Survey indicts efforts to empower taxpayer
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has launched the Economic Survey 2012. The report also gave real economic performance for last year.
On employment, which I believe should be the key indicator of the quality of governance anywhere, 520,000 new jobs were created most of them (about 80 per cent) in the jua kali sector. Very few of these jobs can support mortgage repayments and interest rates meaning very few of these job owners can hope to own homes. This is disaster coming our way because it means the economy is just not creating enough quality jobs. It could also mean our domestic loans are grossly overpriced. According to the survey, the interest rate spreads are immoral, (at 13.05 per cent compared to 2 per cent internationally, confirming that Kenya’s banking sector is a cartel).
On housing intervention so as to free the working urban population from high rent expenses, the outlook for 2012 is grim for majority of Kenyans. The report says “the increase (to Sh2.8 billion) was as a result of improved provision of financial resources for housing development through civil servant housing scheme development fund and introduction of civil servant housing mortgage scheme.”
This should confirm to Kenyans the Government, while setting aside taxpayers money to provide cheaper housing for civil servants, will not extend the same favour to anybody else. This is not only unconstitutional and discriminative but amounts to bribing civil servants generally. All Kenyans should be treated equally.
On manufacturing, there was contraction in food processing, leather and footwear, paper and paper products, rubber products and electrical machineries. This is hardly surprising. The Government adopted import substitution in the 1960s and early 1970s that benefited Asians mainly. Africans are strangers in the manufacturing sector and this imbalance can cause social unrest in future.
A drop in food processing? Unbelievable when we continue exporting our tea and coffee in raw form. Why then is the Government reluctant to convert all tea manufacturing factories under KTDA into export economic zones to boost exports and stabilise the shilling? Manufacturing is therefore another cartel.
These are the issues we expect all presidential aspirants to take up.
{Kariuki Muiri, Karatina}
Museveni, please spare us the pranks
