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The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) on Wednesday announced the appointment of Patrick Nyangweso as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Through a notice in the local dailies, KNCCI President Richard Ngatia described Nyangweso as a focused and experienced professional with over 24 years of experience in planning, policy and project management across the public and private sectors.

“He is a focused leader who has transformed various institutions through the adoption of Change Management Systems and Performance Management tools that has enhanced staff’s productivity and motivation,” he said.

“Nyangweso is a highly experienced and transformative leader, an economist with expertise in budget implementation, monitoring and evaluation, research and financial management.”

Until his appointment, Nyangweso served as the KNCCI Chief Operating Officer and before that he headed various institutions including International Medical Corps and the National Taxpayers Association.

He is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of Nairobi and holds a master’s degree in Projects Planning and Management and a degree in Economics from the same University.

“The board congratulates Nyangweso for the appointment and is confident that he will ably steer the organization’s future growth ambitions,” added Ngatia.

The National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) today appeared before the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning to enlighten the Committee on its operations, programs, successes and challenges affecting the Fund.

Led by their Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Yusuf Mbuno, the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) Board informed the Members that this year marks 20 years since the Fund was launched, adding that they have so far received Ksh435 billion from the National Treasury benefitting over 6 million students in Kenya through burseries. He however expressed some challenges such as delays in receipt of funds and the challenge of incomplete projects.

After the presentation of the Fund’s results over these years, the Chairperson of the Committee, Hon. Kuria Kimani advised the Board to develop a structured framework that provides real time information, develop well-structured Budget estimatesindicating pending arrears while Hon. Julius Rutto called for a creation of a standard template on Bursary issued towards the schools which is to be reconciled with acknowledgement receipts from learners.

Hon. Joseph Munyoro and Hon. Paul Biego were concerned of the reporting structure of the Fund Managers in the constituencies. Hon. Adipo Okuome noted that there was a communication breakdown and tasked the Board to outline their role.

While making his presentation, Hon. (Dr.) John Ariko notified the Committee that he was a beneficiary of the NG-CDF Fund through out his university course. He advised the Board to do serious checks and balances in the disbursement of funds for accountability purposes.

As part in the discussion, Hon. David Mboni and Hon. UmulKheir Kassim called on the Board in regards to the NG-CDF sharing formula, to be more equitable in the constituencies against the varied features across the country like high number of primary schools, enrollment rate among others.

The transition of incomplete projects was a concern to Hon. Joseph Makilap and Hon. Soud Machele who urged the Members to have a vote head for such projects so as to have them completed.

The CEO also requested the Committee consider amending the Act establishing NG-CDF to have it entrenched in the Constitution.

Somtel is a leading telecom and technology service provider with the widest network coverage in the Somali region. It’s Headquarter is located in Hargeisa and we are guided by our values of delivering an ambitious and new digital world to our 78 percent of telecom customers across Somaliland,Somalia and Puntland.

In addition, we have grown fast in superior communication, infrastructure and by harnessing the capacity of our esteemed clients. We now offer voice,data, digital services and enterprise solutions to to our retail and corporate customers.

Therefore, the organisation is part of the giant Dahabshill Group of Companies which spun off from its remittance wing founded by Mohamed Saeed Duale in the uear 1970.

The Group presently ranges from state of the art telecommunication , banking and remittance transfer to hospitality,real estate and energy. The Company expands it’s business operation ventures,constantly with Dahabshill Motors Hyundai that was recently launched in Hargeisa and Somaliland,joining the Groups business portfolio.

In conclusion, Somtel Somalia Limited is among the top leading telecommunication company in the Horn of Africa.

CAPTION: A delegation of victims of the Nandi mining blast at a press conference at the LSK headquarters in Nairobi seeking justice for their dead kin.
Picture By Tum David.

By Tum David

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) together with the victims of the Karebe Gold Mine tragedy staged a peaceful demonstration to the offices of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) in Nairobi on Tuesday 20th April, 2023 to present a memorandum to the Director Mr Noordin Haji.
The LSK in partnership with KHRC are deeply concerned by the recent events surrounding the investigations into the deadly gold mine blast that killed three (3) people in the Karebe Gold Mine shafts at Kibisem Location, Tinderet Sub-County of Nandi County on 23rd January, 2023.
The tragic incident which occurred around 1615hhrs resulted in the death of the following young men namely Geofrey Onyango, Julius Kiochumba and Geofrey Rotich with scores of others nursing serious injuries.
It was established that the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Kapsabet Law Courts acknowledges befire it the arrest and arraignment of ten (10) suspects and a miscellaneous application file No: E013/2023 in their custody on February 7, 2023 where the court granted the investigating officer fourteen (14) days to hold the suspects in custody pending further investigations into the deadly blast. It was also noted that due to the nature and the magnitude of the investigation, the case was taken up by the DCI investigators from the HeadQuarters in Nairobi who upon the completion of their investigations made a recommendation of a charge of murder against the suspects.
The LSK confirms a duplicate file was also forwarded to the office of the ODPP in Nairobi for perusal, direction and further action in court.

” The LSK therefore seeks answers to this pertinent issues” said the LSK President in a press conference in his office. He said that the LSK now demands for answers about the actual position of the DCI file about the investigations which were made and what was the recommendations and the charges referred against the suspects.

” We want to know the current position of the file that was forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and why it has taken too long to charge the suspects” Mr Theuri said.
He added; ” We call upon the authorities to move with speed and wr hive them seven (7) days to act and provide answers failure to which, we as the LSK, we’ll be copelled to explore other options of law to compel the government to act in the best interest of the victims”.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) endeavours to promote human rights to ensure that justice is served to all.

CAPTION: The Brick Mall in Thindigwa along Kimani Road where the newly opened 92nd Naivas store is located. Pic By Tum David.

By Tum David

KENYA’S number one leading Food Store in the country, Naivas Supermarket has officially opened its newest outlet, the 92nd over all, at the Brick Mall in Thindigwa along Kiambu Road.
The move is seen as the perfect Easter holiday gift towards its cherished customers. However, it is also seen as an exciting effort towards its expansion spree and a step closer to attaining the 100 mark of the number of stores Naivas Holdings plans to attain before the end of the year to become an accomplished supermarket chain in Kenya.
The new store which covers about 20,000sq ft of trading space, has been accelerated by Proparco, a French sovereign wealth fund which acquired a Ksh 3.8 billion stake in early September last year.
The Naivas Supermarket also has plans to open six outlets of the Food Chain in the next two months which aims to attain a record 100 number of stores, a record never attained by any retailer in the region.
Speaking after the opening of the 92nd branch at the Brick Mall in Thindigwa, Kiambu Road, the Chief Commercial Officer of Naivas Supermarket Mr Willy Kimani had this to say:
” Naivas is in the operating track and should be getting to its 100th store this year and even over that number for we don’t track on physical stores but we track about profitability stores”.
Mr Kimani said that the challenges brought about by the recent drought and the political noise in the country coupled with the dollar challenges all this affected a lot of things including supply issues.

” Therefore, it’s timely that the Kikapu Kibonge campaigns which we have been rolling, is a campaign that encompasses all seasons”. Mr Willy Kimani said.
He went on to say, ” For once we broke tradition instead of doing an Easter Campaign, we decided to go for a campaign that encompasses all the seasons because it’s not about an Easter meal it’s more about the season and the people, people don’t have food in the homes and income has remained constant, but unfortunately prices have been rising double digits and that’s the reason why we had to say no we’ve to do a campaign towards it”.
The Chief Commercial Officer said it was so important for Naivas that the opening of the 92nd store happens at the same time when the retailer is having the “Kikapu Kibonge” campaign countrywide.

The expansion spree seem to be unstoppable given the Supermarket’s plans to open soon more stores in Kisii town, coastal town of Mombasa and in Westlands and Karen in Nairobi.

” Ours is not a rush to open brick and mortar stores, no, it’s making sure that we can be able to competitively in a profitable manner to be able to actually have a product fit for the market” Mr Kimani added.

by Ronald Njoroge

The Regional Zizi Afrique foundation conference the Africa Evidence forum opened on Tuesday in Kenya to boost foundational learning, numeracy in Sub Saharan Africa.

John Mugo, the executive director of Zizi Afrique foundation said that the two forum is hosted with the aid of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – What Works to discuss about Foundational
Learning & Numeracy in Sub-Saharan Africa in association with the British Council, the Education Development Trust, Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP), and
Education Evidence for Action (EE4A). According to organizers, academics, data producers, decision-makers, and
scholars from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, and Sierra Leone will be among the participants. Numerous representatives from African education ministries will also be present at the conference.

By Jeff Kizzilah

The Coalition of Church and Alliances Ministry led by Bishop Langat has call on two political leaders to sit down and agree.

Speaking in Nairobi,Church leaders Coalition has said its time the two leaders sit down and agree on serious proposals for the better of the Nation.

“We plead and ask our President to follow through with his promise to sit with and listen to Mr Odinga and other leaders and come out with reasonable proposals to address the main plights in our country. We also invite Mr Odinga to accept dialogue for the good of the country,” said Bishop Langat

They added that the injuries and loss of even one life is way too expensive. Kenyan lives matter. We urge restraint of the police in such occasions and urge them against use of live bullets and excessive force that might cause injury to the people.

By Jeff Kizzilah

Residents from Samburu East led by former Nominated Hon Maison Leshomo has demand eviction to stop or people will go to the street.

The residents blame government specifically Interior Cabinet Secretary Hon. Kithure Kindiki over uninformed decision to evict there families from the area.

Members of the Samburu people said most of the 200 Samburu families are living in makeshift squats, while 1,000 others were forced to relocate,they said.

Speaking in Nairobi almost 20 students and residents from Samburu have complained to government to fasttrack the relocation of the evicted families.

The situation has been really bad for a long time,” “The Samburu people ] have nothing. Things like bedding and utensils were burned.”they said

Former Nominated Mp Hon Laisomo Leshomo who led the students said government has an hidden agenda apart from evictions of the people and she has ask government to come out clear.
She also said the eviction going on in Samburu is ill intention and plans to take over samburu land.

The community has lost huge sacks of land to the bandits.They also added that most of the schools are about start exams.

Paradigm Initiative’s (PIN’s) movie, Finding Diana, has won the Best Human Rights Film Award at this year’s Berlin Shorts Award.

The international recognition comes five months after the movie was premiered and after securing more than 175,000 views on the organisation’s YouTube Channel, ParadigmHQ.

Ms. Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu, the organization’s Chief Operating Officer, lauded the win saying the movie is significantly contributing to Paradigm Initiative’s effort towards ensuring the continent is rights-respecting.

“We are keenly aware of the need to mainstream digital rights conversations and are always exploring new and innovative ways to do so. We are thrilled that our films continue to introduce new audiences to digital rights issues, including access to technology, freedom of expression, press freedom, digital surveillance, and other key issues that we passionately advocate for on the continent,” she said.

She expressed gratitude to PIN partners, Ford Foundation, Internews, Internet Society (ISOC) Foundation, Luminate and United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour (DRL) for supporting the movie production.

On his part, Idiare Atimomo, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Up in The Sky, which was PIN’s movie production partner, welcomed the win, saying it was satisfying.

“We are delighted by the news of this award! Being able to take pressing African human/digital rights issues and turn them into engaging cinematic content that can win in such a contested category is very satisfying. We have always trusted in the power of storytelling to mainstream these issues for wider consumption and appreciation,” he added.

Finding Diana is executive produced by Paradigm Initiative in partnership with Up In the Sky Films. The film was directed by Tolulope Ajayi and produced by Benjamin Adeniran.

The lead actress, Uzoamaka Onuoha plays 28-year-old Aisha Coker, a down-on-her-luck journalist. Also starring in the movie is Mike Afolarin who plays Izuore Duke, Rotimi Adelegan as the Governor, and Bade Smart in the role of James. The film follows Aisha as she investigates a story of debauchery in her state government. Will her dive into the underbelly of conspiracy finally put Aisha on the map, or will it serve a bigger purpose? Finding Diana is inspired by PIN’s 2021 Digital Rights and Inclusion Report- Londa. The report highlights the state of digital rights and inclusion in 22 African countries. This is the third short film released by Paradigm Initiative following the success of  Training Day (2020) and Focus (2021).

Londa 2021 examines privacy, freedom of expression, access to information, segmentation and execution, digital transformation, affordability, gender, and others within existing legislative frameworks and against the backdrop of a widening digital divide.

It also assesses the state of digital rights and inclusion on the continent and provides recommendations on what each country must do to move towards realizing gains that rights-respecting and inclusive digital practices bring. Besides providing recommendations, the report also highlights gaps existing in the featured African countries.

by Tum David

The rapidly expanding Naivas Supermarket has kicked off its annual seasonal campaign coming barely a week after Kenyans took to the streets to protest over the high cost of living.
Naivas, a dependable home grown retailer and supermarket of choice for the Kenyan populace, has on Friday March 23, 2023 stepped up a campaign that is truly going to live upto its slogan of ” Naivas Saves You Money”.
Speaking to the media during the launch ceremony, Mr Willy Kimani said that the second edition of the annual seasonal campaign is dubbed ” Naivas Kikapu Kibonge” adding that the Food Chain understands the shrinking basket of its customers and thus the reason of the campaign.
” As a brand, Naivas understands the needs of our customers and this is our small bidding in making the long holiday a little more adorable, affordable, and memorable” Willy Kimani said.
The campaign promises 9 weeks of the very best of prices and exceptional sales and promotions by Naivas Supermarket during the Easter, Ramadhan, Eid ul Fitr, Labour Day, back to school and Mother’s Day.