Sincerity and honesty are virtues. My name is Mbithi Muthini of San Francisco, CA. I finally joined the DUT effort with a selfish thought that it provided a good opportunity for my dream of retiring in Kenya in a planned community with amenities similar to what I experience in the US. The idea of an advanced medical facility reigned high in my calculations. The other attraction was a corruption free environment which can facilitate development and maintain a high quality of life.
As a background, I was well aware of this project in the 2015 era or so but had not joined. Dr. Endege presented this concept to another venture I was involved in as he was looking for partnerships. Subsequently, in the 2020’s another friend Bui Thuo was in contact and at that time I opted to join in. Listening in on the meetings I realized this was much bigger than my selfish retirement plan. This is a well thought out and sustainable project to benefit and set a high bar and a lasting legacy. This is when I learnt in deeper detail about Daktari. And I will focus on that aspect in this testimony.
Dr. Endege and Dr. Edagwa have presented severally to the forum. The gravity of the technology that they promote is groundbreaking and vital to any country in the world. The therapeutics they are developing and associated inventions should be the envy of the scientific community at large. These scientists are engaging molecular level treatments, the new frontier in medicinals to address unmet needs. Pharma in the US is interested in these technologies as you have heard. To think that our own scientists are at the forefront of such innovations is at the very least humbling. Transfer of this technology to Kenya and Africa is a significant milestone in the manufacturing development industry, locally.
I have since evolved my retirement views into full support of this venture to the end and I encourage people to appreciate what this can do and appreciate the position we will be in when the results of the effort are realized. Notwithstanding, I now understand the idea that Dan Kamau talks about ad nauseam of job creation, supporting these ventures is exactly that opportunity for us.
The design by Dr. David Ogoli of Riverside, CA is already completed. This is the opportunity we are going to build through investing. If my one investment of Ksh 200,000 reaches a return of 150,000 shillings as the company I’m part of creating produces the medicines that I may need as I continue to live; I will be getting my medicines paid for by my investment. Let’s grow the life expectancy in Kenya from 65 to over 75 by producing medicines.
Lastly I will mention the inadequacy of local scientists to move from academic research to applied science and why Daktari is well positioned to demystify this dilemma. My opinion is that support to industrialize is absent in the current local institutional structures and political will. Lack of the establishment commitment and corruption have played a huge part in debilitating progress. It’s easier to get tenders to buy technological products overseas than develop them locally so that someone can scheme from the top. This is true across the board and a major insanity. DUT is able to overcome this hurdle by providing the necessary tools through acquired knowledge in practical environments outside of the country that makes development of medical high technology possible with the sincerity of dedication that is not corrupted by selfishness and greed.
I cannot emphasize more than to ask you to consider the impact of developing our therapeutics locally, just like India etc have done and become powerhouses and no doubt contributed to jobs, income and progress to their countries. We must do it right here in Voi people!
Mbithi Muthini, California, USA mbithi@yahoo.com
