Thursday 23 December 2010

Panorama on Christmas break

It has largely been a difficult year for me, the main publisher of this blog, as well as two other contributors to this blog.

This ICC business has worsened things!

Anyway, the year is ending nonetheless. We are taking a break up until the first week of the new year. However, if something big comes up, we will be back to publish.

Happy holidays everyone. We see you at the begining of the year.

Sunday 19 December 2010

KBC takes back Channel 2, renames KTV

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation -  KBC - has refused to renew Radio Africa's lease of TV frequency, following a drama earlier this year involving World Cup rights.

Now, the state is taking back Classic TV frequency, and will rename it KTV. Initially, before leasing it to Radio Africa - the company that runs Kiss radio/TV and Classic FM and The Star newspaper - the TV in question was called Channel 2, and way back earlier, Metro TV.

Director of Information and Public Communication Ezekiel Mutua will be directing programmes at KTV, just like the way he personally runs Kenya Today newspaper. KTV will be showing programmes on bee keeping in Gucha, poultry projects in Msambweni, water projects in Lodwar and peace efforts in Transmara... Most of the footage the new TV will be showing are from Kenya News Agency bureaux.

KBC is taking back the frequency after a biter row earlier this issue relating to a World Cup deal. 

Ahead of South Africa World Cup, KBC and Radio Africa struck a deal to jointly air the matches on TV. When the games got underway, it turned out that KBC sold radio broadcasting rights to Citizen radio, and it was not clear also how Milele FM was also broadcasting the same, too.

Radio Africa raised a storm over it and KBC director David Waweru was sacked. And this was when KBC board decided to have Channel 2 (Classic TV) frequency back.

Now, KISS TV has started broadcasting Nigerian movies that used to be broadcast on Classic TV. Kiss TV has also been lying that KISS TV and Classic TV have merged, while the truth is, KBC has taken back the frequency they had leased to Radio Africa.

Emmy Kosgey's Wololoo album

Top Kalenjin name in music Emmy Kosgey is finalizing work on her fourth album to be released early next year. I have had a preview of the lead title in Emmy's new album, and i liked it very much.

The new album will pretty much have a similar sound and tune to her third and biggest album yet, Taunet Neleel. But in the new album, she introduces a blend of English lyrics.

He three albums, Katau Banda, Kaswech and Taunet Neleel have exclusively been in her native Kalenjin. Emmy says she is now seeking to reach more audiences by including stanzas in English.

By the time she finishes work on the new album, Emmy will be hoping to launch her website, http://emmykosgei.com/.

Wololoo (Kalenjin for no way or simply no), or its equivalent, is the title of one of the songs in her upcoming album.

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Ocampo six suspects,

Except for perhaps two cases that ICC maw have evidence, proving any case against the rest of the four suspects will not be easy. Here i submit that Francis Muthaura and ex-police commissioner Ali's case may have some substance in light of police killing. But with the rest of the suspects, proving a water tight case against them will not be easy. Mr Kenyatta's Mungiki case needs paperwork for it to go ahead. And for the prosecutor to name President Kibaki's assistant in the name of Muthaura means that idealy, the prosecutor is acting cowardly- because the aide has no orders of his own, rather, the boss'. That is all for now, really.

Monday 13 December 2010

NTV pirates UK's ITV news bumper

NTV television of Kenya has shamelessly lifted a bumper template belonging to a leading UK television station, changed a few things, and now is the main feature introducing its evening news.

Let me explain. A news Bumper or Bumper Music is a short pre-recorded production element containing voice over music or bed, in this case, used to introduce news programme.

In November 2009, UK's leading private TV channel, ITV re-launched its news bumper , coming up with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NWleJNfO0g&feature=related. Now, NTV has used the same template, with very similar bed (music) and is now using it in its evening bulletins.

Watch this video when ITV was introducing this bumper and go catch NTV news tonight to understand what I am saying.

I don't know how long this has been running, since I don't watch Kenyan TV as much. But I just noticed this this past weekend. This is quite shameful indeed because there are TV producers who are paid by stations to create new bumpers, trailers and other promotional material to be used in programmes.

Thursday 9 December 2010

Ouko's murder back to haunt Biwott

Nicholas Biwott's prospects of seeking public office in Elgeyo-Marakwet County plummeted today after a parliamentary report prepared five years ago linked him to the murder of Robert Ouko in 1990.

The report, prepared by MPs led by former Kisumu Town East's Gor Sunguh, says Ouko was assassinated at State House Nakuru after he fell out with Biwott following retired President Moi's tour of the USA. The parliamentary report says that evidence showed that Biwott and former Nyanza administrator Julius Kobia were present as Ouko was being abducted by intelligence agents. His charred body was later found in Got Alila, near Kisumu on 13 February 1990.

It has been years, and this is an issue that Biwott wishes could just go away, but it simply cant. It has come back again, with even more questions about if indeed he was behind the murder of the then flamboyant foreign minister. Biwott will not address the media on the subject (yet), helping build a veil of questions among political supporters about what he really knows about this murder.

One thing is clear though, whatever is the truth, political career of the man who makes millions daily from his business empire will hit new low, even probably failing to win senate seat for Elgeyo-Maraket County.

Monday 6 December 2010

AIC's Yego ''sacks'' Kenyan radio director

The head of the Akamba-Kalenjin dominated Africa Inland Church (AIC), the Rev Silas Yego, is desperately seeking to sack the director of the Biblia Husema Broadcasting (BHB) radio (90.9FM), Rev Christopher Arap Mutai. AIC runs BHB.

Rev Yego, who has been fighting another battle over the church's revised constitution, has written a letter to Rev Mutai, asking him to quit.

I have no idea at all why  Rev Yego is seeking to dismiss the broadcaster of 25 years.

You probably remember Rev Mutai in 80s and 90's for his weekly ''Wimbo Niupendao'' programme on KBC Kiswahili Service on weekends. In 1981, Biblia Husema Broadcasting was brought out from under Africa Inland Mission and placed fully within the Africa Inland Church, and in the same year Rev Mutai succeeded was named the managing director of Biblia Husema Broadcasting.

Over the years, Rev Mutai has been the face that the donors and partners have been dealing with. He has been trusted and BHB funded over the year; in his name. Can someone, privately let us know why Rev Yego wants to sack Rev Mutai?

Eastleigh grenade that killed police officer

Police officers were playing with a grenade while driving along the Nairobi's Somali-populated Eastleigh neighbourhood on Friday when the security pin dropped. The grenade exploded, killing one of the officers.

A senior police officer has told a contact that the police officers themselves were the ones who were holding the grenade that exploded, killing one of them.  The theory on someone hurling a grenade and disappearing to an alley is a lie, and police chiefs know that.

So on the basis of this, the truth be told that Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab rebels were not involved (and this is not the same thing as saying that some of them don't operate from the area).

And it appears there was only one grenade in the Landrover 110 that the officers were in.


So FBI officers investigating the killing of the police constable should just read this blog and put forward their recommendations on police officers who amuse themselves with grenades and other such explosives.

Sunday 5 December 2010

Ivory Coast: Shame of African leaders

Ivory Coast, or Cote d'Ivoire, is back on the brink of disaster, and this time round, the deranged Laurent Gbagbo will not survive.

Gbagbo has refused to accept the results of presidential election that showed that he lost the elections, and has now taken oath to continue as president.

Let me recap for you what has happened since the year 2000, until now when the west African nation is by the edge of a precipice.
  • On September 19, 2002, dissident soldiers attacked Abidjan to try to overthrow Gbagbo. They failed, but managed to sp0lit the country in two; rebels seize north of country.
  •  On October 30 2005, scheduled presidential polls were postponed. Further postponements are made until this year, 2010. Polls were finally held 29 November 2010.
  •  Gbagbo took 38% of the first-round vote, while Ouattara took 32% of the first-round vote. Third-candidate, with just over 20 per cent later backed Ouattara for second round.
  •  On November 28 a run-off between incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo and rival Alassane Ouattara was held.
  •  The country's election commission announced Thursday last week that Ouattara had won. However, new results released Friday on national television by a Gbagbo loyalist who heads the constitutional council said that the incumbent president had in fact been re-elected. United States, the United Nations, France and the European Union reject results showing Gbagbo win.
  •  Gbagbo was sworn-in as Ivory Coast president on Saturday. Ouattara submitted a rival oath to undertake the presidency and said he would start a parallel government.
  •  Today, AU is sending Former South African President Thabo Mbeki to help mediate the dispute. Mbeki is sympathetic to Gbagbo, and I don't think he will achieve anything.
My take. Gbagbo is hopping that the protests will die down and he will continue ruling the country. This is such a shame for Africa. Ivory Coast has been through som people andb the people would really like to see their copuntry move on; not this backward nonsense of Gbagbo. 
I really think that Gbagbo will not survive; either way. He will face massive internation isolation or the rebels will go back to war.

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Standard newspaper circulation to dip

Managers at The Standard newspaper are worried that circulation of the Kenya's second selling tabloid-size daily publication will drop drastically following the increase in the cover price.

Daily Nation, Kenya's top-selling newspaper, which is also raising the cost of its cover price, will likely to reap the benefits of the fallout from the joint decision by the Daily Nation and The Standard to increase by five shillings the cost of newspaper.

Now, in retrospect, the managers The Standard are lost on how to make sure that they maintain the circulation of the newspaper that I, myself, rarely read. The decision by The Nation and The Standard to raise the cost of cover price from today - 1 December - was reached in the first week of November, following weeks of discussion with the commercial directors and managers.

And The Daily Nation has been seeking to tell its readers, including those who read The Standard that Daily Nation is read by at least 70 per cent of all newspaper readers in the country; with numbers to back that up.

Not that five shillings is quite a huge amount, really, compared with Uganda where the New Vision and Daily Monitor sell for an average of one dollar (80 shillings) per copy and similar price in Tanzania. But, Kenyan print media market is a bit different. This is a market where people watch as much TV and listen to radio, read news on the internet, and buy the Sunday newspaper to catch up with what they may have missed in the week.

There are many people who buy both The Standard and Daily Nation daily, but it is likely that until they psychologically adjust to the price rise, they may have to stop buying one newspaper for the time being. That newspaper will likely be The Standard - because after all The Nation has most adverts, better news writing style, in spite of the political bias, and more trusted name.

Probably, some people will be buying The Daily Nation and The Star newspapers, in place of The Standard. Maybe even with The People that has a better look from today following re-launch.

No wonder then on 29 November when The Standard was announcing that there had been a decision to raise cover price of its title with a similar step at the Daily Nation, it went ahead to seek to beseech the readers to continue buying the newspaper.

They did not have to do that. They would have just said: ''We and The Daily Nation are raising by five shillings the cover price because of high newsprint costs.'' In contrast, when the Daily Nation was announcing on 30 December that it was raising its cover price by five shillings, it did so in four paras. You see the panic?