The-Accountant-Jul-Aug-2017

Management
THE ILLUSION OF KNOWLEDGE
For lack of knowledge, we whine
By CPA June Kivinda, junenduku@gmail.com
Stella is a CPA (K); she wakes
up early on Thursday, January
5, 2017 to a very promising
day. She is about to experience
two events that will be turning
points in her life. Stella wants to further her
education by studying for an MSc degree
at the Kenya College of Accountancy
University (KCAU). She has set aside her
tuition fee for the first semester and she is
going to make the payment today.
After that Stella will proceed for an
interview to fill the vacant position of Chair
for the Audit Committee in the Board of
a certain organization. The interview is
being conducted by the National Gender
and Equality Commission (NGEC).
Two months later, Stella is whining
like an uncontrollable tractor. Why? She
realizes that she paid approximately Kshs
20,000 extra towards her tuition fee at
KCAU. She also missed the opportunity
to serve as Chair to the Audit Committee
by a whisker.
In both cases she stabbed herself on
the back because she had decided not to
gather knowledge on how an official letter
of good standing from the Institute of
Certified Public Accountants of Kenya
(ICPAK) is obtained and in which circles
it acts as a benefit.
KCAU required Stella to provide
an official letter of good standing from
ICPAK so as to enjoy a 20% discount
on tuition fees. She did not save
approximately Kshs20,000. NGEC
required Stella to provide the same letter
from the on-set but she never delivered
it. After the interview the scores showed
she had performed well but the letter was
lacking. Stella lost the opportunity to
Chair an Audit Committee in the Board
of a certain organization.
In life we lose/dodge countless
opportunities in our efforts to progress
because amongst other factors we are lazy.
We are lazy in our pursuit of knowledge
and pre-requisites for certain things to
happen. We then whine incessantly saying
that our organizations and/or country
does not give us an enabling environment
to prosper.
The manner in which we
whine
The perspective is that our government
does not do anything substantial for the
country while in power during a tenure of
5 years or 2 terms of 5 years. We whine
that we are qualified and key strategic
positions in our country are only given to
people from certain tribes. But do we meet
the pre-requisites of various institutions
as individuals like the example shared on
Stella’s experience with NGEC?
“We have terrible leaders in our
country”, we whine. “There are high levels
of corruption, the cost of living is high,
etc”, the whining continues. I challenge
the middle class; Are we familiar with the
dynamics of elections? Do we get involved
at the nominations levels? Do we vote?
“The cost of living is high”, we whine
incessantly. When environments that
encourage saving are availed to us, do
we exploit them? If Stella claimed her
20% discount on tuition fee from KCAU,
she would have saved Kshs 60,000 for 3
cumulative semesters in a year. This would
have been possible as a member of ICPAK
in good standing.
Some Areas of Knowledge
I have just shared how an official letter of
good standing from ICPAK is useful in
two scenarios. There are many more ways
to benefit as a member of ICPAK.
16 JULY - AUGUST 2017