Mohammed Hersi . A hotelier who is passionate about Tourism & Governance in Africa.

To Kenya Railways .

I hope my note finds you in good health.

Firstly it is indeed quite a while that I wrote anything about Madaraka Express but the few trips I have had with you was nothing but joy.

Now I saw this notice and I wonder how you arrived at it, it is draconian rule that makes no sense at all and you rub already stressed Kenyans the wrong way.

The issue that must have triggered this notice is the image and post that has been circulating of drunk and disorderly passengers in the cabins. The debate is about alcohol and where is alcohol permitted when on board. The debate is not about food, we have young ones , we have the sick who have a condition like diabetes they must eat something. I cannot stand management that stir up everthing. It is nothing but incompetence.

What you should be addressing is purely about alcohol consumption and disorderly passengers.

Simple rule, limit the alcohol consumption to the bar cabin / coach. No alcohol consumption just like cigarette smoking should be allowed in the passenger cabin.

Kenya Railways Management please stop such moves that only make you look bad. You are now running a modern railway line and Kenyans are paying for it through the nose. Please modernise your thinking process.

Now to my fellow Kenyans,

I will be very honest with you , travelling on SGR is not a blank cheque to drink yourself silly and act mad. What makes you think that once you board a train you can act the way you want shouting obscenities without repercussions? If you want to do that then hire a bus all by yourself , you can do what you want to do there. You can choose to travel half naked in your hired bus. SGR is SHARED TRANSPORT. Get that into your head.

Firstly drinking and travelling don’t go together and any responsible traveller knows that very well. In case of an emergency how do you expect to be assisted when you cannot even keep your drunk head straight let alone your wobbly legs . You are slumped over the small table and spreading your legs and hands in all directions. If you are not asleep drooling you are busy making noise to the discomfort of other passengers and even worse babies and sick passengers . You must respect the space of others.

What makes you think that since you happen to be in a mob decorum no longer matters. If anything the management of KR have the right to offload you at next station until you sober up. Please get that very clear , being noisy and disruptive is NOT cool NI USHAMBA. How do you feel when the next day a clip or image of you is circulating on vast social media .Please do NOT forget that internet never forgets.

Decent and civilised people don’t drink themselves silly

To Kenya Railways be sensible and reasonable in your rules . This notice is rubbish and it makes no sense . Go correct it. Carrying my water bottle or sandwich or a young mother carrying food for her baby should NEVER be an issue.

Mohammed Hersi
Chairman
Kenya Tourism Federation

*Lessons from Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum’s new book ” My Story”*

These days I read alot of personal memoirs by leaders who made a difference in the lives of their people and by extension made a huge mark in the world.

One such leader in our lifetime is Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

He has penned a new book titled ” My Story ” 50 memories From Fifty Years Of Service.

While his previous books My Vision and Flashes of Thought were equally good I found this to be very personal. In this new book he talks about his late mother and Dad and the tough childhood when they used to fetch water from the wells . How they sleep on roof tops in summer to cool down way back in the 50’s and 60’s when many in the world could not even have placed Dubai on the world map.

Why am I sharing this story ?

Every time some of us challenge our leaders some system apologists will quickly tell us to take charge and make a difference. Folks there is a big difference between what I as an ordinary individual can do and what I as elected leader who has control of huge public resources can do.

I am sure virtually every county including many in national goverment have been to Dubai and myriad of places to benchmark , they have also been to many other cities and places to do the same. Then we always ask , how comes we ain’t seeing an iota of the stuff replicated locally from those places they went for benchmarking.

I finally found the answer in this book and Sheikh Mohammed has dedicated an entire chapter that is titled ” A New Dubai in Africa”. He says many leaders have made contact with him with a goal to emulate what Dubai has been able to achive in less than 50 years.

He sums it by saying ” There is a big difference between wishing for something and working to realise those dreams”. He then goes ahead to emphasize , We do not tolerate corruption, we do not undermine the rule of the law , nor are we lax in the implementation of the plans we launch . This is how we are building Dubai”.

Now back to my earlier statement , as elected leaders with acess to public resources you are in a position to do loads of things.

It takes leadership to get the population to believe in a cause. I have had the opportunity to see Dubai evolve in the last 30 years , Morocco is another country which was just average until the current King Mohammed VI took over from his late father King Hassan II and in less than 10 years tourists visiting Morocco jumped from 1M to 11M which means every single year they have been attracting 1 million extra visitors , Morocco is churning a half a million Renault cars every year , Morocco is busy producing parts for Airbus why? Because the King himself is leading the way .

I am currently in Turkey and in less than 10 years Tayyip Erdoğan managed to turn Turkey into one very serious country economically exploiting their God given location and large young population. President Erdoğan has been President of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as Prime Minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He had positional leadership where he used resources to do the right things .

Turkey just retired yes get me right retired an airport that was handling 70 Million passengers a year because the vision of President Erdogan is to handle 200Million + passengers a year turning Istanbul to be one major hub that will even eclipse Schipol and Heathrow. It takes leadership to do that . We are still struggling to hit even 8Million Mark.

The Asian tigers also jumped from desolation in under 50 years from Malaysia to Thailand and lately Cambodia to Laos to Vietnam once war torn countries.

Well closer home TZ under President John Pombe Magufuli aka JPM is walking in that path because he does not tolerate bad guys misbehaving. Collin Powell in his 18 rules of leadership says that you must confront the bad people who need to be confronted. Thanks to him TZ civil servants now use bio metrics to sign in at their place of work and as a public official President Magufuli will simply call you out in public and even fire you . Rwanda and Ethiopia are silently doing what needs to be done to catch up on lost time without drama and fixation on some election that is 3 years away .

Well I feel Retired President Kibaki almost gave us that feeling when he went to fix very many roads that were dilapidated including forgotten places like Isiolo Marsabit Moyale Addis highway and of course next door Voi to Taveta road. Can you imagine if Nbi never constructed all the bypasses ? And the many interchanges ? Even Thika highway is now traffic gridlocked. Imagine for once if Thika road was left as it was .

We now have the Big 4 which is a great vision but I am afraid I don’t see that happening when we allow so many guys to get away with murder to a point where for the first time a diplomat Israeli Ambassador asked to be recalled from Kenya . He felt he was achieving nothing when a host nation was not keen to address issues and this was the failed noble idea of Galana Kulalu maize project. This was well captured jn a candid interview with a local media house. We see bad guys undermine the Big 4 day in day out and they walk like they have done nothing wrong.

We have counties that receive billions every year but the people and entire county is worse off with dirty streets , broken infrastructure, collapsed health system that worked under national goverment. The said governors will be in the news for all the wrong reasons and thanks to our failed media who give them coverage. Some of these misbehaving ” leaders ” think clowning is cool. Tragedy is that these governors are local boys who rose through poverty and how we mistaken were we that they would love to lift their people out of poverty . Some of these governors manage funds to the tune of Ksh 10B to 15B which is $100M to $150M a year . Take it from me that is alot of money.

Devolution was to allow us to vote in leaders who understood the pain areas but what many counties got in return are leaders who behaved like small kings which Sheikh Mohamed in his book talked about the likes of King Shah in Iran and Kind Idris in Libya amongst many who were toppled. We got leaders who were only fixated on how many relatives and friends will occupy what office and what contracts they will bag.

Doing business with counties was also seen to be another way to help the economy at grass root level but it has turned out to be one way to kill your business. Even worse it qualifies as one of the 101 ways to die young since counties are just not in the habit to pay their bills unless you are one of those friends and relatives.

Kenya is not poor due to lack of resources but due to failed leadership at all fronts both at national and county levels. To those leaders with acess to all these funds , history will judge you very harshly. Keep in mind that you won’t live for 1000 years , we all have just a few years to make a difference . What do you want to be remember for ? To the electorate keep thinking tribe and I promise you , the exit from that rat hole will never happen and please do not blame Almighty God. He gave you a working brain to think.

To our elected leaders holding various positions , I leave you with Henry Ford’s quote ” You Can’t Build a Reputation On What You’re Going to Do.” It’s easy to be lured into a false sense of security based on what we intend to do” Nothing More Nothing less.

Despite all this I still choose to remain an optimist that one day we shall get serious as a country . To the system apologists I will for sure do my bit in my own small way but I won’t tolerate you when you want to pretend to allocate yourself the role of a gate keeper to censor and sanitise what we say . Sorry such a position doesn’t even exist.

Mohammed Hersi
Mombasa
Kenya
Twitter @mohammedhersi

Mohammed Hersi

I hate to watch any clip that has violence let alone where human beings are clobbered and burnt to death. I opened one such clip I received via WhatsApp. It was shocking, killing others simply because they are from a different country and ” YOU THINK ” they took your imaginary job.

What I have seen time and again in South Africa is revolting .

White farmers are also getting killed in big numbers across South Africa but for some reason International media have not picked that story . A white famer dying in Kenya naturally is headlines globally.

I had so much hope in President Cyril Ramaphosa yet I have never heard him come strong against these young South African black young men roaming the streets in their hundreds NOT thousands killing and burning Zimbabweans. Nigerians . Mozambiqueans. Even our Kenyans have not been spared.

A press conference is not the way to deal with it , fold your sleeve and get on the shop floor. Get the military to step in and give shoot on sight orders to anyone killing and looting. The current scenario is now beyond a press conference. Those lunatics don’t watch news.

You see 300 marauding thugs it’s an insult to call them youth breaking into shops and looting. Burning premises and vehicles owned by blacks considered not South Africans some torched alive to die a painful death. Where is the paramilitary police . We have seen no attempts to stop them . Where is South Africas intelligence team.

A man the world considered dangerous Julius Malema has been more vocal, considerate and measured in his response to condemn these violence.

Madiba Mandela ( RIP) is one man who led for one term to stabilise the nation and he never insisted to stay on . He is one man who forgave and tried to accommodate others including the people who tormented him .

ANC went on a looting spree once he was gone which is a common trait by my fellow Africans . Granted the youth are disillusioned but don’t transfer your aggression to your fellow African immigrants who are there just to make ends meet.

Challenge ANC the ruling party to create employment and opportunities . Killing an Ethiopian shop keeper or Ghanian Tailor will not solve your problem.

To Cyril Ramaphosa you were very unhappy when you were skipped and Thabo became President. Then followed the ” Zuma Error ” where wedding parties could land their private aircrafts at protected military installation and Rhino poaching was at all time high.

Now that you are in charge , South Africans cannot see your leadership let alone rest of Africa and the clarion call of Ubuntu. Your half hearted approach in addressing the ongoing violence leaves a lot to be desired. Now I believe that a successful corporate guy does not necessarily become successful in politics.

To the rest of Africa please do not harm any South African in our midst neither should you attack any of their business outfits. Late Mandela a man I admire immensely has given a solution treat ANC just the way we treated the bad Apartheid regime .

In my small way I will boycott any South African firm and product in Kenya .That is what we did to Apartheid South Africa. They do not deserve our support . Corporate South Africa has remained silent as these atrocities unfold right infront of their business premises.

To Corporate South Africa once the thugs are done with their fellow poor Africans they will come for you . I leave you with a swahili saying ” Ukiona mwenzako Akiyolewa chako kitie maji.” When you see your friend getting a beating prepare yourself to be next.

Madiba must be turning in his grave at Qunu in Transkei. RIP Khulu.

As always I choose to remain an Optimist.

Mohammed Hersi
A True Pan African.
I Am Hurting .
Mombasa Kenya.

While we have challenges in Mombasa I don’t entirely agree with the claim that Mombasa is on its death bed.

Tourism is doing great after many years of bad times . For the first time we have 21+ scheduled international flights ( Turkish. Qatar. Ethiopian. Rwanda ) into Mombasa and close to 15 charters from Europe including weekly flights from Brussels and twice from Amsterdam and 2 from Warsaw. Last time we had Brussels and Amsterdam flights was 10 years ago. Turkish alone connects Mombasa to 20 cities across Germany.

A tiny airstrip like Diani has jumped from handling 40,000 passengers less than 5 years ago to 200,000 + passengers in 2018 . It is now upgraded to an airport . Mombasa is now host to major conventions and a Convetion centre like Pride Inn Convention centre 2500 pax says it all while Sarova Whitesands are set to open a new convention centre as well.

The extended mourning period over the demise of CFS’s is wrong. *CFS’s was meant to be a very short term solution to the mess at the port of Mombasa to evacuate cargo .* This happened around 2003 / 4. Tragedy in Kenya is that temporary moves become permanent and we demand it.

Ideally CFS’s were meant to be out of town 20KM and help decongest the port . As usual with Kenyans CFS’s were opened at the gate of port making nonsense of the initial goal to decongest the port . Thanks to our corruption some players even got space right inside the port . Our current President finally smoked them out

Finally we ended up with one fine mess in Chagamwe and Port Reitz area. Never ending gridlock. That problem has now shifted to ICD at Embakasi making Mombasa road opposite GM the new Port Reitz. Trust me we don’t miss that mess in Mombasa nor does Nbi deserve it. Naivasha must work and let cargo move further to Naivasha and hopefully as planned onwards to Kisumu to its final destination. Every importer wants to have their container at shortest time possible . We have NO business detaining cargo in CFS’s when we now have a working rail system that can seamlessly transfer cargo from ship to train.

CFS’s was the epitome of inefficiency. Holding containers at a yard a few metres from the port is NOT a business model. We were simply feeding inefficiency and red tape. Sadly Kenyans are not generous with candor . Let’s be honest with each other.

Containers MUST be evacuated as soon as they land. We have no business detaining containers at a yard. What value do we add ? It is nothing but an added cost to the final consumer raising the cost of goods.

World over bulk cargo is ferried using trains and not trucks. If anything Kenya Railways did that so well in the 70’s until the railways was left to rot then Nairobi Mombasa highway was was neglected.

Having trucks parked at Mtito. Sultan Hamud. Gilgil etc just shows how inefficient we are. Seeing trucks all over is not a sign of progress. The carnage on Mombasa Nbi highway is now a thing of the past , ( touch wood ). Cargo evacuation via trucks will not be eliminated 100% but don’t demand return of CFS’s.

Well I like the authors ideas on what to do with abandoned CFS’s and of course fast track Dongo Kundu Economic zones.

Mombasa can now safely become a cleaner safer motorable city like any port city in the world. Let anyone show me a successful port city where trucks evacuate cargo.

Cheese has moved and the only constant in life is change. Mombasa is NOT dying , Mombasa is only opening a new page in its life.

As always I choose to remain an optimist

Mohammed Hersi
Chairman
Kenya Tourism Federation.

We messed the country and the many jobs that were promised are no longer forthcoming.

We now have the cheek to blame the young graduates who have worked hard and the parents who sacrificed everthing to see them through university and college.

They are now been blamed for not being creative and entrepreneurial enough. What nonsense is that ?

What entrepreneurship have you done yourself ? Majority in the civil service trade with goverment, cutting deals . I dare say it even majority of private sector are all pulling deals in exaggerated contracts and supplying air and you get paid.

We then dare turn around and call our young people names?

We have billionaires in town who have never invented anything let alone run any known serious business. Majority will steal and all they know is to put up highrise apartment and then wonder why they remain empty ? How can they be occupied when you played a role to kill the economy .

If you are above 35 you have no business blaming the youth struggling to give themselves hope. If you cannot lend a hand then don’t insult these struggling youth . They are jobless or struggling not because they are not creative or stupid. If anything they are far more intelligent than many of us when we were in our 20s or 30s.

To GOK please give our young people passports . Let them go try their luck in far off places. We have no business holding them here. Philippines and India their citizens in the diaspora contribute big time in remittance. Majority can’t even speak good english. Choosing not to give them this very important document is not helping them and it is not helping Kenya. Our young people are well read and they are doing well globally from North America to The Gulf. From Europe to Rest of Africa .

India is leading in outsourced call centres. How did GOK miss on that ? We have our young people Who speak very good English. Call centres will train you to speak English in a certain way , our youth already do it on their own. We failed to attract any key global call centre companies and we missed out on light industries thanks to high cost doing business like cost of electricity.

Folks it’s about time we cut the young people some slack. At least they never dipped their hands in public coffers and neither are they tribalisits.

To that Jobless Young Kenyan, Don’t be discouraged. The older folks messed up and are trying to shift the blame to you . Trust me you are smart enough to achive anything . Raise your head and say ” Not Me . I am NOT a failure”

Mohammed Hersi

This Sunday it is matters land and I am very well aware that when it comes to land debate it is always an emotional one. When land issues are brought up before you even realise things can pretty go south quickly.

I am not going to discuss agricultural land it is even worse there but I will like to focus on beach plots. While the rest of the world have a road along the beach front for some reason ours is not the case save for a very small stretch a cliff which is current Mama Ngina Drive.

This week in my line of duty I was in Diani and as one of morning rituals was to jog along the beach. As the sun rose I could not fail to notice that good part of the magical Diani Beach is actually dead beach in the sense that former leading beach resorts lie desolate and abandoned. I mean the likes of Safari Beach Hotel The two in one Jadini Africana. Then Two fishes and next door Tradewinds.

Even when driving you cannot fail to notice the eerie feel once you get to the Two Fishes Hotel which is next to Jadini African and Tradewinds. These were all household names until the early 80’s.

There are also very many acres of ” idle ” beach fronting land .

Land fronting the beach is a prime beach plot and our beach in Kenya just like Zanzibar is pristine . This is God given and we should be utilising them to generate wealth by setting up world class resorts.

Let me raise a couple of points so that we are on the same page.

1. let me start with idle land where many were alloted by the state them days but simply refused to develop them . We also have the same issue even on North Coast .

2. Then we have secondary buyers who bought from an alottee but still chose not to develop the said plot.

3. We also have secondary buyers who bought collapsed resorts but over years also chose to do nothing with such plots but end up as speculators.

Some of the land in question can be as big as 50 acres right on the beach . To help you appreciate land size a resort like Southern Palms in Diani is on 10 acre land with 300+ rooms employing very many Kenyans directly and indirectly. Despite all the challenges in Diani they are busy renovating. A hotel like Leopard was razed by fire not once but twice but got back and even right now they are restoring the hotel after the last fire.

Resorts like Baobab and Neptune all in Diani have grown three fold in the last 20 years employing directly and indirectly thousands of Kenyans .

My major concern and please take time to look at this aerial images of idle and abandoned beach plots which means we are denying our country serious income not to mention all the jobs we would have created.

Fact is that the the best part of Diani Beach is currently lying abandoned where rickety bars on the beach are cropping up with a serious danger of turning this beatiful stretch into a slum.

In the last 4 years Diani is turning the corner and global operators are looking for quality hotel beds and there are none left. When potential investors come over they are met by these greedy absentee land owners.

Way Forward.

Truth be told some of the people holding on to this chunks of land are not keen to develop anything . Some don’t bother while others when they get potential developers ask for obscene money and the suitor simply takes off never to return . Please keep in mind some of the land in question some of the owners paid nothing since it was allotted to them in good old days while others bought them cheap either from a bank or again the 70’s. Some have died still speculating, of what use is speculation .

1. Both County & National goverment MUST set up punitive laws to make it very expensive for anyone to hold onto idle prime land whether you bought or you were given . Such commercial plots are meant to be developed and they are not souvenirs.

2. Charge idle land more than developed land . This will force them to either develop or get a partners to develop. We have many international chains who want to come here but these chaps sitting on idle land are simply refusing to make it happen.

3.Dead hotels where a new owner is simply speculating must also face the heat.

4. No owner should be allowed to subdivide a prime beach plot into some useless residential homes. A residential home does NOT generate employment . It does NOT create wealth. It is like building your home on Mombasa road in Nbi. That should never be allowed to happen.

Pride Inn Hotels bought Paradise Hotel and it does not even have a huge beach but look what a serious investor like Hasnain Noorani has done . Giving us the biggest convention centre. He did not buy to speculate and wait . He has single handed brought dead Shanzu back to life.

Folks it is high time we lifted the veil on who are faceless onwers of all this undeveloped and abandoned prime beach plots. Swahili have a saying ” Usiwe Joka La Mdimu” . It means don’t be the snake on a fruiting lemon tree which coils on the tree ready to strike anyone who attempts to partake the juicy ripe lemon fruits . Snakes don’t eat lemons .

Well punitive laws and taxes will force the same owners to leave the tree so to speak . Mombasa. Kwale and Kilifi counties MUST raise the tax on idle and abandoned prime beach plots. Trust me you will see the owners waking up.

As always I choose to remain an optimist .

Mohammed Hersi

Chairman

Kenya Tourism Federation

Matters Kenya Airways.

While KQ team had proposed a SPV to be allowed to run JKIA it failed to get the nod and at the end the plan was abandoned.

Outgoing MD made it clear, if KQ is not given the approval to take over JKIA then it will be a dead end for KQ. He has finally resigned and waiting to exit come December.

Well our Honourable Members have now been left to decide the destiny of our national carrier. While some have proposed privatisation others are now pushing for full nationalisation.

The ones supporting full nationalisation claim that Ethiopia, Rwanda and even Emirates are all run and owned by the state hence why they are successful. Well those three countries have a different mindset and maybe even a unique DNA.

It is clear that we at times actually many times suffer from serious selective amnesia. Why would anyone forget that KQ was at one time GOK owned 100% and it was one of the worst times when it was run like most of our badly run parastatals. It was so bad that flights hardly left on time and more often than not you find yourself getting bumped out to create space for some last minute high ranking state official with his family. A head of state could virtually hijack an entire commercial aircraft for days on end on some state visit completely disrupting the flight schedules. It was at one time worse than a matatu and all that happened when it was state-owned.

Then Brian Davies walked in and carried out serious radical surgery and KQ even got listed in 1995. It was one of the few shares that you were proud to own. When Brian Davies exited the scene one of our own again showed up and sent it back to the rat hole.

I am totally against full state ownership for the following reasons .

1. We just don’t have the business mindset to separate what is state and what is personal. The moment it is state owned any high-ranking official will call the shots . Don’t look any further , National Bank , NHIF, Kenya Pipeline , Kenya Power et al. Please don’t drag in KCB and claim it is state owned. leadership at KCB is no nonsense but a strict CBK and a strict Governor are also not allowing any games to be played there . CBK is doing that role as a regulator.

2. Even under the current set up most of those aircrafts are leased and truth be said they belong to some of us . If someone is able to buy a plane and lease it to KQ they should indeed buy the airline and let them show us how great they are in business.

3. It is also clear that KQ needs serious radical surgery and more so downsizing then seek a fresh growth plan once again. KQ need to rationalize their staffing and inevitably many will have to leave but the moment you touch that then all hell is let loose. I am not surprised that the union leader is already supporting nationalization since he very well knows that siesta begins as soon as GOK takes over 100%. Show me one guy who has been fired by goverment for non performance.

My proposal on way forward.

1. GOK has no business sending good money after bad money . Seek a strategic investor to do that . If we bail out KQ once again it will NOT be the end of it . Please prepare for more bailouts using tax payers money . Please keep in mind that the faceless firms that have leased the planes to KQ are happy with this arrangement.

2. Get a serious strategic investor to buy majority shareholding . Can you imagine if Emirates were approached and in return GOK was to retain say 30% while the strategic investor takes 70%.

3. Any serious airline today is hungry to penetrate Africa. KQ is already well positioned flying to 42 countries. We are weak on cross continental and good for governance and that is where say Emirates come in. I am choosing Emirates because I find them hungry truly hungry for Africa and Nairobi becomes their hub in Africa . It is the only way we can deal with Ethiopian who have simply made leaps and bounds.

4. A strategic investor will then take charge and make it work . The faceless investors who are currently guaranteed of returns by GOK bailouts will have to take a walk including the employees who are not used to performance contracting.

There is nothing about KQ that makes it state strategic installation . It is already badly run for two decades , what is so strategic about a loss making outfit in billions of an airline? Folks it is nothing but a cow to be milked dry.

I am not for Qatar with all their issues against the rest of the GCC . I am pretty sure no European airline has the appetite for Africa hence even KLM is pussy footing to commit any fresh funds. It is about time for a fresh new suitor. Let KLM also ship out.

KQ maybe damaged goods but trust me serious investors will jump in at anytime as long as the rent seekers are paid off once and for all and kept far far away.

To Honourbale MPs. Please reject completely any plans to nationalise KQ. Please drain the swamp let a new player come in and on one condition to the investor they must retain the name Kenya Airways maybe Kenya Airways operated by XYZ and JKIA and by extension Mombasa remain a hub.

Any other plan is simply wasting tax payers money .

Yours truly

Mohammed Hersi

Open Letter To Our MP’s.

Open Letter To Our MP’s.

Dear Elected & Nominated Member Of Parliament,

I hope and trust that this note finds you in good health. It is two + years since most of you found their way to that August house where laws of the land are crafted and supposedly the well being of the nation are meant to be debated.

Some of you have been relected numerous times that you now consider parliament your second home. Well if your electorate gave you the mandate who are we to say no.

Allow me to remind you , that house is meant to be a place of respect where members are meant to serve the nation. To serve as an MP was more of a calling until some 15 years ago when greed overcome many of you. All we hear these days is about demands for more and more perks.

Your current demand will see your pay rise to anything between $21,000 and $29,000 not to mention all the other perks you are demanding with a gun on the head of SRC. I have taken the liberty to share benchmarks with rest of the world and you will notice that indeed you are the queer lot.

You actually think a car grant of $50,000 is peanuts so you are now demanding to double the same to $100,000. How many companies give such perks ? What makes you think we truly owe you all this ? You knew very well how much you were going to earn way before taking up the job. You don’t start a new job then go on a salary review chasing perks every now and then. If anything you are violating our rights as voters the employer and tax payers. That alone is enough grounds to dismiss you .

While you get paid a salary you still want to be paid another allowance called sitting allowance and now not less than 17 other allowances which simply means we pay you double for doing your work .

While you get full medical cover for self and family , without any shame you now demand cover for a second spouse. It is high time we called you put. Surely second spouse is a choice you make . If you can’t maintain her that is your problem. If it was private sector and some of you are employers would you allow your employee to make such a demand ? While you demand such your electorates are busy sharing ward beds and cant acess basic health care.

Kenyans maybe silent and may look helpless but trust me you are pushing your luck too far . You may have chosen to climb the ivory tower and you no longer see reality but I will tell you for free that Kenyans are hurting. You yes you are now upsetting Kenyans . Majority of your voters do not even know where their next meal will come from while you trash what you are served in the eatery in that house. Well if you strongly believe what you are served is not to your standard there are many places close by where you can eat what fits your palate. While the rest of the world is talking and exploring means to achive the Millennium Development Goals now Sustainable goals you are busy discussing what type of menu we must serve you , seriously ?

In African culture we hardly discuss matters food so I will not belabour that point.

Folks there are many more pressing issues that you need to be addressing as opposed to chasing these perks that make you look so bad. You indeed make us look bad as a nation in the eyes of the world.

Finally many of you are people known to us and some of you are my friends. How comes none of you is choosing to be a voice of reason and stand up for what is right . We are also aware that many of you are yet to even make that maiden speech but are active every weekend hurling abuse to both real and imagined enemies while busy dividing the same poor Kenyans with your tribal and regional narrow cheap thoughts .

Let me remind you were never forced to go to that house . If you think the pay and perks is not adequate enough , please feel free to resign and go seek greener pastures . Kenya is big and the world is even bigger . Let us know how that goes.

For you to harrass Kenyans day in day out is nothing but being insensitive to their plight.

Go reflect and please reflect hard. Soon Kenyans may simply choose to handle you the way Ukrainians handled their MP’s by looking for the nearest garbage bin. Trust me Kenyans are edging to the tipping point with your unbridled greed. Well at least you will not say I never warned you .

The donkey is now tired . Punda Amechoka.

Yours Disgusted Kenyan Voter

Mohammed Hersi
Mombasa.

Dear Captain Wanyama , Coach Migne & Team,

Well the wait is over and you will be parading against the best teams in African football as you carry the hopes of a whole nation.

We have always been referred to as minnows matters football but Captain you graced the Champions league finals with Totenham. In your early years you single handed marked Messi out of a champions league game when you played for Celtics.

Monsieur Migne , you are not new in Africa . If you could survive in DRC then Kenya must be some little haven for you . Monsieur trust me this time round our football fathers have really behaved and of course thanks to our goverment when they accepted your home country as a venue for final build up. Well the team truly loved the facilities and our minister did promise to ask the French goverment to help us build a similar training facility. I think my sister only needs to remind our goverment that indeed they promised us not 1 or 2 but 6 stadias. If only they keep their promise we shall have plenty of places to train that we can even hire out to foreign teams .

To the team , Kahata you recall that curving free kick one hot afternoon in Kalabar in Nigeria and for the first time Super Eagles were staring at defeat in the hands of Harambee stars right in their backyard. We want to see more of that . I have seen you do it for mighty K’Ogalo time and again. Yes you can replicate the same in the land of Mo Salah.

Joash , Kenyans as always make fun of anything and everything . Your image with dyed beard was trending for the wrong reasons. What many don’t know is that as the last man you sacrificed to earn a red card against Ghana which made Harambee carry the day . If Ronaldo had dyed his hair they would have said it was fashion. Joash just ignore them and shine.

Patrick Matasi your save pair of hands virtually denied the Ethiopians both in Nbi and Bahar Dar. They had no choice they even hired you at St George’s after your exploits. Keep focused . Please avoid dangerous tackles that can gift our opponents with a penalty.

Abud Omar , despite all the ups and downs in Eastern Europe you still maintained your sanity to retain your spot in our national team . Go for it . Mahrez or Mane should NOT scare you.

Michael Olunga you belong to Premier league and Serie A and not some league in Japan for semi retired dudes. Afcon is your golden chance to shine and be spotted. I have no doubt you got what it takes .

Musa Mohammed , get inspired by your boxer sister Zarika who is punching her way to fame despite all the challenges boxers face in Kenya. Be inspired by Musa Otieno who stood tall in defence for Kenya for a decade.

John Avire, keep in mind monsieur coach opted to have youthful you . Please don’t disappoint him . So far in the friendlies you have shown loads of promise.

Masoud Juma my Bro from Isiolo you may currently be unattached but you still remain skilful and full of power. I still have alot of faith in you . You stormed the premier league 3 years ago and off you went down south to join Cape Town City . It’s clear things did not go well as planned but this is a chance for you to bounce back .. As unattached player it means you are ready to sign for a team. Kaka you belong to Europe go for it.

Ayub Timbe oh my oh my you danced your way between those Congolese players in that last friendly. Erick Johanna, and the rest of the team dance with the ball. Be at ease with it and make us proud . If Brazilians can do it so can you .

Be inspired by Peter Dawo the man who single handed dismantled Esperance of Tunisia. Be inspired by our Rugby7s team who show dust to many rugby power houses across the world , be inspired by Eliud Kipchoge the man who wants to be the first living human being to run the marathon in sub 2 Hrs.

We have endless inspirations.

To FKF and CS Amina . Thank You for taking good care of our team and there is no reason why we cannot reach the Quarters.

Please join me to wish our team the best of luck

As always I choose to remain an optimist

Mohammed Hersi
Chairman
Kenya Tourism Federation

I will NEVER tire saying this

Nairobi does NOT need a double decker road from the airport to Westlands. It’s simply waste of money. If only building a wider road could solve our traffic headache why is Thika highway already a mess?

What we need is a working mass public transport system. I shared this same solution 10 years ago and many times again. Since then Dar implemented a well thought out BRT system NOT waking up and painting some tarmac then announce that we now have a BRT. I recall sharing images of Bangkok who managed to mitigate big time their choking traffic gridlock.

Well this time I share a very similar image but this time it is right next door in Addis Ababa. Look at the street below devoid of cars.

JKIA to Westlands or even Athi River to Kangemi thousands will leave their cars at home and hop on to this sky train. Well you only get to do this if your eyes are open on those benchmarking trips .

Same can be done in Mombasa . MIA all the way to Mtwapa and in future MIA to Diani.

Finally the fear that Matatu owners will be out of business is simply misplaced . If you own 20 matatus a sacco can own several coaches. A PPP can build the line , lease the line to anyone . Virgin Trains don’t own the railway line.

What is so hard in doing this ? You want to leave a legacy then this is it. In under 3 years this can be done. I believe it can be done and Nairobi can regain some sanity

When public transport works the rich ride the train the poor buy cars.

Well as always I choose to remain an optimist.

Mohammed Hersi

Chairman

Kenya Tourism Federation