Author: Francis Muli

Former Cabinet minister Dalmas Otieno has bolted out of the Migori Senatorial race after he was nominated as a member of Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) by President Uhuru Kenyatta. He is the second politician to quit the race amid the clearance process that will end on Friday. Businessman Eddy Oketch, who was to vie on a Federal Party of Kenya ticket, also pulled out of the race on Wednesday during a meeting with ODM leader Raila Odinga with five other aspirants. Read: Nonini Resigns As PRSK Chair Speaking to a local daily, Otieno confirmed that he had bowed out…

Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma has launched $10 million (Ksh1 billion) ‘Netpreneur’ Prize, a new program created to support and fund African entrepreneurs who are working to address challenges facing African entrepreneurs and further its digital economy through local entrepreneurship. The competition is set to kick off in 2019, in which the Jack Ma Foundation will host an annual pitch competition, with ten finalists selected from across the continent to showcase their talent and business ideas and compete for US$1 million (Ksh100 million) in prize money. All ten finalists will receive grant funding from the Jack Ma Foundation, as well…

A sign board for the ‘new’ equator at Ngónyi, a kilometre from Gatimbi, which has been discovered to be on the ‘true’ Equator, cost the County Government of Meru Ksh500,000. This is after the Kenya Tourism Board and Meru Tourism and Trade department discovered that the Equator passes Ngónyi after “appropriate measurements were done” and not Gatimbi. A worker who spoke to the Standard revealed that the signboard which was transported from Nairobi by road cost about Ksh500,000. Meru County Tourism, Trade, Investments and Co-operatives Executive Maingi Mugambi said after engaging experts, the Equator was found to pass Kariene ka Moi near…

The Judiciary has announced that 30 of its staff members are facing economic crime charges in various courts countrywide in a Ksh36 million fraud case. The monies were lost at the Milimani Law Courts Registries in a period of two years in fake receipting. In a statement, the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi said that another four officials were dismissed and six reprimanded following release of an internal audit on July 12 that exposed the scam. “Upon receipt of The Final Internal Audit Report on Revenue Management at Milimani Law Courts for the period between January 2016 and…

The South Nyanza Sugar Company, Sony is on the spot over the misappropriation of Ksh335 million loan secured from the Commodities Fund last year. The company, got the cash from the Agricultural sector financier but has not done the intended Annual Planned Maintenance (APM) of the factory and its auxiliary facilities, and only Ksh607,007 is remaining as balance, while part of the money was diverted to fund other activities. Although the company was expected to have commenced servicing the loan, it has not started paying, and has accrued interests. The bank guarantee also expires in seven months, with trustees fearing that…

Uber Chap Chap cars, Suzuki Alto, have not achieved the standard safety requirements according to car safety rating website, Euro NCAP. This has been revealed after a number of the cars were totally damaged after being involved in accidents, most of them killing all the occupants. The SZ2 and SZ3-spec cars only come with two airbags as standard and the owners have to upgrade to the top-of-the-range SZ4 model to get the side and curtain airbags, which come as standard on most other cars these days. Read: Durex Recall Condoms Due To Quality Concerns Electronic stability control, another very common safety…

The government has announced that operations at the Lokichar oil basin will continue after a two-week stalemate. This is after a consultative meeting between the government and Tullow Oil. In the meeting, the two stakeholders agreed to resolve grievances that had halted crude oil production and trucking. In a statement, the Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining Eng. John Mosonik says a two-tiered system framework will be established to provide communities living in Turkana County and Tullow Oil with avenues for addressing any emerging issues and concerns. Three weeks ago, Tullow Oil halted crude oil exploration…

Airtel Kenya, the second largest telecommunication service provider has unveiled a new tariff that offers its prepaid customers calls for Ksh2 per minute across all networks. This new tariff will offer customers a 50 per cent saving from current on-net and off-net rate of Ksh4 per minute, without any conditions, according to management. For all new Airtel customers, the Ksh2 per minute offering will be a default tariff. Existing customers will have to dial *544*2# and opt into the service without any conditions and subscriptions. Airtel Kenya CEO Prasanta Das Sarma noted that the Ksh2 per minute rate to all…

The Cabinet Secretary for Education Amina Mohamed has revealed a new trick being played by poor-performing learners who cannot face their parents with poor grades. The CS revealed that the students go into the cyber cafes, gets their report cards scanned then edited in a vector graphics-editing software such as CorelDRAW. They then change scores without interfering with key credibility features such as school rubber stamps and teachers’ signatures. The rot came into light after a number of parents reported the vice to field officers in counties. Read: Kuppet, Knut At Loggerheads Over Looming Strike Speaking at the Kenyan Institute of Curriculum…

Safaricom’s annual report has revealed that the firm’s Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore receives approximately Ksh540,000 every day. According to the annual report from the telco giant for the financial year ending March 2018, Collymore earned a total of Ksh196.47 million, translating to Ksh16.4 million a month. This reflected a 16 per cent increase of his salary as compared to the previous financial year, in which the CEO earned Ksh164.45 million. The pay included his annual basic salary of Ksh94.32 million, a bonus of Ksh32.42 million, non-cash benefits worth Ksh35.64 million and a stake in the company worth Ksh34 million, which…

South End mall located on the junction of Lang’ata road and Mbagathi Way is currently under demolition in an operation targeting  4,000 buildings constructed  along river banks in Nairobi. The mall belongs to former Bobasi MP Stephen Manoti and is valued at Ksh1 billion. The demolitions spearheaded by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) started on Monday, with the demolition of Java House and Shell petrol station in Kileleshwa. Read: Java House Kileleshwa Demolished  The script is the same in other parts of the city where rivers have been choked by buildings set up on riparian reserves, on river banks, wetlands…

Kenya Power has announced a two-week suspension on disconnection for customers with accumulated electricity bills to allow them to develop a payment plan. During this period, customers with queries on their bills and those with arrears can visit any of the Company’s commercial offices across the country to resolve outstanding issues on their bills and agree on a favourable payment plan. “In the recent past, there have been some concerns from our customers over their bills. I encourage customers to get in touch with our officers to have their issues resolved promptly,” said Kenya Power’s Ag. Managing Director & CEO…

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Chairman Omboko Milemba has dismissed plans by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) to go on strike over appraisals and transfers. Omboko said that Knut should seek the dialogue path, instead of engaging in “unnecessary strikes”. “Teachers do not need to go on strike at this time. There are no reasons. As Kuppet we believe in engaging our employers and not through unnecessary strikes which will interfere with learning in schools,” said Mr Milemba as quoted by a local daily. Read: Atwoli Denies Committing Adultery With Married KTN Reporter Knut through…

Kisumu Central MP Fred Ouda has announced that he will move to curt to seek interpretation on a motion he had presented in parliament seeking to bar the Deputy President from vying in 2022, after the lapse of the 10-year tenure. The motion also sought to have deputy governors who have served two terms blocked from succeeding their bosses in subsequent elections. Speaking in Kisumu, Ouda said that the motion will be back in parliament after 60 days, this time “with amendments.” ”I will not be intimidated by the comments that were made by Parliamentarians when the motion was rejected,” said…

A Nairobi court has issued a warrant of arrest against former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo for failing to clear a balance of Ksh25million he owes businessman Brian Yongo. This is not the first time the former legislator is facing financial conflict with creditors. Two weeks to the October 26, 2017 repeat presidential poll, the flamboyant politician was declared bankrupt because of a Ksh700 million debt he owed a long-time friend-turned-foe, Mr Sammy Boit Kogo. His troubles were set to end if a deal that involved a group of deep-pocketed investors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) matured, which seems to…