Kenya Insights

Tag: Food

  • Revealed: How Jubilee Propaganda Firm Is Using Google Search Algorithms Manipulation On Unga Campaign To Blow Horns For Uhuru

    Revealed: How Jubilee Propaganda Firm Is Using Google Search Algorithms Manipulation On Unga Campaign To Blow Horns For Uhuru

    Being a political season in a highly contested election, candidates are putting up the best teams, arsenal and sharpest strategies to woo and win hearts of the 19M IEBC registered voters. With barely two months to the 8th Aug date with electorates, jubilee and NASA are not taking anything into chances as they go full offensive to gather as many votes and win as many hearts.

    While Jubilee won the election in 2013 campaigning on the youthful, new leadership and the ICC factor that brought together President Uhuru and his Deputy William Ruto, the cards have had to change four years later into power in popularizing their campaign. Jubilee is using the development platform as their core campaign material, greatly infrastructural projects. Jubilee hopes through the GoK Delivers campaign, the structures they’ve laid in their tenure will earn them another term in office.

    Within the years of Jubilee rule, the state of Kenyan economy has become a center of focus with GDP showing positive index yet apparatus showing otherwise. Kenya thanks to jubilee now has record 4.5T public debt with inflation rate extremely high. Unemployment rate according to multiple sources now stands at 46% a disturbing figure given the fact that the youths make up to 67% of the 45M population. Corruption has been Jubilee’s greatest disgrace with an unimaginable amount of public funds stolen without repercussions. The cost of living has sailed from worse to worst under the last years of Jubilee administration leaving it with an ogre image.

    A cartoon illustrating the state of nation on maize fiasco.

    NASA is capitalizing on the failures of Jubilee in their pursuit of Statehouse occupation. Cost of living being high influenced the Unga revolution given the high prices of flour. Being a staple food to many, Unga was definitely going to be a winning campaign agenda for NASA. On realizing they were losing the scoring and NASA having an upper hand, jubilee swiftly moved in with ‘help’ to lower the maize prices through subsidy to millers. Unga prices would then drastically drop from 170 to 90 following GoK’s 6B subsidy which in essence is another burden to the taxpayer who’ll foot the bill. The Unga price reduction took off the greatest campaign asset from NASA with Jubilee now coming in as the. While the whole thing is surrounded with controversy gave crystal clear fingerprints of artificial food shortage with highly placed state officials as the chief architects, one thing is pretty obvious that food shortage is and was meant to be a campaign material for both camps.

    It is not a coincidence that farmers were supplied with fake fertilizer and seeds that failed leading to drop in yield. It’s not a miracle that after DP Ruto, Agriculture CS Bett gave food security affirmation in January saying the Strategic Grains Reserve had enough maize to sustain the population only for same maize to disappear mysteriously creating a void in supply. It is not a miracle that the very day KRA have notice of tax exemption on maize a mysterious shop vessel supposedly full with maize left Durban for Mombasa and it is not a miracle that the very day that the maize was offloaded from the shop in Mombasa, it was milled, packed full with GoK subsidy stamp and supplied the very day. What I’m saying is the system is self-exposing, powerful individuals we’re yet to establish drained the Strategic Grains Reserve took maize and hid in some ship in the High seas waiting for the subsidy and tax exemption announcement to ‘import’ that maize from Mexico. Good security is government’s priority, A lapse in The system is directly linked to them.

    Jubilee castigated the opposition for taking advantage of the food shortage to campaign against them calling it bloodsucking. However, a surface level investigation by Kenya Insights has unearthed how Jubilee using sophisticated propaganda tactics by Cambridge Analytica, are now fully and milking dry the situation in a well executed Google Search Algorithms manipulation. You’ll also realize the Unga released are packaged with GoK stamp a subliminal message meant to sell jubilee agenda as the rescue agent while it is pretty clear they’re fully to blame for creating the current situation thanks to rampant corruption and incompetent leadership.

    Kenya Insights has discovered that A Google Search for the word ‘Unga’ will bring you a paid ad of an article from the Standard newspaper with a tweaked headline portraying President as the savior in the Unga quagmire. It is unclear yet of Standard Group is part of this campaign since their article is the one promoted to appear on Google Search pages. The sole message here is to paint Uhuru as stainless as possible and show how caring he is by reducing the price of Unga. It is worth mentioning that, the subsidy of 6B on maize is not a gift from the government, this a fresh debt to the already 4.5T. What this means, You and I will pay for that 6B.

    We noticed that when you search for anything on Google and add ‘Unga in the search, the promoted standard newspaper article pops the top on every chat. What this strategy says is that looking for anything touching on Unga will first lead you to a praise and worship article on Uhuru and how he’s the one who has saved Kenya from starvation. You by now can tell jubilee is using the Unga topic to campaign heavily online. Google is the biggest search tool and.most visited in Kenya. By investing in the big data analytics, Jubilee knows a good number of people accessing Google will be reached.

    Cambridge Analytica, the propaganda firm that jubilee hired for its digital wizardry, ìs famed for secretly influencing the outcome of Brexit and US presidential election. Politically motivated third parties including the “alt-right”, a far-right movement in the US, use a variety of techniques to trick the algorithm and push propaganda and misinformation higher up Google’s search rankings.

    These insidious manipulations – both by Google and by third parties trying to game the system – impact how users of the search engine perceive the world, even influencing the way they vote. This has led some researchers to study Google’s role in the US presidential election.

    Robert Epstein, a computer scientist from the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology spent four years trying to reverse engineer Google’s search algorithms. He believes, based on systematic research, that Google has the power to rig elections through something he calls the search engine manipulation effect (SEME).

    Epstein conducted five experiments in two countries to find that biased rankings in search results can shift the opinions of undecided voters. If Google tweaks its algorithm to show more positive search results for a candidate, the searcher may form a more positive opinion of that candidate.

    In September 2016, Epstein released findings, published through Russian news agency Sputnik News, that indicated Google had suppressed negative autocomplete search results relating to Hillary Clinton. This is the exact situation in Kenya right now, we searched for ‘Raila Unga’ and the results was intriguing. We discovered that unlike normal Google run that puts latest articles on top results, searching for Raila Unga brought articles from 2010,2011…and strangely enough, all the articles are on Raila negatively with links from the past linking him with maize scandal. You add Uhuru for us all on top search and Raila’s connection with maize cartel and realize this is a well coordinated digital campaign warfare. We also noticed foreign investors owned need website Tuko as consistently appearing going to affirm our sources that they’re also part of the propaganda team. They command impressive traffic reason they were roped in.

    Then there’s the secret recipe of factors that feed into the algorithm Google uses to determine a web page’s importance – embedded with the biases of the humans who programmed it. These factors include how many and which other websites link to a page, how much traffic it receives, and how often a page is updated. People who are very active politically are typically the most partisan, which means that extremist views peddled actively on blogs and fringe media sites get elevated in the search ranking.

    These platforms are structured in such a way that they are allowing and enabling – consciously or unconsciously – more extreme views to dominate. Appearing on the first page of Google search results can give websites with questionable editorial principles undue authority and traffic. These two manipulations can work together to have an enormous impact on people without their knowledge that they are being manipulated, and our research shows that very clearly. Virtually no one is aware of bias in search suggestions or rankings.

    Twitter Kenya recently brought down their (TwitterKe) handle following persistent allegations that the San Francisco-based company was working with the Kenyan government to censor on trending topics that were castigating the authority. While Twitter has been accused elsewhere of employing such tactics, nothing straight can be said in this line.

    All said, the new phase of political wars is on social media and perception is everything in winning votes, any side despising their opponent’s jabs is only doing so at own peril. Michael of Prison used a spoon to break prison walks literally, every jab counts that’s what I’m saying. Propaganda is part of politics If you’re targeted you neutralize with truth in a prompt well-structured communication system. We’re tired of dropping same bars so for obvious reasons some people won’t be mentioned here today.

    Today, it is exactly 75 days to the election date, you’ll be treated to truths, half-truths, and blatant lies. What the digital mercenaries are doing for jubilee is toxic to the targeted but a job is well done to the client who is taking over digital space to tear down Raila and his character painting him a violent, failure and a never accept defeat person. While we all hold our own perceptions to these, the character assassination continues. Lastly, it is shameful that after creating this crisis, the state still has the nerves to milk the situation dry, maximizing on digital campaigns. Normally when Google Search Algorithms lapse is revealed they rush to adjust and by the time you end reading this article, with the little secret exposed, you might find out a change in the search results.

  • How Top Corrupt State Officials Conspired To Create Artificial Maize Shortage To Make Big Profits Off The Mystery

    How Top Corrupt State Officials Conspired To Create Artificial Maize Shortage To Make Big Profits Off The Mystery

    The media need to be honest with Kenyans and tell them why we are facing a food crisis. There is no greater tragedy than those entrusted with empowering the masses hoarding information that points to government incompetence and dereliction of duty in feeding its people.

    For starters, Kenya has a government body called the National Cereals & Produce Board (NCPB). Anytime you hear there is a reshuffle in government parastatals, kindly go straight to the appointee of the NCPB docket, because this is, arguably, the greatest cash cow of all the government entities around.

    And for obvious reasons.

    According to FAO – the United Nations agency responsible for defeating hunger – the average person in Kenya consumes 2,155 kilocalories of food per day. Of this, 1183 kilocalories (55%) are in the form of the main staples of maize, wheat, beans, potatoes, and rice. Of those 5 main sources of energy, maize is the main staple food in Kenya, accounting for 65% of total staple food caloric intake. Simply put, 7 in 10 Kenyans survive on maize meal as their main source of energy. The average Kenyan consumes 88 kgs of maize products per year; approximately one full sack.

    And this is where the NCPB comes in.

    Nairobi commuters navigating the Jogoo Road-Embakasi route will never fail to spot those giant cemented drums sitting between Outering Road and Likoni Road. Those drums, right there in Doonholm, are the The Nairobi Grain Silos, and the headquarters of the NCPB Nairobi/Eastern Region. The intimidating structure, which can bee seen by a sitting toddler from as far as Baba Dogo in Ruaraka, is designed to store 880,000 90kg bags of grain. It will take 1 million Kenyans, feeding on the maize inside that depot daily, one year to empty the contents in there.

    And they are not alone.

    Other than the Doonholm silo, there are ninety six (96) other NCPB depots spread all over the country. From Turbo to Kibwezi, Voi to Sagana, the NCPB silo network is so elaborate you could argue it is the only evenly distributed national resource in this country. There is no way Kenya can be facing hunger with all the NCPB silos in this country operating optimally.

    But we are, and here is the reason why.

    If you listened to the Finance Minister Budget Speech last month, you must have heard of a term he called ‘The Strategic Grain Reserves’, or SGR. Paragraph 89, of the 2017 Budget Speech, reads, and I quote;

    “Mr. Speaker, to enable the country maintain adequate food reserves and ensure productivity of our lands, I have allocated Ksh 1.3 billion for the strategic grain reserves; and Ksh 0.1 billion for mechanization of agriculture. To diversify our agriculture, I have allocated Ksh 0.1 billion for the revival of the pyrethrum sector, and for the Miraa farmers, I have set aside Ksh 1 billion. To enhance service delivery in the lands subsector, I have set aside Ksh 1.6 billion for Issuance of Title Deeds; and Ksh 0.9 billion for Digitization of Land Registries.”

    The SGR, commonly referred to as as emergency food reserves or food security reserves, is a government measure to cushion Kenyans from the adverse effects of hunger. What this means is that to ensure Kenyans do not starve to death, every year, the government allocates money to NCPB to buy cereals that they will store, on the government’s behalf, and which can only be used in times of a food crisis.

    The NCPB, therefore, procures, stores and maintains an SGR stockpile of up to four million bags (to be upgraded to 8 million bags) on behalf of the government to be used for food security. Upon instructions from the government, the NCPB is required to turn over the SGR stock through releases to commercial outlets and/or to social functions.

    It’s all good on paper.

    With that level of preparedness, anyone landing from the moon would choose Kenya, all day long, as the most food secure nation to live in under the sun. But we aren’t. Where is the SGR stock that the NCPB should be releasing to commercial millers at this time of a food crisis, you ask?

    Your answer, which the media would rather gloss over, lies with Newton Keter – the NCPB Managing Director.

    In June 2016, Parliament’s Public Investment Committee summoned the National Cereals and Produce Board Managing Director, Newton Keter, to explain to Kenyans why the price of maize flour was threatening to blow the roof off. He came at the speed of light, with evidence the size of my grandmother’s granary. And if the committee expected him to run around the bush with his response, then they were in for a rude shock.

    The NCPB Managing Dorector told them, in no uncertain terms, that the SGR Trustees, among them principal secretaries in the ministries of Agriculture, Treasury, Interior and Special Programmes, had delayed to order sales of the SGR maize from their silos, and that some of the maize had stayed there for over eight (8) years, leading to contamination.

    It is the shortest ever submission, and by far the clearest, by a government official since 2013. The message was clear; that the artificial shortage of quality maize for millers, which had led to a spike in the cost of maize flour, was occasioned by government policy makers sitting in air-conditioned offices rubbing their convex bellies without a care in the world. The SGR trustees, mandated to sign off the dispatch of maize to millers to cushion us from starvation, were busy swiveling in their chairs watching the clock tick away while the dispatch letters were lying in-front of them waiting for just a sign.

    And for obvious reasons.

    The maximum recommended period for NCPB to store maize, without compromising on quality, is two (2) years. Beyond that, the quality of the grain begins to deteriorate, leading to contamination which renders the maize unfit for human consumption. At the time of that grilling by the PIC, Mr. Keter revealed to the country that they had 400,000 bags of maize in their stores which had already been discoloured, with another ‘substantial amount’ already infested by weevils and other vermin. In short, the Strategic Grain Reserves in this country, at this time last year, needed a complete overhaul. No one would buy the low quality grain even if it were to be traded in the black market, for a penny.

    That, up there, is what is wrong with this country.

    Nothing happens by chance in this country. Everything happening in this country is meticulously planned to the last full-stop There is a reason someone high up the government food chain wanted Kenya to experience maize shortage.

    And here is why.

    Maize grain prices in Kenya, according to a 2009 study, are among the highest in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. Comparing price levels in the major urban markets of Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa, only Malawi has mean maize prices exceeded those in Kenya. What that means is that one can comfortably sanction government policy to import cheap maize in the country, sell it to millers for a tidy sum, and pocket the remainder without breaking a sweat in the farms like those in the Rift Valley do. It is not surprising, given that Kenyans long abandoned the virtue of hard work and adapted their noses to sniff at opportunities that guarantee quick money.

    And it came to pass.

    Let’s hear from Henry Rotich’s Budget Statement last month;

    “Mr. Speaker, considering the hardship and the suffering associated with the recently declared national disaster as a result of the widespread drought in the country, white maize will be imported on a tax free basis for a period of four months. In addition, in order to support our Muslim brothers, the importation of dates during the period of Ramadhan will be done free of taxes.”

    That statement can be found on paragraph 165 of the Budget Speech read in parliament last month. You may interpret that statement the way it pleases you but at the time that speech was being read, it was reported that a duty free maize consignment from COMESA was already in the high seas waiting to dock at the Port of Mombasa immediately the Finance Cabinet Secretary was done with his pitch..

    It is not the first time government had deliberately strangled a public service outfit to give room for private entities to reap from the suffering of Kenyans.

    It the reason farmers in the Rift Valley protested at that move, because it meant that zero-rated imported maize was going to lower the prices of their main source of livelihood making them incur loses from the production of their grain. Private brokers with links high up the government food chain were handsomely rewarded while hardworking farmers down there breaking their backs to earn a living off commercial maize were told to accept and move on.

    As Winston Churchill famously remarked; “An appeaser is the one who feeds the crocodile hoping it will eat him last.”

    Freedom is coming, tomorrow.

    By Gabriel Oguda

    The original version of this story first appeared on writer’s Facebook page.

    This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Kenya Insights or its Editors. We welcome opinion and views on topical issues. Email: [email protected]