Author: Francis Muli

Hungary will no longer issue Schengen visas to Kenyans without the e-passport, her embassy in Nairobi has announced. According to a circular, the announcement will take effect as from Saturday, June 1. The move was arrived at by Hungary Ministry of foreign affairs in April since the machine-readable passports would expire on August 31, 2019. Read: E-passports Required Before Issuance Of Visa – US Embassy In Nairobi “The Schengen member states therefore wish to inform the Kenyan public that from June 1, 2019, ONLY the new East African Community biometric e-passport would be accepted for Schengen visa applications,” read the…

The Presidential Strategic Communication Unit (PSCU) has received criticism from the media fraternity for limiting a Presidential event to Muslim journalists. In a media invite sent to journalists today, PSCU invited journalists to an Iftar dinner at Jamia Mosque, but gave a condition that only Muslim journalists should attend. “In solidarity with the Muslim community in the country during this Holy month of Ramadhan, President Uhuru Kenyatta will today evening, Thursday 30th May 2019 attend Iftar prayers at Jamia Mosque. For ease of access to the inside of the mosqu, media houses are advised to deploy Muslim crews,” read the…

The Postal Corporation of Kenya (Posta) has launched the Big Four Agenda commemorative stamps. In a statement to newsrooms, Posta said that the stamps will be issued to mark special events or occasions of national and international importance. The Big Four Agenda commemorative stamps will as well depict the four pillars of the social economic agenda for national development which include affordable housing, universal health coverage, enhancing manufacturing and food security & nutrition. Read: Newly Appointed Posta, TARDA Board Members Barred From Assuming Office “The Postal Corporation of Kenya will contribute towards the Big Four Agenda as well as continue…

Parliament is seeking new methods of regulating gambling habits in the country through a new bill that will limit the use of mobile phones in gambling activities. The Gaming Bill 2019 targets the online gaming industry, which has gobbled up most of the youth population. The bill, sponsored by Sports, Culture and Tourism committee, seeks to repeal the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act of 1966 and is due for its first reading at the National Assembly next week. Read: What You Need To Know About Gambling Disorders “The Bill seeks to…restrict use of telecommunication platforms as media for gambling in…

Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso has taken a one month sick leave to travel to the United Kingdom for treatment. It is yet to be established what the governor is suffering from, after being out of the public limelight for close to a month. The leave was announced by her director of communication Mr Ezra Kirui, who said that the deputy governor Hillary Barchok will hold brief for her. Read: Police Constable Arrested Soliciting Bribes In Kisumu Freed, Now Threatening Traffic Police “During her four-week absence, Deputy Governor Hillary Barchok will hold brief for her… She will be assisted by the…

Media personality Kirigo Ngarua has slammed Kenyans who recently criticized her dressing. Captioning a photo in which she exposed the better part of her thighs, Ngarua said that she is less bothered as she can dress however she wants. “Some human commented somewhere that I should “dress decently”…. Not sure what that means and to be honest I can’t be bothered…Also I have beautiful legs so I have to show them off once in a while, add this lovely dress from @siristudio and life is complete at this moment… Occasion @terryannechebet Great Gatsby themed birthday weekend,” wrote Ngarua. Read: Passaris Unhappy With Sakaja…

A South African man on Wednesday interrupted Ramadhan prayers in Taita Taveta after he stormed a mosque accusing the Muslim faithfuls of disturbing his peace through their public address system. The man who was armed with a firearm stormed the mosque and demanded that they reduce the volume of their system. He was arrested and handed over to the police. “The suspect in our custody entered into the Mosque and demanded that worshipers reduce the sound of the communications system. We have arrested the suspect and will be arraigned soon. We will charge him for creating disturbance,” Taveta Sub County…

A month to his exit from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the governor Dr Patrick Njoroge has broken his silence on Kenya’s appetite for loans. According to Njoroge, Kenya’s borrowing headroom is shrinking and it is time to restrategise her appetite for loans as it could affect the country’s growth. “It is important to say that the moment for dealing with debt reorganization, looking at debt and itself reorganizing it,…that moment has come,” said Njoroge. Read: CBK, Five Banks Partner To Create Loan App For SMEs The government through treasury CS Henry Rotich has been insisting that the government…

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) management says it has temporarily suspended iTax functions, among them tax compliance certificate approvals, tax returns amendments, amendment of assessments and ledger amendments including capture of waiver penalties and interests. The move was announced by the taxman in an internal memo to staffers, in which the body attributes the move to ‘incidence of system abuse’. “There’s a team working on a resolution of the issues identified. In the meantime, kindly be patient as we are putting in place a workaround to contain the situation,” said the memo, signed by Ms Elizabeth Meyo, the KRA Commissioner…

The massive damage to human health caused by tobacco is now well known. So too are the efforts of major tobacco companies to avoid disclosing the health consequences of smoking in order to continue marketing their deadly products. But as regulation tightened in the high income countries that used to generate most of the tobacco companies’ profits, their focus shifted. Marketing is especially targeted at younger age cohorts (the ‘economic future of the tobacco industry’), and at lower income countries. Today, as a direct result, around 80 per cent of the 1.1 billion smokers worldwide live in low and middle…

Yesterday, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announced that its lending rate will remain at nine percent for the sixth time running. In a statement, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said that the move was as a result of optimum performance of the general economy amidst volatility jitters both internally and externally. Inflation, a factor heavily anchored on the pricing of food and fuel essentials, has for instance held within the prescribed 2.5-7.5 percent range despite soaring to an 18-month high of 6.6 percent in April. Global growth is expected to slow down in 2019, largely due to the escalation of…

Kenyan government has written to the World Bank requesting for a Ksh75 billion loan, in its escalating appetite for loans geared by falling revenue collections and maturing debts. The loan, according to media reports, has been described as Inclusive Growth and Fiscal Management Development Policy Financing. According to a letter written by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Treasury CS Henry Rotich, the loan is set to top up the 2019/2020 budget on the government’s Big Four Agenda. Read: Chinese Envoy Dispels Fear Of Kenyan Assets Being Seized Over China Loan Default This will cover the four pillars of the government agenda…

The High Court has further suspended implementation of 1.5 per cent housing levy until June 10, to consolidate 11 cases challenging it. Issuing the ruling on Monday, Justice Maureen Onyango directed that the cases be heard together on June 10. Various parties including the Central Organization of Trade Union (COTU), Trade Union Congress of Kenya, Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) and the Federation of Kenyan Employers (FKE) have filed suits challenging the levy. Read: Court Extends Ruling On Implementation Of 1.5% Housing Levy Fund To May 27 Previously, the Labour Court had suspended the levy to today, following an array…

The price of Huawei P30 Pro has dropped to just Ksh13,000 in some UK sites from over Ksh110,000, Forbes has reported. The phone at its launch, barely three months ago, was priced the same as Samsung S10+. The recommended retail price for the Huawei P30 Pro is $1,398 (Ksh139,800). However, the dramatic drop can be attributed to recent move by Google to cut its business ties that requires the transfer of hardware, software and technical services except those publicly available via open source licensing. Read: Google Fined Ksh171 Billion In Competitors Advertising Row Google’s move is said to have been…

It was an all-Somali affair last weekend at the Metro Transit police when Somali-American police officers found themselves in one shift, without their American counterparts. Traditionally, the policemen with a Somali origin have never found themselves in one shift, without their American colleagues. Of the 120 full-time officers who work for Metro Transit, seven are Somali-American. Read: Two Reckless Police Officers Misuse Firearms Over Spoilt Bread “We took calls, we took care of people just like we do every day and that to me was an amazing experience,” said Abdiasis Mohamed, one of the officers. Mohamed became a police officer…