no more free salary? KDF kunukisha pale north kivu

[Kahuni_Maisha]

@Tom Bayeye

DRC cannot do biz kule nje due to limitations engrossed in conflict money. Thats where kenya and other ‘peace keepers’ come in as middlemen.

Nairobi is ripe for gold scammers now. Con game itakuwa juu sana.

[spear]

KDF is in DRC now not fit the selfish reason that was being planned for at the beginning. That was streamlined to a more official Engagement.

International reasons.
Uganda and Rwanda almost went to war over East DRC a couple of years back but pulled back thanks to President Ramaphosa intervention. Kinshasa was again tinkering the pot to go back there. Kenya was the only country with capabilities and respect of the region to be a buffer for this EAC states about to start a regional war.

National reasons
Those overemphasizing banks are using talking points of 2019-2020. All that bank operations is in the west of the country. In Kinshasa and the surrounding provinces. Far removed from East DRC. The natural barrier is the dense Congo equatorial rainforest. The banks profits are good and all should go there. However to try say they are the main reason is ego massaging. East DRC problems are very complex and I’m glad that Ruto decided the best approach is a collective formal states engagement with formal agreements than the previous secret and personal relationship driving this venture.

Wisdom
Before you engage KDF to an engagement be part of the solution not the conflict. The two sides are complex. DRC Vs Rwanda, DRC Vs M23, Uganda previous friction with Rwanda. Kenya had to put itself above all this and then give direction. How do we get everyone happy. East DRC is big and can settle everyone. Kinshasa, Kigali, Kampala, Bujumbura, Dar, Luanda, Beijing and Washington. So let’s not take sides. Let’s be above it all. However we have to stop the fighting so M23 has to stopped and disarmed. It was good to see Ruto get Burundi and Rwanda leaders meet in person and agree to end conflicts. Now the hardwork to get Kinshasa and Kigali to agree too. Let’s first stop M23 then get them onboard too. Kagame has liked Ruto methodical approach, Uhuru is working Kinshasa too.

All this is useless if the agreement reached doesn’t include local development of East DRC. Everyone is lusting over the cobolt and other minerals but how do you extract it and transport it to the ports. The reason why all this rebel groups exist is non existent of DRC government in the east. No development, no security and no services. A big vacuum. So this neighbouring countries do their thing there. The west and east companies come to extract with local rebels protection. It’s a mess. Without the basic functions of government to the people then we can disarm M23 but tomorrow another group will come up. The land is incredibly big. No way a few thousand troops even with a militia will keep focus 24/7 there. You see trees only, below them are vichochoro where whole communities transit through. It’s a big maze. The only option is get locals it’s due development as the parties divide the cake. Roads, electricity, security, schools, hospitals etc. Once that is done and mines become formal, the locals get jobs and services. Everyone wins.

Kenyan role there is to keep the peace, disarm the rebels, prevent war among neighbours and start structured engagements in Nairobi to finally develop the forgotten region. A role we must do because they have failed and it’s now our responsibility to do that.

[uwesmake]

those congolese midgets are fools.

[Mwanakijiji]

@RV Pundit

I don’t like the way you all ignore the fact that there are more powerful countries that have all along considered congo’s mineral wealth to be theirs and have always done what is needed to protect “their” minerals

.ke trying to get its nose in DRC could very likely lead to " other things" being created for .ke to worry about other then maintaining troops in DRC.

In short, hizo minerals za DRC ziko na wenyewe…na sio bacongo…others don’t just walk in to join the mining party, especially powerless nyeuthiz.

Next…

Hao ndio wametutuma huko.

[Garreth]

@RV Pundit

I don’t like the way you all ignore the fact that there are more powerful countries that have all along considered congo’s mineral wealth to be theirs and have always done what is needed to protect “their” minerals

.ke trying to get its nose in DRC could very likely lead to " other things" being created for .ke to worry about other then maintaining troops in DRC.

In short, hizo minerals za DRC ziko na wenyewe…na sio bacongo…others don’t just walk in to join the mining party, especially powerless nyeuthiz.

Next…

I don’t think Kenya can take its military to DRC (as you rightly say with so many vested interests of powerful countries) without the blessing of powerful countries especially US. These powerful countries exploiting lawlesnness in DRC to steal their mineral wealth are reckoning with Rwanda which is becoming powerful every passing year. Knowing how ambitious Kagame is, I would not be surprised that is long run goal is to annex part of East DRC., and some powerful country has noticed his nefarious plan.

[LongerTime]

@silentmajority

What are these strategic investments that Kenya has in DRC?

William has 500,000 acres of farm land in DRC according to Joshua Kutuny.

[johnpombe]

@LongerTime

William has 500,000 acres of farm land in DRC according to Joshua Kutuny.

So they have gone to guard the maize and cows the way others guard chicken.

[Mwanakijiji]

@Garreth

Let @Azor Ahai educate wanakijiji.
Kenya by penetrating DRC through banking is the most strategic and profitable investment it has made since chepkube Coffee smuggling which marehemu jomo kenyatta approved of from under the bed.
Jews have remained wealthiest people because of banking.
And countries like China will not just open banks in DRC because it is a dead giveaway of their illicit activities.
Let the others mine but they will need banks as much as subterranean cranes, hoes and torches and all those implements needed to mine. Kudos Mwangi and our other adorable greedy bankers.

We already opened banks there. What is the point of fighting now

[Mwanakijiji]

@Azor Ahai

I will use Equity as an example. Equity has a majority stake in Equity BCDC. Equity BCDC is registered in DRC so it pays corporate taxes on its profits there. But Equity Group (the parent company) is registered in Kenya. Equity BCDC, after making profits and paying its taxes to the DRC government, has to pay its shareholders a dividend. Those dividends end up in Kenya because the parent company is Kenyan. The dividends are recorded as profits by Equity Group Holdings (the Kenyan parent company). KRA then taxes the profits of Equity Group Holdings and that’s one way it gets the money. The other way that it gets the money is when Equity Group Holdings disburses the dividends to shareholders where it gets between 5% for residents, and 10% for non-residents in withholding tax. If you buy Equity Group shares today, you will receive a dividend at the end of the financial year minus the 5% withholding tax. So, lets break it down:

Equity Group Holdings pays 30% corporate tax to KRA. That’s about Ksh 12 billion which is enough to fund two or three counties.

Equity Group Holdings pays out 11 billion in dividends to investors. KRA takes between 5% (from locals) and 10% (from foreigners). So, on average lets say 50/50 at 7.5%. KRA receives Ksh 825 million from withholding tax.

Equity Bank (Kenya) has about 9000 employees. Let’s assume the average pay is Ksh 70,000 gross. KRA will receive Ksh 21,000 from every employee per month. That’s Ksh 2.268 billion in PAYE.

Others. Don’t forget that money received by local investors and employees will be spent in Kenya on VAT taxed items.

So you can already see how KRA got over 15 billion from Equity Group alone last year without factoring the indirect benefits (others).

Safaricom:
Last year it paid Ksh 34 billion in corporate taxes.
Safcom paid shareholders 55 billion. KRA took about 4 billion in withholding tax.
PAYE sijui.

As you can see, Equity and Safaricom alone netted KRA more than 53 billion last year alone. That’s why the government is not shy to use diplomacy and the military to protect the business interests of homegrown companies. They must protect and support their cash cows.

For reference, KRA collected about 2 trillion in taxes last year. That means Safaricom and Equity directly contributed 2.5% of the national tax revenue last year.

53 billion is too little. We are spending at least 7 billion and are going to lose 100s of soldiers. There is no benefit for Kenya

[Azor_Ahai]

@Mwanakijiji

53 billion is too little. We are spending at least 7 billion and are going to lose 100s of soldiers. There is no benefit for Kenya

There will be hundreds of Kenyan companies in DRC not just two. Other benefits that were highlighted include a market for port operations in Mombasa and Lamu, a market for locally manufactured goods that have to be transported to DRC etc.

[Mwanakijiji]

@Azor Ahai

There will be hundreds of Kenyan companies in DRC not just two. Other benefits that were highlighted include a market for port operations in Mombasa and Lamu, a market for locally manufactured goods that have to be transported to DRC etc.

I still think we can make more money from other investments