There’s an engineer running for President in Kenya. Raila Odinga, was PM a few years back.

Has a decent 10 point plan, I guess.

1.‘One County, One Product’ 

The programme, according to Raila, is premised on manufacturing as the engine for wealth creation and employment to achieve double digit economic growth rate.

At the implementation level, the  National Government will provide material and technical support to each county government for vibrant industrialization. 

It will also focus on increasing devolved resources to transform counties by  advancing a ‘One County One Product’ program

2. ‘Kazi Kwa Wote’

The Azimio Government plants to have manufacturing as the driver of the government’s economic revolution is envisaged to spur growth of all sectors of the economy resulting in employment and wealth creation.

The AZIMIO government will support the growth of MSMEs, including the JuaKali sector through improved productivity and efficiency to spearhead the ‘Made in Kenya’ products.

3. ‘Fukuza Njaa’

The objective of the Fukuza Njaa agenda, according to Raila, is to feed the people and generate agricultural bounty that Kenya has the potential to produce. 

According to Raila, his government will create an enabling environment for smart agriculture, improved livestock farming and growth of the blue economy.

4. ‘Inua Jamii, Pesa kwa jamii’

 Pesa kwa Jamii (universal basic income) is a social protection programme that will give Ksh.6,000 to 2million needy households across the nation. 

According to Raila,  the money is not a handout but an investment and a foundation for a new transformational value chain that will also trigger massive economic activity and create thousands of localized small-scale businesses and enterprises across the country. This will lead to millions of jobs and the eventual development of a thriving middle class. 

5. ‘Azimio La Kina Mama’

Under this agenda, the Azimio La Umoja government will focus on the true multipliers of wealth in the Kenyan community; the women.

The programme plans to unlock access to financing for women-led businesses and provide support for women on other enabling factors such as access to assets for production, land tenure and proportional representation at all levels of government

6. ‘Hashtag Inawezekana’

According to Raila, the AZIMIO government recognizes that the youth are the engine of the country’s long term growth and development. 

The Hashtag Inawezekana programme will equip  the youth with the mindset, skills, funds and technology to enable them to innovate and even surpass their global counterparts.

The government will also provide ‘Baba Connect’ countrywide. 

7. ‘Baba care’

BabaCare which seeks to address matters health in the country will ensure access to quality healthcare services by all Kenyans as per need and, provided by motivated health professionals. 

The programme will also provide medical Insurance for retired public servants.

8. “Waste not a Single Child”

This programme, according to Raila, will be an aggressive scheme to ensure that all, not some of Kenya’s children, get rightful access to quality education. 

The government under Raila also plans to deploy motivated teachers to deliver quality education. 

9. ‘Maji Kwa Kila Boma’

Under this programme, Raila’s government will implement the Maji Kwa Kila Boma programme to radically reverse the shortages and high cost of water and ensure access by all, particularly for the poor.

10. ‘Administrative Continuity’

The Raila-led government plans to build up on and improve on the gains made by the exiting government. 

According to Raila,  Africa suffers from a retrogressive mindset of starting afresh, instead of advancing existing accomplishments. 

During his manifesto launch, Raila said the AZIMIO government will reinvigorate and ensure the actualization of Vision 2030 by improving on gains made by the current government.

I wish him good luck.

Why don’t we steal him and bring him over here ?

Still not totally sold on UBI.

I was thinking along the lines of an Infant Pension though, to encourage a higher birth-rate. It would be paid to the parent(s) of course, but would allow greater flexibility of choice as to whether they want to spend the money on child-care or have a stay-at-home parent to look after the child.

As the child gets older the amount decreases, eventually cutting out altogether by the mid to late teens, when the child could be earning their own money through work.

You never just hand out money without getting something in return

wookiemeister said:

You never just hand out money without getting something in return

Short term thinking vs long term thinking.

The long term benefits are considerable You solve the birth-rate/female workforce participation conundrum.

Why Kenya’s election matters
Democracy is still working in the country at the hub of east Africa

Aug 7th 2022

Abeacon of stability and prosperity compared with its five immediate neighbours, Kenya deserves its accolade as the undisputed business and diplomatic hub of east Africa (see map). Ethiopia hosts the headquarters of the African Union but is embroiled in a horrible civil war. Somalia is lacerated by a jihadist rebellion. South Sudan is an all-round catastrophe. Uganda and Tanzania have both dismally sullied their democratic credentials.

Kenya, by contrast, is the magnet that has drawn newcomers into the East African Community, a regional bloc, including Rwanda as it still recovers from genocide, and the vast but misnamed Democratic Republic of Congo. An array of un agencies and multinational companies have made Nairobi, Kenya’s burgeoning capital, their regional base. It is not just the most influential and successful country in its region but is also arguably the third most important democracy in sub-Saharan Africa (after Nigeria and South Africa). That is why the cleanliness and orderliness of its election on August 9th matter so much.

The performance of Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s ruler for the past nine years, can be described as only adequate. He has lacked vision; some question his integrity. But he should be commended for stepping down after two terms, as the constitution requires. He will be Kenya’s third president in a row to do so, strengthening a cornerstone of democracy in the region.

Democracies require not just presidents who bow out, but elections that are seen to be free, fair and peaceful. Kenya’s record here is patchy. Since multi-party politics were re-established in 1992 several polls have been tainted by violence and allegations of vote-rigging. After a disputed vote in 2007 perhaps 1,400 people lost their lives in inter-ethnic fighting.

At least 16 people were killed after the most recent poll, in 2017, when the loser claimed the count had been fixed in favour of the incumbent. Fortunately, Kenya’s institutions held. Judges bravely stood up to the government, ordering a re-run after ruling that the electoral commission had failed to fulfil its “heavy yet noble” constitutional mandate. The killing did not spread. To avoid another bout of violence this time, it is crucial that the electoral commission oversee a transparently fair election and that its results be accepted by the losing candidates and their supporters.

The two leading presidential runners, Raila Odinga and William Ruto, are both flawed. Neither deserves a wholehearted endorsement. Kenyans deserve a better choice.

Mr Ruto, who has been deputy president for nine years, is a vigorous 55-year-old who proclaims himself a “hustler” seeking to dump the old regime and its corrupt beneficiaries. Opinion polls suggest he may win a majority of the votes of the millions of Kenya’s poor. In the eyes of many of the Kikuyu tribe, the country’s largest and most powerful, Mr Ruto, who hails from the traditionally rival Kalenjin group, seems to have wiped off the stain of his indictment by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for allegedly instigating murderous violence against them after the election in 2007; he denied the charge and the case against him was later suspended. In any event, he has an authoritarian streak. Critics suspect he has little time for constitutional niceties. In the words of a seasoned analyst, he could be Kenya’s best president—or its worst. He is a colossal risk.

This is Mr Odinga’s fifth shot at a prize he was probably cheated out of at least once before. In the past he has championed the underdog. His Luo tribe on the western shores of Lake Victoria has felt done down by the politically and commercially dominant Kikuyus. He has been a genuine crusader for democracy and was put behind bars several times during Kenya’s long spell as a one-party state before 1992. Now 77, Mr Odinga is in poor health, short of persuasive policies and dynamism. But he is a decent democrat—with a notably superior running-mate than his rival’s. He is the duller but safer bet.

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/08/07/why-kenyas-election-matters?

Witty Rejoinder said:

Why Kenya’s election matters
Democracy is still working in the country at the hub of east Africa

Aug 7th 2022

This is Mr Odinga’s fifth shot at a prize he was probably cheated out of at least once before. In the past he has championed the underdog. His Luo tribe on the western shores of Lake Victoria has felt done down by the politically and commercially dominant Kikuyus. He has been a genuine crusader for democracy and was put behind bars several times during Kenya’s long spell as a one-party state before 1992. Now 77, Mr Odinga is in poor health, short of persuasive policies and dynamism. But he is a decent democrat—with a notably superior running-mate than his rival’s. He is the duller but safer bet.

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/08/07/why-kenyas-election-matters?

?? If you’re from the western shore of Lake Victoria I can’t see how you’re from Kenya.

sibeen said:

Witty Rejoinder said:

Why Kenya’s election matters
Democracy is still working in the country at the hub of east Africa

Aug 7th 2022

This is Mr Odinga’s fifth shot at a prize he was probably cheated out of at least once before. In the past he has championed the underdog. His Luo tribe on the western shores of Lake Victoria has felt done down by the politically and commercially dominant Kikuyus. He has been a genuine crusader for democracy and was put behind bars several times during Kenya’s long spell as a one-party state before 1992. Now 77, Mr Odinga is in poor health, short of persuasive policies and dynamism. But he is a decent democrat—with a notably superior running-mate than his rival’s. He is the duller but safer bet.

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/08/07/why-kenyas-election-matters?

?? If you’re from the western shore of Lake Victoria I can’t see how you’re from Kenya.

I noticed that too.

Witty Rejoinder said:

sibeen said:

Witty Rejoinder said:

Why Kenya’s election matters
Democracy is still working in the country at the hub of east Africa

Aug 7th 2022

This is Mr Odinga’s fifth shot at a prize he was probably cheated out of at least once before. In the past he has championed the underdog. His Luo tribe on the western shores of Lake Victoria has felt done down by the politically and commercially dominant Kikuyus. He has been a genuine crusader for democracy and was put behind bars several times during Kenya’s long spell as a one-party state before 1992. Now 77, Mr Odinga is in poor health, short of persuasive policies and dynamism. But he is a decent democrat—with a notably superior running-mate than his rival’s. He is the duller but safer bet.

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/08/07/why-kenyas-election-matters?

?? If you’re from the western shore of Lake Victoria I can’t see how you’re from Kenya.

I noticed that too.

i can understand it.

From NYT:

NAIROBI, Kenya — As results poured in from Kenya’s cliffhanger presidential election, patrons at a restaurant in Eldoret, 150 miles north of Nairobi, the capital, stared up at six television screens on Thursday night that were showing the competing tallies by Kenyan news media outlets.

With 90 percent of the votes tallied, the two main contenders, William Ruto and Raila Odinga, were only a few thousand votes apart. Each had about 49 percent of the vote.

“People are so tense,” said Kennedy Orangi, a hospital nurse brandishing two cellphones, “that they cannot even think straight.”

Then the tallies ground to a halt.

Suddenly, millions of Kenyans, who had been glued to their televisions, radios and phones since Tuesday’s vote, were in the dark about the latest results of a neck-and-neck presidential race that has gripped the country, and is being scrutinized far beyond.

On Friday, Kenyan news organizations gave various explanations for stopping their counts, including fears of hacking and a desire to “synchronize” their results.

But to many Kenyans, it seemed they got cold feet and shied away from having to declare the winner in a high-stakes political battle that pits Mr. Ruto, the country’s vice president, against Mr. Odinga, a political veteran making his fifth run for the presidency.

Now, voters have to continue their nail-biting wait. Officials say it will likely be Sunday, at the earliest, before the election commission can declare an official winner in the race — and to know whether either candidate can pass the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.

The stakes in this election are high for Kenya, an East African powerhouse with a recent history of turbulent elections. But it also reverberates beyond, as a litmus test for democracy at a time when authoritarianism is advancing across Africa, and the globe.

“Kenya is an anchor for stability, security and democracy — not just in the region, or on this continent, but across the globe,” the embassies of the United States and 13 other Western countries said in a statement on the eve of the election.

Seared by criticism of its failings in previous votes, the national election commission went to great lengths to make this an exemplary election.

With a budget of over $370 million, one of the highest per voter costs in the world, the commission sourced printed paper ballots from Europe that had more security features than Kenya’s currency notes. It deployed biometric technology to identify voters by their fingerprints and images.

The election commission “has done a very professional job,” said Johnnie Carson, a former U.S. ambassador to Kenya who is serving as an election observer. The biometric system “worked better than many people anticipated and has proved to be a useful model to build on.”

The commission began posting online results from over 46,000 polling stations within hours of the polls closing on Tuesday, a move of radical transparency intended to ward off fears of potential vote rigging.

But in the counting, things haven’t gone entirely to plan.

The election commission’s decision to post the results online — allowing the news media to do the first, unofficial tally of the results — has proved to be problematic. Media organizations tallied in different sequences, leading to conflicting reports of who was ahead.

That drew criticism from international and local observers like the Kenya Human Rights Commission, which said that divergent tallies were causing “confusion, anxiety, fear, unrest.”

As the numbers rolled in, it became clear the race between Mr. Ruto and Mr. Odinga was far tighter than most Kenyans anticipated. Heading into the election on Tuesday, several polls showed Mr. Odinga with a comfortable lead.

After the election, the commission’s official count was slow, because poll workers had to transport paper result sheets from the 46,229 polling sites to the national counting center in Nairobi. Then commission workers had to verify the papers against the online database of images of the same sheets.

Those delays meant that by Thursday night it was becoming clear that the first indication of a winner would likely come from the news media — not the election commission — a politically sensitive move in a country where the media can be subject to heavy-handed government interference.

Felix Odhiambo Owuor, executive director of the Electoral Law and Governance Institute for Africa, a nonprofit that helped draft guidelines for the news media’s role in the election, said in an interview the media groups pulled out to avoid a tricky situation.

“I think they just decided it was better to wait” for Kenya’s electoral commission “to catch up,” he said.

Others pointed to direct government pressure to end the count. Three reporters with the Nation Media Group, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters, said government officials had pressured their editors to stop the tallying because, they were told, it was creating confusion among the public.

On Friday, in an article in the Nation newspaper, Mutuma Mathiu, editor in chief of the Nation Media Group, described what a difficult task the tallying had become.

“We are not just tallying figures. We are also trying to keep safe, and open, not bankrupt ourselves, stay out of the clutches of influence groups and provide good, clean data,” he wrote.

In a statement, David Omwoyo, the head of the government’s Media Council of Kenya said that “No one has asked anyone to stop the tallying and projection of the results.”

The only unofficial tallies were being carried out by foreign news organizations — the BBC and a joint effort by Reuters and Google. But they were based on a set of constituency results that, as of midnight on Friday, was only 75 percent complete.

That could leave Kenyans waiting for the final results, to find out who is their next president, or if the country is headed for a runoff and will have to repeat the whole anxious exercise one month from now.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/world/africa/kenya-election-results.html

It happens that the engineer did not win. The new president is a corrupt botanist who was previously vice-president.

dv said:

It happens that the engineer did not win. The new president is a corrupt botanist who was previously vice-president.

Shakes fist at botanists.

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

It happens that the engineer did not win. The new president is a corrupt botanist who was previously vice-president.

Shakes fist at botanists.

Relax, it’s just a few bad apples.

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

It happens that the engineer did not win. The new president is a corrupt botanist who was previously vice-president.

Shakes fist at botanists.

dv said:

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

It happens that the engineer did not win. The new president is a corrupt botanist who was previously vice-president.

Shakes fist at botanists.

That’s obscureish

dv said:

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

It happens that the engineer did not win. The new president is a corrupt botanist who was previously vice-president.

Shakes fist at botanists.

nice pear.

Cymek said:

dv said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Shakes fist at botanists.

That’s obscureish

No. They speak Swahili or Kiswahili.

Bogsnorkler said:

dv said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Shakes fist at botanists.

nice pear.

I like my beer cold and my perry brown.

dv said:

Bogsnorkler said:

dv said:

nice pear.

I like my beer cold and my perry brown.

I remember the episode were the Doctor has her jump up and down on a trampoline to power the TARDIS

dv said:

Bogsnorkler said:

dv said:

nice pear.

I like my beer cold and my perry brown.

Not all that manly. Looks quite anaemic.

Cymek said:

dv said:

Bogsnorkler said:

nice pear.

I like my beer cold and my perry brown.

I remember the episode were the Doctor has her jump up and down on a trampoline to power the TARDIS

Have you got the Series and Episode numbers?

Peak Warming Man said:

Cymek said:

dv said:

I like my beer cold and my perry brown.

I remember the episode were the Doctor has her jump up and down on a trampoline to power the TARDIS

Have you got the Series and Episode numbers?

Unfortunately its a lost episode :)

Cymek said:

dv said:

Bogsnorkler said:

nice pear.

I like my beer cold and my perry brown.

I remember the episode were the Doctor has her jump up and down on a trampoline to power the TARDIS