A Lesson from Traffic Jam

Two days a go, I found myself stuck in a traffic jam. A short distance that would have taken 2 minutes’ drive took me almost an hour.

?As I sat in the car, I imagined that this how the African economies have been stuck for years

?The main cause of the jam was some careless and selfish drivers who were overlapping. At one point everyone got stuck. The stupidity of one or two drivers kept us stuck. My only regret was that I could have used another longer route that would take me around 10 minutes. I got stuck for an hour trying to save 8 minutes.

?By encouraging the culture of bribery and kickbacks, our economies have been stuck for years as the Asian tigers advanced.

?A local road contractor will win a tender only to be stuck along the way once the treasury is unable or unwilling to release the funds until maybe he scratches someone's back. By the time the funds are released , the banks are on his neck. Again, the people who delayed the money still expect to be ''thanked'' for a job well done. In short, a project that would have taken a year takes 3 years. To remain afloat ,the contractor has to do a substandard road at the expense of road users and the taxpayer in general.

?A few months back I complained how an important road back in my home area, Nyandarua has been stuck for the last 9 months. It has killed Nduny'u-Njeru shopping centre by reducing the access roads to ''shamba'' . The ''stupidity'' of someone in the government offices is causing pain in my hood. Businesses have been closed over this inefficiency.

?The desire by NHIF officials to make quick riches has frustrated genuine private hospital owners to a point of the rejecting NHIF cards. The misery comes back to the common man to make contributions for hospital bills. The ‘’stupidity ‘’ of? a few officials who apparently cannot type properly? has ?affected everyone countrywide.

?Seven years ago, an ?American billionaire investor ,Calvin Burgess who owned Dominion farms in Siaya county sold the property after a vicious and ugly fight with local politicians who were demanding for a ‘’pie of meat’’ . Again the ‘’stupidity ‘’ of a few individuals? cost hundreds if not thousands of local jobs.

?Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Kenya fell by KES 12B last year .This is largely due to? red tape in our licensing regime. Bureaucracy is not just about formalities, it also involves bribery. We are losing a lot to Ethiopia. Again, ‘’stupidity’’ of a few continues to cost millions of young graduates’ opportunities to earn a decent living.

?Apparently , our country cannot produce cheap power to drive our industries due to ?Independent Power Producers. An analysis by the Auditor General ?revealed that it costs KPLC an average of 3.93 cents per Kilowatt-Hours of power purchased from KenGen while it cost the company an average of 11.87 cents per Kilowatt-Hours of power from IPPs. Why can’t we increase the capacity of Kengen? ?Again a few people have to benefit at the expense of a nation.

?Finally, compare two businessmen, X& Y.

Businessman X imports his electronics from China, clears the same through the port of Mombasa and pays his due taxes. He further charges VAT on his sales and faithfully pays due VAT. The businessman also complies with corporate tax at the year end. He sacrifices 30% of his profits to the exchequer.

?Businessman Y also imports electronics from China. He clears the same through the ‘’panya route’’ ?at zero taxes. Doesn’t bother charging VAT. He actually insists on ?getting paid in cash to evade the taxman’s eye. Again, at year end , he files nil for corporate tax.

?At one point businessman X will be kicked out of business due to price competition. This is the most nauseating thing I have observed in some sectors in Kenya. A system the rewards law breakers at the expense law abiding citizens.

Once the government has lost the revenue X was contributing in the name of protecting its friend, Y, it will result to demanding extra taxes from another businessman, W and his employees.

W will lay off some employees to accommodate the government's new demands. By the way Y doesn’t employ. Why would a non-compliant business hire big numbers anyway? Does Y need an accountant or a HR? No.

At one point, Y will have no where to live with his billions. There will be criminals in every street.

?Corruption is a snake that must be killed at this stage before it chokes everyone, including its benefactors.

Do you think the rich or the poor are enjoying their money in Haiti?

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