Author: Francis Muli

Five female TikTok users in Egypt have been sentenced to two years in prison for posting ‘indecent videos’ on the app. The women were fined about $19,000(about Ksh2 million) each. This is the first sentencing by the courts in Egypt following the country’s campaign against social media influencers. In response, activists have launched social media campaigns to protest against the sentence. “The Economic Court in Cairo sentenced Mawada al-Adham and Haneen Hossam and three others to two years in prison and fined them 300,000 Egyptian pounds each,” the state-owned website al-Ahram reported. “They are accused of violating the values and…

Safaricom subscribers will now enjoy services from Safaricom Postpay services and the All-in-one monthly bundle, as the company discontinues the Platinum service. The Platinum package has been available for clients since early 2018, mostly targeting the business community. However, in the last two years, the company has revamped its offerings on Postpay and All-in-one service packages. Prepay customers can buy an All-in-one monthly package consisting of data, talk minutes and SMS. Safaricom offers three different plans worth Sh1,000, Sh2,000 and Sh3,000 depending on how much you wish to spend every month. You can also choose to Talk more for more…

Safaricom has launched a brand new 4G-enabled smartphone for its customers who can purchase it by paying as low as Ksh20 daily for the devices. In a unique partnership with Google and a first in the world, Safaricom will now give qualifying customers easier access to the internet through the Neon Ray Pro, a 4G Android (Go edition) smartphone. The world first initiative dubbed Lipa Mdogo Mdogo in partnership with Android, Google’s operating system for mobile, will allow qualifying customers access to the internet and the world of possibilities through a smartphone that they can pay-as-they-use on a daily or weekly…

Facebook has rolled out a new campaign in East African countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia to enlighten people on how to detect potential false news. Now more than ever Facebook says that they are working to connect people to accurate sources, and show less misinformation — especially about COVID-19. Facebook has made significant investments to remove accounts and content that violate its Community Standards or Ad Policies; reduce the distribution of false news, and inform people by giving them more context on the posts they see — so people can decide what to read, trust, and share. In consultation with its fact-checking partners, the company…

Google has reported plans to keep its 200,000 full time and contract employees working remotely for the next one year, until July 2021. A lot of Tech firms have reported plans to keep employees working remotely in the long term due to the persistent spread of the Corona Virus. Google is the first company to announce its one year plan. According to reports by the Wall Street Journal, Google’s parent company, Alphabet’s CEO Sundar Pichai, made the announcement last week in a meeting with company executives. Previously, Google had announced plans to reopen their offices for employees starting July 6th,…

Vodacom Tanzania International Mobile Money Transfer Service M-Pesa netted TSh102 billion (Ksh4.8 billion) globally between March and June 2020,cementing the global growth of the platform. International transfers increased by 300 percent in the period while remittances hit TSh16 billion (Ksh742 million), a 44 percent increase in the same quarter. “We continued to widen our partner network, with the launch of “Mama Money” and “Remitly”during the quarter, which enabled customers to receive money from South Africa,” said Vodacom in a regulatory statement to the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). The Telco recorded a rapid network expansion resulting in more clients…

Several MPs received as much as Ksh20 million each for mileage (transport allowances) in the year 2019, Kahawa Tungu can authoritatively report. This means such MPs used at least Ksh1.6 million every month for transport, an amount that is above their salaries. The MP who receives the highest mileage allowance is Bomet Woman representative Joyce Chepkoech Korir, who gets at least Ksh43.6 million every year. Also on the list is Mandera North MP Abdullah Bashir Sheikh, who received Ksh23.5 million in 2019, similar to the amount he received in 2018. Lafey MP Mr Abdi Mude Ibrahim is also among the…

The government is building a 62 kilometre road through President Uhuru Kenyatta’s rural home in Ichaweri village, connecting Thika Superhighway and Kiambu Road. The road runs from Kiambu Road through Kirigiti, Ngewa, Ichaweri, Gatundu and Mangu to Thika highway and will cost the government Ksh11 billion. According to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), the road should be completed by June 2022, months before President Uhuru Kenyatta’s retirement. “The government has earmarked funds through the development vote for use in engaging the consultancy services to undertake preliminary and detailed engineering design, environmental and social impact study, preliminary and detailed engineering…

Ethiopia is still reeling from the effects of the 23 day internet shut down in July. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed imposed the shutdown following the protests demanding justice for the killing of Oromo musician, Haacaaluu Hundeessaa. The country suffered a loss of at least $100 million (Sh10 billion) following the shutdown. This is according to NetBlocks, which monitors internet freedom worldwide. The firm calculated the daily impact the shutdown had on Ethiopia’s economy. “Beyond the impact on fundamental rights, each day of an internet shutdown in Ethiopia runs up a bill in excess of $4.5 million, in terms of the…

Deputy President William Ruto now wants the current debate on revenue formula debate stopped, terming it as “unnecessarily divisive”. In a tweet that broke his long studious political silence, Ruto now says that the legislature (Senate and National Assembly) should structure a win-win formula that will not hurt any county. “The ongoing revenue formula debate is unnecessarily divisive.The Constitution envisages fair and equitable sharing of all our resources.The legislature MUST as per its MANDATE structure a WIN-WIN formula that is sensitive to proposals made without hurting any county,” tweeted Ruto. https://twitter.com/WilliamsRuto/status/1287648412477816832 The senators have been divided on the formula for…

Tuskys is facing its latest round of troubles from within the family. One of the seven siblings, Yusuf Mugweru has vowed to block the sale of the retailer’s majority shares to a consortium consisting of an undisclosed foreign retailer and an equity fund. In a bit to raise funds and win back suppliers’ confidence, KahawaTungu reported last week that Tuskys was already in talks with financial experts and a Strategy adviser as it seeks to sell a majority stake. However, the deal seems to have hit a snag as one of the siblings has vowed to block the deal until…

Safaricom has partnered with Google to sell over one million affordable phones through credit, where customers will pay Ksh20 per day. The initiative dubbed Lipa Mdogo Mdogo will give customers still using feature phones an opportunity to own a 4G- enabled device, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said. “Cost of devices should no longer be an impediment. We are launching an innovative device financing plan dubbed dubbed Lipa Mdogo Mdogo that will give customers still using feature phones an opportunity to own a 4G- enabled device by paying only Ksh20 a day,” said Ndegwa. The offer will be available for all…

Kenya has recorded 960 new Covid-19 cases after testing of 8261 samples in the last 24 hours, bringing total case load to 17,603. In a statement, the Ministry of Health said that out of the 960 new cases, Nairobi has the highest number of infections at 510. Two more patients have succumbed to the disease, raising the number of fatalities recorded in the country so far to 280. A total of 169 more patients have also recovered from the disease, 83 of them being discharged from hospitals while 86 were under home-based care. This now brings the cumulative number of…

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino now says it is six months and nine days since he stopped taking alcohol, in a bid to become a new person. In a video posted on his Facebook page, Babu says that he has since joined church fellowship with his wife and intents to become a better person, compared to his past. He says he has been taking alcohol since he was eight years old. “I’ve reached a turning point and I have decided to make a change that I am proud of. A change, that my family is proud of. Being an MP…

NTV’s Jamdown presenter Miss Katiwa has tested positive for COVID-19. Miss Katiwa took to her Instagram page to break the news, saying that she had been asymptomatic at first but the signs have started appearing now. “I got tested for COVID 19 and MY results came ,am POSITIVE for COVID 19,I have been in isolation and I am doing great, I didn’t show signs at fst but later on they started appearing, my family is well informed about it and am sure am going to come out strong because I am a fighter (sic),” she said. https://www.instagram.com/p/CDEFmwjFUF2/ This comes barely…