Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT

BY ROBERT PLUMMER & NATLAIE SHERMAN Until the start of the pandemic, it had never occurred to Alex Patton that he could become an amateur trader. But now, in the wake of the GameStop shares frenzy, he is something of an unlikely veteran of the financial markets. “Before Covid struck, I didn’t know the first thing about investing,” says the 28-year-old railway cyber-security engineer, of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London. But after the stock market took a bad tumble in March last year and dealt his pension savings a blow, he decided that he should, as he puts it, “take…

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The concept of “free speech” is not a traditional technology topic. But in a world where everyone communicates, sends and receives money, transacts and gets entertained based on a technology platform controlled by a small number of very large, very powerful and very leftist Silicon Valley giants, the very idea of “freedom” is under attack BY RANTING MR P The story of the 2020 United States Presidential Elections has been told a million times and over, and boils down to a retelling of Kenya’s stolen 2007 Presidential Election: One candidate was the runaway leader going into the long night of…

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A lot of people are playing with different things Trump has done, but I don’t think anyone has figured it out yet. They may not have to figure it out, however. Even after all the events of recent days, Donald Trump may not be done yet BY ANNTHONY ZURCHER Although he had just finished promising a small gathering of supporters that he would be back “in some form”, the future for Trump – and the political movement he rode to victory in 2016 – is murky. Just two months ago, he seemed poised to be a powerful force in American…

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When students subject their seemingly helpless teachers to very humiliating taunts or unleash deadly knockout blows on them, stab, maim and kill them or challenge the trained law enforcers to a duel then we are not talking about education but a misguided bravado only reserved for a jungle and not a school BY JACKTONE W. NYONJE The ongoing macabre destructions in our schools by students shouldn’t surprise us. Anybody purporting to be shocked is either an actor or does not live in this country. Condemning the school and its temporary tenants is also hypocritical. Perhaps we need a serious conversation…

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BY ALEX OWITI Gamification for social good started way back in the day when the young and the old would play together as they passed important social messaging that would change behaviour or instill discipline. For instance, the Sudanese game for naming the ancestral tree played an important role in the Nuer Constructive Contructivisit Ethnic Identity. Dereje Feyissa in his book, Playing Different Games: The Paradox of Anywaa and Nuer Identification, argues that the Nuer Identification mode is not primordialist as among the Anywaa but constructive. The game enables the Nuer to understand and appreciate their lineage and roots as…

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BY VICTOR ADAR You are a business kingpin getting ready to go and sign some contracts. Out of nowhere the first case of coronavirus disease is reported in your country. Government enforces cessation of movement and people are unable to cross borders, working or studying from home becomes the order of the day. What Covid-19 has taught organizations is that they don’t need to spend so much on office rent and that what is going to matter is quality of space, design and location. Here, the facilities are shared from the kitchen to conference rooms, internet to electricity and a…

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BY ANTONY MUTUNGA COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major disruption and it is now evident that a number of these changes are here to stay. The pandemic has, for instance, greatly changed the norm in terms of work. Organizations have been forced to adopt new ways of working. Since the lockdowns started being imposed around the world, many organizations had to look to remote work and hybrid work models as ways of cutting costs and continuing production. Workstyle Africa has been one of the solutions to this challenge. The flexible and co-working space provider, which was founded by Ronald Nyairo…

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If there was ever a ministry that can turn around Kenya’s economy, Agriculture, Livestock Development, Fisheries and Co-operatives takes the trophy. Perhaps it is at the back of this that the Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya decided to appoint a serious and highly experienced individual to raise the ministry’s profile. Mary Njeri Mungai, a retired Commissioner of Co-operative Development, is the new chairperson of the Ethics Commission for Co-operative Societies (ECCOS) – the ECCOS’s objective is not only to collect wealth declaration forms from societies but also investigate on any matter that raises suspicion, or any conduct that constitutes a breach…

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Insurance company, UAP Old Mutual holdings has launched a digital insurance cover that will allow a registered member to manage last respect expenses in the event of the death of a family member. The new cover will be accessible from one’s mobile phone allowing convenience while also being affordable as it is available from a low cost of Sh50 a month, meaning the lowest cost will be Sh600 per year. It will include the principal member and up to five members of his/her nuclear family. An additional dependant (child) and parent(s) can be added to the cover at an extra…

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Rendeavour, Tatu City’s developer and Konza Technopolis have entered into a partnership with the aim of attracting foreign investors to the country. The partnership is expected to focus on building both mega-project investment policies and positioning the two cities at vantage positions for both local and international investors as the economy tries to improve following the disaster left by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. According to Preston Mendenhall, Rendeavour’s executive vice president, the partnership will bring about new opportunities that are greatly needed currently. “We are excited as Tatu City to be visiting Konza today. As sister cities with a common…

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