Author: Eva Nyambura

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the United States is withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, prompting a furious global backlash and throwing efforts to slow global warming into doubt. In a sharply nationalistic address from the White House Rose Garden, Trump announced his administration would immediately stop implementing the “bad” 195-nation accord. “I cannot, in good conscience, support a deal that punishes the United States,” he said, decrying the “draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country.” Trump repeatedly painted the pact — struck by his predecessor Barack Obama — as a deal that failed to…

Posta is set to start offering bus services to Kenyans looking to travel to Mombasa via the newly launched SGR trains. Posta will charge Sh. 100 for bus services between Syokimau and Nairobi CBD. Postmaster-General Dan Kagwe, however, says that Posta will hold back on fully-fledged operations unless the modern train increases the frequency of passenger trains to more than one round trip per day. “If it makes business sense we will continue doing it. Frankly speaking, if we’re doing one train it might not be very viable business,” he said.He further said that Posta will also switch to transporting its…

Family Bank has announced a net loss of Sh. 259.57 million loss in the first quarter of 2017. The bank attributed the huge loss to a rise pile of bad loans and shrinking interest income in the wake of caped interest rates. “We slowed down on lending to focus our efforts in strengthening the liquidity position,” said Family Bank’s CEO David Thuku. “We had to address the significant withdrawals that took a toll on our 2016 performance and also embark on recovery efforts following the hit on our bottom-line.” The loss was reversal from the Sh. 344.95 million net profit the…

Omarion, formerly of B2K, will be performing in Kenya on Saturday 3rd of June 2017 at the Ngong racecourse waterfront. He shall be headlining the Afro Pop festival, one of its kind ever yet. The American singer, songwriter, dancer, fashion-icon, actor and producer has just confirmed the news through a video currently doing rounds on social media saying, “Waddup Nairobi! It’s the one and only Omarion. I will be live at the Afro Pop Festival, the biggest event in East Africa, 3rd June it’s gonna be too lit. At the Ngong racecourse!” Omarion’s recently released jam “distance” shot in South…

A packet of milk will from Thursday cost less by Sh. 10. Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Willy Bett said the drop resulted from government interventions to stabilise basic commodity prices that have skyrocketed due to drought. This means a 500ml packet of fresh milk will now cost Sh55 while UHT packets of the same size will retail at Sh65. The pricing will take effect on June 1 which is World Milk Day. Brookside and New KCC had on Monday announced the same drop in price in their commodities. ”The forces driving market correction have commenced, with a major change being…

The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) or now known as Madaraka Express was launched on Wednesday by President Uhuru Kenyatta. The trains will run daily passenger trips between Nairobi and Mombasa. The passenger train services between Nairobi and Mombasa will cost Ksh 700 for economy class and Ksh3,000 for first class. The passenger service named, Madaraka Express, will operate two types of train services: the intercity Train and the County train. Two of the trains, one from Mombasa and the other from Nairobi, will run a daily express service between the two cities. The third train will be an inter-county operation that will stop…

A massive truck bomb blast has ripped through the heart of Kabul’s diplomatic district, killing at least 80 people and wounding hundreds, in a powerful explosion described by officials as “one of the biggest” to have hit the Afghan capital. A tanker truck believed to be carrying either water or human waste exploded on Wednesday near Zanbaq square, in Kabul’s 10th district, close to shops and restaurants, as well as government offices and foreign embassies. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Al Jazeera that the group was not involved in the attack. Read: Safaricom…

Mathieu Plassard was on Tuesday named by Ogilvy Africa as its new Chief Executive Officer. He takes over from Nadja Bellan-White who is moving to London in her new global role at Ogilvy and Mather EMEA. Announcing the changes, Bharat Thakrar, CEO at Nairobi-based WPP-Scangroup which owns the Ogilvy Africa agency network, said Nadja has overseen a major transformation of the integrated communication firm’s Africa business. Mathieu, he added, would continue to drive this agenda as Ogilvy eyes more business opportunities across the continent. “Mathieu has been a key part of the positive change and growth at Ogilvy Africa and…

Mombasa Governor, Hassan Ali Joho was on Wednesday blocked by the police from attending the launch of Standard Gauge Railway at Miritini. President Kenyatta is presiding over the launch of the Sh327 billion project and in attendance are top Chinese officials and Kenya government officials. Mr Joho’s spokesman Richard Chacha said security personnel prevented Mr Joho from entering the station. The governor, he said, wanted to attend the launch of the passenger train so that he could question why the SGR cost was inflated by more than Sh100 billion. Mr Joho had on Monday threatened to stop SGR’s launch for…

Police in Ghana’s Central Region have arrested at least fifty people in connection with the gruesome murder of a military officer. Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama was mistakenly lynched and his body burnt by a mob at dawn on Monday. He had gone out jogging when the incident occurred in a town called Diaso. Spokesperson of the Ghana Armed Forces Colonel Aggrey Quarshie told local radio Citi FM on Wednesday that 50 people have been arrested in connection with the murder. We went there and got to know of the full circumstances surrounding the incident … A number of them were…

Manchester United have been rated as Europe’s most valuable club by a new report into the financial muscle of the continent’s top teams.The report by professional services firm KPMG looked at the finances of 39 clubs based on their popularity on social media channels, revenues for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, and success in European competitions. The clubs were then ranked by enterprise value, an accounting measure used to assess how much it would cost to buy any given club or company as it includes a business’s total debt, with KPMG using its own formula to reach these valuations. Despite…

Vandalizing the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line will now be treated as a capital offense, attracting a Sh. 1 million fine and a 10-year jail term. This is according to the director of public prosecution (DPP) Keriako Tobiko. Mr. Tobiko’s warning came as four suspects were arrested for vandalizing a section of the railway line. He said that the four suspects will be arraigned in court ready to be subjected to the stiff penalties. “All those identified and apprehended will face the full force of the law and will be charged and prosecuted not as petty thieves but as organised criminals…

Arsene Wenger has told Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke he will accept the Premier League club’s offer of a new two-year contract, according to reports on Tuesday. Wenger met Gunners majority shareholder Kroenke and chief executive Ivan Gazidis on Monday to discuss his future before his contract expires next month. The 67-year-old has been heavily criticised this season, with Arsenal fans calling for his resignation after their team failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years. Suggestions that Arsenal may insist on hiring a director of football to work with Wenger had sparked claims the…

Anne Waiguru, former Devolution Cabinet Secretary, on Monday petitioned High Court to invalidate National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the Sh791m National Youth  Service (NYS) scandal. The PAC report recommended that Waiguru be barred from holding public office if found guilty over the loss of public funds at the NYS. The watchdog accused the Kirinyaga gubernatorial aspirant of playing a key role in the complex racket that led to the loss of  taxpayer money in fraudulent tenders. Waiguru now wants the High Court to declare irrational, unreasonable and unconstitutional the PAC findings that she was “responsible for the…

A new research by IPSOS shows that the August presidential election will be hotly contested. The poll indicates a possible run off. According to Ipsos, neither Uhuru nor Raila will garner 50% + 1 votes in the August poll. The research released Tuesday morning shows that 47 per cent will vote for President Uhuru Kenyatta while 42 per cent will vote for Raila Odinga. Eight per cent are still undecided while one per cent will not vote. The research was released a day after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission cleared eight presidential candidates to take part in the August…