COME 2018: Here are my high and lows of 2017!

THIS piece is purely satire and despite the fact that I wrote it with all the seriousness it deserves the subjects and the awards are based on social commentary. The rest is inspired by personal experiences and therefore, please treat the awards as such. (Thats my disclaimer.) 

ContentThe year 2017 was quite interesting and now that we are hours to 2018 (article was written before the new year) here are my personal rewards to those who definitely deserve them #TwitterAwards

1. MY DEAL OF THE YEAR AWARD
   Just as the year came to an end, Millicom International announced it was selling off its Rwandan operation (Tigo) to Airtel Rwanda. This is the kind of news you willI receive with mixed feelings. Gladly this is new competition to MTN Rwanda. The market will be more exciting and competitive and probably more innovative come 2018.
    
2. CEO OF THE YEAR 2017 AWARD – Well … well this is a tricky one. Since we are talking about telecoms, Bart Hofker comes to my mind. This man inherited a brand ailing with a reputation (not so good) amidst complaints of poor services and even a RURA fine (RURA is the regulator). How he has managed to stand firm and continue represent it as the only brand mascot it can possibly offer, is admirable. The MTN Rwanda boss is my CEO of the year.
    
3. WORST SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR 2017 AWARD
   I could probably let the readers nominate this lot. Personally WASAC (water distribution) and the energy distribution agency blessed me with my worst experiences. I will divulge into this further while presenting other awards below. 
    
4. MY TWITTER CRUSH OF THE YEAR AWARD
   Don’t get me wrong! ‘Crushes’ are usually associated with physical admiration. Despite this absolute fact, my candidates for this award might be physically endowed, however I simply admire how they engage their audiences on twitter. Axelle Umutesi doesn’t mince her words. Kayibanda. I. Julian has a certain sense of maturity and I admire her effort to always put social activism at the forefront. I also have an admiration for the Haute Baso founder called Linda Ndungutse. Her passion for that brand is relentless.
    
5. FLOP OF THE YEAR 2017 AWARD
   Kigali-Up takes this and that is mainly because of the fact that they rallied against the shipping in Alpha Blonde. All posters donned the legend’s portrait. We were excited! We bought tickets and Blonde didn’t show up. Kigali-Up 2017 was nothing to wrote home about.
    
6. POLITICAL PARTY OF THE YEAR 2017 AWARD
   For obvious reasons the RPF nips this one. And this is mainly because they gave us the most exciting, colorful election campaigns, presented with pomp and ‘swagg’ and thereafter winning with a landslide.
    
7. THE BANK THAT MADE ME SMILE IN 2017 AWARD
   GT Bank Rwanda for always being present when I need them.
    
8. BRAND OF THE YEAR 2017 AWARD
   Here are my two nominations. African Improved Foods and CIMERWA-PPC. AIF is the producer of the Nootri fortified health products and I salute them because its not easy launching such product in an industry where heritage and history are a bonus to winning.  (From a brand in oscurity AIF would later be recogonised by RDB as the investor of the year 2017). CIMERWA has rebranded and is proving that cement brands can actually be millennial and exciting. I am tempted to talk about ‘Tour De Rwanda’ as a brand in its own right, they are doing marvelous things too.
    
9. PROGRESSIVE BRAND OF THE YEAR AWARD
   Rwandair is beating all odds. The brand is rising and rising!
    
10. TWEEPS THAT MADE MY 2017 AWARDS
    Yolande Makolo for the wit and the wise counsel - more especially to the naysayers. Andrew Kazibwe for being interestingly engaging. Nelson Gashagaza (his engagement rate with my handle was at 33 percent). Fiona Kamikazi in my view has humor at its best. Edwin Mukizawabo is sarcastic and satirical and Lonzen Rugira for his Intellectual debates
     
11. JOURNO OF THE YEAR AWARD
    Well RTV was never my TV station station of choice. Most especially on a Sunday until Eugene Anangwe came along. Athan Tashobya during elections had one of the most informative handles.  CNBCA’s Georgie Ndirangu continued to prove that journalists can actually be stylish.
     
12. WORST CORPORATE COMMUNICATION FROM A BRAND  ……  (you can fill in yout nominations in the comments section)
     
13. NEWS MEDIA OUTLET OF THE YEAR 2017
    The website www.taarifa.rw was revolutionary in the sense that they created a platform that was more investigative and informative than the platforms we presently have. The passionate brain behind Taarifa is a gentleman called Magnus Mazimpaka a former journalist with The New Times and KT Press. For once we forgot Igihe.com actually did exist.
     
14. BIZARRE INCIDENT(S) OF THE YEAR AWARD
    This goes to that supermarket at MTN Center (Nyarutarama), called German Butcher or German Butchery ... for importing (or trading) fish from China and bread from Belgium. So we have a huge lake in our the neighbourhoods (Lake Victoria) ... why then are we importing fish from China? We are trying to promote Rwandan products, why are we importing bread from Belgium? #ThumbsDown!
     
15. BIZARRE EVENT OF THE YEAR 2017 AWARD
    So I come back WASAC (once again). So WASAC billed me for a period of time (one month to be precise, a period which I actually never had any running water in my pipes. This gesture I found extremely bizarre!
     
16. WOMAN PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR 2017 AWARD
    I never had any nominations for this award. And this is mainly because I didn’t follow any women personalities and their deeds in 2017. I pray 2018 offers a better footprint.
     
17. MOST RESILIENT BOUNCE BACK OF THE YEAR 2017
    Remember that radio station branded KFM, once owned by Nation Media Group. NMG didn’t feel that this investment was worth their business objectives and decided to sell off. Well KFM is back on air and no one ever thought it would bounce back the way it did. Talking about brands, the hospitality industry is bustling with new players including Park Inn and the Marriott. Novotel that has had the most numerous changes of names finally got a buyer, apparently the Madhvani Group. Interesting year ahead!
     
18. AND FINALLY! MY PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR AWARD
    This is really no brainer! My personality of the year is President Paul Kagame and I wont really divulge into explaining why. However I can easily say he is my source of inspiration. 

In case of any comments on this article you can reach me at keziomusoke@inspire.co.rw 
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