Nelson Mandela once declared that Ethiopia held a special place in his imagination.
Indeed, the land of coffee, ancient architecture and a resilient people does carry a certain mystique… and a very long, torturous history.
1/ --Long Thread--
[Pic: Children of the Omo Valley] 2/ See, Mandela spent two weeks in July 1962 in Ethiopia where he learned the tricks of guerilla warfare from Col Fekadu Wakene, a corporal in the riot battalion of the Ethiopian police force at the time.
Mandela was in Ethiopia by invitation of Emperor Haile Selassie I.
Oct 25, 2020 • 50 tweets • 23 min read
In 1899, Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness, described events in the Congo as “the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience”
Little did he know.
1/ The story of the Congo is one of untold suffering and spectacular plunder.
---Long Thread--- 2/ Home to the 2ⁿᵈ largest rainforest (65% forest cover) & 2ⁿᵈ largest river in the world, the DRC is roughly the size of Western Europe with a pop'n of 84mn and a GDP of $50bn.
The value of Congo’s natural resources is estimated at $24tn, greater than the US’ $20tn GDP.
Oct 11, 2020 • 15 tweets • 5 min read
The story of Col John Ainsworth
1/ When Nairobi started under Ainsworth, the first municipal budget was 7,161 rupees (± Sh150K), which only paid for the uniforms and salaries of 6 Swahili and 8 Indian policemen, 2 sweepers, and oil for street lights.
nation.africa/kenya/news/pol…2/ Called from Machakos to serve as a top civil servant at the swampy town populated more by wild animals than by European settlers, Ainsworth arrived in Nairobi in 1899 at age 25.
Born in 1864 in the UK he died in 1964, at 100 years old.
[Nairobi in 1898]
Sep 30, 2020 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
First, it was decided the project will be initiated as a public-private partnership (PPP) to escape procurement scrutiny that comes with open tenders.
1/ A short thread on organised crime in government
nation.africa/kenya/news/sh6…2/ As soon as the project was approved, they quickly abandoned the PPP and started an international open tender.
The tenders were then crafted in such a way that a select number of local companies were looped in through the backdoor as subcontractors of original manufacturers.
Sep 23, 2020 • 25 tweets • 10 min read
The Postal Corporation of Kenya, PCK or Posta, is the oldest parastatal in Kenya having been founded in 1901 as the Postal Services of British EA (PSBEA).
Over the years however, Posta has faced unending troubles due to corruption and mismanagement.
1/
---A postal thread--- 2/ In 1910, PSBEA offered savings accounts and later evolved into Postbank Credit.
In 1994, the bank collapsed with Sh3.8bn in deposits and Sh3.6bn in loans, due to bad debts owed by connected individuals like Cyrus Jirongo.
In the 1977/78 fiscal year, Dr Nataverbhai Patel's Anpi Pharma and related outfits were awarded tenders for Sh80mn of MoH’s Sh150mn budget for drugs.
They either undersupplied or billed without supplying.
1/ Of cartels, drugs and elections...
nation.africa/kenya/news/ori…2/ Anpi Pharma would under-quote to win the tender then after winning, would come back and state:
“freight charges and cost of materials have gone up. I want to vary the tender.”
Sep 13, 2020 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
In 1972, a shortage of meat forced the govt to license private abattoirs.
In short order, there was an influx of meat, much of which was of dodgy quality.
In 1973, the govt ordered that all meat transport vehicles bear a red stripe for identification.
1/ ---a thread--- 2/ It was about the same time that Mohammed Ali Motha, a butcher, and his business partner Abdul Habib Adam, founder of Adam's Arcade, came up with the idea of a Halal slaughterhouse in Ngong under Halal Meat Products Limited.
Adam died in 1974, leaving Halal to the Mothas.
Sep 10, 2020 • 18 tweets • 8 min read
Once upon a time, Robert Maxwell, (whose daughter Ghislaine, is involved in the Jeffrey Epstein-Trump scandal) and President Moi got together and decided they would hive off Uhuru Park and construct a 60-storey tower.
1/ ---A short thread---
nytimes.com/1989/11/26/wor…2/ Just like with projects we are seeing today, the Kenya Times Complex would be financed by $200mn in loans guaranteed by the govt.
Proposed by Robert Maxwell, the British-designed complex would house a statue of Moi, Kanu party HQs, KTN, conference & shopping facilities.
Sep 6, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Tales of Ol Jogi and the lifestyle of socialite Jocelyne Wildenstein
1/ "Locals, as Kenyan conservationist Mordecai Oganda recently found out, are not supposed to photograph wildlife near the 58,000-acre conservancy or what Oganda calls ‘Laikipia Colony’
2/ This is the second incident in Busia county since September 25, 2019 when a 2:00am fire burnt the Busia County finance office, destroying crucial documents in the department.
Even before Covid-19 hit, the economy wasn't doing very well and looking back, it's been rather rough for the formal sector in many ways, with companies shutting down and thousands of jobs lost.
1/ Here's a quick look how things have played out...
---a thread--- 2/ In May 2013, it was reported that Mama Ngina was Kenya Power's 4th largest individual shareholder with 2.2mn shares trading at Sh16.55 a share.
After 7 years of mismanagement and fraud, KP's shares now trade at Sh1.90 with Sh25bn+ lost in value.
In her letter dated April 15, Mochache specified to Kemsa the items they were to procure, listed specific suppliers they were to source them from, as well as the prices.
1/ The letter occasioned taxpayers billions of shillings.
2/ The first disbursement of US$930,000,000 took place on February 7, 2011 to the following ministries:
-Roads
-Local Government
-Water and Irrigation
-Forestry and Wildlife
-Regional Development Authorities
-Environment and Mineral Resources
-Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)
Aug 26, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
In 1983, Gabriel Lbakinoi Lengishili was injured by an explosive left in Samburu grazing grounds by British soldiers.
1/ In 2003, he received Sh11.2mn in compensation and proceeded to buy a Land Cruiser for Sh2.8mn
Evidence presented in court showed that former Foreign Affairs PS James Thuita Mwangi through his companies received Sh1,100,000,000 from NYS within 8 months.
So far, only Sh35,000,000 has been seized.
NYS seems much bigger than was originally thought.
According to some of the suppliers who requested anonymity to safeguard their relations with NYS, the ground work for the current mess started when NYS was expanded in 2013 and got involved in multiple projects across the country.
Former Nakumatt CEO Atul Shah has failed to stop Bank of Africa from auctioning his personal property worth Sh2bn over loans to Nakumatt.
1/ And he's not the only well known personality that's faced auctioneers in the last few years
---short thread---
businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/comp…2/ Just this week, a six-storey hotel in Machakos town belonging to former Cabinet minister Gideon Ndambuki was Monday put up for auction over a Sh80 million loan.
In February of 2001, a businessman named Humphrey Kariuki sought the protection of the courts claiming he feared the police might try to frame him by planting narcotic drugs in his premises.
1/ And so began the saga of Charterhouse Bank
---A Thread---
webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache…2/ See, Mr Kariuki was a signatory to an account held by Crucial Properties Ltd at Charterhouse bank (CHB) that had received a Sh2bn ($25mn) transfer from Lichtenstein, attracting the interest of both local law enforcement and the FBI.
1/ Data from KNBS shows that while counties such as Nakuru, Kisumu, Uasin Gishu, Mombasa and Nyandarua are endowed with a lot of wealth and rank among the top 10 richest devolved units, a big chunk of their population lives in abject poverty.
standardmedia.co.ke/the-standard-i…2/ A ranking of Kenya’s richest counties in wealth creation that was released last year showed that Nakuru was the second-largest county in economic well being after Nairobi in the inaugural in 2019 Gross County Product (GCP).
Aug 11, 2020 • 33 tweets • 15 min read
About 60% of Laikipia - Kenya's 2nd most important wildlife area after the Mara - is owned by cattle ranches and conservancies.
The area is also occupied by local pastoralists in greater need of fast dwindling pasture and space.
“For the first time ever, you get that vibe that you’re a mzungu — what are you doing here? It’s a bit grandiose to think we can continue to live like this when thousands of people out there don’t have any land”
-Anne Powys, Suyian Ranch
