Author: Francis Muli

Four children below the age of eight have been rescued in Nyatike, Migori County after their 28-year-old mother tried to kill them before committing suicide. The mother identified as Dorothy Achieng locked herself and the children in the house, set the house on fire before committing suicide using a rope. According to the area chief Jeremia Oloo, family members who heard the cries of the children rushed to the scene and saved the little ones. However, it was too late to save the mother, who had already died by the time family members arrived. Read: Uproar as Migori Teacher Dies in…

An oil-transporting train from Nanyuki to Nairobi caused a scare in Kabuta village, Sagana, after catching fire following a mechanical breakdown. Reports indicate that the train had just delivered oil in Nanyuki and was on its way back to Nairobi before the incident. The cabin crew escaped unhurt and were able to put out the fire before it spread to other ‘wagons’, in efforts backed up by firefighters from Murang’a station. Read: Kisumu Port Expected To Support Millions of Livelihoods in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi According to Kenya Railways, the fire was caused by an electric fault in the…

Tanzania is preparing to roll out Covid-19 vaccine following a team of experts report presented to President Samia Suluhu. The report was presented to President Suluhu on Friday by the team that was tasked with evaluating the Covid-19 pandemic situation in the country in April. The team led by Prof Said Aboud also recommended that the country continues releasing Covid-19 statistics, which was stopped by the late President Dr John Pombe Magufuli. By the time the country stopped releasing the statistics, Tanzania had  509 cases of Covid-19. “The committee has advised different ways of mobilising financial resources from the budget…

The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has called on Kenyan journalists and media practitioners to apply for grants to support coverage of stories on Climate Change, GenderBased Violence and Constitutional/legislative developments in the country. The call is open to MCK-accredited journalists and media practitioners upon successful presentation of an original and creative idea of not more than 100 words on the above thematic areas. The Ksh10,000 grant will support travel, communication, research, and meals during data collection and writing of the story. Each grantee will work with the support of a mentor and undergo multiple trainings and skills upgrading sessions.…

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) will run two user portals concurrently until June 30, 2021, even as users record displeasure in the use of the new portal. In a statement of Friday, NTSA said that the two portals (accessed through https://timsvirl.ntsa.go.ke/ and tims.ntsa.go.ke) will remain in use to “enable all users to interact and familiarize themselves with the system and undergo scheduled refresher virtual training sessions.” “Having received feedback from various users and stakeholders on the system’s performance, user experience and taking cognizant of the above, the Authority has resolved to run both NITSA service portals (timsvirl.ntsa.go.ke and…

Sony Sugar is set to suspend operations temporarily for six weeks for maintenance works that will start on June 7. In recent months, the company has been recording reduced productivity due to frequent breakdowns, according to managing director Stephen Ligawa. “In view of this situation, Sony management has made a decision to temporarily shut the facility. We appreciate the tremendous support from stakeholders and further assure you of our commitment to serving you better,” said Ligawa. Read: Sony Sugar Fires Over 300 Casuals, Terms It A 3-Month Compulsory Leave The company has run for nine months without maintenance repairs, with the…

Police in Holo village in West Songhor, Chemelil Sub- County, Kisumu County are investigating an incident where the body of one of the ‘Kitengela four’ was exhumed by the mother and taken to an unknown destination. According to the police, Caroline Obuong, the mother of Elijah Obuong, came with a group of six men and exhumed the body which was buried three weeks ago. “A group of seven people suspected to be from uyoma siaya county came in hearse reg: number not known and invaded the home of Daniel Obudi Ogago of mobile no 0715606869 a resident of holo village…

The grandchildren of Jade Collections entrepreneur Mzee Samwel Mburu have sued him in a bid to get a share of the Ksh7 billion business empire. The grandchildren, Kevin Wakaimba and Ivan Wakaimba, have petitioned Justice Stephen Githinji  to compel the grandfather to include them in sharing the empire. The empire entails several flats, business premises, hundreds of acres of land in Rift Valley and developed prime plots across the country in towns like Nakuru, Eldoret and Nairobi. The two say they have not cleared their college and university fees, one of the reasons they want the wealth owned by their…

Family Bank has received formal approval from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to raise up to Ksh8 billion in tranches through a multi-currency Medium Term Note (MTN) by way of public offer to strengthen its capital base and support lending. The Bank targets to raise Ksh4 billion in its first tranche with the balance to be raised within the next five years in various tranches/series. “We are positioning the Bank for the second phase of growth as per our 2020 – 2024 strategy anchored on growth and stability of the bank. Through this capital raising, the Bank is eyeing to…

Insurance firm Britam has sold 20.1 million shares in Equity Bank, estimated to be worth Ksh852 million. This leaves the underwriter with a Ksh6.77 percent stake equivalent to 255.6 million shares as of December 2020. The disposal of the shares saw the underwriter lose Ksh134.5 million in “fair value loss”. “Fair value loss relating to the disposal of the Equity Group Holdings shares totalled to Ksh134.5 million (compared to a gain of Ksh332.5 million in 2019),” said Britam in its annual report. “Fair value loss on revaluation of the Equity Group shares totalled to Ksh4.2 billion (compared to a gain…

Kenya Post Office Savings Bank (Postbank) is facing an uncertain future following revelations that it is making a Ksh3 million loss every day. According to a memo by the National Treasury quoted by the Star, the lender is now eating into shareholders’ and depositors’ funds, which could land it into a crisis. Currently, Postbank is operating on a working capital of negative Ksh15 billion up from negative Ksh9 billion in 2016. “It was noted that the company’s working capital was negative over the review period and projected to worsen in the short and medium-term,” said Treasury Principal Secretary Charles Muia…

President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived in Kisumu on Sunday, May 30, 2021 for a three-day working tour of Nyanza Region during which he visited and commissioned several Government projects. The visit would culminate into the 58th Madaraka Day Celebrations at the new Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium in Kisumu County on June 1, 2021. Immediately after landing, the President traversed the Nyanza region, launching projects such as:- Kodiaga-Wagai-Onyinyore/Akala, and Nyangweso-Muhanda Roads The President first commissioned the Kodiaga-Wagai-Onyinyore/Akala, and Nyangweso-Muhanda Roads in Siaya County. The Ksh1.6 billion road network covers a total distance of 38 kilometres, and opens up the fish and sugarcane-rich…

The cotton, textiles and apparel (CTA) industry is Kenya’s second-largest manufacturing industry after food processing and has been classified as a core industry. Kenya’s CTA manufacturing value chain comprises researchers, ginners, farmers, spinners, input suppliers, textile manufacturers and extension service providers among others. It is estimated that approximately 40,000 farmers are involved in cotton farming, while the overall sector provides livelihood to approximately 200,000 households. Cotton in Kenya is mainly grown by about 30,000 to 45,000 smallholder farmers in arid and marginal regions, under rain-fed conditions on small land holdings of about one hectare. Read: At Least Ksh550 Million Pumped Into…

Lake Victoria is the second biggest fresh water lake in the world and Africa’s most important source of inland fishery. The lake yields over 800,000 metric tons of fish every year that supports over 200,000 families direct and a total population of two million people. Before 2017 the fish yields in the lake had experienced a significant decline to 90,000 metric tons annually. The decline in the fish production in Lake Victoria can be associated with overfishing, illegal fishing, water hyacinth as well as failure to embrace modern fishing methods. In November 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta through the Ministry of…

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government has injected over Ksh550 million to repair and expand the infrastructure of the Ahero and Kano irrigation schemes in Nyanza in the last three years. These interventions have led to the increase in the number of rice farmers in the area to 7,000, earning up to Ks2.8 billion from rice annually. The government also distributed rice seeds to farmers with Kisumu alone receiving 20.8 metric tonnes of rice seeds valued at Ksh4.8 million. Also, Kisumu County Government has pledged to support the establishment of an additional mill in the area to ensure that rice produced is…