Author: Francis Muli

Many local newspapers had online personals in the mid 1990s but were bought out by these big dating sites. From some of the comments it really shows how desperate dating sites are for money that they even advertise in comment sections. You have a much better chance going to local events and you will probably spend less than what you would spend on an online dating site. Other apps have indicated that they might actually move closer to Facebook. For example, Bumble, founded by a former Tinder executive, said they had already reached out to Facebook regarding how to collaborate.…

The Kenya Revenue Authority has extended the deadline for businesses to switch to the new upgraded internet-enabled electronic tax registers. This was occasioned by a shortage of the gadgets by distributors, prompting a criss meeting between KRA and ETR suppliers. The meeting which was chaired by Commissioner General Githii Mburu resolved to postpone the deadline amid tough economic conditions for traders and high cost of obtaining the internet-enabled ETR machines. The new ETRs will be linked to KRA’s systems via the Internet, allowing it to monitor all transactions in the traders’ POS and invoicing systems. Traders will also be required…

More governments are requesting for user details and extra information on Twitter accounts, the social media company has said. According to a new Twitter report, at least 60,000 legal demands were received within six months. The demands came from local, state or national governments seeking to have content removed or sensitive information such as direct messages or user locations revealed. “We’re seeing governments become more aggressive in how they try to use legal tactics to unmask the people using our service, collect information about account owners and also using legal demands as a way to try and silence people,” Yoel…

Poor voice and data services were the most frequently reported consumer complaints to the Communications Authority (CA) in the quarter ended in June 2022. The complaints involved Kenyan telcos, Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom Kenya. According to data released yesterday from the regulator, poor voice and data complaints accounted for more than half of customer complaints recorded between April 1 and June 30. CA did not give a breakdown of specific complaints against each telco. The report also showed that 28 percent of the complaints were about CA’s services and business opportunities with frequency interference taking third place with 11 percent…

Cabinet Secretary for Education George Magoha has directed that all basic education institutions be closed on Tuesday August 2 for the General Elections slated for August 9. The announcement effectively cancels out a previous announcement directing the institutions to close on August 6. In a statement sent out to the Media, the CS said the schools will be closed until August 10. Read: CS Magoha Halts Printing of CBC Content, Teachers to Project Topics in Class “As you are aware, Kenya is scheduled to conduct its national elections on Tuesday 9 August 2022. Therefore, following consultation, I hereby convey the Government’s…

The government has commissioned a Sh100 billion software plant in Mulot, Bomet county. The Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs held a ground-breaking ceremony in the area prone to some of the most sophisticated online criminal activities. Mulot is popular in the News for hosting some of the country’s high-level digital scammers ranging from sim-card fraud to cyber crime. The Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) has on many occasions busted various syndicates conducting high level crimes from rental units and rural Mulot. The ICT Ministry said it had noted the talent by the youth in the area, and was…

The Cabinet Secretary for Education,  George Magoha has directed that all schools close for 10 days for the general elections. The CS said all schools should be closed on August 6 to pave way for the polls slated for August 9. Magoha was speaking after inspecting the construction of CBC classrooms at Alliance Girl’s High School on Sunday. He said the 10 days would allow citizens to vote and get results before schools resume. “We are breaking again on the 6th of this month and we will not open again until August 15th,” CS Magoha said. Read: Magoha Dismisses Claims that…

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has countersued Twitter after the latter sued the billionaire for pulling the plug on a $44 billion acquisition deal. The details of the lawsuit, which was filed on Friday have not been made available to the public yet. According to CNBC, Musk’s legal team asked the court tokeep the details confidential. Twitter sued Musk last month after the Tesla boss reneged on an earlier plan to purchase the social networking platform. The Tesla boss initiated a hostile takeover earlier in February this year, offering stakeholders $44 billion to buy Twitter. The Tesla earlier this month announced…

The Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs, Joe Mucheru has come out to refute claims that Facebook could be suspended in Kenya. Mucheru said that Kenya is committed to promoting Press Freedom, ruling out any plans to shut down the internet during the election period. “Media, including social media, will continue to enjoy PRESS FREEDOM in Kenya,” the CS tweeted. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) on Friday threatened to suspend social media platform Facebook, after a report showed that the firm had accepted to political ads containing hate-speech and inciteful remarks, in contravention…

Kenyans living and driving along Thika Road have this morning woken up to a giant billboard with Kenya Kwanza Deputy President hopeful Rigathi Gachagua. The billboard, which is apparently erected near the Safari Park Hotel highlights the court order to surrender Sh200 million to the state. The giant billboard is written “Enough is Enough”, “Freedom is Coming, 200 million recovered.” Haiya! @RoadAlertsKE, @Ma3Route huku ni wapi? pic.twitter.com/4usC46ciHO — Pauline Njoroge, HSC (@paulinenjoroge) July 30, 2022 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js The court yesterday ordered the Mathira Member of Parliament to surrender Sh200 million to the state after the funds were found to be proceeds…

Kenyan electric bus start-up Basi-Go is set to roll out its first fleet of buses after a successful four-month pilot. The company has announced plans to introduce 20 electric buses by the end of 2022, and increase the number to 100 by 2023 with a goal of hitting 1,000 by 2030. Speaking during the Kenya Power Expo 2022 a few weeks ago, BasiGo business development head Samuel Kamunya said they had proven that the concept is viable. “They have been running 50,000km in total. We have proved the concept, the technology is able to work and survive in Kenya and…

Kenya Power will soon start distributing energy to only large, commercial and industrial consumers. In the latest reforms, The Ministry of Energy has proposed that the parastatal be split to enhance efficiency and cut costs. According to the proposal, the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (Rerec) will take over distribution of electricity to households to allow Kenya Power to focus on serving the bigger revenue earners such as industrial consumers, who account for more than half of its income. “Reconfigure KPLC and Rerec across consumer segments so that KPLC is positioned to serve large commercial and industrial consumers, while…

Instagram is going back on a number of its proposed changes after a section of users criticized the app for losing its identity. Influencers and celebrities including the Kardashian sisters had criticized the app for including features that made it more like TikTok. The social media backlash called on Meta to ‘make Instagram Instagram again.’ “I’m glad we took a risk — if we’re not failing every once in a while, we’re not thinking big enough or bold enough,” Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in an interview. “But we definitely need to take a big step back and regroup. [When]…

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has given social media platform, Facebook seven days to comply with regulations ahead of the August 9 polls. According to the watchdog, the Meta-owned company has been in violation of stipulated regulations even as the country prepares for the general elections. A report by Advocacy group Global Witness and Foxglove published a report on Monday saying Facebook had run several political advertisements that are in contravention of the country’s ethnic cohesion rules. The two non-profit organizations reportedly submitted ads to Facebook in both English and Swahili to see if they would pass the…

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has warned Kenyans against engaging with two African payment gateways that are not licensed to operate in the country. The two start-ups, Nigerian Fintech, Flutterwave and San-Fransisco based start-up Chipper Cash are not allowed to carry out transactions in Kenya. CBK governor Patrick Njoroge revealed that the two firms are not licensedto operate remittance businesses or offer payment services to merchants in the country during a Q&A session during the Monetary Policy Committee Meeting (MPC) on Wednesday. “Flutter wave is not licensed to operate remittance provider or for that matter as a Payment Service…

Twitter is rolling out a test for users to experience the app without having an account. The feature is being rolled out to the public and will allow anyone access to the app without an account. Last year, the bird app revealed its plans to grow its active user base to one billion from 229 million this year. The feature was discovered by Reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong who said the ‘Try Twitter’ feature will allow the public to follow and read tweets without an account. “Twitter is testing “Try Twitter”, letting people follow and read Tweets in the mobile…