Author: Francis Muli

Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Alliance presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his rival Kenya Kwanza presidential hopeful William Ruto are set to announce their running mates this weekend. Reports indicate that Raila is highly likely to name his running mate during a political rally to be held at Kamukunji on Sunday. Sources close to Kenya Kwanza also shared online that Ruto was set to name his running mate on Saturday. The two leaders are rushing to beat IEBC’s May 16 deadline to name their running mates. The exercise follows an intense week at the Raila camp where applicants hoping to clinch…

Google Translate has added 24 more languages to its database, bringing the total number of languages it can interpret to 133. Among those included are languages indigenous to Africa, India and the Americas spoken by 300 million people. Languages from Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone, Mali, South Africa, Eritrea, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Namibia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe are among the new additions to the list. “For years, Google Translate has helped break down language barriers and connect communities all over the world,” the tech-giant said. Read: Google Will Now Allow Users to Strike Off Sensitive Information from Search Engine Results The…

Google has announced Android and Google cloud training opportunities for developers in Africa. The tech giant has partnered with Andela and Pluralsight to award the additional 30,000 slots to aspiring and professional developers in the continent. The programme aims to increase the number of certified software developers in Africa. Applications will be open from May 31. The news coincides with Google’s annual I/O developer conference, where the company will discuss Africa’s burgeoning developer ecosystem. “Opportunities for software developers in Africa are at an all time high. At Google, we have been supporting developers in Africa through community and training programs…

Safaricom has revived plans to borrow from both local and international investors ahead of the rollout of commercial operations in Ethiopia this year. The telco giant’s CEO Peter Ndegwa said the firm had revived credit talks with local commercial banks and the International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC). Plans to secure credit facilities from the parties had been stalled by the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia. Last year, the Safaricom-led consortium for the Ethiopian venture had signed an agreement to borrow up to $500 million (Sh57.5 billion) from the IDFC to facilitate the telco’s expansion into the Ethiopian market. “We have made…

Two Twitter executive have confirmed their departure from the company ahead of Elon Musk’s official takeover. Kayvon Beykpour who was in charge of Twitter’s consumer division and Bruce Falck, who oversaw revenue operations at the firm confirmed that they had been asked to leave. Mr. Beykpour added that he is currently on paternity leave and was disappointed after Twitter CEO Parag Aggrawal fired him, saying he wanted to take the company in a different direction. https://twitter.com/kayvz/status/1524787800863744002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1524787800863744002%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.the-star.co.ke%2Fsasa%2Ftechnology%2F2022-05-13-two-twitter-bosses-ousted-ahead-of-elon-musk-44bn-takeover%2F Read: Elon Musk Hints at Charging Commercial, Gov’t Organizations to use Twitter The company announced that it had also paused all hiring, except for business…

Facebook is discontinuing a number of features that previously collected location history on the platform. The company has announced that it is discontinuing the Nearby Friends feature as well as Weather alerts, Location history and background location. The company sent out a notification to people who had used the features in the past, saying it would also stop collecting data associated with the features on May 31, and delete any stored date by August 1. “Because you’ve previously used Nearby Friends, Weather alerts, Location History or Background Location, we’re letting you know that these products and features will no longer…

The Nairobi Expressway is set to open for public use on Saturday after the official launch. The Parliament’s Transport Committee expressed satisfaction with the work done after an inspection tour of the 27 kilometres stretch, adding that the road had been completed before the June deadline. “The road is complete and we are satisfied with all the works that has been done. What we were looking for during this inspection is whether it had security and if it was safe for Kenyans to start using it,” Parliamentary Transport committee Chair David Pkosing said. 10,000 motorists have already registered to use…

A number of Kenyans are using social media to spread misinformation and paint the government in bad light. According to Nakuru County Commissioner Erastus Mbui, politicians are spreading falsehoods with an intention of setting up citizens against the government. Mbui cited that among the issues which had been misreported include the fuel prices, which he claims are actually cheapest in Kenya compared to other East African countries. “The correct information is only a click away, go to the internet and search fuel prices of the other nations and compare it to Kenya, the commodity is cheaper here because of government…

Safaricom has obtained prime internet spectrum allocation for 5G rollout. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) allocated the giant telco 60 megahertz (MHz) spectrum in the 2600MHz band. “The 2600MHz band is very prime, it was previously used by the security agencies in Kenya but they released it following change in the technology that they use,” a senior source disclosed to the Nation Africa. Although the source did not reveal how much Safaricom paid, the fee is presumed to be higher than the Sh2.89 billion license fee paid for the 4G spectrum five years ago. Read: Safaricom Subscribers Reeling in Confusion…

Twitter could soon allow users to attach photos and videos to the same tweet. The company is working on the mixed media tweets alongside a number of features including Status updates. According to 9to5Google, the mixed media capability was spotted by Developer Dylan Roussel. The update spotted on Twitter Android shows that users can attach up to four pictures or one video in the same tweet, but not both a still image and video. There are also new developments to Twitter’s status feature which is under development. Images show that users will have options to ‘discover’ and ‘join’ a status…

Uber has sent an application to the High Court seeking to have a dispute between the taxi-hailing company and its drivers referred to arbitration. The Kenyan drivers sued Uber Kenya and Uber B.V in 2016 after the company slashed their rates to compete with rival companies. The drivers sued the Uber, claiming that the move was in violation of their rights. They said the new slashed cut costs were below market rates and would kill their businesses. In the application sent to the High Court, Uber says that an existing agreement between the company and drivers recommends that any dispute…

Three M-Pesa shops in Kamukunji area in Nairobi were robbed of a total of Sh1.3 million on Thursday morning. Shadrack Ondera lost Sh244,000, Mumo of Maanal Ventures lost Sh300,000 while Mutile lost Sh800,000 in the robbery incident that occurred at 5.30 am. According to a Police report, the victims were accosted by six men armed with what appeared to be pistols. They were then asked to surrender their monies, and after complying, the police report says the robbers walked away slowly and entered Majengo slums. Read: Safaricom Not Charging MPesa Transactions Below Sh1,000 For 90 Days Over Coronavirus Outbreak Mutile proceeded…

Tech giants are working together in the development of passwordless sign-ins across all devices. Apple, Microsoft and Google made the announcement during the World Password Day on May 5. This means that users will in the near future use passwordless authentication across Android and iOS operating systems; Chrome, Edge, and Safari browsers; and the Windows and macOS desktop versions. Just as we design our products to be intuitive and capable, we also design them to be private and secure,” said Kurt Knight, senior director of platform product marketing at Apple. “Working with the industry to establish new, more secure sign-in…

Electronic transactions have opened a loophole for fraudsters, failing to combat risks associated with cashless payments. According to the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), the mobile and banking industry has faced new threats since the Covid-19 pandemic period when they became popular. KBA Chief Executive Officer Habil Olaka said fraudsters had devised new ways of circumventing security on contactless payment platforms. “Over the past few years, cases of social engineering and identity theft have persisted. Similarly, cases of phishing emails, malware attacks and baiting have scaled up in tandem with the enhanced uptake of internet and mobile transaction platforms,” Olaka said.…

Uber customers will now be able to send larger packages using the newly launched on-demand delivery solution. Uber Connect car will enable individuals as well as small and medium-sized businesses to transport small boxes and larger packages of up to 80kg across town. Uber says customers will be able to confirm delivery of their items by using a PIN. This will give them the assurance that the package is being delivered to the right person and provide quick and easy reference in cases of multiple deliveries. Read: Uber Will Now Allow Riders to View a Breakdown of How Drivers Rate them…