Author: Francis Muli

Somalia Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on Thursday summoned the Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to Somalia, Lt. General (Rtd) Lucas Tumbo, to protest “encroachment of its air”. Tumbo was received by the Somalia State Minister of the Ministry Mr Abdulkadir Ahmed-kheir Abdi, who handed him a protest note against the violation of a Kenyan plane on Somali airspace on October 5, which landed at Kismayo airport without any official permission. “Somalia strongly protests this violation and will not accept any encroachment on its air, sea and land borders, and calls on Kenya to respond to this…

A Turkish Airlines passenger identified as Renee Ezra is decrying racial profiling and mistreatment at the Airlines. The passenger who is in custody in Turkey, boarded the airline on Tuesday from Nairobi to Cambodia via Turkey and Bangok, with all connecting flights being provided by Turkish Airlines. However, upon landing in Bangok, all hell broke loose as attendants Bangok Airlines, the connecting flight he was to board, demanded that she provides Ksh200,000 in cash as prove. “They asked for the visa to Cambodia, told them it was on arrival! They checked and confirmed it! Having found literally nothing to hold…

ODM leader Raila Odinga has threatened to sue Standard Media Group if they do not tender unconditional apology and retract an alleged defamatory article published on its daily newspaper. Odinga has given the media house owned by the Moi family up to October 16 to apologise, or meet him in court for defamation. In the article published a day ago, the Standard alleged that Raila’s car, a Range Rover registration KCS 002D had been seized by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), over suspicions that it had been stolen or duty had not been paid. “A search at the National Transport…

Soin sub-location assistant chief Reuben Ruto is on the spot for allegedly injuring eight people in just one and half months. The latest to be hurt by the government official is Richard Cheruiyot, according to reports by the Nation. He was injured at the Sachang’wan last Friday, where he had gone for a drink in a popular joint. Cheruiyot arrives at the bar and sat next to the assistant chief, who was already taking his drink, but accidentally shook the table spilling some drinks. “Just when I had taken a seat, the table shook and some beer spilt from his…

The ill-fated car in Likoni tragedy where a mother and daughter lost lives has been found. The team of divers, including Kenya Navy and private divers have located where the car is resting in the belly of the ocean. The team had located 14 possible points where the car could have been resting, but found the car after inspecting all the 14 points. Government spokesman Cyrus Oguna says that the car was found at a depth of 58 metres below the waters, but is yet to be retrieved or confirmed to be the one. Oguna did not confirm presence of…

Safaricom has changed their M-Pesa logo for the next seven days to show support for World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge in his quest to run 42-kilometre marathon in less than two hours, a race dubbed #INEOS159 Challenge. “It is an immense honour and privilege to have the opportunity to dedicate our iconic M-PESA brand in honour of a befitting icon,” acting CEO Michael Joseph said on Wednesday. The new logo will be the five letters spelling Kipchoge’s first name, “Eliud” and the numbers “1:59” to denote the challenge. “In this regard, we will be going beyond having Kipchoge as…

A police commissioner attached to the National Police Service headquarters, Moses Lubasia, is expected to record a statement with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in connection to a Ksh6 million robbery that happened in Eastleigh last week. According to reports by People Daily, the cop is said to have received part of the money stolen from Mohammed Hassan Mohammed and Abdulahi Hussein Yusuf in Barwqo Lodge in Eastleigh. In a CCTV footage captured at the hotel, four officers were captured stealing Ksh6 million from the two, of whom three have been arrested. The fourth one, identified as Mwaniki, escaped…

Kenyatta University has been closed indefinitely following two days of student unrest. In a memo the University Vice Chancellor Prof. Paul Wainaina said that the Senate had reached the decision following disturbances by some students that have led to disruption of lectures and destruction of university property. “In view of the foregoing, all students are required to vacate the university premises immediately,”read the memo in part. Kenyatta University Students Association (KUSA) leader Joshua Ayika has however told students not to heed the memo, as they demand the ouster of Prof Wainaina. Read: Traffic Snarl Up Along Thika Road As Kenyatta…

Nakuru, Nairobi and Makueni County Assemblies have become the latest to shoot down the Punguza Mizigo Bill which is sponsored by Thirdway Alliance Party leader Ekuru Aukot. The counties closed the list of the first ten counties to reject the constitutional review initiative, with only one county, Uasin Gishu, adopting it. In Nairobi, MCAs unanimously shot down the bill this evening, terming it unrealistic and retrogressive, and that it did not capture the views of the public during composition. In Makueni, MCAs accused Aukot of being unrealistic and failing to consult widely. The MCAs noted that reducing the number of…

Tax evasion case against Keroche Breweries owners Tabitha Karanja and Joseph Karanja has finally kicked off, after being postponed twice. The pre-trial conference for the case was held today at the Milimani Law Courts, with the two sides, prosecution and defence, setting ground rules for the hearing. The parties reached a consensus on the trial dates which were set for January 27-29, 2020. The Karanjas are facing charges of tax evasion amounting to Ksh14.4 billion, which was subject to consensus between Kerocho and KRA. Read: Why Keroche Breweries is Being Politically Targeted by Uhuru’s Advisers Appearing before the National Assembly’s…

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is set to use at least Ksh1.2 billion to hire 10,300 intern teachers to fill the gap left by shortage of teachers in the country. The commission has already set the deadline for application to October 23, with applicants required to be 35 years or younger and with the TSC. They must also be jobless and possess a minimum of a P1 certificate for those seeking primary posts, and a Diploma in Education for those joining secondary. Read: Loading Scandal? TSC Planning Ksh9 Billion Insurance Cover For Teachers Those hired for secondary schools will earn…

Cytonn Investments has filed an application with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to register a Development Real Estate Investment Trust (DREIT) seeking to raise Ksh2 billion of capital. In a statement to newsrooms, the company said the DREIT, which is structured to pay a coupon over the life of the development, will be deployed for the first phases of two real estate projects, the Ridge in Ridgeways, and RiverRun Estates in Ruiru. “This capital raise is envisioned to help Cytonn diversify funding sources for their real estate development pipeline, which has a project value of over Ksh82 billion,” said the…

Details about the murder of lawyer Willy Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri have been revealed in court. In a chilling confession, Peter Ngugi, a police informer, says that he was given Ksh2,000 to help four police officers from Mlolongo Administration Police post, Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Cheburet, Sylvia Wanjiku and Leonard Maina Mwangi, murder the three. He was to share the money with an unidentified woman, who was to lead him to identify the targets of the murder. He said he met Leliman, the chief suspect, in 2016 through Mlolongo OCS Stephen Lelei. “He (Leliman) told…

Kenya’s debt as at end of June 2019 increased by 3.6 percent month-on-month to Ksh5.809 trillion. According to the Economic brief by Kenya Commercial Bank, year-on-year debt grew by 15.3 percent driven by 18.1 percent growth in external debt as domestic debt grew 12.4 percent. External debt accounts for 52.0 percent of total debt while domestic debt is 48.0 percent. By June 2019 the domestic debt was recorded at Ksh2.786 trillion. Treasury bills accounted for 34.3 percent of total debt while the treasury bonds accounted for 62.8 percent. The major holders of government domestic debt as at end of September…

Economic times are proving harder, as Kenyans with over Ksh100,000 in their bank accounts dropped to a 13-year low of just 1,450,000 as of 2018. In 2017, the number of Kenyans with the same amount and above in banks was recorded at 1,583,000 showing depreciating economic times. This is according to a report set to be release next week by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), which paints a gloomy picture of the economic situation, dotted by dying companies, retrenchments and slowed cash flows. This is only three percent of the total bank accounts in the country, which currently stand…