Top 10 things I would do If was the president of kenya

[RV Pundit]

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1) Ensure every Kenyan has piped water and electricity. This should not cost a lot.

2) Ensure all roads classified as D-A (Kerra, kura, kenha) are paved. This expensive but will have great pay-off. They are maybe 60,000kms such roads..we are maybe about 25,000kms now. We just need one big push and we are done with it. Counties can continue maintain murram in rural county roads and pave those in towns.

3) Fix Nairobi and other main cities traffic gridlock by investing in a metro, brt, more expressways and freeways. Nairobi is our engine - and it just need traffic - and housing fixed - and it will generate lots of wealth for kenya.

4) Provide employment to millions - by engaging in huge constructions - to fill the housing deficit - and also see 2#- to build roads.

5) For manufacturing - replicate Athi River EPZ model nationally - build special economic zones  strictly for export only companies- where companies enjoy diplomatic immunity, labor laws, unions, taxes - are suspended - also ensure electricity is cheap - and tax holidays. All the companies in these economic zones need to ensure is that they don't sell locally and they employ thousands. That is all we care about - employment and providing export forex.

6) Privatize nearly all public companies and parastal - these should be listed at NSE and sold for public through IPOS - except those that strictly deal with regulation and critical services - use the money to pave all roads, provide water and electricity to everyone.

7) Urbanize kenya - by building 47 cities from the current 47 county towns - by investing massively in housing, EPZ, paving all roads, acquiring land compulsory in those zones within city limits - and encourage people to move to cities - and save the farmland.

Reduce corruption, red-tape and continue with reforms on 'Ease of Doing' business. Reduce overregulation. Fix judicial backlog. Fix police and insecurity.

9) Continue with social investment - ensure universal health coverage by NHIF - make it compulsory for everyone to have NHIF. The police should arrest anybody without NHIF.  Reform NHIF - poor should pay 100shs per month - while the rich shouldn't pay 2,000 - but some % of their salary - maybe 2% - so if you're earning 200,000 - that is 4,000. Eliminate user fees people pay in gov hospitals. Hospitals outpatients should be free - because everyone has NHIF.

10) Invest in massive irrigation schemes - in Luo Nyanza, Coast, Ukambani and such areas - that are awash with water and are in lower basins ideal for irrigation - and land. Grow cheap food. Maximize the water from Tana, Athi river and the western kenya rivers.

[gout]

Apt. very low hanging fruits across Africa that will transform our society in 10-20 years. Also serious titling of lands and digitizing the records.

[RV Pundit]

Yes title deed - and whole property protection - securitization for private credit need to continue - issue everyone a tittle deed.

Apt. very low hanging fruits across Africa that will transform our society in 10-20 years. Also serious titling of lands and digitizing the records.

[Njuri Ncheke]

Ruto should immediately after ascending to power transfer all economic authorities to mt.kenya people for immediate growth and recovery.

[RV Pundit]

I like Kimani Wa-Ichungwa. He is likely to be the Finance Minister.

Ruto should immediately after ascending to power transfer all economic authorities to mt.kenya people for immediate growth and recovery.

[Arcadian_Dreamer]

1) Ensure every Kenyan has piped water and electricity. This should not cost a lot.

2) Ensure all roads classified as D-A (Kerra, kura, kenha) are paved. This expensive but will have great pay-off. They are maybe 60,000kms such roads..we are maybe about 25,000kms now. We just need one big push and we are done with it. Counties can continue maintain murram in rural county roads and pave those in towns.

3) Fix Nairobi and other main cities traffic gridlock by investing in a metro, brt, more expressways and freeways. Nairobi is our engine - and it just need traffic - and housing fixed - and it will generate lots of wealth for kenya.

4) Provide employment to millions - by engaging in huge constructions - to fill the housing deficit - and also see 2#- to build roads.

5) For manufacturing - replicate Athi River EPZ model nationally - build special economic zones  strictly for export only companies- where companies enjoy diplomatic immunity, labor laws, unions, taxes - are suspended - also ensure electricity is cheap - and tax holidays. All the companies in these economic zones need to ensure is that they don't sell locally and they employ thousands. That is all we care about - employment and providing export forex.

6) Privatize nearly all public companies and parastal - these should be listed at NSE and sold for public through IPOS - except those that strictly deal with regulation and critical services - use the money to pave all roads, provide water and electricity to everyone.

7) Urbanize kenya - by building 47 cities from the current 47 county towns - by investing massively in housing, EPZ, paving all roads, acquiring land compulsory in those zones within city limits - and encourage people to move to cities - and save the farmland.

Reduce corruption, red-tape and continue with reforms on 'Ease of Doing' business. Reduce overregulation. Fix judicial backlog. Fix police and insecurity.

9) Continue with social investment - ensure universal health coverage by NHIF - make it compulsory for everyone to have NHIF. The police should arrest anybody without NHIF.  Reform NHIF - poor should pay 100shs per month - while the rich shouldn't pay 2,000 - but some % of their salary - maybe 2% - so if you're earning 200,000 - that is 4,000. Eliminate user fees people pay in gov hospitals. Hospitals outpatients should be free - because everyone has NHIF.

10) Invest in massive irrigation schemes - in Luo Nyanza, Coast, Ukambani and such areas - that are awash with water and are in lower basins ideal for irrigation - and land. Grow cheap food. Maximize the water from Tana, Athi river and the western kenya rivers.

Meh! Generic boilerplate manifesto you would expect any Kenyan presidential aspirant to tot about. The question is how do you get there? It is not just question of spending money. Nairobi the capital city for example doesn't have enough water because the dams are dry, digging boreholes won't solve the problem it will cause land subsidence similar to what is happening in Jakarta leading to flooding when it rains. You have to address the root cause of the problem, the culprit is a faulty water cycle.

"...yet the command-and-control style of water management that took hold during the 20th century entails a Faustian bargain: While it has brought much of the world enormous prosperity, it has broken the water cycle—the natural storage and movement of water between the land, sea, and air that sustains life and is critical to that human prosperity."

"...the world’s soils, another critical part of the water cycle, can theoretically hold eight times more water than all rivers combined. Yet the deep plowing and monoculture cropping methods employed by industrial agriculture have led to severe soil erosion and loss of organic matter, shrinking the natural soil reservoir. This means farmers have less resilience to dry spells."

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/trend/archive/spring-2019/the-water-cycle-is-broken-but-we-can-fix-it

The central issues for me if we are going to be prosper are:

1. How do you keep the keep the country solvent? How do you prevent venal predatory political class from borrowing the country into bankruptcy? Until you solve this forget development.

2. How do you address the environmental damage wrought by modern fertilizer based agriculture and unmanaged livestock grazing? Land is getting drier and its soils keep producing lower yields and nutritionally deficient food year in year out. Soils lack carbon.

3. How do we prevent the poor, illiterate, and religious freaks from breeding themselves into penury?


Eti police should arrest anyone without NHIF? Kalenjinga sana wewe, Moism is dead get used to it. I would abolish NHIF, there should be no coercion and state interference in health care delivery, Africans are libertarians, the predatory administrative state was forced on us, let us self organize we thrive best without state interference. Moreover, forcing people to take up health insurance increases the prices of health care. It sends out the wrong incentives. Insurance works best for catastrophic cases only, like a fire burning down your business, not routine things we can anticipate, abusing insurance is what has caused American healthcare to shoot through the roof.

[Arcadian_Dreamer]

I like Kimani Wa-Ichungwa. He is likely to be the Finance Minister.

Ruto should immediately after ascending to power transfer all economic authorities to mt.kenya people for immediate growth and recovery.

 

Keep dreaming. Ruto will never be president.

Mt. Kenya crooks have been shafting this country without Vaseline since independence we need honest people in charge for a change.

[audacityofhope]

I like Kimani Wa-Ichungwa. He is likely to be the Finance Minister.

Ruto should immediately after ascending to power transfer all economic authorities to mt.kenya people for immediate growth and recovery.

 

Keep dreaming. Ruto will never be president

Mt. Kenya crooks have been shafting this country without Vaseline since independence we need honest people in charge for a change.

@Dreamer, it is astounding that despite all that has transpired on the political scene,  these two charlatans for so long entertained the delusional belief that Ouru was just stringing RAO along and would just get back with Arap Mashamba at the very last minute. Well I am asking them to take some interest at what is being deliberated in Sagana.
Okay I am feeling particularly charitable this Saturday so I am passing on this little summary they can update themselves with, which won't take much of their time to read... BELOW

[gout]

We have only invested 2 billion in Ndakaini in 1990s; Sasumua was done by mzungu. The North Collector Tunnel, Karimenu Dam should alleviate a bit. There should be 50+ billion project on water each year for Nairobi alone. 50+ billion on vichochoro roads in estates; 50+ on sewerage; 100B on housing each year. Pamper the goose that lays the golden eggs with right approach not this expressway nonsense.

Nairobi the capital city for example doesn't have enough water because the dams are dry, digging boreholes won't solve the problem it will cause land subsidence similar to what is happening in Jakarta leading to flooding when it rains. You have to address the root cause of the problem, the culprit is a faulty water cycle.

[RV Pundit]

Yes there is lack of investment in real hardware of water. Just the promise to fight cartel while everyone knows Ndakaini water is not enough. The North Collector will not enough.

I disagree the expressway is not a priority. It is - and I am glad it's being done by private sector. Nairobeans can pay for it - because traffic jams are just too costly.SO like we did in power generation - we need to encourage the private sector to build more expressways. Many of these Nairobi roads can be profitable for private sector - while the public will save time and fuel. WIN-WIN.For example Greater Nairobi By-Pass should be given out to private contractor - people won't mind paying for it.

But obviously no amount of roads will fix Nairobi traffic jam - we have to think mass transportation - and gov should invest 1B dollars - and build a modern tram. Rip apart the old thing - and build a proper modern light railways - the land corrindor is huge - and  the acquisition for new routes will be cheap.

Nairobi therefore need 1) Another Ndankiani and 2) Modern light rail.

The rest should be left for Nairobi County - sanitation - sewage is easy thing - just building culverts - and so is garbage collection

We have only invested 2 billion in Ndakaini in 1990s; Sasumua was done by mzungu. The North Collector Tunnel, Karimenu Dam should alleviate a bit. There should be 50+ billion project on water each year for Nairobi alone. 50+ billion on vichochoro roads in estates; 50+ on sewerage; 100B on housing each year. Pamper the goose that lays the golden eggs with right approach not this expressway nonsense.

[KenyanPlato]

some lofty goals. Kenya will just develop organically. We have 65% of the country literally producing nothing. There is no money unless we discover large quantities of minerals then your list may be workable. As of now Kenya is looking at 20 years of economical ruin from debt unless Mlungu decides to write it off

[RV Pundit]

But what is expensive in what I have suggested.

If you build 35,000kms to add to current 25,000 - each Km - say at 0.5M dollars - that  17.5Billion dollars. Split that in five years. That mean annually you just need 3B dollars. That is small money.

Next is water. Every county needs a huge dam. I think you can  invest 30-50B kshs - let say 0.5B dollars.47 times 0.5B is just 24B dollars. Split that in 5...that is 5B dollars.

Electricity is already doing great with PPP - no need really to invest much here - we are already at 8M Households - 4M are left - 1B dollar is enough - split into 5 years - that is just 200M annually.

Nairobi Metro/Light rail - give it 1-2B dollars - split contract into 5yrs - you're talking 0.3M annually.

Massive irrigation scheme - invest 500M dollars annual.

The rest will self-finance - and or private sector financed - houses will pay for itself - SEZ is just question of acquiring land and build horizontal infrastructure-etc.

So annually you need to invest  roughly 10B dollars - or 50B dollars in 5yrs - and you'd have closed the infrastructure deficit - and set this country for LEAPFROG.

How do you get 50B dollars in 5yrs - borrow a century bond - 30B - and raise 20B by selling Safaricom, Kengen, Kenya Pipeline, KCB, National Oil, Kenya Ports Authority, KenyaRE, KICC, all sugar companies, name them. Kenya has 100 plus state corporation.

some lofty goals. Kenya will just develop organically. We have 65% of the country literally producing nothing. There is no money unless we discover large quantities of minerals then your list may be workable. As of now Kenya is looking at 20 years of economical ruin from debt unless Mlungu decides to write it off

[KenyanPlato]

Talk is cheap.,if it was that easy it would have been done. 80% of kenyans are piss poor and nothing will change in another century

[RV Pundit]

Talk is cheap.,if it was that easy it would have been done. 80% of kenyans are piss poor and nothing will change in another century

Ruto will do this and pay himself 5b dollars as project management and everyone will happily elect him again..

[KenyanPlato]

Talk is cheap.,if it was that easy it would have been done. 80% of kenyans are piss poor and nothing will change in another century

Ruto will do this and pay himself 5b dollars as project management and everyone will happily elect him again..

Ruto will be the most hated president. he is going to inherit a bankrupt country. he has no international community goodwill. They will just let him roast for 10 years with nothing to show. once the people he will have in his administration realize he can't deliver they will go on a looting spree. if you are hoping Kenya will be rich soon please prepare yourself for disappointment. Kenyan is poor country with an equally poor desperate population. That is not a situation you want to be a leader in. All I can tell you is that Kenya is going to be doing badly for another 20 years. There is nothing in Kenya that can revive the economy. Covid disruption alone has killed any momentum Kenya had. The tragic thing is that Kenya has very young population, more people are under 18 years. You have more dependents than producers. It seems the only thing Kenyans are doing is having babies even at advance age of past 40 years. The illusion that Kenya was going to become something is gone. Not in our lifetime.

As for Ruto looting. That one I do not have a doubt. He will be richer than Moi by the time he leaves power. Just make sure you get in there and loot for your family or you will be suffer as they suffer.

[RV Pundit]

No.Ruto will inspire a new chapter with hustler revolution.He is very hardworking and ultimately go getter so the country will turn around because Ruto will make gov work.Kagame, meles and museveni started from worse

[Arcadian_Dreamer]

No.Ruto will inspire a new chapter with hustler revolution.He is very hardworking and ultimately go getter so the country will turn around because Ruto will make gov work.Kagame, meles and museveni started from worse

Talk is cheap. His record speaks for itself no need to waste your time writing endless pro Ruto puff pieces. You make yourself look foolish.

[RV Pundit]

Of course his record speak for itself from Y2k, Mp of Eldoret north (always was top in cdf management), Ass Minister(first to be allowed to sit in cabinet for being so brilliant), to pushing for Uhuru in 2003 (Youth Revolution), to leading KANU and overtaking MOi in Narc era, helping defeat 2005 constitution, ODM main campaigner and financier, and negotiator, to become Min of Agri (voted the most hardworking/effective) and later demoted to Min of Higher education (solved many lingering issues including 2yrs wait time that had stayed for almost 20yrs - and private funding of kids who choose to finance themselves), leading NOs in 2010 constitution to get a respectable 31%, to going to ICC and managing to get MSC and later PHD done.

Ruto run as co-president in Jubilee 1.0 - and they did great - economy grew by 6 percent for 5yrs - GDP doubled from 45B to 90B - Jubilee built 10,000kms of paved roads (they found 11,000 paved roads done in 50yrs). Jubilee found 2.4M electricity connection - as we speak there are now 8M connected (in 5yrs - they added about 4-5M Household - or 20M more kenyans). They pulled SGR - largest kenya public investment in 3yrs -  in few days - they fixed IDP - both PEV/Mau - by paying each 400K - and all the camps were destroyed. Raila-Uhuru has created new ones in Mau.

Jubilee 1.0 won re-election with 5% increase in tally to 55% and got more Mps. Jubilee were so popular - Raila decided to sit the repeat election - and Jubilee won with 98% - and 9M  - I think increase of the first poll.

And the disaster started...Jubilee 2.0...Jealous Uhuru took the saddle and because he is too drunk most of the time...gave it to Matiangi...who has no skills to run a behemooth and gov is now radarless.

Ruto will quickly fix this small disaster.

Ruto is PROVEN hardworking go-getter. The man is up by 5am and will crunch until midnight. He is also very brilliant (he did a real msc-phd while moonlighting), good orator and public speaker, a natural leader.

Even without gov position - like during KIbaki and later Raila era - he was still very effective.

Right now Uhuru has spent the last 3-4yrs on Ruto - and he has nothing to show. He has been reduced from PORK to a failed GEMA leader. Ruto has in meantime inspired Hustler Nation - a nascent national revolution - and the dynasties are so worried - they don't know how to respond.

Ruto is one of a rare kind of a leader - and Kenya is lucky to have someone who has it all - become their PORK.

Talk is cheap. His record speaks for itself no need to waste your time writing endless pro Ruto puff pieces. You make yourself look foolish.

[Arcadian_Dreamer]

Of course his record speak for itself from Y2k, Mp of Eldoret north (always was top in cdf management), Ass Minister(first to be allowed to sit in cabinet for being so brilliant), to pushing for Uhuru in 2003 (Youth Revolution), to leading KANU and overtaking MOi in Narc era, helping defeat 2005 constitution, ODM main campaigner and financier, and negotiator, to become Min of Agri (voted the most hardworking/effective) and later demoted to Min of Higher education (solved many lingering issues including 2yrs wait time that had stayed for almost 20yrs - and private funding of kids who choose to finance themselves), leading NOs in 2010 constitution to get a respectable 31%, to going to ICC and managing to get MSC and later PHD done.

Ruto run as co-president in Jubilee 1.0 - and they did great - economy grew by 6 percent for 5yrs - GDP doubled from 45B to 90B - Jubilee built 10,000kms of paved roads (they found 11,000 paved roads done in 50yrs). Jubilee found 2.4M electricity connection - as we speak there are now 8M connected (in 5yrs - they added about 4-5M Household - or 20M more kenyans). They pulled SGR - largest kenya public investment in 3yrs -  in few days - they fixed IDP - both PEV/Mau - by paying each 400K - and all the camps were destroyed. Raila-Uhuru has created new ones in Mau.

Jubilee 1.0 won re-election with 5% increase in tally to 55% and got more Mps. Jubilee were so popular - Raila decided to sit the repeat election - and Jubilee won with 98% - and 9M  - I think increase of the first poll.

And the disaster started...Jubilee 2.0...Jealous Uhuru took the saddle and because he is too drunk most of the time...gave it to Matiangi...who has no skills to run a behemooth and gov is now radarless.

Ruto will quickly fix this small disaster.

Ruto is PROVEN hardworking go-getter. The man is up by 5am and will crunch until midnight. He is also very brilliant (he did a real msc-phd while moonlighting), good orator and public speaker, a natural leader.

Even without gov position - like during KIbaki and later Raila era - he was still very effective.

Right now Uhuru has spent the last 3-4yrs on Ruto - and he has nothing to show. He has been reduced from PORK to a failed GEMA leader. Ruto has in meantime inspired Hustler Nation - a nascent national revolution - and the dynasties are so worried - they don't know how to respond.

Ruto is one of a rare kind of a leader - and Kenya is lucky to have someone who has it all - become their PORK.

You forgot to add, the most prolific land grabber as well as the fastest looter of public money in Kenya's history.

[RV Pundit]

Of course - Ruto whatever he does - even looting - he does a great job at it. There are no half-measures. Ruto is the ultimate go-getter.
Obviously - Ruto is not walking up 5am - so he can allow Raila and Uhuru to steal - while he sit there like Kalonzo.
Ruto will grow Kenya and he will grow himself - whatever he does - for kenya - he will reward himself by taking some 'management' fee.
You can choose someone like Raila - who will destroy kenya - or MaDVD - a feeckle leader - or even current Matiangi who is overwhelmed with basics like Huduma Number.

Give my man any job - and he does it - to perfection.

It all down to having the brains to think and the energy to execute. Ruto has both. Moi had the energy but lacked the brains. Kibaki had the brains but was too old. Uhuru is too drunk. Jomo was too old.

You forgot to add, the most prolific land grabber as well as the fastest looter of public money in Kenya's history.