Munene, the journey...

They said we should wait. The wazees were deliberating. They were discussing "important" issues of national security and interest. So, we walked out. We stood by the door. It was raining hard, and we strained to stand as close to the wall as possible, to avoid getting drenched. Inside, the air was exuberant. The wazees were laughing heartily as they imbibed to their fill with nyama choma and Tusker baridi . My stomach was grumbling. I looked around at my friend. She was shivering. "She's going to catch a cold if we don't get somewhere warm soon," I thought to myself. I could stay here and wait to see the wazees and tell them why we had come. Or I could save my skin and call it a day (or night). I chose the former. I motioned to Wanjiku to follow me. She seemed shocked. We had come so far, having walked in the wind and rain for two hours. She was heavy with child, and due any day now. We passed the Toyota VXs that had transported the wazees to ...

Kenyans are growing tired of empty promises by their leaders. We elect representatives and executives, who then turn their backs on us. They no longer represent what we want as a people. They take us for granted. And so they take us for a ride. They rob the country and bleed it dry. Of course politicians will not pay for their sins. No, we do not have a system that punishes corruption in political power. The three arms of government are in constant quarrel as our country is mortgaged to the highest bidders. Oil exploration blocks are decided while we fight about whether or not Miguna Miguna should be allowed back into the country. In the midst of election petitions, it emerges that the IMF representatives have been in cahoots with the Treasury and Central Bank to doctor records and basically misrepresent the state of the economy. Regardless, of what it is, Kenyans are angry. So, should we take up arms? Should we resort to violence? Should we arm ourselves and eliminate all thos...

President Kenyatta joined other African heads of state on March 21 in signing the #AfCFTA. What does this mean for Kenya? It means that Kenya's goods and services could have a broader market to sell to. It also means that locally made goods and services will face increased competition from similar products in the African market, especially if other countries have a comparative advantage. What is the projected net effect of these two sides of trade? Well, it's difficult to predict. It depends on which goods are on the schedule of reduction of tariffs both for other countries and Kenya. Pres. Kenyatta signs the AfCFTA Image courtesy of PSCU   Looking at other similar regional pacts such as North America's #NAFTA or the EU, we can see that trade between countries increases many fold. But as in the case of Mexico which saw the bankrupting of peasant farmers due to cheap corn and other agricultural produce from subsidized American farms, the aggregate effect might be po...

Never underestimate your opponent. It's better to be overprepared than underprepared. Therefore, prepare, learn your competitor's tricks, weaknesses and tactics and use them against them. It is highly likely that the Jubilee side leaked to the NASA side about the hacking of the IEBC servers knowing full well that NASA would lap it up. NASA presented "evidence" based on MSSQL architecture, while the IEBC says that its database runs on Oracle. Whatever the case, the NASA side presented a weak case that has not convinced many stakeholders. Invest in your team and FULLY prepare your agents. Perform your trainings thoroughly. Run a tight ship. Have no room for leakages or moles or people who are easily bought. It is said that a lot of NASA's agents at the various polling stations were bought and did not protect RAO's votes. Ensure that you pay your agents well, and let them know that there's more rewards for their loyalty. Have no time for infighting, let you...

In 2016, Kenyans in the diaspora sent home USD $1.6 billion (about KSh. 160 billion). In 2013, Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta each spent an equivalent of about USD $100 million (KSh. 10 billion) vying for the presidency. This year, numbers are projected to rise beyond USD $200 million (KSh. 20 billion) in a "rematch" of the 2013 contest. And just as in the past, most Kenyans in the diaspora will be unable to cast absentee votes, even though the law says that every eligible Kenyan should be availed to vote. And that is where I think the diasporans [sic] should agitate for greater representation. Kenyans in the diaspora control enough remittances to be one of Kenya's top foreign exchange earners. If they wanted, they could form a movement to pool funds and finances a political party (KSh. 15 billion spending cap), presidential (KSh. 5.25 billion spending cap), and other county-level representatives (KSh. 433 million spending cap). In politics, in Kenya and beyond, mon...

"You speak very good English, where did you learn?" a person I just met asks. "In Kenya, in school…" I calmly reply. "Wow! You speak English in Kenya?" He continues. "Oh yes, we do …" The conversation goes into how we do (not) live with lions as pets and how I don’t run like "all" other Kenyans they've seen on TV. If you are wondering, this is an actual conversation I have had with persons I have met here in the US. This is not to say every conversation I have had goes this way. On the contrary, in the greater Washington metropolitan area where I live, this is the exception. Any time I have to field questions about Kenya, however, I feel as if the responsibility to represent Kenya and communicate its brand is upon my shoulders. This is despite not getting any training on this aspect of my travel experience. Some other well-meaning people have said, once hearing I am from Kenya, that they visited Uganda, Rwanda, Bots...

Rhetoric posits that Africa is rising. Africa has been rising for more than a decade now, but there does not seem to be real tangible benefits out of this rise. Sure, the rising is producing a lot of millionaires, but these are more of the same kind of cannibalistic kind; there is no real benefit to the African populace. Real and concrete benefits of Africa rising will only be felt once some key issues have been resolved. Education, learning and leadership Our current system of education in Kenya and the wider African continent is producing a lot of graduates ready to occupy offices. But there are no offices; Africa is not at that level of development. The education is predicated on the existent of a middle to high income economy. These unemployed and frustrated youth are turning to the next lucrative activity; tenderpreneuring and thieving. It is no wonder corruption has become such a major challenge on the continent. Corruption is virtually breeding on the grounds of our ill-...