Author: Francis Muli

The National Youth Council, Huawei Kenya and Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) have announced the winners of the Fursa vs Virus competition. The overall winner of the Fursa vs Virus challenge was Plant Signal, a free offline interactive, smartphone app to give farmers real time diagnosis of the pest or disease that affect their crop. Others who made to the top four slots include Expan USSD, Ntaka Charcoal and Njiraini Food. The UNFPA Kenya will give training and mentorship to the winners. The competition seeks to empower youth to develop solutions to the COVID-19 Pandemic in six categories including food security,…

Ethiopia’s Federal Attorney General’s office has reportedly ordered for the immediate release of Kenyan Journalist Yassin Juma, who has been in custody for close to two months now. Speaking to a Daily Nation, Mr Juma’s lawyer Abdulletif Amee said that the AG’s office said that Juma was arrested due to language barrier. However, Mr Amee felt that ‘language barrier’ was only an excuse to escape liability. “According to the Office of the Attorney General, Juma was detained wrongfully because of language barrier. Is it convincing enough to say he was detained because of misunderstanding? Is that a tactic to escape…

A Dr Rowena Njeri using the Twitter handle @footsoldierRow now says most health practitioners were given permeable dust coats as Jack Ma’s shipment  for personal protective equipment (PPEs). In a video posted on Twitter, Ms Njeri demonstrated how the coverall was leaking water, which should not be the case with the standard PPEs. Also, Ms Njeri who says she works in Murang’a says that they were supplied with fake N95 masks and no shoe covers, exposing them to danger of infection when attending to Covid-19 cases. “The ones shown on #covidmillionaires were nothing. We got permeable dust coats as “Jack…

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) presidential aspirant Bonface Osano has unveiled former Kenya international Innocent Mutiso as his running mate. The polls are scheduled for September 17, 2020 after two failed attempts in the past. Announcing the new coalition in Nairobi on Thursday, the duo presented themselves as the cure of Kenya’s football problems. In his heydays, Mutiso turned out for Gor Mahia and Mathare United in the Kenyan Premier League as well as the national team, Harambee Stars. His playing career was nonetheless cut short by an injury. Read: Journalist Bonface Osano Joins Race For FKF Presidency “I had to…

Facebook avatars were launched back in mid-May to Western countries, and this week, the feature has finally been rolled out in Africa. Avatars are an interesting and more diverse way to express yourself online. According to Facebook, you can use your avatar “to share a range of emotions and expressions via a digital persona.” Your avatar will be unique to you and can be used when making comments on Facebook, in the stories section and on messenger. The tech giant has also promised that it will also roll out to text posts with backgrounds. “With so many emotions and expressions…

Kaspersky’s New Spam and Phishing Report has revealed that they detected 2,023,501 phishing attacks in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda and Ethiopia in the second quarter of 2020. According to the report, the attacks have become more targeted with the scammers coming up with new tricks such as using fake HR dismissal letters or even delivery notifications to lure people. Phishing is one of the oldest engineering tricks on the internet used to lure unwary users to suspicious sites where their personal data is harvested. This information includes financial details such as bank account passwords, payment card details or…

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) Board has named Mueni Mutung’a as acting director general to replace Pavel Oimeke after conservatory orders in his contract renewal. Currently, Ms Mutung’a serves as the Corporation Secretary and Director Legal Affairs. Mr Omieke’s contract-renewal is currently the subject of a court case, under which conservatory orders have been made and are still pending. “Ms Mutung’a has had a successful career in legal practice for a period exceeding twenty years. The Board’s choice of Ms. Mutung’a for this role is based upon her seniority in service, and upon a duly-approved succession plan,” said…

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to the promotion of ethical business practices in order to help combat corruption and bribery. KEPSA’s statement comes amidst widespread public concern about and condemnation of alleged corruption in the healthcare supply chains involved in the supply of medicine and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. KEPSA says that it is deeply disturbed by these allegations, which if proven will constitute one of the most heinous economic and health crimes against the people of Kenya, coming at a time when Kenyans are…

Despite the looming ban on TikTok by the US, the app is undoubtedly a hot sell going by the growing number of bidders eager to get a piece of the cake. The latest entity to express interest is Oracle, the multinational computer software developer headquartered in the US. According to the Financial Times, Oracle and ByteDance have held preliminary talks with the former seriously considering TikTok operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Oracle is already working with venture capitals, including Sequoia and General Atlantic. US President Donald Trump in his latest executive order signed on Friday, gave…

The little closed padlock on the left hand side of your browser is your Google chrome indicator that you are browsing via HTTPS. This means that your web traffic is encrypted so third parties cannot spy on most of the information you are sending. However, with scammers’ recurrent ingenuity in their craft, secure looking HTTPS websites can still store HTTP forms for you to fill in your personal information including your passwords. Google Chrome 86 will use big bold warnings which will be more prominent every time you are on an unsecured website. If you decide to go ahead and…

The High Court has allowed auctioneers to sell Moi era Minister Gideon Ndambuki’s Roof Garden Hotel in Machakos over Ksh80 million debt. The money is owed to Mortgage firm Housing Finance, which moved to court seeking orders to have the six-storey hotel auctioned to recover the debt. The former Kaiti MP wanted the property sold to Machakos Teachers Sacco instead, but High Court David Majanja ruled that the court could not change the terms in the contractual agreement. “The plaintiff has stated that he paid Ksh4.6 million and not Ksh5 million which amounts to prima facie default. Having admitted that…

A Prison warder based at Industrial Area Remand Prison namely Nafataly Muturi and Police Constable Denise Onyango based at the Service Central Stores in Industrial Area have been arrested by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives based at Makandara. In a tweet, the DCI said that the two were arrested following an incident where the Service Central Store was broken into and over 2,222 pairs of military boots stolen. “From a house linked to one of the suspects in Kamulu, 550 pairs of assorted police boots, two rolls of uniform cloth were recovered whereas another 251 pairs were recovered from…

Senators have selected an adhoc committee that will seek to get the solution on the revenue sharing formula. Among the senator who will serve in the committee include Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi), Mohamud Mohamed (Mandera), Stewart Madzayo (Kilifi), Kipchumba Murkomen (Elgeyo Marakwet) and Anwar Loitiptip (Lamu). Others include Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni), Moses Wetangula (Bungoma), Susan Kihika (Nakuru), Samson Cherargey (Nandi), Moses Kajwang (Homa Bay), John Kinyua (Laikipia) and Ledama Olekina (Narok). Read: Bomet Senator Langat Released, Accused of Administering Oath To 200 Youths The Senate has adjourned for a record 10 times after the senators failed to agree on the…

Stephen Ongoma stumbled upon his musical path during a Monday morning parade as a pupil at St Clare Primary School, Korogocho. The school had organised a special performance of the National Anthem by the Ghetto Classics, a community-based programme that aims to transform lives of children in informal settlements through music, knowledge and skills. As they played, Stephen was awed by the range of instruments on display. It was at that moment that he knew he wanted to enter the world of music. That was five years ago. Stephen, who finished his secondary school studies in 2019, has played the…

Older Huawei devices will no longer be eligible for future Google and Android updates. According to the Washington post, this comes after an extension period allowing the Chinese company to trade with the US expired. “The US granted Huawei a Temporary General License (TGL), to enable existing hardware and software to receive maintenance and security updates, to provide some time for these users to “wean themselves off” Huawei and to select alternatives.” A Huawei spokesperson said that the company is “monitoring the situation and assessing the potential impact.” US President Donald Trump extended Huawei’s national trade ban by another year…