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My Juba Diary

MY JUBA DIARY 2Oth Dec 2010 Morning hours: I broke the law. Good Lord, its going to be a bumpy one! 2.00pm: departed Nairobi to Juba via Jetlink express, landed at Juba International Airport at 3.45. Hot. Its 33 degrees Celsius. 4.00pm: picked up by a driver sent by the team that’s been on the ground one week earlier. Interesting ride; I love taxi drivers! They are such a great source of the most amazing stories. My driver was a Ugandan who came to Juba 4 years ago. He has a wife and kids back home in Entebbe; he is a happy man, he provides well for his family, even built them a home so they don’t have to worry about rent. He sends home money every month for upkeep. I bully him a little, and ask him if he has a second wife in Juba, he laughs and says its too expensive to have a wife or a girlfriend in Juba…then he adds “ but on and off I call someone, it costs me 100” I ask, Sudan pounds? He says “if it was Sudan pounds I would have married another wife. “Its 100 dollars a ni

Niko na Safaricom

Safaricom just launched this new ad, which i think is absolutely amazing. But that's not why I pasted this video in my blog. Just a day after the ad aired on TV, the online platform is filled with comments of how Safaricom "copy pasted" a Quantas Air ad which carries the same concept. Just wondering, do we have to be so pessimistic? I would say that's the same reason why we keep putting everything Kenyan waaay below standards, and if it's too good, we could'nt have done it, we must have copied. We can be such whiners! Nktest.

Kenya's growth- but what about trickle down economics?

Interesting day: and when I got back to work boldly wearing my WEF ( World Economic Forum) tag, I got a tweet from my boss saying: “ Ati CEO round table?” We laughed about it, but I’m sure that’s perhaps a question that I have and will have to answer in the course of the evening (until you get to read this post- at least) At 8.30 this morning I made my way to Crown Plaza in Nairobi’s Upper Hill area, where Africa practice's Godfrey Chesang had invited me to. It isn’t everyday that the country’s top CEO’s and government officials otherwise known as policy makers are in one room, and accessible for questions and open discussions about the path that Kenya is taking towards economic stability, The CEO round-table is organized by the World Economic Forum, and this time round the theme was: Assessing Kenya’s Competitiveness, which was derived from the Global Competitiveness report. Kenya was ranked 106th in the Global Competitiveness Index 2010-2011, while Rwanda was ranked 80th. The fo

THE RETURN OF KENYA UNIFORM

...when walking anywhere around Nairobi, at any time, any day, anywhere; On the streets, in the office, in the club: you are bound to notice ladies spotting these sandak shoes from Bata. Apart from the black high wasted pencil skirts and shiny blouses that have become everyday sightings in Nairobi, these sandals have reached tipping point. The last time we had a "Kenya uniform" was back in the day when it was hip to have a Boho look, the long crumpled-ish skirts that every young lady either had, or wished they had. what's in a trend? A friend says ladies in Nairobi stick to trends as if their lives depended on it! I agree. Trends drive Nairobi's fashion space. Much as I believe in being classic other than trendy, its easy to get sucked into trends, especially when it's about shoes! The gladiators heels are still in, the gladiator sandals still rock, but i wonder what happened to kitten heels and blockies!! Bata's reached its tipping point since the Safari Boo

SO MUCH FOR AFRICA'S PRIDE!

I want to begin with a confession. I am quite a big critic of western media, and more than once, on this blog and on other platforms, I have said, and been quoted as saying, that Africa is often portrayed in the wrong light by western media; that Africa is not a continent represented by a thin black child reaching out his hand for food, his ribs pushing through his thin skin, eyes bulging out of sockets , and hunger pangs that could only have been in Sudan when Kevin Carter took this famous photograph during the famine, the vulture at the back of the photograph was waiting for the child to die. I have never thought that this is an image I would ever use to describe a situation in my country, one which is supposed to be a bread basket of the East African economy. But events of this past weekend was more than a jab of reality. Citizen TV broke the news of a family in Central Turkana that had resorted to killing their dog and having it as a meal. If you are not a Kenyan, and you are from

One Month Later

So I changed jobs last month, and I love it! Its a different ball game, but with a bigger group, an amazing team, and I am glad to be part of a team that has changed the face of broadcasting locally. I've been asked quite a bit lately why I moved from an International to a local channel, and I always say, when changing jobs, careers, each time, it's important to be selfish. Every employer is pretty clear what they want from you before they hire you, they've got expectations, and are more often than not sure of how much value they can realise from you. So, how do you realise your own dreams as an employee? What value is your employer to you? what can they add to your professional growth? How can I get the most value out of my employment? Its important to realise when you have achieved your goals at one employer, and you know when you should move on, either that, or begin to cosy up to complacency.I reached my goals; and achieved most of what I set out to, and hte time came f

Meet Jason Runo.

Jason Runo is my Brother from another mother:-) and a friend I love from the deepest part of my heart. He is what I call a true citizen of the world.I worked with Jason during our News Anchoring days at KBC, we moved on to other pastures, he travelled the world, ( still does) and has now created a home for his experiences, using the most amazing phototgraphy, i remember a recent afternoon trip a top the most beautiful hill near olepolos, we took some pics, which I will post as soon as I can access my facebook:-) Until then...Experience Jason Runo. Photography is a language of the eye...Jason has mastered that language.I hope you love his site as much as I do.

Salsa, a return to The Intercontinental and a Life Coach

Tuesday evening I had a perfect chance to take some lessons from my salsa class to the dance floor. It wasn't the plan for the evening, but a friend from El Salvador was in town and a couple of us joined him for dinner at the Italian restaurant at the Intercontinental. Now that's a place I had almost sworn never to return :-). I ranted about it here But Tuesday's experience was one of those that made me re think the other experience, which I was totally vexed about. The security detail was on point, and with so much going on in Nairobi this week, the hotel was a flurry of events, but the staff were impressive this time round. From the security at the entrance, to the guys up front at the Lobby, and the waiters in La Prugna were up to scratch. I had lasagna, it was well done, (though C.S makes a better one -( I may be biased though!:-)And we also had to settle for South African Rose as the Chile one we ordered wasn't available. After dinner we got into the Safari bar..a

LET'S IPO HARAMBEE STARS...(Note to self..But who am I to say?)

Harambee Stars is close to my heart. Very Close. If you have kept up with this blog you know by know that I am (originally) a country girl, who grew up on the farm, with cows, chickens, goats and transistor radio. We also went to the local Kitale stadium every once in a while with my cousins Mike, Ian and Carol to watch football. Many times AFC leopards and Gor Mahia rocked, but when Harambee Stars came to Kitale, we would have to arrive at the stadium hours earlier, to get good seats at the front of the stadium. These are memories that get me nostalgic every time the National team plays. But that was then. In recent years though, the few times I have made my way to Kasarani Staduim and Nyayo stadium to watch them play against other countries, always leaves me with anxiety. I remember the days of Ghost Mulee, when I had this tugging at my heart that the team would go places. I am a dreamer, I believe so much in people, to a fault. Whenever the stars play I get these goose bumps. Normal

As Michael Joseph bows out....

I remember my very first interview with Michael Joseph in June 2007 at the Laico Regency, Safaricom was then announcing it's full year as well as talking on the possibility of an IPO, which was of course not being run by Vodaphone but by the Government of Kenya. I was jittery as I had just joined CNBC Africa and began by doing some pretty high profile interviews with people I was only used to watching on TV. He was my 4th Interviewee after Richard Branson, Central Bank Governor Njuguna Ndung'u and the then Finance Minister Amos Kimunya. But still I had butterflies, the Interview though went well, and he declined to comment much on the IPO. Since then I have interviewed him a couple more times, and his passion about Safaricom is unquestionable. During my different interactions with Safaricoms and news around it, Michael strikes me as one of those types that had it mapped out right from day one, strategy wise, but kept going back to it and altered it as the market grew. He and h

I AM MY FATHERS DAUGHTER:

Alfred Cherogony Cherutich, is the name of my father, my hero. Not just because he is my father, but because of the Journey he traveled through life. From one of the poorest households in a village called Kiptum, Osen, in Baringo District, he managed to study at Alliance High School, began a quest to open a school in his village, rose to be a curator at the National Museums of Kenya at a pretty young age, where he met my lovely mother and convinced her to marry him. He was a man of many stories, though we didn’t spend much of our formation years together. In 1983 he was involved in a road accident that left him with a Spinal Injury, he couldn’t walk after that and spent 7 years at the Nairobi Spinal Injury Hospital, where we could come once every holiday to visit. We loved it then, coming to Nairobi to see him, and immensely enjoyed being with our cousins who gave us the whole city touch. But we missed him at home, and though we were young, the 5 of us siblings thought and talked about

VOICE OF THE WIND

It isn't as if the wind cannot speak Sometimes in a whisper Barely grazing the bougainvillea purple on the porch sometimes in a breeze Still the creepers on the front door of our holiday cottage sway to its voice Creepers still can speak, but only to the foliage underneath And this evening, while I sit by the poolside In this warm African sunset The wind howls As the sea comes back home stories, trapped in the crushing waves Swish, swash, on the wearing down corals beneath our love nest white sand on this Watamu shores The soft leaves of the bottle brush graze the back of my neck caressing my barely there tan The birds, they chirp the evening away they too, have stories to tell Memories, some sweet, some hot & raunchy, some...they will never tell And most, I will never know.... my heart longs to hear the tales of the wind from far away lands of the sea, swishing, swaying going and coming back home of the creepers on the front door and the bougainvillea on the porch of the artsy

Falling Stars: Ranting about the Intercontinental Hotel

Some of my better memories include Jazz and Karaoke at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi, about 3-4 yrs ago when the Hotel perhaps had the best Jazz players in town. There was salsa as well, though I didn’t do the salsa nights much. More recently though, some journalists were invited for their "Chefs table" a grand event where we got to sample the best of the hotel, we got a tour of the presidential suite and got served in the Kitchen, the experience was beautiful. Karl Hala & Daniel ebo did a pretty good job at it. First Class. But, as they say, the best time to sample a hotel is when you go in as a regular guest. The Intercontinental Hotel failed the test, terribly. We got to the hotel at 9.00pm and within a couple of hours spent at the pool bar, all the stars dropped, (not sure if it's a 3 or 4 star), but I would only give it one star. A colleague had been staying at the hotel this week during a certain conference, and it was his last night in town. The team

My heart loves the Mambo.

Flashback: The year is 1998. I have just completed my form four exams and I am pretty excited. I have a wish list, something I had since I was a little child. A guitar, a dance, a song and a poem. My life revolves around these things. I had no big dreams of being a musician or a popular artist; I just wanted to learn how to flirt with the strings. I took up guitar lessons at Church in the evenings, and perfected my singing. I loved every minute it. I didn’t get around to getting a guitar, there were far more pressing proprieties for my parents to attend to, and slowly, that dream drifted away. A couple months later I came to Nairobi; shortly I was acting at the phoenix players, pretty small roles (I don’t consider myself much of an actress though). I played as a Chorus girl in Christmas Musicals and my first single acting role was a French maid in a play that had big names like Joy Mboya, it was directed by James Falkland. And that, ladies and gents was my first brush with the rich and

Lessons from a White African

After a beautiful Friday night, I woke up at 9.00am (with lots of trouble!) to catch up with AlyKhan Satchu’s Mindspeak monthly event at Westgate. Ushahidi creator, Erik Hersman (who I have followed on twitter and blogosphere for a while; was the man with the Mic and top on my agenda was to know more about Ushahidi, their newest kid on the block ; Ihub, and just the person behind his better known blog name “white African” ( I think Erik ironically is more African than most of us!: will tell you why in a bit) Eric did a great presentation and introduced us to his world, and while we know of all the success stories with the Ushahidi model being taken as far as Haiti; I mostly enjoyed how he openly shared some of the failures they face and how they go around it: He also said something I think most entrepreneurs need to engage in their day to day: Eric follows the 80:20 rule, where 80% of his time is spent on normal work: daily routine) and the other 20 % working on edgy stuff, proj

Just a share of your dreams

Friday is here, and while you speak of milk, honey and scoops of tiramissu I am afraid that the weekend may walk to slow when I have learnt to make my weekdays busy busy enough to forget what tugs at my heart It's not picket fences & giggling voices or painted countryside houses with lillies and poison Ivy It's deep & dark, and many times scary dreams, that I have learnt to tuck away Dreams, of nightly escapades frothy Fridays @ the Brew Bistro and tequila at Havanna barbequed lambchops spiced with love & laughter and stories that are forever etched in my memory I have forgot; and cannot retrace my steps I lost a dream, But I see it coming I feel it coming I know it's coming But I fear Give me just a share of your dreams To trace me back to my dream of yesteryears Maybe then, I will arise and embrace these new dreams, as my heart rises to the beat. Terryanne,

MAKMENDE’S GOT ME COVERED!

It’s been a while, damn! And consistency hasn’t been my greatest asset lately. I’ve now got a throbbing headache after my (not so much fun) weekend trip to the Coast to cover the landing of the Eassy Cable. It wasn’t as great, and as organized as the SEACOM cable. which I blogged about here. Different strategies work for different people, but after Seacom, lets just say easy was quite the landing, Phogisio says "EASSY wasnt so easy!" Unlike Seacoms' social media savvy launch ( They had a blog, a welldone website, had Live streaming TV from 3 landing sites, and a tweeter team ( only KTN’s Larry Madowo & I were live tweeting the EASSY event for fun) that was the exciting part. It was a well attended event though; Sec General of the ITU Hamadoun Touré, Kenya’s Minister for Info; Hon Samuel Phoghisio, CCK Director General, MTN was well represented; so were other stakeholders within the consortium. The biggest shareholder WIOCC handled the launch. It wasn’t the most

Somersault & Dry Cereal

Imani is about to turn 4, in a few weeks time , and she does make my day! Everyday! Just the other day I remember getting her out of the hospital clothes as we left the maternity ward 4 days after she was born. Now she even asks me if I know what "nocturnal" means; and if She will grow into a big girl, and if she will be a mommy someday, and when she does, whose mummy will I be? Time flies! She is her second year of Nursery School and just won a prize for being the most creative student in her class for 2009. ( The term before she won " Best Story Teller" ( Don't ask me where she gets that from:-) But it was a beautiful ceremony, with laughter and tears, and lots of pictures, which we will laugh over when she is older. Imani is central to my life, and the more I think about it, the more I realise that almost every move that I make, however quick the decision may be, how I decide it, and when, usually depends on how it will affect/impact her. That includes everyt

WHAT'S IN A BLOG?

Its been a couple of Intersting days..tres' busy at work, by the time I get home, I can hardly put my thoughts together..hence my hiatus from Grains of Masala. I recently got a couple of comments as well on why I'm posting "work" ie some of my work interviews instead of "Blogging". I suppose though that if it is a journal of my my day to day stuf.( and it is) then I'd like that to share that as well. Last night I met up with an old friend, part of the talk included friends you need, friends you dont need and the sweetness of freedom...But that's a story for another day. Until then; Muchos Gracias!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! ..No E - Gifts Please!

This is one of the few times I miss being Traditional! My facebook wall is full of Teddy bears that I can't cuddle and Belgian Chocolate that I can't taste, and beautiful flowers that cant place on my dressing table. I'm told traditional also means I cant ask for what I want, But I guess that means I can say what I dont want. Anyway, how about you enjoy your's! xoxo

EAST AFRICA BUSINESS REPORT

Oh! cant wait to wrap this one. It's an interesting mix of Real estate in kenya, and whether the sector is finally levelling off. Also, An East African Angle to how Toyota Corp's recall in the US impacts perception and growth of East Africa's most common vehicle brand. I also speak Kuria Muchiru ( PWC Country Senior Partner on their recent CEO survey where 90% of CEO's are optimistic for growth within the next 3 years. As usual, Great Market insights from our team of experts. All you need to know about Investing in East Africa. More from East Africa Business Report here

A TOAST TO MICHAEL KARANJA

You are probably wondering who Michael karanja is...read on! I know exactly how Arthur Guinness' signature looks. For the record, I don’t drink the stout, but creative geniuses made those adverts so emotionaly drwaing that they made me find the story behind the brand. So, imagine how I felt when I found out that the signature on the Tusker Malt Lager is of a Kenyan! Michael Karanja, a Kenyan! (I just had to stress!) He is the Master Brewer of the brand. That’s how my evening began at the re launch of the new look Tusker Malt lager yesterday. Checked in with my bad boy Kent ( bad..will explain later)and joined a table of journalists. I got to chat with Chris Kirubi who is among the big shareholders of EABL, he holds 16.28% of centum investments as of March 09, (centum puts a considerable amount of it’s weight into EABL via it's bottlers), and Seni Adetu, EABL's Group MD who is keen to leave a leave a legacy and he wants to take the company to the next level. It will be inter

THERE IS SUCH A THING AS EFFICIENT CORRUPTION

Yes there is! In countries where corruption is rife, you give in to corruption because you know you will get whatever it is you want, but here in Kenya, you could pay for it and pray for dear life that you get it. That’s inefficient corruption. These are the kind of insights that get me out of bed every last Saturday morning of the month. But the Topic was not on Inefficient corruption:-). Woflgang Fengler, who is the Lead Economist for the World Bank in Kenya was the main man at Aly Khan Satchu’s, :Mindspeak.The Business Club" , this past Saturday. After quite a party on Friday Evening, I made it just in time for the short and sweet look at Kenya’s Economic Outlook for 2010. It felt like I was in a Mini Davos, engaging with critical minds on the shape that the Kenyan economy is likely to take in 2010. ( I dare dream!) Fengler’s presentation was great, straight to the point and very well researched. Being an economist for the World Bank is no mean feat. It is a common notion th

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES & THE CORNER OFFICE; This one’s a “ LADIES ONLY.”

It’s 12.00am, and I can’t sleep, had a tres’ busy day interviewing international retailers on setting up shop in East Africa, and finding how consumer power drives growth even in what is described as a slow economy. So, I am tired, very. I hoped I’d knock off @ 8.30, but when I couldn’t sleep, I put on a borrowed Cashmere Mafia DVD and warmed up on the couch, with a box of chocolate nut truffles, from clicks, my favorite. But I haven’t been chocolaty for a while, and the truffles, a gift from my colleague Sue, have been untouched for a while, but today, I pulled them off the shelf, and finished just one truffle. Just One. One of the episodes on Cashmere Mafia was one about Women climbing up the corporate ladder. On the Cover was the image of a woman about to eat, fork in hand, and a man, on the plate ( shrunk to fit) holding on to dear life.It described how women were throwing men off traditional corporate executive positions. Here, We live in a different world. Where the CEO’s, COO

January is for Laughs!

Been a busy month! My Daughter, Imani is now in Nursery 2, a promotion that has made her change the name of her school to Nursery two. That's the most beautiful part of the year for me, coming home to do homework and take a walk , me love love love being a mommy! She drops the most ingenious thoughts this girl of mine. One time I come home from work. Some background info first: I keep some dried roses in the toilet, I am quite keen on my flowers becuase I dry them myself and pick on what essential oils to drop in..anyway, I knock on teh door and I get no hug, she says .." Mum, do you know your flowers jumped into the toilet!" That's one. A few weeks ago I woke her up in the morning, the conversation went like this: " Wakey wakey...there's a bit of homework you did not finish up" She starts making roaring sounds.I wonder what she is upto, so I ask, " Mani are you ok?" " Mum, I am a Lion" " Great! Now wake up quickly like a good

HERE'S TO 2010

I made it 2010! It was a wonderful transition into this year with friends and family. I just got over the celebratory mood and when I checked in back to Nairobi on the 4th, I got a rude welcome with a mugging incident, so much for Welcome to 2010! So what's my 2010 going to look like? I dont know, but it's going to be bigger and better. I plan to be happier, and made only 2 resolutions. 1. To give my best in all I do. 2. To read more I hopefully will blog more as well! Cheers and all the best regards for the new year!