From: joachim omolo ouko
News Dispatch with Father Omolo Beste
THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2014
Bernard from Nairobi writes: “Fr Beste I read your article on Safaricom tender recently online and it has prompted me to raise several concerns. The security CCTV tender was not passed in Parliament as required. This very Safaricom has a connection with Uhuru Kenyatta’s family Commercial Bank. During Mwai Kibaki’s regime this very Safaricom became controversial when Amos Kimunya was Finance Minister.
Please Father, can you give little bit of the historical background of Safaricom in Kenya. And now that Uhuru is the president if we are not very careful don’t you think Kenyans are going to be taken for a ride?”
Thank you for this concern Bernard. Yes, Uhuru Kenyatta’s assumption of the presidency has injected fresh energy into his family’s businesses, and with his power as president he can over rule the parliament.
Before I give historical background of Safaricom, I want to make it very clear that Commercial Bank of Africa is privately owned by twenty-six investors including the family of the Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s fourth president.
Originally the bank was founded in 1962 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania before branches were opened in Nairobi, Mombasa and in Kampala, Uganda. When Tanzania nationalised private banks in 1967, the bank moved its headquarters to Nairobi. Following political changes in Uganda in 1971, the bank sold its assets in that country.
In 1980, Bank of America acquired 84 percent shareholding, effectively buying out all the other SFOM partners. 16 percent shareholding in Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) remained in the hands of Kenyan investors. During the 1980s Bank of America divested from the bank, putting 100 percent shareholding in CBA in the hands of Kenyan nationals.
As of December 2010, the bank was one of the largest commercial banks in Kenya with assets of approximately US$913 million (KES:75.5 billion), with shareholders’ equity of approximately US$100 million (KES:8.3 billion).
The bank is not only the largest privately owned commercial bank in Kenya, according to its website, it also focuses on serving the banking needs of large corporations, diplomatic missions, NGO’S and high networth private clients including Safaricom.
Safaricom Ltd was formed in 1997 as a fully owned subsidiary of Telkom Kenya. Michael Joseph became the CEO in July 2000 when the company was re-launched as a joint-venture with Telkom Kenya but controlled still is by Vodafone, a giant British group that is one of the world’s largest mobile operators.
Mr Joseph arrived in Kenya in 2000 having spent a freezing winter in Hungary, where he had set up that country’s third mobile-phone network. He quickly decided to go after “pay as you go” customers, who pay for mobile airtime in advance.
But his most enduring achievement is likely to be M-PESA, a pioneering service that enables Safaricom’s customers to send money to each other by text message. Cheaper and faster than ordinary money transfers, it now moves $1.5m a day across Kenya, in mostly tiny transactions, and is being rolled out in India, Tanzania, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed him to head Maseno University. Joseph’s appointment started January 6 and is contained in a gazette notice No.399 dated January 2. He replaces Prof Florida Amakobe Karani, who has served for six year since her appointment in 2008.
As of May 27, 2013, Robert Collymore is the Safaricom CEO; succeeding Michael Joseph on November 1, 2010, after Joseph’s ten years as Safaricom CEO. Robert Collymore has spent most of his career in the telecommunications industry starting with British Telecommunications where he held a number of marketing, purchasing and commercial roles over a 15-year period.
It is widely believed that the former regime of Kibaki arm twisted Vodafone to shed off the 5 percent as a kickback to high-ranking officials in the regime. A WikiLeaks report stated that it was once owned by Nicholas Biwott, Charles Fidel Marshall, Gideon Moi and The Post Office. Safaricom’s initial public offering of stock, on the National Stock Exchange, closed in mid April 2008.
Mysteries persisted in November 2012 when Safaricom announced it would be offering a new mobile phone banking product in conjunction with the Commercial Bank of Africa, tapping into an underdeveloped financial services market. In 2014 Safaricom partnered with Britam and Changamka Micro Health to provide insurance to Kenyans with low income. It is known as Linda Jamii.
Since then the bank has grown to become the second largest in the retail market with its new mobile-banking product M-Shwari brand – developed jointly with Safaricom – and which has helped raise the number of the bank’s deposit accounts to more than five million from 34,884 in 2011.
Apart from CBA deal, in recent months, the Kenyattas have also awakened their hospitality giant Heritage Hotels East Africa with the appointment of seasoned hotelier Mohammed Hersi as chief executive and the announcement of an expansion plan that aims at giving it a presence in the Kenyan capital Nairobi for the first time.
Heritage Hotels owns the Voyager Resort in Mombasa and Tsavo, Interpids camps in Samburu and Maasai Mara as well as the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha. Mara Explorer Camp and the Kipungani Explorer in Lamu Island are also part of the establishment.
With this background Bernard, you can see the connection of Safaricom from Mwai Kibaki to Uhuru Kenyatta. What was started as a department of the former state-owned telecommunications, Kenya Post and Telecommunication Corporation is now raising lots of quarries, which is why CCTV tender and Kenyatta’s family bank among other interests.
Safaricom has also plans to provide WiFi internet connection in large malls, SMEs and government agencies in Kenya. It was the first company in East Africa to possess 3G Internet technology with recent success of 4G connectivity though they lacked the proper broadcast spectrum for the service.
Kenyatta family has also made significant investments in its media company, which is fighting to gain market share from established rivals. It has invested millions of shillings in the technology upgrade and in top talent to staff K24 TV, Kameme FM and The People Daily.
The family is also said to be establishing a strong presence in the mining sector where billions of shillings are expected to be made in the next decade following recent discoveries of valuable deposits such as oil, niobium, coal, gold and titanium. This can explain why people fight to be the president of this country called Kenya.
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail obolobeste@gmail.com
Omolo_ouko@outlook.com
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