Author: Francis Muli

The Nairobi County government has lost about Sh400 million in revenue since the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) took over collection of parking fees. The city county posted Sh1,058,855,861 in earnings, a drop from Sh1,457,939,312 in the 2019/2020 financial year. County officials occasioned the drop to the confusion brought about by the introduction of two parking payment USSDs, *235# run by City hall and *647# by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services. Read: Nairobi Motorists Enjoy Free Parking After Technical Hitch KRA took over the collection of parking fees on behalf of the NMS. According to Nairobi County Budget and Appropriations Committee…

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) adjusted the non-constant tariffs upwards in its latest notice. This means Kenyans will be expected to pay higher electricity Bill’s beginning this June. Domestic customers are expected to purchase a single unit at a retail price of Sh24.57 from the end of June, up from Sh23.76 in May, the highest rate since March 2021. The increase is attributed to an upward revision of fuel cost charge (FCC) and foreign exchange fluctuation by EPRA on Friday. The higher tariffs are however unprecedented considering that fuel costs and the Kenyan shilling valuation have been constant…

Citizen TV Presenter Willis Raburu is rumoured to be expecting a baby with his new girlfriend. According to info from Teamaster Edgar Obare’s Instagram, the duo recently had a baby shower and could already have welcomed their little one. Below is an invite card for the baby shower Raburu and his wife Maryaprude broke up just six months ago after they lost a child during birth last year. They had both taken a break from work and social media proceeding to the States for a vacation. Shortly after returning from the trip, the couple reportedly ended things on allegations of…

Instagram Reels will start running ads from today. They will be rolled out globally and will apply in between the Reels, looping up to 30 seconds long. Something almost similar to YouTube’s video ads. The ads will appear just like the Reels, but will have a ‘sponsored’ tag just below the name of the advertiser’s account. Instagram started testing ads on Reels in April this year in Australia, Brazil and India. The Tiktok competitor feature was launched in August 2020 and although quite a number of users have taken to it, it is still not hugely popular. Facebook has however…

Twitter Spaces users can now download their audio files to share with other parties. The relatively new audio feature which has proven to be quite popular, has been getting a number of enhancements since launching. Although users cannot record their Spaces sessions directly,  they can now download their audio files after a meeting. “Recordings of Spaces (hosted in the past 30 days) are now available for Hosts. The feature can be found in the ‘data’ folder of your Data download,” Twitter said in a tweet. The process is pretty similar to downloading your tweets from Twitter archives. Read: How Twitter…

Cytonn Investments Management has accused the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of malice over its statement on Cytonn High Yield Solutions (CHYS). In its statement, CMA is said that the CHYS is being investigated “for criminal violations” because it is unregulated. In a subsequent statement, Cytonn clarified that CHYS private offer under Regulation 21 of the Capital Markets (Securities), and should not be mistaken for other regulated money market solutions, also run by Cytonn. “Kindly note that CHYS was structured as a private offer within the meaning of Regulation 21 of the Capital Markets (Securities) Regulation after consultations with the regulator,”…

The government has announced revised Covid-19 containment measures for the counties of Busia, Vihiga, Kisii, Nyamira, Kakamega, Bungoma, Kericho, Bomet, Trans Nzoia, Kisumu, Siaya, Homa-Bay and Migori. In a statement on Thursday, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said that the hotspot counties constituted 60 percent of the national Covid-19 caseload. Curfew within the hotspot zone (the 13 counties) shall be observed between 7p.m. and 4a.m. daily, except for essential and emergency services. All cross-border cargo drivers shall be required to possess a valid certificate indicating a negative COVID-19 test that was conducted no more than 48 hours before commencing their journey,…

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has frozen upward salary reviews for all civil servants and State officers for two years over tough economic times occasioned by Covid-19 pandemic. The freeze will affect basic salary structures, allowances and benefits paid in the public sector in the financial year 2021/2022 and 2022/23. “Cognisant of the government’s financial constraints, the current wage bill ratios, the need to release resources for investment in the strategic priorities of the government to jumpstart the Covid-19-ravaged economy, there will be no review of the basic salary structures, allowances and benefits paid in the public sector in…

The Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) has cautioned Kenyan workers against falling prey to the “honey trap” by the government allowing them to use up to 40 percent of their pension savings to buy a house. In a statement, COTU secretary-general Francis Atwoli said that the move could land many into trouble after retirement, since they might not have enough to take care of themselves. “Even though owning a house is a dream for many Kenyans, it might not be a need. The want, however, when one retires, is that they have money to help them buy food, medicine,…

Several doctors working under the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) have not been paid for the last four months, it has emerged. This was revealed through a letter by the Kenya Young Doctors’ Caucus to the Ministry of Health on Thursday, June 17, 2021. In the letter, the doctors say that their efforts to reactivate their payroll numbers have been blocked by junior officers at Afya House, who demand bribes to process anything. “Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, these doctors remain unpaid for the fourth month running. And while efforts have been made by individual doctors to hasten the processing of these…

It is criminal for police officers to use social media to air their grievances, Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai said in a memo signed by Mwangi Wanderi of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). “The Inspector-General has noted with a lot of concern that officers have developed a habit of using social media to advance their grievances without exhausting the laid down channels which include quality assurance/complaint and gender offices at service headquarters and the internal affairs unit,” Wanderi said in the Memo. The notice effectively bans police officers across all ranks from airing challenges they experience on social media. It…

Spotify has not been left behind in the development of a Clubhouse clone. The music-streaming app has launched Greenroom, a feature allowing users to host live conversations. Spotify is encouraging users to sign up on Greenroom and figure out how they can host live music, sports, and culture conversations on the social audio platform. Greenroom has been built on Locker room, a social audio platform acquired by Spotify in March this year. Some of Greenroom’s functionality is expected to make its way into the Spotify app so they are closely monitoring it. Greenroom’s design closely matches Spotify’s green and black…

Cytonn Investments has dismissed reports that it is withholding payments for its Cytonn high Yield Fund (CHYF) for its investors as alleged in a video circulating online. Speaking to Kahawa Tungu, Cytonn CEO Edwin Dande said that CHYF investors can withdraw their funds anytime through USSD code *809#. “The video making rounds is factually incorrect and misleading as there is no issue with CHYF where one can invest and withdraw anytime, 24 / 7 by just dialing *809#,” said Dande. CHYF is a collective investment Scheme that has a high allocation towards investment in real estate assets, which have consistently…

The Counterpoint research for global smartphone shipments indicates that Samsung managed to maintain its lead in the first quarter of 2021 with 22 percent of the entire smartphone sales. Apple came in second with 17 percent while Huawei, which has in the past maintained third position, dropped to position six. Xiaomi beat Huawei to become the biggest smartphone manufacturer in China, taking third place on global shipments with 14 percent. Oppo and Vivo took fourth and fifth position respectively, with 11 and 10 percent of the shipments. Huawei managed 4 percent in sixth position. Samsung’s dominance can be attributed to…

Things are getting murkier for National Co-operative Housing Union (NACHU) Limited in the Ksh2.8 land deal, even as a second director of New Pillion Estate Limited disowned the deal. Mary Wanjiru Gicheru, the widow of Peter Gicheru, now says she is not aware of a board meeting that authorised the transfer of 402-acre piece of land in Kiambu from New Pillion to NACHU. “There was no board resolution to sell the suit property while the agreement done by M/S Thairu and Company Advocates does not meet the Law Society of Kenya conditions of sale and this is sham. Strangers have…