Category: Business Daily

Physiotherapy is increasingly emerging as one of the most popular courses among Kenyan university students, reflecting a shift in career interests and a growing awareness of rehabilitation medicine.

The latest Economic Survey report published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that the number of students enrolled in physiotherapy rose by 29 percent to 730 in the 2024/25 academic year, up from 566 in 2023/24 and 429 the previous year.

Although still relatively small compared with traditional medical programmes, physiotherapy is recording some of the fastest growth rates among health-related courses. The field had 420 students enrolled across public and private universities in 2021/22, highlighting the speed at which interest has accelerated.

Women continue to account for the majority of students entering the profession. In 2023/24, female students accounted for 307 enrollments compared with 259 men.

The surge in enrollment reflects a broader shift in healthcare, where rehabilitation is no longer seen as an add-on but as an essential part of patient care.

Physiotherapists are being hired in hospitals or specialised centres to help patients heal from injury, manage chronic conditions and deal with age-related conditions such as arthritis, stroke, and mobility problems.

At Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), growth in physiotherapy training is evident at the diploma level. Enrolment in physiotherapy-related diploma courses more than doubled from 300 students in 2023 to 673 in 2025, signalling rising confidence in the profession’s career prospects.

Dr Kelly Oluoch, chief executive of KMTC, told BDLife that increasing interest in physiotherapy is being driven by both public awareness of the profession and growing demand for rehabilitation services worldwide.

‘First, it is being driven by awareness about physiotherapy and what it is in terms of its scope (career),’ he says. ‘Second, there’s demand for physiotherapy services in the community.’

Why Germany

Such demand, he elaborates, is no longer confined to hospitals. Physiotherapists today work in sports clubs, rehabilitation centres, special schools, and provide private home care. Others, he notes, build careers independently, offering home-based therapy to stroke patients, people recovering from fractures, and children with developmental challenges.

‘Physiotherapy is one of the few health professions where you do not necessarily need formal employment,’ says Dr Oluoch, making the course attractive to those looking to go into self employment.

The profession’s global mobility is also a major pull factor for students looking for a lucrative career path. Germany, in particular, has emerged as a significant destination for Kenyan physiotherapists.

‘Just last year, we were able to process papers for 84 people to practise in Germany,’ he says, adding that the main requirement is proficiency in the German language to enable ease of practice.

Dr Oluoch notes that increasingly, students with high academic grades, many of whom would traditionally pursue university degrees, are opting for diploma training in physiotherapy and related areas such as sports science.

Most undergraduate and diploma students are aged between 19 and 23 years, but KMTC, which specialises in orthopaedic manual physiotherapy, neurorehabilitation, women’s health and pelvic rehabilitation, is also seeing applicants above 25 returning to study after completing university education or working in other fields.

‘Students joining diploma programmes like physiotherapy at KMTC are no longer the traditional secondary school leavers.’

Misconceptions persist

Yet, despite the profession’s growth, misconceptions persist.

‘One misconception is that the course is not very clinical. People think that any medical course should constitute some level of invasive care, such as operating on fractures or injecting patients,’ says Dr Oluoch.

‘Others think physiotherapy is synonymous with massage and exercises, and therefore it does not have the prestige of medicine.” Physiotherapy, he emphasises, is a tightly regulated profession overseen by the Physiotherapy Council of Kenya. Practitioners cannot simply open clinics without accreditation and proper training.

‘We don’t exceed 50 students in a class. For higher diploma programmes, the numbers are even lower, at around 30, because we are dealing with human life. A health provider who is not well-trained or half-baked is more dangerous than having no health provider at all,’ he adds.

Dr Oluoch points to rapid technological advancement and the growing emphasis on evidence-based practice in physiotherapy.

‘Our training is competency-based. Seventy percent of the time, our students practise either in the lab or in a clinical setup. So we need a lot of clinical placement sites to enable our students to easily access and practise.’

Canada, Australia

At Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT), physiotherapy programmes start from the undergraduate to the post-graduate level.

Dr Wallace Karuguti, who oversees the university’s rehabilitative sciences, says the demand has been on an upward trend, particularly at the Bachelor’s degree level, over the past three years.

The profession depends on close supervision, specialised equipment and extensive clinical exposure, making uncontrolled expansion difficult. Although it can accommodate as many as 70 students, the university generally limits Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy classes to 50.

‘Physiotherapy is not a cheap course. It is also a skill-based profession, so numbers can affect the quality of graduates you get. We try to limit the numbers because we do not want to overpopulate the training facilities,’ says Dr Karuguti.

He notes that the global labour movement has significantly increased opportunities for Kenyan graduates, particularly in countries facing ageing populations and rising rehabilitation needs.

‘Physiotherapy is universal. A physiotherapist trained in Kenya can work anywhere,” he says. ‘There has been a very high labour movement to Europe,Canada, the US, and Australia.

Minimum entry requirement

Dr Karuguti notes inter-university and intra-university transfers into physiotherapy are increasingly common, especially from science and clinical courses.

‘Mostly, we get transfers from science courses or even from clinical medicine. Medicine students rarely shift.’

JKUAT is also currently the only university in Kenya enrolling postgraduate students in Master’s in Physiotherapy, reflecting the institution’s growing role in advanced rehabilitation training.

Although the minimum university entry requirement for the course is a C+, students with stronger grades often secure placement first.

‘The numbers that can be accommodated will usually be taken by students with As and Bs grades early. If you have higher grades, you are more likely to get the course than someone with lower grades,’ says Dr Karuguti.

Private institutions, like Amref and other colleges, have also entered the market, offering physiotherapy-related courses at the undergraduate level.

In recent months, public debate in Kenya has turned toward Host Country Agreements (HCAs) that the government has with international organisations and multilateral institutions. The conversation has been lively, as it should be. But it has also, at times, been clouded by misinformation, disinformation and mischaracterisation.

At the core of the debate is the perception that HCAs erode Kenya’s sovereignty. This is a misunderstanding. If anything, HCAs are an expression of sovereignty.

I spent most of my civil service years working within Kenya’s Foreign Affairs system. I have sat in negotiation rooms and reviewed many international agreements, including HCAs, on behalf of our country.

HCAs are not new, unusual, or unique to Kenya. They are carefully negotiated bilateral legal instruments between the Government of Kenya and international organisations that define the status and operating conditions for those entities within our territory.

HCAs provide the legal framework under which an international organisation operates in a host country. They clarify legal status, privileges, immunities and operating conditions, while also defining obligations that must be respected within the host country.

The privileges and immunities granted are functional in nature and include tax exemptions, personnel immunity for official acts and protection of property. They help organisations operate securely and effectively while enabling host countries to attract international cooperation and investment.

HCAs do not exist in a vacuum, nor are they an open ended grant of authority. Their negotiation and implementation are guided by the host country’s constitutional order, laws and national interests. Like any bilateral agreement, they operate through the sovereign will of the state.

Kenya, like many sovereign nations, has concluded HCAs with international organisations since independence in 1963. They form part of Kenya’s deliberate foreign policy and broader efforts to promote international cooperation.

The process of negotiating and administering HCAs is guided by the Constitution, the Privileges and Immunities Act and other relevant laws and regulations. This demonstrates that HCAs rest on a firm legal foundation and operate within the parameters established by Kenya’s legal framework.

Much of the current concern centres on issues of immunity, privilege and tax exemptions. These are not new concepts, nor are they unique to HCAs.

They exist in diplomatic practice worldwide and serve a functional purpose by ensuring organisations and their staff can carry out official duties effectively and with a secure legal status.

Immunity is often misunderstood as impunity. It is not.

The immunity granted under HCAs applies to official acts and functions. It does not place individuals beyond the reach of the law, nor does it exempt organisations from accountability.

Host states retain legal and regulatory authority, and HCAs contain mechanisms for addressing any abuse of privileges and immunities while safeguarding national interests.

Taxation is another area where misunderstanding is common. Exemptions on specific taxes are not acts of generosity.

They recognise the unique nature of international organisations and are weighed against the benefits they provide to host countries. These benefits include employment opportunities, knowledge transfer, economic development and an expanded diplomatic footprint.

What concerns me is not that Kenyans are asking questions. It is that the answers are sometimes shaped by incomplete or misleading interpretations of what HCAs are designed to do. Host country agreements are instruments of cooperation. They allow states to host organisations that operate across borders while maintaining appropriate oversight and control.

Kenya’s devolution framework has significantly expanded access to fiscal resources and decision-making at the local level. County governments now receive substantial allocations, with the equitable share rising to Sh420 billion in FY 2026/27, representing 21.9 percent of sharable revenue, well above the constitutional minimum of 15 percent according to the Budget Policy Statement 2026.

While this reflects sustained national commitment to devolution, outcomes have lagged behind expectations. The challenge is no longer a lack of policy frameworks-it is the persistent failure to enforce them.

Over recent budget cycles, successive policy statements have outlined a consistent reform agenda: strengthening own-source revenue (OSR), controlling wage bills, resolving pending bills, and improving public financial management systems.

These reforms are technically sound and widely accepted. However, their repeated inclusion in the 2025 and 2026 Budget Policy Statements without meaningful progress underscores a deeper structural issue.

Reform failure in Kenya’s devolution is not a design problem-it is an enforcement problem. Evidence from 2025 clearly illustrates this gap. Counties achieved only 76.8 percent of their OSR targets, indicating weak revenue mobilisation capacity despite ongoing reform efforts.

Also, county wage bills averaged 41.4 percent of revenue, significantly exceeding the legal ceiling of 35 percent. This persistent breach of fiscal rules has crowded out development spending, limiting investments in critical infrastructure such as health facilities, roads, and water systems.

The Office of the Controller of Budget’s half-year report indicates that, as of December 31, 2025, counties had accumulated about Sh163 billion in unpaid obligations. These arrears have had significant economic consequences: contractors remain unpaid, small and medium enterprises face liquidity constraints, and investor confidence in county projects has eroded.

Despite multiple policy commitments to settle these bills, enforcement mechanisms remain weak, and new arrears continue to accumulate. This persistent failure underscores broader challenges in enforcing fiscal discipline.

These unfavorable outcomes persist because the current intergovernmental fiscal framework relies on guidelines rather than binding incentives. Counties get transfers based on formula allocations, not performance.

Whether a county complies with fiscal rules, improves revenue collection, or manages expenditure efficiently has little bearing on its funding. Conversely, non-compliance carries minimal consequences. This lack of accountability creates a system where fiscal indiscipline is effectively tolerated.

The mismatch between funding and outcomes is therefore structural. Counties continue to receive increasing allocations, total transfers rising to approximately Sh495.7 billion in FY 2026/27, yet service delivery remains uneven and development outcomes limited. This demonstrates a critical point: increased resources, without enforcement, do not translate into improved performance.

Breaking this cycle requires a decisive shift from policy design to enforcement-driven reform.

First, compliance with fiscal rules must be made binding. A portion of county transfers should be linked to adherence to key indicators, such as maintaining the wage bill within the 35 percent threshold and implementing credible pending bill clearance plans. Without financial consequences, rules will continue to be ignored.

Second, performance-based financing must be introduced. Allocating even 10-15 percent of county resources based on measurable outcomes, such as OSR improvement, development spending ratios, and service delivery performance, would realign incentives and reward good governance.

Third, core financial controls, including payroll systems and procurement platforms, should be fully standardized and enforced to reduce leakages and improve accountability.

Finally, structural expenditure challenges must be addressed directly. Without decisive action to contain the wage bill, counties will remain locked in a cycle where recurrent expenditure dominates, and development spending is perpetually constrained.

In conclusion, Kenya’s devolution reforms have reached a turning point. The country has demonstrated strong capacity for policy formulation, and the reform agenda is well known. However, as the data shows, implementation remains weak.

Until the government moves beyond policy repetition and introduces credible enforcement mechanisms backed by incentives and consequences, devolution reforms will continue to fall short, not because they are poorly designed, but because they are not enforced with the rigor required.

Kenya’s household electronics sector stands at a pivotal moment after registering years of sluggish growth. For decades, it has been a nation of consumers importing finished goods, with 2025 estimates placing the import bill for this category at Sh210 billion.

Until recently, Kenya relied on imported televisions. However, the registration of the country’s first locally assembled, officially recognised ‘Made in Kenya’ television sets, highlights a major opportunity to shift the import equation.

All this has happened on the back of modest regulatory support, including the ban on the importation of household and kitchen appliances older than 12 years and the establishment of special economic zones for export-oriented production.

Despite the immense milestone, as far as household electronics is concerned, no single company can transform the industry.

Today, all players grapple with various challenges such as proper definitions of completely knocked down kits for onward assembly and taxation policies that require refinement.

This can only be done through a thorough understanding of the local assembly industry dynamics by the respective regulators and tax agencies.

Beneath the headline figures that promise a bright future for local household electronics assemblers lies an even more compelling story: a young, urbanising population with rising incomes and an ever-growing appetite for technology.

Industry analysts estimate that around 75 percent of Kenyans are under 35 years old, indicating that demand is driven by first-time buyers entering the digital economy.

However, replacement is also a growing opportunity which, if properly exploited, could reduce Kenya’s total import bill for major household appliances by up to 40 per cent in the long term.

Recent international geopolitical events have shown that supply chains can be reconfigured literally overnight.

This calls for internal reflection so we can prioritise in-country resilience, diversification, and regionalisation of manufacturing. But without targeted policy support, structural and regulatory disadvantages remain significant.

For one, Kenya has to aggressively pursue technology and skills transfer. Consumer and household electronics manufacturing, especially assembly and replacement repair, is a gateway into engineering, design, quality assurance, and supply chain sophistication. This is the path that most countries followed to attain manufacturing status.

We need incentives for joint ventures, knowledge transfer, and local capacity building.

Secondly, the relationship between academia and industry has to be invigorated, so that universities and technical institutions can be incentivised sufficiently for industry-led curriculum design, applied research partnerships, and apprenticeship programs. We must also sustain the fight against unfair competition and dumping.

We need stronger anti-dumping measures.

Also, we need to confront non-tariff barriers, inconsistent standards, duplicative certification processes, and bureaucratic delays remain.

At the same time, we need to confront some difficult truths about regional trade. While trading blocs like the East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa are designed to facilitate intra-African trade, the lived experience for many manufacturers tells a different story.

Also, we need to confront non-tariff barriers, inconsistent standards, duplicative certification processes, and bureaucratic delays remain.

On the same note, sustainability and management of electronic waste have reached a critical point as the volume of discarded devices rises, posing an environmental risk and an economic opportunity.

We need urgent policies that encourage formal recycling systems, extended producer responsibility, and innovation in e-waste processing.

This is a moment that calls for partnership between government, industry, academia, and regional institutions. The fundamentals are already in place. We have a multi-billion-dollar domestic and regional market for locally assembled household and consumer electronics, a rapidly expanding regional opportunity, and a young, tech-savvy population ready to consume and create.

To get this right, Kenya has to intentionally shape it, or we will be defined by imports, missing out on one of the most significant industrial opportunities of our time.

The Tax Appeal Tribunal has endorsed tax liability assessments based on dividend payouts by corporates. This decision would embolden the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to pursue corporates that distribute earnings to shareholders while paying little or no corporate income tax.

In a ruling involving Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), the tribunal upheld a Sh2.36 billion compensating tax assessment after finding that the power producer failed to demonstrate that dividends paid to shareholders, including the government, originated from profits already subject to tax.

The decision arose from a dispute over KRA’s review of KenGen’s tax affairs for the period between 2019 and 2024.

According to the tribunal, that finding was sufficient to require KenGen to explain the source of the dividends.

“KRA identified a gap that the appellant was required to explain,” the tribunal said. “Against that background, the burden shifted to the appellant to demonstrate, with sufficient evidence, that the dividends were sourced from gains or profits on which tax had already been paid.”

KRA had initially issued an assessment on December 4, 2024, demanding Sh2.95 billion comprising compensating tax of Sh2.36 billion and withholding tax of Sh586.2 million. However, following alternative dispute resolution proceedings, the withholding tax component was dropped, leaving only the compensating tax assessment for determination.

KRA argued that although KenGen paid taxes on rental income, interest income and other miscellaneous income, it paid no tax on its principal business income because of substantial capital allowance claims.

The tribunal noted that KRA had demonstrated that taxed non-business income amounted to about Sh3.3 billion, which was less than half the Sh6.92 billion distributed as dividends during the review period. KRA therefore maintained that the company was liable to compensating tax under Section 7A of the Income Tax Act.

This section governs the taxation on dividends distributed out of untaxed gains or profits. It requires companies that distribute dividends from profits that have not been subjected to corporate tax to pay tax on those specific distributed amounts.

KenGen challenged the assessment, insisting that it had not distributed dividends from untaxed profits. The company argued that its operations generated tax losses and therefore no taxable gains capable of attracting compensating tax.

It relied on tax computations showing business losses of Sh37.5 billion in 2018/2019, Sh34.16 billion in 2019/2020, Sh19.76 billion in 2020/2021 and Sh32.89 billion in 2021/2022.

The company further argued that it had fully paid taxes on rental, interest and miscellaneous income and therefore had no untaxed gains or profits.

KenGen also pointed to its accumulated retained earnings, saying the dividends were funded from reserves built over many years.

It told the tribunal that retained earnings stood at Sh86.6 billion in 2019 and had increased to Sh113.19 billion by 2023, comfortably exceeding the Sh6.9 billion distributed to shareholders during the period under review.

But the tribunal found that explanation insufficient. It observed that KenGen is a capital-intensive utility whose balance sheet is dominated by property, plant and equipment accumulated over decades through equity and debt financing.

“The appellant did not present a cash flow analysis identifying the specific sources of the cash used to pay the dividends, nor did it link those cash flows to taxed reserves. The appellant provided no explanation for this gap.”

The tribunal noted that KRA had specifically requested audited accounts showing the source of funds used to pay dividends as well as a breakdown of taxed and untaxed income streams that contributed to the distributions. However, KenGen failed to provide an analysis showing the composition of retained earnings or identifying which reserves funded the dividend payments.

“The Tribunal finds that the appellant did not discharge its burden under Section 56(1) of the TPA. The evidence presented was insufficient to establish, by a cogent and sufficiently particularised analysis, that the dividends distributed were sourced from gains or profits on which tax had already been paid,” the tribunal ruled.

The tribunal further rejected KenGen’s contention that its tax-loss position automatically shielded it from compensating tax.

It observed that although the company reported tax losses, it continued to generate substantial revenues from electricity sales that exceeded operating costs. The gains, the tribunal said, were effectively shielded from corporation tax through capital allowance deductions.

“In the Tribunal’s considered view, a company that is in a tax loss position solely by reason of capital allowance claims, while generating real economic revenues that substantially exceed its operating costs, cannot automatically, and without more, be said to have no gains or profits for Section 7A purposes,” the tribunal stated.

The ruling also upheld KRA’s use of a reconstruction methodology, including a gross-up formula, to determine the gains from which the dividends were paid.

Although the approach is not expressly provided for under current tax law, the tribunal found that KRA was entitled to adopt the method after KenGen failed to provide records that would have enabled a more precise calculation.

The decision is likely to strengthen KRA’s position in pursuing compensating tax assessments where companies distribute dividends despite having little or no corporation tax liability, particularly where taxpayers cannot clearly demonstrate that the distributions originated from profits that had already been taxed.

CV after CV after CV. You apply and apply. Following an exhaustive labourious job search, you finally land an interview at one of your target firms.

Then, once the initial enthusiasm subsides, you get to work and spend hours preparing for the interview. You read about the company, go through their social media accounts, investigate public disclosures about them, and finally check through your networks to ask pre-interview questions about the firm to your connections.

Then the big day comes. You try to calm your nerves as you patiently wait to be called into the conference room for the job panel. The human resources manager kicks off the interview with the typical question asking you to tell them a bit about yourself and why you want the position. Everything seems normal and progressing as expected.

They insult their own team members who are not even in the room. They neglect to even ask you a question about yourself. Stunned, you just sit and listen to their performance and wonder what is actually going on.

Well, congratulations. You just got hit with a show from a potential supervisor with dark personality traits. Whether you are a new graduate straight from university or you are a seasoned long-serving professional, it stands as crucially important to screen your would-be manager while seeking a new position for the dreaded dark traits.

We often hear about the five dimensions of personality utilised by psychologists and managers around the world to enhance self-knowledge, teamwork, and life satisfaction. But there also exist a dark triad of negative personality traits that are so dismal that they often get left out of classrooms and boardrooms alike as they capture manipulative and exploitative tendencies.

Social scientists Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams developed the concepts of the dark personality traits over two decades ago and therapists globally lookout for these in their patients.

However, executives, human resources managers, and business school professors often overlook these salient negative sides of personalities.

The dark three

The dark three negative personality traits include narcissism where someone has a sense of superiority, entitlement, and feeling uncommonly grand. Next, Machiavellianism involves manipulative behaviours focused on their own self-interest and personal gain.

Finally, psychopathy entails impulsivity, complete lack of empathy for others or remorse for their own actions or events in the news that you can see through general callousness. These traits are often noticed plainly in certain global political leaders.

Position seekers should use the interview as a time to screen their prospective supervisors and managers for these dark traits. These negative aspects in one’s possible boss do not disappear during a job interview. So, stay alert.

First, see if they dominate the conversation and rarely ask about you or your qualifications. Second, do all their stories position them as the smartest person in the room? Third, do they talk about their teams with contempt or blame? Fourth, watch how they treat others before, during, or after the interview. Fifth, listen to how they talk about people who are not even in the room. Sixth, does your interview even end up being about you at all?

Do not get fooled if they seem charming. Charm can feel real. But you must see through it and look for the above red flags. If you notice any three of the above red flags, then run for the hills. Things will go badly in your job working for that manager.

Utilise looking out for the six red flags not only in job interviews. Also incorporate them if in your work there has been a change of ownership or change of one of your bosses and someone new comes in.

Again, if you notice three or more of those red flags, your work life will not improve and you need to leave as quickly as possible. Start your job search all over again while you still have your sanity. Go. Find the door.

Worried that you might possess one or more of the dark triad personality traits yourself? Then go online and take a quick two-minute self-assessment at openpsychometrics.org/tests/SD3/ and see if you have any of the negative three personality traits.

I and M Group has overtaken NCBA Group in total assets, signalling a shift in Kenya’s banking pecking order driven by the former’s aggressive push into retail banking.

Latest disclosures show I and M’s balance sheet stood at Sh742.5 billion as at March 2026, marginally edging out NCBA’s Sh741.1 billion to become the fourth-largest lender by asset base after KCB Group (Sh2.254 trillion), Equity Group (Sh2.036 trillion) and Co-operative Bank of Kenya (Sh884.57 billion).

The crossover marks a milestone for I and M, which has historically trailed larger tier-one lenders but has in recent years ramped up its expansion in Kenya’s mass market segment. The lender has grown its assets mainly through expansion of its loan book, steadily narrowing the gap with the industry’s top players.

NCBA, which was formed through the merger of Commercial Bank Africa and NIC Bank in September 2019, had expanded its asset lead over I and M to Sh183.06 billion by the end of December 2022.

However, I and M started narrowing the gap the following year, reducing it to below Sh100 billion by December 2024 before eventually overtaking NCBA in the quarter ended March 2026.

I and M’s growth has been supported by a strategy to diversify away from its traditional corporate banking base and aggressively target small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and retail customers through branch expansion and digital channels.

‘In addition to the group’s established presence in the corporate and institutional banking segment, it has now developed a respected standing in serving small and medium-sized enterprises, many of which have experienced significant growth alongside the group,’ said the lender.

I and M has also been narrowing the profitability gap with NCBA, reducing it from Sh8.1 billion in 2023 to Sh5.92 billion in 2024 and Sh3.55 billion last year. In 2025, I and M’s net profit grew 24.4 percent to Sh19.83 billion, while NCBA’s rose 6.9 percent to Sh23.39 billion.

Valuation edge

NCBA, however, continues to trade at a higher premium, with a market capitalisation of Sh144.9 billion compared with I and M’s Sh93 billion.

NCBA’s larger valuation is linked to its relatively stronger efficiency metrics, including return on equity, as well as the recent rally in its stock following Nedbank’s offer to acquire a 66 percent stake in the bank at a premium of up to Sh105 per share.

I and M’s pivot to retail banking, supported by its three-year strategy dubbed iMara 3.0, which runs until the end of this year, has driven steady growth in customer deposits and loan uptake, boosting its overall asset base.

In contrast, NCBA has maintained a strong footing in corporate and digital lending, including its flagship mobile loan products. However, its asset growth has been relatively slower in recent quarters, allowing I and M to close the gap and eventually surpass it.

Data shows that while NCBA still held a slightly larger loan book of Sh324.4 billion compared with I and M’s Sh322.9 billion as at March 31, 2026, the balance has tilted in favour of I and M in total assets, reflecting growth in other balance sheet components such as investments.

I and M has also been closing the gap in its loan book, with the difference narrowing from Sh40.33 billion in December 2022 as lending expanded.

The lender’s loan book overtook NCBA’s between the first and third quarters of 2025 before NCBA regained the lead, holding a marginal Sh1.47 billion advantage by the end of March this year.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed bank has continued to aggressively expand its retail banking business through new branches and additional staff.

I and M added 12 new branches last year, bringing its network to 119 outlets and strengthening its footprint across regional markets. Ten of the new branches were opened in Kenya, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the group’s assets.

Scale race

The development highlights rising competition among Kenya’s top lenders as mid-tier banks increasingly challenge incumbents through niche strategies and innovation.

I and M’s rise mirrors a broader industry trend in which banks are recalibrating their business models to capture retail and SME segments that offer higher margins and diversification benefits.

Across the sector, lenders have been expanding digital offerings and agency banking networks to deepen customer reach.

The race for scale is expected to intensify further as banks prepare for higher minimum capital requirements in the coming years, a move that could trigger mergers, acquisitions or fresh capital injections.

Banks are required to raise minimum core capital to Sh5 billion by the end of this year, increase it to Sh6 billion by the end of next year, reach Sh8 billion in 2028 and further raise it to Sh10 billion by the end of 2029.

Larger balance sheets are viewed as critical for absorbing shocks, funding big-ticket loans and remaining competitive.

WPP Scangroup founder and former CEO Bharat Thakrar failed in his bid to oust the firm’s board in a vote at the annual general meeting, as the majority shareholder was unable to secure the backing of the minority investors.

The shareholders voted on Monday to remove the current board members and push for new directors, following a petition from minority shareholders who hold a combined 13.59 percent stake.

All minority shareholders who participated in the AGM, with 65.5 million shares or a 15.1 percent stake, backed the ouster bid.

However, their numbers were not enough for the might of the firm’s majority shareholder, WPP, the world’s largest advertising group, which had a 56.26 percent stake or 243.1 million shares.

The three main votes, including ouster of the board, appointment of new directors and replacement of CEO and chair, were rejected by 243.1 million votes, underscoring that none of the minority investors at the AGM backed the majority shareholder.

But shareholders with 125.4 million shares, equivalent to 29 percent of the firm, did not participate in the AGM.

Mr Thakrar remained bullish despite the vote.’The minority shareholders of WPP Scangroup voted no confidence in the board.

The resolutions did not carry. The WPP Plc controls 56.26 percent and voted its entire block against,’ said the former CEO in a statement.

‘Of the roughly 63.5 million independent shares that voted, more than 99 percent were cast in favour of change. WPP did not defeat a divided minority.’

The share closed trading at Sh2.06, a 2.83 percent drop from Monday’s close of Sh2.13.

The minority shareholders, with a combined 13.59 percent stake, including Mr Thakrar’s, forced the firm to include the ouster and election of new directors as part of the AGM, citing a string of poor financial performance.

This escalated the fight between the founder and the UK firm, which first bought a stake in the firm in 2008.

Mr Thakrar, the founder of ScanGroup, exited the firm in 2021 following a fallout and has sued the firm and its parent company, WPP Group, for $£24 million (Sh4.22 billion), citing irregular removal.

Globally, activist investors have mounted a record number of attacks against companies as disgruntled shareholders sought to oust directors or force the sales of businesses whose share prices had languished.

Kenya has witnessed fewer instances of activism, with cases of minority investors pushing publicly for change they believe will shore up profits and share prices being rare.

The AGM listed the minority shareholders’ push under special business, coming after the ordinary business in which current board members-including Richard Omwela, Patricia Kiwanuka, Kagiso Musi, Nick Douglas and Manuel Segimon-have offered themselves for re-election.

The minority shareholders sought the removal of the current board led by chairman Omwela.

Other board members whom the minority owners wanted out are Beverly Spencer Obatoyinbo, Peter Kimurwa, Patricia Kiwanuka, Patricia Helene Nuytemans, Jonathan Eggar, Shahid Sadiq and Tebogo Skwambane.

Mr Thakrar’s camp wanted to replace the board with new directors, including the former CEO, Andrew White, Carl Ogola, Kunal Kamlesh Bid and Rishab Thakrar.

The minority shareholders say the firm’s share price at the Nairobi bourse has declined 62 percent from Sh5.94 when Mr Thakrar was removed, resulting in material erosion of shareholders’ value, alongside loss of major clients and decline in profitability.

In the letter, the minority shareholders say the Scangroup has incurred aggregate trading losses of about Sh3.3 billion between 2021 and 2025, when the net loss widened by 41 percent to Sh713.7 million from a Sh506.7 million loss booked in the previous year. Its revenues have dipped to Sh2 billion from Sh7 billion in 2021.

They are also questioning the terms of the Sh1.2 billion that Scangroup has lent to its parent firm, WPP, with an interest of five percent, arguing that it is lower than average deposits and lending rates at 6.86 percent and 16.85 percent, respectively.

The shareholders say the five-year period has seen the company lose major clients, including KCB, Equity, NCBA and Airtel Africa.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming part of the HR toolkit, from screening CVs and scheduling interviews to predicting attrition and analysing employee performance.

The promise is clear: faster decisions, better insights, and improved efficiency. Yet, as AI grows in intelligence, power, and autonomy, it also collides with some of the deepest moral questions humanity has ever faced.

Because when it comes to people decisions, efficiency is not the only metric that matters.

One of the most pressing concerns is bias. AI systems are trained on historical data, and if that data reflects past inequalities, the system can quietly reinforce them. Where humans go, bias follows.

A hiring algorithm, for example, may favour certain schools, career paths, or demographics simply because that’s what ‘success’ looked like in the past. The risk is not just unfair outcomes-it’s scaling those outcomes across thousands of decisions at speed.

Closely linked to this is the question of transparency and explicability. Many AI tools operate as ‘black boxes,’ making recommendations without clear explanations.

For HR leaders, this creates a dilemma: how do you justify a hiring, promotion, or termination decision if you cannot fully explain how it was made? Employees are increasingly demanding fairness and clarity, and organisations risk losing trust if decisions feel opaque or automated.

Privacy is another growing concern. HR functions now have access to vast amounts of employee data-performance metrics, communication patterns, even behavioural insights.

AI makes it easier to analyse this data at scale, but just because something can be measured does not mean it should be. Where do we draw the line between insight and intrusion? And how do we ensure employees feel respected, not monitored?

There is also the risk of over-reliance. AI can highlight patterns and offer recommendations, but it cannot fully understand context, culture, or human nuance. Yet in many organisations, there is a temptation to treat AI outputs as the objective truth.

This can lead to leaders outsourcing judgment rather than enhancing it. In HR, where decisions affect careers and livelihoods, that is a dangerous path.

Accountability remains a critical question. When an AI-driven decision leads to a negative outcome, who is responsible? The vendor? The HR team? The leadership? Without clear ownership, it becomes difficult to determine who is responsible when harm occurs. HR leaders must ensure that responsibility for decisions remains firmly human, even when technology is involved.

Finally, there is the broader question of what kind of workplace or reality we are building. AI has the potential to trigger and motivate actions based on the insights it generates.

It has the power to transform society because people change how they act simply because they know they are being measured or ranked. For instance, we’re seeing increased AI use among candidates to generate resumes and even answer interview questions in real time.

The role of HR has always been to balance business needs with human impact. AI does not change that responsibility; it amplifies it. It shows us who we are-our prejudices, our patterns, our blind spots-and holds them up at scale.

To make AI ethical, we must first fix ourselves. We must also continue setting clear ethical guidelines, regularly auditing systems for bias, involving diverse perspectives in decision-making, and ensuring employees understand how AI is being used. And how we choose to use it will define not just our processes, but our culture and new definition of humanity.

The National Treasury has moved to protect internal auditors from harassment and intimidation by county government officials as part of a push to safeguard the billions of shillings expended to the devolved units.

In changes to the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has introduced special protection of the auditors amid growing concerns about wastage of funds in some counties.

The Treasury has amended the law and included new rules that no internal auditor shall be dismissed, demoted, suspended, harassed, discriminated against, intimidated, or subjected to any other form of retaliation for performing their duties.

‘No internal auditor shall be dismissed, demoted, suspended, harassed, discriminated against, intimidated, or experience any other form of retaliation for-(a) performing their duties in good faith; (b) reporting irregularities, fraud, misconduct, or non-compliance; or (c) providing findings, recommendations or opinions related to the internal audit function,’ Mr Mbadi said.

An internal auditor plays a critical role in a corporation by evaluating financial controls and record-keeping processes for accuracy, efficiency, and compliance with relevant laws and regulations. Internal auditors identify and correct any deficiencies in their financial record-keeping before they are discovered in an external audit.

The internal auditors examine financial statements, expense reports, inventory, financial data, budgeting and accounting practices, as well as creating risk assessments for each department.

Internal auditors in counties have, however, been facing growing strains of intimidation and interference by executives rattled by reports which exposed irregularities, especially in key areas such as procurement.

Internal auditors have recently stepped up a push-back against executive interference, litigation, and victimisation by mooting a proposed law that would safeguard their professionalism.

The Institute of Internal Auditors Kenya has spearheaded the Internal Auditors Bill, 2026 to regulate the profession and protect internal auditors from rogue executives.

The Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (PSASB) in January 2026 also launched a manual in collaboration with the National Treasury, designed to give internal auditors practical tools, clear procedures, and professional guidance to support better governance, risk management, and internal control across all public entities.