Well, SiMBA KALI, that's exactly the point:
As you said yourself: Kitu Kidogo always does the trick. So tell me, why should I then buy a passport at Nyayo house, when I might as well buy a manager at KQ? Thing is: I refuse to take part in that sort of thing. Anybody with some backbone should, and certainly a responsible pilot must also have the guts to draw a morale limit.
I want to be a pilot for my favorite airline in my beloved country. But not like that. KQ should take me because I'm good and because I'm experienced and loyal. Not, repeat NOT because I'm a rich mzungu!
As for those 206-drivers flying miraa around the country: Sorry for them if they are forced to take that sort of job. But as a TRI I tell you that those guys have had it anyway. A former bush-pilot, who has been in the GA for too long (with 500 hours flying 5Y-cessnas as a hobby over the last 16 years I saw A LOT of bad stuff at HKNW) will never make a good airline pilot again. The attitude and the way of doing things of these "cowboys" is not suitable.
For sure they know how to land a plane on a short runway, but they find it hard to get back to SOP's, to study manuals, and to rely on instructions instead of instincts (the other day I had a verbal fight with a student who refused to accept a go-around from an unstable approach, saying "but I could have made it!").
No, there are thousands of pilots available, many of them professional pilots in the field they work in (for MAF or as agricultural pilots), but not suitable for an airline in the flight-deck of a Boeing.
And yes, an airline should employ pilots according to their skills. Which I am ready to demonstarte in an interview, a written test and a sim-check - right here and now.
But if the airline choses to take candidates according to their parents' status, personal friendships, and "chai" - well, then that's not professional, is it? Then don't be surprised if a Cmdr. has to fly "single pilot", because of a confused F/O.
KALPA protects Kenyan pilots, which you, as a Kenyan, like. Of course you do. Probably you are even a member of them.
But it does not benefit the airline, I can tell you that. In the long run, it will do you more harm than good - at the latest, when your next aircraft crashes due to pilot's error (which mungu may prevent!!).
And, by the way, I will never accept a short-term contract. That's only for mercenaries.
I will fly for a fixed contract upon the airline and I can agree. In return I offer my commitment to the company. No more, no less.