Author: Francis Muli

In July 2016, a traffic Police officer attached to Nyanza Regional Headquarters allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself in the head five times. It was reported that the police constable Alfred Ndalana, a rider, shot himself five times using his colleague’s gun over fear of vetting process outcome that exposed his secret source of wealth. The story was well choreographed by the media that no one questioned it, and it was thought to be ‘just another case of the men in blue taking their lives’. However, it emerges that Mr Alfred Ndalana was murdered by his fellow police officers acting…

A UK-based telecommunication company, Lycamobile, has entered the Ugandan market. The company is set to rival the already existing companies in Uganda that include MTN, Airtel and Uganda Telecom Ltd, among other smaller companies. Lycamobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), selling international pay-as-you-go SIM cards to customers wanting to make international telephone calls. Currently, Lycamobile operates in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and USA. Read: How James Ndegwa Has Been Cartelling Money Markets Through CMA The firm was founded in 2002…

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has approved acquisition of Transnational Bank by Nigeria’s Access Bank, giving the lender an entry into the Kenyan market The transaction is said to have happened last year at undisclosed amount and was approved by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK), but was awaiting CBK’s nod. At first, the transaction entailed transfer of 93.57 per cent stake in Transnational Bank to Access Bank. The 35-year-old Kenyan bank with 28 branches is co-owed by Moi family, Joshua Kulei, Simeon Nyachae and the late former Vice President George Saitoti. Kulei, a former aide to ex-President Daniel…

Early this month, Kahawa Tungu revealed how James Ndegwa, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) chairman, has been stiffing competition at the money markets. Our investigative desk dug deeper to understand his interests in the money market funds, his stake and how he benefits. Ndegwa is the chairman of First Chartered Securities (FCS), a company that was started by his father in 1974. FCS owns ICEA Lion, which owns ICEA Lion Asset Managers, which manages the ICEA Money Market Fund, all regulated by CMA. Read: CMA Chairman James Ndegwa Accused of Conflict of Interest in Market Regulation ICEA Lion recently acquired…

Safaricom acting CEO Michael Joseph sold all his shares at the giant telco in the course of last year, it has emerged. According to company statements, Joseph owned about 1.17 million shares as of March 31, 2018, but all were sold in the course of fiscal year ending March 2019. Speaking to Business Daily, Joseph revealed that he was not cutting ties with the company, but sold the shares to construct his retirement home. Read: Touring Cysuites, The Complex Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph Once Lived In For Six Months [Photos] “When you invest in a company like I did with…

Three pupils have been confirmed dead in Kuresoi when lightning struck their school. 34 others were left nursing injuries in the incidence that happened at Mkulima Primary School in Kuresoi North, with four others reported to be in critical condition. The four were taken to Nakuru Level Five Hospital, while another 30 are being treated at Kuresoi North Health Centre. The county government has dispatched a team of clinical officers and nurses to Kuresoi Health Centre the 30 are admitted. Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com or WhatsApp +254707482874. You can also find us on Telegram through www.t.me/kahawatungu

Ethiopian Airlines has announced that it will spend at least $5 billion (Ksh500 billion) in the construction of a new airport later this year. According to Ethiopian media, the airport will cover an area of 35 square kilometres and will be built in Bishoftu, a town 39 km south east of Addis Ababa, and will have the capacity to handle 100 million passengers a year. “Bole Airport is not going to accommodate us; we have a beautiful expansion project. The airport looks very beautiful and very large but with the way that we are growing, in about three or four…

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has warned the public against an ongoing Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) ‘pre-sale before launch’ going on in the country. ICOs involve creation of digital tokens using distributed ledger technology and subsequent sale to investors. “It is notified for general information that the CMA has not as of this date approved any Initial Coin offering. The ongoing offerings are unregulated and speculative investments, with considerable risk to the investor. According to the International Organization of Securities Commissions, which Kenya is a member, the sale entails heightened potential for fraud since some issuers could seek to perpetrate…

Japanese car manufacturer Toyota is recalling approximately 700,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the US over faulty fuel pumps. According to the company, which is one of the biggest car manufacture in the world, the pumps can stop operating, leading to engine failure. “If a vehicle stall occurs while driving at higher speeds, this could increase the risk of a crash,” the company said. Read: How To Apply For A New Passport And Replace An Old One In Kenya Toyota explained that if the fuel pump fails, warning lights and messages may be displayed on the instrument panel and the…

In most parts of the world, January is regarded as the most difficult month of the year, financially. After December festivities, most people go back to work with little or nothing in their pockets to survive on, especially when you had not planned for it early in advance. This is also the month students are going back to school or transitioning to the next phase of education, adding to financial burden to the already dented pockets. Sometimes such moments come as a default, and might not be prevented in some cases, depending on your financial muscle. Read: How To Obtain…

President Uhuru Kenyatta has today ordered that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) should implement a 16 percent value added tax (VAT) on milk imported into the country from outside the East Africa Community (EAC). In the address made from Mombasa State House today, Uhuru also directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to impound sub-standard powdered milk. “My intent is to boost the milk industry with one billion shillings as a way of supporting their efforts,” he said. Read: Milk Products From Uganda On Influx, Eating Up Market For Local Farmers He also announced that he had ordered the release…

Somalia is the worst country in Africa for women to live in, and the fourth worst in the World, a new study has shown. According to the survey conducted last year by Thomson Reuters Foundations, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Nigeria are ranked second and third worst in Africa, and seventh and ninth respectively in the world map. India, Afghanistan and Syria are the most hostile in the world in that order, with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are ranked fifth and sixth respectively. Yemen is ranked eighth while USA closes thee list of top ten. Read: Saumu Mbuvi Narrates…

In the 1980s, bank heists entailed stealing hard cash from cashiers or customers at gunpoint, with robbers engaging the police to fire exchange. Today, modes of bank heists have changed to technology and tenderpreneurship, with culprits withdrawing colossal amounts even as bank managers watch. One of such cases is that of  Alex Ribero Ngugi alias Aba Mpesha, who was able to siphon aound Ksh205 million from Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) Treasury Bonds (T-Bills). According to court papers, Mpesha after losing his job as a cashier at Barclays Bank in 1997, started working as a Jua Kali dealer before ‘thinking…

In the modern world,  the rate at which young people find jobs depends on how prepared the labor market is to receive them, and how ready they are for the labor market. According to the World Bank, in Kenya today, out of every 100 students who start primary school, only 68 transition to secondary school; and just 6 of this group go to universities or tertiary institutions to learn the skills required to give the country an edge in an increasingly competitive world. World Bank predicts that Kenya has to create at least 900,000 jobs annually between now and 2025…

A city pastor, Pastor Godfrey Migwi, now alleges that the spirits of the founding President Jomo Kenyatta and his Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga are back and want to rule the country forever through their sons. Migwi was commenting on the current new-found bromance between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga. The two, Raila and Uhuru, hve severally been accused of planning to sneak the former into power and make sure the latter does not retire through the implementation f the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). Read: Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) 14-Member Task Force Gazetted “This is the worst…