Author: Francis Muli

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will continue implementing laws on the Acts passed by the National Assembly without the input of the Senate. In a statement on Friday, KRA said they had nine months for the National Assembly to comply with the required legal guidelines before the laws are regularized. “Despite the nullification, implementation of Court Orders has been suspended for nine (9) months to allow the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Attorney General to comply with the provisions of Article 110 (3) of the Constitution and regularize the affected laws,” said KRA Commissioner for Legal Services And…

Kenya is planning to develop an app based commodity exchange with the aim of boosting farmers’ revenues.  The CEO of Kenya Commodity Exchange, Jared Nyaundi, said that the online marketplace is expected to be ready by February 2021. “The mobile-based agriculture exchange will introduce structured trading to ensure agricultural producers are not exploited by intermediaries,” Nyaundi said during the launch of the warehouse receipt system. Nyaundi said that the commodity exchange platform will be linked with the warehouse receipt system, which will be instrumental in helping farmers store their produce in modern stores. Read: EABL Commercialises Aliciana Barley Variety At…

The downfall of giant retailer Tuskys Supermarket could happen sooner than expected, even as it shuts down more branches as cash flow issues worsen. On Thursday, October 29, the retailer shut down three more branches including Tuskys Pioneer on Moi Avenue in Nairobi, Adams Arcade branch and its Kitengela store. Tuskys Pioneer is the second branch in Nairobi’s CBD shut down by the retailer in less than one week, after the Ronald Ngala branch. The three make five the number of branches closed in one week, the fifth one being the Kakamega branch. Other branches that have been closed by…

The Covid-19 pandemic has given hope to Small and Medium size enterprises, especially those operating online. Shoppers worldwide have become more adherent of lock-downs and travel restrictions, choosing instead to work and shop remotely. Covid-19 is reported to be on  a second wave in Kenya. In the last month, more fatalities and a surge in infections have been observed in the country. The numbers surged soon after the Covid-19 protocols were relaxed . Money is said to be one of the fastest means of transmitting the various due to its fast circulation and the shelf life the virus seems to…

Pilots working for the national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) could now be forced to work as casual labourers, whereby they are paid per flight and not monthly as is the current arrangement. Speaking to Business Daily, KQ CEO Allan Kivaluka says that the carrier’s hopes for a bailout are diminishing, the reason for the proposed arrangement. “We are looking at an arrangement where we pay pilots as they fly. Where do we get cash to pay pilots if planes are grounded?” said Kivaluka. The Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) however said that they are not aware of the plan, since…

Instagram has extended its live stream limit time to four hours from one. The move puts the Facebook owned social network in competition with other platforms such as YouTube. During the pandemic period, many users who streamed their concerts or shows live opted for YouTube due to the one hour live stream time limit on Instagram. Sauti Sol in Kenya launched their ‘Midnight Train’ album through an approximately three hour live streamed concert on YouTube. The live concert had more than 40,000 viewers and more than 210,000 viewers after 24 hours. It was the most viewed premiere by any artiste…

CitizenGO, a lobby group that deals with defending life, family and religious liberty through online petitions, now wants John Mugo Ndichu alias Mugo Wa Wairimu charged afresh with murder. In a letter to the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Mr George Kinoti, the group expressed dissatisfaction Mr Wairimu’s charges and sentence, arguing that the most serious crimes were not prosecuted. “This is to demand that through your office, the rogue medic John Mugo Ndichu alias Mugo Wa Wairimu be charged afresh with murder of pre-born babies in his illegal clinic. It is very shocking that this was not among charges…

The High court has declared a number of bills previously passed by the National Assembly void. This is due to the fact that the assembly failed to involve the senate in the process. The decision arrived at by the three judge bench also affects the law that establishes the Huduma Namba, which was just passed recently, as well as the Computer Cybercrime law. The senate moved to court to challenge the decision by the National Assembly to pass bills without involving them. The judges ruled in their favour and declared the following 24 bills void: Read: High Court Dismisses Bloggers’…

Cytonn Real Estate, the development affiliate of Cytonn Investments, handed over the second phase of its Ksh5 Billion Flagship Project, The Alma on Thursday October 29, 2020. In an event that saw the attendance of Kiambu GovernorDr James Nyoro, the buyers got keys to Cytonn Real Estate’s flagship residential development in growth Ruaka town. The Alma is Cytonn Real Estate’s latest handed over project. “Majority of urban dwellers in Nairobi live in very basic dwellings without comprehensive lifestyle amenities, reliable water and power supply. Cytonn Investments seeks to address this problem by building comprehensive lifestyle developments, such as The Alma,”…

Kenya’s Nominee for the position of Data Commissioner, Immaculate Kassait, has said that tech giants that have Kenyans’ data will soon be scrutinized on how they handle personal information. Ms. Kassait appeared before the National Assembly’s ICT committee for vetting for the position. She said that global tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Twitter will be held liable for using data belonging to Kenyans. The data protection law was approved in November 2019 and  contains restrictions on how entities should handle, store and share personal data. Read: 12 Candidates Shortlisted For Data Commissioner Post The Data Protection Act 2019…

ODM leader Raila Odinga has accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials of plotting to loot public funds through the upcoming Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) referendum. In a statement, Raila said that the cost of a referendum should never be more than Ksh2 billion, and not the Ksh14 billion announced by IEBC. “Elections have become one of the major avenues for ripping off the country through various schemes that are never meant to save costs or yield credible results but to line pockets of individuals. Those schemes are evident in the IEBC’s latest reasoning. That kind of impunity…

The fight between Nairobi governor Mike Sonko and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) boss Major General Mohamed Badi has taken a new twist, after the latter vowed not to back down following renewed attacks from Sonko. Speaking to Citizen TV on Wednesday night, Badi accused Sonko of frustrating him by refusing to sign budget allocations to NMS, saying he is forced to borrow from the national government. “I borrowed initially, because I didn’t have any funds for the first three months because the governor had blocked it…we started by getting money from national government through different ministries, we coordinated and…

Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria was yesterday summoned by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) over irregularities in some tenders. EACC accused wa Iria of irregularly awarding tenders for media advertising for the financial year 2014/2015. “We are investigating allegations touching on your County Government, specifically on the provision of media advertising services in the financial years 2014/2015 and 2015/2016”, the letter dated 22nd October 2020, said in part. Wa Iria’s Co-Director at the Mwangi Wa Iria Foundation Ms Jane Waigwa Konani was also summoned to record statements on the same. “To facilitate this investigation, we kindly invite you for…

Taxi hailing service, Bolt will start working with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to double check the details and backgrounds of new drivers signing up on the app. This is in a bid to boost customer safety. Typically, Ride hailing apps such as Bolt, Uber and Little Cab carry out their own vetting processes before signing up drivers on the platforms. Most of these companies ask for a driving licence, a certificate of good conduct, vehicle registration and proof of insurance. Bolt is however looking to tighten any loose ends by involving the services of the DCI. The company says…

NCBA Bank is seeking to recruit an IT director following recent technical challenges with the bank’s system migration. Over the past few weeks, the bank has had received numerous complaints from a number of disgruntled customers who have had trouble accessing services. This week, NCBA’s mobile banking app was reported to have been hacked resulting in the loss of Sh24 million. The bank has advertised for the position of the group head of Information Technology, who will be at the job grade of deputy director. This means they will serve under the bank’s group director for technology and operations, Geoffrey…