Author: Francis Muli

Kenya Power has been accused of mistreating its casual workers. Speaking exclusively to Kahawa Tungu, a source who sought anonymity and is privy to the goings-on said casual workers at the power and lighting company were dismissed this month. The employee who has worked with the company for six years but is yet to be absorbed as a contracted staffer told this writer that the company headed by Bernard Ngugi treats its casual workers with impunity. The source intimated that with every managerial change comes a change in policies. The last time, they said, the company was in safe hands…

Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has beaten Apple to take second place in global smartphone shipments in the second quarter of 2021. A new report from Canalys indicates that the smartphone vendor managed to capture 17 percent of the global market in the period. Samsung led the pack with a 19 percent market share while Apple came third with 14 percent. Oppo and Vivo, both from BBK electronics took fourth and fifth place with 10 percent of the global market each. Chinese smartphone manufacturers have in the last year expanded to larger markets, growing a lot of overseas business. Canalys Research Manager…

Businesswoman Susan Kaittany is set to launch an upscale luxury retailer of high-end fragrances and skincare products in Nairobi dubbed Polished. The first of its kind store in Kenya is set to connect luxury lovers with their preferred scents, featuring global luxury brands such as Givenchy, Dior, Elizabeth Arden, and D&G. “This means you won’t have to travel abroad to get your favorite Gucci fragrance or Kylie cosmetics kit. There will also be no need for duty-free purchases. You know why? Because Nordstrom just opened next door. We mean Polished,” said the management is a statement. Read: Susan Kaittany Announces Expansion…

Alex Gitari has been confirmed as the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Managing Director. Gitari will serve substantively for a period of three years, after serving as an acting MD for close to two years following the exit of Johnny Anderson in 2019. The position fell vacant following the resignation of the then MD Johnny Andersen on August 30, over “personal reasons”. Since then, Gitari, who was the Finance General Manager, has been holding the position in an acting capacity. Kenya Airports Authority is the owner and operator of nine civilian airports and airstrips in Kenya. Kenya Airports Authority was established…

The Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) has issued a Telecommunications Operator License to Sasaricom-led consortium, Global Partnership for Ethiopia. In a statement on Thursday, ECA said that the consortium has 45 days to incorporate a local company and execute the Provisional License Agreement executed by the parent company within three working days. “Pursuant to Articles 40 and 41 of the Tender Regulations, the Designated Licensee (Global Partnership for Ethiopia) shall incorporate a local company within forty-five (45) calendar days following the designation date, and the local company shall execute the Provisional License Agreement executed by the parent company within three (3)…

Twitter has announced plans to discontinue its stories version, fleets, just a few months after launch. The company said in a tweet that the feature would no longer be available from August 3. “We’re removing Fleets on August 3, working on some new stuff we’re sorry or you’re welcome.” Twitter announced via a tweet. we’re removing Fleets on August 3, working on some new stuff we’re sorry or you’re welcome — Twitter (@Twitter) July 14, 2021 Fleets was launched last year with the intention of making engaging more users. However, the social networking company said that it had not made…

The retail prices for Super Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene will remain unchanged from July 15 to August 14, 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…

Facebook has rolled out a feature called “Group Experts” that allows group admins to designate the title to members who are highly knowledgeable about the group’s niche. The Group experts will be awarded a badge indicating their status. Like top fans, the badge will appear on their posts, comments, and in Facebook’s new Q&A live rooms. The Group experts’ status will not be awarded randomly, as admins will have to nominate them and wait for their acceptance to bestow them with the title. Similarly, admins will be able to revoke the title. Read: Facebook to Roll Out Podcasts Feature Starting…

YouTube is expanding YouTube Shorts to 100 countries after launching in India last year. Google announced the development of Shorts, its TikTok competitor in September 2020. The Beta version was rolled out in the US at the start of the year. When Shorts was first introduced, anyone could view a clip, however, only users in a few countries could access the creating and editing tools. The rollout means that users in the 100 countries will now be able to create and edit Shorts, meaning there will even be more clips on the platform. “We want to make it easy and…

Caroline Kangogo, the police officer suspected of killing two men met her two victims alongside three other men in a club a day before she allegedly killed Constable John Ogweno, it has emerged. Two of the men, Constable John Ogweno and Peter Ndwiga, were killed moments after the meeting which took place at a club near Nakuru’s Dog Section Police Station. Sleuths are now working to unlock the identity of the three men who were in the meeting with Kangogo, who could hold crucial information to the murders. The late Constable Ogweno left the meeting alone, and took a taxi…

Twitter will now allow users to change who from their followers can reply to their tweets. Last year, the social network introduced a feature allowing users to choose who could reply to a tweet before publishing. The new update now allows people to go a step further, and adjust that list. Twitter initially added the feature allowing users to select people they wanted to engage with, in a bid to promote meaningful conversations. It’s common for trolls to hop into individual tweets on the app, making the experience stressful for some. Read: Twitter Testing Tiered Label Design for Misleading tweets…

Dennis Itumbi tweeted about my burning house 16 minutes after the fire broke out, political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has said. In a tweet on Wednesday morning, Ngunyi seemingly accused Itumbi of having prior information about the fire that started at 1.45 am. Ngunyi suggested that the fire could have been started by his political enemies, who felt uncomfortable after he spoke about the Kiambaa killings in his show, The 5th Estate. “My FREN @OleItumbi MY house in Runda for 27 years WENT on FIRE at 1.45 am. You TOLD the Hustlers at 2.01 am. About 16 minutes LATER. That is…

A light aircraft has crashed in Ndabibi in Naivasha with three on board. In a statement on July 13, 2021, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) confirmed one death and two unspecified injuries following the accident. The aircraft, registration number 5Y-BCL, is owned and operated by Desert Locust. “Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) wishes to confirm that an aircraft registration number 5Y-BCL, owned and operated by Desert Locust, crashed at Ndabibi in Naivasha today. The aircraft had three people on board. One person suffered fatal injuries and the other two suffered unspecified injuries,” said KCAA director-general Capt. Gilbert Kibe. Read: Kenya…

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has hired veteran lawyer Dr John Khaminwa to defend suspected killer cop Caroline Kangogo who is in hiding. Khaminwa has been tasked with obtaining court orders barring police from arresting Kangogo when she surrenders. Speaking to journalists at the Milimani Law Courts, Khaminwa urged Kangogo to surrender her firearm to Khaminwa Advocates offices in Mombasa, Nairobi, or  Malindi. Khaminwa said that he has been given the mandate by LSK Chief Executive Officer Mercy Wambua, whose stay in office is uncertain following wrangles with LSK President Nelson Havi. This comes after reports that rogue police officers…

In the last 24 hours, 761 people have tested positive for Covid-19. This brings the cumulative number of positive tests to 189,703. This was derived from 5,794 sample tests bringing the total number of samples tested to 2,023,807. 71 people have recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. Out of those, 45 are from home based care and 26 from various health facilities countrywide. The total number of recoveries in the country now stand at 180, 624. after. 1,067 people are currently admitted in the hospital with 123 people in the ICU. Read: Covid-19 Fourth Wave To Peak…