Safaricom Supports Premier Kenyan Sports Fete

Seven-year Relationship Cemented with Ksh7 million Cheque 

Tuesday, September 8, 2010...This year's edition of the Safaricom Sportsperson of the Year Awards (SOYA) awards was launched today, with the listed telecoms operator committing Ksh7 million worth of support to the event.

The country's premier sports fete, in its seventh year since inception by athletics legend and former world marathon record holder Paul Tergat, was launched at Safaricom House during a function presided over by Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph.

Speaking during the launch, Mr Tergat noted that the level of most sporting disciplines in Kenya had improved since the start of the Safaricom SOYA Awards, with some sportsmen and women, who were earlier recognized as promising talent, maturing into international champions of repute, bringing immense honour to the country.

"Safaricom SOYA Awards have in a major and positive way made tremendous contribution to the development of sports in Kenya.  The benefits from success in sports for us as a country cannot be over-emphasised and any investment in sports, especially accompanied with proper management, guarantees enduring returns", Mr Tergat said. He pointed out the role sports had played in building national cohesion, restoration of national pride and marketing Kenya internationally and generating positive publicity for the country.

Echoing Mr Tergat's remarks during the launch, Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph said: "Kenya today prides itself in producing respected sports heroes and heroines who are celebrated the world over. Safaricom, being a Kenyan company, is sharing in this same spirit by supporting and celebrating Kenyan talent through this event, which is, clearly, the Oscars of the local sports scene and a major fixture on the Kenyan sporting calendar."

Safaricom is supporting the Safaricom SOYA Awards for the seventh year running, further underpinning the firm's expansive footprint in sports sponsorship in Kenya. Safaricom runs an expansive sports portfolio that includes Safaricom Marathon in Lewa; the Safaricom Sevens and Sakata Ball, The Safaricom Challenge, plus a slew of other sports activities, including road races, in all parts of Kenya.

"For Safaricom, sport is a key part of our connection and communication with the Kenyan market. The Safaricom SOYA Awards is our way of thanking and congratulating Kenya's sporting fraternity for bringing honour to this great country and motivating the next generation of champions," Mr Joseph added.

The SOYA founder paid tribute to Safaricom for its outstanding contribution to the development of sports in Kenya and singled out soya as one such success story of their investment. Mr Tergat, however, regretted that despite the critical role sport plays, this was yet to be fully embraced and appreciated.

He therefore challenged the authorities and other sports stakeholders to initiate the necessary initiatives to rectify this state of affairs. He singled out the long-overdue sports policy and asked that the same be tabled and passed in Parliament for the necessary legislation and implementation. He hoped that the new Sports Minister Paul Otuoma would seize the moment and goodwill to actualize this.

Regarding the 2010 Safaricom SOYA Awards, the founder promised another colourful gala ceremony befitting Kenya's sports heroes and heroines. The date of the awards in December will be announced soon and the public is invited to fully participate in the nomination process.

Forms are available online through the SOYA website, www.soyaawards.com or through email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Firm Apologises for Network Hitches, Reassures Customers 

Nairobi, September 6, 2010…Kenya's leading telecoms operator Safaricom has apologized to its customers for hitches experienced by customers on its network in the last few days and reassured them on ongoing efforts to improve services.

The problem was occasioned by a switch to a new data billing platform, carried out over the weekend. Most affected were data customers, who had challenges purchasing data bundles and experienced intermittent access to internet. As a result, some customers were unable to make calls despite the fact that they still had sufficient balance on their accounts.

"The system will allow for much more flexibility in billing for data and provide customers with more options in the future. The system, whilst complicated, has been under test for some time and, whilst we anticipated some minor problems initially, it has taken our vendor some time to get the system working optimally. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and assure our customers that the situation is being closely monitored to ensure normal services resume as soon as possible. We advise that while most issues have been resolved, there is a queue which we are still handling.

We have started communicating with all affected customers through SMS to reach a resolution," said Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph.

"Our technicians are continuously engaged to ensure the system is working according to our specifications back up.  We would also like to assure our esteemed customers that Safaricom will do its utmost to ensure our network continues to be reliable. The new billing is part of ongoing efforts to improve our overall service delivery and meet the expectations of our customers," he added.

Seven-year Relationship Cemented with Ksh7 million Cheque 

Tuesday, September 8, 2010...This year's edition of the Safaricom Sportsperson of the Year Awards (SOYA) awards was launched today, with the listed telecoms operator committing Ksh7 million worth of support to the event.

The country's premier sports fete, in its seventh year since inception by athletics legend and former world marathon record holder Paul Tergat, was launched at Safaricom House during a function presided over by Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph.

Speaking during the launch, Mr Tergat noted that the level of most sporting disciplines in Kenya had improved since the start of the Safaricom SOYA Awards, with some sportsmen and women, who were earlier recognized as promising talent, maturing into international champions of repute, bringing immense honour to the country.

"Safaricom SOYA Awards have in a major and positive way made tremendous contribution to the development of sports in Kenya.  The benefits from success in sports for us as a country cannot be over-emphasised and any investment in sports, especially accompanied with proper management, guarantees enduring returns", Mr Tergat said. He pointed out the role sports had played in building national cohesion, restoration of national pride and marketing Kenya internationally and generating positive publicity for the country.

Echoing Mr Tergat's remarks during the launch, Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph said: "Kenya today prides itself in producing respected sports heroes and heroines who are celebrated the world over. Safaricom, being a Kenyan company, is sharing in this same spirit by supporting and celebrating Kenyan talent through this event, which is, clearly, the Oscars of the local sports scene and a major fixture on the Kenyan sporting calendar."

Safaricom is supporting the Safaricom SOYA Awards for the seventh year running, further underpinning the firm's expansive footprint in sports sponsorship in Kenya. Safaricom runs an expansive sports portfolio that includes Safaricom Marathon in Lewa; the Safaricom Sevens and Sakata Ball, The Safaricom Challenge, plus a slew of other sports activities, including road races, in all parts of Kenya.

"For Safaricom, sport is a key part of our connection and communication with the Kenyan market. The Safaricom SOYA Awards is our way of thanking and congratulating Kenya's sporting fraternity for bringing honour to this great country and motivating the next generation of champions," Mr Joseph added.

The SOYA founder paid tribute to Safaricom for its outstanding contribution to the development of sports in Kenya and singled out soya as one such success story of their investment. Mr Tergat, however, regretted that despite the critical role sport plays, this was yet to be fully embraced and appreciated.

He therefore challenged the authorities and other sports stakeholders to initiate the necessary initiatives to rectify this state of affairs. He singled out the long-overdue sports policy and asked that the same be tabled and passed in Parliament for the necessary legislation and implementation. He hoped that the new Sports Minister Paul Otuoma would seize the moment and goodwill to actualize this.

Regarding the 2010 Safaricom SOYA Awards, the founder promised another colourful gala ceremony befitting Kenya's sports heroes and heroines. The date of the awards in December will be announced soon and the public is invited to fully participate in the nomination process.

Forms are available online through the SOYA website, www.soyaawards.com or through email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Firm Apologises for Network Hitches, Reassures Customers 

Nairobi, September 6, 2010…Kenya's leading telecoms operator Safaricom has apologized to its customers for hitches experienced by customers on its network in the last few days and reassured them on ongoing efforts to improve services.

The problem was occasioned by a switch to a new data billing platform, carried out over the weekend. Most affected were data customers, who had challenges purchasing data bundles and experienced intermittent access to internet. As a result, some customers were unable to make calls despite the fact that they still had sufficient balance on their accounts.

"The system will allow for much more flexibility in billing for data and provide customers with more options in the future. The system, whilst complicated, has been under test for some time and, whilst we anticipated some minor problems initially, it has taken our vendor some time to get the system working optimally. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and assure our customers that the situation is being closely monitored to ensure normal services resume as soon as possible. We advise that while most issues have been resolved, there is a queue which we are still handling.

We have started communicating with all affected customers through SMS to reach a resolution," said Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph.

"Our technicians are continuously engaged to ensure the system is working according to our specifications back up.  We would also like to assure our esteemed customers that Safaricom will do its utmost to ensure our network continues to be reliable. The new billing is part of ongoing efforts to improve our overall service delivery and meet the expectations of our customers," he added.