Category: Business Daily

Former Principal Secretary Esther Koimett has emerged as the largest shareholder in Middle East Bank Kenya following a multi-billion shilling wealth transfer from her late father, Nicholas Biwott.

Regulatory disclosures from the bank show that Ms Koimett holds a 17.48 percent stake, making her the single-largest investor in the institution, which has roots in Dubai and was initially owned by the Al-Futtaim Group, associated with Carrefour supermarkets.

The shareholding places her at the centre of strategic decision-making in the bank, where she joined the board on February 26, 2024.

The investment cements Ms Koimett’s activities in Kenya’s private sector after nearly three decades of public service, including as PS in several ministries and CEO of Kenya Post Office Savings Bank.

It’s unclear when she acquired the top stake in the bank that Al-Futtaim Group established in August 1981, before the UAE-based conglomerate ceded ownership to locals in the early 1990s.

Ms Koimett did not respond to phone calls and text message seeking comment.

Previous reports linked her late billionaire father, Mr Biwott, to a stake in the bank amid talk that the powerful Cabinet minister in the Moi era acquired the ownership following Al-Futtaim’s exit in April 1991.

The exit of Al-Futtaim was touted as an attempt to “Kenyanise” the bank’s ownership structure. Mr Biwott succumbed to kidney failure on July 11, 2017 at the age of 77.

Mr Biwott succumbed to kidney failure on July 11, 2017 at the age of 77. Mr Biwott entered politics in 1974 – almost 10 years after Kenya gained independence from British rule – and later became personal assistant to President Daniel arap Moi when he was vice-president. Mr Moi died in 2002.

While in government, Mr Biwott built massive wealth spread across industries, which was recently passed to his heirs. He bequeathed to each of his children, including Ms Koimett, from the four wives an equal one-fourteenth share of his estate.

Other top owners of Middle East Bank Kenya are MEB Holdings (11.58 percent), Mustang Limited (10.47 percent), Baumann Management Services Limited and Good Fortune Limited, which hold 6.6 percent stake each.

The bank’s ownership structure reflects a predominantly local investor base. Disclosures indicate that local shareholders account for 90.22 percent of ownership while foreign investors hold 9.78 percent.

Ms Koimett is among the 20 individuals who hold a 20.31 percent stake in the bank that is 79.69 percent owned by 21 corporate shareholders.

Her 17.48 percent holding means the remaining 19 individuals in the lender own 2.83 percent.

Middle East Bank Kenya posted a net profit of Sh264.37 million in the year ended December 2025, marking a 22.2 percent rise from Sh216.34 million. In the first quarter ended March this year, net earnings rose 16.9 percent to Sh35.29 million.

Ms Koimett’s ownership in Middle East Bank emerges in a period when local banks have become a target for large African lenders seeking buyout deals for expansion into Kenya and to use the country as a launch pad into the East African market.

Kenya’s appeal lies in its gateway role to the East African Community, a fast growing bloc expanding by at least 5.0 percent a year.

This has placed the owners of local banks on the cusp of making outsized capital gains as big African banks buy them out for a piece of Kenya’s crowded banking sector.

Ms Koimett’s stake and directorship in Middle East Bank Kenya cements her boardroom dealings in corporate Kenya. She is currently the chairperson of M-Pesa Holdings Company and AAR Insurance Kenya, and also sits on the boards of Kenya Airways, Car and General and the African Trade and Investment Development Insurance.

Her career as head Kenya Post Office Savings Bank, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Information and investment secretary at the Treasury earned her the moniker: the iron lady of Kenya’s public service.

Middle East Bank Kenya was one of the 10 banks that raced to increase their capital last year in response to the decision by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to raise the minimum capital from Sh1 billion to Sh3 billion by last December.

Six of the 10 lenders, including M-Oriental Bank, Africa Banking Corporation (ABC), Middle East Bank of Kenya, CIB Kenya, Premier Bank and UBA Kenya, raised their core capital above Sh3 billion by the end of March this year.

Middle East Bank Kenya’s core capital rose to Sh3.07 billion at the end of December 2025 from Sh2.11 billion in September.

The CBK proposes to raise the capital to Sh10 billion by 2032 in what is expected to spur further consolidation in Kenya, which also ?appeals as a hub for travel and regional bank headquarters. Relatively solid financial regulation, easy repatriation of dividends and the freely traded shilling add to the attraction.

African banks have been busy dealmaking as global giants such as Standard Chartered and Societe Generale exit smaller markets to focus on core ones such as Kenya, while a growing need to invest in technology has prompted deals to gain scale.

Nigeria’s Access bought National Bank of Kenya from KCB Group in a deal that was completed halfway through last year.

South Africa’s slow growth and mature sector are pushing its biggest banks to expand elsewhere.

Nedbank agreed earlier this year to acquire a majority stake in Kenya’s NCBA as part of its regional expansion, beating South African rival Standard Bank, which operates in Kenya as Stanbic, to the prize.

South Africa’s Absa group is also increasing its stake in its Kenya subsidiary from 68.5 percent to 85 percent in a Sh31 billion deal.

Kenya’s big banks command market shares in the low-to-mid teens, while second-tier lenders, such as Family Bank, are typically in the high single digits. There is also a long tail of smaller banks, including Middle East Bank of Kenya.

The Tax Appeal Tribunal has dismissed an application by a trading firm seeking to block a Sh207 million tax claim by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), citing a failure to present signed documents in support of the case.

Extramile Company, a sugar and cereals dealer, suffered the setback after the tribunal ruled that it could not rely on unsigned pleadings to prosecute its appeal against tax assessments raised by the KRA in 2024.

The tribunal held that signatures are essential in authenticating and validating documents, as they link a legal document to a specific party or its authorised representative.

‘It is the finding of the Tribunal that the Appellant herein lacks the locus standi to advance or defend its claims based on the unsigned pleadings, thus void ab initio,’ the tribunal ruled.

The dispute arose after KRA conducted a compliance review covering the period between 2020 and 2023 and issued the company with additional tax assessments amounting to Sh207,028,556 on July 17, 2025.

The assessments related to corporation income tax (CIT), value added tax (VAT), pay-as-you-earn (PAYE), and withholding tax.

In its appeal filed on October 23, 2025, the trader argued that KRA had erred by relying on incorrect import data, sugar selling prices, and cereal purchase prices to determine expected sales based on National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) prices.

The company also challenged KRA’s inclusion of local sugar purchases in the sales calculations, the decision to tax a related-party balance of Sh37.4 million, and the apportionment of input VAT under Section 17(6) of the VAT Act.

Extramile maintained that it imports sugar and cereals from the East African market and sells them at prices determined by market conditions. It argued that its cereals, including maize, sorghum, and millet, are exempt from VAT under the East African Community Common External Tariff and the VAT Act.

The company further stated that all its sugar is imported and that it does not purchase sugar locally for resale.

The firm explained that before 2022, it did not operate a bank account and instead conducted transactions through accounts belonging to a related company, Daybreak Supplies Limited, and one of its directors, Jane Wangui Nyawira. In 2023, some imports were allegedly paid for by another related company, Alphastone Limited.

Extramile argued that its VAT claims related only to taxable supplies and that KRA had wrongly disallowed input tax deductions.

KRA defended the assessments, stating that a verification exercise revealed inconsistencies in the company’s returns.

The tax agency said it conducted stock and banking analyses using customs records, import quantities and market prices to determine expected revenue.

KRA said it compared the company’s declared sales with expected sales and identified underdeclared income.

It also disputed the related-party balance of Sh37.4 million, arguing that the company failed to provide sufficient supporting documents, including detailed agreements, invoices, and customs records.

The authority further stated that Extramile Company Ltd had failed to provide sales ledgers, purchase records, input VAT analysis, and other documents required to support its objections.

KRA also argued that the company failed to declare exempt sales in its VAT returns despite reflecting them in financial statements, prompting the authority to apportion input VAT as provided by law.

Life insurers registered a sharp rise in premium income in the first quarter of 2026, lifted by a surge in National Social Security Fund (NSSF) savings channelled through insurance products.

According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), gross premium income under long-term insurance business rose by 36.3 percent to Sh72.87 billion in the three months to March, up from Sh53.44 billion in a similar period last year.

The growth was largely driven by deposit administration and investment-linked business, reflecting increased retirement savings and improved uptake of structured long-term products.

Deposit administration is a plan administered by a life insurance company where pension funds accumulate in a master group annuity policy until a participant retires.

Deposit administration, which includes schemes such as contracted-out tier II NSSF contributions, accounting for 29.7 percent of premiums. Life assurance followed at 19.7 percent, underlining the continued dominance of traditional savings and protection products.

IRA data shows that deposit administration and investments contributed 63 percent of the overall growth in long-term business, highlighting their outsized role in shaping industry performance. The investments class recorded the fastest expansion, growing by Sh7.05 billion, while deposit administration rose by Sh5.19 billion.

The performance in investments was largely attributed to APA Life Assurance and Britam Life Assurance, which accounted for 65.9 percent of the increase. The two firms posted premium growth of Sh2.53 billion and Sh2.12 billion respectively, pointing to aggressive accumulation of funds under investment-linked policies.

Deposit administration growth was heavily concentrated among Kenindia Assurance Company and Pioneer Assurance Company, which contributed 97.8 percent of the increase. Their premiums grew by Sh2.87 billion and Sh2.21 billion, respectively.

The IRA links the expansion of the deposit administration segment primarily to the contracting out of tier II NSSF contributions, which are managed under deposit administration schemes by insurers.

Under the NSSF Act, 2013, tier II contributions are set at six percent of pensionable earnings between the lower limit of Sh9,000 and the upper limit of Sh108,000, translating to a maximum monthly contribution of Sh5,940 each from the employer and employee in 2026.

The mechanism allows employers and workers to channel part of statutory retirement savings into privately managed schemes, boosting inflows to life insurers.

Other long-term insurance segments also recorded notable gains. Personal pension business grew by 29 percent to Sh6.51 billion, while group life rose by 21.7 percent to Sh8.72 billion, reflecting sustained demand for employer-sponsored benefits.

However, group credit business fell by 7.7 percent to Sh5.12 billion, mirroring subdued lending, while annuities dipped by 6.1 percent to Sh5.33 billion, suggesting caution among retirees.

The latest data shows how NSSF reforms are reshaping life insurance, with insurers positioning themselves as key managers of long-term savings.

Life insurers with strong distribution in pension-linked products and investment solutions are emerging as the biggest beneficiaries, potentially widening the gap in market share within the life insurance segment.

IRA data shows market concentration in life insurance remained high, with a handful of companies tightening their grip.

Britam Life Assurance retained the lead with a 20.1 percent market share, followed by ICEA Lion at 15.7 percent and Jubilee Life at 11.5 percent.

APA Life posted notable gains, nearly doubling its share to 7.7 percent, reflecting strong growth in investment-linked business.

Kenindia also expanded its footprint to six percent from 3.6 percent, boosted by deposit administration inflows.

Overall, seven insurers – Britam Life, ICEA Lion Life, Jubilee Life, APA Life, CIC Life, Kenindia Assurance and Absa Life – accounted for 73.1 percent of premiums, leaving the rest of the 15 life insurers with a market share of 26.9 percent.

The insurers’ market share is measured by the amount of gross premium income underwritten in comparison with the industry total premiums.

The 36.3 percent growth in gross written income for life insurers was faster than in general insurance, where premiums rose by 8.4 percent to Sh81.88 billion from Sh72.86 billion.

In the first quarter, general insurance was ahead of life insurance in terms of premiums. However, in the full year ended December last year, life insurance had overtaken short-term covers for the first time ever, signalling Kenyans’ increasing attention to long-term financial planning products.

Kenyans view China’s influence more positively than that of the United States, a new survey shows, reflecting the shifting balance of global economic power as Beijing expands its trade, infrastructure financing and investment footprint across Africa.

The survey, conducted by the pan-African research group, Afrobarometer, found China enjoys the strongest ratings among external powers at 64 percent, followed by the US at 60 percent.

India was ranked third at 48 percent, ahead of the European Union, which also received favourable assessments from 47 percent of the respondents.

Kenyans view China’s influence more positively than that of the United States, a new survey shows, reflecting the shifting balance of global economic power as Beijing expands its trade, infrastructure financing and investment footprint across Africa.

The survey, conducted by the pan-African research group, Afrobarometer, found China enjoys the strongest ratings among external powers at 64 percent, followed by the US at 60 percent.

India was ranked third at 48 percent, ahead of the European Union, which also received favourable assessments from 47 percent of the respondents.

The European Union also remains one of Kenya’s largest export markets and an important development and trade partner.

The survey suggests Africans do not see these relationships as mutually exclusive.

‘The clearest finding may be that Africans do not see these relationships as a zero-sum contest. Attitudes towards the major powers are positively, not negatively, correlated. For example, citizens who view China favourably are also more likely to view the United States favourably,’ Afrobarometer says in the report.

‘This pattern is consistent with the diplomatic positioning of many African governments and reflects a strategic calculation – in a more competitive multipolar world, non-alignment can be leveraged.’

The 2026 African insights report, the third in Afrobarometer’s annual flagship series, draws on nationally representative surveys across 38 countries surveyed in 2024/2025 to examine citizen attitudes on some core issues, including trade and migration.

The findings support the view that many African countries prefer to engage multiple partners rather than align exclusively with one global power. That approach mirrors Kenya’s foreign policy.

Nairobi continues to cultivate ties with China, the United States, the EU, India and other partners while avoiding dependence on any one country.

The strategy allows Kenya to pursue investment, trade and development opportunities across competing geopolitical blocs.

Russia, however, continues to lag behind the other powers in public perception despite increasing diplomatic and commercial engagement with Africa.

Moscow has sought deeper cooperation with Kenya through fertiliser supplies, energy, mining, education and trade. Yet those efforts have not translated into comparable public goodwill.

‘Russia is struggling to make gains despite its growing continental footprint. Awareness of Russia has increased, but newly formed opinions are more negative than positive,’ Afrobarometer says.

The report adds that former colonial powers have experienced the sharpest long-term decline in popularity.

The survey also found strong support for non-alignment.

Among respondents who were aware of the Russia-Ukraine war, 72 percent preferred their country to remain neutral.

This reflects a broader preference among African citizens to maintain strategic flexibility in an increasingly multipolar world, according to the report.

The Auditor-General has flagged the use of millions of shillings in taxpayers’ money to pay subscription fees to the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA), in a far-reaching finding that could cripple the operations of the powerful welfare lobby representing over 7,000 high school principals.

An analysis of audit reports for public secondary schools shows that in nearly every financial statement reviewed by the Office of the Auditor-General, schools made annual payments to KESSHA.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has classified the expenditure as irregular, arguing that since KESSHA is a welfare association for principals, the subscription fees should be borne by individual head teachers from their payslips and not public schools.

The payments ranged from Sh2.77 million by Mang’u High School to a low of Sh66,500 for Starehe Boys Centre and School.

The KESSHA total collections would cross the Sh1 billion mark if each school represented by 7,300 headteachers paid Sh137,000, signalling that the lobby is collecting hundreds of millions annually.

The finding places the lobby, which has existed since the late 1960s, in a precarious position.

If enforced, principals would have to dip into their own pockets to finance the association’s activities instead of relying on school funds.

The Auditor-General flagged the spending line in virtually all the audited schools, noting that KESSHA is a ‘welfare organisation that draws its membership from school principals only’ and therefore should not benefit from public funds.

‘The organisation is not defined in the Government Funding system and there is no assurance that it has implemented effective, efficient, and transparent financial management and internal control systems to manage the funds transferred by schools,’ said the Auditor-General in her report for the financial year ended June 2025 on Mang’u High School.

In another audit, the Auditor-General said the payments contravened Regulation 23(2)(c) of the Public Finance Management (National Government) Regulations, 2015, which requires an accounting officer transferring public funds to another entity to obtain written assurance that the recipient has effective, efficient and transparent financial management and internal control systems.

The annual subscription fees paid by more than 7,000 public secondary schools, which vary from one institution to another, could cumulatively run into well over Sh1 billion, given that many schools transferred hundreds of thousands of shillings to the association.

The payments ranged from Sh2.77 million by Mang’u High School to Sh66,500 by Starehe Boys Centre and School. Alliance High School transferred Sh2,125,550 during the review period, while Moi Forces Academy paid Sh2,052,800.

Moi Girls Secondary School Kamanungu transferred Sh1.82 million to the lobby, while St Mary’s School, Yala, paid Sh1,523,640. Alliance Girls High School contributed Sh1.42 million, Chania High School Sh1,070,955, Utumishi Academy Sh1,023,820, and Nairobi School Sh996,800.

Willie Kuria, the chairperson of the association and principal of Murang’a High School, did not respond to questions from the Business Daily on how the association intends to regularise the audit queries.

However, in past interviews, Mr Kuria defended the transfers, saying that the money consists of members’ contributions used to run the association’s activities.

‘KESSHA is a registered association, and members contribute Sh500 every month to run the association. What comes there is money for activities and there’s no other way other than to put money in that clearance account,’ he said in a past interview.

It was not immediately clear why the transfers ran into millions if members only contributed Sh500 per month, which would translate into an annual subscription of Sh6,000.

With about 7,000 members, the association would collect roughly Sh42 million a year, or about Sh3.5 million a month, a figure that appears significantly lower than the cumulative amounts reflected in the audited school accounts.

KESSHA describes itself as a professional organisation comprising about 7,000 members drawn from public and private secondary schools across Kenya.

Kenya has 9,713 public secondary schools and 1,338 private ones.

Established in the late 1960s, it says its primary objective is to provide professional advice and support to school heads.

The audit findings come against the backdrop of expanded oversight brought about by the 2010 Constitution, which created an independent and more powerful Office of the Auditor-General under Article 229.

The Constitution requires the Auditor-General to audit all public entities receiving taxpayers’ money and submit the findings to Parliament.

Public secondary schools fall within that mandate because they receive billions of shillings annually from the Exchequer through the Free Day Secondary Education capitation programme.

Besides government capitation, schools also collect approved boarding fees and other authorised levies, making them custodians of significant amounts of public resources.

Consequently, every public secondary school is required to prepare annual financial statements, which are audited to establish whether public funds have been applied lawfully and effectively.

Beyond KESSHA subscriptions, the latest audits highlight other financial breaches by schools, including unsupported expenditure, irregular procurement, unapproved fees charged to parents, and delayed submission of financial statements.

The country’s top accountant has also highlighted the following challenges facing public secondary schools: non-functional procurement units; inaccurate student enrolment data affecting capitation; weak asset management; failure to prepare school improvement plans; and non-compliance with the Data Protection Act and the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act.

Clifford Kinyua, son of an Air Force flight instructor, was some of those things, but also not. For starters, he is a more present father. ‘My father was absent a lot on national duty,’ he says. When he came home, he was a stranger as we had all grown up.’

Kinyua, now the Group CEO of Saracen Media Group, litters his thoughts with pregnant pauses that deliver fully formed philosophical sentences, with militaristic drill. He still lives by order-certain habits die hard that way. ‘But if my daughter wants something’ he says, ‘I’ll drop everything to do it for her.’

When people say, ‘Tell me about yourself,’ what do you say? I consider myself philosophical, grounded and generous. I try to be kind. Family grounds me. I am a father, husband and friend. Lately, I keep telling people that I feel like a philosopher. The more problems you have, the more you philosophise.

Have you led the life you thought you would? That’s a double-edged sword. You have a plan, and then circumstances shift you. I studied law and ended up in technology and advertising. I grew up in a military barracks, and that environment shaped me. My dad was a flight instructor in the Air Force, ending up as one of the first Kenyans to set up the Defence Staff College. I took his love for teaching, and that has manifested in my leadership roles, pouring into people.

What was it like growing up in the military? What a lot of people don’t see is the good things. Everything is subsidised, so it doesn’t prepare you for life after [chuckles]. Two, life is so organised there. It feels like home. The hedges are straight, not a single paper on the road. I like order and cleanliness. Some friends of mine who joined the military died in plane crashes. I remember in 1992, Kaloleni, one of my dad’s friends came, parked his car, and told us he was going on holiday with his family. Our neighbour at the back decided not to fly and let their cousins fly off. The plane took off, and Kaloleni is everyone’s story [in April of 1992, a Buffalo transport aircraft crashed in Gorofani flats of Kaloleni Estate, Nairobi, killing at least 50 people].

Growing up in such an environment makes one quite disciplined-which part of the military did you discard? I’m not sure, to be honest. But I’ve come to realise that regardless of what people say, your environment really shapes you. I am not militant in personality, but I like order. My dad had cancer and was admitted in the military hospital. Every day I visited, I felt at home because of how organised it was.

How do you remain spontaneous now? I am pretty set in my habits and systems, so my daughter and partner bring out my spontaneous nature. When my daughter wants something, I drop everything to do it for her.

How did fatherhood change you? My daughter is a Covid baby. I remember I had just landed and had to be in the hospital for three days, because if I left, I wouldn’t be allowed back in. And then coming home, we had no help for six months. I had all the books about parenting, in my true nature [chuckles]. But I don’t think you can ever be prepared for the first time you hold your child. Covid taught me life is unpredictable. You have to adapt. It taught me resilience, the beauty of family and being responsible for somebody. Now, six years later, she talks to me the way she wants. Nothing like fatherhood to teach you patience [chuckles].

When people say, ‘Tell me about yourself,’ what do you say? I consider myself philosophical, grounded and generous. I try to be kind. Family grounds me. I am a father, husband and friend. Lately, I keep telling people that I feel like a philosopher. The more problems you have, the more you philosophise.

Have you led the life you thought you would? That’s a double-edged sword. You have a plan, and then circumstances shift you. I studied law and ended up in technology and advertising. I grew up in a military barracks, and that environment shaped me. My dad was a flight instructor in the Air Force, ending up as one of the first Kenyans to set up the Defence Staff College. I took his love for teaching, and that has manifested in my leadership roles, pouring into people.

What was it like growing up in the military? What a lot of people don’t see is the good things. Everything is subsidised, so it doesn’t prepare you for life after [chuckles]. Two, life is so organised there. It feels like home. The hedges are straight, not a single paper on the road. I like order and cleanliness. Some friends of mine who joined the military died in plane crashes. I remember in 1992, Kaloleni, one of my dad’s friends came, parked his car, and told us he was going on holiday with his family. Our neighbour at the back decided not to fly and let their cousins fly off. The plane took off, and Kaloleni is everyone’s story [in April of 1992, a Buffalo transport aircraft crashed in Gorofani flats of Kaloleni Estate, Nairobi, killing at least 50 people].

Growing up in such an environment makes one quite disciplined-which part of the military did you discard? I’m not sure, to be honest. But I’ve come to realise that regardless of what people say, your environment really shapes you. I am not militant in personality, but I like order. My dad had cancer and was admitted in the military hospital. Every day I visited, I felt at home because of how organised it was.

How do you remain spontaneous now? I am pretty set in my habits and systems, so my daughter and partner bring out my spontaneous nature. When my daughter wants something, I drop everything to do it for her.

How did fatherhood change you? My daughter is a Covid baby. I remember I had just landed and had to be in the hospital for three days, because if I left, I wouldn’t be allowed back in. And then coming home, we had no help for six months. I had all the books about parenting, in my true nature [chuckles]. But I don’t think you can ever be prepared for the first time you hold your child. Covid taught me life is unpredictable. You have to adapt. It taught me resilience, the beauty of family and being responsible for somebody. Now, six years later, she talks to me the way she wants. Nothing like fatherhood to teach you patience [chuckles].

How are you different from the father you grew up under? Fathering teaches you to have grace for your parents. You can never be a perfect parent. You do the best with what you have and can. I extend a lot of grace to myself for the same reasons. My father was in the military, so he was absent most of the time on national duty, and when he came home, he was a stranger in our house. I am more present for my daughter and intentional in knowing I won’t always be there. I try to equip her with skills so she can be independent and make better choices.

What did you believe about fatherhood that changed once you became one? Once you’re in there, you realise that over and above the books you’re reading, nothing prepares you for how life moves. Life is not as linear as you think it is going to be. With fatherhood, sometimes you have to make decisions as you go, and you have to be spontaneous and agile. You may have a preconception of what will be, but then you get surprised a lot, not by what you have to do but who you have to be.

Which book has most improved your life? My mum used to tell me people can take away everything around you, but they will never take away anything in your head. I discovered early that if you read just a little bit more than most people, you’ll really get ahead in life. I like Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I have Atomic Habits by James Clear on habits and systems, where ‘you don’t fail to the level of your goals; you fail to the level of your system’. I am currently reading The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz.

What’s a life lesson or a deep quote that you have picked from one of the books? Marcus Aurelius, in one of his books, says, ‘You Will Die.’ So do right by people, and do what you can. But remember you must also live. That speaks to the duality of life, the yin and yang.

What will people mourn about you when you are gone? Actually, my partner is holding a death café soon. Long story. But we talk about death a lot. I hope my epitaph will say, and I do carry along with me a note with a poem by Bessie Anderson Stanley that says, ‘He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much; the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task.’

What has death taught you about success? My dad passed on last year from cancer. One of his biggest contributions to the military was signing the Veterans Act. My dad championed military personnel to access military services after they retired. When he got cancer, he was admitted to Armed Forces Memorial Hospital, and I imagine, because of the work he did, how poetic it was that he was benefiting from his act of selflessness. I know that in death many things don’t matter, but you can leave the world a better place than you found it.

Your father seems to have left quite the shoes to fill? Yes, he was an intellectual. He taught in Uganda and would tell me tales of intellectual sparring with the military caucus and presidents. Nothing ever prepares you when your parents are all gone, regardless of the relationship you had with them. You never realise just how much you hold them as an anchor, and when that disappears, it’s very interesting how you have to recalibrate.

What’s the one question you’d ask him if he were here today? What would he have done differently, especially on fatherhood? He told us he was proud of us and who we had become. But I would actually want to know what he thought about what kind of father he was.

Why is that important to you? Well, just so that I can understand whether he really saw us. When it comes to military personnel, the country comes first, so I’d like to open his brain and get that part. Does he think he could have done some things differently? Did he see us?

What’s on your bucket list? I don’t have one. I have a running journal where I put my thoughts down. I am an avid reader of Florence Scovel Shinn, and I don’t really set goals but put systems in play. I have travelled around the world, and would love to go to a match at Old Trafford. I live every year as it comes and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. Travel used to be a big point, but I have since quenched that thirst.

Do you have a secret talent? Maybe it is a trauma response or just how I grew up, but I have this ability to see or calculate in my head two or three steps ahead. Maybe it is a systems thing too. I can see the domino effects of many things in advance. Perhaps it’s why I am good at strategy and spotting trends.

What’s your most used emoji? The thumbs up ??. It’s a work thing, although I stopped glorifying work. I prefer the dignity of work. What is assigned to you as your responsibility, you must do. But when you start in corporate, you begin to glorify the busyness of work, where work should be fulfilling. It shouldn’t be the altar, and neither should we be worshipping it. I am not a workaholic, but I work hard. You can easily work yourself to death.

What habit are you trying to break? One of them is around sleep. I tend to go to bed late, and that’s because I can get lost in my world and wormholes. But also carrying the weight of responsibility and accountability, especially from a work perspective, where you feel you must carry the emotional weight of the decisions you make. Working with my therapist has eased that burden off me, just to help my nervous system.

What has therapy made you unlearn, especially as a man? That we men don’t talk much and we don’t have many support systems. It can be hard to share the weight of being a man and things one is going through. Therapy allows me to get out of my head and have a big screen on what I am actually thinking. You don’t need to be psychotic to go for therapy. Your mind is wired to protect you, and it is important once in a while to look for a professional sounding board. It is like an oil change for a car, and therapy has taught me that things are not always as serious as you think they are and there is always a way out.

Have you found yourself in therapy? It has helped me put a mirror in front of myself. Attending therapy is one thing; doing the work is another. You have to actively participate in the actual intrinsic work.

What does your perfect weekend look like? Spending time with family. I have a robust community of friends and people we work with in terms of marriage. Sometimes my daughter will be out with her grandparents. My partner is a producer of many things, and you will find me in many of her events.

What’s your weekend soundtrack? ‘Eye of the Tiger’ by Survivor.

Give us some practical life wisdom. Life is not linear. One of my favourite quotes is when you reach your island of knowledge, do not forget your shore of ignorance. You can never know it all. And you can never be an island by yourself. I’m very intentional about how I am building community support. I think that lacks a lot, especially due to capitalism, which brings out a lot of individualism, which is not how we are naturally wired.

What has success not fixed? That depends on how you define success. For me, it begins with understanding that my success has never been about economic outcomes. One of the greatest graces I extend to myself is the ongoing work of shaping my character – clarifying what I stand for and staying true to it. In my view, success is the natural outcome of who you are, not what you own. That runs counter to the way many people define success in purely material terms. True success, for me, has been the continuous process of confronting my flaws and growing through them. That inner work is what ultimately shapes everything else – reputation, opportunity, and even financial reward.

For most organisations that have not adopted the ISSB standards, IFRS S1 (General Requirements for Disclosures of Sustainability-related Financial Information) and IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures) and are planning on doing so from the mandatory adoption date of 2027 in Kenya, they have to consider rehearsing with their 2026 reporting to avoid surprises.

A pilot in 2026 will help organisations be better prepared for the mandatory reporting, as it enables them to identify gaps and pain points that can be remediated before the mandatory reporting date the following year.

While organisations are currently assessing their implementation gaps and working to address them, it is important to conduct a practice run for reporting to assess, pragmatically, the challenges that would only surface during actual reporting.

It offers a unique perspective beyond the various theoretical analyses already provided, further equipping and preparing an organisation with insights into potential difficulties that may arise unexpectedly, particularly as organisations prepare their first sustainability report.

Organisations are advised to set a target for a test run and get a feel for what the ISSB sustainability reporting entails for them.

For example, organisations may assume the availability of specific data sets during the gap analysis phase, only to realise, when attempting to report, that the referenced data set is either unavailable or, if available, requires significant reworking to make it usable.

In addition, anticipating the amount of human resources required to get the sustainability report over the line is often underestimated by some organisations, especially when prepared at the same time as the financial statements.

A test run enables organisations to assess their current resources and capacity to meet the requirements of the ISSB standards. Also, organisations that take this approach increase their chances of a smooth adoption on the mandatory date by avoiding surprises and ensuring the right level of resourcing to prepare for and meet their sustainability reporting obligations.

A test run allows management to interact with and engage with the sustainability report in advance, making changes and improvements that ensure it is differentiated, authentic and compliant. A test run helps the organisation ensure accountability and transparency in its preparedness for ISSB adoption.

Africa’s financial services sector is entering one of the most significant transitions in its history. Artificial intelligence, digital lending, behavioural analytics and open banking are rapidly changing how financial institutions assess borrowers, price risk and extend credit.

Yet amid all this advancement, one lesson stood out during the recent East African Banking School Conference held at Diani, Kenya: the future of lending will not be determined by technology alone, but by the ability to combine data, human judgement and responsible finance.

For many years, lending decisions largely depended on collateral, financial statements and the experience of credit officers. Today, those traditional indicators are increasingly being complemented by behavioural data, mobile money transactions, digital footprints and machine learning models. Financial institutions can now analyse thousands of data points within seconds to estimate the probability of default.

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However, conference discussions repeatedly emphasised an important caution: algorithms should support lending decisions, not replace professional judgement. Every credit model should be explainable. If a bank or microfinance institution cannot explain why a customer was declined or approved, the institution risks embedding bias, weakening governance and exposing itself to regulatory and reputational challenges.

The quality of lending will therefore depend on the quality of data. Inaccurate, incomplete or outdated data inevitably produce poor credit decisions. Financial institutions must invest in data governance, ensuring that information is reliable, complete, timely and secure. Equally important is protecting customer data. In an era of increasing cyber threats and stringent data protection requirements, trust remains one of the banking industry’s most valuable assets.

Another important shift is the changing profile of Africa’s borrowers. With the continent’s median age below 20 years, Generation Z represents the next frontier of financial inclusion.

Yet many young borrowers own few traditional assets. They rent rather than own homes, rely on ride-hailing services instead of purchasing vehicles, earn income from informal or digital platforms, and conduct much of their financial lives through mobile phones.

This raises a fundamental question: Are financial institutions still lending using yesterday’s collateral for tomorrow’s customers?

Perhaps the industry should begin viewing behavioural consistency, cash-flow patterns, digital transaction histories and demonstrated financial discipline as forms of collateral alongside traditional security. Character and repayment behaviour may become valuable predictors of future credit performance.

Fortunately, financial institutions already possess significant amounts of customer data. Mobile money transactions, bank statements, bill payments, savings patterns, school fee payments and business cash flows all provide useful insights into customers’ willingness and ability to repay. The challenge is no longer collecting data, it is converting that data into better lending decisions.

Equally important is recognising that not all growth is good growth. Conference participants observed that smaller ticket loans often perform better than large exposures because they allow lenders to build borrower relationships gradually while limiting downside risk.

Progressive lending enables institutions to reward responsible repayment behaviour with larger facilities over time instead of taking excessive risks at the outset.

Technology is also reshaping partnerships across the financial services ecosystem. Increasingly, banks, fintech firms, credit reference bureaus, mobile network operators and data analytics firms are collaborating to improve customer acquisition, underwriting and collections. Products such as Fuliza in Kenya and Songesha in Tanzania illustrate how partnerships can expand financial access while creating sustainable business models.

Yet the conference also challenged lenders to rethink responsibility in digital finance. Digital loans have increased financial inclusion and generated attractive returns. However, they have also contributed to over-indebtedness among some borrowers, particularly where multiple lenders compete aggressively for the same customers. Responsible lending requires balancing commercial objectives with customer wellbeing.

One particularly striking observation was that many non-performing loans are created long before customers default. Weak credit appraisal, inadequate due diligence and poor underwriting decisions eventually translate into costly recoveries and write-offs. In many respects, collections merely reveal mistakes made during loan appraisal.

This reinforces the need for institutions to strengthen credit assessment rather than relying solely on aggressive debt recovery strategies.

The conference further highlighted climate change as an emerging source of credit risk. Following the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate-related events, including floods, prolonged droughts and other extreme weather conditions, are increasingly threatening household incomes, agricultural production and business continuity.

Financial institutions should therefore begin integrating climate considerations into credit appraisal, portfolio monitoring and stress testing.

Perhaps the greatest lesson from the conference was that successful lending will continue to depend on people. Artificial intelligence can analyse patterns. Algorithms can rank risks. Data can improve predictions. But trust, ethical judgement, customer understanding and professional scepticism remain fundamentally human capabilities.

For Kenya’s banks and microfinance institutions, the competitive advantage of the future will not simply lie in adopting more technology. It will lie in developing institutions that combine high-quality data, skilled people, responsible governance and customer-centred innovation.

Those institutions will not only grow healthier loan portfolios but will also become more attractive to investors seeking well-governed financial institutions capable of delivering sustainable returns.

The future of lending, therefore, belongs neither to algorithms nor to intuition alone. It belongs to institutions that successfully integrate technology with human judgement, innovation with responsibility, and growth with trust.

Professor David Mathuva is an Associate Professor, Accounting and Financial Markets at Strathmore Business School

One year from today, Kenyans will troop to polling stations to deliver a verdict on who governs them until 2032.

They will choose whether to hand President William Ruto another five-year contract or clear the way for someone else.

In the same election already framed as ‘Tutam’ versus ‘Wantam’, the voters will elect 290 members of the National Assembly, 47 governors and their deputies, 47 woman representatives, 47 senators, and 1,450 members of county assemblies.

Notably, it will be the second election since 1997 in which Raila Odinga’s name will not appear on a presidential ballot paper. Mr Odinga died last October. ‘There will never be another Raila. But the ideals he stood for live,’ his daughter Winnie said.

In 2022, there were 46,229 polling stations. For 2027, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is expected to add more stations. The IEBC register had at least 22.1 million voters in 2022, and it is projected that at least 6.3 million will be added to the register, making it approximately 28.5 million.

The commission is planning a mass voter registration exercise for January next year, which will run for 30 days from January 11 to February 9. The political landscape is expected to keep changing ahead of D-Day, largely on the opposition side.

Even Dr Ruto, who already has a working arrangement with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) led by Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga under the broad-based government, is still courting more parties, with some from the opposition expected to join him, particularly in the event of a falling-out over who should fly the opposition’s presidential flag.

To put its house in order, on August 3, the Azimio coalition council, chaired by former President Uhuru Kenyatta, ratified its restructuring. It admitted Dr Fred Matiang’i, Mr Peter Munya and Mr Lenny Kivuti as council members. It also brought in Mr Justin Muturi’s Democratic Party, the People’s Democratic Party and the Umoja na Maendeleo Party. Further, the council resolved to rebrand and settle on one candidate to face the President.

It also opened talks with Mr Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for the Citizens Party and Linda Mwananchi, the movement fronted by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna. Before this, Mr Kenyatta named Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka the Azimio coalition party leader, a position that had been occupied by Mr Odinga. The convener of all this is a man who cannot himself stand. Mr Kenyatta is term-barred, holds no party office of consequence in the new arrangement, and works almost entirely off-camera.

People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua and Democratic Action Party of Kenya’s Eugene Wamalwa are other principals in the united opposition. As the opposition negotiates, the President is assembling a ground network in full public view. In the first week of August alone, State House hosted village elders on Tuesday, Muslim leaders on Wednesday and more than 5,000 private security guards on Thursday.

‘Are you ready?’ the President asked one of the gatherings.

He appreciates the weight of the task at hand. ‘Will you help me spread this word to the people in the villages?’ he added.

The most recent findings of the Tifa Research opinion poll-fielded between June 13-22 among 2,048 respondents across nine regions and released on July 24-puts the President at 24 per cent, unchanged from May. That is a weak number for an incumbent. He is also, at present, the winning candidate.

Senator Sifuna is second at 15 per cent, up from 10 in May and from effectively nothing in late 2025. Mr Musyoka has fallen to 13 per cent from a peak of 25 per cent in November 2025. One respondent in five is undecided.

Tifa recorded Mr Sifuna leading in Western, Dr Matiang’i in Nyanza, Mr Musyoka in Lower Eastern, Mr Gachagua in Mt Kenya and the President holding the Rift Valley and the north.

Among those opposed to the President’s re-election, 62 per cent said Mr Gachagua should back the strongest opposition candidate rather than run.

Some 14 percent wanted him to lead the ticket. ‘The 2027 presidential race remains highly fluid, with no single candidate commanding dominant national support. While President William Ruto leads at 24 per cent, the findings show growing competition from other opposition figures.

The data also points to a fragmented opposition landscape, with support spread across multiple leaders rather than consolidating around a single challenger,’ Tifa noted.

Buoyed by the Ol Kalou MP by-election where the opposition candidate trounced the ruling United Democratic Alliance party, united opposition hopes to replicate that at the national stage. The dynamics may be different but only time will tell.

Based on previous cases, the risk of violence increases when elections are approaching and the incumbent is seeking re-election.

The 2007 and 2017 elections are examples of this, especially when the incumbent appears to be facing a strong challenger. In both of these elections, the challenger was Odinga. The same applies to the prospect of a united opposition fielding a single, strong candidate to compete with Dr Ruto.

The Kofi Annan Foundation’s Electoral Vulnerability Index 2026-27, released on July 13, warns of a high risk of electoral violence next year. It puts the probability at 81.6 per cent.

‘Economic hardship, tax protests, opposition mobilisation, debates over the cost of living, and public anger over corruption and police conduct have marked the political environment since 2022.

‘Youth-led protests and civic activism have shown that grievances can mobilise beyond traditional party structures. The 2027 cycle may, therefore, combine conventional presidential competition with broader accountability demands,’ the foundation notes.

Although the stakes remain high, the risks are lower when an incumbent is retiring, as happened in 2013 and 2022 when Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta retired, respectively. Compared to its neighbours, Kenya has a paradox of strong institutions, such as the Judiciary and electoral body but suffers low public trust.

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance says general elections significantly disrupt economic growth every five years. Investors tend to hide their money and adopt a wait-and-see attitude, which has a devastating ripple effect. Even farming is affected.

There is also a growing fear of hired gangs, locally referred to as goons, and how they will be used in campaigns. Politicians are already using them to subdue opponents.

‘These goons are innocent children who are being used by bankrupt politicians. They cause chaos, assault people and wreak destruction,’ Dr Ruto acknowledged at a previous event. ‘All the goons should be dealt with firmly, and those paying these young people should be tracked down too.’

Dr Ruto is expected to reorganise his Cabinet for the last time in his first term early next year, particularly after resignations by those keen to stand for election.

At least four Cabinet Secretaries have separately confided to their aides that they intend to run for governor next August. The IEBC has set a deadline of February for public officers keen to run for elective seats to resign. Meantime, each camp is faced with weighty decisions that will determine whether they succeed or fail-to either usher in a new order or guarantee continuity.

Busy programmes

Action has already shifted to the ground, with a busy itinerary for aspirants starting on Thursday and continuing until Sunday. If they are not addressing congregations in churches, they are attending funerals or weddings, or hosting delegations at home.

It has become commonplace to find Cabinet Secretaries and other senior government officials working in Nairobi from Thursday onwards, in what we have learned is a verbal instruction to bring ‘government services closer to the people’.

The IEBC is expected to officially publish the limits of expenditure, contributions and donations in the Kenya Gazette today, with the aim of instilling electoral discipline. This is intended to prevent voters from succumbing to undue influence from wealthy candidates.

The electoral agency has proposed a campaign spending limit of Sh4.44 billion for presidential candidates. In the proposals contained in the campaign limits, governor, senator and woman representative candidates in remote counties such as Turkana will be permitted to spend the highest amounts, capped at Sh123 million.

Candidates contesting similar positions in Nairobi will have a spending limit of Sh117.3 million, while those in Marsabit and Wajir will be allowed to spend up to Sh114 million and Sh113.8 million respectively.

Keen to secure a second term in office, Dr Ruto will decide whether to retain Prof Kithure Kindiki as his running mate or succumb to pressure from his newfound partners in the ODM to award them the position. With ODM on board, rebranding could also result in the formation of a new alliance to replace Kenya Kwanza.

The ongoing realignment in the political chess game will have a significant impact on this. For example, depending on the pairing chosen by the united opposition-assuming they present a single candidate-Dr Ruto may need to adjust his strategy in the hope of guaranteeing victory.

Time is of the essence. The urgency of the moment is not lost on the leading parties, that are either keen to retain power or to wrest it from the incumbent.

Today, Dr Ruto and his broad-based partner, Dr Oginga, are hosting MPs, governors and their deputies allied to them at Lake Naivasha Resort. Insiders say the purpose of the meeting is to map out Dr Ruto’s ‘path to victory’ in the face of a sustained onslaught to deny him a second term.

It is a moment of reckoning, not just for the President, but also for MPs, governors, and ward representatives, who have returned to basics in an attempt to shore up their chances of re-election. This has already resulted in the traditional quorum issues that the August House is all too familiar with in an election year. County assemblies are not spared either.

Based on past elections, the approximate turnover rate for lawmakers is 56 per cent. The general election, which both sides are billing as a matter of life and death, will, as in previous elections, see some careers terminated and others begun.

Mr Gachagua, who was impeached in 2024 and has since become one of Dr Ruto’s foremost critics, admits that the task facing the united opposition is not an easy one. ‘Removing a sitting President from office is not easy. That’s the truth, and it’s the reason I work so hard-it’s a tough job. Let’s stop these workshops and hotel meetings. First, let’s lock Ruto out of Kenya. I am not rogue, just strategic,’ he said last Thursday.

All of Dr Ruto’s predecessors served at least two terms. Jomo Kenyatta, the founding president, served for 15 years and died in office, while his successor Daniel Moi served for 24 years, including two terms that followed the constitutional limit provision. Dr Ruto’s predecessor, Kenyatta, served for 10 years, as did Kibaki.

Concerns

However, with the clock ticking towards August 10, the electoral body is not inspiring much confidence in terms of preparations.

Of particular concern is the underperforming electoral agency. It faces a funding deficit of at least Sh335 billion in its quest to prepare adequately, with critical logistical and infrastructural changes driving up the costs.

The commission warns that unless Parliament approves a supplementary budget, the shortfall will adversely affect its preparedness for the election.

At the same time, the enactment of election-related laws intended to safeguard the integrity of the vote has also stalled.

Although National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula pledged to fast-track the laws, nothing has moved a year later, sparking institutional anxiety over preparedness for a credible poll.

The IEBC has raised the alarm, warning that enacting electoral laws too close to an election year ‘severely compromises’ its operational planning and procurement within strict statutory timeframes. These much-needed changes stem from proposals in the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) report on the Elections Act, the Election Offences Act, and the Political Parties Act.

Additionally, there is the draft Election Campaign Financing (Amendment) Bill, 2020, and the draft Election Campaign Financing Regulations, 2020. The passage and implementation of these bills are designed to ensure a level playing field in election campaigns. The bills were published last year, passed in the Senate, and sent to the National Assembly for approval.

The IEBC Act, which expanded the selection panel responsible for recruiting the current IEBC commissioners, is the only success story highlighted in the Nadco report.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has lost its bid to deny Consolidated Bank of Kenya a Sh264.9 million bad debt tax deduction tied to unpaid loans by borrowers, marking a significant victory for the industry.

The Tax Appeals Tribunal ruled that the money a bank loses after customers fail to repay loans is a normal cost of running a lending business and can be deducted before tax is calculated.

The tribunal set aside KRA’s objection decision of September 18, 2025, finding that the tax authority wrongly treated the written-off loan principal as capital expenditure instead of stock-in-trade. It allowed the bank’s appeal.

The dispute originated from a KRA compliance audit covering Consolidated Bank’s tax affairs between 2019 and 2023. The audit initially resulted in tax assessments of Sh3.67 billion across withholding tax, corporate income tax, value-added tax, pay-as-you-earn, excise duty and other tax heads.

One contested item was KRA’s rejection of Sh264.9 million in bad debt deductions claimed for the 2019 financial year.

KRA had adjusted the bank’s tax losses after disallowing the deduction, arguing that the written-off amounts represented loan principal and were therefore capital in nature.

The authority maintained that only interest earned on loans constitutes taxable income and that principal amounts could not qualify as deductible expenses when written off.

Consolidated Bank challenged that position before the tribunal, saying lending money was its core business and that unrecovered loans were genuine trading losses incurred in generating taxable income.

It said it had supplied extensive evidence showing reasonable efforts to recover the debts before writing them off.

The bank produced bank statements, customer-by-customer analyses, letters of offer, auctioneers’ correspondence, auction notices, memoranda of sale, credit reports and court decisions to demonstrate that it had exhausted recovery efforts before claiming the deductions.

It also argued that customer deposits used to finance lending remained liabilities that had to be honoured whether borrowers repaid their loans or not, making defaults a direct trading loss rather than a capital investment loss.

The tribunal agreed that the central dispute was whether the principal component of bad loans should be treated as capital or revenue expenditure for tax purposes.

In banking, bad debts are loans that borrowers have failed to repay after the lender has exhausted reasonable recovery efforts, leading the bank to write them off in its accounts.

The tribunal observed that both sides accepted the loans had become bad and that the disagreement concerned only their tax treatment.

After reviewing the Income Tax Act and previous tribunal decisions, the panel concluded that KRA had wrongly classified the written-off loan principal as capital expenditure.

“It is the finding of the tribunal that the respondent erred in disallowing the appellant’s bad debts,” the tribunal stated.

It added that the bank “was entitled to the tax losses as the principal amount was stock-in-trade and the same was not capital expenditure.”

The tribunal further held that because KRA had improperly rejected the deduction, the corresponding reduction of the bank’s 2019 tax losses could not stand.

“The principal amount advanced was stock for trading, and the same was not capital expenditure. On this premise, the tribunal finds and holds that the respondent erred in disallowing loan write-off,” the panel said, quashing KRA’s objection decision.