Category: Business Daily

The number of Kenyans unable to afford a healthy diet has increased by 9.6 million over the past eight years on costly meals and reduced disposable income.

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a United Nations agency, says 43.9 million Kenyans cannot afford a healthy diet, up from 34.3 million in 2017.

This emerges in a period when the cost of food has surged in an economic setting where workers’ disposable income has also fallen, as employers’ pay increases fail to keep pace with inflation.

Workers’ purchasing power has declined by up to 12 percent over the past five years, on the back of rising taxes, multiple statutory deductions, and the high cost of living, according to Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) estimates.

The statutory deductions cited by KBA include PAYE, the 1.5 percent Affordable Housing Levy, a 2.75 percent contribution to the Social Health Insurance Fund and higher National Social Security Fund contributions, which now top Sh6,480 per month for higher earners.

Workers have seen their real wages drop to Sh56,566 last year from Sh62,256 in 2020.

The share of Kenyans struggling to access a healthy diet has increased to 76.3 percent of the population from 69.8 percent in 2017.

In East Africa, Kenya fared worse compared to the neighbouring countries. Rwanda’s share stood at 67.7 percent, Ethiopia (67.9 percent), Tanzania (73.0 percent) and Uganda (73.6 percent).

‘Eating a healthy diet throughout the life cycle is critical for health, growth and development, helping to prevent all forms of malnutrition and reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases, and above all, contributing to overall well-being,’ says FAO in the report.

FAO says the less developing countries will require policies that focus not only on increasing food production but also on making nutritious foods more affordable.

Investments in climate-smart agriculture, efficient food distribution systems, lower post-harvest losses and targeted support for vulnerable households will be critical if Kenya is to reverse the trend.

All mobile phones, tablets, and laptops sold in Kenya must now come with a minimum one-year warranty and a return policy under new consumer protection rules, putting vendors at risk of fines of at least Sh500,000 for breaches.

The new guidelines issued by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) require businesses selling low-powered electronic gadgets to provide a warranty for at least 12 months, allowing customers to return faulty products.

What is it like to be the son of someone with such big shoes to fill? It’s inspiring to see what he and my mum have achieved over the years. I’m not filling his shoes; I’m following a similar path while doing things differently because we are in a different world. But one critical thing I have learnt from them is to never give up. Two, education is critical. That said, I do get calls and emails asking for Jared in meetings; I am like, ‘Wrong person.’ I have not received any of his love letters. Nor has he received any of my love letters, as far as I’m aware [chuckles].

How are you your own man? Taking chances. Growing up, you tend to be boxed into a particular journey, especially in certain careers, and law is one of those. I’ve taken risks, most of which have failed. But by not giving up, seeking out opportunities and being brave, you chart your own path.

Which dreams have you let go? By choice or? Haha! Outside the legal profession, my biggest dream was to fly. I got my licence in 2016. I have not flown for a very long time, so that’s something I feel like I have let go of.

What does flying mean to you? One, I’m always fascinated by the ability of this huge piece of metal to glide through the skies. Two, I’m a bush person. It is my happy place. And I found out the quickest way to get to the most remote places in this country is by air. Three, it is peaceful. My day-to-day life is hectic, including weekends. Being up there by yourself, and it’s just you, the sound of the engine – it’s complete and utter peace. It clears my mind, but it’s risky. I’ve got a young family, so I need to balance that out. And it’s also very expensive.

Flying or the family? That’s a good question. Both haha! I need to align my priorities.

What is one place you’ve flown to that has really stuck with you? I flew my mum to the border of Tanzania and then into Magadi. We had breakfast there and then flew back to Nairobi and continued with her birthday party. And the second was when I was probably showing off a bit when courting my now-wife. We flew to Chyulu Hills, but it’s more about the journey and who’s part of that journey and not so much the destination.

Did that help you win your wife? I think I’m a nice person [chuckles]. Well, I don’t know because she’s refused to fly with me since then.

What kind of husband did you set out to be? Did I have a plan? Not really. I think I’ve simply tried to follow in the footsteps of my parents and the kind of family they created for us. My wife is Ethiopian, and when we met, she had been in Kenya for about three years. She didn’t have any other family members here, so one of my biggest priorities was making sure she felt at home and that we built the kind of warm, wholesome family that my siblings and I were fortunate to grow up in. For me, being a good husband means listening to your partner, allowing her perspective to guide me, and supporting her wherever she needs me. That’s the kind of marriage I’ve always wanted us to have.

How did you make your marriage unique from your parents’? I don’t know if I’ve done anything different. I think they did more when they were my age than I’ve been able to do now in terms of building the family, building their businesses, and supporting the wider family and community in Kisii.

Is that a challenge or a burden to outdo your parents? It’s an inspiration, without a doubt. And really, the question is, what does success look like to me? You fall short if you pitch your success against someone else. Your success should ultimately be your success. What makes you happy.

What did success look like for you when you were younger? I’m still young haha! This is cliché, but financial independence. The second is building something I hope will outlive my partners and me and create an institution for the benefit of whoever is in it and for our clients. From a family perspective, it is being able to put the children through good schools and watching them succeed.

You went to boarding school at six years old. That’s your whole life… How was that like? I’m the youngest of four children, so I was quite young when I first went to boarding school. At the time, I had no idea what was going on. It just felt exciting to be away from home. As I got older, though, it became more challenging. This was before the internet and mobile phones. The only way to keep in touch was by writing letters, so homesickness could be quite real. Even so, I’m a big advocate of boarding school, depending on the nature of the child.

Would you parent your children the same way? Yeah, but you’re asking the wrong person. I definitely would.

How did fatherhood reconstitute success, if at all? It has put a different perspective and more drive to pursue success. It has given me a lot more purpose in terms of what I’m doing, to get out of bed on those grey Monday mornings when you’re tired, you’re stressed, you’re broke.

What frightened you most about being a father? The unknown. You can read books, or other parents will speak to you and give you all the information you need, but once that baby comes, it’s like, I don’t know what to do with this thing. And then having to learn and adapt very quickly on how to look after the child. It’s terrifying.

This is a dicey question, but which of your father’s flaws are you actively not trying to pass down to your children? Let’s call it a character trait, which I have as well. Stubbornness. If we’ve set our minds on something, it’s going to happen. I can see it coming out in my five-year-old boy and two-year-old girl.

What used to make you happy that no longer makes you happy now? The streets haha! The nightlife. I used to love passing by the bar on Friday evenings. I used to be a very sociable person. Now, I just prefer more intimate gatherings.

When did this shift happen for you? I need to be careful about this. I might give you a timeline. If my wife reads this, she’ll be like, that’s a lie [chuckles]. But around the time we got married, 2018. The reason is that you have to be purposeful about what you’re doing. Your life changes once you get married. You need to give each other attention. You’re building something and still getting to know each other. Why have you married someone if you prefer to spend Friday nights out and Saturday mornings in bed, hungover?

How do you take care of yourself? I’ll show you [shows paper]. Eight hours of hard work, eight hours of good sleep, and eight hours spent on family, friends, health, and soul. I still struggle with sleep, but I enjoy spending time doing things that take me away from work. I love cooking. Most weekends I will cook. Gym, three days a week. And being in the bush.

What’s your signature meal? Triple-fried lamb shoulder. This weekend, I’m trying to perfect my pizza-making. It’s a good way to spend time with my children, especially my son. It is not so much about the food, but the process. I have to say I have no interest in sweets and cakes. I’m scared of the dentist. I have 12 fillings and four fake teeth.

Do you have an insecurity you are willing to share? I’m a very anxious person. I worry a lot about things I really shouldn’t be worrying about. I’m doing myself a disservice, I know.

What do you wish people understood about you more? That there is a distinction between what the team and I are doing here in this firm versus what my father has done. There’s always an assumption that he’s the force behind what we’re doing here, which is frustrating. He has nothing to do with it. But it’d be silly not to get guidance from him and other experienced people.

Does that make you want to keep on proving yourself to people? Yeah.

You didn’t grow up in lack, so where does your ambition come from? This is a delicate one. With one of my first firm jobs, I got some internal information that they were deciding who to let go of. And the information I got out of there was… ‘They don’t need to retain me. I’ll be fine anyway.’ Which really frustrated me, because you’ve made an assumption and taken away all the effort and hard work I put in. So I resigned. I left with one ambition. To grow something bigger and better.

Which part of success did not taste as good as you thought it would? Let’s call it growth. Putting my hand up and saying, ‘Oh, I’m successful,’ is quite arrogant. What it has not fixed is peace. It comes with more and more challenges.

When you think of the weekend, what comes to mind? Children first. We like going to the national park. We like seeing my siblings; they’ve got children as well. Anything but work.

What habit are you trying to break? Work. I can’t live without work emails on my phone. I’d be anxious. But it taught me something. We’re a service industry. You need to be responsive to clients because without people having problems, we have no work. But how to measure your response? Is it really that critical? Can I just say, I’ve understood. I’ll get back to you on Monday. I think it definitely annoys my wife.

How do you ensure you’re stopping to smell your roses? I have to be forced into it, to be honest. It’s difficult for me to just stop. Or that tomorrow I’m not doing anything. I’ll need to be pushed into that. But also appreciate the people around you. Whether it’s family, whether it’s colleagues. Spend time with them. Listen to them.

What is your most used emoji? Probably a thumbs up. Memes, I don’t use. It’s complicated. Those GIFs. You go through it, and you’re like, oh, let me find something that’s funny. I’m not a funny person. This is a thing. And I can’t even be bothered to change the colour [chuckles]. My emojis are all yellow. It’s quick.

Give us some pro bono lawyerly advice. Think outside the box. It’s absolutely okay to be selfish. In terms of making the decisions that are right for you, and ultimately the people around you. Take bold steps and be prepared for failure. But also, there’s too much noise and external influence. Too many people are in a rush to achieve certain things, which seldom works, so cut the noise and focus on what’s important-don’t expect that even your closest friend has your best interests at heart. Those are the people who can wipe you out. And it’s not always the case that the cheap one is going to give you the same quality of advice that you actually need. And when you look at your policy, always look at exclusions. What you’re sold and what you get at the end of the day can be two very different things.

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.

A network of shell companies, international remittance services, intermediary bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets has landed two Kenyans in the crosshairs of investigators, who have frozen Sh115 million linked to them after tracing what they believe was a sophisticated money-laundering operation involving more than Sh300 million.

The frozen cash includes stablecoins in Binance wallets; $751,853.70 USDT (Sh97.2 million) linked to Glory Kithure and $896 USDT (Sh115,852) linked to Michael Machimbo.

It also comprises Sh17.6 million in cash, spread across nine accounts in Equity Bank, Stanbic, NCBA, KCB, and Absa.

Court documents obtained by the Business Daily detail how Michael and Glory allegedly received millions of shillings through a multi-layered network of intermediaries, shell companies, and crypto exchanges.

In an affidavit filed by the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA), investigators detail how the scheme operated through two parallel channels. The first involved six people and two companies, who carried out money transfers into Kenya via international remittance services.

Two people, Justice Gaturu and Richard Mwangi, and two companies, DigitalMall Global Ltd and Bitflux Fintech Ltd, were the source of funds. Money from the duo was wired through two other individuals identified as Patrick Mwendwa and Purity Michael, before eventually ending up in Michael and Glory’s bank accounts.

Money from the two companies was wired directly to their accounts.

Between October 2022 and January 2024, for instance, Michael is said to have received Sh80.7 million to his Equity Bank accounts from Purity and another intermediary identified as Kevin Kipngeno.

Some Sh17 million was also wired to his Stanbic Bank account from Bitflux Fintech Ltd during the same period.

Between July 2022 and May 2025, Glory received Sh53.6 million, where investigators pieced together 57 bank transfers, all between Sh10,000 and Sh550,000, well below the reporting threshold.

In Kenya, cash transactions of $15,000 (Sh1.9 million) or more must be reported to the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC). Cross-border transfers of $10,000 (Sh1.3 million) or more also require reporting.

This is to assist the State agency in identifying the proceeds of crime and combating money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing.

‘The repeated use of amounts just below the reporting threshold is consistent with the structuring of transactions to avoid regulatory reporting requirements,’ the ARA says in the court filings.

‘When considered together with the subsequent movement of the funds through additional intermediary accounts before reaching the respondents, it constitutes a recognised indicator of the layering stage of money laundering.’

In one example, Justice received two payments of Sh454,769 and Sh454,259 from the US payments platform Chime Inc. into his Equity Bank account on November 3 and 6, 2023.

He then transferred Sh1.1 million in three instalments to Patrick’s Equity Bank account between November 4 and 7.

Patrick subsequently forwarded the money to Purity in three transactions of Sh300,000, Sh300,000 and Sh400,000 between November 6 and 8. Purity then transferred Sh500,000 each on November 6 and 7 to Glory’s Equity Bank account.

According to investigators, Glory withdrew Sh100,000 to M-Pesa and used the remaining funds for purchases, spending and transfers to other bank accounts, including Michael’s.

Court documents further show that Glory later transferred Sh5.25 million to Aristocars Ltd on December 2, 2023, in what investigators believe was the purchase of a motor vehicle.

Detectives cite the transaction as part of a pattern in which funds were allegedly moved through several accounts before being spent or invested in assets.

In a separate illustration, Justice received Sh453,029 from the international money transfer app Sendwave and Sh890,000 from one Cosmas Gatuyu before transferring Sh1.4 million to Patrick, who in turn sent Sh900,000 to Purity.

Purity then transferred Sh950,000 to the first respondent’s Equity Bank account, which investigators say later accumulated sufficient funds to pay Sh9.38 million to Ace Prestige Auto Ltd on July 18, 2024, ostensibly to purchase another motor vehicle.

‘Investigations are underway to obtain documents and records of transactions traced to international remittance services, including a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) request to the United States of America dispatched in May 2026,’ reads court papers.

An MLA request is a formal, government-to-government process used to gather evidence or legal documents from one country to aid in a criminal investigation or prosecution in another country.

The second money-laundering channel relied on USD Tether (USDT), a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. The digital currency was moved through multiple accounts on the Binance crypto exchange platform to distance the funds from their origin.

The crypto scheme involved Michael, Glory, Kevin and three others identified as Samuel Simiyu, Wanza Mutuku and Eliud Korir.

Investigators say the stablecoins were transferred from an account on the crypto app NoOnes, operated and controlled by Samuel and registered through Wanza’s identification details, to a Binance wallet Michael and Glory controlled.

The two then transferred most of the stablecoins to a Binance wallet Kevin controlled, and he converted the cryptocurrency into Kenyan shillings through Binance transactions before remitting the cash to the duo’s bank accounts.

Between June 2024 and September 2024, court papers show that Michael’s Binance wallet address received a total of USDT 220,508, equivalent to Sh28.5 million at current exchange rates, in 10 transactions.

From February 2023 to November 2025, meanwhile, the account withdrew or transferred a cumulative sum of USDT 899,130 (Sh116.3 million) through 107 transactions.

Glory’s Binance wallet was found to have received USDT 930,597 (Sh120.5 million) in 62 transactions between January 2023 and November 2025 and withdrawn or transferred USDT 178,491 (Sh23.1 million) between February 2023 and January 2026.

Investigators said they interviewed Samuel in May 2026, where he said he was a cryptocurrency trader. He admitted owning and controlling a NoOnes crypto exchange account registered using his wife Wanza’s identification details and email address, according to the affidavit.

Samuel told investigators that he also owned and operated a crypto wallet on the global exchange platform OKX registered in his name. He admitted to owning an account on Paxful, a peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto marketplace that allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly with each other.

Both accounts were linked to the same email address.

“He averred that Michael approached him with a deal to use his OKX, NoOnes and Paxful accounts to transfer crypto to [Michael and Glory]’s Binance wallets. However, he claimed that he did not know the sources of the crypto that [Michael] was laundering through his crypto accounts or wallets,” the ARA says.

Wanza said while she had allowed her husband to use her email address to trade cryptocurrency on the Paxful and NoOnes platforms, she did not know the origin of the cryptocurrency that passed through those accounts.

‘The evidence discloses a deliberate, multi-layered scheme through which large sums of money, whose origin the respondents have refused to explain, were received, moved through a chain of intermediary accounts designed to obscure their source, and ultimately deposited into the respondents’ Binance exchange accounts and bank accounts,’ the affidavit says.

Neither Michael nor Glory offered any explanation for the transactions when interviewed. ‘Both exercised their right to remain silent, declining to offer any explanation, innocent or otherwise, for the funds they received,’ the agency says.

While only Sh115 million has been frozen so far, the assets recovery body estimates that the combined value of property traceable to the two exceeds Sh300 million.

The court on July 3 granted a 90-day preservation order on the funds while investigations continue.

‘In addition, the respondents are being investigated for tax evasion, having transacted cumulative sums of more than Sh300 million but have consistently filed nil returns in their tax records at the Kenya Revenue Authority,’ said the ARA.

On Sunday evening, in a stadium in New Jersey, a substitute named Ferran Torres struck the only goal of the 2026 World Cup final. Spain 1, Argentina 0. The 106th minute.

The defending champions, dethroned. The score tells you almost nothing. The details tell you everything.

Argentina did not manage a single shot on goal in 90 minutes. Their goalkeeper, Emiliano Martínez, made 11 saves, a record for a World Cup final; another way of saying his teammates abandoned him to the storm.

They played it rough, lost Enzo Fernández to a second yellow, and still they lost. But the final was only the last chapter. The muttering had followed Argentina through the whole tournament. Egypt in the Round of 16, where the beaten side left calling the officiating unfair.

Switzerland in the quarter-final. The England semi-final, where the internet noticed that Messi had never lost a match handled by the appointed referee.

Fans on three continents arrived at the same conclusion: the champions were being carried. Let me be careful here. There is no evidence that anyone paid anyone. None. Referees have ordinary afternoons. Statistics produce coincidences. Argentina won its matches and then lost the one that mattered, and that is the entire factual record.

What interests me is the speed of the suspicion. Days later, a clip found its way to me. Schoolchildren, dissecting the match with their teacher.

One child delivered the verdict without hesitation: Argentina had the referee. Argentina had everybody. And they still lost. Children say the quiet part first. Offered a defeat to explain, the young mind did not reach for tactics or fatigue. It reached for the pocket. The fix.

Call it the captured win: the belief, sometimes true, sometimes merely assumed, that victory is secured not by playing better but by owning the conditions. The referee. The committee. The gatekeeper.

The illusion does its damage even where the deed never happened.

Where superstars gather, rooms assume the whistle bends for them. Its quieter sibling is the clean win: victory that survives scrutiny because it needed nobody’s pocket, victory the watching world can believe. Now bring this home, because this was never a column about football.

Every founder building in this market knows the child’s arithmetic intimately. Somewhere between the proposal and the payment sits a hand. The tender that is technically open and practically decided. We rarely name it in daylight, but we budget for it in the dark. I have watched this story enough times to write its script.

A founder raises capital on impressive revenue. The numbers are real; the money did arrive. What the deck does not disclose is how. Then institutional investors arrive with what institutions bring: governance, audits, anti-bribery clauses. The machine stalls, not because the founder forgot how to build, but because the company’s ethos was the handout ecosystem.

Greased revenue is a captured win wearing the costume of a clean one. It survives only in the dark, and capital brings light. This is the rock and the hard place. If I pay, I am complicit. If I do not pay, I am not paid.

A founder in that position is not fully a founder. He is working for the gate. We call ourselves owners while the ecosystem quietly owns us.

This is not a public-sector illness the private sector watches from a safe distance. The same game runs left, right and centre. It has become culture, the most dangerous infrastructure, because nobody remembers building it and everybody maintains it.

Here is the harder question, and I will not pretend it resolves cleanly. When capture becomes the default explanation for every outcome, a lost tender, a won election, a football final watched from a classroom desk, the illusion has stopped being commentary and become bedrock. Which came first? Is our politics the parent of this instinct, and the founder’s daily arithmetic its child?

Or is the public stage a mirror of what we have already normalised on the ground?

Bedrock rarely reveals which layer was laid first; each hardens the other. Once it sets, even change becomes suspect. The clean player pays that tax too. I will not flatten the paradox. The clean win is slower. Sometimes it costs you the contract this quarter.

Spain’s discipline did not guarantee the trophy; one inspired goalkeeper nearly stole it anyway. But the captured win, wherever it truly exists, must be purchased again every season. New referee, new price. It cannot survive an audit or a transition. The captured win is rented. The clean win compounds.

Spain’s advantage was a system any 11 could inherit. A system explains itself. Favour, real or imagined, never does. One more mirror.

Spain won without a Messi. Sometimes the superstar the whole system bends around is us, and the founder as messiah invites the same rumours.

Reinvention means letting the golden generation go, even when the golden generation is you. The exit from this choke is built the way the bedrock was built, one transaction at a time. The children watching that final have already inherited the assumption that winners own the referee.

Sunday complicated their education. Somebody in New Jersey showed them another way to win, and another way to be believed. You cannot always know who captured the referee. You can always know who captured the game.

New vehicle sales in Kenya climbed nearly a fifth in the first half of the year as businesses ramped up investment in trucks, pick-ups and other commercial vehicles, helped by cheaper credit, a stable shilling and increased activity in the construction sector.

Data from the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI) shows dealers sold 7,466 new vehicles between January and June, up 19.4 percent from 6,254 units in the corresponding period last year.

The increase extended the market’s recovery after sales rebounded by 25.5 percent in 2025, signalling renewed confidence among businesses after high borrowing costs and exchange-rate volatility between 2022 and 2024 forced many firms to postpone fleet replacement and expansion plans.

A more supportive macroeconomic environment encouraged firms to invest in showroom vehicles.

The shilling remained stable against the US dollar, averaging Sh129.29 in the first half, largely unchanged from Sh129.34 a year earlier, reducing exchange rate risks for importers and fleet buyers.

Financing conditions also improved as commercial banks’ average lending rate fell to 14.5 percent in May from 15.4 percent a year earlier and below the peak of more than 17 percent in late 2024.

The decline followed successive reductions in the Central Bank Rate, which now stands at 8.75 percent from a recent peak of 13 percent in 2024, lowering the cost of asset financing for businesses.

Industry players said demand was further boosted by increased activity in construction, including the Affordable Housing Programme, road maintenance works and preparations for the planned extension of the Standard Gauge Railway to Malaba, all of which increased demand for trucks, pickups and other commercial vehicles.

‘This growth was driven by a resilient economic environment characterised by stable exchange rates, easing interest rates (CBR dropped to 8.75 percent), and lower fuel prices,’ Isuzu East Africa, the leading new vehicle dealer and a member of KMI, commented on the half year sales performance.

“Sales were further bolstered by increased economic activity in construction (Affordable Housing, SGR extension to Malaba), road maintenance, and favourable weather conditions for agriculture.’

The construction sector particularly benefited from the resumption of road projects that had stalled after contractors accumulated an estimated Sh650 billion in pending bills. About 585 projects had been suspended in 2024 because of the payment delays.

The government began unlocking the projects from 2025 through a return-to-work programme that included payment of Sh123 billion as part settlement of verified claims accumulated between 2005 and December 2024.

The settlement restored cash flows to contractors, revived demand for bank financing and encouraged purchases of construction equipment and commercial vehicles needed to execute the projects.

Fuel costs also supported purchasing decisions during much of the review period.

Although prices spiked sharply from April after the US-Israel conflict with Iran disrupted global oil markets, businesses had already benefited from relatively lower pump prices during the first quarter before the geopolitical shock filtered through to local fuel costs.

Diesel, the main fuel for commercial transport and heavy machinery, averaged Sh192.65 per litre in the first half, compared with Sh185.83 in the same period of 2024.

Isuzu East Africa remained the dominant player, increasing sales by 24.1 percent in the first half of 2026 to 3,688 units from 2,971 a year earlier. The company accounted for 49.4 percent of all new vehicles sold, up from 47.5 percent last year.

The company sells a range of pickups, trucks, buses and sport utility vehicles, making it a major beneficiary of stronger demand from transporters, contractors, government agencies and businesses renewing commercial fleets.

CFAO Mobility Kenya, the dealer for Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Hino, sold 2,381 vehicles, up 18 percent from 2,017 units, retaining its position as the country’s second-largest dealer.

Simba Corporation, franchise holder for Mitsubishi, Proton, Ashok Leyland and Mahindra, increased sales to 614 vehicles from 547, while Tata Africa Holdings posted the fastest growth among the leading dealers.

Tata’s sales jumped 78.5 percent to 391 units from 219, lifting its market share to 5.2 percent from 3.5 percent a year earlier.

Together, Isuzu and CFAO controlled more than 81 percent of Kenya’s formal new vehicle market.

The stronger sales came despite Kenya maintaining one of the region’s highest tax burdens on imported vehicles. In July 2023, the Kenya Revenue Authority raised import duty on fully built vehicles to 35 percent from 25 percent after securing approval from East African Community ministers.

The higher rate is above the 10 percent Common External Tariff applied across the seven-member East African Community, increasing the cost of importing new vehicles into Kenya.

Imported vehicles also attract excise duty of between 25 percent and 35 percent, depending on engine capacity, in addition to the standard 16 percent Value Added Tax.

Excise duty is calculated on the combined value of a vehicle’s landed cost and import duty, while VAT is charged on the cumulative value after import duty and excise tax, raising the final retail price.

Vehicle sales are widely viewed as a leading indicator of private sector investment because commercial vehicles are predominantly purchased by firms in construction, logistics, manufacturing and agriculture.