Author: Francis Muli

Today is the last day to file your tax returns. The iTax filing system accepts various types of returns such as income tax related to the resident individual, corporates, partnership, and indirect tax such as VAT and excise. You can choose the right type of iTax returns and file based on your obligation. The Kenya Revenue Authority gives Kenyans a six-month period starting from January to June 30 each year, to file their returns for the previous year. Only a small number of people file their individual income tax months before the deadline. The month of June is characterized by…

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has refuted claims that the new bank notes, that have been in circulation for two years, are of low quality. Kenyans have been complaining that the notes, especially the low denominations of Ksh50 and Ksh100, have been wearing away fast. However, CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge blamed Kenyans for mishandling the bills, saying they are superior than the previous notes. “Its no question the new bank notes are technically superior to Kenya’s old notes,”  Njoroge told the the National Assembly Finance and National Planning Committee. Read: CBK Reinstates Sending Fees For Mobile Money Transactions Below Sh1,000…

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Interior, Fred Matiang’i, has assured Kenyans that the government will not shut down the internet or social media in an effort to curb hate speech ahead of the general elections. “We will not do things like switching off the internet, it will not happen here. We will not harass people but because we are confident, we will act according to the law and call people to account,” he said. Africa has in the recent past been dogged by social media and internet shutdowns in the run-up to elections. Last year internet and social media blackouts were…

Instagram has started testing a feature to allow all users to share links on their stories. Normally, only users who have 10,000 followers or more are able to post swipe-up links to their stories. Reports are now indicating that Instagram is introducing a linking sticker that will require users to tap instead of swiping up. Anyone will be able to post the links, and your followers can reply to the story with a link sticker. Currently, stories that have the swipe-up link function can not be replied to. A report from The Verge indicates that the test is being done…

The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) have rejected a new combined bargaining agreement (CBA) by Teachers Service Commission (TSC). According to Kuppet Secretary General Akelo Misori, the 2021-2025 CBA offered by TSC did not increase the teachers’ salaries as demanded by the two unions. TSC only offered to increase maternity leave days to 120 from the present 90, and paternity leave to 21 days up from 14. Knut on its side was demanding a 120 to 200 percent salary increment while Kuppet wanted a 30 to 70 percent salary…

Kenyans moved an average of Ksh50.1 billion daily in three months between January and March 2021, data from the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) has shown. This means that in the whole period, Kenyans transacted a record of Ksh4.5 trillion in just one quarter. The number of active registered mobile money subscriptions increased to 33.1 million from 31.5 million subscriptions in December. Customer to business transfers (C2B) went up 10.2 per cent to Ksh1.1 trillion while business to customer (B2C) transfers stood at Ksh664.7 billion. Read: Six Affordable Smartphones with Good Quality Cameras Business to business (B2B) transfers rose by 4.1…

In the last 24 hrs, 719 people have tested positive for Covid-19. This was from a sample size of 7,608. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 183,603 and the total number of samples tested to 1,953,344. The positivity rate in Kenya now stands at 9.5 percent. In the 24 hour period, 800 patients have recovered from the virus, 695 out of these from the Home-Based and Isolation Care program and 105 from health care facilities across the country. This brings the total number of recoveries to 125,388. Nairobi is leading with 188 positive cases followed by Busia…

Today’s smartphone is a notebook, phone, computer, and camera packed into one tiny gadget. Taking photos has become a way of life. Work, social networking, and business all require that you take photos, videos, or live-stream from time to time. A good camera tops the list for many people when shopping for a smartphone. If you are shopping on a budget and wish to get a phone with a high-quality camera, here are six options you might want to explore. Oppo Reno4 Z It comes with a 6.43-inch display screen with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. The phone which…

The father of the owner of killer Solai dam in Nakuru Patel Mansukh has succumbed to cardiac arrest at the Aga Khan Hospital. Initially, it was reported that the son, Perry Mansukh Kansagara, had succumbed to Covid-19, reports that were disputed by farm manager Vinoj Kumar. The dam, officially known as Patel Milmet Dam, burst its banks in May 2018 killing 48 people. Consequently, Kansagara was charged with murder alongside eight others. In February 2020,a Naivasha court acquitted Kansagara and the eight of murder charges that had been launched due to death of at least 48 people in the Solai…

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has announced 6,000 vacancies for teachers in both primary and secondary schools. Out of the 6,000 vacancies, 5,000 vacancies are in secondary schools while 1,000 are in primary schools. Interested candidates have until July 12, 2021 to submit their applications through the TSC online portal www.tsc.go.ke under ‘Careers’ or teachersonline.tsc.go.ke. Applicants for the primary school slots must be holders of a PI certificate and must be registered teachers with the Teachers Service Commission. Read: Raila Slams TSC For Sabotaging KNUT, Claims Teachers Are Affected Secondary school applicants must be holders of a Bachelor’s Degree in Education…

Public servants are set for deep wage cuts after June 2022 even as the government looks for ways to reduce the public sector wage bill, as per the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In the planned review, allowances could be capped to n40 percent of the gross pay, a change from the current unregulated formula, with some servants receiving up to 259 percent of the wages in allowances. Among the allowances being targeted include entertainment, responsibility, medical and utility (water, electricity and phone calls). In the current set up, public sector wage bill consumes almost half of the…

22Bet Kenya has unveiled a Ksh5 million fund aimed at supporting Kenyan artistes in the wake of economic hardships occasioned by Covid-19 pandemic. The company will work alongside Tv personality Willis Raburu’s Bazu Entertainment to identify deserving artistes, who will benefit from the fund through recording sponsorships. The initiative is set to open avenues for talented young artistes to get sponsorship deals, that could lift their talents to the next level. “It is a good thing that 22bet is coming through to support young artistes through facilitating their craft especially in this Covid-19 pandemic era where most of their income…

Netflix users who use the app on android are getting a new feature that will allow them to start streaming videos that are partially downloaded. Downloading a full episode or movie can sometimes take quite long, especially when in a hurry. The feature will be available from today for all users who have the Netflix version 7.64 and higher on their mobile phones and tablets. Previously, users could only start watching a show after it was fully downloaded. This could be quite exasperating for someone who is running out quickly. Read: Netflix Mulls Putting a Stop to Unauthorized Password Sharing…

Kenyans could have their next general election in 2022 if all goes according to the regular calendar. As the period approaches, campaigns are heating up despite the Covid-19 pandemic which has slowed the world order. Social media has become a powerful tool in the run-up to elections. This has seen a number of politicians hire communications specialists who tweet and draft social media posts just to keep their followers engaged. Unfortunately, mainstream media may not be as easy to manipulate. Word is, a number of politicians desperate to clear their digital footprints are now going to great lengths to delete…

Nairobi has for the first time in two years dropped from the list of world’s top 100 most expensive cities for expatriates. This is according to a recent report by Mercer Cost of Living, which ranks Nairobi on position 145 in the world, a rise 47 spots. The ranking, which surveyed 209 cities, reviewed 200 items in each city, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. “The latest data show few significant price variances resulting from the pandemic as various measures were adopted by governments worldwide, such as lowering or refraining from collecting VAT for a period of…