Social networking: How to do it effectively!

“If it wasn’t for effective networking, I probably wouldn’t have started my business venture; neither would I have prospered,” I hold this statement true and important to me and mine.

In essence, networking is interacting with people to exchange information and develop contacts, especially to further one’s career and business referrals.

The world is not an island, you cannot have a thriving career or business without the help of others, which is where networking comes into place.

Do you know the impact that effective networking has on your career development? here is how to do it effectively;

1. Always be ready to network

Networking sessions shouldn’t be confined to arranged business meetings only, it can even be by the roadside as you wait for a cab, or as you catch a bus home.

Being mentally ready of the unseen opportunities surrounding all of us, one can meet their next big help. “Never assume the cab driver or the watchman, he could know someone who needs the type of service or the kind of qualifications that you have.”

2. Invest in your looks

Whoever you are and whatever you do, ensure you look the part. Ensure that whenever you go into a business meeting or a place you expect to meet people you make a good impression by dressing the part. Therefore, wear a good suit if the meeting is formal.

3. Always have your business cards

A business card says who you are, what you do and how you can be contacted. You may make a very good impression on people you meet during networking sessions, but if you’ve got no business cards, then you might become easily forgettable.

“A business card is especially essential when it comes to making the first communication after the initial meeting. This is because it mostly contains an email address which is the right way of contacting someone for the first time. On that note, do not call or WhatsApp a person you intend to pursue a professional relationship with at first, preferably, email them, unless they request you to call them,”

4. Don’t wait too long to contact them

How long should you take to contact a person you met through a networking session?
 “During the first 48 hours, after that, it communicates the message that, that person was not all that important. On the other hand, the person might have even forgotten you. To ensure you create a lasting impression, make the initial contact as soon as possible.”

5. Polish up your social media accounts

The easiest way of networking these days is through social media. Social media has made people who are in real life inaccessible, accessible. Therefore, if you are eyeing to establish a professional relationship with someone online, ensure your various profiles speak for you.

“The best way of doing this is ensuring you separate you accounts. For instance, if you choose Twitter and LinkedIn as platforms where you promote your brand – as an accountant, a journalist or a techie- ensure someone can see your passion in your field by scrolling through your profile. You can use other platforms, preferably using a different name, to show a different side of you.”

Kenya is not autocratic!

For you to be a celeb, do something weird and make sure the media is invited!

I have witnessed what we as a nation can do during adversity and as recently depicted by our politicians while serving as guest of the state. Then all the TV stations were talking about the Fish/Osuga that reunited them all! They are now celebs called "The Pangani Six"!

Now I turn the television to CNN and get trump with his usual bantering and abusing of everybody he does not like, a more forceful character reminding me of our own Moses Kuria.

Meanwhile Hillary of the Clinton's is making history and charming the big and mighty of the Land of opportunities! I think the gods and history are on her side, America is ready for a woman president.....but anything is no surprise in the kand of Obama!

I reflect back at the post election violence, the ICC cases, the massive corruption and all the government excesses, tribalism, nepotism,not to mention IEBC crinkum-crankum,then look at this politicians continuously politicking and as law abiding tax paying citizen start to wonder.Did we all migrate to some parallel dimension or have we won a lottery thus in cloud nine?

I find it weird that Kenyans are very forgetful almost like Lot's wife in the bible and are living in Sodom and Gomorrah nicknamed the garden of aden or better still Paradiso!!

Then it probes my mind into looking at the word democracy-*a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives*, its fascinating and does not reflect  our African nature.

As I continue my scan through news channels I and I, whatever that means, land on BBC and the British are doing their thing; call it Brexit or Bremin, sometimes its shocking the level of freedom these people have to chat their destiny, but deep down, yours truly know they have had their own struggles.

Then it pushes my mind into looking at the word autocracy-*a system of government by one person with absolute power*, and kaboom! I finally found home! We Africans cherish this system of government, so I ask my self why can't we have the same in Kenya? But then again am reminded of our progress and hope of reaching the middle class economy and I chillax!

I see what the Arabian gulf and Asian tigers are doing and am left with egg on my face. To imagine that 40 years ago these countries' GDP could not come close to Kenya's, is traumatizing to say the least. The transformation that they have had can best be described as a miracle. Or could we be dreaming? If so please wake me up, I want to taste if not see the reality.

A friend of mine in the middle of a story as we discussed politics which we tend to do very often indicated that we could be practicing as Kenya a system of plutocracy*government by the wealthy* and to some extent it looks more like it.

Imagine a Kenya where we do elections once in ten years, I long for such a Kenya. I see the way people get exhausted every five years after an election with the pettiness , tribalism , nepotism, corruption, electoral incompetence and malpractice. I honestly think as a nation we have way more important things than to politic every given chance. Its like everyday is a political rally day!

Judiciary in turmoil, everyone suing everyone, affidavits pon affidavits changing hands in the corridors of the judiciary! It will soon be difficult to present your case in court, but that's what make us unique, we are Kenyan like that. The land of Victor Wanyama and rugby sevens! We are the people who lent our son to the Americas! Human trafficking is real!

We demand respect from our leaders, we elected them to preserve and protect our sanctity, not demonstrate our barbarism in public.

A ten year one term presidential system of government will enable the holder of the office have humble time to implement his/her manifesto without constant guilt of time constraints and free of political interference or sideshows.
#Myfrustratedthoughts

Budgeting on debt?

Borrowing to pay debt is stupid!

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich’s 2016/17 Budget was, without doubt, a difficult balancing act between production and consumption. It can be summed up as a mix-and-match one – best defined as confusing, at least from the consumer perspective.

With less clarity on the well-intentioned objectives and targets, especially as weighed against an unconvincing ministry and agency allocations, it is no secret that the budget has a weak centre and linkage threads.

Ultimately, this implies that the budgetary allocations and spending priorities are not in consonance with budget objectives. Why? As a statement of government receipts and expenditures, Treasury has remained long on politically-correct expenditures while paying little or no attention on receipts and or cutting non-priority expenditures.

Indeed it is not obvious for a keen observer to see potential rapid and balanced economic growth, social justice and equality objectives within Mr Rotich’s budget. What is clear, however, is that it remains a ‘budget on debt’. That debt is not just about ordinary domestic and external borrowing. It is about the low impact, if any, of what previous ‘production-based’ budgets were able to offer in terms of tax relief.

As a country engulfed in huge debt (more than Sh3 trillion), declining foreign direct investments, surging unemployment rates and a pervading sense of hopelessness amongst the youth– failing to align the appropriations with public priority needs is a recipe for a financial meltdown.

Treasury has previously argued that today’s higher consumer taxes will enhance tomorrow’s productivity. It then followed that nearly all consumer foodstuffs, commodities and other key services became heavily taxed. Three years later, the government’s talk on austerity measures has remained just but that. Huge wastage remains the norm rather than the exception.

That Rotich has been the lucky and an un-interrupted occupant of the 14th floor Treasury Building corner office; it is time for Kenyans to ask salient questions. Has his economic growth vision fallen on its’ head or could he be a victim of bad politics? Whichever the answer, the ordinary Kenyan is feeling severe pinch from the high consumer prices whose net effect will be a shrinking spending power. Such an eventuality is a bad omen.

To claim, for instance, that higher taxes on the pro-poor and mass market product like kerosene would lower fuel adulteration is openly deceptive if not plain misleading. Truth is that government regulators, in this case the Energy Regulatory Commission, have the mandate and budget to address such challenges. To punish the consumer for sins of omission and or commission of a regulatory agency is not persuasive.

This question begs the rationale in which regulatory agencies like the Commission on Higher Education, National Environment Management Authority and National Construction have a leeway in imposing and adjusting regulatory fees. On this, it is fair to commend Treasury for singling out a few agencies. But it ought to be a policy across board that regulatory agencies’ fees ought to be subject to Parliamentary approval.

All said and done, Treasury’s move to hinge its budget on debt is akin to living outside its means. Living off public debt is the thrust of the budgetary quagmire the country finds itself. Again, adjusting taxes for excisable goods and services triggers a general rise in pricing. Subsequent inflation pushes up the cost of credit even higher.

This reality is made worse by the obvious domestic borrowing which is poised to address the various financing gaps. Banks will, as usual, make terms difficult for “Wanjiku” borrowers as they lay in wait to lend the risk-free government at higher rates. What is worrying is that many government ‘funds’ running into hundreds of billions are kept in the same banks, which would have been restricted to government-owned ones in the hope that they would reciprocate, by lending at a cheaper rate.

Putting higher tax premium on like motorcycles, food supplements, fuel, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages and cosmetics used by majority of the population, is a clear move to push up the cost of living.

The Jubilee administration pledge to lower the cost of living is far from being realised. With clear projections of higher cost of food, energy, transport and lower employment opportunities, Kenyans must brace for tough times ahead.

Considering that 2017 will be an election year, many investors are expected to hold back their investments. That way, market forces of supply and demand will not work in favour of the consumer. What is more, previous attempts to stem high level corruption in government are yet to bear fruits. Huge allocations to government agencies continue run into waste.

Why am mad at both Raila and Kenyatta!

Its self-defeating to keep fighting each other!

Just what on earth is happening in our country? It is nearly a year before the next elections and the ominous drumbeats are sounding loud.

Listening to all the hullaballoo about the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), one gets the feeling that it is all that matters to us.

That you fix IEBC and our entire problem will be gone. But is that the real problem? What lingers in my mind is whether 70 per cent of us got it all wrong in 2010.

Did we pass (by majority) a faulty document? Constitutions the world over are negotiated documents. It is a formal expression of the common good, the protector of our common interests.

Yet what I see now is that lingering threat of the elite taking over and imprinting their elitist interests over those of the entire citizenry. By that I mean both Jubilee and CORD.

Let me ask you, who do you think will run away with the common good? Come to think of it, the Committee of Experts, the team that drafted the 2010 Constitution, did very well.

It refused to be persuaded that the political class, the Church, civil society or even some of the most vocal commentators should have the last word on the nature and content of our Constitution.

Indeed, there was an agreement that our individual interests must yield to the greater collective interests of the 40 million Kenyans.

And that is why I must express my outrage at the attempt by politicians and their cohorts driving the debate about reforming the IEBC towards the highway of ethnic bigotry characterised by obstinacy.

Forget about the so-called Jubilee or CORD positions. I’ll tell you what; a mishandled electoral process can be too costly, as seen in 2007/08.
In fact, one of the lessons learnt after the 2007 elections is that despite regular elections, wretched injustices are routinely perpetuated by a corrupt and cruel elite who have constantly obstructed the search for a new political dispensation by disenfranchising the citizenry.

In their unbridled quest to retain (or capture) power at whatever cost, the ruling elite are aware that a pliant electoral body offers the best option.

Why steal the election when the results can be fixed for you (of course at a little cost? The answer to that was the incorporation of the electoral body in the Constitution.

The wisdom then was that this would act as a bulwark against interference from (obviously) the politicians.

And so we were happy. In fact, even their terms would, we thought, run concurrently with the electoral cycle. How clever? Matters got complicated with the July 2012 ruling that elections would be held in March and not August as had been assumed when constituting the IEBC.

So really, we know how we got it all wrong and instead of addressing that, we are busy chasing shadows.

I am not a prisoner of conspiracy theories, but I seem to think that at the centre of the tussle over the IEBC is the need to decide the outcome of next year’s election.

I cannot begrudge those feeling that the playing field is not level.
I learnt recently that racial domination is probably more tolerable than tribal domination.
Wars have been fought across Africa whenever it was felt that one tribal group was lording it over the other.

The 1994 Rwandan genocide pitting the Hutus against the Tutsi is a classical example. It is disheartening to witness the legal bumps erected so as not to create a consensus around the fate of the IEBC.

Or is this one of those convenient arguments put forward simply to fight off unpopular views?

Or the incessant push to have the legally-constituted body given the boot? Put another way, is it really that bad?

None of us could possibly answer that. And for that I suggest that we all look President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga in the eye and ask them to come clean and lead from the front.

Mr Kenyatta avers he swore to protect the Constitution and cannot therefore be the one to rip it apart. Mr Odinga swears he will bring people on the streets to secure his side’s interests. Who will blink first? Evidently, we (including them) are in a political quagmire.

They must take responsibility. The central objective of accountability is to remain faithful to the common good. Of what good is Mr Kenyatta’s insistence on fidelity to the Constitution or Mr Odinga’s intransigence?

Both must step forward with real effort and commitment to end the political turmoil that is staring at us. Those two must act quickly and courageously.

Every part of this nation is reeling from pain and hurt inflicted by ethnic chauvinists who stoke the embers of ethnic bigotry.

So Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga must take greater responsibility for our democracy. They have to sweep aside the old, divisive ideologies and stand up for Kenya.

This is their moment. They have the opportunity, the urgency, and the responsibility.

It is theirs to lose; if they prevaricate; if they equivocate, this opportunity may slip through their fingers. And our collective outrage will forever be with them.

Tax evasion could be legal!

The end game is....you pot the black ball!

Tax avoidance is the practice of exploiting loopholes in tax legislation in a tax jurisdiction to reduce the tax liability. Tax evasion on the other hand aims at reducing tax liability illegally. Tax evasion can also be distinguished from tax sheltering which is a blatant abuse of lacunas in tax laws to literally evade tax in such a way that little or no tax becomes due.

In the Bata Shoe Company case (2014), the court opined that since payment of tax is an involuntary obligation imposed by law, a taxpayer is not obliged to pay a single coin more than is due to the taxman and the taxman, on the other hand, is entitled to collect up to the last coin that is due from a taxpayer.
The enactment of the Tax Procedures Act (TPA) in Kenya in 2015, and the politics surrounding the infamous Panama Papers has ignited debate on the distinction between permissible and impermissible tax avoidance. This arises from the need to maintain an intricate balance between tax collection and the rights of a taxpayer to legitimately, and now, morally, minimise their tax liability which, as the court held in the Bata case, is an involuntary obligation. - source legal tax assistants online

Tax avoidance has all along been considered legal, and against long established legal tax tradition which emphasises the sanctity of the canon of certainty, and frowns against any attempts to impose a tax on the taxpayer without absolute clarity in the enabling legislation.

The position cemented is thus straight-forward: the taxman must be very clear on what they are taxing, how much, when it is due, who pays and at what time. This remains good law because of the commercial need for certainty in transactions. And this is where blanket criminalisation of tax avoidance schemes becomes problematic.

At 30 per cent, tax is the single largest expense on the accounts of most taxpayers. As such, it calls for strict certainty. Further, it makes commercial sense for companies to take measures to ensure that the taxman gets only the fair share due to him.

Rather than a blanket approach to criminalise all tax-avoidance measures, the State should deploy its executive and legislative power to comb the market and seal loopholes in the law.

This will ensure that all taxpayers contribute to the national kitty in proportion to the level of economic activity, and realise a desired end of distinguishing between permissible and impermissible tax-avoidance schemes.

After all, why generate income on Kenyan soil, Kenyan security and Kenyan people, yet not pay proportionately income tax on such income? By criminalising tax avoidance, KRA should expect a pushback challenging the legality of this application, because it gags companies from employing prudent tax-planning measures, or at least unreasonably limiting tax-efficient operating models.

For tax advisors, it is the proverbial Sword of Damocles because they are forever exposed to criminal liability should an honest and professional opinion be deemed to be a tax-avoidance scheme.

Whereas there are impressive ethical arguments in support of paying tax, these must not be confused with charity. Indeed, New Zealand courts have opined that moral precepts are not applicable to the interpretation of revenue statutes; there is no room for intendment, and there is no presumption so as to tax.The government is in business, so are the taxpayers.

This man Henry Rotich: The profile of the Cabinet Secretary Treasury!

The man has more lives than the proverbial cat!

Henry Rotich is perhaps the craftiest of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Cabinet secretaries, having weathered several

storms unscathed.

His name has featured in several financial controversies that have rocked the boat for the Jubilee administration.

From his inability to point key projects funded by the Eurobond billions, to the 2015 cash flow crisis and the National Youth Service (NYS) scam, the head of government purse has always picked his battles carefully.

The soft-spoken career economist, described in court papers as a high-flyer of the deputy president, also knows when to remain economical with the truth or to come out and face his accusers head-on

At the height of the Eurobond controversy, Mr Rotich took the unprecedented decision to invite Opposition leader Raila Odinga to his office to explain to him in person how the net proceeds of the Sh250 billion Eurobond loan was spent after repaying a syndicated loan.

Despite being the custodian of all Government assets and the man who without his signature no funds can be wired out of government accounts, he is yet to present to the public a list of the actual projects that the billions were sunk into more than half-a-year later.

Adan Harakhe, a former senior deputy director general at the NYS, sensationally entangled him in the scandal at the youth organisation after he claimed that an agent named as Ben, who was at the centre of the scam, was alleged to be Rotich’s point man.

But Rotich had denied knowing any of the companies involved and dismissed claims that Ben was his agent.

When things become too tough, the Harvard University scholar chooses to keep off.

For instance, at the height of the controversial payments of the Anglo Leasing billions, Rotich kept journalists waiting at the Treasury Buildings for more than three hours only to call off the meeting.

He may have escaped scrutiny on this front, but he may not distance himself from the gaps in managing the economy and the gaps in the budget.

Rotich stands accused of presenting impossible targets to the taxman on revenue collections to fund the ballooning budget.

His projections on the economy have also always fallen off the mark due to what Parliament terms as “a systematic overestimation of revenue”.

Parliament’s budget experts have also accused Rotich of presenting spending plans that lack evidence of sufficient public participation. They also say that his revenue projections are racing too far ahead for the economy to support.

Over the last four years, real revenue collections grew at a modest 14 per cent while technocrats at the Treasury Buildings believed that revenues would grow at 23 per cent, invariably contributing to rising fiscal deficits and borrowing.

Latest revenue statement from the Treasury shows the taxman had raised a total of Sh888 billion in tax revenue by end of April against a target of Sh1.2 trillion.

To meet the target, the taxman will be required to collect more than Sh327 billion by end of June. This is a long call under the current tax collection record.

His ministry is also expected to ensure that the youth have access a third of Government tenders, but several departments are yet to implement this directive in full.

He is also unable to come up with a bankable debt reduction strategy for the country in what has seen legislators accuse him of treating debt as a moving target.

The latest report by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has termed the Government’s strategy to reduce public debt under Rotich “worrisome”.

The Government plans to borrow Sh689 billion in the new financial year to plug the deficit in the Sh2.27 trillion budget. This is more than half the amount of money KRA has been able to collect this year.

Uhuru’s government has already borrowed more in three years than what Kibaki did in his last five years in office.

This could become worse by the fact that Rotich was unable to keep the Government within the approved expenditure ceilings.

In the new budget, the national government overshot the budget ceiling by Sh139 billion, exposing the country to more debt.

Contractors under the Jubilee administration have also accused the Government of significant delays in payments after going for over six months at one point last year without pay.

The Central Bank of Kenya has come to Rotich’s aid in dealing with inflation after the new governor was left to employ only monetary policy tools to rein in inflation.

Companies at the Nairobi Securities Exchange are yet to recover from the 2015 bleeding that saw them lose over Sh250 billion in their value last year, taking a direct hit from the turbulence in the economy.

But it is the servicing of the growing public debt that is the biggest headache for the soft-spoken cabinet secretary given that he has to balance between prompt repayments of the huge debt and meeting other pressing needs at home.

Budget 2016/17: Hard times ahead!

Kuna kujwa! 

Kenyans should expect fresh taxation pain as the Government plans to borrow heavily and raise taxes in the new financial year to finance the Sh2.27 trillion budget.
Details of the actual taxation plan will be revealed today when National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich will read his fourth budget statement that will guide the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in collecting Sh1.5 trillion in the new financial year.

In the proposed budget, the Government plans to borrow Sh775 billion from both the domestic and international markets. A poll by Ipsos released yesterday, however, showed that majority of Kenyans are agains new taxation and instead want the Government to raise cash from elswhere— borrow from foreign or domestic markets.

Beer, cigarettes, motor vehicles and luxury items, alongside emerging sectors such as gambling, are the easy targets for the Government to raid taxpayers to raise its revenue. Property sales, banking and money transfer services are also possible targets.

To finance this year’s budget, the Government increased prices of basic commodities after it introduced Value Added Tax (TAX), a consumption tax that is levied on products at every point of sale.

Other possible targets include landlords and traders in the informal sector who have resisted previous attempts to bring them to the tax bracket.

About 1,000 landlords had taken up the amnesty by KRA and volunteered to pay taxes in the first nine months of this year, a far cry from the 20,000 landlords the taxman was targetting in the nationwide campaign.

This means that the Treasury will have to devise new measures to go after landlords in today’s budget.

The Balancing act:

Mr Rotich will be walking a tightrope as he finds creative ways of raising the additional revenue needed to pay for the goodies the Government will dish out in the new financial year without falling out with the voting taxpayer.

The Jubilee administration has just about 14 months left in its last term of office, making the new budget its last kick in fulfilling its election promises.

The Treasury has already signalled an increase in taxation after it increased the taxman’s target by Sh300 billion in the new year that starts next month. KRA will now be expected to collect Sh1.5trillion, a 25 per cent increase from the Sh1.2 trillion this year.

Already the taxman is struggling to meet the current targets. KRA needed to collect Sh327 billion between April and end of June, a near impossible fete given its previous record.

The profit warnings and freezes in employment have made it harder for the taxman to raise new taxes.

The funding of the budget which will see the bulk of the billions spent on security, education and infrastructure for the third year running.

Kenyans should also expect their debt burden to rise one more time after the State indicated that it would continue with its borrowing spree to fund the growing budget deficit.

The Sh770 billion budget deficit will be financed by borrowing and grants.

Although the borrowing has been supported by the fact that most of the debts are being sunk into infrastructure, budget experts advising Parliament have accused the Government of lacking a proper policy on reducing debt.

The Parliamentary Budget Office, in its report that analysed today’s budget proposals, cautioned that even though borrowing is being used for development expenditure, the investment must be able to yield returns that far outweigh the cost of the loans.

“Is Kenya’s public investment producing assets? Over the period 2002/03-2014/15, the allocation towards development grew by 29 times in nominal terms. However, the rate of completion of projects has been very low,” the report notes.

It is estimated that as of June 2015, there were more than 1,000 projects which were classified as ongoing.

The estimated cost to complete these projects is estimated at Sh3 trillion.

It notes that in a country where cost overruns in project implementation is inevitable, it means the overall completion costs for these projects will be eventually be more than Sh3 trillion.

“The level of deficit shows direction of the country’s fiscal policy. If the set targets are continuously flouted, then predictability of the budget is compromised and effectiveness of the country’s deficit policies is diluted,” the Parliamentary Budget Office said in its analysis of today’s budget.