Life is a bitch

"Life is indeed difficult, partly because of the real difficulties we must overcome in order to survive, and partly because of our own innate desire to always do better, to overcome new challenges, to self-actualize. Happiness is experienced largely in striving towards a goal, not in having attained things, because our nature is always to want to go on to the next endeavour"

 - Albert Ellis, Michael Abrams, Lidia Dengelegi, The Art & Science of Rational Eating, 1992

Letting Go- The Challenge of Parenting

      Two Saturdays ago, Gregory’s school asked all class 6 parents to school for a 4 hour seminar. They didn’t disclose the subject of the seminar and therefore we didn’t prepare at all. Gregory, Georgina and I were in school on time and for the next four hours we sat trhough a very interesting session conducted by a lady called Terry Kaguchia from Bulbul Counseling Centre. She is one hell of a presenter- humourous and daring. She is a retired teacher who served for 33 years and is a mother and grandmother. As is common with people her age, she has earned the “license” to be blunt.

The talk she was giving was on how parents can prepare for the changes that pre-teens are going through as they transit into adolescence. The boys and girls each had a separate session elsewhere, but I believe the parents had the best of time. No one noticed the time fly past.

I took away from the session quite a number of lessons, but the most important was the poem below called “What a wonder”. Please enjoy…..

What a wonder

Your children are not your children.

They are sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself

They come through you but not from you.

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls.

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

Which you cannot visit, even in your dream.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you

For life goes not backward nor ties with yesterday

Someone Please Let Us In On The Secret: Why Is Kenya So Alluring To Expatriates

The Swiss Ambassador to Kenya, Uganda,Rwanda, Burundi & Somali, Mr. Jacques Pitteloud was recently on Jeff Koinage's Bench and remarked that Kenyans had no idea what a beautiful  and blessed country we live in!

Havent we all heard that line before? Every Kenyan has a handful of foreigners they know that have decided to make our country their home for good. With about 60,000 mzungus who dominate rallying, large-scale farming, conservation ranches, tour and travel hospitality facilities, consultancies, etc in the whole country, we cannot complain that we have no more space for them.

Well known figures like Michael Joseph, Bill Lay, Steve Smith, Michael Renneberger, Edward Clay have in past been associated with schemes aimed at ensuring they remain in Kenya either by way of marriage to a local lass, work permits or in the recent past via the dual citizenship provision in the new constitution.

These are just some of the more prominent foreigner we know, but there are hundreds other less prominent ones out in the country side who have made Kenya their home. There is one called Twell in Chuka who leads a peasant's life on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. There are many others who came by courtesy of Peace Corps, holidays, gap year and a host of other reasons before deciding to stay for good.

So what makes so many foreigners make Kenya home?

Is it our pleasant weather? Over 300 days of sunshine can be alluring to a Briton, but is it a good enough reason?

Is it the low living costs that allow many expatriates to live like kings in palatial homes and spoilt by a host of servants?

Is it the segregated rich man-only neighbourhoods like Muthaiga, Karen, Gigiri? Is it true that most other African countries do not have the benefit of almost colour segregated neighbourhoods like we have in Kenya?

-Is Kenya's strategic location in the region? If that was the case, Tanzania would qualify on the same account? Or Uganda? What is strategic about Kenya? Location in relation to US, Europe? North Africa seems more strategic to Europe as the Caribbean is to US.

Is our claim of international standard facilities? The UN regional offices? What international standard facilities do we have? Are we a regional communications hub for airlines, roads or telecommunications?

Is it true that we are accent-free English speakers! Really? That we are cosmopolitan?

Could it be our cultural awareness? Kenyan culture of world culture?

Is it because we are the ultimate Safari Country? National park in the city boundaries? Is being two hours from deserts, parks, lakes, coast, snow, tropical rain forest, rift valley, etc such a strong motivation?

Apart from the good people, we also attract the not so desirable characters in droves. Are they here for the same reasons that keep the clean folks here.

Or are we a country of easy virtue? We accommodate anyone with the right amount of money? Drug traffickers, human traffickers, money launders, pirates, perverts, political and economic refugees, genocide perpetrators, terrorists,

Can any of these reasons make a well travelled expatriate or business man choose Kenya over another 200 possible countries around the world?

Maybe if we figured why other people are in love with our country, we may just learn to love our country too and stop dreaming about the "gold-paved" streets of the west.  

Chief Justice Interviews: Public Humiliation With One Wicked Eye On The Gallery

The ongoing public interviews for applicants willing to fill the position of Kenya's post new constitution Chief Justice are nothing but a public humiliation that should be stopped and fast. The Judicial Service Commission members are putting the applicants through a public lynching. Any HR practitioner will tell you that the process of recruitment is supposed to be conducted with some dignity bearing in mind that the applicant has a current duty  station.

What we have seen so far is nothing short of settling scores in public, legal activism and the glee of less qualified tormentors sitting to judge men and women whose credentials they may never dream of achieving! To the untrained eye, it all seems a good thing that we can now participate in determining, albeit from the comfort of out TV sofa, who our next CJ will be. Incidentally now that members of the public are also "sitting" in the interview panel, what will happen if the JSC's choice(s) do not match the gallery's choice? Are we ever going to get show respect to the unfortunate man or woman?

Knowing our judiciary's not-so-illustrious -nor-clean history, it seems like the JSC wants to recruit an angel from a pool of crooks. Knowing that the Moi-era judiciary did not enjoy any independence and separation of powers was just a concept on paper, it is not right to humiliate the judges based on cases they ruled once.

What the JSC should have done was ensure anyone with a detestable past did not make the shortlist, otherwise Ahmednasir is just playing the gallery and is not very keen on getting us the most qualified man/woman for the position.

Please keep politics out of the process.

Transparency In Joint Police Recruitment? Really?

Unlike the usual shrouded-in-darkness security agencies' recruitment, the last KWS Rangers recruitment exercise was a pacesetter in that for the first time they invited members of the public, Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and NGOs to witness the recruitment and ensure transparency and fairness. 

The rather bold and out-of-the-box method was resorted to after the fiasco of a previous recruitment that not only cost Director Mukolwe's job but also his reputation after influence-peddling government officials interfered with demands for guaranteed slots. So his successor, the superstar CEO Kipngetich decided to be transparent and  fair in the recruitment, obviously driven by a desire to keep the politicians out of the exercise and also chart a new path in line with his pacesetting techniques.

This new mode of recruitment was so endearing that even Kenya Airports Authority who were recruiting security staff decided to conduct theirs jointly with KWS. It all went well. 

It seems that the oft-maligned Kenya Police has also joined the transparency bandwagon and with a new and improved twist. They will recruit 7000 potential police officers in all 286 districts simultaneously and with results known on the same day too. The sibling rivalry between regular Police and Administration Police seems to have been set aside so as to conduct the interview jointly. 

The applicants will be applying in writing before the physical examination and fitness tests. Recruits will be asked what their choice force is and admitted to a 15 month training course accordingly.

In what seems to be advance implementation of the Police reforms, trainees will be allowed internship before formal recruitment to gauge suitability. One of the key recommendations of the Naikuni-led reforms committee, is a halt to the outright recruitment of  any and every person who completes a 6-month training in Kiganjo or Embakasi which is seen as a cause of the many obviously unsuitable and unstable police officers that litter the force and are evidenced by the rising suicide cases and gun-accidents usually involving a disgruntled junior shooting a senior.

It will be interesting to see if all 286 centres will be true to the national brief and keep away from temptations that recruits will bring to the exercises. I am also curious to see what tricks the Kamiti inmates known to send thousands of enticing text messages "offering" positions to a gullible Kenyan public hungry for employment opportunities for a small "fee" will come up with! Twenty four hours may prove too short for them to swindle enough people.

Its interesting that the Police Force have adopted the recruitment mode from a man touted to be the likely  next Inspector-General of Police! Makes for good cocktail small talk. 

I am sure some of the recruitment drama will be served to you on the Friday night TV satirical servings of Newshot, Flipside and Bullseye. 

Prof. Nyon'go You Should Not Whine- Do Something About Cancer Treatment

I have had this post marinating in my mind for a while now. In fact I have been seething for a while. The reason I have been seething with anger is because of one Prof. Peter Anya'ng Nyong'o (herewith referred as PPAN). This state has been going on since the good Professor returned home after his successful treatment in San Francisco. 


When the news of his sickness was broken through his Sunday column in the Standard, I sympathized with the good Professor, first as a fellow human being, next as a fellow man (in the over-40 years bracket and a likely candidate of prostrate cancer), thirdly based on the 6 degrees of separation theory, I know his wife from my professional fraternity for which she held leadership positions and always delivered hubby when we needed a senior government minister to grace our functions and give them some semblance of stately seriousness! Finally, I  like Prof. Peter Anya'ng Nyong'o  as one of the sober politician we have and who can take the debate from the gutters to intellectual levels if and when he is not defending his party.


So back to my seething, I have nothing against his return or his healing at all. What I have a problem is the statements he made after his return. He got a lot of press and even some ripple-effect coverage on status of cancer treatment and facilities in Kenya followed in his wake. 


Whereas as a recovering patient, he had every right to celebrate overcoming cancer, I begrudge the fact that he mixed his different roles in the process. As a leader, as a highly educated opinion leader in our society, as an MP sitting in parliament and with powers to make private or state-sponsored and appropriate legislation and as a Minister in-charge of Medical Services, in my humble opinion, I think he made some very unfortunate statements. He came out badly due to his fascination with facilities in Western World, he made unsavory statements about the qualifications of Kenyan Doctors. Was it the doctors in San Francisco who diagnosed his disease or the same Kenyan doctors he went all over the media giving a bad name? 


I do not mind a mwananchi who gets a raw deal in local hospitals using the media to get attention and creating awareness or whining; but the Minister in charge of all doctors? The man we have entrusted to change policy and its implementation thereafter? Talking to us like he expects someone else to come around and change things? He had the audacity of getting verbose about the state-of-art equipment available in the US. He event further and said that there are possibilities of the manufacturers of such equipment leasing them to government.  Of course in between he brought other issues like the proposed universal medical insurance for all citizens. 


Sample a quote below of the Minister in one of the media interviews and tell me if this is not the all-familiar whining we all hear from the hoi polloi saying, "naiomba serikali...."; 

"The Government should make it a mandatory health requirement for men over 45 to have their PSA levels tested regularly so that the disease can be caught early.

Second, we require nurses, clinical officers and urologists who can diagnose prostate cancer and advise on proper treatment. Proper diagnostic equipment is also a must.

At the moment, these are extremely few, and very often diagnosing prostate cancer is done mainly at our national referral facilities, provincial government hospitals and private hospitals."

I will be forever upset with PPAN if out of his personal experience, he does not act and make some tangible changes during his tenure in Afya House and as an MP. I think PPAN should play some major part in replicating a smaller version of Mount Zion Medical Centre here in Kenya. After all if the Minister, a cancer survivor, a senior member of the society cannot do it, who will?


 Professor, I am watching you. Do not let me down.  

Concerns About Cost of Living

After a few weeks of the Ocampo 6 circus, the country has suddenly been jolted back to the realities that face more than 50% of the population who live in abject poverty. With riots already happening in Uganda and Burkina Faso due to high living costs, it was just a matter of time before someone tapped the government and media out of the hypnosis induced by the highly entertaining Ocampo 6 circus.

A friend of mine has a tendency of asking for a rationale for any information you share with him. When you learn some new fact, he wants to know what value does it have to the immediate cause? He says 90% of the information that we share in a day may be interesting, but of zero value to our lives.

In the same breath, I have taken the same view and measure to most of the shenanigans that we are subjected to by our leaders/politicians. So how will Kenya change or improve if we sing patriotic songs off key in Amsterdam? Is the scarcity of maize seeds and fertilizer that is the concern of hundreds of thousands of farmers solved? Nah! How will the hundreds of poor Kenyans living in camps change? I now pay attention to news or commentaries that offer solutions. Political brinkmanship should not be allowed a national platform, especially when the expected outcome is just political careers of three or four Kenyans.

The national platform should only be given to issues that affect the masses and it was heartening to suddenly see on evening news stories on living costs and unemployment that is a concern for many. So what should we expect from our government?

Rations for the very poor? Subsidies? Government issue unga? I am waiting for the evening news to see how we propose to handle this one.

Simple Life, Great Outdoors

I Stumbled here and found this really beautiful picture titled "simple life, great outdoors" and I could not agree more. Looking at the photo resonated with my inner self, it gave me peace and to some extent I admired the man in his simple shelter. I know there are many people who would love to be in a rather plush luxury-laden house in a grey colourless city, but as for me, that view, that location, that simplicity is all I want.

Although I don't have as much time to be outdoors more, I am an occasional camper and hiker. I still cling to a dream of owning a piece of land in a picturesque place in Kenya before I transition to the other world. I will build my simple shack and wake up to the views and fresh air, which might be good for whatever old-age ailments I may carry then!

Moving On

After three years and five months in the environment sector, I am moving on to a different sector. I have had myself a ball in the that time and I take no regrets but many lessons learnt and many joyous moments shared. I have made many friends and met many Kenyans and friends of Kenyans who have made an impact in many lives. I have been privileged to work in such an important sector, doing work that was very satisfying and in tune with mankind's basic needs of water, food, shelter while one eye was on posterity and the questions they may ask of our generation should we make a mess of the environment. I leave with a lot of satisfaction in my heart, knowing that I did my part to the best of my ability. I can now move on to do my work elsewhere, especially in other spheres that aim to create happiness and a sense of wellness. One of the lessons I learnt is that there is so much that needs to be done and not enough hands. Another lesson was that Mother Nature is watching and despite all the science available to us, she remains a mystery that seems to heave in painful anger now and then, just to remind us who is in charge. As I move on, I will share with you a quotation that has helped me in my journey through life- "The secret to success is figuring what you want and how to get it". Go figuring and go getting.............

What Thoughts Do You Have Today

Valentine Njoroge is a columnist in the Star newspaper and a former radio presenter who has distinguished herself as a sex therapist who is both blunt and honest. Although she is not a psychologist, the very nature of problems laid before her every week do qualify and in cases may need  proper psychological counseling.

In the recent few weeks my attention has been drawn to Valentine’s Friday column by some interesting headlines. When I saw a catchy headline of a reader seeking to know where the G-Spot is located in a woman’s anatomy, I was instantly hooked. True to form, Valentine with the dexterity of an experienced doctor guided the reader to the location of the famed spot. As to whether it exists or not, I have no idea, but her very vivid road map would lead someplace for anyone who was keen to go exploring. The next week, another reader wanted to know if men too have a G-Spot and valentine did not disappoint in her response.

   

I am a keen consumer of the well written English and I am always on the lookout for the rare breed of Kenyan journalist or writer with the ability of intertwining both message and prose into a master piece. In my view Valentine’s article in the Star of February 4^th was such a piece. Whereas she was faithful to her subject, a reader who wanted advice on her failing libido wanted to know if a sexual assault she suffered in the hands of an older live-in cousin in the past could have been the cause of her fledgling interest in matters of sex.

“You have to learn to select your thoughts the same way that you select your clothes every day” is the summary of Valentine’s philosophy. She says that anybody can volunteer for any label and find a suitable event to match the term. All human beings have the choice to choose the theme of their lives. If by some bad luck you suffered an unfortunate event in your life, you have the ability to choose to have this event define you and ruin the rest of your life or you can choose to define your own values and build a life around that.

What really touched me is the deep truth and philosophy in this message. Don’t we know so many people from amongst out friends and relatives who have refused to let go an event or episode from their past? I am not educated, I am from a poor family, I am an orphan, I have no father, I am not from the right tribe or race! I don’t speak with the right diction etc. Just like a bad event in your life a weakness of no consequence can also hinder your life and deny you the confidence that is needed for one to enjoy life fully.

What the article did for me was explain to me a philosophy I adopted a long time ago. I am the architect of my life and everything therein. If I want a happy, fun filled life, I have to choose thoughts that will ensure that happens. If on the other hand like all people I encounter some bad moments or people, all I do is block you from my thoughts. It works. 

Thank you Valentine, for putting  it so vividly. You are an artist. 

Safaricom Economics A Wee Bit Flawed

 

Government could lose up to Kshs. 5 billion if the on-going cut-throat competition amongst the telecoms continues. The tariff wars have forced government to form an inter-ministerial committee to look into the issue although the Prime Minister told Parliament that competition was healthy and led to innovations. Already the falling calling rates have forced some of the telecoms to move into value added services like data as opposed to voice.

In my view Collymore and his band of green merry men at Waiyaki Way are blackmailing the government and I was shocked to hear the cheap arguments in parliament today advanced by some members of a parliamentary committee that Safaricom met yesterday as well as shareholders who see their prospective dividends disappear in the thin air. . A fall in VAT & excise duty collections, loss of jobs, unfair pricing, killing of “our own” multinational Safaricom, etc were advanced as reasons that should ensure government stops the competition.

If I could personify the tariff wars, what comes to my mind is a picture of four obese and gluttonous men sitting around a giant mountain of ugali with no shirts and dusty bare feet. . One of the gluttons is obviously bigger and older than the other three, his hands are bigger, faster and he already has the biggest side plate on the table. It means that his eating speed is higher than others and he also has the advantage of hording more on his side plate. The much younger and slower gluttons are trying to keep up with the giant’s speed to no avail.

What is surprising is that despite the obvious advantage, the giant is making a lot of noise and distracting everybody, he wants everybody to eat slowly and to chew and gulp in unison. When the others complain and request for all the ugali and stew to be put in one container, he refuses and starts wailing that the others are not fair and if they don’t listen to him everybody will have nothing to eat and the shopkeeper will suffer too if he has no one to sell his flour to. He reminds the others that even the cook may opt out and seek another more fulfilling career!  What flawed thinking!

I don’t blame Safaricom, because like every private enterprise, their motive is to create wealth for their owners and not increase government revenue!  What bothers me is that some of our MPs and even the media are buying into Safaricom’s flawed argument so easily. From a layman’s point of view, if my monthly expenditure on calls was Kshs.500, but suddenly because of lower rates I can suddenly make the same number of calls I usually make at only Kshs. 200, why should anyone be complaining? It shouldn’t be me at all because I now have Kshs. 300 I can use on other purchases or save. Government should come up with ways of ensuring the extra money in my pocket is directed to other purchases that can spur the economy. If my Khs. 300 is what builds the “losses” of Kshs. 5 billion in government revenue, I would expect the government to be happy and to go looking elsewhere and plug their revenue deficit.  Money in my pocket is not a loss. It is a gain for me the owner.

It is a well known fact that Safaricom is the biggest advertiser in the land and no self-respecting publishing or electronic media house will criticize them and hence the universal nodding in unison by all media houses. They wouldn’t threaten their advertising revenues. In the past Michael Joseph has fired complete departments and not a word finds its way to media. He once fired the whole finance department and procurement department, but no media house was brave enough to say a word.  So don’t expect any sober discussion other than Safaricom’s point of view. 

The only really independent voice in this would have been Parliament’s, but as they admitted today, they would rather hope Safaricom continues to dominate the market and rake in the obscene turnovers in the hope that someday in future their shares in the company might be cashed at a profit.

Shame on Safaricom- after years of overcharging us for calls, you now turn round and deviously keep us away from lower calling rates because it will affect your projections? With 15.7 m subscribers to all your combined competitor’s less than 5m, you should be content that you have corned a very big chunk of the market. Kenyans are very unforgiving  to when taken advantage of.   

So dear mobile subscriber, you are once again on your own. 

Zain (Airtel) Media Golf Challenge

The Airtel predecessors came up with this public relations masterstroke with an aim of introducing the game of golf to journalists  in a monthly tournament involving sports journalist drawn from all private and public media houses including those drawn from Presidential Press Service.

The journalists whose Loyalty membership and green fees are paid for by Airtel at Golf Park, Kenya’s only public golf course; meet once a month for a tournament during which winner are awarded prizes and league points.

The leading golfers so far have been Tony Kwalanda of K24, Tony Timase of Citizen TV, Robin Njogu of Capital FM, Charles Kerich of Star and Kipchalat of PPS. Lady journalists are not to be left behind and the monthly tourney has a good representation of ladies as well.

It’s interesting that such an initiative is undertaken by a telcom firm and not Kenya Golf Union.  The media has been very good to the golfing community, what with a whole fee page devoted to weekend draws every Friday. For a sport played by such a small section of the public this is more than a fair share of space. Also due to a heavy involvement of blue chip companies in golf sponsorship, the Monday and Tuesday sports pages are also healthily sprinkled with golf results. 

My Golfing Experience So Far

It has been a roller coaster ride and I have extracted immense joy from my golfing ride so far. I have visited about 20 golfing clubs in the last eight months all over the country. Partly aided by a few of my friends who work for some of the most regular and generous golf sponsors in the country, I found my way into their tournaments as a guest of the corporates.

I have therefore been able to see different parts of the country as well as play in golf course with some of the most breathtaking sights and backdrops in the land. I have also had the chance to play in the world class Vipingo Ridge’s Baobab course twice. I also played at the Great Rift Valley Lodge’s course during a workshop in the lodge. Vipingo, Leisure Lodge  and GRVL together with Windsor are the country’s golf resorts set up to take advantage of Kenya’s tourism reputation. Most of the other courses  were set up ages ago by colonial civil servants to afford them exclusive hideaways where they could mingle with their kind and laterally let down their hair. 

Apart from the help I got from my corporate friends, my work which takes me around the countryside a lot also came in handy because I was able to play on more courses either early or late in the day after official programmes. During the August and December holidays, I was also able to tie-in one or two rounds during the family vacation. In fact, I have become a bit selfish and will look to holiday around areas with a course a short distance away.

When I started playing, I decided that I would be making a point of playing in all Kenyan courses and so far I have managed some 20. I have another 20 or so golf courses that I want to visit and play in the next one year of so. Some are out of the way and may prove to be a headache like Mt. Kenya Safari Club, Magadi because you have to make a deliberate tour to the establishment to get a chance.

Apart from seeing the country and playing in wonderful courses, golf has allowed me to meet some very interesting people who you are never going to find at your local pub. When you arrive at a starting tee box, you are most likely to play with a perfect stranger. Golf allows four or less players to move together. So the guy you link up with at the start could be a CEO of a blue chip company or a famous litigation lawyer you only read about in the papers. I have played with everyday Kenyans too and struck friendships that have enriched my life. Good golfer having a bad day at work of bad golfers having a good day on the course is very common and there are numerous occasions for commiserating each other due to some bad strokes.

I will keep you posted on my progress, but go out and play today.