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

[Zachary Ochieng]

Dear listers,
I would particulalry like to congratulate MJ for having planned for his succession. Very few CEOs do this. Harry Hare and I had an exclusive interview with him about his future plans and why he decided to take a curtain call at this point in time. The interview, published in the September edition of CIO East Africa magazine, will give you an insight into this. Love him or hate him, MJ's tenure at Safaricom remains largely unparalleled. I wish him well in his retirement.
 
Ochieng Zach.

Be the change you want to see in the world

Zachary Ochieng
Editor/Journalist
Cell: +254 726 473 388
Blog: http://ochiengzach.blogspot.com
Twitter: @OchiengZach


--- On Sun, 10/10/10, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina at madeinkenya.org> wrote:


From: Wainaina Mungai <wainaina at madeinkenya.org>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] The big Kwaheri: reflecting on 10 years on the MJ 10 yr safari and his-tory - day 1
To: zzachmbir at yahoo.com
Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Date: Sunday, 10 October, 2010, 17:27


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 10th 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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