An upgrade of Kenya’s security surveillance system, establishment of another US military base, and concerns over abductions featured in separate talks between Ruto and foreign intelligence chiefs, @NationAfrica has established. During a meeting at State House, Nairobi, CIA Director William Burns is reported to have discussed with Ruto how to strengthen Kenya’s security role in the region through deployment of the new surveillance system.

Ruto is quietly reshaping his administration, consolidating power as he distances himself from old allies that defined his leadership more than three months ago. In a striking departure from the image of an open and easy leader, Ruto is tightening control, enforcing strict access protocols, and reshuffling long-serving staff.

The @KenyasOmbudsman has come to the defence of the Mukumu Girls cook who was sacked for informing the media of how students’ food was handled before a disease outbreak earlier this year. - @NationAfrica After @NationAfrica reported on Tuesday that Douglas Muchela Isutsa had been given the marching orders alongside eight others, @KenyasOmbudsman (Commission on Administrative Justice) wrote to Mukumu principal, seeking an explanation within 7days on why Mr Muchela was sacked.

The budget allocation for the purchase of new cars for Kenya’s top three government offices has shot up eight times in the latest changes to the spending plan that also benefited retired President Kenyatta. - @BD_Africa The offices of President Ruto, DP Gachagua, PCS Mudavadi have been allocated Sh802.2M to buy motor vehicles in the current FY, a significant increase from what had been allocated as Kenyans come to terms with a bloated government that's scuttled Kenya Kwanza’s austerity measures.

High Court judge Justice Abigail Mshila has ruled that financial lender cannot go for a loan guarantor after auctioning assets of the principal borrower and failling to recover the outstanding debt. - @nationafrica Justice Abigail Mshila held that if the asset provided as collateral or security fails to fetch the amount enough to settle the debt, a lender is barred from going for the guarantors.

Last week, @SafaricomPLC @Huawei announced a partnership to launch three 5G experiential centers in Nairobi. These centres are at Safaricom’s Village Market, The Hub, and Buruburu Shops. - @techweez

#Safaricom5G
#Experience5G At the 5G experience centres, customers will experience virtual reality gaming zones, showcases of smart-capabilities for homes and enterprises, and speed-testing booths.

A mid-week block purchase of @SafaricomPLC shares by an unknown local institutional investor has halted the slide in the telco’s shares that had hit a 69-month low, triggering bargain purchases. - @BD_Africa .@NSE_PLC data show @SafaricomPLC traded volume jumped to 57.13M on January 18 from Tuesday’s 4.06M, a rare surge for a counter that had witnessed sub 10M trading for multiple days in recent weeks.

The devastating and sudden death of Prof George Magoha comes at a time when he had commissioned a book to document his achievements at the Education ministry, where he had served for three years. - @NationAfrica It was as if he had a premonition that his time was nigh and that he needed to put down in writing his experiences and accomplishments in the education sector where he had made a splendid record.

For the last 10 years, the Methodist Church in Kenya has been an arena of intense power play, unending court battles and a game of wits. - @NationAfrica Tellingly, disclosures by lawyers have it that the church owns properties valued over Sh500B across the country.

Good morning Hustlers... A reminder that Kulipa Ushuru Ni Kujitegemea.

GoK is eying a record Sh2.8 trillion from MSMEs, raising fears that President William Ruto might deviate from his pro-small business campaign promise. - @BD_Africa In the 2023 Draft Budget Policy Statement (BPS) the @KeTreasury noted plans for tax base expansion in the hard-to-tax informal sector, with a special focus on MSMEs.

Digital lenders are protesting delays in getting operational licences from @CBKKenya amid their blockade from Google Play store and apathy from funders that provide cash for onward lending. - @BD_Africa An estimated 278 digital credit providers (DCPs) still await the CBK’s nod after filing applications with the banking regulator last year, dimming their Kenya operations.

An audit report on the financial operations of Siaya County government has revealed how Sh285 million was spent on tea during seminars while other sectors such as agriculture and education were suffering. The report by the former @OAG_Kenya Mr Edward Ouko also revealed how individuals withdrew more than Sh10M in one week as food suppliers and extension workers went unpaid for years.

With Friday’s burial of Tharaka Nithi billionaire Francis Kiambi Matanka Kiriiro, a chapter closed on the story of one of the suavest businessmen of our times. - @NationAfrica Under the sod went a man who created an alcohol empire that manufactures and distributes some of the most renowned brands locally.

The two Houses of Parliament are embroiled in a legal tussle after Busia Senator @OkiyaOmtatah sued the @NAssemblyKE over its failure to involve the @Senate_KE in the passage of the 2022/23 budget. - @NationAfrica The petition dated December 30, 2022, filed at the High Court in Nairobi is challenging the constitutionality of the 2022/23 budget that is currently financing government services on grounds that the Senate was not involved in its passage.

A woman is not entitled to inherit a share of properties owned by the parents of her husband, the High Court has declared while ruling on a decade-old succession dispute in which a widow was staking a claim to a share of her father-in-law’s estate. - @NationAfrica The court, however, held that grandchildren whose parents are dead have a right to inherit the assets owned by their grandparents.

Exactly 20yrs ago, newly elected President Mwai Kibaki named a 22-member Cabinet. He had led one of Africa’s largest democratic opposition outfits, the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc), to victory over the ruling Kenya African National Union (Kanu). - @cobbo3 for @NationAfrica That ended nearly 40 years of one-party rule and was the first electoral victory by the opposition in the old East African Community (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda).

It was a shocker when @DCI_Kenya arrested tycoon Humphrey Kariuki on August 19, 2019, and locked him up for a week on claims of Sh41 billion in tax evasion. - @NationAfrica

https://twitter.com/ntvkenya/status/1163514864511389705

Mr Kariuki was picked up by DCI sleuths who later drove him to their Kiambu Road-based headquarters. And when he was finally arraigned, the court ordered him to deposit Sh11M cash bail to get his freedom back.

A procurement tribunal has nullified a Sh8.7B fuel supply deal won by French oil marketer @RUBiSKenya_ following a 17-minute system hitch by @KenyaPower that locked out one of the bidders from the lucrative tender. - @BD_Africa The contract would have seen Rubis Energy Kenya Plc supply at least 53M litres of diesel to 30 off-grid power stations in northern Kenya for two years.

Dr Amos Lewa, a biomedical scientist with KEMRI, notes that Kenya lost Prunus africana (the African cherry), endemic in the Rift Valley, which was harvested and sent to Europe and later patented. Formulations from the Prunus africana are used to treat prostate gland inflammation. Dr Lewa says Kenya also lost frangipani, a flowery tropical tree whose milk is potent for herpes zoster, and is useful in HIV management of dermatological disorders.

The expanding list of people with criminal court cases getting top government positions has put President William Ruto’s administration on the spot, raising questions about his commitment to enforcing ethics and integrity in the public service. - @NationAfrica .@lawsocietykenya announced plans to move to court after President Ruto appointed:
Ms Mary Wambui Mungai @CA_Kenya chairperson,
Mr Humphrey Kariuki a member of the National Investment Council
Ferdinand Waititu a member the Nairobi River Commission

After President William Ruto received the interim report of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform (PWPER) at State House on Thursday, he took the team through the document with a fine tooth comb. - @NationAfrica Junior Secondary School learners will take fewer subjects than what is currently in the Basic Education Curriculum Framework (BCEF).