Its a roller coaster

I think lately am on a roller coaster. Just last week i was reading all the good stories and even blogged on it. but now this week starts with all the sad stories. I first of all read about the unbelievable human situation in Zimbabwe. I did not believe what the writer was talking about. that bread costs what? about 2000/= and a kilo of lemon goes for just over 4000/=. i never wanted to believe that until i watched the story on CNBC Africa. They said the inflation rate in that sorry country is upwards of 100,000 meaning that cost of production is anything you can easily guess. yet as he did with the currency, mugabe has set an 'official' price for all commodities. any one selling above this price limit is liable to imprisonment. so the poor business people are forced to sell their produce at a price below the cost of production. i cant believe it, or maybe i don't want to even imagine the situation down there. what baffles me ever more is that in spite of this, mugabe enjoys overwhelming support in zimbabwe. Kwani what is wrong with us Africans!!!

and only in the evening, was i to discover that the Zim story was just a preparation for more bad news. that back home the two 'principals' of our peace agreement could not agree on how to share their wealth (read our money) one wanted 44 ministries complete with two assistants each, permanent secretaries and their under-secretaries. each of the above with 2 or 3 armed body guards! meaning in essence that of the 210 elected men and women in the 10th parliament, 132 would have ministerial duties in one way or another. some portfolios include minister for Nairobi, minister for fish, minister for beef!

it just reminds me of a true story told to me by a friend. Her uncle was in a dug out canoe with 12 other men on lake Victoria. the uncle was a perfect swimmer. when they were in the 'middle of the lake' (chuny nam) a storm started and the boat capsized. the man quickly put his swimming skills to use to try and save his life. unfortunately all the other 12 could not swim and instead hang on him. one holding his upper arm, another his lower arm, his legs, waist and even some people climbing on his back. the poor man drowned with all those 12 people. when they were found, they were all clutching onto him in one way or another. Just what we do in Africa, no one wants to create but every one wants to consume!

but what do we make of ODMs recent outburst on safaricom IPO? treat it with the contempt it deserves. These guys are telling us that we must wait for the coast to be clear before we can pounce. the world is imperfect as it is and anyone who waits for hidden owners to be revealed before making a plunge onto safaricom will have himself for a consoler. my thinking is this: i dont care if that phantom shareholder makes 10billion or 20 billion or whatever there is for such people to make. What matters to me is that this is a great company and will continue to grow.