The accountant January - February 2016

JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS OF KENYA 

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JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2016 

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NATURAL RESOURCES IN KENYA 

CURSE OR BLESSING TO COUNTY 

GOVERNMENTS? 

6 34 38 12 

THE EVOLUTION OF 

AUDITORS HOW SKILLSETS 

ARE CHANGING 


WOMEN GEARING 

FOR BOARDS: JUST 

ANY BOARD? 

NATURAL RESOURCES IN 

KENYA; CURSE OR BLESSING 

TO COUNTY GOVERNMENTS? 

CHAMPIONING FINANCIAL 

REPORTING, CORPORATE 

GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL 

RESPONSIBILITY IN EAST 

AFRICA

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

DE-REGISTRATION NOTICE 

(Sections, 4 (1) (5), 22 (1), (2), (3), 23, 24, 25 (1), 29(1) c 

38 6 

COVER STORY 

NATURAL RESOURCES IN 

KENYA; CURSE OR BLESSING 

TO COUNTY GOVERNMENTS? 

FINANCIAL REPORTING 

AND ASSURANCE 

THE EVOLUTION OF AUDITORS 

HOW SKILLSETS ARE CHANGING 

(4) and (5) of the Accountants Act no. 15 of 2008 as read 

together with By -Law No. 9) 

WHEREAS the list provided was earlier published in the Institutes 

special e-connect on the 20th June 2015 and the advertisement in the 

Daily Nation of 16th October 2015, the listed members were hereby 

called upon to show cause why their registration as members of the 

Institute should not be cancelled by deregistration. 

34 

GOVERNANCE 

WOMEN GEARING FOR 

BOARDS: JUST ANY BOARD? 

12 

ECONOMY 

CHAMPIONING FINANCIAL REPORTING, 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL 

RESPONSIBILITY IN EAST AFRICA 

TAKE NOTICE, therefore, that twenty one (21) days’ notice period 

issued on the 16th October 2015 has lapsed. 

NOTICE is hereby given that members listed and who have failed to 

meet the compliance requirement for membership of the Institute have 

been deregistered effective 16th November, 2015. 

26 

MANAGEMENT 

THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC 

INTENT IN MANAGEMENT OF 

PUBLIC & PRIVATE ENTITIES 

70 

PEN OFF 

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO AVOID 

THE DESTRUCTION OF KENYA’S 

EDUCATION SYSTEM 

Chief Executive & Secretary to Council 

To view the list please visit: 

www.icpak.com/deregistered 

Members of the Council 

Chairman 

FCPA Fernandes Barasa 

Vice Chairman 

FCPA Julius Mwatu 

Chief Executive 

CPA Dr. Patrick Ngumi (PhD) 

Council Members 

FCPA Pius Nduatih 

CPA Wycliffe Shamiah 

CPA Geofrey Malombe 

CPA Obare Nyaega 

CPA Rose Mwaura 

CPA Susan Oyatsi 

Ms. Damaris Kimosop 

CPA June Nduku Kivinda 

CPA Samuel Okello 

Editorial Team 

Head of Publication 

Mbugua Njoroge 

stanley.mbugua@icpak.com 

Editorial Consultant 

Angela Mutiso 

Staff Writer 

Valerie Alusa 

Marketing & Advertising 

Communications Department 

Design & Layout 

Digital Print Media 

Publication and Circulation 

ICPAK, CPA Centre, Thika Road 

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Fax: +254 20 856 22 06, Email: memberservice@icpak.com 

www.icpak.com 

The Accountant is published every 2 months by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya. Views expressed in the Journal do not necessarily reflect those of the institute, authors 

firms or employers. Reproduction of any article in this journal without permission is prohibited. The editor reserves the right to use, edit or shorten articles for accuracy, space and relevance 

JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2016 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2016 

THE ACCOUNTANT 

3

YOUR VIEWS 

EDITOR'S NOTE 

Dear Reader 

Email: stanley.mbugua@icpak.com 

Address: ICPAK, CPA Centre, Thika Road 

P.O. Box 59963 - 00200 Nairobi Kenya 

YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTS ARE IMPORTANT TO US SHARE THEM 

We are pleased to inform you that you can now 

get a copy of The Accountant journal from leading 

stores, supermarkets and vendors countrywide. 

Accountants, auditors and 

stakeholders met in October 2015 

to discuss aligning accountability 

and performance. The meeting was the first 

Public Sector Audit conference in Kenya. It 

brought together some of the most senior 

audit officials in the country and came at 

a time when the Audit Function is gaining 

currency at a steady pace. They had a lot 

of interesting information for auditors; 

these included: Aligning accountability and 

performance; Audit Reporting; delivering 

value to stake holders; Best practices in 

managing the Internal Audit Function and 

the case of the judiciary’s Internal Audit. 

It was noted during the meeting that the 

public outrage that was experienced during 

the release of the 2013/2014 financial 

year audit report by the Auditor General 

clearly shows that there is need to align 

accountability and performance in the 

public sector. The report highlighted in its 

key findings, grand corruption by way of 

payments that are not supported by invoices 

and receipts from service providers, absence 

or lack of updated asset registers, absence 

of Audit Committees and risk management 

policies as required by the Public Finance 

Management Act, weak debt recovery 

systems and flouting of procurement 

regulations among others. 

In the private sector, companies routinely 

assess the value and benefit of their 

operations (ultimately their profitability) 

through financial accounting. Failure to do 

so may threaten their survival. Companies 

have widely used indicators as an evaluation 

instrument to measure all relevant 

quantifiable parameters. Complex indicator 

systems serve as information and controlling 

tools to record outcome and impact, and are 

a useful yardstick for assessing a company’s 

business performance. This is our cover 

story this time. 

Under business practice and development 

the author says there are examples of 

audit offices that have published brochures 

explaining their role and the way audits are 

planned and conducted, but this may not be 

common practice. Too bad, because lack of 

understanding and clarity leads to lack of 

trust before the audit has even begun and 

risks creating confusion about roles and 

responsibilities. Auditors are accountable to 

senior management to provide independent 

and objective statements of the measures 

taken by auditees (whatever their role) to 

mitigate business risk. This implies that 

auditors are meant to examine probe and 

challenge activities; obtain and evaluate 

evidence; and then report their findings and 

observations, including recommendations 

where necessary. This is an interesting 

feature that explains at length the audit 

purpose to the auditees. 

The world has become a more complex 

and competitive place. Individual corporate 

organizations have become more powerful 

than some entire nations, and the balance of 

economic power has shifted to the corporation 

within which ideas and information have 

become the most highly prized assets with 

more value than a company’s products 

and services. To a considerable degree, 

businesses, administration and society as a 

whole have come to depend on the efficiency 

and security of information technology, 

resulting in information acquiring a new and 

distinct value that cannot be protected in the 

same way as tangible objects. Find this in 

the innovation segment. 

The environment story discusses the 

diminishing fish. There are many pleasures 

to be derived from fish; health, fishing, 

aesthetics, serenity, and many more. 

Besides, eating fish high in omega-3s can 

slash blood fat levels, which can contribute 

to a lower heart-disease risk. In fact, eating 

as little as once a week can preserve graymatter 

neurons – the part of the brain linked 

to memory and cognition – according to a 

new study. Despite these findings however, 

fishes continue to die in droves. Unless 

measures are taken to check this, fishes will 

continue to reduce. 

You will also find interesting features in our 

travel, health, inspiration, and pen off which 

poses a thought provoking question: Are the 

teachers teaching? 

Find these as well as your regular features in 

this exciting journal.■ 

Editor 

4 THE ACCOUNTANT 



5

FINANCIAL REPORTING AND ASSURANCE 


THE EVOLUTION 

OF AUDITORS: 

HOW SKILLSETS ARE CHANGING 

By Jim McFie, a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya 

PricewaterhouseCoopers recently 

published an article on the new skills 

required in the practice of auditing. 

The article was written in the US for 

a world-wide audience and part of the 

passage repeats what has been stated 

by the Institute of Internal Auditors. 

A very good piece, available on the 

KPMG website, written by Richard 

Chambers, President and Chief 

Executive Officer of the Institute of 

Internal Auditors, and Paul McDonald, 

Senior Executive Director at Robert 

Half International which specializes in 

the placement of accounting, finance 

and business systems professionals, is 

entitled: “Succeeding as a 21st Century 

Internal Auditor: 7 Attributes of Highly 

Effective Internal Auditors”. Whenever 

I read an article of this nature, I ask 

myself if we in Kenya are keeping 

up with the best in an internationally 

competitive field. The best in Kenya 

are: what about those below the best? 

Students at schools are learning that 

the way to get to university is to 

cheat: the skillset (a word used in the 

PwC article) of students coming out 

of secondary schools in the national 

system is constantly declining: is 

Kenya going to be able to compete 

in the future? Will young Kenyans be 

able to get jobs internationally as they 

have been able to do in the past? In 

a recent discussion with the Cabinet 

Secretary for education, I mentioned 

these worries: but he had to defend the 

system – which he did: he said that he 

had noted the worries that I had brought 

to his attention: but in the final analysis, 

what can he really do to change a large 

number of parents, teachers, examiners 

and administrators, many of whom 

are unaware of how competitive is 

the world we live in? Recently, the 

Government announced that it was 

embarking on an industrialization 

plan: but the Government, and its tax 

collecting agent, the Kenya Revenue 

Authority, is its own worst enemy. I 

use the insecticide “Doom”: it used 

to be made in Nairobi: now it is 

manufactured in Dubai, where highly 

skilled immigrants work their hearts 

out, water (distilled from the sea) is 

plentiful, electricity is cheaper than 

in Kenya and where the rate of tax 

is ZERO: will the manufacturer of 

“Doom” ever return to Nairobi? The CS 

in charge of these matters is a genius: 

he obtained a first class honours degree 

in economics at the University of 

Nairobi: but why did it take two years 

for him to realize that KRA would not 

raise KShs 6 billion per annum by 

putting a tax on “Senator” beer which 

doubled its price, put it out of the reach 

of its consumers, encouraged them to 

revert to changaa, put nine thousand 

bars out of business and killed the 

sorghum growing farmers? 

The PricewaterhouseCoopers’ article 

points out that the breadth and depth 

of data will drive changes in auditor 





7



skillsets: auditors still need a deep 

benchmarking, where necessary) 

trends—have long been expected of 

knowledge of accounting and auditing: 

and statistics (to perform relational 

more senior auditors. These skills 

this is not changing. But as companies 

and predictive analysis and set 

are tested in an admirable way by 

evolve, so must the way they are 

expectations for audit testing). To tap 

the examinations of the Institute of 

audited. Auditors have—and should 

into this skillset in a deeper way, 12% 

Chartered Accountants in England and 

continue to—tailor their procedures 

of PwC’s US fiscal year 2015 campus 

Wales: this is what makes having the 

to be responsive to emerging risk 

hires possessed a degree in science, 

ACA qualification worthwhile. But 

areas or complex transactions that are 

technology, engineering or maths. 

increasingly, all auditors, including 

specific to each company they audit. 

those with less experience, need to 

But today, auditors are rethinking the 

Another ability required by auditors 

demonstrate them to a greater extent to 

audit approach for a broad population 

is that of focusing on analyzing data, 

succeed in their data-intensive work. As 

of companies due to a more universal 

not gathering it. In smaller audit firms, 

a result, individuals who are naturally 

change in how companies operate. 

audit trainees spend much of their time 

inclined toward business topics (in 

performing routine audit tasks (e.g., 

addition to accounting topics) are 

The volume of data that companies 

confirming bank balances, testing cash 

likely to be well suited for an auditing 

in the developed world create is 

receipts). Increasingly, audit firms are 

career. For example, understanding 

astounding: a Kenyan company in this 

centralizing routine tasks, freeing up 

economics helps an auditor think about 

league is Safaricom: it is totally familiar 

audit team members to work on other 

the impact of market trends or economic 

with “big data”. This data is often in 

aspects of the audit. This change in 

pressures on a company’s decisions: 

disparate systems, and the extent of 

approach will provide less tenured audit 

but down-to-earth economics – not 

the information captured may not be 

team members with more opportunities 

the academic type which would well 

widely understood within the company. 

to focus on higher level tasks, including 

suit a lecturer at a university better 

However, being able to effectively 

reviewing work performed by others, 

than a CS in a ministry of finance. 

and efficiently capture and analyze 

resolving questions with clients, and 

Likewise, understanding finance helps 

this data is increasingly important to 

using available data to set expectations 

auditors establish expectations of the 

performing the audit, and being able 

to provide insight into operational 

effectiveness, business trends, and 

business and compliance risks. We 

know the Central Bank of Kenya has 

instructed its own inspection team 

and external auditors to thoroughly 

interrogate banks’ computer systems. 

Leveraging technology to be able to 

identify, analyze, and interpret the data 

is therefore an increasingly important 

skillset for auditors. 

Another auditor pre-requisite is critical 

thinking. This art is TOTALLY absent 

from KCSE teaching in Kenya: it is 

difficult to develop it after students have 

left high school: many students pick up 

nice sounding sound-bites and repeat 

them without understanding what they 

are saying. Auditors need to efficiently 

navigate the reams of data available, 

to assess its reliability, usability, and 

relevance. They need to be able to 

articulate what data they need—after 

all, when asking for a large volume of 

information, it is important to get the 

right data the first time. They also need 

to be able to analyze the information 

they receive, draw connections to other 

data points from inside and outside 

the company, and identify trends 

and risks. These are tasks that most 

auditors become proficient at once 

they enter the workforce and gain reallife 

experience. But auditors must be 

astute in designing customized audit 

approaches, since the availability, 

relevance, and accuracy of information 

at each company will vary—and what 

might be an insightful data relationship 

at one company may be less meaningful 

at another. These tasks also increasingly 

require additional technical skills 

best taught in university and on CPA 

courses, including those associated 

with information technology (to 

assess system interfaces, analyze data, 

and understand information security 

– which is critical in determining 

whether the data is reliable), critical 

analysis (to identify relationships, 

identify anomalies, and perform 

for their audit testing. Another aspect 

of auditing that continues to evolve 

is auditors’ analysis of data. More 

and more, this analysis will cover full 

populations of data rather than just 

samples—something made possible 

by rapidly evolving audit software. 

This approach will likely yield broader 

insights than sampling has in the past. 

Higher order skills—such as deep 

business acumen, critical thinking 

skills, and understanding market 

performance of a company’s business 

for purposes of their risk assessment 

process during audit planning and 

execution. 

PwC in the US recruits and assesses 

performance consistent with their 

view of what skills and behaviours 

an audit professional would need 

to be successful: its professional 

development framework focuses on 

technical capabilities as one aspect of 

an auditor’s job. It also emphasizes 




9



that demonstrating business and global 

acumen, exhibiting leadership skills, 

and possessing the ability to cultivate 

relationships are as important as being 

a strong technical accountant. While 

these skills are exhibited differently 

by an entry level audit trainee as 

opposed to someone with much more 

experience, PwC in the US assesses all 

its professionals using this framework. 

One upside of many of these skills 

is that they can be developed from 

experiences outside of classroom 

coursework. For example, studyabroad 

programs facilitate global 

acumen and relationship building. 

Typical jobs while one is at university 

or volunteering can help develop 

leadership skills and business acumen. 

And working in teams or being 

involved in extracurricular activities 

help enhance interpersonal skills— 

something that underpins all of PwC’s 

on learning skills that will make them 

useful employees in anaudit firm – 

or in business: the major part of the 

education system is bent on getting 

high marks, by fair means or foul. 

Now that the KCSE examinations are 

available before the examinations are 

sat, it will be harder to select candidates 

who have the requisite academic 

ability to handle the development 

required of them in a quality firm. And 

it will likely take some strategic design 

on the part of universities and colleges 

to offer a curriculum that meets the 

evolving needs of their accounting 

students without extending the length 

of time it takes to graduate with an 

accounting degree. PwC in the US 

believe this can be accomplished by 

integrating analytical exercises into the 

existing curriculum to help students 

develop proficiency in data analytics 

in the ICAEW system of examinations: 

that is, these examinations test critical 

thinking, problem solving, analytical 

ability and professional skepticism. 

A question that could be raised is how 

soon will the impact of technology 

be evident in audits? The big firms in 

Kenya have been investing in leadingedge 

technology, significant process 

improvements, and leadership and 

performance development for their 

people, and will continue to do so. 

This is helping them to move towards 

different tactical ways of auditing that 

will help to continue to deliver high 

quality audits in an efficient manner 

and provide unique insights for their 

clients. One firm recently rolled out 

software to its audit teams that helps 

them interrogate and analyze large 

volumes of transactional data. The 

built-in algorithms and visualization 

tasks. The changing skillsets and 

technological tools will help auditors 

provide additional insight into 

companies’ businesses. For example, 

by analyzing full populations of 

journal entries, auditors may be 

able to identify processes that could 

be refined. Likewise, auditors may 

identify duplicate data when gathering 

information from different systems 

for analyzing trends. Bringing this to 

the company’s attention may provide 

opportunities for increased efficiency 

in the company’s operations. Finally, 

auditors’ data analysis may identify 

relationships or areas of operating risk 

that companies may not have previously 

considered, giving management the 

opportunity to anticipate potential 

problems. 

A sixty four thousand dollar question 

is whether individuals entering the 

workforce today are prepared for this 

evolution in skillsets or will audit firms 

need to supplement their education on 

the job? Realistically, the answer is 

that firms will have to do more and 

more training. Many universities and 

colleges are unable to keep up with 

this evolving skillset: some are getting 

started. Therefore, accounting firms 

will need to be prepared to teach some 

of these skills on the job and through 

enhanced learning and development. 

Many of these skills have been taught 

on the job for years, but the pace of 

training may need to be accelerated 

as compared to the instruction given 

to prior generations of auditors. 

Conveniently, some millennials have 

grown up using computers, mobile 

technology and smart devices from 

when they were very young: they 

therefore have a much more advanced 

baseline knowledge of digital 

information than the generations that 

preceded them. In addition, a PwC 

survey of millennials around the globe 

found that more than 50% indicated 

development opportunities as an 

important attribute of a workplace 

since they are eyeing rapid career 

progression. 

The future has many challenges in store 

for audit firms: the new Companies 

Act is only one of them: the gap 

between large audit firms and small 

ones is going to increase significantly: 

sole proprietors have to aim to form 

viable partnerships that will be able to 

adopt the technology and recruit and 

train staff that will make their audits 

economical and efficient: the time to 

start is now■ 

US development framework. It will 

in addition to their core accounting 

technology help its teams better 

be increasingly important for students 

skills: it also proposes incorporating 

understand their clients’ businesses 

in Kenya to make time for these 

a series of case studies throughout the 

and provide more meaningful insights. 

experiences, to recognize how these 

accounting coursework that require 

experiences help them develop, and to 

hands-on use of analytics and other 

A more fundamental question is 

be able to apply what they have learned 

tools students may encounter on the job 

whether companies being audited 

to business circumstances. 

(such as cloud computing). Integrated 

would realize any benefits from this 

real-life scenarios would help students 

change in auditor skillset? PwC in the 

The foundation for some of the 

understand the application of theory 

US believes that there is certainly an 

skills auditors need in a data-driven 

to actual fact patterns, and develop a 

opportunity for companies to realize 

business environment will need to 

cross-section of skills, not just those 

benefits from the changing auditor 

be developed in university and CPA 

related to the academic subject the class 

skillset. Leveraging technology is 

courses. Unfortunately, in Kenya the 

happens to fall under. This is already 

intended to make the audit more 

majority of students are completely 

happening on some campuses in the 

streamlined, benefiting everyone 

focused on passing examinations, not 

US. It has been the case for some time 

involved by simplifying routine 


JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2016 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2016 THE ACCOUNTANT 11



CHAMPIONING FINANCIAL 

REPORTING, CORPORATE 

GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL 

RESPONSIBILITY IN EAST AFRICA 

EGH, MBS Deputy Chairperson, of 

the African Union Commission. 

The Gala dinner was held at Windsor 

Golf and Country Club on 23rd 

October 2015. Comments by Jim 

Mcfie -CHIEF JUDGE 

Since its launch in November 

2002, the FiRe Award, which is the 

only Award of its kind in East and 

Central Africa, seeks to promote and 

Compiled by Angela Mutiso 

cananews@gmail.com 

Sameer Africa Limited was the 

overall winner of the 14th 

edition of the FiRe award. 

According to the Chief Judge, Jim 

McFie, Sameer Africa Limited got 

the board has done a great job in this 

edition which has seen the entry of 276 

public sector entities. This follows the 

adoption of the International Public 

Sector Accounting Standards as the 

institutionalize transparency, integrity, 

and accountability in the financial 

reporting process by examining 

required disclosures in financial 

reporting, corporate governance and 

corporate social responsibility. 

the award because it achieved “very 

high level of compliance with IFRSs, 

very good corporate governance, 

environmental and social responsibility 

disclosure.” 

The promoters of the of the FiRe 

Award: Institute of Certified Public 

Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK); 

Capital Markets Authority (CMA); 

and the Nairobi Securities Exchange 

(NSE): were of the view that in order 

to strengthen financial markets and 

attract investment, business entities 

would have to make disclosure of their 

activities to enable a wide range of 

stakeholders to use such information 

in making economic decisions. 

The promoters welcomed the Public 

Sector Accounting Standards Board 

on board as a promoter in 2015. And 

reporting framework for the public 

sector in Kenya in 2014. 

The main objectives of the FiRe 

Award are; the Promotion of Financial 

Reporting Excellence, Fostering 

of Sound Corporate Governance 

Practices and Enhancing Corporate 

Social Investment and Environmental 

Reporting. 

Mr.Mcfie observed that this year’s 

performance was better in the private 

sector, while in the government it was 

new but on average poor. 

We bring you an introduction by Jim 

Mcfie, on the 2015 FiRe Award and 

the messages that were conveyed 

to participants by ICPAK Chairman 

FCPA Fernandez Barasa and Chief 

Guest H.E. Mr. Erastus Mwencha, 

International Financial Reporting 

Standards (IFRS) lay down a large 

number of line items that must 

be disclosed in a set of Financial 

Reports; the Kenya Capital Markets 

Authority (CMA) requires several 

corporate governance disclosures; and 

international best practice in Corporate 

Social Reporting is laid down by many 

international bodies, the principal one 

being the Global Reporting Initiative 

(often referred to as the GRI). 

Accountants are familiar with IFRSs 

laid down by the International 

Accounting Standards Board (IASB) 

and the CMA but are probably 

less familiar with GRI. GRI is an 

international independent standards 

organization that helps businesses, 

governments and other organizations 




13



understand and communicate their 

impacts on issues such as climate 

change, human rights and corruption. 

communication about value creation 

as the next step in the evolution 

of corporate reporting. The IIRC’s 

the Public Finance Management Act. 

The promoters accepted this request 

and subsequently, the Board has made 

COMMENTS BY ICPAK CHAIRMAN FCPA BARASA 

Founded in 1997, GRI is a non-profit 

organization with its Secretariat in 

Amsterdam, the Netherlands. GRI 

produces one of the world's most 

widely used standards for sustainability 

or ecological footprint reporting, 

environmental social governance 

(ESG), reporting, triple bottom line 

(TBL) reporting, and corporate social 

responsibility (CSR) reporting. One 

primary focus of corporate social 

responsibility is the environment. 

Businesses, both large and small, have 

a large carbon footprint. Any steps they 

can take to reduce those footprints are 

considered both good for the company 

and society as a whole. Businesses 

also practice social responsibility 

by donating to national and local 

charities. Whether it involves giving 

money or time, businesses have plenty 

of resources that can benefit charities 

and local community programs. By 

treating employees fairly and ethically, 

companies can also demonstrate their 

corporate social responsibility. 

Another body that deals with 

corporate reporting is the International 

Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC): 

IIRC is a global coalition of regulators, 

investors, companies, standard 

setters, the accounting profession 

and non-governmental organizations 

(NGOs). The coalition is promoting 

mission is to establish integrated 

reporting and thinking within 

mainstream business practice as the 

norm in the public and private sectors. 

The IIRC’s vision is to align capital 

allocation and corporate behaviour 

to wider goals of financial stability 

and sustainable development through 

the cycle of integrated reporting and 

thinking. The IIRC’s management 

have established something akin 

to Vision 2030: it is called the 

Breakthrough Phase (2014-2017) – it 

is the move from the creation of the 

International Integrated Reporting 

() Framework and market testing 

to development and early adoption 

by reporting organizations around 

the world. The IIRC’s objective for 

this phase is to achieve a meaningful 

shift towards early adoption of the 

International Framework. 

Interestingly, Barclays Bank of Kenya 

Limited’s latest annual report is 

entitled “Integrated report and financial 

statements”, a truly magnificent 

document which was a finalist in the 

Banking Sector category of the 2015 

FiRe Award. 

In 2014, the Public Sector Accounting 

Standards Board of Kenya (PSASB-K) 

requested the promoters, the CMA, 

NSE and ICPAK, to join the Award 

as a basis of monitoring compliance 

as provided under section 194 (4) of 

participation by public sector entities 

mandatory with effect from the 2015 

FiRe Award. The result is that there was 

a mammoth increase in the number of 

entities whose financial statements had 

to be examined by the team of judges. 

The 2015 FiRe Award had more 

Government entities (133) submit their 

financial statements than private sector 

entities (121). The success of the FiRe 

Award is largely due to the hard work 

of these judges; we commend them for 

their dedication to the public interest. 

Academic research has shown that 

it is extremely difficult to discover 

financial reporting fraud from an 

examination of financial statements 

alone. I mention this because a winner 

on a couple occasions of past FiRe 

Awards was Imperial Bank. But it must 

be remembered that the FiRe Award is 

all about disclosure; the FiRe Award 

is unable to judge the quality of the 

numbers in the financial statements. 

However, if an entity is already having 

financial difficulties, the truthfulness 

of the financial reporting is open to 

question, and this therefore would 

probably lead to the elimination of 

its annual report from the selection of 

winning reports. But if a company is 

doing well, it is impossible to predict 

that one day in the future fraud will be 

discovered■ 

Today marks a new dawn in Financial 

Reporting in Kenya and in East Africa. For 

the first time, the public sector has opened its 

doors to the public by participating in the FiRe Award. 

Indeed, for the first time in Kenya’s public financial 

management history, financial statements of all public 

sector entities, for the year ended 30 June 2014, 

were prepared on the basis of either IFRS or IPSAS. 

These important reforms seek to make Public Finance 

Management more efficient, effective, participatory 

and transparent resulting in improved accountability 

and better service delivery for Kenyans. 

The Financial Reporting Award, now in its fourteenth 

year welcomes the Public Sector Accounting 

Standards Board (PSASB) as a promoter in this year’s 

edition of the FiRe Award. We the promoters of 

the FiRe Award; CMA, NSE, ICPAK and 

now PSASB believe this partnership 

is critical in enhancing the 

transparency of disclosures 

included in the financial 

reports of the public sector. I 

personally want to extend a 

special appreciation to the 

Chairman PSASB CPA 

Bernard Ndungu for 

his commitment to this 

process and in ensuring 

that the FiRe Award 

gets 276 entries from 

the public sector. This 

adds up to a record 

396 entries having 

received 120 entries 

from the private 




15



sector. 

In governments across the world, 

public-sector financial systems are 

being transformed more fundamentally 

than at any time in decades. This is in 

response to a number of deficiencies of 

government accounting and financialmanagement 

systems. By allowing 

governments to hide their liabilities 

and the real state of their finances, 

traditional government financial 

reporting enables governments to pass 

off present costs to future generations. 

In many developing 

nations, the pressure 

for high quality 

financial management 

in the public sector 

comes from other 

sources as well. The 

development partners 

and aid agencies need 

to be assured that 

aid monies are being 

used effectively and 

efficiently. 

current annual compliance interest of 

legislators; if I do not highlight certain 

shortcomings:- 

♦ It fails to accurately represent 

the amount of resource 

usage. For instance, a large 

capital acquisition will distort 

expenditure upward in the 

first year but the usage of that 

asset will not be recognized in 

following years; 

♦ It fails to take account of future 

commitments, guarantees, or 

urgently. 

ICPAK and the PSASB also address 

matters outside of just standards. As I 

stand in front of this delegation, I can 

confidently state that the promoters of 

FiRe Award were extensively involved 

in the development of Mwongozo 

code and have been instrumental in 

pushing for its implementation in state 

corporations. The aim is to provide 

a framework for governance in the 

public sector (State Corporations). 

The governance framework includes 

I do not want to be party to such a 

generation neither does the profession 

I head in Kenya... 

Sovereign debt issues that continue 

to plague several countries bring to 

light the inherent need to improve 

government reporting, in particular. 

In a connected world, problems 

soon flow to other nations. One 

reason that high quality public sector 

reporting is needed in many countries 

is that Government issues financial 

instruments which are a very important 

part of their financial markets. And 

yet, the same focus and spotlight that 

is put on the private sector is often not 

put on the public sector. Governments 

have contributed to the situations they 

are facing, by committing resources 

without having to account properly 

for those commitments. This has made 

governments sustain cash outflows 

and incur high debt levels that their 

real financial position cannot support. 

There is no holding 

back on the message 

for adoption of 

accrual accounting. 

Ian Ball, the former 

Chief Executive of the International 

Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in 

a letter to the Financial Times in the 

UK noted, “most governments do 

not even know what their capital is, 

because their archaic budgetary and 

accounting practices do not record and 

report assets and liabilities other than 

cash. Hard though it may be to believe, 

they do not actually know what their 

balance sheets look like”. 

The accounting profession supports 

the reform agenda and acknowledges 

strides taken so far. We however 

believe more should be done. Below is 

our proposal:- 

♦ Budgeting, accounting, and 

appropriations be done on 

♦ 

an accrual basis; Consider 

introducing a charge for the 

use of capital - the charge rate 

be benchmarked to the private 

sector (adjusted for the impact of 

taxation); Align the budgeting and 

management according to outputs 

not inputs. Enhance managerial 

discretion for significantly greater 

results. This should be pegged 

to accountability mechanisms 

having “real teeth”, with incentive 

mechanisms more systematic and 

rigorous. 

Reforms to apply some simple 

general principles across the 

whole of government to achieve 

a high degree of internal 

consistency and for harmony 

across levels of government. 

ICPAK supports the adoption and 

implementation of IPSASs for public 

sector financial reporting. IFAC’s 

key arguments revolve around 

the public interest (transparency 

and accountability); government 

performance; and protecting investors 

in government bonds. We encourage 

the Board to fast track the transition 

from IPSAS Cash for MDAs and 

County Governments to accrual 

accounting. Accrual accounting 

is designed to provide critical 

information to owners and lenders. 

It would not be clear why the 

profession is advocating for a faster 

transition from the current Cash 

Accounting and Current Financial- 

Management Practices that satisfy the 

other contingent liabilities. A 

liability will not be recognized 

until the cash is paid to settle the 

debt. 

♦ Concentration on cash payments 

alone, sometimes resulting in an 

unnoticed deterioration in noncurrent 

(fixed) assets. 

♦ Control of the inputs purchased 

rather than the outputs produced. 

♦ Distortion of incentives by 

encouraging managers to 

underestimate the costs of 

programs and to spend their full 

annual appropriations. 

Has any of you taken time to assess the 

pension obligations of the government, 

even after issuing a directive that 

retirement schemes be converted from 

defined benefit to defined contribution 

about 6 years ago? Are these factored 

in the accounts of the national 

government? We challenge the Board 

Chaired by my friend CPA Bernard 

Ndungu, since all these members are 

accountants, to deal with this matter 

accrual accounting and IPSAS, as 

well as internal and external audit 

in accordance with professional 

standards. We challenge the Executive 

and the Legislature to develop a similar 

framework for the national and county 

governments. Training is particularly 

important and so are partnerships. 

We are seeking partnership with 

stakeholders to join our Centre for 

Public Finance and Tax with our key 

focus being training of public sector 

accountants on effective and efficient 

management of the revenue and 

expenditure side of public finance. 

Key among these is implementation of 

IPSAS. Our recent MoU with ACCA 

is aimed at providing comprehensive 

IPSAS training as part of an overall 

capacity building strategy and 

development plan. 

The key messages are:- 

Globally we are witnessing a call to 

strengthen public sector accounting, 

auditing and financial management. 




17



As a country, we must play our part; 

African countries, would do well to 

will of the government is crucial for 

it to succeed. The Capital Markets 

ensuring that this award continues 

to gain momentum, our judges who 

COMMENTS BY MR. ERASTUS MWENCHA-CHIEF GUEST 

understand the issues, heed the warning 

Authority is here to help; the Nairobi 

have committed their time and will 

signs and ensure they do not fall into 

Securities Exchange is here to help; 

doubtlessly contribute to the success 

the same traps. If accrual accounting 

the Institute is here to help; the 

of this event by the high-quality input, 

is the only acceptable standard for the 

development agencies are there to 

and our sponsors for their undoubting 

private sector, then surely it has to be 

help. 

partnership. I wish every participating 

for the public sector. 

organization success and wish to 

The destination is clear; the way 

commend the winners in advance and 

If auditing of financial statements 

of large entities is expected in the 

forward is well lit; let the journey 

begin; 

look forward to improved reporting by 

entities■ 

private sector, it should apply to 

government institutions. Such a 

framework provides the basis for 

strong governance; effective decisionmaking; 

high performance in service 

delivery; and a sustainable future. The 

Finally, I would like to address a special 

word of thanks to all the participating 

organizations. In particular, I would 

like to thank the promoters; CMA, 

NSE, PSASB and ICPAK teams for 

H.E. Mr. Erastus Mwencha, EGH, MBS Deputy Chairperson, of the African Union 

Commission was the Chief Guest at the FiRe Award Gala Dinner. He congratulated 

the winners and participants of the event. 




19



The theme Championing 

financial reporting, 

corporate governance and 

social responsibility in East Africa’ was 

appropriate. This year as you all know 

the United Nations launched 2030 

Agenda for Sustainable Development 

Goals and to which is embedded in 

Agenda 2063 of the African Union as a 

vehicle for its implementation. 

The FiRe Award is a good platform for 

promoting accountability, transparency, 

and integrity in compliance with 

International Financial Reporting 

Standards as well as disclosures on 

governance, social and environmental 

reporting by private, public and other 

entities in East Africa. 

Today I would like to convey four key 

messages: 

1. Africa’s economic 

growth and 

competitiveness is good 

and improving. 

♦ Africa is growing fast. GDP 

more tripled than in the last 

15 years from $600 billion 

to $2.3 trillion. As an 

emerging economy, Africa 

is increasingly becoming 

an attractive destination 

for investors, thanks to its 

geography, rich natural 

resources and youthful 

population. 

♦ Growth was also spurred by 

buoyant commodity prices in 

export markets like China. 

♦ The high growth rates that 

Africa achieved, averaging 

5.5 percent in the last decade 

was due to, a large extent, 

prudent macro-economic 

policies and good governance 

in general. 

♦ Foreign Direct Investment 

(FDI) is on the rise in 

Africa at a time when it is 

diminishing in other parts of 

the world, and that is because 

Africa has one of the highest 

rates of return on investment 

in the world, exceeding 12% 

in some sectors. 

♦ Our intra-African investment 

does not only exceed FDI 

inflows into the continent, but 

has also grown in the last year 

when FDI was stagnant. 

2. We are not there yet. We 

aspire for a minimum 

of 7% growth rate, and 

need good corporate 

governance. 

♦ The African economy is not 

transforming and growing 

enough. We need a minimum 

of 7% growth rate to engender 

transformation and to create 

jobs. 

♦ Prudent macro-economic 

policies and good corporate 

governance are critical to 

reducing risk associated 

with investing in Africa and 

helps the Continent to access 

capital at a lower cost. If any 

company, public or private, 

needs to borrow or raise 

equity in the capital market 

to finance its business, the 

level of its risk is a major 

component of its capacity 

to attract investment or the 

interest rate at which it can 

borrow. This “risk” is not 

only that of the company, 

but also of the country or 

countries in which the entity 

operates. Therefore, it is just 

as important for governments 

to institutionalize good 

financial reporting standards 

as it is for companies to adopt 

good corporate governance 

practices. 

♦ Recent trends show worrying 

signs of rising debt that is 

not sustainable. This is likely 

to jeopardize the growth 

momentum. The recent Euro 

crisis was to a large extent 

due to non-observance of 

regional standards. And also 

not too long ago, in 2008 to 

be precise, the world was 

thrown in a financial crisis 

whose genesis was corporate 

greediness that degenerated 

into a global economic crisis. 

♦ Good corporate governance is 

an important component as a 

building block for an enabling 

and predictable environment 

for intra-African trade and 

investment. 

♦ Regional integration is 

facilitated through best 

practices because companies 

are eager to invest across 

borders if they can find 

a comparable level of 

predictability in the business 

environment on the other side. 

Africa’s trends are showing 

readiness to develop its own 

multinational companies, but 

that is hard to achieve without 

a robust and transparent 

enabling environment that is 

harmonized across borders. 

♦ Control of illicit financial 

flows that have robbed the 

Continent of critical resources 

is imperative. A recent study 

revealed that illicit flows 

from Africa could be as much 

as US $50 billion per annum. 

This is approximately double 

the Official Development 

Assistance (ODA) level. 

Some of these illicit flows are 

due to transfer pricing and 

other practices. 

♦ We are of course aware that 

Africa is not yet where it 

aspires to be with regards 

to good governance. The 

Doing Business Index of the 

World Bank sadly indicates 

that the vast majority of 

African countries fall under 

the bottom lower half of the 

country rankings. The good 

news is that East Africa has 

some notable success stories. 

Rwanda for example, which 

not too long ago suffered 

one of the most destabilizing 

tragedies resulting in a 

catastrophic number of 

fatalities, is ranked number 

46 out 189 countries on the 

Doing Business Index. 

Inspiring cases like Rwanda are 

enlightening and motivating, but 

sustainable growth of an entire region 

is not made by singular instances 

of success. Considering that the top 

performers on the Doing Business 

Index are also the top recipients of 

FDI in the world, and knowing that 

it is not by chance, rather due to solid 

connections between good governance 

and attractiveness to investors, we 

can be confident that our region will 

achieve sustainable growth by adopting 

and enforcing harmonized financial 

and corporate governance standards. 

3. Investing in social 

and environmental 

responsibility is the 

right approach for the 

Continent. 

♦ The 2030 Agenda for 

sustainable development 

and Africa’s Agenda 2063’s 

which enjoin us to aspire for 

“prosperity based on inclusive 

growth and sustainable 

development”. These goals 

cannot be achieved without 

attracting responsible 

investments. Behaving 

responsibly towards society 

and the environment is a 

win-win solution. It benefits 

society as well as the business 

itself. 

♦ In this regards, we must 

protect our environment. We 

have seen malpractices that 

destroy environment and do 

not give enough back to the 

local communities. To address 

these challenges, the African 

Union in collaboration 

with the United Nations 

Economic Commission for 

Africa (ECA) has developed 

an “African Mining Vision”. 

We are glad that a number of 

countries have domesticated 

this vision in their domestic 

laws. We call upon others 

to do so in order to protect 

this and future generations. 

This is what Sustainable 

Development Goals are also 

about. 

♦ Corporate responsibility 

reporting is also beneficial for 

businesses and organizations, 

both public and private. It 

enables business to measure 

its performance and therefore 

to judiciously put in place best 

practices in, waste reduction, 

recycling, and other cost 

saving and environment 

protection measures. 




21


There are thousands of 

examples of companies that 

have discovered process 

enhancements by examining 

their corporate responsibility 

reporting data and developing 

quality management and 

continuous improvement 

programs to effect lasting 

change. Companies have 

also built a good reputation in 

the market by being socially 

responsible. These attributes 

also enhance their market 

share as well as their credit 

worthiness. 

♦ In this area, Africa also has 

some bright examples, such 

as South Africa, whose top 

100 companies engage in 

corporate responsibility 

reporting, which is due to 

the Government’s Corporate 

Governance code that came 

into force in 2010. 

4. Africa’s regional 

integration path 

starts with and is 

also sustained by 

harmonized standards: 

♦ The African Union has 

taken significant steps 

to institutionalize good 

corporate governance. 

One of our most recent 

successes is the adoption 

of the International Public 

Sector Accounting Standards 

(IPSAS). IPSAS consists of 

32 accrual-basis standards that 

seek to improve consistency, 

comparability and reliability 

of financial statements; as 

well as enhance oversight and 

internal control. IPSAS is a 

voluntary system, but it helps 

Africa to conform to a set of 

transparent and harmonized 

financial governance system. 

So far we are happy with the 

results obtained. Out of the 

54 AU Member States, 14 

have so far adopted or are 

implementing IPSAS. 

♦ We hope that steps taken 

by the AU and others will 

be disseminated so that we 

all operate on a common 

platform. In this way it will be 

possible to integrate financial 

markets and contribute 

towards greater intra-African 

trade and investment. We in 

the African Union applaud 

the East African Community 

to talking steps to encourage 

cross-country listing of the 

stock Markets. The same 

integration is needed for 

capacity building institutions 

like ICPAK which should 

operate at continental level to 

facilitate mobility of labour in 

Africa. 

♦ When Africa harmonizes 

standards, domesticates 

and enforces them across 

borders…. only then, can the 

Continent be a key player in 

the global arena and even be 

able to contribute to setting of 

global standards. 

In closing I wish to leave you with one 

thought: good governance; social and 

environmental responsibility make 

economic sense! Let us not focus solely 

on what it will cost in terms of time, 

effort and money. Let us think of what 

we are building for future generations 

of Africans by means of economic 

advancement and global leadership. 

I would like to thank you all and also the 

Capital Markets Authority, the Institute 

of Certified Public Accountants 

of Kenya, the Nairobi Securities 

Exchange, and the Public Sector 

Accounting Standards 

Board of Kenya, who 

are the promoters of this 

award, for their role in the 

FiRe Award and the work 

they are doing in their 

respective portfolios■ 




23

PICTORIAL 

PICTORIAL 

14 TH EDITION OF FINANCIAL REPORTING AWARDS - GALA DINNER 




25

MANAGEMENT 

MANAGEMENT 

THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC 

INTENT IN MANAGEMENT OF 

Based on the phrase if wishes 

were horses everybody 

would ride, we all know 

that management in today’s era in all 

sectors tend to embrace bold opinions 

beyond the limits of existing resources 

forces e.g. threat of new substitutes, 

threat of new entries, supplier power, 

rivalry and buyer power, changes in 

customer tastes and preferences and 

continuous innovations in the business 

industry. To understand how best 

banks are improvising new innovations 

to stay smarter but at the end some 

banks just imitate other banks products 

by adding few features e.g Mpesa for 

Safaricom and Kenya commercial 

bank and Mkesho and Equitel for 

and capabilities on how best to remain 

to remain competitive and attain a 

airtel and Equity bank. The same is 

PUBLIC & PRIVATE ENTITIES 

competitive and how to outcompete 

their competitors given the continious 

competitive edge over others in today’s 

challenging business world, we need 

seen in the mineral water companies, 

soap industries, mobile phones,motor 

challenges ranging from porters five 

to examine what strategic intent is and 

vehicles andother products. 

how it is of benefit if executed 

well to both private and public 

entities. 

Many companies are expending 

enormous energy simply to reproduce 

the cost and quality advantages 

Strategic intent expresses the 

that their competitors are already 

leadership position a company 

enjoying. This may be evident when 

wishes to command along with 

Kencel changed its name to Celtel 

the path towards it. 

then Zain and currently Airtel inorder 

(Macmillan and Tampoe, 2000), 

strategic intent is concerned 

with the ends and objectives 

of the enterprise and combines 

vision and of the future, with 

the intent to make that vision a 

reality. 

to gain competitive advantage in 

telecommunication industry but this 

could not work well as Safaricom has 

continuously remained the super power 

(supplier power) in communication 

industry as I believe this can be 

articulated towards having a clear 

strategic intent that embraces the 

From the success stories of 

culture, vision, mission and customer 

companies such as Toyota 

changing needs. Companies like 

,Canon and Komatsu where 

safaricom have continuously tailored 

Komatsu wanted to outperform 

their products in line with customer 

Caterpillar, Canon sought to 

changing needs also by adhering to 

beat Xerox and Honda wanted 

corporate social responsibility like 

to become an automotive 

the marathons e.g Lewa marathon, 

pioneer like Ford we 

Serikali Saidia which is currently 

understand that strategic intent 

everyone’s skiza tune , Shangwe 

encompasses clear mission, 

mtaani, Bonyeza ushinde e.t.c which 

vision and objectives and the 

at the end safaricom might be having 

same competition has emerged 

a target to achieve from each which is 

in the banking sector where 

salient in nature. 



JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2016 THE ACCOUNTANT 27

MANAGEMENT 

MANAGEMENT 

Strategic intent encompasses an 

It also gives employees the only goal 

Strategic intent characteristics 

communication style to an upward 

diversify its product line by engaging 

All entities should understand the 

active management process that 

that is worthy of commitment: to unseat 

Hamel and Prahalad provided the 

communication stream of new ideas 

in manufacturing of Dasani drinking 

internal environment and the outside 

includes focusing the organization’s 

the best or remain the best, worldwide. 

following attributes of strategic intent 

coming from the organization. 

water, Alvaro and Novida products and 

business environment when planning 

attention on the essence of winning , 

Most businesses with a smart strategic 

e.g 

this can be attributed to strong strategic 

to develop a strategic intent with a 

motivating people by communicating 

plan but without a clear strategic intent 

♦ Sense of direction-It should 

Private and public entities need to 

intent that is customer focus and aims 

keen look at the entities structures and 

the value of the target, leaving room 

usually find themselves in problems 

be a view of the future 

revive their thinking by embracing 

at satisfying the global market demand 

various levels of strategy execution 

for individual and team contribution, 

even after enjoying market leadership 

conveying a unifying and 

the need of a clear strategic intent to 

despite the changing consumer needs 

and also by understanding the 

sustaining enthusiasm by providing 

include; 

Pan Paper mills, Mumias 

personalizing sense of 

enable them remain sustainable given 

and rampant changes in government 

ongoing debate on ‘whether strategy 

new operational definitions as 

circumstances change , and using 

intent consistently to guide resource 

allocation, Gary Hamel and 

C.K.Prahalad (july-august,2005 issue). 

Strategic intent provides consistency 

to short term action, while leaving 

room for reinterpretation as new 

opportunities knock the door. An 

example at Komatsu, encircling 

Caterpillar encompasses a succession 

of medium –term programs aimed 

at exploiting specific weaknesses 

in Caterpillar or building particular 

competitive advantages. When 

Caterpillar threatened Komatsu in 

Japan, Komatsu responded by first 

improving quality, then driving down 

costs then cultivating export markets 

and then underwriting new product 

development. 

Strategic intent sets a target that 

deserves personal effort and 

commitment. Companies with a clear 

Sugar Company, Walmat, currently 

Kenya Airways, Uchumi supermarket. 

In reference to this more blame 

issues have been raised ranging from 

corporate mismanagement to consumer 

switching costs but I believe it’s the 

role of strategic intent that failed to 

be utilized fully. And this would have 

worked well if they would have known 

that the question is not ‘How will next 

year be different from this year but 

what we must do differently next year 

to get closer to our strategic intent’’. 

It’s only with carefully articulated 

and adhered to strategic intent will 

succession of year to year plans sum 

up to global leadership. 

We can use strategic intent as a guiding 

tool on how to satisfy employee 

needs and improve on customer 

demands which at the end will ensure 

organizational growth as growth 

depends on the inventive capacity of 

individuals and small teams than on 

ability of top management to aggregate 

direction. 

♦ Sense of discovery-A 

strategic intent is 

differencitated; it implies a 

competitive unique point of 

view about the future. 

♦ Sense of destiny- Strategic 

intent has an emotional 

edge to it; it is a goal that 

employees perceive as 

inherently worthwhile. 

A typical intent process consists of 

three important stages; 

Step 1: Set the strategic intent- Involves 

having all the three characteristics 

stated above 

Step 2: Set the challenges- find 

appropriate challenges and 

communicate them to the workforce. 

These challenges are the means to get 

into the strategic intent. E.g suppose 

strategic intent of company A is to beat 

company B then the strategic challenge 

will be to come up with a new product 

with a certain target price. 

that their financial records need to 

be prepared on continuous basis as 

organizations with clear strategic intent 

interms of vision mission and goals 

at most time do have a competitive 

advantage over others. A company like 

Coca-Cola has continuously remained 

strong in terms of manufacturing sodas 

as much as there’s stiff competition in 

terms of threat of new substitutes from 

pepsi, malti e.t.c. Due to its strong 

supplier power it has managed to 

policies and or laws. 

With the knowledge of contingency 

concept which states that no system or 

structure is suitable for all situations 

as the world is dynamic and the 

future is uncertain I tend to believe 

that strategic intent should be utilized 

on short term basis giving room for 

adjustment and if executed well may 

make an organization and or entities 

both private and public to prosper. 

follows structure or structure follows 

strategy’and by understanding this, a 

clear self driven strategic intent may be 

developed that sells itself .Therefore in 

conclusion strategic intent plays a key 

role in management of both private and 

public entities■ 

CPA Maroa Julius Mwita 

CPA-K, BBA (accounting) and 

MBA (Finance) -Maseno University 

on going. 

Accountant Migori county 

government. 

strategic intent, top management 

the efforts of multiple teams toward an 

Step3: Empowerment of strategic 

is more likely to talk about global 

ambitious strategic intent. 

intent-Key to any strategic intent is a 

market leadership and not how they 

matter that involves everybody. The 

have maximized shareholder’s wealth 

task of Top management here will be 

as indeed market leadership guides 

to capture the wisdom of the anthill, 

shareholders wealth. 

to challenge the traditional downward 



THE ACCOUNTANT 29

MANAGEMENT 

MANAGEMENT 

What is Emotional 

become more valuable when they 

proper timing and focus to build and 

5 WAYS TO LEAD WITH 

Intelligence? 

Emotional intelligence is the 

ability to perceive, control 

and evaluate emotional 

can prove to increase productivity, 

employee engagement and results 

by creating a teamwork environment 

that gets the best performance from 

keep momentum. As leaders, we need to 

show maturity along with our passion, 

and be more compassionate in order to 

balance what the job requires with the 

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND 

BOOST PRODUCTIVITY 

clues, hints or insuations. 

Employees today are much more aware 

of whether or not they are a good fit 

in their workplace culture and they 

want their leaders to be more mindful 

of their needs. In general, employees 

have become more sensitive about 

how to best co-exist in a workplace 

environment that allows them to be 

everyone. This requires leaders to 

be strong mentors as well as sponsors 

who can help their colleagues better 

navigate workplace opportunities and 

catapult their careers. 

Beyond the traditional leadership roles 

and responsibilities, today’s workplace 

uncertainty requires leaders to be much 

more sensitive about what matters most 

human spirit. Employees don’t want to 

feel like a herd of cattle – but as people 

who are being appreciated for their 

hard work and effort. For the most 

part, employees don’t need a boss that 

holds their hand; they just need to be 

reminded of what is expected of them. 

If this is done with proper tact and 

good heartedness, people will perform. 

who they naturally are. 

to their employees. Too many leaders 

Make the extra effort to say thank 

Employees are tired of playing games 

and just want to be themselves. As 

such, they are managing their careers 

and looking to advance by searching 

for jobs that truly fuel their passion, 

fulfill their desires, and ignite their 

real talent. For most, today’s 

economic landscape has made the 

career management journey extra 

challenging. And beyond career 

advancement opportunities, people 

want their supervisors and leaders to 

be more in touch with who they are 

as people (not just as their colleagues) 

to assure that their career track is in 

proper alignment with and supports 

their personal and professional goals. 

Leaders are so focused on remaining 

relevant for their own personal gain 

that they have forgotten to be more 

sensitive about how to best serve their 

employees (the people who help give 

them relevancy). In the end, leaders 

assume that their colleagues have the 

same drive to succeed and willingness 

to sacrifice in order to advance as they 

do. Everyone is different and leaders 

must be more mindful to embrace those 

differences and strategically leverage 

them to create and sustain unique 

opportunities within their departments 

and for the business. 

The bottom line is that leaders must be 

more emotionally intelligent to be more 

effective and efficient at maximizing 

outcomes and desired results. Here are 

5 ways to get started. 

1. Care About People 

Caring is a simple thing to do, but 

not always expressed or genuine in 

its delivery or tone. Leaders need to 

balance the head and the heart. This 

means that leaders can’t always be so 

intense about what is required from 

their employees. Intensity requires 

you and be consistent about it. Take 

the time to mentor and / or sponsor 

employees who have earned the 

opportunity. Show that you care about 

people. This gesture is more powerful 

than you might think in enabling you 

to achieve your leadership goals and 

objectives. 

2. Embrace Differences to 

Make a Big Difference 

We live in a world were differences 

in people are more apparent than ever 

before. People want to be authentic 

and appreciate those who embrace 

their differences. Today’s leaders 

must be more sensitive about how to 

manage and leverage differences in 

people to assemble great teams and 

assign unique talents and abilities 

to certain situations. Be smart and 

look for common ground within the 

differences between people. 





31

MANAGEMENT 

Don’t view differences 

as a melting pot, but 

rather as a mosaic of 

opportunities. 

Our differences fuel our 

unique perspectives and 

cultivate innovation 

and opportunity. 

Some might call this 

“diversity” – but that 

word has become 

associated with advocacy. I am not 

suggesting that you must advocate for 

one’s differences – but rather, learn 

how to embrace and leverage those 

differences when people bring their 

unique ideas and ideals to the table. 

The more inclusive you are, the wider 

the breadth and depth of opportunities 

around you. 

3. Help Employees 

Experience Significance 

Leaders should not get caught up 

in converting their employees to 

be more like them – but rather in 

motivating employees with how the 

job can benefit their life, not just the 

bottom line. Allow your employees to 

appreciate and experience the human 

side of what success can bring to their 

families and life outside of work. 

Today people want to feel as if they 

are creating an impact, that they can 

make a mark for themselves and those 

around them. Lead your employees 

in ways that allow them to be both 

successful and significant at work. 

Significance is the force that changes 

people’s lives and perspectives on 

what matters most. 

4. Be Accountable Like 

Everyone Else 

Just because you are in-charge doesn’t 

mean that you can’t be an equal. This 

means that as a leader you must hold 

yourself equally accountable and 

enforce the same rules of engagement 

that you expect from your employees. 

The best leaders always do – but 

in today’s workplace this behavior 

must be more deliberate. Employees 

appreciate leaders who share their 

perks and privileges. They want their 

leaders to be a more integrated part 

of the team; more available and less 

mysterious. 

Admit when you are wrong and be 

transparent in how you lead others. 

Employees want to know that you can 

be trusted; revealing the areas where 

you can improve makes you more real 

and genuine. Leaders have historically 

played the game of authority and 

allowed their titles to influence the 

conversation and their attitudes. Be 

accountable, be an equal, and be 

trustworthy. Employees follow and 

support leaders who are approachable 

and relatable; those who will roll-up 

their sleeves and fight the battles with 

them. 

5. Be Mindful of Their Needs 

If your employees are not working at 

or close to their capacity, then you are 

not doing your job as a leader. Your 

sensitivity radar must always be on. 

This means that you are equally mindful 

of your employees reaching their full 

potential as you are about yourself. 

Everyone has the ability to improve 

and increase their performance and 

productivity. However, improvements 

are a consequence of continuous 

feedback, recommendations and 

suggestions. 

Be a better leader and get the most 

production from your employees by 

being more mindful of their needs. Just 

because the department’s performance 

has exceeded the plan doesn’t mean 

that each employee can’t continue to 

grow and mature in their work. 

A team is more powerful than the sum 

of its parts – but each part must be 

continually refurbished and renewed in 

order for the team to sustain its power. 

Be more sensitive about your 

employees and their needs – open 

your eyes wider and begin to see 

opportunities previously unseen■ 




33

GOVERNANCE 

GOVERNANCE 

The AfDB report recommends among 

others that ‘women themselves 

must be proactive in applying 

for board positions’. A view that 

seems well supported, given that 

women contributions to board and 

organizational effectiveness is no 

longer in doubt. Adams and Ferreira 

(2009) confirmed this by studying the 

meeting attendance and monitoring 

effort of the boards in the US firms. 

WOMEN GEARING FOR BOARDS: 

JUST ANY BOARD? 

With the ongoing debate 

on ‘two thirds gender 

rule’ in Kenya, one 

cannot help but wonder why there 

seems to be proponents and opponents 

to an issue that is core to the very 

development of this country. That is 

the exclusion of half the nation’s talent 

in decision making positions. The fact 

that Africa can neither achieve nor 

sustain its rising economic growth 

(Economist 2011) is a concern not just 

regionally but globally as well. 

In the recently released report on 

‘gender inclusive board room’, by 

the African Development Bank titled 

‘Where are the Women’, Kenya is 

reported to be top of its peers in Africa 

even though at a dismal 19.8% in the 

12 African countries studied. South 

Africa follows at 17.4% while Ivory 

Coast has the lowest percentage of 

5.1% of women on Boards in Africa’s 

top listed companies (AfDB 2015). 

‘‘ 

In addition 

to structural 

composition of size, 

skills, experience 

and performance, 

the ‘soft’, intangible 

elements such 

as the quality of 

board meetings, 

information 

sharing, critical 

debates and 

interpersonal 

dynamics are 

now considered 

essential for the 

good functioning of 

boards’’ 

(Van den Berghe and Levrau, 2004; 

Roberts et al., 2005). These ‘soft’ 





35

GOVERNANCE 

GOVERNANCE 

elements are generally associated 

with women. How directors interact is 

critical to the board’s overall success 

just as the skills set the directors bring 

with them (Wallace and Zinkin 2005). 

Boards are particularly responsible 

for corporate governance and exist as 

a distinct organ to ensure corporate 

stewardship (Adams 2002). Although 

other stakeholders get representation 

on boards, the majority board members 

are ideally selected by business owners 

to manage the agency problem, defined 

in business as separation of ownership 

and control (Shleifer and Vishny 

1997) to ensure that managers, who 

are agents, act in the best interest of 

the owners. Supporting the agency 

problem view, Carter et al. (2003) 

put forward that when boards are 

gender diverse, their ability to monitor 

top management is enhanced and 

further, that increasing the number of 

female directors may increase board’s 

independence since women tend to ask 

questions that male directors may not 

ask. However, in instances where the 

CEO is driving board appointments, 

this argument raises a question of 

whether the increased monitoring by 

the board would be a motivator to the 

CEO or not. 

Decades ago, it was quite ceremonial 

to sit on boards. This has since changed 

and being a board director is a serious 

responsibility that includes appointing 

senior executives and setting 

corporate strategy. Board members 

are increasingly required to steer 

organizations in complex business 

environments. PwC (2011) identifies 

key concerns for corporate Boards as 

strategy, risk and ethics, against which 

board effectiveness can be assessed. 

These roles are supported in other 

studies particularly for non-executive 

directors (Weir and Lang, 2001 and 

Dixon et al. 2005) and summarized 

as performance monitoring, strategy 

development and conflict resolution. 

This explains Lord Davies’ emphasis 

that boards should be made up of 

competent high calibre women and 

men who together offer a mix of skills, 

experiences and backgrounds (Davies 

2011). 

Association of British Insurers, UK’s 

leading shareholder group (ABI 2011) 

has claimed that including women 

on boards is one of the three key 

issues that make an effective board 

in addition to succession planning 

and board evaluation. Similar studies 

in the UK have indicated that gender 

diverse boards pay more attention to 

risk management (TCAM 2009) and 

lowers companies’ risk of insolvency 

and bankruptcy (Wilson 2009; Wilson 

& Ali 2009). Good governance 

behaviours have been found in gender 

balanced boards where performance 

monitoring and evaluation was given 

priority, including non-financial 

measures (Brown et al. 2002). This 

study by Brown et al (2002) reviewed 

performance of 141 organizations both 

listed and privately held and found that 

female directors contribute to board 

unity and independence. Some authors 

(Turnbull, 2002; Currall & Epstein 

2003) on analysing the scandals that 

befell Enron and WorldCom opine 

that decisions were made without 

stakeholder consultation, an aspect 

they argue women would have 

done better in while anticipating 

and managing the crises. Other 

researchers in support of this view 

mention improved governance 

through board independence (Fondas 

& Sassalos 2000), quality of board 

meetings (Izraeli 2000), more strategic 

protocols and organization (Storvik 

and Teigen 2010), improved intraboard 

communication and overall 

management style (Terjesen and Singh 

2008), ethics (Frank 1997, Campbell 

and Minguez-vera 2008) and 

reporting (Barako and Brown 2008). 

Best practices in governance are 

also increasingly supporting gender 

diversity (Novak and Shoun 2012). 

Indeed, male CEOs also recognized 

the unique and positive contributions 

that female directors bring to the board 

(Burke 1994). 

In line with these views, companies 

have been in the recent past frantically 

looking for women to sit in their 

boards. Board seat being a coveted 

opportunity, I also get questions from 

aspiring women directors how to 

access and participate in boardroom 

matters. Despite all the guidance 

shared so far on this topic, it’s now 

important for the board aspirants to 

decide whether that board seat is right 

and consider seriously any invitation. 

Further, board members now face 

greater scrutiny and pressure from 

shareholders. Women would better 

ask themselves a few questions before 

accepting board positions. Some of the 

key considerations include whether 

one is passionate about the business 

of the organization. In the absence of 

a ‘passionometer’, the women must 

have the energy and deep conviction in 

the business, in addition to knowledge. 

Board work is teamwork so women 

should see that they can work with 

the existing members since board 

members spend a lot of time together 

or discuss the same issues. Serving on 

boards can be time and travel intensive 

so geographical location is a good 

practical point to consider. 

When the serving women contribute 

effectively to the boards, it will sure 

open the pipeline for other women 

and we’ll soon see a reversed trend on 

board gender diversity■ 

CPA Millicent Omukaga is a 

Consultant in Financial Sector 

Development and a PhD Researcher 

at Erasmus University of Rotterdam 

in the Netherlands. She serves on the 

AWAK Board among others and is an 

Election Scrutineer for ICPAK. CPA 

Omukaga is also Commissioner for 

University Education in Kenya. She 

can be reached on Omukaga@iss.nl 




37

COVER STORY 

COVER STORY 

properly managed, could help them 

renunciation of resource endowments, 

reduce poverty and sustain growth. 

to avoid dangers such as the corruption 

Countries with oil, mineral or other 

of leaders, will not be one of these 

natural resource wealth, on average, 

policies. Even if such drastic action 

have failed to show better economic 

would on average leave the county 

performance than those without, often 

better off, which seems unlikely, who 

because of undesirable side effects. 

would be the policy-maker to whom 

The experiences of resources- rich 

one would deliver such advice? 

countries for example those rich in 

A blessing which can be argued is 

minerals suggest that resource wealth 

that, natural resources are critical 

is not always a blessing. It can in fact be 

components of many countries’ 

a curse. There are several explanations 

export and government revenues. For 

as to why the exploitation of natural 

example, they account for an important 

resources could have negative 

share of total exports in nearly half of 

consequences for the economy. One 

the countries in sub- Saharan Africa 

is the corruption of political and 

(IMF,2012a). Also worth noting, is 

public administration elites. This can 

that natural resources exploitation 

be seen on the basis that revenues 

makes it possible for the emergence of 

derived from natural resources always 

global trade in the country which is an 

flow directly through government’s 

advantage, yet the trade gives birth to 

coffers, these elites may be able to 

multinational corporations who have 

take advantage of weak checks and 

unfettered access to capital and labour 

balances to misappropriate those 

at the expense of the citizenry. 

riches for themselves and channel 

NATURAL RESOURCES IN KENYA; 

CURSE OR BLESSING TO COUNTY 

GOVERNMENTS? 

By CPA Charles Okeyo Owuor 

Vice chairman, Central Rift 

nyakwarogara @gmail.com 

Natural resources are indeed 

a window of opportunity 

for economic development. 

The revenues derived from the 

exploitation of natural resources can 

assist the National Government and 

County Governments to alleviate the 

binding constraints that governments 

in developing countries often face 

when endeavouring to transform 

their economies. Many developing 

countries are endowed with exhaustible 

natural resources- such as oil, gas, 

minerals and precious gems – that, if 

them elsewhere. Natural resource 

wealth also allows less than democratic 

governments to buy off opposition, 

avoid accountability and prevent 

transparency. Natural resources make 

it more profitable for the elites to hang 

on to power and block the development 

of an open society. 

Natural Resource Curse should not 

be interpreted as a rule that resourcerich 

counties are doomed to failure. 

The question is what policies to adopt 

to increase the chances of prospering. 

It is safe to say that destruction or 

In the foregoing, the multinational 

corporations do manipulate prices 

and further take advantage of 

the loopholes in tax codes in the 

developing countries. In view of this, 

we need to take into account all the 

loopholes which might have been 

in our company’s act, Cap 486, and 

to strive to protect our Tax systems, 

Companies when deliberating on the 

legislation in respect to companies and 

insolvency Legislation (Consequential 

Amendments) Bill, 2015. It is worth 

noting that in July 2013, the group 

of Twenty Advanced and Emerging 





39

COVER STORY 

COVER STORY 

domestic stock market). 

The thin capitalization not 

only protects the tax base of 

resource-rich counties, but 

can also assist in linking the 

financial development of these 

counties with the exploitation 

of their resources. 

Vision 2030 envisages the 

resources sector to be the 

main gate in our county 

♦ Strengthening entry and exit 

regulation to facilitate the reallocation 

of resources to new and 

high productive sectors. 

♦ Include in contracts with foreign 

purchasers clauses for automatic 

adjustment of the price if world 

market conditions change. 

♦ Hedge export proceeds in 

commodity futures markets. 

judged by independent panels of 

experts rather than politicians. 

Whether natural resources are a 

blessing or a curse, the effectiveness 

of public investment especially natural 

resources exploitation depends on 

the institutional factors, such as the 

capacity to select; implement and 

evaluate projects. It is essential, then, 

to have strong public management 

reporting and auditing. We Kenyans 

and like other countries like Uganda 

and Mozambique who developed their 

new discoveries the other day, need 

to learn from each other and from 

other countries’ challenges to manage 

the volatile revenues generated 

from abundant natural resources. 

Policymakers can spur growth and 

fight poverty by ramping up investment 

spending as long as they are mindful 

governments. 

County 

♦ Denominate debt in terms of 

system including the ability to provide 

of their economy’s capacity to absorb 

Economies (G20) adopted an action 

plan to rein in tax avoidance by 

multinational corporations, drawing 

from recommendation in a report 

by the organization for economic 

cooperation and Development (OECD) 

2013. Further, some multinational 

corporations practice what is known 

as “transfer pricing ” or “profit 

shifting” which involves attributing 

a corporation’s net profit or loss before 

tax to opaque jurisdiction where taxes 

are low. 

Countries endowed with natural 

resources face the challenge of 

managing their economy due to price 

It is recognized legally that developing 

countries who are favoured to have 

natural resources to require affiliate of 

multinational corporations involved in 

the exploitation of their resources to 

remit a fair amount of tax and to avoid 

manipulating their capital structure 

for tax purposes. To be careful not 

to be in such practices, our county 

governments in collaboration with the 

National Government are advised to 

put in place a thin capitalization rule, 

which specifies a “safe haven” debt 

–to-equity ratio that limits the amount 

of deductible interest for tax purposes. 

governments should therefore 

try to collect as much revenue 

as they possibly can from the 

hefty profits to be generated which 

can be seen to glitter from darkness in 

this sector while remaining attractive 

to investment. As we are aware that 

exploitation of natural resources, 

particularly minerals, oil and gas 

requires much technical expertise, 

which multinational corporations are 

not keen on sharing, we must therefore 

urge both the National and County 

governments to invest heavily on 

research training and development 

so as to tap this area effectively and 

efficiently. In view of the above 

discussions, some of the ideas that 

most merit consideration by counties 

commodity prices. 

♦ Avoid excessive spending in boom 

times; allow deviations from a 

target surplus only in response 

to output gaps and long-lasting 

commodity price increases, as 

forecasts of resource revenues, the 

capacity for medium term budgeting, 

good cash and liability management, 

and transparency in the collection and 

utilization of natural resources revenue 

through appropriate accounting, 

such investments. Needless to say, 

policies and institutions have to be 

tailored to local circumstances, county 

by county, but with good intentions 

and innovative thinking■ 

volatility, where 

commodity price 

This is for purposes of countering 

rich in oil or other natural resources are 

swings can be large and long lasting, 

cross-border shifting of profit through 

but not limited to the following; 

thus it could be hard to forecast prices. 

The transmission of these swings to the 

local economy can be averted through 

excessive debt and therefore aims to 

protect a country’s tax base. The thin 

capitalization rule helps to promote 

♦ Strengthening the business climate 

by simplifying the tax system. 

good fiscal frame-works such as 

more equity finance in the resource 

♦ Improving the enforcement of 

hedging instruments, well-developed 

sector together with the improvement 

contracts and access to credit 

domestic financial markets, and access 

of the prices of countries’ natural 

information. 

to international financial markets. 

Resources assets (development of 




41

WORKPLACE 

WORKPLACE 

The causes of incompatibility 

between employers and 

employees resulting to 

previous employer? What is this that 

employees are looking for in every 

organization that employer are unable 

about the same problems, but 

complaining about different problems 

will make you think differently, 

INSIDE ORGANISATIONS- 

separation and its impact to the 

employer 

to provide? Why are employers always 

recruiting instead of developing the 

balance different environments and 

adapt well in problematic areas. 

Personally, I have worked for 

employees they have? 

several employers and before I sign 

Most successful employees are 

EMPLOYEE ISSUES 

By CPA Anne Komira, Email: anne.komira@gmail.com 

every other employment contract, I 

normally anticipate I would stay a 

Our employment life has a direct impact 

on how our characters are shaped 

job hoppers. They thrive in all 

environments and will normally be 

little longer than the actual period I 

and influences our personal life. The 

viewed as good employees and liked 

last in one organization. The practical 

unending rat race in every organization 

by their supervisors due to their 

employment life may not be as easy as 

leaves employees who cannot manage 

dedicated effort. They seem to have 

we had imagined during the olden days 

a number of these discomforts look for 

a lot of effort and work like they 

when we were school going children. 

alternatives in other employers with 

are slaves and have never gotten a 

Contrary to our expectations, there 

the assumption that the grass on the 

better employer than the one they are 

seems to be a number of unique issues 

other end may be green or they opt to 

working for. The HR personnel least 

with every employer which are silent 

go on their own into entrepreneurship. 

monitor these employees as they will 

and employees only get to learn about 

HR experts make a joke out of this that 

rarely complain about their personal 

them after joining the institution. A 

once employees are in the organization, 

welfare but will always remain 

number of these factors make it very 

the grass is seen to be brown and those 

focused on the organization goals. 

hard for employees to fit and stick 

outside view it to be green but the 

To the dismay of the employer, these 

in the organizations and those who 

doors are locked once the employees 

employees will normally pull out that 

persevere only survive in discomfort. 

are lured to join the organizations. 

surprise resignation letter when they 

No wonder, the unending job vacancies 

Regardless of situations, the employee 

reach their peak in the organization 

in institutions, the health issues like 

may be forced to struggle within for a 

and do not seem to see anything to 

high blood pressure and ulcers, and 

while before another door can open for 

keep them around except the unending 

the increased job hopping from one 

them to move out. 

organization politics, increased 

employer to the other being the trend 

work pressure and expectation, 

in modern employment life. 

After serving a number of employers, 

discriminating reward systems among 

As an employer, have you reviewed 

one fact seems to be very true, that all 

others. 

your staff turnover rate? As an 

employers big or small have issues. 

A number of reactions normally come 

employee, how many employers 

What are not constant are the nature 

in such circumstances like envious 

have you worked for and have you 

of the issues and the magnitude of 

colleagues who saw the thriving 

evaluated the cost benefit analysis? 

how they affect individual employee’s 

employee as a threat would through a 

Was the move worthwhile? How 

personal life. One reason why 

celebration bash as the enemy is on the 

many times have you re-considered 

employees will keep moving even after 

door steps. HR experts would see the 

poaching your ex-employees and as 

they have the knowledge of the issues 

organization loss as they would have to 

an employee, how many times have 

each employer has is to have a change. 

go through the hiring process again and 

you re-considered going back to your 

It will not help to keep complaining 

if the role is one not popular to many, 





43

WORKPLACE 

WORKPLACE 

they are sure they will hire between 

make employees happy but lack of it 

of the organization who knows all 

When employees leave employment, 

clear formula leads to good employees 

sacrifice and one should ensure they 

three to four employees before they 

also makes them feel ignored and not 

the secrets, good or bad practices, 

the good will of being the best 

quitting the organization in the process. 

endure when need be. Employers are 

can get one who can fit in the role. 

There are financial losses in terms of 

productivity of the new employee who 

has to go through the learning curve 

and is prone to make mistakes. Fraud is 

likely to take place around this time as 

new employees are not well conversant 

with the controls in the system and 

those who have used the system long 

enough may explore the opportunity. 

HR managers have to struggle to 

match the character of the incoming 

employees with the role requirements 

which may not automatically be the 

case in a number of instances and 

hence the need to incur additional 

training costs as the new employee 

adapts to the organization culture. 

The line managers of the outgoing 

employees are normally the centre of 

attention. They may be blamed for not 

being able to manage the employees 

appreciated. 

All negotiations to hold back an 

outgoing employee normally revolves 

around the pay package offer of the 

new employer without considering 

the internal factors which made the 

employee to set off the journey of 

looking for a new employer in the 

first place. All said and done, where 

are employers positioned once the 

employee decides to take off and the risk 

aspects? While still in employment, the 

employer is in control of the employee 

and is sure that the company secrets are 

well guarded from the confidentiality 

clause which most employers sneak 

in their employment contracts. The 

dismissal or resignation letter normally 

terminates the employment contract 

and hence it’s rendered null and void. 

How does the employer take control of 

the ex-employee? 

and at the slightest provocation can 

spread everything to the outside world. 

This may result in both financial and 

reputation loss to the organization. 

Assuming the employee was in 

marketing or sales, customers are 

normally loyal to people and not the 

product per se. The annoyed exiting 

employee may just decide to leak a 

small weakness of the product you 

have been selling and hence win all 

the customers to the competitor who 

may seem to be the new employer. 

What if the staff was in production 

and leaks the product secret to other 

new entrants in the market who would 

create competition and challenge the 

market share of the former employer? 

In case of a banker, chances are that 

the employee may convince a number 

of customers to move with them by 

which they will close their existing 

employer is lost as the employees 

stand a chance to share the unpleasant 

experiences within the organization 

making it unattractive to potential job 

seekers. The exit of one employee is at 

times seen as the open door for mass 

exodus. This is majorly experienced 

in accounting firms where resignation 

from one employee wakes up the rest 

to look for new employers who would 

probably offer better terms of service. 

In instances where an employer opts 

to layoff a few employees in order to 

manage the employee costs, lack of 

Conclusion 

Employees are important component 

of every organization and should 

be treated with utmost respect if an 

organization hopes to prosper. Much 

as every individual need may not be 

met, the ability to encourage the staff 

to ensure they feel appreciated may not 

be over emphasized. Every employee 

is important but the ones holding key 

positions should be treated with utmost 

care. Getting into a contract with an 

employee/ employer is normally a 

cautioned not mistreat their employees 

with the notion that organization is 

more than one individual as the same 

one individual is capable of messing 

up the whole organization. When the 

time comes for one to take off, the 

relationship should be harnessed so 

that the employee shares the positive 

experiences with the employer and not 

vice versa to manage the reputation 

risk of the organization with the 

outside world■ 

well which led to their exit, of which is 

an assumption as employees reasons for 

quitting could even be bad organization 

culture and the work environment 

which goes beyond one’s supervisor. 

The next big loss for the line manager 

is, as the theatrics continue to move 

across, performance is still expected 

and if it’s a political organization, then 

even getting a replacement may take 

a long time. Reasons for employees 

living employers normally emanate 

from a number of factors which go 

beyond the pay. Money alone does not 

Employers stand high chances and 

are awkwardly positioned in risky 

platforms if they dare mistreat the 

outgoing employee. In most cases, 

employers are encouraged to treat 

the outgoing employees with utmost 

respect, and to observe the separation 

clause in the employment contract 

and HR policy to the latter. All their 

dues should be paid and parting ways 

should be in a friendly manner. Why 

should this be the case? The exiting 

employee was once a trusted officer 

accounts and move on. For finance 

staff, options are myriad which should 

not even be mentioned. The fast and 

easier one is to set the organization 

with the regulatory bodies on areas 

of non compliance which may lead to 

the closure of organizations or huge 

penalties resulting to losses. One 

Tax consultant in one of the ICPAK 

seminars advised employers to ensure 

they part ways with their accounting 

staff including their Finance Directors 

in a proper manner to enhance 

continued friendship. 



THE ACCOUNTANT 45

OPINION 

OPINION 

SHORT CUT TO DEATH: 

WHY IS FOOD EATING US? 

By: Muthony wa Gatumo 

October is officially the 

annual Breast Cancer 

Awareness month 

worldwide. Through various social 

forums & mediums, the general public 

is targeted with every last aspect 

pertaining the said disease. Judging 

from the still ongoing intense debate 

it generated. This year's climax in 

reference to this subject matter. Was 

most definitely the World Health 

Organization's 26th October, 2015 

latest report on scientific findings on 

carcinogenic foods. Meaning foods 

that cause cancer. 

According to the American Cancer 

Society website www.canter.org. 

Cancer is the most common name used 

for a group of more than 100 different 

diseases. All originating from abnormal 

body cells growing uncontrollably. 

Serious long term illness & guaranteed 

death is caused if any of these diseases 

go untreated. 

Naturally, every last specialist 

information that might empower 

us to effectively guard ourselves & 

vulnerable loved ones. As much as 

is humanly possible. Against such 

a powerful, dangerous and deeply 

devastating enemy is extremely 

welcome and priceless. However, 

during my recent layman's fact finding 

mission over the internet, I was 

shocked and surprised to note that 

those in the know;the common man's 

guaranteed protectors;the experts 

on cancer are equally very quick to 

contradict themselves. When they 

clearly declare that there's no hardcore 

conclusive scientific evidence on their 

their nonstop findings. The reason why 

every seemingly concrete evidence 

has an equally similarly powerful 

opposing viewpoint. From yet another 

certified expert. Meaning that the 

common mwananchi must take the full 

responsibility of painstakingly going 

through all the hard found data. Which 

is consistently and religiously provided 

and upgraded by the said specialists 

from all schools of thought. In order 

to create, maintain and manage one's 

personalized road map to a cancer free 

future. There is no short cut or wonder 

pill or quick fix. This time around. 

Sorry. 

And if you thought that cancer was 

the reserve of the on-speed-dial reality 

of the far flung so called First World. 

What our Kenyan youth call "majuu". 

Or only found among our own Who's 

Who imaginary millionaires' club 

reality, think again. Very seriously 

speaking. 

“ 

Very recently 

our local media 

shocked us with 

an exclusive 

homegrown 

extremely 

depressing cancer 

news update. 

Which informed us 

about the cancer 

epidermic right 

here in Meru 

County. Kenyatta 

National Hospital 

is the only public 

health facility 

with relevant 

cancer treatment 

machines in Kenya. 

According to 

the Meru Health 

Executive, Dr. 

William Muraah. 

15 per cent of 

patients seeking 

cancer treatment 

at KNH are from 

Meru. With a 

marked increase of 

liver cancer cases in 

Imenti Central and 

Imenti South” . 

Dr. Muraah is quoted to have said 

that, "Farmers who rely on irrigation 

usually rush to harvest their crops 

when the rains start & due to high 

moisture content, the cereals develop 





47

OPINION 

OPINION 

aflatoxin." Eating animals given grains 

to a direct flame, as is our popular 

the plastic container's contents with 

It starts with your mindset. How 

diet will; guaranteed consumption 

Here's some tips off the Canadian 

with aflatoxin exposes you to cancer. 

barbecued Nyama Choma delicacy, 

carcinogenic elements. 

powerful you believe and especially 

of lots of fibre, fruit & vegetables is 

Cancer Society's website: 

There is also a great concern over the 

does produce more of a certain type of 

know you were made & meant to be. 

very good for you. So is reducing fat 

1. Space out your drinks about an 

fact that many people under the age of 

cancer causing chemicals. Even though 

Not all plastics are dangerous in this 

Knowing that today it the very first 

& sugar intake. And that occasional 

hour apart. 

30 in Meru, are now toothless. 

there's no concrete scientific evidence 

respect. But some definitely are. Every 

day of the rest of your life. That every 

kanywaji(drink) shared with your 

2. Drink some water along with 

that how you cook your meat affects 

time you drink or eat from that pretty 

day is a blank page, in the ongoing 

buddies will definitely increase the 

your alcohol. 

In this light, the current most serious 

the risk of cancer, processed meat like 

looking cup or plate. Each time you 

inactivated history of your best life 

quality of your well-being! Although 

3. Schedule at least 2 alcohol-free 

lifestyle question we all must urgently 

sausages, bacon and hot dogs, is likely 

pack that plastic lunch box for your 

yet. Now henceforth, reality dictates 

what does the exact opposite is making 

days each week. 

address. Is not if you eat to live or live 

to be as dangerous as pork & other 

little one. You could be seriously 

that only you alone determines how 

your favourite tipple your miracle 

4. You're more likely to be 

to eat. But whether or not the very 

types of red meat. 

endangering precious priceless life 

your story ends. Beginning by striving 

cure for all known and unknown 

successful with realistic 

food meant for fueling our lives; life's 

unknowingly. 

against all odds to maintain the best 

stresses!! Taking your alcoholic drink 

preventative goals then cutting 

most non negotiable main ingredient 

Plastics are another serious concern, 

possible you friendliest lifestyle. Start 

for breakfast, lunch and supper daily. 

out all alcohol immediately. 

will eventually eat up your life in long 

in my opinion. This is the most 

It goes without saying that talking 

with a balanced diet. Eat well, be active 

January. That will only irrigate your 

drawn seriously painful very expensive 

commonly found material in nearly 

to your doctor. A qualified certified 

and do whatever it takes to maintain 

pressing challenges, not drown them!! 

Established in 1995, Kenya Cancer 

installments. 

every Kenyan household. Used 

healthcare professional one on one 

a healthy body weight. Balance and 

Association is the leading national 

for a myriad of domestic purposes 

about your health and every other 

moderation being your catchwords. 

With the Christmas season upon us 

voluntary run non profit organization. 

16 extremely popular foods eaten 

especially in our kitchens, certain 

related niggling issue. Must always 

Avoid over indulgence. The most 

once again. And since we all must 

Its core mandate is to raise public 

daily the world over appeared in the 

WHO blacklist. Making things like 

homes' entire kitchenware being 

100% made from plastic. Thanks to 

be your very first priority. Without 

one ounce of a doubt. Yet. It is said 

glaring fact is this. Eating any of the 

16 WHO forbidden foods wont kill 

thank ourselves. In the most authentic 

Kenyan tradition. For making it this 

awareness on cancer. Their website is a 

God sent wealth of information■ 

soda, chips, yogurt and even breakfast 

it's easy availability and affordability. 

that prevention is better than cure. 

you in a day. Making them your staple 

far and despite all the issues of 2015. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

cereals very bad for your health. A 

It is equally easy to maintain & has 

Consciously taking you and your loved 

habit of exclusively consuming the 

a long shelf life unlike counterparts 

ones' general well-being very seriously 

highlighted items, in my most humble 

made of glass or ceramic material. But 

from the get go. Knowing that it all 

basic understanding, is as dangerous 

did you know that all plastics are not 

starts and stops with you and nobody 

as smoking, drinking or being exposed 

made equal? Some are designed only 

else. Making that precious priceless 

to abestos. Because specific foods 

for household products and others for 

time to do the intense homework that is 

are now found to be as responsible 

gardening supplies. Plastics tailor- 

obviously needed to fully engage and 

for cancer causing abnormal body 

made for industrial use should never 

utilize your inbuilt survival instincts. 

cells growth, as are the other culprits 

be used in the manufacture of cheap 

And the ability to take full charge of the 

equally found in the rather alarmingly 

kitchen utensils. The different said 

quality of your life. The devil is a liar! 

ever growing line up; that also has 

categories and purposely fashioned 

There is always a way to rise above 

naturally occurring factors like family 

for specific targets. Due to their 

any last challenge that life throws 

genetics, artificial hormones, some 

chemical components. Meaning that 

your way. For instance. Did you know 

cosmetics etc. 

there is plastic only made for serving 

that even if there's no known cure or 

and a different sort for storage of our 

scientifically proven miracle food? All 

The International Agency for 

food & drinks. Because factors like 

concerned parties 100% and then some 

Research on Cancer (IARC) Working 

high temperatures will automatically 

agree that one-third of all cancers can 

Group mentions that high cooking 

temperatures, where food is exposed 

release inbuilt dangerous chemicals on 

contact. What ends up contaminating 

be prevented? 

statistics show that there is an increase of lifestyle diseases in the world today. 




INSPIRATION 

INSPIRATION 

Me, Myself, and I 

"Find somebody else to run your business on a day-to-day basis." 

You should actually be brave 

enough to find somebody 

else to run all the day-to- 

storage with a new literature pocket and 

two ottoman storage solutions; In-seat 

power supply compatible with most 

means indulging, caretaking, making 

you feel good; delighting you, bringing 

you joy. In this book, she says among 

day, and nitty-gritty details of your 

international plug types; AeroMobile 

other things; throw away every item 

company, and then step aside and work 

system installed so a passenger can 

of your clothing that does not look 

from home for a while, so you can start 

make and receive phone calls and send 

great on you; take time to build a 

to think about a bigger picture--or your 

texts from their own mobile phone. At 

roaring fire in your fireplace; curl 

next business. These are the words of 

the time of this repot, the new Upper 

up and re-read your favorite novel; 

Sir Richard Branson, founder of the 

Class Suites were only being offered 

watch a sad movie and cry as much 

Virgin Group--an empire of more than 

on flight VS003 from Heathrow to 

as you like; take a scenic drive to the 

400 companies that includes an airline, 

JFK and VS004 back to London. A 

accompaniment of your favorite CDs; 

a mobile phone company, and a credit 

round-trip ticket can range anywhere 

Do yourself a favor; choose friends 

card company. 

from $3,988.20 for a restrictive ticket 

who support and encourage you; invest 

International business times brings 

to $10,470.20 for a fully flexible and 

in a great briefcase; take one of your 

out an interesting angle on luxury 

refundable reservation. More flights 

grandchildren on a trip; make a list 

from Virgin Atlantic’s perspective. 

and destinations would be added 

of twenty-five best things that ever 

It reported that at a time when many 

throughout that year on Airbus A330 

happened to you; enjoy the intimacy of 

airlines are going bankrupt, tacking 

aircraft and would be available on 

your close friends; if you have a boring 

on high baggage fees and having 

Boeing 787s beginning in 2014… 

chore to do, break it up into one-hour 

massive layoffs and merging; Virgin 

units of work, interspersed with one- 

Atlantic is not following the trends 

This account simply shows you several 

hour units of fun. And figure out what 

and is offering luxury suites ranging 

ways you can spoil or pamper yourself 

(or who) gives you comfort and then 

in price from $4,000 to $10,000. (No 

and that there is no limit to luxury; 

do your best to keep it (or them) in 

wonder Branson wrote the book- screw 

and why should there be? Don’t you 

your life… Finally, let your nails grow. 

business as usual). 

sometimes honestly feel you should 

TIME TO PAMPER 

YOURSELF 


IBT explains Virgin Atlantic’s luxury 

in the following way; amenities listed 

on the company's website include: Flip 

down cocktail tables and push panel 

armrests, adjustable reading lights, 

put everything aside and simply 

think about yourself… only you for a 

moment…for a day…for weeks? 

In her book 2,001 ways to pamper 

yourself, Lorraine Bodger notes 

Talking of luxury, it has been noted 

that luxury items could also include 

cushions which relax you and are a 

brilliant way to bring instant style 

to your house. Not just that, it can 

make a great but inexpensive impact. 

and conveniently located headphone 

that pampering, contrary to popular 

Don’t forget that paint can create a 


jacks; Passenger control unit still has 

wisdom, is not bad for you- it is 

fine appearance almost anywhere; 

lumbar support and firm touch buttons 

wonderful for you! It’s one of the 

choose colours that are delightful to 

to prevent accidental activation; Each 

best things that can happen to you. 

you. Curtains enhance beauty, and 

seat has its own aisle access; More 

Pampering doesn’t mean spoiling. It 

you can change them with the seasons. 




51

INSPIRATION 

INSPIRATION 

Get good furniture… even if it is one 

at a time… these things can create an 

opulence situation all the time. Carpets 

and chandeliers can make an instant 

statement. Ensure that your shoes are 

perfect and that you have etiquette in 

your manner and speech. 

In the meantime youqueen.com talks 

of 10 luxury situations; “The Mecca: 

A spa day where it says - Picture a 

calm, tranquil environment. Soft, 

harmonious music is playing through 

discrete speakers. Flickering candles 

light the space with a romantic glow, 

emitting such a delightfully fragrant 

smell that you’re tempted to linger in 

the foyer, just for another moment. 

The waiting room is sumptuous and 

comfortable. Herbal tea, sweet tasting 

water and an array of beauty products 

are at your disposal… it’s the absolute 

Mecca of pamperisation (yep, we 

made up that word just for this article). 

So enjoy, savor and use it wisely, my 

friend.” 

It talks about movie marathon where 

your fears are disappearing while 

eating popcorn, advises that you take 

a nap; stressing that an afternoon 

nap could help you feel energized 

and revitalized. But not many 

companies have embraced it. Aim for 

20 minutes…if you stay longer it will 

have the opposite effect and you will 

feel groggy. 

It proposes that you have a DIY beauty 

day… nail polish, hair treatment, facial, 

invite friends, do nail file; another 

recommendation is that you should 

give your foot a massage…as each 

area of your foot relates to a specific 

body part… as for beauty counters… 

visit such places; try new shades, 

colours, you can pay for a make up… 

Go shopping… but don’t buy an every 

day item… no grocery shopping …you 

can buy a dress you’ve been eyeing 

for months… also… Eat out; Book 

yourself a table. If you have many 

friends willing to cough up some cash, 

book a few tables…or you can decide 

to spend a day in your Pajamas… 

besides, you can take a day off; you can 

put off the alarm, stay in bed all day, 

and enjoy your day to the maximum… 

finally youqueen.com suggests that … 

you can eat dessert first; just like you 

did when you were a kid. While you 

are doing this, revel in your attributes, 

your delightful personality and your 

rocking body. 

Still, as you have fun, you must think 

of the future; think of your retirement; 

and this is where Suze Orman comes 

in. Suze Orman author of fascinating 

books like: You’ve earned it, don’t lose 

it; The 9 steps to Financial Freedom 

and the courage to be rich, in yet 

another book titled: Ask Suze… about 

planning for your future, presents 

an interesting question and answer 

scenario among many questions she 

answers in the book. Below is a useful 

question and answer she shares: 

Q. I know that planning for retirement 

is important, but I always seem to be 

trying to catch up with my bills. When 

do I really have to start thinking about 

retirement planning? 

A. I don’t even have to know how 

old you are to answer this question: 

The answer is right now. Here is why: 

Time is the most important factor in 

the growth of your money. The more 

time your money has to grow and the 

more time you spend making careful 

decisions about it today, the more 

money you will be likely to have when 

you retire. Planning and investing for 

your future are signs of self-respect. 

Start now. 

Finally, always assess your triumph by 

the degree in which you are enjoying 

peace, health, love and time. And get 

comfort from William Wordsworth, 

the nature poet; who declared: Nature 

never did betray the heart that loved 

her■ 




53

ENVIRONMENT 

ENVIRONMENT 

Wherever you tread the blushing flowers shall rise, and all things flourish where you turn your eyes - Alexander Pope 

DO WE NEED 

FLOWERS? 



The Merriam Webster 

Dictionary defines flowers 

as the part of a plant that 

is often brightly colored, that usually 

lasts a short time, and from which the 

seed or fruit develops. 

The transformation that flowers make 

to a place can be so delightful. Their 

elegance become focal points in many 

places and is known to influence the 

way rooms or locations are perceived. 

Other than their beauty, flowers offer 

more to our world. 

According to proflowers, they are 

essential to removing carbon dioxide 

and toxins in the air. They feed the 

honeybee population that’s responsible 

for promulgating food crops… and to 

most people flowers carry enormous 

symbolism, provide soothing sympathy 

and are an integral part of many of 

life’s ceremonies. 

Proflowers further notes that; whether 

planted in the ground as part of a 

garden or blossoming from shrubs and 

trees, flowers add depth and interest to 

landscapes. Outdoor weather patterns 

affect the timing of the blooms. Bright, 

colorful azaleas chase away the winter 

dreariness as they bloom, sometimes 

long before the grass turns green. 

It notes that many animals eat flowers 

for nourishment. Flowers have long 

been used in cooking for humans as 

well and their popularity as a food 

source has gone up. Edible flowers are 

often used as garnishment for dishes 

or as part of a recipe. Popular flowers 

used in cooking and preparing meals 

include lemon, coriander, gardenia, 

marjoram and garlic chives. The 

flowers of herbal flowers usually taste 

similar to the actual herb. 

Expressions 

Flowers are a traditional part of both 

happy and sad occasions. Traditionally, 

the flowers at funerals bring a sense to 

an otherwise sad occasion. Flowers 

play an integral role in weddings and 

often are the focal piece in a wedding’s 

design. Flowers are often used to 

express gratitude and love to friends 

and lovers. They are also medicinal 

and relieve stress. Both the flowers 

and the leaves can be used in a tea or 

made into a paste to increase blood 

flow in the skin. Flowers also serve a 

vital role in our ecosystem. Flowers 

attract insects and birds, which serve 

as pollinators for the plant itself. 

Insects and birds also help keep the 

surrounding ecosystem of flowers well 

maintained and healthy by keeping 

away predators, and utilizing the plants 

or flowers for their own growth. All 

plants produce a flower at some point 

during the process of their growth. The 




THE ACCOUNTANT 55

ENVIRONMENT 

ENVIRONMENT 

flower itself produces seeds, which 

can occur, that particular species has a 

idea of the Language of Flowers 

and faster absorption. If the autumn 

As a result, many of nature's most 

So yes, we need flowers in our lives, 

are then pollinated by either being 

high chance of dying off in that area. In 

developed, when it was decided that 

colors are showing, it may be too late 

colourful specimens could be lost to the 

for our homes, for insects, for their 

transported by birds or insects, or by 

addition, local wildlife will also vanish 

giving and receiving a bouquet of 

to preserve them in glycerine. 

world before scientists even discover 

beauty and for life itself; take care 

being released into the wind or dropped 

in that area since they would have no 

flowers, when the flowers themselves 

them, claims the research, published 

of the flowers around you. Besides, 

from the plant. Flowers help keep the 

food. 

carry a meaning, gives much greater 

In 2010, the guardian reported that 

then in the journal Proceedings of the 

flowers go beyond physical beauty, 

ecosystem growing and provide new 

plant life, as well as help sustain local 

insects and birds. 

Flower preservation and 

other uses 

pleasure. One of the earliest methods 

of preserving flowers is by drying. 

Many plants retain their shape and 

scientists said human activity could 

spell end for a quarter of all flowering 

plants, with huge impact on food chain, 

Royal Society B. They added that 

a researcher David Roberts, who is 

one of the co-authors, of the Durrell 

the term flower, is used to describe 

lovely things words and even people 

that flourish around us… for example; 

Taking care of the 

ecosystem 

Meanwhile it helps to know that 

there are many ways of preserving 

flowers. Wikipedia notes that flower 

color when air-dried naturally. Use of 

glycerine has also been known to make 

the preserved plant supple and long- 

in a feature titled; Over 25% of flowers 

face extinction – many before they are 

even discovered, the paper explained 

Institute of Conservation and Ecology 

at the University of Kent said: "Plants 

are the basis for much of life on 

his genius flowered at the university; 

a political movement that began to 

flower…They depict youth, and so 

In addition to the benefits flowers 

preservation is as early as the 

lasting. To use this method, the plant 

that more than one-in-four of all 

earth with virtually all other species 

much more. 

provide to the local ecosystem, they 

history of man, although deliberate 

material needs to be gathered in a fully 

flowering plants are under threat of 

depending on them; if you get rid of 

also greatly benefit humans. The 

flower preservation is a more recent 

hydrated state. Water and glycerine 

extinction according to the latest report 

those you gets rid of a lot of the things 

Lee Iacocca; says: We’ve got to pause 

natural bugs and birds that flowers 

phenomenon. In the Middle East, 

are then mixed. The ratio of water to 

to confirm the ongoing destruction of 

above them.” 

and ask ourselves: How much clean air 

attract, help keep our own surrounding 

environment healthy. The seeds that 

the bones of pre-historic man were 

discovered with delicate wild flowers 

glycerine should be 2:1. The water 

should be lukewarm for better mixing 

much of the natural world by human 

activity. 

do we need? So, begin to flower today, 

in any way you know■ 

flowers drop and pollinate locally 

probably as a tribute to a passing 

produce more plants, and more fruits 

loved one. Evidence of deliberate 

and vegetables for us to eat. In addition, 

use of specific flowers is indicated by 

certain bugs--such as bees, produce 

the pollen grains that were present. 

honey from the nectar of the flowers, 

Brightly colored and vivid flowers 

but also pollinate the flowers as they 

were also found in Egyptian tombs. 

do so--allowing them to produce seeds. 

These flowers were approximated to 

The bugs and birds flowers attract help 

be 4,000 years old. In the sixteenth 

keep some "bad" bugs away, such as 

century medicinal nosegays began to 

bugs that may eat or destroy other 

give way to ornamental ones. 

plants. 

Flowers essentially started to be 

Ehow.com notes that without insects 

used for decorative purposes such as 

or birds to help pollinate flowers, they 

jewels, fans and gloves. During the 

would have no way of reproducing 

Elizabethan Age the once familiar ruff 

to create new flowers or growth. 

was replaced by soft lacy collars, and 

Flowers help our ecosystem flourish 

bosom flowers also became popular. 

and attract a plethora of life to the 

area and facilitate the expansion of 

Out of the Victorian era grew the 

our environment. If flowers are cut 

fascination of communicating with 

down or destroyed before pollination 

flowers carried in the nosegays. The 





57

HEALTH 

HEALTH 

A common infection 

Grace had been having white patches 

in her mouth for sometime but found it 

difficult to share this ‘little secret’ with 

anyone. But as days went by, it became 

terribly uncomfortable for her; in the 

end she had to consult her doctor. 

Asked why she thought this should be 

a big secret, Grace explained that she 

had been taking antibiotics for a while 

due to another ailment which she had 

now recovered from. But no sooner 

had she started feeling better than this 

new ailment popped up; so rather than 

bog people down with what was now 

visibly ailing her, she preferred to keep 

Who gets it? 

Wikipedia explains that more than 20 

types of Candida can cause infection 

with candida albicans being the most 

common. Infections of the mouth are 

most common among children less 

than one month old, the elderly, and 

those with weak immune systems. 

Conditions that result in a weak 

immune system include HIV/AIDS, 

the medications used after organ 

transplantation, diabetes, and the use 

of corticosteroids. Other risks include 

dentures and following antibiotic 

therapy. In women these infections 

occur more commonly during 

mononucleosis, cancer treatment, 

steroids, stress antibiotics, diabetes, 

and nutrient deficiency. Hormone 

replacement therapy and infertility 

treatments may also be predisposing 

factors. Treatment with antibiotics can 

lead to eliminating the yeast's natural 

competitors for resources in the oral 

and intestinal flora; thereby increasing 

the severity of the condition. Almost 

15% of people with weakened immune 

systems develop a systemic illness 

caused by Candida species. Diets 

high in simple carbohydrates have 

been found to affect rates of oral 

candidiases. 

it under wraps. 

pregnancy, in those with weak immune 

But what is oral thrush? Oral thrush 

is caused by forms of a fungus 

called Candida, it can make you 

very uncomfortable and can occur in 

several parts of your body. According 

to Wikipedia, candidiasis is a fungal 

infection due to any type of candida 

(a type of yeast). When it affects the 

mouth, it is commonly called thrush. 

Signs and symptoms include white 

patches on the tongue or other areas of 

the mouth and throat. Other symptoms 

may include soreness and problems 

swallowing. When it affects genitalia in 

systems, and following antibiotic use. 

Risk for widespread infection includes 

being in an intensive care unit, 

following surgery, low birth weight 

infants, and those with weak immune 

systems. 

Wikipedia says candida yeasts are 

generally present in healthy humans, 

frequently part of the human body's 

normal oral and intestinal flora, and 

particularly on the skin; however, 

their growth is normally limited 

by the human immune system, by 

competition of other microorganisms, 

Oral thrush in babies 

According to medicalnewstoday.com, 

babies get candida in their bodies at birth 

or soon after. Many babies get thrush 

in the mouth in the first few weeks or 

months of life. There is no clear reason 

why some babies get candida. Candida 

in the mouth normally becomes 

thrush. Oral thrush is most common in 

infants and is generally not a serious 

condition in itself. However, it can be 

uncomfortable and lead to difficulties 

with eating or infant feeding if it does 

not resolve or is not treated. 

ORAL THRUSH 



women, it is commonly called a yeast 

infection. Signs and symptoms include 

itching and burning. Less commonly 

it may affect men’s genitalia resulting 

in itchiness. Very rarely, the infection 

may become invasive spreading 

throughout the body, resulting in fevers 

along with other symptoms depending 

on the parts of the body affected. 

such as bacteria occupying the same 

locations in the human body. Candida 

requires moisture for growth, notably 

on the skin For example, wearing wet 

swimwear for long periods of time is 

believed to be a risk factor. In extreme 

cases, superficial infections of the skin 

or mucous membranes may enter into 

the bloodstream and cause systemic 

Candida infections. As mentioned 

earlier, diseases that increase the risk 

of candidiasis include HIV/AIDS, 

A small amount of this fungus lives 

in the mouth most of the time. It is 

usually kept in check by the immune 

system and other types of germs 

that also normally live in the mouth. 

However, when the immune system is 

weaker, the fungus can grow, leading to 

sores and lesions in the mouth and on 

the tongue. Oral thrush may occur in 

babies because their immune systems 

take time to mature, making them less 

able to resist infection. 

58 





59

HEALTH 

JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS OF KENYA 

Thrush appears as whitish, velvety lesions in the mouth 

and on the tongue. Underneath the whitish material, 

there is red tissue that may bleed easily. The lesions 

can slowly increase in number and size. The first sign 

may be that the baby is unsettled, especially when 

feeding (his mouth is sore). However, many babies are 

not bothered by thrush. 

What are the symptoms? 

If an older child or adult gets thrush in the mouth, or 

ulcers that look like they may be thrush, it may be a 

sign of another disease, and you may need to have it 

checked. Signs of thrush can occur suddenly. Thrush 

can also be difficult to get rid of, especially in infants. 

The corners of the mouth may crack when you open 

your mouth. Other symptoms can include a loss of 

taste, or feeling as if swallowed a cotton ball. The 

thrush can become severe enough that one may have 

difficulty swallowing food. 

Health Tips 

♦ When visiting your doctor, you may want to 

♦ 

♦ 

♦ 

♦ 

♦ 

♦ 

know where the doctor is affiliated in case 

you need hospitalization… magic words 

You may want to know if the doctor is board 

certified… magic words 

Save a shilling a day… Lorraine Bodger 

Ride your bicycle to work...Lorraine Bodger 

For white cotton on linen, put some washing 

soda in a bowl of hot water and soak the 

article, this will emulsify the grease…Barty 

Phillips 

If you smoke in the car, put a layer of baking 

soda in the bottom of the ashtray to absorb 

smoke odor. Empty frequently…Linda Cobb 

To make banana milk shake, take a banana, 

100ml milk, and 125 grams yogurt…put 

LEARN • EXPLORE • SHARE 

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Wikipedia says Nystatin is an antifungal medication 

but many mold and yeast infections are sensitive to it. 

It is used primarily for infections involving the skin, 

mouth, esophagus, among other areas■ 

everything in a blender and liquidize (if you 

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61

BOOK REVIEW 

MEMORABLE QUOTES 

Title: I can make you thin 

Author: Paul McKenna 

Category: Health 

Publishers: Transworld Publishers 

Reviewed by Angela Mutiso 


The book I can make you thin may 

be one of the most interesting 

weight-loss books you have ever 

read. The book by Paul McKenna (PhD) 

which is accompanied by a CD starts with a 

simple question; how would you like to eat 

whatever you want whenever you want and 

still lose weight? 

McKenna says so many people lose weight 

only to regain it soon after stopping the diet 

they have so painstakingly followed. This is 

because in the end, diets don’t work, eating 

is not due to lack of will-power. Eating, 

ultimately, is under the control of the brain. 

Maintaining weight loss by dieting requires 

a continuous conscious effort to eat less. 

Like our inability to resist sleep, our brains 

will override our minds and make us eat. 

This is the nature of any living organism 

where the brain dictates behavior. 

How can this be altered? The answer 

lies not in the diet but in changing our 

response to signals from the brain. That 

is behavior modification. In this book are 

keys to accomplishing that which seems 

impossible; losing weight and keeping it 

off. There are no fad diets recommended 

here but rather an approach to controlling 

the response to hunger and reducing the 

stress that dieting causes. It shows you how 

to lose weight and keep it off. 

The author points out that in his seminal 

study into human starvation during the 

Second World War, biological researcher 

Ancel Keyes discovered that reducing 

people’s diet to a state of semi-starvation 

produced symptoms of irritability, loss 

of endurance and obsessive behavior 

around food, including 

but not limited to lying, 

hoarding and stealing. 

Even more telling, in the 

three-month period after the 

semi-starvation was ended 

and people could once again 

eat whatever they wanted, their 

obsession with food continued. 

Many people ate up to eight 

times as much food as they had 

done before the study began. 

The author notes that what this goes 

to show is that depriving yourself 

of food is the worst possible way to lose 

weight. And if what you are doing is 

not working, you need to do something 

different. And if you are overweight it’s not 

your fault – it is the natural result of your 

current mental programming, and no diet, 

pill, shake or ‘how-to’ book can change 

that. The only way to lose weight and keep 

it off is to go to the unconscious mind and 

change your relationship with food forever. 

The author says he has tried to make the 

book as brief as possible (it is 141 pages) 

you can finish it quickly and get on with your 

weight loss. He has also shown successful 

people’s testimonies to his weight loss 

prescription. He even encourages you to eat 

when you are hungry and wonders why not. 

The book has five chapters which include; 

chapter one- Are you ready for something 

different? Chapter-two the simplest 

weight-loss system in the world, chapter 

three- programme your mind to slim your 

body chapter four- overcoming emotional 

eating, chapter five the truth about exercise, 

chapter six craving busters and chapter 

seven 

frequently asked 

questions about the simplest weight-loss 

system in the world. 

McKenna poses some interesting questions 

to the reader in this revolutionary book; 

would you like to feel really happy with 

your body? Are you unable to lose those 

last 10 pounds? Do you find it difficult 

to say no to second helpings? Do you get 

disheartened about your eating habits and 

your weight? If so this amazing book and 

CD can help you! 

Comments on the book say Paul McKenna 

has developed a breakthrough weight-loss 

system that re-patterns your thoughts, 

attitudes and beliefs about yourself, 

your health and food to help you easily 

take control of your diet and lose weight 

permanently… as you use Paul’s amazing 

system, the latest psychological techniques 

will automatically help you to start losing 

weight straight away! You can use it again 

and again to make you feel happier about 

yourself as you can go all the way to your 

ideal shape, size and weight■ 

“"I want to thank God for winning this title, last time I came fourth. 

I just want to thank the judges for recognizing me as the winner," 

Maison Sere, A 42-year-old unemployed man crowned Zimbabwe's 

ugliest man at a pub pageant in Harare. Sere, who was missing 

several teeth and dressed in torn overalls, beat off five other 

contestants for the $500 Mr. Ugly prize; a man who felt he was 

uglier contested this but Sere was still the winner. 

"Unfettered monitoring and inspection" 

This is what Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, released in November 

2015 after 30 years in a U.S. prison, will go through according to 

reports. 

“You are bound to compare your current partner to other people 

you’ve dated. But keep your thoughts to yourself. It’s also not a 

good idea to ask too much about their previous partners or even 

how many they’ve slept with. But it’s completely reasonable to worry 

about your sexual health. With this one it’s best to be blunt. Just ask 

straight out: “Do you have any STIs?” 

Chris Hart; speaking about openness in relationships 

“I’d love to hang out! But I’m really busy.”; “Sorry I didn’t get 

back to you earlier! I’ve been so busy.”; “What’s going on with me? 

Just busy as usual!”…You guessed it. The single-word saboteur is 

BUSY.” 

Author Kira Asatryan explaining that there’s this word that 

you probably use all the time. It’s a seemingly harmless word, 

close to meaningless, really, but it’s slowly, subversively tainting 

your relationships. She says the word busy is stealthily driving 

your friends away, and it’s time to eliminate it from your social 

vocabulary. 

“Terrorist world war”….’something like Paris can happen any 

time.” 

These are the warnings from Hans-George Maasen; head of the 

domestic intelligence agency. This was after a near- simultaneous 

attacks by suicide bombers and gunmen on bars and restaurants, 

a concert hall and sports stadium killed 129 and left hundreds of 

people wounded. 

“I want to ask criminals in Kisumu to surrender get saved or flee to 

other regions because we won’t relent on the war against crime.” 

Willy Lugusa; Nyanza Regional Police Coordinator; speaking 

after a suspected robber was killed, while three were arrested and a 

firearm plus other stolen items were recovered after police raided a 

house in the lakeside town. 

“Farmers should know that crop management may be the 

difference between good and poor yield. Even in farming styles and 

methods, the best practices can cut down on pest and excessive use 

of inorganic fertilizers.” 

Joyce Malinga, country crop director explaining that professional 

farmers have to involve the services of professionals to help sustain 

good yields. 

“We think he used unnecessary force, considering that he aimed at 

his chest and shot twice.” 

Comments in a case involving a supermarket manager in Nairobi, 

who allegedly shot his colleague dead; he was being investigated 

for murder. 

“My stay in Kenya and Uganda will be a source of hope…..” 

Pope Francis speaking about his visit to Kenya and Uganda 

“People die everyday, corpses litter the streets…how can the leaders 

allow their population to be massacred from morning to night?” 

Rwandan President Paul Kagame; stating regretfully that what is 

happening in Burundi reminded him “a little” of what took place in 

Rwanda in 1994. 

“Thousands of Burundian refugees are now streaming into 

neighbouring Tanzania and Rwanda. Others have resigned 

themselves to their fate, waiting for death in their own country 

for either possessing the wrong surname or expressing a different 

opinion. Even more important, Burundians and those of us here in 

Kenya who seem hell-bent on treading the same path… must see 

politics based on ethnicity for what it really is: A curse that does 

nothing but defile our humanity.” 

Writer; R. Gachuhi; lamenting the bloodshed in Burundi –DN 

“My life is an endless cycle of borrowing money to plug more money 

that I owe… this storm will mean we will go hungry for a very long 

time. We bet everything on this harvest….The loan sharks only 

have to deal with delayed payment, they will get their money. But us 

farmers are condemned to die in debt.” 

Francisco Santo Domingo; a Philippine A 37 year old rice farmer 

reacting after losing his crops to a typhoon; He had taken a loan 

to buy rice seeds and just a week away from harvest… the typhoon 

struck now his fate is like that of several other Philippine farmers; 

who will have to go back to a loan shark to try and finance another 

rice crop at very high interest rates…. and pay his other loans… 

hoping that the typhoon will not mess him up again. 

” 

62 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2016 

THE ACCOUNTANT

TID BITS 

TID BITS 

Take a look at 

some interesting 

excerpts from 

Africa.com and 

from The African 

Media Initiative 

(AMI). You can 

follow them up 

on the web. 

AFRICAN MEDIA LEADERS 

FORUM CHARTS NEW 

PATHWAYS TO JOURNALISTIC 

EXCELLENCE: 

Action Plan Focuses on Media 

Development and Greater 

Engagement for Sustainable 

Development of the Continent 

Johannesburg-More than 600 

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President 

of the Republic of Mauritius, and 

a welcome address by Hon. Jeff 

Radebe, Minister in the Presidency, 

South Africa. 

The 19 Zimeo Excellence in Media 

Awards 2015 announced at the 

Forum mark a new push to drive 

excellence in media and support 

underway to establish an electronic 

“African Media Cooperative” 

that would pool news stories 

and improve knowledge-sharing 

among media houses. A new 

initiative to strengthen coverage 

of African elections and boost 

reporting capacity was announced. 

To harness the latest knowledge 

and leverage technology, AMI will 

media leaders met at the 7th African 

the sustainable development 

seek collaboration with the U.S. 

Media Leaders Forum on November 

agenda for the continent. A record 

Newspaper Publishers Association. 

11-13 to review new opportunities 

557 entries in 22 categories were 

Eritrean Law Graduate 

Makes History At 

Harvard 

"For my grandmother back in 

Africa, my success in law school 

seemed like magic”. Meet Haben 

Girma, at 27 she has just become the 

first graduate at Harvard Law who is 

blind and deaf. 

Source: This Is Africa 

Which African Country 

Will Paint The Sky Pink 

Next? 

Airlines in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia 

made history when they chartered 

all female-operated flights. That 

brings the tally to three, when will 

other African countries follow suit? 

Source: News 24 

The Tale Of Tanzania's 

Trapped Miners 

It has been the ultimate test of 

survival for 5 Tanzanian miners. 

They have finally been rescued after 

being underground for 41 days, left 

to eat insects and suck the water 

from roots and the soil. They were 

searching for other miners when 

they were trapped. 

Source: Washington Post 

What You Need To Know 

About The Migrant Crisis 

“As long as Africa doesn’t receive 

the fair prices for its resources, there 

will be migrant flows.” That is the 

answer from Senegalese President, 

Macky Sall, on solving the migrant 

crisis. 

Source: Mail & Guardian 

Senegal Bans Burqa In 

Public National interest 

or a crackdown? 

President Macky Sall says the 

full face veil worn by Muslim 

women is not compatible with the 

Senegalese culture or the moderate 

Islam they practice. 

Source: The Guardian 

1,111 Carat Diamond 

Found In Botswana 

It's the largest find in more than a 

century. The world's second-largest 

diamond has been discovered in 

Botswana's Karowe mine, weighing 

in at 1,111 carats. 

Source: Wall Street Journal 

Kagame Approved For 

Another Seven Year 

Term 

Rwanda's Paul Kagame has joined 

the list of African leaders seeking 

a third term in office. Lawmakers 

approved the decision and it is up 

to the public to vote in a nationwide 

referendum. Similar bids turned 

violent in the Republic of Congo, 

Burundi and Burkina Faso. 

Source: Reuters 

arising from digital technologies 

and charted a forward-looking 

action plan for media development 

on the continent. 

“Africa is on the cusp of 

unprecedented economic, cultural 

and social transformations,” said 

Eric Chinje, CEO, African Media 

Initiative (AMI). “African media 

have a central role to play in 

catalyzing sustainable development 

on the continent and securing 

sustainable growth of the media 

sector. At Birchwood Hotel and 

conference Center, we took an 

evidence-based approach to secure 

a better future for African media 

and improve the everyday lives of 

Africans.” 

A highlight of the Forum was 

a keynote address by H.E. Dr. 

received from across the continent 

and were assessed by a pan-African 

complement of judges and jurors. 

The Forum tasked AMI with 

exploring the establishment of a 

publicly-financed “Special Fund 

for Media Development,” whose 

core purpose will be to strengthen 

journalism capacity in Africa’s 

low-income countries. Plans are 

The AMLF is convened by the 

Nairobi-based African Media 

Initiative (AMI) and marks the 

largest gathering of its type 

of African media owners and 

professionals. The next AMLF will 

be held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire in 

November 2016 and venue and dates 

will be announced after consultation 

with the Ivorian authorities■ 





65

TRAVEL 

TRAVEL 

SEVEN 2016 KENYAN 

TRAVEL PLANS NOT TO 

MISS OUT ON 

Ritah Munyiva 

rjmunyiva@gmail.com 

As the New Year sets in, 

many make new resolutions 

with regards to personal 

life, business and all sorts of issues. 

Amongst the resolutions, throw in a 

new adventure for your new year; here 

are some adventures that could make 

your 2016 holiday more memorable 

and fun. 

The Amazing Summit 

Kenya is well endowed with great 

mountains for climbing. These include 

Mount Kenya in Central Kenya, 

Aberdare Ranges on the Kenyan 

highlands, as well as Menengai and 

Longonot craters in Rift Valley. 

head to the next destination before the 

trekkers to set up the camp and prepare 

some meals. 

There are eight routes to the peak, but 

the three most commonly used are 

Chogoria, Naro Moru and Sirimon. 

The Chogoria - Sirimon route is highly 

recommended as it is quiet coupled 

with beautiful sceneries, lakes and 

waterfalls also. 

The adrenalin - pumping jump 

Bungee jumping on the Tana River 

in Kenya is another 2016 adventure 

to try out. One of the truly adrenalin 

pumping ground activities, bungee 

jumping involves a dive from a 

weight of a jumper is restricted to 110 

kilogrammes while the minimum 

weight 40 kilograms however, there is 

no age restrictions. 

The Bungee jump can also form part 

of a road trip or Safari on your way to 

Mt. Kenya, the Aberdares or Samburu 

National Park. The camp is also a 

convenient picnic-camping site. 

The exciting – Kenyan style 

water rafting 

This is another adventurous activity 

that could be combined with bungee 

jumping. Water rafting is another value 

added tourism attraction product. The 

Tana River Rafting at the Sagana 

The mountains can be very hot while 

structure 60 meters tall with an elastic 

Camp offers an exciting day of thrills 

climbing during the day but cold at 

cord connected to one’s back, so as 

and spills as well as a great mix of high 

night. However, Mt. Kenya is cold 

to enjoy the sensation of free falling 

action whitewater coupled with scenic 

throughout due to its snowcapped 

but not fall to the ground. The thrill 

calm water and birdlife. 

nature. While on a mountain climbing 

adventure, always walk during the day 

when it is safe, listen to your body 

and never force your body to continue 

climbing if a health complication 

occurs. 

comes as much from the free-falling 

as from the rebounds and gives you 

a totally exhilarating feeling. This 

activity can be selected as part of the 

team corporate building fun in Sagana, 

Kenya. Families can also try this out. 

A typical Tana River water rafting 

starts with receiving a comprehensive 

safety briefing followed by signing of 

a compulsory release and assumption 

of risk form, visitors drive up to a spot 

where they receive some final practical 

Being Africa’s second highest peak 

The Savage Wilderness Camp, an hour 

training before heading down river. 

at 5,199 meters above sea level, 

summiting Mount Kenya is not a walk 

in the park – preparing for this big trek 

requires conquering other ‘smaller’ 

mountains first. 

All set for it – this big trek is done for 

between four to five days under the 

and a half drive from Nairobi, is one 

of the main commercial bungee jump 

provider. Every person will have 15 

minutes in the jump cage. If the jump 

has not taken place after that time the 

person will be returned to the ground 

without refund. 

According to Sagana Camp, the trip 

is either 16 kilometer (high water 

season) or eight kilometer (low water 

season) lasting up to four hours; this 

will however vary due to the water 

levels. There are options of scenic 

float trips from the camp downstream 

supervision of hired guides and porters 

It is important to note that this activity 

on completely flat water for those not 

who come in handy to carry the bags, 

has weight restrictions as the maximum 

wishing to experience any high action 





67

TRAVEL 

TRAVEL 

water rafting. 

Thanks to Lake Turkana’s ecosystem, 

The Great Migration 

highlight while at the Maasai Mara as 

You dare not miss a Game drive while 

about the animals and their habitat, 

The Mathioya River rafting is another 

the Sibiloi National Park situated on the 

Every year between July and October, 

the trip is heavenly and magical. Those 

at the Maasai Mara as this is designed 

and who also knows where they can 

plan but one of the hardest rafting 

east shore of Lake Turkana in Northern 

nowhere in the world is there a 

on the hot air balloon will normally 

to take visitors closer to the wildlife 

currently be found and how best to 

rivers in Kenya as it is a narrow and 

Kenya is also home to a diverse bird 

movement of animals as immense as 

spend up to two hours floating over 

rich spots as some go around their daily 

approach them. However, there is also 

technical river thus previous water 

life. The Lake is also one of Africa's 

the wildebeest migration where over 

the savannah. Take off is usually in the 

activities such as hunting. It is always 

an option of self-driving. 

rafting experience is required. The 

Athi River water rafting is another 

plan. Flowing through Tsavo National 

Park, one can raft up to 80 - kilometers 

of Kenya’s second longest river with 

most important breeding areas for the 

Nile crocodile. 

The welcoming – wildlife 

conservancies 

two million animals migrate from the 

Serengeti National Park in Tanzania 

to the greener pastures of the Maasai 

Mara National Reserve in Kenya. 

wee hours of the morning just in time 

to catch a breathtaking sunrise. 

recommended that visitors use a local 

driver or guide who is familiar with the 

area, able to give enough information 

As you plan your year, put down one 

of these adventurous trips in your 2016 

bucket list■ 

three days and three nights on the 

Much of Kenya’s success in protecting 

The highlight is normally while the 

river. Water rafting can also be done 

fauna and its wilderness is due to the 

wildebeests have to cross the Mara 

at the Ewaso Ngi'ro River, which runs 

private conservancies that 

border 

River, the large aquatic reptiles as well 

through Samburu National Park. 

national parks and reserves. The 

as other carnivores are busy preying on 

The dazzling – birds’ viewing 

According to the Kenya Tourist Board, 

Kenya has a vast variety of species, 

over 1,000 made possible by lack of 

climatic extremes. 

conservancies encompass vital habitats 

and migration paths that would 

otherwise be lost. Here, visitors have 

an opportunity to venture out to watch 

as the king of the jungle seeks for his 

prey, locate signs of animals’ activities 

them. 

The Maasai Mara is approximately 280 

kilometers west from Nairobi County. 

There are two ways to get to the Maasai 

Mara either by road or air. 

The Kakamega Forest National 

Reserve is said to be home 380 species 

of plants spread in swamps, riverine 

and hardwood forest areas, glades and 

the shallow forest around the edge of 

the reserve. 

such as slumbering areas and carcasses. 

Some of the private conservancies are 

located in Maasai Mara and Laikipia. 

While there, engage in some horse 

or camel riding or even an overnight 

camp. 

Walking safaris while at the Mara 

involves an adventurous trek in the 

Maasai Mara ecosystem giving one 

a chance to see the animals in close 

view. This, however, is not allowed in 

the Maasai Mara National Reserve, but 

Lake Nakuru is home to millions of 

flamingos which gather to feed on the 

algae mingling amongst eagles, herons, 

pelicans and other speckled birds. 

Still along the Great Rift Valley, Lake 

Bogoria is home to over 373 recorded 

bird species while Lake Naivasha, a 

freshwater lake attracts black herons, 

The aquatic experience 

The Kenyan Barrier Reef Kenya is the 

world’s second longest coral reef. With 

more than 140 miles of reef stretching 

from Shimoni in the south to Malindi 

in the north, there are plenty of places 

for anyone interested in an adventurous 

marine exploration trip. 

is permitted in the conservancies and 

group ranches that border the Maasai 

Mara National Reserve. The walks are 

conducted by specially trained Maasai 

guides who explain the way of the 

Maasai culture displaying their skills 

in animal tracking and sharing their 

immense knowledge on the wildlife. 

Most camps and lodges offer walking 

kingfishers – over 450 species have 

been recorded there. The Aberdares is 

also home to plenty of dazzling Birds. 

Marine Parks are the place to the 

diverse aquatic species as they flutter in 

and out of the coral gardens. While at 

it, try out a deep sea fishing experience. 

safaris. 

To get a bird’s eye view of the Mara, 

go ballooning. This is probably another 




69

PEN OFF 

PEN OFF 

ranking of anything under the sun: it 

have consistently sought 

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT 

TO AVOID THE DESTRUCTION OF 

writes that “India is the most popular 

country for outsourcing. Companies 

across the world are reaching out to 

India because their culture is full of 

intelligent, efficient and hard-working 

ways to use sourcing 

strategies to reduce the cost 

of back office services. 

When outsourcing was 

part of a comprehensive 

individuals”. Roberto Manabat, the 

strategy, it has proved to be 

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 

a transformation catalyst 

KENYA’S EDUCATION SYSTEM 

By Jim McFie, a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya 

of Manabat Sanagustin and Company, 

the KPMG representative firm in 

the Philippines, writes that “cost 

that has helped companies 

implement new processes 

and technologies, reduce 

optimization will always continue to be 

costs, access a global talent 

one of the main drivers of growth. But 

pool and change their overall 

Cliff Justice is a partner of KPMG 

LLP in Houston, Texas; his area 

of responsibility is Innovation and 

Enterprise Solutions. He leads the 

firm’s Cognitive Technology, Artificial 

Intelligence and Robotics innovation 

initiatives. He is a leading authority on 

business services strategy, design and 

operations; he has more than twenty 

years of experience in operations, 

outsourcing, offshoring and enterprise 

services transformation. Prior to his 

current role, he led the Shared Services 

and Outsourcing Advisory practice, 

one of the world's leading consulting 

groups specialized in sourcing advisory 

and business services operations. He 

joined KPMG in 2008 and created 

the Shared Services and Outsourcing 

Advisory practice. In 2011, he led 

the acquisition and integration of 

EquaTerra, establishing KPMG as one 

of the world’s largest shared service 

and outsourcing consulting firms. Prior 

to joining KPMG, Cliff Justice was the 

managing director of EquaTerra. 

Sadly, outsourcing and offshoring are 

functions that Kenya was never able to 

win away from other destinations: if the 

amount of outsourcing and offshoring 

that is done in the Philippines today 

was done in Kenya, Kenya’s Gross 

Domestic would instantly grow by 

30% and provide jobs for many 

young people. Ranker.com gives the 

companies should remember that cost 

optimization should be balanced by 

the objective of achieving high quality 

results. Providing both cost-efficiency 

and a highly talented labour pool, the 

Philippines is an attractive investment 

destination. Aside from its competitive 

salary rates, the Philippines offers the 

lowest real estate rental rates in the 

region, which is only one-twelfth of 

the rental costs in Hong Kong but with 

the quality of infrastructure at a par 

with some of the best in Asia”. 

However, sad as it may be that 

Kenya has not captured outsourcing 

business from other countries, Cliff 

Justice reveals that not all may be 

lost. He points out that there is a 

revolution taking shape in the business 

services industry, one that disregards 

the traditional shared services and 

outsourcing paradigms, and centers 

the design of support services on the 

needs and priorities of the enterprise 

as a whole. Since the information 

technology outsourcing mega-deals of 

the 1990s and through the expansion 

of offshoring and business process 

outsourcing in the 2000s, companies 

in the US and other high-cost countries 

business through the use 

of partners. But today, the 

average deal size is smaller, 

performance expectations 

are higher and many providers are 

delivering more complex services 

with greater industry knowledge and 

business acumen. While cost is still 

key, success in a mature relationship 

is more often determined by its 

contribution to the business than by 

cost savings alone. The shared services 

system has also steadily evolved from 

the days of simple accounts payable 

and data entry processing. In many 

companies it has moved up the value 

chain to provide a wider range of more 

complex services and, as a result, 

established an internal brand. Indeed, 

multi-functional captive delivery 

centres are an example of the success 

of the global shared services concept. 

Many organizations have monetized 

the asset and sold off their captives to 

become commercial service providers 

with specialties in an industry and in a 

function. 

In the past five years, a number of 

significant changes have begun to 

transform the traditional underpinnings 

Cliff Justice 

of business service delivery in the 

Western world. For example, cloud 

technology and social media are 

ubiquitous. They are changing not 

only how people connect with family 

members or store music, but also 

how they do business, collect data 

and deliver technology. These are 

more than new technologies; they 

represent a change in behaviour in 

how the customer and business agree 

to interact, share information and 

conduct trade. Perhaps as significant 

a change is who the customer is. The 

traditional low cost arbitrage markets 

have been India, China and other 

parts of Asia. However, the success of 

outsourcing and global manufacturing 

has spawned a rapidly growing middle 

class in these regions, which is both 

increasing the cost of labour and 

broadening the potential customer base 

for many companies. As this success 

causes the benefits of labour arbitrage 

to disappear, how do organizations 

effectively serve new markets, and 

where is the next level of back office 

savings? Most companies would opt 




PEN OFF 

PEN OFF 

for many more new consumers and 

by common processes. These 

of global capabilities, processes and 

additional savings on accounting, 

companies have the characteristic 

governance, implementation of an 

finance and information technology 

of a delivery concept KPMG calls 

EGE-oriented model enables delivery 

(IT): the competitive advantage will go 

the Extended Global Enterprise—or 

of services in a way that not only 

to those that can both connect with new 

“EGE.” The EGE is not a specific 

supports the business but also advances 

customers and do business effectively 

model or a set delivery structure, 

it. It is about using the knowledge and 

in these new markets with lower costs, 

but rather a paradigm for delivering 

capabilities of service providers – both 

better data and market insights, and 

business services based on the concept 

internal and external – to make the 

operational flexibility. 

of end-to-end processes, of internal 

enterprise more successful. 

and outsourced service providers, 

When thinking about sales, general 

of high value services and of strong 

Cliff Justice asks whether this approach 

and administrative functions—human 

central governance. Instead of relying 

always works. Not for everyone. 

resources, IT, purchasing, accounting, 

on resources within the four walls of 

But the results from recent surveys 

etc.—some organizations view these 

the enterprise, the EGE leverages a 

demonstrate that companies with 

support services as a tactical necessity, 

global pool of internal and outsourced 

services delivery designed on similar 

while others consider them a strategic 

resources to deliver a service that is 

concepts have reported cost savings of 

weapon: some see cost centres, and 

nimble, aligned to the business, and 

10-15 percent to 20 percent above and 

others competitive advantages. The 

connected with customers, employees 

beyond the traditional shared services 

reality is that neither of these are 

and suppliers. 

and outsourcing or decentralized 

mutually exclusive. In fact, they 

models. They are reducing facility 

demonstrate the degree of contrast 

The EGE concept has four key 

costs by 10 to 15 percent, for example. 

that Cliff Justice sees in the strategies 

attributes. Firstly, its overall goal is 

And due to improved processes, they 

and objectives of new business service 

to increase value to the business, and 

are getting 8 to 13 percent savings on 

models. But in a market ripe for and 

help achieve competitive advantage. 

indirect goods and services. 

requiring change, a service delivery 

Beyond meeting service levels and cost 

model that focuses on the holistic 

requirements and priorities of the 

enterprise gives companies the ability 

to enter new markets more easily, 

integrate acquisitions more quickly, 

adopt new processes more rapidly, 

and access and analyze a wider 

range of data that, most importantly, 

serves their customer better. While 

many of these new business service 

organizations have different objectives, 

most share common traits. They are 

centrally managed, and usually have 

an integrated portfolio of capabilities 

– typically a combination of external 

service providers, internal specialists 

and internal shared services. Most of 

these organizations are enabled by 

common technologies and governed 

benchmarks, it also enables flexibility 

and the ability to quickly adopt new 

processes, assemble talent, deliver 

new technology and centrally collect 

and analyze relevant data. Secondly, its 

design is influenced more by customer 

need and business strategy than by the 

traditional organizational structure. 

Thirdly, it consists of a balanced 

portfolio of services and processes 

that spans functions, and deploys the 

most appropriate capabilities whether 

they are internal, globally sourced 

or technology enabled. Fourth, 

it is governed by an empowered 

organization that has a charter to 

support the business, manage the 

delivery model and is measured by the 

value it creates. Through alignment 

But that is only the first step. On 26th 

June 2015, Cliff Justice, citing research 

from McKinsey Global Institute at 

the World BPO/ITO Forum's Global 

Sourcing & Cloud Summit in New 

York, predicted that over the next 10 

years, the work of 110 million to 140 

million knowledge workers around 

the globe may be handled by cognitive 

robotic process automation systems. 

This shift to robotic process automation 

-- which digitizes labor through the 

use of advanced machine intelligence, 

engagement, analytics, big data, 

social media, mobile technologies and 

cloud computing - will change the 

knowledge worker labour market as 

we know it. Cliff Justice characterized 

robotic process automation (RPA) as 

a double-edged sword. While RPA 

is expected to ultimately expand 

the job market according to some 

economists and researchers, the latest 

wave of automation in its early stages 

will disenfranchise many workers, 

exacerbating the income inequality 

seen today. He cautioned that RPA 

systems will not necessarily cause 

110 million to 140 million knowledge 

workers to lose their jobs, assuming 

that “the economy and demand for 

knowledge workers continues to 

grow at projected rates”. New RPA 

technology will fill some of the future 

demand for knowledge workers: a 

portion of the displaced workforce 

will be freed up from doing repetitive 

clerical and administrative tasks to 

focus on innovating and generating 

revenue, but others will be automated 

out of a job. 

Cliff Justice points out that there are 

three classes of RPA technology: 

the first is basic process automation, 

which includes sophisticated macros, 

screen scraping and business 

workflow technologies that sit at 

the Open Systems Interconnection 

(OSI)presentation layer and are not 

integrated into the IT system; the 

second, enhanced process automation, 

consists of technologies that use 

natural language processing and can, 

for instance, understand unstructured 

data and apply that understanding to 

process automation; the third and most 

transformative class is autonomic or 

cognitive platforms: Cliff Justice adds 

that “these have the ability to parse 

context and understand meaning like 

IBM's Watson supercomputer did in 

Jeopardy; as this technology merges 

with robotic task automation, you 

have a whole different class of digital 

labor. You have technology that can 

understand your customers and run 

queries against rules engines. If the 

response falls within parameters, the 

technology can inform the robot to carry 

out a transaction and actually do things 

that in the past required decisions."For 

queries that produce results outside a 




PEN OFF 

given set of parameters, the system can 

route the request as an exception to a 

human employee, who can review it 

and answer it. 

Cognitive robotic advancements 

will have a major impact on the 

labor market shifting the knowledge 

worker framework from one of 

labour arbitrage, which reduces costs 

for relevant functions by anywhere 

from 15% to 30%, to one of labour 

automation, which reduces costs by 

40% to 75%. In the very near future 

labour arbitrage is not really part 

of the conversation. The concept of 

outsourcing, which has been a vehicle 

to move things to low-cost areas, is 

a dead concept today. The shift to 

robotic process automation can be 

compared to the Industrial Revolution. 

It will transform the whole idea of how 

one operates one’s business; rather 

than looking to untapped geographic 

regions - "the next India" - to drive 

greater profitability, the new untapped 

potential will be found through 

digitization and automation. 

Cliff Justice states: "If you think it is 

… going to be about low-cost labour, 

you are dead wrong." One key element 

of RPAis that labor automation is 

scalable. "With labour arbitrage, if you 

are going to scale the business, your 

cost moves up as you do it; labour 

automation, on the other hand, follows 

the price/performance curve, not a 

labour curve. Technology is faster and 

cheaper, whereas labour doesnot scale 

that way." 

What about the impact of the shift to 

cognitive robotic process automation 

on the economy? Work by MIT 

researchers Andrew McAfee and Erik 

Brynjolfsson has concluded that robots 

will eventually create "more jobs than 

we could ever have imagined." But 

Cliff Justice cautioned that before this 

job growth, there is likely to be a lot 

of social unrest as income inequality 

increases. 

Thomas Piketty's 2014 book, "Capital 

in the Twenty-First Century", talked 

about how when return on capital is 

the predominant measure of domestic 

income and it exceeds labour, income 

inequality accelerates and you have 

social unrest. Cliff Justice claims "That 

is what we're seeing now. Capital is 

exceeding labour in the western world 

and in the developing countries."The 

good news in this massive disruption, 

he said, is that cognitive robotics 

applied to the knowledge worker space 

opens doors for innovators. "And you 

open the door for massive amounts of 

opportunity. This is an entrepreneur's 

dream." 

Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee 

of MIT and fourteen other experts, in an 

“Open letter on the digital economy” on 

4th June 2015, recommended a set of 

basic public policy changes in the US 

in the areas of education, infrastructure, 

entrepreneurship, trade, immigration, 

and research. They claimed that there 

is a strong consensus that these can 

quickly improve America’s economy 

and the well-being of its workforce. 

I would like to end this article by 

repeating exactly their suggestion for 

the future of education in the US: 

“The economic history of the first 

machine age has been described 

as a race between technology and 

education. Because America invested 

heavily in education, starting with the 

innovation of publicly-funded primary 

education in the 1820s, and later adding 

vocational schools, high school, and 

college scholarships like the GI bill, 

the result was not only prosperity, 

but shared prosperity. But during 

the last few decades, the educational 

attainment level of the American 

workforce has stagnated while the 

demand for skills that complement the 

explosion of digital technologies has 

continued to expand. Moreover, the 

differences in educational attainment 

levels by income have risen. Today, we 

need to invest more in education--at 

least two years of community college 

rather than a high school degree should 

be the minimum educational goal-- 

and we need to address the widening 

gap in educational opportunities by 

income. But it will not be enough 

simply to invest more in education. 

We need to redesign how we deliver 

education at all levels using the power 

of digital technologies. We need 

to reinvent education with greater 

emphasis on STEM disciplines and 

coding skills. We need to shift away 

from rote learning and build instead 

on our uniquely human strengths in 

areas like creativity and interpersonal 

interactions”. 

Kenyans, we live in an extremely 

competitive world: can we take this 

advice to heart, rather than spend 

our time trying to get prior access 

to examination papers which has 

effectively destroyed the value of 

the Kenya Certificate of Secondary 

Education?■ 


JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2016

The accountant January - February 2016

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