Kenyan gospel artist Kevin Bahati, popularly known as Bahati, has landed in ‘hot soup’ after a photo taken from a recent visit to his grand parents leaked, online.

In the photo, Bahati is pictured in the company of his wife (Diana), child and grand father. At the background is a dilapidated structure, ostensibly belonging to his grandmother.

Bahati who runs a popular show on NTV on Saturdays after 7 pm news has been castigated for failing to put up a better house for his grand parents. In the show, Bahati displays opulence at his own house.

(Photos courtesy of Kevin Bahati).

Online users did not have kind words for Bahati:

@Karies_jnr wrote:  “Kumbe kazi ni kujichocha huku na grandy are staying in historical site (You brag and your grand parents stay in an old structure). You should look what Akothee built for her parents and think twice. Bahati Kenya (Kevin Bahati) was bragging that he used more than 10M to surprise his wife with a brand new house. 6M by buying Diana (Bahati’s wife) the car of her dreams. He gave Diana’s mother 5M as dowry. Shame on you.”

Yesterday, Safaricom celebrated its 18th birth day since it started telephony operations in Kenya. Today. we look at the history and evolution of the largest telecommunication company, in Kenya, by subscribers.

The are Safaricom’s Key milestones in the last 18 years.

• In 1997 – Safaricom launched as a subsidiary of Telkom Kenya with 17,000 customers.
• 2000 – Vodafone acquires 40 per cent stake and management role (May); how you heard about the joint venture while in South Africa and applied for the job and got it; Safaricom sets up office in an apartment at Norfolk Towers.
• 2000 – 55 employees deployed from Telkom; 9 sites in Nairobi; Safaricom launched as The Better Option (October), reduces the price of SIM cards to KES 2,500 and sponsors the inaugural Lewa Marathon.
• 2001 – 0722 prefix launched.
• 2002 – led the democratisation of mobile phone services with the introduction of low denomination airtime (KES 100 scratch card) and SIM cards at KES 99.
• 2003 – introduced per second billing; launched Simu ya Jamii, a public-use phone which marked the drive into the mass market; launched the Safaricom Foundation and hit the one million customer mark in June that year.
• 2004 – mobile Internet is launched, paving the way for a data revolution; customer base grew to two million (October) and profits hit KES 5 billion, unheard of at the time.
• 2005 – launch of Sambaza, the immensely popular flashback (call me back) service; customer base grows to three million.
• 2006 – Safaricom moves to its new corporate headquarters in Westlands and hits the five million subscriber mark in December of that year; staff numbers grow to 1,100.
• 2007 – M-PESA is launched on 7th March 2007 and hits one million subscriber mark in November that year; Safaricom purchases country’s first 3G license, embraces green energy by launching solar and wind-powered base stations in Northern Kenya and Coast region.
• 2008 – subscriber numbers hit 10M in March; Safaricom introduces East and Central Africa’s largest IPO at KES 5 per share. IPO is concluded in June and attracts KES 2.4 billion in investment, spreading the company’s shareholding to 750,000 individual shareholders.
• 2009 – Safaricom launches Bamba 5 and Bamba 10 airtime scratch cards (the lowest denominations in the market); customer base grows to 15 million (December) and the company invests in Kenya’s pioneer undersea cable venture.
• 2010 – subscriber numbers grow to 16 million, with post-pay customers at 140,000; 5 million Kenyans access the Internet through Safaricom’s network.
• 2010 – online customer support launched (Twitter & Facebook); EBU launched to manage corporate and SME customers.
• 2010 – profits hit KES 20.9 billion; first mobile bank account launched in partnership with Equity Bank, MPESA_FDN is launched; Safaricom takes over title sponsorship of annual Rugby Sevens; Bob Collymore takes over as CEO.
• 2011 – Safaricom leads corporate Kenya in Kenyans For Kenya, a national fundraising campaign aimed at helping an estimated 3.5 million Kenyans facing starvation – the campaign raised over KES 680 million.
• 2011 – Safaricom launches Lipa Karo, allowing learning institutions to receive school fees via M-PESA.
• 2012 – M-PESA hits 15 million active users; Safaricom partners with CBA_Group_ to launch M-Shwari; launches Mkopa solar, a pay-as-you-go solar lighting kit and iCow, a USSD-based platform that provides dairy farmers with information to increase their profits.
• 2013 – Safaricom launches its first sustainability report, becoming the first corporate entity in Kenya to do so.
• 2013 – Lipa Na M-PESA is launched (June) allowing thousands of businesses in the country to accept cashless payments for the first time.
• 2013 – Safaricom becomes the first company in Kenya to introduce customer service in the form of online self-care, and unveils the Safaricom Athletics Series.
• 2014 – the value of M-PESA transactions exceeds KES 2.1 trillion, nearly half of Kenya’s GDP.
• 2014 – M-Ledger introduced allowing users to track their M-PESA transactions.
• 2014 – Safaricom launches Kenya’s first 4G network in Nairobi and Mombasa (December).
• 2014 – USD 1 million Spark Venture Fund launched to invest in late seed to early growth stage start-ups that use mobile-based technology as an enabler. 5 start-ups invested in over the next 4 years Send Mobile, Eneza Education, Lynk, iProcure and Farm Drive.
• 2014 – Safaricom launches an E-waste Management Programme and Children’s Rights Policy to further re-affirm its commitment to promoting and safeguarding the rights of the children.
• 2014 – Safaricom launches the Safaricom International Jazz Festival.
• 2015 – M-PESA comes home in April, with the relocation of servers from Germany to Kenya delivering higher, more efficient performance including the ability to handle over 900 transactions per second.
• 2015 – Safaricom partners with KCB Group to launch KCB M-PESA, further deepening financial inclusion.
• 2015 -Safaricom introduces a Diversity and Inclusion Programme aimed at achieving gender balance and creating a more inclusive workforce.
• 2015 -Safaricom launches first True Value Report, detailing the company’s economic impact beyond its profits –report shows that Safaricom sustained 682,000 jobs and generated KES 315B in revenue to Kenya’s GDP, equivalent to 6% of the country’s GDP in FY 2014/2015
• 2017- Safaricom launches the Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom Football tournament for the youth.

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The Kenyan Government has borrowed an excess of US Dollars 9.8 Billion from China. This makes Kenya the highest borrower in the East African region over the last 10 years. Uganda comes second having borrowed 2.9 Billion US dollars, in 10 years. The data was released by the China-African Research Initiative (CARI), at the John Hopkins University of the United States of America. The research shows that Kenya used the loans to expand her transport, communications, manufacturing and energy sectors. This has put both Kenya and Uganda on the International Monetary Fund, IMF, watch list. The two countries are at a debt risk, unless they come up with policies to cut down on expenditures and wage bills. The bulk of Kenya’s Chinese loans went into the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway, SGR, where 5.5 Billion US dollars were pumped.

Each of the East African countries is using about 8 percent of her revenue to service the Chinese loans. The East African countries currently owe the Chinese lenders over 29.4 Billion US dollars.

Ranking of the Eastern Africa Borrowers from the Chinese loan facilities:

1. Kenya- 9.8 Billion US dollars
2. Uganda – 2.9 Billion US dollars
3. Tanzania – 2.34 Billion US dollars
4. Rwanda- 289 Million US dollars
5. South Sudan- 182 Million US dollars
6. Burundi- 99 Million US dollars

Leading Chinese lenders.

The following are the largest Chinese lending institutions, to the East African Countries:

1. China Xim Bank- 16.8 Billion US dollars
2. The China Development Bank- 6.9 Billion US dollars
3. Other Chinese lenders- 6.1 Billion US dollars.

Latest amounts borrowed by the East African Countries and Ethiopia:

1. Ethiopia- 652 Million US dollars; borrowed in 2017 (Ethiopia has borrowed over 13.73 Billion US dollars in a period of 10 years).
2. Uganda- 85 Million US dollars; borrowed in 2016
3. Rwanda- 70 Million US dollars; borrowed in 2016
4. Kenya- 64 Million US dollars; borrowed in 2017

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