Author: Francis Muli

Anthony Makenzi Muthusi and Julius Mumo Ngonga of Ernst & Young LLP have been appointed as joint administrators of Multiple Hauliers (EA) Limited. The company, which has been placed under administration for failure to service its debts, is facing multiple liquidation cases amounting to over Ksh14 billion. “The powers of the Administrators extend to all assets and undertakings of  the Company. By virtue of the Administration, the powers of the directors in terms dealing with the Company assets have ceased. The Administrators have total control over the business assets and management affairs of the Company with personal liability,” said Multiple…

Marathon World Record Holder and Lewa Ambassador Eliud Kipchoge recently joined the Lewa community led by Sarah Watson, the Director of Programmes for Tusk Trust for a practice run in preparation for the 2021 Virtual Lewa Safari Marathon. They were joined by Edward Ndiritu who is the Head of Anti-poaching at the Conservancy, among others. After the run, Kipchoge took time to learn more about the impact that last year’s marathon had on the communities and wildlife surrounding the conservancy. “Over the years, the marathon has proven to be a melting pot of hundreds of sporting enthusiasts drawn from all…

President Uhuru Kenyatta has led the police in destruction of 5,144 illicit firearms recovered from wrong hands during the year 2020. The event took place at the Traffic Police Training Centre in Ngong, Kajiado County. During the function, President Kenyatta offered jobs to Kenyans making illegal homemade guns at the country’s first small arms factory in Ruiru, Kiambu County. The guns are part of 14,000 illicit guns confiscated from the wrong hands in the last two years, according to interior CS Fred Matiang’i. “In two years alone, we have collected close to 14,000 guns and over 400,000 bullets from wrong…

Safaricom’s entry into Ethiopian market is going to transform the country’s economic status, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said. Speaking moments after landing in Ethiopia on Tuesday,  June 8, President Kenyatta lauded Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his administration for choosing to open the telecommunication sector to other operators. “Today’s ceremony is the first step in an exciting and rewarding opportunity for Ethiopia. Kenya has seen the great gains and opportunities unleashed by Safaricom across the entirety of our socio-economic landscape,” said President Kenyatta. According to him, Safaricom’s presence in Ethiopia will greatly impact digital presence, mobile money, telephony, data…

Kickbacks, politics and the Rai family factor ended the dream to revive Mumias Sugar Company, Kahawa Tungu can authoritatively report. Initially, Narendra Raval through his company Devki Group had won the bid to lease Mumias Sugar Company and was ready to pump in Ksh5 billion, but the plans ran into headwinds, collapsing even before take-off. Mumias Sugar Company was placed under receivership in 2019, with the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) appointed as the administrator. Since then, the lender has been looking for a strategic investor to run the sugar mill, which is at the heart of Kakamega County. The bank…

At least 16 football teams from Tharaka Nithi County, Maara Constituency, were over the weekend awarded uniforms, balls and cash prizes by betting firm 22Bet Kenya. In the event attended by Kenyan football legend Denis Oliech, the winners for both male teams walked away with uniforms, balls, a trophy and Ksh40,000 on top. The first runners up walked home with Ksh30,000 while the second runners up got Ksh20,000. The top scorer pocketed Ksh5,000. In the men’s tournament, Rangers emerged top while Kiera Starlets emerged top for the ladies’ side. In total, ten men’s football teams participated in the tournament while…

Schneider Electric in partnership with PowerPoint Systems have installed an 8.7KW solar and storage microgrid at the Matongo Maternity Hospital in Kisii, in a bid to ensure 24-hour service from the maternity facility. This project was supported by the global nonprofit solar developer United Solar Initiative and Curamericas Global, who is a long-term nonprofit healthcare partner of the Kisii County Ministry of Health, to ensure that the facility has access to a sustainable and reliable source of power throughout. The system provides backup power to critical loads at the maternity center which incurs constant power outages. Since going online in…

Dr Fred Matiang’i is urging members of the public to step up into a more active role in fighting white-collar crime. His clarion call comes at the backdrop of a series of sophisticated crimes uncovered by detectives, as the government banks on inter-agency collaboration to improve security. “All these people who are running “wash wash” activities and money laundering in estates, and the characters who are trying to abduct kids live in our midst. It is very helpful for the public to be conscious of the rising levels of crime,” he said. Dr Matiang’i linked some of the crimes to…

Several important websites on June 8, 2021 were experiencing  downtime including Amazon, Reddit and Twitch. Others that were reported to be experiencing a downtime include the UK government website gov.uk, the Financial Times, the Guardian and the New York Times. In Nairobi, Twitter was also experiencing downtime, though it did not affect a big chunk of users hence the effects were not so much felt. It was reported that that the downtime was as a result of “potential impact to performance with our CDN services”, according to Fastly. Fastly Inc. (FSLY.N) said on Wednesday the incident was caused by a…

The race for the control of Dock Union Workers is getting hotter by the day, with two figures seeking to control the union through their pawns. Kahawa Tungu understands that one of the figures is Grain Bulk Handlers owner Mohammed Jaffer, who has allegedly spent millions to influence the election of Majengo Warah as the secretary general for the union. On the other hand, Mombasa governor Ali Hassan Joho’s brother Abubakar Joho has spent millions to ensure his candidate, Renson Thoya, wins the seat. In what is coming out as a battle of the titans, Jaffer is seeking to block…

National carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) is banking on the services of London firm Steer Group to turn things around following years of loss-making. Steer Group started its job in May for the three-month contract, with the major focus on helping KQ survive the current market hurdles and also implementing policies that will make the business more sustainable in the long term. “Kenya Airways has come up with short term, medium, and long term strategies to help in realising two main objectives. The first is to survive the current depressed market, and the second is to implement strategies that will the…

United Democratic Alliance (UDA) chairman Johnson Muthama’s aide, Benson Metho, has quit following disagreements with the former Machakos Senator. In a statement, Mr Metho said that he left his job on June 1, 2021 to pursue personal interests. “I have opted to disengage as an aide to Hon. Johnson Muthama. I believe during my tenure, the achievements accomplished where monumental in their own rights, those of you whom we worked together over the time also played an immense part in the creation of those achievements and I appreciate you,” he said. Speaking to Kahawa Tungu, Metho said that there were…

The management of the Kisumu Yatch Club has announced closure of the facility for two weeks following surging cases of Covid-19. In a statement dated June 6, 202, the management said that a number of its members had been hospitalised with Covid-19, hence the closure. “Due to increasing cases of Covid-19 infection in Kisumu County and many hospitals in Kisumu being full of Covid -19 patients, it has become a matter of great concern for the Management Committee to contain the pandemic for the safety of members, staff and their immediate families,” the statement read in part. “Many of our…

Logistics company Multiple Hauliers is facing collapse following a Ksh14 billion debt owed to several creditors, who are now seeking a court nod to auction the company. Among the creditors leading the pack in a court case is Prime Bank, which was owed Ksh807 million as of 2017. Prime Bank had issued Multiple Hauliers with a Ksh300.9 million overdraft  and separate loans of Ksh178 million, Ksh269 million and Ksh60 million. The loans from Prime Bank were tied to two parcels of land in Mombasa and Nairobi owned by the company. In a bid to settle its bulging debt, Multiple Hauliers…

Airtel Kenya and Telkom Kenya could breathe a sigh of relief even as giant telco Safaricom mulls writing off a Ksh1.5 billion debt owed by the two. Safaricom has already made provisions for the loss of the funds, according to reports. The money was accrued after Airtel and Telkom used Safaricom’s infrastructure for cross-network calls. The infrastructure is known as co-location and interconnection. “On expected loss, yes, I think we spoke about this in H1 as well we did see the accumulation of losses from Telkom Kenya, and overall co-location and interconnect all put together is the amount of about…