Author: Francis Muli

The prime suspect behind last week’s gruesome murder of four men in Kitengela has been arrested by detectives. Benson Melonyie ole Mungai, 40, was arrested from his hideout in Kitengela town on Monday night, where he has been hiding since he allegedly masterminded the killings. His arrest comes a few days after the Directorate of criminal Investigations (DCI) took over investigations into the murders of two brothers Fred Mureithi, 30 and  Victor Mwangi, 25, and their friends Mike George, 29, and Nicholas Musa, 28. “Ole Mungai was positively linked into the brutal killings after forensic investigations placed him at the…

Nominated Senator Victor Prengei has died following a road accident in Nakuru on Monday night. The news were confirmed by Nakuru County Police Commander Beatrice Kiraguri who said that the Senator was heading towards Kabarak area from Nakuru town when he was involved in a car accident at Gioto area. He died at Nakuru War Memorial Hospital where he had been rushed for treatment. He was nominated to Senate in 2017 by the Jubilee Party to represent the youth and minorities. Prengei came from the minority Ogiek community and in 2017 made history when he became the first member of…

In the last 24 hours, 679 people have tested positive for Covid-19, from a sample size of 5,693. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 221,406 and cumulative sample tests to 2,259,150. Kenya’s positivity rate is now at 11.9 percent. Nairobi leads with the highest number of new cases at 357, followed by Kilifi with 53 new infections and Kiambu with 36 new cases. On a positive note 1,550 people have recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. Out of those, 1,426 have been discharged from home-based care while 124 have been discharged from various health…

When an Instagram post goes viral, the user often experiences an influx of comments and direct messages requests. To cope with this, most people choose to disable comments to avoid getting unwanted comments from people they do not know. Instagram has now come up with a new way to help users restrict abusive comments and messages during such times. The new “limits” feature will hide comme as and messages from people who do not follow, or just started following the subject user. The feature is opt in, meaning you have to switch it on to allow the app restrict such…

Online shopping platform Jumia has recorded an operating loss of $51.6 million (Ksh5.1 billion) in Q2 2021, a 24.7 percent increase from the Q2 od 2020. The loss has been attributed to the movement of marketers and shoppers to social media networks to sell and buy their products. Jumia spent $17.1 million (Ksh1.7 billioin) on sales and advertising but only managed to grow 100,000 new users. The platform recorded an increased demand on food delivery, while the previously prominent segments of phones, electronics and FMCGs recording a decline. At the end of June 30, 2021, we had $637.7 million of…

The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has confirmed the completion of the university placement process for students who sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) The agency said that the process would be made public on August 17, allowing students access to universities and courses they have been allocated. “The placement process is complete. The results will be released tomorrow Tuesday 17th August 2021. The results will be announced through the media. In addition, applicants will be notified through the KUCCPS Student’s Portal and SMS via the phone numbers they provided,” read a statement from KUCCPS.…

Tiktok has made a number of updates in its quest to provide a safe browsing environment for teenagers on the platform. The company has said that it will restrict push notifications for users aged 13-15 after 2100hrs and 2200hrs dor users aged 16 and 17. This is designed to give the teenagers more time to focus on their studies, work, relaxation and sleep. 16 and 17 year olds will also be required to opt in to receive direct messages on the app. Read: TikTok Makes Under-16s User Profiles Private “We want to help our younger users in particular develop positive…

Sidian Bank and Aqua for All, through the Covid-19 WASH loans have been providing  support in bridging the service and financial gaps in the water, health and sanitation sector. The solution, a Covid – 19 Response (WASH) loan facility, targets MSME’s in the water and sanitization value chain sector. The aim of the facility is to scale up innovative solutions for water service providers through short-term financing facilities in working capital, asset and project finance. According to one of the loan beneficiaries, Arahuka Distributors Limited a retailer based in Kangemi, the loan enabled him to purchase water tanks in large…

On Thursday, August 12, Cytonn CEO Edwin Dande wrote to Capital Markets Authority (CMA) CEO Wycliffe Shamiah announcing his intention to sue him and initiate his ouster from office. Dande accused Shamiah of misleading the public and the government in regards to Cytonn and Private Offerings. Dande also accused Shamiah of orchestrating attacks through statements that put at risk investments of over 30,000 Kenyans valued at over Ksh20 billion. It has also emerged that Dande decided to initiate Shamiah’s removal from office following a failed meeting with the regulator which was scheduled for August 5, 2021, with less than 24…

Politician and lawyer Miguna Miguna has resigned as a member of the Thirdway Alliance Party. In a letter to the Thirdway Alliance party on Sunday, Miguna said that his resignation was effective immediately. “This is to advise you that effective immediately, I have resigned as a member the Thirdway Alliance Kenya party. Consequently, you are requested to forthwith remove my name from your membership list and communicate the same to the Registrar of Political Parties,” wrote Miguna. Read: Thirdway Alliance Expels National Chairman Miruru Waweru and Deputy Party Leader Angela Mwikali “I thank the Thirdway Alliance Kenya team, especially Miruru Waweru, Angela…

We decided to slowly disengage (although) we are in amicable terms and remain very close as friends, Machakos Governor Dr Alfred Mutua has revealed on separation with wife Lillian Ng’ang’a. In a statement on social media, Dr Mutua said that he would continue being close friends with Lillian, who also issued a statement agreeing to the same. “We will continue to talk, meet and share ideas constantly. Lillian has been an excellent First Lady and even though she will do some projects under the Lillian Nganga foundation, we have agreed she can continue with her county projects,” said Mutua. Despite…

789 people have tested positive for Covid-19 from a sample size of 5,498 tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the positivity rate to 14.4 percent. From the cases, 758 are Kenyans while 31 are foreigners. 431 males while 358 are females. The youngest is a four-month-old baby while the oldest is 98 years. Total confirmed positive cases are now 220,727 and cumulative tests so far conducted are 2,253,457. 1,550 patients have recovered from the disease with 1,426 from the Home-Based Isolation and Care program while 124 are from various health facilities countrywide. Total recoveries now stand at 203,922 of…

The four men allegedly killed by the mob in Kitengela were actually murdered by people known to them, a witness has revealed. According to the witness quoted by the Nation, neighbours who knew them tried to rescue them but the infuriated killers could not hear a word. “Villagers cornered the four at dusk. There were more than 15 private vehicles at the scene. They were killed by people known to them. The four are known by the villagers. They cried for mercy from their tormentors to no avail,” said the witness. An effort by a neighbour who shot in the…

The retail prices for Super Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene will remain unchanged from August 15 to September14, 2021, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has said. This means that a litre of Super Petrol will retail at Ksh127.14 in Nairobi, Diesel Ksh107.66 and Kerosene at Ksh97.85. “The prices are inclusive of the 8% Value Added Tax (VAT) in line with the provisions of the Finance Act 2018, the Tax Laws (Amendment) Act 2020 and the revised rates for excise duty adjusted for inflation as per Legal Notice No. 194 of 2020,” said EPRA in a statement. The average landed…

Facebook is rolling out end-to-end encryption for voice and video calls in messenger. The company said it will be adding the new feature alongside updates to disappearing messages and a host of new encryption-related features which are being tested. Facebook added end-to-end encryption for messages in 2016 after the introduction a “secret conversation”  option on the app. Encryption has now been added to voice and video calls, as the company says the two features have grown in popularity with about 150 million video calls made in a single day. Facebook-owned messaging app, WhatsApp already offers end-to end encryption for its…