Author: Francis Muli

Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi has ruled out possibilities of reviving the National Super Alliance (NASA). Responding to Orange Democratic (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga, Mudavadi said that the coalition has been hijacked, without revealing the hijackers. “2017 tulikuwa tunasema nasa hao, hiyo nasa naona imenaswa. (In 2017 we used to say “capture them” but the NASA (Coalition) has been captured),” Mudavadi said. Despite talks of plans of the official collapse of the coalition, Mr Odinga was adamant that the coalition was undergoing a metamorphosis. “There has been too much propaganda by the media that Raila is…

TikTok will start automating content moderation on the app in place of humans, to speed up the process. The short-video making app said that it would use automated systems to smoke out posts that contain sex, violence, nudity, graphic content, illegal activities and posts that violate the safety policy for minors. Once the system detects such videos, they will be taken down instantly, and the creator can then appeal to a human moderator. The process is also expected to help prevent harm to human moderators who are required to watch through multiple distressing videos. With the automation in place  they…

Twitter will now offer users more context as to why their verification requests were rejected. The company said in a tweet that they had received feedback requesting more clarity on why they failed to meet the criteria. “We’ve heard your feedback that we can be more clear on why an application didn’t get approved. Decision emails will now give more context on why requests don’t meet our criteria.” the company said in a tweet. Twitter broke down a number of issues that users should pay attention to before making another application. The company gives a 30-day window before users can…

Safaricom on Friday announced a KES 20 million sponsorship for the team that will represent Kenya at the Tokyo Olympics. The funds were channelled towards the ceremonial kit that will be used by the Kenyan contingent at the games scheduled to kick off on 23rd July. Each member of the traveling team will also receive KES 10,000 worth of Safaricom airtime that they can use while in Tokyo. Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the sponsorship was in line with the company’s passion for sports. Read: North Korea Snubs Tokyo Olympics Citing Coronavirus Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage, and Culture Amina Mohamed…

African Entertainment company,  MultiChoice has responded to reports that its accounts were frozen in Nigeria, saying they only became aware of the information through the media. The company says it has received no formal communication from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria. “We have not received formal notification of this matter, however, shareholders are advised that the Group is aware of reports in the media regarding an ongoing tax matter with the Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service,” the statement read. “The matter is apparently based on unfounded allegations that MultiChoice Nigeria has not fully disclosed all existing subscribers…

Kenya has produced so many superb athletes over the years; and marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge ranks in the top echelon of the country’s greatest sportsmen. The East African nation had their best ever showing at the Olympics in Rio 2016, carting away six gold medals, six silver and a bronze medal; and they will hope to do even better when the Games return to Tokyo this summer. Kipchoge was one of Kenya’s gold medalists from the last Olympics, and he again represents one of the country’s brightest hopes in Japan. Kipchoge is not only the reigning Olympic marathon champion, he…

WhatsApp is working on a feature that will give users more control over the quality of their images. According to WABetaInfo, the messaging app will let users choose from three quality options when sending images and videos. These are “Auto”, “Best quality” and “Data saver”. The feature will allow users to select an option that will force their media to be compressed to save on data and space. Little or no compression will send the images and videos in better quality. Currently,  WhatsApp compresses all images unless sent as a document eg PDF. Read: Whatsapp Launches Voice, Video Calls for…

All Microsoft employees across the globe are expected to receive a $1,500 pandemic bonus this year. The company says the bonus is for the “unique and challenging fiscal year that Microsoft just completed”. A report by The Verge says an internal memo sent out to employees said the bonus will be awarded to all employees below the corporate vice President level who have served with the company from or before March 31, 2021. Part-time employees and those working on hourly rates will also be awarded. Read: Microsoft Reportedly Tried to Acquire Pinterest in Efforts to Push Azure Cloud Services It…

Huawei walked away with several awards at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC). The event took place in Barcelona and online from 28 June to 01 July. Huawei scooped the Best Mobile Network Infrastructure’ award, while its “Nature Guardian” Project won the award for Outstanding Mobile Contribution to the UN SDGs. The company also won the award for the ‘Best Innovation for COVID-19 response and Recovery’ and “Best Mobile Innovation for Emerging Markets”. The Mobile World Congress is considered the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry playing a pivotal role in setting the tone for the space over the course…

Machakos Town MP Victor Kioko Munyaka has narrated to the court how he allegedly lost Ksh3.7 million to Mr George Gichohi Chege of Hyper Cars Limited in a failed importation deal. According to Munyaka, he paid the amount seven years ago for the importation of Audi Q7 car, chassis number KN59VME, from the UK. However, the businessman has failed to import the car, leading to the loss of the amount. Munyaka told the court that he met Mr Chege for the first time on November 13, 2014, and that he (Mr Chege) imported for him the first car when he…

The Federal Inland Revenue Service of Nigeria (FIRS) has directed banks in the country to freeze all accounts belonging to Media entertainment company MultiChoice, together with its Nigerian Subsidiary. This comes after the South-African-based broadcaster allegedly breached agreements and denied access to their records for auditing. In a statement, the FIRS said that the appointed commercial banks and agents had been tasked with recovering outstanding taxes to a tune of 1.8 trillion Naira (Sh474 billion) from Multichoice Africa and MultiChoice Nigeria. “It was discovered that the companies persistently breached all agreements and undertakings with the Service, they would not promptly…

TV Broadcasters based in Nakuru are counting their losses after a fire breakout at the Pan-African Network Group (PANG) led to destruction of the Menengai Transmission site causing interruption of transmission services. The broadcasters include Riri TV, Tumaini, Mamlaka, Mizpah, Utana, NISSI, AirMobi, VBN and Truth TV Channels. PANG sent out a notification to the broadcasters, saying the fire, which occurred due to suspected electric failure, had severely affected transmission for clients in the area and that investigations were ongoing to ascertain the exact cause. Reports from sources who spoke to Kahawa Tungu however indicate that the fire occurred due…

The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Mombasa has suspended the appointment of John Mwangemi as acting Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) managing director pending hearing of case filed by lobby group challenging the recruitment process. Mwangemi was appointed to the position on July 1, 2021, following the retirement of Eng. Rashid Salim. “An order is hereby issued quashing the decision of Cabinet Sectaries Ukuru Yatani(Treasury) and James Macharia (Transport) and KPA and executed by Dr Yatani on July 1, where by Mr Mwangemi was appointed the KPA’s acting MD without following the due process,” Justice Byram Ongaya ruled. The case…

Co-operative Bank of Kenya, in partnership with Enwealth Financial Services Limited, has launched a Pension-backed Mortgage loan facility for members of pension schemes. The new facility is expected to enable the over 3 million members of pension schemes in Kenya, who otherwise would have found it difficult to raise enough funds to buy a home, to qualify for a mortgage. In addition, the facility will enjoy an extended repayment period of up to 20 years, subject to the retirement age of the borrower. “This product is a deliberate response by the bank in support of the Government’s affordable housing pillar…

Former US President Donald Trump has moved to court to challenge social media companies for suspending him. Trump has instituted class action suits against Facebook, Twitter, and Google’s video-streaming app, YouTube together with the CEOs Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Sundar Pichai. Trump described the lawsuits as “a very important game-changer for our country” referring to the US. In the suit, he alleges that the social media companies violated the first Amendment by suspending him and other users from the platforms. He is being backed by the America First Policy Institute, an advocacy group founded by former officials in his…