The Kenya Government has reiterated its commitment in implementing international standards on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes as part of a national effort to curb tax evasion and illicit financial flows. Speaking at the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes Plenary virtual meeting, National Treasury Principal Secretary Dr Julius Muia assured global tax administration players that Kenya is on course to implement automatic exchange of information protocols on tax matters by September 2022. Kenya, Dr Muia told the Global Forum delegates, has taken decisive steps in implementing the international standards of…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
Core Earnings per Share recorded a weighted decline of 32.4% in Q3’2020, compared to a weighted growth of 8.7% recorded in Q3’2019. As reported by most of the banks, the decline in the earnings was mainly attributable to the increased provisioning levels, as they covered for downgraded facilities, with the expectations of an increase in defaults across sectors on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic. Asset quality for listed banks deteriorated in Q3’2020, with the gross NPL ratio rising by 2.6% points to 12.4% from 9.8% in Q3’2019, and higher than the 5-year average of 8.5%. The banking sector was…
By NBM Writer Academic, activist and politician Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o is a man who straddles defining events of several generations – defined by the lives and ideals of early liberation leaders and reformers in colonial Kenya, he became a political activist and in post-independence Kenya during President Daniel Moi’s regime, which he continues in the present-day as the Governor of Kisumu County. Born in Ratta, Kisumu, Prof Nyong’o completed his undergraduate studies at Uganda’s Makerere University in 1971, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in political science. During his time in Makerere, he served as Guild…
BY DAVID WANJALA Even though Devolution is, arguably, the best thing that has ever happened in this country since independence, there are counties out there that had the misfortune of getting incompetent CEOs, by happenstance or design, as first governors. In the hullaballoo of jostling and positioning for the stake after the promulgation of the New Constitution 2010, the political class did not understand where the real power lay in the new offices that had come along with the fresh dispensation. A majority of the senior politicians and new entrants from both civil service and private sector, believing the Senate…
BY NDUNG’U WAINAINA Women have been at the forefront of confronting challenges of inequality. While the challenges have been multi-faced, the ones relating to political and leadership spaces have had far-reaching consequences for Kenyans. In an effort to address them, women have attempted to assume political office, but this dream has proved a landmine. Flawed party nominations, negative socio-cultural attitudes from the electorate, and even electoral violence instigated against women have helped to obstruct this political participation. Nonetheless, women are increasingly taking the lunge into electoral politics. Some have organized themselves into coalitions or caucuses and have played catalytic roles…
In case Kenyan companies feel this is an abstract happening in the big bad world outside, the DPPand the CBK have proven otherwise with the Sh400m in fines levied earlier this year on Banks that failed to query the unusual movement of the NYS fraud monies that were transacted through their accounts BY ELSIE OYOO In 2012 and 2013 Goldman Sachs, one of the largest investment banks in the world bribed Malaysian and Emirati officials so that it could underwrite $6.5b in bond offerings with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). 1MDB, a strategic development company wholly owned by the Malaysian Government, undertook…
BY VICTOR ADAR Being creative is what fires up Josiah Adiema, co-founder of Lean Leap Consultants, a company that not only focus on communication and training but also capacity building in fields that include social media, debate and public speaking, public policy, and governance. He is building the business with his spouse, Scarlet Chemarum, and brother-in-law, Jared Okuku. The trio started toying with the idea in 2017 but they mooted it in 2018 amidst busy schedules. Suddenly, it was registered in 2019. “We finally put our foot down and legally registered it,” he says. “The niche for training and capacity…
BY VICTOR ADAR It is a warm Friday morning and a battery of journalists are on transit to Kilifi from Nairobi on a Standard Gauge Railway train. It is 8:00 a.m. and it takes us exactly five hours to reach Mombasa terminus. Then we board a taxi to Vipingo Ridge situated in North Coast. As you drive into Vipingo, you will notice sisal plantation on one side and a forest on the other. Besides sisal farming, fishing and tourism are the economic activities synonymous with the area. The main aim of this trip was to go and see Pazuri, a…
BY GAD WESONGA The threat of criminal activities targeting urban homes in Kenya continues to linger. According to many security industry reports, burglary and theft targeting electronic items is prevalent. Other residual threats include theft by servant, rape and domestic violence. The 2020 Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) report indicates that these attacks can occur any time and in any location. The implosion in home based internet activities triggered by COVID-19 such as online learning, shopping, trading, entertainment and work from home models have potential to spike cyber security threats at home too. While acts of terrorism are yet to…
By RACHAEL GATHIGIA When naming basic human needs, I can bet travel is somewhere at the top. Hello Abraham Maslow, I just need to talk about that hierarchy again. Oh! the possibilities and the opportunities that travel has revolutionized. Don’t just take it from me, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in 2019 published that the industry accounts for 10.4% of the world’s GPD. Travel is far ahead of other major sectors such as finance, technology and even health. While in a global pandemic that has affected each and every sector of our lives, travel has been…