Author: Francis Muli

A Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) task force member, Maj (Rtd) John Seii who had cast aspersions on the final report has now changed tune. Seii now says that the report is good and he supports it, but maintains that they were not given time to read it. He however denied reports that they were forced to append signatures to the final report. “The BBI document is good and we fully support it; the only problem is that we were not given a chance to read the final document,” he said. Major Seii told Emoo FM on Thursday that in the…

Bolt has unveiled a new way of accessing their services through a web browser. Customers will now be able to access taxi services using the cost effective alternative. Bolt says the web browser option is a great alternative for riders who have mobile phones with limited capabilities. The app user experience can be affected by a number of factors including low phone storage and a weak internet connection. The web browser is ideal for computer users as well as users who are conscious of the amounts of money spent on data. Read: Bolt to Involve the DCI In Driver Vetting Process…

The High Court has temporary stopped the arrest and prosecution of the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) managing director Bernard Njiraini over a Ksh2.7 billion tender scandal. The Parliamentary Public Investments Committee (PIC) had recommended that Njiraini be arrested and prosecuted for the tender irregularly awarded to EAA Company Ltd and Auto Terminal Japan. PIC found that the Pre-Export Verification of Conformity to Standard Services for used motor vehicles, mobile equipment and used spare parts tender was awarded to  blacklisted Japanese companies. In the tender, the companies were tasked with pre-inspection and pre-verification of motor vehicles at their countries of…

Safaricom has launched a new Skiza Advertising service that will see SMEs advertise their services, and in turn subscribers paid in kind for listening to the ads. In the new service, subscribers who listen to three ads for more than six seconds each will be awarded 5MBs of data or one minute talk time. Customers can enrol through *897#, upon which they will be hearing ads instead of the ring back tone or normal skiza tunes. The accumulated minutes and data are valid until first day of every month and once redeemed assume a no-expiry validity on the customer’s line.…

Whatsapp has finally secured the necessary approval to roll out Whatsapp Pay in India. The payment service had initially been rolled out to about one million users in the country for testing purposes. The National Payments corporation of India (NPCI), said that it had granted Whatsapp approval to  roll out UPI-powered payments in India. Whatsapp Pay follows the likes of Google, Samsung and a number of firms using UPI, a payment infrastructure built by a coalition of banks in India. NPCI said it had granted Whatsapp approval to expand the payment service in a “graded manner”. To start with, the…

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is looking to collect Sh 5 billion in taxes from digital transactions within the next six months. Commissioner general Githii Mburu, revealed that KRA would collect taxes from local and foreign businesses supplying variety of online services in Kenya. “We are looking at collecting Sh5 billion between January and June from the digital economy. We have grown revenue in that sector significantly.” Read: Finance Bill 2020 Proposes 1.5PC Digital Tax on Online Transactions Firms operating online are expected to pay tax at a flat rate of 1.5 percent on the value of goods or services…

The family of late tycoon Ramesh Gupta will be selling the man’s 23 cars through public auction this month. Through the administrators of the tycoon’s estate, Veeral Shah and Roma Wadhwa, the family will hold a public auction on November 13, and will seek to raise at least Ksh35 million. The collection features luxury vehicles including Bentley, Chevrolet, Porsche, Ford, Peugeot, Citroen and Mercedes Benz. The most expensive is a Mercedes Benz valued at Ksh9 million. Read: Injury That Killed Dutch Tycoon Tob Cohen Revealed In Court Gupta, before his death, was a car dealer and the proprietor of the Car…

Senior Tuskys employees have reportedly made away with cash and inventory from the branches in place of unpaid salaries, even as the retailer sinks deeper into cash flow problems. Citizen Digital reports that Tuskys chief cashiers at Greenspan, Kenyatta Avenue, Matasia, T-Mall, Imara,, Ongata Rongai and Eldoret have resigned while taking with them cash from daily sales. “I have just decided to reduce my unpaid salary and paid myself ninety thousand shillings. In case anyone has an issue, kindly deduct this from my salary,” said one of the cashiers in her resignation letter. The retailer is facing mounting pressure from…

Kenya loses over of Ksh500 billion annually through tax concessions or preferences (tax expenditure), Treasury CS Ukur Yattani has said. Speaking during the 6th tax summit organised by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in Nairobi on Wednesday, Yattani revealed that the concessions and preferences amounted to Ksh535.9 billion in 2018, a six per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Value Added Tax (VAT) accounted for 69.2 per cent followed by corporate income tax at 15.7 per cent while customs exemptions and remissions accounted for 13.9 per cent. “We are considering a review of tax expenditures and incentives to minimise such revenue…

Tech giants, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon reported a revenue growth in the first nine months of 2020. According to data by Comprar Acciones, Apple and Google also reported slight increases in their revenue within the same period. According to the research data, Amazon revenue grew by 35 percent, Facebook by 17 percent and Microsoft by 13 percent. Cumulatively, the tech giants amassed over $152 billion in Q3 of 2020. In the same period however, Apple’s revenue totaled $64.7 billion signaling a 1 percent growth rate year-over-year. Read: Apple To Launch Subscription Services With New iPhones In October iPad revenue grew…

Safaricom has rolled out new phone number prefixes starting with 0112, 0113, 0114 and 0115 to meet increasing demand for Safaricom lines. The new phone numbers are available free of charge. Customers are only required to activate their lines with a top-up of KES 50 airtime after choosing the phone number they wish. The move is part of the company’s customer initiatives to mark 20 years since it was launched, with the new numbers available at all Safaricom shops, dealer outlets and agents countrywide. Read: How Safaricom Positioned Services for the Digital Era The launch of the new numbers also…

Whatsapp is working on a feature that will allow users to report an individual or business account, and provide chats as proof. According to WABetaInfo, the official Whatsapp reporting website, the feature is live on Android version 2.20.206.3. Beta testers are also expected to start seeing it soon. Normally, a user simply reports an individual or business account mostly due to spamming. Whatsapp normally responds by suspending various functions of the reported user. The new feature however, will require that anyone reporting an account share recent chat messages as proof. The only difference being that Whatsapp now requires proof before…

Uber’s arm in Kenya is in opposition to a government draft regulation proposing a 15 percent commission cap on trips on grounds that it is restrictive. “As ride hailing firms we are all about policies that support innovation and businesses growth, however such a law will not be progressive for the industry,” said country manager Richard Njao. Taxi hailing apps such as Uber, Bolt and Little cab have become popular connecting customers to rides in most of the major Kenyan towns. Read: Uber Launches Intercity Bus Hailing Service In Egypt A lot more people have also taken up investment in…

Kenyans could pay more for electricity in the coming weeks, even as Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) approves an application by Kenya Power to increase consumption charges by 20 percent. According to reports by Business Daily, the changes are awaiting a public participation phase before they are effected through a Kenya Gazette announcement. “We have examined and approved the application by Kenya Power which will now be published for stakeholder consultations. The difference between what was applied for and what we have approved is not much. This could have been completed earlier but the surge in Covid-19 cases has…

Kenya is automating a number of processes including the application for passports. The Kenya Immigration Department started rolling out e-passports in 2017. In February this year, the government gave a March 2021 deadline for a full transition to e-passports. Some features of the e-passport include: a small electric chip which stores and keeps your personal data safe; a digital photograph. To avoid rejection, ensure you follow the specifications provided for the photos. Do not wear hats, take 3 full face photos, do not mount the photos and ensure that it is the correct size (less than 2×1.5″ or more than…