Author: Francis Muli

The Ministry of Education has partnered with industry players in the education, ICT and infrastructure sectors to help teachers transition from P1 to the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) Rift Valley Education Director John Olotua said the Ministry had invested in infrastructure to help train teachers on how to best implement the CBC program. Olotua was speaking at a graduation ceremony in Tambach Teachers Training College in Elgeyo Marakwet where 2,219 students graduated with P1 and Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) courses in the institution’s 26th Graduation Ceremony. Read: Mountain View School Parents Complain Of Increased Fee Amidst Harsh Economic Times…

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has said the twitter ban in the West african country will be lifted only if the social media giant complies with a number of conditions. Buhari made the remarks during a televised speech on Frida while commemorating Nigeria’s Independence Day. He said Twitter had reached out to the government in an effort to resolve the ban which came to effect in June this year. He said the presidential committee had engaged with Twitter on a number of issues including “national security and cohesion; registration, physical presence and representation; fair taxation; dispute resolution; and local content.” Read: …

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has received a donation of border control and surveillance equipment from the Government of Japan. The handing over ceremony of the equipment aimed at supporting trade facilitation and supplying chain security was held at the KRA headquarters on Friday. Among the equipment received are X-ray baggage scanners, patrol boats, patrol vehicles, raman spectrometers, and field test kits procured by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Read: Spanish Broadcaster Mediapro Recalls Equipment From Kenya The government of Japan is extending its support to KRA under a grant aid project dubbed “Enhancing Trade Facilitation and…

Safaricom is the leading internet provider in Kenya with more subscriptions in both fixed internet and mobile internet packages than other industry players. Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) showed an increase in the total number of active internet subscriptions at 46.7 million in the fourth quarter of the 2020/2021 financial year (March to June), up from 43.7 million in the previous quarter. This was a 12.8 percent hike compared to 40.9 million recorded in the same period in the last financial year. Read: Sudan, Tanzania, Among Countries With Cheapest Internet Data Plans in Africa Mobile subscriptions dominated…

The Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has revealed that it was the victim of a Sh2 billion fraud attempt on its banking system in 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The bank made public the incident on Thursday through its sustainability report which put the number of prevented cyberattacks at 3,624 and other attempted fraud cases at 663. The bank did not disclose whether the attempted Sh2 billion heist was instigated by local or foreign hackers. “In 2020, the Group successfully prevented a theft of Sh2 billion, in attempted fraud, thanks to our robust cybersecurity systems,” KCB said without…

Kenya’s first lady, Margaret Kenyatta has called for the enhanced protection of children and the youth, from exposure to harmful content online that result in vices such as addiction, cyber bullying, online fraud, sexual harassment and racism. “These are risks and challenges that will require our concerted efforts through advocacy, raising of awareness and regulation to protect consumers, especially children, the youth and vulnerable communities,” the First Lady said. She recognized the positive influence that online platforms had contributed to the society, giving people a leeway especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read: Safaricom Partners With CA, Unicef To Launch Child…

SBM Bank Kenya (formerly Fidelity Commercial Bank Limited) has announced plans to shut down five branches across the country, even as it seeks to encourage customers to embrace digital services. Among the targeted branches include Lavington, Buru Buru, and Kimathi Street in Nairobi. Also in the shut-down list is Limuru Road and Ngong Road branches. “At SBM Bank Kenya we plan to leverage on the growing mobile usage in the country to offer digital products that will make banking for our customers more efficient and convenient,” said Moezz Mir, chief executive of SBM Bank Kenya. The branches will be closed…

Eric Omondi and Sherlyne Onyango’s funny video titled “How sex scenes are in movies” has gone viral after it was shared by rapper, Snoop Dogg and Hollywood actress Viola Davis on Instagram. Snoop, who posts funny videos from time to time posted the video showing Eric Omondi and Sherlyne make fun of rough raunchy scenes in hollywood movies. According to the comments, many people found the video very relatable and a true depiction of what actually happens in the movies. It attracted well over 32,000 comments and close to 8 million likes as of this morning. Read: Eric Omondi Issues…

A police officer in Marsabit has confessed to being depressed to the extent of trying to commit suicide. The officer, who identified himself as Kiprotich Rop, said that no one has been offering a listening ear, despite his tribulations. “I have been suffering from depression and I have been trying to kill myself. Nobody wants to hear me, nobody wants to help me. I am really depressed,” he said. Rop requested members of the public to help him overcome depression. “I am requesting everyone who is ready to help me to cope up with depression to come to my rescue.…

Facebook will now let users cross-message groups between Instagram and Facebook. The company updated the app to allow users to opt-in and launch cross-app group chats to about 70 percent of eligible users who have already updated their messenger to the latest version. Facebook has been working on cross-app messaging for a while now, and after launching earlier on in the year, the company has updated it with a number of new features. Read: Facebook Launches Integrated Instagram and Messenger Chats The group chats are presented in a wide variety of themes for users’ interests. Polls are coming to group…

At the fall of the hummer, auctioneers have found a buyer for former Nakumatt CEO Atul Shah’s home in Lavington that was put up for sale in July. According to media reports, the buyer is willing to pay the Ksh30 million that auctioneers had asked for for the four-bedroom mansion with a servant’s quarter. “There is an individual who has entered into a deal with the bank to buy the house. The buyer is willing to raise the Sh30 million we were looking for when we floated the house for sale in August,” said a representative of Phillips International Auctioneers…

The Nairobi Anti-Corruption Court has fined businessman Mukuria Ngamau Ksh721,459,156 for defrauding the Youth Enterprise Development Fund Ksh180,364,789 through forgery. In a case filed in 2016 through the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Ngamau was found guilty of conspiracy to commit an economic crime contrary to Section 47A (3) as read with Section 48 (1) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act (ACECA). He was also found guilty of unlawful acquisition of public property contrary to Section 45 (1) (a) as read with Section 48 (1) of the ACECA and also making a false document contrary to…

The 2Africa cable by Facebook will extend 45,000 kilometres after the addition of nine landings dubbed the 2Africa Pearls. This will make the subsea cable the longest cable system in the world, connecting three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe. Currently, the longest subsea cable system spans 39 km connecting 33 countries across South East Asia, Middle East and Western Europe. The laying of the cable is in line with Facebook’s primary objective to bring increased connectivity to Africa. Read: Facebook Infrastructure And Connectivity Investments In Africa To Grow Economy By $57 billion In a blog post, the company noted that the…

The inflation rate has risen to 6.91 percent in September 2021, the highest since February 2020 driven by increased food and fuel prices. This is according to the latest data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on Thursday, September  30. “This was mainly driven by rise in prices of commodities under: food and non-alcoholic beverages (10.63 percent); transport (9.21 percent); and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (6.08 percent) between September 2020 and September 2021,” said KNBS. The consumer price index increased by 0.32 percent from an index of 115.710 in August 2021 to 116.077 in…

YouTube will remove all misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines on the platform. The tech giant said it would take down videos spreading false claims about the Covid-19 vaccines on the video streaming platform. Videos that will be removed include those claiming that the Covid-19 jab causes infertility, autism or cancer. The company will also terminate accounts of anti-vaccine YouTubers Tech companies have been criticized for not doing enough to curb the spread of misinformation on their platforms. Read: President Biden Attributes High Covid-19 Infection Rate to Misinformation on Social Media US President Joe Biden in July said social media was responsible…