Importing belts from China says a lot about the state of our industry
What you need to know:
- My salt-shaker at the village has a striking resemblance to Chairman Mao Zedong. To make matters worse, not only are we living with such sundry imports, we are also being buried in coffins made in China.
- If we are serious about industrialising by 2030 and becoming a middle income economy, then we really have to start thinking hard about issues like protecting our manufactured products.
- Why is it that countries that are a lot more vulnerable than Kenya, those whose institutions of governance are weak or even non-existent, have staved off attacks from demented terrorists, while stronger countries like Nigeria and Kenya seem to be helpless in the face of weekly massacres?
Can someone please explain, in a language that even a Standard Two dimwit can understand, why we are buying and selling toothpicks from the People’s Republic of China in our supermarkets?
Not chopsticks, mind you, but toothpicks.
I came upon a container in my homestead the other day and couldn’t believe it.
So I went to the supermarket to check and discovered that not only are we trading in imported pieces of wood, but also in belts and a few cheap trinkets that can hardly add value to anyone’s life.
My salt-shaker at the village has a striking resemblance to Chairman Mao Zedong. To make matters worse, not only are we living with such sundry imports, we are also being buried in coffins made in China.
Now, I have nothing against the Chinese. Indeed, I am not in the habit of bashing that great country, but I take great exception to selling all our jobs to any other country.
It is possible that, per capita, we have more trees than China does. It is also possible that our rustling-happy compatriots in the north keep more than enough cows to belt up every Kenyan and his sister. Who then has allowed cheap imports to flood our markets?
Something simply does not add up here and it has everything to do with lack of an industrialisation policy. We have liberalised our trade regime to an extent that we are now being taught by China how to sell and buy goods. In short, we do not seem to have a method for protecting whatever little we do manufacture. The question is why and what we plan to do about it.
The answer, to my untutored mind, is innovation and value addition, simple concepts that seem to be foreign to us. There is no earthly reason why anybody should buy a belt made elsewhere when we can add value to our hides and skins and end up with much better products. At this rate, we are soon going to start importing prime cuts of beef from Asia or Europe, if we are not doing so already.
START THINKING HARD
If we are serious about industrialising by 2030 and becoming a middle income economy, then we really have to start thinking hard about issues like protecting our manufactured products. It would be sensible, for instance, for the Maasai to be taught how to turn hides into durable leather during the dry seasons instead of roaming all over the country in search of pasture.
*****
The last time I was so traumatised by any event was at the height of the 2008/2009 post-election violence during which one community rose up against another, while the besieged community took revenge on a third. The murderous rage that resulted forced me to shun newspapers for weeks.
Now we are in another war, one that we cannot win unless we recognise that the insidious enemy is not going anywhere. This is not a war that can be won through quick fixes or jingoistic pronouncements. It must be a war of attrition and elimination.
STAVED OFF ATTACKS
Why is it that countries that are a lot more vulnerable than Kenya, those whose institutions of governance are weak or even non-existent, have staved off attacks from demented terrorists, while stronger countries like Nigeria and Kenya seem to be helpless in the face of weekly massacres? Why is it that we always seem to be flailing around like headless chicken whenever atrocities are committed by ragtag groupings against innocent Kenyans?
Once upon a time, our Intelligence machinery used to be the envy of the rest of Africa due to its proficiency. Today, for some reason, it seems to be unable to infiltrate murderous outfits like Al Shabaab.
Indeed, some National Intelligence Service spooks appear to be more content with shadowing totally harmless individuals across three counties (like yours truly) instead of gathering intelligence, analysing it and guiding political leaders on how to defeat terror. What such people prefer is to chase phantoms and soft targets. Until such mindsets change, we as a country will continue to be vulnerable to terror attacks.
Kenya is bleeding profusely and urgently requires help. Besides carrying out a total overhaul of Intelligence and security organs (which is easier said than done), there is an urgent need to employ more technology in the war against terror. There are devices like drones that can secure our borders by detecting mass movement of armed people, be they cattle rustlers or terrorists.
