In my posting last week I confessed to having committed a criminal act –
and of course the desire is not so that I get arrested and jailed for 14 years,
but rather for the government to realize its error and remove the punitive
laws. In this post I continue with the same motif only this time, I elaborate
on what to do if the government does not prosecute me.
Health economists often talk of three components of efficiency in
health. These are technical efficiency, cost efficiency and allocative
efficiency. These three build on each other. Technical efficiency is about
producing maximum output from minimum quantity of inputs such as labor,
finances and technology. In health this would mean reaching the highest number
of consumers of health without having to increase the number of clinical staff
and facilities.
Cost efficiency on the other hand is about getting the greatest value
for money invested. It is about ensuring that the cost of inputs that produce
the maximum inputs are kept at the lowest they can be without reducing the
quality/value/utility of the outputs.
But it is Allocative efficiency that is of interest in this posting. Allocative
efficiency relates to the demand side of health. It is about providing goods and
services that are valued by the clients. In the context of Key Populations
(people constantly stigmatized and discriminated) it is about appreciating the
preferences and choices of health consumers. For Key Populations and the MSM in
particular, allocative efficiency is about contextualizing this health service
provision within the framework that appreciates the impact of criminalization.
As a tax payer in Kenya, I am also concerned of how efficient the
government uses the tax revenue that I contribute. Indeed, the question for me
is if the government does not efficiently use the tax revenue efficiently, how I
can legally not pay tax. People in jail, do not pay tax, rather they live off
the tax contributed by others – and as one who has been criminalized, this is
not an entirely unattractive option. Notice the desire is not to go to jail,
per se, but rather to refrain from being part of inefficient revenue allocative reprocesses.
Over and above the 30% tax on income charged on personal income, we
also pay 16% on all taxable goods and services at the point of purchase. For three
months now, I have collected all sales receipts with the intention of tracking
V.A.T charges and the amount is mind boggling. It is not entirely incorrect to
say that close to 46% of our personal income goes to the government coffers in
form of tax.
The question then for me, - and should be the same question for people
trivially and unnecessary criminalized like me, is whether we should continue
to fund, the government when its valuation of our contribution is in negative
terms – negative equity. Recall, by criminalizing the MSM and others, the
government values our contribution, is Kshs. 63, 875 that it would have to pay
to feed us in jail for one year multiplied over the term of the jail sentence.
Another way of evaluating my tax contribution to the Government of
Kenya is to view it through the lenses of one of the vision 2030 flagship
projects on social protection. This is the Cash Transfer Program. The
government has been giving Kshs. 2000 to certain categories of vulnerable
members of the society including the elderly, people living with disabilities and
orphans and vulnerable children – OVC. “Supposing” my average monthly tax contribution
is Kshs. 134,326, then I have been funding the cash transfer program, to the
tune of 67 families each month.
By jailing me, the state will not only lose my tax revenue contribution
but also will incur additional costs to feed and clothe me while in jail. My
criminalization is un-necessary, and it represents an inefficient use of
government health allocations especially those focusing on MSM HIV/AIDS needs.
If it takes going to jail to prove this point, (needless though it may be),
then that is what am prepared to do.
Since the director of public prosecutions has failed to reach out to
me, upon confessing my criminal acts, I will make the work even easier for him.
I will present myself with a sworn affidavit confessing this/these criminal
act(s). I will require of them to jail me as the law requires (and have me
living off other people’s tax revenue for a change) or decriminalize private
consensual adult sexuality – which by the way is in public health interest!
Lastly, what is the rationale/philosophy behind jailing
someone? Is it retributive – balancing the wrong that has been done
through punishment, or rehabilitative? Or is the reason to incapacitate and
prevent from further action? Whatever the case, anyone who thinks jailing gays
stops them from having gay sex, is living in a fools paradise.
