Dennis Kioko

Infrastructure has seen a huge boost in the last 8 budgets. This has seen a game of chairs especially for the defence sector. Will Production-services be the next focus?  The Kenyan budget has placed lots of emphasis on infrastructure, an online analysis tool shows. The Kenya Budget Explorer, a tool developed by Uwazi at   Twaweza  uses an Iconomical dashboard to analyse 9 of the country's 10 last budgets (excluding the recently released 2011/2012 budget). Of 7 spending sectors, infrastructure was at 6th position in 2002/2003 at 6.7 per cent of government spending.  To date, Social Services consisting of health , human resources (government employees) and Education (free primary education) has taken the biggest government spending at between 40 per cent and 50 per cent. In 2002/2003, governance/economic services (provincial administration, treasury, office of the president and prime minister) came in second at 17.39 p...

Nokia 500, one of Nokia's new smartphones that will get more local apps from 100 developers this weekend.  Nokia is looking to revamp its smartphone unit in Africa. This has seen them coming up with devices such as the Nokia 500, which is fully touch and features a vastly improved version of its Symbian OS (Symbian Belle), with cool features that allow it to match off with Android and OS. With the new devices and improved Symbian software, Nokia is now looking for applications form the region to entice users. I am in the midst of reviewing the Nokia 500, and it has quite a number of applications that you would expect on other smart phones, including Angry Birds. While Android and iPhone may have a few local apps here and there, Nokia is looking to up the ante by calling in 100 developers to come up with local Symbian applications. This will be at an event to be held this weekend in Nairobi. It will be interesting to see what will come off the event. Maybe we will have a...

Kenya' s dream to be a land of  flowing milk and honey is threatened by steep milk prices. Those wealthy enough to afford milk still have had to scramble for low supplies, despite availability of powdered milk as an alternative. Inflation in Kenya is quite high,  rarely falling below double digits. Many reasons have been fronted as the cause of the high inflation, including an expensive dollar and high bank rates. With a fast growing economy, Kenyans have also been one of the factors driving inflation, with their spending habits. Wonder not how Kenyans drive inflation. I once frequented Githurai town, a busy trading point along Thika Road, centred around what was once a roundabout, now a flyover. Githurai hosts what  they would call a bustling market. Barter exchange still thrives vibrantly here, mostly through involuntary exchange of phones, pocket items and other items you own, to people who will sell them to other people who would like to own them....

I need a dose of reality, It's hard to question the clarity of my brain's thoughts, not much unlike a clear blue morning sky, but my heart is always out to cloud my thoughts, like mist clouding a clear blue morning sky. I need a heart bypass surgery, before my heart finally attacks, the kicks of a dying heart.