Didn’t have time to catch up with all of the week’s news stories? Relax, follow Herbusiness summary and commentary of the most interesting things that made the news headlines in Kenya.
Why was Sharon murdered?
Officially, we don’t know yet. But speculation is rife and “interesting.” Sharon Otieno, a student, was 7 months pregnant at the time of her death. Her body was found, a few days after her disappearance, in Kodero Forest. She was in a relationship with, Migori Governor, Okoth Obado, at least going by her mother’s words. “Sharon told me that she was expecting the Governor’s child but the Governor wanted her to abort.” Governor, Okoth Obado (a married man, no less) distanced himself from links to Sharon’s death.
Kenya and China continue to work together
Kenya secured a number of public private partnership deals at the FOCAC (Forum on China – Africa Cooperation). China pledged money in the form of grants, credit line and development funds for African countries. The, now, risk averse West would probably put our countries through endless compliance requirements before dishing out. For herself, Kenya got commitment to build roads and complete Phase 2B of SGR (Naivasha to Kisumu). President, Uhuru Kenyatta addressed China’s leader Xi Jinping and concern officials. He said, “Kenya is satisfied with the tremendous progress achieved in our bilateral cooperation.” It’s not “colonialism.” We know how that looks like, no?
Girls kicked out of school
The group of 34 girls mostly consists of footballers. They were kicked out of Nasokol Secondary School, West Pokot, over poor academic performance and fee arrears. A new principal took charge of the school. Part of her reforms was doing away with leniency accorded to girls in sports over school fees and academic results. One girl speaking to Daily Nation said, “The new Principal has on several occasions informed us that we will have to look for other schools where games are given preference over academic excellence.” The Principal summoned parents and guardians before things deteriorated as they did.
Beatrice Elachi
The Nairobi County speaker was impeached by MCAs but court granted her time to defend herself. Nairobi MCA’s achieved “record attendance” to vote her out. But her lawyers secured suspension of the impeachment until both sides are heard. This should happen Tuesday, 11th September. She is accused of undermining the Clerk of the Assemby. She is also accused of using public funds to travel to the US for plastic surgery. She insists the trips were for a Diaspora women networking conference. Yeah, nice witch-hunt they have going there. We’ve seen this before.
Chinese man deported
A video surfaced of a Chinese business man making racist remarks about Kenyans. He was identified as Liu Jiaqi. He said Kenyans are “monkeys,” “smell bad,” and are “black.” The last part is true. The man was deported on grounds of racism. Interestingly, the Chinese Embassy revealed that the video was in fact recorded in June. The embassy also said that the man already apologized and was punished over the issue. That’s up for speculation. Their statement concluded that Liu’s views do not “represent the views of the majority of Chinese people.”
KRA after informal businesses
Some Kenyans want neither loans nor taxation. And tax is the worse option. So, how will the infrastructure gap be closed? Anyway, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will be subjecting informal businesses to a presumptive tax. This will start in January and will be 15% of the single business permit. It will replace the, quarterly, 3% turnover tax. Judith Njagi, KRA tax chief, was quoted by The Star. She said, “The new tax is meant to enlarge the tax bracket in the informal sector, it excludes property owners, companies and any other forms registered for VAT.” Businesses to be targeted are those with annual turnover of between sh.500,000 and sh.5 million.
Kenya shines at AMVCA
The Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) celebrates excellence in the African film business. It consists of 27 categories, of which 7 are voted for by viewers. AMVCA 2018 awards were dominated by, Kenyan movie, 18 hours. It’s a film about a paramedic who struggles to get hospital admission for a road accident casualty. The movie was chosen Best Overall Movie, among other recognitions. Kenya was also feted in the Best Documentary, Best Indigenous Language and Best Actress in Comedy categories.
Check out 18 hours trailer: