U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger at MindSpeak

It came as a pleasant surprise to me to know that Ambassador Michael Ranneberger was to speak at MindSpeak. Being the first sitting diplomat from another country (in this case the USA) invited to speak at the business club meeting. But I came to realize the ambassador is a man of firsts in many fields.

The ambassador started his presentation by shifting our mindset of the fact that by him being the ambassador of US in Kenya he is then by implication the CEO of the mission in Kenya. Giving a few statistics of his portfolio, He has 1500 employees under him, 500 Americans and 1000 Kenyans and that the mission handles about US dollars 1 Billion which flow to Kenya through the various agencies his country has in Kenya. 

Ambassador Ranneberger was not shy to speak about his previous engagements which you can say have influenced him to the ambassador he is today. Surprising is the fact that he had not anticipated a career in the diplomatic corps and that he was going to post a letter in the post office that he saw an advert to do a test to join the corps.

He had been studying his PhD in history and was about to do his dissertation and then as he put it become a teacher in one of the colleges.  He also shared with us that when he started his stint in the diplomatic corps he was a shy person and could not fathom talking to a group of people (like the house full MindSpeak).

He also hinted on his style of doing things in that he does not read theological books but relies mostly from his experience and that his style is both positive and confident.

Pointing on the time when the Post Election Violence was occurring. One of the things at his disposal was flying out his staff BUT he didn’t take that option. What he did was to rely on his instinct and experience, assembled his staff or troops if you like and told them that the situation would be over in a couple of months.

He also talked briefly on the role the US played behind the scenes to resolve the crisis. Pointing out on how the principals were a taken by the dailies headline which ran across all spectrum of newspapers in Kenya ‘Save our Country’.

Being an American citizen he did not hesitate to talk about his country and values. Talking about what is going on in the States ‘Tea Party Movement’ and the electoral swings they experience. Also pointing out that American values are always consistent what may change are the tactics or Strategy.

He also talked of how he had met the President during his Chief of Mission Conference last year and how the President is abreast on what is happening in the country.

He also talked on his definitive speech he was to give on 25/01/2011 at the American Camber of Commerce dinner in Kenya.

Ambassador Ranneberger also talked briefly on the three major programmes his government is involved in Kenya.

• PEPFAR US dollars (580 million) Largest amount spent in a single country the whole world
• Democracy and Governance initiatives i.e. Youth Programmes
• Environment and Agriculture i.e Feed the future programme (Signed in 2010 at KARI)

US Interests in Kenya

View Larger Map

One of the things we like the US ambassador is that he is forthright and this was NOT an exception. He candidly pointed out the US interests in Kenya which are;

1. Democracy and Stability (As is the US goal any part of the world)
2. Development
3. Regional Stability (Pointing out Somalia & Sudan). Mind you Sen. John Kerry was in Southern Sudan during the referendum to secede from the North
4. Counter Extremism

However he did not talk much about China which has been making in roads in this region and South Korea which I have noticed is also coming along.

However, during the Q&A he did point out Robert B. Zoellick who brought a new paradigm to Washington of NOT viewing Beijing as a Competitor in the World stage but as an ally during his tenure as the US Trade Representative before joining World Bank.

So he welcomed the positive competition that China is currently giving them. Noting that US ceased from doing infrastructure projects he does not mind China assisting African countries in developing their infrastructure. However, he cautioned in passing that he had observed NOT many African were involved in these projects, so the issue of Kenyans gaining from these cooperations was minimal.

Youth Issue

The ambassador talked about why the state dept is investing in the youth alluding to the fact that the youth are the future.
Hence programs that target interacting with the youth have gained traction in the state dept with the ambassador present on the social networks.

Here are some of the snippets from the ‘Hope for the future speech’ which was delivered on Tuesday 25/01/2011 at the American Chamber of Commerce dinner where the ambassador was the keynote speaker. I consider this speech definitive because it has lots of stats which are credible considering the US sponsors quite a number of Statistical undertakings in the country.

“President Obama has a strong interest in developing the leadership skills of young people, and last year held his first Young Africa Leaders Forum.  He has charged young people to be agents of change and to “stand up for democracy and transparent government.”  Our $45 million “Yes Youth Can” program will empower hundreds of thousands of youth to participate in the development of their country, and expand their peaceful participation in the democratic process. 

Our work with youth supports the initiatives of young people themselves.  Importantly, the National Youth Forum works across ethnic and political lines with a common agenda to promote peaceful reform. We welcome the National Youth Forum’s efforts to establish County Youth Forums in every county.  We are establishing a $10 million youth-led and youth-owned Youth Innovate for Change Fund that will provide youth with opportunities to access capital for economic development”.  

“Over half of Kenya’s population lives in poverty, living on less than $2 per day.  Kenya is ranked in the bottom 20% of countries in the UNDP Human Development Index.  Real unemployment among the two-thirds of the population which are under 35 stands at nearly 50 percent’’

“Support for the empowerment of youth to expand their participation in the democratic system and to assist them to develop businesses to create new jobs”.

Agriculture

"Kenya has recently been designated a focus country for two of President Obama’s global initiatives.  Through the Feed the Future Initiative, working with the Government of Kenya we have affirmed a commitment to achieve significant agricultural development objectives, including alleviating the suffering of the over 2 million Kenyans who are chronically food insecure.  Last September at KARI, I announced an initial USG investment of $29 million to support Kenya’s agricultural strategy through the Feed the Future initiative.  We will also continue to provide humanitarian assistance to combat drought".

"Real success in the agricultural sector, however, will require the GOK’s commitment to the political and economic reform agenda, including land reform, a strengthened fight against corruption, restructuring and/or elimination of the 34 agriculture-related parastatals, including the NCPB, and removing protectionist tariffs and import licenses that increase the price of basic foodstuffs to the poor".

The writer is an intern at Ministry of Agriculture, Planning Department and contributes/one of the admins of NairobiNow.

Why Democracy? Film Festival Kenya 2010

I have been doing some of the posts that I was not able to do in 2010. So it came as a surprise as to why I had not blogged about the Why democracy? Film festival which was held in Kenya for the first time in November.

The exact dates for the festival were November 8-12, 2010 and the festival was held at Alliance Francaise. 

The festival which is a global documentary project was brought to us (the public) by Steps International with the partnership of Ford Foundation, Solidarity Network and other partners. 

At the opening of the festival Joyce Nyairo, the Program officer of Ford Foundation explained why Ford Foundation had partnered with Solidarity network to present the films to the public. Some of this reasons are to start the discussion on democracy, try to empower us to grasp some basic concepts on democracy through the screen, and to create awareness on this issues. 

WhyDemocracy.net

This festival presented some exceptional, challenging and unconventional stories from around the world and how different communities in the world perceive democracy or absence of it.

Each of the 10 long films presented prompted to ask a question about democracy.

1. Can  terrorism destroy democracy?-Taxi to the dark side
2. Who would you vote for as president of the world?-Please vote for me
3. Are women more democratic than men?-Iron Ladies of Liberia
4. What would make you start a revolution?-Looking for a Revolution
5. Why bother to vote?-Egypt: We are watching you
6. Can politicians solve climate change?-Campaign! The Kawasaki Candidate
7. Is Democracy good for everyone?-In search of Gandhi
8. Are dictators ever good?-Dinner with the president
9. Is God democratic?-Bloody Cartoons
10. Who rules the world?-For God, Tsar and the Fatherland

Useful Resources

• Why democracy website
• Ten documentaries 
• Short films

2010 Kwani? Literature Festival

Kwani? Literature Festival 2010 was one of those capping events for me in the year 2010. This festival was held from December 12-17, 2010 in various venues in Nairobi.

The festivals theme was 'Tell Us What Happened' and comprised of lectures from literary giants Ngugi wa Thiongo (chief guest of the festival) and Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo both professors, conversations from writers from all over Africa, panel readings of some of the works of writers at the festival and literature workshops.

The theme ‘tell us what happened’ was an attempt by Kwani? To stir conversation and deep reflection as to what happened in the 80’s and 90’s now considered a literary temporal black hole in Kenya and East Africa in general.

However what stood out for me in this festival was the mixture that presented itself of both old and young literature practitioners. I doubt that it was pure coincidence given the fact that Ngugi senior and junior were in attendance and at one point were put into a lively debate by none other than John Sibi Okumu

Day I: Festival Opening

Day one of the festival took place at Kifaru Garden’s home of Kwani?

Some of the highlights for me apart from the impeccable Gardens were performances by Mshai Mwangola Githongo, performances by Ed Pavlic and a first glimpse of the prodigy Mukoma wa Ngugi aka Ngugi wa Thiongo’s son. They say an apple does not fall from the tree. In this case they were spot on!

I also heard a reading from Robert Serumaga and boy wasn’t he on fire. Now I know why he has President Museveni security apparatus has beef with him. This is because he call it as he see it.

The evening reading by the moon light, born fire and paraffin lit garden surely brought the best out of Binyavanga Wainaina. Reading from his ‘yet to be published’ up coming book as he put it. He left me in stitches with stories about self while growing up. Taking shots at powerful individuals in a funny way such as the Moi milk and talking of his rebellious youth days when he used to spot a meow meow hair style.

The evening ended with some music from Atemi Oyungu and a cameo by Eric Wainaina who was in the house…oops in the Garden!

Featured Writers at the festival.
Source: Kwani? 

Day 2:

Day two of the festival was held at Kenya National Museum amphitheatre aka Louis Leakey Auditorium and so were most of the events hence forth.

Having missed the first writers in conversation (Rebeka Njau & Binyavanga Wainaina) due to daily engagements at Kilimo I was in time for Western African Writers in conversation. Where Okey Ndibe had a time of his life trying to explain whether the Nigerians are up to taking over the universe given the implosion of Nigeria aka Nollywood in our TV sets!

The other writers in conversation were between Ngugi wa Thiongo and Mukoma wa Ngugi. Others may question the veracity of the methods used by John Sibi Okumu to get the job of facilitating the conversation between father and son but in the end of it we got to know why Ngugi wa Thiongo prefers to use mother tongue to write his works as opposed to English.

Day 3:

I managed only to catch the public lecture done by Micere Mugo at the University of Nairobi and unlike other Public Lectures this was unique. Am sure this is expected of a poet and playwright. Her public lecture had interludes of performances.

Day 4:

I missed this due to other engagements but day 4 was set aside for a Public Lecture by Ngugi wa Thiongo

Day 5:

This day had an array of activities but not to be missed was Philip Ochieng reflecting on politics and writing in the context of his iconic work ‘The Kenyatta Succession’.

Here I got a glimpse of the man behind the most loved column on Sunday Nation.

Day 6:

The festival ended with the launch of Kwani? 06

Useful Links:

1. Kwani? Website
2. Kwani? Lit Fest

HIERONYMOUS SPRATT

Hieronymous Spratt’s an academic cat,

Whose life is devoted to learning.

He’s often seen about Town in his dusty black Gown,

Dignified and very discerning.

Like many a scholar he wears a worn collar,

And his shirtfront’s decidedly faded.

His elbows are patched, his socks are mismatched,

His whiskers are somewhat abraded.

But there is a look of surprise never far from his eyes

For he delights in being astonished.

And with his high domed crown and his beetle-browned frown,

He looks quite unmistakably donnish.

For many years he’s frequented his peers,

Its no longer remarkable that

He is welcome, he knows, wherever he goes,

For he is the University Cat.

In the City of Sphires he finds all he desires

Of scholarship and of tradition

He’s gained seconds and firsts and the same in reverse

Everywhere he’s been granted admission.

His hunger for knowledge led him through every college,

With a passion that’s truly unique,

And his fellow students were pleased to

Be purred at or teased

In Hebrew or Sanskrit or Greek

He read maths and biology and social psychology

At Keble and Brasenose and Queen’s,

To Wadham and Worcester he brought glory and luster

Researching the functions of genes.

He dabbled in divinity at Magdalem and Trinity

But deciding nine lives would suffice,

Transferred with urbanity to study the humanities

At St. Cats, which he found very nice.

His more radical views have often made news,

And his thesis on Teaching a Mouse

Was so utterly drastic to be labelled fantastic!

And came close to dividing the House.

He retired in disgrace with much loss of face

From the Somerville lectures in Latin.

The tutor for admission was denounced for sedition,

For having allowed a male cat in!

He was banned from tutorial when he was at Oriel,

And warned he would definitely fail

For what some said is fibbing, or perhaps even cribbing,

By the unauthorized use of his tail.

But he’s the one you must greet, as he walks down Catte Street,

On his way to an evening’s debate.

For within the society, he’s the soul of propriety

Lionized by the good and the great.

Some evenings, of course, he’ll be in the white Horse,

Where he’s known to get tight (or tighter).

And he oft played Grimalken for Lewis and Tolkien

In front of the fire at the mitre.

He dines, when he is able, at Merton high table,

For the company as well as the victuals.

And he supports the dark blues in all of their does,

Whether rugby, or rowing or skittles.

He’s earned a few dollars by coaching Rhodes Scholars

Some of whom did quite well after all.

And he is the famous miaow-er at the top of Tom Tower

Bewailing the loss of Cat Hall.

David Carr-Allinson (Kellogg 1996)

One of my favorite poems to bid 2010 farewell.

Launch of 'Policy' by IEA

The Institute of Economic Affairs today (December 1, 2010) launched a journal going by the name 'Policy'.

Some of the things highlighted at this morning launch were the rationale behind it. As Irene Kinuthia, the Media & Communication officer at IEA put it. This is another avenue IEA has ventured into provide an avenue for IEA members and associates, professionals, researchers and general public to influence public policy through research, provide cutting edge information on public policy and provide policy makers with useful information to guide policy reforms.
IEA is looking looking to print this journal Annually

The articles on the Journal aim at reporting progress made in implementing specific policy reforms as is the case in this issue in which Limo Taboi who also goes by the name Bankelele on the blog-sphere addresses 'After the Promise: The Economic Sector Reforms in the Early NARC years'.
The journal also seeks to communicating research findings on a particular public policy issue in a reader friendly manner as is the case on 'the (Un) Employment Problem in Kenya: Not so Simple Answers' done by Jacob Omolo. This is hot on the hills of the launch of a publication The dynamics and trends of Employment in Kenya in the Month of November.

Some of other things to find on this journal are;

• Formal soulutions for informal problems
• Ordinary citizens addressing crime
• Biodiversity and role played in economic development
• 2 book reviews

Also in there is photography from Boniface Mwangi of Picha Mtaani fame on the article of 'Reforming the Police in A Fractured Society: Are Kenya's Police reforms Mistaken?' by Rachel Gitau.

The next issue will focus on Regionalism and they have a call for articles on their website. The other interesting thing is that IEA has started a blog. This is a first one. Am still waiting for KIPPRA to start one!

Betty Maina the chairlady of the IEA was at hand to officially launch the journal and pointed out that IEA has been here with us for 15 years facilitating policy debate. Giving a platform for the public to express alternative policy issues and seek just policies.

#Open Innovation Africa #Unconference at i-hub

Ihub organised the #OpenAfrica #Innovation Meetup/Unconference  on November 26, 2010 as a precursor to the Open Africa Innovation Summit 2010 which is currently running in Naivasha from today November 29 to December 1, 2010.

Poster

This meet up was meant to showcase some presentations which will feature in the conference and also as a chance to get any last minute new ideas. To my understanding the innovations (Such as M-Pesa) that have been happening in Africa (especially Kenya) have caught the attention of the big boys aka the corporate world such as Nokia and as such this corporations are looking at ways in which they can be able to spot innovations which are happening in the continent.

Hence the evening started with presentations from Victor of FrontlineSms (http://www.frontlinesms.com/) and from Ufahari (http://ufahari.com/) which provides a platform of showcasing new ideas.

Source* Ustream

Thereafter we had the Unconference. Which is basically a informal conference where participants cluster to areas where they discuss ideas focusing on the 4 key themes of the summit i.e.

• Ecosystems for Innovation
• Sustainability Models for Bottom of the Pyramid (Emerging Business Models)
•  Mobile Services Revolution
• Human Capital – Education for All

So I joined the discussion on Ecosystem for Innovation. Under this we discussed why it is difficult for innovations to be identified in an early stage. Some of the major problems is;

• The lack of middle level resource persons who are able to track innovations from where they are found
• Innovation hubs or centers to nature spirit of innovation
• The Media does NOT recognize nor CULTIVATE the spirit of looking & rewarding innovators (Focuses MOSTLY on Politics)
• Corporate giants are not involved in this ecosystem

There after, I attended a follow-up discussion at Sierra Lounge where we were joined by Jussi Hinkkanen Head of Government Affairs and Bussiness Environment in Africa for Nokia.

Jussi Hinkkanen

Open Africa Innovation Summit 2010

This summit is organized in cooperation by Nokia and infoDev, with the support of Capgemini. Open Africa Innovation Summit 2010 brings together 200 African thought leaders around four "Challenge streams" to identify which skills and services are needed for building innovative societies in Africa and how modern technologies can be used to accelerate the process.

• Ecosystems for Innovation
• Sustainability Models for Bottom of the Pyramid (Emerging Business Models)
•  Mobile Services Revolution
• Human Capital – Education for All

Innovate Africa

Useful Links

• Info Development
• Open Africa Summit (Nokia Hosted)
• Africa Innovator
• Ashoka
• Innovate Africa
• Press Release: Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship Initiative Launched in Three Developing World Regions

Friday Throwback

Half-Day Experts Round table Tit Bits (Agriculture)

The above meeting was called by HBf to address the following ;

‘Irrigation Agriculture in Kenya: Impact of the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) and Long-Term Prospects for Food Security in an Era of Climate Change’

Date: November 16, 2010

Venue: Intercontinental Hotel-Nairobi

Welcoming Remarks

The meeting was called to order at 0930hrs by Dr. Axel Harneit-Sievers who is the Regional Director of Heinrich Boll Stiftung.

In his welcoming remarks Dr. Axel noted Kenya has a problem with food security which can tackled from a policy perspective.

This is where Heinrich Boll Stiftung (HBf) comes into the picture in an effort to enrich the discussion. Hence, HBf commissioned a study which was done by Kassim Were (lead Researcher) from Tegemeo Institut and had the participation of Alex Mwaniki from Ministry of Agriculture. This study was to inquire on the impact (if any) of the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) on Irrigation Agriculture in Kenya.

Kenya introduced ESP in 2009 and one of the things it was dealing with was providing support for Irrigation Projects. So this study provided a beautiful opportunity to look what has come out of it. Thus, the study looked at various schemes and the finding that were to be presented had gone through various rounds of reflection and HBf is looking forward to publish this study early next year.

Introductions

Mr. Kassim Were the Moderator of the session oversaw the introductions which also included mention of organizations represented at the forum. Thereafter, he gave the floor to Francis Z. Karin

Study Findings

Irrigation Agriculture in Kenya: Impact of ESP and Long-term Prospects for Food Security in an Era of Climate Change-Findings

• Study was conducted between September –October 2010
• Other researchers involved were Kevin and Alex Mwaniki
• Methodology used was review of available literature and field interviews

Some of the findings of this study are;

• Kenya’s food security is very weak
• Kenya land under irrigation is 1.8%
• Kenya’s Irrigation potential is 1,900,000 Ha

The Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) was launched in 2009 with a 22 Billion budget. This budget is higher that 14.4 Billion budget allocated to Ministry of Water.

Irrigation Agriculture Phase I spent Kshs 2 Billion. This was allocated as follows;

Institution                                  Percentage

Ministry of Agriculture             12%

National Youth Service            16%

TARDA                                   32%

National Irrigation Board          40%

Challenges faced within Irrigation Sector

• Archaic Irrigation Act-1966
• Undefined location of Irrigation leading to turf wars
• NIB-Management capacity, Political interference
• Inadequate funding
• Lack of Irrigation water
• Marketing Problems
• Poor access to credit, lack of capacity, participation by farmers
• Poor land tenure and land use system

Recommendations/Observations

Francis Z. Karim did observe that it was not within their mandate to give recommendations BUT observations drawn from this study are;

Short-term                                                                    Long-term

Institutional capacity                                 Policy issues-Explore possibilities of PPPS-     Smallholder model

Appropriate Storage & dry facilities         Separation of Mandates

Timely disbursement of funds

Questions and Answer Session

This session was moderated by Kassim Were and some of the questions raised were;

1. Outsource our irrigation
2. Involve youth in irrigation projects
3. There is a need to consider irrigation scheme in Bundalangi
4. Sampled areas in ASAL’s
5. The study restricted areas of irrigation. There is need to look at the potential of irrigation areas
6. Mechanizing and bringing smallholder farmers into irrigation
7. Basis of  calculating payback period on investment on irrigation (from study presentation)
8. Separate factors affecting irrigation (external & internal)
9. ESP was a short term cris management. Need to suggest long term solutions which should look into irrigation from a ‘business unusual’ perspective and also look into marketing final products of irrigation
10. Marketing & poor harvesting issues should be handled

The lead researcher Francis responded briefly to some of these questions before we had a tea break.

 Panel Discussion

After tea break a panel discussion was held. The panel consisted of;

• Francis Z. Karin, researcher
• Kevin Onyango, Research Assistant
• Representatives from mwea & Ahero Irrigation Schemes
• Justus Monda, Vice-Chair, Kenya Small-Scale Cereals Growers
• Ministry of Agriculture & water and Irrigation

The discussion mostly looked into the earlier queries raised.

Wrap-up

Dr. Axel thanked those present for an engaging and extremely informative half day deliberations.

Polish Nights in Nairobi!

For those NOT in the know this year (2010) marks the 200th birthday anniversary of Chopin, a musical genius. Well, worry NOT neither did I know! but thanks to the polish Embassy in Kenya which collaborated with CHOPIN2010 Celebration Office to organise a concert right here in Nairobi.

So the evening of November 16 saw me in Alliance Auditorium to listen to Mr. Mateusz Kolakowski, a Polish jazz pianist and boy was he hot on the piano. Streaming some classical music from Chopin and doing some of his own compositions and others that bordered on Jazz. Call it fusion of Classical & Jazz. Awesome evening it was.

Here is a video of  Mr. Mateusz Kolakowski doing what he does best. Playing the piano. 

Now waiting for Mr. janusz Olejniczak performance in December.