Kenya Airways has selected GE Aviation for the Flight Operations suite of digital products across the airline’s fleet of Boeing 737, 787 and Embraer E190 airplanes. Kenya Airway’s fleet adds to the 15,468 unique aircraft assets that are connected to GE Aviation’s digital solutions. Implementation is currently underway with completion this year.

“Kenya Airways was looking for a way to monitor fleet performance, implement and track fuel saving initiatives across their network and empower their pilots to help drive efficiency,” said John Mansfield, chief digital officer for GE Aviation at the signing ceremony held on June 18th at the Paris Air Show. “The Flight Operations suite provides these insights and is scalable to provide additional functionality.”

The Flight Operations suite integrates GE’s Event Measurement System (EMS), flight analytics, FlightPulse and fuel efficiency services. GE’s EMS and FOQA systems are being used on 8,932 aircraft including flight analytics service integrating data sources like flight information, weather, navigation, flight plans, and other operational data to provide valuable insights for airline customers around fuel use and operations. Kenya Airway’s 425 pilots add to the 57,702-airline crew relying on GE Aviation’s Network Crew Optimization.

Paul Njoroge, director of operations, Kenya Airways said, “The partnership with GE Aviation will empower Kenya Airways to optimise its fuel costs and excel in flight operations. GE brings a wealth of knowledge to help the airline fast track efficiencies enabling improvements in operations and customer experience.”

Clare Ward, chief information officer, Kenya Airways, noted that the airline chose GE Aviation because of its leadership and innovation in flight analytics and deep aviation experience. “By partnering with GE, Kenya Airways is accelerating the move to leading edge technologies in analytics and machine learning,” she said.

“Our aim is to help Kenya Airways reduce their multi-million-dollar fuel bill and increase their overall efficiency, said Mansfield. “The fidelity in our flight analytics, together with the team’s experience from analyzing more than 175 million flights, will enable Kenya Airways to better manage operations with data-driven solutions. We are bringing together analytics with physical assets to help significantly reduce cost.”

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Kyadondo East Member of Parliament, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, has been named the 2019 International Humanitarian award winner, received in recognition for advocacy for civil and human rights.

Bobi Wine was a warded during the five-day Rainbow PUSH Coalition convention, a gathering of civil rights icons, business leaders, high tech executives, foreign dignitaries, gospel giants, hip hop artists, elected officials, sports legends, scholars and students.

Rainbow PUSH Coalition the multi-racial, multi-issue, progressive, international organization that was formed in December 1996 by the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson.

“I am profoundly humbled to get this International Humanitarian Award, dedicate it to the men, women and children of Uganda who have paid the ultimate price in our struggles for democracy. Those are the true heroes of our nation. Thank you Rev Jesse Jackson Sr and the entire leadership of Rainbow PUSH Coalition for this recognition,” he said in Chicago, USA.

Kyagulanyi said the recognition only confirms to them that their cries for freedom are reaching the ears of the world and encourages them to work even more until our country is truly free from oppression, suppression and exploitation.

During the ­convection, Bobi wine also informed the world that, “another activist an academic giant, a woman, Dr. Stella Nyanzi, continues to rot in jail simply because she wrote a poem that criticizes President Yoweri Museveni who has been president of Uganda for 33 years.”

With headquarters in Chicago and offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Oakland, the organization works to make the American Dream a reality for all citizens while advocating for peace and justice around the world.

It is dedicated to improving the lives of all people by serving as a voice for the voiceless. Its mission is to protect, defend and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields while promoting peace and justice around the world.

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The African Union (AU) has partnered with the East African Community (EAC) to set the pace for the recognition and promotion of Kiswahili as a Language of wider communication in the whole of Africa.

Under The Dar-es-Salaam Framework of Action adopted by the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), AU’s specialized institution mandated to develop and promote African Languages, and the East African Kiswahili Commission (Kamisheni ya Kiswahili Afrika Mashariki (KAKAMA), an EAC institution charged with harmonization, coordination and promotion of the development and use of Kiswahili for regional integration and sustainable development, the two organizations agreed and committed to work closely and with other organizations on the continent and beyond to achieve the set goal.

Addressing a Consultative Meeting on the Promotion of Kiswahili as a language of wider communication in Africa held on 26th-28th June, 2019 in Dar-es-Salaam, the Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr. Harrisson G. Mwakyembe, challenged participants drawn from across the continent to galvanise the spirit and energy of Pan-Africanism and the need for Africa and persons of African descent to be united.

He said Kiswahili provides a platform for the promotion of a feeling of solidarity and pride among the people of the African world by inculcating pride in African values and consciousness. Mwakyembe said there was a legitimate need and interest in the promotion of Kiswahili as a Pan-African language of integration and development as a response to globalization and regionalization movements now in vogue across the world. He said the cases of the United Republic of Tanzania and the EAC are excellent examples of the potential of Kiswahili to achieve integration and development.

In Remarks delivered by the Executive Secretary of the East African Kiswahili Commission Prof. Kenneth Simala, the Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko said the establishment and operationalization of KAKAMA demonstrates the realization and commitment of political leadership and policy organs of the EAC of the importance of Kiswahili for regional integration and sustainable development.

The SG said that Kiswahili is imperative to creating awareness and understanding of the challenges and opportunities that come with integration and development. The language is a strategic resource for communication and active citizen participation in development. He welcomed the decision by the AU to promote Kiswahili as a Pan-African lingua franca and promised the EAC’s support in using Kiswahili as a catalyst to achieving AU’s Agenda 2063.

The Head of UNESCO Office and Representative to the United Republic of Tanzania, Tirso Dos Santos, hailed the AU and EAC for the importance they attach to Kiswahili as a medium and tool of communication relevant and necessary for educational, scientific and cultural development of Africa. He noted that UNESCO is alive to the realities of African culture in general, and language in particular. He hailed the emerging collaborative partnership between ACALAN and KAKAMA as specialized language agencies and pledged UNESCO support to these initiatives for the sake of economic and social development of the continent.

On his part, Prof. Baye Mekonen, Chairperson of ACALAN-AU Assembly of Academicians reiterated the importance of Kiswahili as a Pan-African language of identity and tool of communication and development. He acknowledged that Africa is highly multi-lingual hence the need to focus on recognizing and promoting Kiswahili as a common language, without neglecting other equally important African languages of identity.

The ACALAN Executive Secretary, Dr Lang Fafa Dampha and his EAKC counterpart, Prof. Kenneth Simala, reaffirmed the visions of both the AU and EAC to harmonize and nurture the growth and development of Kiswahili at continental and regional levels. They collectively committed to maintain their collaborative momentum and closely work together to develop and execute a clear strategy of implementation of The Dar-es-Salaam Framework of Action and ensure that declarations about the development and use of Kiswahili at continental and regional levels are followed through.

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