illegal Covid-19 certificates
'How some get Covid-19 certificates without testing' - 26 July 2021
Good morning,
We have tailor made the last section of the newsletter to be more personal for you! This means that we will ask short relatable questions to guide you.
with this, you can easily know which news is of much urgency and importance to you. However, we promise all of them are !
Covid -19 Certificates Issued without tests conducted.
In Nairobi, persons in search for counterfeit goods ( electronics, documents, beauty products, books.. the list goes on and on..) visit one popular place - River Road- in the CBD.
However, an exposé by The Standard newspaper revealed that some travel agencies in Eastleigh offered illegal Covid-19 negative certificates (with a government emblem) at a fee of Ksh 5000 for “quick clearance”. The certificates are sent to the travellers via WhatsApp after payment of the fee, and no Covid test is conducted.
The Standard revealed that these travel agencies work with health officials to issue out these certificates. The expose highlighted the involvement of senior lab technicians at the Machakos Level 5 Hospital.
Interesting fact : Many Kenyans who have travelled abroad have been forced to quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 after testing despite their certificates showing a negative result.
ECONOMY
Public debt climbed to Sh7.71 trillion by end of June.
Kenya’s ‘swelling’ public debt has caused an uproar especially this year over loans that Kenya receives from the World Bank and IMF.
A report by the Central Bank of Kenya revealed data on the state of Kenya’s Public debt as per the end of financial year 2020/2021.
some details of the report
Public debt climbed to Sh7.71 trillion by end of June from Sh7.28 trillion as of December 2020.
Kenya received 80.9 billion ($750 million) from the World Bank.
Kenya raised 107.9 billion ($1 billion) from a Eurobond offer.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a Sh44.2 billion loan to Kenya.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) disbursed $314 million (Sh34.45 billion) in April.
TAXES
Kenya withholds vote for the proposed Global minimum tax
As highlighted in our previous newsletter, there is a proposal for a global minimum tax for corporates.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that Kenya was missing from the 132 countries that agreed to the proposal.
why Kenya did not agree
Some clauses in the agreement will require Kenya to scrap levying of digital service tax on tech companies like Google, Facebook, Youtube.
KRA (Kenya Revenue Authority) has projected that levying digital services tax on foreign firms will see it raise close to Sh14 billion in three years.
CRIMINAL LAW
Supreme Court decision 6 July 2021: Constitutionality of the Mandatory death sentence
One case law that perhaps all Constitutional law students remember is Francis Muruatetu v Republic (2017). This month, a Supreme Court decision clarifying the applicability of this case was made.
Background: why this case is important (Muruatetu v Republic, 2017)
The major issue in the case was on the Constitutionality of the mandatory death sentence for the offence of murder.
section 204 of the penal code provides for a mandatory death sentence for the offence of murder.
This means that if you are guilty of murder, the court must pass a sentence of death regardless of mitigating factors. (NB: mitigating factors can be used to lessen severity of a sentence. They include offenders age, remorse, personal history etc..)
in 2017, the Supreme Court declared the mandatory nature of the death sentence for the offence of murder as unconstitutional. Note that the decision did not outlaw the death penalty in its entirety, but only the mandatory nature of it. This gives the court discretion to assess mitigating factors.
Clarifications made by The Supreme Court decision -, 6th July 2021
The clarifications are:
The declaration that the mandatory death sentence is unconstitutional applies only to cases of murder. hence,
the unconstitutionality of death sentence does not apply to capital offences such as Treason, Robbery with violence and attempted robbery with violence.
Capital Markets
New regulations for operating a crowd funding platform.
(draft Capital Markets (Investment Based Crowdfunding) Regulations, 2021)
what is crowdfunding?
it is raising small amounts of money from a large number of individuals or entities to finance a project/ business/ company through a crowdfunding platform.
some highlights of the Draft regulations
all corporations/companies have to obtain a license from CMA before operating a crowd funding platform
the company must be limited by shares with a minimum paid-up capital of KSh 10 Million in order to be eligible for the license.
for micro and small enterprises, eligibility is: (a)must be incorporated in Kenya. (b) a minimum of two years’ operating track record and (c)a good corporate governance record.
retail investors cannot put in more than KSh 100,000.
A crowdfunding offering shall not remain open for more than sixty days.
Must Know ConversationStarters
Do you own a business? - KRA has given firms until August 2022 to install new electronic tax registers connected to its systems for monitoring of daily sales.
all businesses with an annual turnover of at least Sh5 million are required to have electronic tax registers. Through them, KRA will receive sales and invoice data from all registered firms and traders daily.
Flying abroad soon? - Kenya Airways has increased its flights to Europe:
to Paris up to 4 flights.
to London, an additional flight
to Amsterdam, two more flights beginning August 2
Have a savings account? - As per the CBK data, Savings interest rate fell to 5-year low of 2.55% in May. When this interest rate is compared to Kenya’s inflation rate (which is higher), then the purchasing power of your savings lessens.
Want to know abit more about inflation rates and how it affects your savings in a bank ? check out this previous newsletter or even better, this short video.
Does your company pay for Zoom conferencing ? - Zoom announced that it would start charging VAT on Kenyan companies as early as August this year.
Zoom is registered for VAT in Kenya as a non-resident supplier of electronic services and is required to collect and remit VAT on supplies made to non-VAT registered customers in Kenya. This will majorly apply to corporates who pay for zoom conferencing.
Stuck in traffic on Waiyaki way and Mombasa road ? - The Nairobi Expressway (the cause of all the traffic) is expected to be complete by February next year, 7 months earlier than expected.
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