Author: Francis Muli

“You are either the source or the target” was one of Bogonko Bosire’s favourite sayings, one of the best and authoritative bloggers in Kenya who disappeared mysteriously in September 2013. Whether he is still alive or dead, it is still a mystery six years down the line, but hiss footprints still remain online. Bosire was one of the elite journalists turned blogger in the wake of 2013 general elections, and was used to a greater extend by the Jubilee administration to spread propaganda against the opposition. Read: Itumbi, Bosire and Ghafla Now Look to Incite Luhyas Against Luos However before…

Margaret Nyang’ate Nyakang’o has been sworn in as the new Controller of Budget, three months after the office fell vacant. Nyakang’o was nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta last month as the new controller of budget. Nyakang’o is expected to replace Agnes Odhiambo whose 8 year tenure came to an end in August, after being appointed on 27, August 2011. The role of a budget controller in Kenya is to foresee government financial operations within the country including counties. On Tuesday, Members of Parliament approved Ms Nyakang’o’s nomination, a week after her vetting. Nyakang’o will be in charge of withdrawals from…

Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui spent the better part of today, Wednesday December 4 at the offices of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) being grilled about stalled Itare Dam. Itare dam was meant to benefit at least 800,000 people in Nakuru, Kuresoi, Molo and Rongai and cost taxpayers at least Ksh19 billion, but has since stalled. It is reported that billions have been lost in the project in flawed procurement process, litigation and compensation. Already, at least Ksh11.5 billion has been spent on the stalled project, but there is little to show for the money. Read: PA…

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has refuted reports that it is contemplating imposing taxation on dowry payments in the country. In a tweet, the taxman, in Swahili, said they had heard the rumours, without divulging any further information. “Hii story hata sisi tumeisikia tu (This is a story we just heard of),” KRA’s verified account tweeted. https://twitter.com/KRACorporate/status/1202110605953576961 Earlier reports had indicated that the board had met, discussed, and was in the process of finalising on the decision to tax all dowry payments as one way of boosting the national revenue. It was reported that upon successful consultation, it would publish…

Lenders, especially mobile loan apps are still advancing loans to defaulters who are listed with Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs), a new report has shown. According to the report by CreditInfo CRB, 70 percent of defaulters listed with CRBs still get loans from lenders, which they also default. “In spite of getting opportunities to borrow after previous defaults, some debtors are still ending up with bad loans on the new facilities. This is a character issue and largely a show of financial mismanagement,” CreditInfo Chief Executive Officer Kamau Kunyiha said. Mobile borrowers accounted to 398,160 of the people who got a…

Social media company Twitter today has suspended thousands of accounts suspected to be operating illegally. The purge has seen Kenyans using the social media app lose followers, in an exercise meant to rid off bots. One of the prominent accounts that was wiped out bore the name of Central Organization of Trade Unions (Cotu) secretary general Francis Atwoli, which had a bitter exchange with exiled activist Miguna Miguna. Other accounts that were deleted are those prominent in a follow train with a hash tag #KOTLoyals, that promised users massive followers. This week, Twitter issued a notice to all users to…

House prices in Nairobi’s high-end market fell by 5.4 percent in the year ending September, the Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index (PGCI) for quarter three of 2019 has indicated. Values of prime residential real estate continued to drop as the market softens, albeit at a slower pace compared to the 6.7 percent in the year to June and 6.5 percent in the year to March, as buyers sought opportunities in a market segment still influenced by oversupply and distressed properties. The values have been declining at varied rates year-on-year successively since Q3 2016. However, values are still more than…

The National Treasury has at most three months to close a Ksh3.5 billion account held at Kenya Commercial  Bank (KCB), meant for car loans for public servants. The funds have been lying idle in the account for years, and now the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) wants the Treasury to speed up the allocations or reallocate the funds to more pressing issues. “The Cabinet Secretary, the National Treasury should within three months of tabling and adoption of this report, roll out the fund to the State Officers and Public Officers in order to achieve the objective of providing motor…

The re-launch of Mpost by Postal Corporation of Kenya (Posta) in conjunction with giant telco Safaricom spelt a new era in postal delivery in Kenya, now pegged on mobile phones. Just like any other technological revolution in any country, Mpost leans towards mobility, whereby a person can change his/her location easily if they change their residential areas, unlike the older system. MPost box numbers will be in the format “P. O. Box 254XXXXXXXXX” where XXXXXXXXX denotes the customer’s mobile phone number, for example, “P. O. Box 254722000000”. How to register Safaricom customers can visit mpost.co.ke or dial *234# (*234*1*9#) and conveniently register for a…

Activist Okiya Omtatah now wants the Court to declare Finance Act, 2019, saying that the right procedure was not followed in passing the bill. According to Omtatah, President Uhuru Kenyatta abused his veto powers outlined in the Constitution Article 115(1)(b), by signing the bill despite having reservations for the Bill. According to the constitution, “within fourteen days after receipt of a Bill, the President shall assent to the Bill or refer the Bill back to Parliament for reconsideration by Parliament, noting any reservations that the President has concerning the Bill.” In this incidence, the President signed the Bill into Law…

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 compensation case has taken a new twist, after bribery allegations emerged against a number of Indonesian lawyers. Unconfirmed reports indicate that Indonesian lawyers Ivan Henry, Vini Wulandari, Gustavina Komala Gani and Mohammad Narobby, were on November 27 arrested in US over claims of bribery in Nairobi in the compensation of families of victims who perished in the crash. The lawyers who work for P.A. a law firm in Miami, Florida, were arrested for attempted bribery and for illegally working in Kenya. Read: No Bodies To Bury, Most Were Reduced To Ashes, Ethiopian Airlines CEO…

For most people in most parts of the world, the festive season comes with gifting loved ones, and even gifting self. However, sometimes financial constrains makes it hard to achieve this, with the current most admired gifts (for others and self) being phones, tablets, computers and TVs. During the Safaricom open day announced last week, the telco announced crazy slashed prices for selected devices in all its outlets countrywide. The prices for phones, for instance, have been slashed by up to Ksh15,000, in an offer running from November 28 to December 8. Read: Reprieve For Customers As Co-op Bank Scraps…

Early today a Twitter account bearing the name of Central Organization of Trade Unions (Cotu) secretary general Francis Atwoli disappeared  after a fierce exchange with exiled activist Miguna Miguna. The account, @sg_atwoli, seemed to suggest that youths are ‘useless’ in the process of constitution making, citing the case of the US, which has one of the oldest constitutions in the world. “Youths (sic) must be very shallow to think that constitutions are written by youths (sic). The American constitution which is one of the oldest in the world was prepared by old men and they never consulted the youths (sic),”…

Maseno University was yesterday at night closed indefinitely over students riots, who complained of increased insecurity in and around the institution. The University issued a statement on Sunday, December 1 after the University Senate met at 7pm, saying that  they were not properly engaged over the matter. “Following unrest by students over alleged rape cases reported to have occurred in and off-campus students’ residences, and failure by the students to engage university management on structured discussions on the same; the Senate resolved to close the university with immediate effect until further notice,” said the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Julius Nyabundi. The students…

Controversial singer Esther Akoth alias Akothee over the weekend collapsed while performing during the famous Luo Festival, in a suspected case of fatigue. This comes barely a week after she was hospitalised in a case where doctors diagnosed her with fatigue. Akothee collapsed at around 1am, bringing her performance to a halt. Here’s the video courtesy of Mpasho:- https://www.instagram.com/p/B5hzFTzFV2s/ “This life, you can only occupy one bed at a time, bloggers don’t scare my family and fans, I am not dead! My system just shut down, I will be back,” Akothee said on Facebook. In March 2018, the Lotto hitmaker was…