Bills, Bills, Bills

Tired and exhausted, we arrived home only to be greeted by a large box of mail we had asked the US Postal Service to hold while we were away on vacation. Within one hour of our arrival I got into serious business trying to sift through the letters, most of which consisted of marketing junk mail in addition to magazine subscriptions that I had not stopped when I was away.

Among the important letters were the bills that were mailed to us during our absence. Although we had gone on holiday, our service providers were still very much in business and it did not matter that we had not used our land-line or even our cell phones during our absence.

The same applied to the internet, cable, car insurance and municipal sewage which were also billed even when not in use. Among the bills were those of credit cards, store credit cards, hospital invoices, mortgage and trash collection services. In addition to our usual bills, was the $50 bi-weekly bill for mow, trim & blow services of the yard so as not to break the sub-division indentures during the time we were away.

Because of the numerous bills I receive, I have set up e-billing and automated payments for most of my recurring bills to make it easier for me to make my payments on time. Although in the case of my water bill, I will be making a late payment as they only send their bill through the postal service. Hopefully, I will not be made to pay a late payment penalty.

Were it not for the fact that I have paid holiday, it's almost impossible for anyone without paid holiday to take an extended break from work as they are still obligated to pay their bills even when they are not using the services provided. The added cost of taking a vacation makes it even more expensive to be away from work.

Errors & Omissions Expected (E&OE)

Source; BlogHer Conference



You can read more from Afromusing who is among the participants.

Tremors Increase Church Attendance In Nairobi

This past Sunday turned out to be very interesting for a lot of Nairobians. I got to church early as usual and even before we had finished with the praise & worship, the church was filled up to capacity. As the service went on, I wondered why the church was never full like this during the past services. I even tried to figure out if it was a special church service or occasion.

It was only later on that I realised that it was because of the tremors that people had trooped en-mass to church. Usually, the church rarely fills up and even more odd is the fact that people turned up on time.

Now that the tremors are gone, it will be interesting to see what will happen this coming Sunday. Knowing that people have forgotten about the tremors, it's possible that church attendance will dwindle until something else stirs the fear of death in Nairobi. Apparently, not even the mungiki uprising has had such an effect on Kenyans.

Car Accident, Revisited

Earlier this week as I walked out of the Norfolk Hotel, I run into the cab that I had an accident with a while ago. As I made my way out of the hotel, right at the first taxi rank was the car. Inside sat a different driver. Not only had I not forgotten the cab’s number plate, but it also had a fresh coat of paint at the front.

I told the taxi driver about the incident and sure enough he told me exactly what the other cab driver had told the traffic police at the scene of the accident. Apparently, "I was the one who run into him". Unfortunately for him, he was relieved of his duties by the cab owner as he failed to provide the details of the my car insurance. Though I was told that he was still employed elsewhere as a taxi driver.

Not keen on taking the taxi, I decided to walk to town rather than take the cab that hit my car.

Google Fired Up For Success

This past Friday, investors traders punished Google, the undisputed king of internet search engines, after it reported lower profit margins during the second quarter of 2007.

Google, keen on extending its lead over rivals and overtaking Microsoft as the world's largest technology company spent $575 million on capital expenditures, 'the majority of which was related to IT infrastructure investments, including data centers, servers, and networking equipment' resulting in decreased a profit margin.

Google's rival Microsoft having no better use it's cash pile, returned $31 billion to it's shareholders through share buy-backs and cash dividends in this past year. In a sign that Microsoft is loosing the battle for online supremacy to Google, Its online division widened its loss to $239 million from $187 million last year.

The sell-off brought Google's share price to it's 50 DMA, making it an attractive buy for investors seeking aggresive growth.

Does Tourism Benefit Kenya?

“Karibuni, mabibi na mabwana, katika uwanja wa ndege wa kimataifa wa Moi mjini Mombasa.” Beamed the air-stewardess’ voice over the PA system after the plane touched down at Moi International airport in Mombasa. A few minutes before this as the Kenya Airways plane descended into the airport, I couldn’t help but wonder why the airport is surrounded with grass thatched mud houses yet we were landing in a city that is located in the hotbed of Kenya’s tourism and is the gateway to commerce in Kenya. The Americans or Israelis may think that this is a major security lapse but I viewed these as a social time bomb that needs to be addressed.

As we drove from the airport through Makupa, Ganjoni, Likoni and onto Kwale District it was apparently clear that the once beautiful town of Mombasa was an eyesore. While the taxi driver thought otherwise, I could see that Mombasa, the second largest city in Kenya, had become one of the biggest ghetto in Kenya. The government aware of the situation, had barricaded the roads with iron sheets during the just concluded World Marathon Championships held in Mombasa to hide these glaring levels of poverty from the views of the television camera’s leading from the airport. Everywhere I looked, the houses were in a bad state, the streets were littered with rubbish and a lot of people were walking around carrying large jerry cans pre-occupied with finding water for domestic use.

The same could be said about every tourist destination in Kenya. Surrounding the rich heritage of Kenya’s tourism jewels are communities living in abject poverty. The Masai’s who live around the vast wilderness of the world famous Masai Mara Game Reserve and the expansive Amboseli National Park still live in mud hut manyattas with limited or no access to basic facilities like clean water, sanitation, proper housing, electricity or even decent education or health-care facilities. The roads leading to the tourist destinations are also in a bad state of disrepair and any attempt to visit these places without a sturdy SUV or van will only result in damaging of one’s vehicle.

A quick survey of the major tourist hotels in Kenya reveals that, just like the Patel’s in America, most of these properties are owned by Asians (or Indians to be specific). Some of the hotels are in the hands of westerners while less than a fistful of major tourist hotels are owned by indigenous Kenyans like Kenneth Matiba, Njenga Karume and a few others who served in the Kenyatta administration. And even for the hotels that are publicly owned, only a small minority of Kenyans are shareholders in these companies. Basically, very little of the dollar inflows that come in from accommodating tourists ends up in the pockets of the locals.

While these tourist destinations indirectly and directly employ thousands of Kenyans, you can be certain that the majority of these employees do not constitute the middle class of the Kenyan society. This leaves me to wonder, just how much does the tourism industry in Kenya benefit the nation?

We hear all the time about tourism being a major employer and earner of foreign exchange yet on the ground one is faced with a different scenario. With Kenya set to attract more than one million foreign tourists this year, the gains from tourism do not seem to be reaching the majority of people who should be benefiting from this boom. The much touted 6% economic growth doesn’t seem to be helping these people in the face of double digit inflation levels consigning them to a life of poverty.

Further reading - Can tourism offer pro-poor pathways to prosperity? (pdf)

Cash-Back Comes To Kenya

Once again the trail-blazing Equity Bank has introduced a new product in Kenya. Equity Bank account holders can now request for Cash-back in selected Nakumatt Stores.

Barclays and Standard Chartered banks rested on their laurels for too long. Now they have themselves to blame. I counted no less than 5 Equity Bank branches road signs as I drove upcountry.

Confessions Of A Suspected Criminal

On this particular day, I decided to drive to Java and download my emails as it had been several days since I had last checked my work email. On arrival at Java - Junction, I found that their internet had been down for the last two days and they directed me to their Adams Arcade restaurant. Once I got there it was a similar story. I then decided to go and try the cyber café at Nakumatt Prestige on Ngong Road which to my delight was working.

After connecting my laptop to their LAN, I downloaded my emails and also sent a few emails before deciding to head back home through State House Road. As I casually drove home, an over-speeding taxi deliberately drove into me as I was about to turn into Denis Pritt Road. I got out of the car and argued with the cab driver who didn’t seem concerned over the accident. He took off on foot and went to call the cops who arrived after 30 minutes. They marked the road and asked us to move the cars from the road. After the usual questions, the cops asked me to drive with them to Kilimani police station to record a statement as I had not indicated that I was making a turn though I had stopped in readiness to make a turn. It was then that I asked them why they are letting the other driver go that they became bewildered.

When we got to the police station, I waited as they attended to other people. When it got to my turn, I inquired of them again where the cab driver was. I then got into an argument with them over their impartiality in the matter. Before I knew it, I was whisked from the traffic section and into the main police station. It was at this juncture that I called a friend to let them know that I was at the police station. I had not called anyone else before as I considered this to be a small matter. At the reception I was relieved of my belt, cell phone, money, car keys, wedding ring and one shoe before being thrown into the cell. Luckily, I had left my cap, watch, credit cards and other important documents that I had on me in the car. My plea that I should pay a cash bail fell onto deaf years as the police were intent on making sure that I spend a night in the cells.

Once I was in the cell, I was given a rousing welcome by other inmates who mobbed me and frisked me to check if I had any valuables left on me. In the cell, there were many cubicles which didn’t have any lighting. The other suspects tried to direct me into the ones at the furthest end but I refused and negotiated with them. Instead, I went and sat next to the lighted entrance where the cell leaders were positioned so that they could usher in new entrants. Knowing that I was in a dangerous situation, I quickly cut a deal with two guys who seemed to be in charge. I gave them my booking slip that showed I had almost 10,000 shillings on me. I told them, that I’ll give both of them 1,000 shillings if they could organize for me to make one phone call to my family. On hearing my offer, they quickly embraced me into their group and regarded me as one of them.

Were it not for my fluency in Swahili and Sheng, it would have been a different matter for me. We agreed that when the cops brought in the next suspect, they would organize for me to be given 2,500 shillings. In return, they were going to organize with the policeman such that for 500 shillings he would allow me to call my wife. The moment I was thrown into the cell I quickly adapted to my surroundings such that one of the guys thought I was a rogue matatu driver. As we waited, we introduced ourselves and talked freely about the various offences that had landed us in jail. In the cell, there were also other motorists, including a Caucasian, though they were huddled in one of the cubicles. Most of these hardcore guys had been in jail for weeks and they didn’t even know what was going to happen to them. As we sat down talking, they were smoking marijuana and cigarettes which they offered to me. Not wanting to offend them, I cheated them that I am asthmatic and I would get an asthmatic attack if I smoked.

After what seemed to be eternity, the main door opened and my name was called out. I was escorted out by one of the cell leaders. I was received by plain clothes policemen who had been sent to rescue me. I was given back all my possessions and they took me back into the traffic section where I was held as they processed the charge sheet. After 1 hour, I was charged with careless driving and asked to pay a cash bail of 5,000 shillings. I was booked to attend traffic court the day after and released to go home. Relieved that my ordeal was over, I proceeded to drive home. As I was driving home, I got another call from the Kilimani police station asking me to return. I drove back and was informed that my charge had been dropped and they gave me back my 5,000 shillings cash bail.

Unlike most Kenyans, my friend saved me from being hustled in the law courts over a very small matter that could have been settled without me being thrown into the cell. Instead of being given a ticket, the policemen decided to throw me in the cells for a night. Other Kenyans, caught by the wrong arm of the law, who can’t afford to bribe or do not know anyone who can help them end up being incarcerated in police cells as they await holders of justice to have mercy on them.

This is the 3rd time in the last 3 years that I have been booked by Kenyan police over traffic offences. Because of these occurrences, I usually prefer not to drive so as not to be singled out by the police who now openly solicit for bribes every time they make a routine traffic stop. As I have made a stance never to bribe them, I have twice ended up in the law courts where I was handed a fine. While I may be an aggressive driver, I am usually very careful on the road and I have driven in several countries without any mishaps. What baffles me is that every time I’m in Kenya is that if I’m not having run-ins with the cops, my car is being broken into or some matatu or bus is hitting me. I don’t know anyone who drives in Kenya who hasn’t been hustled by cops or matatu drivers or street urchins. I have a cousin who has also been locked up at Kilimani because traffic offences (driving without a seat-belt) and ended up before the traffic courts in Kibera.

If you are coming to Kenya and are planning to drive, make sure you have the contacts of someone who can rescue you from the police brutality. Instead of protecting Kenyans, the Kenyan police have instead turned to extorting money from motorists knowing too well that nothing will happen to them as they have the blessings of their superiors. From my talks with them at the police station, they proved beyond doubt that they can’t reason and they don’t care about what the public thinks about them even if their actions are giving Kenya a bad name due to their corrupt practices.

Buying A Cooker

I was going through my old receipts for capital purchases I've made in Kenya and I came across an interesting co-incidence.

On the 9th of September 1999 (9/9/99) I bought an Ariston cooker for my parents costing 29,000 Shillings. This past Saturday, on the 7th of July 2007 (7/7/07), I bought a similar sized Ariston cooker from the same shop for 31,000 Shillings for my parents-in-law.

The only difference being that the newer cooker comes with three gas burners and one electric hot plate (3 x 1) while the old one came with two gas burners and two electric plates (2 x 2).

Though they are of the same color, I was kind-of disappointed that they were not exactly the same. Coincidentally, I bought the cooker from the same shop and I was served by the daughter of the owner of the shop who served me almost eight years ago.

It's interesting to note that the (nominal) price of the cooker has not increased significantly after eight years though the two products are very similar. Factoring the increased labor costs, inflation and the increased price of metals used to make the cooker, I would have thought the price would be much higher than I paid.

Internet Connectivity For Dummies

It took me close to 30 minutes to download a 2MB file over a VPN connection. Mind you, this is over a broadband internet connection.

This reminds me of 10 years ago when it used to take forever to download documents from the web. I've still got 12 more minutes before I can download and synchronize all my emails onto MS Outlook.

Even something simple like getting a quote from a company takes the whole day as they claim their systems are slow if not down most of the time. Productivity must be at an all time low in Kenya if this is the way business is carried out.

Post-Card From Kenya

From the west coast of America and now at the east coast of Africa.

For the second time in the span of less than a month, I’ve come across a hotel with a telephone handset next to the toilet.

This hotel also comes with a television volume adjuster (Silver nob next to the telephone) for the bathroom speaker so that the room occupant can listen to the television while in the bathroom.

It just goes to show how the funds looted through the Anglo-Leasing type scandals are being put to good use.

Maybe after a few more such deals, they’ll install mini-televisions in the bathrooms.

Kenyan Co-founds Anti-TB Initiative

A Kenyan scientist, Dr Joshua Oluoch Odingo, has joined forces with two other scientists and founded a company that will carry out research to discover new drugs to treat neglected diseases in the developing world. The not-for-profit corporation, Afya World Medicines (dead link), was formed by former employees of ICOS corporation after they were laid of in January after their ICOS was acquired by Eli Lilly . The new company, co-founded by Drs. Joshua Odingo, Kerry Fowler and Edward Kesicki, aims at researching early-phase drug candidates to fight tuberculosis.

Afya World Medicines, based in Washington, Seattle, will receive $15 million in funding over five years from Eli Lilly. Of which, $9 million of the donation consists of high-speed drug-screening equipment, research tools and chemical libraries from their former laboratories at ICOS. The company is part of public-private consortium formed by Eli Lilly to discover new TB drugs. The partnership will focus on early-phase research on new medicines aimed at treating emerging resistant TB strains.

Prior to founding Afya, Dr. Odingo worked as a senior staff scientist and medicinal chemistry group leader at ICOS. He was involved in the discovery of New Chemical Entities. He previously worked as a postdoctoral scientist at Genentech Inc. where he conducted research on combinatorial chemistry methodology development and compound library synthesis. Dr Odingo holds BSc and MSc degrees in natural products chemistry from University of Nairobi and thereafter he obtained MA, MS and PhD degrees in organic chemistry from Columbia University, New York. Dr. Odingo is also a co-inventor of over seven patents, issued or pending, has co-authored over several manuscripts/abstracts and has been an invited speaker at scientific conferences.