Author: Francis Muli

Orange Democratic Movement Party (ODM) has sacked its Director for Political Affairs and Strategy Wafula Buke following disagreements with party officials. Taking to Facebook, Buke confirmed that he had received a letter from ODM firing him, and that party officials were not picking his calls. “I was sacked yesterday as Director for Political Affairs and Strategy of ODM. Mr Edwin Sifuna, Mr Oduor Ongwen and Ms Pareno, since you can’t pick my calls, I hereby confirm receiving your letter. I ruffled snakes and have received my feedback. I disagree with you so I will see what to do about that.…

The Ruaraka land scandal has now taken a new twist after businessman Francis Mburu went back to court seeking over Ksh36 billion in compensation. Mburu has sued the Nairobi City County, National Land Commission (NLC) and the Attorney General, seeking orders from the court to compel the three to compensate him a sum of Ksh23 billion as the market value of the land and Ksh13 billion for the loss of rental income, plus accrued interest. This comes two months after the Environment and Land Court ruled that the 13-acre land on which Ruaraka High School and Drive Inn Primary School…

Britania Foods Limited Chief Executive Officer Robert Kagundah has been sacked over corruption allegations. In his place, Ahsan Manji will take over as the interim Executive Director with overall management responsibility for the affairs and operations of the company  wile Julius Kiptoo will be the new acting General manager. Marting King’oo will head the factory operations. “While good gains have been made, further organizational streamlining has been directed by the Board in alignment with a robust medium-term strategy plan of positioning the business as a cost-efficient, competitive and innovative player. As we commence the restructuring process, Robert Kagundah, having served…

Kenyans will now have to book an appointment with the Department of Immigration Services in order to collect their passports, the government has said. In a statement on Thursday, the department directed Kenyans to book their appointments through e-Citizen platform, to ease congestion in the appointed centres. “You will be required to book an appointment in the ecitizen portal specifying the date and time you wish to collect your passport. Please note that the passports are collected at the station where you took your biometrics,” read te statement in part. Read: Government Extends E-Passports Deadline To March 2020 In order…

The Police have arrested seven Kavonokia sect members in Gatue, Tharaka Nithi County for refusing to be enumerated alleging that census is satanic. According to the  Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the members said that ‘they will be counted in heaven’, blocking enumerators from collecting information. “Seven people suspected to be members of KABONOKIA Sect were last night arrested at Gatue, #TharakaNithi for refusing to give info to Authorised Person collecting Statistical info. The members refused to be enumerated claiming the process is Satanic & that they’ll be counted in Heaven,” tweeted the DCI. https://twitter.com/DCI_Kenya/status/1166943904173875200 This is not the first…

Chinese company Erdemann Properties Ltd is now the focus of Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) after it emerged that it could have been fraudulently awarded the tender to construct  Lake Basin Mall by the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA). In new revelations, it is said that the Ksh2 billion mall could have cost less, but the appetite for kickbacks and bribes by LBDA officials made it higher. Former LBDA board members George Nichodemus and Innocent Obiri are the key suspects in the scandal, who are suspected to have benefited from cash and houses in order to influence the tender award…

A Chinese national was yesterday charged at the Milimani Law Courts with three counts of failure to file tax returns and pay taxes amounting to Ksh194 Million. The accused, Mr Gao Fei is a Director of New X-Tigi Technology company Limited that deals with both wholesale and distribution of Chinese mobile phones X-Tigi brands, chargers, phone covers, earphones and other allied accessories. He was charged with failure to declare and remit taxes for a period of eight months that was commensurate to the company’s sales. He denied the charges before Senior Resident Magistrate Caroline Nzibe. Read: How DPP Tried To…

A day before raiding Keroche Breweries, the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) posted on its social media pages announcing its intention to charge Keroche Breweries CEOs Tabitha Karanja and Joseph Karanja over tax evasion amounting to Ksh12.3 billion for VAT plus Ksh2.1 billion as excise duty, totaling to Ksh14.4 Billion. A VAT charge of Ksh12.3 billion suggests Keroche Breweries had a turnover of Ksh76 billion. A day later in court, the numbers presented by the prosecution were inverted as VAT claim was changed to Ksh2.1 Billion while the excise duty claim went up to Ksh12.3 billion. Following Kahawa Tungu’s independent…

Sameer’s Daima dairy factory at Industrial Area, Nairobi has been shut down by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) for discharging untreated waste into Nairobi River, and operations manager arrested. “We have to close down this facility because they are discharging untreated wastewater bypassing the treatment plant,” said NEMA Director-General Mamo B. Mamo This comes a day after four others were shut down for the same reason in the area, following a crack down on companies polluting the river. Modern Lithographic (K) Ltd, Apex Limited, Thorlite Kenya Ltd, and Kamongo Paper Recycling Company were found to be discharging harmful waste…

Acting Commissioner for Co-operatives Development G.N. Njang’ombe has constituted a team of four to oversee the liquidation of Kenya’s largest coffee dealer, the Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (KPCU). In a gazette notice dated August 2, Mr Njang’ombe appointed Stephen Kamau Njoroge (Assistant Director of Co-operatives Audit), Doris Wangui Githua (Principal State Counsel), Antony Maina Waithaka (Principal Co-operative Auditor in Murang’a County) and Joyce Nkirote Kimuu (Senior State Counsel) as joint liquidators. The team has been given a maximum of six months to sell the assets of KPCU, which would mark the end of an era for the 75-year-old coffee giant…

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is investigating graft allegations against the proposed Airtel-Telkom merger, which has forced the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) to suspend it. Prior to the merger proposals, Telkom and the treasury was under investigation on how the government sold part of its stake to French firm Orange. Orange later sold its shares to UK firm Helios Investment, which currently holds 60 percent stake while the Government of Kenya holds 40 percent. “We have advised the parties that, in light of government shareholding in Telkom Kenya, approval shall only be granted once all the conditions set…

The mention of Fred Kubai brings back the memories of the fight for Kenya’s independence and the famous Kapenguria Six. However, a mention of the name to family members reminds them of a hardworking partriach who died in 1996, only for his property to be grabbed by his maidservant at the expense of deserving family members. Kahawa Tungu learns that after the death of Mr Kubai in 1996, a case was launched at Milimani Law Courts by Christina Gakuhi, a maid to the late Kubai. In the case, Ms Gakuhi claimed that she was Mr Kubai’s wife and they had…

Singer Ali Yusuf Watuba popularly known by his stage name Arrow Bwoy is set to release his new album dubbed Hatua this week, which he says was inspired by his life at city market. Speaking to journalists during a listening party at a Nairobi hotel, Arrow Bwoy said that the album was an appreciation for his loyal fans. “I felt like I should drop album to appreciate my fans that have been loyal since day one. It is my first album, that has taken me at least four years to create. It is a special album to me, and to…

Kenya Airways (KQ) is yet to fly out of trouble as it emerged that it cancelled a total of 52 flights in the first 18 days of August, and delayed at least 40 percent of the successful flights in the first seven months of 2019. The reports surfaced after a member of the first family was affected in one of the flights in Paris, forcing the government to seek explanation. According to the 2019 on time performance, 182 flights were cancelled this year occasioned by shortage of staffers with pilots and other crew failing to turn up for work. Out…

Police in Kisumu are investigating an incidence where a National Population and Housing Census enumerator attached to Maseno, was on Saturday night sexually assaulted and robbed by unknown attackers. The incidence has been confirmed by Nyanza police boss Dr Vincent Makhoha, who said that the enumerator was ambushed outside her gate after she had been dropped off by her supervisor following completion of the exercise. The County Statistics Department has been ordered to immediately suspend the supervisor who dropped the woman due to negligence. Other Supervisors and police officers who had been deployed to offer security to the enumerators have…