Is Kenya's economy drowning?

There is a new brand of felons in town. They are a rare breed. Unlike the ordinary miscreants and felons, these fellows have an above average IQ, boost of the best education, degrees acquired locally and internationally. They are sophisticated, they walk with a spring in their step, they are well-groomed, eloquent plus they have a taste for good things in life.

They are admired by the majority of us due to their influence and the grandiose they showcase. They grace our screens get interviewed by ‘leading’ anchors in our ‘number one’ television stations. They bombard us with tales of their rise from grass to grace. They are our role models. Some of them were chairing board meetings in their early thirties as opposed to majority of us who have only moved one level up in our ten plus years work life.

The fairytale ends when we take stock of their work life. A closer look at the institutions they have headed in the recent past leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Respectable institutions that stood the test of time crumbled under their watch or immediately after their exit.

The institutions I am talking about here are those that have defined Kenya as a nation and made us stand tall immediately after independence. These organizations became synonymous with the Kenyan entrepreneurial spirit. They disproved the mantra that the government is a bad businessman. Enjoying the benefits of state funding, they acquired assets running into billions of shillings becoming the envy of many seasoned entrepreneurs.

To cut a long story short, the organizations I am referring to are; Uchumi Supermarket, Kenya Airways, Mumias Sugar, Pan paper Mills, Telkom Kenya and National Bank.

The good thing we remember Kibaki presidency with is turning loss-making state-owned businesses into profit making ones. A good example is the Kenya Commercial Bank which has posted astronomical profits for 13 years consecutive years breaking the Moi era jinx.

However in the recent past we have witnessed a relapse of looting, plunder, mismanagement and a host of economic crimes committed by individuals tasked with turning around the fortunes of state owned companies.

The Kenyan taxpayer has borne the brunt arising from the transgressions of these felons. Uchumi is on the verge of insolvency, Kenya Airways requires 100 billion to stay afloat and is now flirting with Qatar Airways to avoid closing shop, Mumias Sugar is still crying for a bailout, Pan paper was sold in a questionable deal, Telkom Kenya has been hemorrhaging since advent of mobile telephony while National Bank is teetering on the red line.

It’s criminal; it’s amoral and unethical to allow individuals responsible for loss of livelihoods of millions of Kenyans enjoy their loot right under our noses. There is no worst insult than this.

We should contemplate imposing capital punishment on persons convicted of looting billions. It’s ironical that some of them are running our counties at a time they should be paying for their sins.