[kictanet] The big Kwaheri: reflecting on 10 years on the MJ 10yr safari and his-tory - day 5

Fri Oct 15 12:58:03 EAT 2010

MJ has accomplished a lot in a relatively short time: from generating enormous wealth for Safaricom’s shareholders to creating employment directly and indirectly for hundreds of thousands of Kenyans, Safaricom has left an indelible mark in Kenya’s economy.

Sadly I believe that MJ had the resources, political clout, and stamina to do so much more at Safaricom and I rue the missed opportunities.

1.       Promoting Kenya’s software developers community. MPESA is definitely Safaricom’s best ever product but it is disappointing that MJ did not ensure that the intellectual property for this product remained in Kenya and contributed to Kenya’s budding developers’ community. I do not know who developed MPESA but I know there existed sufficient technology expertise in Kenya to do it but currently Safaricom must pay license fees to Vodafone to use MPESA and woe unto us the day someone decides to stop paying the license fees. It was also telling that the aborted  Safaricom Innovation Forum seemed to perpetuate this thinking, so more MPESA-like ideas would still have been lost to Vodafone. See the disturbing clauses below of the Innovation Forum’s terms and conditions [the forum has since been taken down]

   “(a) That the submissions and its contents will automatically become the property of Safaricom, without any compensation whatsoever to you;

    (b) That Safaricom may use or redistribute the submissions and their contents for any purpose and in any way;”

2.       Breaking the culture of impunity. As our region’s largest and most respected company, I would have wished that Safaricom used its prominence as a bully pulpit to encourage the changing of business ethics in East Africa for the better. As it is however, Safaricom’s own business ethics were questionable as it stood accused of unethical business practices (remember Riftberry saga) , overcharging its customers (and only giving refunds when challenged) and talking down to its’ customers (peculiar calling habits), agents (ignoring phone calls, agent visits), competitors(Bharti’s pricing strategy is unsustainable and Safaricom has no intention of getting engaged in similar pricing) and partners (Barclays  & other banks - Work with us or we take over Kenya's retail banking). MJ had a great opportunity to show how private sector could change the culture of arrogance and impunity that is engraved in the Kenyan psyche, but sadly this never happened.

3.       Promoting an open society. As the largest provider of communication and information services, Safaricom was best placed to agitate for freedom of access to public information and privacy of individuals. However it chose to send out SMS at the request of the government during Kenya’s darkest hour instead of remaining neutral and meekly supported the registration of SIM cards which has no backing in law, and no justifiable use apart from privacy invasion by the government/Safaricom.

So as we celebrate what has been accomplished in 10 years by MJ, I feel we should also point out to him what more he could have done; and hopefully can do in his next venture for which I wish him the very best.

Harry Karanja 

From: kictanet-bounces+kairo=softlaw.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+kairo=softlaw.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Sam Aguyo
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010 1:35 PM
To: kairo at softlaw.co.ke
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: [kictanet] The big Kwaheri: reflecting on 10 years on the MJ 10yr safari and his-tory - day 4

In a number of cases we pay for services and get service.  For instance i leave in Nairobi work in town and have to travel everyday to work using matatus.  I feel quite unsafe since the matatus that i use does not guarantee me that they will reach the destination even though i have paid for the service.  Where we consider developed, one would pay more but guaranteed the service and we feel happy about it and talk about it and when we seek visas to those places sometimes we seek the intervention of our Priests, Pastors and Sheiks to pray for us to get a visa.  What is the difference between those places and Kenya, simple services are guaranteed.  I think the government is you and me since the taxes collected are use to pave roads, build hospitals... and sometimes pay high salaries to some people.

When a service does not work, let us address the specific service with the relevant people.  How many places do we pay for services that we do not get and do not dare complain?  I think as a scholar i can learn and draw inspiration from such people.  

Anything for free is worth nothing

Have a nice day

Sam

I have felt uncomfortable, as a consumer, praising Michael Joseph for services already paid for in hundreds of thousands of shillings. The accolades are heartwarming to read but I still feel this praise is best given by the govt (for taxes paid and various investments), staff (for jobs) and suppliers/consultants (for tenders). 

This is not to show rudeness to a successful CEO but to recognise that the richest company in Kenya may be riding on our backs. Here is an example from my Safaricom internet line. I received an exciting message a while back clearly saying I could receive unlimited service for Kshs 1000 for a month. Today, after happily paying for the service (twice), I get a more nuanced cunning message "unlimited 300MB etc". I have not applied for the cheap SMS because, unlike some listers here, I dont understand the deal. The customer care 100 & 200 no.s are impossible to get through. So...Safaricom gets another shs 7000 (total shs 9000) in a day, from me, to get longer term 5GB internet.

Well...I think Mpesa is great and thank M Joseph and crew for that. But beyond that, I think it is we consumers, paying through our teeth, who need to be thanked.

regards, Wamuyu

--- On Wed, 13/10/10, muriuki mureithi <mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke> wrote:

From: muriuki mureithi <mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke>
Subject: [kictanet] The big Kwaheri: reflecting on 10 years on the MJ 10yr safari and his-tory - day 4
To: wamuyulearn at yahoo.co.uk
Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Date: Wednesday, 13 October, 2010, 14:12

Listers 

It can’t be more exciting . we set out to get a 360 degree view of MJ and now Dr Ndemo has given as a bird’s eye view    of   MJ  and how he develops and executes strategy for Safaricom machine at the board. It is also noteworthy as Dr Ndemo mentions that the political terrain is extremely slippery but one must wiggle through to remain relevant .  How MJ has done it through KANU , NARC and now PNU/ODM is a mystery we need to unravel.  Is there a student of politics to help us help    as here? 

But what should MJ do after hanging the boots at Safaricom is it to write books, lecture, start a start-up company to test whether the theories work in a different setting etc .... what do you recommend MJ should do from October  31st ? should he stay in or out of ICT sector , go politics ( run for president as suggested by Charles) , preach, or takeover  one of the smaller operators and build it to be  a mega company like  ...................... 

cheers 

Muriuki Mureithi 

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