Author: Francis Muli

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will start using drones to enhance its tax surveillance efforts. The agency announced that it will soon commission two unmanned aircraft systems to conduct aerial scrutiny. “The Kenya Revenue Authority invites bids from eligible candidates for supply, delivery, testing, and commissioning of two unmanned aircraft systems for aerial surveillance,” KRA said. The agency is seeking to capture specific data from the surveillance to determine correct valuation of items such as assets including property and whether they have been valued correctly. The drones will give the taxman access to real-time financial data including sales from scrutiny.…

Bongo flava musician Harmonize has surprised his fans after a new song released yesterday showed that he had hit unimaginable records. The Konde Boy records founder released “Mdomo” featuring another Tanzanian Artiste Ibraah on Tuesday night. What shocked people however, was that the song allegedly managed to garner 1.3 million views just 24 seconds after it had been released on YouTube. The views came as a shock, given that only Korean pop group BTS currently holds YouTube record of 113 million views in 24 hours for their song ‘Butter’. Netizens also remarked that ‘Mdomo’ had only attracted 14,000 likes in…

Africa’s largest mobile network operator MTN has obtained approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to run a commercial bank in the country. The new venture named MoMo Payment Service Bank Limited will offer all banking services except credit and processing of foreign exchange transactions. “We want to leverage the financial inclusion drive. We plan to give people who don’t have bank accounts or even ATM cards the opportunity to be able to do banking services,” MTN Nigeria chief executive Karl Toriola said. “The date of commencement will be communicated to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in accordance…

Kenya’s digital tax is set to double to the gross value of online transactions in the Financial year starting July. The treasury proposed the changes which will affect transactions through platforms belonging to tech giants such as Netflix, Amazon, Spotify and Paypal. “The Third Schedule to the Income Tax Act is amended… by deleting the expression ‘one-point-five percent’ appearing in paragraph 12 (digital service tax rate) and substituting therefore the expression ‘three percent’,” Treasury Cabinet secretary Ukur Yatani wrote in the Finance Bill 2022. In a rapidly digitalizing global economy, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has recognized foreign enterprises that…

A Kenyan female entrepreneur has filed a lawsuit against a British man who used her photo as his profile image on Facebook to harm her reputation. Mercy Mwanzia is suing the briton for damages after he used her child’s photograph in a Facebook post. Mwanzia presented the court with an image and text published in a Black Women and White men Facebook group. “No one can replace my wife, in my profile pic who left me after spending only three weeks in England,” the caption of the image published on January 16 said. READ: How Rai Family Scuttled Dream To…

The media industry will be required to aid in the classification of content, the Kenya Film and Classification Board (KFCB) has proposed in its new regulations. Commercial TV and Radio Stations will be expected to review 70 percent of content aired to determine if they are age-appropriate. Film creators and digital streaming platforms will also be expected to review 70 percent of their content in compliance with the new regulations aimed at increasing production. Content includes pre-recorded programmes including movies, advertisements and telenovelas as well as live shows such as News and talk shows. Read: DJ Shiti Drama with Baby…

The Ghanaian dancing pallbearers who became popular during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic have cashed in on their viral video. Benjamin Aidooh, a pallbearer has sold the coffin dance video as an NFT for $1 million (Sh 115 million) The video went viral in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, attracting both local and international interest. In the video, the sharply dressed pallbearers donning sunglasses and suits are carrying a coffin while dancing. Several memes have since been created with the video. The 10-second coffin dance video was sold for 327 eth (Ethereum), which is the equivalent of $1.046 million.…

Mobile loan apps will be required to reveal sources of their money to the Central Bank of Kenya. The move aims to curb claims of money laundering in the business. Digital Credit Providers regulations gazetted by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) stipulate that the mobile money lenders should provide details of their investors and demonstrate that the monies are not being used to fund illegal activity “A digital credit provider shall provide to the Bank the evidence and sources of funds invested or proposed to be invested in the digital credit business and demonstrate that the funds are not…

Twitter’s biggest shareholder, Elon Musk, has declined to join the company’s board. The Tesla CEO had been appointed a board member after he acquired a 9.1 percent stake in the company. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced that Musk had decided not to join the board. “We were excited to collaborate and clear about the risks. We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward. The board offered him a seat.” Agrawal said…

Twitter has announced that it is testing a new tool that allows users to remove the @username mention from a discussion. The mention highlights and notifies the user when their username is mentioned in a tag or a post. “How do you say “Don’t @ me,” without saying “Don’t @ me”? We’re experimenting with Unmentioning—a way to help you protect your peace and remove yourself from conversations—available on Web for some of you now.” the company said through its Twitter Safety page. Read: Twitter Rolls Out ALT Badge and Prominent Image Descriptions Globally How do you say “Don’t @ me,”…

Local publications seem to have discontinued registration and paywall requirements for readers to access articles on their websites. A spot check by KahawaTungu revealed that readers are no longer required make payments to access articles on Nation Africa, The Standard and The Star websites. The Standard still requires users to log in to access premium articles, while The Star and Nation Africa seem to have scraped the requirement altogether. The e-versions of the newspapers are still available for sale, but not through the paywall. Before adjusting the requirements, Nation Africa were charging Sh10 per day to access premium articles on…

Nigerian researchers have developed a prototype of a bra that can detect breast cancer at an early stage. The smart bra contains tiny ultrasound sensors that scan the breasts to detect any tumors. The bra was developed by researchers in Nigeria, among them Robotic engineer Kemisola Bolarinwa who lost her mother to breast cancer in 2017 after a late diagnosis. According to the engineers, the smart bra will help improve breast cancer diagnosis in Sub-Saharan Africa where women often undergo a harrowing process before they can access screening services. Read: Google Testing Detection of Heart, Eye Diseases Using Smartphones “The…

Twitter is officially rolling out improved image descriptions as well as the ALT badge that will help creators add prominent alt descriptions on their images globally. The company announced on Thursday that the accessibility features would be available for all users. “As promised, the ALT badge and exposed image descriptions go global today,” reads a tweet from Twitter’s Accessibility account. The social media platform announced the feature last month when it started testing with a handful of users. Read: Facebook Reportedly Offering Money to TikTok Influencers in Anticipation of Reels Launch “Over the past month, we fixed bugs and gathered feedback…

The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) has launched a fibre optic cable to run alongside its soil pipeline from Mombasa to Nairobi to Eldoret and Kisumu through Nakuru. The project which is expected to diversify the company’s revenues involves a single-mode fibre (SMF) product that was initiated in 2018 under a tier 2 network infrastructure license from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Speaking at the launch of the fibre optic cable, KPC Managing Director Macharia Irungu said the agency was leveraging its infrastructure to provide internet connectivity to Kenyans, especially in rural areas. Read: Mwananchi Mabati Among 3 Roofing Sheet…

Meta is working on a virtual currency dubbed ‘Zuck Bucks’ after regulators pulled the plug on its Diem cryptocurrency. The company is still exploring finance products, with indications that the Zuck Bucks are unlikely to be a cryptocurrency. “Instead, Meta is leaning towards introducing in-app tokens that would be centrally controlled by the company, similar to those used in gaming apps such as the Robux currency in popular children’s game Roblox,” a report by The Financial Times says. The social or reputation tokens “could be issued as rewards for meaningful contributions in Facebook groups, for example,” FT says. Meta declined to…