Where zero doesn’t mean nothing

By Njoroge Kinuthia

This is a subject that could have greatly interested the late Prof George Saitoti. But we hope that it will be of great interest to his students (not political students!). If you aren’t aware,  Saitoti’s doctoral dissertation focussed on the mathematical functions of zero. And although PointBlank doesn’t know what these functions are, it has got wind that a zero doesn’t necessarily mean naught. Just ask Airtel customer Ms Beatrice Kogei (mobile [phone]). Or, well, let’s just explain briefly.

Beatrice renewed her Airtel’s club Mi Ni +254 on October 3 with the hope of among others, accessing Facebook for free. She, however, realised that she was still being charged while on Facebook. On complaining, Beatrice was informed that she had been wrongly charged (order no. 546635) and that her case would be resolved in 48 hours.

However, almost a month down the line she is still being charged. “I have called customer care five times. On the fifth time I was told:..you know when we say zero it’s not actually zero, zero but we charge Sh0.21.” Shivan Bhargava, Airtel Kenya CEO, kindly help us understand this new ‘function’ of zero.