[kictanet] The big Kwaheri: reflecting on 10 years on the MJ 10 yr safari and his-tory - day 1

[Wainaina Mungai]

Thanks for this....

I would like to thank MJ for providing Kazi560
http://kazi560.co.ke/who-kazi-560  - which did not look sustainable at the
time - an opportunity to become a successful business helping many Kenyan's
find employment. At a meeting in his Safaricom House Boardroom, I was
nervous that he would say 'no'. He did not say 'yes' either. He said
'maybe'. He challenged us to prove to him that an SMS job information
service would become sustainable.

That was several years back when I was the Coordinator of the *Mobile
Content to Change Lives* project at Oneworld International. I moved on to
other projects since but I remain eternally greatful that we had the
opportunity to prove Kazi560 would work. Kazi560 was an idea that came to my
mind as I sat on a train from London to Nottingham in 2003 after studies in
Kibera and other marginalized areas in Kenya. MJ (and Vodafone funders)
provided an opportunity for us to turn this *train ride idea* into a
resource for Kenyans.

Kazi560 was a rewarding pay-back after in 2000, the launch of the then
*new*Safaricom resulted in destruction of an RDS Paging service we
were meant to
launch to compete with Capital pagers. Even the brochures from *Citizen
Pagers* were ready. The success of my final year engineering project was
overshadowed by MJ's successful launch of SMS. The country gained more from
the new technology.

I will have fond memories of MJ's tenure. I wish him the greatest success in
his future ventures.

Wainaina Mungai

Made in Kenya Network

On Sun, Oct 10, 2010 at 9:58 AM, muriuki mureithi <
mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke> wrote:

>  Hi Listers
>
> As you are aware , Michael  Joseph (MJ) leaves the office of CEO on 31st of this  month after a 10 year  career at Safaricom. As is tradition,  we
> at KICTAnet  bid our members   welcome/  farewell  and certainly  this list
> is the tool of choice     supplemented by a bash when feasible . this is
> what we want to do starting now – from 10 hrs today the 10th day of the 10
> th month of the 10 year of the new century  we wish to take just 10 days
> to reflect on the MJ’s 10 year safari ---- . As usual we expect fair and
> candid thoughts from our hearts and mind and the daily prompting questions
> will provide a structure for our discussion
>
> we shall present your candid views in style to MJ  at a suitable time
>  shortly after the closure of the  list discussion----
>
>
>
> To kick-start discussion , first let’s look  back over your shoulder -
>  just recall when he landed in Nairobi in June 2000 and went to work on/at
> Safaricom. At 17k customers , with barely 9 base stations , the operator was
> the smallest  and in the eyes of the  potential  consumer, an appendage of
> the towering TKL of the day .  that was then , it’s no more
>
>
>
> ·         What still lingers in your mind of  MJ early days at Safaricom,
> his interaction with you , the customers , the media, the regulator ,
> competition etc?
>
> ·         What factors   shaped MJ’s and Safaricom’s  destiny – did he
> create the opportunities or was he just smart enough to take advantage  of
> the situation?
>
> ·         In juggling between  competing technologies, customer
> expectation, staff demands, government, market competition, what strikes you
> as MJ’s  character  that produces the results we see
>
> ·         What do you think he could have done differently?
>
> ·         What actions did  MJ take then that are still inexplicable and
>  you   would want MJ to explain now?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> cheers
>
>
>
> Muriuki Mureithi
>
>
>
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