Dennis Kioko

Sorry for using a Wikipedia image, but after going through my few photos from Primary school, other than spotting don't-touch-my ankle trousers which exposed my red socks, I also look high in most of them. Miss Kerigo was too serious for photos. Today was a holiday, Eid Mubarak, in honour of our Muslim segment of Kenyans. Notice how the Kibaki government never announces random holidays  - this one was announced almost a month in advance. The previous Moi one was a show stopper, throwing employers' plans into disarray as he announced National holidays by the roadside amidst 'traditional dancers' who would later receive wads of cash in envelopes. Imagine some foreigner planning a business meeting in Kenya weeks in advance only for it to fall in a last minute holiday. Back to the holiday, it is a day when one wakes up at 8 Am , only to go back to sleep for an additional 2 hours, oh the bliss. So after doing the above today morning, I woke up, and noticed th...

Stalls at Jamia Mall. Stalls are quite a fad in Nairobi, with a group of stalls often selling the same wares.  Hakuna Matata, karibu Afrika - Yet another tourist will be welcomed to this exotic paradise for a get away , but where we will work hard and assist them to have a close-to-home as possible experience. But hey, that was not meant to be the opening sentence for this post. The title of the post comes from the popular Larry Madowo, known for his business reporting especially in shows like PM Live.  We were at some of those events that journalists, reporters and bloggers keep attending: - some product launch here , some announcement there. It was at one of those launches that someone was mentioning watching something on Afternoon Live. I asked whether they meant PM Live,  I rarely watch TV and had not heard of Aftrenoon Live.  Apparently Afternoon Live is a business program aired by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) as a respons...

My pair of Bata Hush Puppies, proudly soaked after a walk on wet roads When one buys a pair of shoes for Ksh 6,000 (yes, about 60 US Dollars), their sanity should be called into question. This is especially so if  a shoe that costs anywhere from 6 to 3 times the cost of other respectable pairs of shoes is incapable of keeping water out of it's innards. I am one such insane person, who was lured into Bata by the promise that the price was a fair cost to pay for the quality. A 10% discount at the newly opened Bata shop at Sarit was even more convincing and that evening, I took home my first pair of Bata shoes since my lower primary school days. Four months later, I happened to finally get caught up in Nairobi rush-hour rain. This is the type of rain that pounds the city conveniently around 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., at about the same time that you also plan to rush home. The rain while quite sensitive of Nairobi's need of a reliable piped water supply  and reliable hydroelectrici...

This post has been updated from the original post with additional content and verifications. Updated content is in blue.  Vishal Patel, Executive Director , Copy Cat limited used to spend his holidays working at the business from the age of 12 The other day, no, the other month, I was lucky enough to attend Pivot 25 . I remember that before the award ceremony at Pivot 25, I was chatting with J ohn Waibochi ,   Isis Nyongo and Moses Kemibaro . The event was taking place at the Ole Sereni Hotel which is along Mombasa road. It was here that I learned that Parkside Towers, one of Mombasa road's imposing structures and probably Victoria Furnitures (according to rumours) which is opposite Parkside Towers , all belong to the family that owns Tile & Carpet Centre. In addition , the Indian  brothers own other real estate. This are rumoured to include an upcoming structure behind Victoria Furnitures. Well, the Tile & Carpet Centre brothers are Kenyans, b...