Gospel of Prosperity

El Salvador’s Archbishop Oscar Romeo once posed, “A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch that real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed-what gospel is that?” I must contend with the fact that religion has undergone tremendous transformation since Jesus Christ saved us and ascended to heaven. However, Christianity, as compared to other religions, has witnessed the greatest change. I long for those old times that men of cloth used to give sermons that were meant to bring back lost sheep back to God. Times have indeed changed. The church has become a booming business to an extent that some people have called upon the government to impose tax on them since they are making profits just like any other business entity. Perhaps, it may help in footing the deficit in national.

The current generation is obsessed with money and wealth accumulation. People go to outrageous extent in pursuit of wealth. They, in turn forget the Giver of life and money becomes their god. Life has never been a bed of roses. In any case, God told Adam and Eve that they will have to toil to make ends meet. Problems experienced in life has made people hopeless, desperate and frustrated. This is the point where some of these rogue pastors take advantage to push the gospel of prosperity. These pastors package their sermons with gospel of prosperity-how one can get wealth or be prosperous. In return, the congregation pay handsomely for the pastor has prayed for him/her to be prosperous.

Nowadays, we have become accustomed to messages like “Tuma mbengu ya Ksh.5, 000 na utapata kupandishwa cheo ambayo umekuwa ukingoja kwa muda mrefu”. Who thought at one point in their lives that they will be buying miracles? Miracles are in this day and age being sold and the price depends on the nature of the problem. Some have gone ahead to choreograph the miracles so as to boost their credibility that they can indeed heal as a recent TV investigation revealed. What is more worrying is that the congregation has been brainwashed to an extent that they don’t leave the church event after the pastor of the church has been busted for conning them.

In addition to that, most of the gospels of artists have reinforced the sermons of prosperity by loading their music with lyrics focusing on opulence instead of promoting the glory of God. It is undeniably unfortunate that Gospel of Prosperity has taken over and the word of God has taken a back seat. It is my utmost prayer that that few left trying to bring back the lost souls to God to continue with their good work. Wealth is not a perquisite for entering the kingdom of God. There is more to life than wealth accumulation.

©Steve Osombah

Growth of University Colleges Should be Controlled

The higher education sub-sector has witnessed exponential growth in the recent past despite the industrial unrests which have now become a norm. As countries like Gambia have only two universities, Kenya boasts of ten public universities and several private universities with the University of Eldoret, Narok and Kimathi Universities receiving their charters last week. Consequently, the number of students joining universities has increased over the recent years. This is a positive step given that the country is aiming to achieve a middle income status by the year 2030.

However, the university colleges are growing at an alarming rate. Some have argued that the rapid growth should be taken positively given that it is increasing access to higher education. Other pundits, on the other hand have argued that, the growth is due to power struggle in the university management where everybody wants to be a Principal, Finance Officer or the Vice Chancellor when the constituent college becomes fully fledged university. Others have attributed the mushrooming of the university colleges to politics where politicians want to have institutions of higher learning in their counties.

One of the adverse effects is that they take over middle level colleges which offer diploma and certificate programs. This has left a vacuum which has created a crisis whereby students who do not attain minimum grade for university entry lack a place to further their education. At this time, we only have two national polytechnics, that is, Eldoret and Kisumu Polytechnics which have resisted attempts to be taken-over by the universities. The constituent colleges also duplicate degree programs and as a result, we have excess supply of some professionals in the job market. Moreover, universities offer similar programs. 

 

Kenyans have shown significant interest in education but caution should be taken so that we do not end up with 47 or more universities not to mention the private universities which are also growing fast. It is therefore necessary to regulate the university colleges. The number of students taken to pursue different degree programs should be regulated to avoid surplus professionals and they should also diversify the degree programs.

Entrepreneurial Spirit in Moi University Community

Entrepreneurship has been a major topic of discussion in the country in the wake of diminishing employment opportunities. The government has spearheaded several initiatives in a bid to promote entrepreneurship including setting up of Youth & Women Enterprise Funds-which provide loans at much lower rates than the commercial banks. With these kinds of boosts, the entrepreneurship spirit has continued to grow with many people now venturing into business. However, Moi University community seems to have been left out in this quest for wealth creation and self-employment.

Establishment of a university in a given locality usually brings with it lots of opportunities which could boost economic prospects of that particular area owing to the large population. Moi University was established in 1984 and 28 years down the line the entrepreneurship spirit in the area leaves much to be desired. Be as it may, the local community has not taken full advantage of the potential business opportunities available that could rake in thousands of shillings if not millions. Some of the sectors that the community ought to have ventured into include:

Real Estate: This is currently one of the most profitable ventures in the country. The perpetual problem of room shortage has always been experienced in the university every academic year. This presents an opportunity for the local community who can build hostels for the students who miss university accommodation. What if we had a building similar to Hostel H put up at Talai Shopping center or Cheboiywo?

Transport: This perhaps is the highest performing sector in Moi University community save for cartels and tribalism that has dogged the sector thereby limiting its full potential. However, much needs to be done since there are still opportunities in the sector.

Entertainment: No offence, but entertainment in this place is just whack. Currently, we only have two main entertainment joints which have small space that cannot even hold 20 people at any given time. Comrades have been forced to buy drinks and enjoy them outside the bar in usually the chilling cold of this part of Kenya. What if we had our ‘Signature’ or ‘Spree’?

Hotel/Catering: No hard feelings but the quality of food here is way below average and perhaps it could be the reason most comrades prefer to cook for themselves. Hotel ventures can be very profitable especially if quality and quantity of food is addressed. In addition to that, the hotels lack food diversity thereby limiting choice of food. As it stands now, there are three ‘hotels’ while the rest are ‘vibandas’. The ‘hotels’ and ‘Vibandas’ alike charge exorbitant food prices which is not commensurate with food quality/quantity with Ugali-Mboga going for Ksh.50 as opposed to market price of Ksh.30. 

Information, Communication & Technology: The profitability of this sector has significantly reduced owing to the proliferation of internet enabled phones and the free wireless internet provided by the university. However, there are still other people who do not have access to computers or smart phones. Currently, there only two cybers with a capacity of 10 people against an estimated population of 12000 students. As a result, comrades have been forced to queue for cyber services.

There are myriad challenges in entrepreneurship. Nonetheless, the local community can still tap the opportunities lying in the sectors discussed above. The development in this area, 28 years down the line could be astounding. However, it’s never too late especially with the fact that the university will never close its doors owing to the accelerated program.

HIV/AIDS CONSPIRACY OR IS IT?

Anti-Retroviral Drugs

Human Immunodeficiency Virus-HIV that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first clinically discovered in 1981 in United States and since then it has claimed several lives. There are currently 34.2 million people around the world that live with the virus according to Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The origin of HIV has been shrouded in a lot of mysteries. There are several conspiracy theories that have come up to try and explain how the virus came to being however, none of them has been proven. One of the theories alleges that the virus was actually manufactured in a lab by scientists from the colonists. According to this school of thought, the aim of the colonists was to wipe out clean inhabitants of Africa so that they could take over the resources. Perhaps that may explain the high rates of infection in the African continent as compared with other continents. However, no evidence has been produced to support the claims. The other theory suggests that the virus might have come from Chimps and significant research has been done to prove this-actually there is a resemblance between Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) found in Chimpanzees and HIV.

The search for HIV/AIDS cure has been ongoing since the first case of infection was discovered. Scientists around the world have been cracking their heads to find the cure to this virus. After years of intensive research, 1987, the first Anti-Retroviral drug was produced, AZT debuts. This was a major breakthrough in medical research given that the patients died within a relatively shorter time. The Anti-Retroviral Drug restrains the growth and reproduction of HIV hence extending the lifetime of the patient. However, the drug remains above the reach of the poor who are the majority. The drug costs about $159 or Ksh.13, 356 per person per year.

Since the discovery of Anti-Retroviral drugs, cure is yet to be found, at least on record. However in 2011 renowned scientist Prof. Arthur Obel claimed he could cure the virus with his drug christened ‘Pearl Omega’ but he refused to reveal the formula. The controversial professor was quickly ruled out with the authorities saying that he was causing anxiety and false hope among the public. That maybe true but he was not given a chance to defend his claim.

Prof. Obel might be one among many others who have claimed to have found a cure but were silenced before even given the platform to prove their claims. This brings one pertinent question; is there will to find the cure? Have people conspired to ensure the cure remains a mirage while continuing raking in millions of shillings in the production of ARV’s?

HIV/AIDS has transformed from a pandemic to a very profitable sub-sector in the health industry. Come to think of it, how many people have secured employment since the discovery of the first infection? Medical research centers have been set up across the world in a bid to find the ‘cure’ and as such received grants courtesy of HIV/AIDS. Pharmaceutical companies are perhaps the largest beneficiaries as they sell ARV’s for millions of patients, condoms for protection, test kits and on top of that receive research grants.

Funds have been set up to support fight against HIV/AIDS especially in less developed countries who are the biggest casualties. Closer home, Non-Governmental Organizations-NGOs have mushroomed everywhere purportedly addressing various issues in the fight against AIDS. Some have gone ahead to set up ghost NGO’s who receive grants for the campaigns while others exist but disappear after receiving the grant.

AIDS has sadly become a business venture where individuals are profiteering at the expense of others. Nobody in the entire HIV/AIDS Ltd is really interested in finding the cure since they will significantly reduce their profit margin or lose out completely. The NGOs would no longer be relevant, condom sales will drop, and jobs will be lost and slashing of research grant among others. So they would rather maintain the status-quo.

Some argue that HIV/AIDS is the disease prophesied in the bible that will have no cure though the bible does not out rightly mention the disease. There are many non-curable diseases so we can’t peg our argument on that. The disease maybe a man made and has been a profitable venture since its advent. Expect no cure at least in the foreseeable future as profit remains the bottom principle.

Personalities in Group Assignments

Group Work/Source:www.cte.uwaterloo.ca

Eight out every ten students you meet do not like group assignments. Many students loathe working in groups yet the lecturers seem to like this method of assessment perhaps because it reduces load of work especially in cases where the classes are large. Most students claim that group tasks are difficult to accomplish owing to the uncooperative nature of the group members. Scholars in Organizational Behaviour recommend that a group should have five members and if it goes overboard, then a maximum of seven members.

However, the groups have members of varying personalities and character which dictates success or failure of a particular group. Let’s walk through some of these personalities and characters you may have encountered in a group.

The Absentee: Like the name suggests, he/she never attends any of the group meetings. They tend to be arrogant and have a care-free attitude, never bothers with the task at hand. They think others were born to work for them. When the results are released they will be the first to criticize the group’s performance.

The Braggart: They usually think that they are genius and know more than other group members. He/she rudely interrupts other members with statements like “No! That’s wrong! Which book are you quoting from?” When giving examples he/she boasts about this and that. The bragging gets worse in instances that the group is dominated by one of either gender.

The Water Melon: These people have a tendency of attending one meeting and skipping the next one. They usually come late and leave early claiming that they have other ‘business’ to attend. When present, they participate in the group deliberations and somehow they tend to be humorous.

The Pumpkin: These people tend to just sit during group discussions with blank stares at the moderator. When asked a question or to contribute they are like “Hata sijui.Aki hiyo swali ni moto”. When the task is delegated they usually hand in a quarter of a page copy pasted from Wikipidia while the lecturer on the hand requires a minimum of thirty pages. However, pumpkins are loyal and committed to the group. They attend all the group meetings.

The Team player: He/she attends all meetings and comes on time. If he/she thinks that he/she will be caught up somewhere for whatever reason, he/she apologizes in advance. They participate fully in the discussion and is concerned about the group’s performance but fear responsibility.

The Moderator: He/she is commonly referred to as the ‘chairperson’ mainly because he/she leads the group discussion. He/she possesses the team player however takes responsibilities of the group affairs. He/she sees to it that the work has been done and is satisfactory.

The Lone Ranger: This category is quite different from those above. They usually don’t have groups as a result resort to do the group work single handedly. One thing that stands out in this category is that they are anti-social and as such have few or no friends at all.

As much as you love to hate it, group work is important. It is a litmus test of your interpersonal skills which is vital in organizations. Group work gives one an opportunity to develop our reasoning ability, communication skills and even boosting our self-esteem. So where do you fall?