DIGITAL MIGRATION:

Untold Details Behind Digital Migration in Kenya

By Maritim Kipngetich

Digital migration in the media houses  has been the subject before the court since last year December. The three giant media houses which include the Royal Media Services, the Nation Media Group and the Standard Media Group are opposed to the issue since the tender was given to foreign companies. However, the discussion never arose from tendering process only, it also emanated from restrictions which media houses will get from signal distributors.

In analogue terrestrial television, the broadcaster develops content, such as news; rolls out transmission infrastructure; maintains the infrastructure; owns the transmission infrastructure; and transmits the content that the broadcaster has developed. However, in digital terrestrial television, the equation changes, as the broadcaster is now restricted to developing content, while a different market player, the signal distributor, is licensed to carry and distribute the content so developed. Under the digital terrestrial television, the signal distributor owns the transmission infrastructure, and only transmits the content as developed by the broadcaster, to the end-users. In this scheme, frequencies are given to the signal distributor and not the broadcaster, and the broadcaster, or content developer, pays a fee for the transmission effected by the signal distributor       

Unlike with analogue terrestrial television, the broadcasters, in digital terrestrial television would not need a nationwide reach on the basis of allocated frequencies and transmitters, as the signal distributor would be licensed in that regard. The nationwide reach of a broadcaster would no longer be dependent on the transmission capacity, or number of allocated frequencies. The effect of these changes would be to level the field for all players in the industry, and to enhance efficiency in the utilization of frequencies benefits. A signal distributor operated as a mere conveyor-belt.  It acts this way in that it will majorly play the role of submitting developed content from the broadcaster to the final consumers- audience.

The decision of what to broadcast at some point will depend on the signal distributor in that it has a mandate to cut off what would be broadcast in case the content is unsuitable or during state of emergency issued in accordance with the law. However, the broadcaster will still enjoy advertising revenue fee.

FUND DRIVES AND POLITICIANS:

POLITICIANS SHOULD CONTRIBUTE DURING FUNDS DRIVE, THE PEOPLE SAY
By Maritim Kipngetich

PHOTO: Deputy president William Ruto during funds drive in Kwale County. Some politicians have accused some Jubilee government's titans as the key architects of harambees despite the law denying them to do so.

Harambee, pulling together of resources for social development, has been used since independence to collect funds to assist in building schools, hospitals, churches, paying school fees and paying hospital bills. Politicians have been traversing the country donating millions of shillings in harambees despite the current constitution denying them to do so. Members of Parliament have been accused of using harambee for political mobilization.
The provision in the constitution which does not permit politicians to participate in harambees has rekindled a heated debate among the members of the public.The people said that there are orphans and children from poor families who are bright in school and they do not have money for school fees.
“People are not equal. Some are orphans who need support. Despite that many people especially in Kenya are not employed and they don’t have funds to take their children to school. The politicians are the only people who can contribute large sum of money in harambees. So if they are denied to participate then many children from less-endowed families will not be able to attend school,” Philip Moseti, Information, Communication and Technology expert, said.
He also said harambees has assisted in clearing high medical bills.
“Hospital bills of some people can run as high as three million shillings. Do you think ordinary citizens will be able to raise millions of shillings during fund raising? One politician can contribute as high 500 thousand shillings during harambee which ordinary citizen can never contribute,” he said.
He, however, added that there are some Members of Parliament (MPs) who solicit funds from government institutions and philanthropies and they cannot use them during harambees.
“Politicians who seek funds from other state officers and government institutions are supposed to be questioned. Some never use those monies in harambees,” he added.
Philip said Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) should probe politicians who contribute millions of shillings in harambees during weekends and not those who contribute genuinely from their pockets.
“The politicians that are over-generous and are donating millions of shillings every weekend; those are the ones EACC should investigate not MPs who generously contribute to their constituents,” he said.
Kimingichi Wapende is a lecturer at the University of Nairobi and he said MPs want to be allowed to contribute during fund drives so that they ask for more salaries.
“Contribution of money during harambees by politicians was the subject of debate before the current constitution was passed. MPs are notoriously known for demanding for salary increment in the name of they attend several fund raising in their constituencies,” Kimingichi said.
Asked if he has been a beneficiary of harambee, he said he could not remember. He, however, said he has been contributing money during fund raising held in his home village in Webuye.
James Mashomba is a cashier at the University of Nairobi students’ cafeteria and he said some politicians use money from their pockets.
“There are politicians who are not corrupt and they contribute money to their constituents from their own salaries. It should not be generalized that all politicians are using money from questionable sources,” James said.
He added that politicians are expected to give back to their constituencies after they have been elected. He said voters expect politicians to participate in development projects.
“It depends on individual. If some are using the initiative for personal aggrandisement it is so sad. Politicians also need political mileage to maintain their support and position,” James said.
James said the politicians are supercilious people who want to be known when they contribute money, so that they maintain their influence over the masses.
“When they contribute the world must know so that it can, in turn help them during election to grab many votes,” he said.
Charles Wesonga, a third year Pharmacy student at the Technical University of Kenya (TU-K), said many people have benefited from harambee projects which were initiated by politicians and the constitution should be amended to allow politicians contribute in harambees.
“Many people were educated in harambee schools and treated in hospitals put up through fund raising which were mainly the ideas of politicians. We should not continue to suffer behind a law that is not applicable in our circumstances,” Charles said.
He added that pulling together of resources by people and their leaders, has assisted many, including him, who would not be able to access education.
“For my case I survived with funds from harambee when I was in secondary school. We held harambee four consecutive years because my parents would not be able to pay my school fees. I was in national high school which annual fees were as high as 120,000 shilling per year,” he said.
Some politicians maintain that harambees are there to stay and they have been participating in harambees despite the existence of the law which banns them from doing the same. They are agitating for constitutional amendment not to be included as state officers so that they participate in fund drives. They said political titans in the Jubilee government have been going round the country to attend funds drive and the constitution does not permit them to do so.

STUDENTS' EATING HABIT:

EATING HABITS AMONG STUDENTS IN CAMPUS

By Maritim Kipngetich
Having something to eat may not be an easy task among some university students. The students have had to survive with meager Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) loans during their time in school. Having three meals a day among some students is a luxury.
The students said the only time they can have three meals a day is when they receive funds from Helb. Other days of the semester, they have to survive with the money from their parents.
Davis Karori is a second year economic student at the University of Nairobi and he said his parents have to send him maize flour from home every Friday.
“I normally receive maize flour from home every Friday and that has enabled me to survive throughout the week. My parents saw it better to send me flour because my home is in Kiambu which is about 80 kilometres from the university,” he said.
He added that his uncle is a matatu driver who operates the route from Kiambu town to Nairobi and he has been assisting him in delivering maize flour free of charge.
“My uncle is a driver. He has helped me a lot in bringing flour from home. My parents cannot afford transport and I am very grateful to my uncle Sammy,” he said.
Despite the fact that Davis receives flour from home everyday, he has other challenges like buying vegetables which he says it cost him 100 shillings per day.
Asked whether he has received Helb loan, he said he received only ones when he was in first year and since then he has been applying but he cannot succeed.
“It is an elusive moment when you are visited by a friend and you don’t have anything to give him or her to eat,” Davis said.
Davis said he is better than his roommates since he can have a meal three times a day. He said two of his colleagues have had to survive by skipping lunch time meals.
“I am far much better than other students I live with in my room. They mostly cook at 4:00p.m so that they can avoid cooking for supper,” he said.
Mike Mutai, popularly known as double m, said they had to pressurize a roommate, who used to mix sugar and chocolate in cold water and take every morning, to buy a kettle heater.
“We had to force him to buy a kettle heater so that he can use to boil water to make breakfast,” Mike said.
Mike said, his roommate never cooks meals in the room instead he buys food from the university cafeteria
“The only place he can have food is in the school restaurant,” he said.
Although some students survive with little food they get, there are some who come from well-endowed families and they can afford to buy any type of meal they want. Those students have money to spend and therefore they can even change the diet whenever they wish to or when they have visitors.
“When I am with my girlfriend I can spend as much as 500 shillings per meal. I should provide her a decent meal because she deserves it,” Gedison Mwangi, a first year Bachelor of Arts student, said.
Mwagi said he spends not less than 150 shillings per meal.
“There is no day I have used less than 150 shillings per meal not unless it is breakfast which sometimes cost me 120 shillings,” he said.
He added that he has never used the university cafeteria because he thinks that it provides simple food. Instead he prefers having meals in the hotels outside the university. He said he also likes when he cook in his hostel room.
“I rather cook in my room than have meals in the cafeteria. In many instances I buy foodstuffs from Uchumi Supermarket and keep them in my room so that I cook whenever I feel like cooking,” he said.

THE HOMELESS CHILDREN:

 THE PARENTLESS CHILDREN IN STREETS

By Maritim Kipngetich

PHOTO: Street children.

The issue of street children is a problem across the world and many street children especially those who had to take to streets because they lost their parents are in the rise today. These children have had to put up with poor living standards in the streets. A life they never experienced when they were with their parents.

“I lost my parents in 2011 and since then I have been living in the streets. I lived with my uncle for two months after I lost my parents, but he beat me up till I decided to run away and that is how I ended up living in the streets of Gikomba with no assurance of daily meal,” Evans Gathike, 14, who is a street child in Nairobi, says.

Evans says he lived with his parents in Shauri Moyo estate before his parents were killed by unknown assailants.

“I was then in standard four when my parents were killed. I remember it was around mid-night when two people who had machetes in their hands entered our house and slaughtered my parents. My father tried to defend himself while my mother was screaming for help, but no one came to help us. I got an opportunity to run away when they were fighting with my parents and that is how I survived,” Evans, who narrated the mayhem in Swahili, said.

Evans says he has to survive with waste food in the streets and begging people to give him foodstuffs.

“The life is hard here in the streets. Having clean food is rare unless a good person decides to give you what he/he is eating. I sometime stay for three consecutive days without food since we are many and when we go to a wastebin we scramble for anything edible there and in many instances many of us miss,” he says.

There are two categories of street children. Those who live IN the streets (the street is their permanent home). They are no longer street children. They are street families since they were born in the streets by street parents. They are born as infants in the streets, mature to their teenage age in the streets then became parents in the streets. That is the vicious circle of life of the people in streets today. Initially, people would conceive and deliver then dump their children on the streets but that is no longer the case. The children and matured homeless people in towns live with their street grandmothers and grandfathers.

Another category is those who live ON the streets (they return home at night). The second category is the children who work on the streets by day and then join their families later at night. This group of street children is what constitutes Athe highest number of street children in the country.

The study commissioned by Consortium of Street Children (CSC) shows the number of street children in Kenya since 1999. The varying figures it normally presents to the public are not reliable. For instance it announced in 1999 that there were 50, 000 street children in Nairobi and in 2001 it reported that there were 40, 000 street children in Kenya with 50% in Nairobi. In 2007 it estimated that there were 250, 000-300, 000 street children living and working on the streets across Kenya with 60, 000 of them in Nairobi. The staggering figures may not give a clear number of street children in Kenya.

ACCOMMODATION CRISIS:

PHOTO: A side view of the Technical University of Kenya, formerly known as Kenya Polytechnic. Accommodation crisis has hit the university.

Students housing crisis at the Technical University of Kenya

By Maritim Kipngetich

Limited housing facilities at the newly chartered Technical University of Kenya has forced hundreds of students to seek shelter in low income and high crime areas of Nairobi. In 2012 Technical University of Kenya (TUK), formerly known as Kenya Polytechnic, was upgraded into a full-fledged university offering degree courses. It has since expanded its student population by a third to 12,115. By 2016 the student population is expected to hit 21,625.

Although TUK has rented student accommodation facilities in South C and South B estates, it can only host 10% of the student population. The university is located in the heart of the city and has limited space for expansion.

Majority of its students have taken up shelter in shanties and old structures in Landmawe, about 3km outside the city, which previously housed workers of the Kenya Railways Corporation. When she applied for admission at TUK two years ago Mercy Chebet says she expected to be granted accommodation by the university. Chebet is pursuing a bachelor‘s degree in Business Management.

“I realized later that students are required to find their own housing facilities.  My family is in Rift Valley so I had nowhere to live in Nairobi. Trying to find affordable housing was very frustrating. Rents are very high in decent estates and in places that are more affordable there are high rates of crime. It is just not safe, especially for a girl,” she laments.

Chebet had to move in with a relative in Shauri Moyo estate, located about five kilometers from the university. She says attending classes has been difficult because she cannot afford the Ksh.50 fare she has to pay daily.

“It is inconvenient to live too far away from the university since we have classes as early as 7:00a.m,” she says. “Additionally, I have to walk to and from school everyday. I spend two hours everyday walking. I could use this time to do other things like revising.”

Chebet’ story is all too familiar across the university. Hundreds of other students reside in informal settlements and far off low-income estates such as Industrial Area .Some live with friends studying in other institutions such as the University of Nairobi (UoN) which has a number of hostels for its students.

Kevin Onyango, a second year Pharmacy student at TUK, lives with a friend at the UoN hostels located near State House Road.

“I went to high school with Sammy. When I told him about the housing problems at my university he invited me to live with him in his hostel room. It is a very small room but it is still better than living too far off from town or having to pay lots of money for rent. My parents are already straining to pay my tuition. They cannot afford to pay high rent rates,” says Onyango.

End

YOUTHS, THE HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FUTURE|

TODAY’S YOUTHS ARE THE HEROES AND HEROINES OF TOMORROW
By Maritim Kipngetich

PHOTO: Deputy President William Ruto addressing Kenyans who converged at Nyayo Stadium to celebrate Mashujaa Day. The deputy president said youths are the heroes and heroines of tomorrow.

The young people who are present today are the heroes and heroines of the future, the deputy president of Kenya, William Ruto, has said.

Speaking during Mashujaa Day cerebration held at Nyayo Stadium, Nairobi, the deputy president said youths of today should be empowered so that they can be the leaders of tomorrow. Ruto singled out education as the main vessel which can be used to navigate the young people to be heroes and heroines of the future who can positively contribute to the development of the nation. He said the government has increased funds to primary and secondary schools in this financial year to enable children attend school at a cheaper cost.

“We have, this year, increased the allocation of money to primary schools from 10 billion to 14billion shillings, so that more children can access education. We have also increased the money available for secondary education from 20 billion to 28 billion shillings to give opportunity to millions of our children to access education,” he said.

Over the years, the children emanating from less-endowed families have not been doing their exams because they cannot afford to raise registration fee. Mr. Ruto said the government will pay registration fee to every child who intends to register for exams in both standard eight and form four.

“The government has also made it possible that all children in standard eight and form four will now seat for their examination without paying any examination fee because the government has decided that going forward all our children from all backgrounds when they get to standard eight or form four can do their exams,” Ruto said.

He said that will make all children be equal and have an opportunity to be the heroes and heroines of the future.

The government will make sure that the skills and expertise of the youths are fully utilized to bring development in the nation, Ruto says.

Ruto also said the building of the standard –gauge railway, which is one of the Jubilee government’s top most agenda, will kick off next month.

“The construction of the standard-gauge railway which has been waited for hundred years will start in November,” he said.

He also added that the engineers and contractors of the first 2000 kilometres of roads to be built met this week to finalize the arrangement of the construction. He said the roads, which are among 10000 kilometres of roads Jubilee government has planned to construct in the next three years, will enable the farmers to carry their produce to the factories and enable the factories to carry their products to the market.

He also said the government has expanded the source of energy by launching a geothermal power plant in Olkaria which can produce 140 megawatts. He said that will enable people who want to invest in industries to access a cheaper power. He said that will enable young people from all spheres of life get jobs.

He concluded his remarks by asking the members of the opposition to work with the government rather than “perpetuating politics which can bring no development” to the country.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND STALKING|

STALKERS USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO KEEP THEIR VICTIMS IN CHECK
By Maritim Kipngetich

People subscribe to different social media platforms nowadays, so they have been used to perpetrate stalking. Ronald Rono is a fourth year student at the University of Nairobi and he is currently being stalked by his girlfriend. He said, he left his girlfriend at his home village and joined university in 2011 and since then his girlfriend has been following his daily updates in his facebook account.

“I am currently experiencing stalking from my girlfriend. I left her at home in 2011 and came to campus, but I am surprised because she must ascertain everything I post in my facebook wall. Since I trusted her, I gave her my facebook account password and she is able to log in and see everybody I chat with,” Ronald narrated.

Asked what his girlfriend is interested in his daily updates in facebook, he said she is more concern with love stories.

“My girlfriend can even call me when I post anything concerning love. We once quarreled over the phone because I had posted that I enjoyed the weekend with a sophisticated female friend. She said there was something more than friendship between me and that lady and that is why I had to hobnob with her,” he said.

Ronald said he has tried to change the password of his facebook account, but he fears that that may turn things to worst.

“I have tried to open another account or even change my password, but I am afraid that may upset her,” he said.

He said since the day she had a quarrel with his girlfriend over what he posted, he has been wary about whatever he posts. He said the people he chats with nowadays in facebook are only his fellow male friends.

Ronald, however, said he has been trying to warn her, whenever he goes home for a holiday, not to intrude to his facebook account, but the lady has always turned a deaf ear to his warnings.

“I have been telling her not to open my account but she always ignore that and when I come back to school she started doing the same thing (intrude to his facebook account),”he said.

He added that his girlfriend also must check whoever he chats with in his text messages whenever she accessed his phone.