President Uhuru Kenyatta in a breakfast meeting with a consortium of
United States' companies in conjunction with the Corporate Council for
Africa (CCA) on the sidelines of the 70th session of the United Nations
General Assembly in New York. Kenya can be a funny place. First, Uhuru
Kenyatta implores us to support his flouting of a court order to pay
teachers an extra Sh17 billion a year because he does not agree with it.
FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Kenya can be a funny place. First, Uhuru Kenyatta implores us to
support his flouting of a court order to pay teachers an extra Sh17
billion a year because he does not agree with it.
Never
mind that his oath of office includes respecting and protecting the
Constitution, which he flouts with his “can’t pay, won’t pay attitude.”
He
tries to appeal to “patriotism” in asking the teachers to forego their
legally mandated pay rise espousing all manner of comparisons (and
errors it seems) to make his case.
At no point does he
mention the contribution to the huge wage bill from the top echelon of
the “public service” — inclusive of sitting, phone, extraneous, smiling
and other allowances, which should be relatively easy to reduce.
At no point does he compare the emoluments of the top echelon in the public sector with other African countries.
Nowhere
does he state that our MPs are among the best paid in the world despite
our small economy. Nor does he admit that Kenya is the rare country
where top public sector pay is better than in the private sector.
EXCESS SPENDING
At no point does he offer to start the process for reducing the per diems for senior officials — which rises up to US$1,000 (Sh105,000) per night in New York where he is now — and way more than richer countries like Sweden, Norway and Finland.
At no point does he offer to start the process for reducing the per diems for senior officials — which rises up to US$1,000 (Sh105,000) per night in New York where he is now — and way more than richer countries like Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Nor does he explain — as
he asks for prudence in fiscal spending — why the Kenyan delegation to
the UN General Assembly in New York has about 100 people.
He
is becoming like our sports officials who “eat” the allowances for
athletes and when complaints are raised, turn around and demand that
athletes be “patriotic” and put country before survival!
It
is time for Mr Kenyatta to lead from the front. This regime is
incredibly wasteful and corrupt, protecting some in high places while
punishing others whose political usefulness has expired.
Corruption can’t be fought by speaking from both ends of the mouth. It has to be one standard for everyone, from the top down.
And so, too, with the new “security” procedures at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, which don’t make sense.
I
have been at many airports internationally, including in countries as
much at risk of terror attacks as Kenya, but I have never seen
procedures like the ones that were recently instituted.
VERY STRANGE
The police ask passengers to alight and walk through the manual security check, no matter the weather.
The police ask passengers to alight and walk through the manual security check, no matter the weather.
The
car and driver then drive through these new (and certainly expensive)
machines that are supposed to x-ray the car and its contents to ensure
that nothing illicit is being transported. The driver stays in the car
all through this procedure.
It is great to have serious
security checks for heaven knows we have suffered enough. But I don’t
get why passengers can’t stay in the car with the driver and be x-rayed
with him, unless of course the machines don’t work on people.
But
if the machines don’t work on people why don’t they frisk the driver
before he drives through the machines? And if they can frisk the driver
at the car, why can’t they do the same for all the passengers?
AN UNWISE ASSUMPTION
I have been to the airport a number of times and never has the driver been frisked or searched. Note, too, that the manual checks at the pedestrian checkpoint are always casual.
I have been to the airport a number of times and never has the driver been frisked or searched. Note, too, that the manual checks at the pedestrian checkpoint are always casual.
Then, cars
with GK or diplomatic plates pass straight through with no checks. Now,
any half-wit terrorist can make or steal GK or diplomatic plates!
And
are we willing to trust that GK and diplomatic cars can’t be conduits
for terrorism? Indeed, this police policy of equating status with
integrity is silly to the extreme.
For those of us who
live in Kenya, this is the un-wisest assumption given the propensity of
those with status to steal and eat taxpayers’ funds without shame.
There is something fishy here which sadly makes us a global joke without increasing security.
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