Google celebrates Kenya@50 with special doodle

The special doodle on Google's homepage celebrating Kenya's 50th anniversary. 

By OKUTTAH MARK

In Summary

• The doodle, an artistic version of the Google logo is designed with the Kenyan flag and artistic impression of Mount Kenya in the background
• This is the second time Google is dedicating a doodle during Kenya's national celebrations

Internet search giant Google celebrated Kenya’s 50th anniversary by decorating its local homepage with a special doodle.

The doodle, an artistic version of the Google logo is designed with the Kenyan flag and artistic impression of Mount Kenya in the background.

This is the second time Google is dedicating a doodle during the national celebrations.

The earlier doodle graced this year’s Mashujaa day (June 1) and was an artwork by Esther Githinji, a pupil at Shree Cutch Leva Patel Samaj School who emerged the overall winner in the Doodle for Google competition.

The competition encouraged children aged 6 to 18 years to submit doodles that best describes Kenya at 50 under the theme ‘My Kenya.

“From today midnight, December 11, 2013, Google will commemorate Kenya’s 50th anniversary with a ‘Kenya at 50’ doodle.

The doodle depicts the historic hoisting of the Kenyan flag heralding the country’s independence, and will run until tomorrow, December 12 at midnight,” Google said in a statement.

Doodles are spontaneous and exciting changes made to the Google logo and have long been a part of life at Google the internet firm added.

During the Mashujaa Day doodle depicted an athlete breaking a Kenyan flag finishing tape, with a colourful Nairobi’s skyline as background.

NSSF has been left in legal quandary after it acquired 18.41 hectares of Karura Forest near New Muthaiga and the piece of Ngong Forest that it has been unable to access or utilise.

This along with other dubious contracts, land and share purchase deals have exposed social security savers to losses amounting to billions of shillings.

Mr Ouko said in earlier audit reports that contributors to the NSSF may have permanently lost Sh1.13 billion that the agency invested in Karura and Ngong Forest land, but cannot access.

“The properties, being in gazetted areas, cannot be owned, possessed, utilised or accessed and any development on such land would be illegal,” the audit report said.

READ: NSSF savers lose billions in dubious contracts, land deals

Mr Ouko also casts doubt on the recoverability of Sh1.2 billion that NSSF invested in the purchase of shares at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) through the collapsed Discount Securities Limited.

The fund is also preparing to write off Sh324 million it advanced construction tycoon Mr James Mugoya more than a decade ago.

The fund informed Parliament that it will give up pursuit of the Ugandan businessman, less than a year after the workers’ pension body awarded the tycoon Sh342 million in an out-of-court settlement linked to a botched housing project in Karen.

The write-off is linked to cash advanced to the businessman when he was contracted by the NSSF to build 4,774 homes for the fund at Embakasi, Nyayo Estate, before the deal was cancelled.

This becomes the latest failed deal that NSSF will be writing off including the Sh251 million losses linked to the collapsed Euro bank, drawing the anger of MPs.