Investing in knowledge will cure many of our ills

By Ng’ang’a Mbugua

Kenya is paying a steep price for failing to invest in the knowledge economy. The Economic Survey 2016, which was released early May, shows that real estate continues to experience the most robust growth. An earlier study on the property market indicated that in some parts of the capital, land costs as much as Sh1 billion an acre. That means an individual with 143 acres could have afforded to fund Kenya’s education budget for the current financial year.

This is very well for the creation of individual wealth. It means that the people who had the foresight to buy land when the cost was lower will reap handsome dividends. The only problem, from a public good point of view, is that these type of transactions do not create jobs and the wealth generated remains concentrated in a few hands with no real value created in the economy.

The danger with this trend is that for the rest of the economy – including the upwardly mobile middle class and for entrepreneurs – the cost of owning land as a factor of production becomes prohibitive. It also pushes up the cost of owning homes, even when such a home is a flat bought on mortgage in a leafy suburb.

The second danger in failing to invest in the knowledge economy became evident with the collapse of the storeyed building in Huruma, Nairobi. The building, which housed more than 300 families, was built very close to a river. With the flooding of the city, the huge volumes of water began to eat away at the river banks. When a chunk of soil was washed away from near the ill-fated building, it tilted and eventually caved in. By the time of writing this, close to 100 people were yet to be accounted for and 28 had been confirmed dead.

Such tragedies are unlikely to occur in a knowledge economy, first, because the advice of professionals would be sought before such an investment is made and during the construction. As such, professionals would have ensured that the building had a firm foundation and they would have taken measures to mitigate against any undesirable eventuality, such as flooding, considering that the building was constructed right next to a water way.

Because these investments in knowledge were not made, many families have lost their loved ones and their property. Similarly, the two brothers who invested their money in the building have not only lost their investment but are now in court facing manslaughter charges.

Let us turn from property to health. In the last one year, more than 200 people have died of cholera in various parts of the country, including northern Kenya, the Coast and Nairobi. Did these people need to die?

In his book, The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality, Deaton Angus says that in the 21^st century many people in poor countries are dying from diseases that used to ravage Europe during the industrial revolution in the 18^th century.

“We need to ask why people are still dying of things we know how to prevent,” says the scholar who won the Nobel Prize for Economics last year.

According to him, it is not right that thousands of children in poor countries die before their fifth birthdays because they contract diseases like pneumonia and malaria, yet these diseases have been wiped out in richer countries for over one hundred years.

The answer lies in the fact that these countries invested in knowledge. They studied the causes of the diseases and how to prevent and treat them. For cases such as cholera, their leaders took the actions needed to stop further deaths – like separating drinking water from sewage - and for cases like bacterial infections, their scientists developed antibiotics, which with government intervention, became readily available to the public. No wonder such countries continue to enjoy better quality of life for their citizens who are living longer and have more wealth relative to their counterparts in poor countries.

This, in my view, is one of the reasons why people from poor countries are always seeking refuge in Europe and other well-off countries as Paul Collier has ably demonstrated in Exodus: How Migration is Changing the World, his book on the causes and effects of immigration. Those poor souls who perish off the coasts of Libya and Italy trying to make the perilous journey to Europe are doing so in the hope of living a better life, if not for themselves, at least for their children.

Often, when people from poor countries travel to richer ones, they always come back with tales of how they were impressed by systems that work. Hardly, however, do they make the connection between such systems and the knowledge economy, yet these are but two sides of the same coin.

In Europe, for instance, the obsession with land that is so prevalent in Kenya is virtually non-existent. As such, if a European country was to build a railway line in the same year and to cover the same distance as the Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya, it would cost them much less because there will be no “entrepreneurs”, civil servants and politicians buying land cheaply from peasants and inflating the price when reselling to the government. In a knowledge economy, the cost of public goods and services is moderated to benefit the highest number at the lowest price. In an economy like ours, a few benefit sometimes by abusing the privilege to leverage information that is otherwise not in the public domain. Such private gain, of course, comes at a cost to the public.

Similarly, in a knowledge economy, those in position of power do not sub-divided land in water towers to their political allies as so often happened in the past because they would recognize that water towers are a public good meant to be shared by all; the rich and the poor, the urban worker and the rural farmer, man and beast alike.

Too often, however, when we say that knowledge is power, we fail to grasp the full import of this otherwise self-evident truth. Leveraging knowledge gives societies the power for social and economic transformation, setting them on a path of progress and increasing what is now called the gross national happiness. Of course, for knowledge to benefit societies, it must be coupled by the political will to make systems work, such as ensuring that citizens have access to the drugs and infrastructure that prevent 18^th century diseases from afflicting them in the 21^st and conserving the environment for present and future generations.

Mr Mbugua is a newspaper editor and an award-winning novelist.

mbugua@bigbooks.co.ke

This article was first published in The Edge magazine

Hot off the press: Larry Ndivo reviews Angels of the Wild by Ng'ang'a Mbugua

Why Teen Literature is Every Young Person’s Love Story: Ng’ang’a Mbugua’s Angels of the Wild

Review by Dr Larry Ndivo

Average book readers would easily testify to you how children stories enthralled their tender minds and tantalised their taste buds thereby setting off their love for poring through story books. Such persons would passionately and with a lot of abandon engage you with endless banter on how teen literature helped shape their world views and contributed immensely in fulfilling their childhood fantasies. Indeed, it is teen literature which brings the adventurous soul and spirit of a restless teen to a tranquil moment. Thus, it can be argued that this is made possible by the vicarious connection of the young mind with the boundless possibilities in fiction writing.

Image courtesy of Google Images

The key ingredient in teen writing is adventure. Psychologists have fronted the argument that the human brain is captivated by adventure since, innately, every human being desires to succumb to a reckless expedition bereft of the laws that govern human interactions. This would perhaps explain why some people love road trips, especially random ones that have not been painstakingly planned. It is this hunger for a sense of escape into the “unknown” that drives our desires to read adventurous stories. Some call it escapism literally!

Somehow, the reader imagines that s/he is able to traverse an out of the norm world that is probably and hopefully inhabited by “aliens”. Besides, teen literature appeals to young readers because it tends to respond to their immediate desires. Cornered into a structured adult world of dos and don’ts that hardly put into consideration their aberrant demands, teens are generally happy to read stories in which their age mates are heroes and individuals who appear to have a sense of freewill in their thinking and action – their free spirit like life dominates.  

It is this freewill and desire to do things in their own way that teens lack. It brings to mind kids love for the cartoon series Tom and Jerry in which roles are reversed and it appears that the mouse has clout and outmanoeuvres the cat. In this set up, the kids feel vindicated because they perceive the possibility of a world in which their hapless selves would be transformed to powerful individuals who call the shots and turntables over grownups. It is a world of reversals where laws of nature are defied and the impossible appear possible.

Mbugua’s Angels of the Wild may not be a story of a one-eyed ogre, it is neither a story of sci-fi equipment and destruction of aliens but it is a story of a young man’s quest to fight for wild animals’ right to life. In his characteristic nature, Mbugua attributes Birgen’s desire to protect the wild, especially elephants and rhinos, to a dream he has as a young boy. The dream motif is also found in his other novella Terrorists of the Aberdare. In this dream, a giant bird talks to Birgen and offers to take him for a ride because it wants to show him something; thereby arousing both Birgen and the reader’s curiosity. On this particular journey, Birgen witnesses first-hand the brutal massacre of an elephant and the callous extraction of its tasks.

The horrendous act fills Birgen with indignation. He is appalled by humans’ ravenous appetite for wild game and trophies without thinking about the decimation of the animals. Birgen can hardly conceptualise of a world without this nature’s beauty. He tries to think of a generation being taught in a history class of a species of animals that have become extinct and his soul is filled with extreme sadness. He vows to fight poaching. However, his noble quest is overtaken by events when he finds himself encased in a web of intricate activities that sees Birgen branded “Poachers” by his schoolmates. This is owed to his ignorant interaction with poachers, a Benjamin Saliti and others, who end up being nabbed and prosecuted in court.

Image courtesy of Google Images

Indeed, Saliti’s name betrays his cunning nature as it symbolises a betrayer. He preys on Birgen’s innocence and Tomsons, Birgen’s uncle, good nature and generosity to cover up his evil acts in Shaba Game Reserve. He ends up betraying their good course to preserve wildlife by aiding poachers thereby betraying the wild animals also by having them killed. On the one hand, the plot’s twists and turns are easy to follow and a young reader will easily identify and connect with the story. Besides, Birgen’s escapades in school appear factual and realistic something that would easily resonate with young school goers. On the other hand, Birgen’s emotional excitement about his uncle’s fiancée unearths his unfolding awareness about relationships and his own sexuality; thereby, it reveals his romantic expectations and affirms the average teen’s fantasies and aspirations. Read about Wangari Maathai and her conservation efforts here: http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/   

As far as school work and learning is concerned, Birgen and his fellow classmates represent a typical class setting with its juvenile rivalry, teasing, and the general sense of ease and play that pervades their environment. The thematic issues highlighted in the novella are current and the writer weaves the issues around other contemporary aspects such as Kenya’s new constitution and current economic affairs with the East like the Chinese trade relations. The writer, for example, mentions the three arms of the government, makes reference to counties and enables the reader to ponder over the challenges bedecking devolution in the nation such as politicking. Also, the novella subtly critics the Kenyan government’s blind engagement with the Chinese government without due consideration of the repercussions on our wildlife or any other wonky issues such as trade imbalances.   

Other names that have carefully been crafted in the text are Kumbuko, the history teacher whose name appears to borrow heavily from Swahili’s Kumbukumbu or Kumbuka, meaning memory or to remember; hence signifying his career. Also, the government prosecutor, William Wellington Wefwafwa’s name alliterates. Consequently, the musical touch on the name makes it memorable and helps to broaden the dramatic attributes of the character. In a way, one can argue that Angels of the Wild provides an apt story for young readers which not only entertains them but also moralises them on virtues such as hard-work, self-belief, and honesty. This is of course contrasted against vices such as greed, dishonesty, and wanton destruction of Mother Nature.

Image courtesy of Google Images

Therefore, this novella is likely to stimulate young people’s minds and ignite their passion to fall in love with reading. I submit that such kind of writing would be useful to mentor young minds on the importance of safeguarding the natural environment for posterity. It also helps instil good values by extoling the spirit of togetherness and the need to unify, face challenges and hopefully surmount them. This is best illustrated in the science congress project that earns the team from Shompole school commercial prospects through mentoring by General Electric. The simple language and structure would easily appeal to teens and young adults to immerse themselves into the world of literature and hopefully fall in love with reading. 
For more information, go to Dr Ndivo's blog

Father Abraham, a poem

Father Abraham

By Ng'ang'a Mbugua

Having supped with his guests
Abraham invited them to stay on for tea
Unbeknown to him
One was the Angel of the Lord
Who'd taken on flesh and blood.

Idle talk slowly veered to succession
And, as though in passing
The Angel in loin clothes said"
'You are a good man, Abraham
The Lord will make you a father of nations.'

Abraham smiled,
He was, after all, a father figure to many
Who looked up to him for guidance
Whether men servants or their masters.

Sitting in the great outdoors that night
Abraham's guests cast their eyes above
And saw the nigh sky aglow with fancy stars
'Your clan will outnumber those,'
one guest said in jest, taking his cue from the Angel.

That night, as she lay by his side
Sarah, still troubled, said to Abraham
'I will put my maid-servant at your service
And you can have an inheritor.'
Abraham was deep in thought, pondering
Sarah's maid servant was not too bad-looking
She was as supple as a fruit in harvest season
Ripe, ready to yield, inviting
And she glowed in the morning light.

In their first rendezvous
Abraham recalled the days of his youth
When he was not Old Father Abraham
When the world knew him as Abram
A man who rode on the backs of buffalo.

He pressed her right fruit
She let out a muffled sigh
He reached for the left one
Her sigh morphed into a soft groan
The blood in his veins was growing warmer
Seeing that not one bit of the maid servant sagged
'Easy My Lord, easy My Lord,' she wept
But her plaintive cries egged on the ageing man
'My Lord, oh My Lord,' she moaned
But Old Father Abraham was consumed in his own groans
Sarah, passing by, felt a blob well up in her throat.

The next day Abraham ordered his man servants
To bring down Sarah's maid servant's hammock
And erect it close to his tent.

Each night the winds in the plains howled viciously
Rocking Sarah's forlorn tent like a dhow in high sees
Her insomniac nights were punctuated
By her maid servants ecstatic cries
'My Lord you kill me, My Lord you kill me!'

When Ishmael came knocking on the gates of life
It was with a shriek that paled his own mother's
And he found a throne in Old Father Abraham's knees.

'I have been with this man a hundred years,'
Sarah said to herself, her pain growing
'Now a toddler has stolen his heart from me.'
To her maid servant she said:
'You and your colic child must depart at once.'

Abraham's loins had grown used
To the unfettered heat of passion
And with the vengeance of his loss
He turned his rogue passion on Sarah
'You made thy bed woman,' he said with each movement
'Now you must lie in it.'
The hapless Sarah, shocked by his uncommon zeal
Drowned the howling of the night wind
With her own cries from the torture.

'I am pregnant,' she cried to him early one morning
Just as he was reaching out to turn her over
His laughter shocked the beasts of the wild into silence
'Sarah, my Sarah,' he said to her
'Have you ambitions in stand-up comedy?'
Offended, Sarah stormed away from his grasp
Tears welling up in her eyes
'Do you know the difference, Abraham
Between you and Yahweh?'
Abraham was lost in his silence
'You have forsaken me,' she said
Answering her own question.
'Still, I will give you an inheritor.'

That dusk, lost in his own thoughts
Abraham lay in his hammock
Staring at the skies above
'Two stars,' he said to himself with a chuckle
His world was filling up with possibilities
His cattle, his camels, lay like humps in the savannah,
All chewing cud placidly, waiting for the night
He smiled knowing that they, like his man servants
Would get a new master
Flesh of his very flesh.
'His name shall be Isaac,' he said to himself.

@NgangaMbugua

In defence of motivational books

By Ng’ang’a Mbugua

Too often, those who are better off economically, socially and academically under-estimate the value and power of self-confidence, either because they have it and take it as a matter of course or they do not believe that others can be taught to cultivate it.

This is largely why opinion shapers who are perceived as accomplished men and women downplay the importance of motivational books. But they are, to use a popular expression, already in the choir and as far as they are concerned, there is no point in preaching to the already converted.

Yet, when many people are starting out on their life journeys, they are often filled with self-doubt and plagued by a lack of confidence despite their burning desire to become achievers. Think of the young man who falls in love but lacks the courage to walk up to the girl of his dreams and express his feelings in words. Think of the days and weeks that this love torments his heart, then one day he hears the song about the country boy who was in love with a Mexican girl, only she did not know it. Emboldened by the lyrics, the boy summons all the courage he can muster, ignores his pounding heart and dry mouth and walks upto the girl, introduces himself and then tells her that he loves her. Motivational books work much the same way.

Take David Waweru’s book, Champion, first printed last year and reprinted this year. The publisher-turned writer, who is the CEO of WordAlive Publishers, narrates how, as a young man from a poor neighbourhood in Nairobi, he yearned to become a champion boxer and how his life circumstances made his dream appear unreachable.  He hailed from a poor family, he was brought up by a single mother who had escaped from an abusive marriage, he knew no one who was a boxer and he had no money with which to buy the equipment he needed for his training. In short, there was no one he could look up to for guidance. Yet, by dint of his determination, he formed a boxing club, approached the city council to give them a training venue and, with a group of other young enthusiasts, approached a trainer recommended to them by the council.

To raise the money they needed to buy equipment and pay the trainer, the group started engaging in odd jobs and businesses, including organising discos during which they sold the snacks they had made themselves. In the end, Waweru and the others worked their way into the championships and despite facing tough opponents, injury and other challenges, he become a champion boxer in the early 1980s.

Fastforward to decades later. How many young men and women are to be found in rural areas or urban slums today, all of them yearning to reach for their dreams but who do not know where to start? How many of these potential champions would get a life-changing experience if, perchance, they were to read Waweru’s book?   

At the time I was reading this book, I was training my one-year-old son to walk. I discovered then that his biggest challenge was not in the legs but the self-doubt in his head. Even when his body was willing and capable, he would not make that step until he was convinced he could. And that was where I came in.

That, generally speaking, is what motivational literature does to all those who look at their circumstances and declare: “I can’t do this. Who am I to accomplish such a feat?”

According to Waweru, behaviour always follows belief.

“Self-belief,” he argues in the book, “can be a greater asset than previous experience: yet many of us allow lack of experience to keep us from trying.”

One of the criticisms leveled against motivational books is that they are overly concerned with teaching only how to accumulate money. In his book, however, Waweru says that for him, making money was not an end in itself. He sees money as a resource that can help those with a dream to achieve their goals. Giving the example of his boxing career, he says that he first ventured into business to raise money to finance his sport, including paying his trainer. He had discovered that without money, he could not facilitate his dream.

“I never focused on getting money for money’s sake,” Waweru says in the book. “For me, it was a tool to reach my aspiration of becoming a champion.”

This is an important lesson especially for those who argue that an obsession with money is all there is to motivational books.

Not so long ago, a friend posted on Facebook a story about how one Sunday, some ducks waddled into the equivalent of their church for a sermon and their preacher went on and on, telling them how God had given them wings and that it was within the power of each duck to soar like an eagle.

“Amen,” the ducks shouted at every stage. But when the sermon was over, each again, waddled back to their homes in the pond.

This story, in short, illustrates a popular view held by critics of motivational literature. As far as they are concerned, the books preach a false gospel by promising more than it can deliver and creating hope where there is none.

Think for a moment about the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, who started off as bicycle repairers in their neighbourhood. What did their neighbours think of them the first time they declared: “We believe we can fly?”

Were they told “of course you can?” or was their declaration greeted with skepticism?

One of the questions that has animated literary debate since the invention of printing is this: What is the role of literature in society? It is a question that formal literary critics, even in Kenya, have grappled with for decades.

There are those who argue that literature is an attempt to grasp at a higher truth. This, however, spawns another question, which is as pertinent to literature as it is to religion, philosophy and politics: Is there one Truth or are there multiplicities of truths?

Every writer, reader and literary critic must seek their own answers to these two important questions. The point, however, is that just as there are those who grasp the ultimate truth(s) through fiction or poetry, there are, too, those for whom motivational literature offers the path of enlightenment. The path to knowledge taken by each is as valid as that taken by the other.

In Champion, Waweru offers insights from his own life. Besides his ambition to become a boxer, he also wanted to become a writer, largely because he enjoyed reading. But he discovered that he could have a greater influence as a publisher because he would bring out the ideas of diverse people rather than just his own. Now he has gone and written, offering inspiring lessons that offer insights on how to become achievers in life, in sport and in business. And all are grounded in real life experiences.

A shorter version of this story was first published in the Saturday Nation on August 30

Here's how you end up buying a book for the price of two lollipops

By Ng’ang’a Mbugua

Part of the reason why Kenyans are paying a pretty penny for basic goods and services has to do with the fact that the middle class has not been innovative in its investment decisions. The first, and sometimes only investment option that most of the people with a disposable income or access to bank loans can consider is buying land. Rather than develop it or use it as a factor of production, they will give it time to appreciate after which they will sell it off at a profit, without adding any value to it by way of development. In fact, the major selling point for land these days is proximity to a bypass, electricity lines and such other social services provided for by the government.

Of course, those who invest this way will make money in the medium and long term but for the economy to grow, and for the cost of goods such as bread, confectionary, fruits and vegetables to significantly go down, there needs to be greater investment in food production and processing, and these are the areas in which the middle class ideally ought to invest more in.

Consider for instance, the cost of watching the UK Premier League matches per person per month. For the middle class, the price is steepest at Sh7,400 per person in the form of a monthly DStv subscription. For the poor, the cost is much lower because they can watch the matches in a bar at the price of a beer or a soda or a video studio for as little as Sh10 per match.

The decision by the middle class to pay such a heavy to watch the UK Premier League is partly inspired by the collapse of Kenyan football on the one hand and the undeniable desire for quality entertainment on the other. Yet, these are both investment opportunities that would have significant returns for those who would summon the courage to start such a venture.

If only 50,000 DStv subscribers were to set aside half what they pay as subscription, in a year or two they would raise sufficient money to build a respectable 40,000-capacity stadium on any of the many parcels of land they own in the city and its outskirts, say in Rongai, Naivasha, Kiambu or Kitengela. In another year or two, they would have a sufficient funds to start a serious football club that would attract young talented players from schools and invariably, from poor neighbourhoods where football talent thrives. And to recoup their investment, they only need to approach the rich to advertise their products, companies and services on the T-shirts of the players and strategically in the stadium. In less than ten years, they will have recouped their investment, created jobs on a reasonable scale and changed the culture of Kenyans by getting them back in stadiums where they can spend their disposable incomes on services like food and beverages and entertainment for their children.

I remember growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, one could buy ten sweets for only a shilling or two pieces of Big G, four pieces of Pussy Cat and three pieces of Goody Goody. The other day, my four year old son picked a small packet of sugar-free Orbit chewing for which I paid, ahem, Sh70. That means that for each of the ten pellets in the packet, I was paying Sh7. A few months earlier, he had picked one lollipop at a Chandarana supermarket and I paid, eh, Sh150. My book, Terrorists of the Aberdare, retails at Sh300; which means that the price of two lollipops or four Orbit chewing gums is equivalent to the cover price of a novella.

Manufacturers have learnt that the middle class will pay any prices for goods and services, so they do not even need a pricing model. Such slap a price of your choice on your product and you will still get takers.

The problem, however, is not with the manufacturers. There is no competition for them in the market because the middle class is not investing in these segments. Yet, if we could get only one locally owned confectionary manufacturer, the price of sweets will go down and parents will not have to make the terrible choice of settling for low quality ones that disintegrate in the mouth the moment a child pops them and which pose all manner of health risk because they conform to no known quality standards.

We can give many examples to make the case for alternative investment by the middle class but we can end it with filming. Despite the challenges caused by piracy, there is still a case for the middle class to invest in companies that can be involved in film production. And they do not have to make money only from distribution, which is the pirate’s strongest weapon against creativity.

Movie makers can make their money from surreptitious advertising and endorsements that form part of the action and props in the films they make so that even when their works are pirated, they can still leverage on the extra revenue streams. What is more, soon, local television stations will be looking for more local shows to air and if the middle class does not take a pro-active stop to satisfy this emerging market, the Chinese will come with their own production house and still the thunder from us as the middle class sits back and waits for the value of land to appreciate.

Calling all first time African authors... deadline for top literary prize approaches

By Ng'ang'a Mbugua
Internet Photo
First time creative writers in Africa and their publishers have only five days before the close of submissions for the inaugural Etisalat Prize for Literature, which is open to all writers of African origin wherever they may be in the world.

For one to qualify, one's creative work must have been published in the last twenty four months. It is important to note that this prize is only open to writers whose first full length novel of upto 30,000 words was published in the last two years. That means books published before 2012 do not qualify.
A submitting publisher must also have published at least 10 books. Companies that have fewer books and self-published authors are, therefore, not eligible.
The winner of the prize will receive £15,000, a Samsung Galaxy Note and a Montblanc Meisterstuck (a high-end pen that must be very good for signing autographs, I guess).
Says the organiser of the prize: "In line with our vision of promoting upcoming writers, Etisalat will sponsor a book tour to three African cities. The winning writer will also embark on the Etisalat Fellowship at the University of East Anglia mentored by Professor Giles Foden (author of The Last King of Scotland)".
The fellowship is an opportunity for the winning author to meet publishers and other writers - plus one will get the time and opportunity to pen a subsequent title.
"Shortlisted writers will win a Samsung Galaxy Note and also go on a book tour to two major African cities," says the sponsor.
The sponsor has also pledged to buy 1,000 copies of the winning entry, as well as the shortlisted titles. The books will be donated to various schools, book clubs and libraries in Africa.
For more information, click here