Author: Francis Muli

Kenyans were able to transact a total of Ksh1,919,076,469,526 from April to June 2018, the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) has revealed in a report. According to the report, Mpesa users transacted Ksh1.5 trillion followed at a distance by Equitel users who transacted Ksh413 billion. Airtel Money users transacted Ksh1.3 billion while Telkom’s T-Kash users transacted Ksh118 million. Users on Mobile pay transacted close to Ksh972 million. A total of 727,007,097 transactions were made. Read: Ethical Hackers To Earn Between Ksh25,000 To Ksh200,000 From Safaricom As at June 30 2018, the number of active mobile money transfer subscriptions and agents stood at…

Safaricom is seemingly losing grip of the Kenyan telecommunication market, after dropping its market share from 72.6 per cent to 65.4 percent (a 9.9 per cent drop) in one year. On the other hand, their major rivals, Airtel, gained tremendously, growing from 15.3 per cent of its market share to 21.6 percent, from June 2017 to June 2018. During the second quarter of 2018, Safaricom PLC lost its market share by 1.6 percentage points, Airtel Ltd and Telkom Kenya gained by 1.7 and 0.2 percentage points respectively. Finserve Africa lost by 0.1 percentage points whereas the market shares for Sema…

The residents of Kitui South Constituency are crying foul play in the compensation for their land and property affected by the construction of the Kitui-Kibwezi road. The residents allege that the compensation process is marred with corruption and the area member of parliament is said to have turned a deaf ear, and a blind eye to what the affected residents are going through. Interestingly, she is the chairperson of the Parliamentary Lands Committee. In one case, an old woman from Kavuuni village in Kitoo sub location was paid Ksh7,000 instead of a supposedly amount of Ksh700, 000 as compensation for her…

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) lost Ksh1.3 billion in legal fees that was paid to a local and London-based law firms (which have not been disclosed), without tendering and contracts in an international arbitration case. The payment was made in an arbitration suit filed by a Dubai-based businessman Mr Ajay Sethi who sued KBC for Ksh200 billion over a failed TV channel and a collapsed digital migration partnership. According to a report by the Auditor General Edward Ouko, the payment lacked a contract and it failed to seek the guidance of the Attorney General when hiring the lawyers as demanded by the…

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is investigating 23 companies involved in 164 transactions with the Migori county government since 2014 to 2017. The companies could have been used to embezzle more than Ksh2.3 billion from the county coffers, with no work done. Among the companies mentioned in the scandal involve Atinus which has received over Ksh62.1 million from the county since to March 2017. Dankey Press is also adversely mentioned having received over Ksh45.7 million between December 2014 to March 2017. Another one, Janto, received at least Ksh141 million through tenders between June 2014 and June 2017. In a letter seen…

Embattled Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) CEO Ezra Chiloba has been fired. In a statement he shared on his social media pages, Chiloba said that it was not a surprise to him as his fate had been sealed and the investigation was done as only a ‘formality’. “I received the employment termination letter signed by the Chairman about an hour ago. The letter claims that I had twice been invited to appear before the disciplinary committee of the Commission, but I failed to show up; hence the decision to terminate my employment,” stated disgruntled Chiloba. However, the CEO says…

De La Rue Kenya, the company awarded tender by Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to print new currency will now carry on, following a court ruling. The Court of Appeal declared that CBK ran a fair and transparent procurement process,overturning High Court Judge George Odunga’s ruling to quash the tender. The case had been filed by activist Okiya Omtatah who wanted the tender quashed citing that De La Rue should not get a 15 percent preferential treatment. De La Rue will now carry on with the Ksh10 billion a year tender. However, the Court of Appeal concurred with CBK’s application…

Tarime Rural constituency MP in Tanzania John Heche’s life is in danger, following his continued criticism on President John Pombe Magufuli’s dictatorial style of leadership. Sources within Magufuli’s circle indicate that a plan to terminate Heche’s life was hatched a month ago, in a bid to ‘silence’ him for being a thorn in the flesh of Magufuli’s leadership. Magufuli wants Heche dead on the grounds that “he is growing horns” like opposition Chief Whip Tundu Lissu who was shot nine times outside his Dodoma home, but cheated death and survived the attack. Lissu was treated in Nairobi where eight bullets…

Ethical hackers are set to earn rewards between Ksh25,000 ($250) and Sh200,000 ($2,000) from Safaricom for hacking and responsibly disclosing bugs or vulnerabilities found in any of its products and services. The award will however depend on the severity of the bug. The target groups are university and college students, innovation centres and cyber security forums. Through a partnership with HackerOne, a cyber-security company, hackers can submit bugs they may find in a confidential and responsible manner which will then be vetted and triaged by the HackerOne team independently. Read: Court Gives A Nod To Loaners To Blacklist Guarantors For Bad Loans “The…

The high court has given a nod to banks and other financial service providers to blacklist guarantors with Credit Reference Bureaus (CRB) in case of bad loans. The ruling was made in a case where one Obadiah Gitonga had sued Cooperative Bank for blacklisting him over a defaulted loan where he was the guarantor. “The referral of any information to the CRB is a requirement of the law and the defendant as a financial institution is entitled to do the same, and as a result of their negligence in notifying the plaintiff of the outstanding balance, the court has held that…

The national Sevens Shujaa team will be wearing the “Make It Kenya” branded jerseys during the African Sevens tournament on October 13 and 14 in Jemmel,Tunisia. This was announced on Wednesday when the team was flagged off by Brand Kenya Board Ag. CEO Floice Mukabana. In attendance was the entire 12-man squad that will represent the country in the tournament, outgoing head coach Innocent Simiyu and his incoming replacement Paul Murunga, Kenya Rugby Union Ag. CEO Sylivia Kamau, as well as Team Manager Erick Ogweno. “Your win is our win as a country. I am happy that you are all…

Super-rich nefarious Kenyan tycoons are hiding close to Ksh15 trillion in offshore accounts, an amount that can sustain Kenya’s budget for five years. According to a recent report by America’s National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the tycoons use offshore accounts to hide stolen money, mostly from the government, and evade taxes. In the report, Kenya is mentioned among the top ten countries with high offshore wealth to GDP ratios. “Among the countries that created a lot of shell companies one finds Jordan, Russia, Taiwan, the UAE, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Kenya,” reads the report in part. The tycoons, of whom…

Posta Kenya will be converted into a logistics and payments service provider in the public sector, the government has revealed. This was revealed during the 144th World Post Day Celebrations in Nairobi yesterday by Information Cabinet secretary Joe Mucheru. “My ministry is working closely with all stakeholders in the government to ensure that Posta Kenya is transformed into a logistics and payments service provider in the public sector going forward. The corporation has been financing its operations and capital investments from internally generated funds. However, with positive support the corporation will ably post dividend to the Treasury on an annual basis…

Kenya’s total wealth is Ksh10.4 trillion, according to the latest AfrAsia Bank Wealth Report, ranking the country the fifth wealthiest country in Africa. The country ranks behind South Africa with wealth worth Ksh72.2 trillion, which is the wealthiest country in the black continent. Egypt ranks second at Ksh33 trillion worth of wealth while Nigeria ranks third with Ksh25.3 trillion of wealth. Kenya’s peer Morocco is the fourth with wealth worth Ksh12.2 trillion in total. Kenya is the fifth, closing the list of countries with over Ksh10 trillion in terms of wealth. In terms of wealth growth, Kenya ranked fourth at 73 per cent.…

German logistics company Deutsche Post DHL, which owns the DHL courier company, has launched parcel delivery service in Tanzania using drones. The drones famously known as Parcelcopters were first used in Germany to deliver medication to remote island villages and mountain top villages. The drone can carry 6 kg of cargo in an insulated compartment, flying autonomously at a top speed of 150 km/h for a maximum distance of 100 km per charge of its battery pack – 45 km (28 miles) if it’s carrying a full load. Read: Scare as Engine Fails on Silverstone Air Plane from Diani The drones…