Author: Francis Muli

Is your son or daughter yet to report to form one and are you looking for a ‘reputable’ school for him or her? Well, you can get a slot to his/her dream school, but for as high as Ksh250,000. According to reports by the Sunday Nation, principals of some national schools in Nairobi are demanding between Ksh100,000 to Ksh250,000 for a form one slot. On the other hand, principals of national schools outside Nairobi are demanding between Ksh50,000 and Ksh70,000. For a slot in extra-county schools (formerly provincial schools) parents have to part with at least Ksh50,000 while slots in…

Who really owns the United States International University – Africa (USIU)? This question has been lingering in the minds of many leading Parliament to open an inquiry into the institution of higher learning operations. The varsity was founded by William C. Rust, an ambitious educationist and visionary who oversaw the growth of the institution from London to Mexico City to Maui and to Nairobi. But in 1991, internal wrangles and financial setbacks would see Rust removed from the helm and his place taken by Freida Brown. By the time Ms Brown took over, the sale of the Nairobi campus had…

In the last 24 hours 1,205 people have tested positive for Covid-19 from a sample size of 8,158. This brings the cumulative number of positive cases to 211,028 and the positivity rate to 14.8%. The total number of sample tests so far conducted are 2,184,276. Among the positive cases confirmed today are a six month old infant and a 100 year old man. Nairobi is leading with the highest number of infections at 453, followed by Kiambu with 91 cases and Nyeri with 77. Read: Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu Hospitalised With Covid-19 On a positive note, 1242 people have recovered…

The government has extended form one admissions by one week to ensure 100 percent transition. The Ministry of Education released a statement saying it had noted that a number of form one students were yet to be enrolled to secondary schools across the country. “The Ministry has decided to extend the reporting period by one week to enable parents/guardians enroll their children in various secondary school,” Ministry of Education CAS Sara Rutto said. According to Rutto, boarding schools had recorded impressive enrollment compared to day schools. School heads have been directed to admit all students, including those who are having…

Residents of Bungoma town are in shock following the mysterious death of communications officer cum musician Peter Oteng, popularly known as Storm Dwarchild. He was a staff member allied to Kanduyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi. Storm’s body was discovered by a passerby at 11.45pm, just a few metres from his house at Sunrise estate. His body had deep cuts in the head. According to MP Wamunyinyi he had met Storm and other members of his staff at a restaurant in town the same night. He said everyone left for their homes at 10pm after the meeting. Storm reportedly called a BodaBoda…

A number of Gikomba traders who lost property worth millions of shillings have threatened to sue the Nairobi county government if it does not take responsibility for the numerous fire incidences at the market. Through their lawyer Kamotho Njenga, the traders drafted a number of demands in a letter addressed to the Deputy Governor, Ann Kananu. The letter outlines various measures that the county government should put in place. “We demand immediate deployment of proficient firefighting personnel on an around the clock basis within the market and installation of street lights across the entire market,” reads the letter in part.…

In the last 24 hours, 1,561 people tested positive for Covid-19 from a sample size of 10,072. This brings the positivity rate to 15.5 percent and the total number of confirmed cases to 209,823. The cumulative tests conducted so far stand at 2,176,118. Within the same period, 102 patients recovered from the disease, 91 from various hospitals across the country and 11 from home based care. This brings the total number of recoveries to 195,787. Read: 400,000 of Covid-19 Vaccines Donated By the UK Arrive On a sad note, 31 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours. 30…

Twitter has updated Spaces to allow hosts add up to two co-hosts to help in moderation and management of the discussions. Co-hosts will be assigned almost the same privileges as the main host. These include: speaking, inviting other members to speak, pin tweets, eject unruly listeners/speakers and more. As opposed to the main hosts, the co-hosts will have some limitations. For instance, only the main host can designate or remove a user from being a co-host. In addition to that, only the main host can call off a discussion or end a room. Read: How to Start a Discussion on…

Starting monday August 9, Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) or Matatus, will be allowed to carry passengers to full capacity. The government issued the announcement this afternoon, revoking an order issued to the industry last year. Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the government put in place various protocols to help curb the spread of the virus. Sanitizing, social distancing and wearing masks became a way of life. To ensure that there was social distancing in matatus, they were ordered to leave a space between commuters. The enforcement of the rule resulted in the redesign of a section of…

Xiaomi has overtaken Samsung to take become the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer for the first time. Three years ago, the company beat samsung to dominate the Indian market, and now, the company seems to have spread its wings wider. A report from research firm, Counterpoint, shows that Samsung slipped to second place in June 2021. Just recently,  a cumulative report from Counterpoint showed that Xiaomi had beaten Apple to take second place in the global smartphone rankings Q2 2021. The Korean company’s market share reportedly grew by 26 percent month on month from May 2021 Samsung’s drop can be attributed…

Its 2021 and the internet is a buzz of activity every second the world over. Every corporate firm has geared up its operations online and almost every individual is a part of a social media platform. The internet has almost become a basic need in all urban areas. Employees can now work remotely, families shop online, students study and attend classes virtually while friends stay connected through social media. A new report from Statista reveals online activities captured through every minute of 2021. According to the study, creators upload 500 hours of content every 60 seconds on YouTube. 695,000 stories…

A third of corporate organisations in Kenya faced attempted hacking in the last six months. A report from cybersecurity company, Kaspersky, shows that the hackers mostly targeted the firms’ financial systems. According to the report, corporate organizations attracted 29.3 percent of the financial malware attacks (2,332 threats) This is attributed to vulnerabilities in corporate systems due to an increase in remote working. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, most corporate organisations have adopted remote working policies to curb the spread of the Coronavirus. Kenya reported more cases of hacking attempts in Q1 2020 compared to 7,962 financial malware…

British healthcare company, GlaxoSmithKline is the latest corporate organization in Kenya to install a solar power plant in efforts to save on electricity costs. The solar plant installed in the company’s Nairobi factory cost Sh108 million. GSK joins a host of companies in Nairobi that have opted for alternative energy sources, as they seek to counter heavy costs from Kenya Power. Most companies claim the high electricity costs have resulted in high production costs posing a challenge in the the sector. GSK Site director Paul Arunga said the switch to solar power would reduce their costs by 50 percent, helping…

Twitter Spaces has grown in popularity since its launch in Kenya in Q1 2021. Since then, a number of discussions are hosted daily. Topics include politics, mental health, business and even relationships. Twitter allows any user who has 600 or more followers to host discussions on Spaces. This article will take you through the steps on getting started on Spaces Read: How Twitter Spaces Has Reshaped Discussions for KOT Open the twitter app Long press the compose icon at the bottom right hand side of your screen. (On android, it’s a +) Click on the purple spaces icon from the…

Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs now says that the protocol department has no record of a request to provide protocol services to Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto prior to his abortive trip. In a statement, Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Okello Oryem said that the Yoweri Museveni-led country was keen not to interfere with Kenya’s internal afairs. “I was not informed by the chief of the protocol being requested by the Kenyan High Commission in Uganda to provide protocol services to the Deputy President. Our foreign policy is very clear that we don’t interfere in the internal affairs of any country…