Kenya has kicked off campaigns for its candidate for the African Union Commission chairperson Raila Odinga with President William Ruto lobbying other African leaders to vote for the opposition leader in next year’s election. Ruto, together with Odinga and other senior government officials, on Tuesday and Wednesday spent part of their time during the State visit to China urging other African leaders at the event to vote for Odinga in the upcoming poll. The Head of State, as part of the campaigns, met with the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno of Chad…
Author: Silas Apollo
Kenya has inked a deal to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a fully paid member after President William Ruto signed a formal agreement with the lender. Ruto, on Tuesday, announced that Kenya had formally joined the financial institution, in a move that will see the country access concessional funding for state projects. The funds, Ruto said, will go towards the realisation of the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda, and bridge the gap of revenue deficit in the country that has been occasioned by the growing public debt burden. A concessional loan is a loan that provides favourable…
The National Assembly is set to consider a Bill seeking to allow taxpayers who were locked out of the tax amnesty programme upon its expiry in June 2024 to benefit. The House is expected to debate the Tax Procedures (Amendment) Bill, 2024 when it resumes from its long recess in the second week of September. The proposed law, which was published on August 20, 2024 and seeks to extend the amnesty programme to June 2025, was submitted by the cabinet secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning. It proposes to amend section 37E of the Tax Procedures Act to…
It is a few minutes past 10 am and residents of the West Pokot-Turkana border begin to troop in for what has become an annual ritual in the past two years – to dialogue over peaceful coexistence. Since schools are closed for holidays, many adults are relieved of their daily animal herding duties by children, although many do not attend school anyway. Many adults are, therefore, available for the peace meeting. As has been the case in the past two years, the area MPs – Loima’s Protus Akujah and Kacheliba’s Titus Lotee – are present to give the much-needed leadership…
Kenya has officially unveiled former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as the country’s candidate for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission (AUC). President William Ruto on Tuesday led Kenyans in launching Odinga’s candidature for the continental post in an event that was also attended by several leaders and heads of state across the region. Ruto in his speech lauded Odinga as a pan-Africanist and the right candidate for the job, adding that his election to the post will be a win for the continent. “I present to you a visionary Pan-African, a bold and wise leader, a professional and technocrat…
Uasin Gishu governor Jonathan Bii has nominated Tembelio Ward Member of County Assembly Evans Kapkea as his deputy. Governor Bii nominated Kapkea following the resignation of his deputy John Barorot who stepped down from his position to take up a new role as a chief executive officer of an international ICT firm. Kapkea holds a bachelor’s degree in analytical chemistry from Moi University and currently serves as the chairperson of the Uasin Gishu County Assembly’s Trade, Industrialization, Tourism and Investment Committee. He is also a member of the Assembly’s Budget, Finance and Appropriations Committee, Health Committee and Delegated Legislation. The…
Members of Parliament have approved a motion that will see Parliament conduct some of its proceedings across various parts of the country as part of its efforts to bring the House closer to the people. The MPs, in a motion proposed by the National Assembly’s committee on Parliamentary Broadcasting and Library, also endorsed a commitment to leverage on digital platforms to expand reach and take some of its proceedings to the grassroot. Committee chairman Daniel Nanok, while moving the motion said social media can be used by Parliament for outreach. “Social media platforms afford Parliament good outreach where Parliament can…
As the dust settles on the dramatic impeachment of Meru governor Kawira Mwangaza, focus shifts to her little-known deputy Isaac Mutuma M’Ethingia, who is set to assume the office of governor. Mutuma, a Methodist Church minister with extensive public service experience, began his career as a prison officer before rising through the ranks. He had previously worked as a child rights advocate with Plan International and a youth representative for Habitat for Humanity in the Mount Kenya region before being nominated by Mwangaza to run in the 2022 general election. The deputy governor has also served as the chairman of…
Youths working as interns in various government offices within the national and county governments may soon be entitled to work benefits such as maternity, paternity as well as sick leave. This is according to the recently introduced Public Service Internship Bill, 2022 which seeks to among other things improve the working conditions of interns in various public offices across the country. The Bill, which has since received the support of a majority of members of the National Assembly, wants all interns working in government offices to be entitled to better pay and other work benefits. The Public Service Internship Bill,…
The High Court has blocked the government from increasing the Road Maintenance Levy which was hiked from Sh18 to Sh25 per litre of fuel. Justice Gregory Mutai made the ruling pending the hearing of a petition filed by a Mombasa resident George Juma seeking to stop the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) from increasing the levy. Epra had on July 14, 2024, announced an increase in the RML from Sh18 to Sh25 per litre of fuel. Initially, the levy was set at Sh18 per litre of fuel but the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) proposed a 39 per cent increase.…
