Monday 21 November 2016

CAMPUS ROOMATES PART 2 of 3


 
Continued

Bottomline: They will always lament of how people from the village are ‘following’ them at      
                      Campus.

The Gambler; they always aware of all the games that will be going down that day from the Japanese J-League where Gamba Osaka will be taking on Kashima Antlers at 12:15 pm Kenyan time to The  Brasileiro Serie B  where Vasco Da Gama would be away to battle it out with Bragantino, a game that they will follow via Livescore at 3:00 am . Their discussions revolve around betting sites such as Betway, Sportpesa and Betin with sports analysis and prediction applications such as Flashscore and 2+Betting taking the place of Opera Mini on the phone.

The Clean One; ensuring everything is at the right place seem to be their calling. They always clean up your mess ensuring the room is not only clean and orderly. They always go for the upper case, the top bed in a decker since they feel the pinch when someone sits on their beds leaving it messed up. Their colour of choice is usually white or any other bright colour.

Mr I don’t care; they never attend any lectures throughout the semester they are always in or less than 100 metres from the room. They spend most of their time engaging in non-academic activities such as playing computer games and keeping up with the latest movies and series to the extent that you are kept wondering  if they are even enrolled in lectures, since they always seem to be in a holiday camp.

The Traditionalist; this kind of roommate believes that every time misfortunes come their  way,even simple 
headaches it is the work of jealous neighbours back in the village who are unhappy with his successful endeavours at campus being the only one who has made it that high in the academic ladder. They will always lament of how people from the village are ‘following’ them.
Photo Courtesy

The Chef; they always practice what I simply call industrial cooking. The probability that their coil is on flight mode is close to zero, let’s just say zero. They are always cooking everything they can lay their hands on as long as it can be cooked and eaten making your room temperature to be somewhere close to what the Tuaregs experience at the Sahara Desert.

The Aggressive One; they are the proverbial Mr No Fear No Favour you are not allowed to use any of their utensils, even a tea spoon before giving a formal explanation probably using diagrams why you have to. They are always bossy to the extent that they order you around yet you might either be age mates or you are slightly older than them.  They pull a Hammurabi the Lawgiver on you,crafting a list of the do’s and don’ts which usually favour them expecting everyone to follow with minimum or no objection.

To Be Continued…………

GRADUATE UNEMPLOYMENT- WHO IS TO BLAME?


Bottomline: When graduates start moving around holding placards along major roads requesting for employment opportunities instead of curriculum vitae, definitely things are not well.

The economy is growing but is it growing fast enough to absorb the ever rising number of graduates churned out yearly by institutions of higher learning? They leave fresh from college, where they are cushioned from the harsh reality of life. Living in comfort zones courtesy of monthly upkeeps from parents and government subsidy through the Higher Education Loans Board, life seems comfortable until they graduate to the outside world where the scramble for formal employment becomes an eye opener of how tough life. There are limited employment opportunities compared to the number of graduates in individual sectors of the economy.
Photo Courtesy

The government is reportedly freezing employment across various departments in the public sector courtesy of the bulging public wage expenditure. This is giving the Sarah Serem led Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) sleepless nightmares as they seek to control public expenditure. When graduates start moving around holding placards along major roads requesting for job opportunities instead of curriculum vitae, it sets a clear indication of how things are, definitely not well.

According to Steve Biko Wafula, Chief Executive Officer of Soko Directory Investments, the business environment is tough but the government says the numbers are good and our economy is doing well. With the closure of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the last four years an estimated 12.5 million people were left jobless, assuming that each SME had an average of five employees.
Photo Courtesy

The economy seems to be on recession as manifested by the massive layoffs as companies downsize their staff in an aim of maintaining profitability and reducing losses. Local companies that have laid off workers since 2014 include; Kenya Flourspar Company, Nation Media Group,Tata Chemicals Magadi, Royal Media Services, Family Bank, East African Breweries, Tuskys Supermarket, Telkom Kenya and Kenya Airways all citing that high operation costs necessitated the action. Other companies such as Eveready East Africa closed shop completely. Multinationals such as Cadbury Kenya, Hong Kong Banking Corporation, Bridgestone, Procter & Gamble, Coca Cola , Barclays Africa, Ericsson Kenya, Stanchart Kenya. Sidian Bank, Sameer Africa have laid off employees and relocated most of their operations to South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt in their bid to stay afloat in the African market.
Photo Courtesy

The list of companies closing down, relocating or laying off employees continues to grow daily as the economy ‘grows’. Accessing funds for entrepreneurship is another hurdle with numerous bureaucratic provisions that make the youth give up in pursuit of seed capital thus remaining with their business ideas in idea form, no conceptualization nor actualization. Times are tough; they might be tougher in days to come.

Monday 7 November 2016

ARE KENYAN STUDENTS TURNING TO TERRORISM......



Bottomline: when terrorists start attacking more complex establishments such as military installations, police stations, uptown malls and universities, it’s not the work of ordinary simple brains.

Home-grown terrorism has been on the ascendancy five years after Kenyan troops invaded Southern
Somali as part of operation Linda Nchi on October 16th 2011. With an aim of taming Al Shabab militants who had perfected the art of kidnapping tourists and foreign aid workers inside Kenya then demand for ransom from parent countries something that made western countries such as Britain issue travel advisories to their citizens against visiting Kenya. This had economic ramifications as it affected the tourism sector which is amongst the leading foreign exchange earner.

The fight against terrorism is however far from over, the Al-Shabab seem to have changed their mode of operation from their pool of recruits which was traditionally from the ethnic Kenyans of Somali origin who are Muslims by religion staying in urban informal settlements to other non-Muslim recruits who are radicalised then later adopting Islamic names.

Going for the best brains seem to be a priority amongst Al-Shabab recruiters this is manifested when the terrorists start attacking more complex establishments such as military installations, police stations, uptown malls and universities, it’s not the work of ordinary simple brains. The precision by which these operations are carried clearly shows the militant group has a pool of intelligent, well-educated and brilliant minds within their ranks, most of whom are former or current Kenyan students. 

According to BBC News, close to a quarter of Al-Shabaab’s 7,000-9,000 forces are Kenyan. Many of them attracted to the high salaries for new recruits, which are reportedly more than $1,000. While the average monthly wage in Kenya is $76 ($912 annual). The biting unemployment rate making every unemployed graduate a potential terrorist, with indications that out of ten youths seven are unemployed in a country where the value system is defunct as everyone is busy looking for money nobody cares how he or she amasses wealth.

Inset : Elgiva Bwire  alias Mohamed Seif  Photo courtesy of  Philip Kamakya

Elgiva Bwire Oliacha also known as Mohamed Seif is amongst the first recruit of the ‘Golden Generation’ of intelligent terrorist. The young man who hailed from Budalangi in Busia county was an electrical engineer by trainning from Technical University of Kenya. He Pleaded guilty to 9 counts of serious crime including possession of arms cache. Being a member of Al Shabaab, possession of firearms without a certificate, causing grievous harm and engaging in an outlawed criminal activity.Bwire was responsible for a series of grenade attacks that took place in Nairobi in the months of September and October including the Kampala bus attack that left scores injured. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on 27th  October 2011.

 Abdul Hajira
The architect of the Pangani Police station car explosion that left four people dead, including himself and two police officer in 2014. Hajira was a son of a Kenya Defence Force (KDF) Officer based at Kahawa barracks in Nairobi. He also played for a top team at the Kenya Premier League (KPL) before starting his football club in Majengo slums .He went missing from his Nairobi home in 2010 joining the Alshaabab before resurfacing a year later to finish his Bachelor of Commerce degree at University of Nairobi. Blocking all his social media networks during the period of his disappearance to avoid being traced. 
Car wreck at Pangani police station Photo courtesy of Standard Media Group 


Abdirahim Mohamed Abdullahi
Described by peers as a brilliant upcoming lawyer, he later abandoned a promising profession in favour of the blinkered world of international terrorism. The brain behind the Garissa university college massacre in 2015 that left 148 dead. A privileged son of a Kenya Government administrative Chief Abdullahi Daqara of Bulla Jamhuri in Mandera County. A University of Nairobi Law graduate he went missing a year before the attack only for his name to hit national headlines after the attack.

Abdirahim Mohamed Abdullahi Photo courtesy of CBS News


Sheikh Ahmad Iman Ali
An engineer by training, an alumni of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture (JKUAT) and the current head the video production and propaganda according to Wardheernews, Dec 2015 report.He was declared the supreme leader of al-Shabaab's Kenyan branch and is believed to be the leader of student recruits within the ranks of the terror. Based in Somalia since 2009, Ali's recruitment efforts are believed to target Kenyan students according to security forces.
Sheikh Ahmad Iman Ali Photo Courtesy of The Daily Nation


Samuel Wanjala Wabwire
Also known as Salim Mohamed a name he took up after his conversion to Islam was expelled from Maseno University in 2011 for allegedly stabbing a student. Before his expulsion, he was pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He is said to have been admitted to the university in 2011, the same year that he was expelled. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of recruiting and radicalising children Gotani primary school in Kilifi as a Madrassa teacher in Mombasa Law Courts in January 2016 after his arrest in April 2015.His intention was to conscript them into the Al Shabaab.
Samuel Wanjala Wabwire alias Salim Mohamed Image-Nation.



The number of students being arrested on suspicion of joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is alarming. The latest being Hassan Kassim Kizingo a second year Moi University student who was arrested at Kilindini, Mombasa last week for being in constant communication with the terror group. Other students who have been arrested on similar suspicion include Mohamed Shukri and Abdulrazak Abdinuur of Saratov State Medical University in Russia who were interns at Malindi Hospital, Maryam Said,Khadija Abdulkadir, Ummul Khayr, Hassanaen Ahmed a University of Nairobi biochemistry student, Kenyatta University Microbiology student Gloria Kavaya, Mohamed Abdi a student at Kampala International University who was an intern at Wote Hospital, Nuseiba Mohammed and fatuma Hanshi both of Kampala International University.

According to the Commission of University Education close to 44 students have abandoned their studies to join terror groups including ISIS in Libya and the Al Shabaab in Somalia. The number of current or former university students within the ranks of terror organizations largely remains unknown. According to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Kenyan youth are said to be spending an average of eight hours a day on terror-related websites contacting extremists, majority of them are in the universities. NCTC director Isaac Ochieng said NTTC has names of students who have been radicalised and are enjoying salaries from Al-Shabaab and other militia groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda. “There is increased recruitment, training and indoctrination of the youth into terrorism cells. These terror groups are now targeting brilliant youths to recruit,” he said.

Al-Shabaab has infiltrated Kenya's institutions of higher learning, recruiting and radicalizing students. The poor monitoring systems in these institutions makes it easy for them to recruit with minimum detection making the country to lose highly trained, intelligent, informed and educated students to terror establishments. We might be winning the fight but we are losing the war against terrorism since our own intelligent students will be used to carry out more complex attacks with precision thus higher casualties on our populace.

Friday 14 October 2016

SPONSOR-MENTALITY




Bottomline: A man with money is handsome even if he looks like Mugabe himself” 

Having a sponsor seems to be the latest trend among ladies in institutions of higher learning. In their bid to live lavish lives which normal campus boyfriends from average families can’t sustain, going out with senior citizens who are either having troubled marriages or see them as experimental tools to satisfy their innate desires seems to be the fastest and easiest way to make cash.

Hanging out at high end hotels, shopping malls, recreation parks, road trips, exquisite Safari’s, invite only parties and going for weekend get aways seems to be the order of the day after which they splash the photos in all social media platforms for fellow ladies to envy their ‘positive’ progress in life. Am not a stalker by the way, however, I have noticed a certain sequence among some Facebook ladies who always hang out in hotels with two or more name like Villa Rosa Kempiski, Sun n’ Sand, Pizza Inn or those with initials such as KFC which they don’t have the slightest idea of what it means in full, not the usual pocket friendly fast food outlets their normal ‘financially frustrated good for boyfriends’ can afford. By the way for those who don’t know the meaning of KFC it stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

These ladies can’t even greet you, leave alone talking to you if you don’t have a running engine parked somewhere, and if you don’t have a car key you are not worth their attention. A man with money is handsome even if he looks like Mugabe himself, you will hear them saying in hush tones as they share pictures of their sponsors. To them a man who does not own a vehicle is lazy, period. 
Young lady marries an old man.

Materialism is all they think of, no wonder most of them use sponsors as camera men to take their pictures when they are on their weekend vacation, if a sponsor insists on appearing on the photo, he is either cropped or his head cut off. By the way who has ever seen a handsome presentable sponsor?

They overate everything about their weekends more so when they go out of town to either the invite only parties where they take selfies with bottles of Caribbean rum like Captain Morgan, Scottish 100 year old Gleinfidich whisky and expensive wines such as Nebuchadnezzar or the ‘Tembea Kenya’ tours you are 100% sure that their parents don’t have the slightest idea of how a tour road trip should be organized.

To ensure they stand out among their colleagues they always clad in the latest designer fashion from handbags, earrings, bangles, perfumes, dresses and ladies wear. They change their lifestyle completely not knowing that sponsors also get tired of eating the same diet overtime. Attending fashion events, reading fashion magazines and blogs instead of the course outline and handouts becomes the norm.

Hardwork among ladies who don’t indulge is sponsor related activities is not recognized as men have a perception that any lady who takes a photo with the seatbelt on is not the owner of the vehicle thus the saying “never trust a lady who takes a selfie with a seat belt as his profile picture”.

Tuesday 11 October 2016

CAMPUS ROOMATES PART 1 of 2



Bottomline:  they came to the university to read, unlike majority who read so as to make it past the cut off mark and join varsity

In campus you are bound to come across many students from different socio-cultural backgrounds, through your four year period you are bound to have different roommates with different likes and dislikes unless you become a 'landlord' at stage where you decide to live in solitude. Up to now in my third year of study have stayed with different 'roomies';

The Villagers; this must be the favorite roommate you have to thank Mr.Masibo,the ICT hostel management guy for. They come from the interior parts of the republic with stories you always love to listen to. They are the usually genius students who happen to make it alone from their former high school to the university, lone rangers. These are the students the whole village looks up on as his or her success is considered the success of the whole village. They are always amazed by everything from portable televisions (laptops), flowing water from the tap, ability to light a room using the electrical switch, flash toilets, machines that 'pour' money ATM machines blaah blaah. Furthermore they came to witness buildings which are built on top of buildings, storey buildings in the university this explains why they fear going up high buildings.

The Drunkards; depending on your religious inclination you are bound to love them or to hate them. These are people who cannot sleep with any alcoholic drink in the same room, its either one sleeps inside the other. They are defacto members of stage based 'munir de barreaux' and shareholders of all beer, wines and spirits companies. They believe alcohol was made for them to drink and only them. When they are drunk they would usually shout along the academic highway tracking to their halls of residence 'If Jesus turned water into wine who am I not to drink,' a clear indication that they were magnificent during their Sunday school days .They place the bottles of all the alcoholic drinks they ever drunketh on windows of their hostel rooms to show their experience in that field. They are usually on financial comatose but never fail to have money for alcoholic activities.

The Scholars; These are students who came to the university to read, unlike majority who read so as to make it past the cut off mark and join varsity. Their life revolves around lecture halls and library they spend minimum and necessary contact with their rooms.They Know very well what brought them to the university. They are usually on an academic mode as they maneuver their way along the academic highway walking in an academic angle. They always have books everywhere they monologue walking. Getting 27 out of 30 in a CAT is an unforgivable academic sin punished by trans-nighting.


Fashionistas; the dress my choice click of roommates that are definitely going to start your day on a cheerful note. They always want to dress in the most suitable way possible say like KanyeWest or Nicky Minaj depending on the gender. They spend close to an hour admiring themselves on the mirror as they mix the eye pencil, eye shadow, lip gloss, lip balm, mascara, and foundation and other beauty paraphernalia to an extent that they look like someone different.
The Musicians; the woofer and virtual Dj pro mixer on the laptop or their phone memory card are enough. They ensure that the whole hostel knows that they have an ampex woofer and the latest song in the music arena. Even when they are off to lectures the music is always on, loud and clear.

To be continued