The Mugabe disaster is worse than you think.

What has happened to once-proud Zimbabwe is the stuff of movies. Horror movies. Outbreaks of cholera, biting hunger and severe oppression. Inflation? Currently at 20 million percent according to CNN. Alternatively, you can take the much more conservative official figure of 11.2 million percent. Disputed elections and loss of life on the continent is no longer news so I will not dwell on that.
Here is the bad news. The bad news is that Mugabe has presided over all this pretty much unscathed. After the so called presidential election many people thought that Mugabe would disappear. Zimbabwe was under the kind of despair and tension that one would have thought could lead to a French-like revolution. There were rumours the West would 'ask' Mugabe to disappear to a friedly nation in exchange for not getting his assets frozen and getting whisked to international court. Then there was the expectation that South Africa with their growing refugee problem would not let things stand. They would surely force him out for the good of both countries.
Alas, several months later Mugabe is still running things. Imposing sanctions under these circumstances is downright moronic. How does a president who is willing to bring his country to its knees for the sake of power feel the pressure of economic sanctions?
Now, this is the saddest thing I have seen in a long time because of the precedent it sets. If this is the worst case scenario and the feckless president survives, imagine how heartened the other 'moderate' dictators must be. It doesn't bode well for Africa. While many have a tendency to over-report the dark side of Africa, this is truly deserving of the world's attention. Too bad that attention has not amounted to any action worth paying attention to.

Health Care Tip for Obama

Its easy to get tired of all the coverage of the health care debate. There are no good alternatives for escaping the media coverage of the debate. Not many people would trade their cable news for actual reading of the thousands of pages floating around Congress. Like it or not it is much easier to remember politicians' sound bites than it is to remember the complex details of the debate. This is where Obama should come in and play the sound bite game a la Palin's 'death panels'.

For instance, one of the reasons wages have stagnated in the US (reportedly at 1998 levels compared to inflation/cost of living) is due to the explosion of health care costs. Basically, Obama should go out and say "guess what dudes, the reason are not getting a raise is because your employer is too busy trying to keep up with exploding health care costs". People would remember a nice sound bite to that effect. Self interest being what it is for all of us humans, we'd be quick to embrace that message.

Could Kenya have been the ‘The Garden of Eden?’

This thought has crossed my mind more than a few times now. I now all the scientific evidence points to the Middle East but scientist have also been known to be wrong and sometimes biased. So ignoring the Middle Eastern evidence think about this.

            Think about Rusinga Island, which lies to the East of Lake Victoria. The island is the site of the oldest fossilized remains of early man. It is also rich with fossilized remains of other mammals, some dating back as much as 18 million years. The there is river Nile. Anyone that has ever heard of the bible knows its significance. Lake Victoria also happens to be the source of the Nile. I don’t claim to be a scientist or a theological expert. In fact my little presentation here would make a good scientist weep. But I’m just saying.

Growing The Economy: Quick and painless idea

Here is a quick and easy way to stimulate a lot of economic activity in Kenya without too much sweat. This should be free of political wrangling and would also not require major reforms within any of the three arms of government. What's this simple idea? Implementing a street address system for the entire country.

Having lived in the US for the last decade it is still hard at times to imagine that Kenya has no street addresses. If you wanted to visit my home outside Nakuru town you couldn't do it without an extensive amount of 'turn by turn' directions. I might even invoke a 'mugumo' tree or two to help. God forbid a new road was paved without my knowledge which is not all that unusual in the countryside. Then you would be really lost.
Now imagine that an effective street naming system was implemented throughout the country. This would unlock as much economic activity as the arrival of cell phones and affordable motorcycles. What this would do is enhance the communications revolution that has happened thanks to cell phones and motorcycles(the latter aided by availability of micro loans). Basically, this would free up business owners' time by not having to deliver shipments themselves. It would also free up capital that would otherwise be used to purchase delivery vehicles. It also means that consumers would also be free to go about their business without wasting half their work day picking up pretty standard products like fertilizer in the case of farmers. All they would need to do is call up their supplier and have it delivered. Results, a lot of cost savings.
There is even more good news. Well, potentially. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this would be youth that we are always trying to elevate with never-ending funds that never seem to reach the intended beneficiaries. A lot of them already own motorcycles that they use to transport people. The 'boda boda' phenomenon. They would just add cargo to their list of services.
Kenyans have proven to be adept at adapting new technologies. Just look at the wildly successfull M-Pesa money transfer from Safaricom.These too would have have a similar effect as entrepreneurs everywhere rush to capitalize on new possibilities. So while we grapple with other more basic problems like water shortages, lets keep this on our agenda too. It could actually ease the delivery of said water.