Author: Francis Muli

Nigerian Singer Wizkid was the biggest winner in this year’s AFRIMA awards which were held on Sunday. Kenya’s RnB sensation, Nikita Kering’ bagged two awards in the glitzy event that coincided with the AMA Awards. Nikita beat Nigeria’s Wizkid, Tanzania’s Zuchu and Nandy to scoop the Best Artiste, Duo, or Group in African R & B Soul. She also won the award for the Best Female Artist in East Africa beating counterparts Miss Karun and Xenia Manasseh. Read: MCK Calls For Annual Journalism Excellence Awards (AJEA) Submissions Other big winners were Kenyan boy band Sauti Sol who scooped the award for…

Meta has extended the roll out for Messenger and Instagram’s End-to-end encryption until 2023. Last year, the company merged Facebook Messenger and Instagram messages to allow cross-messaging on both apps. The messages can be end-to-end encrypted but the option is not turned on by default. Unlike WhatsApp,  Meta plans on making the option default by 2023. The social media network’s other messaging platform is already end-to-end encrypted, providing security for users. Read: Facebook to Downrank Posts Made by Rulebreakers in Groups According to a Telegraph interview with Meta’s head of safety Antigone Davis, the delay is due to concerns about users’…

Kenya’s correctional facilities could soon be undergoing major changes following the recent and highly publicised ‘Prison Break’ by three dangerous terror suspects. Apart from appointing a new boss, the government is keen on enhancing security in the Prisons by installing CCTV surveillance cameras, introducing biometrics systems and utilising technology to deal with current hurdles. Interior CS Fred Matiang’i and ICT CS Joe Mucheru on Thursday toured Kamiti Prison to audit the facility’s security structure. Read: President Kenyatta Fires Prisons Boss After Terror Convicts Escaped From Kamiti “This has been a wake up call for the government, which has started reassessing security…

The National Bank of Kenya (NBK) has delisted from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) following a full acquisition by the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). In a notice on Monday, NSE announced that the delisting of the lender will take effect on November 25, 2021, after approval by shareholders. “Notice is hereby given on the de-listing of National Bank of Kenya Limited (NBK) from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) with effect from November 25, 2021. The de-listing follows the successful takeover of 100% shareholding of NBK by KCB Group Plc and NBK shareholders’ approval,” said NSE in a statement. Read: KCB Gets…

British Singer and Songwriter, Adele has gotten Spotify to remove the default shuffle button from all album pages. In a tweet directed to Spotify, Adele said Spotify should play the songs in the order intended by the artist. “We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason.” Adele tweeted. “Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening.” To which Spotify responded “anything for you” Read: Music Streaming Platform, Spotify, To Launch in Kenya, 80 Other Markets The company later issued a…

Mortgage lender Housing Finance (HF Group) has appointed its credit director Peter Mugeni Oduori as the managing director. The appointment took effect on November 17, 2021. Oduori takes the place of Robert Kibaara, who has served as the managing director from December 2018 to August 2020, when Regina Anyika took over in an acting capacity. Peter is a seasoned banker, with 20 years’ experience in leadership, credit risk management and operations, as well as leading large teams both regionally and across Africa. “Through his experience, he has formulated and implemented business strategies that have made significant turnaround impacts to the…

The government has announced the denial of some services to persons without proof of the Covid-19 vaccine during the festive period. According to Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, the move is aimed at keeping infection rates lower and avoiding another economic recess as experienced in 2020. The government has given the deadline of December 21, 2021 for the unvaccinated to get the jab or else be denied all in-person government services. “Everybody seeking in-person government services should be fully vaccinated and have proof of vaccination by December 21, 2021. Such services will include but not limited to KRA services, Education,…

In the last 24 hours, 22 people have tested positive for Covid-19 from 3,191 samples. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 254,710 and the positivity rate to 0.7 percent. The cumulative tests now stand at 2,798,001. 35 patients have recovered from the disease, 25 from home based care while 10 have been discharged from various health facilities across the country.  This brings the total number of recoveries to 247,954. Currently, 350 Covid-19 patients are admitted in various hospitals across the country while 981 have been put on the home based care and isolation program. Read: Kenya Announces 550…

Police officers in Wanguru are mourning the station’s OCS after he was found dead in house on Saturday morning. According to a statement from the cops, the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) identified as Julius Mwangi Ndungu collapsed and died in his house at Mwea East subcounty in Kirinyaga County. A search through the house revealed that the OCS was unwell, although his colleagues were not aware. They said Mwangi had excused himself from work on Friday but none knew why. Read Also: IPOA Launches Probe into Death of Man in Kahawa West Demonstrations However, it has emerged that he later made…

A Nairobi woman is counting her losses after a man she met on Facebook left her stranded when she went to meet him at Likoni Police station. Sara Wangui had travelled to Mombasa with her 4 year old son to meet a man she had been chatting with on Facebook for a month. According to Sara, the man, who claimed to be called Tom,had told her he is a police officer stationed at Likoni Police Station. Upon arriving at the Police station, a person who Tom had introduced as his friend arrived and tried to convince her to go with…

A Saturday accident along the busy Narok- Mai Mahiu Road left four dead and three critically injured. The 7pm accident occurred near Maltauro area, about 40 kilometres from Narok County. An eye witness, Benson Mutua, who recounted the events said the accident happened after a trailer that was speeding downhill lost control and hit an oncoming lorry head-on before bursting into flames. “I noticed something strange when the trailer overtook me and within a fraction of a second I saw the trailer rolling several times,” said Mutua, a tour guide. “The driver of the trailer reportedly lost control of it…

In the last 24 hours 88 people have tested positive for Covid-19 from samples collected from a sample size of 4,802. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 254,629 and the positivity rate to 1.8 percent. The cumulative number of samples tested now stands at 2,790,424. In the same period, 57 People have recovered from the disease. Out of these, 22 have been discharged from various hospitals across the country while 35 have been discharged from the home-based care and isolation programme. This brings the total number of recoveries to 247,874. Read: Kenya Receives 880,320 Doses of Moderna Vaccine…

Three suspected kidnappers were this afternoon apprehended by the Police along Makenji area in Murang’a County. The three had allegedly kidnapped a 35 year old woman in Toll Estate, Juja subcounty. The lady is reported to have left Juja in the morning heading to Nairobi. According to DCIO Richard Mwaura, the police are hunting for two other victims who were thrown out of a moving vehicle which was also carrying the woman. Read: Detectives Nab Man For Filing False Robbery With Violence Report “The suspects had already started asking for ransom and when we questioned the lady who was in captivity,…

The World Food Programme has partnered with machine learning company Corsali and Blockchain firm Celo to launch Kenya’s first crypto learning Centre. The program will enable young people from poor backgrounds to earn income by working on a platform that uses cryptocurrency and e-wallets. “Eighty per cent of participants of this project do not have employment and we are providing these skills to enable them earn a living using cryptocurrency,” Partner, research and Innovation at Celo, Angelo Kalaw said. Read: PayPal to Allow Customers to Transact with Cryptocurrency The program has already trained 200 young people on how to access digital…

After a successful bid for Ethiopia’s telecom licence, Kenya’s largest telco, Safaricom, has formally sent its inquiries with the intent of bagging an additional licence for the provision of mobile money services in the country. Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa has informed investors that the company already wrote to Ethiopia’s telecommunications regulator seeking clarification on conditions as well as the additional fees required to obtain the additional licence. “The letter has gone in. We are currently awaiting response from the Ethiopian authorities,” said Peter Ndegwa. “Our understanding is we will be allowed to operate mobile money, but there are certain conditions…