Canned Wisdom IV

• “I have learnt to sit on my emotions”- Myselo

• “So what is a hunch? The ability to reach accurate conclusions with limited information? Some call it a sixth sense. Others say it’s a gut feeling. Most researchers prefer to label it intuition”

• People who eat natural foods die of natural causes

• A politician will always be there when he needs you

• If everyone else has a flu vaccination, you don’t need one

• Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment- Ian Walsh in interview

• “A person with great talents but without good manners is like someone with bags full of gold who has no small change for his daily needs”- H. Witvoet

• “The greatest right in the world is the right to be wrong”- Harry Weinberger

• “Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth”- Peter Ustinov

• “The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and works return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy”- Florence Scovel Shihn

Who is the Jogoo?

A recent Sunday Nation’s editorial got my attention with the quote that, “Fifty years ago, the typical image of a father in many traditional Kenyan societies was a sullen tyrant, never spoken to by a child or, heaven forbid, a woman, quietly counting his cows in his smoky hut. The modern Kenyan father is a guy who does his nails on Wednesdays, goes for anger therapy on Thursdays and governs through “family meetings” at which his daughters have as much say as anyone else and whose (lack of) authority is the worst kept secret of our times.”

The quotation reminded me of a friend from college days whose oft-repeated clarion call when dealing with the fair sex was that, “women have no place in our homestead”. I wonder how he fared in his endeavour to keep his homestead away from contamination.

It also brought to mind another friend whose only defense in the face of his “demanding” wife and daughter is the question-“who wears pants in this house?” The ladies usual answer is that even the house help does wear trousers and hence wearing trousers would not be equated to wearing any authority. My friend has retreated to meek whispers directed at he wife, out of his children’s earshot, with the rhetorical question; “who pees while standing in this house?”

Today, the man’s place in the family hierarchy is endangered. No one takes his authority seriously. He has become a doormat, a sofa to be sat on by all and sundry. All that talk about the head being superior to the neck is meant to hoodwink men into thinking that they are in charge. Even the oft-quoted phrase of women being the “weaker sex” is another gimmick engineered by the ladies to keep men imagining that they are the stronger gender. If you want to expose the ladies’ craving for power, watch them glee at the mention that they are the “power behind the throne” or the universal recognition that “behind every successful man there is a woman”.

So who carries real authority? Could it be the “stranger” Wanyoro, (wife to Riverwood comedian Machang’i), whom as the screen husband wonders aloud, can be so willing to drop her father’s name and adopt yours? The one who rushes out to join your siblings when a family photo of your brothers and sisters is called out!

At a recent seminar, an advocate of women’s power told us that women are not ordinary. You have to have some special powers if you can leave all that you are familiar with to cross borders, oceans, tribe, community, religious and language barriers to be with the one you love! You have to be strong. Very strong.

There is consensus over the years, and despite what the men may think, it’s an open secret out there that the “weaker” gender is not as feeble as many men are wont to imagine. I fully concur with the wise guys from days gone by that:-


“The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world”-WR Wallace

“Women run to extremes; they are either better or worse than men”-La Bruyere, Les Caracteres

“The female of the species is more deadly than the male”- Rudyard Kipling

“Women never reason, and therefore they are (comparatively) seldom wrong”- William Hazlitt

“Women are very pleased when you call them cruel”- PAC deBeaumerchais, The Barber of Seville

“Disguise our bondage as we will
‘Tis woman, woman, rules us still”
-Thomas Moore, Sovereign Woman

“We cannot all be masters”- Shakespeare, Othello I

Like a moth drawn to the certain death of a light, men continue to beat a path to the doors and hearts of our womenfolk, certain that the flirting lights camouflage a deadly fire that means physical and emotional harm. Aren’t all male caught in a quagmire. You cannot live with women and neither can you live without them! But hey, what would be the substitute?

“I think it can be stated without denial that no man ever saw a man he would be willing to marry if he were a woman”- George Gibbs, How to stay married

A Common Sense Approach To Life & Business

This morning I spent two hours tapping from the well of anectodal wisdom that is Mr. Yoshiyuki Sato, the MD of Kenya Nut Company, best known as the guys behind Macadamia nuts, Out of Africa brand of coffee and Aberdares tea brand. Mr. Sato was the guest speaker at the British Council's monthly Leadership Forum. "Personal Development: Critical Success Factors" was the subject, but he did more than that. Sato, who started and revolutionised the macadamia industry has a wicked sense of humor characterised by a self-effacing view of his abilities. But dont be fooled. Here is a man, who 33 years ago was able to convince the government that he could be the driver of the industry. According to a report he has co-authored with JGH Waithaka, his start-up, Kenya Nut was "appointed by the Kenya Government to spearhead and invest in the development of the macadamia nut industry in Kenya. The company immediately followed up the trees previously planted in the field totalling about 800,000, all but very few based on un-grafted materials, and encouraged owners to look after them and sell the nuts-in-shell to the Company. Simultaneously the company established a nursery to multiply specific selections previously introduced and locally selected so as to make available the essential planting materials. The Government intervention continued by way of getting bilateral aid from the Government of Japan to construct a macadamia nut research centre, equipment, transport and personnel for conducting research and providing extension services to growers. A training program was also drawn up for Kenyan scientists to relevant universities overseas to learn horticulture, pomology and related specialist subjects. The Kenya Nut Company has since 1975 been responsible for the commercial development of macadamia nut industry in Kenya by multiplying and supplying planting materials, based on selections from the research centre, to potential growers. The company purchases all the nuts-in-shell from growers, processes them and markets the kernels and other by products locally and internationally. The industry growth has been very slow due to financial constraints to meet planting material production according to demand. Research support from public sector i.e. the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute has been inadequate and a number of diseases and pests of the macadamia nut are causing economic damage. The industry is not threatened by this situation but its growth may be slowed even further. Recently other commercial participants have entered the macadamia nut industry by putting up small processing facilities but are not involved in crop development activities. Farmers needs for planting materials, husbandry knowledge and crop management on the farm are not being met fully because Kenya Nut Company has very limited resources for these aspects. It has spent over K.Shs. 600 million in developing very modern processing/manufacturing facilities, commands a world wide market and maintains a very efficient marketing system which could market much larger quantities than are available annually at present. Present Status: The Kenya macadamia nut industry is currently made of approximately 900,000 trees of varying ages from one year to 20 years, grown by over 100,000 small scale farmers with an average of 6 - 12 trees per grower. Annual production is about 4,000 metric tons of nuts-in-shell. These produce about 800 metric tons of marketable kernels, making the main commercial product. Other by products such as oil, are minimal. The future is bright because world demand could take over 20,000 metric tons of kernels per year. At the current price of K.Shs. 23/- per kg of nuts-in-shell the producers are getting Shs. 92 million per year." According to Sato, success is over-dramatised! You can learn more from failure than from success. One's critical success factor should be NOT TO FAIL! It is easier to learn why we fail, than why we succeed. Having come to Kenya to set up Toray (K) Ltd, a high-tech textile factory in Thika that was riding on the government's policy of import substitution, its failure ten years later taught him to start small and grow. He admires Julius Ceaser's management style built around the belief that if you put the right man in the right place, everybody is useful and more will be achieved. Ceaser succeeded because Romans trusted his vision and supported him. A leader must be clear about what kind of leader he wants to be. Having grown up in grinding poverty(had to eat grasshoppers for lunch) in post-war Japan, he drew six decade-long plans that would guide him:- Teens were driven by a desire to be in physical shape, 20s to set goals, 30s put in effort to achieve the goals, 40s await the results of the effort, 50s should develop based on the results and 60s to enjoy the fruits of his labour. Now in his late 60s, he is enjoying "bonus" years and looking forward to setting another six decades plan to see him to his 120 birthday. Cheekily, he hopes his wife can now allow him to have some girlfriends on the side! Widely travelled, he studied Urdu, Arabic, Persian, French and English in Toyko University. A book by Kwame Nkurumah motivated a desire to meet the author which saw him join Accra University and eventually meet most of the African independence leaders during a conference including Nkurumah, Nasser, Senghor, Balewa, etc. It was therefore natural for him to be sent by Toray to Kenya to start the textile factory. Today, his company employs 4000 and works with 50,000 farmers as suppliers. Kenya Nut is ranked as the No. 3 such factory in the world. For 20 years, the company did not pay any dividends and ploughed back all profits to development. His motivation was not profit, but growth and development. He has since diversified to cashew nuts, coffee and tea. Proud of their 3 year contract ot supply British Airways with in-flight snacks. His biggest regret is a failed venture in Brazil. He trusted his managers on the ground without any contracts. Though he wishes he could do business based on trust, common sense has taught him that you will burn your fingers if you trust people all the time. He should have put some contracts in place. In hindsightI. f you are guided by common sense he says you will be saved a lot of nonsense in your personal life as well as in business. Qoutable quotes Where there is a dream, there is a goal Where there is a goal, there is effort Where there is effort, there will be achievement. Its common sense he says. My take: Mr. Sato is more than you see. I believe he has some good lessons on how we can brand Kenyan agricultural products for markets out there. Close to four decades in Kenya should have earned him a place in one of the lately-in-vogue think tanks. His insight and experience is under utilised. I always associated Kenya Nut with local businessman Pius Ngugi, who is also associated with the local Volvo dealership, Esther Passaris and coffee plantations in Thika. The more you know, the more you dont......

Tusker

This is a forward I got the other day and thought it’s a creative way of expressing the admiration that Kenyans have for their favourite beer… Tusker Milele Baba yetu Uliye brewer Beer zako zitufikie,niitakayo unipatie Bei yake iwe hapa kwa bar kama huko AFCO utupe chupa zetu Za kila siku Utusamehe sisi walevi Kama tunavyosamehe wasiolewa Tusijenge keja mbali na bar, iwe karibu na butchery Kwa kuwa beer zote ni zako Na wines hata spirits, Milele,Milele na Tusker Amen

Crystal Ball on Kenyan Politics

Another forward on predictions… I don’t know the source, but makes some interesting reading. I know that not all predictions will come to pass, but I have a feeling one or two may just happen. We don’t have too long to wait ……………… Predictions Regarding Politics in Kenya. 1. Kibaki will run again for presidency. Despite all his efforts and the wishes of his kitchen cabinet, he will lose the December election by a wide margin. 2. KANU will re-emerge as a formidable force, as Kalonzo Musyoka runs as her torch bearer. 3. Prior to this, Kalonzo Musyoka will leave ODM-K with the excuse that the primaries were not democratic. 4 . Prior to this Raila Odinga will win the ODM-K primaries and run as her presidential candidate. 5. Prior to this, Uhuru Kenyatta and Nicholas Biwott will be reconciled by Daniel T. Moi, who will also prevail on them to woo Kalonzo back as the torch bearer. In real time, predictions 3 and 4 have already happened. (Remember that the only reason Kalonzo left KANU was due to the failed 'Uhuru Project.' Moi always believed that his tribe should not rule soon after his reign. For his own comfort, he tried Uhuru and there was disaster. Mudavadi is now a principled man, and will not go back to KANU. Indeed Kalonzo believed he could be president even before KANU swallowed 'Tractor.' Moi is still a master planner and has learned from his blunder. He has said "Kalonzo Tosha!" Uhuru has agreed. In calling the KANU delegates conference to converge in a few hours, UHURU is about to save his face, lest people conclude he never matured. It was assumed that he had become his own man when he disregarded Moi's advice and led KANU into ODM-K. 6. Ruto, Mudavadi, Balala will stay in ODM-K. Others more will stay. 7. Charity Ngilu and Paul Muite and others will join ODM-K and will not run for the presidency. 8. Raphael Tuju, Joseph Kamotho, Uhuru Kenyatta, Charity Ngilu and Musikari Kombo will not win elections in their constituencies. Muite will be the only one to win as an MP who is not pro Narc-K in Central province. 9. The sun will set on Kenya's 2nd president. He will not live to see how KANU fared in the next elections. 10. There will not be a clear winner in the December elections between Raila Odinga of ODM-K, and Kalonzo Musyoka of KANU. NARC-K will be a distant 3rd. unfortunately the decision will be made by the High Court of Kenya. 11. On the brighter side, Kenya will have her first Prime Minister next year. It will be a woman. (Her name was revealed to me but it is this part that is not clear) 12. Generally between June and August, the wildebeest congregate and prepare to cross the famous Grumeti River to enter Kenya's Masai Mara. Some do not make it. Likewise, the politicians are in a similar situation. The first defection has already taken place and benefitedNARC-K, the second DP. Most defections will not make an impact except one.There will be three more by next weekend.