Author: Francis Muli

Twitter Spaces have given Kenyans on Twitter something to look forward to every night. Log in to the social media network any evening and you will find spaces with as many as 200 or more people heartily engaging in spirited conversations. Topics range from politics, entertainment, mental health, business and day to day life conversations. Twitter describes Spaces as a “place to come together, built around the voices of the people using Twitter, your Twitter community.” The feature allows Twitter users to create a ‘room’ where other users can join for live audio conversations. Read: Twitter Spaces to Launch Globally…

Prof. Patricia Kameri-Mbote has told the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) that she is the perfect candidate to succeed retired Chief Justice David Maraga despite her “restless” past. Prof Mbote was put to task to explain the reason that prompted her to start a competing Law School at Strathmore University, after failing to get the position of dean at the University of Nairobi (UoN). According to Prof Mbote, she was “young” and inexperienced. “I was young and restless. I was in my 40s. When you work in groups there will always be a dominant person. I know I can be a…

Twitter Inc. is planning to open its first African office in Ghana. The company announced through its blog that it is building its first development team in Africa. “Today, in line with our growth strategy, we’re excited to announce that we are now actively building a team in Ghana.” The blog post read. “To truly serve the public conversation, we must be more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the continent.” Read: Twitter Rolls Out Voice Messaging in India The social media network also said it is seeking to recruit…

Drivers affiliated with online taxi-hailing apps Uber, Bolt and Little Cab are planning a mass switch-off in protest against low fares amid rising fuel costs. Through their lobby group E-hailing Transporters Kenya, the drivers have given the management of the apps one month to review the prices or face a switch-off. “We hereby issue 30-day notice to all the defiant apps that we shall be switching off and deleting all those apps at the end of the 30 days,” said the lobby’s secretary-general Wycliffe Alutalala. On March 14, 2021, the price of one litre of super petrol went up by…

Kenyans are keeping over Ksh995 million in their houses in denominations of Ksh1 and 50 cents, the latest data by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has revealed. This comes at a time traders are rejecting the Ksh1 and 50 Cents coins over soaring inflation, which has rendered the coins almost worthless except in banks where you can exchange them for higher denomination money. Inflation is the measure of changes in the cost of living year-on-year. Inflation stood at 5.90 percent in March from 5.78 percent in February. As of June 2020, Ksh1 coin amounted to Ksh858 million in June…

Kenyan-based start-up Tanda has embarked on an expansion plan after securing funding from HAVAIC- an early stage African tech investor, DFS Lab, Zedcrest Capital, Victor Asemota among other investors. Tanda is an independent agent network that uses a common API to help users connect multiple Digital and Financial services. “Tanda is solving one part of the very deep and complex problem of financial inclusion that is not only Kenyan but a problem across all emerging and undeveloped markets,” says Rob Heath, partner at HAVAÍC. Read: Kenyan Fintech Asilimia launches Leja, a Digital Ledger for MSMEs Heath also said that Tanda’s…

Justice Said Chitembwe has defended himself against a ruling that he made setting free a 19-year-old man who had been convicted of defiling a 17-year-old girl. Appearing before panelists from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in an interview for the Chief Justice (CJ) post, Justice Chitembwe said that the ruling was based on the practicability of the issue more than the legal framework. The ruling was ranked the world’s worst ruling for women’s rights in 2016, consequently receiving the Golden Bludgeon. The accused, Mr Martin Charo (24), had been sentenced to 20 years in jail for having sex with the…

The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) awarded contracts worth over Ksh25.6 billion to bankrupt or collapsed foreign firms which failed to complete their jobs, it has emerged. Among the firms that have pocketed billions despite doing nothing include Spanish firms Isolux Corsan, Instalaciones Inabensa, and India’s Jyoti Structures. In one of the contracts, Instalaciones Inabensa was awarded a Ksh3.6 billion contract for the construction of the  Lessos-Tororo transmission line. The company however failed to perform, forcing Ketraco to cancel the contract in 2016. To date, the project cost has risen to Ksh8.2 billion. On February 12, Instalaciones Inabensa was awarded…

Multichoice Kenya has issued a notice alerting users of a technical issue affecting its call centre. The company said that due to the hitch, the call centre is unreachable. “Dear Customer, Our call centre is currently unreachable due to a technical issue. We are working to resolve the issue to ensure your favourite entertainment is restored,” the notice read. Multichoice has advised users to reach them through their self service USSD, the MyDSTv app or Whatsapp. Read: Court Declines to Lift Order Against Safaricom in Multichoice Copyright Case “We apologize for any inconvenience,” the Digital Satellite Television added. The company…

Google has added yet another tool in its Google Apps for Education Suite. Dubbed “Classroom” it helps teachers create and organize assignments, provide feedback to their students and communicate with their classes. According to Google, education tools should be simple and easy to use, and classroom is designed to give students more time to teach while giving students more time to learn. To create and collect assignments, Classroom integrates Google Docs, Drive and Gmail for seamless and paperless submissions. Teachers will be able to see who has not completed their work, and provide direct, real-time feedback to individual students. Read:…

All Kenyan telecom operators will be required to cede at least 30 percent shareholding to locals by 2024 according to a new licensing policy. The policy unveiled last week by ICT cabinet secretary Joe Mucheru will mostly affect Airtel Kenya, which had been exempted since March 2013. Currently, Airtel is owned by India’s Bharti Airtel, but will be required to sell at least a 30 percent stake to locals by March 2024. “An existing licensee that had a waiver granted under the ICT Sector Policy Guidelines of 2006 will have three years to meet the local equity ownership threshold with…

Rapper DMX, real name Earl Simmons, has died at 50. DMX suffered a heart attack on April 2, 2021, and has since been in a coma. DMX’s family announced the news of his death. “We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, passed away at 50 years old at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days,” read a statement from the rapper’s family Friday morning. “Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end. He loved his…

Airtel and Telkom Kenya were early this year put on notice over the quality of their voice call services. According to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) the two companies failed to meet the minimum 80 percent threshold. Airtel Kenya seems to have taken the report in stride, and is now upgrading its services with an aim of improving the quality of their services. The telco said it had upgraded about 600 network sites located in rural and urban centres, 270 of these from 2G and 3G to 4G. Airtel Kenya managing director Prasanta Das Sarma that the company had…

Personal information belonging to at least 500 million LinkedIn users is up for sale on a website popular with hackers, the company has confirmed. LinkedIn users’ Names, user IDs, email addresses, phone numbers, gender, professional titles and links to other social media networks form part of the database currently on sale for a four figure sum. LinkedIn says the database has been aggregated with information from multiple websites and companies. The company said data up for sale from the professional networking site was publicly available in the users’ profiles. “This is not a LinkedIn data breach, and no private member…

Facebook has started testing an live Question and Answer app called Hotline. The Clubhouse -like app allows creators to speak, and take questions from listeners. Unlike Clubhouse which is predominantly audio-based, Hotline combines both video and text elements allowing the audience to type in or send their questions or comments via text. Users also have the option of turning on video. The invite-only app, Clubhouse, is reported to be so popular that it has attracted at least 10 million weekly users. Following the success of the audio-based platform, other social media networks have started incorporating audio features in their latest…