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You have to watch this video. The Nairobi City Council apparently has a list of houses that are built on illegal road structures, which they say have to come down, but if this is how they are going to “attack” this problem, then they are down right crazy! They almost demolished this family’s house, which it turns out, did not sit on an illegal road reserve!

This video is also interesting for a number of different reasons because it brings out all of the racial and class differences that exist within Kenya. The family in this video is Indian. They also appear to be quite well off (the house has a pretty big swimming pool in it) and you can just see the anger on the private investigators face as she confronts this Indian family, who are naturally fighting back.

The investigator (does she work for the council? ) is seething with anger and it’s not because she has been prevented from doing her job (who would enjoy destroying someone’s house?). It’s because these rich Indians are fighting her and she despises them for who they are.

Kenyan Indians are not my favorite people, but the way the city council is going about this is absolutely crazy. You can’t just send in bulldozers to destroy a families house if the court has told you to stop. If this family had not fought back, that crazy private investigator would have destroyed their home!

How is the city council carrying out this demolition process??? Is it going through the courts? is it evaluating the long-term infrastructural plans of the city & analyzing what needs to be destroyed and what doesn’t? is it looking at old maps? what?

They need to start requiring some minimum educational standards for these city councillor’s because the country cannot afford to rely on standard four drop - outs to implement it’s urban planning/vision 2030 policies.

Would the private investigator have reacted like this if it was a black Kenyan family?

** I still can’t get over these Indians accents.  If they were born and raised in Kenya, why do they still sound like they just got off a plane from Calcutta?  These people need to start integrating.  They’ve been there for over 100 years now.

Did you guys catch this article in the Nation? Raila and Kalonzo’s wives are now going to get an allowance totaling about KSh 400,000 a month because according to Matharau Muthaura:

“The Government has taken cognisance of the critical role of the spouses of theVP and PM in projecting a positive image of our nation’s family values,” the directive reads in part”.

Is Mr. Matharau out of his fucking mind??

When will Kenyan public officials understand that taxpayer money is not for them!!!! It is for infrastructure development and social programs. Things like roads, public education, public healthcare, etc, etc…..

I am now convinced that Kenya’s economy is going to take a big hit as a result of these exorbitant salaries. You cannot develop a country when 80% of government funds are being used to pay salaries. It’s insane!

Private companies are going to start finding ways of dodging their taxes if this is what the government is going to do with their money. They’re going to start under reporting their revenues and sending that money into bank accounts abroad. Heck, that’s what I would do if I had a company in Kenya and my taxes were just going to pay for these exorbitant salaries. I would under report like a mo’focker and dare them to catch me.

Or I’d seriously consier relocating to Rwanda….

The wives are not elected public officials and thus, they do not deserve even one penny of the publics money.

Once again, I want to get back to this topic about the coming undersea fiber optic cable that is supposed to finally deliver high speed internet services to the East African shoreline. White African has a good summary post on this cable line and I got this image from his blog. The white lines show where it is and the blue and red lines show where it will go once implemented. You can see it stops right at the tip of South Africa.  Also, if it has to pass through the treacherous waters around Somalia, will those warlords try and blow it up?

Anyway, I want to talk about the companies in Kenya that are gearing up for this “broad band” explosion that is supposedly going to take place once this cable line is inputted. The big cahuna is of course Safaricom. They’re trying to diversity their services and becoming an Internet service provider is obviously going to be one of their goals. In line with this goal, they just spent almost $3 million dollars buying this data company called One Communications. According to the BD Africa article above, One Communications offers Safaricom “the technology and platform to deliver broader services including WiMAX access which enables internet based video, voice and data transmission”. I’m surprised Safaricom, through it’s parent company Vodafone, did not have this technology already. So, let’s talk about Safaricom’s move here and let’s also get some more information on this company, One Communications.

The second point of course, is going to be the fierce competition to become an ISP provider {if and when} this cable line does arrive. Here, I want to about companies like Access Kenya (those Somens give me the creeps). I still don’t get how they are able to make such significant profits in a country with such low internet speeds. However, if Safaricom gets into the mix, they are going to have some fierce competition.

Finally, I’d like to weave this all into a discussion about Kenya’s potential as an outsourcing center. Everyone knows about Kencall, but do people know about this company called Preciss International? They’re in the outsourcing business as well and I’d like to know how they’re doing.

Okay. So, let’s hit it on these topics so we can figure out how to hustle and flow for the green.

I was watching Pamela Jelimo’s win online (because I can never figure out what time these events are happening on tv). Anyway, Jelimo just killed it and she’s only 18! Maybe one day someone will figure out what these Kalenjins are drinking and they’ll package it and sell it to future runners. Is there a special ingredient in Mursik that nobody has discovered yet?

However, I want to talk about money and athletics. I was reading somewhere that the overgrown and odd looking Michael Phelps may end up making $5 million dollars for each gold medal he’s won. Whaaat? they should pay him now because in 10 years, they’ll have discovered the drugs Phelps has been ingesting and the medals will be withdrawn from him.

So, back to this issue of money. The Kenyan runners are the best in the world. They have dominated long distance running for at least 30 years, but still, their pay does not reflect their talent. Why?

Now, Pamela Jelimo is being touted as the new running sensation. So, I’m assuming that someone with that level of talent will skip college to focus on her running. So, let’s say she has a good 10 years of competitive running still ahead of her. I’d say, financially, she should pull in about $10 million dollars in earnings over the course of those 10 years. Is that unreasonable? not if your the best in the world.

It’s too bad private companies in Kenya don’t lavish them with endorsement deals the way American companies do with their athletes. These athletes could be great spokes people for diet drinks, healthy flavored water drinks, vegetable juices etc, etc….especially since so many Kenyans are getting fatter and fatter and are beginning to look for healthier alternatives in their diets. What better person to use than a healthy, fit looking athlete?.

I mean, if you work for coca-cola Africa, Jelimo would be a great marketing tool. She’s black, she’s African, she’s young. Put her up on a freaking billboard.

And speaking of advertisements and billboards, there’s an interesting article about Kenya’s mobile industry and the revenue’s they are generating for ad agencies (Safaricom: here, there and everywhere).



How to Get Rich: One of the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets

I’ve been reading this book by Felix Dennis, the multimillionaire British magazine magnate and I have to say, it’s a must read for anyone who is thinking about starting a business or anyone who is already running a business.

The reason I’m enjoying reading the book is because Dennis doesn’t beat around the bush with silly and often ineffectual politically correct advise. He just gets to the point and he tells you exactly what he thinks, what he has learned and what advice he would give you if you are thinking of running your own business. There’s no sugar coating here and I love it.

Sample some of the rules he lays out in the book:

1. Never indulge in a fancy office unless your business demands that you make such an impression on clients.
2. Check all staff and entertainment claims with an eagles eye.
3. Always meet payroll, even at the expense of starving yourself that week (Kencall are you listening?)
4. Issuing staff credit cards, company cell phones or cars is the road to ruin (you see why working for a multinational in Kenya isn’t all that good? as soon as you hit 50, these perks will all be snatched away from you!)
5. Ownership is everything. Never, ever, ever, give up even 1% of ownership in a company you have founded; why? because as soon as you give up ownership, you’ve given up control.
6. Never sign long term rent agreements or take upmarket office space.
7. Keep payroll down to an absolute minimum

However, the central theme weaving throughout the course of this book is to never give up any equity or ownership in a company you have founded because according to Dennis: “Capitalism demands that whoever takes the most risks calls the pipers tune.” Why would you give someone who has taken no risks on your behalf, control of part of your company?

This is also a great book for all employee’s to read because it will highlight for you, in a very real sense, just how expendable you are as an “employee”. According to Dennis, once his employee’s start to get into their forties and late fifties, he pretty much just fires them.

…”By the time talent is in it’s mid to late forties or fifties, it will become very, very, expensive. Young talent can be found and underpaid for a shortwhile, providing the work is challenging enough. Then it will paid at the market rate. Finally, it will reach a stage where it is being paid on past reputation alone. That is when you must part company with it.” This is why lay off’s will never end. They will always be cheaper “talent” available.

If you are an employee and you think your job is safe, get this book. You’ll begin to think otherwise and it will probably be for the better. If you are a business owner who is thinking about giving up ownership or equity, get this book. You won’t do it.