Do you know your tenant? 2 simple ways to find out.

One of the worst rumours (or is it confirmed?) during the Westgate terror attack was that the terrorists might have been tenants of the Westgate Mall.

Some of us actually let out our premises to strangers without having any identity of the person/company renting the premises and as it has been shown this can be disastrous. It does not need to be a thorough review but using this 2 Government tools can save you a lot of headache later.

1. PIN Checker- Unless you are minor, it is a requirement to have a Personal Identification Number in Kenya. The PIN system at KRA is linked to the department of immigration. Using this link, you can check the validity of a PIN 

http://www.kra.go.ke/index.php/pin-checker

2. National ID - Given at 18 years of age, this is the document that is given as a form of identity in Kenya. One trick you can use is check the age of the person and usually, another person of the same age would have the same ID number (especially the first 2 digits of the ID are similar .

If someone insists that they are using a waiting car, you can check the status of the ID with a waiting number here or simply go to Immigration and confirm http://www.identity.go.ke/index.php/check-id-status

3. What about foreigners?

Well, they should have a passport, work permit/visa allowing them to stay in the country for a specific period of time and as a pre-caution do a google search/image search just to make sure they are not wanted criminals.

One thing i known about the majority of many Kenyans, they do a lot of things "chini ya maji" as we are inherently good people but well times are changing, kaa chonjo!Obviously, report any dubious person to the police.

Peculiarity of Kenyans

So i was having this conversation with a few people in the morning. I realized the turning point for Safaricom was the "Kenyans are peculiar" statement by its then CEOMr. Michael Joseph. We talked about Equity and Barclays. Where Barclays closed branches in several parts of the country, Equity opened them.

There are few things you cannot do;get into the mind of Kenyans. You must be willing to do understand the market. Granted an idea may work well in France or South Africa, but there are a different people and culture.

In Kenya a lot of investments even at the NSE are done in "a pata potea" manner.

I listen a lot to my dad. He is your perfect Kenyan mind. He is the one that led the onslaught on the Kencell popularity on our house. In a matter of time, we all made the big switch never to go back. He is a lead user of MPESA. He definitely has an equity account despite his remarks on the stability of that bank. He likes the fact that he can walk with his log book into the bank and walk out with money.

One, Kenyans love simplicity. Do what you may, just make it simple.

It is not easy to open a bank account. You need a letter from a referee and a utility bill. I wonder just how many rural Kenyans have electricity bills. Last time i checked in my village, there was no water neither electricity bills coming. So Equity asked them to come with their copies of ID. And come, they did. When they did well, other banks warned they were treading on dangerous ground.

Check your regular Barclays/Standard Chartered requirements for a loan. You will be forgiven to think you are dealing with the CID. There are a few fraudsters granted. But just like the way the US treats aliens (sic) with the attitude that they are potential extreme Islamists ready to bomb them any second soon, banks tend to treat their good customers like fraudsters/defaulters. KIVA.org, a site that loans to small scale people in Africa has hardly reported any defaulters.

Just to make sure that this talk of peculiarity of Kenyan is not just talk, i headed to the CCK Website to check the Statistics. This is what i found;

Market Share in the telecommunications sector in Kenya

Safaricom- 68.6%

Airtel- 14.3%

Orange- 10.8%

Yu- 6.26%

Numbers do not lie.

Call Rates for mobile service providers

Safaricom- On Net 4 /= Off Net 5/=

Airtel - On Net 1/= Off Net 3/=

Orange- On Net 2/= Off Net 4/=

Yu- On Net -Free Off Net (No details)

Seems like these other mobile providers should stop competing on prices and enhance their brand visibility and "Kenyan-ness". As to how, you must go back to the real Kenyans and get to know what they want/think.

The apparent lack of charm in Kenyan Men

Ok another male bashing post! Not really. Just check out these two videos of two men, one Kenyan and another Tanzanian telling their lover to wait as they are stuck in traffic. Having said that did anyone notice the lack of Bongo Music everywhere?

Jam na Kam- Rabbit



Pi Pii- Marlaw

The country i belong

The debate started here;

http://lovelymoney.blogspot.com/2009/08/diasporans-giving-up-on-kenya.html

 

Then moved here;

 

http://grainsofmasala.blogspot.com/2009/08/giving-up-is-not-option.html

Well i read and re-read the original post and the comments.

 

Some feelings came over me because i did not know who to direct my angst at. The writer of the blog, the thieves, KPLC & Kengen, the buggers on the list of Mau, our politicians,God for not letting it rain Isaac & William Ruto, Moi, Kibaki, Eddie Njoroge, Raila, the people who caused post election violence, the police who tortured people during post election violence, the careless politicians who issued haterade during post election violence, Kiraitu Murungi, the people who trashed MOU, Kivuitu, the US and the foreign countries who have refused to trade with Africa and instead ask us for proper governance, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, the US & even the UK for colonizing and patronizing Africa (thus Kenya) and even China for dumping their cheap imports on us poor Africans!....

 

As you can see I have a lot of people to blame for our sordid, sorry condition.

 

Once in a while i have fleeting thoughts of permanently moving out of my country to go and look for greener pastures. Then i came to this sad conclusion, it is easier to make a life ( not necessarily a living) in Kenya than any other place in the world.

 

Yes, i know everytime i watch news, somebody will have been jacked, Isaac Ruto will have said a statement that will make you wonder whether to smack him or just send that hangman right to his house or something will be terribly wrong. That is conveyed in less than hour, and yet strong enough to convince someone never to come back to Kenya, the land of their birth. In short, these are trying times. And yes i know every morning i have to wake up before 6 to ensure a hot shower, assuming that the water will be available:(. And yet, everyday, each day in Kenya is not as horrid as it is made to be.

 

I have the joy of living in my mother land. A country nobody thinks less of me because my skin is black. A country i can walk head high, shoulders even higher because it is home. A place i can travel to the country side and catch the smell of cow's dung in the morning. And truly breath fresh air. A place where food is food, not manufactured food. Nobody sells to me "organic" or is it "Superfoods"?.

 

Where the weather never truly changes and i don't know the meaning of sweltering heat nor snow.

 

What more in life can one ask for?

 

I know the despair that comes with a really corrupt citizenry (ooh don't blame a few) or even our wanton neglect of existing laws (Traffic jams anyone?) or even our utter selfishness and grabbing everything in sight.

 

But when all modernity is taken, all tall buildings, subways, highways that defy nature or the greatest architectural buildings or even greater and faster service that other nations boast of. The warmth and humanity of Kenyans is beyond reproach.

 

I have had clients from developed nations refuse to go back to their lands. Here, they say they have met with people with a genuine touch and focus on making a living while at the same time making a life. I would hell hate to stay in a place where time is never enough, that i could never stop a chit chat with someone i call my friend because i need to be at the work place to serve other people (hello exemplary service). Where people are governed by clocks to make MORE MONEY.

 

I love money no doubt for the things i can do with it, but i will not not look after my ailing aging parents, prefering to dump them in homes for the aged (where by the way they will be looked after by the illegal immigrants from a country that they think is in South Africa)

 

After all we have something to sell. Being Human. That is what Kenyans are and always remain.

 

 

Africa Policy Brief No. 1 January 2008

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