Author: NLM Correspondent

By NLM Writer The year was 2005. As one of Equity Bank’s major shareholders, Africap Fund, was leaving, a decision was made that instead of floating the shares at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, employees would be given the chance to own a part of one of the most profitable banks in the country. “I am pleased to inform you that we successfully concluded the purchase of shares from Africap Fund at the modest price of Sh136 per share. The total purchase price was paid to Africap Fund who have transferred the shares to the trust. Equity Bank Employee Share Ownership…

By ANTONY MUTUNGA The World Youth Organisation places the youth – those aged between 10 and 24 years – at 1.8 billion, or 25 percent of the global population. Sadly, this formidability has not translated into robust policy and practice for their welfare. Africa, which accounts for the largest segment of this figure, has one of the largest rates of youth unemployment in the world. World Bank studies say the youth in Africa account for 60 percent of the jobless. In fact, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB), in most African countries youth unemployment occurs at a rate that…

By Joel Okwemba The very nature of soft power in the 21st Century seems to imply a disassociation with real effects of violence and critical security. However, the intricate nature of the utilisation of “soft power” to achieve the benefits of “hard power” demands a compound approach for long lasting stability in view of the changing International Order. It is evident that what is classified as “soft power” is among the first targets for terrorist groups – for instance religious and cultural heritage sites and Educational institutions in the case of Boko Haram in Nigeria and the Taliban in Pakistan.…

BY NLM writer The story of the Kenyan State has mostly been written from the heart, seldom from the head. George Orwell, in his fictional, allegorical barnyard, called it primitive patriotism – championed by political figures who “cordon themselves off with protective layers of unquestioning followers around them.” The choices made are fashioned to tell and sustain stories of hot-air gallantry. Justice Aaron Ringera, as chair of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, spent a great deal of his time at State House. He was buddies with President Mwai Kibaki; after all, the President had re-appointed him when politicians and legislators had…

By Payton Mathau Last month, the Firearms Licensing Board (FLB), the premier private firearms regulatory body, cancelled the licenses of all gun dealers and shooting ranges countrywide in a quest to control use of weapons. In a move seen to have been effected at the behest of the National Intelligence Service, all licenses for the twenty-one registered gun dealers and shooting ranges where all licensed individual gun holders practise, were suspended forthwith. Meanwhile, the FLB moved the Central Firearms Bureau (CFB) from Nairobi Area to Mandera Road in the leafy Kileleshwa suburb, as it initiated efforts to streamline issuance and management of firearms and ammunition in the country. An intelligence brief shared with…

On its way to dismissing the appeal and affirming the High Court’s Judgment, the Court of Appeal made what we consider a pronouncement of jurisprudential import. The Court stated thus: “Unless a trust is proved, the respondents have neither possessory nor occupational rights that can be protected as overriding interests… We hasten to add that to prove a trust in land; one need not be in actual physical possession and occupation of the land.” In so asserting, the Appellate Court was echoing (and therefore affirming) an earlier holding by the High Court in James N. Kiarie v. Geoffrey Kinuthia &…

kenya is joining a short list of African countries trying to develop their own locally-made phones. The government is putting aside Sh1 billion to boost startups working in the mobile telephone software and hardware industry. Information and communications technology minister Joe Mucheru said last month the move was aimed at bolster manufacturing, making phones that are “suitable for our markets,” besides driving the prices of phones down. By announcing this, Kenya is undertaking a project similar to those in nations including the Republic of Congo and South Africa. Last December, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also launched Nile X, a…

By David Onjili According to a Central Bank of Kenya report released early October on the state of financial sector stability in Kenya reveals the banking sector accounts for more than 60 percent total assets in the sector as at December 2017. In the same period, credit growth declined owing to “demand and supply factors” as households avoided credit, and the prevailing weak corporate structures in the country. Kenya’s financial sector, which includes deposit taking institutions (commercial banks), non-deposit taking institutions (insurance, pensions and capital markets industry) and financial market infrastructure providers, is regulated and supervised by Capital Markets Authority…

The demand for grade-A warehousing, which delivers significant cost savings and efficiency for users, currently far exceeds supply in the country, with warehouse users reporting that finding suitable facilities is frequently impossible, according to recent research by Tilisi Developments. This shortage contrasts sharply with overbuild in some other real estate segments. The oversupply of commercial space in Nairobi reached 4.7m sq. ft in 2017, while retail space oversupply reached 3.7 m sq. ft. Meanwhile, the supply of mall space rose by 41.6 percent last year, even as demand stagnated. As a result, according to Knight Frank’s 2018 Kenya Market Update report,…

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared himself in economic “repair mode” at a major investment conference last month as the country raised a total of Sh5.5 trillion from investors to help haul itself out of recession. The former union leader, who inherited a mismanaged economy from the scandal-plagued Jacob Zuma earlier this year, wants Sh10 trillion of new investments over the next five years. Investment commitments of almost Sh2 trillion were made at the conference, Ramaphosa said. He had already secured pledges for some Sh3.5 trillion, mainly from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Ramaphosa has made reviving…