Motoring Moment: Ugly Cars, Overlappers, Thika Road

Overlappers are one of the most irritating nuisances of driving on Nairobi. Over-lappers are drivers who are too impatient to wait their turn in traffic, so they swerve into the lane for oncoming traffic or onto pavements & footpaths, and speed away, only to nudge/cut-in/force/beg for their way back into their assigned lane when they run out of road or meet another car. The habit is believed to have started with Matatu (minibus) drivers who used to be acknowledged as the worst drivers in Nairobi, but has spread to other including ordinary drivers, taxis, buses, governments & diplomatic vehicles.

So we’ve started a new site - Overlap.co.ke ( #overlapKE ) - to rank serial over-lappers and point out over-lapping hot-spots for over-lapping . The police may not be anywhere or have an interest in the reckless road behaviour of some motorists, but there are ordinary motorist who are fed up with the impunity that is symbolized by over-lapping and can send in reports to identity the worst offenders.

Car Use Verification: Odometer tampering is suspected to be a not rare occurrence employed to increase the value or enable the importation of the 5 to 8 cars brought in to Kenya from Japan, Singapore, and Dubai.

However for vehicles shipped from Japan, @Karuoro of Huduma Bora points to the JEVIC(Japanese Vehicle Inspection) site which wary drivers can use to confirm the details of the vehicle they are about to buy, including identification/serial numbers and odometer readings at the time they left Japan.

Road Rage incidents are thankfully still only isolated incidents despite, the build up of traffic gridlock. The use of Police Officers to control traffic is both praised and loathed in different measure. - and a few weeks ago, a truck driver got involved in a major fist fight (longer than several boxing matches) with a traffic policemen.

It was captured on camera (above), and when played on TV caused some debate with different viewers siding with the policeman and others with the driver who was later charged in court.

Thika Road: It's transformation to a super-highway courtesy of engineers from China continues, and they are changing the landscape from Nairobi to Thika - going by the changes at Museum Hill, University of Nairobi, and Globe roundabout. You can follow the changes with this useful Thika Road Blog.

Ugly Cars: via @diasporadical comes two lists of ugly cars that may be less desirable than the controversial Toyota Vitz which is equally loved and loathed around Nairobi. My (least) favorite, it’s the Toyota Will V1, of which there a few around Nairobi, but this odd shaped car does not appear to have an (too embarassed?) manufacturer’s badge.

How developers can make money with Safaricom - Part II

One of the unintended effects of Airtel’s price wars with Safaricom in Kenya is that it has made Safaricom more responsive to Kenyan developers in terms of collaboration on products, services, platforms etc.

This has long been a peeve of local developers that’s Safaricom has not been, leading to the company coming up with a mooted innovation board as a forum to improve the interaction process with local developers.

And if you do get the chance remember it’s a two year money-making cycle of boom and bust with Safaricom.

DABRA 2011

The 2011 Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards - DABRA were launched today in Nairobi, Kenya and entries are invited from all African countries for the winners to be announced in London later this year.

The 2011 DABRA's will feature entries for blogs, podcasts, online content, print, radio and TV entries, published or broadcast between 18 April 2010 and 20 March 2011. Entries can be submitted in eleven categories - ICT feature, finance feature, infrastructure feature, agribusiness / environment feature, tourism feature, use of new media in a story, business news story, business feature story, newcomer, media of the year and journalist of the year and the deadline is March 21 2011.

The 2010 awards attracted 750 entries that were narrowed down to the finalists including this post.

Unplanned Nairobi Infrastructure & Buildings

The spat this week between the Kenya Government and various businesses about demolition of buildings along Mombasa road is not a surprise for anyone who was at the 2010 TEDxNairobi where Architectural Engineer Eric Kigada of Planning Systems Services spoke of the lack of a valid master plan for the City of Nairobi and the resultant chaos for building owners and his fellow professionals.

He said Nairobi had master plans drawn in 1948 and 1973, but this last one expired in 2000 and it was a city that would expand toward Thika side of town. Currently, the government, planners, and landowners operate in a vacuum with different departments and ministries having different maps and plans for road expansion and it’s not clear what routes they will follow or how large actual roads will be constructed. Government officers who won't commit approval in writing and there are unclear plans such as one extending the growth of Nairobi up to Namanga.

He advocates for digital maps (which exist) to be availed and used, transparency in the planning process, and most important a master plan that will be shared within the industry. He also spoke about his company’s other work such as revitalizing green spaces along the three Nairobi rivers and a proposal to utilize existing abandoned quarries to supply enough water for the Eastern half of Nairobi, but which the government authorities are yet to commit to.

Will the buildings, include the new Sameer Business Park and new Standard Newspapers Headquarters be brought down to expand the road? The Kenya Property Developers Association (KPDA) in a statement today called for urgent development and implementation of comprehensive master plan and a defined compensation plan for land and building owners if the Government goes ahead with demolitions to make way for necessary infrastructure improvements.

Alcohol Law in Kenya

Kenya’s alcoholic drinks control act is the talk of the country

The new law which restricts sale of alcohol, bar opening and closing times, prescribes penalties on offering brewers, sellers, patrons etc. is temporarily on hold after an association of bar owners from Muranga in Central Kenya filed a court case to delay its implementation. But in a rejoinder another group of leaders from Muranga County (see website) have come out and supported the bill via a full-page colour advert in the newspapers. They claim alcohol has ravaged the county leading to death, blindness, family break-ups, but most important the waste of able bodied youth and men who would otherwise be engaged in productive agri-business (coffee, tea, milk, horticulture).

More on the positive side of the alcohol ban can be found in a separate newspaper article in the Saturday Nation which showed the dramatic effects the ban had on a small village in Gatanga (Central Kenya), and the scenes were probably mirrored in many other rural villages that havd (previously) seen similar effects on alcohol abuse on productive population.

….although it is noon, the young folks are sober, a state locals say is a miracle. “By noon, half of them would be drunk,” says Mr Michael Muthee, 45, a carpenter. He should know: Although offering to pay Sh300 a day for a helping hand in his workshop, he found it hard to find a sober young man before the new alcohol laws came into force. And when he did, the fellow could not be counted on to return the next day, least of all, sober.

…Before the new laws came into effect, he says, much of the work on the coffee farms was left to women and children, The male folk would vanish in morning and stagger home in the evening.

So what’s in the bill being championed by the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse Authority (NACADA), but which a Member of Parliament John Mututho took most of the credit and now some blame for hurriedly pushing through?

- NACADA which operates under the Office of the President, and not from either Ministry of Health (why there are two Health Ministries and two education Ministries in Kenya is another story) sought to tackle the increased availability of outlets selling alcohol, and the marketing of it to (and use by) youth (under 18’s).

Enforcement: NACADA are meant to educate Kenyans on the dangers of alcoholism. But so far there has been little education (clause 69), and the agency which is to give statistics on alcohol which they collect state (at their website) that 15% of 15-64 years-old's in Kenya take illicit brews.
- Changaa Legal: Kenya’s most popular illicit brew is going to be legalized (repeals changaa prohibition act (69). The Government is going to develop standards for changaa which is to be brewed and packaged in a manner similar to Uganda’s Waragi and Tanzania’s konyagi, and sold in glass bottles larger than 250ML.
Fund: There is now an alcoholic drinks control fund supported brewer, wholesale & retail licenses - and of money raised, not more that 15% will go to civil society groups and not more than 50% to the district alcohol committee (led by district commissioner)
- Being drunk in public can attract a fine of Kshs 500 ($6) or 3 months in jail (a mismatch? - @archermisahle says cops are asking 1,000 for people who stagger out of pubs)
- Restricts police harassment: Only senior police officers can conduct inspections not the loitering patrol cops (25)
- Special Ones: There is some elitism at play, and places exempt from the Act (7) include national assembly (parliament), clubs (i.e. sports, social), military & institute canteens. A separate newspaper notice extended some exemption to hotels (tourists/guest) and restaurants (patrons who eat) but these are not spelt in the act.

Promotion Landscape Changes: Kenya’s popular music reality shows contest – Tusker Project Fame would be no more, unless it can be rebranded as something else (Alvaro Project Fame perhaps?)
- Bottle top lotteries (check under your bottle cap & win) are banned (47) as no promotion can be run that encourage alcohol consumption

- Also while EABL's Tusker brand has bailed on the world famous Safari Sevens rugby tournament (now known as the Safaricom Sevens), alcohol cant be sold at the event which also features schools rugby competition (46) – will the organizers exclude schools and any spectators under 18 from the tournament?

Bank Enforcement CYA

The Finance Act 2010 is now available at kenyalaw.org.

It covers a lot of grey area generated by the Central Banks of Kenya’s (CBK) handling of the Grand Regency sale and the Charterhouse Bank closure, and gives powers and direction that provide some legal safe cover (but not retroactively).

It requires funds recovered by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission to go to the Government's Consolidated Fund (78) and gives CBK powers to (peek and) take action at a bank based on (a banks' own) auditor report (66) and specifies harsher actions that may be taken against banks who violate share capital limits (67).

Other provisions:
- Banks can lend up to 40% of balance sheet to real estate (up from 25%)
- Beer prices up 20%
- Copyright inspectors can summon police officers to arrest piracy offenders (77)
- Abandoned vehicle number plates should be submitted to Government for cancelation (40)

Internet Security in Kenya - Part II

This week, the Kenya Police website was hacked and it sparked some debate on security investments and their effectiveness.

Mid last year, a forum was held in Nairobi to review the state of internet security and some of the findings were that hacking and computer fraud were relatively easy to perpetrate so in some organizations and the problem is only going to get worse owing faster internet speeds and failure to address risks around people, processes, and technology in regional organizations and financial institutions.

Farewell Mars Group Kenya

While the world awaits the release of more cable from Wikileaks, some unfortunate news comes from Kenya where the equivalent of Wikileaks – the anti-corruption watchdog Mars Group Kenya - inexplicably took down their website in mid December.

The reasons for this are unclear, but (via @twitter) it appears it came about when someone tried to create an application to access their vast database - and this provoked the founders to take down the site and post a message that their database and contents therein are copywrited and invited anyone who wanted to use it to e-mail them for permission.

Mars Group Kenya (created by Mwalimu Mati, former Director of Transparency International Kenya) has been a great resource of information for taxpayers, students and analysts looking at corruption. Their site had official and unofficial, unreleased and secret reports of the Kenya government, Kenya parliament and auditors) mainly on corruption in Kenya. Also their budget reports on government spending have come to be appreciated and even caused the Kenya Finance Minister to re-check his numbers going into the 2009 budget.

Pepsi vs. Coke

silent invasion

Pepsi were expected to re-enter the Kenya market via a full blast push, like Airtel’s onslaught on Safaricom.

But with Kenya being an long time entrenched Coke market - bottling plant partnerships around the country with the quasi-government (ICDC) and politicos, a different mode has been adopted, with production/bottling in Mauritius as opposed to having a plant in Kenya.

For many years Pepsi used to be hard to find in neglected corner shelves of the main supermarkets, but over the last few weeks that barrier has been closed with plenty of Pepsi (and Mountain Dew) now priced the same as coke (both 45/= $0.55 for 1 500ML plastic bottle) and prominently placed, sometimes occupying the same shelf space. Previously Pepsi was priced at almost double the price of coke (60/= when Coke was 40/=).