Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) is planning to introduce a digital queuing system and install smart cameras in termini in Nairobi to end the madness that has become the face of transport industry.
The Major General Mohammed Badi led agency is also planning to establish police posts within the termini to ensure enforcement of the regulations and to boost security too. Nairobi termini are common with pickpockets and thugs who pose as touts but terrorize commuters but ameras will help the security team to digitally monitoring whatever goes on within and around the termini.
“The police officers in the bus termini police posts’ will be charged with enforcement to restore law and order across the city,” said Badi.
To bring sanity to the matatu industry, NMS believes that digital queuing system will control the flow of public service vehicles (PSVs) in and out of the termini.
The NMS director further added that the smart cameras will be linked to operation centres at police headquarters and NMS to monitor every action in the bus termini and officers will also be designated at the centres to keep an eye.
NMS Director Major General Mohammed Badi [p/courtesy]“The officers at the operational centre will be able to see the buses coming and will arrange how they come and drop passengers by automatically putting it in the queuing system. That helps in ensuring PSVs are disciplined in terms of picking and dropping passengers leading to law and order in the termini,” said Badi.
Badi will require Saccos to nominate representative to sit in the operations room to monitor misbehaving members. He also directed Transport and Public Works Engineer Michael Ochieng’ to ensure that no touting will be allowed in the modern termini.
The plan that aims to reduce crime rate through a round clock surveillance will also restore order as drivers will queue according to their saccos and follow directions from screens mounted at the termini.
NMS is currently constructing six bus termini including Muthurwa, Park Road, Fig Tree, Green Park, Desai and another one at the junction of Bunyala and Workshop Road and a firm has already been contracted to roll out the plan.
Interior CS Dr. Fred Matiang’i has given UNHCR 14 days to present plan on the closure of Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps without any further negotiations. The directive is issued amid height of maritime crisis between Kenya and Somalia.
Dr. Matiangi delivered the letter bearing two weeks ultimatum on the scheduled closure of the world’s largest refugee camps will directly to the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees representative to Kenya Fadhilaa Addala.
The closure will affect over 500,000 people hosted at the respective camps after Kenya downplayed the Maritime impasse and blamed the move on concerns over the rising terror activities planned from Dadaab and Kakuma camps.
Interior CS Dr. Fred Matiang’i [p/courtesy]‘There is no room for negotiation. We must strike a balance between Kenya’s international obligation and her domestic duties. We do have a domestic responsibility to protect Kenya,’’ the letter read in part.
Kenya made similar attempts to close Dadaab camp in 2016 and send hundreds of thousands of Somalis back to their war-torn homeland or on to other countries after the then Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery said al-Shabaab fighters used the camp as a base for smuggling weapons.
“For reasons of pressing national security that speak to the safety of Kenyans in a context of terrorist and criminal activities, the government of the Republic of Kenya has commenced the exercise of closing Dadaab refugee complex,” Nkaiserry said.
But many aide groups complained that closure of the camps was devastating since it was not be possible to force large numbers of people over the border into a country where war is still raging.
William Swing, director general of the International Organization for Migration, complained that the move desperate move to empty the camps might result to abuse and violence.
Map showing disputed area between Kenya and Somalia [p/courtesy]
In 2017 a high court judge ruled against the decision to close down the camps arguing that it was tantamount to an act of group persecution but Kenyan government vowed to appeal against the ruling on security grounds.
The latest directive is issued when Kenya and Somalia are embroiled in a heated dispute over 100,000km2 area of the Indian Ocean thought to have lucrative hydrocarbons and fish.
Kenya wants the boundary to run eastwards on a parallel line of latitude as it is today while Somalia wants the line to move southeastwards, based on an equidistant line.
But Kenya walked out of the hearings at the International Court of Justice after it accused the World Court of ‘procedural unfairness’ in the case. ICJ allowed oral hearing to continue despite Kenya’s protest in a case that may see her lose rights to exploit oil and gas in the deep waters off the East African shores.
The first ‘valuable item’ the system acquired from the handshake deal is Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho. On May 31 2018, barely three months ater the handshake, Joho hosted Baringo Senator Gideon Moi in his office in Mombasa. The vocal governor has been a staunch supporter of the ODM leader Raila Odinga but their relationship is waning with their silent divorce now beginning to rumble.
Joho is now executing his plot to ditch the orange party by aiming at the presidential ticket that the orange community believes is preserved for Raila.
After leading the Coastal region to support and overwhelmingly vote for Odinga in the past two elections, Joho is now challenging the ODM to return the favor and back his bid. The move leaves support for Raila in shambles when his worthy opponent, DP William Ruto , is leading an onslaught and making inroads into sections of the Coast region.
Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi is also championing calls for the formation of a coastal party, an idea that Joho hates in public but supports behind closed doors. He is believed to be funding the entire process and he may use that party as a bargaining chip as he schemes for national politics ahead of 2022.
Since he became ‘a non-profit’ to the ODM party after the March 9 2018 handshake, Joho has been barking to please the system but not necessarily ODM, where he is the deputy leader.
Baringo Senator Gideon Moi reciprocated by inviting the flashy governor to his father’s home in Kabarak where Joho met the former Late President Daniel T. Moi. Such a meeting is monumental in Kenyan politics, it must the point at which Joho chose to reconsider his stay in ODM. If anything he is serving his final term and must scheme his way into national politics where deal making is based regions and numbers.
Joho held a close door meeting with the former powerful president and Senator Gideon who was intensifying his forays into Kwale and Mombasa at the time.
Late President Moi,C, Senator Moi, L, and Governor Joho when he visited Kabarak in 2019 [p/courtesy]Not much was read about the visit then but the relationship between Joho and Odinga’s ODM worsened when ODM lost Msambweni seat to an independent candidate supported by Dp William Ruto who is eating into Odinga’s support base at the Coast. ODM leaders from Nyanza blamed the Msambweni lose on Joho.
In a retaliatory move , Joho’s family recently refused to fund and mobilize supporters to attend Odinga’s rally in Mombasa during his six day tour of the Coast. The rally was poorly attended amid speculations that 001 is only waiting for expiry of the deadline of presidential ticket applications before he can quit the orange party.
The deadline for submitting applications is March 31, Odinga has not submitted his application but his hardliners like the Suna East Mp Junet Mohamed have already trashed Joho’s bid as a big joke.
Joho is expected to ditch ODM and join the party that Governor is pushing to form which in turn will coalesce with the parties forming Sacred Alliance that is enjoying the backing of the system.
The outspoken governor became ‘pro-system’ after he was sacked in through a deal that saw his family take over strategic cargo terminal in Nairobi built with the public funds. Joho will be in bed with the deep state which is out finish his party boss Raila Odinga and DP William Ruto as the only horses in the 2022 presidential race.
Migori County Assembly Speaker Boaz Okoth is plotting a risky political move that may see him go for the county’s top seat on DP William Ruto’s UDA Party ticket. Boaz is allied to Governor Obado but is aware of the strained relationship between ODM party and the governor who is serving his second and final term.
The speaker has also been at odds with ODM party since the flopped move to impeach governor Obado last year. The besieged speaker defied ODM party’s scheme to impeach Governor Obado despite intimidation, threats and assaults by ODM officials.
Okoth accused ODM party secretary general Edwin Sifuna as one of the goons who were baying for his blood for frustrating the party efforts to Obado’s impeach Obado. The speaker said that a group of goons led by Sifuna stormed into his hotel room in Kisumu and attacked him together with his bodyguard who was later withdrawn.
The botched impeachment was plotted after Obado and his four children were charged with Sh73 million in a move which his supporters blamed on the bad blood between the governor and the ODM party.
United Democratic Alliance logo [p/courtesy]With the speaker’s supporters already expecting a shocking move, one of the options on Boaz’s table is to openly fly the UDA ticket or use an affiliate party like People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which Obado used in first term when he floored ODM candidate.
Combined efforts of the governor and the speaker have given Raila a run for his money forcing the fierce opposition leader to raise a white flag like it played in Obado impeachment attempts.
The honorable speaker has vowed to give his rivals a run for their money. In 2013 he went against the grain and won the North Kadem MCA seat on an Agano Party ticket.
According to the speaker, Obado has built a strong foundation on development in Migori to allow an outsider to come in as a governor and disrupt. Obado has defied calls to endorse his successor but both Obado and the speaker have hinted at working on a political vehicle that will shock their opponents.
Kitui county assembly speaker George Ndotto is fighting to retain ownership of a prime piece of land in Kitui town the late former President Daniel Moi donated to him. Ndotto was allocated the land in 1989 when he served in Moi’s cabinet but has not obtained documents to back his ownership of the property that Isaac Kalua is now eyeing.
Ndotto slept on his closeness with Moi as he sat on the grabbed land and forgot to change its ownership. Crooks in the fraudulent land industry who were aware of the status of the land like Kalua had schemed ahead and processed the necessary papers.
The new owner is already sending signals that Ndotto should forget about the prime plot and vacate.
That is after a perimeter wall on the disputed land was recently destroyed by hired goons who left the honorable speaker weeping in public. Detective from the Kitui Central Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) are still probing the chaos with the battle over ownership now heading to the courts and Lands Ministry.
Ndotto was first challenged by a junior staffer at the Checker Oil Products who filed documents to prove the one-acre parcel of land situated along Kitui-Nairobi highway, opposite the Kitui GK Prison was illegally occupied by the county assembly speaker.
Isaac Kalua, he processed ownership documents behind Ndotto [p/courtesy]The former cabinet minister claims that he was gifted the land by the late Moi during one of his tours in Kitui. He claims that the plot was allocated to him on June 22 1989 but records at the land registrar show that the he neither accepted the offer nor paid stamp premium or requisite fees.
“The letter of offer was withdrawn by the Commissioner of Lands for lack of acceptance and failure to pay the requisite legal fees,” a report from the Lands Ministry reads.
The report further revealed that Checker Oil Products through a letter dated January 21 1998 applied for the plot which was lying idle and was issued an allotment letter on June 25 1998.
Checker got an allotment because the status report of the plot at the time showed that Ndotto’s allotment was cancelled on June 22 1998 after he failed to meet the conditions of allotment.
Kalua then used Checker Oil Products Ltd to pay all the prerequisite fees, survey, and a sealed registry index map was signed by the Director of Survey on June 30 2006 and he was issued a certificate of lease on May 23 2018.
Ndotto has been relying on the late president’s verbal instruction that is not supported by records at the Lands Ministry. He lacks the certificate of lease for the land meaning he is not the legal owner of the land but only squatting under the mercies of Kalua.
Central Organisation of Trade Unions Secretary General Francis Atwoli will seek re-election for a record fifth term after the state directed all trade unions in the country to carry out elections. Atwoli will retain his seat with his allies also expected to win plum positions through a power sharing formula which has been the norm at the organization.
“I would like to remind all trade unions, employers’ organisations and federations that the last elections were held in the year 2016 and the next elections are the due next year 2021,” states the circular read in part.
Atwoli was elected to the powerful credentials committee in 2018 to supervise and manage the election of the International Trade Union Confederation two years after won his fourth five-year term.
COTU boss Francis Atwoli after meeting Luhya leaders in his Kajiado home [p/courtesy]So far no opponent has emerged to challenge Atwoli who is desperate to win another term and complete unfinished projects including the construction of Tom Mboya Labour College.
The outspoken COTU boss Atwoli solicited funds through his international networks to refurbish the college to a state of art institution earning him an endorsement by a section of the delegates and Kenya Plantation Workers Union during elections held at Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu.
Atwoli who considers himself a power broker is also active in national politics where he has been drumming support for Luhya unity ahead of the 2022 general elections. He also hosted a meeting of Luhya leaders where Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi was installed as Mulembe nation’s kingpin.
COTU was founded in 1965 after the Kenya Federation of Labour and the African Workers’ Congress were dissolved but analysts argue that Atwoli’s close relationship with the deep state will make it impossible for any candidate to challenge or defeat him in the polls.
The authoritative trade unionist enjoys powerful connections within local and international trade unions and fighting him ends in futility like when DP William Ruto tried to sponsor a splinter union after Jubilee ascended to power. Ruto failed terribly.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has neutralized the spirited move by his allies to eject Deputy President William Ruto as the Jubilee deputy party leader. Kenyatta pulled the surprise move as the National Management Committee-the second most powerful organ with sweeping powers-meets review their decision.
The NMC is expected to reverse its earlier decision to have Ruto ejected as the deputy party leader of the ruling Jubilee party. The committee recommended the removal of Ruto and was only awaiting ratification by the National Executive Committee this week but NMC is today expected to drop Ruto’s ejection after President Kenyatta intervened.
Reliable sources revealed to KI that the President is not keen on having Ruto stripped of his powers as the Jubilee deputy leader although he has technically walked out and running the affairs of UDA Party.
But the move eject Ruto from the Jubilee Party leadership was expected to face legal challenges since the party’s Constitution provides that the deputy president automatically assumes the role of the party’s deputy leader.
Besieged: DP Dr William Ruto [p/courtesy]Jubilee’s second termed has been marked with waves of purges that have routed out politicians allied to the deputy president. Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata was fired from his Majority Whip seat in early 2021 days after nominated senator Isaac Mwaura also ditched the president for Ruto’s Tangatanga.
Many had also been kicked out last year including the Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen who was the majority leader, former committee chairs John Kinyua (Devolution), Samson Cherargei (Justice and Legal Affairs (JLAC)), Christopher Lagat (Education) and Mithika Linturi (vice chair JLAC).
But efforts to eject DP Ruto as Jubilee deputy party leader has left the ruling party divided right in the middle with a section of members of the powerful NMC piling pressure on party leader President Uhuru Kenyatta to convene a meeting on Tuesday this week to proceed with the ouster.There is also another faction that has adopted a wait-and-see approach.
Al Merrikh SC of Sudan have exposed Simba SC of Tanzania for meddling with the COVID-19 tests to weaken them ahead of their African Champions League group match in Dar Es Salaam last week Tuesday.
Eight Al Merrikh players returned positive tests for covid-19 just a few hours to kick off. The results weaken their squad in a match that Simba went ahead to win 3-0 putting them in a prime position to advance to the knockout stage.
Three days later Merrikh SC paid for an independent test in which all the players tested negative. COVID-19 tests are done with the assistance of the home teams but rogue hosts like Simba use them as s privilege to gain an unfair advantage over their opponents.
FC Platinum of Zimbabwe had also accused Simba of using the COVID-19 test to keep four of their dependable players off the pitch after they were declared positive for Coronavirus ahead of their first-round return match in Dar Es Salaam.
#LatestUPdate Al Merreikh SC Flag of Sudan will make a complaint to CAF as they claim Simba SC Flag of Tanzania tampered with the COVID-19 test results of their 8 players.
The Sudanese giants have produced documents showing the 8 players rather tested negative and not positive. pic.twitter.com/4UwAfNgX4g
Visiting clubs also blame the Covid-19 results on Tanzanian authorities after the late Tanzania president John Pombe Magufuli declared the country COVID-19 free and banned the use of face masks.
But African soccer has generally been marred with controversies ranging from match fixing, cheating and poor refereeing like witnessed in Zambia where Gor players attacked the referee.
The Kenyan side, Gor-Mahia, were leading Napsa until the 93rd minute when the referee awarded the host a last-minute penalty which was converted by Zambian international Emmanuel Mayuka and eliminated Gor from the competition.
Club Secretary General Ambrose Rachier said the poor officiating is undermining the level of football in Africa as he challenged CAF needs to take action noting that the injury time duration was ”illegal” and intended to force a win for NAPSA Stars.
Al Merrikh SC is waiting to see the action CAF will take on Simba while Gor is also expecting harsh penalties.
Pevans East Africa-the firm that was managed under the gambling brand SportPesa until June 2019 has lost its case in the Court of Appeal where it sought to reverse the High Court ruling that allowed the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) to revoke its licence.
The appellate court on Friday upheld the ruling by Judge John Mativo issued on August 30, 2019 which dismissed PEA’s application that challenged BCLB’s move to deny them a new licence.
The regulator revoked PEA’s licence on July 1, 2019 after they discovered that the gambling firm was heavily involved in rinsing of dirty money and withholding taxes. The firm was embroiled involving a disputed tax demand from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
The taxman issued a Sh15 billion tax demand on the firm which was later investigated and rose to Sh95 billion.
Judges Roselyn Nambuye, Fatuma Sichale and Hannah Okwengu of the Court of Appeal dismissed PEA’s appeal arguing that BCLB is mandated to discipline rogue firms and demand for tax documents.
“We think we have stated enough reasons as to why this appeal is for dismissal. It is hereby dismissed with costs,” reads the judgment in part.
The controversial Sportpesa CEO Ronald Karauri [p/courtesy]The ruling will lock out the firm from betting after his founders also fell out over management differences and embezzlement of billions of shillings. This comes after some shareholders acquired a newly formed company called Milestone Games Limited to which now operates the popular SportPesa gaming brand.
PEA’s chief executive Ronald Karauri and Francis Waweru Kiarie acquired 95.3% stake in Milestone through several investment vehicles in a move that has blocked out the initial owner’s who got the licence from BCLB.
The regulator has however managed to shut down Milestone’s operations twice but the new company has been securing temporary court orders to continue with it’s operations.
On October 30, 2020, Milestone was stopped from using the sportpesa trade name on grounds that it belonged to PEA but it was later revealed that Mr Karauri was among other officials who had transferred it to its UK-based affiliate Sportpesa Global Holdings Limited (SPGHL) which later assigned it to Milestone on September 15, 2020.
The transfer of the popular sportpesa brand name has been challenged by Paul Ndung’u, a Nairobi based businessman who owns a 17 % stake in PEA. Mr Ndung’u is claiming that the move was not authorised by the board.
Again on December 4, 2020 the regulator terminated Milestone’s licence arguing that the decision was based on the entry of the new shareholders who were not vetted and authorized to complete the share transactions.
United Democratic Alliance has settled on the widow of the late MP Oroo Oyioka as their candidate in Bonchari Constituency in a by-election scheduled for May 18.
The move is part of UDA’s wider scheme to infiltrate into the Nyanza region as the Deputy President Dr William Ruto steps up his campaign to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta who term expires in August 2022. The new party associated with Ruto has been fielding candidates in by-elections around the country in a bid to give it a national look.
The late Oyioka who died after along illness was elected on a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ticket but UDA has made deals the little known party to support the candidature of Mrs. Teresa Bitutu Oroo who will vie on a UDA ticket.
“UDA and PDP have agreed to support the candidature of Mrs. Teresa Bitutu Oroo, wife of the late Bonchari MP Hon Oroo Oyioka on a UDA ticket.” read the party’s tweet.
The move has sent Ruto’s rivals back to the drawing board after they ganged up to defeat his candidate in the recently concluded by-election in Machakos where UDA candidate was floored by Wiper’s Agnes Kavindu in the senatorial battle.
The late Bonchari MP Oroo Oyioka [p/courtesy]But Mrs Oroo is a formidable candidate to succeed her late husband. The Deputy President who is hellbent to secure the seat after a poor show in Machakos has hand picked the widow to run for the seat.
Bonchari by-election is offering another opportunity for Ruto to display his growing influence in the country with analysts pointing that winning the seat send a serious message the former PM Raila Odinga who believes he commands the support of the region.
The two time Mp died on February 15 at the Agha Khan Hospital opening to other Oparties with considerable support in the region like ODM to also try their luck and grow their support.
ODM has settled on the FORMER Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) director general Pavel Oimeke as its candidate for the by-election. Oimeke is a controversial figure who has been widely mentioned in several corruption scandals.
Kenyans will pay Sh2.2 billion to a Dubai based firm after the government cancelled an oil inspection contract nine years ago. This comes after the Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a motion by Kebs that sought to review a last year’s judgement that found it liable for breaching the contract with Geo-Chem Middle East.
The suit dates back to 2009 when KEBS commenced an inspection and testing program of imported petroleum products and awarded Geo-chem Middle East the tender.
“It is clear to us that the application before us is a disguised appeal, which seeks to re-open matters already determined with finality by this court…..An application for review was not intended to give a party an opportunity to appeal or relitigate its case. Where such a review is sought, an applicant must lay a basis to the satisfaction of the court that the application for review satisfies the set criteria.” read part of Supreme Court ruling.
Supreme Court of Kenya [p/courtesy]The contracted firm (Geo-Chem) said it established a petroleum inspection facility at the Port of Mombasa that was launched in August 2009 and had started offering services to oil marketers on behalf of KEBS.
But when the firm asked for payments for its services four months later, KEBS turned its back on Geo-Chem as it directed the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to collect inspection levies from oil marketers on its behalf.
Documents filed in court show that KRA collected the oil inspection fees and deposited the money with the National Treasury between March 1, 2010 and March 1, 2012 but KEBS did not remit any funds to Geo-Chem for the services offered.
Kebs only wrote to Geo-Chem 3 months to the expiry of the contract in March 2012 claiming that the government had suspended the contract until further notice.
The Supreme Court ordered the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) to pay Geo-Chem Sh2 billion for breach of contract after the Dubai based firm sought arbitration.
The government of South Sudan government has suffered a blow after the Court of Appeal in Kenya ordered that its bank accounts at NCBA and Stanbic be frozen in the wake of a legal battle with a company associated with the ex-Cabinet minister Cyrus Jirongo, which is demanding Sh5.4 billion for a construction work in Juba.
The three bench judge on Thursday restored freezing orders on the accounts after YU Sung Construction Company successfully appealed on an initial ruling by the High Court that allowed South Sudan government to partially operate the two accounts but reserve the disputed Sh5.4 billion.
Yu Sung was represented by lawyer Ken Kiplagat who argued that the High Court ruling was in conflict with orders in the dispute which would render the outcome of the suit null.
“The honourable Judges of the High Court have issued conflicting orders which conduct by Judges of concurrent jurisdiction points to a collapse of due process and administrative order in the Judiciary to the grave detriment of the Applicant herein who stands to suffer a miscarriage of justice,” Kiplagat said.
Jirongo’s lawyer also faulted the Attorney-General of South Sudan for failing to provide any security for the satisfaction of the consent issued against Juba at the East African Court of Justice, in favour of his client’s firm.
The freezing orders on the accounts were granted in December but have been extended from time to time by different judges until February 2021 when Justice Said Chitembwe reversed them after South Sudan complained that the freeze was hurting some government functions.
Justice Chitembwe lifted the orders after he was persuaded that the government of South Sudan could not meet some of its obligations including paying of staff salaries.
But after hearing the case, justices Daniel Musinga, Patrick Kiage and Gatembu Kairu of the appellate court ordered status quo to be maintained which means that South Sudan cannot withdraw money from the accounts until all the pending cases are heard and determined.
The wars between West Pokot governor John Lonyangapuo and Senator Samuel Poghisio have intensified after the governor accused Poghisio of peddling lies about his leadership that has weakened Kanu party in the county.
Lonyangapuo is plotting to shift to the UDA Party with a host of top Kanu officials come 2022. His relationship with Poghisio and the leadership of the KANU party has waned since the senator became a fierce critic of his administration. Lonyangapuo recently skipped a fundraiser where his Party Leader Gideon Moi was the chief guest.
Kanu boss was accompanied by Poghisio who labeled the governor a Tangatanga sympathizer. He also accused the governor of undermining the party that took him to power.
Poghisio insisted West Pokot is still Kanu’s stranglehold despite the governor’s absence in the meeting attended by hundreds of the party’s followers.
Lonyangapuo accused Poghisio of playing divisive politics by taking lies to State House for small favors as wrangles deepen in Kanu. The party has two factions in West Pokot, one allied to Governor Lonyangapuo while and a small one allied to Senator Poghisio.
Kanu Chairman Gideon Moi and Senator Poghisio in a past event [p/courtesy]The governor said that the independence party had lost support in the county meaning they must change tact. Even the majority leader position given to Poghisio is not improving the situation. Lonyangapuo clarified that the party lost it when the man he elevated to the senate like Poghisio retaliated with war and witch-hunt.
He has been associating with Tangatanga, a faction of Jubilee Party allied to the Deputy President William Ruto who does not see eye to eye with Baringo Senator Gideon Moi.
The governor recently hosted Odinga who is shaping his 2022 presidential bid through the Building Bridges Initiative with a declining support in the region.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and City Hall have launched a joint crackdown targeting home and office blocks belonging to landlords who have defaulted on paying land rates with some defaulters already served with warning letters should they fail to offset their rates.
“You are supposed to have paid up all the rate fees for the plot, including any arrears owed to the Nairobi County Government. The County Government Finance Act of 2015 mandates the authority [KRA] to repossess any land property the owner defaults rate payment and reallocate it to the deserving,” a notice pinned on one of the properties read.
Revenue Act of 2015 was amended in 2018 in a move that gave more powers to the County government of Nairobi to recover land rates from rental income to get the Sh15 billion that was owed to them then.
The amendment of the of the Act was a also aimed at easing access to property whose owners had defaulted on land-rate payment by allowing City Hall to temporarily repossess such homes and offices to recover the debt owed from monthly rents.
KRA Commissioner James Mburu [p/courtesy]Analysis by the national government discovered that 90% of land and property owners in Nairobi had defaulted on paying their rates after the county government failed to lower the number of defaulters through closure of office blocks and waiving penalties for defaulters.
City Hall in February 2020 opted to rope in KRA to help them improve revenue collection from such properties where the taxman will now inspect all revenue streams and manage the taxes through the normal process of assessment, payment, accounting, remission and enforcement through both compliance and debt recovery.
KRA announced that taxpayers would benefit from a partial relief on penalties and interest on the undisclosed taxes, in a programme initiated on January 1 and runs to December 31, 2023.
The programme dubbed Voluntary Tax Disclosure Programme (VTDP) was introduced through the Finance Act, 2020 and it aims to grant relief on penalties and interest on any tax liability disclosed in respect to the period between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2020.
Nairobi County raked in Sh1.3 billion from fire inspection certificate, housing rent, and land rates but it recorded only Sh3.9 billion in own-source revenue in the six months under focus against a target of Sh6.4 billion.
Members of County Assembly (MCAs) from Nairobi want to be allowed to summon appointees of Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) to appear before various committees to respond to queries on expenditure of funds allocated to them.
This comes after ward representatives raised serious concerns over Major General Mohamed Badi-led agency not submitting quarterly reports for the past nine months as stipulated in the constitution.
Kariobangi South- Uhuru ward MCA Robert Mbatia said that NMS has not submitted its quarterly budgetary report as provided for in Deed of Transfer of Functions and the County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA), nine months into the current financial year ending June 30, 2021.
Mbatia who doubles as the Budget and Appropriation committee chairperson said the reports are important in budget-making process for the respective committees whose sectors were transferred.
County functions including transport, health, public works, utilities & ancillary services and planning & development services, were transferred to NMS early last year.
NMS officers have been appearing before various Parliamentary committees to respond to audit queries but they have not reported before the county assembly committees over the same.
“As much as NMS is under the Office of the President, we are following the law as per the Deed of transfer and CARA, 2020. NMS should therefore furnish the committee with a breakdown of utilization of funds allocated to for the current financial year,” Hon. Mbatia said.
MCA Robert Mbatia, Nairobi County Budget and Appropriation committee chairperson [p/courtesy]Nairobi County Assembly has allocated Sh27.1 billion to NMS in the current financial year to cover the transferred county functions but Hon. Mbatia has observed that “canons of public finance management” places considerable premium on financial accountability as it does on resource allocations.
The budget chair also pointed that agencies must put in the same effort they put when bidding for resources in accounting for the same resources to help the committees track implementation and absorption of the transferred resources.
Section 7 (4) of CARA, 2020 requires the Treasury CS to prepare quarterly reports on expenditure of funds relating to the transferred functions and submit the same to the Senate, National Assembly and the respective County Assembly.
But the Deed on transfer of the functions of Nairobi County to NMS states that for effective running of the four departments, both national parliament and the county assembly will be required to form joint committees to keep an eye on the operations of the four dockets.
The soft spoken Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa is the errand boy running Jubilee Party operations in Trans-Nzoia County. He recently led a countermove to DP William Ruto’s tour of the region when he hosted the Interior CS Dr. Fred Matiang’i who inspected small projects as they drummed up support for the BBI document.
Also in the tour were Cherengany MP Joshua Kutuny and Trans Nzoia Assembly speaker Joshua Werunga who is eyeing the governor’s seat in 2022.
Wamalwa’s tour was to send a signal to the Deputy President William Ruto who controls the vote rich rift region that he is a budding opponents. He called in Matiang’i who is seen as the man being used by the system to cut Ruto to size and Kuttuny who succeeded DP’s henchman and Soy MP Caleb Kositany who was recently sacked from the position of the deputy secretary-general of Jubilee party.
CS Wamalwa emphasized that the projects they toured were financed by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration and not by the Deputy President who has been traversing the county and launching projects.
He is accredited for luring the Trans Nzoia County Assembly with majority Jubilee MCAs to pass the Building Bridges Initiative Bill to massage his 2022 presidential dream. Wamalwa enjoys the support of less influential Kanu party officials like Pius Arap Kauka who has thrown salvos at Ruto’s allies for opposing the BBI drive. Kauka told off Endebess MP Robert Pukose who accused Trans Nzoia MCAs of accepting the car grant bribe to vote in favor of the Bill.
Pukose is the man leading Ruto’s campaign’s in the county alongside women representative Janet Nangabo, Kakai Bisau and Abraham Sing’oei who are both working at the DP’s office.
Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa and his Interior counterpart Fred Matiang’i. [p/courtesy].As Wamalwa fumbles to tackle DP Ruto’s influence in the county, talks are also underway with a section of elders pushing Wamalwa to utilize his ministerial status and run for the gubernatorial seat in 2022 or vie for a parliamentary seats to allow him to ascend to the national politics if BBI Bill is adopted. BBI will allow the president to pick ministers from parliament but he still shies from making such plans public.
“I will declare my political aspiration at the right time after getting views from residents of this county at the right time. I am currently focused on discharging duties bestowed upon me by the president,” Wamalwa told the Standard Newspaper in 2019.
Many politicians from the county have lined up to occupy the seat currently by Patrick Khaemba including Kiminini Mp Chris Wamalwa of the Ford-K party, Dr Stanley Tarus, Dr Abraham Sing’oei, Kakai Bissau, Janet Nangabo, Moses Khaoya, and Philemn Samoei.
Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chief executive officer Ezra Chiloba has been mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate or an aspirant in Kwanza constituency until the ICT CS Joe Mucheru has appointed him the Youth Enterprise and Development Fund board director.
That’s a blessing to Wamalwa whose head of women caucus, Dorcas Njenga, has hinted that he is waiting for the BBI outcome to decide his next move which could be a county or national seat but he is aware that he lost touch with that the grassroots after he was made a cabinet secretary.
Wamalwa is lying on the waning influence of Governor Khaemba after BBI and 2022 politics brought them together. Khaemba is serving his final and Eugene Wamalwa could be desperate for his endorsement.
University of Eldoret is staring at a possible strike after its administration failed to meet the deadline set for addressing many grievances cited by students. The university is also challenged by the dirty politics in the region which has also stunted growth in other institutions of higher learning in Uasin Gishu.
The failure to address similar issues led to a serious strike in 2015 which saw the university being shut down indefinitely. Rogue politicians from the North Rift region who reap on these disruptions always begin by calling for the sacking of vice chancellors who are non-locals.
Right now they are hellbent to have the current VC Prof. Teresa Akenga ousted from her position because she hails from Western Province. The same university was shut down in 2015 when irrelevant politicians Senator Isaac Melly led his peers to forcefully throw her out.
The students are now demanding the administration to convert their trip into tuition fee, cyber cafe and shops in the institution opened and TV sets fixed in all in common rooms.
They also need the institution’s dispensary which lacks medicine and does not operate at night fixed as they called for the introduction of Lipa na Mpesa services to be introduced as another option for transaction.
Prof. Teresa Kenga, VC University of Eldoret [p/courtesy]
The besieged vice chancellor is accused of leading a staff that deliberately ensures that students from the local community fail their exams.
To protect the besieged VC, her built security men have now resorted to harassing students who are also accusing Prof. Akenga of denying them the affordable milk from the institution’s farm.
Calls for fresh elections are also increasing gradually with the students complaining that the current council has been pocketed by Prof. Akenga who is capitalizing on her financial muscles to muzzle change.
All the troubles facing Prof. Akenga are blamed on politicians like Melly who champion bedlam to reduce the institution into a tribal university. Mr. Melly is a former student’s leader at Mount Kenya University while Professor Akenga is a holder of Ph.D. Degree in (Organic Chemistry: Synthesis) from the University of New South Wales in Australia, Masters of Business Administration (Corporate Governance) from KCA University, Nairobi – Kenya, Masters of Science Degree in Chemistry from Kenyatta University and Bachelors of Education (Sc. Chemistry & Mathematics major) from Kenyatta University.
She joined the University of Eldoret as Vice-Chancellor in 2013 and currently serving her second term at the troubled University.
A Nairobi Court has declined to stop the arrest of Meru Senator Mithika Linturi over who is accused of faking signatures to secure a Sh530 million loan where he also used the the properties belonging to his estranged wife as collateral.
Justice Weldon Korir denied Linturi anticipatory bail as he chose to hear from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the police before the court can take any action on his request.
The senator and his ex-wife Emily Nkirote Buantai sought court protection from a possible arrest arguing that the matter is being handled through civil cases pending before different courts.
DPP Noordin Haji had recommended the arrest of Senator Linturi for the criminal offences touching on overdrafts, loans and other credit facilities from the bank.
The Tangatanga allied politician is also charged for impersonation, giving false information, obtaining credits by false pretense, abuse of office and fraudulently acquiring the registration of charge documents.
Linturi arrest is looming at a time when the senator is also embroiled in a fierce court battle with his one time mistress, Ms Kitany, over the control of a business empire the latter claims she built with the senator before she was dumped.
Meru Senator Mithika Linturi in a past court session [p/courtesy]The company at the centre of the dispute is Atticon Limited which Mr Linturi fully owned but later ceded 50% shares to Baron Estates Ltd to guarantee a Sh50 million loan he intended to borrow at Family Bank. Baron Estates Ltd is associated with the senator’s estranged wife.
But Linturi is accused of fraudulently kicking out Baron Estates from ownership of Atticon and further increasing the loan to Sh530 million without Baron’s consent.
Court documents show that Rhodha Kitany and Collins Kipchumba Ngetich are the signatories of Baron Estate with forensic audit further showing that Linturi forged Kitany’s signature to secure a Sh100 million loan from Family Bank, another Sh325.7 million loan and a separate overdraft facility of Sh100 million.
Baron Estates was approached by Atticon agents to help in the liquidity and workings of their firm in August 2015 and it agreed to charge two of its properties to secure Sh50 million 12-month overdraft facility from Family Bank for consideration of 11,000 shares equivalent to 50%.
The embattled senator was left with 50% shares which he owned through Litany Investments Limited – a company he jointly owned with Emily Nkirote but they later resigned as directors in 2017 and appointed directors to run it.
But Mr Linturi breached the agreement and declined to allow the new directors to take over and single-handedly managed the affairs the firm and it’s bank accounts.
The move forced the two directors to resign but in October 2018 the ownership of Atticon was changed to Senator Mithika Linturi with 10,950 shares and Ms Nkirote was left with 50 shares.
As 2022 general elections draw closer, aspirants continue to announce their candidatures from left, right and centre to capture the Nairobi top seat that fell vacant after Governor Mike Sonko was impeached in December.
The latest entrant in the Nairobi race is Isaac Njuguna who is establishing a campaign secretariat to win the seat that has attracted a number of politicians including former Starehe Mp Bishop Margaret Wanjiru who enjoys the backing of DP William Ruto and Sonko.
Njuguna was Sonko’s strategists and financiers during the 2017 elections where he spent millions of shillings in Sonko campaigns as he was also the brains behind Sonko Rescue Team that penetrated Nairobi’s informal settlements to hunt votes for the former governor.
The little known kingmaker began setting his political machinery and resources in motion the moment Sonko was impeached and a by-election declared. He initially intended to run on the Roots Party of Kenya as his party but details remain scanty if he will still use the said party.
Roots party belongs to lawyer George Wajackoyah who unsuccessfully vied for presidency in 2017.
Isaac Chege Njuguna receiving nomination certificate from Roots Party of Kenya leader Prof George Wajackoyah [p/courtesy]The alumni of University of Nairobi, Strathmore University and City University in London is a businessman who showed interest in the by-election where Jubilee Party had cleared the former Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru and Agnes Kagure to battle for party ticket before the courts halted everything.
Njuguna wants to capture the youthful vote bloc as he pushes to bring the social change the city residents are yearning for but his recycled opponents have failed to achieve.
The little known politician was enjoined in a case filed by Activist Okiya Omtata at the Nairobi High Court against the Nairobi county government over the suspension of the by-elections for Nairobi county after Sonko was impeached.
Third Party Alliance of Kenya, Law Society of Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission Habib Omar Kongo, Patrick Mwangi Kiiru, Josphat Kariuki, Angela Mwikali, Muiruri Waweru, and Geofrey Makworo were also enjoined in the case.
The respondents in the suit includes Sonko, Nairobi deputy governor Ann Kananu Mwenda, Nairobi county assembly, the speaker, Clerk Nairobi county assembly, the Attorney General, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and the Government Printer, the senate, Katiba Institute, former deputy governor Polycarp Igathe, Jubilee Party and Nairobi county executive and Njuguna himself.
But with the chances dashing on a possible by-elections due to the pending suit, all eyes are now set on 2022 when the country will general elections to elect new leaders.
More than 106, 443 former university students have defaulted on their Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) after the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged businesses and triggered massive layoffs.
Data from Helb shows loan defaults went up by 35, 561 in the six months to December with the defaulted loans climbing to 55 % which represents Sh3.7 billion to Sh10.4 billion. The increased defaults paint the dire situation faced by beneficiaries who were their loans with their payslips or cash flow from their own businesses.
The spike in loan defaults has weakened the Helb’s ability to support needy university and technical college students, prompting allocation cuts and requests for some Sh8.6 billion additional funding from the National Treasury.
Matured loans have risen to Sh45 billion giving the Charles Ringera led agency a non performing ratio of 23% which is way above the banking average of 14.1%.
“As at December 2020 Sh10.4 billion was held by 106,443 loanees, a sharp rise from the Sh6.7 billion held by 68,882 loanees as of June 30, 2020, mainly attributed to retrenchment as a result of Covid-19,” said Ringera.
Helb was designed as a revolving fund where beneficiaries who have completed studies pay back the loans to make it possible to support a fresh students joining campus but it has been affected by hiring freeze and reduced corporate earnings occasioned by Covid-19 pandemic.
The prevailing situation has now pushed lawmakers to increase the grace period for loan repayment from four to five years after graduation to enable beneficiaries to set a stronger financial base.
Repayment starts one year after completion of studies or risk blacklisting with credit reference bureaus for defaulting. The short repayment period has been linked to the growing list of defaulters at the HELB.
The beneficiaries are expected to clear their loans within four years but the situation in the job market plagued by the pandemic has hit young employees. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that workers between the ages of 20 and 29 years accounted for over 60% of the jobs lost in 2020.
HELB Chief Executive Officer Charles Ringera [p/courtesy]KNBS report is a reflection of the effects the pandemic had on businesses during its peak when restrictions including travel restrictions, mass gathering and a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
The raft of measures imposed to curb the spread of the virus saw the economy shrink by by 5.7 % in the three months to June 2020, its first quarterly reduction since the global recession of 2008/9.
By July last year up to 25,626 beneficiaries of the Helb had re-negotiated or stopped payments due to the impacts of covid-19 pandemic that affected their ability to service their loans.
But Helb is opposed to the Parliament proposal to cut interest rates on students’ loans by 1% arguing that the move points to 3% annually which could see them make a loss of Sh693 million.
The agency boss Mr Ringera has also warned that the shortfall will force them to cut the number of students benefiting from loans by 18,730, a move that will hurt the quest of many young Kenyans to achieve higher education.
Parliament’s committee on Education and Research told the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) that Helb has been insufficiently funded to meet the needs of the bulging number of students relying on theloans fees, food and accommodation as it asked the Treasury to provide Sh8.6 billion to the agency from July 1.
“The committee observed that there is underfunding which has inhibited service delivery in learning institutions and other critical institutions such as…Higher Education Loans Board,” BAC chairman Kanini Kega said in the report.
