June 2016

Date Posted: June 29, 2016

Safaricom introduces tools to Guarantee better user experience

MTN Guarantee infographic revised-2

Safaricom has unveiled a suite of products designed to enhance experience for customers on its network.

The tools – which aim to hand customers more control on how they use voice, data or value added resources on the network – include the Safaricom Guarantee, My Data Manager and My Subscriptions, all of which are freely available on any handset in the country.

Safaricom Guarantee and My Subscriptions Management are available to all Safaricom customers and requires no sign up action. My Data Manager may be accessed by dialing *100# for PrePay customers and *200# for PostPay customers.

“Over the last few years, we have invested an average Sh30 billion a year to build the best network for Kenya. However, we are aware there is a great deal of opportunity to enhance the experience on our network for our customers,” said Bob Collymore, Safaricom’s CEO.

As a service that will enable the company to offer refunds to customers should they experience a network disconnection, the Safaricom Guarantee will leverage the extensive investments Safaricom has made in building the most advanced network in the country.

Safaricom also launched My Data Manager that gives customers power to control data bundles usage, allowing them to restrict browsing on out of bundle rates. This development will seek to resolve instances where a customer’s data bundles run out and the network switches automatically to the more pricier airtime option when surfing the Internet.

Through the first-of-its-kind promotion, Safaricom has committed to refund customers with up to one (1) minute of talk time if they experience a network disconnection during local calls to other Safaricom subscribers.

Information Cabinet Secretary, Joe Mucheru, had this to say at the launch, “As the sector continues to evolve and focus shifts to quality of service, this strong commitment demonstrates the belief that Safaricom has in its network and is testament to the fact that they continually innovate on behalf of their customers’ needs.”

My Subscriptions Management hands customers power to view their active subscriptions (Data, SMS, Skiza and Premium Rate Services) and manage their subscriptions by adding more services or unsubscribing from active services.

Safaricom becomes the first operator in Africa to announce such initiatives, and is the first in the world to offer a real-time refund for network related call disconnections.

Date Posted: June 27, 2016

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More than a Mother: Grace’s story of Infertility

Infertility affects up to 15% of reproductive-aged couples worldwide. WHO demographic studies from 2004 have shown that in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 30% of women aged 25–49 suffer from secondary infertility, the failure to conceive after an initial first pregnancy.

“I ask myself every day – ‘Who I am in this world? Is this the life I was meant to live?’ there is no one to love or help me” – Grace Kambini

Fifty-seven-year-old Grace Kambini popularly known as Mama Chips says she got married out of societal expectations. Women are expected to get married to earn respect from their communities.

After nine years in her marriage, she realized that she could not give birth. Both Grace’s husband and his relatives started abusing and insulting her.

The abuse and insults extended to her home where she was tortured and frequently denied food. This would even go for weeks at a time. Her husband did not care about her woes.

“I remember asking my husband, how long I will continue to live this misery. He replied -‘You refuse to leave my house as if your parents are dead, if they are dead you should ask them to open their graves so you may join them. You are of no use to me’. Every time I remember his insults or talk about my experience, I feel faint and out of breath”, she said.

“Due to the stress I endured, I suffered hypertension and Diabetes, now I have to live injecting myself with insulin day and night.” Grace says tearfully.

When her husband kicked her out, She had nowhere to go. Unfortunately, Grace has no living relatives on her mother’s side. Her in-laws did not seem to care about her suffering. At one point, Grace’s husband even asked her to go back to her late parent’s home and wake them from their graves so they can accommodate her. Grace says that she did not have money but she soldiered on.

There was a point in her marriage where she missed her periods for a month. The following month she started bleeding excessively instead of getting her period. She was also vomiting profusely. She decided to seek medical advice to find out what was wrong with her. The doctor advised her to go for an operation, since she was pregnant and the fetus was developing in her Fallopian tubes instead of the uterus (Ectopic Pregnancy).

Her husband of ten years has since divorced her and she now lives alone with no one to support or advise her. “I still ask myself “Who I am in this world? Is this the life I was meant to live?” There is no one to love or help me, I have nowhere to go. When I travel to the village my brothers’ wives constantly insult me”. she says in agony.

She started her own small business, selling chips by the roadside to help sustain her – hence the nickname “Mama chips”.

Grace advises young couples to visit hospitals regularly and seek solutions as a couple, “If I was younger with the knowledge that I have now, I would have explored better fertility options to better my life, now I am too old for that”, she says.

Grace Kambini at her vegetable stand in Kibera.

Her story continues to get several views on social media via the popular “Merck more than a Mother” campaign. The campaign seeks to reduce the stigmatization and social suffering of infertile women in Africa. Watch Grace’s story here:

Rasha Kelej is the Chief Social Officer of Merck Healthcare. She says, “The ‘Merck more than a Mother’ campaign launched the ‘Empowering Berna’ initiative at the recently concluded Commission on the Status of Women CSW60. It aims to empower underprivileged infertile women who have passed the stage of receiving fertility intervention. The initiative helps them establish their own small businesses and build their own independent lives.”

Stay tuned to see what happened to Grace after Meeting “Merck More than a Mother” and how “Empowering Berna” project has changed her life. If you would like to share your story, please contact mystory@merckmorethanamother.com.

Let your voice be heard and Join the conversation on “Merck more than a Mother” on social media:

Twitter: @MerckandMothers

Facebook: Merck more than a Mother

Youtube: Merck more than a Mother

Website: www.merckmorethanamother.com

Date Posted: June 21, 2016

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Algeria Blocks Social Media to Contain Exam Leakage

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Exams cheating is evidently not a problem that’s unique to Kenyan education. As it is, Algeria has also been hit by the same problem that got social media ablaze with criticisms of the Education Cabinet Secretary’s proposed solution to curb cheating in schools.

More than half a million secondary school pupils are retaking their baccalaureate exams in Algeria after a major leak of the papers online earlier this month. A total of 555,177 pupils are re-sitting partial baccalaureate exams from June 19 to 22.

Algerian authorities have decided to temporarily block several social media websites including Facebook and Twitter, during the exam period, to prevent further cheating. The Social Media is being blocked from early in the morning and turned back on in the evening until the completion of the exams.

The Algerian Ministry of National Education said that all measures have been taken to ensure the smooth running of the exams. “We are working in collaboration with other sectors concerned, namely the National Police, and other concerned stakeholders”, they said.

Authorities reportedly arrested dozens of people, including officials working in national education offices and printers, earlier in June, as part of an investigation into how parts of the 2016 high school exams were leaked onto social media.

Critics are saying the move to cut social media as an easy solution. They think that better controls like putting in place infrastructure in exam centers to avoid students from accessing exams leakage should be employed.

A month ago, the Kenyan Ministry of Education CS, Fred Matiang’i banned visiting days and prayer days in third term for boarding schools. These were part of measures to curb exam leakage in schools. A move which was met with wide criticism. However, there were some who were in support of the strategy.

The Algerian ministry said the unusual move was to protect pupils from “phony topics” that might appear on social media. All other parts of the internet were not affected.

Now the Algerian problem could also be tied to well-developed infrastructure. Question is if Kenya could also be headed in that direction. Imagine the Kenyan social Media blocked due to exams. Oh well, maybe this is just my over active imagination.

Republished with permission from Eneza Education.

Date Posted: June 20, 2016

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An open letter to Cyprian Nyakundi

open-letter1

I have never met you in person but I know you are one bitter individual who seems to have many unresolved issues. You are always at war with one brand or another.

I will not mention the brands you have collided with in the past for the obvious reason that they are in the public domain. The recent one you had is something that concerns me though. I will try and give you some advise regarding this. As the bible says,

“Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”, Proverbs 27: 17

Do yourself a favor and research properly before writing blog posts. You give bloggers a bad name. There is a lot of brilliant Kenyan Content online produced by bloggers, some of whom are products of Daystar University.
Not all journalists are products of Daystar University. One journalist you cited in your article was not a student of Daystar University. This is not an endorsement to your claims that her journalistic work was sub-standard. Try getting yourself a job in one media house first so that you may compare your skills.
Daystar University’s fees are high without a doubt. Did you also know that some students go through the university totally through scholarships? Yours truly is a product of Daystar’s Work-Study scholarship.
Every learning institution has a few bad products. Hell! Even every home produces a few misfits. Should we generalize and say that those homes are not supposed to be part of the society? Probably the person to do some soul searching is yourself.
Being a keyboard warrior is the in thing according to you. Please do not drag people into your petty brawls with certain individuals. Solve them like a real man. Real men face each other and solve issues.
You need to see a counselor, probably book an appointment with the PHD students at Daystar University’s Nuru Counselling center to help you process some of the conflicts you have within. They can help you explore these issues. They have some cool personality tests by the way. You should try them out.

That being said, what’s the real issue behind your hashtag #BoycottDaystarUni? Weren’t you expelled from some other private university?

I hear they denied you an application letter. That’s because every student who gets enrolled in Daystar University has to have integrity. That’s why we all filled the personal statement when we were applying to join the university.

Views expressed in this post are my own.

Date Posted: June 14, 2016

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AfricaWorking to benefit 250,000 youth with employability skills by 2020

Image Credit: Africa Working

Many corporations are realizing the importance of investing in the youth. Initiatives are coming up with this huge demographic in mind. The other paradigm shift in the corporate circles involves cooperation.

200,000 youth and 50,000 entrepreneurs are set to be supported by AfricaWorking, a new initiative announced today by a group of companies, including Barclays Africa,Emerging World, FranklinCovey, Knod, Microsoft, Safal Group and Syngenta.

The new Association seeks to channel the collective power and voice of the private sector to make an impact on employability and entrepreneurship in Africa. Starting in Kenya and South Africa, AfricaWorking aims to work across the continent by 2020.

There is a huge gap between skilled talent and unemployed youth. As it is there are many well paying jobs that go unfilled due to lack of the right talent. At the same time, the youth form the largest number in terms of unemployment.

Lutz Ziob, Dean of the Microsoft 4Afrika Academy said at the launch, “Most large corporations are looking at youth skills development in one form or another, because it’s crucial to their business. “The idea behind AfricaWorking is to bring these corporations together, align our efforts, share our learnings and build human capital on a pan-Africa scale,” He added.

The initial platforms will leverage YouthWorks – a Microsoft entrepreneurship platform linking youth to career guidance, internships and entry-level job opportunities, and an employability platform powered by Knod.

Graham Doxey, CEO and Founder of Knod said that there is currently a significant mismatch between the skills youth have and the skills employers are looking for. “Our goal is to connect learners and employers in a unique 21st Century experience based learning model, which develops skilled youth and an energized workforce of competent employees,” he said.

AfricaWorking members will use this platform to create their talent pipeline and shape the skilled employees when and where they need them, through real world projects that form the basis of this innovative learning model.

Charles Reed, General Manager for Community Investment for Barclays Africa, added that by 2045, Africa’s labour market is projected to be the biggest in the world. “There is a great opportunity for us to engage the youth, help them develop relevant skills and find meaningful employment opportunities. Key to this is for us to collaborate and leverage technology where it makes sense to do so”, he said.

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Date Posted: June 14, 2016

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SwaRnB preserving Kenyan musical identity

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Have Kenyan musicians lost their sense of identity? Most upcoming Kenyan musicians are leaning toward hip hop and other foreign genres.

People have different opinions concerning this fact. I had a chat with an Artist promoter on this topic and he told me that for a very long time, Kenyans lived in fear of creativity. His theory is that we were exposed to foreign music for more than 24 years, so our upcoming artistes produce what they grew up listening to.

Professor Mike Kuria of Daystar University, however differs with this theory. He says that during the period that Kenya was under tyrannical rule, was also the period that saw the birth of many creative works. Examples being A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Micere Mugo’s works that caused them to go into exile.

Back to music… Ted Josiah has produced many hip hop Kenyan artists. The likes of Kalamashaka, and Necessary Noize. He has taken up a new project, producing a more localized genre of Music- SwaRnB. He is doing this through his new studio Sand Stone Studio (S3 studio).

SwaRnB is a genre that reflects the soul and identity of Kenyans. Through the new record label, he has produced Mswazzi Masauti, Kelmah Shiko, and Vivian Olang.

Watch a video about the rationale for coming up with this localized genre.

As a country we have accepted and legalized Swahili as our official language. Even though it has been hard to make us all adopt Kiswahili as our primary culture, the fact that we have accepted this language that has International outlook from Arab, Portugal, Chinese and West Africa influences as the preferred medium of communication across the country means appreciation and adoption of Kiswahili by all shouldn’t be harder than promoting Swahili. As a culture, Kiswahili has its cuisine, attire and music, and it is the music – music entrenched in deep poetry and soul reaching lyrics, that Tedd has borrowed to create a new wave, a new culture, a new identity – the SwaRnB Movement.

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