![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)
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People are boldly talking of being bribed while EACC are just sipping tea and Mandazi in their offices.
Pesa ya kuunda barabara anapeana kama handouts hiyo ingine anabuy gari kubwa za kupita the poor roads
After nearly 13 years in South Africa, Ruth Wambui is among the Kenyans who have returned home this week following recent anti-migrant protests.
The mother of two opens up about building a life abroad, the persecution African foreigners face, and her emotional decision to return. #FixingTheNationNTV @NationFmKE @ericlatiff @MariamBishar @blinkypenguin
Who to follow
Nairobi Chapel Waiyaki Way
@nrbcpwaiyakiway
Growing D.E.E.P to reach W.I.D.E
Venue: Muguga Green Primary School
Time: 10:00am-12:30pm.
https://t.co/UvQxSb9OZ2
APSEA KENYA
@apseakenya
The Association of Professional Societies in East Africa is a membership umbrella body that brings together professional societies of diverse disciplines.
Wanjiku Kimaru
@WanjikuKimaru
Bring back the era of “boring” presidents. The ones who stayed in office, did the work, and delivered results not full-time campaigners flying around making promises they never keep.
Kenya has more MCAs than Intensive Care Unit beds...
Ladies and Gentlemen Ksh.6.3 Billion was diverted from E-Citizen to Personal accounts. 6.3 Billion. Ivo tu 6.3Billion!!!
For Context one Brand new fully functional Level 5 Hospital costs around 1B-1.5 Billion. Izo ni Sita gone!!!
We have no country here.
Chuck Norris held a 183-10-2 record and was a 6x world champion in full contact bare knuckle karate.
On top of that, he beat heavyweight kickboxing world champion Joe Lewis 3 consecutive times and also had a brutal sparring match with undefeated kickboxing world champion, Bill Superfoot Wallace, that lasted an hour and a half. According to Wallace, they practically stalemated and "beat the crap out of each other".
Chuck was trained in kickboxing/boxing by Benny The Jet Urquidez and was also trained in BJJ by the Gracies and Machados for 20 years. Even being able to submit Carlos Machado himself on occasion.
Chuck had a 315 Ibs bench press at 180 lbs bodyweight and was said to have a grip back in the day that nobody could escape from because he was so strong. Even Jean Claude Van Damme said he'd never fight Chuck Norris, despite being a kickboxing world champion himself.
Chuck held a 10th degree black belt in Chun Kuk Do, a 9th degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, an 8th degree black belt in Taekwondo, a 5th degree black belt in Karate, a 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a black belt in Judo.
Rest in peace, Chuck!
“When I was your age, I survived a pandemic and didn’t leave my house for two years. You’ll be okay if you stay in tonight.”
We finally have a line to use for future kids 😭😂
😂
@karali_pics Reply with a random photo of Nairobi
Trees are being cut down in Karura Forest and allegedly someone has bought the land. Can the Kenya Forest Service explain why logging is being done within the forest? The cutting down of trees has been done on a very large portion.
The lack of shame is just appalling:
The message I want everyone to understand is that the current system of government DOES NOT serve Kenyans. It absolutely DOES NOT.
It primarily serves politicians. And this must be corrected immediately.
If you have spent as much time as I have looking at these matters, you would understand that no other conclusion is reasonable. When you look at how resources are consumed, it is very clear that "serving the people" is often an afterthought. You cannot claim to be serving people when you are consuming the vast majority of the resources on yourself. That's common sense, is it not?
Take any county's budget, and look at how the money is spent. Let me help you understand. In the attached pictures, in picture 1, you see that the budget for Kajiado is about $9.4 billion (KSH 8.6 billion for the Executive) and KSH 900 million for the County Assembly). 100% of the County Assembly is consumed by 42 people in the Local Assembly, in either salaries, sitting allowances, travel and per diems, cars and mortgages, etc.). That's almost 10% of the budget consumed by 42 people, in a county with 1.1 million people.
Now, you can also see that of the County Executive's budget of KSH 8.6 billion, KSH 4.3 billion is paid out to employees directly. That is 50% of the budget (50% of KSH 8.6 billion). That number does NOT include all the other "allowances" such as the per diems, does not include all the travelling, does not include the catering done for these people, etc.
When you factor in the fact that the amount of the budget that most of these counties dedicate to "development" often go towards pet projects for these politicians (such as building the Governor and Deputy Governor's mansions, a mansion for the Assembly Speaker, building offices for these politicians), I can assure you that the amount left for services is a tiny fraction of the budget). And it is true that some of the salaries paid out to employees is an actual cost of the services, but my analysis shows that most of the money is spend on office staff and bureaucrats. Very little is spent on things like medicine for patients or buying medical equipment to be used in a hospital.
And that is why a County that has received KSH 100 billion in allocations from the National Government has nothing to show in terms of 1) Development, and 2) an enhanced economic base.
Take a look at the attached pictures. In almost all of the cases, domestic travel and "subsistence" (meaning per diems), and Cars and Mortgages for MCAs and Governor's exceed what is used for important services like education. These are the facts, and they are indisputable.
@EAukot @EricLatiff @HillaryGondi @MoGAbdi @NationBreaking @citizentvkenya @KenyaGovernors
I really enjoy hearing all of the national anthems played at the Olympics.
I love country music.
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)
TBFH, the Kenyan government is collapsing under its own weight. It has become a burden too heavy to carry.
At first, it was a father buying reduced milk and bread at higher prices.
Later on, it was a mother cooking one meal and spreading it across days to save on fuel and money.
And then it turned to missed health insurance, parents fund raising to school their children, MPs demoralizing entire communities as they issued KES 2000 bursary checks in front of every villager, and eventually, lack of medicines in public hospitals.
What broke the camel's back?
Politicians living like rockstars as they invaded religious institutions donating up to KES 20 million on a typical Sunday in what looks like a money laundering scheme.
Politicians flying from Nairobi to Thika in private jets and shooting innocent civilians.
The president travelling to the USA on a KES 200 million jet and leaving Kenya airways out to dry.
Politicians openly insulting their bosses (taxpayers) physically, online, and on media stations. (Hatupeani kazi hapa).
Taxpayer money being stolen even before doing any projects. This ranges from odious debt, missing eCitizen funds, NYS looting, and even a governor buying a crate of soda for KES 1 million.
Expensive watches, clothing, cars, private jets, property, land grabbing, and largesse practiced by politicians. I saw an old Naivasha man cry after his life long property was grabbed.
Expensive CBC education, University fees going up 4x to 10x, and the lack of jobs thereafter.
What was the basis of all of this?
Too much borrowing in the previous regime's 10-yr tenor in which the president was a deputy president.
Political appointments of crooks who served in the previous regime.
Bad money. The KES has only continued to lose its purchasing power leading to the poorest investing savings in SACCOs, MMFs and bonds. A good currency should hold value.
Monetary policy; CBK jacking up rates from 7% to 13% in one year while Tanzania is doing just fine with 7% lower rates.
WEF/IMF/WB new world order and SAP policies attacking our food, farmers, livelihoods, and finances.
Incompetence in persons elected/appointed to lead government parastatals, departments, committees, counties, and policy making.
State capture; the executive controlling the legislature. Legislative members forgot to represent their electorates.
Corrupt judiciary; judiciary imprisoning youths and poor people as corrupt rich people plundered the nation.
Incompetent EACC. The one anti-corruption body that is supposed to ensure things work and criminals stealing taxes are behind bars slept with the enemy.
Senate; the single authority in charge of balancing public expenditure slept with the legislature.
Religious leaders - these chaps became the conduit of money laundering and never spoke against corruption and plunder.
Banks - these guys forgot that their power is derived from their depositors. They started lending deposits to the government and left the citizens exposed to usury from mobile apps. They later joined and created their own apps to lend at neck-break rates.
Monopolies; Safaricom, Kenya Power, and other monopolies slept with the government and became the tools of oppression.
What can we do?
Increase pressure to cut government size, defund politicians, lower taxes, lower interest rates, refuse to pay odious debts, only hire competent public servants, elect people that represent Kenyans, enforce constitutionalism, jail corrupt people, cut budget, focus on long-term monetary policy that supports growth, increase civic education, and reject any oppressive policies and systems in imposed by the government.
What does it take?
Education, research, courage, patriotism, and rage. Love for our nation. Supporting each other. Losing our fear. Comradeship. Tribelessness. Partylessness. Unity of purpose.
Na tujue mchezo wa taoni.
Sending greetings to you all.
The gig is up Speaker, the Emperor has no clothes.
You will never convince our generation that you can ever be trusted, ever again. When young people marched patriotically, wearing Kenyan flags on their backs and raising their voices, you responded with bullets and death. And NOW you have supposedly ‘heard’ and want dialogue? For 20 months you have been speaking, it’s our time now.
No more commissions of enquiry, no more multisectoral taskforces, no more reports, no more diverting our attention. If you have heard us, then no more talking—just act. We want to wake up in the morning with budget allocations reworked, with the Appropriations Bill overhauled, your MPs sacked, your Cabinet Secretaries sacked, the wheels of Constitutional amendments to begin turning, and your resignation on Gen-Z's desk for them to decide whether to accept.
This will go down in history, and we are no longer in an era where history can be manipulated. #RutoMustGo
June 25th, 2024 has etched its place in the annals of history.
May this day always remind us of Article 201 of the Constitution on the Principles of Public Finance.
1. There shall be openness & accountability, including public participation in financial matters
2. The public finance system shall promote an equitable society & in particular the burden of taxation shall be shared fairly; revenue raised nationally shall be shared equitably & expenditure shall promote equitable development of the country
3. The burdens & benefits of the use of resources & public borrowing shall be shared equitably between present & future generations
4. Public money shall be used in a prudent & responsible way
5. Financial management shall be responsible & fiscal reporting shall be clear
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