we should fuel cars in Tanzania...
April 19, 2021
ITS MONDAY !!!!!
we will start this week with a quiz!!!
QUIZ: which country has the most timezones?
Side note: our first issue got 600 reads!!!! Thank you and please continue sharing.
This weeks conversation starter:
yet another rise in fuel price in Kenya !!!
On Wednesday, the price for petrol and diesel in Kenya rose to hit a historic high of 127.11 Kenya shillings per litre for petrol and 109.96 Kenya Shillings per litre for diesel. notably, in the past three months, the price of petrol in the country has jumped by 20.12 Ksh per litre and diesel 13.56 Ksh per litre. This sharp increase in fuel prices has forced Kenyans living in border towns to buy cheaper fuel in the neighbouring countries of Uganda and Tanzania.
The tenderprenuer’s playbook :
Public officials flout tender rules to award tenders to affiliated companies and persons.
Earlier last week, Africa Uncensored released an investigative documentary, The tenderprenuer’s playbook, revealing how Senator Franklin Linturi illegally acquired tenders from the government. Sen. Linturi is the senator for Meru County and is an ally to the deputy president whose office was involved in the tendering process.
The documentary reveals that Sen. Linturi used one company to supply different products for the government which is against the procurement laws. What is unknown is how Sen. Linturi knew of upcoming tenders months before they were publicly published online.The company, Atticon Limited, which was initially a construction company illegally acquired tenders to supply honorary medals, expensive furniture, computers and pens to the government. The documentary reveals that the company supplied 296 honorary medals for the presidential awards in 2013. the tender was worth 1 million dollars.
This documentary highlights what is now “common practice” in government tendering processes where corruption is deep-rooted. This is just one of many corruption schemes in Kenya.
From Westgate hero to the senate
This picture was taken in 2013 on the day of the terrorist attack at Nairobi Westgate mall. The man in the picture, Abdulkadir Haji, was named the hero for helping authorities rescue and usher out shoppers trapped in the mall. In this particular picture captured by a Reuters photographer , he was seen coaxing a four year old to run across the shopping centre after the gun men had retreated to upper levels of the shopping complex.
On Tuesday last week, Hon Abdulkadir Haji took oath of office as the senator of Garissa County. He was endorsed and unopposed for the seat after the recent death of his father, Yusuf Haji, who was the senator for Garissa.
Markets and Economy
Kenya economy to pick up in 2 months: The Central bank of Kenya’s survey revealed that Kenya’s economy will pick up in the coming months after easing of current lockdown and curfew restrictions which will lead to increased business activities.
End of Stalemate at the port of Mombasa - The Kenya government and the USAID finally reached an agreement over the 2.1 billion Kenya shillings worth of ARV’s that had been held at the port of Mombasa. In March this year, the government of Kenya had demanded ksh 45.8 million in taxes for clearance of the ARV’s at the port leading to a stalemate that left Kenyans living with HIV having to endure reduced shortages of ARV dosage. The stalemate has been resolved and the drugs are cleared for distribution.
Central Bank of Kenya to recover 727 million stolen bonds: the CBK has been cleared by the court to recover 727 million stolen treasury bonds from a banker who used a ‘briefcase company’ to siphon millions of shillings from the CBK by selling fraudulent bonds.
Law : who doesn’t love the Judicial service commission interviews for Chief Justice ?
I must admit that these interviews provide some entertainment value for me. This time round, it was interesting to hear the judges’ views on controversial matters like the age of consent and division of matrimonial property after divorce.
some highlights were :
a) Justice Chitembwe, an interviewee, explained how the hardship he faced to get bail when he was an accused made him a better judge. He explains that the incident forced him into the ‘shoes of an accused’ making him realise the difficulties accused persons face in the justice system
He also defended his infamous judgment on the defilement of a 13 year old girl where he set free the accused basing it on the fact that the two were in a relationship. His judgement has come under immense criticism and the number of questions on the judgement reflected the same.
b) Justice Martha Koome stated that according to her, property belonging to a spouse before marriage should not be subject to equal rights of property after the end of the union. She explained that equal rights would emerge when the couple has acquired and developed property.
Other news
Trouble for Johnson and Johnsons: The J & J vaccine rollout was halted after reports of blood clots emerged. The company halted its roll out in Europe while South Africa and the United States halted its use. The African Union had made plans to purchase the vaccine but has not released a statement after the latest developments.
Will the Covid vaccine be a subscription service?
last week, Pzier stated that to effectively combat Covid, another shot would have to be administered in about 12 months and if possible, people would have to be vaccinated annually!
Twitter sets up office in Ghana: last week, Twitter advertised job openings in Ghana as it prepared to set up its first office in Africa. This news was received gladly by the Ghanaian president and numerous nationals. Twitter CEO has planned to live in Africa for 6 months in 2020 but Covid 19 stood in his way.
Alibaba was fined 2.8 billion dollars for anti-trust suits by Beijing regulators who have targeted Jack Ma and his companies since late last year after he publicly criticised the government. Alibaba’s executives are positive that after the fine, Beijing’s targeted move against Jack Ma and his companies is slowly coming to a halt.
Start up of the week: KIDATO - Kidato is an online school from Kindergarten to grade 12 which aims to offer affordable education to Africa’s middle-class. It has a total funding go 125,000$ as per crunchbase.
podcast of the week: Njeritalkslaw - on the fourth episode, Njeri Wagacha hosts Ife Osaga, head of legal at Google (sub-saharan Africa). In this episode, Ife explains her journey in the legal profession so far. She gives an exciting story of how she nearly gave up on law as a profession after applying for so many Job openings and getting rejected.
