Author: Francis Muli

The mining brawl in Kenya is taking a new twist after the Ministry of Mining and Petroleum put an advertisement on the Standard Newspaper, announcing reception of mining rights application from a company by the name Greatwall International (K) Company Limited. The company has applied for mining rights in Siaya, Kisumu and Kilifi counties, where Jacob Juma’s company Cortec had mining rights over. It will have mining rights over gold, lead, precious metals, silver, base and rare metals, industrial minerals, limestone, mercury and zinc. The government says that the “application has been made and accepted for consideration”. “The said application…

Co-operative Bank has reported a Ksh14.65 billion in profit before tax for the first nine months of 2018, for the period ending September 30. This represents a 7 per cent rise attributed to operating efficiencies and cost control. The profit after tax for the lender was reported at Ksh10.31 billion from Ksh9.54 billion a year earlier. “Against the backdrop of a challenging economic environment in the period, profit after tax was Ksh10.31 billion compared to Ksh9.54 billion in the previous year. Co-operative Bank of South Sudan made a profit before tax of Ksh235.12 million in the third quarter of 2018…

Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group has announced Ksh18.04 billion for the third quarter of 2018, for the period ending September 30. This is a 19.63 per cent rise as compared to Ksh15.08 billion reported in the same period last year. Loans and advances grew by 3.76 per cent to Ksh435.28 billion from Ksh419.49 billion the same period last year. Customer deposits also rose 6.15 per cent to Ksh526.84 billion from Ksh496.31 billion while net interest income grew by 1.77 per cent to Ksh36.3 billion, improving from 1.05 per cent decline reported last year to stand at Ksh35.67 billion. Read: Andrew Kairu Appointed…

President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed Brigadier Vincent Naisho Loonena as the first Director General of the Kenya Coast Guard Service, in an acting capacity. Loonena has worked with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) for over 20 years and is the immediate former managing director of the Defence Forces Medical Insurance Scheme. The President is set to officially launch the Kenya Coast Guard Service on Monday 19, 2018 at Liwatoni in Mombasa. “The Kenya Coast Guard Service was established by The Coast Guard Service Act 2018, and was operationalised on 22nd October 2018 when the Cabinet Secretary Interior and Coordination of…

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have arrested six people, among them Safaricom staff, interns and agents, in connection with electronic fraud targeting Kenyan Saccos, which led to the loss of Ksh70 million. Among those arrested include Jason Amayo, Arnold Orupia Okello, Silas Shihundu, John Wangila, Sylvanus Nyapera and Rodgers Wanyonyi. Several passports were recovered. Among the Saccos that fell victim are Safaricom, Bamburi and Stima. Earlier on Gabantu Patrick Emmanuel,a Ugandan national and two Kenyans; Zahra Ahmed and Abdullazac Raja were arrested in connection to the same. Read: Four Sim Swap Scammers Arrested With 390 Phones And 30,000 Sim Cards Safaricom,…

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has increased prices of petroleum products. In the new prices set to take effect from midnight, super petrol price will be increased by Ksh2.38, diesel by Ksh3.11 and kerosene by Ksh2.99 per litre; all inclusive of the 8% Value Added Tax (V.A.T) as provided by the Finance Act 2018. Consequently, super petrol will retail at Ksh118.11, diesel Ksh112.83 and Kerosene Ksh111.83 in Nairobi. “The changes in this month’s prices have been as a consequence of the average landed cost of the imported Super Petrol increasing by 4.02% from US$729.04 per ton in September 2018 to…

The National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) is turning out to be a shell, untrusted and incompetent under the leadership of the current Director General, Mr Paul Kosgei, the employees have said. This is as a result of massive firing exercised by Kosgei, according to employees who have launched a complaint against him. According to a letter written to the Head of Public Service Dr Joseph Kinyua, Mr Kosgei has been firing employees in what they term as ‘malice-driven dismissals’. “His predecessors did a perfect job within the confines of the law to the extent of elevating the Directorate to its…

National carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) has reduced the number of its direct flights to new York, US, over low demand. This comes barely two weeks since the flight was launched, and will take effect from November 2018 to March 2019. The management says that the decision was taken due to the effects of winter which reduces demand for flights to US. “The winter schedule for all our flights took effect from October 2018 and will run until March 30, 2019. We cancel flights that are not commercially viable, so this is not unique to this route,” said an official as…

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has discarded leadership changes it had made at the Nairobi City County Assembly after a consultative meeting. In a statement to newsrooms, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna said Peter Imwatok and Elias Otieno, who had been replaced as minority whip and minority leader respectively a month ago, would resume their positions. Read: Is Kidero Trying To Sabotage Sonko? ODM Replaces Nairobi Minority Leader With Kidero Loyalist “The Minority Leadership of the house be retained as is with Hon. Peter Imwatok as Minority Whip and Hon. Elias Otieno as Minority Leader,” read the statement. In the discarded changes, Minority…

The government could have played the wrong ball by implementing adulteration fees on kerosene in a bid to collect more revenue. According to statistics from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), kerosene consumption dropped by 40 per cent in one month from  24,980 metric tonnes in August to 16,800 metric tonnes in September. Kerosene consumption has been on the drop fof five months, dropping from as high as 39,000 metric tonnes in May to 16,000 in September. The government in August added Ksh18 per litre on kerosene prices, anticipating to collect Ksh9.8 billion from sales of kerosene as revenue.…

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has published names of 14 persons who will battle it out to replace Chief Executive Officer Halakhe Waqo. Among those invited for interview include Deputy Chief Executive Officer Michael Mubea and a former National Police Service Commission (NPSC) commissioner Mr Murshid Mohamed. Others nominated include Humphrey Okuku Nakitari, Lucy Wanja, Jel Lusweti, Twalib Abdalla, Abdi Ahmed, Cyrus Odhiambo, Reuben Kipkemo, Chege Nthenya and Jilo Alexi. Vincent Omari, Sarah Mwakiun and James Mungai. However, Mubea’s stay at EACC has not been smooth as he was suspended in 2015 by former EACC chairman Mumo Matemu over alleged sale and transfer of Integrity…

Burundi is unhappy with Kenya Airways’ (KQ) low-cost partner, Jambojet, over the planned deployment of Bombardier DHC8-Q400 aircraft on the Nairobi-Bujumbura route. In a letter to Jambojet, Bujumbura demands that the airliner deploys a bigger aircraft with business class seats that reaches the status of government officials travelling to Nairobi to connect flights to other parts of the world. “I would like to kindly inform you, as I informed your partner Kenya Airways before, that our high State officials travel to the world mainly via Nairobi and need to be treated in business class conditions that are acceptable considering their…

Over 100 Huawei ICT Programme beneficiaries are set to sit their final national exams on Friday at Zetech College. The top six students from the national exam will be sent to South Africa to attend the regional competition. In July 2018, Huawei launched Huawei ICT Competition Southern Africa 2018-2019 in Kenya. “The competition aims to provide a platform for global ICT talents to compete and communicate, promote high-quality ICT talent development, and drive the growth of a robust and sustainable ICT talent ecosystem,” read a statement from Huawei To newsrooms. Speaking ahead of the exams, Huawei’s head of public affairs…

The Environment ministry has encouraged more manufacturers to commit to a scheme that promotes the collection and recycling of plastic bottles. Speaking at the first national PET forum and exhibition, Environment Chief Administrative Secretary Mohammed Elmi described the initiative by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers as a useful and timely venture that needs the support of everyone who manufactures or uses plastics. “We want all the players to be part of a take-back scheme. All companies should join or establish a new scheme. Managing PET is a priority. Make sure you belong to a take-back scheme,” said Mr Elmi. The…

The first Pwani Innovation Week will take place from December 3-7, 2018  at the Kenya Coastal Polytechnic. The event will entail a Concept Hack where youth from across the six Coastal counties –Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu, Tana River and Taita Taveta are invited to register for and compete to create innovative solutions for their communities. The powered by Cellulant and Swahilipot Hub, will feature a week-long exhibition, a concept hack and a keynote address from the Cellulant Co-CEO and Co-Founder, Ken Njoroge on Wednesday, December 5.   The programme will also include family, art and cultural events concluding with the annual Pwani Got Talent…