Equity Bank pulls out on plan to increase interest rates

BY SAMWEL DOE

Equity Bank (Kenya) on Monday withdrew its plans to increase interest rates on loans, thanks to the slump in the treasury bills lending rates, saving its customers, especially the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), thousands of shillings on servicing expensive loans.

The notice to increase interest rates had been issued to Equity Bank customers on October 20^th, 2015 after treasury bills rates increased. It was meant to take effect by November 19^th, 2015. The revoke of the notice now means that customers will continue paying the old interest rates and maintain the existing loan repayment installments.

The Central Bank had increased treasury bills rates to 20 per cent but have since dropped to below 10 per cent. A treasury bill is a paperless short-term borrowing instrument issued by the Government through the Central Bank of Kenya as a fiscal agent to raise money on short term basis for a period of up to one year. Central Bank has in effect issued notice to commercial banks to lower their rates in line with the slump in the treasury bills lending rates.

“We are pleasantly impressed with the speed at which the government has been able to reduce the treasury bills rates,” said Equity Bank Group CEO Dr. James Mwangi. “We had anticipated the increase in treasury bills to be a short term measure but it has been shorter than we thought, hence the withdrawal of interest rates increase,” added Mwangi.

Equity, the largest bank in Kenya by number of depositors, is confident that the reprieve will make its loan book grow, urging other commercial banks to join the bandwagon.

Mwangi observed that the underlying macro –economic conditions faced in the market did not justify high interest rates and the bank believes it is a temporary condition.

“Inflation had remained within targets and a month of import cover has remained firmly above four months minimum requirement while current account deficit has been narrowing as a result of improved balance of trade,” he added.

PATENTING THE BASIC WAY TO SECURE SMEs INNOVATIONS AND CREATIVITY

By Samwel Ouma

Entrepreneurship all over the world is emerging today as an avenue for gainful employment.In Kenya, the Micro, Small and Medium enterprises employs over 80% of the total working population.

Technological progress and economic strength in any modem nation, Kenya being no exception, depends greatly on the ability of its nationals to be creative and innovative and be aggressive in the promotion of trade both at home and abroad. Are there Laws and legislation in Kenya that helps in curbing challenges of counterfeiting and stealing of innovative and creative pursuits mostly advanced by small and medium sized enterprises?

Micro, Small and Medium enterprises are currently receiving a lot of government attention. It is seen as the solution to the crippling unemployment especially for the youth. The ability of our people to be creative and innovative has propelled economic growth to a large extend. A challenge of counterfeiting and piracy epidemic is affecting business startups both small and medium sized business greatly.

Stealing other peoples Innovations and creativity is not only illegal in Kenya but also creates unfair competition which has lead to a significant loss on businesses and the global economy. In order to promote and protect inventiveness and creativity, Article 40 of the Kenyan constitution 2010 gives exclusive rights to protection of right to property. Article 40 section (5) state that the state shall support, promote and protect the intellectual property of the people of Kenya.

Intellectual property in law is an umbrella term for various legal entitlements. Intellectual property laws are more than one and each type of intellectual property law (IP) is different. There are four types of IP rights. They include Designs, Patents, Trademarks and copyrights Acts.

In 2006, Prof. Tom Ogada conducted a national intellectual property audit in Kenya, which revealed that between 1990 and 2001, Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs), also known as (Jua Kali), was the most innovative sector, with a total of 116 patent applications at Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI).

This study has shifted our focus on one kind of Intellectual pursuits; Patent. It is backbone to viable, innovative and competitive SMEs. Patent leads to creation of new substances, products, devices, methods or processes which are of value. The innovations are protected as “Patents” under Patents Act.

Patents offer inventors monopolies on their creations for a period of twenty years in Kenya. Without the possibility of patent protection, many people might not take the risks or invest the time and money involved in devising and perfecting new products. For example, our society would have benefited greatly were we to have protected products such as the kiondo,Maasai Leso, Kikoi, Akala shoes and certain vaccines for livestock diseases produced in Kenya.

For Patent to be granted it needs to be new, should involve an inventive step, not obvious to a skilled person in the technological field and industrially applicable in the concerned field. The steps for patenting innovation in Kenya are very simple and cost maximum of sixteen thousand Kenya shillings.

You will be required to file an application to Kenya Industrial property institute (KIPI) - a parastatal body under the Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development. The functions of the Institute include administering Industrial Property Rights, Provision of Technological Information to the public, Promoting Inventiveness in Kenya and Provision of Training on Industrial Property.

The process of obtaining Patent involves making request through form IP3 obtained from KIPI. The form contains the title and the particulars of the applicant or the inventor. The Patent Application should have a description that discloses the invention and at least one mode for carrying out the invention in full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person having ordinary skills in the art to make use and to evaluate the invention.

Patent Application should state on it one or more claims which seeks to clarify and define the features of the Patent for which protection is sought. It should be clear and concise and fully supported by the description. In defining the matter for which protection is sought, a claim should set out the technical features that are necessary to define the subject matter of the invention  that are part of the prior art; and the technical features that, in combination with the features above will defines which protection is sought.

If there are any drawings of the invention the same should be provided in the application. You will also be required to fill an abstract which serves the purpose of technical information. It is not taken into account for the purpose of interpreting the scope of the protection sought. It includes the title of the invention and a summary of the disclosure included in the description. The summary indicates the technical field to which the invention relates and the principal use or uses of the invention.

Kenya Industrial Property institute will establish whether the Applicant has complied with all the requirements under the Law for filing an Application. If one has not fully complied with the requirements, they will be invited to make amendments to the Application. If the Application has complied fully with all requirements, it will proceed to substantive examination.

The Patent can only be published in the KIPI Journal 18 month after the date of filing. This will give notice to the whole world of the Application. Substantive Examination which involves a determination of whether the Patent is new, non-obvious and whether it can be applied in the industry. 

The Application for Substantive examination should be done within 3 years of filing the Application.

If the approval meets all the requirements, it will be granted. If it does not meet the requirements it is rejected. In case of rejection one may object the same. If final decision is rejection one may Appeal. If it succeeds the applicant is granted Patent. The grant is therefore published.

Creativity and innovation are proven drivers for economic growth and competitiveness. SMEs, especially small firms, contribute greatly and increasingly to the innovation system by introducing new products and adapting existing products to the needs of customers.

Patents do more than keep creative wheel spinning. They are also a means of technological exchange. Each patent document describes a new aspect of a technology in clear and specific terms and is available for anyone to read. Patents are made public specifically to promote the sharing of knowledge. As such they are vital resources for entrepreneurs, researchers, inventors, academics and others who need to keep up with development in their fields.

Kenya is a signatory to multinational treaties and agreements, which provide some form of harmonization in the protection of intellectual property. Kenya is a member of the following Organizations, Protocols, treaties and agreement. Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Paris convention for protection of Industrial Property Patent cooperation treaty – PCT. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) African Regional Intellectual Property Organization – (ARIPO)

Protection of IP rights however is territorial. If you intend to obtain protection in multiple countries, there are three approaches you can utilize. First you can file a request in each of the countries where you want protection. Or file an application as provided for under what is known as the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This is, however, just a filing system.

Ultimately you will need to process the applications in each of the countries where you want protection. Finally there are regional offices which are mandated by state parties to receive, process, grant and register IP for and on their behalf. Examples are the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), Organization Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI), European Patent Office (EPO), among others.

Growing economies like Kenya continue to evolve from traditional agricultural and low-value and simplified manufacturing activities making their Innovations and creativity prone to duplication and shortchanging. Intellectual property assets have become strategic factors for value creation by firms and individuals as they are increasingly important in attracting investment, enabling productivity and efficiency gains, and fostering the growth of innovative sectors in the economy.

GMOs,ARE KENYANS READY TO EMBRACE IT

ARE KENYANS READY FOR GMOs

BY SAMWEL DOE

Do you know what’s in your food? The proposal to lift ban on genetically modified organisms in Kenya circulates around the production of certain truths that are at once political and scientific, contentious and technological; But GMOs issue is now articulated as a problem for both biology and power that can only be settled by truth.

Very soon if the government lifts ban on GMOs Chances will be that food on our tables might be genetically modified. But what does that mean, and what’s all the fuss about GMOs these days? The Kenyan government is to lift the ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) soon, Deputy President William Ruto said while he attended the official opening of the annual Bio-Safety Conference at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies in Nairobi recently.

  
In the world as of 2014, GMOs are grown, imported and used in 70 countries. Kenya is one of the countries listed as those approving research field trials. Chairman, Board of Management, National Bio safety Authority Prof Jenesio Kinyamario said that they are committed to ensuring safety in the application of biotechnology in the country. Prof Kinyamario said that the board is moving towards environmental release of reports as confirmed by two applications that has been submitted to National Bio safety Authority on two biotechnology products Bt Maize and Bt Cotton.

The National Bio safety Authority has in many cases approved World Food Program (WFP) to acquire genetically modified products for importation and trans boundary movement through Kenya for humanitarian assistance and relief supplies. These included: insect-resistant/herbicide-tolerant corn soya blend and insect-resistant/herbicide-tolerant maize meal. These approvals were said to have been granted after a food safety assessment process by eminent scientists and distinguished professionals concluded that the food products are as safe as the conventional counterparts.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), many of us in Kenya to them sound more like something out of this world rather than anything you’d expect to find on your dinner plate. They are plants that have been changed by scientists. But they aren’t something new. They’ve been sold since 1994.

Many people — including, I’m sure, many of you — may have greater expertise in this area than I do. These debates over genetically modified foods have lived since 1990s, hoping that some fact would one day come out clearly who is on the right. It is like the story of the blind men and the elephant: when they were presented with the beast all of them touched it but everyone noticed something different and built a theory around it, and nobody saw the whole picture.

Scientists take a plant. They change the plant by adding DNA from another plant, bacteria, or virus to it. DNA is what gives everything its special characteristics. So in this way, the original plant now has new qualities. The changes can make them more resistant to disease, bugs, or drought. It can give them other qualities too, like those that affect their taste or shelf life.

The application of genetic engineering to agriculture builds on the ancient practice of selective breeding. But unlike traditional selective breeding, genetic engineering vastly expands the range of traits that can be moved into plants and enables breeders to import DNA from virtually anywhere in the biosphere. Depending on the traits selected, genetically engineered crops can increase yields, thrive when irrigated with salty water, or produce fruits and vegetables resistant to mold and rot.

Genetic modification has made plants with extra vitamins, minerals, and other benefits. Swiss researchers created a strain of “golden” rice with a lot of beta-carotene. This antioxidant is said to be good for the eyes and skin

What's another benefit of using science to build better plants, according to people who are pro-G MO? You can combine plants that could never mate in the wild. An example of this is “Roundup Ready” corn. It can survive being sprayed by the weed killer. It is made of DNA from a few different types of plants.Our urgent need here is to alleviate poverty, improve the environment, and forced to face the fact that many of us with the introduction of GMOs will no longer trust the people who produce our food. 

Right now, our political class might be doing things in haste to only address GMOs narrowly without touching larger issues like the consumers attitude towards the GMOs. Apart from its advantages over the traditional methods of agricultural food production, its reliance to Herbicides complicates its ecological effects. Herbicide resistance is the main characteristic that the biotechnology industry has chosen to introduce into plants. Farmers can spray herbicide both before and during the growing season, leaving their crops unharmed. Ecological impact, such as effects on the butterfly, bees and other natural pollinators should also be considered.

Although as it is, whether we like it or not, genetically modified foods are almost impossible to avoid.The Republic of South Africa (RSA) is the first developing country to plant genetically modified staple food – Bt white maize. Development and spread of Bt maize in RSA that started in 1998. After that, based on surveys of 33 large commercial Bt maize farmers and 368 smallholders in 2001/2, it shows that Bt maize gives higher yields for both groups and reduces pesticide use particularly for the large commercial farmers.

Most studies with GM foods indicate that they may cause some common toxic effects such as hepatic, pancreatic, renal, or reproductive effects and may alter the hematological, biochemical, and immunologic parameters. However, many years of research with animals and clinical trials are required for this assessment. For others these facts are based largely on benign misunderstandings and wishful thinking as people on the other side of the GMOs debate worry about their safety. They ask, "Do we know whether eating them over the long run can hurt people?" They say that More medical problems; besides possibly leading to cancer, GMOs can cause new allergies and hurt the effects of antibiotics. But no studies confirm this. The rise of "super weeds": Crops built to survive weed killer could breed with weeds. These “super weeds” would also survive. Farmers would have to use more and more and stronger pesticide to keep up.

If feasible solutions to the food security in Kenya are to be found; Kenya’s environmental and food security activists argue that the government needs to recognize and support organic agriculture practiced by most small scale farmers to avoid imports of genetically modified (GM) foods or its practice.  GMOs should be our last option while embracing irrigation based agriculture will be the solution. As it is we cannot predict exactly what natural climatic factors can do to our agricultural production.

While in need to adjust to technological changes in rush to bumpy harvests, we also need to take control and care of our own natural environment by watching potential adversaries’ closely. Even with the persistence threats to food security the recent recommendation by the government towards embracing genetically modified organisms should be taken with lots of care. In a wide-ranging review of a broad and complex subject we had limited space to explore fully all the factors affecting the debate over GMOs, their relative sustainability and broader impact on the environment.

 In a way, we’re all amateur health scientists, doing our best to develop hypotheses about what to fear. As creatures that must eat to survive, we have all developed a trigger suspicion of potential poisons lurking in our foods. Unlike rats, with their highly refined sense of smell and taste, humans are pretty bad at sensing dangerous chemicals. Instead, humans (the social animal) avoid danger by watching each other, and by telling stories. Telling stories has worked well in some ways: Hunter-gatherers, for example, tend to have an exquisite knowledge of poisonous plants, passed down through stories. But stories also cause confusion.

I don’t expect to find solution to this problem now, but one way I will look at it that can make all the facts lineup is just hope to get a feel for the elephant as it is, like the blind men did.

TEACHERS TAKE HOME A RIGHT NOT AGIFT

By SAMWEL DOE

For those who know me well, those we have been together in great places and have affairs with, and all that you have seen in me was developed solidly in depth by character and learning through my teachers.

  
First difficulty of this story will be to say who a teacher is. For initially I know the society at large have taught me some lessons in life. Traditionally teaching used to be a call and people did it without expecting pay. Now as it is, many people have made its meaning change in sense slowly by slowly in time.Teachers have long history of kindness, from the ancient “rabbi” one who only taught to make people enlightened and wise with no or little pay as Jesus did, to now as we may see a trade unionist who when short-changed on remunerations and allowances packages sing of solidarity together. He is seen as one who can be punished for no any other reason than that of belonging to the teaching profession. He is only to be remembered when campaigning periods near.

Now to return to my subject or rather to begin, I believe nature seems to have taken all other men wickedness and planted it on the people at the treasury and Teachers service commission. Teachers have been notoriously famous for their yearly salary strikes. How the government have sustained to hoodwink them back to work whenever they strike is very uncertain and tricky for most of us. Since the late Adeya Adongo’s time back in 1997 education is distrupted year in year out because of this incremeant dispute.The government predicts strikes as it h been seen as the gravest step teachers can take, its success or failure is a gamble too hard for a prophecy. Yet for once the court gave a reprieve to the teacher’s salary dilemma.

 The government have openly come out declining to obey this particular court order.

Therefore when I am talking of inhumanity, I have not found any jargon required to put this treacherous act that the Cs finance Henry Rotich is doing to our teachers by stating that the treasury have no funds to honor teacher’s salary increments as was ruled out by the court. It is not a just end to an adventure the teachers have dared to endure so much. Before even celebrating the first hefty pact, the victories have been submerged with disillusionment as the Cs fails teacher’s hopes of ever getting the increments soon.

Finance Cs Rotich is dying to overstrain teachers, He is of the attempt to portray the government to have diminished its resources on the very traditional terms that the past governments had,-that of lack of funds-and with readiness to defend this they have vowed not to act on the salary increments pact that the supreme court ruled in favor of teachers .The government side is seen to simply dilly-dally with the hopes that soon teachers will forget and forced back to work if they go to strike.

Over the years the strengths of our teachers have been laid in simplicity and patience and more so in their capacity to sacrifice acceptance of being people subjected to a near social and economic slavery. In the very outset and first meeting with a teacher, most of them almost say similar thing that there is a mathematical bound limitations in the figure of the salaries that their employer Teachers Service Commission offers them  if compared with others in similar or different fields of profession possessing similar qualifications.

Teachers have remained beast of burden for many years; fortunately they have been uncomplaining soldiers. With responsibility of duty and engagement they struggle to lay the foundations of success for the children of this great nation. Their unpledged allegiances to their work have prepared them in their minds to be obedient servants of the nation. They manufacture the greatest People that run our nation. My warning will be if we continue subjecting these noble people to this slavery, a common element of poverty and low self esteem will be seen in the products  this people make.

The reason why I have absolute respect for teachers is that could it not be for them, I was the next to be placed among the regiment of fools. Many people have perished because of lack of knowledge. My memory of who taught me how to read and write. Being a slow learner ,I can only  imagine the bulk of work that Madam Teacher did to me. Before I started going about the vowels, alphabets and basic one up to ten it was a total sacrifice she made. I am always sympathetic and sorry whenever I get a chance to meet her. It has been troubling why my teacher had to retire to a very desperate life. It has been hard to answer why she is now reduced to a peasant farmer and posses nothing to show for the long service she rendered to the nation building. She now remain to posses just the name  “Mwalimu” and this reminds her of her call as for her nothing much she has to smile about apart from that title .