Nairobi Notebook

The Price of Peace…

…500 million dollars to be precise. That is how much Kenya’s Finance Minister says the grand coalition government will cost over the next two months. A small price to pay you might say for both President Kibaki and Raila Odinga to ensure all their cronies enjoy the feast, paving the way for a return to calm.

That certainly seemed the attitude on the lawn of State House a couple of weeks ago as one by one the 42 ministers and 50 odd assistant ministers pledged their allegiance to serving Kenyans. It was all cross-party handshakes and backslaps. Long lost friends re-united across a suddenly forgotten political divide.

Unfortunately for the Finance Minister he is presented with something of a headache: He is now $300 million dollars over budget. That is bad news for Kenyans. According to Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper the shortfall means slashing the budget of larger ministries. There will be $160 million less to spend on the education of Kenya’s next generation. The country’s potholes look set to deepen as the Ministry of Roads loses out on nearly $10 million – around about the cost of the Prime Minister’s office! But that’s ok…Odinga can chose between his government limo or privately-owned Hummer.

And this is just for the next two months. The Kofi Annan brokered deal is supposed to stick until 2012. Something will have to give: either tax rates or the cost of running this government…given the propensity of Kenyan MPs to hike their own salaries it seems unlikely to be the latter.

Hon. Kimunya better be sure he has a large-screen calculator ahead of this June's budget. He has some serious figures to fudge.

 

Insurance Pays

Like everyone I have never had too many kind words to say about insurance companies. I have only ever had a couple of small claims to make for a stolen camera and some lost cash, and the insurers never paid out in full. So I felt sick to the core last month as I watched my Suzuki 4x4 go up in a fireball. Why not just burn $8000? After all, the insurer would never pay up.

Some background: last month the Suzuki met its maker in dramatic style [see photo above]. It suffered a massive electrical failure as Vic drove it out the gates and within seconds was belching out thick black smoke. And as they say, there’s no smoke without fire. Soon flames were leaping 15ft in the air as all the windows exploded and hand brake cable snapped sending the car rolling down the road before finally ending up in a ditch. The fire brigade did arrive, siren wailing but without headlights.Remarkably it was loaded with water. But it was too late.

It didn’t look good. But, just as the policy certificate stated they would, the insurers have just paid up, in full, within a month and with no questions asked. This was just as well as the car’s wiring had given us nothing but grief over the last year and I’m not sure the receipts issued by my jua kali mechanic would have convinced many the car had been well maintained. Certainly no British insurer would have paid out so readily.

So I am going to have to disagree with my buddy and fellow freelancer Nick Wadhams who yesterday blogged about ‘customer care insanity’ in Kenya. I am quite impressed. Try out West Africa for a lesson in how not to treat your clientele.

I now have a new motor. Yes, you better believe it, another Escudo. What did the old British car ad say...once driven forever smitten! 

 

Twenty Twenty Vision

It seems that Raila Odinga is having issues with his vision. Not his vision for Kenya – though you could be forgiven for thinking that might be the newly installed Prime Minister’s priority - but his eyesight! So while Kenya’s grotesquely bloated grand coalition government begins its works towards Vision 2030, the country’s blueprint for becoming a “middle-income” country over the next two decades, it appears that Raila is happy to settle for a twenty twenty vision of his own.

The timing however seems suspect, if not a little careless. According to one of Raila’s aides the decision to travel was made last week, just days after he was sworn into President Kibaki’s cabinet. How convenient, for now it will be the Kenyan tax payer who funds Raila’s first class air-ticket and laser surgery. Or perhaps it’s only right, as his aide says, that “the State take care of the PM’s health”.

That though is unlikely to go down well with the 140,000 Kenyans who continue to live under tarpaulin, dependent on handouts and too terrified to return to their villages. They thought they were Raila’s priority. After all, Raila had just told them so as he and President Kibaki completed their Tour of Peace in the Rift Valley. Who can blame them for feeling Raila’s vision is a little blurred?

But Raila has an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: while in Germany he can drop in on the factory building his customised, armour-plated Mercedes and check the DVD screen isn't too small.