Wealth Declarations
It’s wealth declaration time again for the third year. The process was spearheaded by the intent to curb corruption by having leaders, mainly politicians, publicly declare their wealth. But we are yet to see feedback from anyone/authority who has seen our previous declarations.
According to the latest Adili (No. 82) from Transparency International, a miscellaneous bill in parliament will modify the act so that wealth declarations will be filed every two years, and not annually as is the current case. So far only a few politicians have made public their wealth which was the original intent of the act. Adili also argues, that by requiring only a few key individuals to file returns, Uganda (16,000) and Tanzania (5,400) may be able to handle the huge volume of wealth declaration data than Kenya (with over 650,000 annual returns).
Diva Cards
Standard Chartered has introduced a diva card for women. The card, which has been rolled out in other countries, is a variation of their flat fee account now re-modeled for women to include discounts on auto assurance, health checks, and at some restaurants, salons and health clubs as well as an unsecured loan or overdraft at 15% p.a.
biz tip One great thing about flat fee accounts is for parents (or anyone)sending money abroad to use the free local/foreign transfer (one a month) contained in most of these accounts to send fees or other funds abroad at no extra charge. This can save about 3,000 shillings each time.
Other
– The Nairobi-Mombasa air route is getting more crowded/competitive with Air Kenya (with a new Dash-8) joining East African Safari Air, and soon Fly 540 to take on Kenya Airways who have dominated the increasingly busy route for years.
– The Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC), who currently achieve 95% collections, have advertised to outsource their debt collections.
– The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has advertised to upgrade their smart card system for park entry.
Competition for KQ is heating up esp within the most profitable markets (Domestic & Africa) but will the new competitors survive KQ?
Many have fallen against KQ which continued to introduce new planes which reduces costs per passenger kilometre.
The small planes are slower & are more expensive to run (per pax km) so unless Air Kenya is banking on a niche market (Wilson airport & faster boarding/disembarking) they could run into trouble like the others!
What are the prices like? Ama its 8-10k all the way?
err, doesn’t the word diva carry a negative connotation i.e. a woman who is arrogant and difficult, unless it is targeted at that particular segment of ladies, just a thought 🙂
coldtusker: But KQ can’t sacrifice jets for local routes- 737’s are used for Dubai, SA, India etc. Most people prefer EASA’s fokker jet to Kisumu compared to KQ’s turbo-prop
M: Am told Air Kenya is 13k, while EASA started about 2 months ago at 8,900
chumviKiasi: Diva does not appear to appear to carry negativity here – and many will be able to afford 750/=
I think the diva card is a great example on niche marketing. Women are great spenders and I think it is time Kenyan companies realised that.
the flat fee banking account does not impose any charges in kenya for sending TTs overseas but i was shocked that the charge was levied on the other side.I think i prefer to pay upfront over here like through consolidated bank which levies a 1,000 bob charge and thats all.The latest transaction i paid about 7% on the other side which is steep!
Concerning your post about flat-rate banking, where did you get the info? I cannot find anything substantial/useful on the banks’ own websites. Diamond Trust’s homepage reports “Coming Soon!” !!!