Truth be told, many government agencies or public institutions are(were) monuments of bureaucracies and manual ways of conducting business. However, today that narrative is changing. In fact some of the government agencies and public institutions are leading their counterparts in the private sector. In this piece, I want to celebrate two government institutions that epitomize the real digital government as we have been told by the current regime.

Kenya Immigration Department(KID) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the not so distant past but today, KID is one of the most reformed and digitized government departments. Listen, from the comfort of your home, you can now access all the services offered at Kenya Immigration….passport application, Visa application, Permits, passes, residence, citizenship to name just but a few of the services that  can be applied for online. Yes, there is the bit on having to go to Nyayo house in person to submit and do some follow-up but soon that too will reduce as the systems are fully operational. To be very frank that is  a phenomenal step by this government Department that I was privileged to work for from 2005 to 2014. I celebrate all the folks at Kenya Immigration for a job well done.

The second Institution I would like to celebrate is the University of Nairobi. I have been wondering how comes that UON has been ranked as the best University in Kenya and the region by several agencies in the recent past until this week when I sought to apply for a Bachelors of Law Degree. It really came to me as a shocker that all I needed to do was sit in front of my screen and create a profile from their online portal and voila I am good to apply for whatever course I need to. In fact I made the application from the comfort of my house over the weekend and even paid the application fee using my visa card… you can pay using Mpesa as well. Compare this with a near torturous process I have to go through at my current Institution that is indeed  a private institution that prides itself as the vanguard in communication studies. Anyway, long story short, I found these two institutions very forward thinking and thus wish to celebrate them here publicly for all and sundry to see.

Well done KID and UON.

Today you will allow me introduce some very important folks to you if you are in academia or just in college and struggling with some form of academic work because you will forever thank me for it. I know many of us find it hard to complete their thesis or dissertations due to stringent writing rules put in place by various universities and colleges. When I was preparing my Thesis proposal, I was pressed of time and the fact that both my supervisors and I are near perfectionist. Dr. Susan Nyaga Anzuruni of 3rd Eye Professional services found time from her very busy schedule to go through my work and add some real good value to it. Well, she will not do your part because you must do what it expected of you but once she goes through your work, she will give some nice suggestions on how to make it better. An established scholar in her own right, Dr. Susan has teamed up with her husband Dr. Anzuruni to form 3rd Eye Professional Service to help students become real scholars. Whether you are doing a Masters degree or a PhD these two good people will surely come through for you. Please see below their company profile…if you need to get in touch with them, just give me a shout or leave a comment here and I will hook you up.

3RD EYE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES PROFILE

We are a pool of professionals committed to developing good writing skills and promoting excellence in the writing of academic papers and other documents. The founder (director) of 3rd Eye Professional services, Dr Susan Nyaga Anzuruni, and co-founder (co-director), Dr Barnabé Anzuruni, are accomplished scholars. Susan and Barnabé hold PhDs in Linguistics and Theology respectively, from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. The two have published articles in refereed academic journals in their respective fields.
We take pride in our incredible commitment, palpable passion, enviable excellence and attention to detail. 3rd Eye Professional Services is your trusted partner in any writing venture.
To this end, we offer the following consolidated services:
1) Editing services – we provide word-for-word editing of documents to not only ‘remove the bugs’ but also create internal consistencies and coherence that is often lacking in most writing.
2) Proofreading services – We proofread documents word-for-word, page-by-page and cover-to-cover
3) Training in research methods – We offer 3 modules on demand, namely i) academic proposal writing ii) research methodology, and iii) data analysis, both qualitative (using ATLAS.ti) and quantitative (using SPSS)
4) One-on-one talks in matters research/academic – We provide a platform for wannabe researchers and students to bounce off their research ideas to willing, committed and accomplished academics who understand the struggles in the daunting task that is research because they have also been there.
5) Research Methods Library services – we make available a variety of current literature in research methods through a sit-in library service for a small fee
6) Motivational speaking – we give motivational talks for organised groups. Having come from the humblest family backgrounds and making it to the top echelons of the academic ladder, 3rd Eye directors have much to offer in inspiring people to follow their dreams in matters academic regardless of what their challenges/circumstances may be.
Our charges – we charge reasonably competitive rates as follows:
a) Undergraduate or MA thesis editing/proofreading: $2 per page for documents that are 100 pages and above or $2.5 for documents less than 100 pages
b) Editing/proofreading of PhD dissertations, book chapters, articles, other academic papers and business document: $3 per page.
c) Training in research methods: $50 dollars per module lasting 5 hours – offered to at least 6 participants)
d) Sit-in-library service: $5 dollars per 2-hour library session
e) One-on-one academic talks: $20 for a 2-hour session
f) Motivational speaking: varies based on group and location
NB: A 50% deposit is payable before the editing work begins and the balance cleared on the day the editing service is completed. With regard to the training modules, one-on-one talks and library services, the fees are payable before the service is provided. Personal cheques are not allowed.

In the last few days, the issue of Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) and the extent of the rot in the Kenyan primary and secondary schools examination administration has been in the headlines in all the major media platforms in Kenya. As usual, we are pretending to be puzzled. I was equally shocked after reading the media reports on how exams were bungled and the old man in charge of the exams kept telling us all was well. In fact what we are reading or hearing is probably a small tip of the iceberg.

As we would know, at birth Kenya was like any other state. A normal one with all structures functioning as they should. Gradually corruption set in and grew in huge ways like a cancerous tumor and it is now consuming us quick and sure. Allow me to highlight the integrity of the Kenyan passport. Some years back, the holder of a Kenyan passport enjoyed such privileges as would a British passport holder. You never needed a visa to nearly all western countries including the US and the UK…all you needed is a flight ticket and you are good to go. Flash forward to 2016: in order to get a visa to even the most mediocre of the countries in the western world, you will go through hell and back…you must carry all manner of documents and paraphernalia to just get a two day’s visa to such a country. It is not a nice experience at all going through those naïve consular officers …if you doubt ask those who have been to those consulates. The question is what happened? My answer is just one word: Corruption! Some crooks in conjunction with some criminal officers defiled the integrity of the Kenyan passport by issuing it to un deserving folks from elsewhere in the continent in exchange for aft bribes. I am sure most of the Kenyans that have travelled dread the visa application processes for other countries.

I am not a prophet of doom but I dare say the certificates of education issued by KNEC are heading in the same direction. Soon those who wish to study abroad will be faced with a situation where the papers they carry as certificates will not be worth anything more than the paper they are written on. How can anyone be sure that the grades reflected there in were not acquired after buying exams from corrupt examination officials? I dare say that the intensity of the rot in the examination council is yet to be unearthed but thanks to the abrasive Education Cabinet Secretary Dr. Matiangí, something is cooking and I have a feeling it is quite something. I hope they don’t scuttle this by instigating a cabinet reshuffle to remove him…probably in the guise of going to fix the devolution ministry. Dr. Matiangí is in my view taking the right steps and indeed to quote him…this nonsense can not be tolerated! Period.

Hi, The purpose of this page is to share with you our story – mine and Star’s. We count ourselves hugely privileged to be serving as pastors in this generation, and want to let you know how it came…

Source: Our Story

According to the chairman of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) of Kenya, Mr. Philip Kinisu , Kenya loses about Kshs. 608 Billion ( 6 Billion USD) to corruption. In his exclusive interview with Reuters and as quoted in the local dailies, Mr. Kinisu released that Bombshell. That is a third of the Kenyan annual budget… in simpler terms, for every Kshs. 100 budgeted for 30 shillings go to corruption. As expected, the National treasury has disputed that with the CS Henry Rotich saying it is issues to do with paperwork rather than real loss. In response to this question on KTN TV check point on Sunday the 12^th March 2016, after being asked by the presenter Yvonne Okwara, Mr. Kinisu said that he would not like to be engaged in the debate as to whether it is 600 Billion or 1 Billion because the bottom line is that tax payers money is being stolen…. I agree.

Quite frankly this is not news to me…and I guess to many other Kenyans including the ever nosy Kenyan media…as you can see the story has just fizzled out. My experience in government taught me one thing, the famous AIE ( Authority to Incur Expenditure) is the money for the boss to eat and share with whomever (s) he deems fit. No questions asked…if the auditors ask, just set aside something aside to sort them out….the story goes on and on. I have always wondered why it is news when the auditor general reports point to audit queries showing that money has been lost here or there… in fact news would be if an audit showed that all the money was well spent because that can not be true.

If you imagine that in a small office with about 8 Million Shillings allocation for routine issues like fuel, electricity and so forth only about 2-3 M would be used for actual business of government, then you take similar pattern to an office with Billions then the report by Mr. Kinisu is really true. I dare say this could even be more. This probably explains why private enterprises in Kenya keep thriving while public agencies keep diminishing….high rise buildings adjacent to stinky dilapidated sewerage system and potholed roads. According to the Knight Frank Wealth report 2016, Kenyan Dollar Millionaires rose to over 8500 in 2015. Although there are many genuine rich people, it is possible that a huge chunk of these Dollar millionaires are corruption millionaires. There is big relationship between Power and money in Kenya. Public offices are used to steal from the public then share a little with them in the name of hand outs during political campaigns to acquire more power and more wealth.

The sad story is that even Mr. Kinisu agrees that the fight against corruption in Kenya is not one commission’s job…it is a fight for all Kenyans, including the thieves unfortunately. The other day I was in my village and my mother was so furious with the MCA….reasons? he is stealing from them. I asked what they intend to do and she told me that she will not vote for MCA slot but will vote for the MP, and President. I told her the solution would be to vote but vote for another person…although not sure if that other person will not follow suit in the stealing.

Anyway, the bottom line is that we are a corrupt country…very corrupt indeed. This has been confirmed by the CEO of Kenya in his address to Kenyans in Israel recently. This is a tragedy and it seems that citizenry thinks they are powerless. The truth is we have the power to stop this grand theft by voting the right people into power. Not from our tribes but from anywhere as long as they are women and men of integrity. Tanzania seems to have gotten it right. Hope President Magufuli maintains the tempo. My fellow Kenyans, thieves have no other tribe…their language and tribe is stealing. The idea that there can be our thief is really crazy and needs to be killed once and for.

Every time I attend forums of foreign investors in Kenya corruption is cited as one of the major reasons why such companies may consider relocating their investments from Kenya. It is a serious economic killer. Yes a few guys will be very wealthy but the majority will continue to get poorer. We need to get angry enough and do what we must do to redeem our country from his monster that is devouring us quickly and surely. Yes we can do it if we are ready for it.

According to a notice on the Kenya Immigration Website https://fns.immigration.go.ke/ all foreign nationals services will be applied for online starting March 1st 2016

This should be a great thing and we hope that as we get used to the system, a few teething problems will be addressed. One of the immediate challenge that may arise is the inability of companies to apply for say permits or passes for their employees on a corporate account. I would Imagine that the system should eventually be able to accommodate corporate account where company XYZ for instance is able to make applications on their account  for all their employees using a designated person’s account an email which may be the same for say 10 applications made by the same company.

I must say it is still too early to appraise the system objectively but as we go along, we should be able to help in analysing it and giving areas where this system needs improvement. I am excited and happy that the Department of Immigration is making these good steps towards the automation of services and wish them the very best.

In view of the enormous support and patronage we have received from you in the last one year we have been around, your unique, one of its kind in Africa blog http://www.immigrationkenyanews.com is now a segment under my brand new professional website www.georgemmucee.com

This was informed by the support we have received over the last one year where we had over 15,000 views! Under the website we will be able to offer you much more. I will highlight a few things we will be able to do:

1. You will get your usual updates on trends and happenings on Kenya Immigration practice.
2. You will get publications on a wide range of other issues…in fact you have a chance of requesting information on any area of your interest and we will get professionals to help out.
3. If you believe you can generate content in an area you are an expert in and want a platform to share with the world, I am glad to host that in my website for free.
4. Subscription: if you love our forum and would like to subscribe as a show of support we have a segment for that as well and it is free of charge.
5. Inquiry: We are availing an opportunity for you to make an inquiry through our ask George and I will be able to give you some thoughts at no cost to guide you on the issues you believe I can help.
6. Resources: we will try as much a possible to avail some commonly needed links and forms to you at no cost.
7. Pictorials: you will be able to see a few selected pictures of anything we find interesting for our patrons…not those commonly circulated selfies but well thought our themed pictures.
8. Events: from time to time, we will scan the net and post events we think you will be interested in.
9. Social media presence: we will avail our presence to you through the various social media forums to make it possible to reach us in a way you feel comfortable.
10. Giving back: we are not doing this so that you can pay us…this is our way of giving back to the world. If you feel indebted to us in any way for the information we provide here…please be free from it but should you feel that you would like to support the site in one way or another and are passionate about it, we could discuss and see how that can be allowed.
11. Email@georgemmucee.com: if you would like us to give you an email @georgemmucee.com we are happy to do that as well.

I am looking forward to a very exciting year 2016 and to what we will offer you under www.georgemmucee.com.

I also wish to appreciate the creative designer behind this site, Javis Kinanja ( www.qliwi.com) an amazing gentle man and a professional. If you need him to design your site, please check his site and write to him… I would recommend him to you any time.