Our politicians are the biggest problem in Kenya, and they need to change in order for Kenya to develop. Liar!Politicians are no problem. the problem is the people of Kenya, who a few end up becoming the politicians that we so much hate upon. Most of my friends and other fellow Kenyans usually tell me how they would pocket tax payers money were they given this chance. After all, the money is not theirs, but everyone's. Therefore nobody cares how you spend it. That is why our government is so corruption riddled.
Before you start celebrating and toasting to this fact, be aware that competition is very high, and very many other governments are trying to outdo each other in the race to who gets the most of the tax payers cut. From anti-corruption crusaders (United Kingdom) to stricter communist governments(We will still discuss the communists versus the capitalists in a coming soon post). Nevertheless, we still seem to be performing averagely in these sectors.According to the Global Integrity ranking, we have slipped down 4 positions in the world integrity ranking in 2008. We need to pull up our socks in this sector. Ghana slipped down 11 positions from 2006 while Ethiopia slipped down 22 positions in the same period. That is according to www.globalintegrity.org.
When it comes to other corruption stories, and stories to do with the government, Sri Lanka is a global leader in such matters. If you thought that 42 ministers were 20 too many, you haven't heard about Sri Lanka's almost 90 ministers. While you are busy complaining about Kenyan ministers becoming millionaires in a few years, the Sri Lankan's outdid them by becoming millionaires in a 4 month window. The Sri Lankan Police force is so corrupt that the Kenyan Police will look like angels in the country. If you want to be commercially successful in the country , all you need to do is bankroll the police to criminalize your competitors. It is said that this is already happening, with towns where local businessmen practice the above. All this is according to a 2005 report in lankan newspapers.
Moving on to Zimbabwe, it seems to be copying Kenya in so many ways, and outdoing us in all of them. the similarities between the 2 countries is just too much. Like Kenya, the country got independence after a guerilla warfare, only for the independence hero to lead the country in robbing of the taxpayer, just like ours did. Nevertheless, we still tout them as heroes, and history teaches us how they sacrificed a lot and went out of the way to help their countries. In Kenya, history luckily forgets to mention how the hero turned upon the real freedom fighters and continued persecuting them.Zimbabwe after independence, like Kenya, started off with a very vibrant economy that had a growth rate that was quite high. Now, like Kenya, it just remains as a reference in history books and the Zimbabweans are now are writing their way down the history books of records with their record inflation. Some of the corruption headlines in the country include Air Zimbabwe's purchase of some Chinese Aircraft that are undergoing repairs just after they were bought. Remember that story of the Kenyan Police choppers? Well, if i were you, i would avoid Air Zimbabwe like the plague. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority(ZESA), just like the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, was a loss making monopoly. You have to work quite hard to make such a monopoly make losses (yeah, you have to work, if you don't, it will make a profit). If you are interested in how ZESA made losses, you can ask Robert Mugabe's son, who was the head until he voluntarily resigned recently. Then there is the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company, (ZUPCO) which is a public corporation that insists on driving empty buses rather than lowering fares,but the rich taxpayer will still fund the empty buses at the end of the day. I will stop been biased by favoring the Zimbabweans , and now move to the Latin American presidents.
To start us off, the Nicaraguan former president, Arnoldo Aleman, is currently serving a 20 year term, for embezzlement in his 5 year term ending 2002. His former Argentinian counterpart, Carlos Menem, who ruled till 1999 is under house arrest for smuggling arms to Ecuador and Croatia .Alfonso Portillo from Guatemala was extradited from Mexico , where he had ran away after funneling public army funds to personal and friends accounts. there are even more stories from Latin America available here.In short, it seems that unlike this part of the world, corruption is quite a risky business in Latin America.
Most of us personally envy the position that politicians hold, which gives them access to this rich persons money. the rich person, a la the tax payer never runs out of cash, no wonder how bad the economy is. So I urge you to work quite hard to get his fair share of money.
Before you start celebrating and toasting to this fact, be aware that competition is very high, and very many other governments are trying to outdo each other in the race to who gets the most of the tax payers cut. From anti-corruption crusaders (United Kingdom) to stricter communist governments(We will still discuss the communists versus the capitalists in a coming soon post). Nevertheless, we still seem to be performing averagely in these sectors.According to the Global Integrity ranking, we have slipped down 4 positions in the world integrity ranking in 2008. We need to pull up our socks in this sector. Ghana slipped down 11 positions from 2006 while Ethiopia slipped down 22 positions in the same period. That is according to www.globalintegrity.org.
When it comes to other corruption stories, and stories to do with the government, Sri Lanka is a global leader in such matters. If you thought that 42 ministers were 20 too many, you haven't heard about Sri Lanka's almost 90 ministers. While you are busy complaining about Kenyan ministers becoming millionaires in a few years, the Sri Lankan's outdid them by becoming millionaires in a 4 month window. The Sri Lankan Police force is so corrupt that the Kenyan Police will look like angels in the country. If you want to be commercially successful in the country , all you need to do is bankroll the police to criminalize your competitors. It is said that this is already happening, with towns where local businessmen practice the above. All this is according to a 2005 report in lankan newspapers.
Moving on to Zimbabwe, it seems to be copying Kenya in so many ways, and outdoing us in all of them. the similarities between the 2 countries is just too much. Like Kenya, the country got independence after a guerilla warfare, only for the independence hero to lead the country in robbing of the taxpayer, just like ours did. Nevertheless, we still tout them as heroes, and history teaches us how they sacrificed a lot and went out of the way to help their countries. In Kenya, history luckily forgets to mention how the hero turned upon the real freedom fighters and continued persecuting them.Zimbabwe after independence, like Kenya, started off with a very vibrant economy that had a growth rate that was quite high. Now, like Kenya, it just remains as a reference in history books and the Zimbabweans are now are writing their way down the history books of records with their record inflation. Some of the corruption headlines in the country include Air Zimbabwe's purchase of some Chinese Aircraft that are undergoing repairs just after they were bought. Remember that story of the Kenyan Police choppers? Well, if i were you, i would avoid Air Zimbabwe like the plague. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority(ZESA), just like the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, was a loss making monopoly. You have to work quite hard to make such a monopoly make losses (yeah, you have to work, if you don't, it will make a profit). If you are interested in how ZESA made losses, you can ask Robert Mugabe's son, who was the head until he voluntarily resigned recently. Then there is the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company, (ZUPCO) which is a public corporation that insists on driving empty buses rather than lowering fares,but the rich taxpayer will still fund the empty buses at the end of the day. I will stop been biased by favoring the Zimbabweans , and now move to the Latin American presidents.
To start us off, the Nicaraguan former president, Arnoldo Aleman, is currently serving a 20 year term, for embezzlement in his 5 year term ending 2002. His former Argentinian counterpart, Carlos Menem, who ruled till 1999 is under house arrest for smuggling arms to Ecuador and Croatia .Alfonso Portillo from Guatemala was extradited from Mexico , where he had ran away after funneling public army funds to personal and friends accounts. there are even more stories from Latin America available here.In short, it seems that unlike this part of the world, corruption is quite a risky business in Latin America.
Most of us personally envy the position that politicians hold, which gives them access to this rich persons money. the rich person, a la the tax payer never runs out of cash, no wonder how bad the economy is. So I urge you to work quite hard to get his fair share of money.
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