One of my favourite quotes is ‘Everything Has a Price’ by Paulo Coelho. Paulo Coelho is an intelligent Brazilian Lyricist, in his early 70s, and his Book, The Alchemist is proof of why we should take his quotes seriously. We will talk about him some other day. Let’s focus on his quote for now. When is the last time someone did something nice for you? You know, like, bought you a gift, took you out for lunch, sent you some money, called  to check up on you, remembered your birthday and the like. The common quality in all these acts is that there is an investment incurred either in terms of time or resources. We are not living in the best of economic times. Time and Resources have become quite scarce in this global economic depression. Therefore, everyone is looking for ways to spend every penny and/or every minute wisely. By wisely, I simply mean spending it in a way that the investment accrues some returns. For instance, this person that came to your mind as you read the above paragraph, how many other people would they have done the same niceties to but did not? I mean, why did they not remember […]

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A View on YouTube is not easy to come by. One gotta really like what they are watching or they will skip ahead and watch billions of other visual alternatives. So, for a YouTube video to have over 2 billion views, the content must have been really good.  YouTube viewers are estimated to be over 1.3 Billion across the world. They watch over 5 Billion videos every day, from an estimated upload rate of 300 Hours per minute. As at today, mid – March 2019, there are just about 30 videos that have broken the 2 Billion Mark. 2,000,000,000! That’s like a quarter of the world! If on average a video lasts 3 and a half minutes, that’s 7 Billion Minutes of viewership. 117 Million Hours. Almost 5 Million Days or if you like, 13,000 Years of viewership. That’s why only just about 30 internet sensations have been able to hit this mark. Below are the top 10 videos in viewership, in ascending order, as at March 17th, 2019.  Despacito – Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee This Spanish Masterpiece was uploaded in January 2017. In slightly over 2 years, it has garnered 6 Billion views. Funny because only 437 Million People across […]

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If you type the words ‘Me Too’ on your Search Engine right now, the top result may be a movement that was created to protest against sexual assault and harassment. The phrase dates back to 2006 during the MySpace era and gained worldwide acclaim in 2017 through Twitter when accusations of sexual harassment against Hollywood Film Producer Harvey Weinstein sprung up. Hollywood actress Alyssa Milano is credited for popularising the hashtag, encouraging other women assaulted by Weinstein and/or other men to share their stories. Away from this movement, there is a syndrome that has been in existence even before Hollywood came into the picture. This syndrome spreads fast and if you’re not vaccinated against it, you may end up wallowing in the unfortunate mob situation of unhealthy, unnecessary and irrelevant competition. This is a syndrome that is fed majorly on the desire to not get left behind in what’s up; even when what’s up really ain’t what’s up. A disease that drives you into desperation and misery in the quest to make as much money as the businessman next – door who seems to be raking in the millions.  Have you gotten sick of hearing the words, “I am a […]

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Ninety nine problems but a bitch ain’t one If you having girl problems I feel bad for you son I got ninety nine problems but a bitch ain’t one, hit me – Jay Z ” I always sing along to this jam from Jay Z every time it comes on. Plenty of memes have been made out of this 99 problems concept. Until recently, I never really thought much about what Jay Z was thinking deciding that his problems were 99 in number. 99 problems are quite a lot, man. Imagine not having rent money, your girlfriend leaving you, contracting HIV -AIDS, losing your job and your house burning down are just 5 problems. 5 problems that would drive you to depression and an ultimate death. Now imagine adding 94 more problems on top of all this misery. Well, the truth is, 99 is just a number used to show a never – ending phenomenon. We all got our own different 99 problems that we are struggling to solve one way or the other. Everyone you meet, regardless of how successful they are (or may seem to be), has something that is worrying them, or occupying their minds so dominantly, […]

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I don’t know about you, but the multiplication table was not the most favourite table for me at P.C.E.A Umoja Primary School. My Maths Teacher, Mr. Karimi, gave me lots of thrashings simply for not being able to figure out 8 * 7 = 45 without the help of using my fingers. Or 12 * 12 = 356. See, I still got it wrong, eighteen years on. 8 * 7 = 56; and 12 * 12 = 144, for the record. Mr. Karimi is now retired and runs an agro – vet in Subukia town. Every time we meet, he greets me with a firm handshake and I can still picture his hand scribbling on the chalkboard. This kinda gives me a bittersweet form of nostalgia. What Mr. Karimi did not teach me is this simple magic trick to multiply the number 9, using your ten fingers. You can get the answer to any multiple of 9 simply by moving your fingers. Spread out your hands with your fingernails facing away from you and look at your fingers. They are ten, I presume. Number them in your mind, starting from the left, in ascending order. Now let’s do some math. […]

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” You may be 38 Years Old, as I happen to be; and one day , some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid… You refuse to do it because you want to live longer… You are afraid that you will lose your job; or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity; or you are afraid that someone will stab you, or shoot at you, or bomb your house, so you refuse to take the stand. Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you are just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. ” Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Kenya is a nation blessed with a great deal of Media Freedom. Media Freedom. Is this even a thing? Ask our Ugandan friends about media freedom whenever you meet one. They pay taxes for Tweets and Facebook posts. Brands have taken advantage of this media freedom to sell their value to existing and potential customers by running series of Television Advertisements. I sought to ask around what the best TV Ad campaigns have been. You know, the ones that you just sing along like a 6 – year old every time they come on. The ones that don’t make you want to change the channel when they keep coming on in between your favourite soap opera or soccer game. The ones you would say, ” Give me two ” without knowing what they are selling and what it can do for you. Here are the top 5 best TV Ad campaigns of all time Kenyan history. Niko Na Safaricom – Safaricom Niko Na Safaricom is a campaign launched by Safaricom in 2010. Its Lyrics portray a brand that simply empowers its customers, makes them stronger by uniting them and proudly inspiring them to do more, together, simply because they are […]

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On Jamhuri Day of 2017, His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta launched a transformation agenda popularly known as the ‘Big Four Agenda’. The President would dedicate the energy, time and resources of his administration to four key areas namely: Manufacturing Affordable Housing Food Security Affordable Healthcare Out of the 4 agenda areas, three of them are liabilities in the sense that they take away revenue and generate zero revenue. They are: Housing, Healthcare and Food security. Only Manufacturing is able to generate direct revenue through sale of manufactured and/or processed commodities. However, with the unregulated importation of products from Asian countries, the local manufacturing industry is also on the verge of death. Some may say that Food security, Healthcare and Housing are basic needs and thereby should not be considered as liabilities. The truth is, if Kenyans were empowered accordingly, they would not need the government to build houses for them, pay for their medical bills or buy them food. They would comfortably do this themselves. Therefore, the government should focus on an agenda that empowers their citizens to be independent for a lifetime. My Big 4 Agenda  I believe the government should make it their mission to make every Kenyan independent […]

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Sitting comfortably, twelve kilometres from Kenya’s capital, is a city, yes city, by the name Githurai. Almost every Kenyan is at least familiar with the name, even if due to some self – imposed excuse, has never set foot in the dusty (and muddy when it rains) slumburbia. If you were born somewhere between the 80s and 90s, you must have jammed to one of Kenya’s greatest hits by Mr Googz and Vinnie Banton – Wasee Tumetoka Githurai.  Well, tribalism aside, the name Githurai sounds Kikuyu-ish if there is such a word. And the fact that literally everyone you meet there speaks to you in some deep Kikuyu language is no coincidence. In fact, many businesses there have Kikuyu names like ‘Shosho Wa Kamau Gas Distributors’ or ‘Kiamaiko Mutura Base and Butchery’. In spite of this, there is one thing that this city has and is not in any place else. The Githurai atmosphere. There is the funny joke that Githurai residents have learnt how to text with their mobile gadgets inside their pockets. They also are said to have two sets of cloths while trans-githuraing, (passing through Githurai) so as not to appear too rich for the slumburbia. The Kasarani […]

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