Kenya - Al Kags — Strategist, Social Entrepreneur, Writer

May 15, 2024

Spare a thought for child-parents this International Day of Families

As we mark International Day of Families on May 15th, it's time to spotlight the unsung heroes shaping our societies: families. This isn't just a day to celebrate the myriad forms of family units but also to confront the stark realities many face, especially those ...

November 6, 2023

Thoughts from the Data Festival (1): Power of Definitions in Data work

I travelled 40 hours from Nairobi to Uruguay to attend the first Data Festival after COVID-19. The event underscored how the world seems to have paused for those three years since 2020. On day zero, I attended a couple of exciting sessions. The first was co-organized ...

September 25, 2023

Part Two: Citizen-Generated Data must be kept true to its essence – and be kept in its definition.

The Nuance of "Citizen-Generated Data": Why It's More Than Just "Citizen Contributions to Data" and "Citizen Data" In my last post, I argued that Citizen-Generated Data should be kept true to its essence that it is by Citizens and for Citizens. I have read some discussions ...

September 15, 2023

Citizen-Generated Data must be kept true to its essence: for citizens by citizens

In an ever-evolving world, the dynamic between citizens and governments is taking new forms. One such development is citizen-generated data, a concept becoming pivotal in the socio-political space. It's essential to think about its true essence. While it has gained traction with the established structures, ...

September 2, 2023

My 100-acre forest: progress report

A few months ago, I mentioned in this blogpost that I resolved to plant a 100-acre forest. The reasoning is that I heard that a 100-acre forest would contribute greatly to changing the climate of a place. The place where I have bought the land ...

August 17, 2023

Michael Joseph Leaves Safaricom after 23 years

Kenyans have much to thank him for Michael Joseph, the legendary corporate leader who led Safaricom to be the most successful company in East Africa, has left Safaricom's board. I first met Michael Joseph in 2010 when I was running the Elimisha US initiative, which was ...

July 19, 2023

It’s hard to be a progressive (or optimistic) lately

This is likely to turn out to be one of the worse written blog posts. I am writing it while having experienced many highs and lows in the last couple of days, and I have yet to process them fully. Being progressive or optimistic today ...

July 11, 2023

MAONO SPACE: It works!

The Maono Space experiment seems to be working. We could not be more excited. I moved to Malindi in December 2020, and I wrote blog posts about how different things are here. How so many people are going through life without an education. How so ...

February 28, 2023

Administrative Data and the end of Government Statistics as we know it?

On the sidelines of the UN Statistical Commission meeting in New York, at the Collaborative on Administrative Data for Statistics, I saw the government of the future coming ever closer and faster. Here is my prediction. Yesterday, I attended a lunch meeting on the Collaborative on ...

February 6, 2023

Reframe the conversation: tree cover is the issue

The solution to the challenges posed by climate change lies not only in reforestation efforts but also in increasing tree cover everywhere Listen to the Blogpost here, voiced by an AI reader Trees are vital to combating climate change because they play a significant role in ...

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