Restructure, the Way to Go

In the series of what needs to be done in capacity building, i shared on the five R's of capacity building. First, we had to reform our mindset and accept that our common destiny can only be achieved by our sense of individual responsibility. Reform the mindset from corruption, dependency and employment to become vessels of utility creation with focus on resource mobilization build on a pedestal of innovation and creativity. http://thecountyperspective.blogspot.com/2013/08/think-local-act-global.html We then sailed away from the individual point of view and put it in a societal perspective. This defined our second R, the need to re fabricate the social fabric to ensure a self sufficient mini economy (county). http://thecountyperspective.blogspot.com/2013/08/think-local-act-global_22.html
This morning, I was engaging my high school classmate and friend Bradley Imbwaka on why i am afraid devolution is in jeopardy. This does not indicate that am a wet blanket, but within the brackets of rationality, i am of the view the jubilee government's commitment to devolution lacks the zeal and the synergy. Politics aside, today in the third R, i will share on the need to restructure the legal framework especially with regard to our public financial management policies.
You must remember that we not only devolved 47 governments but also 47 mini economies, most of which have got unique characteristics with regard to economic activities, social fabric and political affiliations. This counties each have got different and exclusive business cycles. For instance, Bungoma county and Trans nzioa county where majority of the community are maize farmers, investment activities and business is booming in late September and early October when harvesting is intensive. February to July is characterised by low activities and starved businesses due to lack of money in the pockets of residents.
Come to Meru county, the story is different. Unlike Trans nzioa county, the Miraa farmers enjoy their harvest in a different season especially in April & May season, defining a different business cycle. Come to think of other counties like Kericho, Nandi and Kiambu where they practice tea farming, you will find a different timeline. What about Narok, Uasin Gishu and Nakuru for those planting barley and wheat?
This explains the uniqueness of each county. If for example the amount and period of harvest has got a positive relationship with the level of economic and investment activities, then each county has got a unique business cycle. For the county governments to regulate business activities within their jurisdictions and ensure a perpetual healthy and vibrant  economic environment then prudent public financial management practices are necessary.
Come to think of it, fiscal and monetary policies need to be devolved, mark my words, fiscal and monetary policies, not the central bank. However, if it is possible that mechanisms can be put up to devolve the CBK, well and good that would be a greater achievement. In the counties, while harvest time, all sectors be it transport, banking, construction and building, retail are booming, thanks to a community with pockets full of money; proceeds from sell of agricultural harvest. But for a purely agricultural society, what will be the situation away from harvest time? People with empty pockets, businesses will be denied revenues, and investments will shrink.
Can the county government provide the remedy? oooh yes, in low season, this is the time for the county government to commission its projects and initiate public expenditures. this will pumb money into the pockets of the broke residents, eventually business will come back to its knees and the cycle continues. But unless the available legal framework is restructured to allow prudent public expenditure policies unique with every county this will not happen in the near future. Besides, debt management and budgeting processes need to be restructured too.
Enough for today, but remember devolution is the means, build up capacity is the end, do not loose your zeal, do not relent in the building of the nation, just keep it here for more, share your views with me and i will appreciate.

The mind is the greatest asset

The academic journey might sometimes be frustrating and unrewarding. For sometimes i have been thinking about what if i had to take an initiative earlier in my life to invest in my future materially besides academically. Maybe the world by then was all academics and all employment. i do not regret my academic en-devours, its quite an achievement. But now push has come to shove, and am no longer a subject of indecision. recently i visited my cousin running a consultancy firm http://eoc.co.ke/ and we shared a word or two.
the world is changing and the beauty of the future is for those who are zealous in chasing the beauty of their dreams. Personally I would be so happy to get a well paying job, but at the same time i will regret for taking up the job for the opportunity cost i will be paying will be quite a fortune. my cousin Patrick told me to believe in the intelligence of my mind. " the reason why you went to the business school is not to help other people create wealth" he said, "you must never succumb to failure, believe in yourself and decide what you really want to do with your life." not that i have experienced any failure but as a matter of fact any good course that leads to glory is full of obstacles and hurdles, and sometimes total failure is a normal confrontation.
"If you believe you are intelligent, then never give up, use your mind to invest in your future, do not succumb to fate," he continued. Am happy to know that at such like a time, such words could refresh my anticipation. Finding a job is quite a task, and paying rent is another painful expenditure. I know my friend, we might be hitting the streets at the same time and you might be traumatized by your joblessness. This is my word to you, believe in your mind, think about what really you want to do, let not fate scare you but pray hard for prayer will unlock the closed doors and will open heaven on your shoulders. shalom
 

think local act global

In the series of what needs to be done in capacity building in this devolution process, yesterday i mentioned the five 'R's that are the prerequisite of an effective devolve system. today, i will still remind you that devolution is the means to that which we purpose to achieve, don't forget. The fast R being the reformation. Marcus Garvey said reform the mind, then you will definitely reform the body, therefore, let us offer our minds and sacrifice the past, our culture and traditions to pave way for the mental renewal, that is consistent with this dispensation, motivated by a bright future.
Re-fabricate
Today i will share about the need to re-fabricate our social fabric. capacity building is multidimensional, it is dynamic and diverse, for any successful county society, all pundits from all walks of life should be brought on board. For instance,we need accountants and auditors to develop our control system, we need finance analyst and economists, to guide in the articulation of economically discrete policies, we need doctors to keep our health sector running, teachers to perpetuate the journey towards an empowered society, entrepreneurs to create utility and so on and so forth.
And that brings me to my point, what defines the social fabric of your county? are you a peace loving society that will attract people from other quarters to come and engage in business activities? does the county society reflect the face of Kenya where all tribes are comfortable and busy engaging in value addition activities? what about the labor force, can you get skilled, semiskilled and unskilled labor? what kind of entreprenuers are in your county, are they purely farmpreneurs, technopreneurs, churchpreneurs, juakalpreneurs, bankpreneurs or are they a mixture?
Enough asked, if the county society is a homogeneous one, then this is why we need to re-fabricate, for devolution has set up mini economies that will require all kinds and levels of activities. the farmers will need the freight services from the matatu operator to deliver his produce to town. the unskilled mama mboga who will purchase from the farmer will need the bank employee to purchase her veges. the farmer will also need the banker for a loan to expand his production. the farmer too will need an agricultural extension officer for guidance services, he will need still a veterinary officer.
the business community will need banks for financial services, the residents will need schools and colleges to educate the youthful population, and doctors will be neede too to ensure a healthy society and the circle is endless, but if you ever think about capacity in your county, think about the people, their orientations and their diversity because it is highest time Kenyans celebrate each other and were more united in purpose and mind. Shalom

Think local, act global

Devolution is here to stay, in fact, our new constitution is described by other African state as a very ambitious piece of paper. However, we must understand that devolution is not an end to itself, it is a means to an end. so maybe you are asking, so what is the end? and i will tell you, the end is build up capacity, it is the brought in input relative to the expected output. So lets not be overwhelmed by excitement, for a lot needs to be done to reach the utopia, the land of idealism, the land of excesses, plenty and abundance, the Kenya we are dreaming of.
What business shall we then undertake to reach the end? According to me, there's no end, there's no destiny, there's no relenting and there's no about turn, for change is not defined by an end. In short, our business is change. We should be in the business of reformation, re-fabrication, restoration, reconstruction and restructuring.
 reformation
We need to reform our mind, if that is the fast step of our endless journey. Arrest the attitude of dependency and inability, crush the mindset of sycophancy and employment. Refine ourselves with utility creation, tune our minds to conform to the changing world and seek to be guided by informativeness.
education is a weapon that will liberate our minds from that which we would rather break away from, so lets keep learning. once we are learned, we need to have a sense of personal responsibility to build this capacity, nobody owns devolution, and nobody can leverage themselves on experience, therefore to effect this new darling, collective responsibility is indispensable. therefore, i insist if there's anything to reform is our mind, configure ourselves with a sense of responsibility, positive to change and exhibit due diligence in the process of capacity building.
next time, i will tell you why we need to re-fabricate our resources and machinations, keep it here.

KIAMBU COUNTY; NOW I KNOW

The yapping and yelling about the imbalance in regional development is guided by ignorance and cheap talk; now i know. Personally i come from the large and extensive county of Bungoma which is endowed with resources that can be tapped to realise a self sufficient society. But the question still begging is whether the problem of regional imbalance in terms of development will be solved by the advent of devolution.
Recently, i was previledged to tour the heart of Kiambu county in the company of friends and family. to be specific i went to the town of Githunguri. My journey was from Nakuru ending in the interiors of Githunguri villages. I was suprised to discover that the roads from uplands all the way to githunguri township was a dilapidated road that was worse than people outside central kenya could ever imagine. However, theres this misconception in other regions that all roads in central kenya are tarmacked and well mantained, that is a lie for sure.
but what i realised about this community is the level of organisation, the unity and diligence of the people. Not that they have good roads, nor do they have large tracts of land, but still they are a rich society. Unlike my Bungoma people who have large tracts of land, this community that is densely populated with small pieces of land put it to its maxmum use. in every junction, you will get a milk collection centre with farmiliar brand names such as Fresha, Limuru and Brookside. after every five to six kilometer is a tea factory or even coffee factories.
Githunguri town is bustling with many activities with large and established banking halls and other conglomerates which have set foot here. this community is primarily small scale farmers who have gone against all odds to establish a vibrant business community. i beg to differ with the clinches in the air that central kenya is more developed than other regions in terms of infrastructure. The fact remains, in terms of infrastructure, we are all the same.
So you ask, where is the difference then? the difference is organisation. Unlike other communities, these people are organized. Dairy farmers have formed unions and saccos and put up factories to add value to their produce. coffee farmers found strength in their unity to set up coffee mills and thus magnify their bargaining power. the banking sector seeing such level of diligence has come in as business partners with the community. tea farmers will only worry about production and not the market, agrovets are well situated in every village. we have no excuse not to empower ourselves, instead we should stop agitating and do these small things as they look, maybe one day we shall change the reality of our communities.