Nicole Scherzinger recounts traumatising experience in Dagoretti

By THOMAS MATIKO
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Celebrated American singer and dancer Nicole Scherzinger, 37, has recently opened up about her traumatising experience in Dagoretti slums, Nairobi, when she visited Kenya in November 2015. PHOTO/BANG SHOWBIZ

Celebrated American singer and dancer Nicole Scherzinger, 37, has recently opened up about her traumatising experience in Dagoretti slums, Nairobi, when she visited Kenya in November 2015.

Scherzinger, who parted ways with her longtime boyfriend, renowned formula one driver Lewis Hamilton in February last year, was in the slum area to shoot a film as part of charity work with the Unicef.

During an interview with Daily Mail, Nicole recounted how she met street children as young as two years old who moved her to tears.

“I befriended children who sleep on the streets and spend their days in rubbish dumps, scratching a living by collecting bottles and cans, which they sell for recycling, and risking disease, violence and exploitation in the process. These kids have no one in their lives to take care of them. They start – at the age of two, three, four –to fend for themselves on the streets,” she said.

The film that saw the star visit the country is about George, a 12-year-old boy who spends nights on a cold concrete floor within a marketplace, and gets up as early as 5am to collect scrap metal and plastic from dumpsters and garbage piles for selling, making about Sh 40 per day. The movie will be aired next Sunday on UK ITV channel during Soccer Aid, a fundraising celebrity football match.
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State now bans motivational talks in schools

29.05.2016
After banning prayers in third term, the Ministry of Education has now locked out motivational speakers from learning institutions.
Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said this was meant to protect students from radicalisation.
Addressing head teachers from Nandi County during a retreat in Kisumu at the weekend, Dr Kipsang said the ministry had revoked all letters that had been issued to the motivational speakers.
“We have revoked all letters of motivational speakers and as a result you should not welcome any one of them in your schools,” he told the school heads.
He said some motivational speakers and preachers were radicalising learners under the disguise of motivational talk.

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“Some of these people are poisoning our children with information that is not good for their development,” said Kipsang.
Stringent Measures
He warned head teachers not to welcome such people in their institutions, adding that disciplinary action would be taken against them.
“Any head teacher who is allowing them in their schools is doing so at their own peril,” the PS said.
“Head teachers should immediately call the police in case anybody visits their schools with letters of permission purported to be from the ministry.”
The principal secretary said that the Government would not tolerate actors who visit schools to perform set book plays to students.
“We must put stringent measures in place to ensure that our children are not fed with the wrong information,” said Kipsang.
The PS called on all education players to work together to ensure all children have access to quality education.
He urged them to participate in the reforms that the ministry was putting in place to restore sanity in the sector.
“We now have the best opportunity to prepare the future of our children and we should make the best out of it,” he said.
He added that the ministry would continue to come up with new measures to improve the quality of education that learners get. Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i angered Kenya National Union of Teachers and politicians when he announced tough measures to curb cheating in national examinations.
Besides banning school visits by parents in third term, Dr Matiang’i also banned prayers in schools and sporting activities, saying it was through such activities that students get examination leakages.
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Thika Road, a legacy in inequality: UN Under-Secretary

 
By OLIVE BURROWS, NAIROBI, Kenya, May 27 – The Thika ‘superhighway’ has long been heralded as a symbol of Kenya’s economic progress but that’s not how United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director and UN Under-Secretary Achim Steiner sees it.
He sees it instead as, “yet another symbol,” of the inequality on the continent as governments seek to emulate the path taken by their developed counterparts.
A path he says they would be mistaken in taking given the price the continent is already paying for the fossil fuel driven industrialisation of the West.
“If you spend all your money on building more roads, widening roads, speaks to an equity issue. The mass of the working population either has to walk on a mud track next to the paved million dollar road because there’s no pavement to allow people to walk safely or cycling lane so cycling to work is a life-threatening risk and above all they don’t have comfortable public transport. Thika Highway is an example of where we invest in serving a minority,” he said during the United Nations Environment Assembly on Tuesday.
Building bigger roads in an effort to appear more westernised, he said, was an exercise in folly and retrogressive even given many Western nations faced with air quality problems on account of car emissions were now encouraging their populace to walk, cycle or take public means to work not only on account of its health benefits but economic benefits as well given the vast amounts of money lost in in time spent in traffic.
“Even if you build bigger roads without a functional public transport system in place, people will keep buying cars.”
READ: #Travel: Champs-Elysees to be pedestrianised once a month

On Friday he focussed on the inequality that would be perpetuated should Africa, in the example of the West, pursue development at the expense of the environment and not sustainably.
Development underpinned by high carbon fuels such as coal which emit greenhouse gases, lead to global warming then climate change, he said, would only make life more difficult for the majority of their populations who are smallholder farmers or subsist on less than a dollar a day.
Climate change which is evidenced by extreme weather conditions such as drought and flooding, would impact agricultural output, “and already is,” Steiner said, and by extension food prices.
On a grander scale, Chief of UNEP’s Geneva based Economy and Trade branch Steven Stone told Capital News, climate change compromised the ability of African and other states vulnerable to climate change, to borrow.
“When countries borrow money on the Capital Markets they float bonds and food prices affect their credit rating and cost of capital. Those countries whose economies are agriculture based are most exposed to these risks. So a country like Kenya is exposed to these climatic risks and it can affect Kenya’s borrowing capacity,” Stone said.
A report by financial research firm Standard & Poor shows that sovereign credit ratings are impacted by natural disasters whose intensity and frequency have increased on account of climate change over the last decade and that the least prepared — those in the developing world — are often the most vulnerable.
“Extreme weather conditions that likely lead to a radical rise in meteorological disasters, and their magnitude, are increasingly becoming part of everyday life. According to the World Meteorological Organisation, more than 370,000 people died in extreme weather incidents between 2001 and 2010 – a 20 percent rise over the previous decade. Our planet is expected to become even more lethal,” the report reads.
It would therefore be in Africa’s own interest, Steiner argues, to pursue sustainable development through green energy in the form of geo-thermal, solar and wind power as opposed to following in the, “develop first, clean up later,” footsteps of the developed world.
“I  have often felt that it is one of the great myths of the twentieth Century that Africa always has to follow a generation later on technology.”
Instead, he says, Africa should leapfrog to cleaner energy as it did with the mobile phone in the arena of connectivity.
“We are already living through the early signals of climate change affecting this continent whether in terms of rainfall patterns, droughts and floods but also sea-level rise. This continent according to some of the work UNEP has done, will in the coming decades probably be spending billions of dollars just in adapting to the consequence of global warming and that is money spent in just staying in the same place. Not in advancing.”

READ: Steiner reflects on time at UNEP, speaks on his future
But unless the developed world acknowledges the damage it has inflicted on the planet and atones by providing the deep financial and technological muscle needed to set Africa on the green energy path, Director-General of the Global Green Growth Institute and former UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer told Capital News, purely green energy driven development is an awful lot to ask of African leaders.
“Most people in slums in Nairobi probably pay a lot more for water than middle income people. The middle income people have the resources to invest in the infrastructure that will bring them piped water cheaply whearas the poor people have to buy from a shop or water truck which is more expensive.
“It’s the same thing with coal and renewables. A coal plant is cheap, a wind farm is expensive. The problem with a coal plant is that you have to keep putting coal into it to keep it running whereas the wind farm – once you’ve built it – it will run for free. The problem is many developing countries don’t have enough capital to buy the expensive wind farm but they can scrape just enough money to buy the coal fired power plant.”
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What Babu Owino says about Cheryl Kitonga, the lady mentioned on Jicho Pevu expose about Jacob Juma’s murder

By Brian Okoth
May 28, 2016

0 Comments12 likes

Student Organisation of Nairobi University (SONU) Chairman Babu Owino has come to the defense of Cheryl Kitonga – the lady mentioned on Jicho Pevu expose about businessman Jacob Juma’s murder.
The expose dubbed Kaburi La Wazi aired on KTN Monday, May 23 – and the interwebs went buzzing when the mysterious girl who was in the company of Jacob Juma on May 5 – the day he met his death – was identified for all to see.
Many ridiculed her and even branded her a “gold digger” for her relations with the slain businessman.
Well, Babu Owino thinks the nature of Ms Kitonga and Mr Juma’s relationship shouldn’t be a subject of social discussion since the two were adults – and that there was mutual consent in the affair.
“Everybody does things according to how they plan. Cheryl and the late Jacob consented. Therefore I see no problem with that. They were two grown-ups above 18 years old. They knew what they were doing. A person who consents to his or her heart, I don’t have any problem with that – so I wouldn’t condemn either,” Babu Owino told eDaily.
“When you look at some families, the age difference between the man and his partner is huge. So, it is about consent – if the arrangement is forceful, then it is criminal, but when the two parties agree to relate then it is right by all means.”
“The media and the public wrongly persecuted Cheryl; she should be left to lead her life,” he added.
Babu Owino’s sentiments echo those of media personality Caroline Mutoko, who on Wednesday faulted investigative journalist Mohammed Ali for exposing Cheryl Kitonga and diverting the public’s focus from Juma’s murder to his secret relations.
“I watched Kaburi La Wazi – Mohammed Ali’s latest expose on Jacob Juma’s murder. And I don’t think I have ever been more disappointed with Moha. Mohammed, why? Why go to all that trouble to do a less than stellar job. But importantly, to undress and shame a twenty-something year-old girl who did nothing wrong!” she started.
The outspoken media personality faulted Ali for unfairly exposing the girl while protecting, others’ identities.
“You are willing to blur the taxi driver and everything else – but this girl who made a private decision to be with a grown up; that girl you hang out to dry?” Mutoko asked.
“And then here is the worst thing – even if you don’t care about her, is that you have totally destroyed the ability for all of us to get back to why the conversation on Jacob Juma is important. A man died and he didn’t just die, he was killed, he was murdered. You have reduced his death to how many women he saw; including a ka-small one… Moha, shame on you!”

Thomas Sankara's Biography - RhoTV

Today we felt like sharing something about one of greatest sons of Africa
Biography of Thomas Sankara.
Thomas Sankara was Burkina Faso’s president from August 1983 until his assassination on October 15, 1987. Perhaps, more than any other African president in living memory, Thomas Sankara, in four years, transformed Burkina Faso from a poor country, dependent on aid, to an economically independent and socially progressive nation.

Thomas Sankara began by purging the deeply entrenched bureaucratic and institutional corruption in Burkina Faso.
He slashed the salaries of ministers and sold off the fleet of exotic cars in the president’s convoy, opting instead for the cheapest brand of car available in Burkina Faso, Renault 5. His salary was $450 per month and he refused to use the air conditioning units in his office, saying that he felt guilty doing so, since very few of his country people could afford it.
Thomas Sankara would not let his portrait be hung in offices and government institutions in Burkina Faso, because every Burkinabe is a Thomas Sankara, he declared. Sankara changed the name of the country from the colonially imposed Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which means land of upright men.
Thomas Sankara’s achievements are numerous and can only be summarized briefly; within the first year of his leadership, Sankara embarked on an unprecedented mass vaccination program that saw 2.5 million Burkinabe children vaccinated. From an alarming 280 deaths for every 1,000 births, infant mortality was immediately slashed to below 145 deaths per 1,000 live births. Sankara preached self-reliance, he banned the importation of several items into Burkina Faso, and encouraged the growth of the local industry. It was not long before Burkinabes were wearing 100% cotton sourced, woven and tailored in Burkina Faso. From being a net importer of food, Thomas Sankara began to aggressively promote agriculture in Burkina Faso, telling his country people to quit eating imported rice and grain from Europe, said, “let us consume what we ourselves control,” he emphasized.
In less than 4 years, Burkina Faso became self-sufficient in foods production through the redistribution of lands from the hands of corrupt chiefs and land owners to local farmers, and through massive irrigation and fertilizer distribution programs. Thomas Sankara utilized various policies and government assistance to encourage Burkinabes to get education. In less than two years as a president, school attendance jumped from about 10% to a little below 25%, thus overturning the 90% illiteracy rate he met upon assumption of office.
Living way ahead of his time, within 12 months of his leadership, Sankara vigorously pursued a reforestation program that saw over 10 million trees planted around the country in order to push back the encroachment of the Sahara Desert. Uncommon at the time he lived, Sankara stressed women empowerment and campaigned for the dignity of women in a traditional patriarchal society. He also employed women in several government positions and declared a day of solidarity with housewives by mandating their husbands to take on their roles for 24 hours.
A personal fitness enthusiast, Sankara encouraged Burkinabes to be fitted and was regularly seen jogging unaccompanied on the streets of Ouagadougou; his waistline remained the same throughout his tenure as president.
In 1987, during a meeting of African leaders under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity, Thomas Sankara tried to convince his peers to turn their backs on the debt owed western nations. According to him, “debt is a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa. It is a reconquest that turns each one of us into a financial slave.” He would not request for, nor accept aid from the west, noting that “…welfare and aid policies have only ended up disorganizing us, subjugating us, and robbing us of a sense of responsibility for our own economic, political, and cultural affairs. We chose to risk new paths to achieve greater well-being.”
Thomas Sankara was a pan-Africanist who spoke out against apartheid, telling French President Jacques Chirac, during his visit to Burkina Faso, that it was wrong for him to support the apartheid government and that he must be ready to bear the consequences of his actions. Sankara’s policies and his unapologetic anti-imperialist stand made him an enemy of France, Burkina Faso’s former colonial master. He spoke truth to power fearlessly and paid with his life. Upon his assassination, his most valuable possessions were a car, a refrigerator, three guitars, motorcycles, a broken down freezer and about $400 in cash.
Few young Africans have ever heard of Thomas Sankara. In reality, it is not the assassination of Thomas Sankara that has dealt a lethal blowed to Africa and Africans; it is the assassination of his memory, as manifested in the indifference to his legacy, in the lack of constant reference to his ideals and ideas by Africans, by those who know and those who should know. Among physical and mental dirt and debris lie Africa’s heroes while the younger generations search in vain for role models from among their kind. Africans have therefore, internalized self-abhorrence and the convictions of innate incapability to bring about transformation. Transformation must runs contrary to the African’s DNA, many Africans subconsciously believe.
Africans are not given to celebrating their own heroes, but this must change. It is a colonial legacy that was instituted to establish the inferiority of the colonized and justify colonialism. It was a strategic policy that ensured that Africans celebrated the heroes of their colonial masters, but not that of Africa. Fifty years and counting after colonialism ended, Africa’s curriculum must now be redrafted to reflect the numerous achievements of Africans.
The present generation of Africans is thirsty, searching for where to draw the moral, intellectual and spiritual courage to effect change. The waters to quench the thirst, as other continents have already established, lies fundamentally in history - in Africa’s forbears, men, women and children who experienced much of what most Africans currently experience, but who chose to toe a different path. The media, entertainment industry, civil society groups, writers, institutions and organizations must begin to search out and include African role models, case studies and examples in their contents.
For Africans, the strength desperately needed for the transformation of the continent cannot be drawn from World Bank and IMF policies, from aid and assistance obtained from China, India, the United States or Europe. The strength to transform Africa lies in the foundations laid by uncommon heroes like Thomas Sankara; a man who showed Africa and the world that with a single minded pursuit of purpose, the worst can be made the best, and in record time too.

After SEX SCANDAL at Kiss FM Whatsapp LEAK, Caroline Mutoko is CONFRONTED by Maggie for PROMOTING Clande Mentality

Caroline Mutoko Confronted, I Think Maggie is right.>> Read and tell us what you think.
BY MAGGIE MARIKAH,29.05.2016

I am a woman but I will not jump to condemn Jicho Pevu. Just the other day in Kenya, a father stood in a court of law to testify that his daughter Careen took several loans from family and friend, even stole, to support a purported Clande – “Louis Otieno.” Jicho Pevu’s job is to tell the story and not rewrite it or photoshop it to accomodate your feelings. Journalists have sources and they have a right to protect them.
Before we ask the Pope to come and beatify Cheryl Kitonga for her one night stand with Jacob Juma before he died, let us address the issue of the social acceptance of Clandes (read mpango wa kando) in Kenya.
Jicho Pevu did more to save future women from Clande mentality than many people condemning him will ever do, and especially Carol Mutoko, who says that is what the 20’s are there for. So according to Carol, the 20s are there for sleeping around with strange married men???
Okay… Nothing brings more dignity to women than telling them it’s okay to exploit their sexual desires and fantasies as long as you are in the twenties.. Married men.. Sure indulge.. One night stand.. Bring it on.. Clandes..Ni ya leo.. Bei ni ya jioni..
A lot worse could have happened to this lady. She is lucky she did not end up as collateral damage. But who cares that she is a person of interest or suspect in a murder as long as she had fun? That is what the 20s are there for.. Right??.
Stop sugar coating the truth. Choices have consequences for both Jacob Juma and Cheryl Kitonga. Call it Clande mentality, call it prostitution.. Call it whatever you like, but until we can address the root cause of why this woman is in the predicament she is in, this may not be the last case that appears on our media screen.
Put efforts where it matters.. By the time you are asking for Cheryl Kitongas face to be concealed, you have lost the fight on women dignity. Stop the next Cheryl from being taken advantage of by a so called sponsor.
Stop the next Cheryl from being a rich man’s play toy. Stop the next Cheryl Kitonga from a sponsor mentality. And telling them that is what the 20s are there for is not helping them either.
Just because you made mistakes in your 20s is no reason for every other 20 year old to follow in your footsteps. My desire is that the mistakes I made in my early years will not be the mistakes of my fellow sisters because when you know better, you do better. Stop the next Cheryl Kitonga, covering the face does little or nothing for her.
Was Carol Mutoko the woman alleged to be with Mutula Kilonzo at time of death????
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My Advice To Married Couples After Divorcing My Wife Of 16 Years By Gerald Rogers.

Obviously, I’m not a relationship expert. But there’s something about my divorce being finalized this week that gives me perspective of things I wish I would have done different… After losing a woman that I loved, and a marriage of almost 16 years, here’s the advice I wish I would have had
1. Never stop courting. Never stop dating. NEVER EVER take that woman for granted. When you asked her to marry you, you promised to be that man that would OWN HER HEART and to fiercely protect it. This is the most important and sacred treasure you will ever be entrusted with. SHE CHOSE YOU. Never forget that, and NEVER GET LAZY in your love.
2. Protect your own heart. Just as you committed to being the protector of her heart, you must guard your own with the same vigilance. Love yourself fully, love the world openly, but there is a special place in your heart where no one must enter except for your wife. Keep that space always ready to receive her and invite her in, and refuse to let anyone or anything else enter there.
3. Fall in love over and over again. You will constantly change. You’re not the same people you were when you got married, and in five years you will not be the same person you are today. Change will come, and in that you have to re-choose each other everyday. SHE DOESN’T HAVE TO STAY WITH YOU, and if you don’t take care of her heart, she may give that heart to someone else or seal you out completely, and you may never be able to get it back. Always fight to win her love just as you did when you were courting her.
4. Always see the best in her. Focus only on what you love. What you focus on will expand. If you focus on what bugs you, all you will see is reasons to be bugged. If you focus on what you love, you can’t help but be consumed by love. Focus to the point where you can no longer see anything but love, and you know without a doubt that you are the luckiest man on earth to be have this woman as your wife.
5. It’s not your job to change or fix her… your job is to love her as she is with no expectation of her ever changing. And if she changes, love what she becomes, whether it’s what you wanted or not.
6. Take full accountability for your own emotions: It’s not your wife’s job to make you happy, and she CAN’T make you sad. You are responsible for finding your own happiness, and through that your joy will spill over into your relationship and your love.
7. Never blame your wife if you get frustrated or angry at her, it is only because it is triggering something inside of YOU. They are YOUR emotions, and your responsibility. When you feel those feelings take time to get present and to look within and understand what it is inside of YOU that is asking to be healed. You were attracted to this woman because she was the person best suited to trigger all of your childhood wounds in the most painful way so that you could heal them… when you heal yourself, you will no longer be triggered by her, and you will wonder why you ever were.
8. Allow your woman to just be. When she’s sad or upset, it’s not your job to fix it, it’s your job to HOLD HER and let her know it’s ok. Let her know that you hear her, and that she’s important and that you are that pillar on which she can always lean. The feminine spirit is about change and emotion and like a storm her emotions will roll in and out, and as you remain strong and unjudging she will trust you and open her soul to you… DON’T RUN-AWAY WHEN SHE’S UPSET. Stand present and strong and let her know you aren’t going anywhere. Listen to what she is really saying behind the words and emotion.
9. Be silly… don’t take yourself so damn seriously. Laugh. And make her laugh. Laughter makes everything else easier.
10. Fill her soul everyday… learn her love languages and the specific ways that she feels important and validated and CHERISHED. Ask her to create a list of 10 THINGS that make her feel loved and memorize those things and make it a priority everyday to make her feel like a queen.
11. Be present. Give her not only your time, but your focus, your attention and your soul. Do whatever it takes to clear your head so that when you are with her you are fully WITH HER. Treat her as you would your most valuable client. She is.
12. Be willing to take her sexually, to carry her away in the power of your masculine presence, to consume her and devour her with your strength, and to penetrate her to the deepest levels of her soul. Let her melt into her feminine softness as she knows she can trust you fully.
13. Don’t be an idiot…. And don’t be afraid of being one either. You will make mistakes and so will she. Try not to make too big of mistakes, and learn from the ones you do make. You’re not supposed to be perfect, just try to not be too stupid.
14. Give her space… The woman is so good at giving and giving, and sometimes she will need to be reminded to take time to nurture herself. Sometimes she will need to fly from your branches to go and find what feeds her soul, and if you give her that space she will come back with new songs to sing…. (okay, getting a little too poetic here, but you get the point. Tell her to take time for herself, ESPECIALLY after you have kids. She needs that space to renew and get re-centered, and to find herself after she gets lost in serving you, the kids and the world.)
15. Be vulnerable… you don’t have to have it all together. Be willing to share your fears and feelings, and quick to acknowledge your mistakes.
16. Be fully transparent. If you want to have trust you must be willing to share EVERYTHING… Especially those things you don’t want to share. It takes courage to fully love, to fully open your heart and let her in when you don’t know i she will like what she finds… Part of that courage is allowing her to love you completely, your darkness as well as your light. DROP THE MASK… If you feel like you need to wear a mask around her, and show up perfect all the time, you will never experience the full dimension of what love can be.
17. Never stop growing together… The stagnant pond breeds malaria, the flowing stream is always fresh and cool. Atrophy is the natural process when you stop working a muscle, just as it is if you stop working on your relationship. Find common goals, dreams and visions to work towards.
18. Don’t worry about money. Money is a game, find ways to work together as a team to win it. It never helps when teammates fight. Figure out ways to leverage both persons strength to win.
19. Forgive immediately and focus on the future rather than carrying weight from the past. Don’t let your history hold you hostage. Holding onto past mistakes that either you or she makes, is like a heavy anchor to your marriage and will hold you back. FORGIVENESS IS FREEDOM. Cut the anchor loose and always choose love.
20. Always choose love. ALWAYS CHOOSE LOVE. In the end, this is the only advice you need. If this is the guiding principle through which all your choices is governed, there is nothing that will threaten the happiness of your marriage. Love will always endure.
In the end marriage isn’t about happily ever after. It’s about work. And a commitment to grow together and a willingness to continually invest in creating something that can endure eternity. Through that work, the happiness will come. Marriage is life, and it will bring ups and downs. Embracing all of the cycles and learning to learn from and love each experience will bring the strength and perspective to keep building, one brick at a time.
These are lessons I learned the hard way. These are lessons I learned too late. But these are lessons I am learning and committed in carrying forward. Truth is, I loved being married, and in time, I will get married again, and when I do, I will build it with a foundation that will endure any storm and any amount of time.
If you are reading this and find wisdom in my pain, share it those those young husbands whose hearts are still full of hope, and with those couples you may know who may have forgotten how to love. One of those men may be like I was, and in these hard earned lessons perhaps something will awaken in him and he will learn to be the man his lady has been waiting for.
MEN- THIS IS YOUR CHARGE: Commit to being an EPIC LOVER. There is no greater challenge, and no greater prize. Your woman deserves that from you. Be the type of husband your wife can’t help but brag about.
(From the Editor: We wish  to thank Joachim Cabanyes for sending it  to us for publication,   Joachim Cabanyes is an honorary member of Authors-choice blog.)

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From geo-blocking to cloud computing: Parliament’s guide to the digital age

Every day 315 million Europeans use the internet, but challenges still remain for consumers and companies alike. The European Commission presented its strategy for a digital single market in 2015. In addition Parliament and the Council agreed to ban roaming fees in 2017 and guarantee equal treatment for all internet traffic. On 25 May MEPs debate new Commission proposals to further boost e-commerce in plenary. Read our digital glossary to get up to date with the terminology ahead of the debate.

Big data

Large volumes of data that can, for instance, include purchase transaction records or GPS signals. The Commission believes there are a number of important issues to be resolved when it comes to big data, such as determining ownership and protecting people's personal data.

Cloud computing

Data that is used, stored and processed on remotely located computers accessed over the internet. While benefits include convenience and often lower costs for consumers, risks could include sensitive data falling into the wrong hands.

E-commerce

Trading goods over the internet. According to the Commission, only 15% of consumers shop online with a trader based in another EU country as delivery costs prove to be a challenge.
 
Geo-blocking

The practice by some companies to unnecessarily stop consumers from using their on-line service in another country, often without justification, and to redirect traffic to a local store with different prices and products than those in other countries.

MEPs said in a resolution it was unjustified to block consumers from accessing goods and services online on the basis of their IP address, postal address or country and said that the practice should end.

Internet of Things

Connecting devices with each other or the internet. This could be anything from a car to a coffee machine. They could for example indicate that tire pressure was low or warn when the supply of coffee beans was about to run out.

In a resolution adopted in January 2016, MEPs said the EU should seize opportunities offered by new technologies such as the Internet of Things.

Net neutrality

The principle that internet service providers should treat all online content, sites and platforms equally, for instance without blocking or slowing down on purpose competing websites or services.

A net neutrality guarantee is part of the telecoms package and the rules on this entered into force on 30 April 2016.

Roaming

The ability to stay connected with a mobile device to make phone calls and to send and receive data when outside your network, most commonly when in a foreign country.

Under the rules agreed by the Parliament and the Council, roaming fees on mobile calls, text messages and data usage will be banned from 15 June 2017.

This article was first published on 5 May 2015.

Click here for more news from the Parliament

REF. : 20150701STO72992

 

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Bungoma man who hung on chopper granted bail

ByRAPHAEL WANJALA
More by this Author

Saleh Wanjala (second left), accompanied by his aunt Evelyn Namusia and other family members, leaves the Bungoma Court on May 20, 2016 after he was released on a Sh30,000 cash bail. Mr Wanjala was charged with endangering his life by hanging onto a helicopter. PHOTO | RAPHAEL WANJALA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Summary

• Senior Principal Magistrate Stephen Mogute gave Mr Wanjala, who was charged with endangering his life contrary to the Aviation Act, a cash bail of Sh30,000 or a bond of Sh100,000.
• Mr Wanjala hung onto the chopper from the Posta Grounds to the Bungoma Airstrip, where he jumped off as the aircraft descended..

His cash bail was posted by businessman Joseph Waswa through the Lendrix Foundation on Friday morning.A man who last week hung onto a helicopter when it took off from a field in Bungoma has been released on bail after being charged with endangering his life.
Saleh Wanjala, 41, was seen hanging onto the landing gears of the helicopter that was carrying the body of slain businessman Jacob Juma.
Senior Principal Magistrate Stephen Mogute gave Mr Wanjala, who was charged with endangering his life contrary to the Aviation Act, a cash bail of Sh30,000 or a bond of Sh100,000.
He is expected to be back in court on June 6, when the case will be heard.
Mr Wanjala hung onto the chopper from the Posta Grounds to the Bungoma Airstrip, where he jumped off as the aircraft descended.
He suffered injuries in his hip, legs, hands and face and will continue receiving treatment while free on bond.
His cash bail was posted by businessman Joseph Waswa through the Lendrix Foundation on Friday morning.

According to clinical officer Leah Atsewa, who attended to him, Mr Wanjala was under the influence of alcohol.

KENYANS:THE MILK YOU DRINK MAY KILL YOU

Following a recent publication by a local daily. It is evident that Kenyans have been turned into guinea pigs or commercial pigs for that matter. Kenyans are literally feeding on anything from transformer oil to lead to hydrogen peroxide, only to fatten the wallets of unscrupulous business people. These harmful chemicals are laced on foods that most people will not be able to do without, such as sukuma wiki, milk, mandazis, and chips.
The chips and mandazis you love so much might have been fried in transformer oil, your favorite sukuma wiki might be full of lead and your “fresh” milk may be a concoction of formalin, urea, hydrogen peroxide and antibiotics.
It is saddening to realize how low people’s morals have descended in their quest of getting rich, fuelled by the unquenchable greed for quick money. People have become morally disenfranchised such that a Kenyan can sell another Kenyan contaminated food without a second thought while presented with an opportunity.
My attention has been drawn to the excessive use of preservatives in milk with the intention of hampering bacterial spoilage in milk to increase the shelf life of the product. Being a dairy person, I am saddened by the ignorant, sometimes arrogant, usage of these preservatives in milk by the unscrupulous dealers who are out to make a quick shilling.
Here is how bacteria spoil milk, some spoilage types are poisonous.
You see, the quality of your favorite “fresh milk” may be so wanting that certain types of bacteria may refuse to eat it (or die of eating it) but you will gladly pay for it from your favorite vendor because you do not know. In Naivasha for instance, it was reported in the Standard Newspaper that milk hawkers add such chemicals as urea, formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide into the milk to improve the shelf life of this precious commodity. The “heavy presence” of regulatory agencies, the Kenya Dairy Board to be specific, has not helped very much.
How do these chemicals work and what are their effects?
Formalin is a disinfectant and a preservative used for preserving lab specimen and cadavers. Unscrupulous milk dealers will add some amount of this chemical into the milk to increase the shelf life of the product; therefore, shaving off their refrigeration costs.

See Also: Leaders must respect constitutional term limits for true democracy

Formalin is a dangerous chemical that can increase your chances of getting certain types of cancer, will lead to skin and eye irritations and corrode the gastro-intestinal tract. If you take a lethal dose of this chemical or take it for prolonged period, you may have to consider kidney transplant because your kidney is likely to fail when you least expect it.
Hydrogen peroxide is perhaps the most widespread chemical preservative used in milk. This chemical is an excellent preservative when used correctly due to its strong oxidation potential. It oxidizes the bacteria in milk therefore hampering their growth, which increases the shelf life of milk.
The problem with hawkers is that, they use generous amounts of industrial grade hydrogen peroxide, whose residual effect lasts longer than is necessary. As such, you end up with copious amounts of this chemical in your milk. Consumption of milk that has been adulterated with hydrogen peroxide will affect your heartbeat; irritate the mucous membranes in your gastro-intestinal tract and cause stomach and intestinal ailments. The oxidation process will continue in your system leading to early aging and premature death.
This is how to check for formalin in your milk.
You have probably heard of those cows that produce over 45 litres of milk per day. The thing is, going by the breeds of cows we have in Kenya and management practices, 45 litres per day is not an easy feat for the average farmer. What most of these farmers do to achieve such levels of productivity is to inject their cows with oxytocin, which is a hormone that stimulates milk production. This hormone can be easily obtained from shops and the farmers, oblivious of its negative effects, will use it without the directions of a veterinary officer due to the end they intend to achieve (read huge profits). What follows is the contamination of the milk from these “high producers” with traces of this hormone.
When people consume milk that has been contaminated by oxytocin, what happens next is the hormonal imbalance in men, women and children. That is when we start seeing premature development of breasts in young girls, women and young girls start getting irregular menstruation, males develop abnormally big breasts, and kidney complications set in, memory loss, sight impairment, irregular blood pressure and such like complications. If you are keen on preserving your health and that of your family, you will avoid adulterated milk as you would a plague.
I do not think there is need to remind you of the dangers of taking antibiotics without the doctor’s prescription because you are already aware that you will lose your immunity against bacterial infections with prolonged usage. The disease causing bacteria will develop resistance and pass the trait to their offspring. The bacterial generation that will result from this mutant generation will be impossible to control, which may just be the doom of humanity.

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Radical cartoonist Gado joins Standard

Gado has already signed a contract with Standard newspapers.

Venerated cartoonist Gado is set to join the Standard nearly six months since he was booted out by the Nation Media Group after falling afoul of the governments of Kenya and Tanzania.
Business Today has established that the Tanzanian-born Gado (Godffrey Mwapembwa) has already put pen to paper at the Mombasa Road-based media house and all that stands between him and a return to traditional media is getting over the legal suit he instituted against NMG following his unceremonious exit late last year.
Gado was approached by Standard Group Editorial Director Joseph Odindo, his former boss at Nation, when Nation decided to kick out the caricaturist late last year. “The terms and conditions have already been agreed upon,” said someone close to Gado. “It’s not if but he will move when he clears with Nation.”

See Also: Gado signed up by Deutsche Welle

Gado ran into trouble with the government of former Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete after he drew a cartoon that made non-sense of his war on corruption while in Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto were not impressed by his illustrations that poked holes in their good governance credentials while depicting them as a pair bogged down by their cases at the International Criminal Court.
The cases have since been set aside due to lack of evidence amid prosecution claims of witness intimidation and State sabotage.

Early this month, Gado alongside Malaysian cartoonist Zunar, was awarded the 2016 Cartooning for Peace Prize at a ceremony in Geneva by the honorary president of the Swiss Foundation, former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

“I am always amazed at the creative wit of these artists who with a single image can capture the paradoxes and absurdity of injustice of a complex problem more effectively than a hundred speeches. Artists like Gado and Zunar are taking risks for speaking truth to power. They deserve all the recognition we can give them which hopefully can also contribute to their protection,” said Annan.

“It’s a great encouragement because whatever you have been doing there are people who are behind you and there are people who recognise your efforts and that goes a long way in pushing you forward,” said Gado while commenting on the award. “I think what we have seen in many African countries is the shrinking space of the media. This space is a contestant space and the challenge is always to protect that space.”.
Also See:

>> Gado wins international editorial cartoon prize

>> The bold Cartoons that got Gado fired by Nation

Kiambaa slowly rising from the ashes amid suspicion and anxiety

ByVERAH OKEYO
More by this Author

Joseph Githuku, whose wife and son were killed in the Kiambaa Kenya Assemblies of God church fire, next to the grave of his son, Samuel Irungu, who together with the other victims of the inferno, was buried in the church compound. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Summary

• Remarkably, amid the chilling narrations of how the post-election violence was carried out are heartwarming stories of true compassion.
• The KAG church has been aggressive in this regard, encouraging people to talk about their feelings, but with enough tact to ensure that doing so does not cause the affected more pain..
• It is difficult to get an accurate picture of what the people of Kiambaa feel about the termination of the ICC cases because they are reluctant to talk to journalists and “outsiders”.

Piles of stones lying on the ground next to dug out foundations are clear signs that the villagers are striving to rebuild their lives. With the termination of the cases against Deputy President William Ruto and journalist Joshua Sang at The Hague, the country seems to have all but forgotten about the 2007/2008 post-election violence.
Not so to the residents of Kiambaa Location in Eldoret. On January 1, 2008, 38 people who had taken refuge in the Kiambaa Assemblies of God Church during the post-election violence died when the church was set ablaze.
Last Thursday (May 14) marked eight years since their charred remains were buried.
The KAG church was little-known, until it was thrust into the limelight thanks to the heinous act.
The victims are buried in the three-quarter acre spot where the church stood.
The current pastor, Paul Karanja Maina, says people are reluctant to come to the church because of the graves, making it difficult for the church to facilitate reconciliation between the different communities.
“This is the only entrance and no one wants to step on their loved ones’ graves. The government has been promising us another piece of land, but it hasn’t so far, he says.
His predecessor, Pastor Stephen Mburu, who was seriously injured during the post-election violence, was moved to Huruma.
When Pastor Mburu tried to save his flock, he was given a beating that saw him hospitalised for more than a month and cost him some teeth.
The cleric, who moved to Kiambaa in 1994, also lost his home and other property since he lived in the church compound.
However, he says he has forgiven those who hurt him and killed his congregants.
“It is hard to forgive people who will never come to say ‘Sorry’ or ‘Here is the cow I took from you’,” he says.
He is skeptical about healing in Kiambaa but is reluctant to discuss the matter.
BEAUTIFUL SCENERY
Remarkably, the scenery in Kiambaa sharply contrasts with the horror stories associated with it. It is quiet, green, and the air fresh and clean. The people wave at you happily as you ride past on a boda boda.
A recent visit to the area shows signs of people struggling to move on. Piles of stones lying on the ground next to dug out foundations are clear signs that the villagers are striving to rebuild their lives.
The homesteads are separated by hedges, and stand about 300 metres apart. There are vast spaces which, were they to have horses, would be no different from some of the compounds in Nairobi’s upmarket Karen.
Yet scenic as it is, you soon notice something amiss: there are mud-walled houses bearing the tag of an international organisation that built them.
Interestingly, the conversations here seem to follow a set pattern. Almost everyone you talk to begins with platitudes like, “We are all Kenyans, brothers and sisters… Let us all continue preaching peace.”
Then their true feelings come out: “Every time I pass by those graves, I really miss my child, and it hurts a lot, but I have forgiven….”
They then end with on apprehensive note: “I hope this does not happen again…We can make this things work and heal, if only politicians would stop fuelling hatred.”
Remarkably, amid the chilling narrations of how the post-election violence was carried out are heartwarming stories of true compassion.
One cleric narrated how a young Kalenjin man risked his own life to save him: “Another church member and I were returning home after visiting a mutual friend. On the way back, we met Kalenjin youths we knew gathered by the road. My colleague and I parted ways. As I took the road to my home in Rehema Estate, I saw clouds of smoke billowing and the road blocked.”
After a pause he continues, “I saw a young man cycling towards me. I noticed that the rubber band on his carrier was loose and told him to fasten it.
He stopped and did so. He did it so slowly that I got agitated. When he was done, he offered to help to cross the roadblock. He told me to remain silent and when we reached the youths, who were armed with all manner of crude weapons, he spoke to them in Kalenjin in a pleading tone. As soon as I had passed the roadblock, he called a man on a motorbike and told him to get me out of there immediately.”
He pauses again then concludes: “You know, he stopped, called me ‘my brother’ and insisted that I get my family out of Rehema Estate.”
Then there is the story of a chief who knelt before an agitated crowd, pleading for the lives of the people in an estate behind him.”
TENTATIVE STEPS
At the moment, some Kalenjins are trying to reassure their Kikuyu neighbours of their safety by organising group meals, but their efforts that are sometimes met with fear and suspicion.
Perhaps it is this reaction that has prevented neighbours from helping Elizabeth Wangui, whose photo came to embody the pain in Kiambaa.
Speaking to DN2 in her mud-walled house, she complained of pain in her fingers — which were swollen — especially at the joints. However, she has not sought treatment because she has no money.
Her communication is disjointed, alternating between bouts of concentration and inaudible mumbling.
In her brief moments of concentration, she said, “Nowadays I go to any church because I am told about peace and love… This is not the way I used to be.”
She lives with her adopted son, Philip Kimunya, whose name keeps coming up in her speech, and whom she says is her only hope.
It is difficult to get an accurate picture of what the people of Kiambaa feel about the termination of the ICC cases because they are reluctant to talk to journalists and “outsiders”.
A Kalenjin police officer who cannot be named since he is not authorised to talk to the press said that while the termination of the cases might have interrupted a psychological process in Kiambaa, it did offer closure for some of the victims.
Kiambaa is predominantly a Kikuyu area, with most of its residents having migrated from Kiambu in the late ’70s. Known for their entrepreneurship, some had set up flourishing businesses, and some had intermarried with the Kalenjin.
However, an elderly Kalenjin said that Kiambaa was not spared the country’s Achilles heel: tribalism, which had been simmering beneath the surface, only waiting for a trigger.
“To tell the truth even those who have intermarried are not many,” he said.
It is no wonder then, that residents of Karuna — about two-and-a-half-kilometres from Kiambaa — Ngeria, and Kamuyu expressed fears about next year’s elections, saying that after the Kiambaa church fire, each community has tended to stick with its own.
The government has tried compensating the victims by giving them money and land, but some of them complain of government apathy, especially over DNA testing of the victims of the church inferno.
In February 2009, it was suggested that DNA tests be conducted on the victims to determine their identity.
In fact when, when Joseph Githuku — who lost his wife and son — and two officials of the victims’ organisation went to the government chemist in Nairobi to follow up on the results, they were told that no sample had been taken to the facility.
“Samples were taken more than five times, yet a year later, the results had not come”, he said.
In the midst of the gloom, Githuku did something that proved the first step towards healing.
“I went back to the church. As the wind blew, I saw a piece of my wife’s skirt that had been covered by dust … As I left the church, I started repeating to myself mentally that life had to go on, and that I had to find a way telling my children that their mother was not coming back, so I would take care of them,” he said.
HEALING EFFORTS
The sigh of relief — some obviously tinged with pain — following the termination of the Hague cases, is expressed more openly in Langas, a populated estate with a diverse socio-economic and ethnic profile.
John Kamau Mark, now the bishop of the KAG church in Uasin Gishu District, was in charge of the denomination’s churches in the location, stretching as far as Kiambaa.
“We were happy that the case against Ruto was terminated because we were wondering what would become of this place had things turned out differently,” he says.
One man who introduced himself simply as Lagat, said the post-election violence began in Langas.
After the clashes began, Bishop Kamau and his two colleagues, Paul Karanja Maina and Jackson Ng’ang’a, found themselves in a difficult situation, where they were standing in the middle of three communities.
“We have to be very careful about our choice of words when talking to the people because we have realised that the healing will take a while,” said Pastor Ng’ang’a,
The KAG church has been aggressive in this regard, encouraging people to talk about their feelings, but with enough tact to ensure that doing so does not cause the affected more pain..
Pastor Ng’ang’a said that stifling communication, as was done during the clashes, leaves room for propaganda.

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Jubilee MPs back calls to disband IEBC, want election date changed

IEBC chairman Issack Hassan attending the launch of the "Kura Yangu, Sauti Yangu" campaign at Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi on May 15, 2016. Jubilee MPs, a majority of them from the Mt Kenya region, have supported calls for IEBC commissioners to be dismissed. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Summary

• Among MPs supporting changes at the IEBC are Kabando Wa Kabando (Mukurwe-ini), Kanini Kega (Kieni), Annah Gathecha (Kiambu County woman rep), Mithika Linturi (Igembe South), Esther Murugi (Nyeri Town), Peter Weru (Mathira) and Robert Pukose (Endebes).
• Dr Pukose said the election date should be changed to March 2018, but only after restructuring the entire IEBC including its secretariat..

The lawmakers said Kenyans have lost faith in the IEBC and it is time to remake it.Jubilee MPs, a majority of them from the Mt Kenya region, have supported calls for IEBC commissioners to be dismissed.
The lawmakers also want the election date to be changed from August to December, arguing that the August date is inconvenient, especially if a new team of the electoral body is installed.
They also want the entire electoral body — its commissioners and the secretariat — overhauled.
The MPs told the Nation that Kenyans have lost faith in the IEBC and it is time to remake it.
However, they said the restructuring should follow the Constitution.
Among MPs supporting changes at the IEBC are Kabando Wa Kabando (Mukurwe-ini), Kanini Kega (Kieni), Annah Gathecha (Kiambu County woman rep), Mithika Linturi (Igembe South), Esther Murugi (Nyeri Town), Peter Weru (Mathira) and Robert Pukose (Endebes).
Those who support changing the election date from August to December include Mr Kabando, Mr Kega, Dr Pukose and Ms Gathecha.
Mr Linturi, Priscilla Nyokabi (Nyeri County woman rep), Ms Murugi and Nelson Gaichuhie (Subukia) said although they support reforms at the IEBC, they have no problem with the election date.
“Reading of the national budget for the entire East Africa countries was harmonized to [happen] on the same date in June. This month is too close to August and things might not go well; we need to change the date as we carry our restructuring measures in IEBC,” said Ms Gathecha.
“Definitely, the overhaul of IEBC will mean a totally new recruitment process, familiarization and setting brand-new platforms," said Mr Kabando.
LOST CONFIDENCE
Mr Linturi, however, cautioned the Opposition, saying the rule of law should be followed and street protests are an improper approach.
He said: “If all these changes will be done for the better of Kenyans, so be it, but all I know is that citizens of Kenya have really lost confidence [in the] IEBC.”
Mathira MP, Peter Weru said holding elections in December would make more sense than in August, when they might disrupt learning.
“Although this constitutional body is not working as Kenyans would want it to, we should not remove it through protests and if we do so, then be sure all the other constitutional bodies will face the same wrath … ,” Ms Murugi said.
Dr Pukose said the election date should be changed to March 2018, but only after restructuring the entire IEBC including its secretariat.
“This will give the new IEBC officials time as well as allow elected leaders to serve their full five-year term,” he said.
However, Mr Gaichuhie (Subukia) said the best way forward is to dismantle the IEBC as a whole and build a new team.

Jubilee has fulfilled major pledges, new survey shows

BySAMUEL KARANJA
More by this Author

Ipsos Synovate lead researcher Tom Wolf addressing journalists on the country's social, political, economic and cultural performance during the release of the survey on May 17, 2016 in Lavington, Nairobi. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• The government got lower scores, 52 per cent, on its promise to enhance the powers of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in efforts to fight graft, with another 35 per cent saying that promise has not been met at all.
• On creating one million jobs for the youth in the country, 53 per cent said the Jubilee administration, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto and which recently celebrated its three years of leadership, had completely or partially met that promise.

Sixteen per cent of those polled however said that promise had not been fulfilled at all while three per cent said they did not know.More than half of Kenyans believe that the Jubilee government has completely or slightly fulfilled some of its key pledges in its manifesto, a new survey has shown.
Of the five Jubilee manifesto pledges included in the Social, Political, Economic and Cultural (Spec) survey conducted by Ipsos between May 6 and 12, the government also scored highest on its promise to resettle internally displaced persons, with 81 per cent of those polled among the 2,144 respondents saying that pledge had been “completely” or “partially” fulfilled.
Sixteen per cent of those polled, however, said that promise had not been fulfilled at all while three per cent said they did not know.
The government also had a favourable score on its promise to increase national security, with 76 per cent of those polled saying the government had completely or partially fulfilled that pledge.
However, 21 per cent of those polled disagreed, saying the promise has not been fulfilled at all while three per cent said they did not know whether the government had increased national security or not.
ANTI-GRAFT CAMPAIGN
The government got lower scores, 52 per cent, on its promise to enhance the powers of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in efforts to fight graft, with another 35 per cent saying that promise has not been met at all. Twelve per cent of those polled had no opinion on the matter.
On its promise to reduce public debt, 54 per cent said that promise had been completely or partially met while another 36 per cent were of the contrary opinion.
Ten per cent did not know whether that pledge had been fulfilled or not, showed the survey released on Tuesday by Ipsos research analyst Tom Wolf.
On creating one million jobs for the youth in the country, 53 per cent said the Jubilee administration, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto and which recently celebrated its three years of leadership, had completely or partially met that promise.
However, 38 per cent said that pledge had not been fulfilled at all while nine per cent did not give any opinion on the issue.
The government also attracted accolades from its supporters but more indictment from supporters of the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy on the five pledges, which were among several in its manifesto.

Ernst & Young index ranks Kenya fourth top investment hub in Africa

By LILIAN OCHIENG'
More by this Author

A labourer supervises the ongoing construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Voi on February 10, 2016. The SGR is 70 per cent complete for the distance to Nairobi. PHOTO | JAMES EKWAM | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Country benefits from strong economic growth and prospects, with good progress in infrastructure.Kenya is the top most preferred investment destination in East Africa, with the majority of venture hunters attracted to good infrastructure and ease of doing business, says a new report.

The Ernst & Young (EY) Africa attractiveness index released last week puts the country at fourth position on the continent after South Africa, Morocco and Egypt.

The survey states that Kenya benefits from strong economic growth and prospects, with moderate performance in infrastructure.

According to Mr Michael Lalor, EY lead partner Africa Business Centre, the evaluation “provides a useful starting point for analysis and helps enable a strategic dialogue on growth priorities and investment criteria.”

Kenya beat its East Africa neighbours in the ranking, followed by Rwanda in position nine, while Tanzania and Uganda took 12th and 13th positions, respectively.

Rwanda, although small in market size, has a strong track record in enabling business, social development and economic management — which sustained its performance.

On macroeconomic resilience, Tanzania and Uganda rank very high, the report says.

However, they are “relative under-performers on other longer-term focused dimensions.”

SHILLING'S FLUCTUATION

The ranking comes in the wake of Kenya’s macroeconomic challenges in 2015, marked by fluctuation of the shilling against the dollar.

More economic bumps across East Africa were a result of a general slowdown in emerging market economies, stagnation in most developed economies and higher borrowing costs locally.

Nonetheless, investors still flocked to Kenya.

The majority of  investors, the report indicates, were eyeing private equity and grants meant to fund public infrastructure projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway and the Lamu Port South-Sudan-Ethiopia transport corridor.

The proposed Sh400 billion crude oil pipeline was also a major attraction to investors, who streamed in to benefit from Kenya’s impending oil resources.

The trend is attributed to government policies on investment that encourage those coming in by guaranteeing them a 10-year tax holiday upon setting up shop.

Investors are also allowed to repatriate all the profits.

The EY report says Western Europe and intra-African investors remain the largest sources of foreign direct investments (FDI) into the region.

It adds that traditional investors, including those from North America and the Middle East, have reshaped attention on Africa, especially the East Africa Community.

Those from the US, France, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Portugal and China were particularly active in investments last year.

While Kenya and Rwanda enjoyed good FDI inflows, the report states there was a marginal slip in investors’ perceptions of Africa.

“Investor perceptions of Africa reached their lowest level since 2011. When asked about Africa’s attractiveness over the past year, only 53 per cent of the respondents said it had improved, down from 60 per cent in 2014,” says the report.

It backs statistics by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that shows Africa’s baseline projection for 2016 at 3 per cent from the forecasted 6.1 per cent in April 2015.

How psychologists used these doctored Obama photos to get white people to support conservative politics

President Obama delivers the State of the Union address on Jan. 12. (Evan Vucci/Pool via Bloomberg)
 
American politics always has surprises, but things have been especially unpredictable since President Obama took office. First, few observers were prepared for the tea party movement, which ousted several veteran GOP  lawmakers, replaced them with more radically conservative newcomers, and helped the Republican Party win control of the House of Representatives in 2010.
"That left a lot of analysts slack-jawed, wondering: What was this latent force that drove the emergence of this movement?" said Robb Willer, a sociologist at Stanford University.
Then, of course, there was Donald Trump.
Willer speculates that one thing connecting these two political earthquakes might be white voters' unconscious racial biases. In a series of psychological experiments between 2011 and 2015, he showed how hostility toward people with darker skin and perceived racial threats can influence white support for the tea party. He and his colleagues published a draft of a paper on their findings online last week — some of the most direct evidence of the importance of race to the conservative resurgence during Obama's presidency.
First, the researchers randomly sorted subjects into two groups and showed them a series of pictures of celebrities, including digitally altered images of the commander in chief. One group saw a version in which Obama's skin had been lightened, while in the other version, his skin had been darkened.

(Courtesy of Robb Willer)

Then the researchers asked the subjects in each group whether they supported the tea party. The share that did was a small minority in both groups. Among the 255 white subjects, though, those in the group that had seen the darkened portrait were almost twice as likely to say they supported the movement.
Among the 101 participants of other races or ethnicities, by contrast, those who saw the lightened image of Obama were twice as likely to support the tea party as those who saw the darkened image. Because they had fewer subjects of color, Willer and his colleagues couldn't rule out the possibility that this difference between the randomly assorted groups was due to chance.
The result suggests that some white Americans are more likely to oppose Obama solely because of the shade of his skin. For them, the reality that someone with a dark complexion occupies the nation's highest office could be a source of unease.

Past polls and experiments have also suggested that the president's race has motivated opposition to his policies.
For example, psychologist David Sears and political scientist Michael Tesler found that many white voters were willing to support white liberal politicians such as President Clinton and Secretary of State John Kerry when they were candidates for president, but voted against Obama. Since Clinton, Kerry and Obama all espoused a similar ideology, the pair surmised that Obama must have been less popular because he is black.

[Researchers have found strong evidence that racism helps the GOP win]

Conservative politicians also seemed to respond to racial animosity toward the president. A study last year found that — intentionally or not — some negative  advertisements aired against Obama in 2008 showed him with darker skin.
Willer, though, was able to demonstrate the connection between Obama's skin color and conservative opposition experimentally. The researchers also conducted a few more studies to see whether tea party support might be motivated by signs that the position of white Americans as a privileged majority is declining.
The researchers presented two groups of subjects with apparently innocuous reports about U.S. demographic trends and the white share of the population. One group read a report that showed population data only from 2000 to 2020, making it appear that the white majority remains relatively stable. The other group read a report that showed the trend since 1960 and predictions through 2060, forecasting that the white population would decline into a minority.
Again, there were significantly greater levels of white support for the tea party among those who read the second report, which focused on the declining white  population. Those who read that report rated their level of support for the tea party at an average of 1.62 points on a five-point scale, where a score of 5 signified "a great deal" of support.
Those who read the first report, showing that the white majority was relatively stable, rated their support at an average of 1.28 points. Again, supporters of the tea party were in the minority in both groups.

[Obama’s skin looks a little different in these GOP campaign ads]

Willer and his collaborators repeated the experiment, this time with fictional economic data. In one report, the incomes of ethnic minorities were in decline, while white incomes were unchanged. In the second report, white incomes were declining while other groups' incomes did not change.
In fact, incomes for all racial and ethnic groups have declined in tandem in recent years, with no one group gaining or losing relative to the others.
Yet Willer had a hunch that because white incomes have declined, some of the white participants in the experiment might feel that white households are losing their relative advantage in the U.S. economy. If so, the second report he showed them would have seemed to corroborate this mistaken perception.
Previous research has shown that white Americans tend to see the trend toward racial equity as a kind of competition, in which one group's loss must be another group's gain. In particular, research shows, economic distress can exacerbate racial biases, since they give members of the dominant group the mistaken impression their relative position is endangered. White Americans get "the sense that they have a shrinking piece of a pie that is itself shrinking," Willer explained.
With the second report, Willer and his colleagues showed that their subjects reinforced this unconscious bias and produced greater levels of white support for the tea party: Those who saw that report rated their support for the tea party at an average of 1.45 points. Those who saw the first report, showing incomes for racial minorities declining, rated their support at an average of 1.23 points.
This kind of zero-sum thinking doesn't seem common among racial minorities. If it were, then one would expect that minorities who read the first report -- showing their disadvantage increasing -- would be more likely to oppose the tea party as a protest against white privileges.
On the contrary, participants of color who saw the report that emphasized declining white economic status were more likely to oppose the tea party. Again, this difference might have been the product of random chance.

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[I asked psychologists to analyze Trump supporters. This is what I learned.]

Willer started this series of experiments in 2011. He was already wrapping up the research when Trump announced his presidential campaign by calling Mexican immigrants criminals, so he doesn't have direct evidence on whether racial biases have contributed to Trump's success. Yet other research, including polling by The Washington Post, suggests that some white voters' perception that their dominance as a racial group is threatened has motivated some to cast ballots for the presumptive Republican nominee.
"A lot of analysts have been shocked to see a major party candidate receive so much popular support despite a track record of controversial statements toward multiple ethnic groups," Willer said. "It's less surprising if you think of the tea party as a sort of historical bridge to the Trump candidacy."
The movement, he explained, might have made using the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that Trump has employed more socially acceptable, and past research suggests that the movement could have created a new sense of racial identity among its supporters.
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Wada ruling on Kenya reflects anti-doping concerns - IAAF

By AFP

PARIS

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Sebastian Coe addresses a press conference in the past. PHOTO | BERTRAND LANGLOIS |   AFP

In Summary

• Kenya was left facing a potential ban from August's Rio Olympics after Wada ruled the athletics powerhouse non-compliant on Thursday.
• Kenya's elite athletes are the most tested athletes of any country by the IAAF

Kenya's elite athletes are the most tested athletes of any country by the IAAF.

The World Anti-Doping Agency's (Wada) ruling that Kenya was non-compliant reflects IAAF concerns about the country's level of commitment to anti-doping at the national level, according to track and field's world governing body.
Kenya was left facing a potential ban from August's Rio Olympics after Wada ruled the athletics powerhouse non-compliant on Thursday.
"Wada's decision to declare the new Kenyan NADO non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code for failing to introduce the relevant legislation by the stipulated deadline is a further reflection of the IAAF's concerns about the level of commitment to anti-doping at the national level in Kenya," the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said in a statement.
"It was as a result of such concerns that in March 2016 the IAAF Council placed Athletics Kenya on a monitoring list to ensure that its national anti-doping programme is significantly strengthened by the end of the current year."
The IAAF confirmed that during the monitoring process, "Kenyan athletes remain eligible to compete nationally and internationally".
"The IAAF has continued to test elite Kenyan athletes in and out-of-competition throughout 2016," the body said.
Kenya's elite athletes are the most tested athletes of any country by the IAAF.
Since October 1, 2015, 621 tests have been carried out by the IAAF on Kenyan athletes, 279 in competition and 342 out of competition.
"As far as Kenya's participation is concerned across all sports at the Olympic Games in Rio, the IAAF notes that Wada has referred its decision on non-compliance to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Unesco for their consideration and action," the IAAF said.
Wada said Thursday that a new Kenyan anti-doping law drafted in joint consultation was passed last month, but on Thursday the agency said "inconsistencies" meant it fell short of strict international standards and declared Kenya "non-compliant with immediate effect."
Kenya must now amend the legislation if it hopes to avoid exclusion of its world-beating distance runners from this summer's Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

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Germany had so much renewable energy on Sunday that it had to pay people to use electricity

On Sunday, May 8, Germany hit a new high in renewable energy generation. Thanks to a sunny and windy day, at one point around 1pm the country’s solar, wind, hydro and biomass plants were supplying about 55 GW of the 63 GW being consumed, or 87%.

Power prices actually went negative for several hours, meaning commercial customers were being paid to consume electricity.

Renewable energy hit 88% of Germany’s power supply on Sunday as electricity prices sunk into negative territory.(AGORA ENERGIEWENDE)

Last year the average renewable mix was 33%, reports Agora Energiewende, a German clean energy think tank. New wind power coming online should push that even higher.

“We have a greater share of renewable energy every year,” said Christoph Podewils of Agora. “The power system adapted to this quite nicely. This day shows again that a system with large amounts of renewable energy works fine.”

Critics have argued that because of the daily peaks and troughs of renewable energy—as the sun goes in and out and winds rise and fall—it will always have only a niche role in supplying power to major economies. But that’s looking less and less likely. Germany plans to hit 100% renewable energy by 2050, and Denmark’s wind turbines already at some points generate more electricity than the country consumes, exporting the surplus to Germany, Norway and Sweden.

Germany’s power surplus on Sunday wasn’t all good news. The system is still too rigid for power suppliers and consumers to respond quickly to price signals. Though gas power plants were taken offline, nuclear and coal plants can’t be quickly shut down, so they went on running and had to pay to sell power into the grid for several hours, while industrial customers such as refineries and foundries earned money by consuming electricity.
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Besigye arrested on eve of Museveni inauguration

By AFP
More by this Author
 

Uganda's main opposition leader Kizza Besigye (centre) is escorted by police officers to a police vehicle on February 22, 2016 in Kampala. AFP PHOTO | ISAAC KASAMANI  

Summary

• Kizza Besigye, who came second in the February 18 presidential poll, was detained as he greeted supporters in the central Kampala.
• A long-standing opponent of Museveni, Besigye has been frequently jailed, placed under house arrest, accused of both treason and rape, tear-gassed, beaten and hospitalised over the years.
• Museveni, who seized power in 1986, is one of Africa's longest serving leaders.

A video surfaced online appearing to show the Dr Besigye being sworn in as president. Police on Wednesday arrested Uganda's main opposition leader, a day before President Yoweri Museveni was to be sworn in for a fifth term in office after winning a controversial February election.

Kizza Besigye, who came second in the February 18 presidential poll, was detained as he greeted supporters in the central Kampala, on a surprise public appearance in the capital, which is an opposition stronghold.

A video surfaced online appearing to show the Dr Besigye being sworn in as president.

"Yes, he was in town but we have taken him to Naggalama police station where he will be detained," city police spokesman Patrick Onyango told AFP, referring to a location some 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Kampala.

He did not say on what charges Besigye was being held.

A long-standing opponent of Museveni, Besigye has been frequently jailed, placed under house arrest, accused of both treason and rape, tear-gassed, beaten and hospitalised over the years.

Museveni, who has been in power for three decades, was declared winner of the February poll with 61 percent of the vote and has rejected claims his victory was won through cheating and fraud.

But Besigye denounced the vote "the most fradulent electoral process" and international observers said it was carried out in an "atmosphere of intimidation" by the regime.

In a posting on Twitter, Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) said that just before his arrest, he had been sworn in as president in an alternative ceremony.

His arrest came just 24 hours before Museveni was to be sworn in at a ceremony which will be attended by more than a dozen African heads of state, among them South African President Jacob Zuma, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Paul Kagame of Rwanda.

The arrest drew a sharp rebuke from London-based rights group Amnesty International.

"President Museveni's inauguration comes amidst a crackdown on the rights to the freedom of expression, association and assembly," said Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty's Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

The arbitrary detention of opposition figures and supporters, the ban on TV coverage of their events, and the violent disruption of their gatherings were a violation of Uganda's constitution "but also fly in the face of its regional and international human rights obligations," he said.

Museveni, who seized power in 1986, is one of Africa's longest serving leaders, after Equatorial Guinea's President Theodore Obiang Nguema, Angola's Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, Zimbabwe's Mugabe and Cameroon's Paul Biya.