>From: "KYMS Stockholm" <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: How IMF/World Bank Rules Kenya >Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 06:06:17 PDT > >Network Africa > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >HARAKATI ISSUE NO. 6 (OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1999) >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >CONTENTS: > >-HOW IMF AND WORLD BANK RULES KENYA >-KENYA: THE POLITICS OF DEVIL WORSHIPPING AND THE TRUTH >-SECRETIVE LUO ELITE GROUP IN EUROPE EXPOSED > >website: http://www.angelfire.com/ky/kyms/harakati4.html > >For an e-mail version of HARAKATI , send mail to: [log in to unmask] > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >KENYA: HOW IMF AND WORLD BANK RULES KENYA >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank are economic and >political weapons used by American and British imperialism to gain economic >and political control of ex-colonial countries across the world. The >Bretton >Woods institutions continue to wreck havoc in the lives of millions of poor >Kenyans as the Moi Dictatorship becomes even more dependent on IMF/World >Bank loans to maintain public services that have not yet collapsed due to >corruption and mismanagement of the economy. > >Through the "Public Expenditure Review", the world Bank supervises the >privatisation of State enterprises, the composition of public expenditure >and the structure of public investments in Kenya. Agreements with the IMF >helps in destroying Kenyan currency through devaluations, taking control of >the Central Bank, dismissal of public employees and collapse of State >investments. Since the IMF control development expenditure, it dictates how >Kenya is to develop. Under the Public Investment Programme, all project >loans are disbursed through an agreed system of "competitive bidding" which >ensures that public works projects are undertaken through international >engineering firms. The overall management of the aid package is put on the >hands of international consultants who earn huge amounts of money even in >fields in which they know nothing. Kenyans competent enough to work in >these >fields are denied opportunities while those in employment are retrenched >through various "cost-cutting" programmes. > >Under the Civil Service Reform Medium Term Strategy, 1998-2001 supervised >by >the IMF/World Bank and British imperialism, 126, 127 teachers and civil >servants will be retrenched or forced into early retirement with enormous >consequences to the families of the affected workers. Britain has accepted >to pay Ksh 13.72 billion (30% of the cost) towards the retrenchment plan >while IMF will foot the balance. Out of the affected civil servants, 31,680 >will be sacked through abolition of office due to privatisation, >contracting >out of services and early retirement schemes. Unfortunately, the affected >workers are unorganised and therefore unable to fight back. In return for >the down sizing of the civil service, the IMF has accepted to review the >Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (Esaf) of 205 million dollars which >was suspended in July 1997 due to corruption and mismanagement by the Moi >dictatorship. > >As part of the privatisation programme, the Giant Kenya Posts and >Telecommunication Corporation (KPTC) was split into Telcom Kenya and Postal >Corporation of Kenya. Out of the 20,600 workers that were deployed to work >for Telcom, 80% are faced with the prospect of losing their jobs because >they are not involved in Telcom's "core business". As workers in the >telecommunications sector are being retrenched, the cost of phone calls and >postal services have all gone up, sparking public debate about the logic >behind privatisation. > >Out of the 13,327 non academic staff employed in Kenya's public >universities, 3,270 are facing retrenchment in the next two years. The >first >face of this retrenchment is expected to be complete by June next year. In >January this year, Mr. Samson Akute, the Permanent Secretary in the >Ministry >of Public works, announced that 6,000 workers in the Ministry would be >retrenched in 1999 thereby reducing the Ministry's work-force by 40%. >Already, 7,000 workers from the same Ministry have been retrenched under >the >Early Retirement Scheme (Golden handshake). > >In almost all the privatisation schemes proposed by IMF, workers and the >poor are the losers while big business are the winners. According to Mr. >George Mitime, the Permanent secretary in charge of privatisations, the >purpose of privatisations "was to give Kenyans what the government >previously held in trusts". In reality, Kenyans have no capital to purchase >State enterprises being privatised. What has happened is that the most >profitable State corporations have all been taken over by foreign capital >or >joint ventures in exchange for debts from IMF and World Bank. Kenya Power >and Lightning Company, a state enterprise that raked in Ksh 1.2 billion in >profits last year, has been earmarked for privatisation. The highly >profitable Kenya Airways has already been privatised while other >institutions in the privatisation list are Kenya Re-insurance Corporation, >Kenya Ports Authority and Kenya Railways. More than 52 State enterprises >have been privatised. Liberalisation of capital movements as demanded by >IMF >enables multinational companies to freely repatriate profits in foreign >exchange from privatised institutions. > >Using the politics of liberalisation, the IMF/World Bank has wrestled >political and economic power out of the hands of the KANU State, opening >the >way for imperialist dictates, super-exploitation of Kenyans and the taking >over of Kenya's economic planning. Clear evidence of how the Bretton Woods >institutions rules Kenya through the back door was revealed recently when >Dictator Moi was forced into appointing Dr. Richard Leaky, an imperialist >ally, as Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet. Moi received >the orders after he was summoned to Britain to meet IMF/World officials. >Weeks later, the Dictator was forced into "down-sizing" his cabinet from 27 >Ministries to 15 as a condition for aid. Feeling embarrassed, the Dictaor >rebuffed his superiors by obeying the orders but maintaining his Ministers >in a cosmetic reshuffle that was widely condemned by the church and the >opposition. > >KYMS is not just challenging the recolonisation of Kenya through IMF/World >Bank but is also providing political explanations why the politics of >economic aid should be abandoned in favour of a democratic planned economic >system of government that will be free from foreign control and >manipulation. Churches, Human Rights groups, Kenyan opposition and Kenyan >organisations abroad have continued to appeal to IMF/World to help in the >democratisation process of Kenya by writing to imperialist institutions to >withhold aid to Dictator Moi's government. Numerous letters of appeal have >been written to IMF and World Bank asking them to freeze loans as a way of >forcing Moi to end corruption and human rights violations. > >This is clear evidence that organisations and groups backing "good >governance" as a condition for loan agreements have not understood that >trade liberalisation proposed by IMF/World Bank simply worsens the balance >of payment crisis through the replacement of domestic production with cheap >imports. The nature of economic reforms required under IMF agreements >militates against democratisation because they dismantle social sectors and >reverse progress made during the post colonial period, creating room for >social explosions. Under IMF programmes, Kenyans have seen an increased >level of urban and rural poverty and a reduced capacity of people to pay >for >health and educational services under the "cost sharing system" introduced >by IMF. To maintain the austerity measures under the reform programme, an >authoritarian dictatorship needs to be in place to suppress the struggles >of >sacked workers and to contain social movements seeking to change the >situation. The IMF hides profits it makes from Kenya by constantly lending >more thereby helping make Kenya's debt burden even heavier and to pillage >the country's resources. > >KYMS believes that the IMF/World Bank programmes should be abolished >because >they are instruments of neo-colonialism, economic blackmail and terror >against Kenyans. Through numerous strike actions in 1999 alone, the working >class has shown that it is gaining the willingness to fight. Kenyans are >looking for serious plans for action and with a national leadership >prepared >to spell out clearly what is to be done and how the struggle is to proceed. >The masses have to be imbued with a new political spirit while the >revolutionary wing of the opposition has to strengthen itself for a new >political advance. It is this coming period that KYMS is preparing for. >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >The rest of the stories are available at KYMS website: > >For subscription of hard copy of HARAKATI, send mail to: > >Kenya Youth movement in Sweden (KYMS) >Subscription Dept., >Box 374 123 03 Farsta, Sweden >or send mail to: [log in to unmask] >-------------------------------------------------------------------- > >http://www.angelfire.com/ky/kyms/harakati4.html >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > > > >______________________________________________________ >Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [log in to unmask] >Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/ > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------