Kenyaleo.co.ke

Author: David Bogonko Nyokang’i

  • Experts Urge Parents to Protect Kenyan Children in Digital Spaces

    Wakikisha Inititiative CEO Elizabeth Njambi addresses participants at a media wrkshop held in Nairobi to mark The Day of the African Child. Photo by Alex Mburu.
    Wakikisha Inititiative CEO Elizabeth Njambi addresses participants at a media wrkshop held in Nairobi to mark The Day of the African Child. Photo by Alex Mburu.

    By OMBOKI MONAYO

    omboki2725@gmail.com

    Ms Jecinta Agunja is a worried woman. The source of her worry and that of many other parents is the mobile phone, which is rapidly becoming a common feature of life in Kenya.

    The mother and human rights advocate and defender lives in Mathare, an informal settlement that has a population of 206,564, which works out to an average of 68,941 persons living within a square kilometer.

    Kenya’s national population density on the other hand is 82 persons per square kilometre.

    Mobile phone usage in the country of 47.5m people living in 12.2m households is growing by leaps and bounds every day, with the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) indicating that some 60.7 million mobile phone devices were connected to mobile networks as at 30th Sept 2022.

    Of these, CAK data shows that 32.9 million were feature phones while 27.9 million were smartphones. This represents a penetration rate for feature phones and smartphones as a percentage of the total population at 66.5 and 56.4 percent respectively.

    Young people aged 18-25 years also averagely spend more than 6 hours in a day on the internet. Digital news outlet Business2Community estimates that almost 15 percent of all digital media time is spent on mobile devices.

    According to online data trend monitor techjury.com, most people or 96 per cent of internet users between 16 and 64 own a mobile phone. 96 per cent of people in this group own a smartphone.

    Some 63 per cent have a laptop or a computer, with around 35 per cent using a tablet device.

    At least 27 percent have a smart watch or wristband while 20 per cent are owners of a games console.

    Of this group, 15 per cent have a TV streaming device, while 14 per cent have upgraded their homes with a smart home device.

    Ms Agunja, a human rights based advocate who works for the Coalition of Grassroots Human Rights Defenders (CGHRD), says the phone has become both a source of joy and pain in the lives of many families in the informal settlement she calls home.

    “Parents have to be vigilant so as to prevent our children from accessing adult content on mobile phones. This is however proving to be a hard task since we may not always be able to monitor where the children go or who they associate with whenever they are out our sight,” she says.

    According to Cpl Truphena Naisukwa, who serves as a senior correctional officer at Kamiti Maximum Prison, mobile phones can cause havoc in a home with minors if left to them unsupervised.

    “Mobile phones with internet connection can become a nuisance if their use is not monitored. This is because children can use them to access adult content that will provide them with information that their young minds have not yet been trained to handle or judge,” said Ms Naisukwa.

    Speaking to sasanews.org in Nairobi at an event organized to mark the Day of the African Child by Wakilisha Initiative on June 15, 2023 2023, the prisons officer said there is need for parents to take a closer look at the content their children are accessing online.

    “We must be very keen on what our children are looking at whenever they are on the phones. This is because the Internet is a massive jungle of different sources of information, including some that can entice them into criminal activity, drug and alcohol addiction as well as other forms of antisocial behavior,” she said.

    The theme for this year’s Day of the African Child as set by The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (The Committee/ ACERWC) is “The Rights of the Child in the Digital Environment”

    On her part, Wakilisha Initiative chief executive officer Elizabeth Njambi said there is need for stricter monitoring of content made available on the online platforms owned and operated by tech giants headquartered overseas.

    Wakilisha works with lawyers to provide pro bono services to children in conflict with the law, who face legal challenges as a result of court cases.

    It also promotes rehabilitative justice through mentorship and talent development, create public awareness on the needs and right of children in conflict with the law and advocate for a child-friendly justice system

    She explained that the increased vigilance would serve to protect Kenyan minors in case of crimes committed by perpetrators operating through social media platforms.

    She cited the case filed by former Facebook employees in Kenya who had been assigned to moderate content on the platform as an important milestone in efforts to bring big tech companies to book for violations committed on Kenyan soil.

    “We were elated by the decision of the courts to recognize that our laws have jurisdiction over violations committed on Kenya soil, despite the fact that the companies that own those platforms were started and registered in other countries,” said Ms Njambi.

    She revealed that Wakilisha, which offers pro bono representation services for minors, was committed to increasing public awareness on the legal rights of children.

    “We are determined to ensure that more Kenyans are aware of the legal rights of minors so as to be able to identify and even report violations when they occur, “ said Ms Njambi.

    On the flip side, the ubiquitous devices are also a teaching tool that parents in our partly digitized education system cannot do without.

    “Phones are used to source for some of the assignments that children studying under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) are given at school. The problem is that not all of us have smartphones, and so we have to rely on cyber cafes to enable the children complete those assignments,” says Ms Agunja.

    She points out that the lack of wifi and the relatively expensive cost of mobile phone data bundles has left most parents with the option of allowing the young learners to visit cyber cafes to acess the required learning materials.

    “In the informal settlement, wifi connection is not common and most people can access the internet using their mobile phones. However, the presence of cyber cafés, which provide cheap internet services, has eased the situation for the children with assignments that require sourcing for online learning materials,” she says.

    This option, she explains, also comes with its dangers for the minors.

    “At the cyber cafes, most of the business owners do not restrict the children from watching whatever content that they may want to watch, including videos that they will probably never be allowed to watch at home. This has created a window of opportunity for the young ones to be corrupted by getting exposed to adult or antisocial content from an early age,” she tells sasanews.co.ke

    The digital revolution has also ushered in another powerful but silent foe that is rapidly bearing down on Kenyan minors, just like their counterparts in the Global North.

    According to Elizabeth Njambi, who is the Wakilisha Initiative founder and chief executive officer, online predators are now using mobile technology to groom unsusoecting minors through internet chatrooms

    Athen Morgan, who is the Africa Regional Project Manager at the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) Intermational Missing Children, concurs.

    “Pedophile groomers and childporn vendors are tracking and trapping minors into situations of sexual abuse through the chat rooms of apps such as Instagram, Spotify and games such as Minecraft. We are aware of cases where sexual abuse or attempted abuse has taken place after the abuser approached the minors through onlineplatforms,” says Ms Morgan.

    She is advising parents to take a closer look at their children’s mobile phone usage, with a view to ensuring that they are not engaging in unhealthy conversations with strangers.

    “Create time to find out which sort of social networks your children are creating and joining online. This way, you can ensure that they will not fall victim to groomers and other online predators,” says

    She also points out that mobile technology can be used to create alerts on missing children, as well as tracking them before they are harmed or trafficked by their abductors.By OMBOKI MONAYO
    omboki2725@gmail.com
    Ms Jecinta Agunja is a worried woman. The source of her worry and that of many other parents is the mobile phone, which is rapidly becoming a common feature of life in Kenya.
    The mother and human rights advocate and defender lives in Mathare, an informal settlement that has a population of 206,564, which works out to an average of 68,941 persons living within a square kilometer.
    Kenya’s national population density on the other hand is 82 persons per square kilometre.
    Mobile phone usage in the country of 47.5m people living in 12.2m households is growing by leaps and bounds every day, with the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) indicating that some 60.7 million mobile phone devices were connected to mobile networks as at 30th September 2022.
    Of these, CAK data shows that 32.9 million were feature phones while 27.9 million were smartphones. This represents a penetration rate for feature phones and smartphones as a percentage of the total population at 66.5 and 56.4 percent respectively.
    Young people aged 18-25 years also averagely spend more than 6 hours in a day on the internet. Digital news outlet Business2Community estimates that almost 15 percent of all digital media time is spent on mobile devices.
    According to online data trend monitor techjury.com, most people or 96 per cent of internet users between 16 and 64 own a mobile phone. 96 per cent of people in this group own a smartphone.
    Some 63 per cent have a laptop or a computer, with around 35 per cent using a tablet device.
    At least 27 percent have a smart watch or wristband while 20 per cent are owners of a games console.
    Of this group, 15 per cent have a TV streaming device, while 14 per cent have upgraded their homes with a smart home device.
    Ms Agunja, a human rights based advocate who works for the Coalition of Grassroots Human Rights Defenders (CGHRD), says the phone has become both a source of joy and pain in the lives of many families in the informal settlement she calls home.
    “Parents have to be vigilant so as to prevent our children from accessing adult content on mobile phones. This is however proving to be a hard task since we may not always be able to monitor where the children go or who they associate with whenever they are out our sight,” she says.
    According to Cpl Truphena Naisukwa, who serves as a senior correctional officer at Kamiti Maximum Prison, mobile phones can cause havoc in a home with minors if left to them unsupervised.
    “Mobile phones with internet connection can become a nuisance if their use is not monitored. This is because children can use them to access adult content that will provide them with information that their young minds have not yet been trained to handle or judge,” said Ms Naisukwa.
    Speaking to sasanews.org in Nairobi at an event organized to mark the Day of the African Child by Wakilisha Initiative on June 15, 2023 2023, the prisons officer said there is need for parents to take a closer look at the content their children are accessing online.
    “We must be very keen on what our children are looking at whenever they are on the phones. This is because the Internet is a massive jungle of different sources of information, including some that can entice them into criminal activity, drug and alcohol addiction as well as other forms of antisocial behavior,” she said.
    The theme for this year’s Day of the African Child as set by The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (The Committee/ ACERWC) is “The Rights of the Child in the Digital Environment”
    On her part, Wakilisha Initiative chief executive officer Elizabeth Njambi said there is need for stricter monitoring of content made available on the online platforms owned and operated by tech giants headquartered overseas.
    Wakilisha works with lawyers to provide pro bono services to children in conflict with the law, who face legal challenges as a result of court cases.
    It also promotes rehabilitative justice through mentorship and talent development, create public awareness on the needs and right of children in conflict with the law and advocate for a child-friendly justice system
    She explained that the increased vigilance would serve to protect Kenyan minors in case of crimes committed by perpetrators operating through social media platforms.
    She cited the case filed by former Facebook employees in Kenya who had been assigned to moderate content on the platform as an important milestone in efforts to bring big tech companies to book for violations committed on Kenyan soil.
    “We were elated by the decision of the courts to recognize that our laws have jurisdiction over violations committed on Kenya soil, despite the fact that the companies that own those platforms were started and registered in other countries,” said Ms Njambi.
    She revealed that Wakilisha was committed to increasing public awareness on the legal rights of children.
    “We are determined to ensure that more Kenyans are aware of the legal rights of minors so as to be able to identify and even report violations when they occur,” said Ms Njambi.
    On the flip side, the ubiquitous devices are also a teaching tool that parents in our partly digitized education system cannot do without.
    “Phones are used to source for some of the assignments that children studying under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) are given at school. The problem is that not all of us have smartphones, and so we have to rely on cyber cafes to enable the children complete those assignments,” says Ms Agunja.
    She points out that the lack of wifi and the relatively expensive cost of mobile phone data bundles has left most parents in the slum with the option of allowing the young learners to visit cyber cafes to access the required learning materials.
    “In the informal settlement, wifi connection is not common and most people can access the internet using their mobile phones. However, the presence of cyber cafés, which provide cheap internet services, has eased the situation for the children with assignments that require sourcing for online learning materials,” she says.
    This option, she explains, also comes with its dangers for the minors.
    “At the cyber cafes, most of the business owners do not restrict the children from watching whatever content that they may want to watch, including videos that they will probably never be allowed to watch at home. This has created a window of opportunity for the young ones to be corrupted by getting exposed to adult or antisocial content from an early age,” she tells sasanews.co.ke
    The digital revolution has also ushered in another powerful but silent foe that is rapidly bearing down on Kenyan minors, just like their counterparts in the Global North.
    According to Elizabeth Njambi, who is the Wakilisha Initiative founder and chief executive officer, online predators are now using mobile technology to groom unsuspecting minors through internet chatrooms
    Ms Athena Morgan, who is the Africa Regional Project Manager at the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), concurs.
    “Pedophile groomers and childporn vendors are tracking and trapping minors into situations of sexual abuse through the chat rooms of apps such as Instagram, Spotify and games such as Minecraft. We are aware of cases where sexual abuse or attempted abuse has taken place after the abuser approached the minors through online platforms,” says Ms Morgan.
    She is advising parents to take a closer look at their children’s mobile phone usage, with a view to ensuring that they are not engaging in unhealthy conversations with strangers.
    “Create time to find out which sort of social networks your children are creating and joining online. This way, you can ensure that they will not fall victim to groomers and other online predators,” says
    She also points out that mobile technology can be used to create alerts on missing children, as well as tracking their possible movements before they are harmed or trafficked by their abductors.

  • MELTA Faults Liquor Joints Closure

    MELTA Faults Liquor Joints Closure

    Medium Liquor Traders Association has expressed concerns over liquor joints closure and Illicit Brew Crackdown .

    In the response Melta Chairman Frank Mbogo noted:

    “We would like to congratulate the Deputy President Hon. Rigathi Gachagua for spearheading the tremendous crackdown of the illicit brewers and unlicensed liquor traders across the country.

    Our contribution in regards to the process would be that the guidelines on the trade be tightened, crackdown on unprofessionals who hide behind the noble idea with ill motives of soliciting money from stakeholders, involve stakeholders during the process and as well conduct civic education and guidance to the stakeholders due to the fact that some of the stakeholders get involved in the business without knowledge of how to run the business but instead just as a source of income and profit generating activity.

    Lest we forget that the business if well conducted, it’s a source of revenue and a BIG source of employment to the youth which if not well taken care of may lead to massive joblessness and increase in crime rate hence we request for a holistic approach with uttermost faith and humanity so as to factor in the ripple effect that comes with the crackdown.

  • CS Miano dismissed reports that government distributed maize and beans that took more than 3 hours to cook

    CS Miano dismissed reports that government distributed maize and beans that took more than 3 hours to cook

    Cabinet Secretary for the East African Community, Rebecca Miano, dismissed reports that the government distributed maize and beans that took more than 3 hours to cook.

    Appearing before the Senate, Miano disclosed that the government never received negative feedback on maize and beans distributed across the country under the relief programme launched by President William Ruto.

    Miano responded to the claims after Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo lamented that some residents were facing difficulties in cooking beans which she argued took longer hours than usual.

    Dullo thus implored Miano to give money to the affected people instead of food.

    “I remember there was a time views were collected on the ground where instead of giving food to individuals, you give cash transfers. Why can’t you use cash transfer instead of providing food that doesn’t even reach people, especially the beans that take 3 or 4 hours to cook?” Dhullo questioned.

    In her response, Miano announced that the government was deliberating on finding alternative dry foods to be distributed under the relief program.

    “We haven’t received a complaint about the beans for now and maize that takes longer.  We will continue working on cash transfers so that communities and vulnerable people can continue to sample what else is easier to cook in the market and undertake a survey on alternative relief food or dry foods that may have the same protein,” Miano responded.

    The relief food programme was championed by President Ruto and benefitted all 47 counties. Other stakeholders also supported the initiative by raising funds for the kitty.

    During her appearance, Miano told the Senate that the government, in collaboration with other partners including the National Drought Management Authority distribute rice packaged in 50-kilogram bags, beans, maize, vegetable oil, and other fortified food bases.

    Other humanitarian organizations supplied non-food commodities including iron sheets, timber, nails, mattresses, blankets, jikos, tents, soaps, and sanitary towels.

    According to Miano, other communities were supported through water supplies and securing of their livestock, a part of Kenya Kwanza’s decision to alleviate poverty.

    On November 2022, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua appealed to Kenyans to donate to a nationwide food drive.

    “We appeal to Kenyans to give food so they can be given to those in need. Many Kenyans are suffering and we are making this appeal to help them. No Kenyan should die from hunger when other Kenyans have surplus food,” the DP appealed.

    At that time, over 4.1 million Kenyans across 23 counties in Arid and Semi-arid Lands (ASAL) felt the heat of prolonged drought.

    The government even established a platform allowing Kenyans to submit donations.

  • Pressure mounts on banker over siblings’ property, burial of mother

    A top Kenya Commercial Bank manager is under investigation over a series of fictitious transactions involving unsuspecting siblings and members of his clan, based on evidence exclusively obtained by our team.

    Diana Kerubo Oseko has petitioned the internal fraud investigations unit of Kenya Commercial Bank and the Banking Fraud Investigations Unit to probe illegal transactions orchestrated by her elder brother, Joseph Ngala Oseko, who is based at Kencom House, who allegedly forged documents to defraud her of her property which she purchased through her.

    In her letter to KCB, dated 23 May 2023 to the Banking Fraud Unit of the bank and copied to the BFIU, she is seeking the attention of the Fraud Investigations Officer over a “fraudulent loan and misrepresentation of my identity” in which she claims that her brother forged loan application documents to suggest the two were husband and wife.

    “In 2009 I purchased, through Mr. Joseph Ngala Oseko (your employee), the property under the title […]situated at Ole Shapara Avenue, South C, Nairobi; which property, among others, has been the premise of long-standing strain on our relationship with my brother between 2013 and now,” reads part of the letter obtained by our team.

    “Sometime in 2019, I learned that Mr. Joseph Ngala Oseko fraudulently obtained an undisclosed loan amount against the said property through falsified documents; which loan I was never aware of until 2019 when my brother told me that the property could not be transferred to my name because a loan he took against it had not been cleared.”

    “I have since learned that the loan application documents portrayed me inappropriately, suggesting I was either a trustee or his wife, which misrepresentation was done so as to fraudulently get the loan approved. I never authorized the use of my details for the loan application and did not sign anything that was presented purportedly from me.

    In the letter, Ms. Oseko asserts that “this fraud was facilitated and succeeded because Mr. Joseph Ngala Oseko is a senior manager with your bank, who should be investigated and brought to account for abuse of his position.”

    “The purpose of this letter is to formally petition your internal banking systems to investigate this fraud with a view to maintaining and protecting the integrity of Kenya Commercial Bank which stands to suffer immense credibility dent in the face of the public if this conduct by Mr. Joseph Ngala Oseko is not stopped.”

    Ms. Oseko says the brother (Joseph) has defrauded her of her South C house and another property in the Embakasi estate, both valued at more than KSh30,000,000.

    From the documents in our possession, it is understood that Joseph was forced to relinquish other properties to his sisters after they threatened to raise the matter with KCB in 2013.

    Our team is aware that Mr. Joseph Ngala Oseko is also under pressure from his family following the death of his mother – Mrs. Yunia Bochaberi Oseko – who died in 2020 but her body has remained at Umash Funeral Home since then. His elder brother Patrick Ondieki Ngala had earlier written to KCB seeking their intervention to get him to release “the money contributed for the same purpose which has not been spent”.

    “All efforts to have my mother’s remains interred have been thwarted by (my brother) Joseph Ngala Oseko, who has used all manner of unscrupulous, krass means, including but not limited to, blackmail, intimidation and abuse of his position as a Senior Manager with Kenya Commercial Bank; a situation which is no longer tenable as my mother’s stay at Umash Funeral Home is a continuously traumatizing ordeal,” reads the letter dated 15 May 2023.

    In the letter, the senior Oseko is also seeking the attention of the public, including human rights organizations to intervene so that their mother gets justice.

    “I call upon the Kenya Human Rights Commission to urgently take up this matter with a view to having me and my family have justice for our mother, whose rights have been grossly violated (in death) by the (in)actions I have enumerated and which must forthwith be addressed so as to have her Rest in Peace.

    “Other human rights organizations are hereby of this injustice on my family by one of us, who views himself as invincible due to his privileged position as a Senior Manager of Kenya Commercial Bank.”

    It is understood that Joseph Ngala Oseko has sued journalist Milton Nyakundi for defamation, a suit that is pending before the Milimani Civil Court.

    “It is true that I was sued over this matter and my lawyers are dealing with it but the most important thing for me right now is to get justice for the late Mama Yunia Bochaberi,” Nyakundi was quoted by Kurunzi News.

    “You cannot mistreat a parent that way and I am ready to face him head-on because all I am asking of him is to stop the shenanigans and get his mother laid to rest.

    “That old lady being detained in the morgue by his unjust actions is also a member of the community, an auntie, a sister, a grandmother, and those people deserve to get closure by having her laid to rest without any further delay.”

    His mother’s body is still lying at Umash Funeral Home as the family mobilizes resources to clear the mortuary bill which is currently standing at KSh1,592,000.

    “[…] It is not my family’s wish to have my mother’s remains interred for all this while and it is unbecoming, immoral, and illegal to have (my brother) Joseph Ngala Oseko conduct himself as though it is his prerogative and the rest of us are beholden to him,” writes Ondieki Oseko.

    “It is difficult but we plead with well-wishers to help us because my brother took money from people and he has now gone into hiding, leaving us helpless, those who feel the pain of a mother are welcome to help us,” pleads Ondieki Oseko, adding that he will do everything to ensure his brother Joseph is brought to book over this issue.

    “My brother’s continued non-declaration and surrender of the monies that he received in the name of offsetting my mother’s funeral expenses amounts to obtaining money by false pretense which is  a criminal offense for which he should be brought to justice.”

  • Addressing Intellectual Property crime will spur digital driven economies, AGA-Africa says

    Addressing Intellectual Property crime will spur digital driven economies, AGA-Africa says

    By Vincent Munga

    Cross-border cooperation among countries should be embraced to tackle counterfeit products, Attorney General Alliance-Africa Programme (AGA-Africa) International Advisor Mr. John Edozie has said.

    Edozie who was speaking in Nairobi, Kenya says if African governments strengthens intellectual property protection and enforcement to combat counterfeit products, then the continent will realize progress and prosperity.

    “Intellectual property in the 21st century is a critical driver of progress and prosperity as it fuels innovation, fosters creativity, and propels economic growth. Whilst in the past, business investments primarily focused on physical assets, today, the true value lies in intangible goods—the ideas and creations of the mind that shape our world,” he said.

    As highlighted by the International Chamber of Commerce, in Kenya, the counterfeiting business is valued at approximately Sh116 billion, causing the government to lose around Sh11 billion to counterfeiting and piracy.

    Edozie says this poses significant threats to economies, industries, and the well-being and safety of consumers.

    “It deprives governments of essential revenues, discourages legitimate businesses, compromises product quality, endangers public health and safety and results in job losses,” he said.

    He was speaking at a symposium to address counterfeit menace in Nairobi. The three day conference convenes prominent stakeholders, policymakers, legal experts, industry leaders, and international organizations involved in trade, intellectual property protection and enforcement.

    They are exploring innovative strategies on how international cooperation and collaboration can be developed to improve both strategic and operational responses to what is now a global economic and criminal issue.

  • Digital ID enrollment is a conduit to siphon public resources, a Lobby group now claims

    Digital ID enrollment is a conduit to siphon public resources, a Lobby group now claims

    By Vincent Munga

    A Lobby group is seeking to submit a petition to the High Court of Kenya to block the government from implementing a Unique Personal Identifier (UPI) as a means to identify Kenyans and to centralise their details.

    Operation Linda Ugatuzi will today, 13th June 2023, head to parliament too to ask Parliament not to pass the budget for the proposed project by the Kenya Kwanza government terming it a waste of public resources.

    The group believes that the new government project to integrate data is a heist to steal public money in the guise of a project that Huduma Namba had already covered.

    Dr Fred Ogola, the leader of operation Linda Ugatuzi says the same features that were captured under Huduma Namba are the ones being fronted in the new initiative.

    Under Huduma Namba one would have been required to provide the number in case they want to transfer, or make any dealings in land, pay taxes, transact in the financial markets, open a bank account, access universal health care services, benefit from the government’s housing scheme as well as access social protection services.

    “We are calling on the government to leverage and build on the existing infrastructure provided for through Huduma Namba,” Ogola said in a press conference held in Nairobi.

    Mr. Ogola wondered why the Kenya Kwanza government intends to put Sh11.2 B into the budget on a project that is already implemented.

    He also questioned the security of the Citizens data.

    “With your birth, education, health data, financial data, government services data sitting in a foreign country, the risk is too much yet Kenya has a policy in data sovereignty. This is like selling our sovereignty to a country like Pakistan while Huduma has the servers and printers in the country,” he said.

    The government is set to roll out the Unique Personal Identifier (UPI) registration that will see the scraping off of the counting of people during the national census and also give newborns in Kenya a distinct lifetime registration number.

    The exercise has been set for September 16, 2023 to coincide with the global date set aside to mark milestones in digital identity.

  • Samsung And Dezeen Hold A Global Design Challenge

    Samsung And Dezeen Hold A Global Design Challenge

    The Re: Create Design Challenge highlights the value of sustainability across Samsung’s products and services

    Samsung Electronics Ltd. and global design and architecture magazine Dezeen announced the launch of their latest global design competition to recognize the value of sustainability. Offering a total of £18,000 in prize money, the Re: Create Design Challenge invites entrants around the world to dream up their own creative ideas for reusing, recycling and upcycling old Samsung devices or their materials.

    What is the Re: Create Design Challenge?

    The Re: Create Design Challenge reflects Samsung’s ongoing efforts to make its products and services more sustainable. The competition advances those efforts by encouraging entrants to come up with innovative ways to repurpose old devices or waste materials by transforming them into new products or services that can benefit both people and the planet.

    Examples include Samsung’s EYELIKE™ project, which sees old smartphones repurposed into medical diagnosis cameras, as well as the latest Galaxy devices, which feature a design that incorporates recycled plastic from discarded fishing nets, and the SolarCell Remote, which incorporates recycled materials for 24% of its plastic component and is powered by light rather than conventional disposable batteries.

    “We live in an era of uncertainty and unlimited opportunity, especially for design creatives,” said TM Roh, President and Head of Corporate Design Center at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung believes in the power of creativity, and our future needs to be protected and transformed through meaningful and sustainable innovations. We hope this competition provides a spark that leads to impactful change for all of us.”

    How to Enter

    The challenge is free to enter for anyone over the age of 18 in any country, regardless of whether they are a professional designer, a student, or someone with no formal design training.

    Entering the challenge is easy and may be done by visiting Dezeen’s official website, which provides full details on the competition, including submission instructions and prize information. Those interested in participating should submit their idea to Dezeen’s website by July 19 at 23:59 GMT

    How Will Winners Be Selected?

    Submissions will be subject to several rounds of evaluation, with 4 criteria including;

    • Innovation (How original is the idea?)
    • Problem-solving (Does the idea propose meaningful solutions to improve people’s lives?)
    • Social and Environmental Impact (How will the idea positively impact people and the planet?)
    • Human-centred design (How well does the idea fit with Samsung’s design philosophy and resonate with its products or the lifestyles of Samsung consumers?)

    Once the initial rounds are completed, a shortlist will be selected and announced in August. And an expert panel of Dezeen editors and design professionals will select the first-place winner and the two runners-up.

    The first-place winning individual or team will take home the competition’s £10,000 grand prize. The two runners-up will receive cash prizes of £4,000 each.

    For more information, please visit Dezeen’s official website. https://www.dezeen.com/

  • Huawei releases Smart Solar top trends report

    Huawei releases Smart Solar top trends report

    With Kenya’s installed capacity having tripled over the last three years, Huawei Digital Power Kenya has released its latest report on the top ten trends that the firm considers through research will drive the growth of the solar energy industry in the near future.

    Remarkably, power generated from solar panels is projected to constitute half of the total amount of electricity consumed in the foreseeable future, as it moves up the ranks to become one of the primary sources of renewable energy.

    According to the Smart PV Top 10 Trends report, solar is also poised for high growth momentum that will see it replace fossil fuels such as coal and heavy fuel oil in power generation by the year 2050.

    The report, which outlines a number of expected scenarios for the growth and development of the solar power industry, was released during the Huawei Digital Power Partner Summit held in Nairobi.

    Speaking when he shared findings of the report, Victor Koyier, Huawei Vice President for Southern Africa Digital Power Smart PV, explained that solar is an evolving technology that is expected to go through more iterations with the passage of time and by 2027 will constitute 60 percent of renewable energy installations.

    “We have witnessed an exponential growth in the demand for solar energy globally, across the African continent and even here in Kenya,” said Koyier. In the first half of 2023, he noted that demand for solar was already at 20 per cent higher compared to a similar time last year.

    Progressive government policies and advancements in the technology have over the years elevated its reliability with the focus now shifting to the efficacy of the storage packs and the increasingly hostile environments in which the equipment is being installed. This includes the establishment of solar farms which will deliver electricity into national or local grids.

    Extremely harsh conditions such as high salt mist, high temperature, high humidity and sandstorms have tested solar equipment with engineers noting that as the future unfolds, more installations will be in commercial and industrial facilities as well as residential homes which are expected to be fitted in varied environments.

    These technological advances, said Koyier, are driven mainly by innovations in energy storage, aesthetics and inbuilt mechanisms that enable remote operational notifications.

    The report notes that the solar industry is expected to deepen its focus on equipment security, with aspects such as digital signatures, safety from external attacks and central management of digital certificates gaining prominence among the key players.

    New age technologies that include 5G, IoT and cloud will be integrated into solar installations to provide real time intelligence, collaborate with other equipment and deliver reports and information efficiently.

    The report also tackles the enablement of Artificial Intelligence, which is expected to play among others, a quality control role, intelligently sorting out the various equipment that comprise the system and allocating each to deliver optimal functionality. On battery technology, there will be AI to warn people on the issues with the battery.

    The report can be accessed at:

    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiH25avo6X_AhW9VqQEHZFTAb4QFnoECAoQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsolar.huawei.com%2F-%2Fmedia%2FSolar%2Fpdf%2FTop10-Trends_EN_2023.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1JtpT5-E7F6K4LViEVXQWX

  • Enact the law to control religious crimes, The Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslims demands

    Enact the law to control religious crimes, The Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslims demands

    Hassan ole Naado, the SUPKEM chairman.
    Hassan ole Naado, the SUPKEM chairman.

    The Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslims (SUPKEM) wants the state to enact a law creating religious crimes but punishable with the secular law.

    The Council said the crimes should target inviduals who misinterpret religious doctrine to radicalize innocent followers.

    In a meeting with the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Shakahola deaths, the Council said the question of determing teachings that constitute indoctrination and radicalization is controversial and proposed that each religious organisation puts up a doctrinal committee composed of religious scholars.

    “Their work will be to independently and expertly review teachings and preachings of respective religion and guide their followers accordingly,” said Hassan ole Naado, the SUPKEM chairman.

    Similarly, the Committee will facilitate registration, conduct background checks on the doctrines and advise the relevant government authorities on the appropriateness of preachings and teaching when whenever preachers go outside what is acceptable.

    The proposal on religious crimes created an excitement within the committee which is investigating circumstances under which the deaths in Shakahola occurred.

    Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana, who chairs the committee, said the proposal was important and challenged Supkem to proposal the kind of punishment that will come with it.

    “What should be the punishment on those found guilty of religious crimes and who should mete out such punishment,” senator Mungatana asked.

    He described the proposal as a good idea and challenged the Council to propose what in their view will be the appropriate punishment to be meted out to those found culpable.

    But the Supkem bosses ducked the question arguing that it was not appropriate for them to ascribe such a punishment as Kenya is a secular state.

    “This can be discussed and legislated so that it doesn’t appear as if one religion is dictating what should be done,” he added.

    He however maintained that since there is no state religion punishment should be meted out on the basis of existing secular law.

    SUPKEM accused the state of bias against Islam loudly wondering why the ODPP is dilly dallying in prosecuting Pastor Mackenzie who is believed to have masterminded the killings in Shakahola Forest in which 265 bodies have been recovered so far.

    He said the state has slept on the job with regard to Macklenzie activities this allowing deaths to occur.

    “Kenyans have reached dangerous levels of socio economic desperation to the extent they are too gullible to religious misadventure as an escape from their desperation,” said Ole Naado, adding that the security laws and policies on religious extremism have been applied selectively against Muslim and that is why nobody cared to check out what mackenzie was doing.

  • Kenya Airways on set to find investor to fund the ongoing Prooject Kifaru

    Kenya Airways on set to find investor to fund the ongoing Prooject Kifaru

    Kenya Airways CEO appeared before the committee to shed light on the ongoing process of finding a strategic investor who will give funds to help Project Kifaru which kicked off in February 2022.

    Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline relied heavily on the taxpayers to sustain its operations which drained the airline business leading to heavy spending of taxpayers’ money to aid their operations.

    During the submission, Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said the operations of wooing potential investors are underway as the board has already prepared the investment memorandum.

    “The task of funding the Kifaru project as originally conceived was deemed onerous and an alternative option to achieve the same objective was considered. This led to an agreement to seek a strategic equity partner to assist in the capitalization of KQ” Mr. Kilavuka shared with the National Assembly’s Public Debt and Privatization Committee.

    According to him, this will help bring the National carrier to profitability.

    KQ owed local banks Sh31.4 billion, Sh58.6 billion for the case of the government, and Sh22.8 billion in respect of outstanding supplier payments.

    The airline bosses said in the session chaired by the committee’s deputy chairman Kitui Central MP Makali Mulu that there were risks to the unpaid debts.

    The Tsavo facility was a special purpose vehicle in the State of Delaware, USA where KQ borrowed 924 million US Dollars to procure six 787-8 aircraft and a 777-300 and an engine.

    “Approximately 90 percent of this facility was provided by Citibank and JP Morgan Chase Bank and was fully guaranteed by the US Exim Bank,” Kilavuka told MPs.

    “Without the debt, KQ would be posting profits,” the KQ boss said.

    Makali said the aim of the committee is to establish whether KQ has a clear turnaround strategy.

    “We have concluded that the debt is the problem. KQ is profitable but the challenge is the debt is part of them,” the MP said.

    He backed KQ bosses’ assertions that without the debt, they will be back to profitability.

    “We agree with you that if the government can take the debt, you will survive,” the MP told the KQ managers.

    Makali said, “The government has accepted to take over the debt and turn around the company.”

    CEO Kilavuka, submitted to the Committee that Kenya Airways reported a significant improvement in its revenue collection for the Financial Year 2021/2022.  As compared to the Financial Year 2020.

    He further noted that this was achieved despite fuel price increases during this period due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis and forex volatility.

    “This improvement in revenue, however, was affected by the significant deterioration of the Kenya Shilling against the US Dollar, since a large proportion of our borrowing is denominated in US Dollars”, Mr. Kilavuka said.

    Earlier last month, Senators trained their guns on senior officials at the national carrier over its perennial losses despite the government pumping billions of shillings in bailouts, calling for individuals culpable of the losses to be held to account.