David Ndii advises Gov’t on how it can benefit from his economic intelligence

Authors:

mary kulundu

August 13, 2018 1:01 PM

Is Ndii now willing to help the government out

Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) have been challenging renowned Economist David Ndii to offer his expertise to the Government.

Ndii, a fierce critic of the Jubilee regime, has always dismissed these suggestions describing such a move as selling his soul which he vehemently says he will not do.

"If I wanted a job in government, I’d have joined it a long time ago," he once responded to one of the suggestions.

In another tweet, he said: "I won’t sell my soul. I’ll go to Kamiti. I’ve bought that Tee Shirt."

On Sunday, however, Ndii advised the Government on how it could benefit from his economic intelligence.

Ndii proposed that the government can send officials to attend some of his lectures in a bid to learn and handle tragic matters affecting the economy of Kenya.

"I am everyday being hounded on this TL that because my economic predictions have come to pass, I have an obligation to advice or work with the government. They too can attend my lectures and read my papers," Ndii said.

He added that he learnt this from Indian economist and philosopher, Amartya Kumar Sen, who once dismissed a suggestion to work for the World Bank but instead instructed those seeking his knowledge to attend his lectures.

"Years ago I sat for lunch with Amartya Sen at my college and someone remarked that he should advise the World Bank. He retorted pithily that they were welcome to read his papers and attend his lectures.

"Sen was making the point that the vocation of academics/intellectuals is to generate and impart knowledge and should have no apologies for being so. It was for me a most liberating perspective," he said.

Last week, Treasury announced that it was looking for experts to advise the Government on how to handle a Sh5 trillion debt it has.

The first person most Kenyans online thought about was Ndii. Here are some of the tweets:

Authors:

mary kulundu