Category: Business Daily

During the opening of his exhibition, Indigo Hypoxia, at the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi, Sudanese artist Sannad Shreef spent the entire evening with his face covered. Even as visitors wandered through the gallery and he completed a live painting, he never revealed himself.

It was not performance art. For months during Sudan’s civil war in 2023, Shreef had lived in near isolation, spending most of his days locked inside his studio, emerging only to search for food and art supplies as fighting engulfed his hometown.

Interaction with other humans was minimal as a full blown war tore his beloved city apart. Painting became less an artistic pursuit than a way to survive.

Yet, unlike many Sudanese artists whose recent work is dominated by the war, Indigo Hypoxia is not an exhibition about conflict. Instead, it explores colour, emotion and intuition. If the war appears anywhere in the work, it is in the way Shreef now paints-building, destroying and rebuilding his canvases, much as he has had to rebuild his own life after fleeing to Kenya.

Sannad’s journey with art began when he was three years old, painting in his father’s studio in Tartar. His father was a painter who also taught children art in his hometown. This was all the art education Sannad would get. Instead of joining art school, he studied mass media in university and narrowed down to writing and filmmaking, all while painting in his studio.

Sannad’s life would however take a dark turn when war hit his hometown in Sudan in 2023. He says his paints and brushes kept him from losing his mind. At the end of the war, he fled the country to preserve his life, leaving all his paintings and works in Sudan.

In Kenya, he started a new life, showcasing his painting work and surviving on commissions. The was split his family, with some seeking asylum as far as Egypt, Qatar and Dubai.

‘I lost all my paintings because I couldn’t save them and myself at the same time. At the moment, I am trying to live off my art fully which hasn’t been easy but the experience is worth it,’ he says.

For Sannad, the war is an experience he does not like speaking about because of the pain and damage it has caused him, his family and his loved one. Unlike many of his counterparts from Sudan like Issam Haffiez and Mohamed Abushaaria, the war has been no motivation for any of his works

‘I don’t know about the political things surrounding the war, all that happened is that we lost a lot of things. When I create art, sometimes I destroy it to create more art. The war has taught me how to let go and then rebuild. To create, one has to learn how to start over,’ he says.

Indigo Hypoxia is Sannad’s way of having conversations with colour, which he says chose him.

It results from the thoughts about people and life, and the faces he meets daily. It richly explores colours, especially purple, and the range of human emotions directly.

Sannad’s subjects, in retrospect, convey his emotions better than he expresses them in word. He describes Indigo Hypoxia is an imprint of conflicting emotions, a show in which human emotions occupy space, creating feelings and perceptions.

‘It is not about the war or the emotions from the war. I was just moving my hand and creating as I felt. When people ask me about my art, I tell them that it isn’t always about the war. I create it as I feel. My work has always come from the depth of my emotions and an ongoing search for meaning. That has not changed. I still have time to create more art on the subject.’

He says Kenya has been kind to him regardless of the homesickness and longing for home.

‘What I miss most is my studio. It was the place where I felt free to experiment without limits. I did not bring my tools of work, but I brought the way I work. I still trust intuition and let the work grow naturally wherever I am. In Kenya, I have enjoyed the openness of the art scene. People are supportive and there are numerous opportunities for artists to grow and connect,’ he says.

Kenya has one doctor for more than 5,000 people, far below the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of one doctor for every 1,000 people. The shortage continues to widen as trained clinicians migrate abroad while the country’s population keeps growing.

Yet millions of Kenyans access healthcare not through hospitals or specialist clinics, but through neighbourhood pharmacies.

This reflects how healthcare already functions in practice. Across urban, peri-urban and rural communities, pharmacies are often the most accessible, affordable and immediate point of care. They operate without appointments, lengthy queues or referral letters, making them the first stop for many seeking treatment.

Not every illness requires a hospital visit. Many common, self-limiting conditions can be managed safely with the support of qualified pharmacists, allowing doctors to focus on patients with more complex needs.

Recognising this reality, Kenya’s Pharmacy and Poisons Board issued Good Pharmacy Practice guidelines in May 2024. The framework expanded pharmacists’ role beyond dispensing medicines to include patient counselling, disease management support and broader clinical care, laying the foundation for the Pharmacy First model.

The principle is simple. Community pharmacists are often a patient’s first contact with the healthcare system. Minor illnesses, medicine-related concerns and chronic disease support can frequently be handled at this level before referral to a doctor or hospital becomes necessary.

In effect, pharmacies become frontline triage centres. Pharmacists can identify patients who require specialist attention while offering treatment advice, reassurance or monitoring for less serious conditions. Early intervention helps prevent complications, shortens waiting times and improves access to timely care.

The economic benefits are equally important.

Kenya’s healthcare system faces rising demand, overstretched public facilities and increasing treatment costs. Medical insurers are also grappling with escalating claims. Enabling pharmacists to manage appropriate primary healthcare cases can reduce unnecessary hospital visits, ease congestion and lower costs for households, insurers and government.

A stronger Pharmacy First culture would improve access to affordable care while allowing hospitals to concentrate resources on more serious cases. It would also reduce avoidable insurance claims and improve efficiency across the health system.

This approach does not diminish the role of doctors. Instead, it creates a more integrated health system where every professional works at the top of their expertise.

Countries such as the UK have already demonstrated the value of Pharmacy First. Kenya now has an opportunity to adapt the model to strengthen primary healthcare and make better use of its limited medical workforce.

Seven months ago, Asahi Group Holdings agreed to buy Diageo’s controlling stake in East African Breweries – a $ 2.3 billion transaction, one of the largest cross-border deals the local market has seen in years, and one from which the Exchequer stood to gain roughly Sh40 billion in capital gains tax alone. Seven months on, the deal remains stuck.

The latest development is that the competition authority has escalated the matter to the Attorney-General – an implicit admission that the regulator itself is unsure of its own footing.

This is not a story about a regulator rigorously following the law. It is about a regulator that appears unable to make a decision.

Consider the record. The Competition Authority of Kenya first proposed a two-year timeline for settling a pecuniary penalty, then revised it to seven days.

It required that payments due to government be parked in an escrow account – a demand that sits uneasily with the Public Finance Management framework the state itself is bound by.

It tried to compress an agreed 40-day settlement window with complainants down to seven days, despite not being party to those settlement agreements in the first place.

Late in the process, it floated raising the penalty by as much as sevenfold, after months of negotiation had already taken place.

And it introduced, seemingly from nowhere, a demand to retain 10 percent of the entire transaction value in escrow – a condition that exists in no statute.

Each of these might be defensible in isolation. Together, they describe a pattern: an administration of competition law improvising in real time, on a transaction of national significance, months after the parties believed they had reached an understanding with the regulator.

Compounding the chaos is the fact that the Competition Appeals Tribunal – the body where parties can challenge decisions of the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) – has been virtually inactive since mid-2025, because the terms of its chairperson and key members expired several months ago. The board currently has only one member instead of seven.

Meanwhile, the Capital Markets Authority granted a mandatory takeover offer exemption, only for its implementation to be suspended by a court order sought by a third party. Litigation has multiplied across court stations, prompting the Judiciary itself to intervene and consolidate the files in Nairobi to stop what increasingly looked like forum shopping.

A coordinated campaign by fund managers has sought to reopen the commercial logic of a privately negotiated shareholder transfer altogether, months after signing.

Here is the question every serious investor is now entitled to ask before committing capital to Kenya: if I sign a merger agreement today, is there any credible basis for expecting it to close within six months? On the evidence of this transaction, the honest answer is no – not because of the underlying commercial logic, but because the process for approving it has no fixed floor.

The rules can be renegotiated by the regulator after the fact, unilaterally, and the goalposts can move again the moment the parties think they have reached them.

This is the real cost of the Asahi-Diageo saga, and it is far larger than the Sh40 billion in tax revenue at stake.

Clearly; the single greatest deterrent to foreign direct investment in Kenya is not tax policy, not infrastructure, not even the cost of capital.

It is the insensate instability of our competition regulation, and the absence of honour and good faith on the part of regulators who are supposed to be the guarantors of a predictable process.

Investors do not require regulators to say yes.

They require regulators to mean what they say when they say anything at all. A regulator that agrees to a 40-day settlement window and then unilaterally shortens it to seven; that agrees to a two-year penalty schedule and then demands payment within a week; that negotiates a penalty figure and then proposes multiplying it sevenfold without new facts to justify it – that regulator has broken the one thing capital actually prices: certainty.

The Asahi-Diageo transaction was supposed to be the easy case – two willing multinational parties, a company with no pending disputes with the competition authority, and a deal structure that preserved local listing, local jobs, and local management.

If even this deal cannot move predictably through Kenya’s regulatory architecture, no foreign board of directors evaluating an African market entry will conclude that theirs will fare better.

Regulators must be bound by the timelines and conditions they themselves set, not free to revise them under pressure from whichever constituency shouts loudest that month.

When war escalated across the Middle East, threatening passage through the Strait of Hormuz, triggering Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes, and placing the Persian Gulf’s 21 million barrels per day of export infrastructure under genuine military threat, every energy economist reached for the 1973 and 1979 playbooks. Forecasts were grim: recession, rationing and stagflation.

For Kenya, the stakes were immediate. We import every litre of petrol, diesel and jet fuel we consume, most of it transiting the very corridors under fire.

A sustained supply shortfall exceeding three million barrels per day should have translated into pump-price shocks severe enough to destabilise transport, food prices and the shilling.

The catastrophe never arrived. Pump prices spiked, freight costs ballooned and tanker insurance premiums went parabolic but the cascading economic collapse the models predicted was, at the aggregate level, contained. The reason sits, largely unacknowledged in Western financial commentary, in Beijing.

China has spent two decades quietly building what analysts now estimate is the world’s largest strategic petroleum reserve, a government-controlled stockpile of crude oil held for emergencies.

Total strategic and commercial inventory capacity is believed to exceed 1.2 billion barrels. Beijing does not publish official volumes, but estimates from the International Energy Agency, S and P Global Commodity Insights and satellite-tracking firm Kpler triangulate around 900 to 980 million barrels at peak.

When Middle East supply risk crystallised, China did what it has done historically in moments of external price pressure: it drew down its reserve, and aggressively.

Satellite imagery of floating storage, monitored tanker movements and refinery run-rate data all pointed to Beijing substituting domestic reserve releases for spot-market purchases – buying on the open international market – at precisely the moment that market was most vulnerable to a demand surge.

By feeding its refineries from its own stockpile rather than competing for cargoes, China removed the single largest marginal buyer from a supply-constrained market. The market’s biggest customer quietly left the auction room, and everyone else – Kenya included – got to bid at lower prices than the models predicted.

The reserve drawdown alone does not explain the full buffer. The second, arguably more consequential factor is structural and permanent: Chinese oil demand has decoupled from Chinese economic growth in a way that Opec, Western majors and most emerging-market governments have been dangerously slow to internalise.

China sold more than 11 million new-energy vehicles in 2024, roughly 40 percent of all passenger cars sold locally, and by mid-2026 that share of monthly sales has held above 50 percent.

Every electric vehicle displacing a petrol car removes roughly 1.5 litres of daily fuel demand from the market. China’s high-speed rail network, at over 45,000 kilometres, exceeds the rest of the world combined and has structurally collapsed jet fuel and diesel demand on intercity corridors.

Provincial energy-intensity targets, enforced through party accountability systems, have pushed industrial users to cut consumption faster than external forecasters keep predicting. And China redirected purchasing toward discounted, sanctioned Russian crude – barrels that were never competing for the Persian Gulf molecules the rest of the world needed.

The International Energy Agency’s projection that Chinese oil demand peaks before 2030 is no longer a fringe view. It is increasingly the central case.

It matters to be honest about one thing: China did not draw down its reserve to help the global economy. It acted in service of its own price stability, industrial continuity and consumer affordability during a period of fragile domestic confidence.

That a self-interested decision made in Zhongnanhai determined whether a small business owner in Nairobi, a logistics operator in Lagos or a farming cooperative in Lusaka survived a fuel-cost spike is a remarkable illustration of how interconnected energy systems have become – and how little control import-dependent economies currently exercise over their own exposure.

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Zambia all heavily dependent on imported refined products got a lucky reprieve.

The word to underline is lucky. Beijing will eventually need to replenish its reserve, and when it returns to the market as an aggressive buyer, the price impact will land hardest on nations that lack either indigenous reserves or foreign-currency buffers.

Several implications follow for leaders in oil-dependent economies. The first is that the buffer cannot be assumed next time. China’s drawdown was a one-time shock absorber, not a standing guarantee, and the next supply disruption may land very differently.

The second is the case for investing in demand-side intelligence now. The countries and companies best positioned in the next crisis will be those with real-time visibility into consumption patterns, fleet behaviour and fuel flows – through fuel management technology, fleet efficiency programmes and consumption data. Data is the new strategic reserve.

Third, the energy transition should be accelerated, at each economy’s own pace, but accelerated. The structural demand destruction China has engineered through electrification and rail is a preview of what every major economy will eventually experience. Getting ahead of that curve is a competitive advantage; being caught behind it is an existential risk.

Finally, supply chain geography needs rethinking. The Red Sea disruptions exposed the fragility of single-corridor crude and refined product flows. Diversifying supply routes, storage locations and supplier relationships is not bureaucratic prudence. It is balance-sheet protection.

The world did not suffer the oil crisis the Middle East conflict threatened to deliver. We should be honest about why and more honest still about the fact that the conditions that prevented it are changing fast.

The leaders who understand that dynamic and build their institutions accordingly, will be the ones still standing when the next crisis tests the system.

Rebound in the bond and equities market has triggered talent wars among stockbrokers seeking to grow their market share and take a larger slice of revenues from trading of the securities.

The wars, mainly targeting traders and research analysts, have been earnest in the last six months as the bourse sustained improved performance that has lured new listings and investors.

It has seen nearly a dozen seasoned traders and market analysts change employers together with an increase in internal promotions to retain talent.

Capital A Investment Bank, which maintained its leadership in Kenya’s bond market with a 22 percent market share at the end of June, has strengthened its research capability while investing in internal talent development as competition for experienced professionals intensifies.

“When markets are performing well, there is always a tendency for firms to re-equip their dealing desks,” said Linus Kang’ara, chief executive officer of Capital A Investment Bank.

“Rather than looking externally, we chose to strengthen and retain our existing talent by giving them greater visibility across both local and international markets, while backing them with a robust research capability. As part of that strategy, we appointed seasoned economist Churchill Ogutu to lead our Research Department,” he said.

Mr Ogutu joined Capital A in April from IC Group, an investment bank with regional operations, following the exit of Ronnie Chokaa as a senior research analyst. Mr Chokaa joined Sterling Capital Limited as a fixed income trader.

Kestrel Capital, which is under new leadership following a management buyout last year, has strengthened its equities desk with new hires. Gerry Ndung’u was poached from Pergamon Investment Bank while Anne Musyoka was brought in from Dry Associates. The stock brokerage also hired Caleb Nyangao and Kenneth Mutuura from the Nairobi International Financial Centre (NIFC).

Kestrel Capital traded shares worth Sh19.5 billion in the six months to June which was more than thrice the Sh5.9 billion traded in the same period last year. Its market share however shrunk due to the Sh204.3 billion bulk trade of Safaricom shares from the government to Vodacom executed by KCB Investment Bank and SBG Securities.

This trade lifted the two to be the top ranking in terms of market share with SBG Securities moving from second to first position with a 34.9 percent market share.

The trade propelled KCB Investment Bank from position 18 to second with a market share of 32.07 percent up from 0.78 percent. Kweli Capital which recently acquired Old Mutual Securities is seeking talent for its research desk as it seeks to revamp its trading capabilities.

Conventional banks have also moved into investment banking and fund management in a bid to keep money from corporate savers in their vaults. Customers are no longer just looking for a safe place to keep their money but also a return.

This has further fueled the talent wars with most commercial teams looking for players who are ready to go to market and grab the moment and not greenhorns. CIC Group, Ecobank Kenya and KCB Group are currently in the market for portfolio managers.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange -as measured by market capitalisation- was up 27.8 percent, or Sh817.2 billion in six months to reach a record high of Sh3.76 trillion as at June 30.

This was boosted by the listing of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) on March 11, which was the first Initial Public Offering in 18 years, and Family Bank Limited on June 23.

This has resulted in increased participation by investors, with the value of equities traded in the six months to June growing more than five-fold to Sh644.5 billion up from Sh112 billion same time last year.

The value of bonds traded over the six months to June rose by 22.4 percent to 3.4 trillion compared to Sh2.78 trillion traded over a similar period last year.

Every week, containers loaded with second-hand clothing land in Kenya, sustaining one of the country’s most enduring informal industries. In them are tightly packed bales of denim that find their way to wholesalers in Gikomba, Nairobi, retailers in markets across the country and, ultimately, wardrobes of consumers looking for quality, branded jeans at a fraction of the price of new ones.

Morris Kamau first ventured into wholesale second-hand shoes before noticing demand for denim. Over the past 18 years, his business has grown to supply customers across Kenya and the wider East Africa.

‘We import from the UK, Canada and China. The quality and price of the bale is determined by the country we source it from,’ says Kamau.

A bale containing around 70 pieces can sell for Sh10,000, while one containing 90 items can fetch around Sh20,000. A premium 50-piece bale may cost Sh40,000. He adds that there are also carefully selected consignments of high-quality jeans that can sell for as much as Sh100,000 per bale.

According to Kamau, consignments from China tend to be cheaper, while bales from the UK and Canada command higher prices as buyers associate them with better quality and popular brands.

“Sometimes I import jeans on order for customers who want them from specific countries, but most of the time I just have a general shipment,” he says.

Retailers can visit his warehouse to buy sealed bales, although his long-term clients are allowed to handpick grade one pieces from opened consignments.

‘The business is lucrative, and we have seen more and more entrepreneurs coming into this field. There are many more wholesalers today than when I started,’ Kamau says.

However, like many businesses, this trade comes with its risks.

‘You can promise a client that a bale contains 50 pairs of jeans, but when it is opened, not all of them may be in good condition. Quality is one of the biggest challenges in this business, so it is crucial to have a reliable supplier,’ he says.

Kamau adds that finding reliable suppliers is important for maintaining customer trust and sustaining the business.

He also notes that competition has intensified as more traders enter the market.

‘Someone can buy from three different wholesalers, pick the best jeans, and create a very clean bale that sells at a higher price,’ he says.

To remain competitive, wholesalers have adapted by offering more flexible options, including opening bales for loyal customers seeking specific grades and brands.

Despite the growing competition, Kamau believes that demand for these second-hand jeans remains strong, particularly among consumers seeking quality denim at affordable prices. This demand has also been influenced by a growing network of traders supplying markets across Kenya and East Africa.

The opportunities created by this supply chain can be seen in entrepreneurs such as Jayson Oyang, who first ventured into the business as a university student with just Sh2,500 to his name.

While studying for a degree in Architectural Engineering at the University of Nairobi, Jayson noticed that baggy jeans were becoming increasingly popular among students.

‘I’ve always had a sense of fashion, especially when it comes to jeans. Most of my peers loved baggy trousers, and that’s where I got the idea to start a second-hand clothing business,’ he says.

He bought his first stock from Gikomba, hoping to make enough profit to go back for more.

‘I started with flannels, but they didn’t sell well,’ he says. ‘Then I moved to cargo trousers. They did well until they went out of fashion. That’s when I decided to focus on jeans.’

His customers were fellow students, so his business depended on understanding what young people wanted to wear.

“When you first start a business, you don’t always know exactly what your customers want. Sometimes you buy something thinking people will love it, only to realise that it doesn’t sell. You learn from those mistakes and, over time, you begin to understand your customers,’ he says.

He goes to Gikomba almost every morning to source stock from trusted wholesalers with whom he has built relationships over the years.

“I don’t really have specific market days. I have people I buy from, and I go there almost daily because I know the quality of their stock.’

The growth of his business is reflected in the amount of capital he can now commit to stock.

‘The most I’ve spent on stock in a single day is Sh65,000,’ he says.

At his stall, there are around 200 pairs of jeans in various cuts, colours and styles that retail between Sh600 and Sh1,200.

‘I stock straight jeans, mum jeans, hard jeans, cargo jeans, combat trousers and shorts. You have to keep changing with what customers are looking for.”

Jayson says that his clientele is mainly women in their 20s and early 30s, although he adds that male shoppers in the same age group have become an increasingly.

Global trade is facing unprecedented disruption as geopolitical tensions, shipping bottlenecks and climate-related shocks strain supply chains.

For an import-dependent economy like Kenya, these disruptions have raised the cost of imports while slowing exports to key international markets.

Amid concerns over freight charges and delayed shipments, one crucial issue deserves greater attention: marine cargo insurance. Long treated as a routine administrative requirement, marine insurance has become a critical element of business continuity and regulatory compliance.

Kenya’s regulatory environment has changed significantly. Under Section 20 of the Insurance Act, all marine cargo insurance for imports must be obtained from locally licensed insurers.

Although the law has existed for years, enforcement has intensified following the integration of marine insurance verification into the Kenya Revenue Authority’s Integrated Customs Management System (ICMS).

Today, imported cargo cannot be cleared at the Port of Mombasa or other entry points unless the ICMS digitally confirms a valid local marine insurance policy.

This has helped eliminate fake or altered insurance certificates, reduced revenue leakages and improved the integrity of customs processes. Digital verification has also streamlined cargo clearance by reducing reliance on paper documentation.

However, increased automation brings new risks. Because the system depends on uninterrupted digital infrastructure, technical failures can delay cargo clearance, causing costly backlogs, storage charges and losses, especially for time-sensitive or perishable goods.

To sustain efficiency, the Kenya Revenue Authority, the Insurance Regulatory Authority and technology providers must invest in reliable systems, backup infrastructure and contingency measures that keep trade moving during outages without compromising security.

Businesses, too, must rethink their approach. Marine insurance is no longer merely a regulatory obligation but an essential risk management tool.

In an era of global uncertainty, ensuring shipments are adequately insured through compliant local providers protects businesses from costly disruptions while supporting a stronger and more resilient domestic insurance sector.

The trustees of the Standard Chartered Kenya Pension Fund have obtained orders freezing a directive by the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) requiring them to review claims by a section of the bank’s former employees over allegedly undervalued pensions.

The claimants include more than 600 former Standard Chartered employees who were not part of a group of 629 colleagues who won a Sh2.4 billion award at the Retirement Benefits Appeals Tribunal (RBAT) after successfully challenging the listed lender over undervalued pensions.

The 629 former employees successfully argued that their lump-sum benefits had been understated following the bank’s transition from a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to a defined contribution (DC) scheme in 1999.

On September 5, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld earlier decisions by the Court of Appeal and the High Court affirming the RBAT award in favour of the former employees.

The new group, describing itself as the “Non-629 Former Employees”, petitioned the RBA in October 2025, presenting a list of 21 claims against the lender in support of its request to be included in the compensation. The group had earlier written to the bank seeking inclusion in the payout.

In a letter dated June 15, RBA Chief Executive Officer Charles Machira directed the trustees to review the claims submitted by the former employees to assess their validity in line with the tribunal’s ruling.

The RBA instructed the trustees to undertake a detailed and independent assessment of each claim, in accordance with the tribunal’s findings, determinations and directives, within 90 days of the letter.

The trustees, however, filed an appeal before the tribunal on July 13, arguing that conducting the review would expose the scheme to substantial costs while it pursued its appeal against the RBA’s decision.

The scheme also sought a stay of execution, saying the 90-day period granted by the RBA was likely to expire before the appeal was heard and determined.

“If the reassessment ordered by the RBA is concluded before this appeal is heard, there is a risk that the intended appeal will be rendered nugatory as the appellant will be forced to comply with a decision challenged on appeal, with no guarantee that the actions taken can be reversed,” the pension fund said in its tribunal filing.

“Unless a stay of execution of the RBA decision is granted, the appellant will be be prejudiced as it will be forced to incur substantial costs to undertake a reassessment based on a decision it is challenging before this tribunal.”

After granting the stay, the tribunal directed that the matter be mentioned on July 23 for further directions.

However, even as the RBA ordered the review, the former employees argued that the regulator had failed to address the full scope of the 21 claims contained in their petition, many of which relate to alleged defects in the actuarial valuations conducted during the conversion of the pension scheme.

They also called for a forensic audit to verify all asset and fund movements from 1998 to date, and urged the RBA to allow additional former members to join the claims without requiring a fresh petition.

The petitioners further argued that the RBA had only partially addressed their complaint over the alleged unlawful withdrawal of Sh1.125 billion from the combined pension fund in 1999. They said that although the tribunal found the withdrawal unlawful and ordered a refund of Sh4.67 billion, neither the bank nor the pension scheme had explained how the money would be restored to the fund.

Before petitioning the RBA in October 2025, the former employees had written to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in September 2025, asking it to compel the lender’s parent company, Standard Chartered Plc, to address their claims.

The Treasury has ejected four of its representatives from the Kenya Reinsurance Corporation (Kenya Re) board, including chairman Erick Gumbo, in a bid to quell tensions that have rocked the firm since last year.

Through a June 15 letter seen by the Business Daily, the Treasury informed the State-owned reinsurer that it had dropped Mr Gumbo, Abdirahin Abdi, Eunice Nyala and Zacharia Nyaaga from the board.

The changes emerged in the middle of a board spat that saw the suspension of Kenya Re CEO, Hillary Wachinga, and human resource manager Sally Waigumo for two months between September 2 and November 2, 2025. The two were reinstated before the hearing of a court case that had been filed by Mr Wachinga over his ouster.

The Treasury did not back Ms Nyala and Mr Nyaaga for board appointments during Kenya Re’s annual general meeting (AGM) on June 19 in a vote that attracted 15 contestants.

However, it had backed Mr Gumbo and Mr Abdi for re-election, with the chairman coming top with 3.38 billion votes.

A month later, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi dropped Mr Gumbo and Mr Abdi and forwarded a list of six people to sit on the Kenya Re board. The six include Mr Mbadi’s alternate.

‘In line with the guidance provided by the Attorney-General that both majority and minority shareholders submit their proposed nominees and vote jointly, our understanding was that, upon completion of the voting, the National Treasury was to submit names for class B directors,’ reads the letter.

The Treasury is said to have withdrawn its backing for Mr Gumbo and Mr Abdi as part of interventions to ease the fallout between management and the board, said a top State official who spoke anonymously because he is not authorised to do so in public.

The Treasury has a 60 percent stake in Kenya Re and holds sway on who sits on the board of the reinsurer.

The minority shareholders have petitioned the courts to compel the Treasury to cede more board seats in line with the company’s revised rules granting minorities three positions. The case is still ongoing.

The small shareholders’ court fight hinges on the firm’s change of internal rules in February this year that created two classes of shares.

The revised Articles of Association has cut board membership to nine from 11, with the government entitled to five elective seats on the board through class B shares.

The rules handed minorities three directors on the strength of their class A shares.

‘A decision had to be made. Treasury has informed Kenya Re that the names it has provided are the individuals it wants on the board. A decision on who the new chairman will be is still pending, given the minorities’ court case,’ said the source familiar with the matter.

The Business Daily reached out to Mr Gumbo for comment on the board changes. He promised to respond ‘in the afternoon’ but had not by the time of going to press despite reminders.

The Treasury has retained six directors, including Jackline Nyandeje, Leah Rotich, David Muthusi, Irungu Kirika, Erick Korir and Omar Shallo.

The tension at Kenya Re found its way to the Employment and Labour Relations Court, where Dr Wachinga sued the board for not giving him a fair hearing in the build-up to his suspension. He later withdrew the case and was reinstated.

The suit revealed that Dr Wachinga had been suspended over what the board termed ‘not complying with instructions’ in the handling of a disciplinary matter involving two of the reinsurer’s staff.

However, the reinstatement of the two did little to defuse tension at Kenya Re, which is in the middle of key strategic decisions, including working on setting up a subsidiary in Tanzania and a representative office in India.

The Treasury sources reckon that Mr Gumbo, who joined the Kenya Re board in June 2019 and was appointed chairman in June last year, was seen as having failed to ensure harmony between the board and the management.

The fallout, the source added, recently saw the last-minute cancellation of a Kenya Re international event meant to pitch for business despite the Treasury having approved it.

The Treasury’s proposed names at the board come in the middle of court wrangles pitting minority shareholders against the government.

The minority shareholders are dissatisfied with the way the June 19 AGM was conducted, arguing that they did not get fair representation on the board.

Kenya Re is yet to pick a new chairman and constitute board committees like audit, human resource and nominations, finance and strategy and risk and compliance.

Under the current Articles of Association, Kenya Re directors will be required to hold office for a maximum of two terms of three years each. A director will lose a seat if he or she is absent for three consecutive meetings without board approval.

The new rules also introduced the suitability criteria for an independent director, including the requirement that such a person should not have been affiliated with a political party in the preceding five years to the appointment.

In the financial year ended December 2025, Kenya Re maintained a Sh839.94 million dividend despite net profit retreating by 11.6 percent to Sh3.92 billion in the financial year ended December 2025 from Sh4.4 billion.

The reinsurer attributed last year’s profit drop to underperformance in the company’s international treaty business and its operations in Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire.

A Portuguese construction company battling creditors in its home country has been conditionally selected to develop the long-delayed Thuci Dam in Embu under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), raising fresh questions over the financial strength of firms seeking major State infrastructure projects.

A report by the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Directorate shows that the State Department for Irrigation approved an unsolicited proposal by Elevolution Engenharia, SA to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the multi-purpose dam. The proposal received conditional approval in January 2026, pending the fulfilment of several requirements.

Elevolution Engenharia is the main construction arm of Portugal’s Elevo Group, which has spent years restructuring after accumulating about pound 350 million (Sh53 billion) in debt owed to banks, suppliers, tax authorities and other creditors.

Portuguese court records and media reports indicate the group’s financial troubles triggered insolvency proceedings, restructuring efforts and enforcement action by lenders.

More recently, Banco Comercial Português (BCP), Portugal’s largest private bank, moved to auction shares and bonds linked to the group in a bid to recover part of its outstanding loans.

Despite these challenges, the State Department for Irrigation says the company has not yet received final approval to proceed.

Principal Secretary Ephantus Kimotho said the PPP Committee’s approval was conditional and required the firm to demonstrate stronger financial capacity before moving to the next stage.

“The condition is to submit audited financial statements prepared by a reputable independent audit firm in accordance with internationally accepted accounting standards in place of the management accounts initially submitted,” Mr Kimotho said.

The company must also provide documentary evidence of its financial capacity and the equity or capital it intends to invest in the project.

The final cost of the dam has not been determined, although earlier estimates placed it at about Sh705 million ($5.45 million).

The Thuci Dam project is expected to provide irrigation water to about 27,500 acres in Runyenjes and Chuka Igambang’ombe constituencies, supply treated domestic water to surrounding communities and generate renewable hydropower. It also includes plans for agro-processing, tourism development, biomass energy production and carbon credit initiatives.

The project has remained on the drawing board for years, becoming a recurring campaign issue in Embu.

Initially, the government planned to deliver it through an engineering, procurement, construction and finance (EPC-F) model but later abandoned the approach because of limited public financing.

Instead, the ministry opted for a PPP model under which a private investor would finance, build, operate and maintain the dam before recovering its investment through water charges over an agreed concession period.

The proposed deal comes amid growing scrutiny of Kenya’s Privately Initiated Proposal (PiP) framework, which has attracted financially distressed firms pursuing multibillion-shilling projects.

The model came under intense public scrutiny in 2024 after India’s Adani Group proposed to redevelop Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and build electricity transmission lines. President William Ruto later cancelled both projects following the indictment of Adani Group founder Gautam Adani and other executives by US prosecutors over an alleged bribery scheme in India. The Adani Group has denied the allegations.

The Thuci Dam proposal is therefore likely to face close scrutiny as the government weighs whether Elevolution can demonstrate the financial muscle needed to deliver one of the region’s most anticipated water projects.