Author: Francis Muli

Ride-hailing app Uber has announced that it will no longer charge trip cancellation fees. The company sent out the message via email informing clients of the new development. “At Uber, we are always monitoring rider experience, market dynamics and fare structures to ensure our app continues to be a reliable and affordable option for you. With this in mind, we have removed all trip cancellation fees.” the email message read. The company usually charges a Sh150 cancellation fee depending on the reasons given as well as the party initiating the cancellation. Drivers who wait for more than five minutes are…

‘Controversial’ Pastor and political commentator Godfrey Migwi has joined politics and is set to seek an elective post in 2022. According to a billboard post seen by Kahawa Tungu, Migwi will be going for the Mathioya Parliamentary seat which is currently held by Peter Kimari. It is not clear which party Migwi will use for his stab in politics. He becomes the third candidate to declare his interest in the seat after the current MP Peter Kimari, former MP Clement Muchiri Wambugu. Migwi used to have a religious show ‘Kwenjera Uma Wa Mandiko’ (analysing the truth of the word) every…

Mount Kenya University (MKU) has been allowed to file a defence in Ksh511 million dispute with businessman Bernard Gikunda Mwarania over university premises. The dispute pits MKU against Mwarania’s Step Up Holdings, a case that has been ongoing for over ten years. In a ruling at Nakuru High Court, Justice Hilary Chemitei ordered that Step Up Holdings to provide a Sh511million bank guarantee from a reputable bank within 30 days pending the hearing of the case. The Court also set aside a 2011 ruling that found MKU liable to pay Ksh511 million to Step Up Holdings. “The interlocutory judgement entered…

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has softened its stance on dormant taxpayers, a day after announcing that it would cancel Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) for persons who fail to file returns. In a notice published in the local dailies on Monday, the taxman issued a 30-day ultimatum to all persons eligible to remit Value Added Taxes as well as income taxes to file their returns or lose their PINs. However, Kenyans took an issue with the notice, that seemed to wage war on dormant taxpayers, especially due to the harsh choice of words used in the notice. KRA has consequently…

Telegram has announced plans to launch its group video calls this May. The company had originally planned for the addition of the feature to its messaging app in 2020, but it did not happen. They were however able to add end-to-encryption to the one-on-one video calls in August 2020. According to Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, the video calls will have  “Screen sharing, encryption, noise-cancelling, desktop and tablet support — everything you can expect from a modern video conferencing tool, but with Telegram-level UI, speed and encryption.” Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, video-conferencing has become highly sought after.…

The Court of Appeal has refused to reverse an auction of a property belonging to former Nakumatt CEO Atul Shah, which was auctioned for Ksh1.04 billion by the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). This is the second property belonging to Shah to be auctioned by KCB after his Lavington home over a Ksh2 billion debt he guaranteed for Nakumatt. The property which hosted Nakumatt headquarters and other tenants was auctioned in a haste, even as KCB feared that other lenders would come for it to recover debts owed to Nakumatt. According to Shah, the property located Nairobi’s Industrial Area, was undervalued…

Whatsapp is reportedly testing a new feature that will allow users to review their audio messages before sending. This is among a new bunch of features that are said to be on development on the app. Whatsapp was recently spotted testing a voice message playback feature on the on the public beta channel with the option for users to increase the playback speed of received voice messages 1x, 1.5x or 2x. Read: Whatsapp Working on Feature Allowing Users to Transfer Chat History Between Android and iOS According to WABetaInfo, a platform dedicated to reporting any developments on Whatsapp, the messaging app…

Audio-based social media platform Clubhouse is rolling out a beta version for Android users. The development of the app for android began in January this year after a successful rollout to iOS users. The company channeled funds it had secured in its second round to develop the android app, upgrade its infrastructure and technology and introduce a new creator grant program. The company revealed in a blog post that it was rolling out a rough beta version for Android users with plans to welcome more users onto the app in the coming weeks. No specific timelines were given. Read: How…

Kenya Power has been borrowing an average of Ksh7 billion in the last 15 years, a move that has ballooned its debt to Ksh109.9 billion as of June 2020 from Kshh4.1 billion in 2004. Ksh56.6 billion is owed to commercial banks while Ksh53.2 billion is owed to other lenders, guaranteed by the Kenyan government. For banks, Kenya Power owes Standard Chartered Ksh39.3 billion, Rand Merchant Bank Ksh9.2 billion, Equity Bank Ksh4.9 billion and Agence Francaise De Development Ksh1.2 billion. A report by the former Audito-general Edward Ouko reveals that much of the debt was accumulated during the last eight years,…

The Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) has ruled out the possibility of extending the June 30 deadline for Savings and Credit Co-Operative Societies (Saccos) to comply with new regulations. The rules contained in the Sacco Regulations Act 2020 bars saccos from offering specified non-deposit-taking business unless they are given a green light by the regulator. “No Sacco society in Kenya shall be allowed to undertake or continue undertaking the specified non-deposit taking business unless the society shall have fully complied with the Act and Regulations 2020,” said Peter Njuguna, Sasra Ag. CEO. Read: Unregulated Saccos to File Details or Risk Losing…

Health Cabinet Secretary has today announced 735 new Covid-19 cases recorded in the last 24 hours. This was from a sample size of 5,758, bringing the total number of tested samples to 160,053. President Kenyatta earlier today lifted the measures put in place to curb the spread of the pandemic, leading to speculation that the curve could be flattening. Unfortunately, 20 people lost their lives to the virus in the period, bringing the death toll to 2,744. On a positive note, 244 people have been discharged, raising the number of recoveries to 108,789. Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com or WhatsApp +254707482874.…

Kenyans due for a second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will receive it in June, 2021, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has said.  This means that the government has revised the duration between the jabs from eight to twelve weeks. Kagwe cited a global shortage of the vaccine and India’s prioritazion for its own people as reasons for the delay. India has been battling a deadly wave of the virus. Kagwe said the vaccine shortages are beyond Kenya and beyond Covax. “While considering the global shortages, the Ministry of Health has revised the duration between the administration of the first…

Kirinyaga County has recovered 250 acres of land grabbed by private developers in Sagana town.  Governor Anne Waiguru received the title deed for the Thigirici land at her residence in Kagio. This follows a rigorous court battle between the private developer and the county. Waiguru said the private developer had used illegal means to acquire the land which originally belonged to the Kirinyaga County Council. She said the win was great for future prospects of recovery of grabbed land in the county. Read: Kirinyaga OCS Transferred After Two Remandees Allegedly Succumbed To Covid-19 The recovered land located next to the…

A 28 year old woman in Nairobi thought she had hit the jackpot after successfully falling for the theatrics of an online love interest. The lady started chatting with the “foreigner” after he approached her via a direct message (DM) After numerous back and forth exchanges, the man decided to send his new lady friend gifts as a way of expressing his undying love for her. The gifts comprised of jewellery made out of gold and other precious stones, he said. The lady was elated and waited patiently until she got a phone call from “customs” agents alerting her of…

Telkom customers will be able to use T-kash, the technology company’s digital financial services platform, to send money across local networks, at no cost, for the next 60 days. In a statement to newsrooms, Telkom said that within the same period, customers will get an extra 25 percent worth of bonus airtime, when they purchase airtime via T-kash. Telkom will also be rewarding its customers with data when they use T-kash to pay bills such as Nairobi Water, Kenya Power and pay-TV platforms such as GoTV, Star Times and Zuku. “COVID-19 has brought with it heightened cost sensitivities with the…