Author: KahawaTungu Reporter

The government has pushed forward the date by which all non-approved payment platforms must be shut down and all users must switch to the designated Paybill number 222222. In a circular by Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau, government agencies will be expected to adopt the new Paybill number by Tuesday, August 8. The deadline had earlier been set for August 10. But Ms Wanjau on Friday directed accounting officers in all ministries, State departments, and government organizations to switch to the single payment platform by the new date. Read: President Ruto Unveils Paybill to be Used for all Gov’t Payments…

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul veteran actor Mark Margolis has died at the age of 83, according to his family. Best known in the role of Hector Salamanca on both series, he played a drug cartel member who uses a wheelchair after a stroke. He passed away in a New York City hospital on Thursday after a short illness, his son said in a statement. Margolis also had acting credits in films such Scarface, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and HBO series Oz. In the Emmy-nominated role of Salamanca, Margolis portrayed a hyper-violent gangster who is unable to speak…

Police in Moyale seized 500 kilograms of bhang and arrested one suspect in a stealth operation to curtail trafficking of narcotics in the region. The operation was launched after police received intelligence information that a lorry had been spotted at a thicket at Kate in Moyale while loaded with a suspicious consignment. The area is popular with such narcotics originating neighboring Ethiopia. Swinging into action, the law enforcers rushed to the location where a trailer loaded with 99 bales of the illicit drug estimated at a street value of Sh10 million was intercepted and the cargo seized, police said. The…

Rally Stars Kenya team is prepping to participate in the forthcoming KNRC (Kenya National Rally Championship) event. The team that is made up of; Jeremiah Wahome and Victor Okundi, McRae Kimathi and Mwangi Kioni and Hamza Anwar and Adnan Din, will take part in the event set for August 4 and 5 in Eldoret. The crews will compete in the Ford Fiestas while Hamza will use a Mitsubishi Evolution X for this rally as the team awaits brand new replacement engines that are presently out of stock at Ford. The engines are anticipated to be received in first week of…

At least 11 people were killed in Kisumu and Kisii counties during the anti-government demonstrations last month. Amnesty International in conjunction with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) on Friday, said police used excessive force to disperse protestors during the riots. “Between 28-30 July 2023, Amnesty International Kenya, the Law Society of Kenya and the Kenya Medical Association visited Kisumu and Kisii Counties,” the three organisations said in a joint statement. “We are saddened to report that preliminary investigations confirm that at least 11 people were killed, most suffering bullet wounds and a few…

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate has been freed from house arrest in Romania pending his trial on rape and human trafficking charges. Andrew and his brother Tristan were arrested in March and charged in June. They deny the charges. The pair can move freely around the capital, Bucharest, and the surrounding Ilfov district where they live. They must report to police when ordered to, and inform them of any change of address. They are also banned from contacting the two Romanian associates accused alongside them, the witnesses, or the alleged victims or their families. Also Read: Trump Pleads Not Guilty to…

Ethiopia’s federal government on Friday declared a “state of emergency” as violent clashes escalate between the national army and local fighters from the northern region of Amhara. “It has become necessary to declare a state of emergency as a situation has emerged where it has become difficult to control this unacceptable movement under current law,” the office of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement posted on social media. The statement did not make clear if the state of emergency applied nationwide or just to Amhara, which lies to the north of the capital Addis Ababa. Abiy’s government did…

The Law Society of Kenya moved to court to challenge the constitutionality of the Finance Act 2023. The lawyers’ body also wants the government stopped from implementing it. The society through lawyer Noel Ngoloma Okwach says the mandatory affordable housing levy threatens the social economic interest of Kenyans. “We are seeking the court to issue orders prohibiting the government from implementation, further enforcing section 10 (2) (3) of the Income Tax Act as amended by Section 7 of the Finance Act 2023,” the court documents read. Read: Finance Act 2023: Safaricom Adjusts M-Pesa, Call, Data & SMS rates LSK argues that…

Police detained six more foreigners in Garissa as they sought directions to the main Kenya- Somalia border. The six were headed for Somalia to join terror group al Shabaab, police said. Police identified the six as Muhamed Jahad Farah, Saad Suleiman Saleh, Nadrik Mbwana Salum, Abdul Kadir Salum Seif and Ali Issa Ali, all Tanzanian Nationals and Hassan Tourabih Kintosa, an Ugandan National. Upon interrogation, the six admitted that they were on their way to join al Shabaab after being recruited and facilitated by their handlers from Tanzania and Uganda respectively. They were arrested in Garissa by security officers who…

State House chief of staff Felix Koskei has expressed concern over criminal elements extorting money from public servants using his name. On Friday, Koskei, who also serves as Head of the Public Service, released a statement in which he claimed that the “crooks” have been roaming around government offices taunting senior civil workers in exchange for monetary favors. Koskei went on to say that the con artists have been picking on poor Kenyans looking for employment and government services. He asked the heads of parastatals, principal secretaries, and cabinet secretaries to report such incidents to the appropriate authorities for action.…

Two bar attendants were Thursday arrested over the murder of a man whose body was found on the roadside in Tassia, Nairobi. The body was found by locals and had blood oozing from the mouth and ears. It had a head injury and a deep cut on the upper side of the face. It emerged the man was beaten up at a local bar leading to his death. This followed a disagreement over a bill. The two attendants who were linked to the death were arrested for processing to face murder charges, police said. Elsewhere, a beggar was lynched by…

Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya said her ministry is in the process of streamlining charcoal trade in the country to ensure that it is conducted lawfully and in an environmentally sustainable manner by putting in place appropriate legal safeguards. “We also commit to decriminalize charcoal trade, modernize and commercialize the charcoal value chain; promote youth-owned and operated briquette making enterprises and support the scaling up of clean cooking,” Tuya said. Speaking during the signing of 2023 to 2024 financial year performance contracts with principal secretaries and chairmen of parastatals under her ministry at the Kenya Meteorological…

The government Thursday unmasked the faces behind Worldcoin activities in Kenya even as it revealed the cryptocurrency firm is not licensed to operate in the country. The revelation came just a day after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki suspended the firm’s activities in Kenya to pave the way for a probe into the legality of its operations. He Thursday appeared before Parliament to among other issues state the precautionary steps taken by the government on the already mined data. “The aforesaid entity is not registered as a legal entity in Kenya.” “Preliminary investigations reveal that the entity has hired a…

Former US President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty in a Washington DC court to conspiring to overturn his 2020 election defeat. During a short arraignment, he spoke softly to confirm his not-guilty plea, name, age and that he was not under the influence of any substances. He later told reporters the case was “persecution of a political opponent”. It marks the former president’s third appearance in four months as a criminal defendant. BBC said Mr Trump entered through a backdoor of the courthouse on Thursday afternoon in the centre of the nation’s capital, just yards from the scene of…

Some 283 Kenyan migrant workers have died in the Gulf in the last three years, Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore has revealed. Bore while appearing before Parliament on Wednesday told MPS that the deaths had been recorded in the period between January 2020 and November 2022. Bore was responding to questions by legislators on the status of Kenyans in the Gulf amid hue and cry over mistreatment. She said 185 Kenyans lost their lives in the Saudi Arabia Kingdom between January 2020 and November 2022. Some 48 of the deaths were reported in 2020, 60 in 2021…