If you are reading this blogpost, then it means you have resolved to close your businesses or company for reasons best known to you. Among the popular reasons why people close their companies are bankruptcy, court order, non-profitability over a long period of time, change of country of residence among others.
The process of closing a company is different from the one of opening a company. There are some basic important things that I think you should know as the director of the company about the process.
In this blogpost, I will focus on 5 important things you need to know when planning to close a limited company with shareholders in Kenya.
Note: The information I am going to share with you on this post, is based on my experience while closing my company Trendline Network Limited. You might have seen me talk about the company in my past posts and videos. Sadly, I have finally closed it so that I can begin a new journey. Reasons for closure remains confidential to me.
Video – What You Need To Know When Planning To Close A Company in Kenya
The Process Can Be Initiated Online
Its possible to initiate closure of your company in Kenya online. To do this go to www.ag.ecitizen.go.ke. Use your eCitizen credentials to sign in to the portal.
When you are logged in, select make an application then click on strike off a Limited company. You will be take to a screen where you are required to pay Ksh. 4,050 to initiate the process. Under section 897 of the companies act 2015, you will be required to state the reason for closing the company and sign two documents. The documents here referred to as CR18 and CR19 respectively.
After you are done, allow the office of the Attorney General sometime to verify your request for company dissolution. Here, they can either approve or reject the application.
The documents must be signed by all the directors of the company and reasons for strike off request stated clearly for your application to be approved.
Company Strike off Gazettement
When your request to strike off your company is approved by office of the Attorney General, what will follow is the company gazettement. Kenya gazette is a Free to download publication that is printed and distributed weekly to government institutions. Printed copy costs Ksh.60. It’s also downloadable online here.
Be on the look out to confirm 1st and 2nd gazettement. You will NOT be notified about it by anyone. Its your responsibility to regularly check the weekly Kenya gazettes for it. It took a month for mine to be published from the time I initiated the strike off process.
Period Of Wait For Complete Dissolution
It will take 90 days from the day of Gazettement, for the registrar of companies to completely dissolve a company and remove it from their registrar.
During this period, if anyone is in disagreement with your decision to close the company, they can launch a dispute to bar you from closing the company.
Understanding Section 897 (3) And Section 897 (4) of Companies Act 2015
The first time your company is gazetted, it will be under section 897 (3). Here the registrar of companies gives notice that names of the companies specified in the gazette, shall be struck off from the registrar of companies at the expiry of 3 Months from date of publication of the notice and invites persons to show course why the companies should not be stroke off from the register.
Second time gazettement will be under section 897 (4) which is the final publication to notify public that the companies listed there on are dissolved and their names have been struck off the registrar of companies with effect from the date of publication of the notice.
Letter Of Confirmation That Your Company is Dissolved
When all the above procedures are completed, you will now be able to request for a letter from the registrar of companies that confirms dissolution of your company. This letter will be required by various institutions for assistance going forward. One of the places that this will required is Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
For them to close your company PIN, they will require evidence in form of a letter from the registrar of companies confirming dissolution of your company.
Close All Bank/Insurance Accounts Linked To the Company
The moment you decide to close a company, it means its over. Make sure you close all accounts related to the company. If you company had purchased stocks in the stock exchange, make a plan to sell or transfer them.
Ensure that everything that was linked to the company is fully closed or settled. This should be your priority and has to be finished.
When done and dusted, you can now proceed to the next chapter of your life with a clear state of mind.
Conclusion
Closing a company is not a one day affair. It may take up to a year to close everything depending on how big the company was. While arriving to a conclusion to close a company is not easy, taking the step and closing it when the time is right is best thing to do.
Entrepreneurship is a journey with endless possibilities. Be open to see the new opportunities and jump right into it.
Is there any other important thing that anyone should know when planning to close their business or company? Let me know in the comments section below.
And if you need help to create step by step screencast training videos, you can request a quote for free here.
There are many factors that comes into play when preparing a quotation. Many of the factors relies much on the amount of information you have as a contractor from your prospect.
Insufficient information from a prospective client on the work they want done is one factor that makes the process of preparing a quote difficult. This however, should not be the case if you are dealing with online prospective client.
As a freelancer or a contractor, you have a right to ask for more information from the client. The client on the other hand must cooperate and provide you with all the necessary information in order to prepare a fair quote.
You must be willing to withdraw from preparing a quotation the moment the client fails to furnish you with all the necessary information.
In this blogpost, I will share 5 factors to consider preparing a quotation.
Video: Factors to Consider When Preparing a Quotation
Company History
Are you sending a quote to a company that is well know or is it a startup? Irrespective of how good their contract description is, knowing if the company exist should be your first priority.
This involves doing your own research using all the resources available out there. The research will help you cage the company’s ability to gather for the costs for the project besides making the payment on time.
You may find out from your research that the company has good track record in paying their contractors very well.
Time/Duration of The Contract
Based on your prospects brief, how much time will you require in order to work on and complete the work? Is it a long term contract that stretches for more than a year? As they say time is money. Use your experience to estimate the time it will take to complete the project at hand.
The quotation process will be fast and easy when you have an hourly rate that you charge for different kinds of assignments. If you don’t have an hourly rate, consider setting up one. If you already have an hourly rate set, great! Next, calculate the time it will take you to complete the contract. E.g 10 days working for 5 hours daily. That will come to a total of 50 hours. Multiply this with your rate to get the cost service.
Fees & Taxes
Lets first start with fees. Fees varies. It can be the amount that your payment processor charges or the commission that you pay whoever referred to the contract. On the other hand, Tax is the percentage of money that is deducted from your pay to be remitted to your government as revenue.
Taxes for services rendered online are different from the taxes levied on services rendered offline. When preparing a quotation, consider both to avoid getting into losses after completing the contract.
Contingency Fee
Contingency fee is a fee set aside for use in events or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty. In the online marketplace, it can be the unbudgeted cost that comes in between the service delivery. e.g If it was a video production project, and the client never foresaw requiring more interviews to be conducted for the project and it happens that it has to be done within the approved budget, this is the time that you will have to reach for the contingency fee.
However, it’s important to note that this money will be your profit if no emergency work arises at the height of your contract.
Include Revision Fees In Your Quote
If you offer revisions for every project that you deliver, you must set a reasonable fee to cover your time when you make revisions as needed. Make sure that you deliver the best in order to avoid being asked to make revisions on the project.
After completing the rounds of revisions that you listed in your offer, let the client know how much you expect him/her to pay for other additional revisions. Making this clear before the contract will enhance your quotation besides setting the right expectations for the client.
These are 5 among the many other important factors one needs to consider when preparing a quotation.
With all above factors considered, preparing a quote will take you very little time. Also, you will very confident when defending your quote.
Conclusion
Try as much as you can not to inquire from your peers how much they charge in order to apply the same rates in your quote. Our lifestyles and responsibilities vary. You will not learn anything when you use other peoples rates as yours.
Come up with your own rates, and if you make losses in the process of working, you will know where to adjust. That’s how true enterprises start and grow. You learn from real life experiences.
What factors do you consider when preparing a quotation? Please share your feedback in the comments section below.
And if you need professional screencast video production services, you can request a free quote here.
So, who should you go for when it comes to hiring a freelancer; local or international? This a debatable subject. What is important is when it comes to hiring is the end goal. Before, Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, online freelancing marketplace was booming.
I recall back in the year 2018 and 2019 receiving e-mails and messages from newbie freelancers seeking my advise after their applications to be freelancers on Upwork was rejected. They wanted my advise on what to do in order to breakthrough.
During the same time in my country Kenya, media reported that a third of Kenya’s youths who were eligible for work were unemployed. This meant that the rate of youth unemployment stood at 38.9%. As an entrepreneur, I found myself in a limbo especially on who to hire.
Video on Comparison between hiring locally vs hiring internationally online
As a Kenyan Citizen, I have to be my brothers keeper. This is in our loyalty pledge and I quote ‘by the living spirit embodied in our national mottoHarambee.” In this case, my first priority should be to hire local freelancers as opposed to hiring an international freelancer via online freelance marketplaces.
Again, this depended on many things. I must confess that I was and still get disappointed several times by the local freelancers I collaborate with. However, I get better at it every time on how I handle them.
At the time, I had spotted opportunities in the freelancing platforms I had signed up on and was ready to explore them. This means that I had one account as a client and another one as a freelancer.
That’s how I shaped my approach to hiring freelancers which I am going to share with you here today. It’s important to note that the terms of doing work on freelancing marketplaces changes all time in a bid to prohibit ‘brokerage‘ kind of business in their platforms.
To begin, lets first look at the reasons why people hire freelancers.
Skills
When planning to hire a freelancer, the skills needed should comes first. What kind of skills are you looking for? This way, you will be able to first; look around and see if you can find a local freelancer around you with the skill; and secondly, determine which platform is good to find the right freelancer.
Sometimes, the skills need for the project at hand may not be available in your country or its hard to find. I this case, you will have no option other than to use the freelance marketplaces to find the right fit.
Once you have established where to find the skill you want, you can now proceed and post a job for freelancers to apply. Please read the article here on how to sift through many applications.
How much time do you have with you to reach out, evaluate and hire the right freelancer? This is very important. Some projects are urgent and others are not. In my experience, finding a local freelancer with the skill you are looking for takes time because it’s mainly dependent on referrals from the people you know.
Additionally, there are spread across different platforms. So it may take 1-2 weeks to find one.
On the other hand finding an international online freelancer is easy. You only have to sign up on a freelancing platform, post a job and wait for applications or bids to come in. Based on their portfolio, you can eliminate and remain with those most qualified for the job.
So, the process of hiring an international freelancer takes only few hours. Most of them are always online as they do freelancing full time.
Considering the timeline you have, you can opt for either international or local freelancer.
Budget
What’s your budget? Is it within the amount that the freelancers around you are offering? While scouting for a freelancer, its important not to quote your budget until you confirm that the person you are interviewing has the skill that you are looking for. That’s when you can reveal to them how much you are willing to spend if they are shy to quote you an amount.
The advantage of not quoting them your budget upfront is because you may end up saving money besides giving the freelancer a feeling of control on how much they charge for their skills.
So, if you find that the budget you are being offered locally is expensive, you can consider checking with freelancers from around the world. This only applies if the project can be completed remotely.
In many occasions, you will find a better offer from a freelancer in a different continent. That’s when you can consider hiring a freelancer from the international marketplace as opposed to local.
Payments
Ease of payment is another important dynamic when hiring a freelancer irrespective of where you meet them. How easy is it to pay them? Are you ready to comply with online payment schemes?
When you have this in mind, you will be in a position to know which option to use in order to save money. Paying a local freelancer is easy. I also find it very good to consider a local freelancer first since at the end of everything, you will remain with the good business relationship and you can meet them in person.
For creatives, you may later find that you can join hands and build something great together.
Contract Terms
Some contracts dictates how you are going to handle a project. Non Disclosure Contract is very common in the freelancing world. Make sure you read and understand well the contract terms. If you are hiring a freelancer to provide a certain service which is part of the contract, ensure that you replicate the contract and have whoever is part of the contract(contributor) to sign.
If you fail to do so and the person you hired (contributor) shares the contents of the project; and the contract prohibited sharing contents of the work in any manner; you may find yourself in trouble.
That’s why, in such occasions, if its a contract originating from a local organization, it’s wise to hire a local talent who can work on the project and can agree to sign the contract.
But again, you are not limited. You can still consider either local or international freelancer depending on time, cost, availability and will to sign the NDA contract.
Summary
Element
Local Freelancer
International Freelancer (Online)
Skills
Scarcely available to find. Mainly dependent on who you know.
Easy to find. You just post a job and indicate the skill you want.
Timelines
Takes time to find the right fit. May take 1-2 weeks.
Take ONLY few hours to find the right fit
Budget
Mostly reasonable and you get value.
You get All. Cheap and Expensive. You may lose money if you are stingy on your budget by hiring because they are cheap.
Payments
Easy to pay
It may be costly and sometimes complicated depending your nationality.
Contract Terms
Not seriously taken. Some freelancers refuse to do work if you ask them to sign a NDA.
Seriously taken by every party. Easy to comply.
A summary table of comparison between hiring local vs Hiring international freelancer
The summary of scores out of 5; local freelancers scores 3/5 and International freelancer score 3/5. So, it’s a draw😀. Now, its up to you to decide who you want to hire.
Conclusion
Having the ability to handle both hiring options is good. It gives you a room to understand the many dynamics of doing business both locally and internationally. I use both regularly depending on the skill am after and ease of access.
I find it easy to hire anyone from any country for tech related skills because I get variety of offers besides being able to find someone with experience in very specific niches in the market.
Economy of the future is lies in both markets.
Which approach do you prefer when hiring freelancers; local or international? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
And if you need help with video production services, you can request a free quote here. Just describe in detail what you need in the summary section and we will get back to you.
Many people today will tell you they have a brilliant business idea. If you ask them why they haven’t started it yet, most blame it on several things among them being lack of capital to start.
So, how much does it cost to start a business in Kenya? Let’s walk through this together on this blogpost.
At this point, I assume you already have an business idea and is looking to start a business in Kenya. Things have changed over the years. The process of starting a business that worked well 3-5 years ago no longer works right now.
This is owing to the digitization of most of the services and constitutional amendments on how businesses are being operated in Kenya. This in turn has resulted in business owners being asked to update their business information to match the current requirements or risk their businesses being ceased from operations.
Video on How to Start Business in Kenya in 2021
In this blogpost, I will guide you step by step on how to start business today in Kenya. You can do nearly everything online.
Ease of Doing Business In Kenya
Doing Business In Kenya
The World Bank Report, Doing Business 2020, indicates that Kenya has improved from position 61 to 56 globally in its attractiveness to investors. Doing Business report captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local firms.
Among the quantitative indicators on regulation looked at in the report include starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, paying taxes, trading across borders and more.
The report captures the complete changing environment in the way business is done in Kenya from now going forward.
Now, lets focus our attention on how to start a business in Kenya.
Step 1: Register a Business Name
This is a name that you will use in trading. The mode of operation varies with businesses.
Before you register a business in Kenya, you have to reserve a business name. Business registration in Kenya is undertaken by Business Registration Service on brs.go.ke. In order to access this service, you need to have a eCitizen account. This is an account you use to access all government services Kenya. Click here to create an account if you don’t have an account with them yet.
Once you have an eCitizen account, prepare 3 business names that you propose to register as it will be required for search. At the end, you will pick one from the approved names. A business name is a name or title under which a person or entity conducts business.
sample-Business-registration-certificate in Kenya
It’s important to note that you have a room to submit up to 5 names for search. 3 of the names you submit are mandatory. Enter all the required information and submit for search.
Please click here to download business registration guide from BRS to read the dos and don’ts when submitting a name for registration.
You will notified of the names that was approved and you can proceed to register one of them.
Cost
Service Offered
Fees
Document Lodged
Document Issued
Time
Registration of Business name
Kshs 950
BN 2
Certificate of Incorporation
1 day
Limited Liability Partnership
Kshs 25000
New Registration LLP 1
Certificate of Incorporation
1 day
Private Limited Company
Kshs 10650
CR 1, CR 2, Cr 8, Statement of Nominal Capital
Certificate of Incorporation
3-5 days
Public Limited Company
Kshs 10650
CR 1, CR 2, CR8, CR 10, CR 12 and Statement of Nominal Capital
Certificate of Incorporation
3-5 days
Unlimited Companies
Kshs 20050
Cr 1, CR 4, Cr 8 Statement of Nominal Capital
Certificate of Incorporation
3-5 days
Company Limited by guarantee
kshs 10000
CR1, CR 3 and CR 8
Certificate of Incorporation
3 days upon receipt of vetting report from NIS
Business registration cost schedule in Kenya. Source BRS.
Refer to BRS fee schedule here for more information on registration.
Once you have your business registered, you are now few steps to starting to do business Kenya.
Step 2: Set Up Your Business Contact Information And Online Presence
Its good to have separate contact details for your business. Once you have registered your business, setup official business contact information and update them with registrar of companies under your business.
The most important basic contact information for your business is a custom e-mail address. In this, I mean an e-mail with a business name e.g name@yourbusiness.com. This will give you a professional impression in all your communications via e-mail.
I also recommend setting up a website or purchasing a domain related to your business at your early stages of business. A Kenyan domain of .co.ke costs only Ksh.500/yr. Basic starter website design will cost Ksh. 5,000 which is done by a local designer.
Kenic – Kenya domain registrar
Online a good place to start your business. Having an online presence and later proceeding to setup a physical location for your business is the best path to follow especially when you don’t have capital to go out rent a space for your business immediately.
Step 3: Open a Business Bank Account
Its a recommendation for everyone who runs and operates their business in Kenya to open a local bank account. Again, this solely depends on the kind of business you run and your citizenship.
For example, a Kenyan sole proprietor business owner can get away doing business using their personal bank account.
But in order to track and evaluate the performance of your business, make opening a business account your priority. It’s important to note that one of the requirement by the many Kenyan procuring entities when submitting a tender quotation is to furnish them with your business bank account details.
Requirement to open a bank account varies with many Kenyan bankinginstitutions. However, they have common requirements that they need you to provide in order for them to open an account for your business.
For a sole proprietor account, you will need to provide them with a copy of the registration certificate, National ID, Kenya Revenue Authority PIN No, details of your business address (you can use your home as address) with a proof of Utility bill, Lease agreement e.t.c.
After you have provided these documents, you will pay a bank search fee starting from Ksh. 250 or more depending on the bank that you pick.
Once the search is confirmed, your bank account will be opened. This usually takes a maximum of 1 day.
For a limited company, requirements are more of the same except that you will be required to provide CR12 showing names of the company directors and company Tax PIN. This takes me the next mandatory requirement for limited companies, company Tax Pin.
Step4: Apply For Company Tax PIN
Unlike in the past, having a company Tax PIN is mandatory. It separates you as the director and the company itself. In this case, the company will be responsible for all its liabilities.
Kenyan Tax Personal Identification Number
To apply for Tax Pin for your company, go to www.itax.kra.go.ke and click on new PIN registration. Follow the screen prompts for guide and complete the process. Once you have the PIN, go ahead and open a bank account with your preferred banking institution.
Step 5: Physical Location
While you can start your business operations from your home location, some businesses can’t be operated from home especially if you are supplying goods. There many ways that you can find a suitable business location within your nearest town centre by employing services of real estate agents that you choose.
What’s important here is obtaining a business operation permit. This is issued by the county council. Please find out where their offices are located in your town and then pay a visit to them and find out the process and cost of obtaining one.
If you are in Nairobi, you can apply and pay for it online via the Nairobi services portal. This is one of the important licenses you need in order to avoid being harased in your business premises by the county council inspection officials.
Also, it’s important to note that when you make an application, the officials from the county council will visit your business premise to inspect and ensure that you have adhered to all their regulations before they issue you with the license.
Step 6: Other Regulatory Bodies Registration
There are other certificates issued by different regulatory bodies depending on your profession. This includes film, health, accounting, tourism, media, building and construction, Youth and people with disabilities e.t.c. Based on the kind of business that you run, I recommend you check with your respective regulatory body for certification and approval.
Summary
Here is a summary of the minimum estimated cost you will need to start a business in Kenya.
Name of The Service
Estimated Cost
Frequency
Business Name search
Ksh. 450 or $4 (once)
Once
Business Name Registration
Ksh. 950 or $9
Once
Business Contact Information/Online Presence
Ksh.5000 or $45
Annual
Open Business bank account
Ksh. 1000 or $9
Once
Rent a Business space
From Ksh.5000 or $45
Monthly
Register with Regulatory bodies
From Ksh. 1000 or $9
Annually
Business Operation Permit
From Ksh.5000 or $45
Annual
Sign up for Tax Pin with KRA
Free
Annual Income Tax returns needed
TOTAL ESTIMATED COST
Ksh.18,400 or $166
A table showing estimated cost of starting a business in Kenya.
This is the basic cost of starting a business. Its important to note that it varies depending on individuals capability and location. For example, a business premise for rent in Nairobi central business district is different from the same size of business premise in the Nairobi outskirts.
With all these steps completed successfully, you are now a business owner. Congratulations!
Conclusion
As you can see, it doesn’t cost much to start a business in Kenya. This confirms that people don’t necessarily lack the capital they claim to need, but they lack the motivation to believe that they can startup a business with what they have today.
If you are still here, its means you are very serious in starting your business and running it the right manner . Keep up with the good spirit.
With all the above documents, you are all set to do business in the Kenyan market place. Often, entrepreneurs fail because they look for businesses in the wrong markets. Be very deliberate on who your target market.
At your early stages, commit yourself to do one task a day and in the end, you will find out that you have cumulatively achieved more.
Did I miss out on anything that one requires in order to start a business in Kenya? Please let me know in the comments section below here.
If you need help with video production services, you can enquire and request quote for free here.
Its accessible on www.nairobiservices.go.ke. Through this portal, you can make payments for any public service easily and quickly. If you live and operate your business within the Nairobi County- then you might be aware of Nairobi eServices Portal after having received an SMS from them.
If you live and operate your business within the Nairobi County- then you might be aware of Nairobi eServices Portal after having received an SMS from them.
Nairobi eServices Portal
It is aims to serve tech savvy people time which they could have spent queuing and waiting to be served in the county offices within Nairobi area.
In this blog post, I will be reviewing the Nairobi eServices Portal.
Registration Process
In order to start accessing the services via the Nairobi eServices Portal, you need to create an account. You can create an account as an individual or a business. The first step is choosing your Citizenship then entering your National ID serial number then clicking next.
Signing up on Nairobi eServices Portal
As an individual, you will be required to enter your mothers first name as per the ID. I guess this is aimed at locking out fraudulent users who may attempt using other people’s credentials to sign up. Next, enter your KRA PIN and click register.
On the new screen, create a password and check on the small box to complete your sign up process. From here, you can proceed and choose the service you are looking for.
In Demand Services
In demand services are the services that you need in order to successfully carry out your day to day business activities. These includes Paying for parking within the CBD, obtaining permits for social events within the city, business licensing, public health management, payments for county properties and more.
Services on Nairobi eServices Portal
These are few among the many services that you can access on Nairobi eServices portal. This in my opinion is a good move by the county government to make paying for in demand services easy.
Communication and Support
You can get support easily incase you get stuck while signing up on the portal or proceeding to make payments for any of the listed services. You can write to them a message , send them an e-mail or give them a call using the contact information provided on the contacts page.
Before you contact support, it’s always good you check on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page for answers.
Parking Management
Once you have signed in to the portal, you can choose a parking package. This includes daily, seasonal, off-street and reserved parking. For the service that you choose, you will be prompted to enter Vehicle Number plate and the Parking Zone. Then enter your MPESA number and an M-pesa payment request shall display on your phone. Enter your M-pesa PIN and click OK.
There is USSD option where users can make payments by dialing *647#.
If you get stuck in the process of signing up or trying to get a particular service on the portal, again, I recommend that you go to the FAQ page first.
Its important to note that the Nairobi eService Portal is managed by the Kenya Revenue Authority(KRA).
I hope this review was helpful to you.
Have you tried accessing Nairobi Services via this portal? How was you experience like? You can share your feedback in the comments section below.
And if you need help to create and produce professional screencast videos for your website or software, let me know here.
On April 27th 2021, the president of the Republic of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta launched National Land Information Management System Ardhisasa. Ardhisasa is an online platform that allows Citizens, stakeholders and interested parties to interact with land information held and processes undertaken by Government.
Ardhisasa Website
Whenever someone wants to buy a land in Kenya, the first step they are advised to take is to conduct a search with the ministry of lands and ascertain the real owner of the property in which they want to purchase. This step is critical and if a buyer skips it, they might end up buying a land that is already in dispute or not for sale.
Ardhisasa platform aims at addressing this and other land questions in Kenya. Through the information that users will access on Ardhisasa, they are able to make an informed decision and avoid being defrauded by unscrupulous land cartels.
In this blogpost, I will shed a light on land cases in Kenya as well as review National Land Information Management System- Ardhisasa.
Land Cases in Kenya
In the past years, more and more land cases has been recorded in the Kenyan courts. In a recent report by the standard newspaper, at least 70 per cent of land cases in the country are still pending in Nairobi.
That’s based on a statement by Chief Justice Martha Koome . She says Environment and Lands Court (ELC) has 13,500 pending cases with Nairobi leading with 9,500.
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Furthermore, to illustrate how land is critical to Kenyans, she said at least 60 per cent of cases filed in courts are land-related. It’s for these and many other reasons that Ardhisasa was launched.
Accessing Ardhisasa Portal
To access National Land Information Management System Ardhisasa, open your browser and go to ardhisasa.lands.go.ke. You will get to the landing page. The site is pretty neat and straight forward.
On top of the landing page, you can see the four main things you can do on the site. These are Search and Transfer property, order a plan and order a tittle. Below that you can read and understand what Ardhisasa does.
Ardhisasa Features
When you scroll down a little, you can see additional services you can access. The services are organized in seven different categories namely land registration, land administration, physical planning, survey and mapping, valuation, adjudication and settlement and national land commission.
One has to click on the category they want in order to see what’s inside. For example, when you click on land registration, you will see the services included in there.
In occasions where a user is stuck, they have several ways that one can find help. The first one which many website users rarely try is the visiting the FAQ’s page. You can access this page, using the menu link on top of the site or FAQ’s link on the site footer under quick links.
FAQ’s
The second and most convenient way is to call Ardhisasa support team using the phone contacts below the site. And lastly, you can chat live with the support by clicking on the bubble icon below. I have tried and it’s functioning.
Signing in to Ardhisasa
To access any of the services listed above, you are required to sign in. First time users will be required to sign up using their National ID number. The sign process is very secure. To keep users protected, the sign process will require you to key in your ID number, phone number and e-mail for 2 Factor authentication and lastly set a password.
Sign Up Process
The sign up steps falls among the best practices of securing users accounts and their private data. You will be logged in once you follow these steps of registration.
This is how the dashboard looks like once you are logged in to the system. Services are placed in categories as seen earlier on the website landing page. To the left of your account are user menu items.
Ardhisasa Dashboard
These are services, properties, appointments, tickets, notifications and accounts. For a new user, the most useful menu item is the services. The other items will come in handy as needed as you continue interacting with the system.
I will demonstrate to you one of the popular service feature of Property search, but before I do, I will want to shed a light on how land cases end up in court in kenya.
How Land Cases Come Into Light
This question is answered well on the Kenyan CID on website. In a nutshell, Land fraud cases are formally reported to the Public Complaints Office.
The complainant is advised accordingly and if the complaint warrants investigations, the complainant is referred to the land fraud unit with a referral form. The Unit takes up the case appropriate cause of action.
CID on Land Cases in Kenya
You can learn more about the kind cases that they investigate on the CID website page here.
Now lets get back to the Ardhisasa website and try to conduct a search.
To do this, click on services and select search. You will see that you are required to complete your profile in order to start searching. As I mentioned earlier, land is a sensitive issue in Kenya, and before any information is shared with the users, they must first provide more details of themselves and prove of who they are.
Additional Information required to conduct a search on Ardhisasa
Additional information include uploading a passport size photo, adding security questions, adding signature and uploading copies of your National identification.
Once you have supplied these information, you will be in a position to conduct a search on a property.
I will not show how to do these, but am sure at this point you have a clue of the services that National Land Management System, Ardhisasa provides as well as how to navigate through the site. It’s not very complicated.
If you are in the process of acquiring a land, I highly will recommend you to utilize this resource in conducting your search. This is the future of land management in Kenya.
There is a lot you will learn by using the system.
As I conclude, I will like to know your thoughts. Have you used the Ardhisasa portal to access any of the land services? How was your experience like?:😑
Let me know in the comments section below.
And if you have any any questions or suggestions regarding to any of my blogposts, you can let me know on e-mail at connect@cheptiony.com
Finally, if you are looking for professional screencast video production services, you can request a free quote on www.techtubestudio.com.
Since Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, more and more services are now being made accessible online by various private companies and government institutions in Kenya. This is a review of National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) online services based on my personal experience as a user.
Video Review
NHIF is a state parastatal that was established in the year 1966 as a department under the ministry of health. NHIF’s mission is to contribute towards universal health coverage in the provision of affordable, accessible, sustainable and quality health insurance through strategic resource pooling and healthcare purchasing in collaboration with stakeholders.
In this blogpost, I will reviewing the NHIF online portal. I will cover the pros and and cons of using the portal.
Entering The Portal
Anyone can access NHIF website on http://www.nhif.or.ke. Like any other site, this address will take you to the landing page. Here, you will be able to learn more about the services they offer from various links and menu items. On top, you can see their contact information as well as links to their social media pages.
One downside that is quickly noticeable on the site is it’s security. To the left of the website URL on your browser, you will see that the site is not secure. According google chrome, this warning means, the site isn’t using a private connection. Someone might be able to see or change the information you send or get through this site.
NHIF portal URL shows that it’s not secure
These is something that developers should look into. Also, still on the landing page, if you type the URL www.nhif.or.ke on your phone, it will not load. Instead, it will take you this error page here. Its a very sensitive issue with redirection which can be easily fixed.
Error wen you enter NHIF Web Address
This are two areas the developers should look into in order to ensure that trust and security of the users in guaranteed.
This is a service for existing registered members. When you click on it, you will be taken to this page where you are required to Enter your National ID Number to get One Time Password via SMS to Your Registered Phone Number. Enter the OTP and click verify.
NHIF Self Care Login Screen
When Verified, you will be taken to your user dashboard. Here you can view your registration details as well as your contribution status. If you haven’t been paying your monthly contributions, the status will show ‘not covered.’
NHF User Dashboard
The only change you can make here is on your outpatient Facility. Just click on change outpatient facility.
NOTE: If the phone number you registered with NHIF is different from the one you currently use, you will not get the OTP SMS. This means that you cannot login. Please contact NHIF support for assistance to update your contact information.
You can review the status of your payment as well as check your outpatient facility. As you can see, this is service quite straight forward and serves the purpose.
Downside
One improvement that can be made on this specific product is enabling users to update their profile photo. Currently, you can’t update your profile photo online unless you visit NHIF offices and seek assistance.
New users can apply to register as members using the online registration link found on the NHIF homepage. When you click on it, you will be taken to this page here. Here, you can register as an employer, employee or self employed.
NHIF Registration
Employers – They are required to fill in their company registration details. This includes company name and registration number, Kenya Revenue Authority PIN, Address, business sector and more. Also, one is required to attach their company registration certificate and KRA Pin before submitting.
Employees – The details required for employees are different. Apart from their personal details, one is required to enter their employer code and name besides attaching their national ID and a passport size photo.
Lastly, for the self employed, they are only required to share their personal details and address.
This is for employers with payroll schedule. When you click on it, you will be taken to this page here. Rather than sending a hard copy documents or email of employers monthly payroll byproducts to NHIF, employers can just register and upload it once they login. Here new users will find instructions on how to do it.
This is a link to blank application form. It’s probably meant for use by people registering manually. They can download the registration forms here. These forms are categorized as customer and client forms.
Under hospitals listings, you can see a listing of different hospitals under the NHIF cover. There are four categories namely inpatient, outpatient, civil servants and Linda Mama.
When you click any of the links, you will taken to a page with names of the hospitals per county under the category you chose e.g inpatient.
This service is available only to authorized officers of hospitals registered with the NHIF. To access this service you must have a valid user account (login name) and password.
Hospital Listing
Conclusion
As you might have noticed, you can do most of things on the NHIF portal online.
However, it’s important to note the few things that can be improved to make the portal more trustworthy and secure.
The first one is employing Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (https) on all user links that require users to enter sensitive information. So far, only self care portal has https. The rest of the links don’t.
Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, inside NHIF self care portal, allow users to upload their passport size photo via their user dashboard without having to visit NHIF offices.
And that’s my review on the NHIF online Portal.
Have you tried using NHIF online portal lately? What challenges did you find? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Otherwise, if you need help to create and produce professional screencast videos, let me know here. Otherwise, if you have any other concern, let me know by sending me an e-mail to connect@cheptiony.com.
Until next time, bye bye and take care. Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.
Screen-casting is an art. To be able to deliver great videos that communicates your message in a clear manner without B.S demands a lot of dedication and commitment in ideation stage. The first requirement is having the right tools for your project execution.
Screen-casting software is the first among the list of other requirements like microphone, computer specs and script. Any newbie will find himself torn between several consumer software in the market. Having worked on more than 2000 screen video tutorials in the past 7 years, here are my top 5 recommendation.
This is one of my favorite software for recording and editing screen recorded videos. I use it across the board on windows and Mac. Unlike other screen recording software\’s, it has an easy to use screen video editor. You can add call outs, zoom in and out, blur information, crop, add music and voice over and render in any file format that you need in UHD 4k. You can create subtitles using the software as well.
Pros
You can edit files across platform e.g you can open a file created on windows with Mac.
Easy to use editor
Has 30 day free trial
You can use it for commercial projects
Can create educational content
You can use it to create subtitles and render it in .SRT
Cons
Sometimes it crashes without saving your project
It takes long time to render long videos of 30 Minutes long and consumes large space based on the bitrate you chose
Screen-flow is another professional screen casting software designed for Mac users only. It has several features and effects to make your final out put appealing to the eye. Recording quality is excellent, and thanks to a high frame-rate (which you can set), your videos look as if everything was actually happening on your screen. What\’s also surprising is that ScreenFlow is very lightweight for what is effectively a video editor, consuming relatively few CPU and RAM resources.
Like Camtasia studio, Screencast-o-matic is easy-to-use, free screen recorder for Windows, Mac, and Chromebook you can capture any area of your screen with the option to add narration from your microphone and video from your webcam. You can record lectures, webinars, demos, games, Skype calls, etc. and share free on Screencast-O-Matic.com, YouTube, or save directly to a video file.
Pros
Its online. You can access the recorder online
Affordable. Costs $1.50 a month
Cons
Recorder limited only by local hard disk space available. Uploads to Screencast-O-Matic.com are still limited to 15-min per upload unless you also have Pro Hosting.
Recording computer audio requires PC with Windows Vista or later
Quick time is app that comes with most of the Mac computers. With Quicktime, you can record audio, video and screen. You can choose section of your computer screen to record and start recording it together with your voice. Once done, you can save your recording in .mov inside your local computer.
Pros
Free – it comes with your Mac.
Records clean and sharp video and is good for starters
Cons
You need to find another video editing software to edit your recording
OBS studio is a free and open source software for video recording and live streaming.It\’s simple program, with simple interface and big flexibility. It\’s perfect program to capture webcam and screen simultaneously and even more.
Pros
It\’s free
High performance real time video/audio capturing and mixing.
Create scenes made up of multiple sources including window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, capture cards and more.
Cons
Do not have a video editor
No any effects or text adding features
And these are my top 5 screen casting softwares that I have used and outputs great quality videos. If you are starting up, you can try these free softwares and work with them alongside other video editing softwares if you have them installed in your computer like Adobe premiere or Adobe After Effects.
If you need professional help with screencast videos, you can request a free quote on www.techtubestudio.com
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