by Antony Mutunga ‘Africa must take full advantage of the digital revolution to empower its citizens and enhance transparency in government and the private sector’ – Rwanda President Paul Kagame during the high-level African Union (AU) Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) event on digital identity in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November 2018. And Africa has indeed started taking advantage of the digital revolution, from increasing access to the internet for the ever-growing population to more businesses and institutions incorporating digital technologies into their practices. However beneficial, this has come with challenges as African countries have yet to invest as much…
Author: NLM writer
State-owned enterprises have been the major losers at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) for a few years. This has resulted from mismanagement, personal interests, and corruption which have seen investors, who have backed organisations where the government has a stake or influence, lose billions at the bourse over the past five years. The investors have recorded a loss of Sh164.1 billion from seven companies, including Kenya Power, Uchumi Supermarkets, East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC), Kenya Re, Kenya Airways, Mumias Sugar, and KenGen. As of 2017, the companies’ combined market capitalization stood at Sh214.4 billion. As of the first week…
By Antony Mutunga Since President William Ruto took office last year, his administration has been on a mission to cut expenditure while finding ways to increase revenue. One of the government’s agenda was to reduce its spending by Sh300 billion. However, this has proved difficult, as according to its first Supplementary Budget for Financial Year 2022/23; the government has only managed to reduce its total spending for June 2023 by only Sh13.31 billion. With a mission to achieve a recurrent budget surplus in the next three years, the National Treasury has moved to reduce its expenditure. According to the supplementary…
By Silas Apollo As farmers continue to bear the effects of the harsh drought ravaging the country, they have increasingly turned to dry feed to feed their livestock even as the drought and the skyrocketing prices of food and other commodities continue to burden many businesses and residents in the area. Many farmers say that they are now worried that with the current crisis, the drought may reverse gains made in the agricultural sector, which is the economic mainstay for most residents in the region. The government estimates that about 3.5 million Kenyans are currently facing hunger which has been…
By David Wanjala Mid-last year, at the height of the campaigns for the General Election that took place in August, President Uhuru Kenyatta, now retired, was bullied into rescinding a decision he had made in January of the same year banning trade in scrap metal. Coming in the wake of increased vandalism, mainly on power lines across the country, the President had issued a moratorium on the export or the buying or selling of any scrap material until there were proper guidelines in place to ensure that the scrap metal was not coming from “the hard-won investments that the Kenyan…
Political and ideological polarization stand in the way of constitutional amendments By Silas Apollo Any administration, upon gaining power, must come up with a new set of rules to help drive its campaign promises, and help it deliver on its mandate; the Kenya Kwanza administration is currently in the phase of crystallizing these rules. Over the last couple of months, President William Ruto has already called for Constitutional amendments, a move he says will enrich the country’s democratic process and improve service delivery. The President, in his proposal, wants the creation of the office of the official leader of opposition,…
By Silas Apollo Opposition outfit the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition could be staring at a bleak future following plans by its chairman and former President Uhuru Kenyatta to quit its leadership. The former Head of State has been facing increasing pressure from leaders and politicians allied with President William Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza administration to quit active politics after losing last year’s Presidential election. Mr. Kenyatta is also, by law, expected to relinquish any leadership position that he holds in a political party to enjoy his retirement benefits, meaning that he can longer serve as the chairman…
Kenyans are protesting the increase in cooking gas prices across the country. Early this month, social media users started expressing disappointment in the rise of LPG by Sh500. Reports show that the price of cooking gas, the primary energy source in millions of homes, has gone up by up to 30 percent. Local LPG suppliers are reportedly selling a 6kg cylinder at Sh2,600. It was previously retailing at Sh1,800. Kenyans are decrying the increase in cooking gas prices, with most lamenting that a 13kg cylinder they bought at Sh2,600 in December has risen to Sh3,100. Local suppliers are blaming a…
South Sudan has accused Kenya of grabbing its land, setting the stage for a boundary row that risks derailing trade between the two nations. Juba says Kenya has “illegally” taken 42 points of its borderline at Nadapal, a settlement on a key crossing point and trade route between the two countries. South Sudan’s Deputy Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister, Deng Dau Deng, said Kenya and Uganda are claiming part of the South Sudan borderline, pointing out that Juba will not cede an inch of the territory. The settlement appears inside Sudan on UN maps. The surrounding territory has a…
The National Transport and Safety Authority may have lost close to Sh395.6 million it paid to a local bank for the supply, delivery, installation and the maintenance of smart card-based driving licenses. A report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu on the NTSA’s finances for the year ending June 2021, shows that the Authority did not get value for the money it paid to the bank for the driving licenses. According to the report, NTSA had in March 2017, entered into a three-year contract with a local bank for the supply, delivery, installation and maintenance of second-generation smart card-based driving licenses and associated services. …