The next Triton... is....

The next Triton-like scam will involve a politically connected firm known as "Gulf Energy"... you read it here first...

(I am gathering details...)

KQ cannot trust corrupt KAA

KQ used to face multiple complaints about lost/stolen luggage when it relied on KAA for safety of its passengers' cargo & luggage.

No more. KQ hires its own guards to man the holding area for cargo & luggage.

An added cost of doing business in Kenya. No wonder the cost of flights to/from Kenya are so high.

The Kenya Airports Authority (under the political appointee george 'banana' muhoho) needs to be privatised. It remains a bastion of corrupt deals.

In spite of all the problems in the 'West' & all the 'potential' in Africa, I wonder if it makes more sense to invest in Asia, Europe & America rather than Africa...

Why doing business in Kenya cost more

Many un-informed journalists, citizens, politicians & idiots complain about the 'margins' or 'spreads' charged on goods & services. On the surface that is true. Kenyan businesses tend to have wider spreads than what is common in the Western world.

(Let's be clear... I am NOT condoning any sort of scam or counterfeiting or shortchanging or cheating... I am talking of WYSIWYG)

I will try to provide specifics instead of 'general comments' favored by the group/s above.

Let's look a little deeper:

• Inefficiencies - Many firms e.g. Kenol-Kobil have to deal with an inefficient oil importation regime. They are forced to process 50% (by law 70%) of their requirements through Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL) which uses much older technology (hydro-skimming) as well as being sub-optimal in size. This leads to lower high-value (white fuels) derivatives. Cost to Kenyans an additional 3/- per litre.
• Corruption - Many firms e.g. Kenol-Kobil are forced to pass on additional 'charges' to consumers since the management of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) has a history of being involved in corrupt deals (including tenders to extend the pipeline). The latest scandal was Triton-KPC. Cost to Kenyans is hard to determine but definitely high.
• Legal system breakdown - HFCK will take defaulters to court but the case could take 5 years even if HFCK has all the cards. Why? An over-burdened court system which does not have a dedicated 'business' court. Deferrals are common as lawyers postpone, postpone & postpone hearings. And when they do show up, the judge/magistrate does not.
• KRA (non)refunds - KRA collects VAT, duties, taxes, etc. Penalties abound if a business is late in remitting the payments. In the event of a refund... get in line. We are not talking of disputed refunds. Even simple refunds are not paid to the businesses in a timely manner. KRA claims they are given KShs 1.04 billion per quarter for refunds REGARDLESS of what they collect. Kenol-Kobil & Total could have KShs 1,000,000,000 outstanding to each of them at any one time. So they borrow from the market. And add financing costs to our petrol price.
• Taxes ad infinitum - The government imposes horrendous amount of taxes in the form of levies, duties, VAT, income tax, etc. Then there are property taxes, license fees, payroll taxes, etc. A retail outlet in the CBD with a 10% margin can't even break-even. And this is before rent is due!
• Insecurity/theft - Theft by employees is pretty common in Kenya. And I do not mean office supplies. I have so many personal examples. My Dad (an engineer/entrepreneur) used to scour Industrial Area factories for jobs - rewind/resuscitate old (burnt) motors. Reduced imports. Saved Kenya forex. Helped the environment. Provided Kenyans jobs. While he was juggling sales, accounting, etc... the employees were busy stealing & selling NEW copper wire (used to rewind motors) as scrap metal. He soon found out about the theft since income didn't match expenses. The copper wire was bought on credit. He paid the suppliers out of his pocket. Heart-broken. Fired ALL the employees. Shut the business down.
• Uncertainty - Uncertainty is very costly. The KShs careens all over the place because of Kenya's fragility. These ups & downs creates problems. Look at the volatility of the Kenya Shilling. Or how volatile oil prices caused KQ's KShs 7.5 billion loss on hedges. Or the 'fear' of violence in almost every election. Fear had gripped the country in 2002. and when Kenyans relaxed in 2007, it blew up in their faces.
• The 'politically-connected businessmen' - How does a legit business compete against these tax evaders who the KRA never touches? Goods come in from Somalia untaxed but nary a raid on Eastleigh or Mandera?

No wonder the markups in Kenya are so high... what else do you expect?

Therefore, even if I feel I am being over-charges vis-a-vis Amazon's prices... my hats off to the businesspeople/entrepreneurs in Kenya!

Idiocy is the new fashion in Kenya

The National Environmental Management Agency in Kenya is supposed to safeguard Kenya's environment.

Yet, the agency plans to build their HQ on land in the Karura Forest - a fast disappearing forest within the greater Nairobi area.

Kenya - is there any good news?

KenGen & KPLC - They are raising their rates since Kenya has a shortfall of Hydropower. And the politicians bicker & dither over the water catchment areas. Even worse? We are setting ourselves up for a massive famine.

Nairobi City Council - Stupid by-laws.

• Dogs can't bark without permission. WTF?
• No rainwater harvesting. SMH.

Welfare Programs (Cash handouts) - Does anyone beside me see the potential for abuse? And where is the GoK going to get funds for this?

Subsidies - Overall, these drain the coffers while imposing a burden on the greater society. Fertilizer subsidies matter little if there is NO water.

Water Shortages - No action on water catchment areas. Forest being decimated. And prime forest land continues being 'allocated' to & by politicians.

Crime - Nairobbery deserves its name. No more "Green City in the Sun". Even the Prime Minister's office was broken into. So much for security! This article is a must read. Even Mombasa is being hit by the crime wave. I used to walk around Old Town at 1am... no fear... not the same anymore...

Guns & murders are commonplace...

Untreated sewage dumped into the ocean - Yuck and double yuck. Kenya's 'favorite' ocean town discharges all its RAW sewage into the sea. I am sure this will do wonders for tourism.

Post-election Murderers running free - Yep, running all over. Free as birds. And stealing whatever they can lay their hands on.

No wonder Prez Obama stayed away from Kenya...

Is there anything to redeem Kenya?

Corruption at KPC continues!

KPC's scams continue... The idiots (or thieves or both) at the Ministry of Energy wanted to blame spiraling fuel prices on everyone else BUT the crooks at KPC.

Kenyans pay (IMHO) at least an extra 8/- per litre of fuel thanks to corruption & inefficiencies in the government, Ministry of Energy, Kenya Pipeline Company, Kenya Refineries, Kenya Ports Authority...

Likoni ferries stall - DANGEROUS but Deja Vu

This is an earlier post on the danger of not using the old ferries.

And in a repeat of what happened earlier... two ferries stalled at the Likoni channel... Again and again and again...

Anglo-Leasing & amos wako

I believe that many of the senior politicians in the kibaki & moi governments benefitted from anglo-fleecing contracts.

Let us start with amos wako who approved these contracts. And now refuses to follow up on the cases filed against the anglo-fleecing folks. Why? Coz (IMHO) he is a beneficiary.

Then kibz... who refused to stop the scam... kibz refusal to halt anglo-fleecing scam in its tracks is the primary cause of his unpopularity today. 

Had kibz (did he benefit from anglo-fleecing?) kept his deal about zero tolerance to corruption, he would have beaten raila fair & square during the 2007 polls...

JKIA reminds you of _________?

****
BusinessWeek has an interesting article how (major) airports reflect the country at large.

So what does JKIA remind you of?

I think JKIA is a little like River Road... bustling but seedy. Folks sleeping on the sidewalks. Dirty. Multiple dukas on either side of the 'walkway/road'. Il-mannered staff. Unattended desks. Matatu stand.

muhoho-ho-ho (corrupt? inept? Or both?)back at KAA

Well, I guess it helps to be uhuru kenyatta's (Finance Minister & Deputy PM) uncle as well as a buddy who speaks the same language as kibz (Kenya's prez).

Yes, the reviled, corrupt & inept george muhoho is back at KAA in spite of all the accusations of incompetence. It seems he might have firm instructions to wrap up - and collect the cash on - all the funny deals within the next 12 months. Before others get wise to the 'deals' especially the long-dated land leases. Yep, sell out Kenya. Quicker the better. After all 2012 is not that far away!!!

muhoho & friends forget - or do not care - that JKIA could be the real hub of Africa. That Nairobi could be a thriving 'shopping' destination for transit passengers. That this can create thousands of well-paying jobs for Kenyans. Diversify our economy. Enrich all Kenyans.

No... All that is NOT relevant because quick cash for 'personal' use can be made by entering into opaque deals with 'unknown' or connected firms. Allocate land to unknown foreign airlines (OneJetOne) & developers (the so-called Qatari based Afro-Asian Investment Company) while starving locally-grown Kenyan airlines of growth opportunities.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/556420/-/u3r8h1/-/index.html

Anyone out there who thinks all is above board here?

Raila - The New Government Spokesperson

alfie 'goebbels' mutua used to be the purveyor of idiotic statements. Of course, his derision the then "mere junior senator from Illinois" aka Barack Obama... the now "President of the USA".

Anyway, raila has started defending every scam in town. Or so it seems. Why is he being the whipping boy?

KAA + OneJetOne + muhoho + Afro-Asian Investments (some fake Qatari firm): I have no faith in georgie muhoho whose only claim to fame is his familial connections with uhuru kenyatta. Of course, KQ is upset at the KAA giving away Embakasi airport while KQ has no space to park its planes!

KPC + Triton: I am not sure but a good source told me that raila implied that no money was lost to Triton. And there seems to be pressure on KCB to give KPC-Triton a pass... And then there is this article making the rounds.

Mau Forest: What happened? RAO has backed off calls for kicking the squatters out. Kenya needs to rain & water that the Mau complex provides.

"Lesser Corruption" defence: What is RAO smoking? Grand corruption is alive & kicking... and all he could say was that the current corruption is 'less' than prior years? Whereas I can forgive him for 'forgiving' small time corruption but NOT the mega-scams in the billions e.g. KPC-Triton...

alfie 'goebbels' mutua must be smirking at RAO's gaffes!

Kenya's Public University Students - Idiots?

I have never understood the need for violence & destruction. I never damaged university property (well... not knowingly) even when I felt the administration was wrong. And in dan 'illiterate' moi's heydays, the administration was often wrong...

How does burning university buildings - and looting computers - help the kenyatta (or any other) university students? They only hurt themselves & not the administration or lecturers...

When raila allowed University of Nairobi students to 'protest' in the streets... they messed up by destroying the goods & premises of various businesses...

And university 'graduates' wonder why many businessfolk refuse to hire the Univ grads... Coz the 'grads' are plain Idiots!

(I am all for PEACEFUL demonstrations or those that do not destroy what is 'mine')

Coldtusker = MP = 2012

MPs want to be paid Kes 1,500,000 a month. That is 18,000,000/- per year!!!

And they do jackshit. Some of the constituencies have a GDP less than Kes 100,000,000/-...

Bastards... but not if I get elected as an MP in 2012... and make Kes 1,500,000/- per month...

Sameer Africa goofs!

I was flipping thru the 2008 Annual Report for Sameer Africa...

The notice on pg 6 says the AGM will be held on Friday 3rd April 2009 at 11am.

The proxy form says the AGM will be held on 2nd April 2009 at 11am.

They produce one Annual Report a year... they have one AGM... can't they get the date right?

Investing in Property in Kenya is foolish

Another reason why I do NOT believe investing in property in Kenya. I also blogged on why I don't invest in property in Kenya... Here is the link to that.

AFTER planning approvals, AFTER construction permits, AFTER construction, AFTER occupancy permits, AFTER... AFTER... the government wakes up and condemns the Westgate and Ukay malls.

I do not have the full details on the matter... nor who is right or wrong...

The concept of property rights simply does not exist in Kenya.

Examples:

- Land-grabbing by the political elite (jomo 'crooked wa ngengi' kenyatta & cronies) in the 60s & 70s.

- Land purchased from the 'White Farmers' redistributed to the politically connected. Real landless lose to the already landed in the 60s.

- Expropriation of property & businesses of Kenyan-Asians in the 1960s & 1970s.

- Forcible removal/eviction of 'up-country' folk during the Likoni clashes in the 1990s.

- dan moi would sign away government land as a reward for his cronies.

- Forcible removal (through violence) of Kikuyus from many sections of the Rift Valley in 2008. 

- Fake Title Deeds and 'missing' files at the Lands Office.
- Adverts in the newspaper on a regular basis about caveats on land for sale (or not for sale).
- Signboards all over Nairobi proclaiming "This Land Is Not For Sale".

I believe in investing in Africa (incl Kenya) but not in land or property. For residents/citizens,I recommend at most a modest (or affordable within their portfolio) house but not much more than that!

Now... I am thinking how much exposure Kenyan banks have to 'condemned' land or buildings. I am worried...

Of course, while pretending to care about the environment... the government is on a tear condemning fragile eco-systems like the Tana Delta & Masai Mara.

Taxes to go up - Kenya

Whereas uhuru kenyatta claims that the government will not increase local or foreign debt to bridge the deficit. Also he claims no increase in taxes.

Yeah, right.

Taxes were raised on alcoholic drinks in late 2008. Add extra fees that the municipalities keep on dreaming up. Add interest payments on the sale of government bills & bonds...

And all this adds up as a tax. Indirect but a tax!

How can uhuru keep a straight face when MPs & ministers pay (almost) zero taxes on their income?

uhuru defended the grand coalition government as something 'we' chose. Who is we? I am NOT included in that 'we'. A bunch of thieving & greedy bastards chose to create 42 member cabinet is NOT 'we'.

And GoK ministers get at least 2 high-end gas guzzler (including uhuru) as well as 'chase cars'. And they drive at high speeds which is fuel inefficient!!!

The official car of the PM of Japan (MUCH, MUCH larger economy) is a regular Toyota Century or Lexus LS600hl.

I wonder what the Finance Minister of India ( 1.1bn people & MUCH larger economy) get as his official car... I betcha it is not even close to uhuru's gas-guzzling cars!

Singapore's prez has a 2001 Lexus LS430 & 1999 Mercedes Benz s320L. Dare I even compare Singapore's Per Capita Income with Kenya's?

And the PM of Singapore usually travels in a MB S280. No gas-guzzling Hummer!!!

Kenya Airports Authority - Another Scam! - Again!

It seems the nincompoops (or merely the corrupt) at KAA are at it again.

KAA's CEO is a george muhoho-ho-ho (whose nephew, uhuru kenyatta,  is Kenya's Finance Minister & a Deputy Prime Minister) who has extensive political connections. Of course, GM got the job not on merit but thanks to his golfing buddy mwai kibaki (Kenya's current president).

For those unfamilar with uhuru's background... His father was Kenya's first president & an internationally infamous land-grabber. jomo kenyatta (real name kamau aka 'crooked' wa ngengi) never saw a piece of land he didn't like. For free or at a huge discount to market value!

Anyway, so GM heads KAA which runs jomo kenyatta int'l airport (crooked loved naming public projects after himself) in Nairobi. JKIA was built in the 1970s & has seen little improvement since. It is a small, stuffy, congested & lousy airport for a city the size/status of Nairobi.

It is amazing that Kenya Airways has managed to grow despite JKIA being its hub. I find using JKIA to be torture.

So... it seems that a 'politically connected' airline (OneJetOne) will be allocated the old Embakasi Airport in exchange for (fill in the blank). 

As an FYI, OneJetOne's parent (AirSouthAsia) does not have permission to fly out of it's home base in Sri Lanka.

Whereas JKIA faces immense challenges especially as regards congestion, there have been half-hearted attempts to increase the size of the airport. Nothing major has been done so far. A prior plan was rife with problems & rejected by the airlines. It seems that some officials in KAA had more than a passing fiduciary interest.

It seems OneJetOne was given preferential treatment in this deal. Instead of advertising to all & sundry about the possibilities of using the old airport, there was a hush-hush element to the newspaper advert & subsequent lease deal.

Using the past as history, I would not be surprised to learn that georgie muhohohoho & cronies were getting a slice of the action!

And to make matters even worse, one of the directors of OneJetOne is a former PS (gerrishon ikiara) in charge of airlines & airports. And by dint of his government position, he was on Kenya Airways' board of directors & privy to KQ's future plans!

And on a smaller scale, there is the endemic corruption regarding parking at JKIA.  KAA does not properly maintain parking markings at JKIA which means police officers wait to pounce on innocent motorists!

The Short-Term Parking at JKIA is inadequate & Long-Term Parking is woefully inadequate. The LTP is dark & deserted... you could be killed & no-one would find your body for day!

NSSF (Kenya) vs Temasek (Singapore)

I admire Lee Kuan Yew (the former PM of Singapore) for the discipline he installed in Singapore.

As has been many times before, economically Kenya & Singapore were at 'similar' levels in 1963 except Kenya has much more 'potential'.

Singapore had LKY. Kenya had crooked wa ngengi (aka jomo 'land grabbing' kenyatta) & then dan 'uber-thief' moi.

Singapore has a Sovereign Wealth Fund called Temasek. Acknowledging deficiencies in managing the SWF, Singapore has hired heavy hitters who happen to be expats.

Kenya has NSSF. The same corrupt board is 're-hired' even after losing billions in scandals.

Sigh.

Kenya Airport Authority - Corrupt & Inept

The idiots at Kenya Airport Authority are it again!

The corrupt & inept (yep, both) could not 'control' the electricity outage situation at the Mombasa 'International' Airport.

Shouldn't MIA have an emergency electricity generator that powers basic functions so the airport can continue running albeit at a 'slower' pace?

What about a contingency plan to provide chairs, shade or water to passengers stuck at the airport?

I have railed against the corrupt & inept idiots running KAA & how they sabotage Kenya's tourism industry.

This a mere sample... there are dozens of horror stories of KAA's ineptness!
July 2007 - Landing lights out
Oct 2008 - No generators at the airport

I feel sorry for the passengers, tourists, KQ & other airlines operating in Kenya.

roocy kibaki blames saitoti for molo deaths

roocy kibaki blames george saitoti for the Molo deaths!

If this was not tragic, this is a dark comedy.

roocy's hubby, the Kenyan prez (if you believe sam 'cant count' kivuitu) has been in the government since 1963 as Finance Minister, VP or Prez. And Kenyans have been raped by the politicians since 1963.

Land-grabbing by kenyatta's regime. All sorts of other scandals during moi's regime. Anglo-fleecing, KPC-Triton & maize scams during his regime.

She says that MPs should use their humongous salaries to pay for starving constituents. Well, what about her horrendous large salary & office expenses for doing jackshit? And her hubby who gets paid more than MOST presidents or prime ministers in DEVELOPED countries!

How does she blame saitoti (I hold no torch that thief & incompetent either) for not providing 'civic' education?
Don't schools teach - or common sense - that petrol is FLAMMABLE & dangerous?

So is Saitoti on the way out?

News Break: One day after the Molo Fuel Fire, a railcar derailed near Naivasha with 100,000 litres of UNPROCESSED COOKING OIL. And the thieves were at it again. Oblivious of the danger. Using this oil as 'food' can kill due to impurities. All I can say is expect a few more sick people. Or a few more dead.