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22:32 BPO Sector in Kenya
» Kenyanentrepreneur.com Send this article to Twitter!So, I’d sent out a couple of questions to Nick Nesbitt of Kencall asking him about the BPO sector in Kenya and what he thought of it and I finally got a response to some of my questions and decided to post them here for your consumption. All indications are that as [...]
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15:54
Dreams of new Kenyan trains by man-eaters
» Diary of a gay Kenyan
The government has promised that we will have modern trains traversing
the country in a few short years! I can't wait for the Nairobi to
Mombasa carriages...wow, the fun and comfort we will all have such as
what George and I enjoyed on this train from northern England some
weeks ago.Imagine listening to piped Malaika as you shuttle through Tsavo at
160kph! Magical...simply magical. And the widescreen TVs showing movies as well as the restaurants and bars showcasing Kenyan delights that will make your journey that little bit extra special! With first-class cabins offering unrivalled service...
Pack your bags....
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11:45
Makeover for Semenya
» Media Madness So Semenya put aside her manly ways for a mag cover…what do you think? (Source YOU!)
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10:31
Just remember…
» Media Madness Just remember, for any tit bits, pictures, sightings of our ‘celebs’ or you’d like to share your two cents with us. Drop us a line …on kamuiru [@] gmail.com Or leave a comment on the blog!! xoxo
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9:20
Kenya's Police Commisioner Major General Ali Takes A Bow!
» A Nairobian's Perspective ! 
The president of Kenya yesterday demoted the Police Commissioner Major General
Mohammed Ali Hussein from being the Police Commissioner to being the Postmaster General . As one local radio commentator quipped from shooting thugs to sorting(pronounced in luo sooting-pun intended) mail. The move left many dumbfounded and the former Police Commissioner shocked.A journey that saw him come from the Military, to the Police and now to the Post Master General at least retaining the P letter but seeming like a declining curve...so what next?...
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9:09
Finally a new coach
» Kenya Cricket Cricket Kenya today finally announced the appointment of Eldine Baptiste as coach of the national side bringing to an end months of speculation and frustration on the part of fans and players alike. The Atiguan is the second West Indian to coach Kenya in recent years following in the footsteps of Roger Harper who was in charge prior to Andy Kirsten. All concerned with Kenyan cricket must hope that he will be able to turn around the slump under Kirsten and create the same consistent improvement that Kenya managed under Harper. At one stage under Harper, Kenya went for a string of at least 10 matches in which at least one player produced a personal best each game. If that form can be replicated again, things would indeed be looking up.
Baptiste has experience at both ODI and Test level where he is one of only a handful of players to be on the winning side in his first 10 Tests. Again, we hope he will be able to replicate this success with the Kenya side. If he is to do so, he will have to act quickly as Kenya are due to take on Zimbabwe away in the Intercontinental Cup sometime before the end of the month. For some reason the ICC have continued to keep the further scheduling of this tournement shrouded in secrecy - hardly something that will endear them to various administrators such as the NPCA who are trying to plan their domestic leagues. How can they organise the games around International matches when only the ICC actually know when they will be?
Back to Baptiste however. His first challenge will be to get the players on-side and he would be advised to ensure impartiality in this - something his predecessor is rumoured to have had difficulty in doing. That he has worked with Harper in the past may well bear him in good stead. Team fitness should not be a problem with several players in the team reported to be able to do level 13+ in the beep test and all are playing regularly at domestic level so should be in good form. His challenge will be to take this and turn them into a unit that can not only compete with the better teams out there but win against them - something that has certainly lacked of late.
Kenya now has a new coach as well as a new captain and it should now be all systems go to first win the Intercontinental Cup and then qualify for the 20-20 and 50 over World Cups. All will be significant achievements, especially as the first 2 have been elusive, but all are certainly within the bounds of Kenya's talent. Beyond the current squad however, Baptiste must also look to the fringe players and ensure they are given opportunities to prove themselves and can fight for a place in the full side. There are enough good players in Kenya that national selection should be a hard-fought affair and if Baptiste can instill a sense of competition in the side to compliment the new found motivation under Ouma, this could be a very positive time.
While this is a positive and hopeful time, it will not be an easy job for Baptiste who must also bring his influence to bear on the administrators to give his new charges the type of competetive cricket they need to improve, both domestically and against international opposition. Added to this, he must try and put a stamp on the development of the game in the country so he leaves a legacy not only at national level but all the way down through the grass roots as well. When Cricket Kenya said they had short-listed 5 coaches, they mentioned one had a lot of ideas on developing the game as a whole in Kenya. Let's hope Baptiste was that one and his ideas are given a fertile ground on which to grow.
All the best and a very warm welcome to Kenya's new coach!Become a fan of Kenya Cricket.com on facebook: [www.facebook.com]
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7:36
I Aint Yo Bitch by Jabulile Ngwenya
» Black Looks A punchy, in your face, unapologetic and exciting novel titled, I Aint Yo Bitch by Jabulile Ngwenya, is set to keep a few tongues wagging, a must read but definitely not for the faint hearted. Published by Paper Bag Publishing, I Aint Yo Bitch was launched at the Wits Writing Centre, on 20 August 2009. Ngwenya said [...]
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7:27
PITY PARTY = OVER!!!!!
» make mine a double espresso... I am sooooo done with the negativity! (i don't know how long this dosage of optimism will last, but i'm gonna ride it!)
First i'm gonna get my ass out of bed and go to school... I've been meaning to go for a whilest! i need to break my sleeping cycle. Falling asleep at 5am and waking up at 1pm isn't to good for my productivity. It sucks!!!
I have a test friday, and another assignment due so i have to work on those. Not to mention the number of lectures i haven't attended this semester. Thanks Jesus they put our notes on the net. Otherwise...!
I can't clearly remember how much mis-performing i did at the sexy party (think college kids partying moulin rouge style) last weekend, besides random dude i made out with at the balcony -so not worth mentioning btw. so i'm sure i'll be good going to school.
FYI, the international community is tiny, so everyone is always in everyone's business.
Everyone have an awesome remainder of the week! Keep your heads up. No matter what you're going through, someone out there has it worse... Let's be thankful, let's not be so ungreatful all the gaddam time!!!
So... The lady who cleans the house is directly outside my door, our floors are wooden so it's the full ''boom boom boom!'' and, she's listening to some vernacular radio station. I'd be fine if it was kikuyu or luo, but xhosa just gets annoying at some point. So much for my five minute snooze!
Love ya'll like a fat kid love cake!
One.
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7:00
Kibaki Fires Police Boss, Rewards Major Ali
» You Missed This 
By firing Major Ali, President Kibaki has called Kumekucha's April 1 post bluff. Well, it is not foolish to play the game and score five months later.
What a political genius President Kibaki is? With the musical chair rewarding Major Ali with Posta CEO job while pretending to have fired him as police boss, he has taken the wind off the sail of furore over Ringera's reappointment.
Give it to one Mzee Muthaura. The government was tottering in brink of collapse for the few weeks he was hospitalized. But thank God for his recovery. Now the heat is back and the octogenarian diplomat is destined to fix things in no time.
Where is the loudmouthed Prof. Alston? The UN activist wanted Ali, Wako and Ringera removed. Now with the typical Kenyan token gesture, Ali has been cleverly sacrificed to create an impression of action with no actual movement. He can eat his heart out. As for Kenyans, they can as well resign to being tenants to the real landlords. MTA DO?
All the noise about police reforms have been nipped in the bud. Kibaki's former security commandant Iteere is the new police boss. Under him are flower assistants charged with reforms, chapter closed.
Nobody understands Kenyans better than Kibaki. Aware of our short memory, he has fired and rewarded Major Ali. And with that singular stroke of genius Ringera is securely fenced from attacks as we gleefully jump to the next hot issue before us. OLE WETU.Kumekucha
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6:44
KenGen PIBO: Information Memo Highlights
» KA-INVESTOR 
KenGen’s 10 years public infrastructure bond offer ( [www.kengen.co.ke] ) opened yesterday with little enthusiasm from local investors [blame it on the short publicity period]. I had previously posted the main features of the bond offer here. The offer's information memorandum is out, both in hard-copy and soft [courtesy of ribacapital.com]. I skimmed through it and came up with the following highlights:- It is a fixed rate long term unsecured public infrastructure bond offer [meaning?]
- NSE/CDSC is expected to operationalise electronic CSD accounts for bonds to enable investor immobilize their bond certificates [despite the fact that it will increase bond liquidity, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Look at the mess the equities market is in due to this]
- KenGen has 14 directors (3 female, 11male)
- East African citizens from Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi are considered as local investors.
- Proceeds of this infrastructure bond offer will be used to increase KenGen’s generation capacity by 528.6 Megawatts in the next four years.
- KenGen has approval to put a 600Megawatts coal plant in Mombasa in partnership with a joint venture partner [with KenGen owning between 40% and 49%, while the Venture partner owns the rest]
- KenGen produces (1,008.8 MW) 75% of Kenya’s electricity requirement. The rest is produced by: Iberafrica – 56 MW expected to increase to 108 MW [thermal]; OrPower4 – 48 MW [geothermal]; Tsavo – 74 MW [thermal]; Mumias Sugar Co. Ltd. – 2 MW expected to increase to 25 MW [cogeneration]
- Rabai thermal power plant [diesel powered], a new station still under construction, will produce an additional 90 MW once completed.
- KPLC monopoly as a distributor is set to be curtailed once the newly commissioned KETRACO (Kenya Transmission Co. Ltd) develops a new national transmission network [at least for the bulk consumers]
- Shareholding: GoK has the majority shareholding at 70%, while of the total 216,728 shareholders more than 63% hold less than 1,000 shares [42% with less than 500 shares]
- It’s assumed that KenGen will maintain a 60:40 debt/equity ratio even after the bonds are issued. However the bond amount would not be enough to finance the expected projects and the company will have to raise Ksh10.2 billion [US$135 million] through a rights issue, plus repatriate all its profits in the next four years towards this projects so has to remain within the 60:40 capital structure. [Dividends will then be a thing of the past!]
- Risks to note:
- Construction risk arising from delayed completion and commissioning, escalating cost of construction
- liquidity risk and default risk in respect of power purchase agreements with KPLC
- adverse weather conditions [like drought which can be mitigated by diversification of generation sources]
- change in regulations and fiscal policy in tax rates and levies by GoK [n it's still the biggest shareholder]
- KenGen’s ability to roll out capacity expansion projects is held back by KLPC’s ability to transmit the same to the consumers
- Lack of a well developed bonds market will affect investor easiness of exit
- Joint applications to meet the minimum investment amount of ksh.100,000 is allowed, but not encouraged.
- Applicants who wish to credit their bond allocation into their CDS accounts’ will have to pay an extra 30 bob [to cater for the cost of postage for a CDS account statement?]
- The placing agents will receive a 0.25% commission of the offer price of the bond allocated per applicant. KenGen’s expenses for the bond offer is estimated at about Ksh.229 million
- The memo assumes Kenya has a population of 37.2 million people [why was I counted?]
- Kenya has tax treaties with Uganda and Tanzania that are not yet in force
- There are other 73 state bonds, 8 corporate bonds issuers with 11 bonds/notes, with a total market capitalization of Ksh.326 billion as at June 2009
- Auditors’ statements to note:
- Despite PWC giving a clean bill to the financial statements of KenGen, they note that after change of accounting policy by the directors in February 2009, the company failed to comply with IAS 21 that would have seen KenGen record a Ksh.5.4 billion loss in their interim reporting ended 31/12/08. This being as a result of unrealized exchange losses and thus gives a qualified opinion on the said results.
- Its likely that a Ksh.826 deficit with KPLC will not be honored and KenGen may have to settle it
- KenGen further failed to comply with IAS 19 that require they conduct an actuarial valuation. The last valuation done by the company is dated back in 2006 and may not indicate the true picture of the company’s assets value
- The power purchase deal between KLPC and KenGen doesn’t look good to me. KPLC has constantly arm-twisted KenGen into accepting lower prices. So much for a monopoly distributor.
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Becoming the alien: D9
» Black Looks Warning this has spoilers. I have yet to watch District 9 and have read probably too many reviews to view it objectively. This is one of the better ones I have read. You have to admit: As a premise for a movie it is pretty unpromising. An alien spaceship comes to rest over Johannesburg. Instead [...]
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6:25
Caster Semenya Vs EveryWoman
» What An African Woman Thinks I totally fell in love with the South African media when they fiercely came to the defense of Caster Semenya as the rest of world ever so subtly (not!) scorned and mocked her for not fitting neatly into their definitions of who a woman is and what a woman should look like.
But now here comes YOU Magazine.
They have taken the emerging athletics star, run her through their elaborate glamour lifestyle operation, dressed her in stilettos, manicured her and pedicured her, done her hair and made her up and presented her to the world as a glamour girl. Tada!
Well alrightie then.
I think.
It’s a little too so-there!-like for my fancy, frankly.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m the matron saint of ‘I’m every woman’, I am. You don’t know the half. (Or maybe you do.)
But is Caster Semenya more of a woman all dolled up and ready to pose than when she’s puffing and panting and pushing herself to her limits on the track?
Let Caster Semenya dress up if she wants to. But don’t make her dress up if she doesn’t want to.
Let her be the woman that she is and the woman that she wants to be. She doesn’t need to apologise, to posture, or to defend herself.
That’s all I’m saying.It's my window, but I don't own the view.
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4:33
Kenya Rugby : History of the Enterprise Cup 1930 to 2005 - 7
» Rugby in Kenya Kenya Rugby : History of the Enterprise Cup 1930 to 2005 - 7
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4:16
Sweets
» tHiNkEr'S rOoM 
That green character there has a dubiously lurid expression and engaged in what appears to be equally dubious activities!
© M for tHiNkEr'S rOoM, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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3:50
Remember her??
» Media Madness Muthoni Bwika! She started at Capital, then moved to Nation where she really became a star there. I remember peeps in high school risking suspension by listening to Muthoni Bwika’s countdown on Nation. Kiss threw a sack of money at her and she took it! Wrong move, cause she was never as big, she was given [...]
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3:35
Why now????
» Media Madness Hearts have been broken at Media Madness Eve is going out with him…arggg babes why him of all people him? Kuwa serious arggg!
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3:35
Where are they now??
» Media Madness Italia Masiero Famous for?? Having mad energy at Capital! Girl hosted Hits not homework and I was in love, she then started hosting rock and goodness me wasn’t she brilliant? She won a dance compe, then re-defined skinny on dance O mania. Last time I saw her she was LOL with a dashing beauty eih! At the Sarit [...]
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3:24
I see dead people
» STONE COLD HAVEN “Dear God. All I ask you is to let me live for one more day, and I promise to do whatever you want. Just one more day and I promise I’ll never drink again. I don’t want to die like this”
That was my cousin JQ narrating to us his conversation with his God when he woke up in a sewerage gutter somewhere in Kayole estate. He doesn’t recall how he got there, but we all agreed it had to do with consuming copious amounts of alcohol, though the jury’s still out as to whether it was regulation booze or the kumi kumi variety from Mama Pima.
He vaguely remembers sounds of people and one or two cars passing by, but not much else apart from the realisation that he didn’t want to die. It sounds tragic, but his narration of this near death experience was too hilarious – and JQ was compelled to divulge all after he declined a routine 3rd round of booze as we sat outside a bar in Hurlingham some time back. JQ is not one to turn down a drink, but he was already uneasy about us being there. You see, he’s the sort of chap who’s conscience doesn’t tolerate paying a price for a beer that you can get cheaper elsewhere.
His protest was clearly visible each time the waiter brought a round of drinks and he quickly grabbed the bill before reminding us “majamaa, hizi pombe na weza sakanya 33 bob kule kwa mahindi” (Guys, I can hustle this booze for 33 bob in the maize plantations). At one point, he actually challenged the waiter to clarify whether the figure on the receipt was the actual bill or a phone number.
JQ was the last person I suggested to that he was seeing dead people, something he really couldn’t argue with as that is what he felt when in that filthy gutter. So you can imagine my surprise when while on the concourse of Charing Cross Station in London, a familiar voice shouted to me “Hey – I see dead people”.
Most people around me thought Jamie had lost the plot, but there was no mistaking that husky voice running at me from the direction of platform 6 shouting “you jammy bastard”. The bear hug and the testosterone filled hi-fives confirmed to all and sundry that it was possible that we had indeed seen dead folk.
Talk about a blast from the past. I hadn’t seen Jamie for over 8 years if not more, and he hadn’t changed one bit. It wasn’t long before we were in the nearest pub catching up on the good old days of our mis-spent youth.
You see, the first time we coined the catch phrase of “I see dead people” was some time in the mid 90s. I lived in a close Knit community in a small village in the county better known as the garden of England.
Jamie was the bartender at the local pub which literally became my second home. It wasn’t just because of the booze, the landlord and his family became very good friends of mine, I could have passed for a family member if I wasn’t black. The landlord Nash and I clicked the very first day I walked into the pub as both of us were wearing replica Arsenal shirts, and he pulled a bar stool right next to his and bought me my first drink. Jamie was behind the bar.
Over the 6 or so years that I lived there, we had life changing experiences that I’ll never forget. During Christmas breaks, usually one of the days between Christmas and new year, we had a tradition of getting together all the usual suspects who frequented the pub, and we’d have our very own cultural exchange madness. Each year, every household will be nominated a country, and they would then take the mantle of representing this country in a crazy fun-feast for all participants.
So if you got Germany for example, you would have to cook German food, dress up as Germans would, serve German drinks, etc. If you get Mexico, you had to dress up like Mexicans, hook up some Mexican food and drink, and blast Mexican music when the village madness hit your house and so on.
Everyone would then meet at the pub at 12 noon, have a single drink, before starting a crawl round everyone’s house beginning furthest afield. Everybody would enjoy the delights and booze of one country and after dancing to some obscure music from that country, we would all then file to the next destination for a new experience. Naturally, the lightweights will fall off the cliff or black out somewhere along the way, though nobody really cared as they would be expected to sleep it off in readiness for the last round at the pub. If you think of it, crawling at least 12 to 14 different countries, eating and drinking God knows what, and aiming to be at the pub before 10 pm was quite an expedition.
This one particular year, Nash and his wife didn’t get past the 5th house, which was not unusual, so folks decided to end the party at Jimbo’s house instead of the pub. Hindsight would have brought some perspective to this decision, but I doubt if anyone was compus mentus enough to predict the drama about to unfold.
Jimbo is a Kiwi who was prone to do stupid and dangerous things like luring me into an Australian pub in London on the day that the Wallabies were beaten by the All Blacks and only suicidal folks would walk into an Aussie pub wearing an All Blacks jersey. The smirk on his face while doing this was priceless though, just the sort of thing a crazy Kiwi will never hesitate to do given the opportunity.
The stunt nevertheless got me into a tight spot and my only get out clause was to dance and mime to Alanis Morissette’s Ironic on top of a table with a beer bottle as the microphone. Oh! Don’t you worry, Jimbo and his 14 stone All Black self was on the table next to mine also doing his Ironic routine with the rest of the pub cheering like crazy.
That particular night, I had done well even to make it back to Jimbo’s, though most of the folks by then were the ones who had blacked out earlier and bought themselves a new lease of life. The last thing I remember was playing grab ass with Katie and dancing to Brown Girl in the Rain by Boney M – now that I think of me singing that song in the state I was in, I shudder. I don’t even remember when Marco, my Aussie house mate and partner in crime switched places with Katie and started slow dancing with me. I guess it took me a while to notice that his chest didn’t have the customary C cup cushioning that I had already warmed up to, his prickly stubs of a beard that needed a shave were scraping my face, and his ass wasn’t as supple and rounded as Katie’s was.
There was some cake and snacks being dished around and who was I to refuse some good ol’ fashioned Mexican cuisine. Only problem was that Jimbo and his twisted pals decided to lace the sugar they baked the cake with. I have since taken the 5th when asked what was in that cake, except to ask the inquisitive party – “what is white and can be used to lace other white stuff put in a cake?”, and you quickly get my drift. If this was a practical joke, then no one saw it coming.
My next interaction with the world around me was when Marco and Katie’s dad were carrying me into a taxi. I could still hear voices and it was as if people were talking about me like I was dead. Somebody did insist on asking if I’ll make it and I distinctly recall Marco responding “Darius is OK – he’s just seeing dead people”.
He then turned round to me and tried to get me awake before asking me if I was seeing dead people. I honestly don’t know if they were dead, but I had visions of a familiar room with folks that I thought I knew. Leslie (at least I thought it was though I couldn’t see her face) was at one corner and kneeling down as if praying though she was speaking Gaelic, and I remember wanting to shout to her that it’s OK and that it’s peaceful – she didn’t need to fight it. There was Pauly as usual scrounging around for his last blunt, and swearing that he can’t finish the job until he gets that spliff but what distinctly worried me was that I recalled him stripping the tables and chairs in the pub and using them to build a weird shaped casket. There were other people I didn’t know repeatedly chanting some stuff like “Hamnyo mlengonyo” almost as if they were in a temple and surrounded by smoke filled enclosures and the smoke rising and forming images on the roof.
The cab driver was getting a bit anal and wondering whether I’ll throw up in his taxi and arguing with Marco about who will clean it if I do. Apparently, I then told the cab driver to relax, I wasn’t going to throw up, I was just seeing dead people.
And the catch phrase was born.
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3:21
Separated at birth???
» Media Madness This is Taylor Murathe HBR He hosts Radical rock Danny is the best radio producer in town! He works for Capital and Blackstar! He used to host the ER with akina styles back in the day…don’t they look alike??
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2:47
SPOTTED!
» Media Madness After doing some banking stuff jana – bills have to be paid you know, I saw none other than Fareed Khimani driving out of Lion Place eih DUDE can I have your car?? I also saw Caroline looking every inch fab! Now that she’s quitting radio I have something she can venture into…open up a school [...]