NHIF saga continues-Whos fooling who?!!!

Controversy over of the ambitious KES 4.2 billion civil servants medical cover scheme got messier on Thursday following mystery over the ownership of one of the key contracted health providers.
According to Daily Nation reports, Clinix Healthcare Limited which was allocated KES 202 million in the first quarter is owned by Pharma Investment Holdings, an off-shore company, not registered in Kenya and owns 99 per cent shares and a local company — Beneficial Limited — has one per cent shares.
State Counsel Margaret Wangu, in a letter to Parliament says documents presented for registration of the limited liability company indicate it is registered in the British Virgin Islands under number C. 1028943, which has led to the Parliamentary Committee on Health believe there is a cover up scheme.
When the government announced in 2011 plans to offer healthcare for all civil servants and members of the disciplined forces, a consortium of five insurance companies put together a Ksh 12 billion proposal and forwarded it to the Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno, who flatly rejected it as being too expensive and demanded that the consortium goes back to the drawing board and comes up with a new proposal.
The consortium, determined to share the government pie, reworked its proposal and come up with a figure of about Ksh eight billion, after joining forces with NHIF to handle all the out-patient aspect of the bid for Ksh3.6 billion. The rest of the Ksh4.4billion was to go to the insurance companies. This offer was again rejected by the government.
At this point, when the consortium could not come up with any acceptable figure, the minister approached NHIF and asked them to come up with a proposal. NHIF gave the Minister a proposal for Ksh 4.3 billion for comprehensive outpatient and inpatient, life cover and funeral expenses. This fee the minister was satisfied with and asked NHIF to roll out the plan. After that, NHIF invited tenders for companies that would offer the healthcare.
That is when Clinix Healthcare Limited, Meridian, private hospitals, mission hospitals were asked to be accredited to offer the outpatient service to government at a limit of Ksh 2,850 per head per a year.
This did not go well with the big insurance companies that had demanded as high as Ksh 9,000 per head per a year, Jackal News was told that attempts by the consortium of private clinics to petition the minister failed. The consortium wanted minister to compel NHIF to raise limit from Ksh 2,850 to Ksh 4,000. This was out rightly rejected by the government.
This consortium of private clinics, insurance companies and powerful doctors then held a secret meeting and solicited the support of Kenya Public Sector Alliance to get the Prime Minister scheme scuttled from the government side and also got on their side COTU secretary General Francis Atwoli. The rest as they say is history.

Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson to stand down after faking computer science degree

Yahoo Inc Chief Executive Scott Thompson is stepping down from his role at the Silicon Valley internet giant, citing a recently discovered illness as the main cause, less than six months after taking the role in January.

Yahoo Inc Chief Executive Scott Thompson is stepping down from his role at the Silicon Valley internet giant.
It is thought to be the final stage in a controversy over a fake computer science college degree on his biography, although the company if expected to claim he is leaving for 'personal reasons'.
Thompson will reportedly cite a recently discovered illness as the main cause for his departure, less than six months after he took the role in January.

Replacement: Scott Thompson (left) is stepping down and will be replaced by Ross Levinsohn (right)

Thompson's interim replacement, effective immediately, will be Yahoo's global media head Ross Levinsohn, a source told Reuters.
Prior to the posting he was president of PayPal, the Jose-based eBay subsidiary, taking over from Carol Bartz who was dismissed in September.
Yahoo has said that Thompson did not have a computer science degree, despite what was stated in his official company biography and in regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Levinsohn most recently also ran its Americas unit, including its advertising sales.
The move is a victory for hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb of Third Point LLC, which is Yahoo's largest outside shareholder and brought the discrepancy in Thompson's educational background to light.
It was Loeb and Daniel Levinsohn, head of Third Point, which owns 5.8 per cent of the company, who discovered Thompson's misstep and told the world of his phoney degree claim.

The home page of Yahoo, which has been recently rocked by allegations that its CEO inflated his resume

Loeb has been waging a bitter proxy battle to install a slate of four directors on the Internet company's board, which he has accused of being dismissive of investors' input and in need of restructuring capabilities and media strategies.
According to the AllThingsD blog, which reported Thompson's departure earlier on Sunday, Yahoo's board is closing in on a settlement with Loeb that will give Third Point three board seats.
The blog said Yahoo's recently added director Fred Amoroso will be named chairman of the board.
Yahoo was not immediately available for comment.
Emails sent to Thompson's official Yahoo email address were already bouncing back on Sunday morning.
Yahoo is in the midst of trying to revive revenue growth and its popularity with consumers, facing fierce competition from Google, Facebook and other online companies.

The drug that could stop alcohol making you feel drunk - but scientists don't want to increase people's tolerance

Doctors are testing a drug that could stop alcohol making people drunk.
The researchers believe iomazenil, taken before drinking, might negate some of alcohol’s effects on the brain.
Tests in a driving simulator will determine whether the drug makes volunteer drinkers safer behind the wheel after imbibing.

Why Facebook may soon cost you money

Now that Facebook has conducted a small test of charging users to promote their status updates, isn't it inevitable that, as a public company, Facebook will have to start dinging users in earnest?

(Credit: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

The other day, one of Facebook's bigger clients was privately complaining to me.
This gentleman is in charge of digital advertising for a worldwide company. He told me: "First they charge me for ads. Then they try and charge me again in order to make sure those ads get seen by more people."
He was referring to Facebook's presentation in February when it suggested brands have "Premium ads." You know, ones that might be enjoyed by more than the estimated 16 percent of fans who actually see a brand's messaging currently.
It's hard not to imagine that -- despite Mark Zuckerberg's insistence that Facebook will always be free -- the soon-to-public company will have to seek more revenues from its biggest franchise: every single one of its users.
The principle behind the test aimed at users this week was the same as that aimed at advertisers: "Not too many people see your very important Facebook updates. So pay us and we'll make sure they do. Or at least we'll try."
The method suggested was that your important post would be highlighted -- for a fee of 1.80 New Zealand dollars (around $1.42). Actually there seem to have been several price points, one going up to the $2 mark.
The situation for users is even worse than that for advertisers. On average, a mere 12 percent of your friends see your status updates.
One can understand Facebook's problem. Too many people use it. Too many posts are being created. Too many people miss most of what's there. Yes, it's just like Twitter.
To make this more disturbing for the company, there's a joyous train hurtling in the other direction: the Church of Wall Street.
Those who demand that Mark Zuckerberg pay them the same respect as he would pay God -- yes, by wearing a jacket -- are only interested in money rolling in.
When they lose money -- such as the $2 billion misplaced by JP Morgan Chase this week -- they might bow their heads for a short moment and carry right on doing the same thing.
But if Facebook's numbers fall short, they will be all over the company like a scratchy hoodie.
It is that sure knowledge that is driving Facebook to find every possible avenue of revenue.
Facebook is trying to make as much money out of brands as it can. It is trying to sell them every possible interpretation of its numbers in order to squeeze out cash.

"Can't I just be left to control the world, without all this money nonsense?"

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

In turn, brands can see that Facebook has huge numbers, but they aren't seeing the sorts of results that make them want to anoint the site as their primary medium. Facebook is still cheap, and therefore money spent there is cheap money.
But with hundreds of millions of people on its pages, Facebook hopes to begin to squeeze pennies that will multiply into dollars. It is the ancient idea of nickle-and-diming.
This week's New Zealand experiment comes from the same helpful impulse that spawned fees for your first checked bag at the airport.
In other words, now that we've got you, give us something. Of course, one of the difficulties if Facebook succeeds in charging customers for, say, actually having people seeing their updates, is the possibility that its relationship with its users will change.
Currently, Facebook can switch its privacy rules and drag you along because you are aren't a paying customer.
But once you are, mightn't people begin to take on a different attitude? A paying customer might expect a higher level of service, of feedback -- and, yes, of privacy.
Facebook's privacy-rule change this week allows it to use your face to advertise products away from Facebook.
If you were now being charged in order for your friends to see your posts, mightn't you be tempted to charge Facebook for the privilege of using your lovely face to sell, say, 55-gallon tubs of lubricant?

by Chris Matyszczyk May 13, 2012

WTF!!!Safaricom Halts “Unlimited Data” Internet And Blames Peculiar Customers

Giant telephony firm, Safaricom, is admitting that it made a mistake in its decision to introduce unlimited internet access at Ksh 200 per day, blaming customers for the decision to discontinue the service.

Last week, CEO Bob Collymore said some data users were misusing the bundles by ''downloading too much''. He gave an example of some users downloading 35 gigabytes a week, which on an ordinary bundle would cost Ksh 23,000."On unlimited we are losing money, so I will say as I said for voice, I will not sell data at loss," Collymore said. "I really do not think we should continue with the unlimited , everyone should pay for what they are using."
Maybe it is all about what Michael Joseph called Kenyan's peculiar habits. Although a business analyst opined that Safaricom ought to have done some pilot/assessment before rolling out the service.
''They look - and feel - so bad having to withdraw this service,'' the analyst said.''Whereas we regret the inconvenience that these changes may cause to our customers, we wish to give our assurance that we shall continue to offer exciting and affordable data products that will meet the demands of our customers,'' Safaricom said in statement published in the newspapers today. It did not repeat the reasons for closing down the service.
Safaricom controls at least 75 per cent of the market in Kenya. Airtel, on its 3.75 g network, is also offering largely erratic unlimited internet for Ksh 150 per day. Orange Kenya also has unlimited internet for Ksh 990 per week.
It is thought that if Safaricom is to be believed, the Orange and Airtel may consider discontinuing the service too. Another struggling company, Yu Mobile, is offering 30-day unlimited data bundle at Ksh 499, but on a low speed internet, which would be appropriate for mobile users.
Across Kenya, hopes rose when fibre optic cables landed, promising fast internet speeds and a massive drop in cost of internet access. That has not been the case as such. In cyber cafes, internet speeds have improved, and the least one can browse is Ksh 50 cents per minute.

Musalia Mudavadi Semi-Quits Government Post; Was He Paid To Leave ODM? MayB

Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi, a political invertebrate by many accounts, has formally ended his association with the populist prime minister, Raila Odinga, amid online rumours that he was paid to end ties with his boss.Mudavadi, who rarely smiles in public, has sought to cut an image of a strong politician, even after thanking Odinga in 2007 for helping him get out of political oblivion which Project Uhuru vote in 2002 drove him into.
Today, he left Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement to join the United Democratic Forum Party with the hope of the party nominating him to run for president in 2013 elections. He fell out with Odinga recently over a clause in the party constitution which makes Odinga the automatic ODM presidential candidate.
ODM, run by painfully loyal Odingaists handed over the party's constitution to the registrar of political parties, with a promise to Mudavadi that the clause would be amended to allow him challenge Odinga in nominations. Mudavadi thinks this is a lie. And sources close to him say all along, he knew that there would be no free nomination process in ODM that would possibly allow Mudavadi to beat Odinga for the party's ticket for president.
On http://jukwaa.proboards.com online chatroom, and in bar-based forums, some commentators have been alleging that Mudavadi was paid to burst ODM and get out.
''I wonder how many dollars Uhuru [Kenyatta] paid Mudavadi to get out of ODM,'' a commentator posted on the forum, echoing similar comments to Jackal News editors in recent weeks.
We have not been able to verify the authenticity of these reports.
Earlier today, he announced that he was quitting his post as the minister for local government and his position as ODM deputy party leader. However he said he would remain as the deputy prime minister and MP.
''My trail led me to a party that is patriotic enough to capture the national interests, ambitious enough to re-ignite the appetites of real change crusaders,''he said in Nairobi.
Musalia Mudavadi was born on September 21 1960 in Sabatia, Vihiga District. His darkest point in his career is the Goldernberg scandal in which his name was mentioned.
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