Vehicle registration, including brand new and second-hand units, dipped by 8.4 per cent in the first nine months of 2014, a slowdown occasioned by fewer motorcycles. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data show new registrations amounted to 163,009 by end of September, down from 177,982 units in a comparable period in 2013. Motor cycles registered declined by 20.7 per cent to 86,543 units, from 109,153 units in the previous year. However, other types of vehicles – saloons, station wagons, vans, buses, lorries, mini buses, trailers and three wheelers – increased by a cumulative 11.1 per cent...
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Fresh vehicle registration slows down in nine months
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CBK to add input on bancassurance rules
The insurance regulator has forwarded draft guidelines for banks offering bancassurance to the Central Bank for final input and approval ahead of implementation. Insurance Regulatory Authority sent a copy of the draft guidelines to CBK on Monday after a series of consultation with banks, insurers and agents late in 2014. “As you know, since the new constitution (was effected), every guideline now has to go through Parliament for approval. So, after CBK we hope to present the guidelines to parliament as the last stage, since we have already done stakeholder consultation at industry level," IRA...
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Kenya's shilling past 3-year lows
The shilling weakened slightly yesterday to lows last seen more than three years ago and traders said the slide was prompting more demand for dollars from businesses wary of a further dip. "The significant thing to note here is we have broken the 91 level (to the dollar)," said Nahashon Mungai, a trader at Kenya Commercial Bank. "The sentiment has already shifted for a weaker shilling." By 1041 GMT+3, the shilling was trading at 91.00/91.10, edging down from Tuesday's close of 90.90/91.00. The last time the shilling traded at these levels was in late 2011. The stab at the 91-level was...
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Low oil price good for net oil importers
Developing countries should pounce on the opportunity availed by the global oil price slump to build fiscal buffers that will support growth in case of another round of economic slowdown, according to the World Bank. In its latest ‘Global Economic Prospects’ report, the bank group says lower oil prices are expected through 2015, which will help oil-importing countries to rebuild budgets in the medium term. “For a number of oil-importing countries, lower oil prices offer a chance to improve fiscal positions more quickly than might have been possible before mid-2014,” the bank said in a...
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KNCCI to get Sh7.73 million grant for automation
The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce will receive a Sh7.73 million ($85,000) grant from TradeMark East Africa to digitise the process of business certification. The two organisations will ink a financial agreement today covering the first fiscal year. The full cost for the project and the timelines haven’t been disclosed yet. TradeMark East Africa is a non-profit organisation established in 2010 to facilitate growth of regional and international trade in East Africa. KNCCI, chaired by businessman Kiprono Kittony, is now the sole issuer of the Certificate of Origin, a function it regained...
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Capital Gains Tax to instil fairness, equity – Rotich
Capital gains tax is a necessary evil if only to instil fairness and equity in the taxation regime, besides roping in more revenues, according to National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich. Rotich yesterday told stockbrokers and the newly listed bourse that the tax – reintroduced after nearly 30 years – cannot be suspended, and implementation challenges will be handled as they come. The tax class targets net gains in sale of real property and marketable securities such as shares and bonds. It has been pegged at five per cent, effective January 1. Brokerage firms, which have argued that...
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Has Wema given up on Diamond?
At the stroke of midnight this year, Tanzanian beauty queen Wema made a resolution to “not make the same mistakes” she made last year. It is not clear though if the mistake includes music hearthrob Diamond Platnumz. The two dated for three years before Diamond moved on to Ugandan socialite and business woman, Zari. In a new years message, Wema wrote on her Instagram page, “Happy New Year my beautiful people, 2014 was quite an experience, went through a lot of things, had my ups and downs. I know I have learnt and for sure can’t make the same mistakes I made earlier. God I pray for 2015 to be...
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Jal shoots music vodeo with Nelly Furtado in Nairobi
Emmanual Jal shot a music video for a single featuring Canadian singer Nelly Furtado. The song, Scar is off his latest album The Key. Furtado was in Nairobi for the shot that is sponsored by MuchFACT, an organisation that supports Canadian music by funding and promoting their music videos. The former child soldier posted the news on his social media pages. “So... we won a MuchFACT grant to shoot ‘Scars’ my duet with Nelly Furtado in Kenya!!!! First day of shooting was today after a morning recovering from jet lag and flu! #Kibera #TheKeyis.” The location of the shoot was Kibera. It was shot...
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Vanessa Chettle: I'm an easy target for attention seekers
CONTROVERSIAL socialite Vanessa Chettle (left) has claimed that she has fallen victim to people who are all out to tarnish her name by portraying her as a “social climber and con artist”. Pointing towards her latest spat with a Nairobi-based outfits dealer – which was posted on social media – she says that over some period of time she has become an “easy target” for controversy and attention-seekers. The outfit seller had claimed that Chettle owed her money after she sold her three dresses but failed to pay. However, the socialite has dismissed the allegations by insisting that she paid every...
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The week- Education Summary
Parents ignore teachers strike on opening day Parents defied the teachers’ strike threat and sent their children to school for the first term. Various bus terminus were on Monday teeming with students travelling to different parts of the country in what was seen as defiance of the strike notice by parents. Bookshops, supermarkets and uniform outlets were full of parents and students who were shopping for requirements as schools reopen Monday after the long December holiday. However, Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), Kisumu County branch, reaffirmed the strike notice,...
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Education sector gets a financial boost
The government’s pledge to increase the education budget by one per cent every financial year has got a boost after securing a grant of approximately Sh757 million from the Global Partnerships of Education (GPE). The grant aims at improving the quality and reach of education to children undertaking primary education in Kenya. “This is critical funding at a time when 58 million children of primary school age are still not in school,” said Julia Gillard, board chair of the Global Partnership for Education, in a press statement. “All children should have access to a school with effective...
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How to select the right high school
It is that time of the year when parents are busy looking for schools for their children who did the KCPE exams. At this time, high schools will be assessed mostly depending on how well they score in the KCSE exams, and are able to churn out leading professionals. This is why many school principals, headmasters and proprietors of well performing schools did not take to kindly the stoppage of ranking of schools. How exactly should a parent select a school for the child? The first thing that should come to mind is obviously the academic performance of the school. The education system in Kenya...
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Why one school refused to ditch Art and Craft classes
Several years ago, Art and Craft and Home Science were two examinable subjects that were scrapped from the Kenya primary school curriculum in 2001. But one school in Embu believes the functional skills in the two subjects are still important for children. Pupils in Kubu Kubu Memorial Boarding School in Runyenjes sub-county in Embu County still enjoy making numerous products such as banana fibre art and bracelets. Home Science and Art and Craft are taught in class like other subjects but they are not examinable. The school headmistress, Priscilla Gatumwa Njeru, says this is important to...
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Beat the holiday weight
After the binge eating and over-indulging during the festive season, calorie amnesia comes to an end, you no longer have excuses for nibbling on goodies. All that is left is intentions to start eating right in 2015. Everyone is searching for the secret to fast, easy weight loss. Gyms are full, grocery shopping consists of mostly greens, water bottles are seen been lugged around. For those who keep this up beyond end of January, read on... I’m no expert but with the help of a nutritionist, doctor and online research, try out the below 10 foods to help you lose the weight in a healthy manner...
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Conservationists concern over bypass and railway construction
Conservationists are raising eyebrows over government’s proposals to take more land belonging to the Nairobi National Park for the construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR). This comes a week after the kick-off of the construction of the SGR. Under the Friends of Nairobi National Park (FoNNaP) auspices, the conservationists have also raised concerns over government’s failure to follow laid down procedures in acquisition of land for the construction of the Southern by-pass. They said there was a ploy by government to have the road construction encroach into the Nairobi National Park...
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Akshay's back in the limelight
It’s not that Akshay Kumar went anywhere. It’s just that of late his films haven’t really done all at the box office. It seems like the only way to redeem himself was probably appear in a reality show as a judge, and not just any judge but a ‘maha judge’ (mega). He’s been doing his thing on Dare to Dance and now it seems like he has been roped in to judge MasterChef India’s season four. Although the negotiations are still going on, it is highly likely that he will be appearing in this show which is expected to premier by the end of January on Star Plus. As you may well know, this show is an...
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Spotted
Kitui Senator David Musila having tea with friends at the pool bar at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi on Tuesday evening. CWIT VIH'S MIND and OTHERS OF THE KIND
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A review of Gilbert Muyumbu’s ‘The Noses in Our Family’
Book: The Noses in Our Family and other short stories Author: Gilbert Muyumbu Publisher: Pangolin Publishers Year of publishers: 2014 Number of pages: 143 Genre: Short story collection Number of stories: 15 The Noses in Our Families and other stories is the debut collection by Kenyan writer Gilbert Muyumbu. It’s comprised of 15 stories covering several topics that many East Africans have to deal with like nationhood, HIV/AIDS and social concerns. Two of the most striking stories dealing with national crisis are the title story The Noses In Our Families and The Rich Man of Yesterday. In the...
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Muslims throng Mwingi Town's Masjid Noor for Maulidi
Muslims in their hundreds from across the country converged at the Masjid Noor Mosque in Mwingi town to commemorate the birthday of Prophet Mohammed in Maulidi celebrations on Saturday. The wealthy, the lowly, young and the elderly all came together during the annual ceremony to show solidarity and amity as members of a religion. The Mosque was jam-packed as adherents listened attentively for nearly three hours to moving sermons and prayers. Guest preacher, Ustadh Mohammed Feruz Taib of Makindu in Makueni County, shared that Islamic teaching emphasis justice and humanly treatment to all...
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Public art transforms quality of life
Recently, I returned from Seoul, the capital of South Korea, where I saw and became inspired by Cheonggye-cheon, a 11km stream running across the busy city center since 2005. Built 5m below the street-level, it is a serene walk with crystal clear water, beautiful bridges, sculptures, murals, graceful fountains and elegant community gardens. It is a remarkable example of public art. Blending gentrification, art and ecology, it’s great idea is to reconnect the urban environment with nature. With half of the world’s population now living in towns, this is a creative, social and cultural...
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