There’s nothing more disheartening than a perfectly healthy, reasonably affluent human being with the whole world in his or her hands who’s chronically unhappy and unproductive. There’s really no excuse for it either, yet I see this phenomenon unfolding every single day – people who choose to be stuck in misery and refuse to admit it. This mindset results from an extremely unbalanced life – one with too much expectation and not enough discipline and appreciation. What’s the point of achievement if your life has no balance? There is no point. Without commitment for what you want most, and gratitude for what you already have, you’ll never know the true joy of success, because nothing will ever change, and even when it does, it will never be good enough in your mind.If you avoid these questions and make decisions unconsciously, you’ll end up like the majority of people who tend to be out of shape physically, exhausted mentally, and personally and professionally stressed out. But if you as...

From greedy executives to despotic rulers, we’ve all seen examples of poor leadership. But we’ve also seen the examples of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. — servant leaders who were able to accomplish great things by putting people first. 1. Listens actively: A servant leader’s first response to any problem is to listen. She seeks to identify the will of the group and helps clarify that will by listening. When she listens, she does so intently. She does not multitask or interrupt, but truly strives to understand the speaker. 2. Prioritizes: Can you separate the important from the unimportant? What about the important from the urgent? A servant leader can withdraw from the present situation and prioritize his responsibilities. And he handles his most pressing duties with the knowledge that there may be consequences for neglecting the less pressing ones. 3. Accepts others: A servant leader accept others as they are, where they are. She assumes that people have good intentions, ...

“It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.” These are the words of Robert K. Greenleaf, the man behind our modern conception of servant leadership. Today, servant leadership is rare. Modern politicians have proved that the social contract has been breached. These leaders, or rather rulers, have placed their interests above all else. The Social Contract The philosophies of Jean Jacques Rousseau — a proponent of the social contract theory — have informed the legitimacy of political authority for centuries. Rousseau argued that government came into being to right wrongs such as the economic and social inequalities precipitated by civilization. He claimed these inequalities robbed human beings of their natural state, one characterized by freedom and dignity. Rousseau suggested that to recreate the balance of nature, where freedom existed and inequalities did not, man made two pacts: pactum unionis and pac...

11041888-1015258667365103.jpg 11041888-1015258667365103.jpg At the just concluded Wiper Democratic National Executive Council meeting, the party has endorsed CORD co-Principal and former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka to be its presidential candidate in 2017. Wiper has also urged Hon. Musyoka to pick either of the two CORD principals as his running mate. The party held a two-day retreat at Elementaita Lodge where they passed that resolution.

1. Walk the talk — always set a great example. It’s not what you say, it’s how you live your life every day. Don’t tell your children how to live; LIVE and let them watch you. Practice what you preach or don’t preach at all. Walk the talk. Your children look up to you and they will emulate your actions and strive to become who you are. So BE who you want them to be. In other words, be the change you want to see in your child. Give what you expect, reflect what you desire, become what you respect, and mirror what you admire. Every single day. Your children are the greatest gift life will give you, and their souls the heaviest responsibility it will place in your hands. Take time with them, and teach them to have faith in themselves by being a person they can have faith in — a person they can trust without question. When you are old, nothing else you’ve done will have mattered as much. 2. Reduce YOUR stress, and thus the stress level in the household. Not easy, I know, but believe it or ...

As CORD Leader Raila Odinga took a potentially disastrous decision to ‘stand with the media’ as he has always done, his co-principal and former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has not openly stated his position on the digital migration fiasco. And Kalonzo is right not to do so; for it serves the country to let the mainstream media go digital, or, if they don’t want to, let the country go digital. A whole world of opportunities are already opening up. Nothing, since independence, has challenged media dominance than digital migration is doing. President Obama would say, ”the ground beneath has fundamentally shifted”. Despite digital migration being a project that was started in the grand coalition government with an international deadline, Odinga took the view that the manner in which the government is handling it has unnecessarily disadvantaged ‘traditional’ television stations which has the highest viewers. Odinga is right in remaining true to his beliefs – for no one believes in media ...

By Ndungu Wainaina My Response to Mr. Issack Ahmed Hassan, Chairman IEBC, self defense on Chicken eating hallmark of shameless corruption scandal amongst holders of public offices Mr. Chairman, this is not personal. It is time you stepped down from public office. It is not your choice. Your self-defense arguments are irreconcilably hollow and stench. Chapter Six of the Constitution remains complete as it is. You bring dishonour and disrepute to the institution of the IEBC. Your intransigent insistence to remain holding public office is disdain to the people of Kenya and their constitution. Though criminal jurisprudence presumes a man innocent till proven otherwise, you vacating public office does not fall foul of this proposition. It has no bearing on whether indeed you are guilty of the alleged offence or not. On the contrary, it represents a distinct legal determination of type of persons who is suitable for holding public office with integrity and credibility. Determination of suita...

On Friday 13th February 2015, the Supreme Court of Kenya ruled on Petition number 14 of 2014 that had been brought before them by The Royal Media Services Ltd, the Standard Media Services Ltd and the Nation Media Services. This is one of the many cases that the 3 media houses has filed in Court over the last four years in their quest to redress a number of issues relating to digital migration. In their considered ruling, the Justices of the Supreme Court of Kenya found at paragraph 34 of their ruling that “It is clear to us that, following the judgement of this Court, and the appropriate acts of compliance which have been summarised in this ruling, the stage was properly set for migration from analogue to the digital platform in broadcast transmissions, and there was, and is, a new national and international reality in that regard, to be adopted and internalised by all parties who have come before us. "From the foregoing observation, and from our Ruling as a whole, it should be cl...

PRESS RELEASE FOR: IMMEDIATE RELEASE SUBJECT: ‘CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS’ NAIROBI, KENYA: February 14th, 2015. Serious integrity concerns have been raised against some commissioners, staff and I during the tenure of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission, IIEC. It has been alleged that a UK printing firm gave bribes in order to secure business contracts. I want to state categorically that these allegations against me are untrue and will remain so regardless of how much it is repeated, sensationalized or exploited. I have said it before and will say it again that I have never involved myself in any corrupt practices during my tenure at IIEC or now in IEBC. In sentencing the officials of Smith and Ouzman printing firm, the courts in UK said that the period during which the offences occurred was between 1 November 2006 and 31 December 2010. IEBC came into office in November 2011. I was not and I am not on trial in the UK Courts. Like any other citizen of this country, I am entitled to ...

CORD leader Raila Odinga has condemned information black out slapped on KTN, Citizen TV, QTV and NTV and demanded explanation from the Jubilee Government. Raila said the government had thrown the entire country into information darkness. He accused Jubilee Regime of being unwilling to arbitrate between a foreign firm and local, home grown media houses over the distribution of digital frequency signals. “Today, the Jubilee regime has thrown the entire country into information darkness. Those with no access to the expensive pay TV will never know what is going on in government and with fellow citizens”, Raila said. He added: “We are witnessing abdication of responsibility by a government on a scale never witnessed in our history. The abdication of responsibility is a result of the government being hell-bent on protecting private interests in which its key members have interests, at the expense of the interests of the public”.The former premier further said Jubilee must explain what inter...

1. Insist on making your life your own. – Most of us are not raised to actively seek our calling. We may not even know that we have one. As kids, we are seldom told we have a place in life that is uniquely ours alone. Instead, we are encouraged to believe that our life should somehow fulfill the expectations of others – that we should find our happiness exactly as they have found theirs. Rather than being taught to ask ourselves who we are, we are trained to ask others for permission. We are, in effect, schooled to live other people’s versions of our lives. Every day is designed and developed as told to us by someone else! And then one day when we break free to survey our dreams, seeking to fulfill ourselves, we see that most of our dreams have gone unfulfilled because we believed, and those around us believed, that what we wanted for ourselves was somehow beyond our reach. It’s time to unlearn these lies and make changes. It takes courage to grow wiser and become who you really are. A...

Celebrate the love you feel for your husband this Valentine's Day by going out of your way to make it just perfect. It doesn't have to be expensive or complicated; rather, a successful Valentine's Day results from thoughtful planning and paying attention to the small details that you know matter to him. A great opportunity to remind one another of the love and companionship you share, Valentine's Day gives you the chance to do things differently for a day, to shake out the humdrum of everyday life. So, seize the opportunity presented by Valentine's Day to warm your husband's heart. Planning Your Own Valentine's Day Be the one to do the wooing.The traditional treatment of Valentine's Day carries an unstated but usually honored belief that it is the man who does the wooing and goes out of his way to make the occasion special. Make a change by taking charge and wooing him instead. It'll surprisehim and he'll enjoy it. Plan a surprise. Romanceis just...

Joshua Armah is a renowned entrepreneur, consultant, motivational speaker, author, and capitalist. Born in the world famous Atlantic City, NJ he was raised by a single mother who did her best to give him a bright future. Despite her efforts, Joshua Armah’s curiosity got the best of him which led him to journey into the devil’s playground. As a teenager, Joshua Armah went through many trials and tribulations which almost cost him his life. At 14 years old, he ran away from home to live a life in the streets. He has experienced the world of thugs and gangsters to the extreme. He was attracted to a flashy lifestyle, and the fast paced action in the ghetto. As a young hustler he did what he had to do in order to survive in the concrete jungle. He faced many the vices from gangs, drugs, violence, homelessness, domestic abuse, peer pressure, and poverty. These experiences put a chip on his shoulder at a very early age. At the age of 16, Joshua was faced with a life changing situation. His gi...

Late last year we reported that Facebook was quietly workingon tools that make it easier for users in buy and sell groups on the service to list their items for sale. Today, the company has announced that those tools are rolling out for everyone. The new feature adds an option in addition to the ‘post’ button inside groups that allows users to share items directly via a ‘sell’ button. This gives space for a description of what’s for sale, how much it’s selling for and where pick-up or delivery would be. Sellers will also be able to mark their items as ‘available’ or ‘sold’ and view what other items they’ve sold in the past.

If you happen to have read an article named ‘African Intellectual Scum’ penned down by Field Ruwe, a Zambian journalist, what has supervened airing of an expose by one local media house in the last three day has rang a bell about how Africans can use power and resources to ruin people’s lives. The expose, branded ‘Certificates of Doom’ done by Dennis Okari and aired by NTV Kenya is continuing to create ripples in all outlets of the media arena, with people taking sides, either to justify or condemn the expose. Students from the subject institution of Nairobi Aviation College got confused, did not know who to blame and because they could not withhold anger, they stomped the Nation Media Group headquarters, destroying and damaging property and attacking journalists for spotlighting their institution. Whether they were right or wrong to oppugn, the big picture comes into focus. Estimably, 500,000 lives of innocent Nairobi Aviation College graduates from all over the country have been ruin...

The late Kabete Member of Parliament George Muchai’s life was full of endless controversies during his last days. The legislator was murdered alongside his driver and two bodyguards in cold blood in Nairobi on Saturday morning, an incident that has since brought forth mixed reactions within the political circles and among Kenyans on social media. As far back as three years ago, Muchaiwas attacked by unknown thugswho injured him and underwent extensive treatment at the Nairobi Hospital. Speaking at the time, helinked the attack to both his “enemies at COTUandpolitical opponentsin what was the forthcoming election in Kangema” He said at the time: “I do not understand why someone would want to eliminate me, I am a champion of peace. But this (attack) won’t relent me. I will continue championing the rights of my workers”. The most recent of Muchai’s well documented controversieswas a tussle with Central Organization of Trade Union (COTU)Secretary General Francis Atwoli, whom he deputized. ...

If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a parable speaks a thousand truths. We love stories with hidden meanings—whether it’s a movie, book, or performance, the underlying truth that sparks the “A-ha moment” captures us. That’s what parables do. Parables have been told for centuries across all cultures, and they’re just as profound today. Here are three timeless parables that will challenge and change the way you live life. 1. The Muddy Road Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling. Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection. “Come on, girl,” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud. Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. “We monks don’t go near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?” “I left...

Every year on November 11, e-commerce giant Alibaba makes business headlines with its sales record on Singles Day, a holiday celebrating China’s single men and women that has become a popular online shopping day. This year, the company racked up US$9.3 billion, almost doubled last year’s US$ 5.8 billion. The news came about two months after Alibaba set the record for the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO) in the US stock market, with its market value measured as US$231 billion at closing time on its first day. Alibaba’s rosy prospects are to a large extent a result of its monopolized status in China’s online shopping market. Yet to maintain such privilege, it has to work closely with the government and the Chinese Communist Party in sanctioning independent organizations and political dissents. In September, not long before Alibaba’s began trading on the US stock market, the Taobao online shop of an independent library project called China Rural Library (CRL) was forced to sh...

COTUK Secretary General Francis Atwoli Ebs Mbs and the entire board have condemned the brutal killing of former Deputy Secretary General & Kabete MP George Muchai, his driver and two bodyguards. In a press conference today morning at COTUK headquarters, Atwoli asked the current inspector general to expedite investigations and arrest those who killed the four. Atwoli also accused the police and former commissioner of police Matthew Iteere for laxity in a similar incident where Muchai was shot in 2012 near his home in Kamulu.That up to date no one has been brought to book over that earlier attempt. However Atwoli has expressed faith in the Government of Kenya citing that it has sharp experts who can perform thorough investigations and shame the killers. COTUK has also extended condolences to his colleagues at the August house, family and relatives. “Although we had minor differences, which are normal in trade unions all over the world, our differences were purely ideological and base...

By peter mboroki via facebook Teacher: Compare and contrast political assassinations in the regimes of Jomo Kenyatta and Uhuru Kenyatta. Student 1: Teacher did you mean between Jomo Kamaliza I and Uhuru Kamaliza II Teacher: I meant between the two presidents who had filial relations. Student 2: Teacher you mean who between the father and the son is doing best in dispatching most Kenyans to an early grave?. Teacher: You are a \good student. Try answering that. . Student 1: Kamaliza I did good. He killed the following, M’marete Baimuingi, Pio Gama Pinto, Argwings Kodhek, Tom Mboya, Dr. Muthiora, J.M Kariuki. Student 2: Uhuru Kamaliza Kenyatta is doing better. If you want to believe Bensouda, he has dispatched quite a batch. If you however think Bensouda is useless this is a better list. Within a short period, Kamaliza II has helped exterminate the following: George Saitoti, Mutula Kilonzo, George Thuo, Otieno Kajwang, Fidel Castro, and today George Muchai and we are only in the second ye...

Assassination of Kabete MP is just horrific movie scene. What is our country coming to?! Are all our leaders endangered now? Thank goodness that the family was in a separate vehicle, but OMG they witnessed their father's being sprayed with bullets! The trauma they will have to live with. Much condolences. That said, let us dissect the issue and probable cause ... 1) He was a unionists, even been in a court battle with Cotu, something about 190billion embezzlement! 2) He is from Kabete... if you don't know, kabete is the crime capital of Kiambu. He probably messed up with one of local kingpins and puff... 3) ... nah can't think of any other reason. So what is the solution? Of course the security must be taken care of...blablaaaa we have heard and seen na nado inahappen... Lakini what can the Wahesh do to mitigate these untimely deaths? 1) Night politics, achana nazo... pay a Hotel if you must, but avoid driving around this city in wee hours. Yes experience has taught me that...

Jack Andraka is not your typical teenager. The high schooler spends his free time in the science lab concocting better, cheaper ways to spot disease. One such project — a test for the early detection of pancreatic cancer — won Andraka first place in the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair . As Andraka explains in his talk, his “teenage optimism” played a big role in this accomplishment. Jack Andraka: A promising test for pancreatic cancer ... from a teenager At age 13, after losing a close family friend to pancreatic cancer, Andraka began researching the disease to better understand what had happened. Andraka was shocked to find that 85 percent of all pancreatic cancer cases are diagnosed late, when a patient has less than a 2 percent chance of survival. Alarmed at the lack of affordable and accurate tests to detect this cancer at its earliest stages — when treatments can actually work — he pored over a list of 8,000 proteins associated with the disease, trying to fin...