Hibiskus in Mtwapa

In my recent visit to Mombasa I opted to be based in Mtwapa.

Last time I had been to Mtwapa it was an a day trip and Mtwapa had grown, complete with a new bigger Tuskys.

As usual when I land at a new place I walk around and mtwapa was no different as I went looking for ‘Jumba la Mtwana’ of which there was no coherent signage. I got lost and upon my return to Mtwapa proper got lost in a ‘ghetto’.

To get my bearing I took a boda boda to Moorings which did not tickle my fancy.

Checked out German Banhoff only to find it had been sold and was was now Bistro. 

My immediate need was a place to charge my phone and a place to shower after my night travel and over five kilometre walk about under the scorching sun.

In my quest to be tech-agile I downloaded Airnb but I was unable to navigate it. Going into google I checked out TripAdvisory and amidst the din I stumbled on a gem.

Hibiskus Lodge.

 

Asked a boda boda guy and it was love at first sight.

The rooms which are big, spacious, airy range from 900 shillings to 1800 shillings and in most of them you can cook for yourself.

 

It is a gated private villa with the owners living there so you are assured of quality.

There is a lovely sitting area where meals are served and it also serves as the common room with a TV as the rooms do not have TVs.

Books and artwork dot the Lodge.

The books are ALL in German.

As is the menu.

There is a swimming pool.

The Lodge is located 15minutes walk from the Mtwapa Creek which has beautiful scenery.

And for the famous sin city that is Mtwapa, the lodge is located 15 minutes walk from the centre of the nightlife action.

Hibiskus Lodge is owned by Peter and Ingrid and I highly recommend it.

GOD BLESS KENYA!

Sinking Jahazi

It is 1.21am on a Thursday night, you are at a gents at an uptown local and life is coming at you at a frightening speed.

You have just barely managed to pay the bill and you have no extra money in your wallet.

You had previously okoa-d jahazi and not paid it back.

You have zero credit on your phone, zero on MPESA, and your bundles have run out.

So getting an uber never mind the mechanics of paying for it becomes a matter of rocket science.

This is when you stare at your phone and wonder who you can call to help.

As you realize that it is true a friend is someone who you can call at 1am and they pick up and help. And that despite the overflowing phone book you have very few friends.

Getting here may seem far-fetched and I can hear you wonder how a grown man can be so irresponsible.

Let’s back track.

Man has not seen his friend who happens to be a woman for awhile. So man asks woman friend for a meet and chat. Woman is hanging out with her friend who is a mutual acquaintance and she asks if she can come with the acquaintance and man innocently says yes.

Drinks are enjoyed. Meat is ordered.

Then the acquaintance invites over a cousin who partakes of his drink and the meat and leaves.

Then the acquaintance has a phone chat with her best friend who happens to be in the vicinity and she comes over and also enjoys her drinks.

Shortly, the best friend of the acquaintance calls over her boyfriend who orders for drinks.

Then the woman friend, remember her, leaves.

All this time, the bills were piling up and the man is left with a hefty bar bill that no-one  is interested in paying.

Fast-forward.

Man who has just about paid the bill asks one of the wait staff to sambaza credit and man is able to hail an uber which gets him to an ATM thus enabling him to pay for ride home.

Questions:

How often are men in such situations and they are left crying in the toilet?

Do women have a responsibility to also pick their share of the bill in joint company?

In polite company, should all those who have partaken of drinks and meal on a table share the bill?

If invited to a meet-up, as a lady, is it really polite to tag along your entire crew?

Learnings:

To get loaned credit – Okoa Jahazi – *131#

To get loaned bundles – Okoa Bundles – *544#

It is important to have emergency money in M-Shwari for a rainy day.

Consolation:

Man-up. You are not alone. A huge number of men have found themselves in a similar situation. Chalk it up as a scar of war. Pick the lesson and be cleverer next time.

GOD BLESS KENYA!

Tech for Governance

These are notes taken at the Code for Africa event in November 2016.

The panel was made up of @roomthinker and @gathara with Catherine Gicheru moderating.

**It happens under the hashtag – #hhnbo

The conversation largely unfolded as follows:

Mzalendo – Started as a database for parliament. Evolved over time
Most active constituencies were rural
Tech is Nairobi centric, how do you give voice to Wanjiku
Info is everywhere. We are just desensitized.
Tell the story in a way that engages the person
Are we digital warriors. Just talking and talking?
Digital conversations are valid. You don’t have to go to the streets. Kitambo we went to bars, whispered in the different spaces. Now we talk online
MPs are getting on Twitter
What of the people who ain’t on social media?
How do we give a majority of Kenyans a voice through tech?
We have come from far where there were gatekeepers. But social media has made more gatekeepers.
Danger is democratisation of truth where everyone has their on truth and facts
Another danger is folk talk to folk they agree with so create an echo chamber
So how do we link the groups?
Objective of mzalendo is to give public a voice
Knowledge is a genie which once it is out it can’t be put box in a box
Mzalendo gives you a diverse info – minister for health in 1970, Hansard for a long time, etc
How do you change narrative to be for more people?
How do you tell a story away from from the hard facts and into digestible bits?
Egovt has grown in a big way.
Info is there for folk to read
My car was hit, went to a cop station, the cops chucked an exercise book to write, shock on me.
So how do we use tech to help this? Because egovt is there but the basics aren’t there.
Tech is there but it is not helping
How do we complete tech process?
Illusion of information, illusion of participation
We need to craft systems to fix this
How did NTSA arrive at 50kph. Zero engagement
Do you think govt uses any of its social media to communicate
Empower – a way to show that there is a problem. An app that enables you to take pics, description, then upload. Through tech I can be able to share the pic with people in power. Then it can be used to fix.
So response happens but then the fix is superficial.
Impact – as a journalist you are looking at impact. How do you measure impact. Kanjo kingdom aired. We talked and talked then nothing happened.
Democratisation of free speech. It gives an insight into spaces.
Click-bait  is king
How do we devolve information, civic duty?
Why should I care?
So what?
Tax clock – shows what how much of my tax is used for x.
It is sobering that most money goes to debt payment
taxclock.codeforkenya.org
What is tax on a beer
Pay for nhif but still pay aar
Pay for cops but pay for g4s
How do you formulate policy
Public participation can be vague
But how can we tell people about when the interactions are there
Can we get an app for when things happen
Can we break down the information numbers
Uraia is doing stuff
How do you make people govt literate through tech
Representation being bettered through tech.

Code for Africa has come up with:
biscuitindex.codeforkenya.org
pesacheck.org

Questions that members of the audience had but were not addressed:
How do you hold folk into account?
Is it to get good people or to make the system good?
Can we tell both the bad and good stories?
How do I keep them on the straight and narrow?
****

***After here I kinda zoned out.***

*****My thoughts after the entire event.*****

1. As a content creator I loved the digital tools on offer to enable me to tell stories.

2. I have written about Talking Shop before.

3. It is a feel good opportunity to come together, talk amongst ourselves as folk interested in governance but it is an exercise in futility if we are just preaching to the converted. How do we get the information out to the mwananchi wa kawaida? How do you get the masses involved in the civic conversation?

4. It is great to talk about tech for governance/accountability but less than an year to an election the plan, focus has to be geared towards a) enabling folk to make good decisions at the ballot b) having credible folk on the ballot. c) ensuring the polls are free and fair.

5. Kenya’s problem is a crisis of values. Folk see leadership, being in government as an opportunity to enrich themselves not to serve. How do we fix that?

If you have read all the way until here them you are a serious person who deserves a treat :-).

Someone more serious than me, wrote about the event in a more fancy way. Enjoy!

GOD BLESS KENYA!