Author: Francis Muli

Nairobi County is set to recruit at least 500 inspectorate officers (city askaris) to beef up the security and compliance department. The county reports that the department is currently understaffed, and the active employees are old hence unable to perform their duties optimally. “A total of 500 new officers will be recruited in the next financial year as the county looks at having the required workforce aimed at improved service delivery and prompt response,” reads the Nairobi County Annual Development Plan for the financial year ending June 30, 2023.  Read: EACC Probes Beatrice Elachi Over Irregularities at County Assembly During Her…

Conan O’Brien doesn’t fit into any celebrity mold — with his boulder-sized cranium and flaming orange pompadour, he awkwardly struts along a stage with his ghostly lanky frame. And we all bow to his awesomeness. For about 16 years O’Brien was the host of Late Night on NBC, which he took over from David Letterman. Prior to hosting Late Night, he had worked for several years as a writer, first for Saturday Night Live and then for the Simpsons. Humor and Style His humor is always self-deprecating, sometimes inappropriate but always funny. O’Brien’s slapstick humor often seems to be at…

Kenyan Fintech startup, Wapi Pay has weighed in on the allegations following an altercation involving twin brothers Eddie and Paul Ndichu. Through a statement, the company alleges that the video doing rounds on social media does not reflect the true events that took place on October 16. “We found the story distasteful and troubling and want to firmly state that any type of behaviour involving violence against women does not reflect our values nor does it reflect those of Eddie and Paul.” the statement read. “Our understanding is that the allegations and video currently being shared on social media, albeit…

The Court has declined to shield steel billionaire Ashok Doshi from arrest over alleged land fraud in Nairobi. Doshi and his wife are accused of fraud relating to a prime parcel of land in Nairobi, with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji looking to arrest and prosecute them. The two had moved to court to permanently block their arrest relating to the matter, but the court found their case unmerited. “In the instant petition, the petitioners are threatened with arrest and arraignment over allegations of fraudulent acquisition of a private property and failure to pay lawful stamp duty,…

An investor who contributed to the $2.2 million (Sh240 million) pre-seed funding for twin brothers Paul and Eddie Ndichu’s fintech startup has condemned their conduct, effectively withdrawing their support. Nigeria-based Kepple Africa Ventures issued a statement on Twitter, announcing the withdrawal of their investment stake in Wapi Pay. Kepple Co-founder Takahiro Kanzaki and General Partner Satoshi Shinada both put out a statement on Twitter condemning the unbecoming conduct of the two brothers. “In light of the alleged assault on women by the founders of our portfolio company Wapi Pay, we Kepple Africa Ventures hereby announce that we have zero tolerance…

A man has been arraigned in court after he was arrested for defrauding a mechanic on the pretext of helping him secure a job with Toyota Kenya. Mututhu Makau is said to have asked for academic qualification documents, a toolbox, overall and cash from one Clement Mutisya. Makau is said to have committed the offense on September 17 in South C, Nairobi. He allegedly met Mutisya who was looking for a job and promised him a chance at Toyota Kenya. Makau then asked Mutisya to provide his academic documents, an overall, a toolbox valued at Sh15,000 and Sh3,000 for an…

Have you ever clicked ‘send’ on an email message and immediately remembered that you forgot to add a subject, or you forgot to add your signature? Gmail allows users to unsend a message, giving users time to edit and correct your email before sending it out to the recepient. Although the time limit is quite short, the feature definitely comes in handy in cases of emergency. When using a computer, Google allows up to 30 seconds for undoing a sent message, and five seconds when using the app on your smartphone. Here is how to unsend a message on Gmail…

Facebook has stepped up its anti-bullying and harrasment measures to protect celebrities. The company said it would remove severe sexualizing content targeting public figures. Facebook said that any profile, page,group or events aimed at sexualizing the public figures would be removed from the platform. The public figures include celebrities, politicians and content creators. “Public figures, whether they’re politicians, journalists, celebrities or creators, use Facebook and Instagram to engage directly with their followers,” the company said in a blog post. “We made these changes because attacks like these can weaponize a public figure’s appearance, which is unnecessary and often not related…

Telegram has officially surpassed one billion downloads on Google Playstore. The messaging service has enjoyed a boost this year following mishaps from rival Whatsapp. In January this year, Telegram announced a surge following an intended privacy policy update by WhatsApp. The announcement riled up users after WhatsApp asked users to accept the update or delete the app. Many users deleted the app, and signed up with Telegram and Signal. Just last week, Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp faced massive outages lasting six hours. Telegram reported that it acquired more than 70 million new subscribers within the period. Read: Telegram Tops List…

Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju has faulted Kieleweke MPs pushing for his ouster are eying the millions that will be generated by the party through nomination fees. Speaking to a local media outlet, Tuju said that the politicians are pretending to push for reforms in the party whose popularity is waning while eying its financial resources. “The Mps think having control of the party machinery will secure tickets. The noise comes with the territory. There are substantial resources. They think being at the helm gives one control over the resources,” said Tuju. The politicians have already pleaded with President Uhuru…

A nine-storey building in Ruiru, Kiambu that was under construction has collapsed. This was confirmed by Ruiru DCIO Justus Ombati who said that no one was inside at the time the building went down. Police have reported to the scene promptly with no casualties confirmed as at the time of going to press. This comes less than a month after a five-storey building which is located near White House in Kinoo, was nearing completion collapsed. Before the Kinoo incident, another building also located in Kiambu county collapsed leaving three dead. In August, a five-storey building collapsed in Gachie, Kiambu County.…

In the last 24 hours, 156 people have tested positive for Covid-19 from a sample size of 4,408. This brings the positivity rate to 3.5% and the total confirmed positive cases to 251,959. The cumulative tests so far conducted are 2,635,120. 101 people have recovered from the disease in the same period, 71 from home based care a while 31 are from various health facilities countrywide. This brings the total number of recoveries to 245,178. Unfortunately,  five people are reported to have succumbed to Covid-19, all being late deaths reported during various facility audits within the month of October. This…

Education CS Prof George Magoha has maintained that the government will continue admitting government-sponsored students to private universities as directed by President Uhuru Kenyatta. Initially, it was reported that University Education Principal Secretary Simon Nabukwesi had dismissed the directive by the President, saying that the Ministry did not support the move. “I want to believe he was misquoted. If not, then he was speaking for himself because he is not in charge of policy. I am not aware of such plans as the Cabinet Secretary,” said Magoha. Magoha said the practice is legal, quoting Section 56 (1) (a) of the…

Digital lending app, Tala has acquired Sh16.08 billion in startup funding. The additional disbursement brings to more than Sh38.82 billion the total amount of capital startup funding for the fintech from its partners and new investors such as Kindred Ventures and J. Safra Group. Tala’s original investors include Stellar Development Foundation, IVP, Revolution Growth, Lowercase Capital and PayPal Ventures. Read: Ghanaian National Arrested after Conning Female Tala Manager Sh9 Million The digital lender is expected to channel the funds towards innovation of the lending platform to include new savings and credit tools. Tala is also looking to channel its funds…

The cost of electricity is set to hit an all time high after  prolonged lack of rains which has increased reliance on thermal power producers. According to a Kenya Gazette Notice by the Energy and Petroleum Regulary Authority (Epra) on Friday, fuel charges are set to go up to Sh3.97 per unit (kilowatt hour-kWh) of electricity consumed in October, an increase from Sh3.88 in September. Kenya has often relied on power generation from hydro plants, but with long dry spells experienced this year, the country is forced to use thermal power producers which are a costly alternative. The rising price…