Sound Candid Talk

 Attorney General Justin Muturi has instructed the Kenya Revenue Authority to cease the collection of the housing levy from employed Kenyans, asserting its absence of legal foundation. In correspondence addressed to KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga, the AG referenced the Court of Appeal's ruling on January 26, affirming that the High Court's declaration of the levy as unconstitutional remains valid. "The upshot of this is that there is no legal basis on which the Housing Levy as provided in section 84 of the Finance Act, can be implemented," Muturi said. He responded to a letter from Wattanga dated February 12, inquiring about the government's stance on the issue. The High Court ruled on November 28, 2023, that the Housing Levy was unlawful, citing various reasons, including its discriminatory nature towards workers in the informal sector. Despite this, a three-judge panel postponed the implementation of the orders until January 10, 2024, pending the sub...

On Wednesday, Ghana passed a bill that imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of identifying as LGBTQ+. The bill also imposes a jail term of up to 5 years for forming or funding LGBTQ+ groups.  The bill was introduced in the Ghanaian parliament in 2021. Sam George, one of the main sponsors of the bill posted on X:  "After three long years, we have finally passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act." Many African nations continue to outlaw same-sex relationships, largely due to laws inherited from the colonial era. However, there has been a surge of new bills and legislative proposals in Africa aimed at clarifying and, in certain instances, toughening these regulations. Gay sex is already illegal in Ghana- it carries a three-year prison sentence.   The drafters of the bill say the bill seeks to promote proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values and criminalize LGBTQ activities and their sponsors.  The bill has how...

The Kenya Meteorological Department, through its director David Gikungu, has issued a warning of intense rainfall exceeding 20mm within the next 24 hours.  ]The affected regions include Narok, Nakuru, Bomet, Kericho, Kisii, Nyamira, Migori, Homa Bay, Siaya, Kisumu, Nandi, Vihiga, Kakamega, and Busia in the South Rift Valley, Lake Victoria, Highlands West, and Central Highlands.  Additionally, Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, West Pokot, Turkana, Marsabit, Uasin Gishu, Kiambu, Nyeri, Murang'a, Nairobi, Machakos, Kajiado, and Taita Taveta are expected to experience heavy rainfall starting from Monday, February 26, as announced by Gikungu. "The heavy rainfall is likely to spread to Southeast lowlands on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is likely to reduce in intensity on Thursday." The forecast showed that the rains will be accompanied with strong winds surpassing 10m/s over the northwestern parts of the country.  "Gusty winds may blow off roofs, uproot trees and cause structural damages...

Employees can now breathe a sigh of relief after Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha on Monday announced that deductions towards the new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) will commence in July. The deductions towards the new fund were earlier stipulated for first week of March.  Speaking during a national validation exercise at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Ms. Nakhumicha said registration of new members on the new fund, will now take place between March and June 30. The new fund replaces the now defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) whose legacy has been tainted by corruption.  "Our aim as a ministry is to commence registration from the first week of March and this will go on up to June and thereafter, we intend to begin contributions at a rate of 2.75% with a minimum payment of Sh300. Our hope is that access to these benefits will start in the month of July," she said.  Members previously registered on NHIF will now be required to ...

On Friday, the Finance Action Task Force (FATF), the international authority on combating money laundering, decided to place Kenya on the grey list. This decision is likely to damage Nairobi's position as the primary financial hub in the region. Kenya joins a list of 23 other countries put on the grey list for not having stringent measures to curb flow of dirty cash. Kenya now joins several other African countries on the list including Tanzania, South Sudan, Nigeria, South Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cameroon Mozambique and Senegal. Uganda was removed from the list of shame following recommendations of FATF's fifth plenary meeting. The grey list refers to countries that have inadequacies in dealing with money laundering and terrorist financing.  Kenya will face heightened monitoring from the FATF, and it is anticipated that the nation will need to implement significant modifications to its financial framework to lower the likelihood of being a sanctuary for illicit funds. Addit...

On the evening of Monday, 26th, pictures featuring Azimio leader Raila Odinga alongside President William Ruto in Yoweri Museveni's Kisozi farm in Uganda surfaced online throwing supporters and rivals alike into a frenzy.  The visit by the president and the opposition leader to Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni left Kenyans wondering whether the two were working on a possible handshake deal similar to the one between Raila and former president Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018.   Ruto stated on X that the purpose of the meeting was to deliberate on Odinga's candidacy for the chairmanship of the African Union (AU) Commission. Odinga has subsequently conveyed his appreciation to the two leaders for endorsing his candidacy. This comes against the backdrop of Raila announcing his AUC Chairmanship bid amid speculations of a possible government endorsement for the job. "Kenya and Uganda are committed to the deepening of the long-established diplomatic and economic ties between our ...

The United Nations Environmental Assembly, the world's top decision-making body on the environment kicked off its sixth session on Monday in Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya's CS for Environment, Soipan Tuya, said that over 5000 delegates from the 193 UN member states will participate in the 6th session of the UN Environment Assembly. This will include Heads of State and Governments, ministers, vice-ministers, experts, activists and industry reps.  UNEA was created in 2012, as an outcome of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil. The UN Environmental Programme(UNEP) in Nairobi is the only UN headquarters in the global south.  All 193 UN member states convene every two years to collectively address critical challenges facing the planet. Since its inception, the Assembly has initiated a new phase of multilateralism, elevating environmental issues to equal standing alongside global priorities like peace, security, and health. The meeting comes at a time when the wor...

Prince Harry is determined to mend things with the Royal Family and has no alternative plan. Recent reports suggest he's eager to reconcile with his father, King Charles, and the rest of his relatives. Repairing their bond would also allow his children, Archie and Lilibet, to forge strong relationships with their extended family. It seems Harry has realized that there's no fallback option for his future and believes that reconciling is the best way forward. This intention to mend ties comes after Prince Harry visited his father following Buckingham Palace's announcement of Charles's illness. Their meeting, which is believed to be their first private conversation in over a year, underscores the strained relationship between them since Harry's departure from his senior royal duties after his candid interview with Oprah Winfrey and the release of his revealing autobiography, "Spare." According to a source cited in OK! magazine, Prince Harry wants to put an en...

The Controller of Budget, Margaret Nyakang'o, strongly objected to the spending proposals of State House, 18 ministries, and several agencies, turning down a significant Sh47 billion worth of their emergency clause requests made from July to December 2023. Just Sh3.29 billion, representing a small portion of the sought-after Sh51 billion, received approval, prompting doubts regarding the validity of the proposed expenses. Nyakang'o stated that the majority of the 31 expenditure requests received were considered unnecessary, providing rationale for dismissing nearly 93 percent of the requested funds. Among these were a State House appeal for new vehicles totaling Sh400 million in July and a proposal for a luxurious presidential dais at the State House gardens amounting to Sh700 million in October. Furthermore, pleas for financial support from four State agencies grappling with Sh12.6 billion in outstanding bills, the Ministry of Energy's request for Sh18.4 billion to stabili...

Over the past few days, Kenyans have seen the local Shilling significantly gain against the Dollar. Currently, as of Tuesday, 20th February, the shilling is trading at Sh142.81 per US dollar according to the Central Bank of Kenya.  Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u provided insight into the recent strengthening of the shilling against the dollar. Addressing attendees at the National Executive Retreat in Naivasha, the CS indicated that the unresolved Eurobond matter deterred potential investors. He highlighted market speculation suggesting that the government might intervene by purchasing dollars to gain advantages. "We noticed that however much we tried to talk about the strategy to resolve the Eurobond, there were always some doubts because a big portion especially our microstructure of the market believed that the government would still go to the market to buy dollars to effect payments of the Eurobond," Njuguna Ndung'u said.   " "That is why all of a sudden the mar...

Kenyans paid an extra Sh70 billion in power bills between 2018 and February 2023. According to Auditor General Nancy Gathungu's report, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, EPRA, added illegal charges to their monthly fuel surcharge prompting the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, KPLC, to inflate its prices.  Gathungu's report indicates that the regulator misapplied the formula that calculates monthly electricity bills. As a result, they ended up inflating electricity bills by up to Ksh4.4 per unit from January 2018 onwards.    EPRA neglected to adhere to the established and authorized formula by the energy regulator for determining the monthly surcharge, intended to cover the expenses associated with fuel-based electricity generation. This oversight led to higher-than-expected bills. The Auditor-General’s findings also emphasized that Kenya Power had imposed excessive charges on consumers, amounting to Sh23.17 billion in the period leading up to June 2023. EPRA...

Diesel prices went down for the fourth month in a row, but just a little bit, only by 1 Shilling per liter. This happened as the weak shilling denied Kenyans the full benefit of declining prices of refined fuel around the world.  The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) set the price of diesel at ksh.195.47 down from ksh.196.47 while super petrol will now retail at ksh.206.36 down from ksh.207.36 per litre in Nairobi on Wednesday.  Murban crude prices went down by the biggest margin to $83.32, compared to $91 last month. The weak shilling however denied Kenyans the full benefits of the low prices of fuel as EPRA used an exchange rate of 164.2 units to the dollar, compared to the rate of 158.81 units used in the previous pricing schedule that expired on February 14th.  The new prices are a little lower than before, but not by much. Super petrol prices have been going down for three months in a row, but they are still higher than 200 Shillings per liter. Kerosen...

Government Spokesman Isaac Mwaura has advised Kenyans with urgent passport needs to apply for the 50-page document due to delayed delivery of the 34-page one. The government has said through a press briefing on Thursday, Feb 15, that the current delays in issuance of passport has been caused by shortage of the 34-page passport booklets which cost Ksh.4,550. The government spokesman has told Kenyans that this is due to the slow delivery of the 34-page passport booklets by the supplier.  According to Isaac Mwaura, the documents are usually printed outside the country due to the security reasons leaving only the applicant's Bio-data to be printed locally upon application.  He however assured the public that there are ongoing efforts to ensure a steady supply of the documents, urging those who urgently need their passports to apply for the 50-page passport that go for Ksh.6,050. These are available in plenty.  Kenyans have been waiting a long time to get their passports, even...

Firebrand opposition and Azimio la Umoja Coalition leader Raila Odinga on Thursday, 15th Feb, officially declared his intention to go for the African Union Commission chairmanship job. This alongside former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo during a press conference in Nairobi. Obasanjo, who is AU Special Envoy said the AU is looking for the right person to take over from the current chair Moussa Faki Mahamat whose tenure ends in March next year.  Obasanjo said there is so much that needs to be corrected in Africa and that the AU will need a suitable person to head the organization.  "There is much more that is wrong with Africa today. In my part of the continent, West Africa is riddled with governments that were not installed through constitutional means. The area is riddled with insecurity, poverty, unemployment and you can say a similar thing for this part of Africa," he said.  He added that if the AU is to serve its purpose in solving the continent's problems, it w...

 The Public Service Commission (PSC) shared some worrying news. They found out that some people working in important government jobs got those jobs using fake certificates. The PSC said this on Tuesday. They found that many of these people work in places like the Ministry of Interior, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), and the Geothermal and Development Corporation, which is part of the Ministry of Energy. The PSC Chairman, Ambassador Anthony Muchiri, talked to the media about this. He said they found 2,067 cases of forgery in an investigation they started in October 2022. They looked into 331 institutions, including 52 Ministries and Agencies, 239 State companies, and 40 public universities. These institutions had to give lists of graduates for the last 10 years, lists of new graduates every year, and let the PSC verify certificates online. But only 195 places followed the rules. Out of 58,599 cases they checked, 1,280 turned out to be fak...

  Kenyan police have re-arrested a fugitive murder suspect, Kelvin Kangethe, 41 years. He's wanted by the police in the United States in connection with the killing of his girlfriend last October in Boston. Kelvin Kangethe didn't say anything about the accusations leveled against him. He was held at Muthaiga Police Station while they awaited the decision whether to extradite him back to the US. But last week, on February 7, he got away from the police in Nairobi. The Nairobi police chief, Adamson Bungei, said they arrested him on Tuesday night in Embulmbul town in Ngong. This after a five-day police hunt that involved various police units.  The police found out that Kangethe managed to walk out of the police station where he was kept. His lawyers said his life was in danger. "We caught him again. He's in jail now, and we're thankful for all the help," said Mr. Bungei to The Star news website. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said they used ...

Kenya has successfully issued a new Eurobond worth $ 1.5 billion (Sh238 billion) to pay off the inaugural one due on June 24. This new loan will help pay back a loan from before. It's split into three parts and will take about six years to pay back completely, maturing in 2031. They had to agree to a pretty high interest rate, 10.37 percent, which is the highest any African country has ever offered. Other countries like Cote D'Ivoire and Benin got loans earlier with lower interest rates.  Cote D' Ivoire's and Benin's February bonds, which raised $2.6 billion and $750 million were priced at between 8.5 and 7.5 per cent. The money from this new loan will go towards paying back a different old loan, around $2 billion, that Kenya owes. This way, they can manage their debts better. If there's any of the old loan left after this, Kenya will use a mix of its own money and loans from other countries to pay it off. Getting this loan was important for Kenya's governme...

The Director of Public Prosecution, Renson Ingonga, is not happy with the court's decision in Jacque Maribe's case. Maribe, a former TV presenter, was accused of being involved in the murder of Monicah Kimani in 2018 along with her ex-boyfriend Joseph Irungu. While the court found Irungu guilty of the murder, Maribe was let go because there wasn't enough proof connecting her to the crime. The judge said there were clues pointing to Irungu's involvement, but Maribe couldn't be convicted of lying to the police because she wasn't charged with that.  “The office of the DPP knows their mandate. The resolve is that the prosecution did not adduce adequate evidence for this court to find the second accused person of the offence of murder of Monica Nyawira Kimani on the night of 19th September 2018. The first accused person is convicted on the charge (murder) while the second accused person is acquitted of the charge,” concluded the judge. The DPP is saying they want to ...

Police in Houston, Texas, identified the person who shot at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church on Sunday. Her name is Genesse Ivonne Moreno. She's from El Salvador and has had a lengthy criminal record. She even used another name, Jeffrey Escalante Moreno. The police officers at the church stopped Moreno, but not before two people got hurt – a 57-year-old man and a child with Moreno. They found out later that Moreno was the child's mom. Moreno had a gun with the word "Palestine" on it. She pointed it at the police officers, so they had to shoot her to protect themselves. Moreno wasn't a stranger to breaking the law. She did crimes before like assaulting a police officer in 2009 and forgery in 2010. The police looked into Moreno's home in Conroe, a place near Houston, to find out more about her. They had help from different law agencies like the FBI and the Texas Rangers. On Sunday, just before the Lakewood Church's Spanish service, Moreno came in with a big...

Here's the scoop: The government wants to offer perks to Kenyans living abroad to get more money sent back home. Most of the money sent back to Kenya comes from the US, followed by Saudi Arabia which has recently surpassed the UK. Kenya's government has big plans to get more money flowing from Kenyans living abroad. They want to see at least Sh1 trillion coming in each year, boosting the country's cash reserves from overseas. To make this happen, the State Department for Diaspora Affairs (SDDA) is on the hunt for a consultant. They need someone to figure out how to make sending money back home easier and more attractive. The goal is to hit that Sh1 trillion target by 2027 while making sure the money goes towards both savings and investments. In the past five years, Kenyans abroad have sent back an average of $3.56 billion each year. Last year, it grew by four percent, reaching $4.19 billion. To hit the Sh1 trillion mark, the yearly amount needs to grow by about 36 percent i...