Dear Nipate - is corruption good or bad for development?

[Kichwa]

How does someone become the president of Kenya. Its definitely not through free and fair elections. If that were the case, Raila would be former president because everybody agrees that he won the 2007 presidential elections. I gave up on the free and fair presidential elections in Kenya. We only had one in 2002 and I do not know when we are going to have another one. So, how does Ruto became president in 2022? He has two strikes against him, there is no free and fair elections to win, but even if there were, he cannot beat Uhuru/Raila coalition. However, since there are no free and fair elections in Kenya, the only way to "win" elections in Kenya is through the manipulation of the electoral process and one needs the government machinery to do that.  The ultimate question therefore is not whether Ruto can get the kikuyu votes to add to his Kalenjin vote, but whether Ruto will be in a position to be able to manipulate the electoral process to "win" the 2022 elections. It does not even matter how many votes you get, what matters is what is announced as the final votes.

We - at least I Robina - mean "there's no one else" in the sense the rest of the Johns are hardly capable of beating Ruto. If Uhuru and Raila don't concoct some poison for him Ruto is the next president no doubt.

What a silly question. Does it mean out of the 42 million Kenyans only Ruto has the qualities to be president? Btw, Uhuru a lazy and uneducated drunkard has managed to be president of Kenya for more than 6 years and the country is still there. We do not need a superman. Even an average person can be president and we will survive to fight another day.
M motto is, anyone else but not Ruto. It will be Arap Moi II.

Ro stop taking things so personally. Ruto doesn't appeal to me but is there anyone else? He's got a sharp mouth and is a learned phd nutcase and that I suppose maybe the general direction the world is heading. These nutty types in power solving the world's problem through AI etc. and that's why I support Bernie. He looks like Einstein. Ruto gives me that vibe and if he marketed himself with dot com environmental solutions, that could resonate well with youth voters and democrats. He ought to ditch his Republican dream since he has no money & ancestry & switch back to ODM.

[Nefertiti]

Kichwa, that's true but we don't know what's going on behind the scenes i. e. in Uhuru's mind. Past the obvious small madharaos, the drunkard has not made assertive moves against Ruto on the ground. If he wanted to silence the Waititus for instance, it would be way easier than scaring Sonko away from the City Hall to Machakos for a month. So in this sense I agree with Pundit that Uhuru's intentions are the big card in the game.

[veritas]

Uhuru's a British puppet, a child of fake news and broken vote machines. I don't have much faith in the future. Survival and sustainability should be core. Marketing and flash just needs to die, it's so 50s. How to be better people by de-programming the next generation from so much hype. Is it possible to undo a muscle memory? That muscle memory in one's eyeball that's seen too much. These things I ponder about as I spread honey on my toast.

[gout]

This article has captured aptly the reasons why corruption and development cannot walk hand in hand.

Consider corruption. Corruption isn't just a "values" issue: corrupt societies have corrupt economies, and these economies are severely limited by that corruption. A deeply, pervasively corrupt economy cannot get from here to there.

Corruption acts as a "tax" on the economy, siphoning money from the productive to the parasitic unproductive Elites skimming the bribes, payoffs, protection money, unofficial "fees," etc. By definition, the money skimmed by corruption reduces the disposable income of households and enterprises, reducing their consumption and investment.

"Income" derived from corruption is the classic example of "unearned" feudal rights being imposed on serfs, a broad-based "tax" that keeps them impoverished.

There is no way for a deeply corrupt society to get from here (their current level of development) to there (a higher level of development) because corruption limits two essential components of sustainable growth and widespread prosperity: social mobility and innovation.

In corrupt societies, potentially profitable innovations are quickly stolen, copied, pirated or appropriated by corrupt officials and/or criminal cartels. The innovator cannot reap the fruits of his innovation. His only choice is to move to a nation that offers him the freedom to develop his ideas and drive and keep the yield for himself and his family.

at a micro level the unproductive scum from kanju officers, police at roadblocks, hospital/school clerks, up to Ruto/Uhuru steal from hawkers, touts, barmaids and other micro enterprise owners who would use the money to increase stock, open new branches, buy better machines, diversify into other sectors.... only for the scum to build houses, line offshore accounts......

At macro level the damage though indirect is more ravaging - high infrastructure cost/ no infrastructure/ no dams/ no hospitals(adding to the bills of barmaids)/ no schools (more bills to touts)/ high power costs....sickening ...

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-09/guest-post-do-we-have-what-it-takes-get-here-there-part-2-china

[Kichwa]

I agree that Ouru is a puppet of the West and it appears that its the West that drove him to handshake and away from Ruto.  This does not bode well for Ruto.  It appears the West do not trust Ruto more than they ever trusted Raila.   

Uhuru's a British puppet, a child of fake news and broken vote machines. I don't have much faith in the future. Survival and sustainability should be core. Marketing and flash just needs to die, it's so 50s. How to be better people by de-programming the next generation from so much hype. Is it possible to undo a muscle memory? That muscle memory in one's eyeball that's seen too much. These things I ponder about as I spread honey on my toast.

[gout]

African leaders are selfish lot. No way Uhuru can be a British puppet - his is personal bidding - to build own empire away from his mean mother on the back of generous Red Dragon loans and freebies.
He is using the presidency to prove himself to Ngina and Moi - nothing else. Main reason he is worked up that Ruto has upstaged him. Likely that Ruto is used as an example by Moi and Ngina to spite lazy bones thus the misguided angry fits out of envy.

I agree that Ouru is a puppet of the West and it appears that its the West that drove him to handshake and away from Ruto.  This does not bode well for Ruto.  It appears the West do not trust Ruto more than they ever trusted Raila.   

Uhuru's a British puppet, a child of fake news and broken vote machines. I don't have much faith in the future. Survival and sustainability should be core. Marketing and flash just needs to die, it's so 50s. How to be better people by de-programming the next generation from so much hype. Is it possible to undo a muscle memory? That muscle memory in one's eyeball that's seen too much. These things I ponder about as I spread honey on my toast.

[Nefertiti]

This article has captured aptly the reasons why corruption and development cannot walk hand in hand.

Consider corruption. Corruption isn't just a "values" issue: corrupt societies have corrupt economies, and these economies are severely limited by that corruption. A deeply, pervasively corrupt economy cannot get from here to there.

Corruption acts as a "tax" on the economy, siphoning money from the productive to the parasitic unproductive Elites skimming the bribes, payoffs, protection money, unofficial "fees," etc. By definition, the money skimmed by corruption reduces the disposable income of households and enterprises, reducing their consumption and investment.

"Income" derived from corruption is the classic example of "unearned" feudal rights being imposed on serfs, a broad-based "tax" that keeps them impoverished.

There is no way for a deeply corrupt society to get from here (their current level of development) to there (a higher level of development) because corruption limits two essential components of sustainable growth and widespread prosperity: social mobility and innovation.

In corrupt societies, potentially profitable innovations are quickly stolen, copied, pirated or appropriated by corrupt officials and/or criminal cartels. The innovator cannot reap the fruits of his innovation. His only choice is to move to a nation that offers him the freedom to develop his ideas and drive and keep the yield for himself and his family.

at a micro level the unproductive scum from kanju officers, police at roadblocks, hospital/school clerks, up to Ruto/Uhuru steal from hawkers, touts, barmaids and other micro enterprise owners who would use the money to increase stock, open new branches, buy better machines, diversify into other sectors.... only for the scum to build houses, line offshore accounts......

At macro level the damage though indirect is more ravaging - high infrastructure cost/ no infrastructure/ no dams/ no hospitals(adding to the bills of barmaids)/ no schools (more bills to touts)/ high power costs....sickening ...

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-09/guest-post-do-we-have-what-it-takes-get-here-there-part-2-china

You are right about corruption - look at the west, the Asian Tigers, China, etc - they all dealt a death blow to corruption. Corrupt economies like Indonesia or Russia always stall way beneath their potential. Russia has stability, massive natural resources, many geniuses and nobels, etc - but very dismal economic performance.

Now, the worst bit about Kenya. Corruption used to be an elite indulgence but has gradually been devolved. Jomo seeded elite graft especially land - Moi swiftly introduced PKK - carrying stashes of cash around like an idiot. Kibaki was an elite thief - mean as hell - couldn't help his own brother out of a mud grass-thatched hut. Uhuru is another Jomo - just like Raila - you won't catch these men dead contributing 5M at harambee - or such  display of affluence.

Enter Arap Singh the genius. This unwashed pig walks around with a gunia of dosh literally. Raila puts it so well - 2M at the funeral, 5M at church, 10M at goat auction, 50M for Kogalo. Imagine the KPLC, NYS, thieving cops and other signs of the ubiquity of rot in Kenya today. MPs are even bribed in the toilets - no effort to even be discrete - these shameless thugs even ask DCI to focus on pickpockets in Nairobi and leave them to loot in peace. What happens when the generation the ungroomed Dr Graft is nurturing  takes over? Mnasemaga Naija sijui Afghanistan - Kenya mtalia!

[RV Pundit]

Corruption is evil but you're overplaying it. You do not become non-corrupt then develop. You develop then you become non-corrupt. You start alter the risk-reward matrix when economy is growing and growing - and people can live honest decent life - because they are economic opportunities. Corruption is like any economic crime - stealing, robbery - it's just white collar. I know you're intersted in headline corruption - but the most insidious corruption is systemic. Even if Kibaki or Ruto become Nyerere - and end up poor with a bicyle only as his only asset - systemic corruption won't just disappear from good example. It a combination of controls, risk, transparency, accountability and rule of law.

You are right about corruption - look at the west, the Asian Tigers, China, etc - they all dealt a death blow to corruption. Corrupt economies like Indonesia or Russia always stall way beneath their potential. Russia has stability, massive natural resources, many geniuses and nobels, etc - but very dismal economic performance.

Now, the worst bit about Kenya. Corruption used to be an elite indulgence but has gradually been devolved. Jomo seeded elite graft especially land - Moi swiftly introduced PKK - carrying stashes of cash around like an idiot. Kibaki was an elite thief - mean as hell - couldn't help his own brother out of a mud grass-thatched hut. Uhuru is another Jomo - just like Raila - you won't catch these men dead contributing 5M at harambee - or such  display of affluence.

Enter Arap Singh the genius. This unwashed pig walks around with a gunia of dosh literally. Raila puts it so well - 2M at the funeral, 5M at church, 10M at goat auction, 50M for Kogalo. Imagine the KPLC, NYS, thieving cops and other signs of the ubiquity of rot in Kenya today. MPs are even bribed in the toilets - no effort to even be discrete - these shameless thugs even ask DCI to focus on pickpockets in Nairobi and leave them to loot in peace. What happens when the generation the ungroomed Dr Graft is nurturing  takes over? Mnasemaga Naija sijui Afghanistan - Kenya mtalia!