The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn - Alvin Toffler
Nairobi, Kenya
Joined October 2009
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Just did a speed test on my home fibre. Upload 115 Mbps. Download 1 Mbps Packet loss 75% @Safaricom_Care
The proposed Dangote petroleum refinery in Lamu has generated a lot of heat. Residents rightly want a say on land, compensation and the environment. But some activists and politicians argue that even the concept of a Sh2.2tn refinery should go to public participation. Should it?
Vox populi, vox Dei? Socrates also warned that open forums can reward the loudest, most persuasive or aggrieved voice over the soundest one. Participation reduced to a tally of opinions or a ritual of submissions can yield decisions that are popular today and costly tomorrow.
youtu.be/znGd3UC2oC4?si=GRm-… You can build the most beautiful roads in the world but what happens when users don't follow the rules and law enforcers don't enforce? Hardware without software is mere (shiny) decoration. Burkina Faso getting it right @NPSOfficial_KE @SpokespersonGoK
Long post alert. So the X algorithim gods sent this post my way. Reading it, I recall that in my Public Policy and Management postgrad class many years ago at @SOAS we examined something called Public Choice Theory (Buchanan, Tullock, Niskanen. @EACCKenya
Fui ler o paper do NBER que tá sacudindo Singapura. Pesquisadores de Stanford e Columbia usaram IA pra varrer TODAS as transações imobiliárias do país entre 1995 e 2019 e cruzaram com o cadastro de 141 mil servidores públicos.
Funcionários compravam imóveis perto de futuras estações de metrô 1-2 anos ANTES do anúncio oficial. 60% acima da taxa normal. Não pagavam mais caro na compra, mas revendiam com retorno de 12% ao ano. Os parentes faziam a mesma coisa. S$270 milhões no total.
Pra descartar que fossem só mais espertos, compararam com corretores de imóveis e diretores de empresa. Nenhum dos dois mostrou o mesmo padrão. Rodaram 1.000 simulações aleatórias e o efeito real ficou totalmente fora da distribuição.
Quem mais operava? Gerentes médios do planejamento de transporte. Cargo suficiente pra saber, baixo o bastante pra ninguém olhar.
Em 2012, Singapura apertou a fiscalização com novas leis e punição de casos de alto escalão. O padrão sumiu, dos funcionários e dos parentes.
Singapura é top 5 em transparência no mundo. Norma social sozinha não segurou.
fonte: NBER WP 35756
We focus a lot on top government officials, but note who acted in Singapore: officials senior enough to know, junior enough to escape scrutiny. That describes many of our county and ministry technocrats. For the idealists, the remedy is not more sermons and laws on integrity.
I casually remarked to a friend while watching the Springboks v All Blacks rugby test match at the Cape Town Stadium that our ROI Talanta arena was quite superior in comparison. He retorted that even if that was the case, ours was "the most expensive stadium in the world".
The Singapore Sports Hub cost USD 1.33b to build (2014) but with PPP financing costs it came to USD 1.87b (NPV). Others are Wembley, 2.4b, Tottenham, 1.7b. All figures adjusted to 2026. Talanta at USD 420m is expensive but is not an outlier. One last point on cost computation
As an update to this post, I once again last Sunday tested KRA officers at JKIA on the interpretation of Section 114 and the Fifth Schedule, Part B, Item 5 of the East African Community Customs Management Act (EACCMA) and their own guidance posted on their website.
@KRACare Your officers at JKIA charged me duty on a pair of bike lights worth less than $200. KRA’s own passenger clearance guidance allows a USD 2,000 concession applicable to goods for personal and/or household use. They claimed they were "spare parts" and therefore non-exempt
(increased by the EAC Council of Ministers from USD 500) per traveler, representing new items acquired outside the Partner States for personal or household use of the traveler, provided that: The passenger has attained the age of 18 years (applicable to spirits, wine, and tobacco