she has other things to know, haridressers appointments and all. But somebody at the CBK really must know and warn in advance the bill to Wanjiku means the messenger flies to France every week to buy Brookside yoghurt. And that is diva behaviour exlusive to the wives of Donald Trump and co criminal on salary, and public wage bill at that Now, between General Ababu Namwamba and Dr. Patrick Njoroge . two stars not yet dead, nor, hopefully, bodies not yet turned completely into living zombies by internal colonisation after infection with the larvae of dead-end corruption, should there not be a sign of life. some dim ray piercing through the thick fog of flies, which is the plague of ichneumon wasps the Kenyan elite has become. That is the humour. The humour of the pathological optimist. Never loosing faith in humans Now, you are reportedly a man of deep faith, Dr. Patrick. Suppose you lost it. Define the vacuum left, and the horror that must fill it. When people like Waiguru boast in public they wont resign even after loosing a billion of tax-payers money, they sure test Faith. That is fine so long you dealing with pathological optmists like yours truly. But there is another Africa out there. It is pathological, but not in optimism. From your ivory towers far in the sky, it is difficult to discern it. But trust me, there is a beast down there, and out there. And you, the best of our land achieving the worst results for our people, are whetting its appetite. But no worries, I said this is humour. In a story not reported on at all by any Western mainstream media source, Iceland just sentenced another five high level bankers to prison for directly contributing to the collapse of the countrys economy in 2008. This brings the total to 26 bankers now behind bars in Iceland, with most being CEOs of large financial institutions, rather than low level traders. Post by jakaswanga on Nov 11, 2015 21:09:47 GMT 3 DISSIDENCE TO THE FETISH OF CORRUPTION IN KENYA a cultural look at Dr. Patrick. Corruption is of course a fetish in Kenya. And political, and bureaucratic practice in Kenya, a fellowship therein. Generally speaking, action tends to author reaction in equal measure. Kenya would have to BE a very special case of reality to be an exception to this rule. So one looks for symptoms, however vague, that Kenya is a statistical normality. This concept may come from the world of mechanics, but it is a safe bet too in the socials Here is an example of the absurdity of this fetish of corruption in Kenya. The way it can twist a mind and render it a sorry mess, case study Nkaissery. Nkaissery warns of plot to topple Uhuru November 11, 2015. Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on Tuesday claimed there is a scheme by people he did not specify to topple the Jubilee government. Nkaissery said the current wave of allegations of high-level corruption in government is aimed at tarnishing the states image and a call for mass action against the authorities. Kenyans are currently being treated to a well-choreographed campaign whose objective is to cause dissatisfaction among Kenyans, igniting mass action against the government, he said. That is a bunch of baloney, and the General is barmy. But just imagine he believes himself, so much so that he had, John Ngirachu, the parliamentary editor of the nation, arrested, for reporting this Auditor-General questions Sh3.8bn expenses at Interior ministry The firms include include: Agusta Westlands (Sh683 million), ISPRA/ISRAEL Product Research Co. (Sh271.9 million), Ecta (Sh31.2 million), Toyota Kenya Ltd (Sh56.1 million), D. T. Dobie (Sh59.4 million), Israel Weapon Industries (Sh68.2 million and Sh26.7 million), Lom Praha Trade (Sh370.4 million), Jino Motors Co. Ltd (Sh86.6 million), Polytechnologies Inc. (Sh38.9 million and Sh164.1 million), Silver Shadow Advanced Security Systems (Sh17.2 million), China North Industries Corporation (Sh101.4 million), Pioneer Assurance (Sh1.6 billion) and Steyr Mannlicher (Deftech Ltd) (Sh245.6 million). The expenses were incurred in the 2014/2015 financial year and the Auditor-General appealed to the Principal secretary in the ministry to intervene and have the necessary documents provided for audit But Deputy President, the Singh William . seems to be suffering a bout of unease at the anti-corruption hullabaloo, and has sought to ease fears that he and His Highness The Boss are fully signed up members of the fellowship, if not the actual High Priests of The Fetish. Sunday, November 8, 2015 Government to crack whip on graft, Deputy President William Ruto says Deputy President William Ruto has said the government will take action against corruption following a public outcry over the vice. Mr Ruto said the government is committed to the fighting against corruption and will ensure those found engaging in the vice are removed to pave (the) way for a transformational country that Kenyans would be proud of. We have heard the concerns raised by Kenyans on the issue of corruption. President Uhuru Kenyatta and I will not let Kenyans down . Dont know how Ruto would classify the arrest and detention and harassment of Mr. John Ngirachu of the Nation We salute the vigilance of the patriot Nkaissery Interior man His sharp eyes never saw a loop hole to loose money he didnt exploit. OIron soldier of the fetish In this Fetish, we can read the words of Ruto, lip service they be, as symptoms of doubt at the course . A suspicion the fetish is a dead-end . It is like at the peak of Aztec or Maya regime of human sacrifice . a blood fetish if ever there was one, some priests grew sickened by the sheer waste of manpower, and wondered if it would not be better the able labour be deployed in the farms, the canals, productively invested terracing jungles for new agricultural territory, instead of their hearts being ripped off by obsidian knives to possibly dead and deaf gods nb: (Ruto promised interest rates will come down by today. That means he was thinking, FANTASISING, if all these corruption ends and the saved monies are ploughed into ECONONOMIC productivity or cheap loans for Kenyans, surely we would fly as a nation, No. and I want to become president of that)/i These priestltly uneases at the top of the blood cults of the Andes were the premonitions of total doom, the doom of a society and system which had rotted to the core One ideologically bankrupt and auto annihilative -- suicidally self destructive. Such neutralises their own defence against a foreign invader even of minor resolve. Such are waiting for a Messiah to rescue it, or an arsonist to set it alight. And in deed adventurers and ruthless pirates like Pizaro and the likes of Cortez set it alight. GAME OVER (that is a european joke about Greek finances) It was my search for reaction to the fetish culture of corruption in Kenya i came across the curious detail of the religious inclination of the Yale Doc, Patrick Njoroge . now chair of the Central Bank of Kenya. I was alerted to the fact that the Kenyan Parliamentarians interviewing him, Mpigs if you like, could neither fathom nor contemplate the rigour of his religious choice, and its dark message. I found it chilling, this obvious moral shallowness of the best paid parliamentarians in the world, charged with guiding the destiny of the nation by virtue of the laws they make. This is why I took time off to think a thought about the man and his Opus Dei choice in a country like Kenya, and vie for one of its sky-high offices . It is a radical example - if he aint a lip serviceman to that Faith, nor a sleeper. in the odious sense. It is a choice of rejection of the rot we call success in n public life in Kenya, a success which is not the creation of wealth by hard work and innovation, but theft and graft, and rape of public trust. There are enough religious men around Kenya who are as rotten as a committed Aztec ripper of hearts, which only confirms how the church itself is not immune to The Fetish of Corruption that on this score Dr. Patrick Njoroge would appear to be an exemption, is another feather in his cap. Note: this is a cultural take. Dr. Patrick Njoroge is a warning. A warning of the depths of faith it takes to resist the dominant national fetish -- Opus Dei has its issues, to put it mildly, Dan Browns book apart. The orthodoxy of Opus Dei is primordial. In fact it is like a sect of basic instincts, which is another word for fanaticism. An insane piety. Now that is the depth of faith it takes to resist the fetish of corruption ruling Kenya . Aint that a warning go figure. Methinks so. It is a terrifying reaction, to the action of corruption in Kenya. But it proves the statistical norm, and Ruto does well to fear this self-destructive corruption of which he presides together with Uhuru Kenyatta, has, like the blood obsessed Inca or Maya society just before the arrival of the ruthless adventurous from Spain, past its peak by far. And now for the IMF take. Last Edit: Nov 11, 2015 23:40:47 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by Luol Deng on Nov 12, 2015 12:57:58 GMT 3 I am no fan of the Opus Dei or the Catholic church for that matter but if the moves of the current CBK governors moves are anything to go by, he is the best weapon that Kenya has in its fight against graft. More than the EACC, Directorate of Criminal Investigations, office of the DPP and the rest of the judiciary put together. As one who does consultancy for the banking sector, I know that the scam at the NYS was first flagged at one of the small commercial banks and reported to the Central Bank. In the previous CBK regimes, the money laudering that was taking place would have been swept under the carpet at the central bank. This time there was quick and decisive action, the story broke on the Star then two days later Waiguru retrospectively blew the whistle. Under the previous CBK regime what would have happened would have been 1) The transaction is swept under the rag 2) No information makes it to the public 3) No whistleblower everybody is happy This current governor has been strict on government lending. The current slide in the T-Bill rate can be wholly attributed to him with the treasury CS having no input whatsoever. If the treasury CS was to have its way the T-Bill rate would be approaching 25. We are not out of the woods yet, but could have been much worse were it not for the governors intervention. What about the banking sector. Imperial bank, managed to keep the Central Bank auditors off its core banking system for 10 years (at a fee of course). They managed to keep the chief regulator in their back pockets for 10 years Right now the banks are not having it easy, for obvious reasons. Dozens of accounts that have been used to launder cash have been frozen. Now, let us compare the much that has been achieved by the CBK governor in this short stint compared to the other graft fighting agencies. Unfortunately I think the governor has stepped on many powerful feet and he may be the next to be unceremoniously dumped. I am no fan of the Opus Dei or the Catholic church for that matter but if the moves of the current CBK governors moves are anything to go by, he is the best weapon that Kenya has in its fight against graft. More than the EACC, Directorate of Criminal Investigations, office of the DPP and the rest of the judiciary put together. As one who does consultancy for the banking sector, I know that the scam at the NYS was first flagged at one of the small commercial banks and reported to the Central Bank. In the previous CBK regimes, the money laudering that was taking place would have been swept under the carpet at the central bank. This time there was quick and decisive action, the story broke on the Star then two days later Waiguru retrospectively blew the whistle. Under the previous CBK regime what would have happened would have been 1) The transaction is swept under the rag 2) No information makes it to the public 3) No whistleblower everybody is happy This current governor has been strict on government lending. The current slide in the T-Bill rate can be wholly attributed to him with the treasury CS having no input whatsoever. If the treasury CS was to have its way the T-Bill rate would be approaching 25. We are not out of the woods yet, but could have been much worse were it not for the governors intervention. What about the banking sector. Imperial bank, managed to keep the Central Bank auditors off its core banking system for 10 years (at a fee of course). They managed to keep the chief regulator in their back pockets for 10 years Right now the banks are not having it easy, for obvious reasons. Dozens of accounts that have been used to launder cash have been frozen. Now, let us compare the much that has been achieved by the CBK governor in this short stint compared to the other graft fighting agencies. Unfortunately I think the governor has stepped on many powerful feet and he may be the next to be unceremoniously dumped. Habari ya kupotea bwana I have noted with interest, that in the recent free-for-all to trash the competence of the auditor General, Dr. Patrick did not chime in. Dr. Kamau Thugge, Dr. Henry Rotich and host of other heavyweight docs and post-docs nestled at the treasury came down like a tonne or rocks on the office of their fellow doc, Ouko. Patrick and the CBK (which I happen to know has a very formidable competence in accounting even if they never bothered to use the potential under the thief Ndungu) held their powder dry. I couldnt help noticing that. and it convinced me Rotich and Thugge didnt get distinctions in the accounting module in their US ivy-league sojourn, and if at all they did, the worm of corruption that runs riot in many a Kenyan brain had infested the respective lobes of their brains which do the additions and subtractions, and all that remained of their grey matter is cold and porridge --as in nyuka pi Now again all over the place I am hearing every Tom Dick and Harry saying this debt thing and interest rates are no big deal. But I aint heard Dr. Patrick yet. You know what LuolDeng, I have a sneaking feeling Patrick Njoroge brings a much more formidable thinking pattern to these problems than the rest of these laymen. Not that I have time for Opus Dei. But I would be ruthless and rigorous enough to credit my own executioner with his choice of weapon if he first didnt cut my tongue. Being a secular man, it is a bitter pill for me to rate a religious fanatic above my fellow Lord Pan cultmates Last Edit: Nov 12, 2015 22:05:40 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by jakaswanga on Nov 13, 2015 19:38:02 GMT 3 THE MEA CULPA WITH A STIFF UPPER LIP, INTERST RATES AS POLITICAL ACT AND NOT ECONOMIC FACT Thanks God it is Friday, and thanks I am currently in the line of trade where the mid-month Saturday is a day off the treadmill of work. Business is slow --so we wage slaves spend time reading and drinking on credit, and of course talking a lot of sht in the process. This means today I am in a good mood, and that is not because Mama Mboga, Otishotishs illicit mother in law, thinks the David Nzili deal at state house yesterday means certain liquidity tomorrow nay, I am in a good mood also because my wife is sending me lewd smss. That is a hot hint of a status called heat. This good mood means I wont abuse the stalwart governor of the central bank of Kenya for his very stupid official position earlier. (The Holy Market will determine the heavenly rate of interest commercial banks charge Kenyans) He has now recanted. The pains of shedding off orthordoxy must be saluted and rewarded I say, and thus will I be generously complimenting, even if the recant is after a lot of damage has been done. Which damage Here is a hint, a lament. Small business in Kenya is one sad story By THIARARA NGOTHO. November 12, 2015 GOVERNMENT DOESNT GET ENTREPRENEURSHIP Very few people understand that Government has a very poor grasp of, and interest in, local entrepreneurship. Currently, local entrepreneurship is a rudderless ship, without a captain who understands its mechanics. Both our unwritten and written policies on small business are enacted and enforced by civil servants and elected leaders who, despite being successful businesspeople, are poor entrepreneurs. That poor understanding forces us to look outside for investors and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) out of desperation. The most revolutionary development for entrepreneurship in Kenya is that it takes fewer days to register a business than it did last year, and this faces revision again next year. But which anger at the earlier not-so-bright official position of the new governor am I talking about Here is a rehash: I will consider government intervention to set the range interest rates can fluctuate within, a necessary evil. Given the history of bankers. If the market is irrelevant on budget day, taxation (state revenue generation) takes priority over all else, I do not see why the government should be ideologically paralysed and watch helplessly when it comes to interest rates, a key instrument in economic propulsion. So forgive me if my eyes move slowly and coldly from the Harvard tonal ranges of Dr. Rotich, to the Yale polish of the Opus-Dei adherent Njoroge who condescendingly says: no state action on interest rates The market knows best I leave it all to it Public good my foot I feel like Ayayayayayayaya these guys are out to gangrape Wanjiku for ideological fun I looked at the genesis of some big modern banks of Europe. I was asking myself: have they always been market fundamentalists 150---Man, I was shocked stupid) More about that in due course. In fact I launched this thread to express my fury at the ORTHODOX ideological POSITIONING by Patrick Njoroge when he took helm. This was he would let THE MARKET DECIDE THE INTEREST RATES I was flabbergasted in the theatrical sense, because I know of course the purpose of the central bank of Kenya is not to develop a healthy Kenyan economy, but facilitate an appendage . a dependent and auxilliary system, one which can be a functional recipient for exported contradictions from hard-currency motherlands. One does not have to be an economist to know the market does not define interest rates in capitalism. In the USA for instance, that is what you have the FED for. Manipulating stuff by money growth or money withdrawal from the market Giving it out for free if necessary, 0 interest rate. And the FED will bow to the economic priorities of the POTUS . So for instance, Bill Clinton run policies which left a surplus (300 billion) . then came Dubya Bush and it evaporated like a fist into open hand. Same Alan Greenspan, same FED, same market outlook. So what give Greenspan will also be remembered for two very dumb moves. The first was to support George W Bushs mammoth tax cut in 2001, whose benefits went largely to the very rich. The 1990s boom had created a budget surplus that otherwise could have been used to expand affordable health insurance and improve the nations schools, but Greenspan preferred a tax cut, and his support was crucial to Bush. Within months of the cut, the surplus was gone. But honest is to say Alan Greenspan was cowed. intimidated and blackmailed (by hind thought). Ruthless fixers like Karl Rove promised him the sack (no renewal of tenure), and investigations into his banking past if he did not bend -- there is always a skeleton, Alan. So Alan, scared, bared his azz to be had. ---wonderful, the art of leading political memoirs between the lines) And that is the way it is. The FED is a political tool. And those in power wield it to their priorities. They run the market, the market does not run them. If they say a bank is too big to fail, then that bank is too big to fail. Amazingly in political science, no country, even empire, is too big to fail . Even the famous LIBOR ----the London Interbank Offered rate . which the DETERMINANT rate for all world commercial and non commericial banking,---- is not MARKET DETERMINED FIGURE. It is a gentlemans leisure so to speak. That is speak for a corrupt, rigged, slanted scam. An inner committee defined figure. Therefore, when the smartest kids from our shores, having gone all the way to Yale and Harvard, the best of their shores, come back and climb to the top of the bureaucratic financial pyramid of our land, only to open their mouths and tell Africa --INTEREST RATES THE MARKET WILL DO THAT, NOT ME. then do I exhaust all the discipline I learnt in the jungles of Africa to contain my temper that i dont shout: boko haram boko haram THE DIKTATS OF THE IMF AND THE POLITICS OF THE KENYAN TREASURY LOOK EAST FACE WEST Tell me, O Kenya, If Beijin is where you look for your vision 2030, Where is your heart and where is your head as you go to bed So where am I going - THE NEW HEAD OF THE KENYAN CENTRAL BANK HAS SPOKE A CLEAR WORD OF MEANING It made me remember the old days when the good old god Alan Greenspan ran the FED. He spoke a language - greenspeak -- which needed experts to decode: oracular incantations in the game of mysticism. But, behold, blessed is the lord that our new kid in town Dr. Patrick Njoroge . who succeeds prof. Ndungu at the helm of the Central Bank of Kenya, is a down to earth type. A layman can hear him straight. For the most significant statement he has uttered is that he will let the market determine the interest rates . Now that is a straightforward marker. We exactly know what the Harvard/Yale axis at the CBK and the treasury, the doctors, ordered for the patient aka Kenyas finances. Everybodys learning curve. (An aside is, speaking of learning curves, he Patrick has worked in Washington but never heard of the great scandals of the market which have usurped the effectivity of the tools of trade of great market central bankers. Neither the Libor scandals nor the decade-long fixing of the interest rates by all leading Western Banks inserts a seed of doubt in his preprogramed neo-liberal orthodoxy. And, apart from hearing of it in economics texbooks and bank-sponsored newspapers running sponsored content, who in the saner, wider world ever used a market-determined rate of interest. Aint that always been fiction -- crystal clear to Asian performing economies . hidden to Subsaharanites with too much boko in the head ---I just went to look at a history of financial crimes in the post world war II period Nobel price economists themselves tell me - thinking of Stiglitz . that even the third worlds best friends like the World Bank and the IMF . are all but your dirty old sugar daddies swinging in town with teen-age girls . But hurrah, better late than never It takes a man or woman of great balls to perform this kind of U-turn in public without thinking of the face he will loose Because now, Dr. Patrick Njoroge seems to have regained, not his senses, but just pure common sense on the question of interest rates. Let us ride: Nov 12, 2015. Banks ordered to cut interest rates The Central Bank of Kenya has handed borrowers a lifeline after it directed :))banks to freeze all the planned interest rate increases. Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge Thursday told banks to instead reduce their interest rates on loans in line with the current market situation. Appearing before the National Assembly Finance committee Thursday, Dr Njoroge said he had directed banks to withdraw the notices they sent to their customers, informing them of plans to raise their lending rates, which were to go up this month. He said the move was no longer warranted. This week we have been in touch with commercial banks and they understand that interest rates have gone down, he told the MPs. They know our objective of executing a soft landing for rates and they have indicated they will be communicating to their borrowers indicating that they will lower the rates, or at a minimum, withdraw the notices for higher rates issued recently. The daily nation writes the good doctor has ordered the banks to cut interest rates, but Man Kamale of Jukwaa, sharp-eyed on the detail as usual, will remind me nowhere does a verbatim excerpt sustain the verb order . as in Uhuru Kenyatta DIRECTED the TSC to pay September salaries hitherto denied the strikers of KNUT. This week we have been in touch with commercial banks and they understand that interest rates have gone down, he told the Mps. That is diplo-speak for arm twisting. Njoroge said: if these interest rates of yours you insist are market conform, and your econometric models rationalise them such, I still is saying: the market dont tell me the rate, I tell you, and you do --fwack your fuzzy algorithms or, as most of you are corrupt anyway, and I am not, we see who gets hurt on the rebound Here below is how that kind of statement is backed up. Nov12, 2015 Central Bank lays down tough auditing conditions Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge before the Senate Finance Committee at County Hall, Nairobi, on November 10, 2015. He has instructed auditors to probe bank IT systems when conducting checks this year after it emerged that software manipulation was used to siphon Sh34 billion from Imperial Bank. Dr Njoroge said the regulators supervision unit and auditors did not see Imperial Bank malpractices by failing to interrogate its technology systems Forgive me amigo: this statement: REGULATORS AND SUPERVISION UNIT AND AUDITORS --THOSE ARE THREE DEPARTMENTS--- FAILED TO INTERROGATE TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS. I have been around town guys. When three departments, supervisory departments, check the CVs to get the level of training and education required to man these, ALL fail to perform an ABC routine dry-run, I know the score. You have to come back with a better one. --that is how I mean Dr. Patrick Njoroges head was limping in that sentence. --gigi tugo gi wi ji this Opus Dei fella has some footwork. But his headwork is still wanting. I sure hope to hell he paid attention to political economy. --Inflation is a political choice, not an inherent economic fact. That is political economy but not econometrics. Corruption can dismember and distort an economy, ruining a country worse than bad economic policies without corruption. That too is political science but not economics. That is, it may not be clear to an whiz econometrist WHY CORRUPTION is a danger to the Kenyan economy. (Like Italians never understand Germans when the Germans insist things like the Mafia are bad for the economy the Italians say the Mafia is just another multinational corp, never paying taxes of course, and the leading tax discounter is, yeah, Allemania) anyway. The interest rates in Kenya are high because the bankers are using this instrument to loot loanees. It is old fashioned expropriation, age-old parasitism. Njoroge says: I have been in touch with commercial banks and they understand the interest rates have gone down - that is not very clear-headed thinking, but it will do for now. After all, he is only a few months into the job, and he is an indoctrinated IMF apparatchik. a brainwashed orthodox trying to regain his mind Let us support him, by ruthlessly thinking along Kudos Njoroge, from my experience as a teacher, it is a distinction mind who does a honest mea culpa in public from such a top office, like you sort of did in parliament Last Edit: Nov 13, 2015 20:40:23 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by jakaswanga on Dec 5, 2015 17:50:25 GMT 3 LEAVING INFANTS ALONE FOR THEM MOMENT AND CONCENTRATING ON THE PROMISING ADOLESCENT Letter to Dr. Yaleman CBK Njoroge, I stated I have of late taken great pains to adopt a congratulatory predisposition toward them, captains of the Kenyan mandarinate, especially thee who ran government finances, like you Dr. Joseph Njoroge, CBK Ayatollah . This positivism was ignited after I received the insight, that it would be better far illuminative in deconstructing apparent reality were I to consider you, top dogs, variously challenged infants highly educated yes, qualified on paper yes, but mentally of such a feeble calibre . such that, given the historical task beforehand, the correct definition for thee lot is baby. And infantile. When babies run a country you get the kind of self-inflicted crisis/wounds we suffer now. But, on the sunnier side, those of us who are parents know infants need must be treated otherwise than an adult would be. You praise them even for defecating next to the door instead of on the couch, since that difference is a marked improvement in their presence of mind, shows a marginal increment in discretionary cognitive ability. Therefore did I commend Anne Waiguru for resigning, even as her cognitive abilities did not reach far enough to decipher the kind of theft she had presided over as earning a death sentence, if not for sheer incompetence then wilful collusion . It was a moment of comical relief though, that tongue in cheek she asked to be deployed to lighter duties, may be exclusively sucking lolly. Then - woe be I O lord-- did I read this extract from Dr. David Ndii and wonder did I if my complementuous generosity is far misplaced, and should be replaced with the cold, vengeful glint in the eye of a hardened and brutalised Africa taking it no more. The Treasury has recently published two statutory budget reports, the Quarterly Economic and Budget Review for the fourth quarter of the last financial year, dated August 2015, and Budget Review and Outlook Paper dated September 2015. Both contain the same economic and fiscal narrative and data, with some important differences that I will come to shortly. The Eurobond is conspicuous by its absence. In the Quarterly Economic and Budget Review, the Eurobond is mentioned three times, once in the introduction and twice in relation to exchange rate and foreign reserves. It is not mentioned at all in the narrative on the budget, even, believe it or not, in the section on external financing. In the Budget Review and Outlook Paper, it is not mentioned at all. Not a word. By contrast, the Standard Gauge Railway is mentioned no less than eight times. The dog did not bark, and it is not the only curious incident . and further, even if assuming Dr. Ndii is a malicious liar whose book-keeping talents are as challenged as the Audtior General Oukos if Kamau Thugge is to believed From the proceeds, the government settled a 600 million (Sh53 billion) debt it had borrowed from commercial banks in 2011, leaving 2.15 billion (Sh197 billion) to spend. In the prospectus, the government had said that this money would be spent on general budgetary purposes and infrastructure projects. Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich recently presented figures to Parliament showing that the entire Sh197 billion was all allocated to ministries for infrastructure projects. The Planning Ministry, which is listed as having been allocated Sh45 billion denied knowledge of receiving Eurobond funds arguing reasonably, that it had no way of knowing the source of its budgetary allocations. Do you known, Dr, Njoroge, that they say Dr. Henry Rotich is the greatest whizz kid to have come out of the Kerio valley . and, for all we know, the only alumni of the Kennedy School at Harvard from the same valley. If you ask me, that would be a REPUTATION to keep. A reputation other than that as the smart facilitator of one more treasury heist in Africa. Yet here we are, Njoroge, the econometric best of the best from the Kerio cannot add up simple Eurobond accounts . a handicap at math he shares with the former director of IFMIS, Anne Waiguru . who couldnt see a billion kshs. flowing from between her knees at the NYS. On this same score, neither could Ababu Namwamba when he was chairman of PAC -(and had all those Icelandic support clubs to help him out)-- unearth the scam at the books of Parliament under his nose, where dead and former Mpigs continued to be paid allowances and salaries. - Blind young Turk earing along or what DAILY NATION: Pilferage, larceny and theft thrive in Parliament. MPs and parliamentary staff are engaged in dubious deals and millions of shillings are lost without trace. For starters, the report reveals that the perennial disease of MPs making false claims thrives despite efforts to curb it. MPs are paid many allowances they do not merit. Chairpersons of departmental committees get double pay -- they get a standing monthly allowance besides earning higher daily allowances during their sittings. Some former MPs still earn from Parliament despite having lost their seats. Such cannot happen without collusion with parliamentary staff and other insiders. Worse, many MPs secure car loans and mortgages through Parliament but never deposit the logbooks or title deeds with the House for security in case they default in payment. Now, Dr. Njoroge, to make my point. You will recognise, if this is the track record of the best of ones land at work in their qualifications earned from the best institutes around . and one has the horrific experience to have lived in Germany, built from the ashes in phoenix fashion twice in one generation . then to show any GENUINE degree of respect to suchlike treasury brigands as you call colleagues, Herr Doctor, demands either of two things: 1. Intellectual suicide. 2. Natural brain death - thoughtlessness. Now, not having the 2nd option at hand, I do try my best to achieve the former by constantly drinking more than is good for my brain cells. Nevertheless I have not succeeded yet, hard as I do try. So I have had to solve this problem: How do I respect the financial captains in the bureaucracy (as demanded by law too) while I maintain my full senses The only intelligent option is to reduce them to INFANTS, and then adopt a parental timeline . This is excruciatingly patronising of course, but really, on a serious note, if one comes from Kennedy . and another from Hopkins, and they are techically as manamba disgusting as Rotich and Thugge, what gives what goes If not their reputation I havent yet lost enough brain cells to start paying respect to modern day nyaparas looting Wanjiku. Coming to the point of this missive, I have not gotten yet to treating you, Opus Dei fellow from Yale . as the latest feeble-forge or (technocratic forgery) hoisted atop an institutional African commanding height in the economy. But I am watching you. There is this titillating idea flashing at the back of my mind: dont know whether you ever heard of Chinua Achebe . but within the faculties I come from we treat him as a god, may be the way you market economists will treat Friedman or Milton. Now take heed: Just like Nwoye Okonkwo rejected the traditions of Umuofia following an internal moral and conscientious rebellion after discerning the twin fates of twins and that of his adopted sibling Ikemefuna . --left as meals for hyenas in bush, murdered in cold blood because an oracle said so, I have been wondering if you O. D Njoroge, similarly, have had an CONVERSION MOMENT - Saul to Paul they say too. That is you have genuinely grown disgusted with the MORAL ROT of official Kenya and her thievery of public goods, and like Nwoye Okonkwo who decamped from what he perceived in his heart as Umofia backwardness . you have defected to one of the most MORALLY radical sects in Christianity, puritanical O. D. (conservative radicalism). Other ordinary sects of Christianity are of course as rotten as the secular politicians. Check them daily tales of Kenyan churches, apart from the infamous Pastor Nganga. You catch me doctor I am watching you, and running you through the cannon . I consult the Oracle Soyinka on you Consult the god Achebe on you Try to decode the PBitek Big Drum on you Is Yaleman Njoroge just another Boko predestined to be Haram Yo Yo Yo a thing of the past May be this Opus Dei thing is like the Moly Argeifontes gave Ulysses on his route to Circes cave . that you not be transformed into a hog, like all them Mpigs and them other bosses of the land Succumbed to the charms of Queen Graft. Rotich and Thugge are dead rotten meat at this level. Two more particles of dust added to the ash heap of history. Ndii: DOMESTIC BORROWING The answer is to be found in the domestic financing. In the BROP Table 4 account, the figure is given as Sh250 billion. In the BROP Annex Table 2 account, this figure drops to Sh110 billion. The difference is the elusive Sh140 billion. In its Quarterly Economic and Budget Review report dated August 2015, the Treasury provides a detailed breakdown of the Sh250 billion domestic borrowing figure, with the Central Bank of Kenya given as the source. The only way that the books balance with the entire Sh250 billion reflected is by understating domestic borrowing by Sh140 billion. Back to Sherlock Holmes. The dog did not bark because it must have known the race horse thief. LEAVING INFANTS ALONE FOR THEM MOMENT AND CONCENTRATING ON THE PROMISING ADOLESCENT Letter to Dr. Yaleman CBK Njoroge, Coming to the point of this missive, I have not gotten yet to treating you, Opus Dei fellow from Yale . as the latest feeble-forge or (technocratic forgery) hoisted atop an institutional African commanding height in the economy. But I am watching you. There is this titillating idea flashing at the back of my mind: dont know whether you ever heard of Chinua Achebe . but within the faculties I come from we treat him as a god, may be the way you market economists will treat Friedman or Milton. LOOKING FOR SOLOMON, SILENT WATCH DOGS, AND OTHER STORIES 1. Dr. Njoroge, if you had not noticed, and that would be uncharacteristically foolhardy, all roads in the Eurobond Saga lead to the Central Bank . THE HEART of the teasury. All the proceeds of the Sovereign Bond issued in June, 2014 and the Tap Sales issued in December, 2014 were fully accounted for and were transferred to the CBK, from where the authority to withdrawal funds was sought and provided by the Controller of Budget, The Treasury said. Why does not that massive burst from the master hose put out the fire And in the battle of econometrists, we spectators at the games, as a Roman crowd watching royal gladiators in the arena, of course do possess and maintain our native wit, because we do bet on outcomes Betting men know the other side of the coin is fix KAMAU THUGGE: There is no cooking of figures. If the Prime Minister is relying on (David) Ndiis numbers to say Sh140b is missing this is a monumental mistake. Once the Eurobond money came to the CBK these were considered as government deposits. hence the total domestic financing of Sh251 billion including use of sovereign bond deposits at the CBK . When figures become differences in opinion, there is a vacuum for some Solomon out there, to come and tell the warring women, cut the baby in half I said I was watching you Njoroge. I dont like this Sherlock quip from David Ndii . the dog did not bark because the beast and the thief were familiar . Why do people go all the way to Yale then shut up when exactly what they have studied is the controversy --the interpreters by Soyinka will give a clue. Yawa, Strathmore used to produce our best accountants, back to that standard. Next: THE TEN DAYS OF KERIAKO TOBIKO. Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo (left), National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich (centre) and National Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee at Parliament Buildings on November 2, 2015 where they were grilled over the Eurobond money. PHOTO EVANS HABIL NATION MEDIA GROUP CLOSE RANKS ROMANS Last Edit: Dec 6, 2015 10:57:10 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by jakaswanga on Dec 6, 2015 11:24:28 GMT 3 2. Njoroges session at the inquisition continues, (after declaring Rotich and Thugge lost in action . there is only Patrick left as of the three musketeers, or, if you like, left as the last of the Mohican Bretton Woods docs --He thus must hold fort, like Horatio at the bridge. Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr Keriako Tobiko, has directed that individuals involved in the saga be investigated and the file returned to him in 10 days to decide whether to prosecute or not. The whole Eurobond deal is now a subject of investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). But it is a cast of international financial institutes and houses across three other continents apart from Home. Asia, Europe, the USA. Ten days then looks like a fools word. This is an international investigation involving banks with very hard eyes. A Tobiko who does not want to be a public fool might ponder the following: Jul 1 2014. U. S. imposes record fine on BNP in sanctions warning to banks French bank BNP Paribas BNPP. PA has pleaded guilty to two criminal charges and agreed to pay almost 9 billion to resolve accusations it violated U. S. sanctions against Sudan, Cuba and Iran, a severe punishment aimed at sending a clear message to other financial institutions around the world. The guilty plea is the direct consequence of a broader U. S. Justice Department shift in strategy that is expected to try to snare more major banks for possible money laundering or sanctions violations . Never be afraid to ask for help. Just like with terrorist blasts we ask for FBI lab and forensic investigative re-enforcement and for our amphibian commando landings on Somali shores the US-navy is our all and for floating Eurobonds GoldmanSachs is our lead and for financing infrastructure China EXIM (or development industrial bank) is our daddy and for higher academic qualifications, just like for parliamentary catering benchmarking too, we go abroad, it might be WISER NOW to obey this well ESTABLISHED protocol. CALL IN THE FBI international fiscal investigative Unit. The guys who, when they knock, then even giants like UBS of Switzerland, ParisBas of France, HSBC and Barclays, sht in their pants and cooperate fully. No such shit like we do no reveal information about our clients. May 20 2015. UBS pleaded guilty to criminal charges Wednesday as the Swiss banking giant was hit with 545 million in penalties and forced to accept revival of previously-settled rate-rigging allegations as the price for resolving investigations of foreign-exchange currency market manipulation. Kicking off a string of bank guilty pleas as the day unfolded, UBS said it had reached foreign-exchange settlements with the U. S. Department of Justice, the Federal Reserve and the Connecticut Department of Banking. When Obama was in town he promised he could help on that rampant corruption. A serious Tobiko can CALL HIS BLUFF now. Useless stuff like the Americans denying people visas wont count. - With white cops in America eager to kill any black, it is not like the USA is the first port of call for rich Africans The other day the billionare South AfricanTokyo Sexwale, FIFA boss contender, was confined to a New York airport toilet cell for days end. And many an African diplomat or visiting minister will tell you tales of ritual humiliation in the USA if you care to know. Being barred from Obamaland isnt that bad for the proud. So Obama must man up in a different way if he was serious about his promise. And Tobiko must be man enough to dare him. That is of course assuming Tobiko means business. A could-be wishful assumption (where has Tobiko been these past many years Sleeping dog now woken up I guess) THE KNIGHT KAMAU THUGGE RIDES AGAINST DR. NDII . Jousting. Dr. David Ndii is in problems. Kamau Thugge explains. This is called jousting . Originated at the borders of Nubia and ancient Egypt, but that one was water jousting, with canoes. In India they do it with elephants. The QNB came in largely for two reasons: To get as wide diversity of investors as possible ie JP Morgan (US), Barclays (UK), Standard (Africa) and QNB (Middle East) and since we were thinking of issuing a Sukuk bond, it was important to get someone who might later help us, said Dr Thugge. Sukuk is an Islamic bond structured to generate returns to investors without infringing Islamic law. Dr Thugge dismissed claims by Mr Odinga that they had cooked figures at the Treasury. He also dismissed claims of a scam. There is no cooking of figures. If the Prime Minister is relying on (David) Ndiis numbers to say Sh140b is missing this is a monumental mistake. Once the Eurobond money came to the CBK these were considered as government deposits. hence the total domestic financing of Sh251 billion including use of sovereign bond deposits at the CBK. This means that if you isolate use of the sovereign bond deposits then the remaining domestic financing is Sh110.6 billion, Dr Thugge said. All the proceeds of the Sovereign Bond issued in June, 2014 and the Tap Sales issued in December, 2014 were fully accounted for and were transferred to the CBK, from where the authority to withdrawal funds was sought and provided by the Controller of Budget, The Treasury said. It added: The Auditor-General has confirmed that all funds have been accounted for. --------- It said the net proceeds of the Eurobond were credited to Kenya Governments US-dollar accounts account in JP Morgan Chase Bank in New York, Account Number 603149985, while further proceeds from the Sovereign Bond Tap Sales were credited to Kenya Government Account in Citibank, also in New York, account number 36341018. The GOK/CBK Sovereign Bond Account held with JP Morgan Chase Bank, New York was operated by the National Treasury in conjunction with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as the Government fiscal agent. In this respect, the National Treasury designated two signatories to the account with respect to the GOK/CBK Sovereign Bond Account and the Sovereign Bond Tap Sales. The National Treasury signatories were the accountant-general and deputy accountant-general, the Treasury explained TRANSPARENCY: there is nothing wrong in including a Qatari Bank or Malaysian investment house to do the Asian angle and prepare for the eventual issuance of Kenyan Halal Bonds. However, the trouble starts with the secrecy, last minute shadiness, and, of course, when the facts begin to roll out, nefarious connections which prove elite insider dealings. When these tumble out like the proverbial worms out of a can, natives know who let the dogs out. Remaining is just the reckoning. The elite of course can not punish themselves. NB: Njoroge, this is from the PBitek Drum beat . why do you think the founder of your sect admired Generalissimo Franco of Spain (i will get the staccato rhythm then paraphrase like: this love affair between fascist and Church To whose cost Do we count the loss) But I am in too much of a hurry now to think it out on the spot) Last Edit: Dec 6, 2015 11:41:44 GMT 3 by jakaswanga In the days of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act --George Orwell. Post by Luol Deng on Dec 7, 2015 14:23:40 GMT 3 I am back on this CBK governor issue. First on the point of the interest rate management by the CBK. There has always been a tight rope to walk with regards to the interest rates the exchange rates. Managing one could be to the detriment of another. That has been the decision that the CBK governor has to take. The exchange rate management will mean that the CBK has to spend its reserves to stabilise the shilling or buy the excess foreign currency in the market to avoid the shilling from strengthening too much. The main reserve currency that is used in world trade is the dollar. When the American economy had its last major crisis the general approach that was used was quantitative easing, or simply put, printing more cash. So, the US dollar was weak to begin with, the economy was similarly weak. When the US currency started strengthening this year, all currencies were hit hard by the dollar. The only currency in Africa that didnt depreciate against the dollar was the Malawi Kwacha. The Malawi Kwacha is a curious case because in 2012 it was trading at 140 Kwacha to 1 USD, within the span of 3 years it depreciated to around 450 Kwacha to 1 Dollar, so the Kwacha was recovering from a massive devaluation to begin with. Now, if we take a look at the cause of high interest rates, the biggest culprit is the GOK borrowing. In September the yield on the 91 day T-Bills was standing at around 22 per annum. The yield has now dropped to under 10. The leading factor in the reduction is that the governor has been taking a hard line stance on government borrowing. The treasury has been claiming all the glory in stabilising the high interest rates, but they have absolutely nothing to do with the current interest rates. On the Imperial bank issue. I supported their core banking system in the past and I know their core banking system quite well. First, the banking system has not been doctored at all, the core banking system is fine. There is one aspect of system security that no system can ever be protected from, and this is what the former GM used to loot, it is collusion. The core banking system there has its own set of security measures, audit trails, etc. But the group GM ensured that he had the the CFO other big shots in his circle. So, the fictitious loans were never hitting the core banking system in the first place. The bank had 3 sets of reports, 2 fictitious ones and 1 real one. The first set was for the CBK, the second set for the board (these 2 sets were entirely fictitious, cooked up by the CFO). Then there was the 3rd set for internal consumption (This was the position of the core banking system, incomplete yet fairly accurate). The bank had been conducting this monkey business for 10 years under the noses of the CBK (under Ndungu). By the fact that these practices were unearthed under Dr. Njoroge shows that he is serious about cleaning up the mess left by his predecessor. The CBK under Dr. Ndungu was often paid to look the other way, something that is impossible under the current CBK regime. Finally, on the future of Kenyas economy. Next year will be a disastrous year financially. We have almost KES 800 Billion that are falling due next year, the economy is stagnant and there are other expenses to meet in addition to the 800 Billion. First, we have to raise more money to fund the bigger budget than weve ever been able to. We cannot raise that money locally, so the international financial markets will be a necessity. It is going to be difficult to access the international financing with the Eurobond unaccounted for. So, the money will have to be raised at extortionate interest rates or well need a serious austerity programme to rein in the wastage. That is why the Rutos of this world are whining about the opposition trying to cause an economic collapse by making it impossible for the government to access international financial markets. They already know that for the economy to avoid a serious battering another Eurobond is absolutely necessary, let us wait and see. As for Dr. Ndii, he is one of the commentators who have done a good job on the Eurobond analysis along with Jason Lakin of The East African. Jason wrote a column in late October that makes it clear that whichever way you look at it, at the very least KES 35 Billion is unaccounted for. That is the best case scenario On another note, the Eurobond was deposited to an Offshore account that was inaccessible to the CBK governor the controller of budget, so, let us cut him some slack here. I am back on this CBK governor issue. First on the point of the interest rate management by the CBK. There has always been a tight rope to walk with regards to the interest rates the exchange rates. Managing one could be to the detriment of another. That has been the decision that the CBK governor has to take. The exchange rate management will mean that the CBK has to spend its reserves to stabilise the shilling or buy the excess foreign currency in the market to avoid the shilling from strengthening too much. The main reserve currency that is used in world trade is the dollar. When the American economy had its last major crisis the general approach that was used was quantitative easing, or simply put, printing more cash. So, the US dollar was weak to begin with, the economy was similarly weak. When the US currency started strengthening this year, all currencies were hit hard by the dollar. The only currency in Africa that didnt depreciate against the dollar was the Malawi Kwacha. The Malawi Kwacha is a curious case because in 2012 it was trading at 140 Kwacha to 1 USD, within the span of 3 years it depreciated to around 450 Kwacha to 1 Dollar, so the Kwacha was recovering from a massive devaluation to begin with. Now, if we take a look at the cause of high interest rates, the biggest culprit is the GOK borrowing. In September the yield on the 91 day T-Bills was standing at around 22 per annum. The yield has now dropped to under 10. The leading factor in the reduction is that the governor has been taking a hard line stance on government borrowing. The treasury has been claiming all the glory in stabilising the high interest rates, but they have absolutely nothing to do with the current interest rates. On the Imperial bank issue. I supported their core banking system in the past and I know their core banking system quite well. First, the banking system has not been doctored at all, the core banking system is fine. There is one aspect of system security that no system can ever be protected from, and this is what the former GM used to loot, it is collusion. The core banking system there has its own set of security measures, audit trails, etc. But the group GM ensured that he had the the CFO other big shots in his circle. So, the fictitious loans were never hitting the core banking system in the first place. The bank had 3 sets of reports, 2 fictitious ones and 1 real one. The first set was for the CBK, the second set for the board (these 2 sets were entirely fictitious, cooked up by the CFO). Then there was the 3rd set for internal consumption (This was the position of the core banking system, incomplete yet fairly accurate). The bank had been conducting this monkey business for 10 years under the noses of the CBK (under Ndungu). By the fact that these practices were unearthed under Dr. Njoroge shows that he is serious about cleaning up the mess left by his predecessor. The CBK under Dr. Ndungu was often paid to look the other way, something that is impossible under the current CBK regime. Finally, on the future of Kenyas economy. Next year will be a disastrous year financially. We have almost KES 800 Billion that are falling due next year, the economy is stagnant and there are other expenses to meet in addition to the 800 Billion. First, we have to raise more money to fund the bigger budget than weve ever been able to. We cannot raise that money locally, so the international financial markets will be a necessity. It is going to be difficult to access the international financing with the Eurobond unaccounted for. So, the money will have to be raised at extortionate interest rates or well need a serious austerity programme to rein in the wastage. That is why the Rutos of this world are whining about the opposition trying to cause an economic collapse by making it impossible for the government to access international financial markets. They already know that for the economy to avoid a serious battering another Eurobond is absolutely necessary, let us wait and see. As for Dr. Ndii, he is one of the commentators who have done a good job on the Eurobond analysis along with Jason Lakin of The East African. Jason wrote a column in late October that makes it clear that whichever way you look at it, at the very least KES 35 Billion is unaccounted for. That is the best case scenario On another note, the Eurobond was deposited to an Offshore account that was inaccessible to the CBK governor the controller of budget, so, let us cut him some slack here. Taken into account. One of the mantras I always hear being sung, is that a weak currency is good for exports, because it makes the exports competitive wherever. But if I look at the volume of trade of Africa, and where the several 100 times increase has come from in the last decade or so, it is one word China. The (African) exports have been, and mostly are, natural resources mortgaged against cheap infrastructural loans/projects. The story of central banks in Africa fiddling with interest rates to make African exports more competitive is therefore a tough sell on me. The horticulture to England and the Naivasha flowers to Holland, for example, are all grown by EU companies under special arrangements 150--EU Agricultural subsidy regime which is very heavy. And the textile exports to the USA too come under special clauses . Which EXPORTS can one list, whose competitiveness our central bank would influence by fiddling the interest rates And, consider this: I am stating the interest rates in Africa, (and assorted CONDITIONALITIES) dictated by the IMF in whose hands the monetary policy lies, is an exclusive tale/regime of debt management, in essence capital export . ie expropriation 150--- (you are not going to tell me Rotich and Njoroge have any say in this, are you Otherwise explaining why the IMF technical team wrote the FINANCIAL BILLS in the new constitution, and, thereafter, stayed in Nairobi to operationalise them, becomes a riddle . just like the parachuting of the IMF standby fire-brigade team from Dar-es-Salaam recently. They came to make sure the Jubilee government reneges on anything but debt servicing, and so the horror of 49 revenue going to debt repay. There are no rationale economies which do that. Only colonial ones, which is why colonialism is unsustainable. Too exploitative. The biggest racket around here is the Export of capital . or, otherwise said, a debt repayment regime of super profits. (ati devaluing the shilling to make coffee cheaper in London to beat Ethiopia to the customers. that is a bullsht tale) Do this math for me, Luoldeng: that massive fall in the Malawian Kwacha: how does it translate in terms of the shift in the portfolio of the foreign debt of that land Is it not a sky-high increase in indebtedness If speculators can crush a currency 150--like Goldman Sachs was helping Greece get out of debt, but secretly betted Greece would default And Greece defaulted and yes, the bank made super profits on its correct bet (all faces on poker) --- and it is the same banks offering loans which speculate, I will remember an earlier generation economist warning: it is not out of the goodness of his heart that a baker has bread for us waiting in his shop, before we wake up Outside debt repayment (expropriation) championed and ENSHRINED by the IMF in its so called CONDITIONALITIES --IMF ordered Njuguna Ndungu to disobey Kibaki and Mwiraria, the trade (export) figures of Africa do not, in my opinion, warrant a fetishsm of the INTEREST RATE as a commanding lever in our general economy outside the financial export Also the laundering of the Eurobond profits to pay external debts even before the money came to Kenya to do what it was originally slotted to do . was not a Kenyan treasury decision. It was the same conditionality which sabotaged Kibaki. This lack of autonomy with our own money allows me to call Rotich and Thugge toy boys for Madame Christin. When you add theft to it, Rotich and Thugge become slime. I know only yesterday did the IMF agree to using the Chinese Yuan (RENMINBI) as an IMF currency, but this has never prevented our central bank, if it wished, from denominating our Chinese infrastructural debts, in Yuans The Chinese do not mind being paid in dollars, but they have never insisted on it so far I know in Africa. They take ivory too And rare metals. NB: Dont you find it odd, that QE is a free-run money printing of the reserve currency, the dollar, and the euro, being given out to banks which then lend it out to Africa and expect huge returns 150-huge returns for their worthless paper, printed without VALUE ADDITION in the real economy That is a scam if you ask me -- reason Germany never did QE with the D-mark all those years It would just be devaluation or dilution of value. So I think to respect a Yale doctorate in economics is to ask him for a considered view on his role in allowing worthless paper money, QE, to use Africa as a value-creation slave-belt He shuts his mouth on that, there aint slack to cut him. For these massive thefts like Waiguru and Eurobond, I cut him more slack yes. He is knew in that office, and I am sure they have not yet briefed him to the detail. If they think he is not Njuguna Ndungu model, they of course shred documents, so that data is lost or deleted somehow. So, Luoldeng: I do cut Njoroge lots of slack for the moment. And that means thinking hard. I wouldnt mention his name in the same sentence as the thief Njuguna Ndungu who spent his last days at the helm avoiding arrest Ndungu is scum we can urinate upon his thieving face with peace. No heavens would be offended. Now, if we take a look at the cause of high interest rates, the biggest culprit is the GOK borrowing. In September the yield on the 91 day T-Bills was standing at around 22 per annum. Taxes will have to go up some, when these debts are called in kabui. If you would like to know my qualifications or anything else about the work we do at KTDC, now TFC, Jun 6, 2015 3:37:56 GMT 3 kabui. please contact me directly at infoktdc. co. ke. Its sad that you believe that Us Kenyans do not have qualifications. A lot of us do. And that is what makes this country so great Its also sad tha you would believe that the former President and Minister jo Jun 6, 2015 3:44:21 GMT 3 kabui. what if I were a mechanic with a PHD Would I really get a job to run an Investment Developmental Financial institution And get a second term I think more clarification is required on how CEOs are appointed of State Corporations. Jun 6, 2015 3:48:58 GMT 3 kabui. Frankly, everyone has an opinion, but at least deal withFACTS. I chose to work in Public service. I went for the interview because I believed I could help my country. I was employed as Investment Manager at The then KTDC and was promoted to The MD. Jun 6, 2015 3:56:11 GMT 3 kabui. I work very very hard for this country. And will continue to do so because this is our country. Jun 6, 2015 3:57:31 GMT 3 kabui. so, I will leave you with this. Pray, that your children will earnestly seek wisdom and understanding. That they would value knowledge and discernement. and that they will value the truth of Gods word. Jun 6, 2015 4:11:13 GMT 3 kabui. Pray for their eyes to focus on what is right. Pray for their ears to listen to instruction. Pray for their tongues to stop them from speaking evil. Pray for their feet so that God can direct their steps to help the stand fast and protect them. Jun 6, 2015 4:16:37 GMT 3 kabui. from stumbling pray that your children will not walk in the steps of the wicked nor stand in the way of sinners but find wise and Godlly companions on lifes journey. Jun 6, 2015 4:21:12 GMT 3 kabui. i am not ashamed of who I am or whom my Father is. I work for the Republic of Kenya and I am Kenyan. Jun 6, 2015 4:24:16 GMT 3 kabui. if you ask me why I am responding to a mail from 2009, castigating me, from someone I really dont know, if I am concerned, shouldnt I be Jun 6, 2015 4:28:13 GMT 3 jakaswanga. Amigo Mank, umepotea sana bwana vipi. Jun 21, 2015 15:53:18 GMT 3 jakaswanga. AHOY DR PATRICK NJOROGE CBK 30 minutes after fin-sec Rotich denied there is a cash crunch and stated monies to counties have been disbursed in full, the council of govenors called him A CHEAP LIAR --WHAT IS THIS FWAKA CLOWNS. Oct 15, 2015 20:08:53 GMT 3 ofrok. the forum is a nice place to argue out to communicate and make valid decisions Dec 16, 2015 7:44:24 GMT 3 mashazack. nairobigossips/Mambo vipi/nairobigossips, this is a nice place to share our views, great to be here Jan 20, 2016 13:15:41 GMT 3 jakaswanga. I continuously mispelt T-TIP (TTIP). That is Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. I referred to it as TIPP in this thread jukwaa. proboards/thread/8562/usa-bugs-power-relations-allies. Apologies. Apr 26, 2016 22:31:13 GMT 3 abdulmote. My dear Jukwanistas, Oct 9, 2016 20:30:00 GMT 3 abdulmote. Its been a long time since I last posted here and I genuinely missed you guys. Oct 9, 2016 20:30:36 GMT 3 abdulmote. However, I am pleased to see that Jukwaa is still thriving. Your effort, Jakaswanka, is not without being noticed. Saying that, I do pop in every now and again and get to enjoy and appreciate the many little gems Jukwaa membership has to offer. Oct 9, 2016 20:33:45 GMT 3 abdulmote. My sincere and special regards to all my sisters and brothers in Jukwaa. Oct 9, 2016 20:34:16 GMT 3 abdulmote. May God bless you all. Oct 9, 2016 20:34:36 GMT 3
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