Skip to main content

Are you looking for somehere to dump your electronic waste, karibu Kenya, hakuna matata

Kenya, unlike xenophobic South Africa, has been known to be very welcoming to foreigners. We are so welcoming that even at the height of post election violence, we still preferred welcoming them to living with the neighbors we had lived with since we were born.

We have continued with this tradition in this era of globalization and digitization that we are now accepting their electronic waste.In fact, we are so good that we are ranked alongside China and India by wikipedia. Electronic waste end up in Kenya mainly thtough the following ways:
  • Donations to schools and instituitions through some large organisations
  • They are assembled in clones and second hand computers for sale
  • Electronic waste may be send top Kenya for processing
Clones are the computers which are mostly unbranded and assembled by small scale assemblers in Kenya or the east. Also note that alsthough the casing might bear brands such as Digitek, mpaq, xcess or the like, mostly printed, this are also clones since thoise are just manufacturers of the case. The components inside the case will be from different manufacturers in most cases.
common components include motherboards from mercury and via processors.

By my observation, the largest source of e-waste is CRT monitors, which are shipped and sold cheaply here. typical prices are between 2000 and 4000 kshs compared to ksh. 12,000 for a decent environment friendly TFT-LCD.

The above image shows a CRT(Cathode Ray Tube) on the left vs a TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display ) and their power consumptions. A TFT-LCD consumes upto 70% less power than a CRT.

Most of the computers that we buy at very cheap prices, and most of those computers that were donated to your neighbouring school arent waht they seem to be. Matter of fact, this are elecronic rejects from Europe, USA , Australia and Singapore. Infact, some of them usually have company brandings and logos from their countrys of origins.

This countries have implemented stringent laws to curb on disposal and dumping of such wastes. infact, you have to pay for disposal of such wastes, or "donate" them to Kwa Nzili primary school somehere in Kitui(is this in china) where they will go a long way towards helping poor students attain important IT education.You may also pay for disposal of the waste, and then the waste will be imported by some shady business mane, who will be making ICT affordable to all by selling you a pentium II unit at Ksh. 4000 complete.
Bargain, well not, a pentioun II will run windows XP with difficulty, and little or no other current programs on top. it will be just a toy fro your kid to play with his pirated copy of Need For Speed II SE on top of a pirated copy of Windows 98 several times.

This waste will continue stock piling in our country as we sit back and enjoy the low prices and donations for the moment.What happens when we realize we do not need this stuff, or it breaks down, as they always do, since it was refurbished.

We will burn it, releasing heavy metal such as lead, mercury, cadmium or bromine into the environment.We also lack any guidelines here for dealing with such wastes, leave alone any processing plants.

Meanwhile, the people in charge of e-waste disposal in the developed world are laughing all the way to the bank as they are paid to dispose off waste which they "donate" or resell to you.

so its up to you and me to correct this by at least trying the following:
  • At least buy a pentium IV (4) computer with around 2.0 ghz speed , the rest are pretty too old to be of much help to you
  • try buying a TFT monitor as compared to an LCD one
  • try buying new items, or at leaste refurbished items from companies such as HP,Dell, Compaq and others which have good e-waste aqnd pollution preventable measures
The goverment shoul come up with a department to control this problem, and a measure taxing old electronic parts would also go a long way. For example, I think that CRT monitors hsould be taxed to price them at par with TFT monitors.

what do you think of this blog. you can e mail me at gramware@gmail.com or my other e-mail addreses to voice your opinions.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beers in Kenya: A sober opinion

Note: This is a dated post and has since been mostly passed by events. SAB Miller beers including Castle and Peroni are no longer widely available in Kenya after their exist. Sirville Brewery was bought out by Brew Bistro before being permanently shut in a tax dispute. Kenya is a land of milk, honey, beaches and taxes. I have penned, or is typed, a newer post here .  Peroni - One of the best beers in Kenya. Did a taste of canned and bottled Italian, and bottled Tanzanian I like the tangy flavour and body in Tanzanian Peroni. The can is close. Heineken drinkers will like the Italian one.  I have had a short beer swigging stint in my life. It has however been long enough for me to share my opinion of Kenyan beer. Interestingly, over the course of sharing such opinions with other drunkards connoisseurs,  I have found that we all have different views as to what beer is the best, which one makes you too drunk, or which one gives one free, extra hangover for every ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nairobi's Top 4 Texas Brisket Places Reviewed and Ranked

Brisket on a bed of roast vegetables with barbecue sauce at Texas Brisket, Kikuyu  This review has been updated after a number of you suggested I try the brisket at County2County.  What's the best place to have Brisket in Nairobi? What's even brisket?  Brisket is one of the toughest cuts in a cow, from around the belly. It is so tough that it has to be smoked for about 16 hours to tenderise. But that there, is the catch.  12 to 16 hours later, it is the most flavourful and softest cut you will ever have. So full of flavour and so soft you can pick it apart with your fingers.  However, due to the long cooking time involved, only a few places offer brisket in Nairobi.  The best so far is Texas Brisket which is located within Kikuyu Railway station.  They do the meat for a proper 16 hours, and will usually have a fatty or non-fatty portion. The fatty portions are more tasty. A 500 gram serving goes for KSh. 900 and a 1 KG order comes with a serving of fre...
Post a Comment
Read more

WhatsApp Solution: Sorry we were unable to restore any of your message history backup

*This method only works if you are trying to transfer WhatsApp from one phone to another, and have not deleted WhatsApp data or formatted the old phone. If you already uninstalled WhatsApp and deleted data or logged into a different number, it won't work. If you get the “Sorry we were unable to restore any of your message history backup” when trying to restore your WhatsApp messages, trying to restore again from the same backup will probably fail. The issue seems to be caused by an issue with your backup file such as if you repeatedly tried to backup with internet connecting and disconnecting. 
Post a Comment
Read more

25

Well, it has been quite a while since I last posted anything here, or even visited this blog. Yet another proof that the blog is quite boring that it does not warrant my visiting it. As for me not updating it, I could have blamed the numerous blackouts, or even blamed the alcohol(proliferation of Chang’aa in Kenya). But here is a perfect reason that I was not blogging. See, I come form a very green area in Kenya called Mwingi. O.k. , I now admit that it is a dry area often plagued by drought , but the area is quite green due to the continuous rains in Kenya starting last November. In case you are wondering, neither drought, rain or lush greenery is to blame for my failure to blog. A more closer fit would be the constitutional system of the country. See I come from Mwingi south , a constituency that was once split from Mwingi constituency. Before the split, Mwingi constituency had its M.P. as Kalonzo Musyoka , the country’s V.P. Kalonzo Musyoka is still the M.P. for Mwingi North. Recen...
2 comments
Read more

Why Humanity Hasn't Learned From the Covid Pandemic

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic began ravaging the world, succeeding the 1918 flu pandemic.  Many found it unbelievable that despite all the scientific progress that the world has made since 1918, from composite jets to modern healthcare to going to the moon, the world was still susceptible to a pandemic.  Ironically, some of these advancements largely played a role in the spread of the pandemic. Thousands of global flights every hour and air conditioning fanned its spread like a dry wind would in a forest fire.  There was even further disbelief in mid-2020 when it became apparent that many countries were even struggling to keep a pandemic in check. Developed countries, supposed to have the best healthcare, suffered the worst outbreaks amidst disagreements on measures such as quarantines and wearing of masks.  In yet another twist, technology advancement finally came to our rescue with the speedy development of vaccines, including the safe pioneering of never-tried-b...
Post a Comment
Read more