WHY WE NEED TO KNOW HOW KENYA IS BEING GOVERNED....
NOTE:
The issues discussed below are not about PNU or ODM or whatever PARTY YOU KNOW OF......The Government official mentioned here must get serious exposure if the affairs of the country has to be seriously managed. We didn't go for elections just to change coats.....It is all about governance.
Things are getting serious in Kenya....
The Kenya's Inspectorate of State Corporations has unearthed gross abuse of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act at the Kenya Airports Authority and many other state corporations. According to the latest public audit team, KAA (Kenya Airport Authority) newly re-instated Managing Director George Muhoho authorised advance payment of Sh308 million to Queens Quay Architects Inc in contravention of laid down financial regulations and terms of contract.The MD also supervised the poor design and costing of construction of Terminal 4, passenger apron, taxiways and associated facilities at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. This project, the inspectorate says, led to the substantial variation of 66.1 per cent on the Sh26 billion contract price. Imagine At 71, Mr George Muhoho was expected to be replaced this week and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority’s board had even endorsed his replacement and instructed him to hand over but was re-instated by Transport Minister in a quick about turn. He is among the oldest CEO in Kenya.
The regulations and attendant build, operate and transfer (BOT) provisions that guide how the Government enters public-private partnerships (PPPs) were gazetted mid-last month by the Finance Ministry headed by Uhuru, who is a close relative of Muhoho. The gazettement followed concerns the Government was flouting the Public Procurement Oversight Act, which bars single-sourcing of potential investors. Under the PPPs regulations the longest period provided for a private firm to partner with the Government is 30 years, although the relevant clauses leave room for longer leases. Lawyer Harun Ndubi says in such cases as the Tana River, Lamu port and the JKIA expansion deal, the Government signed 80-year concessions and will put national resources out of reach of Kenyans.
According to Transparency International Director Job Ogonda, the five 30-year lease is too long for public property to be under private control. The regulations were gazetted by Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta on March 10 and provide that the Government can only partner with private sector for projects above Sh800 million. The disposal and concessioning of public utilities to mobilise funding for the Government’s "flag-ship projects" — 98 in total — in reference to key areas that need heavy but urgent financial infusion to stimulate economic growth is intended to provide the impetus to meet Vision 2030 targets.
Out of these, 21 projects will be implemented in the six priority sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, wholesale and trade, BPO and financial services. The rest will be implemented in the priority sectors covered under the social and political pillars.
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has entered an agreement with the Qatar-based Afro-Asian Investment Corporation to invest Sh28 billion in a five-star three-tower hotel complex that will cover 90 acres at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The complex will have a 750-bed capacity, a 200-inpatient capacity hospital and a business centre. The concession period is 80 years under the build, operate and transfer investment module. It is projected that it will generate Sh18 million in land lease per year, plus $1 million (Sh80 million based on exchange rates) for five years in licence fees when completed.
Embakasi Airport deal
The Sh2.9 billion first came to light late last year. In the deal, Sri Lankan-born Arjun Razaik planned to inject Sh2.4 billion in developing a budget terminal at the Embakasi Airport in Nairobi under a build, operate and transfer agreement with the KAA, a State corporation.
Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere, citing "errors" in the agreement, overturned the deal. Razaik, jointly with former Transport Permanent Secretary Dr Gerishom Ikiara, are planning to introduce a low-budget domestic airline — OneJetOne.
The decision to award little known airline OneJetOne the tender to refurbish and operate the old Embakasi Airport was above board, which The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Managing Director George Muhoho said the Authority had followed the laid down procedure to the letter and the company had the most viable proposal for utilisation of the airport and the 20-acre land.
He was quoted as saying "We advertised calling for interested companies to tender applications and gave them 57 days, which was ample time to go through our proposal and prepare their bid," While Kenya Airways, the Kenya's National Airline faulted KAA saying it had the right to refurbish Old Embakasi Airport due to congestion at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and argued that it should have been allocated the airport as the national carrier. The OneJetOne chief executive, Mr Arjun Ruzaik, said the company would be investing Sh2.4 billion ($30 million) in developing a budget terminal at the old airport.
Why, why don't we inject that for Kenya Airways and let KQ do the stuff as other countries are helping their national institutions. Take a case of Dubai World Maritime Body which is owned by the Dubai Government. It has all stakes in Jebel Ali Sea Port and other ports of Dubai and they generate income for the government. It is even harder to get a tender if you are not "politically" connected and this is what is killing us in Kenya.
Qatar
Kenya has signed a $3.5 billion (Sh300 billion) deal with Qatar to build a new port in Lamu on the Indian Ocean coast. The Gulf state has acquired 80-year lease of 100,000 acres in Tana River basin to grow its own food.
Kuwait
Last year, the Government also sourced Al Bader International Development Company of Kuwait to invest in $15 billion Lamu seaport construction, a contract that will also see the Gulf-based company put its money in Lamu Regional Airport, a Lamu railway network and Lamu highway. Kuwait is also lining up to build an international pipeline, an oil refinery near Lamu port and a fibre-optic cable network.
Libya
The Libyan government acquired previously Government-owned Mobil Petroleum Company (now Oilibya) in 2007 with a further pledge of Sh21 billion for investment in the expansion of Momabsa-based Kenya Refinery Ltd. Last year, Libya controversially acquired Grand Regency Hotel for Sh2.9 billion. It is also eyeing the Bomas of Kenya and National Cultural Centre.
With all that in mind, notswithstanding the Serious Anglo Leasing Projects that previously almost put Kenya in a new corruption scandals, just yesterday, A spokesperson for the British High Commission, Ms Charley Williams, said The Attorney General of Kenya, Hon Amos Wako has not given KACC(The Kenya Anti-Corruption Authority) the green light to receive mutual legal assistance (MLA) from SFO(Serious Fraud Office) of the UK. Ms Williams said SFO could not give the information because KACC had been denied powers to receive the information by the High Court, and the AG’s office has yet to appeal the ruling.
Thus the Attorney-General Amos Wako is on the spot again after the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of Britain accused him of failing to request an investigation report it has prepared on the Anglo Leasing scandal, it can be established. The report, which was to be handed to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) to help resolve some of the Sh56 billion scandals, is, however, stuck in London as Mr Wako has yet to give his approval. Imagine.....and just figure out how much we lost there....
CORRUPTION:
Corruption - defined as 'the abuse of public power for personal ends'. The impact of corruption on the poor and on poverty reduction processes has now been reasonably widely discussed. The effect of corruption on the poor can be gauged through both its direct impact (through, for example, increasing the cost of public services, lowering their quality and often all together restricting poor people's access to such essential services as water, health and education) and the indirect impact (through, for example, diverting public resources away from social sectors and the poor, and through limiting development, growth and poverty reduction). While this impacts negatively on most of the segments of the society, it is suggested that the poor are more vulnerable both in terms of being easy targets for being subjected to extortion, bribery, double-standards and intimidation as well as in terms of being hit by the negative and harsh consequences of corruption on country's overall development processes. So, in addition to the negative impact of corruption, there is also an element of disproportionality and inequality. The following short examples (drawing on research, studies and diagnostic tools) are set to demonstrate some of the negative and disproportionate impact of corruption on the poor.
Regression analysis indicates that the amount of corruption is negatively linked to the level of investment and economic growth, that is to say, the more corruption, the less investment and the less economic growth. Analysis further shows that if the corruption index improves by one standard deviation (equal to 2.38 in this case--a standard deviation measures variation from the "normal" index), the investment rate increases by more than 4 percentage points and the annual growth rate of per capita GDP increases by over a half percentage point. In effect, a country that improves its standing on the corruption index from, say, 6 to 8 (recall that 0 is most corrupt, 10 least), will enjoy the benefits of an increase of 4 percentage points of investment, with consequent improvement in employment and economic growth.
Let alone speaking about ARTUR BROTHERS, henchmen like NIGERIAN "FOREIGN" Investor like Chinedu, OneJetOne ARJUN RAZAIK, What are all these people doing in the country without proper procedures....Do you think you can enter their country the way you want, why should they then ??
While we are establishing to meet our goals, the Government must be transparent in all it's activities so that we prosper and not make Vision 2030 appear like the way, they used to say, during MOI REGIME.......... Water by 2010. Many Kenyans don't have Water now........There is no water in Kenya now....
