Author: Francis Muli

1,184 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours.This is from a Sample size of 7,139, placing the country’s positivity rate at 16.5 percent. The total confirmed positive cases are now 138,077 while cumulative tests so far conducted are 1,511,592. Nairobi led with the most cases at 613, followed by Kiambu with 92 cases and Nyeri with 59 cases. On a positive note, 220 people have recovered from the disease, bringing the total recovery number to 93,560. Read: COVID-19 Cases Rise By 92 As Toll Jumps To 36,393 20 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. However,…

More Kenyans are getting the Astra Zeneca vaccine, and the Ministry of Health said users can expect various side effects. The vaccine is expected to cause minor side effects such as headaches, fever or some pain on the area injected. Although rare, some users can suffer serious side effects. The vaccine is considered extremely safe, but a compensation programme is available for anyone who could suffer serious side effects. According to an expert, the programme was instituted to instill confidence in people who may be wary of the vaccine. The compensation will be made by ESIS Inc, a US-based risk…

Global payments company, Mastercard, is set to invest Sh10 billion ($100 million) in Airtel Africa’s mobile money business. The telco’s mobile money unit is one of the biggest financial services in Africa allowing users access to a mobile wallet, loan and virtual credit cards as well as giving support for international money transfer. Airtel Africa, which is valued at $2.65 billion also got a $200 million investment from TPG fund in the last two weeks. Read: Airtel Set To Sell Stake In Airtel Money In Bid To Raise Cash In 2019, Airtel and Mastercard partnered to allow the telco’s 100…

YouTube is experimenting on hiding the public display of the number of dislikes. This is in an effort to promote the well being of content creators. Currently, viewers can see the number of likes and dislikes on any video. According to YouTube, this can impact the content creator negatively and “may motivate a targeted campaign of dislikes on a creator’s video”. The move is meant to discourage what the company terms as “dislike mobs” who deliberately dislike videos from specific creators and channel. Read: YouTube Testing a New Way For Users to Shop On The Videos YouTube creators use the…

Twitter users can now add stickers to their fleets. The company announced the development in a tweet, saying the stickers would be available for android and iOS users. The stickers can be accessed by tapping the smiley face icon at the bottom of the fleet screen which will reveal a collection of twitter-made animated stickers and ‘twemoji’. If you want more variations, you can use the search bar on the fleets screen which will display GIFs from Tenor and Facebook’s Giphy. Read also: Twitter Rolls Out New Disappearing Tweets Feature dubbed Fleets The feature is not new on the social…

Google has suspended all April Fool’s day pranks for the second year in a row. An internal email seen by the Business Insider said the company would not create its normally elaborate and entertaining Fool’s day pranks. A section of the email says the reason is in honour of all those who have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. “In 2020, we made the decision to pause our longstanding Google tradition of celebrating April Fools’ Day, out of respect for all those fighting COVID-19. With much of the world still grappling with serious challenges, we will again pause the jokes…

188 nurses who were sacked in Kirinyaga county over strike and alleged gross misconduct will not be reinstated, governor Anne Waiguru has said. In their positions, Waiguru said that the county has already hired new nurses, and there is no chance for them to get back their jobs. “At the moment, we have no vacant positions in the health sector and, therefore, we can’t absorb the sacked employees,” she said. This is despite directives by the Public Service Commission (PSC) ordering the county to reinstate the nurses, with the governor relying on a court ruling to block the nurses from…

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) on Wednesday seized 211 boxes of Promo King Disposable masks after stripping the brand of its standard mark permit. The agency said that 58 boxes containing 50 pieces and 53 boxes containing 25 pieces of the masks on sale at Quick Mart Supermarket in Ruai had failed standard quality tests. Read: List Of Low Quality Tissue Brands Withdrawn By KEBS “Nairobi Market Surveillance team today (Wednesday) at Quick Mart (Ruai Branch) seized non-complying Promo Kings brand disposable masks,” KEBS said. Kebs also seized 20 brands of detergents; sanitizers, shampoos and disinfectants at Hardy Karen…

The rate of cyber-crime in the country increased by 60 percent from 35,173,937 cases to 56,206,097 cases in Quarter 2 of the 2020/2021 Financial Year, between October and December 2020. A report from the Communications Authority attributes the increase to the systematic resumption of operations in sectors that had become dormant during the lockdown period last year. The report highlights an overview of trends and performance of various arms in the ICT sector including internet services, mobile telephony, fixed telephony and frequency spectrum management. Read: Maraga Warns Of Surge In Cyber-Crime Cases Due To High Technology Uptake Common types of…

Hotel workers in Kenya have taken to the streets to protest against the lockdown measures announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta. In a State address last week, the President announced new measures mainly targeting the one-zoned disease-infested area. The counties in the zone include Nairobi, Nakuru, Kiambu, Machakos and Kajiado. During the period, sale of alcohol and sit-in customers in restaurants and bars was suspended. Eateries are only allowed to sell take-away meals. The measures came amid a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country with the infection rate currently at 22 percent. In Nairobi alone, the President…

Radio Africa Group has responded to Shaffie Weru’s threat to sue them by threatening similar actions.The company has responded to Shaffie’s lawyers with plans to countersue the presenter for breach of contract and negligence. According to Radio Africa, Shaffie contravened the company policies and his employment contract, which according to its terms, resulted  in his dismissal. Shaffie and his co-hosts were summarily dismissed from their positions on March 27 in what the company cited as gross misconduct .The trio allegedly issued gender insensitive remarks in a case in which a lady was pushed off the 12th floor of a building…

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) manager for corporate communication Ms Tabitha Mutemi is set to lose her job as well as her place as a board member for the Media Council of Kenya (MCK). According to the latest development, both the Ministry of ICT and IEBC have recommended action against Ms Mutemi for holding two public jobs against the law. In a letter to the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and innovation, IEBC stated that Ms Mutemi had breached the code of conduct prescribed in the fourth schedule of the IEBC Act. “The Fourth Schedule prohibits members…

Apple is expanding its repair program to 200 countries including Kenya and other African countries. The company has been quite strict on who can repair its devices. However, due to a strong presence in the global market, the tech giant is now expanding the program to even more technicians. Apple’s Independent Repair Provider Program, which was launched in 2019, is now expanding to more than 200 countries. The massive expansion is set to cover all countries where the devices are sold. To qualify, technicians will be expected to apply. The program will offer free training and the technicians will be…

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has unearthed a syndicate involving the exportation of hides and skins without payment of export duty. In a statement, KRA said that the “unscrupulous” traders behind the scandal export locally sourced hides and skins as transit cargo originating a neighbouring country. Onywa Caleb Orwa, a businessman who is allegedly involved in the illegal exportation of hides and skins to evade export duty was today arraigned before a Mombasa Court. “On 11th September 2020, within the Republic of Kenya, being a representative of the exporter, jointly  with others not before Court, unlawfully made an entry in…

Caller Identification app Truecaller has launched a campaign dubbed #ItsNotOK aimed at supporting women against phone call and SMS harassment. The Swedish tech company said the move is in line with its policies to safeguard the interests of women through community-based action. According to the 2020 report Truecaller Insights: Understanding the Impact of Harassment Calls & SMS for Women in Kenya one in every five women have been on the receiving end of inappropriate and sexual calls. Out of 10, only 2 have initiated some action against the perpetrators. Read: Truecaller Launches Messaging App That Detects Fake News Feedback from users…