Author: Francis Muli

Tiaty MP William Kamketwas on Saturday grilled again by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over Kapedo attacks, a week after he was arrested in connection to the same. The legislator was grilled for over five hours according to Rift Valley regional commissioner George Natembeya, and expected back on February 11. Kamket was arrested after he joined leaders from Baringo and West Pokot Counties to criticize ongoing security operation in the volatile Kapedo area. The clashes in Kapedo have led to the killing of GSU Deputy Operations Director, Emadau Temako, in Kapedo, Turkana County. Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred…

Facebook announced on Friday that it is developing “topic exclusion controls” to enable advertisers block certain types of content from appearing alongside their ads. In July 2020, some of Facebook’s biggest advertisers including StarBucks, Coca Cola and Unilever suspended advertising on the platform. The companies said that Facebook had done little to curb hate speech following the death of George Floyd, a black American who died in the hands of the police. Read: Facebook Marketplace Begins Rolling Out in Kenya A number of advertisers have complained for a long time that big tech does little despite their ads appearing side…

If you have been on Netflix lately, you might have noticed a timer on the top right hand side of the screen. The streaming company has rolled out a global test for the feature designed to automatically stop playing video once the specified time has elapsed. The timer will come in handy for binge watchers who can sometimes watch a show late into the night. In most cases, they end up falling asleep, leaving the show playing. This means that to resume, they have to go back rewinding episodes. Read: Netflix Surpasses 203.6 Million Subscribers Globally The timer will now…

The High Court has issued an order for Acting Chief Justice Philemon Mwilu to cease acting as Deputy Chief Justice (DCJ), Judge and a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). This technically throws her out of judicial operations, since she is barred from performing her main functions. “That a conservatory order be and is hereby issued against the 1st Respondent (Mwilu) restraining her continued occupation of the offices of Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya, Judge of the Supreme Court of Kenya, Member of the Judicial Service Commission and Ombudsman of the Judiciary pending the hearing and…

Carbacid Investments PLC’s (CIL) shareholders have approved the acquisition of up to 100 percent of the shareholding of BOC Kenya Plc (BOC) pursuant to the offer that was announced in November 2020. The proposal was voted upon and approved at CIL’s 49th annual general meeting of the shareholders (AGM). On November  25, 2020, CIL and Aksaya Investment LLP as Co-Offerors notified BOC of their intention to make a joint takeover offer to acquire up to 100 percent of the shares of BOC, being 19,525,446 ordinary shares with a par value of Ksh5 for a cash consideration of Ksh63.50 per share…

Since we published the article showing users How to download Facebook videos, there have been requests to do a similar piece for Twitter videos. Well, here it is. Although Twitter is best known for short conversations, the app offers multiple functions including live streaming, videos and photo uploads. Most recently, Twitter introduced stories popularly known as Fleets. The app is already working on Circles, a way for users to carry their conversation in small groups. Read: Twitter Unveils New “Quote Tweet” Feature Once in a while, you come across a really cool video on Twitter that you would like to…

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party Leader Raila Odinga is set to meet all Nyanza elected leaders on Monday, February 8, a week after President Uhuru Kenyatta met leaders from Mt Kenya. In a public statement, ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna announced that the meeting will be held at Ciala Resort, without revealing the agenda of the meeting. “You are hereby notified of a consultative meeting bringing together elected leaders, Council of Elders, Professionals and Business people in the four Counties specified above to be held on Monday, February 8, 2021, at Ciala Resort, Kisumu to be chaired by Party Leader…

Apple reclaimed its spot as the second-best selling phone manufacturer in 2020, a report from Counterpoint and Canalys has revealed. The tech giant overtook Huawei to reclaim its position, while Samsung maintained the lead. Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo took the next three spots, the Counterpoint report showed. The Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on phone sales in 2020 largely due to the lockdowns and travel restrictions worldwide. In the second quarter, Huawei beat Samsung to become the top seller after recording  55.8 million device shipments compared to Samsung’s 53.7 million units. This was attributed to the fact that China emerged…

Telegram users will now be able to import their chat history from Whatsapp, the company announced yesterday. In a blog post on their website, Telegram said that videos and documents can be included in the export for both groups and individual chats. The function was already available for iOS users, but now the company has also made it possible for Android users to import their chats from Whatsapp. To move your chats from iOS, open the Contact info or Group info page in Whatsapp, tap Export Chat and select Telegram from the Share menu. Read: Telegram Users Spike Following Whatsapp…

Kenyans defaulted bank loans worth Ksh73 billion in the 10 months to December 2020, data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has shown. As of March 2020, the total value of loans defaulted was Ksh351.73 billion, but the amount has increased to Ksh423 billion or 14.1 percent of the total Ksh3 trillion loan book. The hike has been attributed to the effects of Covid-19 where at least 1.72 million workers lost jobs in three months to June when Kenya imposed a lockdown. Currently, the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) has risen to 14.1 percent, the highest since August 2007…

Apple has announced plans to roll out its new privacy notifications on most iPhones as soon as March 2021. The new privacy policy has faced sharp criticism from major digital advertising firms including Facebook, which claims it will negatively affect business. The notifications will be sent out one time and will require app developers to ask for users’ permission before the app can track their activities “across other companies’ websites and apps. Digital advertising experts said the move will encourage more users to deny the apps permission. Apple announced the development in June 2020 but delayed it to allow digital…

A Kenyan pilot identified as Ahmad Nassir Dirie Olow has been accused of using a fake Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate to gain admission into a Kenyan aviation college and later graduate as a pilot, contrary to the law. The pilot who has been flying for eight years, on July 30, 2011, is said to have lied to Lt. Colonel Amin Ali, head of training at Ninety Nines Flying School at Wilson to Airport, using the certificate to gain admission. “On the 30th day of July 2011 at Ninety Nines Flying School at Wilson Airport Area within Nairobi…

Whatsapp is rolling out an extra security feature for Whatsapp web or desktop users. This will help users who sometimes get their WhatsApp information compromised when their QR Code is scanned without their knowledge. The company announced on Twitter that Whatsapp users can now add extra security features before linking devices. Users can choose between face and fingerprint unlock to authorize the link. https://twitter.com/WhatsApp/status/1354700879312560128 Read: Facebook Looking To Integrate Messenger With Whatsapp To use the feature on Android, open Whatsapp on your smartphone, tap on the three dots on the top right-hand side and select Whatsapp web. Tap link a…

Apple reported that its sales in the last three months of 2020 surged on the growing sales of iPhones and services. The company’s sales topped $100 billion, an all-time record high. The iPhone manufacturer recorded a 29 percent profit in December to $28.7 billion and a 21 percent revenue growth to $111.4 billion. International sales accounted for at least two-thirds of the sales with greater China accounting for sales worth $21.3 billion, up from $13.6 billion a year ago. The Americas region accounted for sales worth $46.3 billion, up from $5 billion a year ago. “We’re gratified by the enthusiastic…

The government has extended the deadline of beneficial ownership information submission for businesses by a further six months with effect from February 1. In a statement, the director-general in the Office of the Attorney-General Department of Justice Mr Kenneth Gathuma said that the Business Registration Service (BRS) has received a significantly high number of applications to file Beneficial Ownership Information E-Register at the Companies Registry by persons who are keen to comply with the requirements of the Companies Act, 2015. “As per our previous communication, companies registered under the Companies Act, 2015 and the Companies Act Cap. 486 Laws of…