The elusive confluence between economics & politics for the Kenyan citizen

Politics, interests, power and influence

The obvious fact that seems to elude most of us as citizens is that politics is a game of interest. Politicians have vested interest in the game; and their interest is to access power. However, power is not the end goal. The ultimate objective is always to have influence over who accesses and exploits economic resources within a given jurisdiction for their own benefit.

Ideally, we should live in a society where the elected leaders are responsible and perform their duties in accordance to their job descriptions. In this ideal society, leaders use their positions of influence to ensure that economic resources within their given jurisdictions are accessed, exploited and distributed equitably for shared growth and development.

CHAI MOTO HOTEL: Is the investor perspective out of touch with reality?

A couple of weeks ago I was having a conversation with one of my friends within the entrepreneurship support ecosystem in Nairobi; and he gave me a story that I found fascinating.

Once upon a cup of hot tea..

30 years ago, he was a small boy growing up in a village somewhere around the Meru region in Kenya. His mother used to take him out once in a while to go shopping at the nearby shopping center; so that he could help her carry the shopping back home. During those shopping trips they would get into a nearby local restaurant to have lunch before embarking on their journey back home.

The restaurant was owned by a local business man with its name written on its wall in red capital letters “CHAI MOTO HOTEL”; which when translated to English mean “HOT TEA HOTEL”. My friend grew seeing the restaurant all through his primary and high school life until he left to come to the big city for his university studies. Fast forward, today my friend lives in the big city of Nairobi and he rarely visits his rural home due to his busy schedules. When he does go back home, his time is all spent catching up with his family; and in no time he boards his car and drives back to the city.