NDII:Benevolent dictatorship is like snake oil

[Nefertiti]

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http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/opinion/Benevolent-dictatorship-is-like-snake-oil-/440808-4149128-mcp0g4z/index.html

[Nefertiti]

Good analysis, suspect timing. Dr Ndii is right about the Asian Tigers and the political progressives success stories in Africa - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius. But he ignores their cultural vantage - of singular industriousness and cohesion - which are a decisive success factor. The big elephant China of course is given a wide berth in his essay.

[vooke]

Good analysis, suspect timing. Dr Ndii is right about the Asian Tigers and the political progressives success stories in Africa - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius. But he ignores their cultural vantage - of singular industriousness and cohesion - which are a decisive success factor. The big elephant China of course is given a wide berth in his essay.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

Good analysis, suspect timing. Dr Ndii is right about the Asian Tigers and the political progressives success stories in Africa - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius. But he ignores their cultural vantage - of singular industriousness and cohesion - which are a decisive success factor. The big elephant China of course is given a wide berth in his essay.

Maybe you can expound on the bold part.  I don't understand it in the context of this article.

China is an interesting place.  Over 1 billion people.  A country where most fraudulent activities are capital offenses.  The only reason he doesn't include them is lack of democracy.  But they seem like they could fit in just well considering all other facets.

[Kichwa]

Robina, Maybe in your detailed rejoinder  to Dr. Ndii, you can cite China's success story under dictatorship and why their model is perfect for Kenya to emulate.

Good analysis, suspect timing. Dr Ndii is right about the Asian Tigers and the political progressives success stories in Africa - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius. But he ignores their cultural vantage - of singular industriousness and cohesion - which are a decisive success factor. The big elephant China of course is given a wide berth in his essay.

[Nefertiti]

Good analysis, suspect timing. Dr Ndii is right about the Asian Tigers and the political progressives success stories in Africa - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius. But he ignores their cultural vantage - of singular industriousness and cohesion - which are a decisive success factor. The big elephant China of course is given a wide berth in his essay.

Maybe you can expound on the bold part.  I don't understand it in the context of this article.

China is an interesting place.  Over 1 billion people.  A country where most fraudulent activities are capital offenses.  The only reason he doesn't include them is lack of democracy.  But they seem like they could fit in just well considering all other facets.

Ndii contends the Asian Tigers are not benevolent dictatorships. That their rapid growth was fuelled by an older pre-existing merit system. He says dictatorship breeds corruption and cronysm which cause inefficiency - the Tigers were efficient enough to thrive as export economies and thus cannot have been dictatorships.

I think he ignores benevolence and dwells on dictatorship. It's what we have in China now and in the Tigers before. The totalitarian state that trumples individual rights for the common good. They aver corruption and such vices but more importantly they make consistent smart choices for the country.

It works well in the ASEAN because they have a cultural vantage point. One is a culture of industry. The Japanese and the Chinese have a singular ambitious nationalism. Even now there is a silent agreement between the Chinese and the government to forego some freedoms for development.

The other is cultural cohesion - same race and ethnicity.

Kenya lacks both advantages. We are lazy and entitled. Everyone whines about the sharing and not the baking. This leads to corruption. We are also culturally diverse which is a toxic mix.

Botswana and Namibia have cultural cohesion which has caused political and socioeconomic development. We are yet to see if the Chinese path works for Rwanda and Ethiopia where benevolent dictatorship is in pilot phase.

[Nefertiti]

Sorry Kenya lacks cultural cohesion which makes benevolent dictatorship tough. Ethiopia is struggling with that presently and perhaps we may learn something from them in future - should they dwarf our economy.

Kenya needs a miracle - given our incompetence and disunity. Not a single visionary; not one dollar-billionaire (except thieves and chemists); no industrialists, no builders. You will not even find a renaissance mind or nationalist in Kenya. Nigeria for example - while corrupt and divided - has a serious manpower asset. There are alot of serious economic and other thinkers in Nigeria compared to Kenya - hence the $T economy. High IQ per capita. So you have Nollywood, MTN and such brands... and all their award-winning writers.

Kenya - a country where the predominant debate is the sharing formula - rights - it means you have a surplus of freeloaders and a shortfall of producers.

Robina, Maybe in your detailed rejoinder  to Dr. Ndii, you can cite China's success story under dictatorship and why their model is perfect for Kenya to emulate.

Good analysis, suspect timing. Dr Ndii is right about the Asian Tigers and the political progressives success stories in Africa - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius. But he ignores their cultural vantage - of singular industriousness and cohesion - which are a decisive success factor. The big elephant China of course is given a wide berth in his essay.

[Kichwa]

So, is Ndii right or right in saying that benevolent dictatorship will NOT work for Kenya given our diversity, no history of culture of efficiency and meritocracy,  lack of cultural cohesion, and non-existent history of sense of nationalism, just to mention a few.

Good analysis, suspect timing. Dr Ndii is right about the Asian Tigers and the political progressives success stories in Africa - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius. But he ignores their cultural vantage - of singular industriousness and cohesion - which are a decisive success factor. The big elephant China of course is given a wide berth in his essay.

Maybe you can expound on the bold part.  I don't understand it in the context of this article.

China is an interesting place.  Over 1 billion people.  A country where most fraudulent activities are capital offenses.  The only reason he doesn't include them is lack of democracy.  But they seem like they could fit in just well considering all other facets.

Ndii contends the Asian Tigers are not benevolent dictatorships. That their rapid growth was fuelled by an older pre-existing merit system. He says dictatorship breeds corruption and cronysm which cause inefficiency - the Tigers were efficient enough to thrive as export economies and thus cannot have been dictatorships.

I think he ignores benevolence and dwells on dictatorship. It's what we have in China now and in the Tigers before. The totalitarian state that trumples individual rights for the common good. They aver corruption and such vices but more importantly they make consistent smart choices for the country.

It works well in the ASEAN because they have a cultural vantage point. One is a culture of industry. The Japanese and the Chinese have a singular ambitious nationalism. Even now there is a silent agreement between the Chinese and the government to forego some freedoms for development.

The other is cultural cohesion - same race and ethnicity.

Kenya lacks both advantages. We are lazy and entitled. Everyone whines about the sharing and not the baking. This leads to corruption. We are also culturally diverse which is a toxic mix.

Botswana and Namibia have cultural cohesion which has caused political and socioeconomic development. We are yet to see if the Chinese path works for Rwanda and Ethiopia where benevolent dictatorship is in pilot phase.

[Nefertiti]

My interest on this story was the Asian Tigers. Ndii is wrong in discounting the role benevolent dictatorship played in their rapid development.

I am not sure what's good for Kenya given our incompetence and disunity. Benevolent dictatorship has not been tried in our setup - ongoing in Ethiopia and Rwanda. Without industry we are heading nowhere.

Ndii suggests Kenya is better off as a progressive democracy by citing Namibia and Botswana. But we lack their cohesion so he does not convince me.

So, is Ndii right or right in saying that benevolent dictatorship will NOT work for Kenya given our diversity, no history of culture of efficiency and meritocracy,  lack of cultural cohesion, and non-existent history of sense of nationalism, just to mention a few.

Good analysis, suspect timing. Dr Ndii is right about the Asian Tigers and the political progressives success stories in Africa - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius. But he ignores their cultural vantage - of singular industriousness and cohesion - which are a decisive success factor. The big elephant China of course is given a wide berth in his essay.

Maybe you can expound on the bold part.  I don't understand it in the context of this article.

China is an interesting place.  Over 1 billion people.  A country where most fraudulent activities are capital offenses.  The only reason he doesn't include them is lack of democracy.  But they seem like they could fit in just well considering all other facets.

Ndii contends the Asian Tigers are not benevolent dictatorships. That their rapid growth was fuelled by an older pre-existing merit system. He says dictatorship breeds corruption and cronysm which cause inefficiency - the Tigers were efficient enough to thrive as export economies and thus cannot have been dictatorships.

I think he ignores benevolence and dwells on dictatorship. It's what we have in China now and in the Tigers before. The totalitarian state that trumples individual rights for the common good. They aver corruption and such vices but more importantly they make consistent smart choices for the country.

It works well in the ASEAN because they have a cultural vantage point. One is a culture of industry. The Japanese and the Chinese have a singular ambitious nationalism. Even now there is a silent agreement between the Chinese and the government to forego some freedoms for development.

The other is cultural cohesion - same race and ethnicity.

Kenya lacks both advantages. We are lazy and entitled. Everyone whines about the sharing and not the baking. This leads to corruption. We are also culturally diverse which is a toxic mix.

Botswana and Namibia have cultural cohesion which has caused political and socioeconomic development. We are yet to see if the Chinese path works for Rwanda and Ethiopia where benevolent dictatorship is in pilot phase.

[hk]

Robina,
Apart from cohesion, I believe Nambia and Botswana have white populations that plays outsized role in their economies relative to their population size. Kenya does have industrialist but they're all of Asian origin. Kenyans of African descent rarely invest in serious businesses the newest crop of millionaires are tenderprenuers.

[Nefertiti]

Robina,
Apart from cohesion, I believe Nambia and Botswana have white populations that plays outsized role in their economies relative to their population size. Kenya does have industrialist but they're all of Asian origin. Kenyans of African descent rarely invest in serious businesses the newest crop of millionaires are tenderprenuers.

Yup. The westerners have a freedom dividend which is individual enterprise. Geniuses are a dime a dozen in their history. Democracy in Africa is the right to be entitled and lazy.

I have searched but not been able to find the proper reason for the squalor of the African race. Some say the continent was cut off from the rest of the world for millennia. Others say it's the hot equatorial sun that stunts the biological development.

What do you think hk?

[Kichwa]

I think ourutu were about to try benevolent dictatorship in Kenya by putting in place an efficient rigging machine that would last for more than two or three decades but incompetence, corruption, tribalism, hubris, etc, woke the people up before it was entrenched and now people are revolting against it.  I think benevolent dictatorship must be proceeded with some kind of national experience and quiet consent.  It is obvious that Kenyans are not consenting to this kind of rule and forcing it on the people will not work and will completely destroy the benevolence part of it. Kenya will be fine if we follow the democratic path as charted-out by our 2010 constitution. Any attempt to sneak anything else will not work.

My interest on this story was the Asian Tigers. Ndii is wrong in discounting the role benevolent dictatorship played in their rapid development.

I am not sure what's good for Kenya given our incompetence and disunity. Benevolent dictatorship has not been tried in our setup - ongoing in Ethiopia and Rwanda. Without industry we are heading nowhere.

Ndii suggests Kenya is better off as a progressive democracy by citing Namibia and Botswana. But we lack their cohesion so he does not convince me.

So, is Ndii right or right in saying that benevolent dictatorship will NOT work for Kenya given our diversity, no history of culture of efficiency and meritocracy,  lack of cultural cohesion, and non-existent history of sense of nationalism, just to mention a few.

Good analysis, suspect timing. Dr Ndii is right about the Asian Tigers and the political progressives success stories in Africa - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius. But he ignores their cultural vantage - of singular industriousness and cohesion - which are a decisive success factor. The big elephant China of course is given a wide berth in his essay.

Maybe you can expound on the bold part.  I don't understand it in the context of this article.

China is an interesting place.  Over 1 billion people.  A country where most fraudulent activities are capital offenses.  The only reason he doesn't include them is lack of democracy.  But they seem like they could fit in just well considering all other facets.

Ndii contends the Asian Tigers are not benevolent dictatorships. That their rapid growth was fuelled by an older pre-existing merit system. He says dictatorship breeds corruption and cronysm which cause inefficiency - the Tigers were efficient enough to thrive as export economies and thus cannot have been dictatorships.

I think he ignores benevolence and dwells on dictatorship. It's what we have in China now and in the Tigers before. The totalitarian state that trumples individual rights for the common good. They aver corruption and such vices but more importantly they make consistent smart choices for the country.

It works well in the ASEAN because they have a cultural vantage point. One is a culture of industry. The Japanese and the Chinese have a singular ambitious nationalism. Even now there is a silent agreement between the Chinese and the government to forego some freedoms for development.

The other is cultural cohesion - same race and ethnicity.

Kenya lacks both advantages. We are lazy and entitled. Everyone whines about the sharing and not the baking. This leads to corruption. We are also culturally diverse which is a toxic mix.

Botswana and Namibia have cultural cohesion which has caused political and socioeconomic development. We are yet to see if the Chinese path works for Rwanda and Ethiopia where benevolent dictatorship is in pilot phase.

[hk]

Yup. The westerners have a freedom dividend which is individual enterprise. Geniuses are a dime a dozen in their history. Democracy in Africa is the right to be entitled and lazy.

I have searched but not been able to find the proper reason for the squalor of the African race. Some say the continent was cut off from the rest of the world for millennia. Others say it's the hot equatorial sun that stunts the biological development.

What do you think hk?

Thats a little above my paygrade . In my humble opinion communal nature of african socialites isn't conducive to entrepreneurship. Most great businesses are created by individualistic and unconventional people. Conformity is the antithesis of innovation, which is what is sorely lacking in most of  our societies. Then there's the sense of entitlement, our constitution says that every citizen has a right to housing, health , food etc , is the government suppose to provide for all this or are we not suppose to earn them? 

[RV Pundit]

I disagree. Every society has those outliers/wierdos - business types or artist or gifted folks - what lift societies or countries are policies designed to lift the mean/average/common - the average joe! for me nothing beats investing in education - that I think is responsible for Western and Asian advancement - and inevitable Africa rise. The education is the key denominator for all life decision making. It possibly the difference btw Kenya and TZ (which to many is more democratic/stable).

WB misguided policies of 80s/70s - SAPs - that cut spending in social sectors (education/health) - have been roundly condemned. A country like kenya should continue to heavily invest in education -and infrastructure - that will lift every boat. Otherwise one or two great business will not create waves or tides enough to lift every boat in our seas.

As regard to dictatorship or democracy - the general rule for me is a homogeneous society can survive a dictatorship - benevolent or malevolent - for a long time - an heterogeneous country like kenya with 40 tribes in constant war cannot.

The medicine for countries like Kenya is strangely not more democracy - the more democracy the more the difference are accentuated - because people can now freely engage in ethnic hate or can organize political conquest purely on tribal animostly like has happened in Kenya or like Moi warned would happen. The solution for kenya is more devolution/federalism - but with strong center - so federalism doesn't lead to break up or secession. My wish is for kenya to reach position where revenues and functions are equally shared 50:50  btw national and devolved units - that way people can take their quarrelsome nature to counties and engage in sober discourse coz folks down there would be homegenous  - and we will have less din nationally.

Thats a little above my paygrade . In my humble opinion communal nature of african socialites isn't conducive to entrepreneurship. Most great businesses are created by individualistic and unconventional people. Conformity is the antithesis of innovation, which is what is sorely lacking in most of  our societies. Then there's the sense of entitlement, our constitution says that every citizen has a right to housing, health , food etc , is the government suppose to provide for all this or are we not suppose to earn them? 

[Nefertiti]

Yup. The westerners have a freedom dividend which is individual enterprise. Geniuses are a dime a dozen in their history. Democracy in Africa is the right to be entitled and lazy.

I have searched but not been able to find the proper reason for the squalor of the African race. Some say the continent was cut off from the rest of the world for millennia. Others say it's the hot equatorial sun that stunts the biological development.

What do you think hk?

Thats a little above my paygrade . In my humble opinion communal nature of african socialites isn't conducive to entrepreneurship. Most great businesses are created by individualistic and unconventional people. Conformity is the antithesis of innovation, which is what is sorely lacking in most of  our societies. Then there's the sense of entitlement, our constitution says that every citizen has a right to housing, health , food etc , is the government suppose to provide for all this or are we not suppose to earn them?

Besides life, air and freedom - people should not be entitled to things that do not drop off the sky. In a society of conformity and entitlement - we needed a Bill of Responsibilities - not just the Bill of Rights.

[Nefertiti]

The incompetence, corruption, etc would make it plain old dictatorship - not benevolence. Benevolence is competence and patriotism. Like say the One Child Policy that was necessary but tough to swallow.

Of course the 2010 constitution does not include power sharing, parliamentary system or such other features of the old system being peddled around. Even protests and secession are expressly required to be peaceful and legal.

I think ourutu were about to try benevolent dictatorship in Kenya by putting in place an efficient rigging machine that would last for more than two or three decades but incompetence, corruption, tribalism, hubris, etc, woke the people up before it was entrenched and now people are revolting against it.  I think benevolent dictatorship must be proceeded with some kind of national experience and quiet consent.  It is obvious that Kenyans are not consenting to this kind of rule and forcing it on the people will not work and will completely destroy the benevolence part of it. Kenya will be fine if we follow the democratic path as charted-out by our 2010 constitution. Any attempt to sneak anything else will not work.

My interest on this story was the Asian Tigers. Ndii is wrong in discounting the role benevolent dictatorship played in their rapid development.

I am not sure what's good for Kenya given our incompetence and disunity. Benevolent dictatorship has not been tried in our setup - ongoing in Ethiopia and Rwanda. Without industry we are heading nowhere.

Ndii suggests Kenya is better off as a progressive democracy by citing Namibia and Botswana. But we lack their cohesion so he does not convince me.

So, is Ndii right or right in saying that benevolent dictatorship will NOT work for Kenya given our diversity, no history of culture of efficiency and meritocracy,  lack of cultural cohesion, and non-existent history of sense of nationalism, just to mention a few.

Good analysis, suspect timing. Dr Ndii is right about the Asian Tigers and the political progressives success stories in Africa - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius. But he ignores their cultural vantage - of singular industriousness and cohesion - which are a decisive success factor. The big elephant China of course is given a wide berth in his essay.

Maybe you can expound on the bold part.  I don't understand it in the context of this article.

China is an interesting place.  Over 1 billion people.  A country where most fraudulent activities are capital offenses.  The only reason he doesn't include them is lack of democracy.  But they seem like they could fit in just well considering all other facets.

Ndii contends the Asian Tigers are not benevolent dictatorships. That their rapid growth was fuelled by an older pre-existing merit system. He says dictatorship breeds corruption and cronysm which cause inefficiency - the Tigers were efficient enough to thrive as export economies and thus cannot have been dictatorships.

I think he ignores benevolence and dwells on dictatorship. It's what we have in China now and in the Tigers before. The totalitarian state that trumples individual rights for the common good. They aver corruption and such vices but more importantly they make consistent smart choices for the country.

It works well in the ASEAN because they have a cultural vantage point. One is a culture of industry. The Japanese and the Chinese have a singular ambitious nationalism. Even now there is a silent agreement between the Chinese and the government to forego some freedoms for development.

The other is cultural cohesion - same race and ethnicity.

Kenya lacks both advantages. We are lazy and entitled. Everyone whines about the sharing and not the baking. This leads to corruption. We are also culturally diverse which is a toxic mix.

Botswana and Namibia have cultural cohesion which has caused political and socioeconomic development. We are yet to see if the Chinese path works for Rwanda and Ethiopia where benevolent dictatorship is in pilot phase.

[Nefertiti]

Your narrative doesn't explain the big impact the renaissance movements have had in socioeconomic progress - in Europe and the US - which were spawned by individuals. The economic leapfrog of the US to superpower was caused by the robber barons - Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Edison - who built the rail, the oil rig, the bank, the power grid - which were the building blocks of growth.

Then you go digital revolution - and you have Gates, Jobs and the shebang. For Europe the big names played an outsized role in the renaissance - their masses just rode the wave they started to prosperity.

Braindrain is what you get if you educate people without entreprise to utilize them. We sorely lack serious industrialists and national drivers.

I disagree. Every society has those outliers/wierdos - business types or artist or gifted folks - what lift societies or countries are policies designed to lift the mean/average/common - the average joe! for me nothing beats investing in education - that I think is responsible for Western and Asian advancement - and inevitable Africa rise. The education is the key denominator for all life decision making. It possibly the difference btw Kenya and TZ (which to many is more democratic/stable).

WB misguided policies of 80s/70s - SAPs - that cut spending in social sectors (education/health) - have been roundly condemned. A country like kenya should continue to heavily invest in education -and infrastructure - that will lift every boat. Otherwise one or two great business will not create waves or tides enough to lift every boat in our seas.

As regard to dictatorship or democracy - the general rule for me is a homogeneous society can survive a dictatorship - benevolent or malevolent - for a long time - an heterogeneous country like kenya with 40 tribes in constant war cannot.

The medicine for countries like Kenya is strangely not more democracy - the more democracy the more the difference are accentuated - because people can now freely engage in ethnic hate or can organize political conquest purely on tribal animostly like has happened in Kenya or like Moi warned would happen. The solution for kenya is more devolution/federalism - but with strong center - so federalism doesn't lead to break up or secession. My wish is for kenya to reach position where revenues and functions are equally shared 50:50  btw national and devolved units - that way people can take their quarrelsome nature to counties and engage in sober discourse coz folks down there would be homegenous  - and we will have less din nationally.

Thats a little above my paygrade . In my humble opinion communal nature of african socialites isn't conducive to entrepreneurship. Most great businesses are created by individualistic and unconventional people. Conformity is the antithesis of innovation, which is what is sorely lacking in most of  our societies. Then there's the sense of entitlement, our constitution says that every citizen has a right to housing, health , food etc , is the government suppose to provide for all this or are we not suppose to earn them? 

[Kadudu]

Ndii contends the Asian Tigers are not benevolent dictatorships. That their rapid growth was fuelled by an older pre-existing merit system. He says dictatorship breeds corruption and cronysm which cause inefficiency - the Tigers were efficient enough to thrive as export economies and thus cannot have been dictatorships.

I think he ignores benevolence and dwells on dictatorship. It's what we have in China now and in the Tigers before. The totalitarian state that trumples individual rights for the common good. They aver corruption and such vices but more importantly they make consistent smart choices for the country.

It works well in the ASEAN because they have a cultural vantage point. One is a culture of industry. The Japanese and the Chinese have a singular ambitious nationalism. Even now there is a silent agreement between the Chinese and the government to forego some freedoms for development.

The other is cultural cohesion - same race and ethnicity.

Kenya lacks both advantages. We are lazy and entitled. Everyone whines about the sharing and not the baking. This leads to corruption. We are also culturally diverse which is a toxic mix.

Botswana and Namibia have cultural cohesion which has caused political and socioeconomic development. We are yet to see if the Chinese path works for Rwanda and Ethiopia where benevolent dictatorship is in pilot phase.

Actually not true. China has evolved throughtout the years and there are still many ethnities and languages in China. What people consider as Chinese is actually Mandarin. Even Mao Zedong the grounding father of PRC came from the Southern part of China and had problems speaking Mandarin.

[Nefertiti]

Kadudu China is a homogeneous society - 90% Han - which enables the Communist Party's iron grip. You can see the disruptive noise the Tibetans and Uygurs cause - including violence, secession and terrorism.

[Kichwa]

The bottom line is that we all agree with Ndii that Benevolent dictatorship that ourutu designed for Kenya is not going to work.  We therefore need to go back to the drawing boards and find what will work because there is not going to be any "development" until we resolve that problem.  There are solutions out there that can work but those who designed the 20 year plan of containing power using a rigged electoral system of "electing" the presiden of Kenya must give it up and agree to come to the table and design a system which works for everyone.  A diverse nation like Kenya is a marriage where the terms of the union must be negotiated all the time otherwise folks just need to go their way and find happiness elsewhere.  We in NASA are not going back to that silly arrangement where ourutu "wins" rigged elections all the time.  Kenyattaa's legacy is kaput for thinking he can hoodwink all the people all the time.