By Silas Apollo Kenyans may soon have the option of buying affordable electricity if joint investigations launched by the two Houses of Parliament on the runway cost of electricity in the country bear much fruit. Both the Senate and the National Assembly have launched independent investigations into the high cost of power, blamed for causing pain to most families and businesses nationwide. The cost of electricity has been high for a better part of this year, especially after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority approved new tariffs on power. The tariffs, proposed by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, increased…
Author: Silas Apollo
The government has announced plans to lift the moratorium on mineral mining that has been in place since 2019. This is according to the cabinet secretary for Mining and Blue Economy Salim Mvurya, who says that the decision is to help revamp the mining sector. The moratorium – which was imposed by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2019, was meant to streamline the sector, by prohibiting licensing of new explorations and prospecting activities. But the CS, in a statement, said that regulations had already been put in place to help restructure the sector, paving way for the suspension of the…
The government has in the last one year generated about Sh17 billion from the printing and issuance of passports locally and globally. This is according to data from the department of immigration which says that the funds were also generated from the issuance of e-citizen services. Immigration and Citizen Services principal secretary Julius Bitok said that the money was earned over an extended period of about 12 months. The PS was speaking while appearing before the National Assembly’s Regional Integration Committee to respond to concerns over the delay in the printing and issuance of at least 88,000 pending passports. Bitok…
Trade unionists, workers’ unions and religious groups from across the country have called for the revocation of purchase agreements signed between Kenya Power and the Independent Power Producers to tame the country’s high electricity cost. Speaking during a session held by the National Assembly’s departmental committee on energy, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions, the Law Society of Kenya, Kenya Medical Association, the Union of Kenya Civil Servants and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education said the current purchasing agreements were punitive to Kenyans. The unions argued that the high cost of power had become a burden to many…
More than a half a million farmers in 40 counties have so far accessed the subsidised fertiliser from the government. This is according to the cabinet secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mithika Linturi who says that about 500,436 farmers benefited from some 3,302,683 bags of subsidised fertilizer issued by the government. The CS, in a statement to lawmakers in Parliament, also said that the government was working on plans to reduce prices of top-dressing CAN fertilizer and its distribution across the country to boost food production. Linturi acknowledged the relatively high cost of CAN fertilizer, which is currently retailing…
A Parliamentary Committee has begun investigations into the decision by the administration of former President Uhuru Kenyatta to grant tax waivers to companies during his reign as President. This week, the National Assembly’s Finance Committee summoned companies said to have received the waivers, some amounting to hundreds of millions of shillings. The waivers, the committee said, are believed to have been authorised by the National Treasury, a move they said denied the Kenya Revenue Authority the opportunity to collect taxes. First to appear before the committee chaired by Molo MP Kimani Kuria was managing a liquor manufacturing firm – London…
The Council of Legal Education flouted several laws on procurement, compensation of staff and finance management leading to a possible loss of millions of funds at the institution. The Office of the Auditor-General reports that the council failed to observe the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission guidelines, and the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, while discharging its duties. The report for the financial year ended June 30, 2021, says that the Council may have, as a result of these violations, paid contractors for work not done, breached the rights of its employees and…
A Parliamentary Committee have questioned the manner of compensation of affected land owners by construction of the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone in Mombasa County, with allegations of double compensation. The National Assembly Committee on Land, chaired by North Mugirango MP Joash Nyamoko, made the revelations following a fact-finding visit to the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone to address issues surrounding land compensation for Project Affected Persons (PAPs). The visit follows a series of meetings between the committee, the National Land Commission (NLC), the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Planning and the Special Economic Zone Authority to…
The government has announced plans to invest about Sh50 billion into the private sector to provide water, housing, transport, infrastructure and other services. The Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Directorate says that the funds – which will be mobilised this financial year, seek to complement efforts by the government to provide key services to the public. PPP director-general Christopher Kirigua says that the National Treasury has identified at least six sectors for the public-private partnerships. Some of these sectors include water, housing, transport, infrastructure, trade and industry, which the government says it intends to synergise with the private sector through the PPP…
The Budget and Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly has recommended the recognition of village heads as national government administration officers (NGAO). This is among a raft of recommendations the Committee has made while considering various legislative proposals. Should the proposed amendment to the National Coordination Bill sail through in Parliament, village heads who are engaged will take home a total of Sh7,000 per month consisting of a monthly stipend of Sh4,000, transport allowance of Sh2,000 and airtime allowance of Sh1,000. The committee made the recommendation in recognition of what it says is the crucial role village elders play in…