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Public Notice

Guidelines For Political Mobile Advertising On Safaricom’s Premium Rate Messaging Network

As we approach the General Elections, Safaricom Limited recognises that Political Parties and other individuals will be seeking to communicate to the electorate through various media, including Short Message Service (SMS), Multi Media Messages (MMS), video and audio clips (“Political Messages”).

This is a welcome development that embraces the importance of mobile technology in Kenya’s democratic processes.

However, from past experience, we are acutely aware of the immense potential of mobile technology as a communication tool that can contribute both positively and negatively to the well being of the Nation before, during and after the electoral process.

For this reason, Safaricom is taking an early stand to ensure that our mobile network, which is relied upon by over 19 million Kenyans, is not used as a platform to spread hatred and/or incite the populace to violence through the dissemination of hate-speech via mobile based messaging.

In February 2012, Safaricom sought clear guidelines for such messages from the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Registrar of Political Parties of Kenya.

As we await further guidance from the aforementioned institutions, Safaricom wishes to notify all Content & Premium Service Providers and the public at large that the following Guidelines for Political Mobile Advertising will be applied with immediate effect:

1. General

1 .1 For accountability, Political Messages will only be delivered through licensed Content Service Providers (CSPs) with direct inter-operability agreements with Safaricom.

2. Process

2.1 CSPs intending to send Political Messages shall make an application to Safaricom at least forty-eight (48) hours before sending the message. 

The application shall include as a minimum, the following information:.

2.2. Prior to sending of any proposed Political Message, Safaricom shall vet its content to ensure compliance with these Guidelines. Safaricom will notify the applicants of its decision within eighteen (18) hours of submission of the request.

2.3. Safaricom reserves the right to refuse the transmission of a proposed Political Message over its network.

3. Content

3.1 No Political Messages shall be sent out through the Safaricom network in the name of Safaricom or bearing any of Safaricom’s logos or slogans or otherwise appearing to be associated to Safaricom.

3.2 Political Messages must bear the name of the Political Party or individual disseminating the Political Messages.

3.3 Political Messages shall not contain offensive, abusive, obscene or profane language.

3.4 Political Messages shall not contain inciting or discriminatory language that may or is intended to expose an individual or group of individuals to hatred, hostility or ridicule on the basis of ethnicity, tribe, race, colour, religion, gender or otherwise.

3.5 Political Messages shall focus on Party manifestos and shall not dwell on unnecessary attacks on individual persons, their families, their tribe or their associations.

3.6 Political Messages shall be in the English or Kiswahili languages only.

4. Timing

4.1 Approved Political Messages shall be only sent out between 0800 hrs and 1800 hrs.

4.2 CSPs shall comply with the law as regards political campaign periods.

5. Unsolicited Messages

5.1 CSPs SHALL NOT send unsolicited Political Messages to customers who have not subscribed for the service. CSPs shall ensure that all recipients of Political Messages have opted into the service by SMS registration. Such opt in will require the express consent of the recipients and opt-out procedures must be clearly notified to customers.

5.2 CSPs must produce evidence of such consent immediately upon request by Safaricom or any other concerned governmental body or regulator.

5.3 CSPs shall strictly adhere to the law regarding the use of customer databases howsoever acquired.

5.4 Safaricom shall immediately terminate any CSPs contract for any unauthorised use, sharing or sale of existing customer databases for purposes of sending out Political Messages, Poll Tracking and lobby activities.

6. Adherence to the Law and Guidelines

6.1 CSPs shall take legal responsibility for the content of Political Messages and shall fully indemnify and keep indemnified Safaricom against any claims that may arise out of those Political Messages.

6.2 CSPs shall strictly adhere to the laws, regulations and guidelines relating to elections and political activities which include the Constitution, Elections Act, Independent Electoral Commission & Boundaries Act, National Cohesion & Integration Act.

6.3 Failure to comply with any of these Guidelines shall entitle Safaricom to suspend or terminate the CSPs interoperability Agreement with Safaricom.

Please email your queries or comments to prspsupport@safaricom.co.ke or send an SMS to 333 in regards to this service.

Terms and Conditions Apply
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Professor George Saitoti died after a horrific police helicopter crash on Sunday 10th June in Kibiku forest in Ngong. He perished together with his internal security minister Orwa Ojode and four others who include two pilots and two bodyguards. Questions abound about the cause of the accident and though Raila Odinga was quick to warn Kenyans not to speculate (he was quick to speculate the cause of the Moi Avenue blast some weeks earlier) the rumour mill in Kenya is unstoppable.

Mutahi Ngunyi, an avid political analyst in Kenya appeared on the popular K24 TV Capital Talk show dubbed "The Bench" hosted by award winning former CNN journalist Jeff Koinange. On the question of Saitoti's death, Mutahi Ngunyi was quick to theorise that Saitoti was assassinated. Saitoti's demise may be linked to drug cartels, Kibaki succession, the fight against the Somali militants Al Shabab or the ICC cases where Saitoti could have been a potential witness.

Here is the interview

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4

Is there anyone listening

It is a portrait of a Kenyan image out of Sub-Saharan Africa. 

In a background to the rest of the world lie deep roots of tribal lines. 

Interestingly Kenya is worth of all acceptances-the heartbeat of East Africa. 

Will the Dark Continent emerge and be counted as a light in the world? 

Let all wait in awe, baited breathe and catch a glimpse. 

Culture in my homeland is a maze more or less an unsolved puzzle. 

Greenfields, outflow of crystal waters and thunderous falls. 

Speak of a dreamland and Kenya would be the fortress Eden beauty. 

In two twists of a coin, head down, that was of old. 

Days when children huddled together like a bunch of bananas. 

Under the glitter of stars in thatched huts at a fire place with heart rending stories. 

Tongues of the old symbolized respect and demanded loyalty. 

Now it’s all in a butcher’s hand. 

Bloodshed was a reason worth independence but its sad how we still lag behind. 

In our ears folksongs linger along tribal lines. 

Brush, brush and modernization tunes in, the songs fade away. 

Reiterating is a rhythm of rights and civilization.  

Majority of people labor hard all to allures of sovereign rule, government of the people for the people by the people? 

Haki yetu! Chanting alarming woes and pleas. 

Common mwanainchi - name known to a lively hood in Kenya. 

Ought to add up to something? 

Yes, literally, it’s a whipping at the back.

Deprivation and the wanainchi are rendered hopeless. 

To more that catches the eye. 

For years in bargain to attain literacy in a bid to harness education. 

All to a cheap reality of failure. 

Speak of a job well done, may be for a mad man. 

Political mileage outsourced to a down trodden society. 

In other news headlines-a deficiency of power.

Aust Museveni talk of Mugabe. 

How about Kenya? 

Heavy weights and light weights a seducing outfit for Mr. Right or Mr. Wrong.
In an arena of political satire where a job ferry with an illusion of the Cinderella ward stick. 

Zoom! Magic then reality, ‘kazi ni kazi’.

In an ideal situation frustration to elite youth .

Talk of rights to commercial sex workers...

Stop sulking as sad as it may seem Kenya has a bigger ribbon to mend. 

Enough of the loss to the HIV/Aids menace.

Liberate Kenya. 

Is there some one up to the task?
::)) Is there anyone listening!!!!


-- Filament Bruvs

An ageing king woke up one day to the realization that should he drop dead, there would be no male in the royal family to take his place.

He was the last male in the royal family in a culture where only a male could succeed to the throne - and he was aging.

He decided that if he could not give birth to a male, he would adopt a son who then could take his place but he insisted that such an adopted son must be extraordinary in every sense of the word.

So he launched a competition in his kingdom, open to all boys, no matter what their background. Ten boys made it to the very top.

There was little to separate these boys in terms of intelligence and physical attributes and capabilities.

The king said to them, "I have one last test and whoever comes top will become my adopted son and heir to my throne." Then he said, "This kingdom depends solely on agriculture.

So the king must know how to cultivate plants. So here is a seed of corn for each of you.

Take it home and plant and nurture it for three weeks. At the end of three weeks, we shall see who has done the best job of cultivating the seed.

That person will be my heir-apparent."

The boys took their seeds and hurried home. They each got a flower pot and planted the seed as soon as  they got home.

There was much excitement in the kingdom as the people waited with bated breath to see who was destined to be their next king.

In one home, the boy and his parents were almost heartbroken when after days of intense care, the seed failed to sprout.

He did not know what had gone wrong with his.

He had selected the soil carefully, he had applied the right quantity and type of fertilizer, he had been very dutiful in watering it at the right intervals, he had even prayed over it day and night and yet his seed had turned out to be unproductive.

Some of his friends advised him to go and buy a seed from the market and plant that.

"After all," they said, "how can anyone tell one seed of corn from another?" But his parents who had always taught him the value of integrity reminded him that if the king wanted them to plant any corn, he would have asked them to go for their own seed. "If you take anything different from what the king gave you that would be dishonesty.

Maybe we are not destined for the throne.

If so, let it be but don't be found to have deceived the king," they told him.

The d-day came and the boys returned to the palace each of them proudly exhibiting a very fine corn seedling.

It was obvious that the other nine boys had had great success with their seeds.

The king began making his way down the line of eager boys and asked each of them, "Is this what came out of the seed I gave you?" And each boy responded, "Yes, your majesty." And the king would nod and move down the line.

The king finally got to the last boy in the line-up.

The boy was shaking with fear. He knew that the king was going to have him thrown into prison for wasting his seed.

"What did you do with the seed I gave you?" the king asked.

"I planted it and cared for it diligently, your majesty, but alas it failed to sprout." the boy said tearfully as the crowd booed him.

But the king raised his hands and signaled for silence. Then he said, "My people, behold your next king." The people were confused. "Why that one?" many asked.

"How can he be the right choice?" The king took his place on his throne with the boy by his side and said, "I gave these boys boiled seeds. This test was not for cultivating corn.

It was the test of character; a test of integrity. It was the ultimate test.

If a king must have one quality, it must be that he should be above dishonesty.

Only this boy passed the test. A boiled seed cannot sprout."

We live in a society that has become obsessed with success and many show success at any cost. We say the end justifies the means. It is the tragedy of life.

You see, failure often is an invitation to God to show that he is all-powerful and does not need help to make us great or to bless us.

You know, sometimes God looks for people who will trust him completely no matter what so he could show the world that it is not by might or by power but by his spirit.

God sometimes ordains failure.

But many seek to circumvent divinely ordained failure by resorting to dubious means.

When a civil servant builds a big house and sends his five children to expensive schools when he does not have a second source of income, is that not a case of a boiled seed sprouting?

When a minister of state is able to sustain a lavish mistress and at the same time put up houses from his income as minister, is that not a case of a boiled seed coming to life?

We should stop cheering rogues in WORLD!.

I believe that we have all been given lives to lead according to God's plan and if we are living faithfully, we should all have different results.

For instance, I believe that not all marriages are meant to have children.

I believe that some women would stand before God with their children and God would say, "That's strange. I did not give you and your husband children so how did you get these?" I believe that not every student should make it to the university.

So, many would stand before God with their certificates and God would say, "Now that is strange.

How did you get to the university when I closed the door to the university to you?"

I believe that not all people are supposed to marry.

But there are those who would throw away their scruples just to get a spouse. Now before God's judgement throne, they would hear, "Now that is strange.

You were to remain single to honour my name. So how did you get a spouse when I did not give you one?"

The bible says the race is not for the swift and the battle is not for the strong. So how come, that in WORLD the swift wins the race and the strong the battle?

It is because we are refusing to remain faithful to God and refusing to allow God to be God in all things and in our affairs. 

Boiled seed does not sprout.

Next time you see a successful person, find out what kind of seed he was given and ask him, "how come your boiled seed has sprouted?"

Interesting indeed!!