Author: Francis Muli

A Kenyan citizen now wants the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to investigate and ban Idemia (formerly Safran Identity & Security Limited) from doing business in Kenya. In a letter to the Authority, the complainant identifying himself with the initials JNW accuses Idemia of engaging in fraudulent practices during the procurement of the Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (KIEMS) for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for the 2013 and 2017 general elections. JNW also wants the company to be coerced to reimburse any monies paid to it towards goods and services provided in the tender, owing to its…

Facebook has begun testing Instagram’s Reels Feature in India, Business Insider has reported. Reels is a video editing tool designed to let Instagram users create short TikTok style videos lasting 15 seconds to be shared on stories, feed, or to be sent via DM or posted on the explore tab dubbed Top Reels. The news follows the government ban of TikTok and 58 other apps in India last week. It is reported that Instagram users in India have already started receiving the Reels feature in an update. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that the tech giant is planning to release the…

Anti-fraud solutions provider, Evina, has revealed that there is a certain malware using JavaScript to retrieve the login credentials of Facebook users. The firm has confirmed that Facebook users in Africa are among those targeted. The malware works by launching a browser that loads Facebook at the same time a mobile user is launching the platform. The browser displays on the foreground, making the user believe that they are launching their legitimate Facebook account page. Millions of users worldwide suffer devastating personal, financial and reputation consequences as a result of being targeted by the malware and ransomware each year. “This…

The average rental yields for quarter 2 of 2020 softened across all sectors coming in at 7.4%, 7.3% and 5.1%, for retail, office and residential sectors, respectively, from 7.7%, 7.8% and 5.2% in Q1’2020. On the other hand, the land sector recorded an overall annualized capital appreciation of 1.4%, with asking land prices in low rise residential areas recording the highest annual growth at 3.8% driven by the increased demand for affordable land. This is according to a report by Cytonn Real Estate, the development affiliate of Cytonn Investments, which has released its H1’2020 Markets Review. The report highlights the…

Safaricom has announced a five-hour M-Pesa outage tomorrow, on Tuesday July 7 for routine maintenance. In a message to its customers, Safaricom said that the outage will be from midnight to 5am. “Due to a planned system maintenance, M-PESA services will be unavailable on Tuesday 07/07/2020 from 00:00am – 05:00am. We apologize for the inconvenience,” the message read. During the period all M-Pesa services including airtime purchase shall be temporarily unavailable. https://twitter.com/SafaricomPLC/status/1280124491754950659 This will be the fifth time maintenance is being carried out in a span of 30 days and the second  time this month. Services were unavailable on June…

President Uhuru Kenyatta today addressed the nation following the measures previously imposed to curb the spread of Coronavirus. In his speech, President Kenyatta lifted the movement restrictions placed on Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera. He also reopened places of worship directing them to keep the numbers to a minimum of 100 and discouraged people in the vulnerable age bracket from attending. The Ministry of Education and stakeholders were directed to jointly notify the public on the 2020 academic calendar for basic education as well as tertiary institutions not later than tomorrow. During the President’s speech on June 6, he directed the…

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set for a major policy change as he prepares to phase out the use of Huawei Technologies equipment in their 5G telecom network, within the next 6 months. UK’s National Cyber Security Centre concluded that the current sanctions against the Chinese telecom gear maker will result in the company’s use of untrusted technology resulting in security risks. “If the U.S. imposes sanctions, which they have done, we believe that could have a significant impact on the reliability of Huawei equipment and when we can use it safely,” UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told Sky…

Kenya Airways (KQ) domestic flights that have been grounded for the past three months will not be required to keep their middle row seats empty in line with the Covid-19 guidelines, the sector regulator has said. Kenya Civil Aviation Authority director general Gilbert Kibe has said that flying with the middle row seats empty will not be sustainable to the carrier as they will be forced to hike prices, which in turn will drive away potential customers. Fresh Ministry of Trade rules for businesses outlined safety guidelines to be followed during the easing of restrictions in place due to Covid-19.…

President Uhuru Kenyatta is currently in a closed-door consultative meeting with his Deputy William Ruto and a number of experts ahead of state address at 2pm. The president is expected to address the nation today, following the expiry of a 30-day lockdown of some counties (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi) and dusk to dawn curfew. This is the first time the President and his deputy are engaged in a consultative meeting since the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Kenya in March. Previously, DP William Ruto said that that they consulted through the phone, and could not engage a closed…

Actor and internet sensation Alvan Gatitu was this weekend forced to spend a night out in the cold, after his landlord locked his house due to rent arrears. In a video posted online, Alvan says that he had forfeited his rent for a couple of months, forcing his landlord to disconnect his water and electricity in the last two and half weeks. On Saturday, Alvan says he came home only to find that his house had been locked, as the landlord demanded to be paid the arrears. The former Tusker Project Fame contestant said that he called a number of…

Preliminary investigations into the death of two children in Athi River have established that they walked into Athi River Police Station, and never walked out, according to a witness account. The police have established that the two, Alvina Mutheu, 3, and Henry Jacktone 4, walked into the station on June 11, according to a trader who is the only witness so far. The trader who runs a kiosk outside the police station told the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) that the two kids were not in the company of any adult. Approximately two hours after the children walked in, a…

Lugari MP Ayub Savula has been arrested at Sabatia Market in Kakamega County for flouting Covid-19 regulations on public gatherings. Savula was at a petrol station fuelling his car and was taken to Mumias Police Station. A crowd gathered around, asking for money from the legislator. “While at Sabatia petrol station, a crowd suddenly surged towards my vehicle, demanding handouts. It was at that point that police arrived and drove me to Mumias Police station, where I was held before being released,” said Mr Savula. Media reports indicate that Mr Savula was heading to Nambale, Busia County, for a meeting…

Deputy President has accused a section of Jubilee leadership of removing his allies from their positions, to bar him from achieving his 2022 Presidential bid. Speaking in Nandi yesterday, Ruto said that apart from his political allies, other leaders in parastatals have been threatened that corruption proceedings will be opened against them, or they will lose the positions. “There are many people being threatened ‘you’ll be taken to court, you’ll be takken to KRA, you’ll be taken to EACC, you will be demoted, you’ll be flushed from that office’, and not because they have done anything wrong, not because they…

The Ministry of Health has warned that spraying disinfectants or chemicals in spraying booths found in the streets of various counties pose a health risk. In a statement, the Ministry of Health Diector- General Patrick Amoth warned that spraying people with chemicals through booths or tunnels is dangerous and does not stop the spread of Covid-19. He pointed out that the chemicals used are not fit for human bodies and could pose a great risk to people with respiratory problems. “When you look at the measures that we have put in place, all of them have scientifically been proven, we…

Kenya Airways (KQ) has asked all staff whose services will not be required once they resume to proceed on unpaid leave. According to the Group’s Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka, the directive will take effect from July 6th. “As we prepare for the anticipated resumption of domestic flight operations in Kenya, the projected depressed demand will require that we only keep the resources we will need for these operations. We will, therefore, request all staff who will not be required to support the reduced operations to proceed on unpaid leave effective Monday, 6th July 2020,” Kilavuka said in a statement.…