Kenyan Mentors – Meet Peter Nduati (Founder, Director and CEO – Resolution Insurance).

Going through previous clips of Dad’s Can Cook; a famous Kenyan TV programme, I came through this clip of a gentleman preparing my favorite dish ‘Shepherd’s Pie’. That was my first encounter with Mr. Peter Nduati, the Founder, Director and CEO of Resolution Insurance (Previously Resolution Health – East Africa Ltd). 

It is on record, that Mr. Nduati left a full time paying job at AAR to start Resolution Health without any money at the turn of century. He is therefore one amongst the few, who has constantly challenged their comfort zones and gone the extra mile to achieve their dreams, against a backdrop of doom and despair.

Those who have interacted with  Mr. Nduati will tell you, that He is not only full of vision and focus, but he has the guts and confidence to achieve whatever he has set his eyes on.  And to prove this, Mr. Nduati is currently in his early 40’s but has so far achieved every man’s dream; in all spheres of his life.

Mr. Nduati is a Masters Degree Holder in Economics and Insurance. He is a Chartered Insurer with over 20 years experience in the Kenyan Insurance Industry. Equally, He is an Entrepreneurship Doctorate Student at Daystar University.

A Mentor with the Greenhorn Mentorship Programme and is also member of the Organizations Board of Advisors. Mr. Peter is also involved in AIESEC (an organization for students interested in Commerce and Business). He is the current Chair of Board of Daystar University’s local chapter. He won the Kenya Alumni Association in 2002 and was shortlisted nominee of the Global alumni of the year 2007. Mr. Nduati is the current Director at First Benefits Ltd, Pine Creek Holdings and Brown Oak Ltd; (an Investment Holding Company). He also sits in the Board of Governors of Dagoretti High School. Before establishing Resolution Health (Now Resolution Insurance),  Mr. Peter Nduati was the CEO of Metropolitan Health Group, a South African Health Insurance Group. He was also the Managing Director of AAR Health Services Tanzania.

A father of three children (two girls and a son). Mr. Nduati is not only an enterprising Mogul, but also a passionate man about his family, rugby, music and mentorship. He is former Director of National squads in the Kenya Rugby Football Union. He played rugby for Impala Club in the National League and is the Chairman of the Rugby Club. 

‘He is real and a cool guy to work with. He is the best Director one can ever dream working with. Confident, Straightforward, Hardworking, Honest but above all a go getter’….These were the words of one of the employees of Resolution Health who sought anonymity.  His parting short however, is what caught my attention, that ‘Mr. Nduati Knows and He Knows that He Knows’….an indication that Mr. Nduati has confidence in all His engagements.

Decision Times wishes to Salute Mr. Nduati for being a real Kenyan role model and a mentor to many aspiring young Kenyan Entrepreneurs. We wish him many many many years of good health and long life in order to continue impacting many Kenyan lives.

Looming Danger - Kenya Will Be Harmed By Ethiopia's Gibe III Dam

BY DR ALEX AWITI, 

Three months ago in this column, I warned that the completion of Ethiopia's Gibe III dam on the Omo River could transform Lake Turkana, the world's only desert lake, into Africa's Aral Sea. Impassioned by China-style great leap forward philosophy, the Ethiopian government has pursued the development of the Gibe III dam in total disregard to the consequence associated with it.

The Ethiopian government and multilateral donor institutions present the Gibe III dam project as critical to national and regional energy security and contributing to poverty alleviation. A new report from the African Resource Working Group (ARWG) reveals that the completion of the Gibe III dam on the Omo River will touch off socio-economic, political and ecological collapse in the tri-state border region of the Great Horn of Africa.

According to the ARWG report, a major review by the African Development Bank of the hydrological impacts of the Gibe III dam on Lake Turkana omitted any assessment of the dependence of the livelihoods of local communities on the lake's resources. Moreover, the assessment by the Ethiopian government shows no regard for Kenya's sovereignty over Lake Turkana's northern shoreline zone and a significant portion of the Omo Delta.

The author of the report, Claudia J. Carr, associate professor at University of California at Berkeley, argues that no credible assessments of the environmental and social cross-border impacts of the dam have been conducted. The report charges that the assessments of the dam's impact were fragmentary and riddled with major omissions, inaccuracies and even fabrications.

For instance, the Ethiopian government and the dam proponents suggest that a 60-70% drop in inflows would only cause a 2m-drop in lake levels. The report suggests that the Ethiopian government, international development banks and global commercial investors have operated with the precondition despite glaringly inadequate appraisal of the impacts of Gibe III mega-dam project.

The Gibe III reservoir would be 150 km long, in a narrow gorge with covering an area of 211 square kilometers, with a storage volume of 11,750 million cubic meters; an amount equal to about two years of the Omo River's flow causing a 60-70% reduction in the volume of the Omo River, which contributes 90% of inflow into Lake Turkana. This will reduce Lake Turkana's volume by 58%, lower the lake level by10-22m while doubling its salinity and putting nearly 500,000 pastoralists and fisher folk at the risk of famine and conflict.

Picture Speak: Laptops Vs Basic Learning Materials

Why I Am Disappointed With The President’s Choice For Cabinet Secretary – Health

By Dr. Oduwo Noah Akala (M.B.Ch.B)

Yesterday evening, following days of almost palpable anticipation regarding the composition of the Cabinet, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the names of four individuals that he will present to the National Assembly for vetting before they assume their roles as members of the Executive arm of Government.

For the position of Secretary for Information, he chose an IT Guru. A University Don with years of experience in the field, Mr Fred Okengo. For Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Amina Mohamed was selected. She is a career diplomat having served as diplomatic representative at high levels at the United Nations Environmental Programme. For Treasury Secretary, Henry Rotich…A career civil servant and celebrated economist. I commend the President for his choices in the aforementioned three ministries. They are fresh faces that so far represent the face of Kenya, take into consideration gender balance and most importantly, professional competence.

However, I must register my disappointment with his choice for Cabinet Secretary for Health. Before I go into this, allow me to first give some background so as to inform you of the reasons for my opposition.

Kenya is coming from an era where cabinet appoinents were purely political affairs with the most important considerations being party loyalty and regional balance. In spite of this, we did manage to land upon some gems such as the late Hon John Michuki who managed to turn the Transport Sector around despite having limited background in the said area. He even famously declared that he had never bought a second hand vehicle in his entire working life. At first, many were apprehensive about his ability to perform in such a key ministry given his detachment from the day to day issues facing public transport. He pleasantly surprised us all by streamlining the sector.

But I hazard to say that such examples were the exception rather than the rule. We are the same nation that put the only nobel laureate we have ever produced, the late Hon Wangari Maathai, in a ministry that had nothing to do with her prize. She was an environmentalist celebrated the world over for her conservation efforts yet the Environment docket wad headed by an accountant at the time. This gives the impression that more luck than deliberate intent went into cabinet appointments then.

The Healthcare Sector has for many years been treated as a second rate ministry. This is so in many regards but most significantly, in terms of budgetary allocation. The Abuja declaration states that the bare minimum required to run a country’s health affairs is 15% of the national budget yet we, at best, hover between 5-6%.

It is on the background of this consistent maltreatment that I base my argument. As a young budding doctor, in undergraduate training, one is taught that mistakes in our profession cost lives. To emphasize this, for instance, we are taught that when examining a patient, one must always stand on the right side of the patient’s bed. This is for a variety of reasons not pertinent to today’s discussion. However, undergraduates are failed in their clinical exams if they contravene this rule. The point being to pass across the message that in healthcare, details matter. Health is not the sector to adopt a trial and error methodology neither in patient care nor in management of the sector as a whole. Mistakes in this regard cost lives!

Therefore, in light of the new constitutional dispensation where MPs are no longer appointed to cabinet and that the National Assembly vets nominees to such positions on the basis of qualifications, it is my view that the President’s advisors would have done better in guiding him towards a professional with a proven track record in healthcare. If for no other reason other than the fact that, he who wears the shoe, knows where it pinches. They did so for all other Ministries named yesterday, why not health?

Read The Summary CV Profile Of The Four Nominiees To The Cabinet Announced By H.E Uhuru Kenyatta

1. JAMES WAINAINA MACHARIA

Mr. Macharia was born in 1959. He was top in class for both “O” levels and “A” Levels
(Kagumo High School, Nyeri). Attained B. Com (Hons) University of Nairobi- 1983On merit, was selected by Deloitte & Touche to train as a Chartered Accountant in London, UK, Mr. Macharia is also a qualified CPA(K). Attained MBA Degree from HenleyManagement College, UK. He joined Standard Chartered Bank in 1989, rising to become Financial Controller in 1994. Thereafter, he worked in Zambia as Managing Director, African Banking Corporation, and later transferred to Tanzania in the same position. Has been Group Managing Director with NIC Bank from2005 to-date, when the Bank grew more than tenfold and with five subsidiary companies including Tanzania and Uganda Mr. Macharia is married to a Zambian (Pamela Chanda) and has two children –Martin and Sandra.Nominee for Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health

2. DR. FRED OKENGO MATIANGI

Born in Borabu, Nyamira Dr.Fred Matiangi formerly taught at Egerton University and the University of Nairobi. He has held various research and Programme implementation positions with various local and international organizations. He consulted previously for among others the World Bank, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations Development Programme. He is a governance and programme implementation expert and the immediate former Country Director of the Kenya Parliamentary Support Programme. He is leaving his current position as the Eastern Africa regional Representative for the Centre for International Development, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, the State University of New York to join our government as the Cabinet Secretary for Information Communication and Technology. Fred is married and has two children.

3. HENRY K. ROTICH

Mr.Henry Rotich has been the Head of Macroeconomics at theTreasury, Ministry of Finance, since March, 2006. He has been involved in formulating macroeconomic policies that ensure an affordable and sustainable path of public spending aimed at A chieving the Government’s development priorities.
He is also involved in preparation of key budget documents including the Budget Statements, as well as providing strategic coordination of structural reforms in the area of fiscal and financial sector.Prior to joining the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Rotich has worked at the Central Bank of Kenya since 1994. At one time, he was attached to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) local office in Nairobi to work as an economist. He has also consulted as a short-term macroeconomic expert in the region –in Mozambique, Malawi and Rwanda with the IMF’s East AFRITAC (in Tanzania) and Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute (MEFMI)in Zimbabwe, in addition to supporting the designing of macroeconomic convergence criteria of the proposed East AfricanMonetary Union.

Education: Mr. Rotich holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration (MPA) from the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from University of Nairobi and Bachelor’s Degree in Economics (First Class Honours) from the same University. He is 44 years and married with two sons. Nominee for Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury.

4. AMB. AMINA MOHAMED

Assistant Secretary General of the United Nationsand Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme at Nairobi. Former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairsand former Ambassador of Kenya to the United Nations at Geneva. Amb. Amina Mohamed is a lawyer and diplomat by profession and has served in the public service since 1985. She has served in the Ministries of Local Government, Foreign Affairs and Justice. Amb. Mohamed is married to Mr. Ahmed and has two children. Nominee for Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Uhuru Kenyatta's New Cabinet Secretaries

It has taken two weeks for H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta and His Deputy. William Ruto to come up with four (4) out of the total expected eighteen (18) names in his New Cabinet Line Up. In what appears to be a break up from the norm and setting up a new precedence, the woman and men so far unveiled have excellent professional and academic backgrounds. Perhaps, this could be an indication of the long journey towards Kenya's Prosperity. With non politicians so far featured, who knows? may be it is a warning to the noisy politicians that its time for 'kusema na kutenda'. 

Uhuru and Ruto is a perfect match to rule this country; that is if they continue with the pace they have so far set. Below are the men and women privileged to so far feature in the Jubilee government.

Cabinet Secretary Nominee in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amb. Amina Mohamed

Mr Henry K. Rotich as the Nominee for the Post of Cabinet Secretary in the National Treasury

Mr James Wainaina Macharia, the Nominee for the Post of Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Health

Dr Fred Okengo Matiangi as the nominee for the post of Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology (ICT)

 

 

These proposed nominees are supposed to undergo vetting which is instituted by a list of Parliamentarians in the Appointment Committee who are tasked with the responsibility of vetting the nominees of the new Kenyan Cabinet Secretaries and all other Kenyan Government Appointments

A lady had an interview to attend at 10am in Nairobi. That day; she woke up early and booked a vehicle at 5am. The vehicle didn't delay, she liked the speed too. With her estimation, she would get to Nairobi by 9am. Just past Gilgil, the traffic cops stopped the vehicle and surprisingly, drive had no Driving Licence. The vehicle was summoned to the police station which was 15km off the main highway.

The lady got really sad, she couldn't switch vehicles since she had no extra money and was thus forced to wait. She tried to call the interviewers at 1st to reschedule her interview time but the call never went through. By the time they were leaving the station, it was already 8.50am. She hoped all would be well but at Naivasha, the vehicle developed a fault which delayed the journey for 1hr. By the time she got to Nairobi, it was 12.30. She rushed to the venue of the interview, but had to wait till 2pm since it was lunch time. At 2.15pm, she went to the secretary who told her she would have to wait till 3.30pm since the management were in a meeting.

At 3.30pm, she's called in and the director told her, sorry for keeping you  waiting since morning, we're held up in another meeting with our company suppliers... However we have sat since 2pm to deliberate on your job specification, your office and the salary.
The lady was baffled and said, "Sir I haven't been interviewed yet’’.

The MD answered her and said "we decided not to conduct the interview at least to save time and also save the interviewees money on transport, so we looked at the papers for the most appropriate person we want and we opted for you. You won't be disappointed. You’ll be shown your office, your secretary and the driver assigned to drive your company's allotted vehicle. You’ll be on probation for 2yrs.

Note: You might be held up by issues in your life and hope might be diminishing and you think the chance is gone .But you know what? God's waiting for you to release His favour, so don't go back along the way, dont quit, don't be upset by what you face along the way.

In fact, God has already deliberated on your specifications...One more thing, u dont have to go through any interview, since u have all the qualifications God wants..