How We Are Raped By Multinationals As Our Leaders Eat the Crumbs

Kenyans need to get outraged and raise some issues at the UN, the ICC and any other fora about the economic crimes committed by multinationals in this country and Africa in general. These economic crimes often mean African gavaments do not have money to feed their people or buy medicines, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths. In effect, this wanton looting amounts to crimes against humanity.

Just the other day, I read that Base Resources pays only Sh400 million to the exchequer for the extraction of base metals in Kwale. Then I read that Turkana Wind Power used corrupt/inept KPLC officials where the Kenyan power consumer could lose Sh700million a month by PAYING FOR POWER THAT WE DON’T CONSUME.

There is of course the weird arrangement where Safaricom has been paying ‘licence fees’ to Vodafone for nearly 20 years for the Mpesa software (over Sh3 billion yearly) so they don’t have to pay taxes on that or give it to shareholders).

I’ve just read this article on EABL and I want to boycott their products.


East African Breweries Limited has pegged a Sh11.4 billion loan from its parent firm Diageo Plc on the Kenya Bankers’ Reference Rate (KBRR) which was discontinued last year, putting the pricing of the debt in limbo.

The firm, listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange #ticker:NSE, says in its latest annual report for the financial year ended June 2017 that the loan attracted an interest charge of two percentage points above the KBRR.

The usage of the KBRR as a signalling rate was however discontinued by the Central Bank Kenya (CBK) in January this year after the signing into law of interest rate controls based on the Central Bank Rate (CBR).

The brewer in the previous year paid interest to Diageo, through the UK multinational’s subsidiary Diageo Finance Plc, at 1.5 percentage point above the 364-day T-bill rate.

“The related party loan issued in 2012 attracts variable interest rates at two per cent above Kenya Bankers’ Reference Rate (KBRR) (2016: 1.5 per cent above the 364 day Treasury Bill rate),” EABL said in the report.

Impact of new law

The brewer did not say what impact the KBRR’s suspension — in the middle of the financial year— had on the revised loan terms.

KBRR was last set at 8.9 per cent, indicating that the brewer was paying interest on the loan at 10.9 per cent in the review period.

While the banking sector regulator may have suspended KBRR for official use, non-bank private parties could adopt it to price credit among themselves since all the inputs are public information incorporating benchmark risk-free rates.

KBRR is computed as an average of the CBR and the two-month weighted moving average of the 91-day T-bill to capture the monetary policy stance and the minimum return respectively.

EABL took the Diageo loan in 2012 to regain full ownership of its subsidiary the Kenya Breweries Limited by buying out the 20 per cent stake held by rival SABMiller at the time.

Interest expense on the loan and other debt stood at Sh3.2 billion in the year ended June, dropping from Sh3.5 billion the year before.


In other words, to help repatriate/loot the money that is duly owed to the taxpayer and investors, EABL is setting its own borrowing rate with its parent company above the LEGAL LIMIT!

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It’s time we started our own local brands and kick out these international outfits.
Problem is the population is very slow and misinformed or ignorant .

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One thing i always give u,the grasp of issues and info.
I supply diageo and peeps like you make me feel the two sides.

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I totally agree. Another issue that need to be relooked at is the franchise fees by the multinationals to the local manufacturers/ retailers. The least charged is 8% on turnover while others charge 20% on FOB. This is reap off without a damn sweat!?

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I heard somewhere that Kenyans are paid less than peanuts for power transmission through their lands from Uganda. Yes I said hearsay. Ukweli?

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  1. People shouldn’t “need” to get outraged at everything. Life is sweet. Why get mad?
  2. In my opinion, it’s not the work of a government to feed and/or pay for its people’s medicine, but an individual’s. Kitambo, did our chiefs, kings, etc pay the medicineman for us? No. Food, maybe, during droughts, but not every day. Jitegemee.
    Story ya gauge ni complicated. If you wanna buy, buy. But don’t make it a national issue.

My 2 cents.

And why would the government struggle this hard to woo foreign investors if the same investors are reaping them off? Am I missing something here?

That has been the whole idea. Africa was/is seen as suppliers. It’s mercantilism-style philosophy; where one can only gain if another loses. We run back to them because we are not self reliant in expertise or skilled workers yet. In short, the ditch we are currently stuck in is beneficial to others. It’s profitable to foreign establishments that we don’t become self sufficient. My take.

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This is done under the watch of the so-called expatriate workers who take up top positions/ huge packages while[SIZE=16px] draining locals to do the marketing and strategies for them. Further they tie locals with fraud contracts under which monkey see monkey do is prohibited making it difficult for a market takeover. Kenyans must stand to their own brands… What happened to the brand Kenya initiative? French colonies are even worse… Look at the likes of Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso etc where coupes have been sponsored due to these kind of impasse. It’s shameful that instead of sponsoring revolutionary economies the middle class are worried of their 100x50ft blot at Ole Kejuado. [/SIZE]

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ACCEPT & MOVE ON.

Multinationals hold most countries by the balls.

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Uhuruto tano tena, ulipiga kura kazi yako imeisha ngoja tupangwe sasa

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You are not missing the point , you almost got it.
Government woos them and the selfish politicians strikes a deal to benefit himself or family , hence compromising on national interest .

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Not most countries, multinationals in most cases face hefty fines if they are caught stealing in developed countries, as a result they focus their stealing schemes on developing countries, particularly African countries where they can easily bribe government officials.

I am not trying to drag Uhuru`s name in the mud, but he was used and agreed to be used in the Anglo Leasing Scandal, all Kenyans knew that we were being robbed and he still went ahead and authorized the 6.8 billion anglo-leasing payments.

Son, my only consolation is that kunawale mimi pia ‘hupanga’ this way and that way, he he he he! Don’t ask.

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Kwanza palm oil farming and production by large multinationals has caused a lot of problems for Asian and African countries.

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The last time an African leader raised these issues at such fora, he was later dragged out of a roadside culvert and slaughtered by his own people, high on ‘Western Democracy’ but are now left wallowing in poverty while the white paymasters are pillaging their resources.
RIP Gadaffi.

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This sort of arrangement is what killed Orange Ke. Their local unit was paying ‘royalties’ to Orange France for using the Orange name and branding.

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And Sankara, and Lumumba, and Cabral…

I’m hoping Kagame will be alright.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfoDNFvOmeU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBFSb4Cp3T8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0dz8NHUMq0