Author: Francis Muli

Safaricom has refuted claims that it plans to discontinue its reverse call service. Several social media users had earlier made posts alluding that the telco would discontinue the service by end of June. Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa took to Twitter to assure Kenyans that the service would not be discontinued, as it addresses the needs of regular Kenyans. “I have received many queries on whether we are ‘killing’ our reverse call service. This is untrue. We continue to provide this service as it addresses a key need to a large part of our customer base,” Ndegwa tweeted. Read: Safaricom Accused Of…

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. The CS admitted that the country was facing a rise in the unprecedented use of social media and spread of fake news. He said the cyberspace  has been a tough call to the police, with security agencies currently dealing with several internal and external cases. Matiang’i stated that the government is relying on a cybersecurity strategy being developed in Naivasha, Nakuru County, to combat online crime…

Instagram recently announced a new feature that would boost presence and and businesses on the app. In April 2022, the photo sharing app said users would be allowed to pin posts at the top of their profile grids. During the test period, users could only pin one post, now the Meta-owned company has said that users can pin up to three posts or reels on their profile grids. Once you select the pin to profile, the post will appear at the top left corner of your grid with a pin icon. Pinned posts are already available in a number of…

The European Union has passed a law that will require phone manufacturers to adopt the use of a  common charging port for mobile phones, tablets and headphones. The law, which was passed on Tuesday deals will affect Apple the most due to the nature of its charging ports. In May, Apple announced that it was testing a USB-C connector that could replace the current lightning charging port in future iPhone models. The European Union hopes to save at least 250 million euros from the move that has been in the making for about 10 years now, as well as contribute…

The Ministry of Tourism, Safaricom, China Media Group (CMG) and Huawei Technologies recently partnered to broadcast scenes from the Amboseli National Park in efforts to boost wildlife conservation. Using a solar powered network platform, Huawei delivered a live broadcast of wild animals in their natural habitat at the Amboseli National Park to demonstrate how modern technology can be used to monitor endangered wildlife and boost security. Viewers were treated to spectacular views of elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, hippos, and zebras, as well as thousands of flamingos, all against the backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro during the online broadcast. Read: Jubilee Blogger Pauline Njoroge…

E-commerce and consumer brands infrastructure company Sendy, has partnered with Google in an initiative to empower small and medium-sized businesses in Africa. The Google Hustle Academy Boot Camp program seeks to provide MSMEs across Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa with expert training in business strategy and development, digital marketing, and financial planning. The training program is designed to help entrepreneurs running about 5,000 SMEs to position their businesses for investment opportunities. They will also learn how to build viable business models for the future. A global network of mentors and alumni will be at hand to offer their expertise at…

Apple unveiled its latest operating system, iOS 16 for iPhone during the Worldwide Developers Conference 2022 that was held on Monday. The OS, which has been in Beta testing will be released toward the end of the year. The OS promises a series of upgrades including personalized options, a lock screen with widgets and updates to Messages. Among the updates are the ability to customize fonts and colours on the iPhone’s lock screen, and the ability to add widgets and configure multiple lock screens that you can switch between by swiping across the screen. Users’ notifications will be displayed differently…

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk has threatened to renege on his Twitter bid claiming the company breached the merger agreement by concealing crucial data in regards to spam and fake accounts. In a letter to Twitter’s head of legal policy and trust, Vijaya Gadde on Monday, Musk said he was entitled to his own measurement of fake accounts. “This is a clear material breach of Twitter’s obligations under the merger agreement and Mr. Musk reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement,” the letter, sent by Musk’s attorneys…

WhatsApp will soon allow users to edit messages after sending them. Normally, users have to contend with sending apologies or starred messages to correct typing errors and wrongly sent messages. According to WhatsApp tracker, WABetaInfo, the feature is currently in development. Screenshots from the the website show an edit option for a sent message in WhatsApp for Android. To edit a message, you need to long-press the sent message to bring up a three-dot menu with options for copying, editing, or information. Read: WhatsApp Could soon Allow Users to Log in to One Account on Multiple Phones It is not clear…

Meta has rolled out a new feature allowing users to track their call logs. The social media platform has added a ‘Calls’ tab to help both Android and iOS users track call logs. The tab will be located on the lower bar of the app’s screen, between the Chats and Peoples tabs. According to Facebook’s Messenger, audio and video calling are growing rapidly, with over 40% more daily callers in the app now than in early 2020. Records from the company show that more than 300 million audio and video calls are made using the app globally. Read: Facebook Rolls out…

Safaricom has partnered with visa to unveil the first M-Pesa GlobalPay Visa Virtual Card. The card will enable Kenyans to shop globally and make secure payments to over 100 million merchants in over 200 countries through the Visa Global Network. The M-Pesa GlobalPay Visa Virtual Card will be exclusive for international, online payments outside the country, and will protect customers from incurring forex conversion costs on local online payments billed in Kenya Shillings. Kenyans can use the service to make payments on global apps and shopping websites for entertainment, retail, business, and even when traveling abroad. The transactions will be subject…

Former Microsoft Country Leader Kendi Ntwiga has been appointed Global Head of Misrepresentation at social media giant, Meta. Ntwiga assumed the role in May after her exit from Microsoft in April this year. Her new role entails leading Meta’s Misrepresentation team in global operations under community products to drive the operational guidelines to ramp the organization’s enforcement of community standards. She joins forces directly with cross-functional teams in Engineering and Product Development, as well as other teams in Global Operations, to scale projects from concept to launch. Her office will be based in Ireland. Read: Meta Unveils Requirements for Kenyans Placing…

A man in Kericho has been arrested for threatening fruit vendors. Kipruto Vincent Koech, a matatu tout told the vendors that they would be ejected from the county before the August 9 general election. The man who is a tout had commandeered his vehicle a Matatu registration number KCW 131D, blocking the vendors. This led to a protest from the fruit vendors based at Jumbo Petrol station. As the vendors asked the matatu driver to give them some space to attend to their customers, the tout shouted them down telling them that their days in the county were numbered, as…

Keroche heiress Anerlisa Muigai has announced that she is leaving Nairobi. She made the announcement through a series of social media posts, showing her now empty house at Lavington in Nairobi. Muigai had earlier this year intimated that she has been spending more time in Nakuru as it was more peaceful. However, her announcement comes days after auctioneers descended on her after a court ruling found her guilty of defamation. “My house help called me and told me ‘Madam kuna watu kwa gate wanasema wamekujia vitu za nyumba na gari,’ I was like, ‘Apana they have the wrong house number’.…

A man in Garissa almost lost his life during a routine visit to a local hospital. Mohamud Haret had taken one of his acquaintances to Mukona hospital for a medical check-up when he ‘accidentally’ set himself on fire. As a nurse was examining his friend, Haret’s curiosity got the better of him, and he jokingly asked the health practitioner whether the methylated spirit in the room was flammable. The nurse thought that Haret was messing around and casually told him to test whether it was flammable by applying it on his body and igniting it. To their dismay, Haret did…