Digital Or Analogue ?

While for the rest of the world this two terms refer to technology in Kenya they have taken a new meaning ! Before i attempt at explain the new meaning/common understanding that the term has taken in Kenya , its best to understand the general/traditional meaning of the two terms Analog & Digital.

 I have searched online for the most layman terms to put the definition of analog in an understandable format and this seemed the easiest definition:

•     Analog: Adjective Measuring or representing data by means of one or more physical properties that can express any value along a continuous scale. For example, the position of the hands of a clock is an analog representation of time.

•      Digital: Adjective  Displaying information as numbers/Digits rather than by a pointer moving over a dial

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President Ruto(donning an Analogue Watch....)

Interestingly following the 2013 Presidential Campaigns in Kenya and a recent appointment of Parastatal  Chiefs the term Digital /Analogue is being used to refer to" a generational gap/Age "between the youth and old leadership in Kenya.

However in the new usage of the term, the question still remains what is the cut off date when referring to who is a youth in the digital divide and who falls in the analogue generation.Its interesting that the President and Deputy President who campaigned on the Digital vs Analogue meaning the old versus the young have gone ahead to appoint persons well above the 55 year retirement age ,some of whom served in the first post colonial Government headed by the current President's father His Excellency the Late Jomo Kenyatta.Apparently the Digital Government works on analogue resources.

Question then is who truly is of the digital /analogue age? In a shifting posture ,the Deputy President claims its with reference to technology,(hah hah ...interestingly he is seen in the above photo donning an analogue watch) or is it really? Or is Digital/Analogue a state of mind? Language is generated and shaped by society and not the other way round .Kenyans are readily shaping the use of this terms,perhaps the rest of the world may take cue .So are you Digital or Analogue? Ask Kenyans....

"MPigs" Exacerbate Teachers Strike and More To Follow

Tuesday, 25 June 2013,Kenyan parents ,public school students and teachers have a legitimate need to be concerned .The strike declared by the Kenya National Union of Teachers( KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers(KUPPET) is an ominous sign of further looming strikes exacerbated by the recent unrelentless push by Members of Parliament to increase their salaries despite resistance from the Constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission,the President himself ,Civil Society and other quarters.What that means is dialogue may take a back seat in negotiations and brain and muscle ala push and shove becomes the new norm of getting what one wants.

Simple logic is that Citizens tend to mimic or emulate their leadership hence the selfish push by the MP's in more than one way informed the masses of the need to resiliently press for better emoluments and salaries with little or no regard to the resources at hand.

Whereas i am not a politician nor do entertain any particular political ideals it is common sense that the MP's move was ill informed and the country should expect ripples and repercussions as more and more public and private workers employ a policy of no retreat no surrender when bargaining for better working conditions or terms for engagement.No matter what rationalization the elected members of parliament may have had ,they seem to have forgot that anyone may come up with any excuse or cogent reason for salary increase especially in this day and age where uncertainty in the economy, high inflation and interest rates coupled with unemployment and insecurity lay supreme.

All said and done, i believe that the teachers will have their way ,either now or in the long run to the detriment of the students and the parents and after the teachers watch the space for upheaval and strikes from other sectors.Thats the bare hard truth and bitter pill that Leaders have to swallow.They set the pattern!

Julius Malema:Disgraces Blacks in South Africa

Without doubt ,the recent racists slurs and remarks by the ANC ' Youth Caucus Leader cum Politician Julius Sello Malema to BBC journalist Jonah Fisher are a shame to a Country that so badly needs healing and reconciliation especially after many decades of racial segregation.

The fiery tongued Julius Malema at a media briefing held at the ANC Headquarters last Thursday  8 April, 2010 hurled unrestrained vitriol at the BBC Journalist especially after advocating for Zimbabwean style seizure of white owned farmlands.His speech has raised concerns even about the World Cup and seems to lend credence to many's fears that if left to manage the economy some of this black leaders would end up destroying it as has been the case in many African Countries.The video footage from YouTube on  Joseph Malema's insults from South African e- Channel  are quite telling....


It would be in order if many of the  native African leaders in South Africa could evidence that they are above revenge or retaliatory actions, however Malema just does not seem to get it.He seems not to have learnt any lesson from Nelson Mandela that such actions are only self defeatist both in the short and long run.

Mr Julius Malema's remarks are reminiscent of an adolescent school boy's response evincing lack of manners ,civility and self control.His fiery temper worked against him but it is not surprising that Malema used such speech, after all he keeps company with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.What should you expect?

in Kenya 2009 National Census Data

I was finaly counted yesterday in the 2009 Kenya National Census exercise that begun on Monday 24 July, 2009 at 6.00 p.m and set to continue till the end of this month. However the enumerator did not find me at home but had to rely on the erroneous data supplied by my house help.

The credibility of the census data will be in question especially as the Government enumerators were unable to take advantage of Tuesday 25th August, 2009 which was a public holiday intended for that purpose. I still know many of my colleagues who are yet to be counted and have now resumed normal working hours:dask to dawn.So is the Kenya National Census 2009 going to be a success? Hardly and what is that question about tribe coming so shortly after 2008 post election violence that was based on ethnicity? very suspect! We never seem to learn our lessons .In Rwanda they removed the tribe section from Identification cards following the Rwanda Genocide as such data can do more harm than good in a highly polarised society(you can see the Mau Forest issue and the tribal aspect it has taken).

It would have been better for the safety and stability of the Republic to totally omit that section under the principle of abundant countenalle"extreme caution" since in the wrong hands such data can prove dangerous!