Content creator and digital skills enthusiast Elvis Warutumo has disclosed why he struck out government institutions from his list of potential clients, and let’s just say, it wasn’t because they lacked work.
Elvis, a website design expert, graphic designer, and trainer on AI and digital skills, opened up about painful, frustrating experiences that have left him bitter about working with the government. In his words, it’s not about the money, it’s about the system.
Culture of entitlement and inflated budgets
“The problem is not that the government lacks money. The problem is that too many people in government think they are the money,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
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He recalled being approached several times to design websites, manage platforms, or offer digital training. The red flag? What should be a straightforward Sh350,000 job often gets inflated to Sh2.5 million.
“The CEO wants to eat. The accountant must get his cut. The procurement guy wants ‘appreciation.’ The board needs sitting allowances. The finance officer wants 50K just to look at your invoice. And KRA is also waiting for their share,” Elvis explained.
He’s even been asked for a Sh250,000 bribe for a website management contract worth Sh60,000 per month over 8 months.
“Let that sink in,” he said.
Worse still is the inefficiency. Missed meetings. Endless waiting. And new “opportunities” that are just bait for more delays and more demands.
“You try to deliver, and now they’re asking you to type letters for them too. This is not work. This is a circus.”
Elvis says these experiences are why many young professionals lose hope in trying to build clean, honest businesses.
“We are breeding corruption through systems that reward gatekeepers instead of producers,” he said. “Tick-like behavior. Feeding on public funds. Choking opportunity. Killing innovation.”
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And so, despite the potential to cash in, Elvis is choosing a different path.
“You cannot build a functioning country when every invoice must be accompanied by ‘something small.’ You cannot digitize a nation when every website must first feed ten people before it loads,” he said.
Until reforms come, Elvis says his answer to government gigs remains a firm no.
“Because clean work deserves clean systems. And some of us would rather stay broke than be bought by filth.”
Why I turned away Sh 20 million deal: Agnes Kimani
Earlier, Bizna Kenya reported on the story of Agnes Kimani, who said she rejected a lucrative deal from a Kenyan Sacco.
According to the marketing consultant, she was contacted for a branding deal worth Sh 20 million, but a request made by the person who reached out made her bail out.
