Articles Tagged Sunday Nation

How long do family businesses last? Most make it to the second generation, and then the problems start. Once the visionary founder has handed over the reins to his son/daughter/nephew/brother, an inflection point occurs. What happens in that second generation decides whether the business has a future. Either the company makes necessary changes and undertakes […]

I have been fortunate enough in my life to have visited many of the world’s great cities. When I was younger, that was great fun. These days, I just get angry when I travel. Why angry? I get angry when the plane approaches a new city at night, and I can see a dramatic display […]

One man and a small child dead; another child in the intensive care unit. That was the net effect of last week’s Diwali celebrations in Nairobi. Diwali is the Hindu festival of light, and is meant to signify humanity’s evolution from darkness to light, from the forests to civilisation. An apt metaphor for where we […]

Football pundit Alan Hansen, when surveying the new-look Manchester United team of 1995-96, famously stated: “You can’t win anything with kids”. Those words have probably haunted him every day of his life subsequently. Manchester United went to win the English Premiership title that year, with a team whose average age was 24, and 6 of […]

A few days ago we were being asked to stand up and shout. In Kenya, we are always shouting about something or other – so no news there. What was different, however, was that this was an organised campaign to get people to express their concerted outrage over a particular issue. That issue? Global poverty. […]

President Kibaki dissolved the ninth parliament this week, and asked the media and historians to judge its performance. So, let the evaluations begin. I think the ninth parliament was a disgrace to the country. To be fair, though: this parliament came in with a different set of public expectations. During the last years of the […]

This general election campaign sometimes sounds like the innumerate in conversation with the illiterate. The level of discourse is plunging fast, and we have yet to find the bottom. Half-truths are tossed around with abandon; myths and stereotypes rule the day; brainless accusations are made daily. We know the electorate is mostly unschooled (that’s the […]

China and India are undoubtedly the economic phenomena of this generation. Both are in the midst of an economic transformation that is startling in its scale and scope. Both are criticised – China, for still being an autocratic, undemocratic regime, India for not doing enough for its poor people – but there is no doubt […]

What is the coffee business? What is the football business? What is the athletics business? What is the flowers business? For us in Africa, the answers to those questions are very simple indeed. The coffee business is BEANS. The football business is PLAYERS. The athletics business is RUNNERS. The flowers business is GREENHOUSES. In all […]

Silly little armies wearing shukas and carrying bows and arrows. People being attacked simply because they dare to stand for election. Rent-a-mob tit-for-tat protests. Idiots clapping and jeering as they burn effigies. Threats and counter-threats. Banned rallies. Insults and abuse. What a childish general-election campaign we seem to have in store. It is extremely worrying […]

In education lies our future. We won’t take off as a nation until we learn to learn, and keep learning. Education bestows discernment; discernment allows us to make good decisions and good choices; decisions and choices drive performance and growth. So far, so good. But all of that is hogwash if we don’t understand what […]

Let’s have a history lesson for the youngsters this Sunday. In the 1980s, Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki led the same government. In the 1990s and in 2002, they were on opposite sides, and vociferously so. In 2007, they are together again, praising each other’s statesmanship. In the 1980s, Moi and Kibaki were leading […]

Two weeks ago I wondered why Kenyans don’t read books, and the comments have come in thick and fast (you can follow the best of them on www.sunwords.com). This is clearly a subject that perplexes many people. So let us spend some more time examining the issue again. A number of readers pointed out that […]

Would you care for this job? This is one of the top positions in the country, commensurate with excellent pay, status and perks. Ah, you ask: that probably means there’s a lot of stress and responsibility attached. Not at all! Any idiot can do this job (and many do). Responsibility and accountability are minimal. Qualifications: […]

Why don’t Kenyans read books? That is the lament of many a writer, publisher and intellectual. We don’t have that many bookshops in this country – and most of the successful ones are forced to sell a whole range of other items, from CDs to greeting cards. Equally, it’s rare to find a writer who […]

I last wrote about harassment of businesses and citizens by the authorities in December 2005. I am forced to revisit the topic, because those in charge appear to have their heads deep in hot sand. I wrote then: “This country of ours still demonstrates an alarming propensity to shoot itself in the foot, regularly and […]

His Highness the Aga Khan’s 50th anniversary celebrations came to Kenya this week. He is marking his accession to spiritual leadership of the Ismaili Muslim community, and has chosen to commemorate much of this milestone here in Kenya. We should return the gesture by understanding the unique set of institutions that this leader has developed […]

Would you care to work for this company? This company makes it easy for you to get to work. It provides air-conditioned buses from five locations, free of charge for all employees. And the buses are Wi-Fi enabled. If you drive to work, your car will be washed and have its oil changed while you […]

Imagine a 44-year-old adult. Let’s say his name is K. K is a grown man, but an underachiever. He dropped out of school early, and does menial work for little pay. He watches his neighbours with envy: some have developed their own businesses; others get large pay-packets for performing highly skilled jobs. K has to […]

We were all shaking this week. Some were shaking because the earth actually trembled under their feet; others shook because of the fear of the earth shaking in future; and most were shaking just because of the uncommonly cold weather. If, like me, you left your abode en famille in the early hours of Wednesday […]

Who would want to be poor in Kenya? We treat the poor no better than chewing-gum stuck to our shoes. If you are poor in Kenya, you must never fall seriously ill. If you do, your descent into hell will begin. Assuming you have a local clinic, you will in all likelihood be given the […]

I have no idea who the next president of Kenya will be, and neither do you. Given that our politicians are driven by the overwhelming need to take office rather than stick to principle, anything is possible. Anyone can yet team up with anyone else. Any number of permutations can emerge. I find all of […]

There is a story often told about work and productivity (The Economist carried a version of it recently). An economist is out for a stroll, and comes upon some workers digging beside a river to build a dam. The workers are all using spades, and the work is back-breaking and laborious and takes forever. Intrigued, […]

Do voters vote for the right things – and for the leaders who deliver the right things? Traditional thinking would suggest that the answer is yes: democracy is a good thing because voters do, by and large, all things considered, vote sensibly. In other words, they are rational beings who vote in their own self-interest. […]

If you head out to Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, chances are you’ll come across a police roadblock on Mombasa Road. I did so recently, and counted fifteen policemen manning this checkpoint. Yes, fifteen. Perhaps two or three were actually checking cars; the other dozen or so appeared to be ‘supervising’. Or look at the […]

This column is happy to continue its annual tradition of deciphering the weighty and comprehensive Economic Survey – our main compendium of economic numbers – for readers’ benefit. So, if you don’t have the money (Sh. 900), the time (284 pages) or the interest (what’s on TV?) to read the whole thing yourselves, today’s piece […]

There is much hoo-ha about the epidemic of scams that has ‘suddenly’ afflicted Kenya. Everywhere you look there is a pyramid scheme collapsing, or a big company rushing to warn customers about SMS hoaxes being conducted in its name. Outrage fills the air. The papers are packed with calls for the government to do something […]

The Paul Wolfowitz saga ran painfully long, but finally came to an end last week. Wolfowitz resigned as President of the World Bank, after digging in his heels and repeatedly stating that he would not step down in the middle of the huge storm involving his girlfriend. Mr Wolfowitz is widely regarded as a ‘neo-conservative’, […]