Author: Francis Muli

A video showing thugs on a motorbike snatching a mobile phone from a traffic police officer is doctored, the National Police Service (NPS) has said. In a tweet on Wednesday, NPS termed the video as “malicious”, asking members of the public to ignore it. “Our investigations have revealed that a video circulating on social media insinuating to be of a police officer being snatched a phone is a manipulated video whose intention is malicious.We urge members of the public to ignore it,” said NPS. https://twitter.com/NPSOfficial_KE/status/1412845861869178882 In the video that has since gone viral, three men on a motorbike are seen…

Veteran journalist Hilary Ng’weno has passed on. Ng’weno died on Wednesday, July 7, 2021 at his home on after a long illness. Ng’weno, popularly known as HBN during his hey days, was born in 1938 and is known for documentaries that covered Kenyan history. He was the founder and editor-in- chief of the Weekly Review magazine which covered political affairs between the 1970’s and the 1990’s. Read: MCK Announces Grants For Journalists Covering Climate Change, GBV Ng’weno was the first Kenyan to attend Harvard University between 1957 and 1962, when he first returned to Kenya and joined the Nation Media Group…

Carrier-neutral data center infrastructure, iColo has announced the construction of its third data center in Nyali, Mombasa called MBA2.  The new data center is expected to be completed in Q1 of 2022 and is set to provide an estimated capacity of 1.6MW megawatt and 1,200 square meters of IT space. The expansion plans in East Africa are on track with the new facility expected to host over 600 customer racks. The location of MBA2 is in close proximity to the subsea cables’ landing points in Mombasa where customers can deploy and connect their infrastructure. Mombasa is the entry point for…

The Facebook Journalism Project has partnered with Reuters to launch a free online training programme for Journalists. The Reuters Digital Journalism Course will support journalists across English-speaking countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to build a strong foundation in digital reporting and editing. The project’s training, programs, and partnerships work by: investing in organizations that fund quality journalism; training newsrooms globally; and partnering with publishers and nonprofits to combat misinformation, promote news literacy, and improve journalism. Reuters says it developed the free online course curriculum after finding out through its Digital News Report that more people were using social media to access news.…

Dinlas Pharma EPZ Limited, the company that imported Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputinik V to Kenya early this year, has sued the Nation Media Group over a “defamatory” story ran by the media house after the government suspended the vaccine in the country. In suit papers seen by Kahawa Tungu, Dinlas is demanding USD45,590,750 (approximately Ksh4.9 billion as per current exchange rate) in damages. Through lawyer Donald Kipkorir, Dinlas accuses the Daily Nation of insinuating that the importation and distribution of Sputnik V in Kenya was done without approval and authorization of the Ministry of Health. “The said words, in their…

Content animation studio, Triggerfish has today announced a call for entries for a pan-African Story Artist Lab sponsored by Netflix. Shortlisted applicants will have three months of paid skills development with international industry experts. The training program will be led by Nathan Stanton, a story artist on Oscar-winning features like Brave, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. The Story Artist Lab is building on the success of their Mama K’s Team 4 all-female writers lab. The team congregated nine African women in the writing room for the first animated Netflix series from Africa. Story artists translate screenplays into animatics by using the…

The  Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) President Richard Ngatia has asked African governments and the private sector to ensure they boost intra-African trade by over 50 percent in a bid realise the economic potential that lies in the continent. Speaking at the Go Africa event whose theme was Promoting Inter African Trade and Investment, Ngatia underscored the importance of effectively using monetary and fiscal support to underpin the economic recovery where policy space remains available. Ngatia spoke in presence of African Ambassadors to Egypt, 80 private sector firms from Kenya and 120 private sector firms from Egypt.…

Eight Kenyans are among twelve people who have been jailed after they were found guilty of cybercrime in Rwanda. The twelve were accused of hacking and stealing cash from the bank. The twelve, also comprising three Rwandans and One Ugandan have been jailed for eight years.  The group fell into the hands of the Rwandan Investigation Bureau in October 2019 after they attempted to hack Equity Bank’s systems to steal money. The eight Kenyans have been identified as Dedan Muchoki Muriuki, Samuel Wachira Nyuguto, Kinyua Erickson Macharia, Godfrey Gachiri Githinji, Eric Dickson Njagi Mutegi, Reuben Kirogothi Mwangi, Damaris Njeri Kamau,…

Safaricom has revised its prices following the amendment of the Excise Duty Act 2015, through amendments to the Finance Act 2021. The amendment saw the excise duty on telephone and internet services revised from 15 percent to 20 percent, effective July 1, 2021. In a statement, the telco said that the increased excise duty will reflect on all out-of-bundle voice calls, data, SMS, and integrated plans. The review will also affect roaming and international voice calling and SMS rates. Other products including fibre and postpay products have also been reviewed to reflect the 20 percent excise duty. Read: Telkom Kenya…

Andrew Musangi, Chris Kirubi’s son-in-law is set to take over the control of the late billionaire’s real estate firm, Centum Real Estate. Centum Real Estate is a subsidiary of Centum Investment Company, which is fully owned by the late billionaire. Mr Musangi has been appointed to the board of Centum Real Estate, in a bid to oil the way for him to take over. Musangi is married to Kirubi’s eldest daughter Mary-Ann Musangi, who now controls Kirubi’s business empire following his demise on June 14. Currently, Mr Musangi serves as Jubilee Party’s national elections board chairman. Mr Musangi, a lawyer,…

Ethiopia termed reports that she is planning to close embassy in Nairobi among others as “false and wild guess”. In a statement, the Ethiopian Embassy in Nairobi said that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was being hypothetical, and that the embassy will not be closed. “The Nairobi mission will not be closed. Ethiopia’s neighbouring countries such as Kenya remains a priority to the Ethiopian foreign policy,” said Ethiopia’s mission in Nairobi. Speaking to MPs on Monday, Abiy said that the country would close several consulates, quoting the case of Kenya where the ambassador approximately met the Minister for Foreign Affairs once…

LinkedIn users’ personal data has reportedly been compromised for a second time this year. Personal details belonging to at least 700 million users is reportedly up for sale on the dark web. Restore privacy reports that LinkedIn confirmed the incident, saying the hackers obtained the data from their servers and other sources. At least 700 profiles accounting for 92 percent of the accounts were exposed. The hacker gained access to LinkedIn API (Application Programming Interface), obtained the data, and proceeded to put them up for sale after posting a sample of 1.2 million profiles. Read: 500 Million LinkedIn Users’ Personal…

Telkom Kenya has announced a review of its prices following the amendment of the Excise Duty Act 2015, through amendments to the Finance Act 2021. The amendment saw the excise duty on telephone and internet services revised from 15 percent to 20 percent, effective July 1, 2021. In a press statement, Telkom said that effective July 6, 2021, its headline price for the Pay-As-You-Go Telkom-to-Telkom Voice will increase to KSh.2.78cts. Read: Airtel Kenya Announces Hike In Call Rates Over Increased Taxation The Pay-As-You-Go Voice for off-net calls will increase to KSh.4.30cts while the cost to send an SMS within the…

Instagram is reportedly working on subscription-based exclusive stories. This means the social platform could soon launch a subscription model, similar to Twitter’s Super follows which is currently being rolled out. This latest feature was spotted by Twitter User Alessandro Paluzzi. “Instagram is working on stories for fan clubs, exclusive stories visible only to fan club members” Paluzzi said in a tweet. #Instagram is working on stories for fan clubs, exclusive stories visible only to fan club members 👀 ℹ️ It is not possible to take screenshots of exclusive stories. pic.twitter.com/GAYvRFVBss — Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) June 21, 2021 Read: What Is…

Asteroid and iColo have been together since 2018, and Asteroid operates its Mombasa internet exchange point at iColo MBA1 since early 2020. Asteroid will operate the second city in Kenya, Nairobi, and has chosen to deploy one of its Nairobi IXP points of presence at iColo’s NBO1. Internet Exchange Point provider Asteroid is rolling out its services in Nairobi, with operations expected to start at the beginning of Q3,2021. The company specializes in the deployment and management of local internet exchange points. Internet exchange points provide a local access point for networks, including internet services providers and content providers enabling…