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20:17
From: AfriGadget
Read This Entry & More At AfriGadget
What does it take, out there in the field, to get an AfriGadget story?
Well, this video that I took back in the summer of 2007 shows Hash (aka WhiteAfrican) hard at work getting the Africa’s Modular Machines piece that went up in AfriGadget last November. Yes, the sound quality and camera work are atrocious but sometimes, opportunity just presents itself.
I am happy to report that as you can see, he was busy bringing Firefox to the people as he did this.
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17:18
From: More to Life
Read This Entry & More At More to Life
Let me first get this off my chest. The first blunder from Obama's campaign comes and it is sooo annoying for being so avoidable and so dumb. I'm talking about this plagiarism accusation where Barack is using governor Patricks speech. And while it technically can't be described as plagiarism because he had permission to use it, it is very very bad for the senator. Change? So how comes you can borrow what's old and call it new? There's one argument. Next, Obama's main strength, undeniable and formidable is his oratory skills. He has a good head on his shoulders, why not use his own words. Granted, the governor's speech fits perfectly into Obama's agenda. And this governor was elected on this speech, has had problems since he got in and may be the actual reason Massachusettes was hesitant to vote for change with gusto. Back to my major irritation point, a simple, "And as governor Patrick said, and I agree..." to have started these borrowed words would have been more honest, and prudent and pre- empted all these attacks. Because I am just mad that Barack's campaign would provide fodder for his attack to Clinton's campaign at this crucial time. What do I think his camp should do? Admit that retrospectively they can see how this may have caused issues, however deny plagiarism as the word to describe it, and volunteer and promise to cite all borrowed speeches in the future. I simply ask that they take responsibility. At this moment, his denial sounds like the Clinton's camp. He needs to be different. It is the only strength he is riding on. Sheesh, I'm peeved! Clinton? OK, here I am. My position for Obama not ever having been a vote against Clinton. Just a preference. But the clinton camp is working hard to make Clinton detestable. I find myself really having to convince myself that she is still a good candidate. Simple stupid things like insisting "we won Michigan" And "those delegates should count" is so annoying. It is the exact representation of what we hate about politics and politicians. What? in Michigan, Obama's name wasn't even in the ballot. And FL? Well, the person with any real losses for not campaigning especially at that point in the campaign was Obama. Why? Unknown underdog. Clinton? First lady for eight years, with a White House scandal to boot, recognition. Simply put, Should their positions be reversed, she wouldn't be citing the same views as fair. Which is always the simplest way to assess fairness. So her camp needs to shut the hell up about these two states, unless they are discussing a fairer option. Otherwise, I can't keep working at not dumping them as annoying idiots! BTW, If the DNC should decide to count the delegates from either one of these two states (Fl And MI) as they stand right now, I suggest Barack break free from the DNC and run as an independent. I p[ersonally would be happy to be free from them after that kinda showing. It would feel free and as a bonus break them. We would ascertain Hillary didn't get into teh white house that way. So they play dirty, we hit them where it hurts. She wins fair and sqaure, we support her fully. Superdelegates? I see their importance. I appreciate that they can divide the party but their role has never been any better highlighted as it is now. A C (contingent)plan is always necessary and if these two potential DNC nominees arrive at the convention neck and neck, a plan to elect is definitely necessary. What the superdelegates need to do is shy away from pleasing the established DNC machine (Clinton has known she would be running in 2007 for many years now) and make wise decisions that keep the party united and pay a whole lot of attention and respect to the overall majority votes as well as honestly assess the potential better nominee from all angles. All said and done, I'm not quite sure what I would do was I a super delegate at this point. Bill Clinton needs to take a chill pill! C'mon buddy, you're my hero. I know you're tired and frustarted but that yelling on the campaign trail is a definite no, no. chill pill, Bill, chill pill! Wisconsin polls are looking interestingly close. Should make for an interesting Tuesday evening tomorrow. Can't wait for the 2 weeks campaign for Ohio and Texas. Neither of these campaigns can afford mistakes now. Potomac primaries were an absolute victory for Obama. Let's see if he can repeat that. His half sister campaigning in Hawaii. Let's hope she gets him the results he needs. 20 delegates up for grabs there and either camp needs whatever delegate they can find. Kenya? So many rumors about a power sharing deal. Annan hints at an all party power sharing strategy being worked on today... Who cares? let's assess the reality. Nothing has changed. Tribalism still dominates. A can of worms has been opened that has changed the entire face of Kenya and these elections have proven that there is no need for them in Kenya. Anyone who wants to be president has got to at least cultivate a need to respect the laws of the land. So once we can't resolve election disputes in court, we really need to just stop having elections, period. Because once we prove that a dispute can lead to this, whatever it is we have now, what's to stop the next election from forcing the same negotiation? Precedence and past. And it's repurcussions and impact on the future. That's what good leaders think about when they make decisions. It's Februaray, but I can answer this question now. "What's my greatest disappointment for 2008?" Kenya. McCain? Talk about selling a soul. And at 71? What is it about power that makes men completely sacrifice who they are? How don't they see the absolute obvious irony of that? How could he contradict himself like that? And over all the things that made me think of him as worth 2 cents. I gotta say, that independent vote I had awarded him, probably not gonna happen with the same margin any longer. That's it. Will be back with a super ananlysis after tomorrow's primaries and before the Texas Ohio primaries.
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17:02
From: Kenya Imagine
Read This Entry & More At Kenya Imagine
I listened with dismay as my boyfriend complained about his employer's recent ethnocentric favouritism. I felt bad for him and was deeply saddened by what he was going through, by what we were going through. My sympathy soon turned into growing irritation as the man I was planning to spend the rest of my life with, launched into his own oration of the reasons the other ethnicity was lesser than his own. I would like to tell myself that this is just an effect of the recent events in our country, but I know better. Read more from Juliet Maruru here.
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17:01
From: Kenya Imagine
Read This Entry & More At Kenya Imagine
Today, Kosovo has declared its independence. The declaration was met with much jubilation by the majority ethnic Albanians but with consternation among the minority Serbians in the province and those in the the Serbian republic for whom Kosovo was a cultural and spiritual homeland. Read more from Bernard Adede here.
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17:00
From: Kenya Imagine
Read This Entry & More At Kenya Imagine
Many commentators on the post-election violence in Kenya have sought to label it as a battle of the haves and the have-nots, a struggle against perceived historical injustices and the effect of pressure on resources following decades of massive population growth. Read more from Stephen Wanyama here.
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16:03
From: Eyes on Kenya
Read This Entry & More At Eyes on Kenya
Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga had a surprise visitor this week — a high-ranking politician from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s grand coalition.
Gernot Erler, Germany’s deputy foreign minister, was secretly flown into Kenya at the request of Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General who is mediating between Kenya’s warring factions to resolve a crisis sparked by Kibaki’s disputed re-election last December.
Annan had turned to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to ask for an expert to assist in talks between Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) and Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Steinmeier entrusted the job to Erler.
Gernod Erler
Erler’s task was to explain the workings of Merkel’s grand coalition between her center-right Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats, of which the minister is a member.
My visit was a surprise to all,” Erler told German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on the last day of his mission. “But then everyone was really interested and had a lot of questions.”
Erler said his job was to explain the complicated arithmetic underlying the power-sharing model in Germany and how such a consensus-based system worked. Germany’s grand coalition came into being after federal elections in 2005, ending two months of political uncertainty after Merkel’s conservatives won a wafer-thin majority.
“My job was to present the model so that the Kenyans can see if a similar system could work for them,” Erler said. The minister had also brought along an English version of Germany’s coalition agreement with him so that the Kenyans could spend time studying it.
The German Coalition
Of course, it is hard to find similarities between the Kenyan crisis today and the post election situation in Germany in 2005. With more than 1000 lost lives lost and more than 300.000 displaced persons, the gaps to over come are tremendous.
Still, in order to look for a conflict solution it is worth to look at the concept of a “grand coalition”, when it makes sense to and whether it lasts.
A “grand coalition” is usually not the preferred model in a parliamentary democracy. The only exception for many years is the oldest democracy in the world: Switzerland. Here, government positions were distributed according to the seats in the Parliament. It worked because of a unique democratic culture, in which the will of power-sharing and consensus decisions are high valued. The position of the head of government was rotated among the ministers. The system worked only as long as Politicians respected certain rules and it failed when the eccentric right wing populist billionaire Blocher broke the political consensus by campaigning with a brutal anti-Immigrants campaign. He crossed the line and forced the other Parties to unite against him. It showed how much the system was depending on the acceptance of democratic rules by Politicians.
The 2005 German general election ended up in a Parliamentary “deadlock” situation. The ruling coalition of chancellor Schröder’s SPD and the Grüne Party lost their majority. But Merkel’s CDU/CSU did not reach more than 50% together with their preferred partner FDP. The 614 seats of Parliament were distributed as follows: SPD 222, CDU 180, CSU 46, Grüne 51, FDP 61 and the Linke 54.
Right after the election both Merkel and Schröder claimed to have the mandate to form the government. Schröder claimed to be the head of the biggest Party in Parliament. Since CDU and CSU are partners, Merkel had was head of the biggest Party group (The CSU is a Bavarian tribalist version of the CDU).
The preliminary condition for the German grand coalition to work was that one had to step down from this position. It was for sure that chancellor Schröder would not take any other position in the government than that of Chancellor and the CDU/CSU would have never accepted a non CDU/CSU chancellor. In order to start negotiations SPD had to call upon Schröder to resign.
Another factor was Angela Merkel. She was much more accepted by the SPD as a chancellor of grand coalition than some other CDU/CSU politicians. Edmund Stoiber, who ran in the previous election for CDU/CSU would have not been accepted by the SPD.
“It is a Grand Coaltion, if it does not move in any direction .” (c) suika
Both Parties are currently not happy about the situation. Every controversial issue, every local election becomes a test how much the coalition can take. Even though the government has a comfortable majority in both Parliament houses, great changes have not been made and issues like the reform of the health system have not been toughed. Both partners announced they do not want to continue the coalition after the next general election.
A German like “grand coalition” is not a good solution, but sometimes may be the only possibility. It works only if both partners step down from radical positions and verbal attacks. It cannot be a solution for a long period and most important is that the crucial changes are made immediately.
One lesson might be learned from another German “grand coalition”. In 1968 protest grew against the SPD/CDU/CSU coalition and ended up in a the formation of the “Out of Parliament opposition” and the growth of a political civil society. This is something that might help the Kenyan political development as well.
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13:41
From: Me, Life & Everything
Read This Entry & More At Me, Life & Everything
2241 | no idea | battered & bruised | home | crank that - soulja boy
Soulja Boy Off In This H**
Watch me Crank It
Watch me Roll
Watch me Crank Dat Soulja Boy
Then Super Man Dat H**
Now, Watch me You….
(Crank Dat Soulja Boy)
Now, Watch me You….
(Crank Dat Soulja Boy)
Now, Watch me You….
(Crank Dat Soulja Boy)
Now, Watch me [...]
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12:34
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
With almost everyone having all their hopes on the Annan team am certain many dreams will go down the drain when Annan will leave the country without an agreement, and if there is one, one that will only exists on paper. Having not voted for Kibaki (even in 2002 he never had my vote) and Raila (I just don’t like him) too, I have been fence sitting and I have no plans of taking a position. It’s bad enough that some few matha fuckers from central decided that they have to stay in power … and worse still, still insist that they should hold on to power. The most logical thing for them to do is to have an agreement to ‘equally’ share the power … but common sense tells us that can never happen … especially to two people who are power hungry. Who are there for their own personal satisfaction, and more so to serve their own interest and not those of all Kenyans. At one point, I was glad that Raila was going to be the president … for the sake of having a change, not that I thought he would change how Kenyans are governed for the better. But from the happenings of the last five weeks, specifically in Rift Valley … am certain had Raila been president, by the end of his five year term we would not be having a Kenya, coz of the massaca that is still going on. More so, now, if Kibaki does not play ‘smart’ there will be no Kenya left … the little that is remaining that is hanging by a thread. One thing I know, there is no way Kibaki will agree to share his powers with Raila. Even will all the pressure and all that we will be screaming to him. As far as he is concerned, he is there to stay till 2012 and there is no way no one will change that. Assuming that an agreement is signed, just like the famous MOU, it will exist on paper and something different will done. What we all seem to forget is that once Annan & his team have left the country … it’s us who will be left to sort out our issues … they will not stand by Kibaki to make sure that what was signed will be implemented. But let also look the other side and assume that Kibaki will somehow agree to share power. When Annan leaves, do you believe that the two will agree to work ‘together’ for the sake of a better Kenya? Very unlikely … just like in the 2005 referendum we will be in for another show of MIGHT. So, am asking you all, in which ever side of the divide you are to join me on the fence … I know its strong enough to accommodate us all … so that we can look at the issue that we are having on a higher ground. First of all, Kenyans do not deserve any of the two leaders; we are all better than that. But since ‘that’ is what we have, we currently have to work with them … not by taking sides but by really looking to what is best for all Kenyans. I believe that the way forward is for Raila to accept that the sit was stolen from him … we all bitterly accept that and we start working to making sure that never happens again … ever. (I know many of you want to swallow me, but I can handle it since am online). Then after that we have to make sure that we have a new constitution. A constitutional change is what will solve all our issues … not any MOU or agreements made in hotels by the government and the opposition. And by a constitutional change I mean a constitution that will take care of all Kenyans interests … not some matha fuckers trying to show one another who is ‘stronger’. The constitutional change should not be spearheaded by any of the political leaders … but by groups with no political interests (or by honest fence sitters). We then should for just one minute stop listening to the politicians and do our own thinking. We have made the political leaders feel like gods to us and treated them like people we can’t leave without. At times I think that were it not for the political leaders we would very far in terms development socially & economically. Let us stop politizing everything that comes our way … only then will we stop looking the politicians as our gods. We have the real God the only one who deserves to be treated like one. And for leadership we have some of the business people, our parents, elder brothers and/or sisters, some of the church leaders, some of our teachers, some of our lawyers, some of our political analyst, etc that we can look up to when we need guidance … but please not them political leaders! With these I believe that from then on, things will start to fall in place and will be a smiling people again. Any fence sitters?
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11:37
From: White African
Read This Entry & More At White African
A couple top web tech guys from South Africa (Neville, Stii, Charl) have banded together to create what they call a “Simple Distributed Social Network”, or SDSN. Their concept is simple, create a standardized way for people to own their own profiles, so they’re not tied into (and recreated) on every social website (like Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace, etc…).
(Read this post by Charl as it gives the best overview of the SDSN project)
The issues that they’re dealing with effect everyone, here’s why. You’ve already created your Facebook/MySpace account, and you just got an invite from a friend for Flickr. Now you have to go recreate your whole profile again just for that service and neither of them share it. It only gets worse the more social websites you start becoming a part of, including your blog, or that niche social website around your favorite hobby.
For instance, everyone knows that WhiteAfrican.com is me, Erik Hersman. Why not use that as an identifier? Just as someone like Scoble could use http://www.twitter.com/scobleizer or his own blog’s URL as the center of his online universe. A URL with enough presence is naturally associated with a person.
If you think about it, the way we’re handling profiles online is a little crazy. Having my profile duplicated multiple locations, for each site, is neither efficient or a good long-term solution. To be honest, a couple other services are trying to tackle some of these same issues (OpenID, Microformats, Google’s OpenSocial, etc…). SDSN compliments these services, from what I can tell, and simplifies it for anyone who has their own website.
As good of an idea as SDSN is, it’s an uphill battle. The big websites have just started to adopt OpenID, after years of pressure, so the guys behind SDSN will need some influential benefactors in order to start pressuring the large sites to use this new simplified standard.
What does this mean for you, the “normal” web user? No much yet, since it’s still in development. However, I’d expect to see more first-moving tech guys playing with it, as well as seeing them create a way for people who don’t have their own websites to take part. Maybe a profile server of some sort.
Regardless of where this project ends up, I’m happy to see this kind of thought leadership coming out of Africa. One thing we do know, this issue will only rise in importance as more and more people start using more than one social website.
Further Reading
Charl has been the best communicator of what the SDSN project is. Here are his posts in chronological order:
[UPDATE: An analogy of sorts…
A simple analogy to show how upside-down this whole profile management scenario is would be to compare it to how you manage your profile offline. You use a centralized profile offline, typically your ID or driver’s license. What if you had to duplicate that each time you went to the airport, bought a gift using a credit card, or any other time you would need to show your ID. It simply wouldn’t make sense.]
 
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7:01
From: tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Read This Entry & More At tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Some time ago I penned a passionate appeal to my fellow brothers about the usage of the throne room. And you, of course, disregarded every word I said!
On retrospect perhaps I wouldn’t mind having daughters instead of sons. The associated hardware and utilities required in raising a girl (shotgun, pistol & associated firearms, machetes and whips for errant boys) are a small price to pay for having lovely, gentle and well mannered girls in the house instead of shouting, rowdy and disgusting small boys whooping and leaving muddy prints everywhere.
Take for example last week. I was at some large corporation whose identity I shall keep secret to protect the guilty. Shortly before lunch (the meeting was strategically set up in the window between 11 and 2, leaving the host no option but to feed me and my lads) I walked into the washroom to wash my hands. Yes, gentlemen. Shocking as it may seem some people still wash their hands before meals! It was not some sinister agenda imposed on your mothers from communist Russia!
If Jack Bauer ruthlessly shot his best friend in the head, his wife in the heart decapitated a hapless prisoner while shouting into his mouthpiece “Chloe, pull up the schematics of the lavatory” this is what he would come up with.
The battle theaters are as follows:
A (Medic) Where preparations are (generally) made before and after combat. Those of us who visit the Medic was our hands. Sadly, we are a minority
B (Fantasia) Where limited operations, generally of chemical nature are effected
C (Kosovo) Where dive and cluster bombing, as well as light machine gun fire cum gas warfare is practiced
Now, there I was, hands gleaming from liquid soap and starting to walk towards the door, whistling the happy whistle of a man about to sit down to a free and wholesome meal when the door burst open and a man swaggered into the facility.
That I did not mind. That sort of thing happens, given statistics, probability and other whatnots.
What I did mind, and mind to the extreme, was that the man had opened his firing turret and his howitzer was aimed, locked and loaded at the recommended 45 degree angle.
So let us recap.
Starting to move due South was M, hands washed, anticipating a lunch.
Advancing North without cover is Megatron, cannon exposed pointing, inevitably, due North.
Now I don’t know about you but I acutely, emphatically and totally object to having another man’s equipment in my face pointing at me as a rule. It’s just not my cup of tea.
Meditating pleasantly about a lunch of roast potatoes, pan fried steak, lettuce and tomato, the mind was lurched into unplanned for activity and the following tumbled out
- What the hell?
- WHAT.THE.HELL.
- What if in addition to priming his weaponry early the feller had an itry trigger finger and fired … er … prematurely?
- If a random stranger walked in, or worse still a client, how on earth would I begin to explain things?
Megatron suddenly noticed that he was not alone and there was “gentleman, dead ahead”.
What followed was a social impasse that has played out ever since Adam and Eve discovered they were naked.
M went to his left and Megatron went to his right, effectively blocking him.
M then went to his right and Megatron to his left, again blocking him.
Megatron was a believer in pragmatism and saw no need to holster his weapon if he was going to unholster it not 15 seconds in the near future. So as we danced the dance (a dance without even a damn dinner!) a chemical weapon was pointing at me.
Finally I saw that we were getting nowhere so I effected a tactical retreat due North towards the far wall.
Megatron took this to be a surrender and consolidated his position by advancing North as well.
Hands spread in surrender I backed further and further, dying a thousand deaths at the thought of someone wandering into the scenario that from a cursory glance was getting dangerously close to a BBMM (Brokeback Mountain Moment). Some things really cannot be easily explained. It won’t do for a man that has spent his career elaborating at great detail the dimensions of Miss Halle Berry to be caught in such a situation. Within moments the creative grapevine would be buzzing and I would be fielding questions as to which of us said “I wish I could quit you” .
My breath caught in my throat as I felt the wall behind and I rapidly consulted the field manual on what to do in such situations. The manual drew a blank.
Megatron mercifully pulled a sharp right turn at the corner and rumbled into Fantasia for some light skirmishes.
I departed with a sonic boom.
As we sat down to lunch my host looked with concern at my violent and passionate objection to an aperitif of sausages …
Guys, is it too much to keep your weapons holstered until you’re actually at the firing range?!!
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5:53
From: KA-INVESTOR
Read This Entry & More At KA-INVESTOR
 Bora Capital private placements Bora Capital Ltd., a Real Estate Investment Management firm issued a private placement late last year to raise Ksh.700 million. The offer will be closing in April, so if you wish to diversify your port-folio into real estate checks out their offer. I believe real estate is the next big thing, as the NSE slows down. I hope Bora's placement turns out ok, some of the recent placements have been sort of failures, with Trancentury Ltd. Opting for an IPO instead. NEBS business plan toolI stumbled up on this great business plan writing tool from NEBS that helps you construct a great business plan even if you have no idea how to write one. I like it most because it helps you write each section step by step and save it to be worked on later. NEBS also give other useful tools such as N ewsletter Tool, Business Startup Preparation Evaluation, Lease vs. Buy Analysis , and Loan Amortization Calculator Nyaga stocks broker Even after engaging in criminal acts that involved trading in their clients shares I didn’t imagine that they will still be considered as one of the top five brokerage firms in the country. Most of the money they make I’m sure is through unauthorized transactions that should be investigated. I think small investors are being edged out of the market slowly, but not before being squeezed out of their hard earned money.
Safaricom Bahaving BadlyIt's quite uncivilized for safaricom to perfom a system change that affects all their pre-paid subscribers and the only notice I've seen is on their I&M building 'closed' office (with no one to answer questions). The notice is even signed by Micheal Joseph himself! I hope the signature appended on that notice is just an electronic one and MJ did not participate in a such treacherous activity. Most their pre-paid subscribers are wondering what is wrong? Nobody is able to load units into their phones, send sms, send money through M-pesa or make calls. Somebody need to be fired somewhere, or we are suing! Where are they? Where is Ringera? Where is Chief justice Gicheru? Where is the AG Amos Wako? Hon. Kipkalya kones sued for bankruptcy I saw an advertisement on Saturday indicating that Kipkalya Kones is being sued by his creditors (Diamond Trust bank and others) for bankruptcy. How does some one like him fall into bankruptcy when all the salary he get is earned for doing nothing at all, like all other MPs?
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5:47
From: Black Looks
Read This Entry & More At Black Looks
An oak guards where
they buried you on the hill,
one leg sawed at the hip,
life on its last leg,
its witch’s hand
creeping in your box
and finding nothing;
it shrivels and dies since they,
when they took your body away,
left only your soul.
You own the hill where children play,
at peace now as you ever were;
their fucking laughter rises into a [...]
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5:08
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
Famous Veteran Kenyan Journalist, ODM Communications Chief And Former United Nations Media Director Tells Friends That He Feared For His Life…In the course of today (Monday Feb 18th 2008) some top ODM officials will get a little surprised when the party communications chief Salim Lone fails to return from what was supposed to be a brief trip to New York hurriedly taken last week. The truth is that Salim Lone has been telling close friends abroad that he fled for his life from Kenya after threats from PNU. However a few things do not add up. Why keep everything secret from the ODM top brass? And if it is true that he was threatened, why has he still not gone public with the story that he has told many close friends?  Salime Lone: What scared him?Actually Lone’s action has caused lots of anxiety amongst close analysts and observers of the Kenyan situation but before I tell you why, a brief introduction of Lone to those who may not know him is in order. Salim Lone is a Kenyan by nationality, a veteran journalist, and former Director of the News and Media Division, Department of Public Information, of the United Nations. He has also been a rather prolific columnist for the Daily Nation and also writes regularly for The Guardian in the UK. Salim Lone was director of the news and media division (1998-2003) during his twenty one year career at United Nations headquarters. His last assignment was as spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq immediately after the US-led 2003 war and occupation. Lone was the founding editor of the pioneer woman’s monthly in Kenya, Viva in the 70s and was in fact forced to flee the country during the early Moi years fearing arrest for some of his political pieces in Viva a magazine. That was what led to his arrival in New York and a 21 year career at the UN. Still he is no stranger to harassment from Kenyan security agents in those terrible years of limited press freedom where numerous activists disappeared and brave writers disappeared without trace. So the truth is that Lone does not scare easily. That is why analysts are ev en more worried and are wondering what exactly caused the ODM communications director to suddenly hop onto a plane and flee. Admittedly, it seems clear that Lone no longer felt safe in Kenya. But what is this threat which ODM and Raila Odinga could NOT adequately protect him from? And why keep his intentions secret by telling ODM colleagues that he was away briefly and would be back by Monday (today)? Clearly Lone knows something that many of us do not know yet. One theory is that he was made aware that...
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4:20
From: bankelele
Read This Entry & More At bankelele
Banking can be depressing sometimes. People come to you with their dreams and business plans. They may look promising initially, but after going through the numbers, you have to tell them there's no way it’s going to work. Entrepreneurs have such strong beliefs in their proposals; They run around from bank to bank, each time rehearsing how to improve their funding request, and remembering what tripped them up at the last bank. But approaching each new bank, means a fresh start, explaining your dream again, what you have done, what it entails, and why it requires a small bit of funding to push it over the top. But just because a bank has a product for group lending, "women entrepreneurs", "youthful entrepreneurs", "SME's", doctors or pilots, does not mean that you automatically qualify, just because you are the subject of a colouful brochure. Some desperate entrepreneurs even throw in their house, ancestral farm, in as security to secure a loan, they also go to church/temple/mosque over the weekend, and run around looking for sweeteners to entice the bank, but the decision is made in a cold boardroom on Thursday or Friday that – you are not economically viable. It's depressing to be a banker sometimes. Elections & banking Because it is not known how badly the political violence will go on and what effect it has had, there's an unofficial policy go slow on new lending as banks watch the existing loans for signs of trouble. Banks have to think safety first, as it's not their money - it belongs to shareholders or depositors, and whatever is given out must be paid back and preferably without having to go to court. The post-election mess needs to be sorted out, and not just for this month. Dr. Condi Rice has arrived and said that since the election did not 'produce a presidential result' it has to come from negotiations. But we can't have a repeat of these events in 2012, 2017 or when we next hold presidential elections. We can't keep inviting and dis-inviting mediators. Otherwise banks will not give loans or will have their loans ending in November 2012 or November 2017 - so that their exposure is minimized come election time. news briefs - Stockbrokers Dog ate my homework excuse: Your stockbroker sold your shares and pocketed the money because he was broke. But that doesn’t mean he should go to jail, nor can you find out if he did it, how much he has stolen or and how long he has been doing it until the firm collapses! - The fabulous Tinapa, advertised heavily on DSTV, may turn out to be a White Elephant- Two KQ directors resign: If true, these KLM appointees replacements should be announced shortly - Uchumi claim they are profitable and will soon publish their financial results. At least they have a better (though somewhat stale) website - than many super-profitable local companies who fail to do any updates after their site-launches. - Diamond Trust Bank has petitioned to have new MP Kipkalya Kones declared bankrupt - which can eventually cause him to lose his parliamentary seat - New mag: Kenya Weekly – a revival of the Weekly Review - out this week at 100/= each from Oakland Media - not NMG. Magazines in Kenya have a very short half life though. - New university – the Pan African Christian University (Kasarani) - Mumias Sugar company looking companies to transport sugar from Western Kenya. Good luck finding someone willing to risk a lorry on some of those routes. Bank developments - The IFC giving loans to profitable, registered SME companies – ranging from 3.5 million to 35 million shillings. - Group accounts: Both K-Rep (Ungana) and Standard chartered (Diva chamma) have new accounts targeted at women’s savings groups (chamas) – new branches: KCB has new branches in buru buru, garsen, kisumu west, isiolo as Barclays bank has a new one at the main Nairobi university campus Opportunities most from the daily papers- BPO call centre training at KCCT: it takes 8 weeks and costs 40,000 shillings. Jobs- HR manager at Finlay's.apply to human.resource@finlays.co.ke by 29/2 - G4S; finance managers (3). Apply to career.move@ke.g4s.com by 27/2 Tax senior at HLB Ashvir. Apply through consult@hlbashvir.com - IFAD regional economist. d/l is 8/3 - Regional grants manager at the international federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent societies – KCB; Head of SME business, audit manager: group business, support & controls. Apply to recruitment@kcb.co.ke by 22/2 - Renaissance Capital: Associate, VP and Director positions - Standard newspaper: part time professional contributors writers@eastandard.net by 27/2. Also writers and photo journalists - Telkom Kenya; manager – financial accounting, manager – financial reporting, manager – credit control & revenue accounting, manager – financial systems; apply through pricewterhousecoopers at ess.ke@ke.pwc.com by 29/2
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2:55
From: Black Looks
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The LaunchPad: Where Is Lesotho?
Lesotho is a small nation that is surrounded by the country of South Africa. The King and Queen of Lesotho have invited Johannes Amritzer and Mission SOS to do a Festival for their people. The first Festival was held there in October of 07 and 17 new churches were [...]
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2:31
From: Black Looks
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Journalist and blogger ,Andrew Havens [Meskel Square] has a feature article on “Gay Africans and Arabs come out online” published by Reuters. Andrew interviewed women and men from the LGBT communities across Africa and the Arab speaking world for the piece.
NEWS AND ABUSE
That limited form of coming out has earned the [...]
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0:33
From: Hapa Kenya
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Kenyans blame everything on the constitution.We blame our ability to do bad things on the constitution and so do we blame our inability to do good things on the same constituition. The 2007 elections failed to deliver an acceptable results not because of a constitutional crisis but because of some ignocentric lot in the high places yet many Kenyans will always twist this to mean a constitutional disorder. To get Kenyans out of this post election mess,we have refused to acknowledge and accept the truth, so much that the whole problem has stopped being what it was but a constitutional problem. On the same breadth,negotiators from one side have been busy quoting the constitution of the country as suprem. Their argument is that whatever solution that is arrived at in those negotiated talks must be in line with the supreme law of the land.
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