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Always treat the future as now!

By Strive Masiyiwa  Always treat the future as now! ____"Before anything else, preparation is the key to success..."* The other day as I read your comments here, I came across this question: “Strive Masiyiwa what's the current position of Liquid Telecoms with regard to Artificial Intelligence? What's your word to Africa regarding Artificial Intelligence and the need to fast follow it?” I’m sure some of you who saw Innocent Madanhire's question thought to remind him about the extensive interview I did with James Manyika, Senior Vice President of Alphabet, the parent company of Google last year. Just in case, he didn’t see it, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXiVw1jZybA As James noted in the interview, I have been talking about Artificial Intelligence in my own tech circles for at least 15 years. As a professional engineer, I make it my business to stay current in developments in my field, as you would expect say a doctor to remain current in

If you had never heard about the chicken farming success story ofMuguku Farm, and someone suggested that you could become a multi-billionaire from poultry, would you believe? When I first heard about this story, my first reaction was “A billionaire poultry farmer?” Making a few hundreds of thousands, and in a very lucky situation a few million shillings is fathomable, but billions!One Nelson Muguku, a former college teacher, made not one but over 3 Billion shillings worth of wealth from poultry farming in Kenya. Talk of inspiration; his is one truly inspirational story for all those looking to take up chicken rearing as a business. He has proved that you do not need to go the technocrat way to make a fortune; poultry farming could just be the thing you need, to enter into the billionaires’ league. Here is the success story of Muguku Farm: Like most successful people, Nelson Muguku did not start right off as a poultry farmer. He was a carpentry teacher in one of Kenya’s colleges. However, even as a teacher, his hobby reflected a strong inner passion that thrived in him; keeping chicken. At the teachers’ quarters in the college, Muguku kept two chickens and a cock and the only profit he made from that was selling eggs, mostly to his colleagues.At one time, something happened that would put Nelson Muguku on the path that led him to start what grew into the best poultry farm in Kenya. The principal of the college requested him to take his 13 eggs and give them to his hens to sit on. The deal was that they divide the chicks on a 50-50 basis once they are hatched and mature.The deal that inspired the Muguku farm ideaLuckily, all the eggs were hatched and the principal took the bigger share but was later transferred leaving his chicken behind. His successor was not interested in keeping chicken so he sold them off to Muguku on condition that he pays by supplying him with eggs. Originally, Muguku thought that it would take him a year to pay off the 6 hens and one cock. Surprisingly, it only took him 2 months and that sparked something in him; poultry farming could be a worth business, not just a hobby.In his possession was a rickety bicycle and some old furniture, but a burning desire to start poultry farming overwhelmed him. He announced to the principal that he was resigning. Everyone including his farther, of course, thought that he was mad but none of that could stop him. He took his possessions and headed to his Rukubi home in Kikuyu.Nelson Muguku had a personal saving of Ksh.2500 only. This was too small to buy the chickens, structures and feeds required to start a successful poultry farm. However, this too did not stop his dreams. He used the money to take care of the urgent business needs and soon, he was selling eggs in Nairobi. He ploughed back the returns and the business slowly took off and started earning him good profit.Expanding into a multi-billion poultry farmerHe had sold eggs in Nairobi for about 10 years when he decided to take his business to the next level. He realised that running a hatchery could be more profitable than selling eggs. Following this, Muguku borrowed a loan from Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and bought a 22-acre land at Limuru for Ksh.100,000. He also acquired a 9,000-egg incubator with which he started a hatchery. Luckily, the land he bought had good infrastructure including access to electricity and water.A short time later, demand for chicks went up and Muguku had to increase his production. He was forced to buy other incubators with a capacity of hatching 42,000 eggs in a week. Currently, Muguku Farm is not only the best poultry farm in Kenya but also the largest with a capacity to hatch more than 200,000 chicks per day. About ¾ of the 22 acres he bought in Limuru are occupied by poultry farming. Muguku also opened a subsidiary poultry farm in Ngong.Nelson Muguku’s success in poultry farming has proved to Kenyans that chicken rearing can be a truly profitable business and you do not need to start with a million; only one hen and one cock are enough.

The Raw Figures: How Africa Is Making Others Rich Africa’s resource wealth is still in the hands of foreigncompanies AFRICANGLOBE – Viewers of CNN on the weekend of July 27-28, 2013, might have been stunned at the gigantic amount of wealth Africa possesses. Not only that; but also how much of the gadgets of everyday life depend on resources from Africa.The CNN broadcast was titled “How Africa’s minerals fuel your world” and it sourced its data from British GeologicalSurvey, America’s CIA, andthe World Bank among others. Naturally, the documentarygenerated many comments: with the general theme being if Africa is so rich in resources, why are millionsof its people living in poverty? Others delved into how Africa can better harness its wealth to benefit its ownpeople. Michael Ian Wright was stunned: “Wow, with all those fantastic resources, one would expect that folks living there would have outrun Europe in progress a thousand years ago at least. They should have colonized Mars by the time we had the Renaissance.” , “Indeed, Africa is full of resources and should not be a destitute continent. The problem is, Africa’s resources are in the handsof foreign companies and corrupt African leaders. The benefit of these resources never go to Africa’s people. Furthermore, the root cause of most of the continent’s problems — wars and corrupt governments — is arbitrarily drawn colonial boundaries that divide a people in some areas, and group together competing ethnic groups in other countries.“In such instances, all you get is constant ethnic competition, nepotism, corruption, hatred and war.The underlying problems ofAfrica cannot be addressedwithout resolving its politics. Africa has enough resources and can grow enough food to feed everybody.” Michael Blackmoon: “Everything the West usedwas stolen . . . ask China, India, Africa, South America, among others . . . lucky the black plague didn’t finish us off. Remember the dark ages?” Fungal Spawl weighed in: “West/East stealing from Africa. End of Story,” while Mr Robert said, “Africa: therichest and poorest continent. Rich in terms of natural resources, poor in terms of life standards. But from laptops to cellular phones, cars to airplanes, all kinds of everyday itemsare made using minerals that come from Africa.” It isno exaggeration to say that the world depends on Africa. How Africa Fuels the World Catalytic converters are fitted to cars to reduce pollution, and platinum and rhodium are key components. Africa produces most of the world’s platinum and rhodium for this purpose. In 2012, South Africa produced 128 tonnes of platinum, 170 tonnes of gold, 8.2 million carats of diamonds (2011), and 255 million tonnes of coal (2011). As well as platinum and rhodium, South Africa is a major producer of gold, diamonds, coal and iron ore. Over the past 10 years, the mining industry has contributed around US$200billion to the country’s GDP and export earnings, in real terms.In all, 513 000 people wereemployed in extractive industries in 2011 and the sector contributed US$408 billion to South Africa’s total national GDP that year. Cellular phones, laptops and other small electronic devices use parts made from tantalum. It is a key export of several African countries — but has been implicated in funding conflictin the DRC. Mozambique produces 24 percent of the world’s tantalum, followed by Rwanda (20 percent), the DRC (11 percent) and Ethiopia (nine percent). Other African countries account for seven percent of global production combined. The market pricefor tantalite ore in July 2013 was US$262/kg. Mozambique produced as much as 260 tonnes of tantalum in 2011, in addition to 500kg of gold. Despite increases in tantalum output, agricultureis currently far more important than mining for Mozambique. The country also has hugecoal reserves and a large field was discovered off itsnorthern coast in 2011. They have brought significant foreign investment that could havea huge effect on Mozambique’s economy. It is estimated that 60,000 artisanal miners were employed in gold mining in Mozambique in 2011, and that mining contributed US$12,8b to GDP. Bling Bling In 2011, Africa produced more than half of the world’s diamonds, nearly three-quarters of its platinum and a fifth of its gold. The major producers of gemstones and preciousmetals were Botswana, Zimbabwe, the DRC, South Africa and Angola.

Time for some cell phone etiquette There is no question that cellphones have had dramatic positive effects on people’s lives in kenya. The ability to get access to anyone and everyone and having accessto all the information on the planet on your phone is surely an unparalleled example of people empowerment. Unfortunately, like everything else in life, cell phone usage has a bad side - the sheer annoyance factor is one, the safety issue is another, the constant distraction being a third, among a long list of negatives. When communication was hard in the past, phones were used very selectively. For example, if you were going to meet some friends for dinner at a restaurant, therewould be a land line call or two to firm up the plan. Today, it’s an entirely different story. Recently, when I was going out to dinner with a bunch of youngsters (in their 20s), I noticed that they called each other back and forth to give a literal commentary on the way to the restaurant: “I am this junction, there is too much traffic. Not sure how long it will take.” Then the friend has an idea and calls back. “Hey, why don’t you take this road instead? You might get there sooner.” A few minutes later, the friend calls back, “Hey, the traffic is better now. I should be there soon.” In short, at least a handful of calls and maybe a bunch of text messages had been exchanged for the most inane reasons.Next, the issue of safety on roads. It’s good to see that, in many cities, the police are pretty strict with the use of cell phones while driving. Nevertheless, cell phone usage is rampant in cars andeven two wheelers, and an increasing cause of accidents. Among the negatives, this is easily the most dangerous and needs to be dealt with urgently. As for the annoyance factor, there is no end to the number of examples one can think of. There are everydayoccurrences that stare at you in the face at almost every instant during the day(or maybe, I am just too sensitive to this!). I was at once at the office of large retail chain. There was a common waiting area and then a long stretch of cubicles and conference rooms. Youngsters, mostly intheir twenties, frequently stepped aside from their cubicles to the common waiting area to answer personal cell phone calls. Many rushed down the elevator when the calls were“very private” in nature. The common waiting area was hence always crowded with youngsters chattering away on their cell phones during regular office hours. Interestingly, some even carried multiple cell phones! Another frequent source of annoyance occurs when you call someone on the land line.While the conversation is in progress, you notice that theperson at the other end sometimes remain silent or appears to lose focus from time to time. This is probably because they are busy multi-tasking - perhaps texting ontheir cell phones while on theland line with you!I was once having a discussion with a senior executive at a company, oneon one, and every few minutes, the individual’s cell phone would go off. Without batting an eyelid, the individual would answer the phone to my utter annoyance. In another instance, I was on what I considered an important “Skype call.” A few minutes into the call, the gentleman, said to me, “Ek minute, ek call ah raha hai.” To my amusement, he started abusing the caller over somespecific issue that I had nothing to do with, while the Skype call was not even on mute! To add to these annoyance factors, cell phones also provide various forms of sound effects to notify you of any number of things - the arrival of email, social media notifications, appointments, text messages, etc. So while you are in a conversation, you’ll find others staring at their respective phones, and sometimes even smiling to themselves, to add insult to injury. The net result being that most people just can’t seem to focus and concentrate because of their phones. No wonder teenagers who are fast becoming active cell phone users appear to be so distracted all the time. Another interesting trend that some of you might have first hand experiences with is that cell phones have increased gossip in society. Friends and relatives call each other just to get an update on the latest gossip! There is no doubt that people are more often in contact, unlike in the past, thanks to cell phones, but it comes at a social cost.

Raila odinga has been known as father of democracy in kenya.He will be remembered in kenya history as an individual who greatly fought for realisation new constitution, which was promagated in the year 2010.This new constitution saw the birth of county goverments(Devolution).only three years after constitution was realised,Raila is now advocating for a referundum to change kenya from a presidential to a parliamentary system of governance.Does it mean Raila never knew the best system for kenya before the new constitution?As a nigerian writer referred to him as an Engima in kenya politics,Raila odinga is the smartest politician in kenya.After supreme court upheld uhuru kenyatta election which Raila claimed he had been rigged out,he respected but disagreed with the ruling and vowed to use other means.Might the call for refundum be the 'other means' he talked about?The truth of the matter is that Raila being a very bright politician,he is using the issue of referundum to pressure the uhuru administration to fully implement devolution, failure to which they will loose public faith and this might trigger a referundum.Otherwise it is not practical for Raila to call for a referundum ofwhich will be conducted by Iebc,the body he got no trust with.

Revealed: Why Muthui Kariuki wasSacked!It happened! Oh God it happened! Can’t believe it! But am charmed, very charmed! I hope my friends will tell EsipisuI remarked: Hurray! You see, during his heyday after having been dusted from the shelves of Jogoo House offices by ‘him’ of the mavi ya kuku fame, Muthui achieved three things: One: Laila, two: Amoro, three: Ondiga. In protest writing, the junction where journalism meets political activism through the pen, a lot can be said of Muthui Kariuki, the disgraced former government spokesman sacked and redeployed (to save face) by mandarins at PSCT inwhat they termed as‘a move to ensure coherence, clarity andconsistency’ in government communications. Coherence.Clarity. Consistency. No insultcan be more aggravating than a communication expert being accused of massive incoherence, injurious ambiguity, and ridiculous inconsistency! If I were Muthui, the best I could have done is to pack my belongings, go leave them with my wife and register for another four year marathon in communications and public relations at MoiUniversity, or any of the media studies programmes offered next door at the University of Nairobi; or better still, purchase any book byMarshall McLuhan, holy father of communication as practiced contemporarily, and read it cover to cover; word by word,paragraph after paragraph, comma bycomma until I get it! Coherence.Clarity. Consistency. Three holly words. Three basic fundamentals of communication. Where did he lose it? This is a dirge after the demise of one of the most incoherent public communicatorsever employed after the invention of sophism. It is meant to provoke a senior to feel the pain of vague communicationwhich led to the death of one of the most significant institutions which ensured the survival of President Mwai Kibaki’s second presidecy. No one influnced my generation of communication students as the immediate former occupier of the disfigured office thatthe Kenyatta government has wholesomely “shut down”. In the second presidency of Mwai Kibaki; the name Alfred Mutua sent shockwaves down the spines of even hardened diehards (forgive my oxymoron) of then ODM side of the Grand Coalition government. Not that Mutua was the best communicator. Not that the man who currently manages Machakos County was a genius.But, unlike Muthui, Mutua understood not just his role as the guy to ‘spin’ for the government; he also understood his place in that role; andthe circumfurence of the communication circe he had to operate within. Whenhe spoke, instead of the government getting ‘embarrased’,it always had the last laugh. Mutua made the office of the goverment spokesperson so close to that of the Head of the Civil service, and by extension the presidency that whenever he spoke, it was indeed the ‘government position’, and you were sure to tell by the actions which would follow. It was this clarity and precision in government communication that a man who was, by fate, an outsider, became a key insider of that government- you only need to reread the number ofunsavoury mentions in Miguna’s peeling back the mask to know the extent of ‘delegated authority’ Alfie enjoyed. Because he lived; Mutua made the office of the chief government communicator an institution. People hated and loved the office in equal measure. No one, noteven this quarellsome young kenyan had an issue with the person of Alfred Mutua. People make institutions; that’s what I got from Alfred Mutua, and history has proven him right. Enter Muthui. Now, friends have wondered: with this new pungent distinction of being the first of a cohort of the last of Kibaki’s“good ethnic deeds” to central Kenyans tobe openly fired, or to use that politically correct term “redeployed”, just where is he headed now? If Statehouse fired him because of manifest incoherenceand vexatious ambiguity then effectively (but no surety) he becomes the best undertaker for jobs that need nosecond thoughts; no hard thinking. Where are these jobs found? Muthui was a virus in the political bluetooth of Jomo II. He took on people hardened by political adversities. In one of his most primitive acts, he cantakerously took on Raila Odinga, a whole political institution, and attempted to put him between sirens, VIP lounges, and GK vehicles. Just how he thought he could win against a decorated political marine often baffled me; but he seemed to enjoy being irrelevant, now he is yet to be assigned ‘within the government’: as the Luo often say “sirkal iye lach” (no need of translation); he is lucky he is a kamwana! He sounded illogical because he seemed illogical. Personal image, in this trade of the jibes, is key. Was it not James Whitecomb Riley whotold us about it? “If itlooks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probablyis a duck”, only that in our case, we are certain to say the duck talks! Lessons? If there is one thing we who are rising in communication circleshave learnt from the demise

SELF CREATION! Many of us have grown struggling to know who we really are ..not knowing the amount of precious time we waste in sessions full of imitation and trial -error kind of life!! . Perhaps if we knew from scratch that Life isn't about FINDING ourselves. Life is about CREATING ourselves ......then we couldhave grown a FORTUNE!!.. It's not too late to CREATE YOUR BRAND and be proud of it ....be different and you'll be appreciated by all!! ...

SELF CREATION! Many of us have grown struggling to know who we really are ..not knowing the amount of precious time we waste in sessions full of imitation and trial -error kind of life!! . Perhaps if we knew from scratch that Life isn't about FINDING ourselves. Life is about CREATING ourselves ......then we couldhave grown a FORTUNE!!.. It's not too late to CREATE YOUR BRAND and be proud of it ....be different and you'll be appreciated by all!! ...

JOSHUA KUTTUNY tells RAILA ODINGAto stop bothering UHURU/RUTO about his retirement package President Uhuru Kenyatta’s political advisor and former Cher angany Member of Parliament, Joshua Kuttuny, yesterday lashed out at form erPrimeMinister and Coalition f orReforms and Democracy (C ORD) lead er, Raila Odinga, ov erhis retirement packages saying he doesn’t des erve it. Speaking during anint erview on NTV yest erday, Kuttuny told Raila not to complain to Uhuru/Ruto abouthis retirement predicaments because he is the one who advised f orm erPresident Mwai Kibaki not to approve his package. He said Kibaki was ready and willing to approve his retirement packages togeth erwith that of Raila, KalonzoMusyoka and f orm erHouse Speak er, Kenneth Marende bef ore Raila rudely int errupted and stopped him. Howev er, Kibaki approved only that benefiting him leaving Raila, Kalonzo and Mar ande to s ort themselves out. Kuttuny furth erstated that Uhuru/Ruto’s Gov ernment will not feel pity f orRaila because it is his own making. Raila had upon his arrival from USon Wednesdaydem anded the State to treat himwith respect and acc ord him his retirement benefits having shared pow eron a 50/50 basis with ex-President Mwai Kibaki. Yest erday, CIC Chairm anCharles Nyachae urged SRC to set retirement packages f orRaila, Kalonzo and Marende to save the trio from furth erhumiliation fromUhuru/Ruto’s Gov ernment, which has gone ahead to withdraw some security details from them as well as dem and the return of 10 GKvehicles in their possession.

Mr. President control The Government Before it controls you! Posted on August 4, 2013 By Patrick Aluora Okot With keen following of therecent events in this country, one can concludewith no doubt that our dear president has been behind the news on command of several activities that have been leaving Kenyans disgusted. This can be judged from the way he has been at last coming out and handling the matter at hand whenever there is a crisis. Who is to blame? I believe as the state leader he has got the machinery in place to varnish him with all state affairs and advise appropriately. But is this really happening. Few days ago, Mr President cursed how Kenyans houses were torched in Naivasha in the presenceof the Kenyan police. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the act and seemed really apologetic and sympathetic with those affected. The president’s reaction begs the question if therewere consultations acrossboard within the the government bureaucracy. Did the county authorities follow the law? were therecomprehensive consultation. Government is a large body which cannot be stable unless all the organs are inclusive and proper protocols adhered to before decision making. Other events have been taking place but another one that struck my ears was when he, the president, decided to meet with the teachers union in person without sending emissaries to do that for him. It was barely days after the cabinet secretary concerned had confirmed to the media houses that teachers would face the music if they dared go on strike. He justified the reason for not paying teachers July salaries which was tobe the reason for eruption of another strike. Not too long, the “Cool president” finally promise the teachers thatthey would get their July salaries in full. “Does it mean the president has to attend toevery citizen in person if at all citizens want satisfaction of government services? Another controversy that I am still looking at an angle is the one between Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government, Government spokesman and The former premier Prime Minister. When The government spokesman came out claiming Raila “Amekatalia magari ya Serikali”,(Had refused to hand over government vehicles) it was the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government who came out opposing him saying Raila, the former prime minister, was not having government vehicles(unless the reporting newspaper lied).Later on, I hear it’s the same Cabinet secretary who has written to Raila to return the vehicles. Which is the stand? Mr. President, if you are hearing me, it is my plea that you do something with the on-going gimmicks within the government. Citizens shalljudge you, not the personwho failed in your name. He or she is just but a civil servant. My Say

LET US GIVE KIDERO TIME TO PLAY HIS CARDS RIGHT The ODM Members are misbehaving,the attacks on Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero is unacceptable. His only mistake is appearing at President Uhuru Kenyattas functions!How can one govern Nairobi, thecapital city of Kenya without the head of the central government , the president? All ODM MPs collaborate with the DCs and chiefs in their districts, is this also wrong? The ODM Party leader, RailaOdinga was the first ODM member to visit state house after the controversial elections, was this also wrong? The ODM leader is using GKsvehicles and staff provided by the government, is this also wrong? All county governments are financed bythe central government headed byUhuru. Finance and security are still controlled by the central government, yet these are two items that Kidero needs like no other.kidero also got a pending petition against waititu,considering this is kenya,no way he can fail to cooperate with central govt and deliver or atleast avoid a possible by-election.

NARASHA EVICTIONS SHOULD BE CONDEMNED Jubilee Governments unleashed Terror to the Maasai community living in their ancestral land of Narasha ..Its a known historical fact that agikuyu people are settlers in the Rift ..But since most of leaders who have ruled this country come from their tribe ..they have developed imperial like traits to occupy other communities ancestral lands especially pastoralists maasai community ,on basis of willing buyer willing seller.Unfortunately, due to lack of good land registration regulations and corruption, many of community lands have been converted to private lands and sold, leaving ancestral owners landless. I dont support nor sympathise with land clashes in the Rift ,Coast and other areas..But natural justice must prevail.God gave every community its own geographical area and for a single community to look for conflicts by acquiring land of other communities via dubious means should highly be resisted.Let the Central Kenya elites share the large tracts of land they own with their people.

THE GOVERNMENT IS BROKE-we are officially running a merry-go-round economy and particularly on expenditure....MPs haven't been paid,a section of civil servants have been paid-a small section at that specifically those with accounts at Equity and Co-op.regular police have been paid but APs are waiting.Treasury wants to take back cash from the counties to finance its own operations....someone is lying to you that the main reason why teachers are not being paid is because they went on strike.that's a lie.the money slashed from their salaries will be used to fill in some salaries deficit somewhere.that's the truth.this government is running on a cash crunch and is trying some patch-up economic policy.can't work.even raising taxes will not work.you said you could do without the West.lets wait and see if China,Burundi and Nigeria help you out.by the way what happened to those trade ties with Nigeria and Congo Brazaville?are they bringing business?

Chris Kirubi advice>>NO ACTION IS TOO SMALL…. Sometimes the actions that effect change are big and immediate, and sometimes it’s the seemingly small and insignificant actions that make the difference in a person’s life or that of a people. The key thing friends is to keep trying, to keep doing something no matter how little it may seem. Develop the habit and mind set of being an active citizen… keep trying and keep learning from your failures because in the end, your perceived 'small' action could soon gain traction over time. Enjoy the day friends!