Author: Francis Muli

Students from the University of Nairobi have moved to court to challenge the decision by the Higher learning Institution to conduct classes and exams online. The 80 law school students want the court to stop the institution from going on with the online classes. According to them, the Institution made the decision to start online classes without considering students in remote areas who have no access to reliable internet services. The petitioners maintained that they enrolled for physical classes and not for online or distance learning. Read: UoN Suspends Travel Allowance In A Bid To Cut Cost They said that…

The Government of India has banned TikTok, popular messaging app WeChat and a couple of other Chinese apps. In total, 59 apps were banned. In a statement, it said the apps are “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order.” The ban follows weeks of escalating tensions centered around the disputed border between the two countries. India’s Ministry of Technology said it was banning the 59 apps after it had received “many complaints from various sources” about apps that were “stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner.” “The compilation…

Felix Orinda alias DJ Evolve now says he is waiting for justice system to take its course, six months since he was shot by Embakasi East MP Babu Owino. In his first media appearance since he was shot, DJ Evolve did not commit to forgiving the legislator, but said that he has “left it to God”. “I am just here. There’s nothing I can do for myself. I was really traumatised in the beginning, but I have learnt to live with it,” he said. “I left that (forgiveness) to God and I’m waiting for the justice system to see what…

Kelvin Otieno Ochieng also known as Blackson, a 23-year-old police officer based at Kakuma Police Station, in the Kakuma Refugee Camp has released a Covid-19 song. The song, dubbed Corona, talks about the Coronavirus pandemic; what it is, how it affects someone when they contract it and how people can prevent themselves from getting it. “Corona is my first song as a musician and it talks about the Coronavirus pandemic. The thought to write, sing and produce a song about Corona came about as a result of a lot of misconceptions from the Kenyan public about the disease and the measures…

Kenya Airways is now considering delaying the resumption of its flights further if they will be compelled to keep some seats empty in line with the social distancing guidelines set to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kenya Airways CEO, Allan Kivaluka said it would not make economic sense to fly with the middle row seats empty as a way of ensuring social distance between passengers. If the guidelines remain as they are, the airline may have to nearly double the ticket prices for flights to remain profitable and sustainable. To ease the Covid-19 restrictions, The Ministry of Trade…

The Zimbabwe government has suspended all mobile money payments, including operations of the dominant provider Ecocash, and ordered the Zimbabwe Stock exchange to stop trading, in response to country’s current economic crisis. The government claims the move is to avert a conspiracy to sabotage the collapsing Zimbabwe dollar. However, millions of Zimbabweans rely on Ecocash and other digital payment operations due to the difficulties associated with obtaining physical cash. Ecocash also responded vowing to defy the ban and maintained that only the Zimbabwe Central Bank can order it to stop trading. The Zimdollar was reintroduced in 2019, replacing a variety…

Kenya Revenue Authority former Manager Joseph Chege Gikonyo has been arrested over Ksh600 million unexplained wealth. Mr Gikonyo has been under investigation since 2018 by the Ethics and Ant-corruption Commission, which obtained court orders to freeze his wealth estimated to be Ksh650 million by then. Mr Gikonyo was arrested on Monday alongside his wife Lucy Kangai Stephen, with whom they are co-directors of a company named Giche Limited. “They fraudulently failed to pay Ksh38,692,694 taxes to the Kenya Revenue Authority,” authority CEO Twalib Mubarak said. According to EACC, the two accumulated assets amounting to Ksh597 million between 2010 and 2015,…

Facebook is finally testing dark mode for its mobile app. The social media platform already launched dark mode for the desktop interface and now, the dark mode version of mobile has been released to a small percentage of its users globally. According to a Facebook Spokesperson, the dark mode on mobile is “meant to cut down on glare” especially when using the app in low light environments.  The company has not provided an expected timeline for the official release of the feature. It is interesting to note that Facebook has taken quite a long time to develop dark mode for…

Six MPs have allegedly been hospitalised after contracting the dreaded Covid-19, causing a panic in the National Assembly. According to reports by the Standard, one of the MPs is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) battling for his life. Following the news that were spread in low tones due to the sensitivity of the matter, several other MPs rushed to the hospital for checkup, after they interacted closely with those infected. One of those infected is a first time MP from Western Kenya and another one from the Coastal region, who interacted closely with the colleague in ICU. Read: Shalom…

Kenya is among countries with the worst human trafficking problems in the world, a US report on Global Human Trafficking trends has revealed. The Trafficking in Persons Report 2020 detailed that traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Kenya. “Within the country, traffickers exploit children through forced labour in domestic service, agriculture, fishing, cattle herding, street vending, and begging,” part of the report reads. According to the report, traffickers in Kenya also target girls and boys in commercial sex. Sex tourism is spread out in Nairobi, Kisumu and the Coast, especially in the informal settlements and family members also aid…

Two of Mombasa Port terminals have been secretly handed to private company, Kahawa Tungu can authoritatively report. Lease documents in our possession show that the agreement between Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Portside Freight Terminals Ltd (PFTL) came into force in 2018, two years before the agreement was signed. The agreement was signed on May 19, 2020 and took effect on December 7, 2018, to hand over berth number 7 and eight to the private company. Interestingly, PFTL would pay Ksh4,160,460 every quarter, and would be free to construct a conveyor system on the Authority’s land. For the fact that…

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has set up a special unit that will be tasked with tracking revenues from digital businesses. The move follows the treasury’s proposal to impose a 1.5 percent levy on all digital transactions. According to KRA, the new unit will facilitate tax payment from the previously unmanaged sector, as part of its measures to boost collection in the depressed economy. “To ensure that the digital market sector pays their fair share of taxes, KRA has set up a dedicated unit to facilitate the taxpayers in this sector in the determination and accounting for taxes,” Deputy Commissioner…

The management of Shalom Hospital has spoken out, following reports that the facility was closed after a number of Covid-19 patients died in the facility. In a statement, the management admitted that a total of eight people suspected of having Covid-19 visited the facility, and were tested with six turning positive. “Following this development, the hospital has resorted to testing all our staff and patients who might have come into close contact with these patients, especially the asymptomatic patients. A total of nineteen staff have been tested and one has unfortunately tested positive. All the suspected cases were treated within…

Former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth has pledged allegiance to President Uhuru Kenyatta for the remainder of his term, which is less than two years. The former Presidential aspirant said he was ready to serve in President Kenyatta’s regime and help him deliver his promises to Kenyans. “It is impossible for the President to work with people who insult him. For the remaining part of his term, he needs people who support him to help him complete his development work,” he said. Already, a section of Mt Kenya leaders are pushing to have Kenneth appointed in the cabinet, or given a…

Roselyn Waluke, Sirisia MP John Waluke’s wife is now begging the public to help his husband pay the over Ksh1 billion fine following conviction in the Ksh300 million maize Scandal. John Waluke was convicted on Thursday last week of several counts of fraud, and fined over Ksh1 billion, or else serve a jail term of 67 years. Ms Roselyn has already launched an M-Pesa number where the contributions will be channeled awaiting an M-Pesa Paybill number. “You are aware of our problem and I thank those who have stood with us during this challenging time and kindly continue praying for…