Author: Francis Muli

Cases of bank fraud have been on the rise in the recent days, with people losing as little as Ksh10 to millions from their bank account and mobile money accounts. The police have unearthed a syndicate group of 130 individuals that are wanted in connection to loss of billions in the scandal. Some of those in the wanted list include former and current bank employees and IT experts. It is suspected that the 130, plus others not mentioned raked in billions from unsuspecting Kenyans’ accounts transferring the moneies to stand-by accounts and then withdrawing through others. In 2017 alone, Kenyans…

Corruption levels at the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority seem to be escalating after details emerged of possible scandalous deals in the two state bodies. The two have been involved in possible underhanded deals with a company named Nightingale Enterprises Ltd, whose listed directors include Evelyn Nyambura Mungai, Ephantus Githui Gathekia, Peter Njoroge Muchuku and Samuel Kamau Nduati. The company, Nightingale, was registered to conduct businesses in stationary sale and digital printing, but is apparently doing road construction works with the two state bodies. In one of the deals, Nightingale was awarded a tender…

A new report has indicated that the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) spent at least Ksh1.7 billion in 2018 on kidney treatments. This reflects a 42 per cent increase from Ksh1.24 billion spent in 2017. A total of Ksh922.8 million was paid for 73,757 kidney dialysis sessions, with Nairobi County being the highest beneficiary. In the latter half of 2018, the state insurer parted with Ksh64.7 million for kidney transplants, compared to Ksh21.7 million the previous year. “The prevalence of chronic kidney disease is on the rise in Kenya, and NHIF will continue to support efforts by the Ministry of Health…

The tussle for compensation of land owners at the Nairobi-Naivasha Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) has taken a new twist after it emerged that the National Land Commission (NLC) is withholding over Ksh17.7 billion meant for compensation. In a court case filed by Kenya Railways, the institution says that the Mohammed Swazuri-led team is maliciously holding the money despite having received it from the national treasury. “The respondent has between October 26, 2018, and now received from the National Treasury the sum of Ksh17.7 billion to remit to the 1,090 affected persons and/or the landowners whose parcels of land was acquired…

The Ministry of Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has announced a move that will see Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) have no cars on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The move is set to begin on February 1, even as 64 Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) buses are set to arrive next month from South Africa. According to Macharia, the exercise will allow hawkers to the streets during the two-day weekly car-less days in the CBD. He further says the government is in the process of acquiring 11 commuter trains from South Africa, for use alongside the BRT buses. Read: Why Is Governor Joho…

Bomb experts from the police department have taken away unattended metallic box left at Odeon along Tom Mboya street since the Saturday night blast. The Police have secured the area with explosive experts and bomb experts already at the scene. The box is said to have been left at the scene since Saturday night when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded at the bus terminus injuring two people. The blast occurred shortly after 7pm outside Smothers Fast Food Restaurant on Tom Mboya Street. The two injured persons were identified as a trolley pusher by the name Joseph Okinyi and a…

In 2008, an Indian company by the name Surendhra Engineering Ltd was contracted by the Muhoroni Sugar Company Limited to supply and install the steam boiler and thereafter commission it. This would be one of the biggest loophole for cartels at the company to loot, according to our investigation. In the year 2016 during the factory’s annual maintenance routine, the cartels lead by the factory manager Walter Odum and his electrical section colleagues resorted that the motor driving the boiler fan be returned to Surendhra Engineering Ltd through it’s little known agency in Nairobi. They termed it as faulty, even after using it…

Things seem to be getting out of hand for fake it entrepreneur Mr Wilkins Fadhili, whom Kahawa Tungu exposed a few days ago. It has emerged that a part from lacking offices and websites for his start ups, Fadhili has no official place of residence. According o a former partner Ms Ruth Ambogo, Fadhili lives with women he hits on and swindles them money and moves on to the next. In a thread of tweets, Ms Ambogo explains how Fdhili conned her in a partnership where they were supposed to rent an office together. “The project was supposedly a start…

In the intrigues of the National Lands Commission (NLC) saga of lands compensation there has emerged a new development adversely implicating the chairman Mohammed Swazuri. A recent court battle has revealed the veracity of the matter involving a company named Altana Corporation Ltd and Clarence Matheny Leadership Training Institute (CMLTI). In the suit, the company owned by Kisii based politician Zaheer Jhanda is seeking to be paid part of CMLTI’s land compensation acquired in Ngong for phase II SGR construction. Altana claims that the money is part of payment for consultations entered into last year. However, our further investigations reveal…

Huawei Mobile Kenya has unveiled HUAWEI Mate 20 Series, their latest mobile phone series, to the Kenyan market. According to Steven Li, Head of Eastern Africa Mobile the new premium device packs a total of 6.9 billion transistors into a form factor the size of a fingernail. Matrix Camera system The HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro is equipped with a 40MP main camera, a 20MP ultra wide-angle camera, and an 8MP telephoto camera. Together, the trio of lenses supports a wide range of focal lengths enabling it to mimic the results from professional cameras. This wider perspective creates a sense of spaciousness…

Andela, a company which trains developers in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda for contract work with U.S. companies, has secured $100 million (Ksh10 billion) in Series D funding to build distributed Engineering teams around the world. The funding was led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management with participation from existing investors including Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, GV, Spark Capital, and CRE Venture Capital. “It’s increasingly clear that the future of work will be distributed, in part due to the severe shortage of engineering talent,” says Jeremy Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Andela. “Given our access to incredible talent…

More details have emerged on the rot at Muhoroni sugar that forced the former managing director Mr Nicholas Okello to resign. According to inside sources that spoke to this writer, threats at the company are the order of the day, and this is what could have led to the exit of Mr Okello. Our previous investigation unearthed a clique of cartels led by general manager, Nashon Osieko whose deliberations are cleverly and forcefully executed by factory manager Walter Odum, who can literally threaten and intimidate his juniors to toe his corrupt way. The cartels have been using a company based in Nairobi, Springtech…

Cash strapped Deacons has fired over 93 employees, among them directors in what administrators call a “cost-cutting” recovery move. Speaking to shareholders yesterday, joint administrators Peter Kadhi and Atul Shah revealed that the retailer needed at least Ksh450 million injection from shareholders in order to reduce the debt burden. According to Shah, in case of liquidation, creditors would lose 95 per cent of their debt, while unsecured creditors would lose 100 per cent of their debt. This would amount to over Ksh1.9 billion since liquidation would only yield Ksh63 million. Currently, the revenue income for the firm has reduced to…

The Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has extended exemption period for Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) following its acquisition of Rwanda’s Crane Bank early last year. The extension was announced through a legal notice dated December 21. “The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning extends the exemption granted to the Commercial Bank of Africa Limited in connection with the acquisition of shares in Crane Bank Rwanda Limited to the 30th June, 2019,” read the notice from CS Rotich. CBA acquired Crane Bank Rwanda from Uganda’s DFCU Bank after receiving approvals from Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda central banks. The acquisition…

Sports betting firm Sportpesa and other online betting firms are spending a big chunk of their income outside the country as compared to local sporting action, Kahawa Tungu can authoritatively report. Sportpesa which generates not less than Ksh3.9billion from Kenyan gamblers in just a month and Ksh46.8 billion per year gives back less than billion to Kenyan sporting action. In the current sponsorship for Kenyan sporting action, the firm will part with Ksh682.4 million in a three-year deal. Gor Mahia will get Ksh198,607,000, AFC leopards Ksh156,406,403 and KPL Ksh259,712,000. However, in a new deal which has become talk of the…