Author: Francis Muli

When Joseph Gichunge Mutua was introduced to the Sanlam Insurance education policy, it was all about clean business and securing the future for his daughter. However, he regrets it, terming it as a dishonest fraudulent deal that led him to lose over Ksh90,000 of his hard-earned money without any benefits. “The staff who introduced me told me that a customer can terminate the policy after three years are over and claim a refund,” says Mr Mutua. Upon asking for policy documents that contain terms and conditions, Mutua was told that they would be provided later when they were ready, despite…

Four Chinese Nationals were arrested today in Nairobi at Kilimani area with ivory, leopard skins and rotten dog meat. Ornaments made from wildlife trophies were also recovered from the residential house. The police acted on a tip off from the public who reported foul smell from the Chinese residence. A total of 5kgs of Ivory was recovered  valued at Ksh4 million. A tortoise kept as a pet was also found in the house, without authorisation. 13,000 US Dollars in cash were recovered from the house, Ksh316,000 and 1,936 chinese Yuan, totaling to Ksh1.7 million. Assorted alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, food stuff, spices,…

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim will step down on February 1, three years before his term expires. Kim announced the development on Monday January 7, and is set to join an unnamed firm focusing on investments in developing countries according to a statement from the bank. World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva will serve as interim president. “It has been a great honour to serve as president of this remarkable institution, full of passionate individuals dedicated to the mission of ending extreme poverty in our lifetime,” Kim said in a statement. However, he is expected to return to the board of…

Okash, an online lending firm is on the spot for breaching privacy terms with its clients, for randomly texting clients’ contacts upon defaulting off loans. Kenyans online say that the firm asks you for permission to access your contacts while installing their app, with the aim of texting them in case you default the loan. Their terms and conditions on paragraph eight (8), upon agreement, indicates that  you agree to let them contact your emergency contact should you default. However, what raises eyebrows among Kenyans is that they make random contacts, even to people you might not be free to share…

National Police Service has launched Digital Human Resource Information System in Kilifi County. This new system will bear real-time data on each police officer, including their recruitment, training, career progress, deployment, family records, and other related information. In a statement to news rooms, the service said that the service also aims at digitizing other services such as administrative procedures, the Occurrence Book (OB), and the Crime Management System. “This system now gives the Inspector General a bird’s eye view of the National Police Service, making it easy to identify vacancies and the skills needed to fill in these vacancies. Alongside other…

Yusuf Mbuno, the National Government Constituency Development Funds (NGCDF) acting CEO has been adversely implicated in the embezzlement of funds at the body, which manages over Ksh35 billion annually. Mbuno has stayed at the helm for over seven years in an acting capacity, contrary o the law which requires appointment of a substantial/gazetted CEO. Also, the CEO has an amorphous structure comprising of only government representatives without a fully constituted board and without a chairman of the board. Senior management team of the board is comprised of only seconded staff from the ministries and departments. This team has no interest…

Rwanda Energy group (REG) has offered free electricity connections for big industries in a bid to support the government plan to ease doing business in Rwanda. In a press statement shared by Ron Weiss, the REG Chief Executive  Officer (CEO), the only requirement for industrial customers to benefit from the opportunity is to fill an online application form on their website. The new offer took effect on January 1, this year. Before that, the cost for new connections is Rwf40 millions (Ksh4.6 million) per kilometre including transformer for those who may set up industries, according to officials. “We want to continue to improve…

The Ministry of Education has released a guide to form one admission for schools using the National Education Management Information System (Nemis) to guide school principals. To use the new system, the principals will be required to download their selection lists for their schools in readiness for the exercise. The hard copies will be used in case of internet or system failure. “Schools should download and print their selection lists from Nemis in readiness for the exercise. This will be used as  a backup in case of connectivity challenges. Where internet interruption is experienced, the school should use the list,” says…

An unnamed Sudanese minister was among 17 people arrested in Kampala Uganda for smoking water-pipe tobacco, popularly known as shisha. The suspects were detained at Kabalagala Police Division but released today in the morning during suspects’ parade. “He (the minister) only identified himself in the morning during suspects’ parade. He has been released after establishing his particulars,” said Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire. According to Ugadan laws, the owner of the bar in which the (shisha)tobacco was smoked faces a Ush20 million (approximately Ksh 547,000) and his or her licence suspended for at least six months. Smoking of shisha is popular…

David Murathe, the Jubilee interim vice-chairman has resigned over his bid to block Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid. Murathe has been under pressure to resign following his utterances that Ruto is not the automatic Jubilee’s 2022 presidential candidate. Speaking during the burial of Raphael Tuju’s brother Kefa Oduor, Murathe said it will be an uphill task for the DP to win the party presidential ticket. According to him, Ruto cannot run for the highest office in the land as he has served as the DP for two terms as has President Uhuru Kenyatta who is yet to declare…

Kenya Airways (KQ) is facing new hurdles in its new route to Israel after Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir refused to grant them permission to fly on their airspace en route to Israel. This is the fourth route that KQ is facing hurdles after in part from New York, Bujumbura and Mogadishu. The challenges in doing business in new routes is attributable to poor strategy in announcing routes before actual permission is gained. The direct flight to Israel from Nairobi was announced in November last year and was supposed to start in March this year. KQ was supposed to have a weekly direct…

A Kayole-based police officer, Caroline Waithera, was attacked with a knife on Friday by unknown assailant outside her residence. It is reported that Ms Waithera was coming from routine patrol at midnight when she was attacked near her house at Kayole Junction, just one kilometer from the police station. The assailant, using a kitchen knife cut her severally and inflicted multiple deep cut injuries on her head, chest, shoulder and back. The knife used to commit the atrocity was later recovered on her house veranda by investigating officers. Ms Waithera was rushed to Mama Lucy hospital in ‘fair condition’ according…

A Safaricom subscriber was in for a rude shock after she discovered that her Identification card (ID) had been used to register 13 simcards, all on the Safaricom network. According to Lorna Gikabu, the affected subscriber, the lines were registered without her knowledge and consent, and most of them in use to persons unknown to her. “How do you allow 13 numbers on one ID in the first place? Does anyone in this country own 13 Safaricom lines? Especially Safaricom lines except fraudsters or corporates perhaps? Your guys told me CAK gives freedom to register as many lines as one wants?…

Kenyans on Twitter were excited by a Chinese woman only identified as Aisha who spoke perfect Swahili, better than most Kenyans. According to a video doing rounds on social media, Aisha, a hawker, advertises her products in Swahili which include boiled eggs, rice, fish, chicken, boiled meat among others. Read: Caucasian Woman Lights Up The Internet With Luhya Accent It is not yet clear where she lives, whether in Kenya or Tanzania where a big number of residents speak Swahili. Here’s the video:- https://youtu.be/qk5I9U_2KY0 Here are some reactions from Kenyans:- “Her Kiswahili accent has finished me.. This Chinese Aisha speaks better…

Former Kengen’s managing director Albert Mugo could have engineered several scandalous/ ghost tenders to enrich himself before his retirement in August 2017, Kahawa Tungu’s investigative desk can reveal. This time, Kahawa Tungu focuses on a tender (no. KGN-GDD-010 -2016) that was awarded to an Industrial Area based company Containers World Kenya to supply the parastatal with 11 containerized Housing Units at a cost of Ksh5 million. The company, in collusion with the then manager decided to make the units at the Industrial Area in a bid to swindle the company millions of money. They however cheated that the containers were being made…