![MwangiBonnie's tweet photo. My fellow Kenyans,
Many of you have seen my recent posts about the deadly cancer that is corruption in our country.
In my last post, I tried to paint a picture of the disconnect between our potential as a country and the economic circumstances we find ourselves in today, and the connection between corruption and the incalculable pain and suffering and cruelty that is meted out every single day to the most vulnerable among us by thieves operating out of public office.
And after covering the goings-on in Mandera County, I told you that in my honest opinion, our governments exist to cater for the filthy-rich lifestyles of the vilest and most corrupt among us, at the expense of everyone else.
I received tremendous support from all of you, for speaking on behalf of so many struggling Kenyans who don’t have a voice, or the audience necessary to spark the much-needed discussion about where we are heading as a country.
But even with all that support, I have received messages asking me to be careful. One compatriot told me: “prepare to be relentlessly pursued, threatened, enticed, guilt-tripped, and gas-lit”. This is from a someone who knows how our government operates, and how it uses violence and its monopoly on power to silence those who question why politicians are stealing so much.
I am not naive about the dangers of speaking up and calling out thieves who control state machinery, and who possess the ability to shut me up in a few seconds. But I will tell you why we CAN NOT and MUST NOT keep quiet.
In November of 2023, I stumbled upon the story of a young man from Turkana, Calvin Esekon Esewit , who, despite scoring an A-, and getting an acceptance into medical school, spent two years not knowing whether his dreams of becoming a doctor would ever come true. I was moved by that story in a way that I can never adequately explain. I could not understand how it is possible that, in our country, a young man who appears to be every parent’s dream child can spend two years in limbo while we as a country possess the ability to invest in our best and brightest. And so, I spent weeks trying to chase down Calvin to see how I could help him attend college. After a lot of searching, I finally found Calvin, and by this time he had managed to get some help and is now in college. While this story has a great ending, it did not to be this way. And we know that the number of cases that end like this, with some success, are a small fraction of those ones which end tragically, with broken dreams. This is what happens when corruption consumes anything and everything in a country. It destroys lives. See attached video to learn about Calvin's story.
I tell you all this story because it provides context to today's topic.
For one story like this one that you see on the news, there are millions that never make the news. But they are real situations, nonetheless. There are millions of your compatriots who are devastated by this killer cancer of corruption that is perpetuated by people that you and I have put into public office ostensibly to improve our lives. They go into these offices and abuse the trust you bestowed upon them and deny you and everyone else a decent opportunity in life.
You see, Calvin and millions of other victims of this shameless level of corruption and plunder have no voice, and no real ability to look the thieves that are destroying lives and generations of Kenyans in eye and tell them to stop this unbearable pain and the cruelty.
This is the reason I embarked on this journey to attempt to expose this shameful situation. Watch the attached video of Calvin’s situation, and I am sure that you will agree that the millions of Calvins in our country need a voice, NO MATTER THE RISK.
The thieves that are destroying the futures of millions of children just so they can have beachside homes in Miami, Dubai and other places count on the idea that most people will fear for their lives, and therefore not speak up. They count on the growing apathy in the Kenyan psyche. But we cannot give in to that. We cannot cower to thieves. We must look them straight in the eye and tell them that they MUST STOP. If we don't, our children and their children are guaranteed the same level of cruelty.
And so with that, today I want to talk about the utterly insane crime scene that is Turkana County. I don’t know any other way to describe it, other than, it is a “shit-show”. Just follow along, and let me know if you disagree.
As I did in my previous commentary, I will ask you to indulge me a little bit, and allow me to use a couple of pictures, because pictures speak louder than a thousand words.
The first picture shows the state-of-the art County Government offices, that the County Government of Turkana decided to invest an ungodly amount of money on. Close to a billion shillings.
The second picture is a classroom in session. In Turkana County.
These two realities are occurring in parallel in the same county, at the same time.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me just tell you that I do not go out of my way to find bad news. I want stories that would help re-affirm our belief in the fundamental decency of human beings.
When I find good news as I review these Counties’ decisions and how they behave with our resources, I will be the first one to report it to you.
But I don’t have any good news today. I have bad news. If you read my commentary yesterday and were offended by what you saw, I am afraid you might not make it to the end of this article, because what you will hear will be quite shocking.
The cancer of corruption, particularly at the County Government level, is worse than your wildest imagination.
And so, as I like to do, I like to start off by putting some numbers on the table for us to use as reference points.
Bear in my that all the information I put in this article is publicly available. Nothing came to me through a whistle blower.
The first number is KSH 100 Billion. With a B. In the last decade or so, you and I, through the National Government, has sent over KSH 100 billion to Turkana County. To support recurrent expenditure, and development. For example, in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, we sent KSH 12.6 billion. In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, we sent KSH 11.4 billion. And on and on and on.
The second number is 1 million. This is the population of Turkana County.
The third number is KSH 18.4 billion. This was Turkana County’s budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
The fourth number is KSH 190 million. This was the amount of money that Turkana County was able to generate on its own accord within the county, from all its investments and other activities in the period in question. This number is an important proxy, in my view, for the value of the county’s economic prospects for the foreseeable future, and to people that are not driven by greed and corruption, would be an important consideration when they are thinking about how and where to deploy your money as taxpayers.
If you are doing the math, Turkana County, for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, was only able to raise 1% of the funds needed to keep the lights on. 99% came from you and I, and a tiny amount from grants.
The next number is KSH 129, 040. This is the average ANNUAL [emphasis added] income of a resident of Turkana County (https://t.co/0QidR8TWMK). Keep that number in mind when we are discussing the massive theft of public funds by Turkana County leaders.
The next number is 80%. 80% of the residents of Turkana County live below the poverty line. They have a really difficult time putting food on the table. (https://t.co/EwchQSJ6xb).
The next number is KSH 12 Million. This is the basic salary of the Governor of Turkana County before other benefits that, as I explained yesterday, can often double the salary. Remember the “housing allowance”, the “hardship allowance”, the “commuter allowance”, the “risk allowance”, the “extraneous allowance”, etc.? Remember that? I still cannot figure out, for the life of me, what “extraneous” means in the context of County business, but we don’t time to dwell on this.
The next number is 93. The Governor of Turkana County makes 93 times the average Turkana County resident’s annual income. 93 times!
The next number is 82%. This was the percentage of people that were illiterate in Turkana County in 2013 (https://t.co/CjdhTmMdnI). Could not read or write.
A point to note about the above literacy figure. Ten years later, and despite over KSH 100 billion is spent in Turkana County, including many billions for education, that literacy rate HAS NOT CHANGED ONE BIT. Only 20% of the population can read or write today. (https://t.co/YZl8ttQIa8.)
KSH 829 million. This is how much it cost to build the County Government offices. Yes, the ones shown in the first picture.
KSH 120 million. The County Government decided that it was prudent to pay a contractor KSH 120 million to construct the Governor’s personal residence. Get this, even after this payment, no construction took place. The money was stolen. All of it.
KSH 90 Million. This is the amount that the County Government paid to another contractor, to build the Governor a mansion, having previously lost KSH 120 million. So, the tally for the Governor’s residence now stands at KSH 210 million. Never mind that the limit allowed by law is KSH 45 million.
KSH 5 billion. In the last days of his term in office, an outgoing Governor of Turkana, @GovernorNanok , sought to inflate pending bills by adding KSH 5 billion so that it can be paid to his criminal cartel. KSH 5 billion.
We have our key numbers, ladies and gentlemen, so let us discuss.
So, we have a county that is dead last in literacy, and in the top 2 of the poorest counties in the republic. Only 20% of the population can read. The Governor earns 92 times the average citizen. The Governor lives in a house that cost over KSH 200 million. When he leaves his house in the morning, he goes to his office that cost KSH 829 million. And this is all happening when 80% of the County residents struggle to put food on the table.
Those are the facts, and they are not in dispute.
During the same time, the County Government geniuses decide to build the Speaker of the County Assembly a house. And a home office, and a garage. The house was initially estimated to cost KSH 75 million. But due to circumstances that not a soul in the government could explain to auditors, the contract expired before the house was completed, and the County Government found a new contractor to complete the job for an additional KSH 29 million.
But this palace in the jungle worth apparently worth over KSH 100 million in Turkana County was not enough. The County proceeded to build the Speaker a guest house for another KSH 19 million, and a few other amenities, and so the whole cost went to KSH 276 million!
The legal limit for a Speaker’s house is KSH 35 million, and they spent close to KSH 130 million just for one residence.
By this time, I am sure you are getting tired of these obscene numbers. You and I work, and pay taxes. Nobody pays you 92 times the income your average neighbor is making. And for sure nobody will drop KSH 100 million to build you a house. These are the perks of working in government in a poor country. Go figure.
And so, as a country, we need to answer for ourselves the question I posed yesterday, which is, what is the point of government? What is its role in our lives. If this level of criminality and pillaging can occur in our country in the midst of so much poverty, questioning the need for government is a totally valid question.
I said in my last post that, when the average citizen looks at the thug on the street and the government, and is unable to discern any meaningful difference between them, that society from that point on is on its journey to becoming a failed state. A journey to anarchy.
Over the last two months or so, Kenyans have been shouting at the top of their lungs, begging for their government to listen. To hear them out. Kenyans have asked that their government stop this unbelievable level of plunder. Dozens of Kenyans have died, thousands injured, and many more are missing today. To this day, the people that govern us continue to use the power of the gun to subdue Kenyans, until they can take everything in their sight.
And so, as a society, we all have to ask whether today there is any difference between the thug on the street and our governments. Every Kenyan will have to answer this question for themselves.
And before answering this question, everyone needs to remember the many Calvins in our society. Smart, upright children whose only crime is to be born in an unforgiving, lawless, and corrupt purgatory that is Kenya today.
For myself, I have concluded that there is no difference between the thug on the street and our governments, county and national alike. If you can see any meaningful difference, let me know. I am willing to listen.
So despite over KSH 100 billion in money sent to Turkana County, there is almost no measurable improvement in people’s life today. None. And it makes sense, when you look at how that money is spent.
I want you to forget for a second the obscene obsession by the County Government with spending ungodly amounts of money on themselves. The houses, etc.
If you step back and look at how the government is actually spending the hard-earned money on other things, you will be depressed.
I am telling you that I wept three times in the middle of the night trying to make sense of this crazy situation in Turkana County. Three times. I have never imagined that human beings can be so greedy and cold-blooded.
Think about this: In the couple of years I reviewed, the County spent around KSH 400 million annually in “tourism” initiatives, including marketing, and apparently upgrading certain facilities. KSH 400 million for tourism. In Turkana County. In 1 year.
KSH 400 million per year in marketing and other money pits.
The government’s own website says that the county gets around 3000 visitors per month. Around 36,000 per year. That’s them saying that, on their website.
Are you curious to know the return on that KSH 400 million investment?
I have an answer for you. Remember that I told you that the County has never raised more than KSH 200 million in a year within the county, despite its KSH 18.4 billion budget? Let me walk you through the breakdown of the absolutely embarrassing shit-show that is the County Government’s “own source revenue” operations.
In 2022-2023, the County Government collected KSH 190 million locally against their KSH 18.4 billion budget. 1% of the budget.
Remember, there is absolutely no requirement on the County to cut costs, or achieve certain local revenue targets today.
So they raised KSH 45 million in single business permits, KSH 72 million in CESS, KSH 8 million in market fee, KSH 9 million in “slaughter fees”. And then finally, there is the return on the tourism investment that you were looking for. A whopping KSH 209, 000 in “park fees”. KSH 209,000 in fees, after investing KSH 400 million. And so, take this as an example and extrapolate it across the entire budget, and you can see how one can spend KSH 100 billion and get NOTHING in return.
You don’t need to be a genius to see the absurdity of this situation. Let me explain using an example that should illustrate the utter dimwittedness of this situation.
Remember the KSH 100 billion sent to Turkana by you and me? Part of this amount is supposed to be for “service delivery”, or “recurrent expenditure”. Usually about 70% of the budget. The balance, 30%, is designed to go to development projects.
With that in mind, from KSH 100 billion, the County apparently has made KSH 30 billion worth of investments, right? 30% of the KSH 100 billion.
Now, if you employed someone to run a business for you, and they asked you to invest KSH 30 billion, which is no small fortune, at some point you would have to start seeing returns, right? That’s common sense, isn’t it?
So, when we look at the revenues streams that make up this paltry sum of KSH 190 million, and see things like “slaughter fees’ and “market fees”, what does it tell you?
It tells me there is no real “development” happening in that county. Trust me, if you had real development totaling KSH 30 billion, you would have corporate taxes in the hundreds of millions or billions, a booming real estate market, rising wages and standards of living, etc., low unemployment, etc. You would not have 80% of the people living hand-to mouth, and a County Government that can not afford to support itself for 5 days out of the year that has 365 days!
We do not have enough time, trust me, to deal with the shit-show that is Turkana County. Dealing with that mess would require a forensic team. I will just highlight a few of other “in your-face” type of theft of public funds, and then conclude my submission.
A government that has a budget of KSH 18.4 billion annually, and which has never raised more than 1% of its budget had the wisdom to do the following with your money:
· Spend KSH 222 million on a project building something that NOBODY uses. You got that right. They spent KSH 222 million on a facility that NOBODY uses. KSH 222 million gone to waste, in a county that is dead last in pretty much all measures of human progress.
· Remember the County Government offices that cost KSH 829 million? The County spent KSH 82 million on “air-conditioning” for that building.
· Despite the County Spending hundreds of millions for the top three officers of the County, the Governor and his Deputy, in the 2022-2023 year, illegally charged the county (you and I) KSH 2.2 million in housing allowance!
· Built two facilities for KSH 16 million, that were completed, but NOBODY uses them.
· Entered into a contract for the construction of a plastic use facility for KSH 13 million in 2021. The contractor gets paid KSH 4.9 million, and has never been seen since.
· Paid out KSH 62 million in salaries that were not supportable in just one year. They could not point to anybody and say, that is who we paid.
· Paid out KSH 27 million in legal fees that nobody could say what they related to. And the County’s Legal Advisor, who, in 2022-2023, had a budget of KSH 123 million, apparently did not know anything about it!
· Had an outstanding bill at Kenya Revenue Authority in the amount of KSH 486 million, that did not show up on the County Government’s financial statements. Think about that. KSH 486 million owned to the Kenya Revenue Authority, and that liability is not on the financial statements! This only means that someone took those funds for themselves, which is why the liability would be missing from the county’s books.
· Could not account for KSH 367 million in expenditures for 2022-2023. KSH 367 million, in unexplained expenses.
· Awarded a contract worth over KSH 200 million to a bidder with no bank statement, against the law. This contract was entered into and approved before the statutory time after the bidding process lapsed. Someone was in a hurry to get paid. KSH 200 million, illegally awarded to a bidder who did not have a 6-month bank statement.
· Apparently purchased KSH 1.5 billion in assets in 2022-2023, but kept no records of the said assets. For this reason, NOBODY can verify where these assets are located. KSH 1.5 billion.
Let me just say this. In my last article, the most common critique was that it was too long. Too many words.
I did not intend to make another long article.
Trust me when I tell you this, we do not have the time to detail half of the problems in Turkana County. For just 1 year! We do not.
Now, you recall my point about how societies descend to madness and anarchy. In our country today, our leaders are accusing those of us who are agitating for honest and transparent governance of being traitors to the country. They call us anarchists, criminals, and merchants of chaos. They are questioning our patriotism.
You have all seen the government and its horde of propagandists threatening the Ford Foundation and others because they may have helped civil society keep the lights on, and investigative journalists to have the capacity to continue to do the Lord’s work of investigating criminality in government. As though citizens are so dumb and ignorant, that they cannot see what is going on.
The reason why millions of Calvins in this country will never graduate from college and earn a decent living is not because of the Ford Foundation. No. It is because of the thieves we have in office today, like the ones in Turkana County.
In this post, I copy our leaders, the President and his deputy.
I copy them because I want them to help Kenyans understand the following conundrum, about crime and criminals.
There is nothing so special or peculiar about criminals or where they pop up. There are criminals in the US, Canada, France, and other places. Just like we have criminals in Kenya.
The difference between banana republics and failed states, and civilized societies, is WHAT we do to and about criminals.
In civilized societies, criminals are prosecuted and punished heavily. They are shunned. In some places, those charged with serious crimes such as corruption are executed. These are societies that are committed to sending the message that corruption, which robs citizens of their rights, is not acceptable. And they demonstrate this commitment by heavily punishing those who steal from the most vulnerable in society.
In Kenya, we see the opposite. Criminals are exalted. They are promoted and embraced in government. It was just last week that the president unveiled his nominees for his Cabinet. Among them, are the likes of @HassanAliJoho , @GovWOparanya , and Davis Chirchir, ALL people who have been accused or charged with massive corruption against Kenyans.
And am sure you remember that I mentioned @GovernorNanok , the man who tried to steal KSH 5 billion in his last days in office.
Would you believe it if I told you that he works in government, at State House? He plunded billions of your money, got no measurable improvement in the lives of his subjects, and now has a government job in State House. Let that sink in.
And so, the question is, how is it that in a country of 55 million people, with thousands of highly qualified people who have never ever stolen from Kenyans, he ends up with the criminals and thieves in the government, despite the fact that their crimes are in the public domain? How is this possible?
Is it possible that these thieves possess a certain unique ability to run government, save Kenyans billions, and solve problems in a way that the president performs a cost-benefit analysis, and the benefits outweigh the costs of their theft?
If not, what message does it send to Kenyans, when their own president puts into office known thieves?
I think that is a fair question, don’t you?
@EAukot @rigathi @WilliamsRuto @OkiyaOmtatah @citizentvkenya @NationBreaking @TIKenya @CNN @TurkanaCountyKE](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GT3MUq6WgAAWSr7.jpg)
![MwangiBonnie's tweet photo. Yesterday, I wrote some commentary about the rot in our country, focusing on how our County Governments are pillaging our resources. That commentary, which almost broke the internet, shocked the conscience of the nation.
In that commentary, I made the audacious claim that our governments, including County Governments, appear to exist solely to maintain the lifestyles of the most corrupt among us.
I am here today to tell you what I meant by that.
To do this, I need to try and paint a picture for you so that you can easily spot the problem. I will focus on Mandera County only as an example. I am not focusing on Mandera County because I have any specific animus towards the county. No sir, no ma’am. We have to start somewhere, don’t we?
Please sit down, buckle up, and park for a second if you are driving. You will see why you might get very angry shortly.
Let us start with some context. I need to show you the two pictures I used yesterday, only because they can explain better than I can, the decision making of our leaders (first picture), and then, the result of those decisions (second picture), and that is the whole point of this discourse.
Let me start by putting some numbers on the table as reference points.
The first number is KSH 11.4 billion. This was the budget of Mandera County for the 2022/2023 fiscal year.
The second number is 2%. This is the percentage of the budget that Mandera County planned to raise from within the county, which would translate to approx. KSH 200 million. In other words, 98% of the KSH 11.4 billion would come into the county courtesy of you, me and everyone else. Your contribution is appreciated. But next time, please send more.
The third is KSH 67,518. This is the average ANNUAL [emphasis added] income of a resident of Mandera County. (https://t.co/GVp5NBPV53)
The fourth one is, KSH 12 million. This is the basic annual salary of the Governor of Mandera County, before other benefits.
The fifth one is 177. The Governor of Mandera’s salary is 177 times
higher than the average Mandera resident’s annual income. Let that sink in. 177 times higher than the income of the subjects he Lords over. For context, the Governor of Texas makes USD 153,000. This is about twice [emphasis added] as much as the average Texan makes. Not 177 times.
KSH 285 million. This is the figure provided by Mandera County Government as the cost of that Palace in the Jungle. You have to admit, it reminds you of Mobutu Sese Seko’s mansion that the old despot built in the middle of nowhere, squandering a sizeable chunk of DRC’s GDP to do so. The poor be damned.
1 million. This is the population of Mandera County.
89%. This is the poverty rate in Mandera. 89% of the county is poor. Indigent. (seethe County Government’s own website
)
Now that we have our key numbers, let us discuss.
As I said above, out of the 2022/2023 County Budget, which was KSH 11.4 billion, the County of Mandera was only able to raise KSH 200 million from within the county. In other words, 98% of the money the County spent for this fiscal year came to the county courtesy of you and I and every other Kenyan.
So, we can establish easily that the problem of how the County Government of Mandera spends money allocated to it is everyone’s problem.
I also said above that the whole County machinery could only raise KSH 200 million locally. Do you see the problem here? The County’s budget has absolutely no bearing on the economic activity or the economic prospects of the County. It is not anchored upon the economic reality of the County. Don’t get me wrong, there are valid reasons for us as a nation to endeavor to develop a region that has historically been ignored by successive administrations. But we also have, in my humble opinion, to be cognizant of the fact that our resources are scarce. We have to use our brains.
Bite this little nugget for more context: Nakuru County, with a population of over 2.1 million (more than twice the population of Mandera), received approximately KSH 13 billion from the National Government in the 2022/2023 fiscal year. KSH 11 billion for Mandera with 1 million residents, vs KSH 13 billion for Nakuru with 2.1 million people. Go figure.
Common sense would tell you that the foundation for a federal government system like ours is that each county should generally endeavor to live within its means. In other words, Mandera County should not expect that citizens in other counties will continue sending help to support Mandera forever. Otherwise, the whole system crumbles.
With that in mind, and remembering that Mandera is only able to raise 2% of its budget, what year, pray tell, do you think Mandera will be in a position to raise 70% of its budget like Montana, the US State that receives the most help from the US Federal Government does today?
2075 AD? 2100 AD?
I think you get the point.
Again, the transfers from the National Government are not in any way tethered to the economic reality within the county. The County of Mandera can expect ongoing, and very generous transfers to the county, regardless of whether or not there is any prospect whatsoever of the county EVER being able to take care of its own needs.
What can go wrong in a situation like this?
Well, for starters, the County Government spent KSH 285 million on a mansion in the jungle surrounded by nothing but nothing. For the Governor. You have seen it. It’s nice, right?
They were not done. Not by a long shot.
The County Government also spent KSH 55 million to build the Mandera County Assembly Speaker a mansion. The County Government also built a mansion for the Deputy Governor. While I do not have the specific amount for the Deputy Governor’s mansion, the May 20, 2019 Salaries and Remuneration Commission (“SRC”) circular capped the cost of constructing County Governor, Deputy Governor and County Assembly Speakers’ residences at Sh45 million, Sh40 million and Sh35 million, respectively.
Let’s assume that the County Government only spent the 40 million established by the SRC for the Deputy Governor (which would be a miracle given that they significantly went over the limits for the Governor and the Speaker’s house).
This would mean that a poor county like Mandera has spent KSH 380 MILLION on mansions for just three politicians. In case you were wondering, this figure is equivalent to the TOTAL ANNUAL income of 5,628 residents of Mandera! Let that sink in. 5,628 poor residents of Mandera would have to toil the earth for a year to make what these three special people have grabbed for themselves.
The first question that confronts us is this: In a county where the average citizen makes KSH 67,518 ANNUALLY, which genius thought that it is a prudent thing for you and me to build each of these people a mansion that practically nobody in the county who is not a government employee can ever, ever, ever dream of living in? This is your government, and please remember this when they tell you that the government cannot afford to pay doctors a living wage.
The second question is, how is it possible that a county whose leaders can only raise KSH 200 million locally (local taxation is a great proxy for the size of the local economy because the government is generally taxing economic activity), is fine with spending KSH 380 million to build mansions for the Governor, Deputy Governor, and the Speaker of the County Assembly? So, they collect KSH 200 million in taxes, and spend KSH 380 million to build homes for three people. What the heck are they smoking in Mandera?
Remember that the average citizen in Mandera County makes KSH 67,518 annually. The Governor of Mandera County makes about KSH 1 million per month, or KSH 12 million per year- before other benefits. In other words, the Governor earns a basic salary before benefits that is 177 times higher than the average Mandera Citizen. Let that sink in. 177 times higher than the average citizen.
So, you have paid the Governor a salary that is 177 times higher than the average Mandera Citizen, and built him a mansion for KSH 285 million.
Allow me to make a quick confession here. I am an economist and Certified Public Accountant with probably more professional experience than the Governor, the Deputy Governor, and the County Assembly Speaker of Mandera County. And am not saying this to boast. I am saying this to tell you that, while I make a good living, nobody in the private sector will pay me a salary that is 177 times higher the average citizen’s annual income. It’s not going to happen. Period, end of story. And nobody is going to build me a mansion like that. I get a salary, health benefits, and that is it. If I don’t like that, I can shove it.
What I am telling you here resonates, doesn’t it?
Let us test the sense behind this compensation structure. You have a job, right? Do you make 177 times the income of your average neighbor? The answer is no!
What is worse is the fact that the crazy high salary is usually not the end of the stealing. Benefits and other “marupurupu” can often double the high salary. Let me give you an example of this. On the Mandera County’s 2022/2023 budget, there is a summary of a department’s projected expenses. It lists:
· Basic salaries: 80 million
· House allowance: 13 million
· Hardship allowance: 16.5 million
· Commuter allowance: 8.3 million
· Risk allowance: 1.5 million
· Extraneous allowance: 396,000
· Personal allowance: 264,000
· Leave allowance: 669,000.
Do you see the sheer stupidity of our government? What the heck is a “risk allowance”? A “hardship allowance"?
I did tell you that you might get angry. Did I not?
So, the question is, why is this ok in Kenya to pay someone an income that is over 177 times the average citizen, build them a palace, and on top of that throw in additional benefits such as the above, frankly, artificial allowances? Why is this ok in a poor country?
The next thing that should offend all our sensibilities is HOW the KSH 11.4 billion is actually spent. I told you that government exists to facilitate the filthy-rich lifestyles of our corrupt politicians. And am sure you are beginning to understand what I meant.
Think about this. Mandera County has the following departments:
· Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries;
· Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports;
· Ministry of Gender, Youth and Social Services;
· Ministry of Finance;
· Ministry of Health Services;
· Ministry of Trade, Investments, Industrialization, and Co-operative Development;
· County Assembly;
· Lands, Housing and Physical Planning;
· Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor;
· County Public Service Board; and
· Ministry of Public Service, Management, and Devolved Unit.
Now, you will agree with me that the measure of any department’s success in the performance of its mandate is really how much of the resources made available to it reaches the needy citizens, right? Like, if you and I formed a charity that aims to provide university education to orphaned children, we would measure our success by how much actual help (financially) we are able to provide to the largest number of children, right? Meaning that if we raise KSH 100 MILLION but spend KSH 60 MILLION on ourselves, we are not really helping a lot of people. That is just common sense, is it not?
Well, that doesn't appear to be how the County of Mandera views its mandate.
Consider this: Out of the departments I listed above, The County Assembly and the Office of the Governor and the Deputy Governor, together, have projected expenses that are GREATER THAN what is earmarked to be spent by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender and Youth, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade, Lands Housing and Physical Planning, and Public Works and Transport! Unbelievable, right?
So, the County Assembly and the Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor are more important than the ministry of education, and the ministry of public works. Only in Kenya.
Now, the last point I want to make is this. The vast majority of the money spent by Mandera County goes to people’s bank accounts, as opposed to the larger economy, which is why even after pumping KSH 11 billion annually, for many years, you won’t see the economic growth that you would hope for.
I will use one department of the County Government to illustrate my point.
The Ministry of Education in the County projected KSH 452 million in “recurrent expenditure” and KSH 138 million in “development expenditure” for the period in question.
This “recurrent expenditure” is designed to be the amount that the County is using to “DELIVER SERVICES” to the people in the current year. Actual services to the people.
A review of the details reveals that that out of the KSH 452 million in “recurrent expenditure”, KSH 190 million will go to salaries, KSH 32 million will go to “house allowances”, 40 million will go to “hardship allowances”, KSH 26 million will go to “commuter allowances”, KSH 2 million will go to “leave allowances”, and on and on.
When it is all said and done, out of the KSH 452 million, the only amount that is left to go towards actual services is KSH 120 million for “bursaries” and KSH 15 million for grants to youth polytechnics. I am the first one to say that I have serious questions about how much of this KSH 120 million and the KSH 15 million actually ends up with the residents.
So, now you have the picture from just one department, with a budget of KSH 452 million. You have seen that only a tiny fraction of the funds actually go towards providing much needed services. You can then extrapolate this problem across the entire government, and what you end up with is, a scam. A fraud.
There is no other reasonable conclusion that can be reached here, other than, this government exists solely to serve the rich, corrupt politicians.
I said yesterday that our country is on the brink. We are on the precipice of total collapse.
Today, we all know that our governments, national and county alike, are corrupt to the core. Everyday, you wake up to stories like, the Governor of Kiambu is shaking down Tatu City, demanding a bribe of KSH 4 billion. And we have all gotten accustomed to this. We don’t even blink.
What is worse is that our institutions have totally failed us. What does the Ethics and Anti—Corruption Commission (“EACC”) do? Does anyone know? What is the purpose of such agencies? What is the purpose of government in Kenya?
Today, you will walk to the next street and watch the Kenya Police shake down citizens for a bribe in broad daylight, without any shame. They are not even worried about being videotaped. This is because they know that in our country, our laws don’t mean anything. They know their leaders are corrupt and won’t do a damn thing. Fish rots from the head.
Countries become Haitis or Somalias when the average person cannot see any difference between a thug on the street, like Mr. Barbeque of Haiti, and the government. They are both using their monopoly of power and violence to take advantage of the poor citizens. You have to ask yourself if Kenya is different today.
And so, when I said yesterday that we are heading the way of Haiti or Somalia, I was not trying to be dramatic. I was trying to prepare us to recognize where we are headed, so that, if we want a different fate, we can demand a change of direction. We must demand a change of direction. We have no choice.
@OkiyaOmtatah @EAukot @EACCKenya @Mandera_cgvt @KWamatangi @aliiroba @NationBreaking @citizentvkenya @WilliamsRuto @rigathi](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GTsGo09akAAoyC5.jpg)
![MwangiBonnie's tweet photo. Yesterday, I wrote some commentary about the rot in our country, focusing on how our County Governments are pillaging our resources. That commentary, which almost broke the internet, shocked the conscience of the nation.
In that commentary, I made the audacious claim that our governments, including County Governments, appear to exist solely to maintain the lifestyles of the most corrupt among us.
I am here today to tell you what I meant by that.
To do this, I need to try and paint a picture for you so that you can easily spot the problem. I will focus on Mandera County only as an example. I am not focusing on Mandera County because I have any specific animus towards the county. No sir, no ma’am. We have to start somewhere, don’t we?
Please sit down, buckle up, and park for a second if you are driving. You will see why you might get very angry shortly.
Let us start with some context. I need to show you the two pictures I used yesterday, only because they can explain better than I can, the decision making of our leaders (first picture), and then, the result of those decisions (second picture), and that is the whole point of this discourse.
Let me start by putting some numbers on the table as reference points.
The first number is KSH 11.4 billion. This was the budget of Mandera County for the 2022/2023 fiscal year.
The second number is 2%. This is the percentage of the budget that Mandera County planned to raise from within the county, which would translate to approx. KSH 200 million. In other words, 98% of the KSH 11.4 billion would come into the county courtesy of you, me and everyone else. Your contribution is appreciated. But next time, please send more.
The third is KSH 67,518. This is the average ANNUAL [emphasis added] income of a resident of Mandera County. (https://t.co/GVp5NBPV53)
The fourth one is, KSH 12 million. This is the basic annual salary of the Governor of Mandera County, before other benefits.
The fifth one is 177. The Governor of Mandera’s salary is 177 times
higher than the average Mandera resident’s annual income. Let that sink in. 177 times higher than the income of the subjects he Lords over. For context, the Governor of Texas makes USD 153,000. This is about twice [emphasis added] as much as the average Texan makes. Not 177 times.
KSH 285 million. This is the figure provided by Mandera County Government as the cost of that Palace in the Jungle. You have to admit, it reminds you of Mobutu Sese Seko’s mansion that the old despot built in the middle of nowhere, squandering a sizeable chunk of DRC’s GDP to do so. The poor be damned.
1 million. This is the population of Mandera County.
89%. This is the poverty rate in Mandera. 89% of the county is poor. Indigent. (seethe County Government’s own website
)
Now that we have our key numbers, let us discuss.
As I said above, out of the 2022/2023 County Budget, which was KSH 11.4 billion, the County of Mandera was only able to raise KSH 200 million from within the county. In other words, 98% of the money the County spent for this fiscal year came to the county courtesy of you and I and every other Kenyan.
So, we can establish easily that the problem of how the County Government of Mandera spends money allocated to it is everyone’s problem.
I also said above that the whole County machinery could only raise KSH 200 million locally. Do you see the problem here? The County’s budget has absolutely no bearing on the economic activity or the economic prospects of the County. It is not anchored upon the economic reality of the County. Don’t get me wrong, there are valid reasons for us as a nation to endeavor to develop a region that has historically been ignored by successive administrations. But we also have, in my humble opinion, to be cognizant of the fact that our resources are scarce. We have to use our brains.
Bite this little nugget for more context: Nakuru County, with a population of over 2.1 million (more than twice the population of Mandera), received approximately KSH 13 billion from the National Government in the 2022/2023 fiscal year. KSH 11 billion for Mandera with 1 million residents, vs KSH 13 billion for Nakuru with 2.1 million people. Go figure.
Common sense would tell you that the foundation for a federal government system like ours is that each county should generally endeavor to live within its means. In other words, Mandera County should not expect that citizens in other counties will continue sending help to support Mandera forever. Otherwise, the whole system crumbles.
With that in mind, and remembering that Mandera is only able to raise 2% of its budget, what year, pray tell, do you think Mandera will be in a position to raise 70% of its budget like Montana, the US State that receives the most help from the US Federal Government does today?
2075 AD? 2100 AD?
I think you get the point.
Again, the transfers from the National Government are not in any way tethered to the economic reality within the county. The County of Mandera can expect ongoing, and very generous transfers to the county, regardless of whether or not there is any prospect whatsoever of the county EVER being able to take care of its own needs.
What can go wrong in a situation like this?
Well, for starters, the County Government spent KSH 285 million on a mansion in the jungle surrounded by nothing but nothing. For the Governor. You have seen it. It’s nice, right?
They were not done. Not by a long shot.
The County Government also spent KSH 55 million to build the Mandera County Assembly Speaker a mansion. The County Government also built a mansion for the Deputy Governor. While I do not have the specific amount for the Deputy Governor’s mansion, the May 20, 2019 Salaries and Remuneration Commission (“SRC”) circular capped the cost of constructing County Governor, Deputy Governor and County Assembly Speakers’ residences at Sh45 million, Sh40 million and Sh35 million, respectively.
Let’s assume that the County Government only spent the 40 million established by the SRC for the Deputy Governor (which would be a miracle given that they significantly went over the limits for the Governor and the Speaker’s house).
This would mean that a poor county like Mandera has spent KSH 380 MILLION on mansions for just three politicians. In case you were wondering, this figure is equivalent to the TOTAL ANNUAL income of 5,628 residents of Mandera! Let that sink in. 5,628 poor residents of Mandera would have to toil the earth for a year to make what these three special people have grabbed for themselves.
The first question that confronts us is this: In a county where the average citizen makes KSH 67,518 ANNUALLY, which genius thought that it is a prudent thing for you and me to build each of these people a mansion that practically nobody in the county who is not a government employee can ever, ever, ever dream of living in? This is your government, and please remember this when they tell you that the government cannot afford to pay doctors a living wage.
The second question is, how is it possible that a county whose leaders can only raise KSH 200 million locally (local taxation is a great proxy for the size of the local economy because the government is generally taxing economic activity), is fine with spending KSH 380 million to build mansions for the Governor, Deputy Governor, and the Speaker of the County Assembly? So, they collect KSH 200 million in taxes, and spend KSH 380 million to build homes for three people. What the heck are they smoking in Mandera?
Remember that the average citizen in Mandera County makes KSH 67,518 annually. The Governor of Mandera County makes about KSH 1 million per month, or KSH 12 million per year- before other benefits. In other words, the Governor earns a basic salary before benefits that is 177 times higher than the average Mandera Citizen. Let that sink in. 177 times higher than the average citizen.
So, you have paid the Governor a salary that is 177 times higher than the average Mandera Citizen, and built him a mansion for KSH 285 million.
Allow me to make a quick confession here. I am an economist and Certified Public Accountant with probably more professional experience than the Governor, the Deputy Governor, and the County Assembly Speaker of Mandera County. And am not saying this to boast. I am saying this to tell you that, while I make a good living, nobody in the private sector will pay me a salary that is 177 times higher the average citizen’s annual income. It’s not going to happen. Period, end of story. And nobody is going to build me a mansion like that. I get a salary, health benefits, and that is it. If I don’t like that, I can shove it.
What I am telling you here resonates, doesn’t it?
Let us test the sense behind this compensation structure. You have a job, right? Do you make 177 times the income of your average neighbor? The answer is no!
What is worse is the fact that the crazy high salary is usually not the end of the stealing. Benefits and other “marupurupu” can often double the high salary. Let me give you an example of this. On the Mandera County’s 2022/2023 budget, there is a summary of a department’s projected expenses. It lists:
· Basic salaries: 80 million
· House allowance: 13 million
· Hardship allowance: 16.5 million
· Commuter allowance: 8.3 million
· Risk allowance: 1.5 million
· Extraneous allowance: 396,000
· Personal allowance: 264,000
· Leave allowance: 669,000.
Do you see the sheer stupidity of our government? What the heck is a “risk allowance”? A “hardship allowance"?
I did tell you that you might get angry. Did I not?
So, the question is, why is this ok in Kenya to pay someone an income that is over 177 times the average citizen, build them a palace, and on top of that throw in additional benefits such as the above, frankly, artificial allowances? Why is this ok in a poor country?
The next thing that should offend all our sensibilities is HOW the KSH 11.4 billion is actually spent. I told you that government exists to facilitate the filthy-rich lifestyles of our corrupt politicians. And am sure you are beginning to understand what I meant.
Think about this. Mandera County has the following departments:
· Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries;
· Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports;
· Ministry of Gender, Youth and Social Services;
· Ministry of Finance;
· Ministry of Health Services;
· Ministry of Trade, Investments, Industrialization, and Co-operative Development;
· County Assembly;
· Lands, Housing and Physical Planning;
· Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor;
· County Public Service Board; and
· Ministry of Public Service, Management, and Devolved Unit.
Now, you will agree with me that the measure of any department’s success in the performance of its mandate is really how much of the resources made available to it reaches the needy citizens, right? Like, if you and I formed a charity that aims to provide university education to orphaned children, we would measure our success by how much actual help (financially) we are able to provide to the largest number of children, right? Meaning that if we raise KSH 100 MILLION but spend KSH 60 MILLION on ourselves, we are not really helping a lot of people. That is just common sense, is it not?
Well, that doesn't appear to be how the County of Mandera views its mandate.
Consider this: Out of the departments I listed above, The County Assembly and the Office of the Governor and the Deputy Governor, together, have projected expenses that are GREATER THAN what is earmarked to be spent by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender and Youth, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade, Lands Housing and Physical Planning, and Public Works and Transport! Unbelievable, right?
So, the County Assembly and the Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor are more important than the ministry of education, and the ministry of public works. Only in Kenya.
Now, the last point I want to make is this. The vast majority of the money spent by Mandera County goes to people’s bank accounts, as opposed to the larger economy, which is why even after pumping KSH 11 billion annually, for many years, you won’t see the economic growth that you would hope for.
I will use one department of the County Government to illustrate my point.
The Ministry of Education in the County projected KSH 452 million in “recurrent expenditure” and KSH 138 million in “development expenditure” for the period in question.
This “recurrent expenditure” is designed to be the amount that the County is using to “DELIVER SERVICES” to the people in the current year. Actual services to the people.
A review of the details reveals that that out of the KSH 452 million in “recurrent expenditure”, KSH 190 million will go to salaries, KSH 32 million will go to “house allowances”, 40 million will go to “hardship allowances”, KSH 26 million will go to “commuter allowances”, KSH 2 million will go to “leave allowances”, and on and on.
When it is all said and done, out of the KSH 452 million, the only amount that is left to go towards actual services is KSH 120 million for “bursaries” and KSH 15 million for grants to youth polytechnics. I am the first one to say that I have serious questions about how much of this KSH 120 million and the KSH 15 million actually ends up with the residents.
So, now you have the picture from just one department, with a budget of KSH 452 million. You have seen that only a tiny fraction of the funds actually go towards providing much needed services. You can then extrapolate this problem across the entire government, and what you end up with is, a scam. A fraud.
There is no other reasonable conclusion that can be reached here, other than, this government exists solely to serve the rich, corrupt politicians.
I said yesterday that our country is on the brink. We are on the precipice of total collapse.
Today, we all know that our governments, national and county alike, are corrupt to the core. Everyday, you wake up to stories like, the Governor of Kiambu is shaking down Tatu City, demanding a bribe of KSH 4 billion. And we have all gotten accustomed to this. We don’t even blink.
What is worse is that our institutions have totally failed us. What does the Ethics and Anti—Corruption Commission (“EACC”) do? Does anyone know? What is the purpose of such agencies? What is the purpose of government in Kenya?
Today, you will walk to the next street and watch the Kenya Police shake down citizens for a bribe in broad daylight, without any shame. They are not even worried about being videotaped. This is because they know that in our country, our laws don’t mean anything. They know their leaders are corrupt and won’t do a damn thing. Fish rots from the head.
Countries become Haitis or Somalias when the average person cannot see any difference between a thug on the street, like Mr. Barbeque of Haiti, and the government. They are both using their monopoly of power and violence to take advantage of the poor citizens. You have to ask yourself if Kenya is different today.
And so, when I said yesterday that we are heading the way of Haiti or Somalia, I was not trying to be dramatic. I was trying to prepare us to recognize where we are headed, so that, if we want a different fate, we can demand a change of direction. We must demand a change of direction. We have no choice.
@OkiyaOmtatah @EAukot @EACCKenya @Mandera_cgvt @KWamatangi @aliiroba @NationBreaking @citizentvkenya @WilliamsRuto @rigathi](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GTsGmozaEAA9wMi.jpg)
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My fellow Kenyans,
Many of you have seen my recent posts about the deadly cancer that is corruption in our country.
In my last post, I tried to paint a picture of the disconnect between our potential as a country and the economic circumstances we find ourselves in today, and the connection between corruption and the incalculable pain and suffering and cruelty that is meted out every single day to the most vulnerable among us by thieves operating out of public office.
And after covering the goings-on in Mandera County, I told you that in my honest opinion, our governments exist to cater for the filthy-rich lifestyles of the vilest and most corrupt among us, at the expense of everyone else.
I received tremendous support from all of you, for speaking on behalf of so many struggling Kenyans who don’t have a voice, or the audience necessary to spark the much-needed discussion about where we are heading as a country.
But even with all that support, I have received messages asking me to be careful. One compatriot told me: “prepare to be relentlessly pursued, threatened, enticed, guilt-tripped, and gas-lit”. This is from a someone who knows how our government operates, and how it uses violence and its monopoly on power to silence those who question why politicians are stealing so much.
I am not naive about the dangers of speaking up and calling out thieves who control state machinery, and who possess the ability to shut me up in a few seconds. But I will tell you why we CAN NOT and MUST NOT keep quiet.
In November of 2023, I stumbled upon the story of a young man from Turkana, Calvin Esekon Esewit , who, despite scoring an A-, and getting an acceptance into medical school, spent two years not knowing whether his dreams of becoming a doctor would ever come true. I was moved by that story in a way that I can never adequately explain. I could not understand how it is possible that, in our country, a young man who appears to be every parent’s dream child can spend two years in limbo while we as a country possess the ability to invest in our best and brightest. And so, I spent weeks trying to chase down Calvin to see how I could help him attend college. After a lot of searching, I finally found Calvin, and by this time he had managed to get some help and is now in college. While this story has a great ending, it did not to be this way. And we know that the number of cases that end like this, with some success, are a small fraction of those ones which end tragically, with broken dreams. This is what happens when corruption consumes anything and everything in a country. It destroys lives. See attached video to learn about Calvin's story.
I tell you all this story because it provides context to today's topic.
For one story like this one that you see on the news, there are millions that never make the news. But they are real situations, nonetheless. There are millions of your compatriots who are devastated by this killer cancer of corruption that is perpetuated by people that you and I have put into public office ostensibly to improve our lives. They go into these offices and abuse the trust you bestowed upon them and deny you and everyone else a decent opportunity in life.
You see, Calvin and millions of other victims of this shameless level of corruption and plunder have no voice, and no real ability to look the thieves that are destroying lives and generations of Kenyans in eye and tell them to stop this unbearable pain and the cruelty.
This is the reason I embarked on this journey to attempt to expose this shameful situation. Watch the attached video of Calvin’s situation, and I am sure that you will agree that the millions of Calvins in our country need a voice, NO MATTER THE RISK.
The thieves that are destroying the futures of millions of children just so they can have beachside homes in Miami, Dubai and other places count on the idea that most people will fear for their lives, and therefore not speak up. They count on the growing apathy in the Kenyan psyche. But we cannot give in to that. We cannot cower to thieves. We must look them straight in the eye and tell them that they MUST STOP. If we don't, our children and their children are guaranteed the same level of cruelty.
And so with that, today I want to talk about the utterly insane crime scene that is Turkana County. I don’t know any other way to describe it, other than, it is a “shit-show”. Just follow along, and let me know if you disagree.
As I did in my previous commentary, I will ask you to indulge me a little bit, and allow me to use a couple of pictures, because pictures speak louder than a thousand words.
The first picture shows the state-of-the art County Government offices, that the County Government of Turkana decided to invest an ungodly amount of money on. Close to a billion shillings.
The second picture is a classroom in session. In Turkana County.
These two realities are occurring in parallel in the same county, at the same time.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me just tell you that I do not go out of my way to find bad news. I want stories that would help re-affirm our belief in the fundamental decency of human beings.
When I find good news as I review these Counties’ decisions and how they behave with our resources, I will be the first one to report it to you.
But I don’t have any good news today. I have bad news. If you read my commentary yesterday and were offended by what you saw, I am afraid you might not make it to the end of this article, because what you will hear will be quite shocking.
The cancer of corruption, particularly at the County Government level, is worse than your wildest imagination.
And so, as I like to do, I like to start off by putting some numbers on the table for us to use as reference points.
Bear in my that all the information I put in this article is publicly available. Nothing came to me through a whistle blower.
The first number is KSH 100 Billion. With a B. In the last decade or so, you and I, through the National Government, has sent over KSH 100 billion to Turkana County. To support recurrent expenditure, and development. For example, in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, we sent KSH 12.6 billion. In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, we sent KSH 11.4 billion. And on and on and on.
The second number is 1 million. This is the population of Turkana County.
The third number is KSH 18.4 billion. This was Turkana County’s budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
The fourth number is KSH 190 million. This was the amount of money that Turkana County was able to generate on its own accord within the county, from all its investments and other activities in the period in question. This number is an important proxy, in my view, for the value of the county’s economic prospects for the foreseeable future, and to people that are not driven by greed and corruption, would be an important consideration when they are thinking about how and where to deploy your money as taxpayers.
If you are doing the math, Turkana County, for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, was only able to raise 1% of the funds needed to keep the lights on. 99% came from you and I, and a tiny amount from grants.
The next number is KSH 129, 040. This is the average ANNUAL [emphasis added] income of a resident of Turkana County (https://t.co/0QidR8TWMK). Keep that number in mind when we are discussing the massive theft of public funds by Turkana County leaders.
The next number is 80%. 80% of the residents of Turkana County live below the poverty line. They have a really difficult time putting food on the table. (https://t.co/EwchQSJ6xb).
The next number is KSH 12 Million. This is the basic salary of the Governor of Turkana County before other benefits that, as I explained yesterday, can often double the salary. Remember the “housing allowance”, the “hardship allowance”, the “commuter allowance”, the “risk allowance”, the “extraneous allowance”, etc.? Remember that? I still cannot figure out, for the life of me, what “extraneous” means in the context of County business, but we don’t time to dwell on this.
The next number is 93. The Governor of Turkana County makes 93 times the average Turkana County resident’s annual income. 93 times!
The next number is 82%. This was the percentage of people that were illiterate in Turkana County in 2013 (https://t.co/CjdhTmMdnI). Could not read or write.
A point to note about the above literacy figure. Ten years later, and despite over KSH 100 billion is spent in Turkana County, including many billions for education, that literacy rate HAS NOT CHANGED ONE BIT. Only 20% of the population can read or write today. (https://t.co/YZl8ttQIa8.)
KSH 829 million. This is how much it cost to build the County Government offices. Yes, the ones shown in the first picture.
KSH 120 million. The County Government decided that it was prudent to pay a contractor KSH 120 million to construct the Governor’s personal residence. Get this, even after this payment, no construction took place. The money was stolen. All of it.
KSH 90 Million. This is the amount that the County Government paid to another contractor, to build the Governor a mansion, having previously lost KSH 120 million. So, the tally for the Governor’s residence now stands at KSH 210 million. Never mind that the limit allowed by law is KSH 45 million.
KSH 5 billion. In the last days of his term in office, an outgoing Governor of Turkana, @GovernorNanok , sought to inflate pending bills by adding KSH 5 billion so that it can be paid to his criminal cartel. KSH 5 billion.
We have our key numbers, ladies and gentlemen, so let us discuss.
So, we have a county that is dead last in literacy, and in the top 2 of the poorest counties in the republic. Only 20% of the population can read. The Governor earns 92 times the average citizen. The Governor lives in a house that cost over KSH 200 million. When he leaves his house in the morning, he goes to his office that cost KSH 829 million. And this is all happening when 80% of the County residents struggle to put food on the table.
Those are the facts, and they are not in dispute.
During the same time, the County Government geniuses decide to build the Speaker of the County Assembly a house. And a home office, and a garage. The house was initially estimated to cost KSH 75 million. But due to circumstances that not a soul in the government could explain to auditors, the contract expired before the house was completed, and the County Government found a new contractor to complete the job for an additional KSH 29 million.
But this palace in the jungle worth apparently worth over KSH 100 million in Turkana County was not enough. The County proceeded to build the Speaker a guest house for another KSH 19 million, and a few other amenities, and so the whole cost went to KSH 276 million!
The legal limit for a Speaker’s house is KSH 35 million, and they spent close to KSH 130 million just for one residence.
By this time, I am sure you are getting tired of these obscene numbers. You and I work, and pay taxes. Nobody pays you 92 times the income your average neighbor is making. And for sure nobody will drop KSH 100 million to build you a house. These are the perks of working in government in a poor country. Go figure.
And so, as a country, we need to answer for ourselves the question I posed yesterday, which is, what is the point of government? What is its role in our lives. If this level of criminality and pillaging can occur in our country in the midst of so much poverty, questioning the need for government is a totally valid question.
I said in my last post that, when the average citizen looks at the thug on the street and the government, and is unable to discern any meaningful difference between them, that society from that point on is on its journey to becoming a failed state. A journey to anarchy.
Over the last two months or so, Kenyans have been shouting at the top of their lungs, begging for their government to listen. To hear them out. Kenyans have asked that their government stop this unbelievable level of plunder. Dozens of Kenyans have died, thousands injured, and many more are missing today. To this day, the people that govern us continue to use the power of the gun to subdue Kenyans, until they can take everything in their sight.
And so, as a society, we all have to ask whether today there is any difference between the thug on the street and our governments. Every Kenyan will have to answer this question for themselves.
And before answering this question, everyone needs to remember the many Calvins in our society. Smart, upright children whose only crime is to be born in an unforgiving, lawless, and corrupt purgatory that is Kenya today.
For myself, I have concluded that there is no difference between the thug on the street and our governments, county and national alike. If you can see any meaningful difference, let me know. I am willing to listen.
So despite over KSH 100 billion in money sent to Turkana County, there is almost no measurable improvement in people’s life today. None. And it makes sense, when you look at how that money is spent.
I want you to forget for a second the obscene obsession by the County Government with spending ungodly amounts of money on themselves. The houses, etc.
If you step back and look at how the government is actually spending the hard-earned money on other things, you will be depressed.
I am telling you that I wept three times in the middle of the night trying to make sense of this crazy situation in Turkana County. Three times. I have never imagined that human beings can be so greedy and cold-blooded.
Think about this: In the couple of years I reviewed, the County spent around KSH 400 million annually in “tourism” initiatives, including marketing, and apparently upgrading certain facilities. KSH 400 million for tourism. In Turkana County. In 1 year.
KSH 400 million per year in marketing and other money pits.
The government’s own website says that the county gets around 3000 visitors per month. Around 36,000 per year. That’s them saying that, on their website.
Are you curious to know the return on that KSH 400 million investment?
I have an answer for you. Remember that I told you that the County has never raised more than KSH 200 million in a year within the county, despite its KSH 18.4 billion budget? Let me walk you through the breakdown of the absolutely embarrassing shit-show that is the County Government’s “own source revenue” operations.
In 2022-2023, the County Government collected KSH 190 million locally against their KSH 18.4 billion budget. 1% of the budget.
Remember, there is absolutely no requirement on the County to cut costs, or achieve certain local revenue targets today.
So they raised KSH 45 million in single business permits, KSH 72 million in CESS, KSH 8 million in market fee, KSH 9 million in “slaughter fees”. And then finally, there is the return on the tourism investment that you were looking for. A whopping KSH 209, 000 in “park fees”. KSH 209,000 in fees, after investing KSH 400 million. And so, take this as an example and extrapolate it across the entire budget, and you can see how one can spend KSH 100 billion and get NOTHING in return.
You don’t need to be a genius to see the absurdity of this situation. Let me explain using an example that should illustrate the utter dimwittedness of this situation.
Remember the KSH 100 billion sent to Turkana by you and me? Part of this amount is supposed to be for “service delivery”, or “recurrent expenditure”. Usually about 70% of the budget. The balance, 30%, is designed to go to development projects.
With that in mind, from KSH 100 billion, the County apparently has made KSH 30 billion worth of investments, right? 30% of the KSH 100 billion.
Now, if you employed someone to run a business for you, and they asked you to invest KSH 30 billion, which is no small fortune, at some point you would have to start seeing returns, right? That’s common sense, isn’t it?
So, when we look at the revenues streams that make up this paltry sum of KSH 190 million, and see things like “slaughter fees’ and “market fees”, what does it tell you?
It tells me there is no real “development” happening in that county. Trust me, if you had real development totaling KSH 30 billion, you would have corporate taxes in the hundreds of millions or billions, a booming real estate market, rising wages and standards of living, etc., low unemployment, etc. You would not have 80% of the people living hand-to mouth, and a County Government that can not afford to support itself for 5 days out of the year that has 365 days!
We do not have enough time, trust me, to deal with the shit-show that is Turkana County. Dealing with that mess would require a forensic team. I will just highlight a few of other “in your-face” type of theft of public funds, and then conclude my submission.
A government that has a budget of KSH 18.4 billion annually, and which has never raised more than 1% of its budget had the wisdom to do the following with your money:
· Spend KSH 222 million on a project building something that NOBODY uses. You got that right. They spent KSH 222 million on a facility that NOBODY uses. KSH 222 million gone to waste, in a county that is dead last in pretty much all measures of human progress.
· Remember the County Government offices that cost KSH 829 million? The County spent KSH 82 million on “air-conditioning” for that building.
· Despite the County Spending hundreds of millions for the top three officers of the County, the Governor and his Deputy, in the 2022-2023 year, illegally charged the county (you and I) KSH 2.2 million in housing allowance!
· Built two facilities for KSH 16 million, that were completed, but NOBODY uses them.
· Entered into a contract for the construction of a plastic use facility for KSH 13 million in 2021. The contractor gets paid KSH 4.9 million, and has never been seen since.
· Paid out KSH 62 million in salaries that were not supportable in just one year. They could not point to anybody and say, that is who we paid.
· Paid out KSH 27 million in legal fees that nobody could say what they related to. And the County’s Legal Advisor, who, in 2022-2023, had a budget of KSH 123 million, apparently did not know anything about it!
· Had an outstanding bill at Kenya Revenue Authority in the amount of KSH 486 million, that did not show up on the County Government’s financial statements. Think about that. KSH 486 million owned to the Kenya Revenue Authority, and that liability is not on the financial statements! This only means that someone took those funds for themselves, which is why the liability would be missing from the county’s books.
· Could not account for KSH 367 million in expenditures for 2022-2023. KSH 367 million, in unexplained expenses.
· Awarded a contract worth over KSH 200 million to a bidder with no bank statement, against the law. This contract was entered into and approved before the statutory time after the bidding process lapsed. Someone was in a hurry to get paid. KSH 200 million, illegally awarded to a bidder who did not have a 6-month bank statement.
· Apparently purchased KSH 1.5 billion in assets in 2022-2023, but kept no records of the said assets. For this reason, NOBODY can verify where these assets are located. KSH 1.5 billion.
Let me just say this. In my last article, the most common critique was that it was too long. Too many words.
I did not intend to make another long article.
Trust me when I tell you this, we do not have the time to detail half of the problems in Turkana County. For just 1 year! We do not.
Now, you recall my point about how societies descend to madness and anarchy. In our country today, our leaders are accusing those of us who are agitating for honest and transparent governance of being traitors to the country. They call us anarchists, criminals, and merchants of chaos. They are questioning our patriotism.
You have all seen the government and its horde of propagandists threatening the Ford Foundation and others because they may have helped civil society keep the lights on, and investigative journalists to have the capacity to continue to do the Lord’s work of investigating criminality in government. As though citizens are so dumb and ignorant, that they cannot see what is going on.
The reason why millions of Calvins in this country will never graduate from college and earn a decent living is not because of the Ford Foundation. No. It is because of the thieves we have in office today, like the ones in Turkana County.
In this post, I copy our leaders, the President and his deputy.
I copy them because I want them to help Kenyans understand the following conundrum, about crime and criminals.
There is nothing so special or peculiar about criminals or where they pop up. There are criminals in the US, Canada, France, and other places. Just like we have criminals in Kenya.
The difference between banana republics and failed states, and civilized societies, is WHAT we do to and about criminals.
In civilized societies, criminals are prosecuted and punished heavily. They are shunned. In some places, those charged with serious crimes such as corruption are executed. These are societies that are committed to sending the message that corruption, which robs citizens of their rights, is not acceptable. And they demonstrate this commitment by heavily punishing those who steal from the most vulnerable in society.
In Kenya, we see the opposite. Criminals are exalted. They are promoted and embraced in government. It was just last week that the president unveiled his nominees for his Cabinet. Among them, are the likes of @HassanAliJoho , @GovWOparanya , and Davis Chirchir, ALL people who have been accused or charged with massive corruption against Kenyans.
And am sure you remember that I mentioned @GovernorNanok , the man who tried to steal KSH 5 billion in his last days in office.
Would you believe it if I told you that he works in government, at State House? He plunded billions of your money, got no measurable improvement in the lives of his subjects, and now has a government job in State House. Let that sink in.
And so, the question is, how is it that in a country of 55 million people, with thousands of highly qualified people who have never ever stolen from Kenyans, he ends up with the criminals and thieves in the government, despite the fact that their crimes are in the public domain? How is this possible?
Is it possible that these thieves possess a certain unique ability to run government, save Kenyans billions, and solve problems in a way that the president performs a cost-benefit analysis, and the benefits outweigh the costs of their theft?
If not, what message does it send to Kenyans, when their own president puts into office known thieves?
I think that is a fair question, don’t you?
@EAukot @rigathi @WilliamsRuto @OkiyaOmtatah @citizentvkenya @NationBreaking @TIKenya @CNN @TurkanaCountyKE
![MwangiBonnie's tweet photo. My fellow Kenyans,
Many of you have seen my recent posts about the deadly cancer that is corruption in our country.
In my last post, I tried to paint a picture of the disconnect between our potential as a country and the economic circumstances we find ourselves in today, and the connection between corruption and the incalculable pain and suffering and cruelty that is meted out every single day to the most vulnerable among us by thieves operating out of public office.
And after covering the goings-on in Mandera County, I told you that in my honest opinion, our governments exist to cater for the filthy-rich lifestyles of the vilest and most corrupt among us, at the expense of everyone else.
I received tremendous support from all of you, for speaking on behalf of so many struggling Kenyans who don’t have a voice, or the audience necessary to spark the much-needed discussion about where we are heading as a country.
But even with all that support, I have received messages asking me to be careful. One compatriot told me: “prepare to be relentlessly pursued, threatened, enticed, guilt-tripped, and gas-lit”. This is from a someone who knows how our government operates, and how it uses violence and its monopoly on power to silence those who question why politicians are stealing so much.
I am not naive about the dangers of speaking up and calling out thieves who control state machinery, and who possess the ability to shut me up in a few seconds. But I will tell you why we CAN NOT and MUST NOT keep quiet.
In November of 2023, I stumbled upon the story of a young man from Turkana, Calvin Esekon Esewit , who, despite scoring an A-, and getting an acceptance into medical school, spent two years not knowing whether his dreams of becoming a doctor would ever come true. I was moved by that story in a way that I can never adequately explain. I could not understand how it is possible that, in our country, a young man who appears to be every parent’s dream child can spend two years in limbo while we as a country possess the ability to invest in our best and brightest. And so, I spent weeks trying to chase down Calvin to see how I could help him attend college. After a lot of searching, I finally found Calvin, and by this time he had managed to get some help and is now in college. While this story has a great ending, it did not to be this way. And we know that the number of cases that end like this, with some success, are a small fraction of those ones which end tragically, with broken dreams. This is what happens when corruption consumes anything and everything in a country. It destroys lives. See attached video to learn about Calvin's story.
I tell you all this story because it provides context to today's topic.
For one story like this one that you see on the news, there are millions that never make the news. But they are real situations, nonetheless. There are millions of your compatriots who are devastated by this killer cancer of corruption that is perpetuated by people that you and I have put into public office ostensibly to improve our lives. They go into these offices and abuse the trust you bestowed upon them and deny you and everyone else a decent opportunity in life.
You see, Calvin and millions of other victims of this shameless level of corruption and plunder have no voice, and no real ability to look the thieves that are destroying lives and generations of Kenyans in eye and tell them to stop this unbearable pain and the cruelty.
This is the reason I embarked on this journey to attempt to expose this shameful situation. Watch the attached video of Calvin’s situation, and I am sure that you will agree that the millions of Calvins in our country need a voice, NO MATTER THE RISK.
The thieves that are destroying the futures of millions of children just so they can have beachside homes in Miami, Dubai and other places count on the idea that most people will fear for their lives, and therefore not speak up. They count on the growing apathy in the Kenyan psyche. But we cannot give in to that. We cannot cower to thieves. We must look them straight in the eye and tell them that they MUST STOP. If we don't, our children and their children are guaranteed the same level of cruelty.
And so with that, today I want to talk about the utterly insane crime scene that is Turkana County. I don’t know any other way to describe it, other than, it is a “shit-show”. Just follow along, and let me know if you disagree.
As I did in my previous commentary, I will ask you to indulge me a little bit, and allow me to use a couple of pictures, because pictures speak louder than a thousand words.
The first picture shows the state-of-the art County Government offices, that the County Government of Turkana decided to invest an ungodly amount of money on. Close to a billion shillings.
The second picture is a classroom in session. In Turkana County.
These two realities are occurring in parallel in the same county, at the same time.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me just tell you that I do not go out of my way to find bad news. I want stories that would help re-affirm our belief in the fundamental decency of human beings.
When I find good news as I review these Counties’ decisions and how they behave with our resources, I will be the first one to report it to you.
But I don’t have any good news today. I have bad news. If you read my commentary yesterday and were offended by what you saw, I am afraid you might not make it to the end of this article, because what you will hear will be quite shocking.
The cancer of corruption, particularly at the County Government level, is worse than your wildest imagination.
And so, as I like to do, I like to start off by putting some numbers on the table for us to use as reference points.
Bear in my that all the information I put in this article is publicly available. Nothing came to me through a whistle blower.
The first number is KSH 100 Billion. With a B. In the last decade or so, you and I, through the National Government, has sent over KSH 100 billion to Turkana County. To support recurrent expenditure, and development. For example, in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, we sent KSH 12.6 billion. In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, we sent KSH 11.4 billion. And on and on and on.
The second number is 1 million. This is the population of Turkana County.
The third number is KSH 18.4 billion. This was Turkana County’s budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
The fourth number is KSH 190 million. This was the amount of money that Turkana County was able to generate on its own accord within the county, from all its investments and other activities in the period in question. This number is an important proxy, in my view, for the value of the county’s economic prospects for the foreseeable future, and to people that are not driven by greed and corruption, would be an important consideration when they are thinking about how and where to deploy your money as taxpayers.
If you are doing the math, Turkana County, for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, was only able to raise 1% of the funds needed to keep the lights on. 99% came from you and I, and a tiny amount from grants.
The next number is KSH 129, 040. This is the average ANNUAL [emphasis added] income of a resident of Turkana County (https://t.co/0QidR8TWMK). Keep that number in mind when we are discussing the massive theft of public funds by Turkana County leaders.
The next number is 80%. 80% of the residents of Turkana County live below the poverty line. They have a really difficult time putting food on the table. (https://t.co/EwchQSJ6xb).
The next number is KSH 12 Million. This is the basic salary of the Governor of Turkana County before other benefits that, as I explained yesterday, can often double the salary. Remember the “housing allowance”, the “hardship allowance”, the “commuter allowance”, the “risk allowance”, the “extraneous allowance”, etc.? Remember that? I still cannot figure out, for the life of me, what “extraneous” means in the context of County business, but we don’t time to dwell on this.
The next number is 93. The Governor of Turkana County makes 93 times the average Turkana County resident’s annual income. 93 times!
The next number is 82%. This was the percentage of people that were illiterate in Turkana County in 2013 (https://t.co/CjdhTmMdnI). Could not read or write.
A point to note about the above literacy figure. Ten years later, and despite over KSH 100 billion is spent in Turkana County, including many billions for education, that literacy rate HAS NOT CHANGED ONE BIT. Only 20% of the population can read or write today. (https://t.co/YZl8ttQIa8.)
KSH 829 million. This is how much it cost to build the County Government offices. Yes, the ones shown in the first picture.
KSH 120 million. The County Government decided that it was prudent to pay a contractor KSH 120 million to construct the Governor’s personal residence. Get this, even after this payment, no construction took place. The money was stolen. All of it.
KSH 90 Million. This is the amount that the County Government paid to another contractor, to build the Governor a mansion, having previously lost KSH 120 million. So, the tally for the Governor’s residence now stands at KSH 210 million. Never mind that the limit allowed by law is KSH 45 million.
KSH 5 billion. In the last days of his term in office, an outgoing Governor of Turkana, @GovernorNanok , sought to inflate pending bills by adding KSH 5 billion so that it can be paid to his criminal cartel. KSH 5 billion.
We have our key numbers, ladies and gentlemen, so let us discuss.
So, we have a county that is dead last in literacy, and in the top 2 of the poorest counties in the republic. Only 20% of the population can read. The Governor earns 92 times the average citizen. The Governor lives in a house that cost over KSH 200 million. When he leaves his house in the morning, he goes to his office that cost KSH 829 million. And this is all happening when 80% of the County residents struggle to put food on the table.
Those are the facts, and they are not in dispute.
During the same time, the County Government geniuses decide to build the Speaker of the County Assembly a house. And a home office, and a garage. The house was initially estimated to cost KSH 75 million. But due to circumstances that not a soul in the government could explain to auditors, the contract expired before the house was completed, and the County Government found a new contractor to complete the job for an additional KSH 29 million.
But this palace in the jungle worth apparently worth over KSH 100 million in Turkana County was not enough. The County proceeded to build the Speaker a guest house for another KSH 19 million, and a few other amenities, and so the whole cost went to KSH 276 million!
The legal limit for a Speaker’s house is KSH 35 million, and they spent close to KSH 130 million just for one residence.
By this time, I am sure you are getting tired of these obscene numbers. You and I work, and pay taxes. Nobody pays you 92 times the income your average neighbor is making. And for sure nobody will drop KSH 100 million to build you a house. These are the perks of working in government in a poor country. Go figure.
And so, as a country, we need to answer for ourselves the question I posed yesterday, which is, what is the point of government? What is its role in our lives. If this level of criminality and pillaging can occur in our country in the midst of so much poverty, questioning the need for government is a totally valid question.
I said in my last post that, when the average citizen looks at the thug on the street and the government, and is unable to discern any meaningful difference between them, that society from that point on is on its journey to becoming a failed state. A journey to anarchy.
Over the last two months or so, Kenyans have been shouting at the top of their lungs, begging for their government to listen. To hear them out. Kenyans have asked that their government stop this unbelievable level of plunder. Dozens of Kenyans have died, thousands injured, and many more are missing today. To this day, the people that govern us continue to use the power of the gun to subdue Kenyans, until they can take everything in their sight.
And so, as a society, we all have to ask whether today there is any difference between the thug on the street and our governments. Every Kenyan will have to answer this question for themselves.
And before answering this question, everyone needs to remember the many Calvins in our society. Smart, upright children whose only crime is to be born in an unforgiving, lawless, and corrupt purgatory that is Kenya today.
For myself, I have concluded that there is no difference between the thug on the street and our governments, county and national alike. If you can see any meaningful difference, let me know. I am willing to listen.
So despite over KSH 100 billion in money sent to Turkana County, there is almost no measurable improvement in people’s life today. None. And it makes sense, when you look at how that money is spent.
I want you to forget for a second the obscene obsession by the County Government with spending ungodly amounts of money on themselves. The houses, etc.
If you step back and look at how the government is actually spending the hard-earned money on other things, you will be depressed.
I am telling you that I wept three times in the middle of the night trying to make sense of this crazy situation in Turkana County. Three times. I have never imagined that human beings can be so greedy and cold-blooded.
Think about this: In the couple of years I reviewed, the County spent around KSH 400 million annually in “tourism” initiatives, including marketing, and apparently upgrading certain facilities. KSH 400 million for tourism. In Turkana County. In 1 year.
KSH 400 million per year in marketing and other money pits.
The government’s own website says that the county gets around 3000 visitors per month. Around 36,000 per year. That’s them saying that, on their website.
Are you curious to know the return on that KSH 400 million investment?
I have an answer for you. Remember that I told you that the County has never raised more than KSH 200 million in a year within the county, despite its KSH 18.4 billion budget? Let me walk you through the breakdown of the absolutely embarrassing shit-show that is the County Government’s “own source revenue” operations.
In 2022-2023, the County Government collected KSH 190 million locally against their KSH 18.4 billion budget. 1% of the budget.
Remember, there is absolutely no requirement on the County to cut costs, or achieve certain local revenue targets today.
So they raised KSH 45 million in single business permits, KSH 72 million in CESS, KSH 8 million in market fee, KSH 9 million in “slaughter fees”. And then finally, there is the return on the tourism investment that you were looking for. A whopping KSH 209, 000 in “park fees”. KSH 209,000 in fees, after investing KSH 400 million. And so, take this as an example and extrapolate it across the entire budget, and you can see how one can spend KSH 100 billion and get NOTHING in return.
You don’t need to be a genius to see the absurdity of this situation. Let me explain using an example that should illustrate the utter dimwittedness of this situation.
Remember the KSH 100 billion sent to Turkana by you and me? Part of this amount is supposed to be for “service delivery”, or “recurrent expenditure”. Usually about 70% of the budget. The balance, 30%, is designed to go to development projects.
With that in mind, from KSH 100 billion, the County apparently has made KSH 30 billion worth of investments, right? 30% of the KSH 100 billion.
Now, if you employed someone to run a business for you, and they asked you to invest KSH 30 billion, which is no small fortune, at some point you would have to start seeing returns, right? That’s common sense, isn’t it?
So, when we look at the revenues streams that make up this paltry sum of KSH 190 million, and see things like “slaughter fees’ and “market fees”, what does it tell you?
It tells me there is no real “development” happening in that county. Trust me, if you had real development totaling KSH 30 billion, you would have corporate taxes in the hundreds of millions or billions, a booming real estate market, rising wages and standards of living, etc., low unemployment, etc. You would not have 80% of the people living hand-to mouth, and a County Government that can not afford to support itself for 5 days out of the year that has 365 days!
We do not have enough time, trust me, to deal with the shit-show that is Turkana County. Dealing with that mess would require a forensic team. I will just highlight a few of other “in your-face” type of theft of public funds, and then conclude my submission.
A government that has a budget of KSH 18.4 billion annually, and which has never raised more than 1% of its budget had the wisdom to do the following with your money:
· Spend KSH 222 million on a project building something that NOBODY uses. You got that right. They spent KSH 222 million on a facility that NOBODY uses. KSH 222 million gone to waste, in a county that is dead last in pretty much all measures of human progress.
· Remember the County Government offices that cost KSH 829 million? The County spent KSH 82 million on “air-conditioning” for that building.
· Despite the County Spending hundreds of millions for the top three officers of the County, the Governor and his Deputy, in the 2022-2023 year, illegally charged the county (you and I) KSH 2.2 million in housing allowance!
· Built two facilities for KSH 16 million, that were completed, but NOBODY uses them.
· Entered into a contract for the construction of a plastic use facility for KSH 13 million in 2021. The contractor gets paid KSH 4.9 million, and has never been seen since.
· Paid out KSH 62 million in salaries that were not supportable in just one year. They could not point to anybody and say, that is who we paid.
· Paid out KSH 27 million in legal fees that nobody could say what they related to. And the County’s Legal Advisor, who, in 2022-2023, had a budget of KSH 123 million, apparently did not know anything about it!
· Had an outstanding bill at Kenya Revenue Authority in the amount of KSH 486 million, that did not show up on the County Government’s financial statements. Think about that. KSH 486 million owned to the Kenya Revenue Authority, and that liability is not on the financial statements! This only means that someone took those funds for themselves, which is why the liability would be missing from the county’s books.
· Could not account for KSH 367 million in expenditures for 2022-2023. KSH 367 million, in unexplained expenses.
· Awarded a contract worth over KSH 200 million to a bidder with no bank statement, against the law. This contract was entered into and approved before the statutory time after the bidding process lapsed. Someone was in a hurry to get paid. KSH 200 million, illegally awarded to a bidder who did not have a 6-month bank statement.
· Apparently purchased KSH 1.5 billion in assets in 2022-2023, but kept no records of the said assets. For this reason, NOBODY can verify where these assets are located. KSH 1.5 billion.
Let me just say this. In my last article, the most common critique was that it was too long. Too many words.
I did not intend to make another long article.
Trust me when I tell you this, we do not have the time to detail half of the problems in Turkana County. For just 1 year! We do not.
Now, you recall my point about how societies descend to madness and anarchy. In our country today, our leaders are accusing those of us who are agitating for honest and transparent governance of being traitors to the country. They call us anarchists, criminals, and merchants of chaos. They are questioning our patriotism.
You have all seen the government and its horde of propagandists threatening the Ford Foundation and others because they may have helped civil society keep the lights on, and investigative journalists to have the capacity to continue to do the Lord’s work of investigating criminality in government. As though citizens are so dumb and ignorant, that they cannot see what is going on.
The reason why millions of Calvins in this country will never graduate from college and earn a decent living is not because of the Ford Foundation. No. It is because of the thieves we have in office today, like the ones in Turkana County.
In this post, I copy our leaders, the President and his deputy.
I copy them because I want them to help Kenyans understand the following conundrum, about crime and criminals.
There is nothing so special or peculiar about criminals or where they pop up. There are criminals in the US, Canada, France, and other places. Just like we have criminals in Kenya.
The difference between banana republics and failed states, and civilized societies, is WHAT we do to and about criminals.
In civilized societies, criminals are prosecuted and punished heavily. They are shunned. In some places, those charged with serious crimes such as corruption are executed. These are societies that are committed to sending the message that corruption, which robs citizens of their rights, is not acceptable. And they demonstrate this commitment by heavily punishing those who steal from the most vulnerable in society.
In Kenya, we see the opposite. Criminals are exalted. They are promoted and embraced in government. It was just last week that the president unveiled his nominees for his Cabinet. Among them, are the likes of @HassanAliJoho , @GovWOparanya , and Davis Chirchir, ALL people who have been accused or charged with massive corruption against Kenyans.
And am sure you remember that I mentioned @GovernorNanok , the man who tried to steal KSH 5 billion in his last days in office.
Would you believe it if I told you that he works in government, at State House? He plunded billions of your money, got no measurable improvement in the lives of his subjects, and now has a government job in State House. Let that sink in.
And so, the question is, how is it that in a country of 55 million people, with thousands of highly qualified people who have never ever stolen from Kenyans, he ends up with the criminals and thieves in the government, despite the fact that their crimes are in the public domain? How is this possible?
Is it possible that these thieves possess a certain unique ability to run government, save Kenyans billions, and solve problems in a way that the president performs a cost-benefit analysis, and the benefits outweigh the costs of their theft?
If not, what message does it send to Kenyans, when their own president puts into office known thieves?
I think that is a fair question, don’t you?
@EAukot @rigathi @WilliamsRuto @OkiyaOmtatah @citizentvkenya @NationBreaking @TIKenya @CNN @TurkanaCountyKE](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GT3MY2UWAAABZAL.jpg)
There is a certain truth that most Kenyans appear uncomfortable with. But we must face it.
And this truth is that our country is so broken, that it may take a few generations to recover.
This country is teetering on total collapse.
This country, if we don’t fix it immediately, will be Haiti or Somalia, or worse.
Our faith is the fundamental decency of humans has been tested to the limit. And our faith in public institutions is disappearing fast.
Have you ever wondered how a country like Haiti became what is today? That a large population of the country would rather put their fate in the hands of gangbangers as opposed to government?
This happens when the average citizen does not see any difference between a thug on the street and his government. And I believe we have never been closer to this situation than we are now.
Before you say that am being dramatic, let me give you some context.
I always like to use pictures because they do a good job of capturing attention.
The first picture you see here is the Governor of Mandera county’s @MohamedAKhalif’s mansion. It apparently cost you and I KSH 285 million. Let that sink in.
Look around it and take in the utter emptiness around it. Your political class does feel any shame when they look at this all day, in the midst of so poverty. The second picture is a primary school in Mandera.
Stevie Wonder, the blind American artist, can see through the injustice and insanity on display in these two pictures. Our corrupt and greedy politicians are pillaging our country leaving it a carcass. And they have zero shame.
I want all Kenyans to look at these pictures and ask themselves how we can allow this madness to happen, and for how much longer.
Governor @HonAmasonKingi was in the news recently about his KSH 140 mansion in Kilifi, one of the poorest counties. The third picture is a primary school in Kilifi. Again, let that sink in.
Unbelievable insanity and ignorance on display.
That human beings can be so stupid and ignorant as to not be totally repulsed by this level of callousness is beyond me.
The insanity you see here is happening all across our country.
Our country’s overall government size is totally unsustainable and exists solely to maintain the lifestyles of the most corrupt among us.
If you look at the last picture, it shows that a quick comparison of Kenya and Texas. With an economy that is 21 times SMALLER than Texas, our country has over 1800 legislators as opposed to Texas’ 181 legislators.
Kenyan politicians are the second highest paid in the world (adjusted for size of the economy).
Every one of these 1800 people get salaries many dozens higher the the average Kenyan’s per capita income. They get a housing allowance, drivers, vehicle allowance, mortgage, etc.
We are bleeding our country to support the most corrupt among us.
This madness must stop. We have no choice.
And it won’t stop by asking the thieves to tone down their stealing.
It will only happen by kicking them out of government resoundingly, and prosecuting those who have stolen from our children.
We have no choice.
@OkiyaOmtatah @EAukot @HonAmasonKingi @aliiroba @Mandera_cgvt @KilifiCountyGov @NationBreaking @citizentvkenya
Yesterday, I wrote some commentary about the rot in our country, focusing on how our County Governments are pillaging our resources. That commentary, which almost broke the internet, shocked the conscience of the nation.
In that commentary, I made the audacious claim that our governments, including County Governments, appear to exist solely to maintain the lifestyles of the most corrupt among us.
I am here today to tell you what I meant by that.
To do this, I need to try and paint a picture for you so that you can easily spot the problem. I will focus on Mandera County only as an example. I am not focusing on Mandera County because I have any specific animus towards the county. No sir, no ma’am. We have to start somewhere, don’t we?
Please sit down, buckle up, and park for a second if you are driving. You will see why you might get very angry shortly.
Let us start with some context. I need to show you the two pictures I used yesterday, only because they can explain better than I can, the decision making of our leaders (first picture), and then, the result of those decisions (second picture), and that is the whole point of this discourse.
Let me start by putting some numbers on the table as reference points.
The first number is KSH 11.4 billion. This was the budget of Mandera County for the 2022/2023 fiscal year.
The second number is 2%. This is the percentage of the budget that Mandera County planned to raise from within the county, which would translate to approx. KSH 200 million. In other words, 98% of the KSH 11.4 billion would come into the county courtesy of you, me and everyone else. Your contribution is appreciated. But next time, please send more.
The third is KSH 67,518. This is the average ANNUAL [emphasis added] income of a resident of Mandera County. (https://t.co/GVp5NBPV53)
The fourth one is, KSH 12 million. This is the basic annual salary of the Governor of Mandera County, before other benefits.
The fifth one is 177. The Governor of Mandera’s salary is 177 times
higher than the average Mandera resident’s annual income. Let that sink in. 177 times higher than the income of the subjects he Lords over. For context, the Governor of Texas makes USD 153,000. This is about twice [emphasis added] as much as the average Texan makes. Not 177 times.
KSH 285 million. This is the figure provided by Mandera County Government as the cost of that Palace in the Jungle. You have to admit, it reminds you of Mobutu Sese Seko’s mansion that the old despot built in the middle of nowhere, squandering a sizeable chunk of DRC’s GDP to do so. The poor be damned.
1 million. This is the population of Mandera County.
89%. This is the poverty rate in Mandera. 89% of the county is poor. Indigent. (seethe County Government’s own website
)
Now that we have our key numbers, let us discuss.
As I said above, out of the 2022/2023 County Budget, which was KSH 11.4 billion, the County of Mandera was only able to raise KSH 200 million from within the county. In other words, 98% of the money the County spent for this fiscal year came to the county courtesy of you and I and every other Kenyan.
So, we can establish easily that the problem of how the County Government of Mandera spends money allocated to it is everyone’s problem.
I also said above that the whole County machinery could only raise KSH 200 million locally. Do you see the problem here? The County’s budget has absolutely no bearing on the economic activity or the economic prospects of the County. It is not anchored upon the economic reality of the County. Don’t get me wrong, there are valid reasons for us as a nation to endeavor to develop a region that has historically been ignored by successive administrations. But we also have, in my humble opinion, to be cognizant of the fact that our resources are scarce. We have to use our brains.
Bite this little nugget for more context: Nakuru County, with a population of over 2.1 million (more than twice the population of Mandera), received approximately KSH 13 billion from the National Government in the 2022/2023 fiscal year. KSH 11 billion for Mandera with 1 million residents, vs KSH 13 billion for Nakuru with 2.1 million people. Go figure.
Common sense would tell you that the foundation for a federal government system like ours is that each county should generally endeavor to live within its means. In other words, Mandera County should not expect that citizens in other counties will continue sending help to support Mandera forever. Otherwise, the whole system crumbles.
With that in mind, and remembering that Mandera is only able to raise 2% of its budget, what year, pray tell, do you think Mandera will be in a position to raise 70% of its budget like Montana, the US State that receives the most help from the US Federal Government does today?
2075 AD? 2100 AD?
I think you get the point.
Again, the transfers from the National Government are not in any way tethered to the economic reality within the county. The County of Mandera can expect ongoing, and very generous transfers to the county, regardless of whether or not there is any prospect whatsoever of the county EVER being able to take care of its own needs.
What can go wrong in a situation like this?
Well, for starters, the County Government spent KSH 285 million on a mansion in the jungle surrounded by nothing but nothing. For the Governor. You have seen it. It’s nice, right?
They were not done. Not by a long shot.
The County Government also spent KSH 55 million to build the Mandera County Assembly Speaker a mansion. The County Government also built a mansion for the Deputy Governor. While I do not have the specific amount for the Deputy Governor’s mansion, the May 20, 2019 Salaries and Remuneration Commission (“SRC”) circular capped the cost of constructing County Governor, Deputy Governor and County Assembly Speakers’ residences at Sh45 million, Sh40 million and Sh35 million, respectively.
Let’s assume that the County Government only spent the 40 million established by the SRC for the Deputy Governor (which would be a miracle given that they significantly went over the limits for the Governor and the Speaker’s house).
This would mean that a poor county like Mandera has spent KSH 380 MILLION on mansions for just three politicians. In case you were wondering, this figure is equivalent to the TOTAL ANNUAL income of 5,628 residents of Mandera! Let that sink in. 5,628 poor residents of Mandera would have to toil the earth for a year to make what these three special people have grabbed for themselves.
The first question that confronts us is this: In a county where the average citizen makes KSH 67,518 ANNUALLY, which genius thought that it is a prudent thing for you and me to build each of these people a mansion that practically nobody in the county who is not a government employee can ever, ever, ever dream of living in? This is your government, and please remember this when they tell you that the government cannot afford to pay doctors a living wage.
The second question is, how is it possible that a county whose leaders can only raise KSH 200 million locally (local taxation is a great proxy for the size of the local economy because the government is generally taxing economic activity), is fine with spending KSH 380 million to build mansions for the Governor, Deputy Governor, and the Speaker of the County Assembly? So, they collect KSH 200 million in taxes, and spend KSH 380 million to build homes for three people. What the heck are they smoking in Mandera?
Remember that the average citizen in Mandera County makes KSH 67,518 annually. The Governor of Mandera County makes about KSH 1 million per month, or KSH 12 million per year- before other benefits. In other words, the Governor earns a basic salary before benefits that is 177 times higher than the average Mandera Citizen. Let that sink in. 177 times higher than the average citizen.
So, you have paid the Governor a salary that is 177 times higher than the average Mandera Citizen, and built him a mansion for KSH 285 million.
Allow me to make a quick confession here. I am an economist and Certified Public Accountant with probably more professional experience than the Governor, the Deputy Governor, and the County Assembly Speaker of Mandera County. And am not saying this to boast. I am saying this to tell you that, while I make a good living, nobody in the private sector will pay me a salary that is 177 times higher the average citizen’s annual income. It’s not going to happen. Period, end of story. And nobody is going to build me a mansion like that. I get a salary, health benefits, and that is it. If I don’t like that, I can shove it.
What I am telling you here resonates, doesn’t it?
Let us test the sense behind this compensation structure. You have a job, right? Do you make 177 times the income of your average neighbor? The answer is no!
What is worse is the fact that the crazy high salary is usually not the end of the stealing. Benefits and other “marupurupu” can often double the high salary. Let me give you an example of this. On the Mandera County’s 2022/2023 budget, there is a summary of a department’s projected expenses. It lists:
· Basic salaries: 80 million
· House allowance: 13 million
· Hardship allowance: 16.5 million
· Commuter allowance: 8.3 million
· Risk allowance: 1.5 million
· Extraneous allowance: 396,000
· Personal allowance: 264,000
· Leave allowance: 669,000.
Do you see the sheer stupidity of our government? What the heck is a “risk allowance”? A “hardship allowance"?
I did tell you that you might get angry. Did I not?
So, the question is, why is this ok in Kenya to pay someone an income that is over 177 times the average citizen, build them a palace, and on top of that throw in additional benefits such as the above, frankly, artificial allowances? Why is this ok in a poor country?
The next thing that should offend all our sensibilities is HOW the KSH 11.4 billion is actually spent. I told you that government exists to facilitate the filthy-rich lifestyles of our corrupt politicians. And am sure you are beginning to understand what I meant.
Think about this. Mandera County has the following departments:
· Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries;
· Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports;
· Ministry of Gender, Youth and Social Services;
· Ministry of Finance;
· Ministry of Health Services;
· Ministry of Trade, Investments, Industrialization, and Co-operative Development;
· County Assembly;
· Lands, Housing and Physical Planning;
· Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor;
· County Public Service Board; and
· Ministry of Public Service, Management, and Devolved Unit.
Now, you will agree with me that the measure of any department’s success in the performance of its mandate is really how much of the resources made available to it reaches the needy citizens, right? Like, if you and I formed a charity that aims to provide university education to orphaned children, we would measure our success by how much actual help (financially) we are able to provide to the largest number of children, right? Meaning that if we raise KSH 100 MILLION but spend KSH 60 MILLION on ourselves, we are not really helping a lot of people. That is just common sense, is it not?
Well, that doesn't appear to be how the County of Mandera views its mandate.
Consider this: Out of the departments I listed above, The County Assembly and the Office of the Governor and the Deputy Governor, together, have projected expenses that are GREATER THAN what is earmarked to be spent by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender and Youth, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade, Lands Housing and Physical Planning, and Public Works and Transport! Unbelievable, right?
So, the County Assembly and the Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor are more important than the ministry of education, and the ministry of public works. Only in Kenya.
Now, the last point I want to make is this. The vast majority of the money spent by Mandera County goes to people’s bank accounts, as opposed to the larger economy, which is why even after pumping KSH 11 billion annually, for many years, you won’t see the economic growth that you would hope for.
I will use one department of the County Government to illustrate my point.
The Ministry of Education in the County projected KSH 452 million in “recurrent expenditure” and KSH 138 million in “development expenditure” for the period in question.
This “recurrent expenditure” is designed to be the amount that the County is using to “DELIVER SERVICES” to the people in the current year. Actual services to the people.
A review of the details reveals that that out of the KSH 452 million in “recurrent expenditure”, KSH 190 million will go to salaries, KSH 32 million will go to “house allowances”, 40 million will go to “hardship allowances”, KSH 26 million will go to “commuter allowances”, KSH 2 million will go to “leave allowances”, and on and on.
When it is all said and done, out of the KSH 452 million, the only amount that is left to go towards actual services is KSH 120 million for “bursaries” and KSH 15 million for grants to youth polytechnics. I am the first one to say that I have serious questions about how much of this KSH 120 million and the KSH 15 million actually ends up with the residents.
So, now you have the picture from just one department, with a budget of KSH 452 million. You have seen that only a tiny fraction of the funds actually go towards providing much needed services. You can then extrapolate this problem across the entire government, and what you end up with is, a scam. A fraud.
There is no other reasonable conclusion that can be reached here, other than, this government exists solely to serve the rich, corrupt politicians.
I said yesterday that our country is on the brink. We are on the precipice of total collapse.
Today, we all know that our governments, national and county alike, are corrupt to the core. Everyday, you wake up to stories like, the Governor of Kiambu is shaking down Tatu City, demanding a bribe of KSH 4 billion. And we have all gotten accustomed to this. We don’t even blink.
What is worse is that our institutions have totally failed us. What does the Ethics and Anti—Corruption Commission (“EACC”) do? Does anyone know? What is the purpose of such agencies? What is the purpose of government in Kenya?
Today, you will walk to the next street and watch the Kenya Police shake down citizens for a bribe in broad daylight, without any shame. They are not even worried about being videotaped. This is because they know that in our country, our laws don’t mean anything. They know their leaders are corrupt and won’t do a damn thing. Fish rots from the head.
Countries become Haitis or Somalias when the average person cannot see any difference between a thug on the street, like Mr. Barbeque of Haiti, and the government. They are both using their monopoly of power and violence to take advantage of the poor citizens. You have to ask yourself if Kenya is different today.
And so, when I said yesterday that we are heading the way of Haiti or Somalia, I was not trying to be dramatic. I was trying to prepare us to recognize where we are headed, so that, if we want a different fate, we can demand a change of direction. We must demand a change of direction. We have no choice.
@OkiyaOmtatah @EAukot @EACCKenya @Mandera_cgvt @KWamatangi @aliiroba @NationBreaking @citizentvkenya @WilliamsRuto @rigathi
![MwangiBonnie's tweet photo. Yesterday, I wrote some commentary about the rot in our country, focusing on how our County Governments are pillaging our resources. That commentary, which almost broke the internet, shocked the conscience of the nation.
In that commentary, I made the audacious claim that our governments, including County Governments, appear to exist solely to maintain the lifestyles of the most corrupt among us.
I am here today to tell you what I meant by that.
To do this, I need to try and paint a picture for you so that you can easily spot the problem. I will focus on Mandera County only as an example. I am not focusing on Mandera County because I have any specific animus towards the county. No sir, no ma’am. We have to start somewhere, don’t we?
Please sit down, buckle up, and park for a second if you are driving. You will see why you might get very angry shortly.
Let us start with some context. I need to show you the two pictures I used yesterday, only because they can explain better than I can, the decision making of our leaders (first picture), and then, the result of those decisions (second picture), and that is the whole point of this discourse.
Let me start by putting some numbers on the table as reference points.
The first number is KSH 11.4 billion. This was the budget of Mandera County for the 2022/2023 fiscal year.
The second number is 2%. This is the percentage of the budget that Mandera County planned to raise from within the county, which would translate to approx. KSH 200 million. In other words, 98% of the KSH 11.4 billion would come into the county courtesy of you, me and everyone else. Your contribution is appreciated. But next time, please send more.
The third is KSH 67,518. This is the average ANNUAL [emphasis added] income of a resident of Mandera County. (https://t.co/GVp5NBPV53)
The fourth one is, KSH 12 million. This is the basic annual salary of the Governor of Mandera County, before other benefits.
The fifth one is 177. The Governor of Mandera’s salary is 177 times
higher than the average Mandera resident’s annual income. Let that sink in. 177 times higher than the income of the subjects he Lords over. For context, the Governor of Texas makes USD 153,000. This is about twice [emphasis added] as much as the average Texan makes. Not 177 times.
KSH 285 million. This is the figure provided by Mandera County Government as the cost of that Palace in the Jungle. You have to admit, it reminds you of Mobutu Sese Seko’s mansion that the old despot built in the middle of nowhere, squandering a sizeable chunk of DRC’s GDP to do so. The poor be damned.
1 million. This is the population of Mandera County.
89%. This is the poverty rate in Mandera. 89% of the county is poor. Indigent. (seethe County Government’s own website
)
Now that we have our key numbers, let us discuss.
As I said above, out of the 2022/2023 County Budget, which was KSH 11.4 billion, the County of Mandera was only able to raise KSH 200 million from within the county. In other words, 98% of the money the County spent for this fiscal year came to the county courtesy of you and I and every other Kenyan.
So, we can establish easily that the problem of how the County Government of Mandera spends money allocated to it is everyone’s problem.
I also said above that the whole County machinery could only raise KSH 200 million locally. Do you see the problem here? The County’s budget has absolutely no bearing on the economic activity or the economic prospects of the County. It is not anchored upon the economic reality of the County. Don’t get me wrong, there are valid reasons for us as a nation to endeavor to develop a region that has historically been ignored by successive administrations. But we also have, in my humble opinion, to be cognizant of the fact that our resources are scarce. We have to use our brains.
Bite this little nugget for more context: Nakuru County, with a population of over 2.1 million (more than twice the population of Mandera), received approximately KSH 13 billion from the National Government in the 2022/2023 fiscal year. KSH 11 billion for Mandera with 1 million residents, vs KSH 13 billion for Nakuru with 2.1 million people. Go figure.
Common sense would tell you that the foundation for a federal government system like ours is that each county should generally endeavor to live within its means. In other words, Mandera County should not expect that citizens in other counties will continue sending help to support Mandera forever. Otherwise, the whole system crumbles.
With that in mind, and remembering that Mandera is only able to raise 2% of its budget, what year, pray tell, do you think Mandera will be in a position to raise 70% of its budget like Montana, the US State that receives the most help from the US Federal Government does today?
2075 AD? 2100 AD?
I think you get the point.
Again, the transfers from the National Government are not in any way tethered to the economic reality within the county. The County of Mandera can expect ongoing, and very generous transfers to the county, regardless of whether or not there is any prospect whatsoever of the county EVER being able to take care of its own needs.
What can go wrong in a situation like this?
Well, for starters, the County Government spent KSH 285 million on a mansion in the jungle surrounded by nothing but nothing. For the Governor. You have seen it. It’s nice, right?
They were not done. Not by a long shot.
The County Government also spent KSH 55 million to build the Mandera County Assembly Speaker a mansion. The County Government also built a mansion for the Deputy Governor. While I do not have the specific amount for the Deputy Governor’s mansion, the May 20, 2019 Salaries and Remuneration Commission (“SRC”) circular capped the cost of constructing County Governor, Deputy Governor and County Assembly Speakers’ residences at Sh45 million, Sh40 million and Sh35 million, respectively.
Let’s assume that the County Government only spent the 40 million established by the SRC for the Deputy Governor (which would be a miracle given that they significantly went over the limits for the Governor and the Speaker’s house).
This would mean that a poor county like Mandera has spent KSH 380 MILLION on mansions for just three politicians. In case you were wondering, this figure is equivalent to the TOTAL ANNUAL income of 5,628 residents of Mandera! Let that sink in. 5,628 poor residents of Mandera would have to toil the earth for a year to make what these three special people have grabbed for themselves.
The first question that confronts us is this: In a county where the average citizen makes KSH 67,518 ANNUALLY, which genius thought that it is a prudent thing for you and me to build each of these people a mansion that practically nobody in the county who is not a government employee can ever, ever, ever dream of living in? This is your government, and please remember this when they tell you that the government cannot afford to pay doctors a living wage.
The second question is, how is it possible that a county whose leaders can only raise KSH 200 million locally (local taxation is a great proxy for the size of the local economy because the government is generally taxing economic activity), is fine with spending KSH 380 million to build mansions for the Governor, Deputy Governor, and the Speaker of the County Assembly? So, they collect KSH 200 million in taxes, and spend KSH 380 million to build homes for three people. What the heck are they smoking in Mandera?
Remember that the average citizen in Mandera County makes KSH 67,518 annually. The Governor of Mandera County makes about KSH 1 million per month, or KSH 12 million per year- before other benefits. In other words, the Governor earns a basic salary before benefits that is 177 times higher than the average Mandera Citizen. Let that sink in. 177 times higher than the average citizen.
So, you have paid the Governor a salary that is 177 times higher than the average Mandera Citizen, and built him a mansion for KSH 285 million.
Allow me to make a quick confession here. I am an economist and Certified Public Accountant with probably more professional experience than the Governor, the Deputy Governor, and the County Assembly Speaker of Mandera County. And am not saying this to boast. I am saying this to tell you that, while I make a good living, nobody in the private sector will pay me a salary that is 177 times higher the average citizen’s annual income. It’s not going to happen. Period, end of story. And nobody is going to build me a mansion like that. I get a salary, health benefits, and that is it. If I don’t like that, I can shove it.
What I am telling you here resonates, doesn’t it?
Let us test the sense behind this compensation structure. You have a job, right? Do you make 177 times the income of your average neighbor? The answer is no!
What is worse is the fact that the crazy high salary is usually not the end of the stealing. Benefits and other “marupurupu” can often double the high salary. Let me give you an example of this. On the Mandera County’s 2022/2023 budget, there is a summary of a department’s projected expenses. It lists:
· Basic salaries: 80 million
· House allowance: 13 million
· Hardship allowance: 16.5 million
· Commuter allowance: 8.3 million
· Risk allowance: 1.5 million
· Extraneous allowance: 396,000
· Personal allowance: 264,000
· Leave allowance: 669,000.
Do you see the sheer stupidity of our government? What the heck is a “risk allowance”? A “hardship allowance"?
I did tell you that you might get angry. Did I not?
So, the question is, why is this ok in Kenya to pay someone an income that is over 177 times the average citizen, build them a palace, and on top of that throw in additional benefits such as the above, frankly, artificial allowances? Why is this ok in a poor country?
The next thing that should offend all our sensibilities is HOW the KSH 11.4 billion is actually spent. I told you that government exists to facilitate the filthy-rich lifestyles of our corrupt politicians. And am sure you are beginning to understand what I meant.
Think about this. Mandera County has the following departments:
· Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries;
· Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports;
· Ministry of Gender, Youth and Social Services;
· Ministry of Finance;
· Ministry of Health Services;
· Ministry of Trade, Investments, Industrialization, and Co-operative Development;
· County Assembly;
· Lands, Housing and Physical Planning;
· Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor;
· County Public Service Board; and
· Ministry of Public Service, Management, and Devolved Unit.
Now, you will agree with me that the measure of any department’s success in the performance of its mandate is really how much of the resources made available to it reaches the needy citizens, right? Like, if you and I formed a charity that aims to provide university education to orphaned children, we would measure our success by how much actual help (financially) we are able to provide to the largest number of children, right? Meaning that if we raise KSH 100 MILLION but spend KSH 60 MILLION on ourselves, we are not really helping a lot of people. That is just common sense, is it not?
Well, that doesn't appear to be how the County of Mandera views its mandate.
Consider this: Out of the departments I listed above, The County Assembly and the Office of the Governor and the Deputy Governor, together, have projected expenses that are GREATER THAN what is earmarked to be spent by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender and Youth, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade, Lands Housing and Physical Planning, and Public Works and Transport! Unbelievable, right?
So, the County Assembly and the Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor are more important than the ministry of education, and the ministry of public works. Only in Kenya.
Now, the last point I want to make is this. The vast majority of the money spent by Mandera County goes to people’s bank accounts, as opposed to the larger economy, which is why even after pumping KSH 11 billion annually, for many years, you won’t see the economic growth that you would hope for.
I will use one department of the County Government to illustrate my point.
The Ministry of Education in the County projected KSH 452 million in “recurrent expenditure” and KSH 138 million in “development expenditure” for the period in question.
This “recurrent expenditure” is designed to be the amount that the County is using to “DELIVER SERVICES” to the people in the current year. Actual services to the people.
A review of the details reveals that that out of the KSH 452 million in “recurrent expenditure”, KSH 190 million will go to salaries, KSH 32 million will go to “house allowances”, 40 million will go to “hardship allowances”, KSH 26 million will go to “commuter allowances”, KSH 2 million will go to “leave allowances”, and on and on.
When it is all said and done, out of the KSH 452 million, the only amount that is left to go towards actual services is KSH 120 million for “bursaries” and KSH 15 million for grants to youth polytechnics. I am the first one to say that I have serious questions about how much of this KSH 120 million and the KSH 15 million actually ends up with the residents.
So, now you have the picture from just one department, with a budget of KSH 452 million. You have seen that only a tiny fraction of the funds actually go towards providing much needed services. You can then extrapolate this problem across the entire government, and what you end up with is, a scam. A fraud.
There is no other reasonable conclusion that can be reached here, other than, this government exists solely to serve the rich, corrupt politicians.
I said yesterday that our country is on the brink. We are on the precipice of total collapse.
Today, we all know that our governments, national and county alike, are corrupt to the core. Everyday, you wake up to stories like, the Governor of Kiambu is shaking down Tatu City, demanding a bribe of KSH 4 billion. And we have all gotten accustomed to this. We don’t even blink.
What is worse is that our institutions have totally failed us. What does the Ethics and Anti—Corruption Commission (“EACC”) do? Does anyone know? What is the purpose of such agencies? What is the purpose of government in Kenya?
Today, you will walk to the next street and watch the Kenya Police shake down citizens for a bribe in broad daylight, without any shame. They are not even worried about being videotaped. This is because they know that in our country, our laws don’t mean anything. They know their leaders are corrupt and won’t do a damn thing. Fish rots from the head.
Countries become Haitis or Somalias when the average person cannot see any difference between a thug on the street, like Mr. Barbeque of Haiti, and the government. They are both using their monopoly of power and violence to take advantage of the poor citizens. You have to ask yourself if Kenya is different today.
And so, when I said yesterday that we are heading the way of Haiti or Somalia, I was not trying to be dramatic. I was trying to prepare us to recognize where we are headed, so that, if we want a different fate, we can demand a change of direction. We must demand a change of direction. We have no choice.
@OkiyaOmtatah @EAukot @EACCKenya @Mandera_cgvt @KWamatangi @aliiroba @NationBreaking @citizentvkenya @WilliamsRuto @rigathi](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GTsGq1raUAAlOF-.jpg)
Why is GRAND CORRUPTION by the ruling elites in Kenya always unearthed by foreign countries? Because Kenya always hides how much the rulers steal from the people of Kenya...
Folks,
After the very long wait, the Public Debt Management Office has finally made public the External Debt Register as at June 30th, 2023.
It's a late release but hey, what are we seeing here?
Some thoughts.
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