EPL/GTV deal stinks

It has slowly and painfully settled in that we will only watch some one or two English premiership games a week from the usual wide selection we used to have in previous seasons. Some people are happy that the Multichoice/DSTv monopoly has finally been broken. I am one who advocates healthy competition. So yeah, time has finally caught up with DSTv, lets see how they deal with it - DSTV in Uganda is reported to have reduced their equipment prices. Others have argued that it is time we watched more of our local leagues or African leagues. I have no problem with that either even though I have a right to choose what I watch wether it be the English, Indian, Jamaican or Nigerian league. I can however say that I am developing an interest in the PSL namely in Kaizer Chiefs, Supersport United, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodo Sundowns. I am actually trying very hard to get a Sundowns jersey to replace my old Liverpool one.

However, I sense something very fishy. We hear that GTV made a bid many times more than what Multichoice offered who also turned in a bid some six times more than last season. So the English Premier League (EPL) was carried away with the cash offer? They have flatly denied that. So what is it then? GTV is only operational in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Others say they are in Burundi, Botswana and/or Mauritius. This means some 42+ countries are being denied coverage of this league. To add insult to injury, GTV Uganda is failing miserably to meet demand. Some 1,000 paid up customers last week could not get the service because the decoders and other accessories had run out. What should we expect when they eventually come to Malawi? When will they eventually come to Malawi should be the question? The GTV website does not state clearly as to when the service will be operational but other web sites have indicated some countries only being connected as late as mid 2008!!

So what really drove EPL to grant majority beaming rights to a company only present in 4 or 5 or 6 African countries out of 48 it is supposed to beam in? Mmmmm, whats that smell?

MBC unethical?

Bakili Muluzi seems to be a man on the brink. I can see a large pile of hair on the floor of his BCA residence, hair he has pulled off of his head. All his 'hard work' over the past decade seems to be crumbling before his eyes. Inflation figures don't seem to have enough zero's on the end. Roads don't seem to have enough potholes in them. Politically motivated violence seems to have ceased. People seem to have more than enough to eat. All these are very bad, evil indicators that seem to be causing the old man so much distress that he is now spewing all sorts of half thought out statements, statements very contradictory to what the old man used to say when in power.

Fortunately he is not being help by the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) formerly known as the Muluzi Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, when under his control, recorded and archived all his public speeches. And boy are there many speeches from many trips he made around the country almost every other day in the last days of his presidency. Today, every time he makes a half thought out statement, MBC goes on to replay a speech from back in the day that is in stark contrast with his present days speech. MBC is also reminding us all how untruthful certain people can be when things just don't seem to be going their way. MBC are reminding us just how far certain people will bend the truth to try in a desperate attempt to get back into power. MBC is reminding us just how certain people are so blinded by greed they can't seem to see the message so clearly written for them on the wall.

The other day some people were arguing saying it is unethical for MBC to replay such speeches. Some said it was not after all they were public statements. My take? I say it is totally unethical to take one stand today and then take a totally different the next!

UDF, make up your mind

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week government and opposition parliamentarians respectively started debating the 2007-2008 national budget. I thank God for that, He truly listens to the cries of His people.

During his response to the budget, UDF's Friday Jumbe amongst other things praised the finance minister for 'sustaining donor confidence as donor support was crucial for Malawi'. This statement is in stark contrast to a press statement from UDF that called on donors to pull the plug on aid.

My question is which is which? I believe in both instances it was UDF speaking. Please make up your mind, you are confusing us!

minibus fuel & mobile airtime

Since the introduction of mini buses in Malawi, people have been able to get around and droop off pretty much anywhere they want. That is the major advantage of mini buses. There are plenty things however that I don't like like smelly arm pits of the conductors or tight chairs especially for daddy-long-legs like some of us or having a bag of dried fish being placed on your lap. But you come to accept that as part of commuter life. There is one thing however that I don't like and still can't understand and it is the bus running out of fuel. What is even more surprising it that once the conductor jumps out with his jerry can, he will only buy a litre or two of the pink energy. Definitely that bus will run out of fuel very soon. Why they insist on driving with a few drops of fuel remains a mystery. One colleague when further to ask the driver 'mukayika fuel wambiri mukuwona ngati ma passenger ife timwa?' (You think we passengers will drink the fuel if you put in a considerable amount?). The question/comment did not faze the driver.

Minibus owners, driver and conductors aside, I have come to learn of a new breed of people who do exactly what these formers do - mobile phone users. They will buy 50 units or 100 units of airtime and load it into their phones. They will then make a call which will cut within seconds because they have exhausted their credit. They will then either pull out another top up card from their pocket or signal to a vendor to bring some more airtime. If you watch them carefully, they will have a couple hundreds or thousands of Kwacha's in their pockets and make a couple of phone calls but stubbornly insist on loading the airtime 'a litre or two' at a time!!

Politicians, licence fees and Macra

There has been general discontent in the ICT industry about high fees that the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) charge. In yesterdays Nation newspaper, I read an article to the effect that MIJ Radio was asking Macra to reduce radio license fees as the high fees make it difficult for radio stations to operate.

MIJ got an immediate response from the information minister. The minister said that Macra can't reduce the fees because the radios are being used by politicians and not advocating development. The minister warned that if the trend (of politicians using the radios) continues, Macra may even increase the fees!!

I beg to ask what the connection is between politicians using the radio stations and license fees? Maybe am too stupid to see the connection! Maybe there is no connection at all! Or maybe we are out to punish certain individuals and all the others are part of the collateral damage. It beats me, it really does, trying to establish connections!!

End the stupidity

Yesterday saw the stakes being raised in the current 'political madness', as Zodiak Radio is calling it. Two people, calling themselves representatives of the people, sought and were granted a court injunction preventing parliament from meeting and discussing the budget. The domino effect of this action was violence. Two other 'MPs' bore the brunt of angry student action. They suffered injuries as a result of stone throwing and were admitted to hospital, so we learn. Now get me right here, I don't condone violence. Neither do I condone stupidity. But I foresee a future where if this stupidity of trying to bring government to it's knees continues, so will the violence!! The sad part is that what we saw yesterday could just be the tip of the iceberg.

Kufunsira

A friend of mine has just asked his girlfriend to marry him and he was asking me the procedure from here on. That question reminded me of the time I asked my girlfriend to marry me.

Normally what would have happened was for me to simply tell an uncle to go an meet her uncle to formalise everything. In this case, my girlfriends uncle asked for a letter! I found it strange but what was this poor boy supposed to do. I pondered over it for a few days. I finally decided to jot a draft. After many drafts and loss of much hair I could barely come up with more than three lines without sounding like I was applying for job. The next headache was what to write this letter on. On A4 paper? How would I put three lines on an A4. If I had one elaborate signature I would have filled the space with it but mine is a very small, miserable one. Should I tear out a leaf from a primary school note book? Where would I find a primary school note book? And would it not look too cheap? At the end of the day I found something and wrote my letter.

Unfortunately this was over eight years ago and I didn't make a copy of it. I doubt I would be able to get the letter (for framing) because the recipient sadly passed away a couple of years ago. How I wish i kept a colour photocopy!

Lets fight this devil called spam

A few days ago a certain gentleman who was resigning from a certain organisation sent out email informing people about his resignation. He sent this email to 254 different email addresses and put all these email addresses under TO:. A few people found it fit to thank this gentleman for the good work he had done. For some reason, they decided to press the REPLY TO ALL button and showered this man with praises. For me that was over the top but I ignored it as on of those things you do when you had a bit too much the previous night.

Today I receive another email from one of the above reply-to-all-trigger-happy people. What was it this time around? A hoax!

Now come on. In the first place, people should learn to take the time to investigate these things. This particular email said there will be two moons on August 27. Guys, firstly there can never be two moons unless of course it's in your dreams or you had one too many again (as above). Secondly there is no year indicated in the email when these 'two moons' will appear. Such omissions are the first signs of a hoax. Secondly exposing so many email addresses can increase the risk of them being harvested by spammers and I hate spam. I detest spam. So firstly you receive spam and then you are at risk of being exposed to further spam. Darn!

It's time people woke up to the reality that just because you and me were addressed in the same email address does not mean we are buddies and therefore should not send each other silly emails. If you have problems making friends, try going to the bottle stores at Bwandilo and buying a drink for everyone there. You will be sure to make a friend or two. Just repeat the gesture one week later and you will be on the right track!