STOLEN
Take keen Interest on the Interest Rate: Business Journalists are known to deal with figures, numbers and statistics. However, most of the numbers do not make sense to the common Mwanachi. Similarly, many speeches contain figures which ordinarily do not make sense.
But if there is a figure any Kenyan should be keen on, it is that figure called the INTEREST RATE. This is the figure that affects 90 % of Business People since many have taken loans from Banks. This is the figure that affects Kenyans owning homes through Mortgage. This is the figure that affects Kenyans that have taken loans to buy Cars. This is not a figure to ignore.
Kindly take time to read, reread, and reread again the 1994 Budget Speech by Musalia Mudavadi, then Minister of Finance. https://books.google.co .
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&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=interest%20rates%20kenya%201993&f=false This was the speech after the madness of the 1992 Mega Corruption in the run up to the First Multi Party Elections. It was the budget speech after the Youth for Kanu 92 wrecked havoc on the Economy of Kenya. This budget speech gives details of how the Economy nearly collapsed after the mega corruption witnessed in 1992 and 1993. It gives details of the painful steps that Kenyans had to take in order to come back to normalcy. It gives details of how banks collapsed one after the other. For those too young to remember- Kenya suffered from a season of madness in 1992. It was a season when political operatives linked to Kanu went on a rampage of stealing public funds, and forcing State Institutions to break every law on the book to raise money for Campaigns.
Interest rates in 1993 shot up to 86%. Inflation rates stood at 46 % in 1993. Yaani, if you borrowed 100,000, you were to pay back 186,000 bob. The treasury was forced to sell Treasury Bills and bonds at very high interest rates just to attract money. The common man was hardest hit. The prices of basic commodities tripled. A loaf of bread was sh 4.20 in 1992 November. By March 1993 it had shot to 16 bob. Many Kenyans were unable to service loans and lost property to banks. Many banks collapsed. Many Kenyans committed suicide and many more were left destitute.
That is what stealing public funds can do. Fast forward to 2015, things are made worse when apart from theft in the National Government, we have 47 mega thieves called Governors, and over 2,000 Gangsters called MCAs all eyeing the public fund kitty.
Right now, Banks have started raising the interest rates to nearly 30%- that should make any right thinking person worry.
Dear Kenyans, Corruption and theft of public Funds can kill. It may look funny and hilarious when you read from the Newspapers how money is being stolen. But when the effects start biting- the impact knows no tribe. In 1993 Kenya survived because Tea Prices were still good, Tourism was still very profitable and the wage bill was still low since there was no Devolution to create another avenue of wastage and theft.
So, before you stand up to support any corrupt official- just because he or she comes from your tribe- take time to read the 1994 budget speech, and know that mopping up impact of corruption is one extremely painful thing.