THE CONTROVERSIAL NATURE OF DIGITAL MEDIA SPACE

TIME TO REGULATE DIGITAL MEDIA IN KENYA

Unlike the mainstream media which has sufficient regulatory framework, digital media which entails social media lacks a straightforward and precise regulatory framework. The Kenya Information and Communication (Amendment) Bill, 2019 seeks to amend the Kenya Information and Communication Act for purposes of regulating digital media in Kenya due to its constant misuse and abuse.

Bloggers continue to publish fake, scandalous and unverified news and online content about individuals and institutions. Some of this biased and fake information has proven injurious to some of the business institutions hence occasioning them enormous losses. The victims of the unregulated digital media space only remain with litigation recourse whereby they bring suits under defamation and compel the offenders to pull down the fake information and apologize in public. Some of the damage incurred is incurable or takes time to recover hence causing the aggrieved persons and organizations irreparable harm.

As a result of the above risky nature of unregulated digital media space, the above-mentioned private members Bill commonly known as “the Social Media Bill” was tabled in Parliament on 2nd of October, 2019 seeking to regulate the digital media. The Bill proposes a mandatory requirement for bloggers to be licensed by the Communications Authority of Kenya. The Bill also requires a social media license to be obtained in respect of a social media platform which is accessible in Kenya by a particular social media platform operator. The license is subject to revocation where the set requirements under the Bill are not met by the operator.

The Bill does not propose a penalty or any sanction for failing to obtain the said license hence unclear on whether the license is mandatory or not. The term “social media” has been given a wide definition in the Bill hence captures any online medium that allows for online content creation and social networking. To cure the current ills of digital media space, the Bill requires social media users and content creators to ensure that their content is accurate, verifiable and unbiased among other things.

The information to be published should be one that does not intimidate the recipients of the content. The Bill if assented to law will have far reaching implications on digital media operators hence changing the business and social networking environment. Sanity will be restored in digital blogging thus minimizing the risk of online maligning and image destruction of both natural persons and legal entities.

Kenya, Managing Debt Crisis

It is no longer a secret that Kenyan debt is scaling at alarming rates. The   current Kenya public debt clouds at 8.4 trillion, 4.2 trillion covering external and domestic debt, respectively. According to data from Economic and Budget Review (QEBR) and Central bank of Kenya the public debt grew from 7, 9966.30 billion to a magnitude of 8,206.74 billion in the last quarter of 2021.

Kenya has continued to struggle amidst the ever-growing deficit in provision of decent and affordable housing for its citizens, cost of living is becoming unaffordable, basic commodities are now becoming a dream to achieve. Then how do we mitigate this surging debt crisis? Does good governance have anything to do with quality debt capital? Recently the Kenyan parliament raised the debt ceiling to Kes 10 trillion which forced the amendment of section 50(2) of public finance Management regulations 2015 which requires that the public debt shall not exceed 10 trillion. This has not only triggered an inflated cost of living but also made life unbearable for low-income earners. In mitigating the high debt crisis, the government of Kenya reconstituted the debt borrowing procedures.

Institutionalize the right governance, process systems and tools that involves designing and incorporating a best fit management structure that helps in driving strategy and instituting robust and appropriate performance on set objectives of debt control. Managing shocks and crises especially caused by external issues should be a key priority. A high proportion of Kenyan debt is in foreign currency hence the economy is vulnerable to this and hence any slight fluctuations will have a direct impact to Kenyan Economy. The government incorporated capital management techniques like debt like foreign debt restructuring external loans.

Implementation of government standing orders will for the first time require the parliament to consider the report of the committee on Public debt and Privatization of Debt Management Strategy before the report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) on the budget policy statement can be deliberated upon. This will not only be a measure of Quality debt but also mitigate the rationale of debt uptake. The National Assembly amended its rules to establish the committee on public debt and privatizations which will be tasked as an oversight body to counter check the debt management strategy without overstepping its mandate

Book Review

WHY PEOPLE DECIDE EMOTIONALLY AND THEN JUSTIFY LOGICALLY. – Review of Brian Tracy’s Psychology of Selling.

Brian Tracy writes to a targeted audience. His intentions and tone are aligned towards one direction, and in The Psychology of Selling, that direction leads to the practitioner of what he calls, “the great art of selling”. This book is written for the brave men and women who go where no one has gone before to make sales upon which companies and nations depend and exhibit the heroism of the competitive enterprise system. His vocabulary choice is simple and easy to comprehend yet the content of his writing is deep. The book aims at giving you a series of ideas, methods, strategies, and techniques that you can use immediately to make more sales, faster and easier. It helps one understand the need for urgency in bringing deals to a close by asking for the order early, taking actions to close the sale and keeping the initiative while remaining polite in persistence and patient in aggressiveness.

Brian Tracy sells the conviction that the best CEOs in the world are masters of the art of selling as witnessed in promotion of great sales men and women to the highest leadership offices of many fortune 500 companies. He goes ahead to explain what selling is and how to sell. Brian Tracy writes that people buy emotions and only wait to justify their decisions logically after they have bought. He therefore emphasizes on the practice of communication skills, dressing for the sale, choosing the right environment for a sales meeting, being a creative thinker and the need to answer the buyer’s question, “what is in it for me?” In selling, the buyer must understand the benefits and solutions of buying. This requires the seller to understand what triggers the buying decision, how to advertise, clarity in speech and knowing the rhythm of a buyers’ pattern of purchase.

I will summarize my review of Brian Tracy’s masterpiece by highlighting buyer personality types as explained in Chapter 9. The first personality type is the Apathetic Buyer. Regardless of the discounts, offers and any incentive to influence them to buy, they still won’t buy. Apathetic buyers do not know what they want. Time should not be spent on these kinds of buyers. The sales person should therefore consider the self-actualizing buyer, the analytical buyer, the relator buyer, the driver buyer or the socializer buyer. Traits for each of these personalities can best be understood by grabbing the book and reading in detail.

Advertising Feature

THE WOLF OF REAL ESTATE IN NAIROBI’S PROPERTY MARKET – REALTY BORIS

Of all land animals, the wolf has the strongest supernatural powers and is the most accomplished hunter. The native wolf represents loyalty, strong family ties, good communication, education, understanding and intelligence. In business, the strengths of an alpha wolf are needed to create value for buyers of services. Real Estate is one such sector where buyers of properties need the loyalty of a wolf, intuitive knowledge of the property on sale and great communication skills by the selling agent to influence one to make a buy or rent decision. These same values earn you wealth when put to work. In the words of Jordan Belfort (Author – Way of the Wolf), “Without action, the best intentions in the world are nothing more than that: intentions.

Nairobi’s property market is gifted with a Wolf. In one intentional man who plans and takes action, the bar of real estate brokerage in Kenya’s Capital is being raised and the experience of buying property becomes more fulfilling. The man is Realty Boris and his team of young yet endowed with the supernatural abilities of a wolf in getting properties sold on their value proposition. Realty Boris is already a household name in Nairobi’s property market. The firm specializes in the sale and marketing of residential developments and leads the industry in brokering at least fifty deals annually of Nairobi’s largest residential sales. Realty Boris displays an extensive portfolio of property to clients through their vibrant digital media platforms and through walk-through tours on location. The firm is located right at the heart of Kilimani on the first floor of Timau Plaza on Timau Road a few meters opposite of Yaya Centre.

Mr. Boris, “The Wolf”, leads realty Boris firm. Boris is a top real estate magnate who holds a Bachelor degree in Human Resource Management. He has an extensive client base featuring those who seek a luxury city lifestyle including titans of industry, celebrities and foreign investors. Boris has closed several of the highest priced sales in Lavington, Kileleshwa, Runda and Kilimani. His properties have also been featured in Kenya’s top television and YouTube Channels. While selling property, Boris is dedicated to enriching the profession, where he is often hired for property launches and groundbreaking ceremonies in upmarket Nairobi. Boris is a wolf in making and members of his firm exhibit similar values. He lives and demonstrates the strengths of a wolf in his art of selling.

Webinar Review

HOW TO ACE INTERVIEWS Hosted by ALX VA Program on 8th July 2022

How do you prepare? What are some mistakes you might make? How do you get in there and convince the hiring manager that you are indeed the best match for the job? In this webinar, 3 hiring managers from top multinational corporations revealed what they look for in a candidate, common mistakes entry-level seekers make during interviews, how to make one’s dream job a reality and tips on how introverts can network authentically and successfully. The three speakers were Seth Trudeu – Founder and Managing Director Routine Chaos, Danai Mavunga – Talent Acquisition and Strategy Director of The Room, Mohaned Eltayeb – Chief Information Officer GE Gas Power.

The best way to shine in an interview that was reiterated by all the presenters was the ability to turn an interview into a conversation, not a session of answering back and forth questions. This can be achieved best by imagining a first date and how well one tries to articulate their profile with real life examples. In the case when one is changing roles/fields completely, they need to consider what they have done before that has value for what they’re going to do. Important tips to consider before settling on an organization are: will the problem be interesting to you? Will your colleagues challenge you? Will the manager support your growth?

Some of the common mistakes job seekers make either before or during the interview which affects their general interview performance (if they make it for one) include failing to package oneself well, lack of value-added activities that strengthen one’s profile, typos, grammatical errors and use of generic CVs or cover letters and lack of curiosity. Key skills/mindsets necessary for excellence are learning agility and adaptability, self-drive, growth mindset and grit, self-awareness and possessing a resilient spirit. During the actual interview, one should avoid regurgitating their CV when asked to “tell us about yourself” instead they should narrate the story that hiring managers have not read yet. Instead of providing abstract experience, one can give evidence of how they reacted to certain real-life challenging situations. When asked about one’s weaknesses, one should never shy from sharing their vulnerability, it demonstrates humility and positive self-reflection on improvement areas. It is advisable for one to turn it into a story about growth. On the other hand, however, strategy on sharing one’s weaknesses is key least one shoots themselves on the foot. 

Health Column

Include men in household nutrition practices

“Good Nutrition is Everyone’s Responsibility”

What are men’s roles in the household? Do you think it is appropriate for a man to learn how to prepare food, feed the baby, or go shopping?  Overtime, men have not fully embraced household nutrition practices. Most often, a majority of men have exercised superiority to women when it comes to the normal household nutrition practices. This has been influenced by peer pressure from other men, cultural beliefs, fear of stigma, and most men conform because of the indwelling fear of being labelled ‘Weaklings’. Men consider themselves responsible for food provision at the household. They believe good health and nutrition are essential to being strong and productive. Most consider that they play a pivotal role in supporting their children’s education and development. Some men are however rarely interested in food preparation or the intricacies of food distribution, supporting expectant and lactating mothers since they view these activities as a woman’s domain.

 In a study to assess the determinants of dietary diversity and the potential role of men in improving household nutrition in Kenya, it was found that men benefit more than women and children in diet diversity. This was because men often eat lunch and sometimes dinner away from home, increasing their chances of consuming other food items not usually available in their household. Other project based observations show that men rarely participate in household nutrition decisions leaving this task to their wives, leaving most women and children with smaller food portions and less nutritious meals compared. Paradoxically, most interventions still focus on women neglecting the role of men in improving the household nutrition status.

Including men in nutrition activities and discussions has helped them recognize the importance of providing nutritious food to their families and increasing their participation in household chores related to childcare and feeding. A study done in rural Uganda to determine effects of male involvement on the Nutritional Status of Children under 5 Years showed that families, whose husband took the baby to the clinic, and participated in purchasing family food had babies with a normal weight. It is important to move beyond interventions that focus on individual responsibility for securing nutritious food because men are ingrained in wider structures that condition their behavior. Men need tremendous support and inclusion as they confront and question the cultures at home, in the community, at work, and those presented by the media, which shape their psychological and social identities.

Industry Review

Industry Review

STABILIZING MY YOUTHFUL INVESTMENTS THROUGH SACCOS

Youthful life is full of uncertainties, demands, and high expectations, which pressure the youths to perform better in their businesses, jobs, and lives. These pressures, which might be from family, friends, and self, may hinder individuals from stabilizing their financial investments.

Most youths are then faced with losses that they take some time to get through. In such situations, which are always unexpected, they need to have a backup plan that would help stabilize their youthful investments. I have relied on SACCOS to stabilize my youthful investments, and I always thank myself.

SACCOS is the most reliable support system for stabilizing your youthful investments. This Savings and Credit Co-Operative Society (SACCOS) is an honest, open, careful, responsible, and cooperative financial institution. It is structured to be a member-based self-help financial institution, well organized to help stabilize your youthful investment in the following ways:

PAYING GOOD DIVIDENDS

Let us be honest: when a business is young, which is the case in our youthful investments, you take care of it, and it does not pay out much. Therefore, you need money to sponsor your business activities and take care of your bills. SACCOS will give you that money you need for yourself and the business when you invest in it, as your total savings serve as a liability.

INVESTMENT LOANS

Investments require a lot of expenditures before they can stand on their own. You might need quick financial aid to fix something in your investment without bothering anyone. In such situations, the SACCOS investment loans sort you out quickly.

EMERGENCY LOANS

I must say something about the emergency loans SACCOS offers. First of all, it is worth noting that these emergency loans take a minute to be processed. They can be done according to your savings and guaranteed by someone else. In that case, I believe they can greatly help when challenges hit your investment(s).

Lastly, SACCOS will build and strengthen your savings, which is a great plus to your future financial stability.

JOIN SACCOS TODAY AND START TO GROW

Cited works

Otwoko, B., & Maina, K. (2021). Effect of liquidity risk on the financial performance of deposit taking savings and credit cooperative organisations (SACCOs) in Kenya. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), 10(2), 203-211.

Economic nuggets to draw from President Ruto’s political chase. 

President Ruto has set up the ideal image of the fruits of hard work, commitment, and perseverance through his journey from being an ordinary citizen to become the most powerful person and symbol of national unity in the country. Raised from a family of small-scale farmers in Uasin Gishu County, he attended a local primary school, joined Kapsabet high school and later furthered his education at the university of Nairobi. This sounds familiar, right? But what makes the difference in Ruto’s Journey? Stay with me as I take you through his entrepreneurial journey.

It began on the Great North Road where he sold chicken to truck drivers transporting cargo across the country. He has over time built a massive empire spanning sectors including; real estate, agriculture, and insurance. He has disclosed assets including; Nairobi security exchange-listed firms and land parcels. President Ruto has invested in agribusiness and the standard newspaper records that in his Sugoi home, he has reared thousands of chickens said to be imported from India, and in a day, he averagely collects 2500 eggs.

The hustler nation slogan reflects the bottom-up economic model, in which the president promised to make small loans and subsidies available to Kenyan casual workers or hustlers, resulting in a significant economic shift. This strategy aims to increase ordinary Kenyans’ investment levels so that the government can generate taxes to spur economic development. It worked well with the Kenyan youth because it allowed them to associate with the President, who described himself as a hustler.

I believe that in order to conduct business legally and successfully, businesspeople should benefit from the enabling environment produced by the current administration. The government should put more of an emphasis on financial education for young people as well as on providing them with money for investments. Giving a poor person money often keeps them poorer longer, sometimes forever. Instead, give them knowledge, writes Robert Kiyosaki in his book Rich Dad Poor Dad. In addition, I think the government ought to work to ensure that the youths who benefit are held responsible for making good use of the resources and growing as individuals.

Under the direction of the current head of state, many lives will be transformed and empowered if this model is successful. A change in the economy is conceivable, but each citizen must put in significant effort to rise to the top and realize their own objectives.