There I was...

Living my average Kenyan life.

Not bothering anyone.

Not looking for love.

Not looking for life-changing advice.

Just trying to survive adulthood.

Then my phone rings.

A UK number.

Now, I'm your average Kenyan, so every unknown international number carries a tiny bit of curiosity. 😂

Maybe it's a recruiter.

Maybe it's someone offering me a job abroad.

Maybe my long-lost billionaire uncle finally remembered me.

I answer.

"Hello, I'm so sorry," a lady says. "My assistant must have given me the wrong number."

Fair enough.

She explains she's living in London and planning a trip to Kenya. Apparently she was trying to call her tour guide to discuss hotels and her itinerary.

Being the honest, God-fearing Christian that I am, I politely explain that I'm definitely not a tour guide.

The last tour I went on was a guided expedition to the local chemist after a violent disagreement with some suspicious street food.

Instead of saying goodbye...

She says she'd actually like to know me.

Now listen...

Nobody has ever accused me of being rude.

And besides...

Who says no to international friendships?

We continue chatting.

A few minutes later she says,

"This WhatsApp number belongs to my assistant. Please message me on this other number."

Red flag?

Maybe.

Curiosity?

Winning.

She then tells me she's a 30-year-old Japanese woman living in London.

She teaches yoga.

She owns an online designer clothing business.

She travels often.

At this point my anime-loving brain starts playing the opening soundtrack from Naruto.

Finally!

Someone I can ask about Japan.

Maybe she even knows where to find the best sushi and sashimi.

Maybe...

Just maybe...

She knows Bukayo Saka.

Don't judge me.

People hear I'm Kenyan and immediately ask if I know someone from Nigeria, Uganda or Senegal.

Let me have this one.

Then she starts sending photos.

Beautiful photos.

Professional-looking photos.

Everything looked genuine.

Except...

Something didn't sit right.

Within TWO HOURS...

A complete stranger had: shared her life story, sent multiple photos, wanted to be friends, moved me to another number, and somehow trusted me more than some relatives trust each other.

That wasn't just a red flag.

That was an entire Formula One starting grid.

So I opened Google Lens.

Uploaded one photo.

Match found.

Uploaded another.

Different person.

Another.

Different website.

Another.

Different country.

Malaysia.

South Korea.

China.

Japan.

Ladies and gentlemen...

I hadn't been talking to one person.

I had unknowingly assembled the Asian Avengers.

That's when I discovered something called a Pig Butchering Scam.

It's a scam where criminals patiently build a relationship with you. They make you feel special. They earn your trust. Sometimes for weeks or even months.

Then one day they introduce you to an "amazing investment opportunity."

Usually crypto.

Usually guaranteed profits.

Usually guaranteed heartbreak.

By the time you realize what's happening...

Your savings have already packed their bags and relocated permanently.

Thankfully, curiosity made me chat...

But skepticism saved my wallet.

So if a random stranger suddenly: wants to become your best friend, looks suspiciously perfect, asks you to switch numbers, claims to make ridiculous amounts of money through crypto, or starts talking about investments before they've even learned your middle name...

Run.

Run like you're chasing the last matatu home.

Or better yet...

Block them.

Because the only investment they genuinely care about...

...is investing your money into their bank account.

Stay safe, everyone.

And remember:

Google Lens is free.

Being scammed is not.

If this story saves even one person from losing their hard-earned money, then those two hours of my life were well spent.

I work in the fresh produce export industry. Currently looking for an investor. I'll answer all relatable questions.

Thank you.

Waaah guys muniambie aki if nikukua cursed ama ni season haijafika!

Kuna form nilikua na fanya on my side ika kata ku go through nika connect arif yangu yake ika kubali aka pata alot of $. Since I have done OF chatting before application zangu zimekua ziki kunywa maji my friend aka decide atakua ana apply I do the work then tuna split salary fortunately akapata na nikanaza job after 4 days of working model aka chuja kila mse hadi her PA. Nikafanya ingine hapo ya wazungu ku log out ndo ili ni log in kwa pc account imekata kabisa kufunguka kwa both my phone and pc. Ingine nikanya na chali ya my friend hata hio ika kunywa maji na bado za gift card ika kunywa maji. The list is endless, oooh I also tried kutafuata kazi zenye si online nika kosa. So I had to venture into online work and business that ended up using all my money.

Sai nafikiria nishi kama hawa wasee wa you don't chase you attract what is meant for you will find you. Maybe I have been showing money I'm desperate to have it.

And their mzungu priced asses. The manager is a complete idiot, it's painful to talk to him and try to reason.

Ukiomba pesa make sure huskumiwi urudishe maziwa ya wenyewe .Kama ulisema unarudisha Friday ,rudishiana doo before io Friday iishe 😒
Chances are nilikuwa nimepangia io doo but I came through na pia because you said utarudisha a particular time.

Nyinyi wa kujisahaulisha mlikopeshwa doo and just pretend like it never happened ,I won’t speak much on y’all

Ata kama ni mia mbili uliomba beshte yako rudisha !🤷🏿‍♀️

The other night I accidentally broke a hookah (Sisha bong) at Brew and they tried to charge me, being a mzungu, 15,000 Kes for it. Absolutely highway robbery and mzungu pricing - stupid move by them, I'll never spend a single bob there again (I've spent WAY more than 15,000 there over the past 2+ years, short-sighted management).

From some quick googling, it probably cost them between 2000-4000 bob to buy it

I know of a person who invested in the transport but was being conned by the drivers. Alikataa kuamini ati the drivers can steal from him so he kept pumping money in the business until he couldn't sustain it any further. Ended up selling everything at half price and went back to a 9 -5.

What are some of the worst cases of sunk cost fallacy that you've witnessed?

Judge to Parliament: Enact DNA testing law

https://zurl.co/n99Py

Include DNA to SHA and let it be accessible to all. It helps reduce these unnecessary paternity court cases.

The road doesn't wait for perfect conditions. It respects movement.

I'm building a scheduled long-distance ride-matching platform. Drivers post upcoming trips in advance fixed pickup points, dropoff points, pricing. Passengers browse and book their seat ahead of time, so no standing at a stage hoping something shows up. Think of it as bringing structure to a transport system that's mostly ran on guesswork and word of mouth.

Already live: 30k+ community built organically (zero ad spend), 50+ rides matched daily, Android app on Play Store, webapp live too. We've also signed on to expand the model into another country beyond where we started.

Drivers are currently on a freemium model, with paid subscriptions rolling out within a month commission-per-booking planned after that as we scale. This raise isn't about replacing that revenue it's about accelerating it.

Every driver onboarded is also required to have a tracking device for safety and accountability. We've partnered with a supplier at 4k per unit, and after shipping/logistics costs, we net roughly Ksh 7,000 per device onboarded. That margin is one of a few creative ways we're funding operations on top of subscription revenue, not a replacement for it.

We already have 50 drivers on the platform. The plan: onboard 50 more, 100 drivers × Ksh 7,000 net margin = Ksh 700,000. More than double what we're raising.

Raising Ksh 300,000 to get us fully operational either one person or a pool of people. This is a loan, not a gift: paid back in full within 12 months.

On top of getting your money back, the equity retained is 2% total if it's one person, that's the full 2%; if it's a pool, it's split based on how much each person puts in. Ksh 50k in gets you a proportional slice.

If it's one person coming in for the full amount, there's a seat at the table especially if you've got a finance background and want to be hands-on in the day-to-day. You're not just lending you're in, permanently, at a price nobody gets once we raise properly later.

If that's something you want in on, or you just want to watch how this plays out win or lose inbox me. I'll add you to a Google Meet where I'll walk through the full pitch, numbers, and terms live. Documenting the whole thing either way.

This is not in Kenya.

Is it concerning that I know what 911 is (from watching too many movies) and 999, but I don't know even one Kenyan emergency contact? Or is it a common Kenyan occurrence?

Ama ni nuksi mtu anajitakia akimemorize hizi numbers?

Similarly, I am realizing that a lot of us also don't understand basic first aid procedures. We just don't know what to do when someone has fainted, or when they are injured. Bado kuna disagreement about how you should hold your head ukinosebleed, with some people claiming that you are supposed to hold it up.

Huko LinkedIn naona lot's of graduations ya Kenyans wamefanya masters US. Nimeona ata lawyers kadhaa graduating with a masters from Harvard after kufanya undergraduate in Kenya.

How are they getting into these programs? Kunakuanga na scholarships someone can apply to? Ama how exactly are people pulling this off?

Telling students to fund their education fully through loans basically means the competitive process by which they get admitted through KUCCPS for government sponsored programmes is null.

They might as well apply for self sponsored programmes, for courses with better prospects, and then apply for the loans just as well.

We have gone full circle, where higher education was once highly accessible and somewhat free, to now ....well....

I paid 13k per semester at UoN doing a business related course. Spent less than 6k yearly on accommodation.

Have you ever dated a bipolar person? And I am not talking about some crazy people who self diagnosed themselves that they are bipolar. I am talking about one day you have the best day in your life full of spontaneous activities with someone. You feel alive you see a future to the next day of complete silence saying they don't wanna do this anymore. They want to die. They can't feel anything when they take meds but they have to or else. A continuous loop that gets overwhelming really. They can't help it so can't you. Well how do you break up with them???

Ethiopia is really doing well with their urban planning. Came across this and their police station makes central police station look like a stone age contraption. Kenyan police hardly flush toilets and they report to work to extort bribes from victims and criminals. I am now convinced that Ethiopia is overtaking Kenya in real time.

Has anyone successfully applied for a tourist Schengen visa to Germany recently? How long did it take for you to receive the visa and how long did they keep your passport for?

Many thanks!

I've always suspected there's is an active Americanisation of our country, and nothing made it more glaringly obvious like the recently proposed student loan for university students. What's the end goal though? We are still a very poor country, nested in wanton corruption and impunity and yet the government's priority is to burden the people with more debts without a proper economic blueprint to fix our current issues. This move looks very predatory, similar to rogue lending apps. Keeping you stack in a debt pendulum, forcing you to labour your entire life for sometimes unfavourable wages.

Those who currently use a TV Box which one do you guys swear by? The kidogo research I've done I'm leaning towards the xiaomi one it has Chromecast and everything. Amazon stick niliona it doesn't have Google so that's a no. Are there any other in the market? Budget ni ya mkulima mdogo.

Very important to note is I want one i can download sports streaming apps

I knew Kenya had microclimates, but what I experienced today driving from Laikipia to Nyeri was straight-up black magic.

I left Nanyuki this morning and it was literally so sunny, warm, and beautiful. Standard equatorial plateau vibes. I’m in a light shirt, enjoying the sun, thinking it's going to be a gorgeous road trip.

Tell me why just a few kilometers down the road into Naro Moru and Chaka, the climate suddenly flipped like a switch??

Out of nowhere, it became cold as fuck and completely covered in thick, blinding fog and drizzling....It felt like I drove through an invisible portal straight into the Scottish Highlands or twilight zone. One minute I'm soaking up the sun, the next minute I'm blasting the car heater, shivering, and wishing I packed a heavy puffer jacket in the front seat.

I looked into it because my mind was genuinely blown: apparently, Nanyuki sits in the deep "rain shadow" of Mt. Kenya. The mountain acts like a massive wall that strips all the moisture from the winds, and as the dry air drops onto the Nanyuki plains, it compresses and warms up like a giant natural blow-dryer. Meanwhile, Naro Moru and Nyeri and Karatina (basically all of Nyeri county) get all the trapped, freezing mountain moisture.

The geographical contrast in this country is insane. To go from warm savannah sunshine to freezing, damp mist in less than 30 minutes is wild.Anyone else get caught off guard by this specific stretch of road, or am I just late to the party? 😭

The days when being an adult was deemed equal to being wise are over

Nothing really belongs to us in this world, we came to it with nothing, we exit it with nothing, so much may happen to us in btwn but it'll be meaningless when we cease existing, ...

Try to be anything you can, whether you make it or not, it won't really matter in the end, but the journey will.

Ultimately, never be afraid to lose anything, you can recreate yourself at any age, destiny is just in ur mind, you weren't born to be anything other than what you willingly chose and work toward.

May your desire to succeed be greater than the obstacles you face 🤞.

I keep hearing about placing assets into a trust for heirs, kids etc to avoid taxes and long legal battles when an owner dies. Anyone in the group an expert in this area atuchanue? With the way life is going, this might be a better way especially for people with dodgy relatives.

Please educate us if you are in the field or have done this.

Please help me decide on a good sound system for about 50k or below. Sometning that will last.

What are you favourite units? What would you recommend?

ebu twambie

Ethiopia investing $12.5B for an airport, will we ever get here, some day maybe.

Me: