Author: Francis Muli

Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey has said he will donate $1 billion (approximately Ksh100 billion) to help in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. According to Mr. Dorsey, who is also the founder of Payment app, Square, the donation represented approximately 28 percent of his wealth. The 43-year-old, who is the CEO of Twitter and Payment Square, said he was using his shares from square, as he owned a lot more of them. The shares will be sold overtime and thus impact the value and size of the donation. Mr Dorsey said that ‘the needs were increasingly urgent’ and that the…

On March 13, 2020, Kenya announced it’s first case of Coronavirus (Covid-19) sending panic to citizens who hoped the pandemic would not hit most African countries. At this point, several countries in the world were reeling from the effects of Covid-19, including the developed world. This meant that Kenya, which relies heavily on imported medical equipment could not get much help from the developed world such as China. Some of the most needed equipment included face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) for medics who were to handle Covid-19 patients. Chinese billionaire Jack Ma donated some of the equipment to…

The Anti-Counterfeit Authority has today raided and nabbed 291 cartons counterfeit face masks in Namanga town, Kajiado County. The agency is in the process of identifying and investigating the deals for further arrests and prosecution. According to Hussein Abdi, Namanga Border Post Inspector, Anti-Counterfeit Agency, the number of fake masks in the market have increased, as criminals look to make a killing from the Covid-19 pandemic. “The increased demand for these products poses an opportunity for criminals to capitalize on this vulnerability by selling fake face masks. We have nabbed these counterfeit products as part of our commitment to ensure…

The over 175 M-pea agents across the country have offered to be distribution points for the government’s free masks and sanitisers. This was revealed yesterday by Health Chief Administration Secretary Dr Mercy Mwangangi during Coronavirus (Covid-19) update address to the nation. “I am pleased to announce that Safaricom has offered to use its more than 175,000 agents to distribute masks and hand sanitisers. We will later appraise on how it will work. We call upon other institutions and corporates to continue lending a helping hand to the fight of the virus,” said Dr Mwangangi. This comes a time the government…

The Government of Kenya has now recognised tobacco and alcohol as part of the essentials during the partial lockdown period due to Coronavirus (Covid-19). The CS for Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development Ms Betty Maina formed a Business Emergency Response Centre (BERC) that identified the products. “The Committee identified the manufacturers, producers and suppliers of the under listed as essential to the sustenance of lives and efforts must be taken to keep them operational throughout the crisis period,” read a notice from the ministry. The full list of foods and beverages includes cereals, sugar, wheat products (bread, confectioneries and breakfast…

Dr Peter Gathege Kamunyo has been appointed the  National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) CEO. Dr Kamunyo takes over from Nichodemus Odongo who has been serving in an acting capacity. Prior to his appointment, Dr Kamunyo was the Chief Executive Officer of MedSource Group Limited. He has worked at GlaxoSmithKline, as the country commercial director, Vaccines & Public Institutions Head. He was the General Manager for Aon Insurance Brokers, he also led the Africa Healthcare Practice Group. Currently DR Kamunyo sits on the boards of the East African Healthcare Federation and the Kenya Healthcare Federation. Dr Kamunyo holds a Master of…

Safaricom subscribers can now use their Bonga points to shop for essential food items. The leading telephone network has partnered with Supermarkets to allow customers pay for items using their Bonga points. The campaign dubbed Bonga for Good aims to help Kenyans shop for essential items or donate their Bonga points to other Kenyans who have been adversely affected following the Covid-19 pandemic. “We have seen Kenyans lose some or all of their income as a result of the pandemic, making it difficult to meet their needs. This initiative seeks to empower Kenyans to use the points earned from using…

One police officer is reported to have died in chaos in Pipeline Estate, Embakasi, after tenants started rioting over what they termed as mistreatment by the landlord. According to tenants who reached out to Kahawa Tungu, the landlord disconnected water and electricity for the tenants, who had delayed to pay rent. “Most of us who live here work from industrial area and many companies closed their operations since the curfew was effected and we are yet to be paid but the promise was we’ll be paid by this week. Today in the morning he disconnected power, water and he’s threatened…

WhatsApp is limiting the number of times a message can be forwarded to contacts in an effort to curb the spread of misinformation. Starting today, you can only forward one message five times on the Facebook owned app. The restriction has been made due to frequent forwarding of false Covid-19 messages. If you receive a message which has been forwarded up to or more than five times, you can only send it to a single chat at a time. In the previous limit imposed last year, one message could be sent up to a maximum of five people at a…

MultiChoice, the company that owns DSTv, in collaboration with TBN Africa have launched a special Easter celebration  pop-up channel dubbed African Easter channel, for the Easter period. The pop-up channel will launch on DStv channel 344 on Thursday, April 9 at 3pm East African time until Monday, April 13, 2020. African Easter channel will be available to all DStv subscribers on Premium, Compact Plus, Compact, Family and Access. Viewers will be also be able to watch the channel from multiple devices i.e. TV, laptop, tablet or cell phone via the DStv Now App at no additional cost. African Easter channel’s content will entail music, sermons, documentaries and…

The National Police Training College Kiganjo has been closed after one of the officers who had been undergoing training at the facility developed Covid-19-like symptoms at his rural home in Homa Bay County. The Kiganjo Campus, though a learning institution, was not closed when President Uhuru Kenyatta directed on March 15 that all learning institutions be closed. At least 3,000 officers have been undergoing various training courses including a ‘Standardisation’ course for AP officers for the last three months. On April 3, one of the officers who has been undergoing training at the facility travelled to his rural home in…

The Kenyan government has reportedly rejected seven high-profile South Sudanese Coronavirus (Covid-19) patients, who were to be admitted at Nairobi Hospital. South Sudanese media outlets that reported the incidence however did not reveal the identities of the nationals, or their fate. The government of Kenya is yet to speak about the same. This comes a day after the nation reported the first case of Covid-19, raising eyebrows on whether some African national are hiding the real number of Covid-19 cases. Read: UAE Passenger Flight Allowed To Land In Kenya, Gov’t Says It Was Evacuating Kenyans Stranded In Dubai Confirming the…

The government of Kenya has allowed a United Arab Emirates (UAE) plane carrying passengers from Dubai to land in the country. The plane is said to be carrying Kenya Airways (KQ) crew and other passengers stranded in Dubai, while coming to evacuate UAE citizens in Kenya, the government said. This comes a day after announcing that a 72-hour notice would be required for flights coming to evacuate their nationals. In a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs undersigned by the permanent secretary A Wafula to the Ministry of Transport, the government said that the flight, a : Boeing 777…

Two Standard journalists, Julius Chepkwony and Daniel Chege have been summoned by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Nakuru over a Lanet Barrack lockdown story. Yesterday, The Standard reported that Lanet Barracks in Nakuru was put in a lockdown after a soldier was reported to have come into contact with a Covid-19 patient. The two were summoned by Nakuru County DCI officer Michael Mwenze through a text message. “I Michael Mwenze a Senior Superintendent of Police attached to Nakuru County as Criminal Investigations officer and investigating a case of publication of false information Contrary to Section 23 of the…

The Co-operative Bank of Kenya (Co-op Bank) has announced Ksh100 million donation towards the recently formed Emergency Response Fund Committee for purchase of ventilators in the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19). In a statement, the bank appealed to other corporate institutions and Kenyans of goodwill to join hands and support the government in the fight against COVID-19. “This is a critical moment for our country Kenya. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest crisis of our time, particularly in the effort to source critical life-saving medical supplies and equipment especially ventilators that are in short supply globally. Co-op Bank…