I have observed that many people who have very strong opinions on who the middle class is and their role in the country do not seem to know exactly who the middle class is. Winnie Odinga’s rant about the middle class brought many of those out of the wood works. Every time there’s a political action, whether demo or elections, we love to blame the middle…
Read MoreIt is no secret that the government would like Kenya to have just a few big banks. The Finance Cabinet Secretary at the last budget reading proposed a 400% increase in banks’ core capital from Sh1 billion to Sh5 billion, aimed at forcing consolidation and acquisition of the smaller banks. While he first disagreed with this, CBK governor’s initial enthusiasm for niche banks seems to be…
Read MoreIt is now becoming evident that the Chase Bank saga will end with an acquisition, which in my opinion is great for all stakeholders, especially the depositors whose money is still held by the bank. So far, we have 5 declared suitors; KCB (On Citizen TV last evening, their CEO hinted that there would be a deal by end of week), Equity Bank, Centum, CBA…
Read MoreDo you have a Blog, a Facebook page , Instagram page or a Twitter account that focuses on social issues? In association with the Gates Foundation, the African Blogger Awards have introduced three new categories, whose aim is to raise awareness of social issues that affect the continent. The three new categories are: Women and Girls’ Empowerment Public Health Social Issues and Active Citizenship If…
Read MoreThis morning, Chase Bank, a bank a lot of people liked and banked with (yours truly included), went into receivership. Prior to that, their published accounts had a note of a “qualified opinion” being given by their auditors, and many questions have come up: Did their auditors lie to us? How come the auditors didn’t detect weak/illegal lending practices? What do auditors do exactly?And so…
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Yesterday at 7:24am I got the following notification in my email: Dear Kellie, Student {daughter’s name) exited bus KCE_xxx on March 8, 2016 7:36 AM. I was puzzled for about a minute, then I remembered that sometime last term we had been told that the school was implementing a system that would notify us when our children used school transport. I frankly did not think much…
Read MoreWhy don’t you marry a plumber Kellie? —-> The intended headline for this post… Sometime last year, one of my good married (male) friends was doing his kind act of the day; helping me get married. Married friends always do the most to help their single friends get married, bless their hopeless souls. So this friend asked me why I haven’t considered dating a plumber,…
Read More“So, are you a rapporteur by profession? Do you do this full time?” It was 7am in the morning, I had just settled down for a short stopover at Bole Airport (Addis). The plan was to recline and catch up with sleep having left home at 3am to catch an early morning flight to Khartoum for a medical conference. However,the gentleman I just met wanted to…
Read MoreYesterday I suffered a fall while running. This is a big deal for two reasons: I never fall. Seriously, I can’t remember the last time I actually fell. Sliding and landing on my bum while hiking doesn’t count, I am talking about tripping, being suspended in the air for a microsecond before landing on your hands and knees. I just do not fall… Falling (as…
Read MoreOn Friday this week, most businesses with close with accompanying pomp, and business will shut down so people can go for the annual Christmas / New Year break. Unless you are completely anti-holiday, you most probably have plans for the Christmas break. From the very Kenyan plans (holidaying in Mombasa), to the more humble (visiting folks upcountry), you are guaranteed to be spending a bit more than usual…
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