Lest we forget, a forensic report released by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) indicated that there were glaring breaches and irregularities characterizing the privatization of Kenya Seed Company (KSC). Moreover, the Kenya High Court ruled on 12th April 2005 that KSC had changed hands illegally.
Why, then, is the repossession of KSC still shrouded in mystery? Little if anything is being done by the government and especially by the Ministry of Agriculture under whose docket this public facility lay to ensure that this extremely important asset reverts back to public ownership.
It is unbelievable that the government can still drag its feet when credible information points to the fact that conniving individuals covertly diluted the government’s shareholding (run indirectly by Agricultural Development Corporation) from 53 percent to 40 percent. Worse still is the fact that the KSC board and management never consulted ADC in the privatization process. Legally, this means that the privatization was null and void. One should have expected the Kenya Government to be stirred into action once it got credible information. But contrary to our expectations, the government seems pretty relaxed on its laurels.
To begin with, the share issue raised only a paltry Sh144.7 million rather than the Sh160 million as a result of an under subscription. This under subscription was occasioned by a deliberate lack of disclosure to both the government and the general public of the worth of the company at the time of its disposal, consequently, the then directors and politically well-connected individuals had a carte blanche to increase their shareholding and therefore acquire KSC at a throw away price given the fact that the share price valuation was seriously under valued.
Speaking on the strength of the court ruling and the PwC report, the Agriculture minister William Ruto vowed late last year that this asset will be repossessed the soonest. However, there are no indications to date, that the much hyped repossession is about to take place. Nothing seems to be forthcoming and the “avuncular” Agriculture Minister has maintained a dead silence on the issue. I wish to remind the Minister that it is imperative that he, under whose docket this thieving took place, constantly informs the public of the progress that is so far being made in this front.
It is instrumental to note that some of the key players behind this privatization are serving in the current government as legislators. Some of them were lawyers of the architects of this scam. Still, some of them later own served as members or directors of KSC. In fact one of these “smart” lawyers is not only holding huge shares in this facility through proxy but has also his eyes firmly fixed on the country’s presidency come 2012, under the banner of youthful and transformative leadership.
It is also worth noting that the bellicose allies of the Agriculture Minister are alluding to a political alliance ahead of 2012 between the Agriculture Minister and one of these “smart lawyers.” Could the political alliance in the offing be the reason why there is a go slow in the repossession of this vital public asset? In whose interest is the Agriculture Minister and by extension, the Kenya Government dragging its feet on this matter?
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
ARE THESE POLITICIANS VICTIMS OF RABID GRANDIOSE D...
“When the law is on your side, pound the law. When the facts are on your side, pound the facts. And when neither is on your side, pound the table” so goes a dictum. It is this dictum that made me recall an incident in parliament last week when one legislator chided another legislator for banging the table when demanding for the creation of additional regions and counties. Such was the acrimony that characterized parliament’s sessions last week.
This acrimony is natural given the fact that the quest for fair political representation has been with us for quite some time. With rapid population growth and with no clear criteria for the creation of legislative boundaries; rabid grandiose delusions are likely to manifest in some ambitious politicians as we approach 2012.
Parliaments acrimony aside, we must as a nation be cognizant of the fact that fair representation demands for a formula that best serves the country’s national democratic aspirations while balancing the peculiarities of the country. The peculiarities to be considered include ethnic diversity, geographical size, level of economic development and civic awareness. Ignoring these peculiarities is a sure recipe for protracted conflicting ideologies that could easily engender secessionist sentiments.
I am convinced that with sobriety we can agree on a formula that will best address fair representation without appearing to trample upon the rights of other ethnic groups. We have enough academic gurus who can get us out of this impasse. (Unless of course, to paraphrase Plato’s words, these academic gurus are too smart to engage in politics and do not therefore care whether they are punished by being governed by those who are dumber).
We must begin to appreciate the fact that Kenya is not a blanket woven from one thread, one color, and one cloth. It is only in the conscious harnessing of unity in diversity that we can all be proud of our nationhood. In this regard, we must not allow regional king pins from pursuing their delusions at the expense of our nationhood. In the public limelight such politicians will pass for our average nationalists but in the comforts of their ethnic enclaves they are shockingly different. They have shown that they are more than willing to resort to ethnic driven merry- go- rounds with a view to mutilating the draft constitution to self perpetuate their selfish political interests by riding high on our ignorance. They will therefore do anything at their disposal to ensure that we are far removed from the reality by insisting that we continue putting on our ethnic blinkers. In so doing, we will have helped them to realize their own selfish interests. Lest we forget, in the words of Paul Valery, “Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.”
We the people must wipe off from our faces, those foolish ethnic grins. We must not dance ourselves lame when these leaders invoke the hydra of negative ethnicity only for us to cry later. In any case, it is doubtable that such leaders want to use this ethnic platform to advance the interest of “their people”. It can only be that they want to ride on the back of negative ethnicity to access raw power so that they can advance their own selfish interests.
TOME FRANCIS.
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
This acrimony is natural given the fact that the quest for fair political representation has been with us for quite some time. With rapid population growth and with no clear criteria for the creation of legislative boundaries; rabid grandiose delusions are likely to manifest in some ambitious politicians as we approach 2012.
Parliaments acrimony aside, we must as a nation be cognizant of the fact that fair representation demands for a formula that best serves the country’s national democratic aspirations while balancing the peculiarities of the country. The peculiarities to be considered include ethnic diversity, geographical size, level of economic development and civic awareness. Ignoring these peculiarities is a sure recipe for protracted conflicting ideologies that could easily engender secessionist sentiments.
I am convinced that with sobriety we can agree on a formula that will best address fair representation without appearing to trample upon the rights of other ethnic groups. We have enough academic gurus who can get us out of this impasse. (Unless of course, to paraphrase Plato’s words, these academic gurus are too smart to engage in politics and do not therefore care whether they are punished by being governed by those who are dumber).
We must begin to appreciate the fact that Kenya is not a blanket woven from one thread, one color, and one cloth. It is only in the conscious harnessing of unity in diversity that we can all be proud of our nationhood. In this regard, we must not allow regional king pins from pursuing their delusions at the expense of our nationhood. In the public limelight such politicians will pass for our average nationalists but in the comforts of their ethnic enclaves they are shockingly different. They have shown that they are more than willing to resort to ethnic driven merry- go- rounds with a view to mutilating the draft constitution to self perpetuate their selfish political interests by riding high on our ignorance. They will therefore do anything at their disposal to ensure that we are far removed from the reality by insisting that we continue putting on our ethnic blinkers. In so doing, we will have helped them to realize their own selfish interests. Lest we forget, in the words of Paul Valery, “Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.”
We the people must wipe off from our faces, those foolish ethnic grins. We must not dance ourselves lame when these leaders invoke the hydra of negative ethnicity only for us to cry later. In any case, it is doubtable that such leaders want to use this ethnic platform to advance the interest of “their people”. It can only be that they want to ride on the back of negative ethnicity to access raw power so that they can advance their own selfish interests.
TOME FRANCIS.
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Thursday, March 25, 2010
MORE REGIONS? POLITICIANS MUST STOP THE DISSEMINATION OF ERROR AND MENDACITY ABOUT OUR NATIONHOOD.
For the past few weeks, the public has increasingly been treated to a circus by flamboyant politicians who have tried moving clauses in the CoE draft hither and thither (and dither) and threatening that failure to meet their demands would see them rally “their people” to reject the draft constitution at the referendum stage. One such issue is the clamor for additional ethnic conclaves (which are mistakenly being referred to us regions) and counties. In their political gimmick they want to make the unsuspecting public to believe that theirs is a quest for devolution of resources.
As it stands now, I am hesitant to accept that the clamor for fair representation (whether viewed through the lenses of geographical size or population) is informed by the politics of the devolution of resources per se. I tend to think that the real argument behind this latest move has more to do with how votes cast in these ethnic conclaves in the prospective general elections will translate into seats won by political parties and by extension how the same seats shall determine who becomes the country’s Chief Executive. Strictly speaking, this is an act of gerrymandering. It behooves the intelligence of the larger populace that there are still politicians out there who are hell bent on steadily building their political careers out of such chicanery.
Contrary to their beliefs, their bid to become the regional king makers is steadily faltering; and their perceived balloons of success will soon be seriously deflated. Perhaps, it is only a matter of time before their political balloons burst. The truth is that our nation is not ready at all to be divided into ethnic fiefdoms. It must be crystal clear to all and sundry that to look at issues from the lenses of these self serving politicians is a sure way to reserve for our nation a place in the dust-bin of history. One does not have to look far a field to discern countries who, for like-reason, have suffered that fate.
In rebuking their selfishness I draw inspiration from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer that states that “Constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke the vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake.” It is in this light that I dare say that every Kenyan must exercise his or her responsibility and vigilance and to speak truthfully about the constitution making process. In this regard I urge Kenyans from all walks of life to remain faithful and vigilant to the process as it approaches the final stage. In the words of John P Curran, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
To shy away from this enormous and God given responsibility because a temerarious, obdurate and desultory cabal is telling us that ethnic conclaves are good for us will be suicidal. Such persons are hell bent in making us to exchange that vigilance and responsibility for complacency, to idle in the shadow of false images, thoughtlessness, ignorance, and disinformation and to blindly swallow sugar coated lies that they are desperately trying to implant in our minds. They without prospicience want the largely impuissant (intellectually) public to permit without as much protest the dissemination of error and mendacity about the state of our nation.
It is upon the patriotic academic gurus to make the public to begin appreciating the fact that when yesterday’s liberation fighters turn into today’s political henchmen who want to employ chicanery as a means to turning the country into ethnic conclaves; they (the public) must be ready to vigorously shake them back to reality. This is the price we have to pay to regain the high standards of truth and democracy upon which our great nation was founded. We must unreservedly say time and again that “never shall we allow Kenya to become a hotbed of political insanity.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
As it stands now, I am hesitant to accept that the clamor for fair representation (whether viewed through the lenses of geographical size or population) is informed by the politics of the devolution of resources per se. I tend to think that the real argument behind this latest move has more to do with how votes cast in these ethnic conclaves in the prospective general elections will translate into seats won by political parties and by extension how the same seats shall determine who becomes the country’s Chief Executive. Strictly speaking, this is an act of gerrymandering. It behooves the intelligence of the larger populace that there are still politicians out there who are hell bent on steadily building their political careers out of such chicanery.
Contrary to their beliefs, their bid to become the regional king makers is steadily faltering; and their perceived balloons of success will soon be seriously deflated. Perhaps, it is only a matter of time before their political balloons burst. The truth is that our nation is not ready at all to be divided into ethnic fiefdoms. It must be crystal clear to all and sundry that to look at issues from the lenses of these self serving politicians is a sure way to reserve for our nation a place in the dust-bin of history. One does not have to look far a field to discern countries who, for like-reason, have suffered that fate.
In rebuking their selfishness I draw inspiration from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer that states that “Constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke the vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake.” It is in this light that I dare say that every Kenyan must exercise his or her responsibility and vigilance and to speak truthfully about the constitution making process. In this regard I urge Kenyans from all walks of life to remain faithful and vigilant to the process as it approaches the final stage. In the words of John P Curran, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
To shy away from this enormous and God given responsibility because a temerarious, obdurate and desultory cabal is telling us that ethnic conclaves are good for us will be suicidal. Such persons are hell bent in making us to exchange that vigilance and responsibility for complacency, to idle in the shadow of false images, thoughtlessness, ignorance, and disinformation and to blindly swallow sugar coated lies that they are desperately trying to implant in our minds. They without prospicience want the largely impuissant (intellectually) public to permit without as much protest the dissemination of error and mendacity about the state of our nation.
It is upon the patriotic academic gurus to make the public to begin appreciating the fact that when yesterday’s liberation fighters turn into today’s political henchmen who want to employ chicanery as a means to turning the country into ethnic conclaves; they (the public) must be ready to vigorously shake them back to reality. This is the price we have to pay to regain the high standards of truth and democracy upon which our great nation was founded. We must unreservedly say time and again that “never shall we allow Kenya to become a hotbed of political insanity.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
TSC MUST STOP BOGs FROM TAMPERING WITH THE TEACHERS RECRUITMENT PROCESS.
In just about a fortnight, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is going to embark on the recruitment of teachers in both primary and post primary institutions in an attempt at addressing the huge shortfall in its workforce. As opposed to primary schools where the process is done centrally at the respective district education offices, such interviews are conducted in the respective institutions when it comes to post primary institutions. Here, the respective boards of governors (BOG`s) are tasked with the responsibility of interviewing interested applicants and recommending the most successful ones to be employed by TSC. And as is often the case, this exercise will be followed by much gnashing of teeth as a result of skewed recruitment procedures.
Although many BOG`s will show that the decision to settle on a given candidate was legitimate, the reality is that this exercise is always clenched in the rigor mortis of gender, nepotism, ethnicity and religiosity. Even though TSC has time and again allayed fears that the process is insulated from any tampering; in reality, if an institution’s governing body decides to rate gender, nepotism, ethnicity or religious devotion higher than pure professionalism when recommending a teacher to TSC for employment, then nothing in the current TSC interview guidelines can stop them.
To begin with, “unwanted” candidates will not be privy to the date scheduled for the interview despite having traveled hundreds of kilometers to submit the applications. And if they are lucky enough to attend such interviews they will normally be locked out on technicalities other than those stipulated by TSC. For instance, a board may deliberately tamper with the subject combinations or add something else that is totally strange to professionalism in order to favor their preferred candidate. Since unsuccessful applicants are unlikely to want to publicize the fact that they were discriminated against or launch a case in a court of law, this means that many applicants will have been discriminated against and will continue to be discriminated against with no legal protections.
Even if a teacher manages to get a job in such a school despite his or her gender, ethnicity or faith, their problems may not be over. School boards can, inter alia, decide to recommend to TSC on levels promotion on the basis of the ethnicity or faiths of teachers, meaning that there can be a de facto ban on senior posts for those from the wrong gender, ethnic or religious backgrounds. In such instances, rarely is performance considered as a factor in promotion.
Despite being aware of this anomaly, TSC has made no coherent or principled defense of this situation and it is therefore unsurprising that in most cases it endorses the decisions of the boards without as much as a query thus justifying the extent of discrimination allowed against teachers.
Eliminating malpractices in the teacher recruitment process is a simple solution that does not need high priced consultants or endless reinventions of the wheel. We already have in place the Ethnic Relations Act, therefore what remains is its enforcement that will put a stop to semi autonomous government agencies (SAGAs) such as TSC from continuing to operate in stark contrast with the expectations of the larger Kenyan populace.
The least we expect from the Government is for it to force TSC to ensure that school boards do not discriminate applicants based on gender, nepotism, ethnicity or religion in employment. In so doing, it will perhaps make teaching a profession that can draw enough qualified and competent applicants. After all, hiring the best teacher is the single most important school ingredient to a child's learning success.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Although many BOG`s will show that the decision to settle on a given candidate was legitimate, the reality is that this exercise is always clenched in the rigor mortis of gender, nepotism, ethnicity and religiosity. Even though TSC has time and again allayed fears that the process is insulated from any tampering; in reality, if an institution’s governing body decides to rate gender, nepotism, ethnicity or religious devotion higher than pure professionalism when recommending a teacher to TSC for employment, then nothing in the current TSC interview guidelines can stop them.
To begin with, “unwanted” candidates will not be privy to the date scheduled for the interview despite having traveled hundreds of kilometers to submit the applications. And if they are lucky enough to attend such interviews they will normally be locked out on technicalities other than those stipulated by TSC. For instance, a board may deliberately tamper with the subject combinations or add something else that is totally strange to professionalism in order to favor their preferred candidate. Since unsuccessful applicants are unlikely to want to publicize the fact that they were discriminated against or launch a case in a court of law, this means that many applicants will have been discriminated against and will continue to be discriminated against with no legal protections.
Even if a teacher manages to get a job in such a school despite his or her gender, ethnicity or faith, their problems may not be over. School boards can, inter alia, decide to recommend to TSC on levels promotion on the basis of the ethnicity or faiths of teachers, meaning that there can be a de facto ban on senior posts for those from the wrong gender, ethnic or religious backgrounds. In such instances, rarely is performance considered as a factor in promotion.
Despite being aware of this anomaly, TSC has made no coherent or principled defense of this situation and it is therefore unsurprising that in most cases it endorses the decisions of the boards without as much as a query thus justifying the extent of discrimination allowed against teachers.
Eliminating malpractices in the teacher recruitment process is a simple solution that does not need high priced consultants or endless reinventions of the wheel. We already have in place the Ethnic Relations Act, therefore what remains is its enforcement that will put a stop to semi autonomous government agencies (SAGAs) such as TSC from continuing to operate in stark contrast with the expectations of the larger Kenyan populace.
The least we expect from the Government is for it to force TSC to ensure that school boards do not discriminate applicants based on gender, nepotism, ethnicity or religion in employment. In so doing, it will perhaps make teaching a profession that can draw enough qualified and competent applicants. After all, hiring the best teacher is the single most important school ingredient to a child's learning success.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Sunday, March 14, 2010
YET ANOTHER IMPLICIT ATTEMPT AT MORALISING HORRENDOUS POLICE DEEDS.
We are all too familiar with the conventional wisdom that effective police officers are the key to a secure nation. Indeed over the past several decades, we have discovered much about effective policing practices and what a difference they can make when security officers employ them in ensuring the safety of the citizenry. With this discovery, we fervently hoped that police reforms will engender the effectiveness we all desire. Unfortunately, almost two years down the line, the reality is still shocking. Impunity is still one of the gravest problems affecting the police force, and one that needs to be urgently addressed.
Tragically, police officers are increasingly committing crimes (from cold murders, to common robberies, rape and torture) without having to face, much less suffer, any punishment. It would seem that the implicit approval of the morality of these crimes by the powers that be has made police officers to repeat ad nauseum these horrendous acts without fear.
It appears as though to many police officers, an effective officer is synonymous to a tough, mean, no nonsense man or woman, with more brawn than brain who has to murder many (albeit; innocent and defenseless) citizens and then hope to be feted for their valor. Adherence to the existing Professional Code of Conduct and Ethics for the police force as well as the Public Officer Ethics Act (2003) is immaterial given that they enjoy immunity from the powers that be.
It therefore does not come as a surprise to the public for the Minister for internal security and provincial administration alongside the police spokesman to spew cheap lies ad nauseum, to the public regarding the conduct of some criminal elements in the police force even when there is glaring evidence to suggest that they brazenly engage in extra judicial killings among many other forms of crime. Not once has the minister for internal security and the top police brass not hastened to dismiss as baseless lingering questions impinging negatively on the police force. They will do anything within their means including alluding to phantom Mungiki as a justification for their horrendous deeds.
Sadly, that is exactly the stance adopted by the Minister for Internal Security and the police spokes person, Erick Kiraithe, over last week’s shocking murder of the seven taxi operators in Kawangware. In their deliberate but satirical attempt at swaying public opinion from this substantive issue, they have for the umpteenth alleged that the murdered taxi drivers were suspected mungiki adherents armed with all sorts of weaponry (I guess what was missing from the scene of crime was the usual mungiki paraphernalia to tie the loose ends) thereby justifying the fact that the Administration police killed them in self defense.
On realizing that this line of thinking had become stale, they quickly switched to yet another familiar lie; that the officers suspected to have committed this heinous act had been interdicted pending investigations. Belatedly, they thought it prudent to add that the said officers had been arrested. These are tale tell signs of these cops being discreetly transferred to remote parts of this country to wait for the public acrimony to fizzle out before being promoted for a job well done!
If such unfortunate incidences go unpunished, then the public trust in the police force is likely to remain at an all time low. Currently, in the estimation of the public, many of the police officers are no different from a monkey with a loaded gun.
This is one reason why the much touted community policing program became a cropper. It is also the reason why the public still has serious doubts as to whether the Government is fully committed in implementing to the letter the much touted police reforms.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Tragically, police officers are increasingly committing crimes (from cold murders, to common robberies, rape and torture) without having to face, much less suffer, any punishment. It would seem that the implicit approval of the morality of these crimes by the powers that be has made police officers to repeat ad nauseum these horrendous acts without fear.
It appears as though to many police officers, an effective officer is synonymous to a tough, mean, no nonsense man or woman, with more brawn than brain who has to murder many (albeit; innocent and defenseless) citizens and then hope to be feted for their valor. Adherence to the existing Professional Code of Conduct and Ethics for the police force as well as the Public Officer Ethics Act (2003) is immaterial given that they enjoy immunity from the powers that be.
It therefore does not come as a surprise to the public for the Minister for internal security and provincial administration alongside the police spokesman to spew cheap lies ad nauseum, to the public regarding the conduct of some criminal elements in the police force even when there is glaring evidence to suggest that they brazenly engage in extra judicial killings among many other forms of crime. Not once has the minister for internal security and the top police brass not hastened to dismiss as baseless lingering questions impinging negatively on the police force. They will do anything within their means including alluding to phantom Mungiki as a justification for their horrendous deeds.
Sadly, that is exactly the stance adopted by the Minister for Internal Security and the police spokes person, Erick Kiraithe, over last week’s shocking murder of the seven taxi operators in Kawangware. In their deliberate but satirical attempt at swaying public opinion from this substantive issue, they have for the umpteenth alleged that the murdered taxi drivers were suspected mungiki adherents armed with all sorts of weaponry (I guess what was missing from the scene of crime was the usual mungiki paraphernalia to tie the loose ends) thereby justifying the fact that the Administration police killed them in self defense.
On realizing that this line of thinking had become stale, they quickly switched to yet another familiar lie; that the officers suspected to have committed this heinous act had been interdicted pending investigations. Belatedly, they thought it prudent to add that the said officers had been arrested. These are tale tell signs of these cops being discreetly transferred to remote parts of this country to wait for the public acrimony to fizzle out before being promoted for a job well done!
If such unfortunate incidences go unpunished, then the public trust in the police force is likely to remain at an all time low. Currently, in the estimation of the public, many of the police officers are no different from a monkey with a loaded gun.
This is one reason why the much touted community policing program became a cropper. It is also the reason why the public still has serious doubts as to whether the Government is fully committed in implementing to the letter the much touted police reforms.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Friday, March 12, 2010
RISING TEST SCORES IN KCSE NOT AN INDICATOR OF GREATER LEARNING BUT OF DECEPTION.
A rise in national examination performance leads most people to believe good things are happening in their schools. Not unreasonably, academicians, politicians and parents alike infer that students have learned more when performance goes up. However, this inference may be erroneous because there are numerous reasons why rising test scores in examinable subjects in national examinations such as KCSE may not necessarily be related to an increase in the quality of student learning.
When the performance suddenly skyrockets, we need to investigate whether the rise in test scores is a real indicator of greater learning or some form of deception. This is because deception and cheating in contemporary Kenyan culture has become a norm rather than an exception. This cultural shift makes it very difficult for one to interpret the test scores associated with KNEC and many other examination bodies in this country.
Ceteris paribus, if in 2008 KCSE examination, a certain national school performed extremely well in a given subject and in 2009, the school’s performance in the same subject fell drastically, it would be difficult for one not to admit that cheating could have been a standard operating procedure. Of course the argument that student characteristics are never the same from year to year does not hold any water given that such schools have almost the same teacher -student characteristics.
The second reason why performance may rise without a corresponding level of learning is when rote learning takes precedence of the teaching and learning process. Data from all over the country suggests that it is not uncommon for 60-80 school days per year to be spent in test-preparation. More and more MOCK examinations (albeit under different names) are administered. In this way, performance can be made to drastically improve without corresponding improvement in learning.
Such examinations expose students to the prospective test items. It goes without saying that familiarity with the objectives and the items on a test invariably results in increased test scores especially for schools that admit the crème de la crème. Given that KNEC uses on an annual basis same objectives, built to the same curriculum standards, and using many of the same items from one KCSE exam to the other, teachers, administrators and students, inevitably come to know what will be on the test. Consequently, test scores go up due to drilling. Under such circumstances authentic learning does not take place.
In other instances, teachers and administrators engage in unethical practices such as denying weak students from sitting the national examinations in their schools for fear of killing the school`s mean score. Students are dropped or pushed out of school, certain students are suspended, and some students are moved to other schools mid-year so their scores will not be counted.
Finally, the system of examination that is currently in use needs to be looked into if the country has to improve its measurement standards. True representation of students` abilities cannot be ascertained using a single examination in a four year period. This is because on any given day, in any curriculum area measured, dozens of influences could affect the scores of a student. The scores obtained on any one day may diverge a lot from the scores obtained on another day.
The solution therefore lies in having multiple observations from which we could take an average that might better characterize the typical score of students. The truth is that currently, we are a country that is extremely good at measuring the performance of athletes than of students in school.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
When the performance suddenly skyrockets, we need to investigate whether the rise in test scores is a real indicator of greater learning or some form of deception. This is because deception and cheating in contemporary Kenyan culture has become a norm rather than an exception. This cultural shift makes it very difficult for one to interpret the test scores associated with KNEC and many other examination bodies in this country.
Ceteris paribus, if in 2008 KCSE examination, a certain national school performed extremely well in a given subject and in 2009, the school’s performance in the same subject fell drastically, it would be difficult for one not to admit that cheating could have been a standard operating procedure. Of course the argument that student characteristics are never the same from year to year does not hold any water given that such schools have almost the same teacher -student characteristics.
The second reason why performance may rise without a corresponding level of learning is when rote learning takes precedence of the teaching and learning process. Data from all over the country suggests that it is not uncommon for 60-80 school days per year to be spent in test-preparation. More and more MOCK examinations (albeit under different names) are administered. In this way, performance can be made to drastically improve without corresponding improvement in learning.
Such examinations expose students to the prospective test items. It goes without saying that familiarity with the objectives and the items on a test invariably results in increased test scores especially for schools that admit the crème de la crème. Given that KNEC uses on an annual basis same objectives, built to the same curriculum standards, and using many of the same items from one KCSE exam to the other, teachers, administrators and students, inevitably come to know what will be on the test. Consequently, test scores go up due to drilling. Under such circumstances authentic learning does not take place.
In other instances, teachers and administrators engage in unethical practices such as denying weak students from sitting the national examinations in their schools for fear of killing the school`s mean score. Students are dropped or pushed out of school, certain students are suspended, and some students are moved to other schools mid-year so their scores will not be counted.
Finally, the system of examination that is currently in use needs to be looked into if the country has to improve its measurement standards. True representation of students` abilities cannot be ascertained using a single examination in a four year period. This is because on any given day, in any curriculum area measured, dozens of influences could affect the scores of a student. The scores obtained on any one day may diverge a lot from the scores obtained on another day.
The solution therefore lies in having multiple observations from which we could take an average that might better characterize the typical score of students. The truth is that currently, we are a country that is extremely good at measuring the performance of athletes than of students in school.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Saturday, March 6, 2010
PARTISANSHIP FORCES MINISTRY OF FINANCE TO NEW HEIGHTS OF FECKLESSNESS.
The departure from partisan politics is obligatory if this country has to steadily march towards its developmental goals. Indeed, impartiality is what we all demand for from all public servants. Unfortunately, in Kenya today, the propensity for public officers and especially cabinet ministers to engage in electioneering governance with a view to bolstering their political popularity and that of the political parties they are affiliated to ahead of the 2012 general election, is, sadly very high. They mistakenly think that theirs is a calling to self perpetuate themselves rather than in impartially serving Kenyans from all walks of life.
The Ministry of Finance in particular stands out as a splendid example of how partisanship underdetermines the country’s efforts to socio-economic development. Events in the last one year alone are indicative of a ministry whose actions and inactions point to an increasing disconnect between the language of politics and the actual problems bedeviling this country.
This is why for instance a year after the cabinet’s decision to revive the stalled Pan Paper Mills in Webuye Town , the minister for finance literally sat on the funds for over a year oblivious of the festering problems of the residents of Webuye, yet he was part and parcel of the cabinet meeting that arrived at that noble decision. Moreover, he never raised any objection with regard to the unavailability of finances.
In fact was it not for President Kibaki`s belated intervention, it is unlikely that these funds would have been ever released. One wonders whether the residents of Webuye are supposed to be all song and dance while profusely thanking the Finance Minister and the President for their philanthropic gesture when in fact it is their right as tax payers and citizens of this country to benefit from such public funds.
In another related incident, the minister sat pensively in parliament and supported parliament’s amendment to the Mau Task Force report that had already been endorsed by the cabinet. This unfortunate amendment sort to kowtow the government into compensating all title deed holders irrespective of whether such title deeds were fraudulently acquired or not. Not even once did he caution parliament of the enormous financial implications that would arise out of such a populist legislation. Later own the finance minister backtracked after belatedly sensing political backlash occasioned by the titleless Mau evictees. He realized the political wisdom in compensating the latter rather than the executive Mau squatters.
It behooves the intelligence of the conscientious public that a minister can, for political reasons, deliberately veto cabinet decisions or ensure that such decisions are steeped in messy ambiguities and discomforting contradictions so as not to be implemented. The net effect of such tampering is the crippling of noble ideas whose dividends would have had enormous triple down effect to the country’s fragile economy.
Not even during the Moi Era did the public get too cynical of the operations of the ministry of finance. This Ministry has never failed to disappoint. It tends to be sluggish in its work and supine in its conclusions. By its indulgent standards, the ministry has reached new heights (or is it lows) of fecklessness.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA,
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
The Ministry of Finance in particular stands out as a splendid example of how partisanship underdetermines the country’s efforts to socio-economic development. Events in the last one year alone are indicative of a ministry whose actions and inactions point to an increasing disconnect between the language of politics and the actual problems bedeviling this country.
This is why for instance a year after the cabinet’s decision to revive the stalled Pan Paper Mills in Webuye Town , the minister for finance literally sat on the funds for over a year oblivious of the festering problems of the residents of Webuye, yet he was part and parcel of the cabinet meeting that arrived at that noble decision. Moreover, he never raised any objection with regard to the unavailability of finances.
In fact was it not for President Kibaki`s belated intervention, it is unlikely that these funds would have been ever released. One wonders whether the residents of Webuye are supposed to be all song and dance while profusely thanking the Finance Minister and the President for their philanthropic gesture when in fact it is their right as tax payers and citizens of this country to benefit from such public funds.
In another related incident, the minister sat pensively in parliament and supported parliament’s amendment to the Mau Task Force report that had already been endorsed by the cabinet. This unfortunate amendment sort to kowtow the government into compensating all title deed holders irrespective of whether such title deeds were fraudulently acquired or not. Not even once did he caution parliament of the enormous financial implications that would arise out of such a populist legislation. Later own the finance minister backtracked after belatedly sensing political backlash occasioned by the titleless Mau evictees. He realized the political wisdom in compensating the latter rather than the executive Mau squatters.
It behooves the intelligence of the conscientious public that a minister can, for political reasons, deliberately veto cabinet decisions or ensure that such decisions are steeped in messy ambiguities and discomforting contradictions so as not to be implemented. The net effect of such tampering is the crippling of noble ideas whose dividends would have had enormous triple down effect to the country’s fragile economy.
Not even during the Moi Era did the public get too cynical of the operations of the ministry of finance. This Ministry has never failed to disappoint. It tends to be sluggish in its work and supine in its conclusions. By its indulgent standards, the ministry has reached new heights (or is it lows) of fecklessness.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA,
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Monday, March 1, 2010
COUNCIL OF ELDERS CLENCHED IN THE RIGOR MORTIS OF DEFUNCT ETHNIC IDEOLOGY.
In Kenya today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. They come in the form of the mushrooming councils of elders. They are the architects of hopelessness and ethnic sludge. Not long ago, they were respected by all and sundry. Their wise counsel was much sought after. However, something seems to have gone awry. Today, we bemoan the loss of moral integrity by councils of elders. They have increasingly become foot soldiers for the wealthy and influential.
Just a week ago, the larger Kenyan public was shocked to the core when a tiny and closed fraternity of wizened Kalenjin men, elected by no one, spewed diatribe in defense of “their own.” This was no doubt an assault on the public’s conscience. It raised for the umpteenth, issues of ethnic bias and pure arrogance that are slowly obliterating our country.
As expected, consternation ensued among the ethnically sensitive when these elders in their blinkered view of national issues brazenly maneuvered around the rules of morality to defend ambassador Kiplagat from allegations that have seriously dented his credibility. One wonders whether these elders were exhumed from deep down the bowels of the earth and are thus clenched in the rigor mortis of defunct ethnic ideology.
Indeed, when a council of elders elects to fight an individual’s credibility wars and even goes ahead to erroneously opine that the public’s ire against him is misplaced and that at best, it is a testament to the pacification of the entire Kalenjin community, then what ensues is a collision between the interests of the larger public and the nauseating interests of elders out to eke a living through connivance.
Apparently, these elders are less good at offering wise counsel but are extremely good at seeking favors from those financially endowed and would therefore not hesitate to fight against ideas whose dividends are extremely important to the well being of the country. Far from being the agents of healing and reconciliation, they have become architects of discord in the country. No wonder ethnicity is said to be currently worse than it was shortly before and after the post election violence.
If these elders are not issuing press statements to denounce the government’s move to evict those who have illegally settled in the Mau forest, they are busy whimpering about the victimization of the ministers implicated in graft. And now they do not mind the acrimonious relationship with the public in their quest to sanctify ambassador Kiplagat`s dark past.
We would be failing in our sacrosanct duties as patriotic citizens were we to allow these effete corps of impudent snobs to swim in the tide of lobbying cash and destroy our country’s moral fibres. Their behavior is as risky as it is irresponsible. Such skullduggery if not stopped would inevitably doom our country to gridlock.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Just a week ago, the larger Kenyan public was shocked to the core when a tiny and closed fraternity of wizened Kalenjin men, elected by no one, spewed diatribe in defense of “their own.” This was no doubt an assault on the public’s conscience. It raised for the umpteenth, issues of ethnic bias and pure arrogance that are slowly obliterating our country.
As expected, consternation ensued among the ethnically sensitive when these elders in their blinkered view of national issues brazenly maneuvered around the rules of morality to defend ambassador Kiplagat from allegations that have seriously dented his credibility. One wonders whether these elders were exhumed from deep down the bowels of the earth and are thus clenched in the rigor mortis of defunct ethnic ideology.
Indeed, when a council of elders elects to fight an individual’s credibility wars and even goes ahead to erroneously opine that the public’s ire against him is misplaced and that at best, it is a testament to the pacification of the entire Kalenjin community, then what ensues is a collision between the interests of the larger public and the nauseating interests of elders out to eke a living through connivance.
Apparently, these elders are less good at offering wise counsel but are extremely good at seeking favors from those financially endowed and would therefore not hesitate to fight against ideas whose dividends are extremely important to the well being of the country. Far from being the agents of healing and reconciliation, they have become architects of discord in the country. No wonder ethnicity is said to be currently worse than it was shortly before and after the post election violence.
If these elders are not issuing press statements to denounce the government’s move to evict those who have illegally settled in the Mau forest, they are busy whimpering about the victimization of the ministers implicated in graft. And now they do not mind the acrimonious relationship with the public in their quest to sanctify ambassador Kiplagat`s dark past.
We would be failing in our sacrosanct duties as patriotic citizens were we to allow these effete corps of impudent snobs to swim in the tide of lobbying cash and destroy our country’s moral fibres. Their behavior is as risky as it is irresponsible. Such skullduggery if not stopped would inevitably doom our country to gridlock.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
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