Nairobi Java House was rated no. 30 in the just concluded Nation Media Group/KPMG/Steadman Research survey resulting in the Top 100 Mid Sized Companies . And last week Friday, I (accidentally) broke my boycott and limped to Java Adams for lunch with wife. I’m sure the rest who boycotted had resumed long before me. The boycott was pending the outcome of a court case against one of the directors for “grossly breaking the law”!

 

Anyway, the feature on Java in today’s Business Daily newspaper is quite interesting. Nine things I have gleaned from this feature about Java are:

 

1.    The Java Brand name has grown without an advertising budget.

2.    The name “Java” is form a place in Indonesia where Americans used to import the bulk of its coffee.

3.    “It was harder to grow from one branch to three branches, than it has been to grow from three branches to ten” – Kevin Ashley, CEO.

4.    Java serves more than 6,000 customers daily. Assuming they spend an average of Kshs.500 each, that’s about Kshs.3m per day! (Kshs.3m in perspective is the price of a good , new Benz, a three bedroomed apartment in Thika, and Nairobi Chapel’s average monthly tithes and offering!)

5.    Java raised its employees’ salaries this year when others were laying off staff in the hospitality industry.

6.    Java contributes Kshs.125m in direct and indirect taxes.

7.    Java is considering listing in the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

8.    Java has some of Kenya’s leading industry captains on its board.

9.    Java recently acquired  the luxury bar and restaurant, Mercury Lounge at ABC Place.

 

The Nairobi Java House also has 9 outlets with one more scheduled to open at Sarit Centre in December

 

1.    Yaya Centre.

2.    The Junction.

3.    Mama Ngina Street.

4.    Koinange Street.

5.    Gigiri.

6.    ABC Place.

7.    Adams Aracade.

8.    JKIA

9. Upper Hill medical Centre.

 

Clearly, I jave separated the man, his sins and his coffee house.

 

 

September 19th began like any other day: Preparing for work with my wife and dashing out at 7a.m to beat the morning jam. We take a matatu to town and another to Westlands where we both work. What had I planned to do that Friday? Go for Anne Ofula’s burial (her husband Raymond is a good friend and I had grieved with him on the loss of his wife of 32 years) and prepare my hand over notes as I was leaving for Denmark the following day (my ticket and visa were ready). When we were in the matatu to Westlands, we discussed some of these things. Just after Consolata church the matatu breaks failed. I recall holding the handle above the door (we were both seated in front) since I was not belted up and for the next few seconds, watched what the driver was going to do. We were fast approaching traffic that had stopped ahead at the round about. The driver swerved to the right and rammed very hard to a stationary Nissan van ahead. He swerved to save himself, and we were the sacrificial lambs – the impact was hard and on our side.

The windscreen shattered infront of us but forward and outwards. That was the first miracle. Second miracle was that we were not flung out despite the impact. Our legs took in the impact and were temporarily trapped. I had excruciating pain and could only scream out loud for help as the rest of the passengers quickly ran out, unhurt. Meanwhile my wife, in anger, hit the driver several times while he retorted back that “this happens”. We were freed from the mangled wreckage and placed on the side of the road with Kenyans crowding aorund us, as usual. At this time my ankle and my knee were swollen and paining and numb and I was sure that I had a fracture. We called our offices and informed them of the accident.

A very good Samaritan who identified herself as Mama Muthoni quickly demonstrated leadership and took control of the situation. She encouraged us that all will be fine, mobilized money and got a cab to take us to the hospital. Mama Muthoni later told us when she visited us in hospital that she was on her way to town when the accident occured and she got off just to come and assist. She calls it her “full time vocatuon/ministry” and we believe God sent her to us.

The matatu conductor accompanied us to the hospital. My wife was injured and in pain but less than I was. While I was groaning in pain, she was able to muster strength to direct the cab, encourage me, and blast the Nairobi Hospital staff who took 15 minutes before deciding to take us in. Once in hospital, and once the doctors got the call from our offices and determined how payment would be made (welcome to Kenyan health sector), we were attended to. Tetanus and pain killer injections but no one dressed the wounds/cuts…till today!

We sustained soft tissue injuries and I had a tear on my knee ligaments. We were admitted for 3 nights…3 nights of taking blood pressure and temperature; 3 nights of taking pain killer tabs; 3 nights of watching tv (we managed to get a private room together); 3 nights of receiving visitors ; 3 nights of eating;(we have since been thanking God for those of our friends who visited with us at the hospital and those who have come home to check on us, cook for us, etc. We feel safe and secure in the hands of the friends we are blessed with). When the doctor dared make a suggestion that we spend one more night for observation, I almost walked!

We came back home and have slowly been recovering. I’m on crutches  and my wife has been taking extremely good care of me despite her own pain. I am glad I married her. She is a jewel.

Special thanks to our parents and family, our friends – very many of them who called, visited and later offered assistance at home but would like to mention a few – Our respective immediate families mums, dad and sisters; Mr. and Mrs. Chris Odongo; Mr. and Mrs. Martin Azenga;Pastor and Mrs. Kyama Mugambi; Pastor Gowi Odera; Mrs.Veronica Wachanga ;Jennifer Githae; Isaac Mutua; Esther Mutua; Mama Muthoni; Deborah Ross; Juliet Muthami; Waithera Kibinda;Mr. and Mrs. Paul Seko; Mr. and Mrs. Francis Kimaru; Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Kikuvi; Mr. and Mrs. Martin Ngacha;Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Osumba; Raymond Ofula (who visited a day after burying his wife) and our church i-group (David Kuria; Karimi Rimbui; Judy Gitau; Veronica Wachanga;Nick Owuor;Mark Kioko). More than 3 times this number of people visited and called and we are grateful to each and everyone of them.

Well, if God deems it fit that we continue living, who are we not to thank him for an opportunity to live out our pupose on earth? Many called this period of recovery “our second honeymoon – 5 months after the 1st” and yes you could say it was because we have grown close to each other during this period and closer to God together.

Finally the Subaru is at the port but is this the answer to the issues?

My goodness, its been like 2 months since I blogged. My constant source of internet was unreliable and I gave up on it. Now I have done something about it and hopefully I should join the blogosphere in analyzing our daily affairs. In those two months I have had a very busy time plus been in a road accident that has currently put me off work until mid-October.

Feel realy bad that I can’t really blog now on some crucial issues that have passed, like:

Obama-McCain debate and Palin-Joe Biden debate: I’m unashamadely democrat and have supported the Dem’s since the days of Bill Clinton. McCain was quite condescending towards Obama and Obama was quite respectful. Mc Cain and Obama both displayed extensive knowlegde on the issues. Sarah Palin shocked us all with an above average performance and she did keep her head up. Republican advisors must have really coached her. I think she performed quite well on all issues except (and ofcourse) Foreign Policy. Joe Biden was quite respectful towards her and also displayed his immense knowledge and experience on foreign policy matters – heck, he is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. If Obama-Biden lose,I will be in shock.

National Youth Convention IV – Took place on September 19th and 20th and was graced by His Excellency the Right Hon. Prime MInister as well as the MInister of Justice. The convention brought over 1,000 youth from all over the country and crucial resolutions were made for major interventions into public policy. The event was supported by the National Response Initiative and MARS Group Kenya amongst others. The implementation of the resolutions as well as the transition of leadership in the youth movement are eagerly awaited for by the young people of Kenya . There is impetus to re-direct youth energies towards crucial economic issues such as employment, poverty, corruption, business etc alongside the hard core political issues.

The dynamic Kenyan politics – ODM revolt by Rift Valley MPs and other internal wrangles, Martha Karua’s presidential campaign, the still-born PNU membership drive, the Cockar Commission, the Kriegler Commission, the Waki Commission etc. Ofcourse, I will be commenting on more current issues both under the aforementioned topics and others.

International Politics -  SA politics (Jacob Zuma is really flexing his muscles as ANC Chairman but SA still want Mbeki to mediate the Zimbabwe crisis), Zimbabwe deadlock – after saying that they would not want to beocme like Kenya, Zimbabwe had a sham election, Mugabe was declared president and sowrn in, a grey headed African statesman helped them negotiate a coalition government and now Mugabe and Tsvangirai can’t agree on some cabinet ministries-they still don’t want to become like Kenya? Kenya moved on. We can only urge Zimbabwe to catch up!; US Economic Crisis – only hope that this shifts the world power to another country and teaches American’s to vote wisely next time; UN General Assembly.

Church/Faith issues – NCCK’s General Assembly,PCEA wrangles, Mavuno’s out-of-the-box marketing,Ray Boltz….

I’m back.

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Transparency International – Kenya chapter released their annual Kenya Bribery Index 2008 at 10:30a.m. local time. This was the first bribery index to be released under the leadership of the new Executive Director, Job Ogonda, formerly in charge of the East and Southern Africa Desk at the TI headquarters in Berlin. It was also the first bribery index to be done by a different research advisor/consultant. Dr. Tom Wolf is now the new TI-Kenya Research Advisor taking over from Dr. David Ndii, who slowly withdrew his association with TI-Kenya following a series of events that dented the organization’s image including the forced resignation of its most visible Executive Director, Gladwell Otieno and the sacking of her successor, Mwalimu Mati by an over-enthusiastic board. Gladwell and Mwalimu are now running well funded outfits, AFRICOG and MARS Group, respectively. Within the secretariat, credible staff also left and though a few have remained, some continue to hold strings to the old board and to old thinking.

Away from the politics of the organization, the Police were top on the list of the Bribery Index. This faulty methodology of the bribery index will always produce the police at the top because they have the highest interaction with the public and no institution will dislodge them from this priviledge. Usual suspects on the Bribery Index list include the Local Authorities/Ministry of Local Government (the immediate former minister who is also the Deputy Prime MInister is under fire for disregarding the ECK’s list of nominated Councillors), Minsitry of Lands (already embroiled in the Grand Regency Saga), Ministry of Immigration (the minister is currently under fire for giving work permits to undeserving foreigners), the Provincial Administration, the Nairobi City Council and the MInistry of Health. The study was carried out between April 25th and May 4th, too early for Kenyans to demarcate their interaction with public offices and minsitries according to the new bloated Grand Coalition government.

The Bribery Index is slowly losing its flavour. Whereas in the days of John Githongo and Gladwel Otieno, it used to make the newspaper headlines, it no longer does so today. It’s on page 2 of Nation and page 18 of the Business Daily.

Reliable sources inform me that the police stopped caring anymore about their ranking on the Bribery Index and have consistently snubbed TI-Kenya’s overtures to undertake joint ethics reform because the Central Bureau of Statistics have enlightened them about the faulty bribery index methodology.

TI-Kenya is still parading the successes of its former strong workforce under Gladwell Otieno and Mwalimu Mati including ground-breaking and highly successful post Bribery Index institutional integrity studies with the Teacher’s Service Commission, the Kenya Commercial Bank and the Nairobi Water Company. The Kenya Commercial Bank’s head of the Ethics and Integrity Division attended the launch and made a presentation. The workforce under Gladwell and Mwalimu are all employed by leading international agencies including CHF International, PKF International, VSO International, UNDP, UN Arusha Tribunal and the Danish Embassy.

Though nothing was done under Lisa’s two year tenure as Acting Executive Director , she still remains a pillar of strength and bridge between the old TI and the new TI. All eyes are on the new Executive Director, Job Ogonda.

 

As I was having a late breakfast this morning (7a.m.), I was astounded by the news that the former Kenya National Football Team Coach,Harambee Stars, Reinhard Fabisch, died of cancer. He was 58. Fabisch also coached the National Teams of Zimbabawe, Unite Arab Emirates and recently, Benin, in the Africa Cup of Nations where he was accused of match fixing.

I was young when he first coached Kenya but I had already taken a keen interest in local football since my dad was a major fan who never missed going to the stadium. Fabisch coached a highly successful Kenya team that reached the final of the 4th All Africa Games which were being hosted by Kenya. Apart from being CECAFA Champions five times, The Kenya team has not had other successful runs before or after that, including not ever qualifying for the World Cup or going past the second round of the Africa Cup of Nations. The current team, though, offers a glimmer of hope.

Fabisch 1987 team boasted the skills of captain Austin “Makamu” Oduor, Abbass Khamis Magongo “Zamalek”, arguably the best player ever produced by Kenya, Wilberforce Mulamba, Sammy Onyango “Jogoo” amongst others. Gor Mahia then, produced the bulk of the National Team players. Today, Gor Mahia is a pale shadow of its former glory, and its place has been taken by youthful teams like Matahre United and experienced and well resourced teams like Tusker FC.

Fabisch ,like many other coaches of Harambee Stars, had his brushes with the ever-corrupt Kenya Football Federation.

Kenya still longs for a coach we used to sing and chant about ,”Fabisch for President”.

May God rest his soul in eternal peace.

 

 

 

                   

It is late in the day to make any meaningful comment of the Grand Regency Saga that cost the Finance Minister his job and his credibility. Questions abound as to who the real faces behind Amos Kimunya are with some analysts saying the President could be a/the beneficiary. We await what (another! sigh!) Commission of Inquiry will recommend as we also wait for the implementation of 10 other Commission of Inquiry reports. Meanwhile the heat is being turned on the Central Bank Governor, the Attorney General and the Ministry of Lands.

It’s been reported that the Lybians funded the PNU campaign to the tune of Kshs. 5 billion. For a political party that was cobbled up three months before the elections ,it was understandable that a quick source of funds was required to match the long term fund raising their arch-rivals, ODM, had engaged in. No wonder PNU’s spending was astronomical and reports of those who had access to the funds displaying exponential increase in wealth and lavish living.

ODM could have easily take the cue and used this opportunity to bring down Amos Kimunya in their quest to frustrate the PNU. It can be posited that they won this battle. But the war ahead is bigger. Otieno Kajwang, the Immigration Minister is under fire for giving work permits to welders and foremen, jobs that can be done by Kenyans according to his Permanent Secretary who doubles up as his chief Technical Advisor. But Kajwang’s case may not be big. The minister who should watch out is William Ruto. He is the most exposed ODM minister….exposed in that the unconfirmed allegations as to the extent of his involvement in the post-election violence in Rift Valley, still hovers around him. PNU may be sharpening their knives to make a stab at him. The stature of KImunya can only be matched by William Ruto. Both are second tier leaders in their respective parties after the top tier of the President and his Deputy, and the Prime Minister and his two deputies.

 

Martha Karua, PNU’s most brilliant mind and defender, did not stand by Kimunya. Martha is relatively clean in Kenyan politics and following her declaration to succeed Kibaki as the 4th President of Kenya, she may want to steer clear of any tainted individuals. Central Province succession politics will pit those who have illegally acquired their wealth (Uhuru etc) with those who have worked for the little they have (Martha etc).

 

The Finance MInister in Kenya has immense powers in managing the Exchequer. Virtually everyone who has been Finance MInister has put his hand in the till. I do not expect an end to corruption in the ministry. In fact, with Kibaki’s cronies (Transcentury et al) facing only four more years to increase and consolidate their wealth, the next Finance MInister can only be someone “friendly” to their cause. That’s why John Michuki is acting as we await the final confirmation of who will be minister. Since it is important , nay, unavoidable,that Kenya has a Finance Minister at any given time, top contenders for this seat include Peter Kenneth, former Assistant MInister for Finance and some good credentials with related tasks (except KFF) or John Michuki himself. In the spirit of portfolio balance, it will be PNU’s call to nominate for this office. It may also remain in Central Province.

Parliament is truly asserting its role and playing watchdog on behalf of Kenyans quite well. But some loop holes emerged even as they hounded Kimunya out of office. Parliament should have tasked the Parliamentary Committee on Finance to quickly carry out an audit and use this report to nail Kimunya. The Public Accounts Committee under Uhuru’s Chairmanship in 2006 did a brilliant report on the Artur brothers assisted by some of the most brilliant legal minds in the country.

Some of the members of the watchdog committees are the most tainted MPs in history. George Thuo is a member of the Parliamentary Accounts Committee. He joined Palriament against the backdrop of running down the Kenya Bus Service. Cyrus Jirongo, Ephraim Maina and Sammy Mwaita are members of the Public Investments Committee but don’t be shocked if they are adversely mentioned in their own committee reports. Cyrus was a master swindler in the 90’s after his Youth for Kanu ‘92 tenure and construction projects where he conned the NSSF; Ephraim Maina of KIrinyaga Construction has reportedly carried out shoddy work and canvassed for jobs through his links; Sammy Mwaita was a former Commissioner of Lands where he approved irregularly on many occassions. Parliament is about to approve the new Standing Orders. I hope one of the recommendations will be to bar tainted MPs from sitting in Parliamentary Committees.

My goodness me. It’s been over a year when I last blogged and ran into “technical hitches”. I definitely missed out on some of the most important events taking place in the world, top on the list being my mother land’s dramatic election and post election issues (Kenya). I still maintain my strong inclination to the meeting point of faith, politics, public policy and culture and promise to give it my best in commentaries likenever seen before. It’s good to be back. So what do we talk about?