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Salaries to Increase as Uhuru Signs The Tax Bill Into Law

by Jacinta Mbithi
written by Jacinta Mbithi

President Uhuru Kenyatta has today (Saturday April 25) at State House, Nairobi signed into law the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

The new tax law amends several statutes to cushion the economy and Kenyans against the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic as announced by the Head of State.

The Amendment Bill, which was published on 30th March 2020, has amended tax-related laws in Kenya including the Income Tax Act (CAP 470), the Value Added Tax Act of 2013, the Excise Duty Act (2015), the Tax Procedures Act (2015), Miscellaneous Levies and Fees Act (2016) and the Retirement Benefits Act(1997).

The amendments include the raise in the threshold for turnover tax to between one million and fifty million shillings so as to exclude small-scale traders from the presumptive tax. The new law further lowers turnover tax rate from 3 to 1 percent.

The amended law, which mainly targets low-income earners, includes a 100 percent Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax relief for employees earning less than Shs 28,000 per month. Those earning above the new threshold will benefit from a PAYE tax reduction of between 30 and 25 percent.

Similarly, the new Act has revised Corporation Tax to 25 percent while Non-Resident Tax on Dividends has been adjusted from 10 to 15 percent.

The amended law lowers the Value Added Tax rate from 16 to 14 percent, a move that is expected to lower the shelf prices of basic commodities.

The new Act, has amended Section 38 of the Retirement Benefits Act (1997) to allow access of retirement benefits for purposes of purchase of a residential house. This is aimed at increasing home ownership in the country as envisaged in the housing pillar under Big 4 Agenda.

The Bill, which was presented to the President for signature by National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi was passed by Parliament on Wednesday this week.

Present during the brief signing ceremony were National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, Solicitor General Ken Ogeto, State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita, National Assembly Clerk Michael Sialai and State House Deputy Chief of Staff Njee Muturi.

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Business

Conflict of Interest? CMA Chairman James Ndegwa Appoints His Predecessor Paul Muthaura As COO to ICEA Lion

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

Current Capital Markets Authority (CMA) chairman James Ndegwa has appointed Paul Murithi Muthaura, the former CMA CEO as the chief operating officer (COO) of ICEA Lion Insurance, a firm associated with the former.

The post was recently created to accomodate the lawyer, who has been out in the cold without a job since he left CMA in December 2019. Mr. Muthaura takes the reigns at ICEA Insurance, having had no insurance or any private sector operations experience.

Under his regime, CMA is considered to have recorded some successes such as listing of the NSE and bringing orderliness to brokers. However, he also had a very stinky record such as letting a few banks take control of the CMA, the chairing of CMA by a market participant happened under his watch, and during his tenor investors lost tens of billions in CMA approved products such as Imperial Bank and Chase Bank Bonds, Uchumi and Mumias shares, Genghis Money Market and Amana Monet Market Funds.

CMA also spent hundreds of millions of tax payers monies hiring foreign consultants from London, Australia and JoBurg to churn out totally useless products such asset backed securities, Development REITs, futures exachanges, ETFs, gold exchanges, in the name of innovations.

Read: How James Ndegwa Has Been Cartelling Money Markets Through CMA

This appoint also comes as a conflict of interest, as Ndegwa is the owner and chairman of ICEA Lion Insurance, and has served together with Muthaura as the CEO.

Worse still, the Insurance company runs the ICEA money market fund, an arm regulated by the CMA. As experts would argue, CMA as currently constituted does not regulate the ICEA money market, but instead protects it.

ICEA Lion General Insurance made an underwriting profit of Ksh283.4 million last year.

Muthaura has worked with the CMA for 14 years, and his appointment is seen as a way of keeping him inside CMA through the underwriter whose owner is the chairman of the regulator.

Read: CMA Chairman James Ndegwa Accused of Conflict of Interest in Market Regulation

James Ndegwa is affiliated to three money markets funds – ICEA money market fund, NCBA money market fund, and Stanlib money market fund.

Muthaura will start serving in the newly created position on May 1

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BusinessLatest NewsPolitics

Moses Kuria Deals a Major Blow to Newspapers

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria has warned Kenyans against buying hard copies of local dailies.

The controversial lawmaker says that for Kenya to defeat Covid-19 pandemic, everyone has to follow the directives issued by the government.

Kuria says that it is shocking that Kenyans are still buying hard copy newspapers despite the obvious risks of spreading the Coronavirus disease.

The government has hence banned handshakes as a measure of containing the viurus.

Newspaper vendors normally carry them in their hands, and should one of them have the virus, it can easily spread to the buyer.

To stop this, Moses Kuria advises that Kenyans should adopt the culture of reading from the internet, now that almost all the Kenyan dailies are online.

He has warned Kenyans to avoid buying newspapers until coronavirus disease is defeated in the country.

“Dear all Kenyans. For us to fight COVID-19 effectively, we have to follow what the government says including use of digital services. It is shocking that Kenyans are still buying hard copy newspapers despite the obvious risks of spreading the Corona Virus.

“All our newspapers are now online. Keep yourself safe from Corona Virus. Avoid buying newspapers until we defeat this virus, which we will!” Moses Kuria posted.

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Top Educational Consultancy Aids 4 Kenyan Girls Join USA’s Elite Universities

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

La creme de la crème of university education in the world have picked four Kenyan girls to join the ranks of the best and brightest from all over the world on their campuses this summer.

These celebrated girls are Sandra Mwangi, Victoria Kipngetich, Amy Miguna and Awour Onguru.

The highly coveted university admission letters from schools such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, Caltech, and Williams are part of the pile of acceptance letters these girls have received.

Admissions into these universities are very competitive with an admit rate of 4.5% to 11%. They also admit students who possess strong personal qualities and character that will educate and inspire others.

These brilliant young ladies have carved their names in the annals of exemplary young Kenyan women who have scaled the challenging admission process and proven they belong in the Ivy League of Universities.

Sandra from a public school, an alum of Alliance Girls High School, Victoria, a final year student at Brookhouse International Schools; Amy, final year at St Andrews, Turi; and Awour, a senior at ISK.

Regardless of their different schools and curriculum, these girls have one thing in common: they had scores in the SAT (university admission exams) among the top 1% out of 2.2 million test takers globally in 2019.

Sandra scored an A in the 2019 KCSE exams. She is now admitted into 5 Ivy League schools including Harvard University (the oldest university in the USA) with an admission rate of 4.92%, Princeton University (the number 1 ranked university in the USA for the past decade), Yale University, Cornell University, and Columbia university, as well as, California institute of Technology (CALTECH).

Her dream is to become a civil engineer who will pave the way for a new method of maximizing the use of space in Africa and building sustainable cities on the continent. In addition, she received scholarship from all the schools

Victoria is an aspiring economist and enterprising young woman. Her future aspiration is already heralded by her exceptional performance in her IGSCE exams- 9 A stars and 3 As in her GCE AS level exams.

Victoria was admitted into the prestigious Yale University. She was among 2,304 admitted students out of 35,220 applicants worldwide. She also got into UPenn, Columbia and Cornell; all Ivy League schools. She also got admitted to other top colleges like Williams and Pomona

An energetic and bright young lady, Awour has a heart for music and the arts. Her strong academic abilities pales compared to her love of social and community work. Her inspiring community work at the Kibera Slums (teaching an orchestra in the middle of the shacks) is awesome. She is heading to Yale University this summer with an envious financial aid package.

Amy also joins Awour in Yale university, but with a passion and focus for medicine and everything health.  Such aspiration at this tender age is highly admirable. With a 1500 score out of 1600 in the SAT, Yale was captivated by her charisma and academic strength and her sense of duty to her community. Kudos to the #4 IVYLEAGUEGIRLS

All girls, regardless of such stunning qualities, admit that the process of applying to these schools could be cumbersome and tedious. 

They mentioned that an educational consultancy, AFEX Test Prep Ltd, assisted them, including 65 other students in Kenya and Ghana, in preparing for the SAT and applying to schools in the US and Canada on Scholarship.

With more than 10 years of experience in assisting students to attain high scores in SAT exams and supporting applicants in applying to these top schools, AFEX has  assisted over 500 students placed in different schools and assisted students in receiving scholarships of over $25 million in the 2019-2020 admission year.

KUDOS to our 65 students leaving for college from both KENYA and GHANA

You can contact AFEX Test Prep Ltd using the contact details below:

PHONE: 0704 904500/ 0728 230303
KAREN OFFICE 0742 866590
EMAIL info.kenya@afextestprep.co.ke
WEBSITE: http://www.afextestprep.com/online-classes/

Facebook page: Afex Test prep
Instagram: Afex_Kenya

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Business

How Technology Can Help Businesses Survive The Effects of COVID-19

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

Article Written by Macharia Ngatia, CEO Agency 254, Tech Firm

Has COVID-19 Hit you?

As a tech firm, yes, we are struggling just like any other business, however we were not hardly hit as we had all the necessary technology in place, it was just a matter of stretching our working habit. That’s where we struggled most achieving but now, we could say we are relatively okay. 

I feel like grand ideas of the “gig economy” and work/life balance are about to be tested like never before. Will people be able to work as flexibly as surveys suggest? A Research survey for our team revealed that 65% of Agency 254 workers claimed they would be more productive if they were able to work remotely or from home. Will they say the same when this crisis is over?

There is an opportunity to use technology to change our habits and how society operates, and we should take it. The present reality is that we have too much of garbage in, garbage out economy. At both individual and societal level, our use of technology is less intelligent than it should be, while at the same time our expectations of what we think technology can do outstrip its capabilities.

How do you think technology can help businesses survive at these times?  

It’s wise for all businesses to come up with functionalities on their websites like portals or ERP systems where employees can be managed without the necessity of personal touch. 

Businesses can also register G-suits. Other than efficiency in business communications, G-suit comes up with google sheets, google docs, google forms, google hangouts whereby you can have team conferencing and collaboration. Some other companies are using skype and zoom for conferencing. Use Telegram to share large files.

What advice do you have to businesses today?

Covid-19 has come up as a wakeup call for businesses to realize the beauty of artificial intelligence. Some meetings can be emails. People should invest in permanent real-time technology. Working from home should not be because we have pandemics, it should be because it’s good and efficient to do the thing.

Today, customers are more concerned with efficiency than anything else in their business operations. Customer-based functionalities like interactive website with all the necessary information, live chat whereby customers can ask questions directly on your website and get instant answers will help businesses, especially at this time. 

Even as many industries contract, there’s still a pressing need for technology that can do everything from keep cloud infrastructure running to designing e-commerce portals.

Millions of employees working from home will mean that systems engineers, business analysts, and product managers must recalibrate companies’ operations to deal with new, widely dispersed teams and networks. Technology is more vital than ever as the world (and the global economy) wrestles with this crisis

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Coronavirus: Dusit D2 Hotel Closes Down, Renders 250 Kenyans Jobless

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

The coronavirus pandemic has continued to cause economic pain, as hotel industry has resorted to closure after the business went down.

Latest to announce closure is the famous Dusit D2 Hotel, which has rendered at least 250 Kenyans jobless after the hotel’s management gave notice of closure.

The hotel stopped operations owing to the government’s social distancing directive and the travel restrictions.

The suspension of international flights has also contributed to the closure of hotels.

A government directive forcing bars and nightclubs to remain closed as a way of stemming the spread of COVID-19 has also seen the occupancy rate in hotels go down significantly.

Villa Rosa, Ole Sereni and Tribe Hotel have scaled down operations.

“In light of the evolving Covid-19 situation, some of the hotel’s restaurants will be closed and some facilities may have limited service.” said Villa Rosa Kempinski to its guests.

Deputy President William Ruto’s Weston Hotel will be closed starting March 30 until further notice.

“We wish to assure you that The Weston Hotel is committed to optimizing care and precautions to minimize the spread of the Covid-19,” the statement read in part.

So far Kenya has confirmed 31 cases of coronavirus, one fatality and a recovery.

According to the Ministry of Health, 2 patients are currently admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Agha Khan Hospital.

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Coronavirus: New Technologies Only Solution For Businesses Now

by Jacinta Mbithi
written by Jacinta Mbithi

Mr. Wandere Maina, a trader who supplies equipment such as tents and chairs to major events like rallies is one of the many traders whose business prospects have been largely affected by the spread of the coronavirus.

It took Wandere 10 years to build his company from scratch to employing over 600 employees. It took the flu virus a few days to bring this number down to 50.

After the first case of Covid 19 was discovered in Kenya, the government directed that all public gatherings and rallies be called off in order to contain spread of the flu virus, leaving Wandere with virtually no one and nowhere to supply equipment to.

From employing over 600 employees he now has only about 50 employees left working for him. Much as the massive lay-offs pain him, there is not much he can do about it.

Another trader, Loise Njeri, who has been running a successful hotel business in Nairobi, finds herself in a similar predicament. Speaking to her, Loise does not sound as excited as she would have sounded some two weeks ago, reason being where as she used to open shop early and close late, now she opens late and closes early thus getting lower returns.

After government discouraged dining in hotels, the number of customers she has been receiving in the past one week has significantly gone down. She is grappling with how to meet rent and taxes at the end of the month amidst heavy losses incurred.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe giving an update on COVID-19 in a past presser. PHOTO/COURTESY

Whereas other eatery businesses have the option of shipping goods to customers based on the orders they have received online, she does not have that option and so has to contend with lower sales. Her business is only accessible to people who pass by her premises while going about their business and her regular customers.

The emergence of the corona virus has similarly taken many other businesses by surprise. Only those with systems such as websites and e-commerce platforms that enable them to carry on with business as usual while maintaining slightest contact with the flu virus are still counting profits as they did before.

As Mr. Felix Mbugua, a tech enthusiast and CEO of web design firm Legibra notes, unfortunate as the abrupt emergence of Covid 19 is, it also comes as an eye opener for businesses to integrate new technologies into the functionality of their businesses so that whenever such an eventually crops up again, they will be prepared.

“The spread of the virus is still relatively under control in Kenya, though even as we remain optimistic that the authorities will be able to effectively contain it, it may be too early to assess the full impact that the virus is going to have on our economy and how long it is going to take us to get back on with our normal lives,” said Mr. Mbugua.

With schools on lock down and companies urging people to work from home, new technologies such as internet of things and artificial intelligence could facilitate students to get an education online, business leaders and manufacturers to run and monitor their businesses all day long with very little reliance on human capital, and customers to purchase goods from retailers without even visiting their shops.

“Businesses that do not have an online presence are going to have a big challenge this time because people are going to be buying goods online,” noted Mr. Mbugua.

Indeed, all over the world, new technologies such as artificial intelligence and the internet of things have significantly boosted economic prospects of digitised businesses.

In America for instance, e-commerce giant amazon is reportedly struggling to hire over 100,000 workers for delivery services to meet the growing demand and shift to digital shopping. The retailer will be targeting people who have lost their jobs following closure of companies they used to work in.

According to Felix however, not all hope is lost because after all necessity is the mother of invention. We could come out of this stronger than we anticipated and find better ways to go about our businesses.

He is encouraging more and more business people to sign up for websites in order to boost their online presence and thus be able to carry on with business as usual while we wait for things to get back to normal.

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Uhuru Receives Ksh 7.4 Billion to Contain Spread of Coronavirus

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has today released Shs 7.4 billion to support Government efforts to contain the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

Speaking at State House, Nairobi, during President Kenyatta’s meeting with the private sector, CBK Governor Dr Patrick Njoroge said the money was gained from the mop-up of the old 1000 shillings bank notes.

“As you recall in September last year we concluded the demonetization of our currency relating to our old generation one thousand bank notes. That matter was concluded and as a result of that, Shs 7.4 billion worth of bank notes never came back to the system.

“That money would have been held by people who, for whatever reason, did not want to subject themselves to the checks that were in place. So most likely this was money that might have been illicitly acquired through the various channels that we have talked about in other forums,” the CBK Governor said.

Dr Njoroge said the bank is giving back the money to boost the government’s efforts to combat the Coronavirus pandemic.

President Kenyatta thanked CBK for the contribution and directed Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani to ensure the money is used to support Kenyans to overcome the current health crisis.

“That money goes to help our health facilities and our health workers,” the President said.

He added: “That again is something we appreciate and this is what I mean when I say Kenyans working together can achieve miracles.”

During the meeting, the President announced a further Shs 1 billion allocation by the Government for hiring of more health workers needed to increase the country’s capacity to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic.

He said the additional funds will ensure the government brings on board enough manpower to support those already in the field working to save lives.

The President’s meeting with the private sector representatives discussed a raft of other measures being taken to cushion the country from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Key among the interventions is an announcement by the Head of State that outstanding VAT refunds and pending bills would be settled within 30 days.

The President said VAT refunds and settlement of pending bills will help improve cash flow and keep businesses afloat.

“Critically, we all recognize that the volume of business has gone down. We need to ensure that we have cash flow to be able to keep ourselves afloat as we go through these trying times,” the President said.

He said the Government had lifted a ban on its entities from holding conferences and seminars in private hotels so as to keep the hospitality sector vibrant.

“As you are well aware we had put a ban on government officials holding meetings in hotels and said only government institutions are the ones to host various seminars by government.

“Again we have lifted that temporarily until this is over so that our hotel beds get occupancy and you in turn are able to keep your workers employed,” the President said.

Once again, the President thanked the media for its leading role in information dissemination and public health education on the Coronavirus pandemic.

He said the media had distinguished itself as a valuable partner in efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

Following yesterday’s directive, the Head of State said the Government had released 400,000 litres of ethanol, impounded by the multi-agency team on contraband goods, to oil companies for the blending of hand sanitizers to be distributed free of charge to the public.

On its part, the private sector, through the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) Chairman Nick Nesbitt and CEO Carole Kariuki, committed to continue protecting Kenyan employees against job losses and safeguarding SMEs from the adverse effects the current crisis by ensuring business and supply chain continuity.

The private sector further committed to prioritize the health and safety of employees, communities and health workers through increased Corporate Social Responsibility activities. The meeting was attended by several Cabinet Secretaries among other senior Government officials.

Earlier, the President held talks with representatives of the Export Processing Zones (EPZ) Apparel and Textile Sector during which he commended the sector for their efforts in minimizing job losses during this crisis period.

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Government to Quarantine All Cash Exiting Banks For One Week

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

Government will quarantine all cash from local banks for a period of one week, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) governor Patrick Njoroge has said.

The move is part of precautionary measures being undertaken by the state to avoid the spread of COVID-19 which is also transmitted through cash exchange.

The CBK governor has further encouraged Kenyans to adopt mobile money transfers in their daily transaction to minimize the chances of spreading the virus.

Following a meeting with commercial banks on Monday, March 16, 2020, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced a set of measures that commercial banks will undertake in order to alleviate the adverse economic effects their customers may face from the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). While the extent of the adverse effects are still evolving, it is already evident that the impact on some of the customers may be severe.

To help alleviate the adverse effects, the following emergency measures will apply for borrowers whose loan repayments were up to date as at March 2, 2020.

  1. Banks will seek to provide relief to borrowers on their personal loans based on their individual circumstances arising from the pandemic.
  2. To provide relief on personal loans, banks will review requests from borrowers for extension of their loan for a period of up to one year. To initiate this process, borrowers should contact their respective banks.
  1. Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and corporate borrowers can contact their banks for assessment and restructuring of their loans based on their respective circumstances arising from the pandemic.
  2. Banks will meet all the costs related to the extension and restructuring of loans.
  3. To facilitate increased use of mobile digital platforms, banks will waive all charges for balance inquiry.
  4. As earlier announced, all charges for transfers between mobile money wallets and bank accounts will be eliminated.

CBK will closely monitor the implementation of these measures, particularly in light of the fast-evolving nature of the economic impact of the pandemic.

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Suspended KQ Employee Who Blew The Whistle About China Plane Claims Life in Danger

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

The suspended whistle blower of the China Southern plane that landed at JKIA on Wednesday morning is living in fear after he apparently received word that he might be getting followed.

Gire Ali, who was suspended by Kenya Airways on February 27, 2020 after being accused of participating in recording and sharing of the video, showing 239 passengers aboard the China plane being ushered in, says his life is now in danger.

“They have been calling and I’m yet to go and meet the team because someone warned me that my life might be in danger and that they were watching me. I handed over my work identification documents through the fence and left. I fear about what could happen to me,” Gire is quoted by a local daily.

He also intimated that the employees had earlier on in the month asked for protective gear but never heard from management.

“We’re required to maintain security presence on this flight as long as it is on the ground. Our staff are badly exposed since we do not have protective gear while discharging our duties. We kindly request that similar masks be provided to our staff working on this flight,” a letter dated February 2 read in part.

So far, China Southern Airlines has suspended flights to Kenya.

A high court also ordered that the 239 passengers be quarantined at a Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) facility.

In Africa, three coronavirus cases have been confirmed. They are in Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt.

While being relieved of duties, Gire was accused of going against company policy and exposing poor management of passengers coming from the Coronavirus infested nation.

“It has been determined that you be suspended from duty with effect from 27th February 2020 in accordance with provision of clause 16.5 of the Company HR Policy,” a letter signed by chief human resources officer Evelyne Munyoki read in part.

KQ’s actions angered netizens who thought Gire’s actions were heroic.

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Khalwale Tears Into KQ For Suspending Staff Who Blew The Whistle About Chinese Plane

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

Former Kakamega County senator Boni Khalwale on Friday tore into Kenya Airways for suspending one of their staffs who blew the whistle about a Chinese plane that landed at JKIA with 239 passengers from China.

On Wednesday, Kenyan authorities allowed the plane to land in the country despite of the corona virus fears.

Southern flights./COURTESY
Chinese Southern Airline Plane. PHOTO/COURTESY

Kenya Airways was pissed off with the rate at which the video showing the Chinese Southern Airline landing at JKIA spread on social media.

As a result, Gire Ali, their staff who is alleged to have recorded and spread the video was suspended with effect from February 27, 2020.

“Following a report of video of China Southern flights arrival at JKIA and circulation of the video clip widely on social media and your alleged involvement in the matter, it has been decided that you be suspended from duty with effect from Feb 27,” KQ Chief human resource Evelyne Munyoki said in a letter dated February 27, 2020.

According to Munyoki, the suspension is in line with the company policies.

“This is to pave way for further investigations into the matter. During the period of suspension, you will be required to avail yourself to the investigating team,” Munyoki said.

Image

But Khalwale the bullfighter in a quick response to the suspension has termed the decision as a wisdom of fools.

Khalwale says that Mr Gire Ali is just a mere whistle blower and does not deserve the suspension.

He has termed Mr Gire as a hero to Kenyans.

“Suspend Mr Gire Ali? He is a mere whistle blower. Now our hero. Kenya Airways, yours is wisdom of fools,” Khalwale tweeted.

Gire alerted Kenyans of a China plane that had landed at JKIA with authorities silently ushering in the 239 passengers by only advising them to quarantine themselves for 14 days.

So far, 17 suspect cases have been recorded in the country and all have tested negative.

On Thursday, a section of MPs demanded that all the Chinese airlines be suspended from landing at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Led by Minority leader John Mbadi the MPs said it was a careless move for those responsible to have cleared a China Southern Airline plane on Kenyan soil despite the scare of the coronavirus outbreak.

Mbadi said it was laughable that the Health ministry cleared all the 239 passengers and asked them to ‘self-quarantine’ without proper monitoring mechanisms.

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KQ Suspends Staff Who Recorded The Arrival of Chinese Airline Loaded With 239 Passengers

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

Kenya Airways has suspended one if their staffs who recorded the arrival of a Chinese Southern Airline loaded with 239 passengers from China.

The video went viral o social media, triggering an uproar from concerned Kenyans.

Jumping into action, KQ decided to suspend the whistle blower with immediate effect, citing that the matter was under investigations.

In a letter dated February 27, 2020, Gire Ali, the suspended staff is ordered to go on a suspension with effect from February 27, 2020.

During the suspension period, the staff is required to avail himself to the said investigating team, his manager or any other person in authority.

Image

The Kenyan government on Wednesday allowed 239 Chinese to land at JKIA amid Corona Virus fears, triggering an immediate uproar.

Angry legislators confronted Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo to explain what informed what they termed as a reckless’ move to allow in the Chinese plane.

The National Assembly’s departmental committee on Defense and Foreign Relations wondered why Kenya is out “to pamper China” even at the point of endangering the lives of its own citizens.

The situation got worse when the CS tried to inform the committee that the decision to allow the Chinese into the country was done in the best interest of the country.

“The aeroplane did not originate from Wuhan because Wuhan has been under lockdown and people quarantined and no aeroplane goes there. The passengers were cleared under the guidelines of World Health Organization..The decision was made in the best interest of the country,” Omamo said.

The CAS in a media conference later in the day said the Chinese arriving in Kenya are not from Wuhan, the city where the corona virus outbreak began. 

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Business

Uhuru Secures Multi-Billion Deals With Donald Trump

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured that a new bilateral trade deal between Kenya and the US won’t undermine the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

The Kenyan leader spoke shortly after a meeting with the United States President Donald Trump at the White House during which the two leaders agreed to commence talks leading to a trade pact between Kenya and the US.

Image

President Kenyatta made the assurance when he addressed over 350 business leaders attending a US-Kenya Trade Forum in the US capital.

He said the proposed new trade arrangement with the United States of America would in no way undermine Kenya’s commitment to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

At the White House meeting, Presidents Kenyatta and Trump said a new trade agreement would help increase volumes of trade and investment between Kenya and the US.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer who spoke shortly after the meeting between Presidents Kenyatta and Trump said, America recognizes Kenya as a leader in Africa and an important strategic partner of the US.

He said a new trade agreement presents the two countries a rare opportunity to explore ways of deepening Kenya-US economic and commercial ties.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we look forward to negotiating and concluding a comprehensive, high-standard agreement with Kenya that can serve as a model for additional agreements across Africa,” Amb Lighthizer said.

In line with the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability law of 2015, the Trade Representative will now officially notify Congress of the US government’s intention to start trade negotiations with Kenya.

Currently, trade between Kenya and the US stands at about USD 1billion a year with over 70 percent of Kenya’s export into the expansive American market in 2018, worth USD 466 million, entering under AGOA.

President Kenyatta told the Kenya-US forum that his administration is committed to developing and concluding the strongest ever trade and investment framework that would deliver increased trade between the two nations.

“Today I want to assure all of you of Kenya’s unwavering commitment in developing the strongest ever trade investment framework with the United States of America.

“We are very keenly looking forward to concluding the trade arrangement between our two countries and I believe that these trade agreements would not only serve Kenya and United States but would probably set the base for a new engagement between the United States and other African countries,”President Kenyatta said.

He dismissed speculation that Kenya is breaking away from its commitment to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) saying the new arrangement with the US is only aimed at bolstering and deepening trade not only with Kenya but also with other African countries.

“At this juncture I just want to put away a few doubts because there has been a feeling that by Kenya engaging with the US to have a trade arrangement, we are running away from our commitment to the African Continental Free Trade arrangement. And I want to assure you that there can be nothing further from the truth as that is definitely not the case,” President Kenyatta said.

The Kenyan Head of State pointed out that Kenya was among the first countries to sign and ratify the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and that its commitment to the agreement is steadfast.

He said Kenya needs to move faster and set the pace for other African countries in formulating new trade and investment arrangements with the US as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) comes to an end in 2025.

“All we are saying is that there are some of us like Kenya who feels that we are ready. We are ready to move forward and what we are saying is, let the rest of the continent see us as pacesetters.

“Let them see us as the people who are clearing the field for future negotiations with the rest of the African continent because Kenya feels ready for this arrangement,” the President said.

He noted that even as Kenya and the US work to strengthen their trade and investment ties, there is need to preserve and build on mechanisms and regulatory frameworks that already exist.

“As you may be well aware, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been a key mover for trade between Kenya and the USA. Through AGOA, the US is the third export destination for Kenyan products, with a share of about 8 percent of total Kenya’s export globally.

“Moving forward, we need to maximize the remaining years of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) that ends in 2025,” President Kenyatta said noting that the US is an important source of Kenya’s foreign direct investments (FDI), with the country holding an FDI stock of over USD 405 million in 2018.

President Kenyatta challenged American businessmen to explore new investment opportunities in Kenya and assured them of an enabling business environment.

“We have a wide range of potential areas for investment and I urge US companies to consider investing in key sectors of the economy such as; Agriculture & Agro-processing, Manufacturing, Construction & Real Estate development, infrastructure development, ICT, Blue Economy, Energy, Hospitality & Tourism, Health, FinTech & Financial Services, Petroleum, Mining, among others,” the President outlined.

Executive Vice President and Head of International Affairs of the US Chamber of Commerce Myron Brilliant said the American business community is keenly following what President Kenyatta is doing in terms of improving trade between Kenya and the US and assured that the chamber will continue to support him by wooing more American investors to the country.

“We see your vision, we see your ambition, we understand what is happening in Kenya and we want to embrace it and support you,” Mr Brilliant assured the President.

President Kenyatta is accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries James Macharia (Transport), Adan Mohammed (East African Affairs) and CS designate for Trade Betty Maina among other senior government officials.

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Business

Software engineer Michael Peres sends out valuable GMAT resources free for MBA hopefuls

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

Software Engineer and Mathematician Michael Peres is making a wave online with thousands of valuable resource materials for Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) being requested from his website and LinkedIn account daily.

Peres, 29 and a travel entrepreneur,  worked with Chemical Engineer and Venture Capitalist Ariana Desiree Thacker to create important resources that aspiring Master in Business Administration (MBA) students would need to pass or even ace the GMAT exams.

Peres devoted 1.5  years of personal time to devise a system that can facilitate the easy access of the resources file dubbed as the Mega-GMAT to interested individuals.

Since the Mega-GMAT folders became accessible in 2018, thousands of people are continually requesting daily. Today, there are over 120,000 individuals reached by the GMAT resources file and more are still contacting Peres through his website, www.michaelperes.com and LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/mikeyperes.

Listed below is an example of a post Peres’ created on LinkedIn requesting individuals  to comment their email in order to gain access to the GMAT resource file. This post generated over 1600 personalized requests. 

The Mega-GMAT resource includes links to ebooks, free GMAT tutorials and exams, application materials and Thacker’s Quick B-School Tips to Save Time and Money.

Peres, 29 and a native of Montreal Canada, owns two popular web hosting and web development companies, the Hexa Tiger and Hecto Fox, which clients continue to grow over the years.  

Michael Peres speaking at Microsoft in Seattle, Washington. 

Meanwhile, recipients of the Mega-GMAT resources folder are appreciative of this simple act by Peres.

Aside from the email messages he received from individuals requesting access on the resource folders, constant messages of thanks and confirmation about how helpful the resource materials are, come to his inbox everyday.

Most email senders would note the diligent effort Peres is devoting everyday to give GMAT access to the thousands who request for his resources folder.

LinkedIn followers Nicolas Gomez, Vaanya Gauri and Merilloyd Lim are grateful to Peres’ selfless acts of sharing the resources without asking something in return.

Mabinouri Agboola and Shailendra Chaudhary, stressed that as an act of paying forward, they are obliged to share the resource materials to everyone as they are very helpful for MBA students.

Other followers such as Suraj B, Stuti Ahlawat and Ikjot Singh acknowledged that the Mega-GMAT resource file was really helping them in their GMAT preparations.

Also, Melissa Franco, Mokhamad Dwiki and Richa Asthana, emphasized Peres’ innate goodness for creating the free resources that are really valuable for aspiring MBAs like them.

Even Training and Placement Officer Dr. Ankit Khan expressed his gratitude for the “great” resource that can be used by his students to expand their “knowledge horizon.”

Peres, who also operates a science, tech and business podcast site, believes that when starting out, a company should focus on learning how to offer value, hone their skills rather than prioritizing on earnings. He is doing free work to establish trust with his clients deeming it beneficial to the company in the long run.

Peres also offers free consulting and mentoring for students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) related fields.

Aside from Mega-GMAT, Peres also created MBA resource files in collaboration with Lucas Miller, a local business author. The MBA Summaries have given access to over 54,000 individuals since 2018.  

Just recently, he also teamed up with product manager and travel hacker Julien Bortz to create resource folders on the best credit cards to use when travelling, which has reached over 2,000 people at present.

Peres was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 9. He looks at this disability as strength to continually create innovative ways that would benefit him and other people live their personal and professional lives based on their own terms.

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Business

iPhones 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max officially launched in Kenya

by Pauline Waswa
written by Pauline Waswa

Multinational technology company Apple through its Apple Appointed Independent Value Added Distributor for Africa Redington has launched the iPhones 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max in Kenya. The new generation of iPhones launched at the premier event in Nairobi, are the most powerful and most advanced iPhone models ever built.

The iPhones 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max come in 5.8” and 6.5” Super Retina XDR displays respectively and boast of all day battery life, the fastest chip in a smartphone, the brightest iPhone display yet and its most iconic feature; the all new triple camera system.

 L-R: Christine Judy – Marketing Manager East Africa, Redington Telco, Mr. Amit Bose – Regional Sales Head,Redington Telco,  Mr. Jacob Kimani – Sales Manager Kenya Redington Telco and Ms. Simran Saleh.

Speaking at the launch event, Amit Bose, Redington’s Regional Sales head Telco, East Africa noted that the event was to celebrate innovation and evolution adding that With Redington ‘it’s not just a Transaction, it’s a Journey, it’s a relation to Cherish for Life.’ ‘

“As you may have come to observe from our advent with Apple in Kenya as a Value-Added Distributor, we are always excited about our legacy and partnerships with you all, bringing Apple products that you love, and connecting you to the people that love them as well. We are here to make the products within your reach and ready to support thereafter. It is my pleasure to tell you that we are happy to continue delivering the unrivalled Apple customer experience to our partners and loyal customers,” said Amit.

The iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max mark the latest additions to the iPhone family, now with amazing camera capabilities featuring a powerful new dual-camera system, Night mode, spatial audio, water and dust resistance, faster Face ID, wireless charging, all-day battery life, the highest quality video, Wi-Fi 6, six beautiful new colors and latest hardware accompanied with iOS 13.

“These are the first iPhone models to be christened “Pro”, and they, as you will experience truly live up to their name. Over the years, Apple has never put the “Pro” label on an iPhone the way it does with MacBooks and iPads. ‘Pro’ often means better processors and bigger displays. The iPhone 11 Pro and the 11 pro max has all that in display and processor plus a third telephoto camera that Shoots amazing videos and clicks photos with the Ultra Wide, Wide, and Telephoto
options,” said Christine Judy Redington Marketing Manager.

Redington, through its Authorised Resellers now offer VAS – Value Added Services such as 24 month warranty of products, 1 year on free screen or liquid damage and the latest addition that offers affordability with a % deposit and easy monthly installment scheme.

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Business

Goldenscape merges with Silverstone to enable investors own land

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

Local agribusiness company Goldenscape has merged with Silverstone Property sellers to enable investors own land in addition to leasing greenhouses.

The offer will see investors own land in prime spots in major towns in Kenya by contributing 85 per cent of Sh500,000 capital of the home through roll over from their Agribusiness returns and pay in flexible instalments.
“We decided to merge the two projects owing to the demand we have from our clients, who have enjoyed returns from the green houses,” said Goldenscape Group chairman Peter Wangai.

The company plans to launch their agribusiness model of land ownership countrywide after a successful 100- acre pilot phase in Laikipia County which started in April last year. The move comes after the firm successfully rolled out the lease a greenhouse project where more than 500 investors took up the opportunity that has seen them earn more than Sh30 million from sale of horticultural produce grown in their leased greenhouses.

Apart from greenhouse management, the firm sells the groceries on behalf of the owners, partnering with more than 3,000 grocery stores to stock and sell the produce.

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