Kenneth Makate, the young South African whose “Please Call Me” idea was stolen by corporate thugs Vodafone. He has now won a Kshs. 67.5 Billion settlement.
If you thought that its only in Kenya where Vodafone’s partner company Safaricom steals from young Kenyans, well think again. The strain of theft is embedded in the very backbone of Vodafone’s corporate structure.
Vodafone normally dispatch foreign technocrats to key positions, whose work is to steal ideas from locals in countries where they operate, and frame them as their own. Vodafone has no creative or research departments where they incubate ideas like Google. They find it cheaper to steal intellectual property.
In Kenya for instance, Vodafone first stole 10% of Safaricom from Kenyans, stashed under the shadowy Mobitelea deal which we have previously covered. They also created the Zindua portal for the sole purpose of stealing ideas from young Kenyans. But the most prolific intellectual-property heist was orchestrated by South African apartheid apologist Michael Joseph, who stole the MPESA idea from a Kenyan employee of the Central Bank.
These are bloody foreigners who should be deported from Kenya because they cannot use their positions to steal ideas then brag about their corporate prowess. Reason why we ask University Students being targetted by the Blaze Campaign to reject it in its entirety because Safaricom is all about stealing young people’s ideas.
Don’t be misled by influencers who have been paid peanuts into buying into initiatives launched by Safaricom. These are foreign thieves sent by Vodafone to steal ideas.
We are glad that since we started serialising corruption in Safaricom, Bob Collymore has reduced on his public appearances. We want that immigrant from Guyana to lay low like an envelope because we can’t have a corrupt foreigner lecturing Kenyans on corruption and appearing on TV more than media owners themselves. Impress your wife with that fake British accent, not us right-thinking Kenyans.
Here is a brief timeline of the #PleaseCallMe battle as written by Times Live;
2000: Nkosana Makate was employed as a trainee accountant by Vodacom.
November 2000: Makate came up with the “Please Call Me” idea because his girlfriend‚ a student with whom he had a long-distance relationship‚ could not afford to buy airtime to call him. He discussed the concept with Vodacom’s director of product development‚ Philip Geissler. Makate asked for 15% of the revenue generated by the service. However‚ they verbally agreed that he would receive “a share” of the revenue if it proved to be successful.
In South Africa women are not on the payroll of shadowy sponsors and have normal relationships, meaning that lacking money would not be a reason to leave a spouse as is the case with Kenyan basic bitches. It is the reason why South Africa is an economic powerhouse, and Kenya remains largely one hub for incubating prostitutes as occasioned by the mainstream media led by Radio Africa Group.
Early 2001: Vodacom implemented the “Please Call Me” product and reported that about 140 000 customers made use of the service on the day it was launched.
Mid 2003: Makate left his job at Vodacom.
2008: Following unsuccessful requests to Vodacom to honour the verbal agreement‚ Makate took the cellular giant to the high court. He asked the court to order Vodacom to pay him 15% of the revenue of the “Please Call Me” service.
2013: Makate’s financial backers‚the Sterling Rand Litigation Fund that funded his court battle for a cut of any settlement that may be achieved‚ estimated that Vodacom made up to R45-billion (or Kshs. 450 Billion) from the “Please Call Me” service. Based on the original request for a 15% share‚ the sum owed to Makate would be in the region of R6.75-billion (or Kshs. 67.5 Billion).
2014: The high court ruled that Makate had a valid agreement with Geissler but dismissed his claim on various grounds‚ including that his claim had prescribed because more than three years had passed. Vodacom’s former CEO Alan Knot-Craig‚ who claimed in his autobiography‚ Second is Nothing‚ to have been the brains behind “Please Call Me” was forced to admit during the drawn out legal battle that the idea in fact belonged to Makate.
2015: The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed Makate’s application for leave to appeal.
April 2016 : The Constitutional Court rules in favour of Makate.
The Constitutional Court is the highest office in South Africa and it seems Vodafone was unable to bribe judges who sit there, unlike how they are used to bribing judges in both South Africa and Kenya. It’s sad that Kenya has no judges currently who are beyond reproach and of high moral standing, because even the Supreme Court of Kenya which is supposed to be the bastion of justice, is riddled with the most corrupt scum of Kenyan judiciary like the alcoholic and chain smoking Njoki Ndungu and extortionist Philip Tunoi.
CCT 52-15 Kenneth Nkosana Makate v Vodacom (PTY) Limited by Bruce Gorton
