Author: Francis Muli

Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu could be arrested soon alongside his wife Susan Wangari Ndung’u, and their daughter, Monica Njeri over graft allegations. According to reports by the Standard, the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji has already approved their prosecution alongside eight chief officers at the county and businessmen. The wife and daughter are targeted over their involvement in county tenders through their companies, Bieneveu Delta Hotel Limited, where the governor and his wife are directors, and Saika Two Estate Developers Limited, where Waititu and his daughter are directors. Read: Switch TV Management To Sack Over 25 Employees As Tough Financial…

Khart (Miraa) farmers and consumers in Embu will be governed by new regulations and guidelines from the county government. The regulations are aimed at proper management of production, consumption and marketing of miraa. According to a statement to newsrooms from the county, part of the draft regulations include training of farmers to guide them on safe use of chemicals in collaboration with the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation (KARLO). Read: 2 Dead, 3 Injured In Kirinyaga Accident After Miraa Lorry Collided With Matatu The CEC agriculture Ms Annie Nyaga says that the guidelines will form part of a broader…

Home owners at the Sunset Boulevard Estate in Athi River are facing auction following a fall out between the developer and the lending bank. According to media reports, auctioneers from I&M Bank visited the residential estate with more than 200 houses valued at Ksh2 billion. The title of the estate is still held by the developers, Mr Jonathan Feldman and Mr Samuel Mirie Gachathi, who hold 50 percent stake each. Read: Njenga Karume’s Jacaranda Hotel On Auction Over Ksh257 Loan “Dully instructed by our principals, your undermentioned properties, together with all the improvements erected thereon (two hundred and four units…

The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) has advertised for the position of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) seven months after sending Geoffrey Mwangi on compulsory leave. Mwangi’s position as the CEO was handed over to Nicodemus Odongo in an acting capacity in November last year, who held the position of Director Strategy, Planning & Marketing. Also advertised is the position of director, internal audit, which currently lies vacant. Mwangi was suspended alongside Finance Director Wilbert Kurgat for allegedly declining to surrender some payment vouchers to investigators, that were suspected to be scandalised. Read: NHIF Warns Kenyans Against Swindlers Collecting Premiums In…

Auditor general Edward Ouko has flagged Ksh943,906,947 unused money that was meant for training in the Petroleum Ministry in the  2016/17 and 2017/18 financial years. According to a recent report by Ouko, during the two financial years, Ksh320,764,864 was used on training 55 staff from the ministry, who had undergone the same training previously. Read: Over Half A Million Kenyans Listed On CRBs For Loans Less Than Ksh200 “However, no trainees were drawn from university and colleges or other learning or research institutions and there is no indication that any support was provided by the department to these or other…

On June 18, Kenya’s largest telecommunications company Safaricom launched its Reverse Call feature enabling its subscribers to transfer the calling costs to the receiver. “This innovation is in line with this commitment and has been tailored to mirror the relationships between our customers with a goal of empowering them to always remain connected with their loved ones,” said Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Customer Officer, Safaricom. But according to Davidson Ivusa, the telco stole his idea which he shared with them on May 10, 2010. His idea was dubbed “Jichomoe” which Mr Ivusa through his lawyer notes has been pending until lately.…

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) will not regulate all mobile lending apps, but will instead regulate only those affiliated to local commercial banks. This means that Kenyans will have to face unfair financial practices from the unregulated lenders, who could operate as they wish. According to CBK governor Dr Patrick Njoroge, the only help the government will provide is tagging approved lenders with a mark of approval from the regulator (CBK). Njoroge revealed this during the Afro-Asia Fintech Festival. Read: Over Half A Million Kenyans Listed On CRBs For Loans Less Than Ksh200 “These products will soon be indicating that…

Africa’s emerging Agritech market is currently valued at €5.3 billion (Ksh616 billion), according to a new report by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and Dalberg Advisors. The State of Digitalisation of Agriculture in Africa 2019 report identifies online marketplace solutions such as Agrikore as significant use cases of how digital tools are being built to tackle major challenges of attracting and retaining a significant number of buyers and sellers, and in thus doing, help to solve the problem of inefficient and fragmented agricultural markets. The Agriculture market in Africa is projected to grow to $1Trillion (Ksh100 trillion) by…

South Sudan has launched its first mobile phone-based money transfer service, m-Gurush. m-Gurush is a short form for mobile-Gurush, where gurush is the Arabic name for money. Theventure is a joint partnership between South Sudan’sTrinity Technologies Limited, a local tech firm, and Zain Telcoms South Sudan. “The platform provides consumers with a robust offering of products that cuts across, Service Payments, Airtime top up and money transfer services.” said Mr Joseph Arinaitwe, Trinity Technologies Vice President. Read: How Safaricom Stole ‘Thibitisha’ Idea From Innovator Through Zindua Cafe Programme In a statement to newsrooms, the management of m-Gurush said that they…

The Ministry of Irrigation  used at least Ksh27 million to brand caps and t-shirts in preparation of the launch of Thwake Dam that never was. According to a recent report by the auditor general Edward Ouko, the merchandise is rotting at the Ministry’s offices, as the launch was planned for the 2017/18 financial year. “The project was to be launched in the 2017/18 financial year, but to date, it has not been launched. The expenditure of Ksh26,915,000 is, therefore, wasteful and could have been avoided,” says the auditor general. The report was released on March 15 and is currently before…

Agriculture Cabinet secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri has insisted that the country is facing maize shortage and that importation is the only way to stabilise supplies. Speaking at Kahira Ini Church in Mathira, Nyeri County, Kiunjuri said that the shortage was not an artificial creation by his ministry to benefit cartels as alleged, terming it as a political witch-hunt. According to the CS, if the situation is not contained early in advance, Kenyans could find it hard to put ugali on the table as prices for a 2kg packet of maize flour could hit Ksh150. Last week, the Strategic Food Reserve Trust…

Jubilee insiders are now admitting the death of the ruling party, with the latest revelations coming from Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria. Kuria says that the party died during the much publicised March 9, 2018 handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM party leader Raila Odinga. Kuria was repsonding to Deputy President William Ruto, who early today expressed distaste over reports that Secretary General Raphael Tuju is working with Mr Odinga. Read: DP Ruto Slams Raphael Tuju For Working With Opposition To Wreck Jubilee “Dear my good friend Deputy President William Ruto. Jubilee went into political bankruptcy on the 9th…

Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has hinted that Kirinyaga counterpart Anne Waiguru could be pregnant, thus inviting her to deliver at Pumwani Maternity Hospital. In a Facebook post, Sonko also revealed that his wife Primrose Mbuvi was also expectant and will deliver at the facility in a couple of months. “Before the honeymoon begins let me take this earliest opportunity on behalf of my family and the great people of Nairobi to Congratulate my colleague from Kirinyaga HE ANN WAIGURU for getting married to Wakili Waiganjo. May the Lord bless your marriage,” posted Sonko. “May you have a safe delivery on…

Two Nigerians and one Kenyan (Winfred Wangui) were arrested on Saturday in Juja over suspected involvement in sim swap scam. Police recovered 70 assorted SIM Cards from various service providers, 10 mobile phones, Subscriber Sim registration forms, several Kenya Identity Cards, and some Kenyan currency. They will be arraigned in court Monday 15, July 2019. “We placed the three in custody and investigations ongoing,” Director of Criminal Investigations(DCI) said in a tweet. Read: SIM Swap Scammers Using IEBC Register To Defraud Kenyans – DCI Kinoti Warns In other news, nine suspected illegal immigrants of Ethiopian origin were on Friday  night arrested…

Multichoice Africa in partnership with Discovery Inc. have launched Real Time TV on DStv and GOtv starting Monday, July 15, 2019. Real Time is an entertainment channel featuring programmes based on real lives, nature, crime and medical lives. On real lives, the channel will feature the family of Dan and Michelle, in which the entire family of five has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. Dan and Michelle use their own life experiences to help guide their kids to overcome physical obstacles and learn to adapt to the world around them. The show will premiere on Wednesday September 5. Read: DStv…