Author: Francis Muli

Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has pushed the opening dates for schools countrywide by one day to January 3, 2019. The move, according to a circular dated December 24, 2018, aims at giving parents and students time to travel to their destinations after the Christmas/New Year festivities. Schools were scheduled to open on January 2, 2019. “In order to allow time for learners and teachers who may have traveled to various places during the holiday season to return to their institutions, the opening day is rescheduled to 3rd January 2019,” reads the circular in part. This comes even as the Kenya…

Kenya was treated to a rare visit mid this month, by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a restaurateur from Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s native St Petersburg. Proggozhin is one of the most trusted Putin’s aides and is popularly referred to as ‘Putin’s Chef’ since one of his catering companies provides catering services to Putin. A far from it, he is described as Putin’s ‘errand boy’, whose company, the Wagner Group was linked to the killing of three Russian journalists. He has also been indicted by the US Justice Department for trying to sway the 2016 election. However, what raises eyebrows is that the plane, Hawker 800XP registration M-VITO, arrived…

Kenyan nurses are set to down tools in six weeks time over an unmet Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has said. This was announced by KNUN Secretary General Seth Panyako who said that the strike will begin on February 4, 2019, if the deal, signed on November 2, is not fully implemented. This follows another strike notice issued on November 16 accusing the government of failing to implement their return-to-work formula. The return-to-work formula, which was part of the 2017 CBA, was supposed to take effect as from July 1, 2018, but the government…

Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group is set to complete Imperial Bank takeover by March 2019.Imperial bank went into receivership in October 2015, and its depositors have not been able to access their monies since then. KCB thereafter won the bid for the collapsed lender in July this year and has promised to absorb some Imperial Bank branches and employees. Mid last week, the Central Bank of Kenya and Kenya Depositors Insurance Corporation (KDIC) announced that Imperial Bank depositors will access 12.7 per cent of their balances within 14 days. In a joint media briefing with KDIC on the 12.7 per cent…

Co-operative Bank customers using its banking channels this festive season will stand a chance to win goats, chickens, shopping vouchers, car fuels and fare to their rural homes The customers will be required to use channels from the bank to pay for goods and services such as Co-op Visa Cards, Co-op agents, MCo-op Cash, Co-op ATM Machines and Co-op Net (Co-op Internet Banking). “We are running a campaign encouraging customers to use our channels and we could reward them with amazing prizes,” reads a communication from the bank. “By using the Co-op Visa Cards to pay for your goods and services, it saves you…

Majority of Kenyans believe that President Uhuru Kenyatta is driving the country to the wrong direction, Infotrack research has found. 51 percent of Kenyans believe that the country is heading to the wrong direction against 36 percent who believe that the country is headed to the right direction. 11 per cent opined that the country is neither headed to the wrong or right direction. Two percent of the sample said that they did not know. Those interviewed by the firm indicated that under Kenyatta’s leadership, the cost of living has gone higher, forcing most Kenyans spend more than they earn.…

Former Kirinyaga gubernatorial aspirant Martha Karua has suffered a blow after he Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal challenging the election of Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru. Delivering the ruling, Justice Gatembu said that Ms Karua did not prove her case beyond reasonable doubt on bribery claims. “There was no prejudice suffered by the appellant in failure by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to produce the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIMS) kit,” said the judge. Read: Karua Sends Twitter Into A Frenzy As She Throws Shade At Melania However, the Court of Appeal found that the High Court erred in law by limiting Karua…

US-based Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) has bought out Artcaffé, a year after relinquishing its stake at Java House. Last year, ECP sold its stake in Java House, to Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Group. “There is immense opportunity in eastern Africa for casual dining concepts. Alongside population growth and increased urbanisation, demand for international cuisine and casual, high-quality dining experiences is rising,” ECP said in a statement, announcing the take-over. It is whispered that the US-based equity firm parted with over Ksh3.5 billion to acquire majority state at the Artcaffé, which has over 20 full-service bakery, coffee shop, bar and casual dining restaurant…

Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat has been on a visit to Tanzania since December 17 to 20 for joint defence cooperation between the two countries. He is thereafter expected to visit Kenya, for the same purpose. This comes at the wake of China’s intensified inroads to African countries for influence in Indian Ocean Region. The new outreach by India is seen as an effort to step up efforts for a concrete military outreach within the African continent. According to India’s defence ministry, India will conduct an ‘India-Africa Field Training Exercise (IAFTX)’ in Pune, India, from March 18 to 27,…

Tea farming and exporting company Sasini has reported Ksh293.5 million profit, a 14 per cent decline in net profit in the year ended September as compared to Ksh339.4 million profit it earned last year. The company attributes the drop to lower production and price drop for its tea and coffee exports. In the period under review, tea production for the company fell by four per cent to 10,804 tonnes from 11,208 tonnes the previous year. “Although both the tea and coffee markets remained buoyant in the first half of the year, price realisations declined steadily thereafter affecting turnover and profitability,” said…

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has issued an order stopping imposition of 1.5 per cent levy on citizens with Ksh100,000 salary upwards to contribute to the Housing Development agenda. The case was filed before Justice Hellen Wasilwa by the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) on grounds that there was no public participation. The levy was supposed to take effect on January 1, 2019. Making the ruling, the judge directed COTU to serve its suit papers on Finance Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and his Transport and Infrastructure counterpart James Macharia, ahead of the hearing set for January 21. In his…

The ever ‘miraculous Prophet’ Dr David Owuor of the Repentance Ministries is allegedly building a Ksh340 million house in Runda. The state of art mansion is nearing completion, and has an underground bunker with state of art security features. Here are photos of the house, and a prototype of the completed mansion where the man of cloth will be resting his head. It is alleged that the house is sponsored by his followers, most of whom lack regular basic needs. Read: Prophet Owuor Pockets Sh3 Million Meant For Coverage And Advertising During Uhuru Park Crusade Here is an interior view…

Auditor General Edward Ouko has rubbished reports that the port of Mombasa is poised for take over by Chinese Bank, Exim Bank, in case Kenya fails to repay loan used to build the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). In a tweet, the Auditor General said that he has not released such a report. “Our attention has been drawn to reports that Office of the Auditor General has released an audit report on Kenya Ports Authority for FY 2017/18. This is to clarify that the Office has not released any such report,” tweeted the auditor general. Early today, it was reported that…

Meru Senator Mithika Linturi has evicted estranged wife Maryanne Keitany from their Runda home amidst a court order. Early November, it was alleged that the senator, a licensed firearm holder threatened to kill his wife of five years. Following the allegations, the court awarded Ms Keitany a restraining order against the politician. Milimani Commercial Court Senior Resident Magistrate I. Orenge granted exclusive occupation of the couple’s shared residence to Ms Keitany. The court further barred Mithika Linturi from loitering near the home or any other place where his wife frequents. Linturi was also barred from contacting Ms Kitany unless allowed by the…

Emirates has created an in-house application, Hub Monitor, to manage aircraft turnaround for passengers travelling from or transiting through Dubai International Airport (DXB). The app is being used by Emirates’ operational staff in Dubai to share and monitor real time information on the various activities that are carried out to prepare an aircraft for departure. Adel Al Redha, Emirates Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer opines that the app is set to better customer experience in the airliner. “Our Operations team in coordination with IT have led the development of the hub monitoring system in a record time of…