Our country Kenya is knee-deep in debt yet we have billions of shillings lost to corruption scandals. I decided today just to pick 1 scandal to ask the above question – what would you do with the money if you were president for 1 year?
In Kenya we have experts in complaining (especially on Twitter) but very few of those who complain (& are self-proclaimed patriots) offer solutions for what they complain about. This question gives you a chance to outline shilling by shilling (okay maybe not such a clinical breakdown) how YOU would use the Ksh10 billion to develop our country in the span of 1 year.
I will not give my own views for this one because I do not want to bias any response.
Chris Mukasa
Just seen an interesting answer to this on twitter by a guy called Francis Amonde. Check it out here: https://twitter.com/FrancisAmonde/status/1024322556793417733
Mosesterah
I would use the money to boost the industrial sector by decentralizing industries into the interior of Kenya so as to create more employment opportunities for Kenyans and to also promote rural development.
Robert Mũnũku
Someone who wished to remain anonymous said he/she would use the Ksh10 billion in the following way:
“Kshs 10 billion is enough money to engage what I would call the Hemp Revolution in Kenya. That is enough money to ensure a proper value chain is built based on value addition onto the hemp plant and Cannabis produvts in particular. I would begin with creating a national registry whereby every cannabis farmer is known, vetted, taxed and whose products are also accounted for (just like animal genetic material for ex.)
The next step is to license, vet and tax distributors and wholesalers. This is then followed by licensing, vetting and taxing smokers.
On top of the smokable products, a great value chain can be developed upon industrial hemp. Hemp can make shopping bags and eliminate all the imports we are forced to make thanks to the plastic bag ban. We can make paper, fiber, cloth, edible oils and even as a climate change resilient food crops fron their seeds. No need to waste money importing fertilizer to help grow maize yet productivity per acre under cultivation is dwindling due to changing weather patterns.
This strategy would immediately engage any idle land and put it into productive use.
All the vetting and taxing I am proposing is aimed at maximizing returns for the government while at the same time getting more people into the tax net and expanding the tax base. It also prevents infiltration by individuals or other entities with criminal intent.”
Mosoti Norman
I would reinvest that money in the youth as that is where it was initially supposed to be spent. This can be done through putting it back in the NYS and making sure it is spent well this time. Or in the improvement of TVET institutions to aid in building of skills of the youth. The list goes on and on.