It’s time Kenyan media gave politicians blackout

I listened to Senator Muthama last week with utter disgust and shame when he addressed the crowd at Uhuru Park. There can never be any justification as to how he spoke at the rally. He should respect our women even if he has issues with Ms. Waiguru and the President. As a leader he should know his position demands that he chooses his words carefully and that is what is called wisdom. Unfortunately, it not only him who is guilty of this kind of unbecoming and horrendous behavior but most of our politicians are. Indeed this has become the trend of our politicians and it is as if they assume regrettably, the more derogatory you speak the more appealing you appear. As a society we have reached a point where we must say no to these politicians who do not respect Kenyans and spew venom with no due regard.

It is unfortunate we have to sit and listen to politicians who not only abuse our intelligence but show disrespect to us yet we are the same people who have employed them. They should show decorum and humility .Our media need to change tact and do an overhaul on the way they cover our politicians and only cover them when they share what is helpful and that which will build our country. The media should not commit acres of space and time by focusing on political shenanigans but would rather cover developmental issues. Indeed most of our politicians have knocked themselves off the pedestal and no longer have moral authority to stand and talk to us. Such politicians lack locus standi to be covered by the media and should be given a total blackout.

Our Politicians have failed this country and are the least trusted people. Should our media give them a total black-out then they’ll see the need to style up and respect us.  Our politicians have an amazing obsession with the negative and the bizarre. They capitalize on all negative things in order to gain some cheap political mileage. They are hell-bent on creating a country of cynics, sycophants and pessimists. Indeed, occasionally, Kenyans are even described as being among the world's most optimistic people. This is in recognition of what our politicians treat us to, yet we remain unbowed and optimistic. Regrettably, our politicians behave as if we are a nation of fools and naivety, serving us with all their shenanigans. We must start somewhere to tame our political leaders and I suggest media blackout to be the starting point. This will instill discipline and our politicians will stop treating us to their mediocre and nonsense. If our politicians cannot engage us with what matters then the media have no business giving them space and airtime. Our politicians take the largest blame in balkanising this country along the ethnic lines and thus qualify for no meaningful coverage by our media.

I advise our media instead to focus more positive news such as marathons wins the world over by our athlete, the seventh wonder of the modern world, the great migration of wildebeest in the Maasai Mara and new methods of farming among others. This way as a country we will move forward and we will be positively induced. It will also help bring down tribal vitriol that is fanned and fueled by our politicians. Since the media is able to set the agenda of this Nation, ignoring the politicians will enable Kenyans focus on more important issues that will uplift them. Lastly, any politician worth his name must engage his mind before engaging his mouth. We must start healing this society by enforcing responsible talk by our politicians. Only the media can help us achieve this.

High interest rates will affect businesses and slow down the economy

The last couple of weeks have witnessed commercial banks increase their base lending rates to punitive levels. Borrowing money from banks now attract interest rates in the range of 24 - 30 percent. Many of us thought that this had gone down in history with the Moi era. However, this will have a huge impact on businesses since a number of businesses were servicing loans. The increased interest rates will eat into these businesses’ revenues and thus affect their short term and long term development goals. The situation is so serious that some businesses have indicated that they will have to implement some cost cutting measures such as laying-off staff. This will have an overall multiplier effect on the economy and will definitely slow down the performance of the economy. Loss of jobs, and decline in economic growth will lead to untold suffering for the common mwananchi.

Local commercial banks have argued that they are responding to heavy domestic borrowing by the government and the fact that CBK has not reviewed the Central Bank Rate (CBR) downward. The Central Bank has been trying to curb the runaway inflation and prevent the shilling from losing more value against major currencies. This issue need to be addressed otherwise it is bound to cripple some businesses to the level of shutting down.

Conversely, the low interest rate era that started in 2002 led to many things that significantly impacted positively on the business community and the lifestyle of every Kenyan. This should be maintained if we are to experience better economic growth. When Loans become cheap and readily available, many ordinary business people are able to get the much needed finance to boost their businesses with or without the traditional collateral. This will lead to rapid economic growth and high liquidity in the market. This growth will of course put constraints on social infrastructure and amenities, thus the need to expand the same in tandem.  The government therefore needs to devise ways of taming these punitive loans so as to secure businesses and guarantee steady economic growth.