THE QUAIL BUSINESS: Another Pyramid Scheme & History Repeating Itself?

The Quail

The snide remarks now littering the social media in relation to the rearing of the fabled quail are not only unfortunate but a serious indictment on public institutions mandated by the law to protect people from ecological and economic harm. As a Certified Fraud Examiner I have often wondered why it is so easy to lure people in East Africa, particularly Kenyans into fraudulent; ponzi, pyramid and multi-level marketing schemes. Let us go back into history. In early April 2005 some ingenious fellows convinced farmers in Nyeri County that they had a ready market for Chameleons. The suave businessmen were armed with official documents certifying that they were fully licensed to trade in reptiles and other protected wild species. The farmers were urged to go into the coffee, tea and wild bushes and collect chameleons of all types, shapes and sizes with a promise that in late April the brokers would bring some foreigners (mzungus) to buy the reptiles at a price ranging between Ksh. 1200 to 1500 depending on size and colour. On the appointed day, farmers from Mukurwe-ini, Othaya and Tetu Constituencies flocked to Tambaya Market ready to sell their catch at a premium. The farmers had woken up very early so that they could sell their "produce" and return home to tend to their shambas. The usually busy horticultural produce market was literally turned into a reptilian market that day. At 6AM the price of one Chameleon was Sh. 1000, by 12.00PM Sh. 100 and by 6PM a mere Sh. 10; the foreign buyer had not turned up and the cunning brokers were long gone. At 7PM the chameleons were released to their natural habitat and the angry farmers, now counting their losses blocked the Mukurwe-ini –Nyeri and Gakindu-Othaya Roads for hours protesting at the Government for failing to protect them from the tricksters. The incident was widely reported by journalists who found the whole story more entertaining than sad!

In 2007 hundreds of pyramid schemes collapsed after fleecing innocent Kenyans millions of shillings. Whereas the Central Bank of Kenya had issued repeated warnings on the operations of those schemes, its managers feigned lack of statutory power to protect innocent people from the massive fraud. The fraudsters had scuttled banking law by registering as co-operative societies and thus operated as if they had official sanction. Victims of this fraud have never been compensated even after the government formed a commission of inquiry to investigate the scam. More recently in 2011, thousands of people from all over East Africa and beyond trooped to Loliondo village in northern Tanzania to partake of a cupful of the miracle cure from one Rev. Mwasapile, a retired Lutheran Church priest who has no medical training. Many people suffering from HIV Aids, Diabetes, hypertension, cancer and other chronic diseases abandoned their hospital beds and travelled to Loliondo to receive Babu’s miracle cure. By the time the government of Tanzania acted to stop this charade a lot of innocent people had died in the enduring queues at Loliondo or in their homes.

The road to Loliondo

Fast forward in 2013, the quail and its products have been cited as a panacea to all manner of chronic illnesses without any scientific backing. Even assuming that this is true nobody has carried out a study to establish the number of people who constantly need quail products for therapeutic purposes. If the main reason for consuming the quail is medicinal, then in the absence of an epidemic of chronic ailments, supply is bound to outstrip demand in the event of mass and uncontrolled production of the bird. Any prudent investor ought to know that it is consumer markets that sustain production. Despite the attractive prices, the initial market for quail and its products was not based on any consumptive demand. The market is unsustainable since the initial high demand was cyclical at best. It was driven by new entrants (producers) rather than consumers demanding quail products. The business has all the traits of a multi-level marketing or pyramid scheme. Arguments by the Kenya Wildlife Service that they are not responsible because they only license the farmers do not wash. KWS has experts who know that trade in protected wild species is lucrative because it is highly controlled and restricted. Such products are only sold to high-end customers in exclusive establishments, the kind of establishments which KWS licenses to deal in game meat. The quail is a wild bird and ought to be treated in the same way; KWS should restrict the production and distribution of its products. Unrestricted production of the bird and its products is bound to send the prices crushing down. My heart bleeds for the many innocent Kenyans who are now counting losses owing to this misadventure.

Travellers enroute to Loliondo.

Twitter: @DeCaptainCFE

FORM ONE SELECTION: IT IS TIME TO REVERSE THE QUOTA SYSTEM IN HIGH SCHOOL ADMISSION

High School Students in a Classroom

On 2^nd January 2014 the Ministry of Education released the Form One Selection Guidelines to be used for pupils who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 2013. The guidelines are still heavily steeped in favour of the Quota-System and have one major deficiency; the failure to appreciate the important role played by high school education in nation building and national cohesion. High School is a very critical stage in the life of every person. Most of the things people learn in High School stick in the mind; for life. It is in high school that a young Kenyan born and bred in Murang’a will most likely have his first encounter with people from the Turkana, Pokot, Teso, Orma/Wardei, Rendile, Borana and Kuria communities. Previously he will only have heard and read of these communities from history books. In high school he will also learn that Maragoli is not the name for all Abaluhya speakers; that Nandi is not synonymous with Kalenjin; that Meru people fall into several sub-groups and that whereas the Samburu and the Maasai share the Maa dialect, they have some innate differences. It is at that stage that he will get to know the importance of a separate prayer room for his classmates who are Muslims and also understand the reason why his Hindu classmates need to travel to the nearest town on certain days. High School teaches young people to appreciate and respect the religious, cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity in their country. They cultivate and acquire great life-time friends from virtually every corner of the country if not the world. Most of the biases and prejudices that affect their world view later in life are either acquired or shed off at this stage in life. And this is why we need to critically examine the Quota-system criteria in High School admission.

It is very likely that the most virulent tribalists in Parliament, Public Service, Public Universities, Private Sector and Social Media spent their formative years in District Schools and nondescript Provincial Schools where they hardly interacted with people from other ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. That is where their skills of propagating negative ethnicity were horned. Not even University/College education can change these bigots. But  we cannot don’t blame them; they are products of an ill conceived and poorly executed system which balkanizes young people into their villages and home districts, sometimes for life! Yes, we now have Universities in almost every district and somebody can even acquire a PhD without leaving his/her village or District! Add the reality of County Governments in the mix and you have a situation where some Kenyans can end up schooling and working in their home districts in their entire life-time. Such a scenario is not only possible, but is extremely dangerous to nation building and inimical to national cohesion.

Nyandarua High School Students

The Quota-system was drafted by policy makers at the Headquarters of the Ministry of education in the mid 1980s. Those old drafters of the Quota-System could hardly communicate in neutral English and/or Swahili and their public speeches were heavily accentuated by mother-tongue influence. They simply could not think outside the box! Our country is already paying a very heavy price in the form of wide-spread negative ethnicity all because of this policy.  We cannot continue applying Quota-System in High School admission and expect to eradicate negative ethnicity. In the past educationists and politicians used to blame former President Daniel T. Arap Moi for the quota system but it is now more than 10 years since he left office and nothing has changed. Interestingly although the Ministry of Education is now managed by new people; career educationists but the quota system remains. The new managers know that high school students’ own outlook and world view is greatly enriched by attending high school far away from their villages and having schoolmates from all parts of Kenya. They also know it is a shame that a Kenyan can now study in the village right from nursery school to university but are unwilling to use their positions of influence to change this “villagisation” policy.

Prof. Kaimenyi, Education Secretary

The “Digital” Government of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto should reverse this policy now and ensure that we revert back to the pre-1985 admission criteria. The system then ensured that all high schools admitted students from every part of Kenya. That a girl from Othaya could be admitted to Matuga Girls High School, a boy from Migori to Thika High School, a boy from Tinderet to Machakos High School and a boy from Chogoria to Kapsabet High School. This can start now, with the impending high school admission for 2014. Everything has a beginning. Aren’t we starting to give Primary 1 pupils lap-tops now? Let us kill the Quota-system too!

Twitter: @DeCaptainCFE