Congratulations Justice Martha Koome
what next after nomination by the Judicial Service Commission?
On Tuesday last week, the Judicial Service commission announced the nomination of Justice Martha Koome as the next Chief Justice and forwarded her name to the President for appointment.
What are the next steps after this?
The president, if satisfied with the nomination, sends this communication to the National Assembly for approval.
Attached to the communique is an original copy of the Judicial Service Commission’s report of the recruitment and selection process together with Justice M. Koome’s curriculum vitae.
The National Assembly’s Departmental committee on Justice and Legal affairs prepares its report to be tabled in parliament within 14 days.
The National Assembly can either accept or deny the nomination depending on the report by the Departmental committee.
If the National Assembly rejects the nomination, the president shall submit the name of a new nominee within three days.
If the National Assembly accepts, then the president appoints the new Chief Justice and she will be sworn in.
Markets
Highlights of the Kenyan capital markets Quarter 1 2021 Report
Nairobi Securities Exchange recorded a 20.88% increase in market capitalisation in Q1 of 2021 when compared to Q1 of 2020. This was a 4.29% increase up from the market capitalisation in Q4 of 2020.
Equity trading in Kenya remains foreign dominated with an average of 60.38% of foreign investor participation.
Assets under management by Collective investment Schemes have surpassed the 100 Billion Kenya Shillings mark.
Capital Markets
The Capital Markets (Whistle blower) Draft Regulations has been published to give the public an opportunity to send in feedback on the proposed regulations.
what is the aim of these regulations ? - To provide incentive for the reporting of unethical behaviours and misconduct in the capital markets by market participants.
Some interesting provisions - As per regulation 4, a whistleblower is eligible for a reward of 3% of the recovered amount up to a maximum of 5 million shillings.
The people ineligible for this reward are employees or members of an entity under obligation to report such misconduct in the capital markets. This includes regulatory agencies, judicial administration and law enforcement organisations.
In line with the implementation of the Capital Markets (Coffee Exchange) regulations 2020, coffee brokers will be required to apply for new licenses to provide brokerage service by 1 July 2021.
Liaison group plans to list on the Nairobi Stock Exchange as part of its plan to expand farther into Africa. The financial services firm offers business of risk advisory focusing more in healthcare, pension management and Investment.
Safaricom’s share price hit a record high after news that it is close to securing an operating license in Ethiopia.
Short-term to Long-term goals for my ‘chama’
Most chamas are formed by a social group be it friends, family or even colleagues. The initial goals are usually buying household items, taking a trip somewhere, purchasing some land etc.
To make that move from short-term to long-term goals, the important steps are:
a) Deciding whether the chama is a social group or an investments group. It is important to note that neither choice is wrong because it depends on priorities of the chama members. The move to an investment group will mean an increase in commitment levels, registering the chama, stricter rules on timelines for contributions and handling of the chama’s assets.
b) Coming up with a Long-term aspiration broken down to short-term goals. The aspiration should answer the question ‘what can the chama do for me that I cannot do myself ?’
An example of this could be that a Bodaboda chama has the long-term aspiration of owning a fleet of buses. This can be broken down into short-term goals: “Moving from riding a Bodaboda to owning one. Then from owning one BodaBoda to owning several Bodabodas. Then moving from owning several Bodabodas to owning Ubers and from Ubers to owning buses.”
Next weeks issue will touch on the next step of getting to the next level: Moving from investing in dead assets to live assets
‘It is a change in how people work, Not restructuring’ ..says Safaricom’s CEO
The announcement by Safaricom of new working plans at the company was met with mixed reactions especially when the announcement that employees would have to reapply for positions was made.
The CEO maintained that no-one would lose their jobs as a result and that the move is geared to incorporate digital skills in how people work especially as the company aims to expands into healthcare and Education . The shift involves putting employees in self-contained teams.
How exactly does this work ?
Employees reapply for their jobs.
If they qualify, they are put into groups called “squads”.
The squads form a tribe and the tribes will focus on different sectors of the industry like payments, mobile data, fixed data and mobile care.
Each of the tribes report directly to the executive committee.
Is this useful? According to the CEO, this will sustain customer obsession efforts and achieve better engagement among colleagues. It will be interesting to see how this plan pans out.
Uganda Detects the Indian Variant of Covid 19
The head of government-run Uganda Virus Research Institute, Pontiano Kaleebu, confirmed that one person in Uganda had tested positive with the Indian variant of Covid-19. The person had just returned from a visit to India. The country’s Covid 19 task force was set to discuss the issue on Friday last week while the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to convene a meeting of African Health Ministers on the 8th of May.
India has been worst hit by the second wave. News reports reveal that hospitals are at maximum capacity and there is a shortage of oxygen tanks. On Sunday, about 400,000 new covid cases were reported in India with about 3,6890 fatalities as per CNN. Earlier last week, the US pledged to send supplies to covid-ravaged India.
How Much does it cost to be an airbnb host in Kenya ?
Ever wanted to be an Airbnb host? Below is a list of the costs of running one:
A one-off application fee of 1000 Kenya shillings to the Tourism Authority.
Annual license fee of Ksh 26,000 per unit owned.
Single business permit (depends on the size of the business). A medium trader category for a single business permit is Ksh 10,000.
National Environment Management Authority license fee
Home insurance.
Digital service tax of 1% of income derived from services offered in digital market place.
As a registered company, VAT of 16%
Dadaab and Kakuma to close by 30 June 2022
The Interior Cabinet secretary announced that Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps should be closed by June 2022. To implement this plan, a joint team comprising of Kenyans and officials from UNHCR will be formed to devise a road map towards management of the process.
What happens to the refugees?
a) There will be repatriation of some refugees to their countries of origin.
b) Socio-economic integration of some through work or residency permits.
Why the sudden move to close the camps ?
Kenya has cited insecurity as the major cause of closure of the camps. Kenya alleges that the camps are used for recruiting members of the terrorist group ‘Al-shabaab’ who pose a security threat to the country.
Despite these assertions, the move by Kenya seems to be a response to Somalia’s insistence on having the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hear and determine the maritime border dispute between the two countries.
Other ConversationStarters
The President announced the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions placed in March this year but the 10pm - 4am curfew is retained. As a result, all places of worship, restaurants and bars will open but are required to follow Covid-19 protocols. Restriction of movement between counties has been lifted and learning institutions are scheduled for physical re-opening.
President Uhuru Kenyatta overhauled the entire KEMSA (Kenya Medical Supplies Authority) Board of Directors. This resulted from the 7.8 Billion Kenya Shillings corruption scandal involving dubious tender deals for Covid-19 supplies.
Despite this move by the president, the former KEMSA chairperson was transferred to the Communications Authority board even though investigations at KEMSA are still ongoing.
More than a dozen people succumbed to death in Israel after a stampede during a religious festival. The main cause of the stampede was overcrowding at the event. An estimated 100,000 people had gathered for the religious festival.
Kenya Airways has partnered with a UK based logistics firm to offer drone services as it aims to diversify the services it gives. Last year, the Civil Aviation (Unmanned Aircraft systems) regulations were established to regulate the use of drones.
Highlights from the Civil Aviation (Unmanned Aircraft systems) regulations:
a) Foreigners are not allowed to own drones but can rent them after getting a 30-day permit from the KCAA (Kenya Civil Aviation Authority) at 20,000 Kenya Shillings
b) Change of ownership of drone is subject to a Ksh 2500 fee
c) Importation of drones is subject to import permit and registration fee of Ksh3000
d) Use of drones for commercial purposes requires a Remote Aircraft Operations certificate from KCAA at Ksh 80,000 and a subsequent renewal of the license at ksh 50,000
FILING TAXES DEADLINE
Most Kenyans on the 30th of June at 11pm, when they remember the KRA deadline for filing tax returns.
57 days to go. Are you a beginner and want a step to step guide to file taxes ? Next week we will have a section named ‘filing taxes for the first time’