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Electronic Payment Systems:- M-Pesa logical flaw...
by Gakuru Alex 01 Sep '09

01 Sep '09

On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 1:05 PM, Phares Kariuki<pkariuki(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Talk starts at 6 pm. There will be some Journalists from CBC Canada, > who will be keen to meet participants. > Would anybody know when, or if, the CBC journalists published their M-Pesa story? They interviewed me on "the dark side of M-Pesa" apparently because they could not get critics of the safaricom service. Explained to them that it was ridiculous for the service not to allow users to pick the "send-to" number from the phone book as opposed to have to wwrite down the number on a piece of papers then re-type it. Alternatively to pre-confirm to the user whom they intend to send the cash to before hitting the "send" button. Why bother telling me to whom I sent when it's already too late? Otherwise, I am ever afraid to send large sums of money. Lately I am curious as to why so many still prefer to use "manual" payment methods for example, electricity bills when Zap M-Pesa exist? I suspect M-Pesa used in urgent situations, where one has no choice or the alternative would be too expensive. If a cheaper alternative existed , then it would be bye bye M-Pesas and Zaps...

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Yes You Can! Monopolies and Prices Commission of Kenya and CCK
by Gakuru Alex 01 Sep '09

01 Sep '09

"Unlike Mr Nyarunda he differed on the pricing issue and is asking the Monopolies and Prices Commission of Kenya to protect small business who are fearful of cartel-like practices given the small number of players controlling the cables." ... http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/647922/-/ite… Under sections 23 and 47 of the Kenya Communications Act of 1998, the Commission is required to ensure that communications services are provided throughout Kenya and that the interests of all users of these services are protected with respect to prices charged for and the quality and variety of those services among other responsibilities http://www.cck.go.ke/consumer_center/

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Banks and other things in general represent the failure of a greedy self centered economy?
by aki 31 Aug '09

31 Aug '09

Our economy seems to be run and supportive of only large scale businesses. Though I've not done an indepth research into the sectors, it seems that business of volumes in never going to take place in kenya unless you have businesses that run turnovers of tens of millions to really benefit from anything economic that kenya has to offer. Our economy encourages "matope tupu" schemes and a conman system in place to encourage theft and exploitation. Banks : Openly tell you deposit maximum interest rates @ 6% while borrowing loan rates @ 14-17%!! Oil companies buy crude at different prices but will not pass it on to end users. LPG cooking gas has been on the rise ever since. There are too many sectors to pick on, including our neareast ones i.e Service Providers. So ever wonder why prices will never drop, here's a simple example. If you borrow Ksh 5 million over 5 years @ 14% borrowing rate, monthly repayment is about Ksh 110,000/-!! So as a business, which is no charity in the first place, will pass on this expense to customers. Customer end up paying a further cost of 10-15% of what the original costs are. 15% plus the usual heavy markups = 35-50%. Heavy markups because costs like hiked rent, electricity, security, transport are being passed on to end users. Will things ever become cheaper, hakuna. This is the state of almost fake economies. Those who are buying properties and going on mortages as business investments better watch out. Today an apartment rent can cost as much as 80,000/-. Who excatly is going to pay this when they can borrow and finance it themselves? Why do I say fake economy. Look at the poverty and the number of increasing slums. Infact soon we should be labelled slum city or informal settlements because there is hardly anything much being done about the settlements in terms of solutions. Wherever there is a small empty space, there will be a shack soon enough. Population boom, heavily taxed middle income sector........... I wonder how many businesses are running in the RED because of heavy borrowing with killer interest rates? Or businesses are not in the RED because they are charging very heavy markups on services/products? What excatly is the solution? If you must borrow, then hit on markups and everyone should stop complaining of things being expensive. Afterall, the banks exploit everyone yet no one has closed their bank accounts either. My thots...

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Mick Wilson/UNEP/NBO/UNO is on mission
by Mick Wilson 31 Aug '09

31 Aug '09

I will be out of the office starting 31/08/2009 and will not return until 11/09/2009. I am on mission to Ethiopia and will rarely be checking this mail. If you need an intelligent reply before I get back then please contact caroline.mureithi(a)unep.org or, for POW 2010 matters, norberto.fernandez(a)unep.org

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Reversing Mpesa Payments
by James Kagwe 31 Aug '09

31 Aug '09

Members, I made a payment his weekend using Mpesa to the wrong number. I tried to call the number and no one picked and it was a substantial amount of money. Fortunately I got some advice from someone to call number 234 and sure enough the transaction was reversed after I made the call. I was wondering how Mpesa will handle or handles some of the payment reversals especially in cases where I would buy and pay something using Mpesa and then after receiving the goods I just reverse the transaction and therefore get goods for free. Probably there is something else I do not know about this transaction reversal thing, but I have a feeling it might bring some problems in the future. Someone who knows about how it operates please shed some light on it please. regards, G. Kagwe

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Unlocked Dongles
by ibtisam jamal 31 Aug '09

31 Aug '09

Hi, Does anyone know where i can buy cheap Unlocked dongles.

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Reliable gaming laptop
by Peter Karunyu 31 Aug '09

31 Aug '09

Good people, I need some advice; a friend of mine recently got rid of his gaming desktop in favour or a gaming laptop, problem is, he can't find a powerful laptop (at least 3GB RAM, at least 250GB HDD, at least Core 2 Duo 2.0GHZ AND an Nvidia/Radeon/ATI graphics card) which doesn't cost a leg and will not succumb to the heavy use. He had initially narrowed down to the Hp Pavilion entertainment series, e.g. the 1170ei at around 65k but word on the wire is that those models, though powerful, were not meant for heavy duty use. He is willing to spend upto Kshs 80k. Any help is much appreciated.

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Ubuntu 8.04 repo please! please!
by David Ndambuki 31 Aug '09

31 Aug '09

Can anyone please give me the above. Please contact me off-list. Regards, Ndambuki Muthoka David Phne: +254733476463;+254722316140 Addr: 2084 - 01000 Thika, Kenya.

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Accessing blocked websites opps!!
by Benjamin 31 Aug '09

31 Aug '09

*Change the http into https* In this way, many firewalls will consider this connection a secure one and will allow you to access the blocked site ! Happy* Access*ing !

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ITIL Course
by Le Chef 31 Aug '09

31 Aug '09

Hey Guys, Does anyone know of an educational institution in Kenya offering the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) course or where one can sit for the ITIL online exam? Cheers! Bon Weekend! John vlegrandchef(a)hotmail.co.uk

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