Author: Cyrus

Some AccessKenya shareholders have reportedly questioned the move to have former Deloitte Managing Partner, Daniel Ndonye  chair the publicly listed firm. According to reports appearing on Business Daily, AccessKenya shareholders said that having Mr Ndonye chair the company is “a breach of corporate governance rules guiding the selection of heads of boards for listed companies.” The shareholders said that Mr Ndonye’s appointment as chairman failed the five-year rule, which states that board chairmen should be independent directors who have not consulted for a company for a period of five years prior to taking the leadership. Mr Ndonye retired from Deloitte in May…

Airtel Kenya has launched a new brand campaign dubbed ‘Mi Ni 254’ (I am Kenyan, I am 254). The brand campaign backed with a new tariff also dubbed ‘KLUB254’ will see customers enjoy free Facebook (Facebook Zero) and Twitter alongside many other benefits. The ‘KLUB254’ tariff is available to all prepaid customers on subscription by dialing *254# enabling them to choose and call 10 friends for 1/- per minute and send them SMS for FREE. They will also have access to free SMS, Facebook, Twitter and one free Airtel Hello Tune for 1 month. The customer can also recommend other…

China’s telecoms vendors Huawei and ZTE have been banned from tendering for state business in Algeria for two years. The two companies were also fined approximately $38 000 each, after three of their officials were found guilty of various economic crimes including  “corruption, influence peddling and money laundering” between 2003 and 2006. Algerian media reports named Algere Telecom executive, Mohamed Boukhari, and businessman Chami Madjdoub as having been found guilty receiving illegal payments and money laundering to conceal the sources of those payments. The two men were sentenced to 18 years in prison, have had their property confiscated and been fined DZD 5…

I have just confirmed with senior Office of the President officials that we have lost Minister George Saitoti, Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode , Pilots (Nancy Gituanja and Luke Oyugi), Bodyguards (Inspector Tongei & Thomas Murimi) in the #NgongPlaneCrash. In all these, Kenyans have taken to Twitter to mourn the dead.  “Saitoti” and “Ngong” trended all morning on Twitter.

The XYZ Show is coming back on national TV! The popular and often controversial political satire program returns on June 10th at 9pm on Kiss TV for its 6th season. The show will then air every Sunday at 8pm, and will be repeated on Mondays at 8pm. “The XYZ Show Season 6 will be our boldest season ever,” says Gado, Creator and Producer of the show. “XYZ will continue to expose all political scoundrels and their shenanigans of course, but as the country prepares for the next elections, we will especially focus on the presidential candidates and their side kicks.” Kiss TV…

So there were two major tech events in Nairobi this week, Pivot East and the East Africa Outsourcing conference. The first event was at Ole Sereni hotel and the Outsourcing event was at Crowne Plaza hotel.  There are a group of delegates targeting events with not so strict security to steal laptops and iPads from delegates. It happened this week One of the delegates at the East Africa outsourcing event, Gilda Odera of Sky Web, lost an iPad. The great thing is that most of the photos of the event participants were taken and fortunately the photo of the thief…

With six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies over the past decade being in sub-Saharan Africa, there is a growing interest in local solutions to local problems.  Internet usage across Africa is also growing faster than most parts of the world. DEMO event is coming to Africa. The event which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, in October 24-26 in Nairobi. Bringing DEMO to Africa is an initiative of DEMO and the LIONS@FRICA which seeks to capitalize on this growth andcreate new opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa by providing a platform designed to inspire and challenge African innovators and entrepreneurs. DEMO…

Guys, This is the email I got from a very angry former staff of Kenya Data Networks (KDN). The guy has great detailed information from working as a senior staff in the company. Calling three staff members, I realise that they all received this and it is the truth. The mail was addressed to Craig Venter, CEO of Altech Group. Read and judge!! The more things change, the more they remain the same. This company is just but a shell of what it used to be. You may have thought east Africa is the next frontier in IT – well, I…

UniForum SA, the organisation selected by the African Union to run the DotAfrica Top Level Domain registry has partnered with AfriNIC to support training and policy discussions within Africa’s tech community. Under the partnership, the DotAfrica project will sponsor four AfriNIC meetings, allowing more people to participate in technical training and policy discussions. AfriNIC is the regional Internet registry tasked with the allocation of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. During AfriNIC meetings, public and private sector officials discuss policy issues that affect Internet growth and accessibility, as well as ways to collaborate on cyber security and how to promote the deployment…

South Africa cellular operator, Cell C, has come out strongly to clarify that its decision to retrench some of its 1,288 employees did not cause the death of an employee.  After announcing on May 30th that it would retrench 150 of it employees to streamline its business,  trade union body ,Solidarity, accused the operator of causing one of its members to commit suicide on after he had received a notice informing him that he could be retrenched. According to reports appearing on MoneWeb, Cell C has since moved to clarify its position. Part of the statement from Cell C reads:…

South African developed social media payment system, ZunguZ, has been selected for inclusion into Facebook’s App Centre offering. Facebook plans to launch its App Centre to provide it’s over 900-million-plus userbase with an app store. The app centre will be different from Google Play and Apple App store because most of the apps which will be on it will be Android and iOS apps with the Facebook app centre just providing referral to apps using Facebook platform. ZunguZ  is a social media money transfer platform founded by Robert Sussman and Lance Fanaroff. ZunguZ looks to be the bridge between social…

yuMobile looks to extend the reach of its SMS services into the lifestyle space with the launch of a new text messaging service for its subscribers. Using Short Messaging Service (SMS), subscribers now get messages on tips that motivate them to live a quality life as they take control of their behavior, diet and lifestyle habits. The services covers 3 main areas of losing weight, quitting smoking and living well and can be activated by sending an SMS to 362. Speaking at the launch, Country Manager, Madhur Taneja said: “There is an obvious increased interest in lifestyle TV programmes and…

Alexander Kinyua , a Kenyan student in US University, Morgan State, confessed to killing and eating another man’s heart and brain. A search on social media reveals that Alexander Kinyua was a very troubled man. The 21-year-old Kinyua is reported to have admitted to US authorities that he killed 37-year-old Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie who was living with Kinyua’s family. Kinyua then chopped Agyei-Kodie to pieces, ate his heart and parts of his brain before dumping the rest of the body in a trash can. On May 19, Kinyua was alleged to have beaten a man with a baseball bat on Morgan State…

So Kenya Data Network’s (KDN) problems are just multiplying. After last year’s claims of staff morale problems blamed on discrimination by top management assigned from South Africa’s Altech, the company is in the news again over claims that more than 50 employees have been immediately declared redundant with a further 20 expected to be shown the door by year end. KDN CEO, Shahab Meshki has already confirmed the retrenchment of 40 employees with a further 12 expected to go by the end of July. Part of statement from Meshki reads: “This is about ensuring the long-term sustainability of our business,…

Bharti Airtel and Avaya have today announced the signing of a 5-year partnership to enhance Airtel’s call centre capabilities across the continent. Through the deal, Avaya Communications Outsourcing Solutions will provide contacts center technology and managed solutions designed to better the performance and reduce costs to Airtel in all its 16 operations in the continent. Mara-Ison will provide services and applications plus infrastructure and training support to Airtel in Africa. Mara-Ison will deploy cutting edge Avaya call-centre solutions which are superior and provides enhanced services like video calling and social media support seamlessly. Through these solutions, Airtel hopes to move from the…