Sunday, 06 April 2008

$1 Per Citizen, or One $100 Laptop Per Child


I hadn't put the governments salaries dollar terms, but saw the light when I did. The long and the short of it is that it amounts to about$30m (as in thirty million US of A dollars!) a year for a cabinet of 40 Kenyan ministers . I'm not sure that includes the P and the PM salaries. For a country of about 30 million people, that's like each Kenyan citizen is coughing up $1 a year to pay the cabinet. Or better still, for the the salaries of the 40 thieves, each Kenyan could be earning $1 a year. If we can afford this, surely why would we even need donations for 1 ($100) laptop per child? Not that Kenya is on the list of countries interested in it. Maybe that just doesn't fall within any 'steak ministry' .

Talking of which I finally saw it much debated about gadget. Its criticism notwithstanding, I thought it is a REALLY cool gadget, one that can get kids easily initiated into the computer culture and getting creative with it. Got me wondering what Kenyans in the Diaspora would think of if someone suggested that they get interested and donate the dollars, and in return decide where the laptop goes, like your village or former school? Lets not kid ourselves, we are so far behind the 'information age' curve that we need to do all we can to even feel like we will catch up some day.

5 comments:

Maua said...

I'm not one for accounts, but I tried to do the math, and... why do we have these thieves up there? What value do they add to the country apart from more corruption.

Organise, we follow. I'm for it.

Jobove - Reus said...

very good blog, congratulations
regard from Catalonia Spain
thank you

Anonymous said...

U guys have only 40 thieves: Read Ministers...Uganda has them in hundreds, counting each minister and his deputy then the various ministers of state...so I can safely say that our range is in the hundreds of millions of dolla$$.

Nice work.

As others swim in poverty.

Thanks for entertaining me at yo quarters Proud Kukiyu. I will be sure to return.

- Miss Cheri

Anonymous said...

Kikuyu*

Anonymous said...

it's quite frustrating how the P, PM and all ministers will shaft kenyans for the next 5 years...SHAME!!

on the laptops Kenyans in the diaspora should indeed donate their former schools - they will go a great deal in bridging the comp age gap for rural kenya.

nice blog.