Author: Francis Muli

Last year, Safaricom drove numerous campaigns to mobilize its users to stay alert in case fraudsters tried to register their phone numbers using their identification documents illegally. Safaricom developed a system that would alert users whenever a user tried to register a new phone number using their personal details. The telco has now taken the drive a notch higher, allowing subscribers to check whether they are registered to more than one phone number. Safaricom has now come up with a new USSD code, allowing subscribers to check how many phone numbers are registered with their identification details. Read: Subscriber Shocked…

Taxi-hailing app Bolt has asked a lady whose hand was cut by a Bolt driver to pull down her post for free rides. According to reports by K24, Bolt reached out to Suzzy Cerra, the victim, promising to offer her free rides through promotional codes (promo codes). “They asked me to pull down my post so that they can give me a promo code,” Suzzy told the publication. In a social media post, Suzzy said that on Sunday, August 29 around 9:00 pm near Diamond Plaza in Nairobi, she requested a taxi using the Bolt app, which was handed to…

M-pesa has today announced that it has reached 50 million monthly active customers, strengthening its position as Africa’s largest fintech. The mobile money service was launched more than 14 years ago in Kenya. Today, M-PESA is available in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, DRC, Lesotho, Ghana and Egypt. The milestone comes just 18 months after Safaricom and Vodacom launched the M-PESA Africa Joint Venture to accelerate growth of the service across the continent. M-PESA Africa has equally been striving to deliver digital platforms as part of its focus to be the largest fintech and digital ecosystem across the continent. “We are delighted…

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) are looking for four ‘wash wash’ suspects, believed to be part of a larger syndicate in the illegal business of printing fake currency. In video clips doing rounds in sections of social media, three of the suspects were captured giving one of their accomplices a dog’s beating, after he went partying and flashed a bunch of notes flanked by a bevy of beauties, revealing their dirty dealings. The accomplice who appeared intoxicated in a drinking spree, flaunted the money as he promised the seemingly excited women, an adventurous and fun-filled trip to…

Facebook has issued an apology after its AI labelled black men as primates. The error occured the AI asked  section of users who were watching a newspaper video featuring black men if the wish to “keep seeing videos about primates” Speaking to the BBC, Facebook said it was an unacceptable error. The social network said it had disabled the system as investigations into the matter were launched. “The ‘primates’ recommendation was an algorithmic error on Facebook and did not reflect the content of the video, ” a Facebook representative said. Read: How to Disable Location Tracking on Facebook “We disabled…

The Nairobi Metropolitan Services has reversed plans to charge parking fees in city estates. The administration said it would carry out proper consultations before applying the fees. NMS Director General, Lt. Gen. Mohammed Badi attributed the reversal to an upsurge of complaints from the public. “I want to make it clear that this is not something that we will just implement without listening to the public. We must review and look at it properly,” Badi stated. Last week, a video showing county council officials clamping vehicles at South C attracted outrage on social media. Netizens said the decision was unjustifiable…

Cytonn has converted 20 percent of the Cytonn High Yield Solution (CHYS) and Cytonn Private Notes (CPN) debt owed to investors into tangible assets in the various real estate projects developed under the Cytonn Group. In a statement on Monday, September 6, 2021, Cytonn said the conversion of investor funds into real estate is part of the options presented by Cytonn Group, in consultation with various investors, partners, and board officials, on restructuring debt in the two funds. “The Ksh2.5 billion has been converted in a period of one year as the funds continue to engage with clients on solutions…

The Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) is planning to start the automation of traffic management at the Green Park terminus in the city. The exercise is aimed at easing access of Public Service Vehicles (PSV) for operators and commuters. Four engineering staff from the Kenya Railways Corporation have been deployed to the NMS to help with the automation process of the Sh250 million exercise. “The Directorate of Transport has received four engineers from Kenya Railways Corporation. The team trained in China on automated traffic management, will assist with the automation of Green Park Terminus,” NMS announced in a statement. Read: President…

Two suspects accused of defrauding a Kiambu couple over Ksh716,000 in a Sim swap scam in June 2021 have been arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). The two; Sabina Evelyne Nyanumba who is a student at Egerton University and 19-year-old Paul Nyabero Kilenya were arrested in Nakuru’s Njoro sub-county over the weekend. Their pursuit and subsequent arrest followed the June incident where a woman received a call from a new number and was made to believe that she was being engaged by a Safaricom customer care operator. Read: Telcos Issue Joint Advisory on Sim Card Handling “In…

Kenya has received a batch of 880,320 doses of the Moderna vaccine from the US government through COVAX. The vaccines arrived Monday morning as the country intensifies its efforts to vaccinate at least 10 million people by December. The COVAX facility helps the African Union acquire vaccines for the continent. Health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr. Rashid Aman received the vaccines at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Also present were the CDC Country Director Mark Bulterys and other officials. “The Kenya government appreciates the support and assistance of the donation we are receiving today from the US government. This donation…

Kenyan public universities are struggling to stay afloat even as their cumulative debts reach an all-time high of Ksh56.6 billion. According to a report by the  Universities Funding Board (UFB), the debt is mostly comprised of unremitted statutory deductions which have accumulated penalties. The most affected firms include Kenya Revenue Authority, the National Hospital Insurance Fund, the National Social Security Fund, pension schemes, insurance companies, and saccos. The University of Nairobi is the most affected, with Ksh7.2 billion owed to KRA and Ksh4 billion in staff pension arrears. “The universities should consider and effect public-private partnerships in the provision of…

Zimbabwe has issued a statement apologising to a Kenyan blogger over bribery claims. The blogger, identified only as Marceline took to social media to call out an official of the Robert Mugabe International Airport who attempted to extort a bribe while withholding her passport. Marceline, who uses the handle @KenyanSista or African Tigress on social media recounted how the Zimbabwean official claimed that Kenyan illegal immigrants had a habit of using Zimbabwe as a gateway to South Africa. “I told her I only have US$50, which was for my transportation from the airport to the Airbnb,” the KenyanSista said in…

Kenya has received a consignment of Covid-19 vaccines donated from Latvia. The 55,000 doses arrived on Saturday via the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport shortly after 7am. Another batch of Johnson & Johnson vaccines purchased from the African Union (AU) through the African Vaccine Acquisition Taskforce (AVAT) arrived in the country on Friday evening. The 55,000 doses were verified by chair of Vaccine Procurement and Logistics Committee, John Kabuchi. He confirmed that they were indeed 55,000 doses. Read: 400,000 of Covid-19 Vaccines Donated By the UK Arrive In total, Kenya has now received a total of 4,266,500 Covid-19 vaccine doses from…

Facebook is the most popular social media platform, with over 2.8 billion users worldwide. The company owns four of the biggest platforms in its network,  all with over one billion active users every month. According to a report on Global Social networks by Statista, Facebook reported 3.51 billion active users of its core family products in the first quarter of 2021. YouTube is the second most used platform, with over 2.2 billion monthly active users followed by WhatsApp with 2 billion users and Instagram with 1.3 billion users. Read: Facebook Condemns Social Media and Internet Blackouts in Africa Chinese social…

Popular messaging app, WhatsApp is set to discontinue its services from older smartphones models on November 1. This is not the first time as the messaging app regularly phases out support for older devices in a bid to ensure security. The app is set to cease working in 43 smartphone models in this latest phase. WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging app, with about 2 billion users. The messaging app will no longer work on the smartphones listed below Read: Whatsapp Users who Do Not Accept Privacy Policy will Eventually Lose All Whatsapp Functionality Apple iPhone SE, 6S and…