The manufacturing sector has gotten a huge boost in terms of costs as the government decided to reduce the power tariffs from Sh12 to Sh9 per kilowatt-hour. The power tariff reduction is expected to cause a change that will see locally manufactured goods become cheaper. The reduction came after the President chaired a meeting between the private sector and the government at the State House in Nairobi. In doing so the government challenged the sector to work towards increasing its production so that in turn it increases its contribution to the GDP by 15% by the year 2022. In addition,…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
By David Wanjala That the country is choking under the weight of corruption is no longer surprising. It has become a national pastime. We are lurching from one scandal to another–from the plunder of billions at the National Youth Service, the theft of Sh63million worth of fertilizer at the National Cereals and Produce Board to the looting at the National Youth Fund, not to mention what is going on at yet another fat government revenue stream, the Kenya Pipeline Corporation. Corruption has long been a torturous and disturbing national narrative with dramatic twists and turns. And it is growing bolder and…
BY LUKE MULUNDA Kenyan financial institutions are facing growing threat from a new trend of fraud perpetuated by customers, according to the PwC 2018 Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey (GECS). The survey says consumer-related fraud has become the second most prevalent economic crime in the financial services sector, at 37% incidence rate, after asset misappropriation. PwC defines consumer fraud as economic crimes that occur when a client exploits the governance and control vulnerabilities of a company to commit fraud. The report identifies the crimes as “episodic fraud” which happens when the perpetrators find themselves in circumstances that present an…
When fraud hits, the consequences can be devastating. And that’s why for any organization – be it government or commercial enterprise – preventing is better than cure. Fraud comes in different sheds and companies need to arm themselves with tools and skills of guarding their operations from these fraudsters. Here are ideas from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Don’t get blindsided by your blind spots: If you don’t know it’s there, you don’t look for it. If you don’t look for it, you don’t find it. If you don’t find it, you can’t make the business case to look for it. In this…
BY BENARD AYIEKO The analysis of the ‘big four’ plan in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s final term continues in this edition of the ‘Last Word’. In this month’s Issue, we focus on the manufacturing sector – my penultimate article of the four-part series. The government intends to create jobs for the unemployed youth by scaling-up industrial activities in the manufacturing sector. The main areas of focus being the blue economy, agro-processing, leather and textiles. The fishing industry is also one area whose potential largely remain untapped and suppressed to a double-digit. The sector’s contribution to the GDP has performed dismally over…
BY DAVID ONJILI Arsene Wenger takes a bow after 22 years. Finally, one of football’s most long serving managers, Arsene Wenger, announced on 20th April 2018 that at the end of the 2017/2018 football season he will be stepping down as Arsenal Football Club manager. This will bring to an end his tenure of 22 years at the helm of Arsenal, a journey that enabled him guide the club to 3 premier league titles one of which without losing a single match and seven FA Cup wins. While the club has gone fourteen years without winning the league title and…
BY JESSICA LUSSENHOP Lakeith Smith was 15 years old when he went along with four older friends on a burglary spree. A neighbour called police when the group went into a home in Millbrook, Alabama, and the responding officers surprised the teenagers as they were coming through the front door. The group turned and fled out the back door, and a shootout ensued. When it was all over, 16-year-old A’Donte Washington was dead with a bullet wound to his neck. It’s never been in dispute that a Millbrook police officer shot and killed Washington – officer-worn body cameras captured the…
BY MUKULU KIOKO “My own sex, I hope, will excuse me if I treat them like rational creatures instead of flattering their fascinating graces and viewing them as if they were in a permanent state of childhood, unable to stay alone – Mary Wollstonecraft, English writer, philosopher, and women rights advocate Last month, I watched in wonderment as people gave tribute to the late Winnie Madikizela Mandela. The star of the show, for me, was her daughter, Zinzi. She spoke with emotion and composure that was both moving and admirable. In her speech she said, “We (women) can be beautiful,…
BY DR WAHU GITAKAH Adolescents are defined as individuals between 10 and 19year age group. Young people include up to the age of 25 years. This phase is characterised by acceleration of physical growth and, psychological and behavioral changes, thus bringing about transformation from childhood to adulthood. Physical growth and development are accompanied by sexual maturity, often leading to intimate relationships. In addition, the adolescent experiences changes in social expectations and perceptions. The individual’s capacity for abstract and critical thought also develops, along with a sense of self-awareness when social expectations require emotional maturity. Adolescent HIV/AIDS is an epidemic on…
In a fast-changing world, the legal industry has been struggling to keep up. Brick and mortar firms of yesterday are being replaced by online legal services, often provided through artificial intelligence systems such as Facebook chat bots. Therefore, as lawyers where do we stand and how will we survive? Earlier this year, Lawgeex – an artificial intelligence site that helps automate, review and approve legal contracts – pitted 20 experienced US attorneys against an algorithm. Guess who won? Not only was the algorithm 94% accurate at reviewing contracts (while experienced lawyers had an average of 85% accuracy), but it took…