The government has officially begun the sale of its stake in the five hotels that were earmarked for privatization. This is after the Privatisation Authority on Tuesday placed a tender inviting consultant to guide the disposal of the Kenya Development Corporation controlled hotels. Some of the hotels to be sold off include the Kenya Safari Lodges, Mt Elgon Lodge Limited, Golf Hotel Kisumu, Kabarnet Hotel and Sunset Hotel. “The authority requires transaction advisory services that involve the review of financials, industry analysis, commercial, operational, regulatory and legal for the KDC-controlled hotels,” the tender call read. The notice by the Authority…
Author: Silas Apollo
Joseph Irungu “Jowie” has been sentenced to death after he was found guilty of the 2018 murder of Ms Monica Kimani. Irungu was handed the sentence by High Court judge Grace Nzioka on Wednesday, March 13, after the judge ruled that the horrific murder of Kimani by Irungu, was “intentional”. “It was not a defensive act. It was not out of provocation. It was planned, intended and executed,” Justice Nzioka ruled. “Based on what I have said, I have ordered that the first accused before this court, Joseph Kuria Irungu alias Jowie, shall suffer death as provided for the offence…
The National Assembly has passed a motion that could soon allow Kenya to produce vaccines through the International Vaccine Institute (IVI). This comes after the House adopted a report of the Departmental Committee on Health on its consideration of the agreement on the establishment of the IVI, a move that will facilitate Kenya’s integration into a network of vaccine producers, consortia, and health researchers. Moving the motion on the report, Endebess MP Robert Pukose, who chairs the departmental committee on health, said Kenya will greatly benefit from IVI membership as it will enable knowledge transfer, capacity building in biotechnology and…
County governments are set to receive about Sh391.1 billion as equitable share of revenue in the new financial year after members of Parliament last week approved the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) for the 2024/25 financial year. The devolved units, according to the BPS, will also receive Sh48.2 billion as part of county additional allocation with another Sh7.9 billion approved for the Equalization Fund (EQ) kitty. Additionally, the House also put the arrears to EQ at Sh3.5 billion. The approved funds follow months of heated debates between governors, National Treasury and the Commission on Revenue Allocation over the amount that the…
The National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee chaired by nominated MP John Mbadi has called for an increase in funding to the Office of the Auditor-General so it can operate as an independent and well-equipped entity. Mbadi said the office needed to be enhanced, stressing that it would facilitate efficient execution of the audit cycle and ensure ongoing and sustainable audit operations. “For years, the Office has suffered from severe underfunding, despite its extensive mandate. It continues to seek support from Parliament and the National Treasury to enhance resources, bolster technical capacity, expand presence in counties, broaden audit scope, and motivate…
Justice Akiwumi served as the chairman of Akiwumi Commission of Inquiry into Tribal Clashes, which was appointed in 1998 to investigate various ethnic clashes in the country. The late retired Justice Akilano Molade Akiwumi who died on February 14 will be remembered as one of the leading arbitrators and a champion of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in the country. The former judge, of Ghanaian origin, first joined the Judiciary in 1987, serving as a judge of the High Court, before moving to the Court of Appeal in 1993. He would later quit the Kenyan Judiciary in February 2000 to concentrate…
The government has announced plans to work alongside county governments to realise the bottom up economic transformation agenda. This is according to interior principal secretary Raymond Omollo who said that plans are underway to rope in counties in the coordination of government functions to ensure synchrony in achieving growth and development at the grassroots. Speaking during a meeting with Prime Cabinet secretary and foreign affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi in his office, Omollo said that the counties will be included in the plan through the national government administration officers currently stationed in counties. The national government administration officers, had in an…
The National Assembly’s departmental committee on defence, intelligence and foreign relations has started an inquiry into the alleged malpractices within the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK). The Committee chaired by Belgut MP Nelson Koech is investigating the alleged ethical breaches including corruption, fraud, discrimination, abuse of power and allegations of human rights violations. BATUK has been accused of various human rights violations such mistreatment, torture, unlawful detention, killings and other violations of internationally recognized human rights standards. The committee last week met with commissioner of the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC), Prof Marion Mutugi, University of Nairobi…
Members of the National Assembly have begun debate on a Bill that seeks to restructure the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) including the roles and power of the chairman, qualifications of commissioners and the term limit of the chief executive officer. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2024, read before the House for the first time this week, wants various amendments done on the composition of IEBC, including on the selection panel responsible for picking commissioners to the electoral agency. Co-sponsored by the leader of the majority party in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung’wa and his minority…
National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report is seeking to facilitate dialogue and consensus building and recommend appropriate constitutional, legal and policy reforms on issues of concern to Kenyans The process to amend the Constitution in line with the recommendations of the NADCO report will begin in Parliament after both the Senate and the National Assembly formed teams to scrutinize the document before debate on the floor of the House. Nadco, which is a product of the bipartisan committee talks between the Kenya Kwanza administration and the opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance, is seeking to amend various sections of the…
