Kenyan Wits

2020 has been a year like no other. From America electing the first woman vice president to Coronavirus decimating populations worldwide, the year leaves an indelible mark in our memories as the most dramatic year of the decade. Yet Kenyans have had even more drama to take. Corruptions scandals, as always, have dominated the year, bringing to attention the infinite greed politicians and business people have to the extent of sacrificing thousands of lives to be richer. How do you steal money meant to protect Kenyans from Corona, a deadly virus? I mean, it’s just despicable what people can do out here. Meanwhile, the BBI mantra continues to resonate; some people hope it will solve Mwananchi’s problems while others see no actual benefit from the constitutional changes it suggests. Schools have closed throughout the year, forcing parents and children to spend more time together at home. Consequently, the modern families’ cracks have revealed themselves demonstrably courtesy of increas...

Teenagers have a lot of issues that they need to talk to someone other than their parents or teachers. A therapist is an impartial person who is there as a sounding board. When you’re a teenager, you want to be heard and understood, and counselors who specialize in teens are there to provide that understanding. Here are some reasons why therapy can help teens with empowerment: Developing Identity One of the fundamental things that happen in adolescence is the development of who you are as a person. Teens are developing their identities. They may be experimenting with their sexuality, thinking about what they want to do when they become adults, or just trying to figure out who they are. A therapist has an understanding of these concepts and can listen to the teenager when they talk about them. Sometimes a teen just needs an empathetic listening ear. It’s okay for teenagers not to know what they want to do with their life because they’re not an adult yet. They’re in this strange position...

The KUCCPS is inviting KCSE holders who might have missed placement in Degree, Diploma, Certificate and Artisan courses to apply for TVET courses as from 15 th October 2020. This comes shortly after the inter-university transfer window was closed. The service had enabled students who were unsatisfied with their placement in various institutions to transfer to more preferred institutions. The announcement was published on 5 th October to inform students of the upcoming opportunity which is set to run until November 5 th . Interested students have this once in a year opportunity to be admitted in National polytechnics Technical Training Institutes or other (TVET) institutions where they can pursue their dreams. For one to apply for placement in TVET institutions, they must have attained the following grades: Mean Grade of D – (minus) and below for Artisan Certificate Courses Mean Grade of D (plain) and above for Craft Certificate Courses; and Mean Grade of C – (Minus) and above ...

A UoN graduate engineer has come out to narrate a disheartening story of the inhumane working conditions he had to persevere while working under an exploitative Indian employer. Wyregi who graduated in September 2019 with a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering found himself working as a bottle top packaging slave at Metal Crowns Limited located in Industrial Area and discovered the depths of ruthlessness that Hindi employers are famous for. He was required to work for 18 hours with a 10-minute break for meals daily, meals that would be deducted together with taxes, from their meagre salary considering the serious profits the company makes. Wyregi’s story is just one of the many stories we hear daily of foreigners who come to our country and put Kenyans into suffering and basing their acts on the high unemployment rate in the country. The other day a Chinese national was recorded on camera caning employees . But you know the saddest thing about it all? These foreign nationals continue to ...

Every day millions of shillings, illegally acquired, are stashed in bags and moved around secretly from place to place exchanging hands and deposited in bank accounts while Wanjiku struggles to put a meal on the table. This money that would have been used to incentivize the daily struggle of Wanjiku, is swiftly and easily tricking down to the pockets of a few individuals who then begin the process of making it untraceable and ‘clean’. Wanjiku’s fate is sealed, she was born to suffer, and the system is here to ensure that. Meanwhile, Mheshimiwa drives big cars and lives life in the first lane. He believes in the system. The system will protect him. This might disturb your conscience but the greatest undoing that begot Kenya might have been the early independence we attained. Of course, the colonial rule had its problems but at least there was order; economic and judicial order. Social order was amiss courtesy of the authoritarian and discriminative rule evident with the British Colonial...

Moi University alumni who graduated in 2019 December can now clear and book for the collection of transcripts and degree certificates online. This is after the administration published a notice on MU’s website on 11 th June with guidelines on how students can collect their documents. On 19 th December, last year, thousands of students graduated from Moi University during the 39 th graduation ceremony since the institution was founded in 1984. The ceremony was attended by thousands of people as family member attended to congratulate their learned kins. More than 7 months down the line, these students can finally begin collecting their transcripts and certificates despite the Corona Pandemic which has slowed down all systems and processes. Moi University has launched an online clearance and booking system for collection of transcripts and certificates which ought to be done in an orderly manner to avoid commotion and thus compromise the safety of graduates from the virus. The procedu...

The Teachers Service Commission which was established in 1967 is one of the largest employers in the country. That’s because it’s the organization mandated to register all teachers in the country before they can practice any teaching. Each teacher that qualifies is thus given a TSC number and their names published annually. Thus, achieving this fete is a goal for many who have chosen teaching as their career path and this article aims to guide you through the registration process from start to finish. You will also learn what some of the technical terminologies such as GP69 mean. So without any further delay, let’s kick in. New teacher registration Upon graduation from, teachers are required to register online using the TSC portal to be awarded a TSC number and seek employment as teachers in Kenya, whether in a public or private institutions. The advantages of registering as a teacher with TSC include Job security is assured once employed through permanent Job scheme Three guaranteed o...

Teachers in Kenya work under the Public Service Commission which requires all its employees to declare their wealth regularly. This condition was put into place in a bid to hold people accountable to their wealth accumulation and as a means to curb corruption in the public sector. All teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission are required to declare their wealth Bi-annually. Failure to do this could attract a penalty of up to Ksh 1,000,000 or one-year imprisonment . So every teacher ought to take time to understand how to declare their wealth. This guide is aimed at helping you in the step by step process of wealth declaration using the TSC online portal. If you dont have a TSC number yet, check how to register with TSC . Note all you need is a computer and a good internet connection, everything is done online. Let’s quickly dive in. Step 1 First, access the TSC Teachers online portal Wealth declaration page : or copy this tsconline.tsc.go.ke and open a new tab Log into you...

On Thursday, April 2 nd the portal was opened for KUCCPS second revision of diploma, degree and certificate choices. This came after 36,522 students who scored a C+ and above were unable to secure placement in degree programs while 6,654 candidates didn’t make any applications. Students who failed to secure placement have been urged to revise their choices before the KUCCPS second revision deadline which is on 15 th April. The online service published a PDF List of the index numbers of unsuccessful 2019 KCSE Candidates from the first revision . I believe this is a very crucial moment for these students and hence would like to give you some tips on securing successful placement in this 2020 second revision. First, how do you know whether you got placed or not? How to check your status There two ways of knowing your KUCCPS placement status Download the List published by KUCCPS and search for your index number. PDF List Log into your KUCCPS student portal. Check under the Available Prog...

Since the Presidentordered all learning institutions in Kenya to be closed due to the Coronavirus Pandemic ,students have become unoccupied as they stay at home to avert the spread of thevirus. Consequently, scholarshave been forced to wait for governments and health workers to bring thepandemic into control for schools to open and learning to resume. However, USIU – Kenya,(United States International University) is taking no chance in providingquality and timely education for its scholars. During the two weekspreceding the president’s announcement, the institution has indulged itsstudents in online learning through its advanced online platform, Blackboardfor instructional purposes and Zoom as their video conferencing tool. The innovativecombination lets interaction between lectures and students and access tolearning recourses seamless, thus providing a great learning experience withoutthe need for brick and mortar lecture rooms. Students use theirlaptops and internet to access th...

Once in a while the Ministry of Education announces the HELB waiver for all HELB beneficiaries in Kenya. This announcement is yet to be made in 2020. This announcement comes with a sigh of relief for many yet in real terms is not beneficial to many as expected. First, for the sake ofclarity, a waiver is a voluntary removal of a certain charge or money owned.The HELB loan waiver is meant to reduce the amount of money required to be paidby a HELB beneficiary. At least that’s what most expect. Annually the Minister ofEducation would announce a waiver on HELB loans. It comes in differentpercentages for instance 80% or 100%waiver that CS Amina gave in 2018 . This waiver however usually applies topenalties only and not the entire loan amount. Also, you are given thecondition to repay your entire loan in a lump sum over about 3 months to enjoythe HELB penalty waiver. Well, this doesn’t seem fair! The idea behind thewaiver is to make it easier for HELB beneficiaries to repay their loans fromth...

On Friday the 13 th ; a day synonymous with bad luck, the first case of Coronavirus was confirmed in Kenya. What followed were events we only witness in movies. The Nairobi Stock Exchange experienced a 120 Billion shillings wipeout , sanitizer and soap shelves in supermarkets started getting cleared and as typical for Kenyans, social media was washed with coronavirus-related memes. It’s quite clear there’sa little panic in the air, but the memes are keeping people alive per se. Yet wemust take serious precautions to protect ourselves from this pandemic as WHOputs it. The myth that Africansare immune to the virus was debunked yesterday. Yet that’s only a tip of theiceberg in the misinformation spreading online. This is why I seriouslypropose that each of us takes a keen interest in understanding the virus, howit spreads, its incubation period, signs and symptoms, statistics of recoveryand death, ways of preventing and containing the virus among other things. And don’t just read from eve...

On Monday the 17th of February, the KUCCPS Portal was opened after a press statement by the CEO of KUCCPS, Dr. John Muraguri. According to the press statement a total of 688,928 students were placed in tertiary institutions.  This is 10817 studentsless than the number of students who sat for KCSE 2019 representing a 98.45%placement. 125,449 who managed toscore C+ and above were placed in universities while 563,479 who scored C, D,or E, were placed in Technical and Vocational Education Training institutions. Meanwhile, alluniversities declared a total capacity of 193,878 which absorbed 100% ofall qualified students. TVET institutions had a total capacity of 350,000 whichcould only absorb 62% of the students who scored between C and E. However, the board notedthat other TVET institutions were offering additional training opportunitieswhich will absorb the remaining 38%.  The board indicated thatthe portal will be open until 9th March 2020 allowing the students to revisetheir pla...

Kisumu National polytechnic has been closed indefinitely today morning after students went on a rampage over unprecedented hiking of fees and abuse of power by the deputy principal among other issues. Earlier on, studentsgathered at the basketball courts following a notice signed and circulated by Kisumu National Polytechnic Student Association(KINOPSA) Secretary-General Mr. Amos Oduor and Chairman Mr. Joseph Mbaka. The notice urged studentsto boycott classes and join the union in a peaceful demonstration after theadministration had allegedly failed to address their grievances. Students later pouredinto the streets, blocked Nyamasaria – Kondele road and paralyzed transportbefore being dispersed by Anti-Riot police. Apparently, theadministration had hikedstudent fees by Ksh 6000 for some and Ksh 10000 for others a move that hasfinancially overburdened most students in the institution. Besides, the studentleaders were also demanding the reinstatement of more than 1000 students whoh...

KUCCPS 2020 intake iscurrently under preparation but the application window for 2019 KCSE candidatesis not open yet. However, the portal is likely to open within the next 7 days toallow students to revise their program selections. In the meantime, let’s get abetter understanding of KUCCPS, the application process and much more Update: The portal will be open for first revision as from 17th Feb to 9th March . What is KUCCPS? The Kenya Universitiesand Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) is a body corporate establishedunder the Universities act of 2012 that is mandated, among other functions, to coordinatethe placement of government-sponsored students to universities and colleges. KUCCPS has the largestdatabase of universities and colleges in Kenya and all the eligible programsthey offer since it registers all the institutions eligible for students’placement, a necessary part of data collection. As of this year 2020, it offers placement in 542-degree programs, 216 diploma programs...