MAL 25/18 MAL25/18 | Page 27

Sustained The African onslaught on standards has been sustained. Our police too soon realized the folly of fidelity to law as lawyers and judges had a party with criminals. They joined the bandwagon, brokering justice on the streets. Unchecked imports took its toll on local manufacturing. The bodies charged with enforcing standards went to bed the highest bidder flooding the local market with counterfeits. Graveyard The multinationals, overwhelmed by the many rats nibbling at their market moved their production to friendlier nations. Our industrial area turned into an industrial grave yard and our Nation, one big supermarket for Chinese fakes. One-Man Guitar Under this onslaught, our formal sector shrunk and with it went formal jobs! Going it alone or one-man guitar became the rave. Even those in formal jobs started running side hustles. Ultimately, government; overwhelmed by youth unemployment also joined the bandwagon urging self-employment. Their new rallying call being "Jiajiri", a Kiswahili word for self employ. And to realize this far fetched dream, the government passed affirmative laws setting aside a portion of government tenders for the youth with a fund to boot. For the first time, the Kenyan youth had the opportunity to eat at the high table of tenders. Hencefo