Guide to Kampala

A guest post by a visitor to the exotic land of Museveni and Matoke!

There are several airlines flying daily to Entebbe (the international airport is an hour’s drive from Kampala) and these include Fly540 and Kenya Airways which cost about $250 and $300 respectively for a round trip. There is also Air Uganda which just celebrated its fourth anniversary this month.

Getting There: Entebbe Airport was fantastic, well organized, manned, signed, and even though we landed at midnight, it put JKIA to shame. The best thing I like about it was that there were no forms to fill!. The taxi was $35, but I think we got taken for a "ride" - we were approached by the official airport taxi guy and shown those rates, but were sat in another taxi and he didn't even give us a receipt! Maybe we were easy targets as the last people leaving the airport that night.

Getting Around: Most locals walk and take matatus and boda bodas. Boda bodas are popular because the traffic is so horrendous. We got around in a car provided by our clients, and our driver was the owner of a car hire company that our clients use often. He drove a Rav4 and said it costs about 60,000 Ugandan shillings per day to rent, which is about $25. I'm guessing this does not include the cost of fuel.

Kampala was very secure, I walked around in the evenings too , and there were army and police guards everywhere. However, many have really bad attitudes and are clearly on power trips. Also, I didn't venture into the kind of places that might be more prone to crime.

Hotels: Serena was overbooked and bumped us! So we paid $150 at Imperial Royale for a single B&B, which is just behind Serena. The hotel was nice, spacious and clean, but they didn't have hand towels which was weird. I didn't have time to shop around and ask about other hotel rates. There were a few power cuts everyday I was there, but I didn't pay attention because I was in places where they had generators.

Communications: I roamed with my Safaricom (linked to MTN Uganda), and the reception was terrible. Incoming text messages came in days late and I went hours with no reception at all. My colleague got a local number while he was there and it wasn't better at all. I'm not sure about costs. Internet speeds at the hotel we stayed at and at the offices and even with a 3G Orange SIM card in an iPad were slow.

I used English because I mostly interacted with professionals, but I took a small taxi and the driver spoke to me in Swahili. The local English newspaper was a joke! - clearly censored heavily by Museveni's cronies and full of shallow stories.

Bars & Restaurants: The local dish is MATOKE, MATOKE, MATOKE! People eat Matoke for all 3 meals! There is a dish called Luwombo Lumbwana (I think) that is delicious - it is chicken, fish, or beef wrapped in Matoke leaves (surprise, surprise!) and slow cooked with groundnut sauce. The groundnut sauce is also served with most meals and it quite delicious and healthy. I didn't have the opportunity to drink a beer.

I was surprised that they spoke a lot about Museveni. Most people complain about the kind of things we complain about (in Kenya) - roads, corruption and unemployment. However, I think Ugandans are tired of fighting and war, so although they complain, they have resigned themselves to the fate exerted by the rich and powerful. This might explain why Uganda didn't join the Arab uprisings wave after Museveni stole the election.

Sight-SeeingI think Gorilla trekking is getting popular. There is a small hotel called Casia Lodge that someone recommended highly, as a gorgeous place. It's alright and the view is nice, not stunning. Kampala is a green city and the lake is huge, so all the fixings of a nice view, I guess.

Biggest Surprise: Sooooo....there is an interesting place called Honey's Pub near Pride Theater, if I remember correctly. Now, I don't know how to even begin describing what I saw there! Some Ugandan tribes have girls who, from an early age, certain parts of their bodies are stretched. A lot. More than you can imagine. I'm not talking about breasts. It was freaky! So many of them become exotic dancers (which you and I both know is just a euphemism for "strippers"). It was definitely something a lot of businessmen, especially from Europe, were keen on seeing and were floored by!

Uganda Moment: Expat, CHOGM, Laico, Nirvana

I made a trip to Kampala Uganda last week, which was very short but very relaxing two days. Unfortunately it was an all-conference (business) trip over two days that left very little time for sight seeing compared to the last time I was in Uganda, in 2007, but quick in-n-out airport – hotel – conference – hotel – airport with chats with taxi drivers and few locals is how a lot of non-residents form decisions about a country

- The town looks better; much spruced up, cleaner, greener,

- Election fever: from kids humming his song at the beach 'Yes, Ssebo!', to his posters all over town, President Museveni is in election mode, and while it appears early now for campaigns for an election next February (all the candidates, are on the nightly news at rallies), one local remarked that perhaps the president with 'unlimited' budget hoped to exhaust his opponents financially by election time.
- Mobile Issues: Just what is Safaricom roaming? At JKIA I enquired about roaming tariffs in Uganda and was told to leave my line as is. But there, the charges were astronomical, about Kshs 30 to send an SMS, and Kshs. 50 to receive a call! Fortunately I was able to top up with M-pesa. Also, in different parts of town, the roaming partner would change from MTN, Orange, to Warid etc, and sometimes my remaining balance would change.
- Also as you walk around Nairobi and take it for granted that Internet is everywhere on your phone, the same is not true in Uganda where there was no internet (at least for roamers) and buying a SIM card just for internet was not worth the effort; so I’d be offline all day till I got back to the hotel in the evening which had a guest wi-fi. a must for any modern hotel

- CHOGM: There's a Uganda parliament report on the 2007 Commonwealth heads of government summit (CHOGM) on how money was diverted to build roads to private hotels and apartments, BMW's and missing blackberry with actions recommend be taken against the vice president and various ministers. Serena and Utalii College are the only Kenyan connection I saw.
- I went to a bank hall and shock on me was that, there is no bullet-proof glass separating cash tellers from customers, and you exchange money over the counter as you would with documents at a customer service desk in Kenya (ok - security guards are armed and everyone goes through a metal detector at the bank door)

- Finally the most telling moment om the trip, was a half hour at a public beach in Entebbe on the shore of Lake Victoria. This was about a kilometer from the Laico Hotel (yes there’s also hotel in Uganda controversially transferred and renamed the Laico, not just in Nairobi) and I sat on a beach with our taxi driver and had a Pepsi drink. It was a very peaceful moment, and one you’d be hard pressed to enjoy in Kenya where every few minutes a hawker will approach you selling fish, music, mobile phones, clothes etc - or in Mombasa at Serena beach, for every walk 20 meters you walk/jog on the beach a young man steps forward to offer you a boat ride. That's not how it should be.

Swift River 101

On June 16 at the iHub in Nairobi, a talk was given by Jon Gosier the director of Swift River which I first heard of Swift River following its use with Ushahidi following the Haiti earthquake early in 2010 when crisis rescue & response teams faced a challenges of processing 200,000 SMS messages a day. So the question was how do you filter that information to get help to the people (i.e. earthquake victim) who need it?



Jon said Swift River is an open source platform that uses algorithms and crowd sourcing to filter and validate information. He gave a quote from the book the ‘The Long Tail about with such vast amounts of data in the world, there is need for filters to filter. Swift River helps by pulling out data and he mentioned some of the tools used. In his guide titled Swift River in plain English Jon lists the arms of Swift River which include:

• SiLCC pulls keywords from any Text (including SMS and Twitter) and automatically sorts related text ( a natural language processor)
• SULSa automatically detects location of incoming content/reports
• SiCDS automatically filters out duplicate content (re-tweets, blogs, text messages)
• Reverberations detects how influential/popular content is online
• RiverID allows Swift users to carry their Swift score and reputation with them across the web

All these enable an organization facing a challenge of too much data to among other things, pick out what’s important, save time, suppress noise, filter & curate the information. This is more so at time of urgency or crisis

Swift River can also be used by newsroom to manage & curate very large information in a crisis, for online brand monitoring, or for election monitoring. It runs on a free and open source platform. It’s still in development, with more features & improvements being added to the beta (now at Version 0.2.1 Batuque) over the rest of the year by the development team who are based in Uganda.

Twitter Week: Top 10 November 26

Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that is really nifty for doing mini-posts, forwards and other remarks that (are on any subject) and are maybe not worthy of a full blog post. Here’s a summary of my week on Twitter in a Dave Letterman top 10 format :

10. Uganda Talks
- r/t @UgInsomniac Uganda Government gives ousted Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a new UG passport- http://bit.ly/7xfU8t/ (Kenya sold him wildlife)
- R/t @UgInsomniac MapSwitch Uganda boldly going where no banks have gone? http://mapinternational.net/. #ugandalug

9 Visa Place burns
- What's that fire in upper hill area?
- @rookieke was visa place on fire, poor chicken
- @jwesonga shebeen great place, good staff. And in Kenya style, it will be packed tonight, if it survives neighbour fire

8. G4S (in) Security Jokes
- A g4s truck parked by road side in kile-any missing cash today?
- Poor #G4S Kenya, after the weekend cash loss, they may have to sweep key staff and revert to old name securicor
- @coldtusker @mwirigi #G4S not to blame, customers move $ for evasion, business & commodity payments etc to bypass currency restrictions
- @mwirigi looks like real world inside job-at either G4S, seller, buyer or bank. Off to watch reel-world #heat movie this aft
- Embattled security firm #G4S hires Gina Din Comm. to spruce up image (via Nairobi star)

7 Kenyan Banks
- #stanchart bank loan hawks out on Nairobi streets again. Also KCB and family bank
Kenya MFI Faulu acquires insurance broker http://www.faulukenya.com
- Will check out family bank offer of free Wi-fi for customers’ next week @jwesonga

6 Zain Kenya
- Seems Zain Kenya turned on their 3G network this weekend, super net speeds (Via @kahenya)
- Zain Q3 'Kenya is a highly competitive market with very low ARPU' 2.1M customers (down 14%) revenue of $118m, loss of $28m (much improved)

5. World Cup 2010 business
- @AirFranceUS promoting World Cup fares (from Paris) to South Africa. Book early and save! http://ow.ly/FjUk
- r/t @cnbcafrica 2nite on Business 2010 exclusive license deal between FIFA & Nederberg Wine Estate to produce a 2010 FIFA World Cup wine range

4. Africa Aviation
- Delta Air has Ghana Nigeria Liberia Senegal Egypt but no Kenya plan http://airlineroute.net/200... (Via @airlineroute)
- Ethiopian Air CEO talks aircraft choice A350, B787 B777 operating from high altitude Addis http://tinyurl.com/yffkkpc (via @flightblogger)
- Kenya airways offering diploma in airline passenger services at a cost of $1950.
- R/t @aschonland delta passes half connectivity mark- 51% of aircraft fleet now have wi-fi

3. Safaricom Modem discount
- #Safaricom deal data push discount – modems now redeemed at just 2,000 bonga points, used to be 10,000 before @kafainbi @antoneosoul
- @Kafainbi website and posters say 10,000 but modems are now 2,000 bonga points - try Moi ave. or I&M for stocks

2. Kenyan Corporates on Twitter
- can the real Kenya airways please stand up!!.. @kenyaairways and @kenya_airways on twitter, is one a squatter or both? (Via @jwesonga)
- Following @samtwit and @coldTusker as they sort out which is the genuine #kenyaairways twitter account. They could both be fake or fans
- @samtwit confirmation should come from a twitter link at the #kenyaairways site. A smart aviation buff can fake a corporate twitter ac
- @KenyaAirways is the official #kenyaairways twitter account. (@coldtusker, @rafikikenya - via semi-official source)
- Finally an indigenous Kenyan bank on twitter @familybankkenya

1 Tusker brewed in Ireland
- Tusker now sold in 500ml cans, cost 85/= at uchumi. @archermishale get well, and catch up with @inexes

- The Tusker 500ml can is brewed in Ireland! EABL #Fail #godblessthierryhenry

Centum seeks Carbacid

and other Bank Twits

Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that is relly nifty for doing mini-posts, forwards and other remarks that (are on any subject) and are maybe not worthy of a full blog post. Here’s a summary of my week on Twitter:

- @louizah Zain Vuka has ended? Please confirm
- @NTV showing IFC-funded docu on women entreprenurs - meaning manu-arsenal will be on tape delay - WHY? next @NTV ditched a static-filled channel & skipped their 'half time' piece to present second half live, on a much clearer signal! Kudos
- Sports journo era over? Player asks for trade on blog team obliges on Twitter player thanks fans on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/d967eu
- blog post Why Safaricom should spin off MPesa http://bit.ly/gYZ86
- The Central Bank of Kenya reports have become incomprehensible B.S
- Upgraded Safaricom Investor relations page has media and CEO briefings http://bit.ly/VBZ2f
- Tanzania will now recognize Kenya manufacturers mark of quality http://bit.ly/USZHg
- Delta Air round-trip intro fares from Nairobi include (ex-tax) $650-NY/DC, $975-ATL/Chi/ Dallas, $1124-LA/SF and $1440-Detroit
- @kahenya @jamesmurua likes Riviera, which has good crowd and facilities, but beer is pricey and the place is a fire-trap
- So Joe Biden met Nairobi mayor Majiwa in chicago. There, thats the end of the joke
- Safaricom CEO says M-Pesa not yet profitable http://bit.ly/TDV8D
- @leofaya says Kenyan promoters are killing Facebook http://bit.ly/zBHXB
- Today's pavement uprooting is sponsored by access kenya - as the fibre optic railway is laid around Nairobi
- @Archermishale sports conspiracy goes that where a sport wants to sway a big game, they put in a low-quality ref, but didn't happen on Wednesday
- Safaricom partners with Kenyas' largest bank KCB http://bit.ly/J4l92
- Kenya budget saga ($115 million) blamed on a typo - Quote ODB "N___ please!" http://tinyurl.com/p5hoyo
- blog post: two bank shareholder meetings same day same building same time http://bit.ly/86lNq
- @pinkm so you can only use debit, but not credit card to buy amazon books from KE? Interesting
- Ethiopian Air applies to fly from Nairobi to Amsterdam and Nairobi –Liege (Belgiu
- Land spin: Could there be a link between migingo island and the kampala land kenya got from Uganda military?
- If MTN buy Yu or Access Kenya, they will have to negotiate with MTN matatu society for use of name
- blog post Its Our Turn to Eat (is credit card worthy) http://bit.ly/YnriQ
- NMG 2008 report gives prominent mention of new digital division, Making-Nation DVD and Zuqka portal http://tinyurl.com/qkcphc
- Centum applies to the CMA to buy Kshs.350m of Carbacid shares and be largest shareholder of the Nairobi listed (but suspended) company
- Senator cards advise customers to only upload to https, not http sites. It's rare to find credit company giving card advice
- From Mars Group: Parliament's Report on the Kenya Budget inconsistencies http://blog.marsgroupkenya....

Sleeping giants may never wake (or reform)

labour on Labour Day
Sometimes I wonder if we are ever going to reform & develop, or if by being profitable and making money we see no need for some reforms - corporate, land, ICT, political or other.

Rwanda is on the fast path to being an ICT powerhouse. They may get there, but we have the beach, undersea cable etc. - all we have to do is wait to benefit from them. Uganda and Sudan have oil – but so what? It will have to pass through here.

Stanbic Uganda [Pre tax profit of 69 billion ($41 million) [up 37%] and a dividend of Ug. 6.64 shillings per share (up 10%)] is able to e-mail to shareholders their annual reports, AGM notices, and proxies; meanwhile many Kenyan companies talk about it, have amended their by-laws to enable it, but I'm yet to see it done (any examples? - but maybe having 1 million expensive shareholders will entice them to take the next step forward).

In Uganda, empty plots display their legal numbers and have some sequential order by street; here in Kenya L.R. no’s (the official designation of parcels of land) only appear in court documents/mentioned in scandals and are only understood by estate agents.

In Uganda the Central Bank publishes all bank charges in the newspapers for customers to compare; here they give them to some private agency (FSD Kenya) to interpret for customers.

While the Kenyan audit bodies (FIRE, ICPAK) fault our companies for not disclosing the director compensation which they ask their shareholders to dutifully approve at each AGM, Stanbic Uganda shareholder can see that their chairman earns $10,400 and what each board member earns ($1,700 to $4,250) for them to approve.

Lastly, I don’t know any Ugandan stockbrokers but I’m sure it’s easier to ascertain their performance (and avoid rogue brokers) than it is here.

NSSF: apples & oranges

Kenya’s National Social Security Fund finally released their year end results in the newspapers today after many years of pressure by governance experts and regulators. The scheme hopes to convert into a pension fund and states that it plans to hold an AGM soon

While the statements show improved performance over the last four years (NSSF-K was abused in the 1990’s and forced into bad property investments and lost billions in collapsed banks), how does it compare with NSSF Uganda who released their results last week?

approximate conversion to US$

Buildings/property/land
NSSFK $434 million (35%)
NSSFU $76 million (13%)

Government Securities
NSSFK $115 million (9%)
NSSFU $289 million (51%)

Equities
Uganda list their holdings. – as Uganda Clays , Baroda, Nsimbe, DFCU, Stanbic, Serena, HFCU, Victoria properties. Kenyan one does not list but would include Unilever Tea, Nation media group, HFCK (11%) KCB (8%) British American Tobacco (20%) East African Breweries (8%), EAP cement (27%), and National Bank (48%)
NSSFK $618 million
NSSFU $54 million

Current assets
NSSFK $50 million
NSSFU $350 million

Current Liabilities
NSSFK $20 million
NSSFU $11 million

Members Funds
NSSFK $1,240 million
NSSFU $548 million

Totals assets
NSSFK $1,240 million
NSSFU $564 million

Income:
NSSFK $61 million
NSSFU $38 million
however the Kenyan one include changes in market value of shares in last year, adding another $80m to bring total income to $141m

Costs
NSSFK $41 million
NSSFU $7 million

Net Gain/Profit
NSSFK $147 million
NSSFU $31 million

Earlier:
- Under its current format, the ultimate payout will be low from NSSF(K) and the benefits at retirement will not be enough to sustain a majority of retirees
- Comparison between Stanbic Kenya and Stanbic Uganda.

Jan 18: From ODM to Icarus

three weeks after the ill-fated elections and three days of mass protests

The Disruptions in the work flow have been a nuisance to the country, while the violence is threatening to cut off Central Africa. But how long before President Yoweri Museveni decides to drive eastwards for another road trip eastwards to check out the situation for himself?

If ODM’s goal is to grind the country to a halt, it may take a while. With tax collections significantly down, the pending Safaricom IPO which I thought will be an election winner could turn out to be a (one time) budget lifesaver – expected to yield over 30 billion shillings in Q2 of 2008.

ODM is now specifically targeting companies linked to key government personalities like Citi Hoppa, Brookside and Equity Bank. This sounds far-fetched and could lead to retaliatory attacks (ODM personalities are also business people); it's also an extension of silent boycotts that people have undertaken on their own. E.g. people who only selling petrol to their kinsmen, while others boycott pubs or have stopped reading the Nation or Standard/KTN because of their perceived political leanings.

While George bush is trying to revive the US economy through bipartisan tax breaks, but here we have two sides who won’t even sit down with each other. If they don’t, the crisis may soon spin out of control as the race for the presidency assumes historical dimensions

cut & paste: The Central Bank has introduced business continuity guidelines for all banks. However, it seems to be an update of an IT disaster preparedness document that's a few years old, and does not mention any of the words - crowd, riot, security, cash, ATM – and only one mention of ‘police’. In short, it does not address many of the challenges banks have faced.

Insurers with hearts: Some insurance companies like pan Africa and Heritage (CFC) making exception on a case by case basis to assist business people victimized in the riots. As a rule, insurance companies have no responsibility to cover such acts

Such as Business coping: Ukwala supermarket, which was destroyed in Kisumu, lost all their financial records. They are asking suppliers & partners to provide them with statements, delivery reports, and invoices as at December 31 and not to bank any of their cheques.

But can’t please everyone: like thieves who take advantage of busy police battling rioters, some unscrupulous borrowers are also using the economic shutdown to plead with banks for delayed repayment and favorable revision of loan terms when the haven’t really been affected.

Signal of confidence: On Wednesday, Imara Holdings introduced a new fund targeting the Diaspora willing to invest in east Africa. It’s an open fund with minimum investment of 6.5 million shillings (~$100,000) and will be sold through Kenya’s ICEA

- Recognize us: Barclays have eaten humble pie for two years, but who would have through that high-street Standard Chartered would open a branch in Eastleigh?

Local Icarus: what happens when you fly too close to the sun

opportunities
- From PSD Blog; nominate a women entrepreneur to the doing business group of the World Bank.

Current open jobs
from the papers this week
- APA Insurance: unit managers, account managers. Apply to recruitement@apainsurance.com
- Safaricom: VAS Propositions Manager, Channel Development Manager, Key Accounts Executive – apply online. But for the position of chief information officer - but apply though pricewaterhousecoopers executive selection division (ESD).

Kutwa Tuesday - June 26

Uchumi revealed: Shedding some lights on the Uchumi bond proposal, the receiver manager has stated that the problems that shut down Uchumi had more to do with management style than the market conditions. The newspaper says that the 650 million to be raised, 280 million will go to pay to pay suppliers & creditors, 23 million interest on (bank) loans, 52m to pay terminal benefits of staff, 200m working capital as the company plans to open 3 new branches in Mombasa, Nairobi, and Kisumu.

The article adds that all suppliers have been paid for deliveries made in the last 12 months i.e. the company is profitable. The company had sales of Kshs. 1.3 billion in the first quarter of the year and had 2.8 million shoppers visit their stores. Sarit is their best store with April revenue of 90 million followed by Ngong Rd hyper with 68m (last was Eldoret with 8m) from an offline story in the financial standard.
Note - even if they re-list, won't they be in the same boat as NBK and be unable to pay dividends for several years?

Rights Issue: Olympia’s rights issue was formally announced today with an offer for shareholders to buy 3 shares for each held.

Newspapers: New newspaper from the KISS team - called the Nairobi Star and billing itself as Kenya’s first full color daily newspaper launches next week
- But what happened to the Kenya Times website frozen on June 8?

Trade not aid
According to , an Oxfam report subsidies are responsible for poverty among African cotton farmers.

Political worm
Raila Odinga gets unfairly blamed for a lot of things, but he is not responsible for a malicious computer virus bearing his name that has caused IT admin’s some headaches this month

uh oh: Why is Obama’s campaign getting stuck?

uh oh 2: Sad to read that former track darling Marion Jones is
almost broke. Even though she wasn’t a big spender like Tyson or Jackson, legal bills fending off drug allegations have taken their toll on her finances.

Uh oh 3 & 4 : Zimbabwe to do a takeover of foreign businesses as Uganda parliamentarians have given Barclays, Sheraton, Kakira Sugar, and Uganda Telecom one year to float part of their share on the Uganda stock exchange.

War what is it good for?
Is there a difference between Somalia, Darfur and Palestine?

Kampala expense tab

Uganda Securities Exchange

Where are my Stanbic shares today?

How much did a week in Uganda cost?

- Hotels (73%) are the one expensive item about the country. There is a commonwealth heads of government (CHOGUM) summit coming up later this year and there are major investments all geared towards that including new hotels coming up, sprucing up the town, and other investments to carter to VIP’s. Hotels in the Kampala CBD range from nice small $40 ones to $150 at Speke and Grand Imperial, to higher at the Sheraton and new Serena.
- Newspapers (1.38%). There's the New vision, Monitor (owned by NMG) and Red Pepper which has evolved from a racy tabloid to a more respectable daily newspaper that is sold alongside the other two. Also, at around 3 PM each afternoon, the Daily Nation and Standard from Kenya can be bought outside the main Barclays Bank building in town
- Internet (1.68%). Cyber cafes are plenty around despite the electricity mini crisis. Most charge about 1/= (UG 25/=) per minute.
- Telephone (1.66%) You can use your Safaricom or Celtel lines as usual here. But for Safaricom, air time cards are only found at some MTN shops and are sold at about 35% extra. i.e. buy a 100 shilling card for 136 shillings equivalent. Seasoned travellers are either post-paid customers, or buy enough cards before they leave Kenya
- Meals & Entertainment. (8%) Food is relatively cheap compared to what we pay in Kenya even at places like Steers and Pizza Inn. Also included Spiderman at Garden City Mall (an upscale mall with the local Uchumi supermarket), rugby at Kyadondo, and a lecture series event.
- Gifts (8.61%) . Mostly clothes from the equivalent of Masai Market
- Transport (4.1%). Somewhere there is taxi to Entebbe airport (40km away for about Kshs. 2,000) but most getting around Kampala is on the back of a motorbike and dashing to your destination. At first it was scary, but you get used to it as it’s the fastest way to get around town as they squeeze through the city’s traffic jams. But they can be dangerous and someone told me there are a couple of accidents a day, some fatal – with the driver abandoning his passenger and bike on the spot. The only faster way to get through town is in a VIP motorcade (the President’s convoy is a sight to see) - Personal items 1.59%
- Other expenses 0.15%

Total expense: about 2 million Uganda shillings or US 1,200 or Kshs 80,000

- The one remarkable thing about Kampala is the level of safety - security is assured. Whereas in Nairobi you get worried about being out past 6PM and on some streets any time of the day for and are always on the lookout for phone snatchers, pick pockets or armed thugs, here there are no worries. The fact that all watchmen (shops, banks) have guns may be a factor, but a country that has gone through years of war has no tolerance for violence. With all the guns around, police are super-armed (as are VIP mototcades).
- This is also a country where you can encounter a wedding convoy with the bridal party riding in four humvees!

Jobs
Jobs from the Kenyan daily papers this week

Fund raising & communication manager at Action Aid. Apply to actionaidsomaliland@actionaid.org by 31/5

Akamba bus: General Manager, chief finance officer. Apply to mushtaqk@akambabus.com by 31/5


Barclays: Branch managers, branch coordinators, customer advisor, and local business advisor. Apply to the retail expansion program, market branch 30018-00200 by 25/5

Equity Bank: Business growth & development manager, operations manager, credit manager. Apply to jobs@equitybank.co.ke 31/5

Area sales manager at Eveready. Apply to asm@eveready.co.ke by 25/5

Flashcom: Finance manager, sales manager, network engineer. Apply to recruitment@flashcom.co.ke by 4/6

Kenya Land Alliance: network capacity building officer, assistant accountant. Apply to kla@africaonline.co.ke by 25/5

National Council for Law Reporting law reporter, assistant law reporter (2), systems administrator, web developer (2), proof reader (2), publishing assistant.
Apply online by 22/6

Pricewaterhousecoopers: human capital manager, head of marketing & communications. Apply to recruitment.ke@ke.pwc.com by 1/6