Author: Francis Muli

A 70-year-old Gatundu man was this week circumcised by elders moments before his burial after it was discovered that he had never undergone the rite of passage. The incident happened at the Gatundu Hospital mortuary, where family members, friends and elders had gone to collect the body for burial. Mortuary attendants notified the elders that the man, who was a revered elder, was not circumcised. “We could not bury him like that as it is against our practice. He has even brought two goats to the council for him to be admitted at the council but this has come as a…

Officials from the Ministry of Education will from this Monday do a nationwide inspection of form one learners who are yet to report to secondary school. Education Cabinet secretary George Magoha will lead the exercise which will be conducted with the help of the Ministry of interior and the National government According to the Director for Secondary Education, Mr. Paul Kibet, a majority of the 48 counties had recorded impressive figures of form one learners reporting in the last two weeks. Read: Principals Selling Form One Slots For As High As Ksh250,000 The government announced that this year there was…

Kenya Airways customers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) will from September 1 be required to make electronic transactions in a bid to curb the spread of the Coronavirus. The national carrier announced the implementation of the contactless transactions, saying the switch will help protect the health of both staff and customers. Chief Commercial and Customer Experience Officer Julius Thairu said contactless transactions are in line with the KQ’s strategy to develop sustainable business operations. Read: Kenya Airways Suspends Operations in 8 African Countries, Blames COVID-19 “We aim to keep innovating and digitising our processes to serve our customers…

Nairobi City residents found spitting, urinating or blowing their noses in public will henceforth be liable for a Sh10,000 fine or a six-month jail term. The Public Nuisance Bill was signed into law by Nairobi Deputy Governor Ann Kananu with an aim of restoring order and sanity within the city. Riruta MCA proposed the bill seeking to control nuisance in the city’s public spaces. Public spaces comprise buildings, parks, squares, recreational grounds and open spaces. “The objective of this Law is to provide for the control of public nuisance and empower the county to take all lawful necessary and reasonably…

Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom have issued a joint notice regarding the ownership and registration of sim cards. The telcos urged users to ensure that correct registration is done, with valid identification documents. “Please note it is illegal to have a SIM card that is not registered with the correct documents,” the Telcos cautioned The directive, which comes amid increased cases of digital and SIM card related fraud, is in line with the Kenya Information Communications Act and the SIM Card Registration Regulations (2015). “This exercise is to ensure that all customer mobile numbers are properly registered against the correct identification…

ODM leader Raila Odinga has hinted that he will not pursue further the constitution amendment bill, popularly referred to as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), that has been declared null and void by the Court of Appeal. In a statement, Raila said that the parties involved will each make their own decisions on how to proceed from the decision that has been delivered today “The decision of the Court of Appeal today is remarkable as it forms part of the continuing conversation on the future of this country and the significance of our new Constitution to the political culture we…

Naivasha MP Jane  Njeri Wanjiru is facing auction over a Ksh10 million debt owed to former National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) chair John Mututho. The amount arose from an election petition of 2008, where Wanjiru took Mututho to court challenging his election as Naivasha MP. Also sued was Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Returning Officer for Naivasha Christopher Ajele and IEBC. Ms Wanjiru however lost the petition, and was ordered to pay petition cost to Mututho. In a court ruling of 2019, Wanjiru was ordered to pay a sum of Ksh7.5 million as…

Twitter has announced that it will soon start rolling out some changes to its direct messages. In the update, users will be able to send messages to multiple people in separate conversations. Users will be able to send a tweet or one message to up to 20 individuals at once, just like broadcast messages. Currently,  users can only send the same messages to multiple users if it is a group chat  which means everyone else gets to see replies from the other people. The new update maintain privacy and still achieve the one-on-one kind of conversation. Read: Twitter Introduces Third-Party…

Google has donated Sh100 million to enhance of connectivity to the Kenyan judiciary with an aim of improving access to justice. Google’s Director for Eastern Africa Agnes Gathaiya said the programme, which would be implemented in collaboration with Kenya’s Ministry of Information Communication and Technology would aid in the digital transformation of of the judicial system across the country. Speaking in a meeting with Chief Justice Martha Koome, Gathaiya reiterated the tech giant’s commitment to improve the access and affordability of the internet. She said the company was committed to driving digital skills, supporting the growth of local online content…

Adult social media platform, OnlyFans, has announced the ban of sexually explicit from October this year. The subscription-only platform allows creators to share their images and videos with subscribers. “In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of our platform, and continue to host an inclusive community of creators and fans, we must evolve our content guidelines.” The London-based firm said in a statement. There is wide speculation that OnlyFans has issued the ban after an undercover investigation by the BBC revealed that the adult website was tolerant to illegal practices on the website. According to the report, OnlyFans Compliance report…

Africa has been undergoing a digital transformation, and hackers seem to have shifted their attention to the continent. According to a study by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, malware has become a common problem with some countries getting more attacks than others. South Africa was the most targeted country in the first half of 2021, with 32 million attacks, followed by Kenya with 23.1 million attacks. Nigeria comes third with 16.7 million attacks followed by Ethiopia with 8 million attacks. Kenya experienced a 13 percent decrease in attacks compared to the other countries in the period. South Africa’s attacks increased by 14…

The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) recorded improved revenues of Ksh7.936 billion in six months to June 2021, up from Ksh5.963 billion in a similar period last year. This was a  33 percent rise, attributed to the recovering economy after a hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to statistics by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the cargo segment recorded the highest rise of Ksh1.5 billion while the passenger service posted a growth of Ksh470 million. Read: Kenya to Pay Ksh38 Billion to Afristar Before Taking Over SGR This happened despite the SGR recording a double numbers in passengers in the…

The Chinese government has acquired a stake in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Technology co. Ltd. The acquisition brings to the fore concerns raised by the US government in 2020 accusing the video-making app of being a Chinese spy. The Chinese government has acquired a 1 percent stake in the company and one of the three membership seats of the board of the parent company. This means that the government will now have some influence over the operations of the business. TikTok amassed a massive growth in 2020 especially during the pandemic period. The company was recently ranked as the most…

Orange Democratic Party leader Raila Odinga has urged Kenyans and the political class to rid the country of the spirit of anger and bitterness, the spirit of revenge and entitlement. Speaking during the Nyanza Leaders Convention event on Thursday, Raila urged politicians and leaders to form coalitions for the sake of the country’s prosperity. “We must cleanse our country of the spirit of anger and bitterness, the spirit of revenge and entitlement. We must continue on a path that reconciles, unites, calms and stabilizes our country. We must embrace forgiveness and not vindictiveness. We must make compromises, and form coalitions and…

The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) has instructed health facilities to offer services to members who are still holding the now obsolete NHIF cards. The cards were phased out on July 11 after the agency embarked on a drive to migrate members to a biometric system. NHIF members are now expected to use fingerprints to identify themselves when seeking medical services. However, the fund says it recognizes that thousands of users are yet to be enrolled on the biometric system. “If members get sick before they are biometrically registered, the accredited hospitals will biometrically register them before seeking any services,”…