CEO Message: Lookback at Year 2021 and Wishes for New Year 2022

The year 2021 highlighted a paradox in the advancement of people who made large cracks in the glass ceilings of bastions of business dominance.In Kenya and particularly western kenya, young people no longer shy away from powerful positions in governance, politics, business, and civil society. The change is visible despite the high number of challenges dominating Kenya’s economic, political and social spheres.

The lack of empowerment has prevented many young people from taking up top leadership positions.
With limited opportunities, their roles have been reduced to perform labor-intensive jobs to sustain their livelihoods.
However, Western Kenya has had its share of incredible, powerful youngsters taking the reins and proving their worth in various industries. They are the rule-breakers, pioneers and glass ceiling smashers who helped to change and shape the region for every young person who came after them. This year (2021) young people shattered glass ­ceilings to take up top leadership positions locally. They proved they are equal to any task and are willing to make personal sacrifices for the sake of their careers and the people.

As 2021 draws to a close I want to take the opportunity to look back on a year that turned out much differently than anyone could have imagined. While it was certainly challenging in many ways, it also showed how strong we are as a company – even in the toughest of times.

We can take pride in the fact that when the pandemic brought the world to a halt and forced us to keep our distance from family, friends and one another, the work we do through Maisha Television Kenya, Maisha Media Academy (KE), Clearsol Technologies, and Depression Kenya helped people to stay connected and made the difficult times hopefully a little easier.

It was no easy task managing both the safety of our employees and the increased use of our networks and platforms, all the while continuing to provide a superior client experience and great content. Millions of people across our markets depend on our channels and portals, both to stay informed and as the source of entertainment for all members of the household.

The reliability of the service we provide and the unique quality of the content we offer defines us. We rose to the challenge in Western Kenya. Our networks and platforms passed the test, and we proved as an organization to be both robust and extremely flexible in the face of change.

In addition, we outpoured all relevant information about covid19, Education, Entrepreneurship, Politics, leadership and governance to support efforts to overcome one of the largest global health crises the world has ever seen and the intrigues of Kenya’s elections due in eight months.

I’m proud to say that while 2021 might have slowed us down, it certainly didn’t stop us. We completed three major acquisitions, welcoming new talents from various universities in Kenya to the group and doubling our potency.

We also launched our Awards-segment Heshima Awards, helping to meet increased demand for recognition of great works by persons in western region, and were recognized for being the owner of what is both the fastest growing TV Station in Western Kenya that nurtures great talents.

These and so many other successes were achieved in a time when we were forced to adapt to very adverse circumstances.

At some point, we missed the energy of being in a room together with a group of colleagues and having the opportunity to share and learn from each other. The reality is that it probably took a little while longer before this was possible again due to health protocols. However, Our staff showed what we can achieve when we work and think as a team, even when we can’t be together physically.

Despite the difficult situation, we have continued to develop our transformation plan, setting the following priorities for the coming year:

First, we will not let our guard down prematurely on Covid19 pandemic to keep guaranteeing our employees’ safety and health and the quality of service to our customers.

Second, continue and speed up the transformation process. We will keep innovating and expanding our product portfolio to continue offering the best customer experience solutions through media. Clear examples of this innovation are the move to one hundred percent Digital media accelerator program, which we have recently launched.

Third, and very important, continue to increase our customers’ satisfaction. In 2021 our clients recognized us with the highest satisfaction rate in the company’s history. Our commitment is to continue this trajectory.

So, I want to thank you all for the hard work and commitment you’ve shown over the past year. Our combined strength is what makes us successful as a company.
To all our clients, viewers, friends, and partners. Thank you for believing in and supporting the greatest vision of our time.

I hope that when you’re celebrating the holidays with friends and family that you look back on the year with the same sense of accomplishment that we all should feel.

I wish you and your families all a happy holiday season and prosperous 2022.

Best regards,

Bushebi Junior

Chief Executive Officer
Clearsol Africa Group