UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. FILE PHOTO | AFP
UK Offers work permit to non-graduate Kenyans
Highly skilled Kenyans without degree-level qualifications will from next year be allowed to apply for
work permits in Britain under post-Brexit immigration rules, enabling them to compete with job-seekers from the European Union and other regions.Britain’s new points-based immigration system, set to be implemented from January 2021, has lowered the requirement for job applicants to minimum skill level of A-level or equivalent from degree-level under the 27-member EU bloc system.
Jeff Koinange Sh200m homes to be sold over NCBA debt
Two four-bedroom villas belonging to broadcast journalist Jeff Koinange were in April put up for auction over a Sh130 million bank debt.
The houses in the high-end Kitisuru area sit on 0.67 acres and are each attached with a servant’s quarter.
A last-minute deal between the Bank and Mr Koinange stopped the auction of two four-bedroom villas. Mr Koinange was living in one of the villas and had rented out the other one —which he had initially used for storing art works.
Norfolk closes indefinitely, fires all employees
A pay cut dispute forced the owners of The Fairmont Norfolk, an iconic hotel in Nairobi, to close its doors indefinitely and sacking all employees in a row sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.
In a memo to staff dated May 27, the country manager, Mehdi Morad, said they had closed the Nairobi hotel together with another outlet in the Mara following reduced business that made it difficult to meet employee pay demands.
The employees had declined a proposal to remain on unpaid leave during the coronavirus period and demanded a 50 percent pay, triggering the closure.
The memo was later withdrawn to allow for consultations.
Where are Kenya‘s super rich? None in Forbes list
Kenya’s super-rich were missing from the list of Africa’s dollar billionaires, as Forbes magazine published the list of the continent’s wealthiest individuals.
Although the number of countries with dollar billionaires in Africa has increased from four to eight over the past decade to 2020, this year there was not even one Kenyan in the list of Africa’s 20 richest men and women.
Although Kenya is East Africa’s biggest economy and the eighth largest in Africa, it has been left behind by neighbouring Tanzania, which has one dollar billionaire - Mohammed Dewji.
Michael Joseph: why I sold all my Safaricom shares
Safaricom’s founding chief executive, Michael Joseph, revealed that he sold off his entire shareholding in the company to fund the construction of his retirement home.
Earlier regulatory filings showed that Mr Joseph sold his entire stock in the giant telecommunications firm in the course of its fiscal year to March 2019.
Disclosures in the company’s annual report showed that he owned 1.17 million shares in the telco as at March 31, 2018, but had sold all of them by the end of the financial year.
Sportpesa owners in bitter fallout over billions of shares
Wealthy and influential investors behind SportPesa fell out over allegations of transfer of $278 million (Sh29.1 billion) from the company’s coffers to overseas accounts and sale of shares in the firm’s holding company.
The shareholder fight in the sports betting platform pit local majority shareholders against its foreign owners from Bulgaria in a row that erupted when SportPesa announced its return under Milestone, a business licensed in October.
Petrol posts biggest price fall in 13 years
Diesel prices are Thursday (May 14) expected to fall by close to Sh20 a litre - the largest margin in 13 years - while motorists are expected to enjoy cheaper super petrol, whose pump price is set to fall by Sh10.59 a litre on lower global crude prices.
A brief sent to the Petroleum Ministry by the energy regulator and seen by the Business Daily indicates that the pump price of diesel will fall to Sh78.07 per litre in Nairobi from the current Sh97.56, representing a drop of 19.9 percent.
Motorists in Nairobi will pay Sh82.28 for a litre of super petrol from Sh92.87, representing a Sh10.59 drop while kerosene costs will increase by 3.19 percent to Sh79.79.
How Nakumatt directors siphoned Sh1bn
Nakumatt Holdings had lent its directors more than Sh1 billion in interest-free soft loans by the time it was placed under administration on January 22, 2018, according to a review of the company’s financial statements.
The related party transactions were recently disclosed in a report for the year ended February 2018 by Parker Randall Eastern Africa, the retailer’s independent auditor.
The auditor did not specify which individuals owe the company money, underlining the weak governance in the board of the former giant retail chain that owes banks, landlords and suppliers as much as Sh20 billion.
M-Shwari shifts loans of below Sh2,000 to Fuliza
NCBA and Safaricom raised the minimum loan size on the mobile lending platform M-Shwari four times to Sh2,000 in a move expected to reduce defaults largely by borrowers taking smaller amounts.
Borrowers have been accessing a minimum of Sh500, through M-Pesa, on the M-Shwari platform.
The changes took effect on Monday (August 10) and NCBA has started communicating the new credit limit to customers who qualify for it.
Bank eyes Tuju children over Sh1.6bn debt battle
The East African Development Bank (EADB) is targeting the children of Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju for recovery of a Sh1.6 billion loan on grounds that they had guaranteed their father when he inked the botched financing deal.
The bank sent a demand notice to the Cabinet Secretary’s children Mano Tuju, Alma Tuju and Yma Tuju-- demanding payment of $16.5 million (Sh1.6 billion) with interest, failure to which the lender threatened to file a bankruptcy suit against them.
The loans were meant for the construction of Sh100 million two storey, flat-roofed bungalows sitting on a 20-acre forested land dubbed Entim Sidai and the purchase of a 94-year-old bungalow built by a Scottish missionary, Dr Albert Patterson, which currently operates as a high-end restaurant.
Kibaki set to be the highest earning officer from July 1
Retired President Mwai Kibaki is set to become the best paid serving and retired public servant, Treasury documents have revealed.
The Treasury’s Budget estimates that are before Parliament for approval indicate that Mr Kibaki’s pension and perks will stand at Sh34.43 million in the financial year set to start in July. This will translate to a monthly average payment of Sh2.86 million.
This is the first time Mr Kibaki’s own pension is appearing in the Budget estimates given that it has since 2013 been lumped with that of President Daniel arap Moi. The payment of Moi’s pension was discontinued when he died on February 4.
Former PS Lilian Omollo gets one shilling for unfair dismissal
A judge has ruled that the removal of former Youth and Gender Principal Secretary Lillian Omollo from the government’s payroll was unconstitutional.
And for the breaching of her rights, the Employment and Labour Court Judge Stephen Radido has ordered the government to pay Ms Omollo Sh1. Yes, you read it right, one shilling.
The judge said that civil servants have a legitimate expectation that being public officers, due process as envisaged under Article 236 of the Constitution would be observed in the process of their removal from office.
The judge, however, said that because Ms Omollo, who is currently battling corruption charges, was found to have unexplained wealth, the amount awarded was adequate compensation for the violation of her rights.
Hosea Kiplagat home to be auctioned over Sh378m debt
Powerful Moi-era politician and one-time Co-operative Bank chairman Hosea Kiplagat risks losing his expansive Karen residential home and associated company assets over a Sh378.61 million loan.
Bank of India is seeking to recover the millions of shillings that Mr Kiplagat guaranteed two firms — Eldoret Concrete Poles Limited and Timber Treatment Limited — through a public auction between August 25 and August 28.
Garam Investments — which is leading the auction—has invited bids despite Mr Kiplagat getting a court order temporarily freezing the sale of the properties.
Inside Sh11bn road through Kenyattas’ rural home
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s village, Ichaweri, is set to benefit from a Sh11 billion project that will upgrade sections of the motorway that connects Kiambu Road to Thika Highway to dual carriage.
The national highways agency has started design work on the 62-kilometre road that is set for completion by June 2022—two months before the end of Mr Kenyatta’s second and final term.
The road runs from Kiambu Road through Kirigiti, Ngewa, Ichaweri, Gatundu and Mangu to Thika highway, according to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA).
Ichaweri, a small village along Kenyatta Road in Gatundu South, is the rural home of two of Kenya’s presidents – the incumbent and his father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
Where rich parents pay Sh2.7m as nursery fee
How much should early childhood education cost? For bespoke education, some Kenyan parents are willing to pay up to Sh2.7 million for children aged under seven years, in addition to extracurricular activities like learning how to ride a horse or playing musical instruments.
As incomes grow and more people born in financial hurdles seek a higher social status for their children, investing heavily in the early years education, which starts from one and half years to six years, has become the new luxury.
How Moi firm sold Uchumi fake Sh2.3bn property
The late former President Daniel Moi and his associates fraudulently acquired two titles to a Sh2.3 billion land in Nairobi’s Roysambu area which they used to sell the property to Uchumi Supermarkets and take a loan from Barclays Bank of Kenya, the predecessor to Absa Bank Kenya.
A report by the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Lands reveals that the retail chain, banks, churches and the Kenya Defence Forces are among a group of victims that are staring at major losses from multiple fraudulent dealings on the a 17-acre land.
It emerged that Solio Construction Company Limited, which was partly owned by Mr Moi, was given the land for free in 1999 in an irregular transfer signed by land officials while the property remained under Mayer Jacob Samuels, an Israeli who died in 1974.
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