A Day from Hell

4th January 2019

Having one of those crappy days from hell at the beginning of the year (Warning long ranting post) - and since Facebook killed most blogs I rarely post here

First off I'm up for a super early flight to Entebbe, my first business trip of the year and get to the airport. I board early and have only carry on luggage. This white couple come late and the lady has nowhere to put her little bag and sine she is sitting at seat no 1A it has to be put at seat no 3 hold. she makes a fuss and wants it to be put in the luggage hold inside the plane but cabin crew tell her its not in use for this flight. so after some while she opens luggage hold and removes my laptop bag and places hers and is now looking for a place to place my laptop bag. I firmly tell her she can't do that and she stares me down. So i rise and take my bag and put it back. upon which she tells me that I have done that because I'm racist. Now I'm livid and take her on and raise a ruckus and the flight is delayed. the whole plane is with me and i tell her she has to apologize for calling me racist otherwise she is not getting on the plane. So the pilot comes along and tells her she has to apologize otherwise she is getting ejected from the plane and security gets called. she says she can't apologize if she doesn't feel like it. finally under duress she looks at me and tells me she is sorry (I don't think she is though) pilot turns to me and asks me if i accept the apology - I give her a hard time and asks her what is she apologetic for (to make her realize her mistake) and finally accept the apology. hatch gets locked and we taxi off.

Shortly before take off pilot comes over the intercom and says Entebbe Airport is closed and we can't take off and we will be taxing back to parking and deplane. so soon as we are back and doors get opened i gt online and checking to realize that the incident with Entebbe has been on for 6hours before our flight. so technically, I think what the Jambojet crew do is that they know the airport was closed and they had to log the flight so that they can come back - you do this by locking the hatch and taxing and soon as you come back the airline needs to look for new crew. So we deplane and are led back to terminal and no further information is coming. So Entebbe airport opens up 2 hours later but we have no crew and no information from Jambojet. Four hours after deplaning we are told next flight is at 7pm and we have an option of a meal voucher. i think there is more that we are entitled to. i am furious and have waited so many hours since cock crow and now i have to wait all day to catch the evening flight.

On a positive note as we wait in the terminal, the daughter of the lady i had ruckus with comes to me and apologizes on behalf of her mom and tells me it is inexcusable what she did and tells me she hopes this stops with our generation.

Meanwhile at 7am I tried to do a normal bank to MPESA transaction from NIC Bank, my bank of 15years. money leaves my bank account but doesn't show up on my MPESA. meanwhile i have workers in the farm waiting to be paid. Looks like from the turn of the year, NIC Bank has had issues with their systems and whenever they have issues they seem to adopt the Ostrich head in sand approach and they are unreachable. so here i am trying to call them all day and it is now 3pm with no luck.

As if that is not enough, I used the mobile app (yes the bank one!) to pay for my Home Broadband on the 30th December 2018. (I typically use MPESA to do this but because i was trying to balance The Boat (Ask my Uganda counterparts about this) 4 days later, the bank and the Broadband company are giving me the runaround and nobody is acknowledging where the money is - this made me appreciate the deep integration work that Multichoice has done over the years on payment options which reflect almost unreal time and service is back up. (Lucky though for me as an ex employee i always have speed dial to my peeps at Multichoice and always get speedy resolution).

I was told a while ago when I moved from Zuku to Jamii Telkom that whilst Jamii Telecom service would be great but their customer service is poor when you really need them - and that word of mouth advise has held strong and I'm now paying for my choices. Safaricom Home fibre was not in my hood when i made the switch to JTL, but I'm also personally of the view that we need to balance the boat with this Safaricom thing (i hope i don't get nailed for this in the future for this) - but its just some classical advise of not putting all your eggs in one basket. to give credit to them, Safaricom has really upped their game on customer service and whilst the re is always room for improvement but they are up there with it as far any service oriented provider.

On a positive note soon as I typed Zuku above, I got a call form them! - that is very spooky. My account has been off for 6months and i have hardly got a call from them - maybe someone is spying on me or that must be super duper SEO that prompts them to call when i call their name. SO finally i have renewed my Zuku for a retrial period and lets see how this goes. the beauty with choice is that you don't have to take BS from any supplier/service provider, so this is me exercising my options

So much for 2019 starting off like this. So on the overall, I think it is possible to disrupt any industry with a me too product by upping up Customer Service

In My Hour of Need

On the 17th November 2011, I took two days off the gruelling work of leading a fast paced business and decided to take a road trip to visit my mom and commune by my dads grave. I love road trips like this and when I do them I opt to take them alone as it gives me time to reflect and be alone (which is diametrically different from being lonely) and to listen to my heart.

My hometown happens to be in Kisumu, proudly so, complete with a brand new International airport to boot - so soon I will be flying direct to "Dalla Texas" - pun intended. From what I can recollect I have been on this road coutless times over the past 12 years since I have been certified as a driver. In all these years I have had a safe passage and seen the road in different states of repair and have driven a Fiat Uno,  a Suzuki Maruti, Toyota Sprinter, Suzuki Vitara, Landcruiser Prado and a Mitsubishi Pajero down these roads. I can largely say that I know the nooks and crannies of this road learned through the years.

Recently I have discovered the route that takes me through Mai Mahiu, Narok, Bomet, Sotik, Kericho and down to Kisumu. Even though it is slightly longer but it affords the driver the comfort of fewer oncoming traffic as well as a smooth motorable road and some of the best scenery that I have experienced in Kenya. You get on to see the Great Rift Valley, the escarpment, you also get on to see the Maasai lowlands and the entrance to the world famous Maasai Mara, you get on to encounter the fearsome and warlike maasai tribe as you journey through Narok town. As you approach Bomet you come face to face with the Kalenjin subtribe of Nandi as well as the Kipsigis and see firsthand how urbanisation has impacted them in the towns of Bomet and Sotik. A detour through Bomet to Litein will take you through pristine farmlands with well kept tea bushes and the road winds through these farmlands and you are lost in time not knowing exactly where you are. It is at these moments that I appreciate Nokia's Here maps which have these roads all mapped out and you are clear where you are coming from and where you are headed.

On this day, I left Nairobi rather late, circa 4pm and was driving  past Kericho shortly after 8pm. Kericho is approximately 80km from Kisumu and by this time every Kisumu bound driver starts feels the comfort of getting closer to home and the "golden mile effect" kicks in. Beyond Kericho, it is evident after a short climb that you are starting a descent into the famous Kavirondo Gulf or better known as Winam Gulf. The road down is winding with speed bumps closely spaced all the way through the small trading towns of Kapsoit, Kaitui, Awasi, Boya and all the way to Ahero. Beyond Ahero you get on to bomb down to Kisumu through the flat rice paddies and you are home.

About 2km from Kaitui town, my rather calm and quiet driving was suddenly interrupted by a loud bang that sent my car tumbling from the road into the ditch. I discovered seconds later that a large petrol tanker that had lost control had come round the bend and hit me from behind. Everything happened so fast but I soon discovered that the tanker was not stopping. Realising that it was dark and if I didnt do something about it, I would be a statistic of a hit and run traffic case, I managed to get the badly damaged car back onto the road and started to give chase to the runway tanker. All this while it did not occur to me that the tanker was out of control or had lost its braking system.
A fey hundred yards down the road the truck lost control and rolled several times and came to rest on its side next to a small trading post.

Kenneth Oyolla on how Nokia's new range of handsets have increased Inter...

Transition Chat

A Chat with Juuchini

Kindly reproduced on my Blog with permission from Juuchini. The original interview can be found on:

http://juuchini.com/2012/06/chat-with-oyolla-nokia-global-lead-market-activation-mobile-phone-activation/#more-1354

For those who have not been lucky enough to interact with Kenneth Oyolla, more popularly known as Ken from Kenya, he is the humble chap who headed Nokia as GM for East and Southern Africa up till sometime in January of 2012. He now holds the higher role of Global Head of Market Activation for Mobile Phones and sits in a big office all the way in London.




I had a chat with Ken on phone a while back and felt compelled to ask him how he’s coping with the new environment so I did a nice Q&A with him. Here’s what he had to say:



Juuchini: How has the shift been from local office to global office? What is your experience so far? What has changed?


Kenneth Oyolla: I see my move to from regional general management to global as two sides of the same coin. On one side you have a big team to manage that looks after a smaller region whilst on the other side you have a smaller team of specialist to manage that look after a global business. Whilst as General Manager “your word is the law” and goes and you bet your job on your decisions, in global you have a lot of matrix relationships to manage and you have to hone your rapport building skills as well as influencing skills to achieve your goals. You also have to contend with different time zones like the call I have to take weekly with teams in Sydney because there is a 12hour time difference. Different cultures also kick in when you have to deal with Chinese, Indian, European and American colleagues as well as the complexity of dealing with virtual teams using technology like video conference and Halo.




Juuchini: Having worked on the local level and seen the differences, what are your plans for the local market now that you sit at a global office?


Kenneth Oyolla: When you work in a global multinational at a local level, sometimes you do not grasp the decisions that a business has to make at global level that impacts you. Now that I understand more of this, if I were back in a regional role I would be able to better position the local business so that we anticipate rather than wait for global decisions to be made. A simple case which I have always believed in before and now even more is this: alongside bigger economies like Brazil, India, Russia and China, you may not punch much when it comes to the size of the business that you do BUT you can STAND OUT by being the most efficient business, with the best talent, fastest growing et al…Just make sure that you stand for something.


Juuchini:What is your global agenda with the new posting?


Kenneth Oyolla: A few weeks ago whilst still fresh in London, I was invited to be a panelist at the Cambridge Judge Business School. The conference was about doing business in Africa with eminent personalities like HE Olusegun Obasanjo and the Vice President of Zambia in the panel. In there, I stated what I believe is my key agenda while out here, which is to be an “apologist for Africa”. What do I mean here? A lot of the narrative about Africa and decisions made about her are largely by people who have limited working knowledge on Africa or who have not really done business in Africa apart from looking at economic, financial political and social indicators on Africa. As a result stories on Africa have not been told well. In a small way, I hope to be like that little singing bird that Prof Wangari Maathai referred to in her acceptance speech as a Nobel laureate.


ON the other hand I also believe that this role offers me the opportunity to look after exciting markets in Latin America, Europe, SEAP – South East Asia & pacific as well as China. There is a lot to be learnt and I look forward to stealing with pride some of the nuggets that have made trailblazing countries in these regions the darling of global economists


Juuchini: How has your social life changed after the move? How is the family handling this change? How long do you intend to stay in global office before you come back home?


Me:This is an interesting question. Over the past four years I travelled vastly across Africa and the Middle East hence I was not at home much. This made it a bit easier as I did not have much of a big social circle to walk away from. Coupled with this, the last two years as a young General Manager were lonely, as some may get to know when you step into a leadership role. That said, I desired many years ago that I’d want to work in London and this is my desire fulfilled. London is an exciting city and very rich culturally as well as historically. I am big on concerts and plays and I couldn’t be in a better place. It is pleasing to note that the public system works and much as I have a car but I hardly use it and I love blending into the crowd from the Holland Park tube station to Piccadilly Circus where I have to get off. I have shed my suits for more appropriate attireJ My two sons Keith & Kyle are still struggling to understand why the sun sets at 9pm and is up at 4am. I do hope they settle well and find the right schools for them


Juuchini: Any key learning’s on managements you would share with local managers in terms of managing resources and people to make the shift to ability to manage global-like facilities?


Me: One key thing a young manager just into the corporate world needs to determine is to shift their mindset to see themselves as global citizens. This is the start of it all. When you imagine that you are competing with a fresh graduate from New York, Mexico City, Hanoi or Jakarta, you start thinking and doing things differently. Today, unlike our days (I’m not that old) the internet is a big equalizer. The internet is not just there for Facebook and twitter but is a rich repository to arm yourself with knowledge in whatever area you need. Use it to broaden your world knowledge and understanding before you jump on that plane.


At the end of the day the adage holds true that if you are faithful with the little you will be entrusted with more or like Song of Solomon 2:2 in the bible says: Catch for us the little foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyard – meaning take care of the little things and the bigger ones will fall into place


Juuchini:Outlook on IT and Mobile infrastructure that you think Kenyans (and East Africans) should consider investing in to boost relevance in this dynamic market?


Me: East Africa is blessed with a good talent pool and we are making headway in many ways. However I don’t believe that we should rest on our laurels. We should also recognize that while we have the talent but the funds do not necessarily sit here. The key thing for a developer is to be the best in technical skills and business management so that they can attract venture capital or angel funding from the capital hotspots where fund managers sit like Brussels, New York and London. It would be great to see e.g. John Waibochi selling his business for $2B to a Silicon Valley blue chip company because they realize that the only way to get the skills that Virtual City has is through acquisition of the talent and the know. I also believe there is a lot of opportunity in the sub region. Whist Kenya is a leader but we have not looked yonder into Uganda, Mozambique or Angola to see how we can grow there.

Juuchini: Do you think emerging markets have a real chance in the Tech Scene? Why?

Me: I strongly believe that nobody knows Africa better than Africans. The social fabric upon which we build out business models is different from Europe and only we can understand that. If we use this as one of our key competitive advantage and always seek to be globally competitive then we will excel. It would be great also to see more unique innovation and less of me too innovation coming up. If I were a blogger I’d be endeavoring to learn how to write code or to learn the ropes on doing business as this is the time for Africa like the clarion call for the World cup says: Ke Nako! (The Time Is NOW!)




Juuchini: Are we far from the ultimate marketing experience in Kenya as you have experienced in London so far?


Me: I started my career as a graduate management trainee in marketing, so being back to marketing in the latter years of my life has been nostalgic. From a pure sense of marketing, there is a lot that I relate to when I walk around, watch media that I relate to deeply. That the brands I see are built on solid Brand promises and essence hence why they have survived over 100 years. The UK is steps ahead when you think about how they market everything, from public service like trains and business which have functional websites and communicate effectively to consumers to Local government which makes it its job to engage and market effectively to residents to marketing in retail. In closing I saw this interesting physical fitness programs one of which was targeted at the “bride to be”! That blew me away.


Juuchini: Any Advice you’d like to share with the young who want to be like you?




Me: To all the young people out there wanting to trail-blaze. Don’t just exist; You need to live!My advice is as follows


1.Get a good education (Bill Gates dropped out of college)


2.Be clear on what you want as early as possible (use mentors where possible)


3.Set your eyes on the world remembering that being No 2 in anything is not good enough (ask any Kenyan Vice President)


4.Wake up every morning knowing that you need to run the race faster than the slowest lion out there.


5.And finally, Always Remember: Jitihada haliondoi kudura (Working hard does not negate God’s Blessings/favor).

My Shadow

My Shadow
BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.
He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an errant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

Superstition

I know
that when a grumbling old woman
Is the first thing I meet in the morning
I must rush back to bed
and cover my head
That wandering sheep on a sultry afternoon,
Are really men come from their dark graves
To walk in light
in mortal sight
That when my left hand or eyelid twitches
Or when an owl hoots from a nearby tree
I should need pluck
It means bad luck
That drink spilled goes to ancestral spirits
That witches dance in clumps of bananas
That crumbs must be left in pots and plates
until the morn
For babes unborn
That it's wrong to stand in the doorways at dusk
For ghosts must pass- they have right of way!
That when a hidden root trips me over
Faults not in my foot
It's an evil root
That when I sleep with feet towards the door,
I'll not long be fit
I know it - Yes I know it



Minji Karibo

The 4th of July

 

Today's date is a significant watershed in my life. 19 years ago in a campus room at the University of Nairobi, I got a new lease of life after my first one almost ended. So in many ways i tell my closet friends that i am living my second life

Its amazing that whilst i don't mark this day in my calendar or call it up but in every single year when this day comes, it springs into my mind and i recall and run through the events of that day, just like it was yesterday.

This is the source of my drive and zest for life: a desire to live and not just exist, to leave a legacy, a lasting impact, to live for a cause greater than myself. The words of Dr Charles Blair still ring in my heart and mind many years after I first heart them from him at a Morris Cerullo Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya

The greatness of a man is determined by the cause he lives for and the price he is willing to pay for that cause - Dr. Charles Blair

This recall of a cataclysmic event embedded deep in my conscious is a pointer to how strong the human instinct for survival is, conscious and subconscious...maybe this explains why even whilst asleep we can still breathe and dont stop to breath when we slip into deep sleep...

It is a beautiful day in Central London, as a contrast to that dark day 19 years ago, and whilst the English Summer has failed to manifest for the upteempth time but I am glad to be alive. Its been an epic 91 days so far in London and through the adversity I am learning to thrive, and thrive I am.

Over the weekend I went to Richmond park and whilst it is summer and i enjoyed walking through the grass and woods with Keith and Kyle, yet i stopped for a moment to consider how gloomy the same place would be deep in teh heart of the British winter. In spite of the winter that is coming the grass seem to thrive and the tree sway in teh wind without a single care in the world, fully cognisant that winter is coming and they may need to shed their leaves and go into a state of dormancy

Richmond Park sits right under the flightpath of planes landing and taking off at London's Heathrow. there was no one moment where the sky was free of any plane. literally evey miute a plane appeared from the horizon whilst another one was halfway through. statistics show that Heathrow is the the third businest airport in the world and the number 1 in handling international passengers. The moral of this part of the story is that amongst all the many flights that zoomed by was the Pride of Africa, Kenya Airways, the national carrier for the Republic of Kenya. we had moments of national pride and waved, nay, saluted the carrier for their fortitude in making it where many other african carriers have not made it.

So as another 4th of July rolls my for me, i am once again grateful for a second chance at life and go through it celebrating the goodness and favor of God, thinking about the things I would not have got to see and do if my life ended in that decrepit campus room in Kabete.

Today is 20th September 2009. Glad that it is a holiday in Kenya, Id ul Fitr, courtesy of our Muslim brohters and sisters across the world. Fors congratulations to you all who have succesfully been able to deny the flesh and discipline it during the past 30 days

Looking Back, Looking forward

The year just begun the other day and today February is in a mad rush, soon Valentines will be here, then Easter, and life goes on! Jeez, this life. I never knew that this soon I would be 36 and would be staring at 40 through the nose! At least i get wiser.

This year I have opted to travel less as I feel my ship has steadied or my plane has reached cruising altitude. This is the time to get biscuits and something to drink however my seatbelts must remain fastened as the ship could hit choppy waters anytime and theplane might run in to turbulence.

This is a good time to take stock of the first 30 days and to cast the net forward on what is coming over the next 3 months. In January I was priviledged to visit Johannesburg, Maputo and Kampala last week. I know I have travelled less as I have taken only 6 flights. this is however still not good enough for me for it works out on average to a flight each week. at this rate this will end up being 52+ flights. working on that. Nothing much to write home about only that these trips helped me to tighten my resolve. It was not easy to stick to my one meal regime during travel as the greasy breakfast beckoned every morning. the lunch offers were irresistible but the wait made it worthwhile. During this time I leant a couple of things. I have gone through most of life being worried about so many things...am I saving enough, why have I done wrong things, why did I hurt some people, why did people opt to hurt me, have I done enough for those close to me, have I paid my bills, am I reading/studying enough...at some point I have said enough of this as i have spent more time worrying.

Instead now i have said that i will make everyt efort everyday to live right and to have the right relationship with God, I will pray as often as I can, I will say no to the things I consider inappropriate, I will love more, I will eat out more, I will follow my heart, I will work hard as I can but I will also take time to relax and take it easy. I will give more and I will live each day as if its my last.

Message from Maputo

It is a few mins to midnight, a few mins to 22nd Sept 2009. I have just completed an epic journey hat took me form Nairobi through Pemba to Maputo. A journey that would have lasted me about 3 hours took me 7 hours to complete. It was a different journey though.

At first I though that the only Pemba I know is a small archipelago off the coast of mainland Dar es salaam. I have however come to realise that there is a better and more serene Pemba whihc is an island to the north of Mozambique. This is a very picturesque island and I have promised myself to return.

My Journey into Leadership

Today is October 1 2010. Today marks my first 30 days as the General Manager for Nokia in East & Southern Africa as well as exactly 3years in Nokia. thats significant for me.

Day Zero Minus Fourteen

I am in the process of counting down my last two weeks before my move to start on a new role in London. I have mixed feelings about it. On one side is the apprehension and implication of what it means to uproot yourself from a place you have called home for a long time and going to a new city. On the other hand is the excitement of living a lifetime dream of living and working in a first world capital, and to boot, my favourite city long before I made up my mind about this move.


There are lot of the things that I had underestimated that are now coming back hard and fast at me. I have been reluctant to let go of some things that I will not need in a long while like my car, some household fixtures, friends that i will not see in a long while et al. One that is very devastating is letting go of Bishop and Knight to the kennel where I go them from. Regarding this I am holding on to the hope that the relationship i have built with my german sheperds is strong enough to last my time away which at present is undetermined. I am also holding onto the hope that dogs, unlike cats are more faithful and we will be able to pick it up at some point in our lives.

That aside, a lot of further adjustment has to be made. Three hours might seem little but that adjustment in timezone requires a lot of work. I already realise that I will have to take lunch 3 hours later! and dinner 3 hours later! yaaaawn...but that's the reality. The bit I am looking forward to is waking up 3 hours later:-) ...that my body will relish, but only for so long.


The biggest one for me for now is recalibrating my world view. For a while I have had Africa and my local regional and national statistics at my fingertips...populations, GDPs, mobile penetration, mortality rates, exchange rates, current affairs, name it. On this pedestal I stood and ruled the roost. The scientist in me has been very factual and kept abreast of everything that matters in this microcosm is now being challenged to spread my wings and fly, and fly I will.


Now I have started getting the feeling like I am in the movie "Who shrunk the Kids". All of a sudden, my known world has become global. I have to think about China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, India...Oh boy and aren't the numbers staggering? Changing from managing a large team looking after a region to a smaller team of specialists looking after a global business is a different cup of tea that calls for a different skill set and gets me out of my comfort zone. I am in the process of evaluating if there is any additional help I need to make sure my "gun" does not get jammed and is always "smoking"


I am in the process of recalibrating my world view and I know that this is going to be exciting. I look forward to sharing every step of this journey for whilst i know nothing is new under the sun but peradventure it would help others coming along in the journey so that they may not have to reinvent the wheel.


So, London, here I come, a proud son of Africa with lots to offer and lots more to learn.

The Man In the Glass

The Man In The GlassPeter Dale Wimbrow Sr.

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wife Whose judgment upon you must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
He’s the fellow to please – never mind all the rest
For he’s with you, clear to the end
And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

This poem was first published in 1934 and is still very popular today. Thank you very much to the family of Dale Wimbrow for allowing us to publish it and to our friend Marie Ornstein for recommending it!
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Magnificient Malaysia

Magnificient Malaysia

The journey to this part of the world was not an easy one. I have opted to stick to Emirates after my recent decision to dump Kenya Airways. For 10 years I have been loyal to death and the best I got from Kenya Airways were my hard earned miles, never a gesture of acknowledging me for my loyalty. Besides this, the experience of flying Kenya Airways, apart from being convenient especially in Africa has been far from my expectations. I have hence made a resolution that wherever route I have an option ceteris paribus, I will exercise my freedom hence my flight to Malaysia using Emirates.



On Emirates the service is unmatched and the connection is smooth. My maiden flight took me through Dubai where after a 4 hours lay over I connected at 3am for Kuala Lumpur or KL as I have come to foldly learn it is called. The flight to KL takes 6 hrs and lands at the International airport. It is quite pleasant to learn that this far away from home Kenyans do not require visas to enter Malaysia. I just hope that no silly Kenyans do something dumb that would change this anytime soon. I have posted a quote on twitter reflecting on the fact that "Najivunia Kuwa Mkenya" (Proud to be Kenya)


Apart from my experience on landing when my luggage took 3hrs to come through after which I discover it was on adifferent carousel, all has been well so far. One other incident that came to mind was how I was picked out form a big multitude to scan my bags. I do not understand this but i'd want to believe this was NOT due to some racial stereotyping, but who am I to complain? I suppose I am here at the mercy of the people of Malaysia. this makes me remember how important those words in the first page of your passport mean when you are in a foreign country. Just in case you forgot they go something like this:

These are to request and require in teh Name of the President of hte Republic of KEnya all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hinderance, and to afford him or her every assistance and protection which he or she may stand in need.

Powerful, isnt it? and sounds regal too...it transports me back to the times of hte Roman Empire where this would look great written on a scroll or parchment to boot. anyway, back to magnificient Malaysia...



The time differnece from the time at home is 5hrs. This means that if i wake up at 6am at home, in Malaysia I have been waking up at 1am and running through a straight day. My mind is physically present here and considering I am an insomniac this is not a big deal.



It is still the early days in KL and I have not had time to go into the city. I am looking forwad to Thursday afternoon when i will be able to go into the city and savor the best of the land.

Helping Haiti

My tradition at the beginning of each year has been to take some time off, specifically 21days to exercise a couple of things .Foremost has been to cut off my supply line of food. This makes so much sense as Christmas is always a season of plenty and this part Christmas wasn't different; more important for me this has always been the time to snuff out the "voices in the land" and to listen to the voice within. Its amazing what focus fasting puts on the mind and the voices that are often ignored which now scream when the body is forced to do what it doesn't want to do. Most important, many of the achievements in my life have been crafted during this time of meditation, prayer and fasting. This time enables me to lay down the priorities in my life: spiritual, financial, material and emotional.

I have come to learn that the busy lives we lead never allow us the time for meditation and we, being the microwave generation, never say no to the desires of the flesh. Today is day 8 and the experience has been rewarding. My body is coming to learn that it cant have everything it wants. My mind is also coming to learn that it cant think its own thoughts and get away with it. It has been amazing how easy it has been to detect the body and mind wanting to go off on a tangent and the effort it has taken to rein them in. The exercise of reining in my body and thoughts has been very rewarding and it has amazed me how normally I (the flesh) would have got off with "murder" but now, i am not letting myself to be conformed to the pattern of this world, rather I am being transformed by the daily and deliberate renewal of my mind an I am becoming more discerning in mind and spirit.

I have set clear milestones of the things i hope to achieve this year. very clear in my mind is that this year, the year 2010 is the year of the Extraordinary in my Life and in the things that concern me. tough choices will have to be made, nothing ever came easily!

This year this time has coincided with one of the worst natural tragedies in my lifetime...he Haiti Earthquake. My heart has been so moved by the tragedy and my days have been filled with literal weeping and fervent prayer every time i sit in front of the TV screen getting an update. I have got such a burden to pray and give towards helping those who stand in need of great help in Haiti. It has been amazing that whilst before i was glued to my screen helpless but i have come to a place of being able to connect and pray and stand in the breach for the quake victims. I know that in my giving and prayer I am reaching out to someone and in putting myself in the shoes of the Haitians i am planting a seed and praying that one day in my day and hour of need that He will send help my way.

Today is 20th September 2009. Glad that it is a holiday in Kenya, Id ul Fitr, courtesy of our Muslim brothers and sisters across the world. First congratulations to you all who have successfully been able to deny the flesh and discipline it during the past 30 days!

This weekend has been a blessing as i have been able to completely rest.This is significant for me as over the past 8 weeks i have been shuttling across different cities and for that i owe it to myself to update my blogs and journeys through these cities in Africa. It is also significant as tomorrow i embark on another burst of travel that will take me to Maputo, Johannesburg and Kampala. At the end of this round of travel i will have earned myself a good vacation and rest from travel for all the month of October!

It was quite an experience to team up with Janet and Flora to go visit Pastor Andrew (my brother) in Kiserian. Part of the experience came from driving my sisters little Vits! (a pink one at that) through the long journey to Kiserian. it went on really well and we were able to test the mettle of the car through the Ngong hills and the final steep descent in to Pastors residence.

Visiting Pastor was also significant as two days ago he had some "unwelcome visitors" who struck at midnight and in frustration of not being able to take away anything they extensively damaged Pastors car. Our mission was to encourage Pastor's family to stick to their resolve to stay put in the land they have set foot on to possess and dwell in.

I heard an interesting story from one of the neighbours who has learnt how to stay put in the face of the frequent attacks from the hooligans..apparently to discourage the new arrivals, the Masai developed a habit of stealing diary cows from this particular neighbour. this stealing was not for any economic gain as the dairy cow is not adaptable as the Masai cow is so the Masai would slaughter it not very far from where they stole the cow. this practise went on one homestead a week. the Masai raiders did the mistake of visiting the same homestead after 3weeks. by this time the owner of this homestead was fed up and had wired up his compound with TNT (the same stuff used in quarries to blast ballast...and when the raiders ventured in they were blasted off to kingdom come. Of course there was no chance not to repeat the same mistake again and ever since they have lived peacefully. i gather this happened 3 years ago.

Travelling with Flo meant leaving my nephews Malcolm and Jerry with Keith and Kyle. this worked very well as when we got back the kids had had their fair share of play and were so exhausted and ready for bed time.

The bible says in Psm 133:1-6 that how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity...it is like the oil that was poured upon Aaron's head, that flowed down his beards...it is like the dew upon mount Hermon.....for there the Lord commands a blessing, even life forevermore.
I claim that blessing today

So tomorrow the packing starts again as i head to Maputo for a series of meetings with customers and operators. That however will be the subject of another blog.

20th April 2009
Nairobi, Kenya

Today was an interesting day, i went to the office with my mind preoccupied, and it remained so all day. Today was also the real first day after my computer crashed and was restored. i am feeling like i am new at my place of work, with data worth 18months lost or partially lost. Grateful for an investment i made in an external drive 120Gigs...men that's some space. over and above saving my music was also able to do a random back up of my stuff. though not so current but it at least has quite a number of useful files

Just a though to all you out there...for a second think of what would happen if you lost your laptop or computer. This felt like being in a fire! for real, when you survive but lose irreplaceable stuff...like mementos that you collected in your travels around the world.

Spent the day fighting on email which i hate but i have sat back for too long and at this point it is being mistaken for complicity so no more this week of letting people get by with murder.

I am just coming up to completing the most interesting history novel that i have read so far: The Assegai by Wilbur Smith. Very interesting that this book is based on precolonial Kenya and places i know like the back of my mind, some courtesy of my long lost friend Sapati who still happens to be a neighbour of mine.

Its the end of another of my days and i am tired and my eyes heavy. Glad to be alive and living in this moment

My journey to Bamako, Mali

I have just completed my two days sojourn in Mali. Many years while in my history class, while studying the trans-Saharan trade, I never thought i would set foot ever in this country. I still vividly remember the statement: Ghana, Mali, Songhai and Kanem were the main trans-Saharan trade routes...

Its great to have our very own airline, Kenya Airways, flying me directly to Bamako. The journey back will also be direct and will take 7hours overnight flying through Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Uganda and finally home.

Landing in Senou International Airport with 40degrees heat isn't exactly pleasant esp after starting my journey very early in the morning and dressed appropriately. This experience makes me understand the Muslim tradition of burying their dead 12 hours after they die. There is NO way in hell that a body can survive for more than 12 hours in this kind of heat.

All the same the initial experience is interesting as you meet immigration police who purport not to speak any English. I am not in the habit of getting a visa on landing as lots of things can happen as happened to me in Mali. Paid $40 for my visa which due to the language breakdown i was not sure if i paid too much or just enough but your guess is as good as mine. Luckily my hotel pick up was ready and started my journey without much ado.
Its also not fully when you have a 30minute bus ride into the city centre and the van does not have air conditioning in now 42degrees heat dead in the heart of the Sahara. Of course you arrive drenched at the Hotel. I missed a booking at the Radisson Hotel in Mali which i come to learn is the best and i end up staying right next door at the Hotel Kome Residence.

The front porch of the hotel is decent and the staff are helpful. The room is spacious but not up to scratch. For Mali this is a great hotel with free wireless for unlimited browsing and a spacious room but this does not come with breakfast.

Do remember that Mali is French speaking and almost 100% Muslim so don't be inconsiderate like me and order for grease in the morning in the name of sausages and bacon! Do brush up your French in anticipation of this. The natives also speak the local language, Bambara

I am in Bamako for an Orange AMEA device meeting which proves to be interesting. When the sun cools down in the evening I ask a cab guy to give me a quick tour of Bamako City. This tour takes us down the two bridges that straddle the Niger River. Downtown Bamako is quite like any other African city: Kampala, Lusaka, Luanda et al.
Quite a number of the taxis are old Mercedes Benz perhaps imported from the US and France. There is quite a bit of motorcycles on the streets. One sight that jazzes me as we drive along is the sight of this lady who is about 22 with stretch jeans on and zooms past us in her motorcycle with her handbag slung over one side of the handles of the motorcycle. I gesture animatedly to the taxi driver and try to mumble all the French i know and urge the driver to speed up for us to take another peek at her...at best i manage to say " mademoiselle magnifique" at which we both laugh and nod our heads vigorously in agreement.

The taxi rolls by the very busy downtown market with the Mali version of Kenyan "matatus" with no windows, we also drive by the Keita Stadia and by the entertainment spots which he points out. He tells me that Byblos is the hottest places to be on a Wednesday and Friday and swears like every African national would that Malian women are the most beautiful. We also pass by one called Bla Bla! and by now I am smiling to myself thinking of what an enterprising friend of mine would call it in Nairobi...Brah Brah! We drive by the University and the talent there is evident on the streets as it is after classes.
The one hour ride comes abruptly to an end and it is 7pm and the temperature is not letting still at 40degrees

My next two days are spent without much ado shuttling between my hotel and the Radisoon where the meetings are held. In our main presentation to the Orange team, the hosts request that my colleague presents in French...I am sunk as i am the only person out of fifteen in the room who does not understand French. I have promised myself to learn French, but that is after Portuguese which i am hard at at the moment

The night before our departure the local Orange team treated us to dinner at a restaurant by the river with a breathtaking view and magnificent food. To reach here we have to take a bus ride through very rough terrain to get to the river bank. At dinner the scripture comes true...Psm 23:... You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.... I am sitting right next to the Samsung Koreans on one side and opposite me is the Alcatel Frenchmen. Behind me is the ZTE Chinese and diagonally for me are the Huawei Chinese!

ON my day of departure i have opted to do another trip round Bamako enroute to the Aeroporto. My driver this time is worse as he doesn't understand a single word of English. Before leaving the hotel i get an interpreter to explain to him what i want to see. So off we go to the Mali Museum! I am taking photographs on my mobile device on the go when all of a sudden he bursts out in a tirade of french and shaking his hands and motioning vigorously with his free hand. For a second my Nairobi instinct kick in and i hide my camera out of the invisible pick pocket's reach..indeed i hide it in between my feet and look up straight. at the same time my mind is trying to make a mental recollection of the french..i remember hearing polizei and papara... and in a split second my mind registers that he is telling me i cant take pictures of the police.

At the museum all goes well. Everything is annotated in French so i "float" through it all. What was amazing though was to see the ancient civilization and the magnificent copy of the Mosque in Djenne and the Mosque in Timbouktou! Yes, Timbouktou is in Mali

17th April 2009, Bamako Mali