Category: Business Daily

Global tech giants are stepping up their artificial intelligence (AI) investments in Africa, targeting computing infrastructure and connectivity to research and skills as demand for the technology grows.

Google has made Nairobi a key hub on the continent, hosting its AI research work while investing in subsea cables and high-capacity fibre networks.

The US firm’s director of public policy for Sub-Saharan Africa, Charles Murito, spoke to Business Daily about the company’s infrastructure strategy in Kenya, the balance between regulation and innovation, and the technology’s potential impact on jobs.

What are the biggest gaps Kenya must close to become an AI development hub rather than mainly an AI consumer?

We need to invest more in infrastructure; we might have coverage, but we still don’t have quality devices. The other is skills: learning and adapting to new technology as it emerges so that we are ready to deal with how it affects different fields.

Our policies also need to have the right bandwidth for people to innovate while also providing guardrails that protect Kenyans.

How can African countries regulate AI to address risks such as misuse and misinformation without making it unnecessarily difficult for startups, researchers, and businesses to innovate?

It is about balance; Kenya’s AI draft bill, for instance, makes the government the gatekeeper of Kenyan content and culture, which is problematic because it risks shutting out AI models from learning from Kenyan content and nuances.

There should be room for companies to enforce guardrails in terms of how they source and process data, but innovators need to work together to make sure policymakers understand the gaps we have in the technology ecosystem so that both big players and young innovations can thrive.

Otherwise, we risk becoming like Europe, which I think has stifled innovation with too tight regulation.

Is Google considering more AI and cloud infrastructure investment in Kenya, such as the data centre projects being pursued by other Big Tech firms?

Google’s interest in the region has been in the backbone infrastructure and connectivity, through a high-capacity fibre network to enable local mobile operators or internet service providers to connect more people.

We have landed subsea cables and city-to-city backbone infrastructure, which then becomes shared infrastructure. This is important for technology development in a market like Kenya because if every internet service provider (ISP) has to build their own fibre network, they have to continue investing a lot in that alone.

But when you have organisations building peer-to-peer connection infrastructure that ISPs just buy capacity from, the cost is lower, which then brings the cost of internet in our market down. We see this as a key enabler of AI adoption.

We have a cloud region in South Africa, and we are still exploring opportunities to scale it regionally.

Research has identified AI skills as a major constraint for African businesses. Where are you seeing Kenya’s biggest gap today?

Data analytics, AI skilling for entrepreneurs and MSMEs and students, and prompt engineering.

Prompt engineering is becoming important as AI models advance because the quality of output depends on how skilled the user is at prompting and researching. It is just like how, with the advent of computers in Kenya, skills like word processing were fundamental.

What does this mean about computer science and engineering education going forward?

As an industry, we will need students who understand math and the foundational elements of computer science.

Machines will not change human beings; there will always be people working behind them and prompting them. There is, of course, the aspect of artificial general intelligence (AGI) and AI improving itself, but we are not there yet.

The other important thing in the AI age is critical thinking, because it will guide how we look at our local environments and leverage technology to solve problems in localised ways.

Unemployment remains a major concern in Kenya; how do we approach the risk of AI displacing some jobs while creating others?

In essence, what we are seeing is the fourth industrial revolution. With every industrial revolution, there are jobs that are going to go away, those that will be shifted in terms of what their role is, and new jobs will be created.

We need to look at the repetitive, routine jobs that are going to go away. Already, we are seeing the shift. I spend way less time on administrative tasks because AI is helping me, and I focus more on the value-added tasks.

There is a worry about jobs going away, but I think we should focus more on the new opportunities new technology will bring.

AI tools in Kenya are being misused for misinformation and smear campaigns. What is Google doing to prevent its tools from being abused in this way?

AI will have its upsides and downsides. Cybersecurity is a concern, as well as misinformation and disinformation.

We are always innovating, and one of the tools we have so far is digital watermarking in every AI-generated piece of content from our models to help users identify material produced by AI from human-generated content.

It rained in long white lashes. We had come from a funeral and driven into a misty, dark and rainy Kisumu. Water overflowed from the drains and gushed down the road.

My brother had been talking about aliya the whole way. How he craved it with osuga. These are foods my mum cooked when we were young. Maybe it was the burial that had stirred this urge, seeing so many of my aunts and uncles, now in geriatric shoes, wobbling about.

Maybe it was the realisation that we would soon be burying more relatives, and then we would be next.

Or we are next. Who knows, man?

They say grief is an aphrodisiac. Whatever it was, he wanted aliya and osuga. Either that or he was pregnant. Unlikely, seeing as he had a beard. But then again, I’ve seen people with beards who… anyway. We arrived at Kosewe in the pouring rain.

It was really pouring. When you looked up, you couldn’t see anything. You only heard the rain, drumming on the parked cars. We ran inside, into soul music and great cheer. A handful of people had come in from the Friday rain too, shaking water off their jackets like survivors of a shipwreck.

My brother and his wife ordered their aliya and osuga. Aliya is dried, smoked meat; osuga is a traditional leafy vegetable with a deep, green taste, like chloroquine. It’s an acquired taste.

When it came, the meat smelled rich and earthy, the soup a deep brown and a tad oily at the top, as it should be. You can’t go wrong with the food at Kosewe. I wasn’t hungry, but watching them eat like a pair of ravenous carnivores, I felt as though I was eating too.

They ate. I watched. We listened to the rain and let the night pass. Outside, Kisumu felt like it was getting a great wash after a dusty season. Even the lake was getting wet. Inside, we were just fine with good music and great food, and the dead, for a few hours, could wait.

It is not every day that a Kenyan heads the kitchen of an international hotel brand in the country. At Dusit Princess Hotel Residences Nairobi, Kennedy Okall, popularly known as Chef Ken, holds that responsibility.

As executive chef, the 40-year-old oversees everything from food quality and menu design to kitchen operations and financial management. He began dreaming of the role as a child, after an encounter sparked his curiosity about professional cooking.

‘I was walking past an international hotel with my mother once as a child, when I noticed someone putting on a white coat as they went by. I’d never seen a chef’s jacket before, so I asked my mother about it,’ he recalls.

His mother’s answer stayed with him. ‘She said, ‘Those are the people who cook for white people.”

Already fascinated by cooking, Kennedy became curious about preparing international dishes beyond the food he knew from home or the African recipes he encountered in books. After high school, he enrolled at Utalii College for professional culinary training while working as a commis chef at one of the country’s five-star hotels. He graduated in 2009.

At his next job, in a newly established five-star hotel, he joined as a chef de partie and rose through the ranks to junior and then senior sous chef.

He credits much of his development to Italian executive chef Gaetano Sgroi, who taught him the fundamentals of cooking, team leadership and kitchen cost management. Regular visits by guest chefs from abroad also exposed him to different culinary traditions and gave him opportunities to work alongside Michelin-starred chefs.

‘That is where my culinary skills sharpened and where my journey to becoming an executive chef really became clear,’ he says.

The experience prepared him for his next move to another premium hotel brand that was preparing to open. This time, he joined as an executive sous chef, before being promoted to executive chef after a year. He spent about six years there before moving to Dusit Princess Hotel Residences Nairobi, where he has worked since late 2021.

His rise through the ranks may seem seamless on paper, but Chef Ken says the journey was not always smooth.

‘You start getting exposed to leadership from the position of sous chef,’ he says. ‘And managing people is a challenge, particularly if they are older than you.’

His trick to earning respect, he says, is to be what he describes as ‘a modern leader’.

‘The traditional approach to leadership is more authoritarian, but today’s generation doesn’t want that,’ he says. ‘Now, while you still need to be a little autocratic, you must also have some democracy, and that is not always easy.’

Over time, he has also come to learn that leading a kitchen also means understanding the people in it – their personalities, cultures, strengths, and even the different pace at which they learn and grasp new skills.

Beyond the demands of leadership, Chef Ken points to passion for the job as another factor that may explain why relatively few Kenyans rise to executive chef positions.

‘A chef’s job is not easy,’ he says. ‘It requires a lot of commitment. You will be forced to work many hours sometimes and miss out on a lot of leisure time. People will be having fun on Sundays or during the holidays, but you will be expected to be at work. So you really have to set your mind to it properly, be prepared for all of that, and really like the food that you are preparing.’

But passion alone is not enough. Chefs also need curiosity and creativity to distinguish themselves. For Chef Ken, that means understanding how different flavours work together and being willing to not only learn from others, but also experiment beyond what is familiar.

‘There is a reason it is known as culinary art,’ he says. ‘Even creating a menu requires you to think outside the box. It is an art in itself.’

Traditionally, chefs were expected to follow established recipes and serve dishes in a particular way. But today, he notes, chefs have more room to reinterpret those classic recipes, which is how fusion has come in.

‘Some of our chefs remain too attached to following the traditional recipes, which restricts their creativity. It then becomes difficult for them to progress into these big brands, which are often looking for people who can bring fresh ideas and an understanding of international cuisine,’ he says.

For his part, Chef Ken makes a point of eating at other restaurants, sampling what fellow chefs are creating and assessing how their food compares with his own. It is a way of keeping up with the competition, but also of challenging himself to do better.

‘I go eat here, I go eat there. I try to feel whatever those chefs have created, and some of these are foreign chefs,’ he says. ‘Those are the things that always inspire me to do more.’

Away from the creativity involved in developing dishes, however, there is a less visible side to running a kitchen. That is, ensuring that ingredients are properly sourced and stored, recipes are followed, and food safety standards are maintained.

For Chef Ken, every dish follows a process, from sourcing ingredients to the final serving. And one of the most important guiding principles behind this process is sustainability.

‘Waste is money,’ he says.

It starts with choosing the right suppliers, who can consistently deliver the quality of ingredients the kitchen requires. Once the ingredients arrive, they must be received, cleaned and stored correctly to preserve their quality and ensure food safety. The team must also be trained to handle ingredients properly and minimise offcuts during preparation.

‘How the ingredients are supposed to be cooked is also another thing,’ he adds. ‘You have to get the right texture and preparation mode for everything, or it becomes a waste.’

Recipes, too, play a role. Each dish, Chef Ken says, has a recipe that specifies the quantities of ingredients to use and the portions to serve. This helps the kitchen maintain consistency while ensuring that food is not prepared in excess and ends up being thrown away.

So seriously does Chef Ken take waste management that the kitchen has a programme to track how much food is discarded at different stages, from preparation to what guests leave on their plates.

The kitchen separates waste into categories, including scraps from food preparation, leftovers from the buffet and food returned on guests’ plates. Each category has its own bin, which is weighed daily by a member of the team. The figures are then assessed against the number of guests served over the month to establish how much waste the kitchen produces per person.

Chef Ken says the hotel works towards a benchmark of 200 grammes of waste per person, including unavoidable waste such as bones. Last month, he says, it recorded 191 grammes per person, putting it below that threshold.

The effort extends to the staff canteen, where Chef Ken has introduced what he calls a ‘zero dustbin’ policy. Staff are encouraged to take only what they can finish, with bones being among the few things permitted in the bin.

Managing waste among hotel guests can be a little more complicated, particularly at a buffet, where diners can serve themselves more than once. For à la carte meals, however, Chef Ken says, guests who cannot finish their food can have it packed as takeaway, but his team also follows up to find out why a plate has not been cleared.

‘I like to know why food has been left on the plate,’ he says. For him, the feedback allows his team to investigate the dish and assess its quality. If a diner has left food because it did not taste right, for instance, the kitchen can examine what went wrong.

His attention to detail pays off when diners compliment the food and keep coming back, something he says remains one of the most satisfying aspects of his career.

With more than 15 years into his career now, Chef Ken is also extremely proud of the fact that he has trained other chefs, some of whom have since moved on to work elsewhere and are doing well for themselves.

‘I am very proud that therew are people who, one day when I hang up my jacket, will say that I was trained by Chef Ken, the way I say I was trained by Chef Gaetano,’ he says. ‘And I’m still training others even now because I like developing talent.’

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has upheld the dismissal of a senior Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officer who cleared six containers before their ship arrived at the port of Mombasa, ruling that he was negligent in checking the cargo records.

However, the court faulted KRA for taking 14 months to dismiss the employee, who was identified in court as ‘Mr KPS’, after a disciplinary hearing, finding that the delay violated the constitutional requirement for timely administrative action.

Mr KPS moved to court in 2022 to challenge his April 2019 dismissal over the premature release of six containers carrying undeclared garments, which the tax agency said exposed it to revenue loss.

He sought reinstatement, damages for unlawful termination, compensation for time spent out of employment and payment of any outstanding dues.

But the court dismissed the claim, finding that KRA had established a valid reason for his dismissal and followed a fair disciplinary process, despite the unexplained 14-month delay between his hearing and termination.

He was a Head Verification Officer at the Container Terminal, Kilindini Port. He joined KRA in January 2005, was suspended on May 27, 2016, and dismissed on April 30, 2019.

KRA said the releases covered six containers under two entries, made on May 11, 2016, before the vessel MV Katharina S docked on May 13. The entries declared the cargo as ladies’ plastic shoes, but a check of the containers found them to contain new garments.

The first entry was released at 7.25 pm, 18 minutes after a verification account was posted. The second, covering five 40-foot containers, followed seven minutes later. Both records showed an expected arrival date of May 14, although the vessel was still at sea.

The investigation reports put unpaid duty at Sh2.8 million for the first entry and Sh6.8 million for the second.

KRA argued that Mr KPS’s actions amounted to negligence and dishonesty, exposing public revenue and security to risk. The court accepted negligence but found no proof that he knew the goods were misdeclared, received money or dealt with the importer.

‘The respondent has discharged its burden under Sections 43 and 47(5) on the negligence limb,’ the judge said.

However, while the court found that Mr KPS was negligent in releasing the containers, it ruled that KRA had failed to provide evidence linking him to deliberate wrongdoing or collusion with the importer.

‘This court is not satisfied that dishonesty was proved. The reports say the officers acted ‘knowingly’ and ‘deliberately’, but the respondent called no investigator and produced no evidence that the Claimant knew the goods were misdeclared, was paid anything or dealt with the importer,’ said the judge.

Mr KPS said he relied on records prepared by other officers and a Kenya Ports Authority system slip showing the containers in the port yard. He argued the vessel’s arrival date was an estimate and said he testified as a prosecution witness after an inquiry conducted by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

The court said he had not produced the KPA slip or evidence that investigators had absolved him. It found the final internal check could not depend entirely on colleagues’ paperwork when the dates raised questions. No investigator supported KRA’s allegation of deliberate conduct.

KRA’s reports said its Investigations and Enforcement unit compounded the offence and recovered additional revenue, fines and penalties.

The court said recovery did not make the lapse minor. One container escaped interception, while an intelligence report led to the others being stopped. It found that he failed to question discrepancies in the records.

The court found the termination procedure fair since Mr KPS received two notices to show cause, answered both and attended a committee hearing.

KRA did not produce the hearing minutes, a shortcoming the judge noted, but the court found no evidence that their absence made the disciplinary hearing unfair.

The disciplinary process lasted about 35 months. KRA’s code of conduct envisaged cases being determined within six months ‘as much as may be possible’, while the guidelines called for investigations within a month and action without delay.

The court ruled that, though the period between the hearing and termination was unexplained, the delay did not warrant compensation because Mr KPS had not proved that it caused him any prejudice.

‘The court finds that this unexplained delay was inconsistent with the expeditious administrative action required by Article 47 of the Constitution and with the respondent’s Code of Conduct,’ the court said.

Mr KPS received his basic salary, house and transport allowances and medical cover during suspension. The court said he did not prove lost opportunities or other harm caused by the delay, so it awarded no compensation.

Reinstatement failed because the statutory three-year period expired on April 30, 2022. The employee added the request in January 2025, too late to revive the remedy. KRA said it had paid his salary up to termination, three months’ salary instead of notice and pension benefits.

Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) is considering a bouquet of solutions as it seeks to preserve its cash rich position to finance heavy capital spending on projects in the medium-term.

Among the options on the table for the recently listed utility are issuance of infrastructure bonds to raise cheap capital and issuance of bonus shares to shareholders to stave off the pressure of dividend payment that eats into the company’s cash pile.

The utility closed the year ended June 2026 in a cash rich position with Sh20.5 billion in its books, but says that the expensive nature of its capital projects necessitates abundance of caution as it calibrates the demands for dividend payment to shareholders and capital preservation for project funding.

‘Our cash reserves are good and healthy and it tells you that we can be able to meet obligations as and when they arise and we are able to invest adequately as an organization. However, we have just declared a dividend of about Sh6.0 billion which once the shareholders approve at the forthcoming AGM will bring down the cash,” KPC Managing Director, Pius Mwendwa, told the Business Daily.

“The remaining cash is meant for investment in the company and we are looking at significant outflows in the coming years and especially in the next three or four years.”

Mwendwa says that among the top considerations is the potentially issuance of bonus shares which refers to a satiation where a listed entity creates new shares and distributes them to existing shareholders at an agreed ratio in proportion to their shareholding.

Bonus issuance of shares allows companies to preserve their capital for future growth plans since from an accounting treatment, the company converts a portion of its retained earnings into paid up equity meaning cash only moves internally on the balance sheet from reserves to capital stock.

For the year ended June 2026, KPC announced a proposed dividend of Sh0.32 per share translating to a total dividend payout of Sh5.9 billion.

‘This is a market that is very dividend sensitive and obviously every shareholder expects returns but we have to strike a balance between growing the business and paying the shareholder, a balance that has to be agreed by all parties. We are looking at various alternatives,” Mwendwa says.

“One is that we could finance some projects through debt, commercial or otherwise. We can do project financing; we can also do infrastructure bonds just to be able to maintain this balance. We could also consider doing bonus shares to shareholders because if you look at our balance sheet, you will realise we have quite healthy reserves.’

According to KPC, undertaking a single project could cost the company anything between Sh60.0 and Sh70.0 billion, necessitating accelerated efforts to ramp up the firm’s cash position to be ready to meet such infrastructure spending as and when it arises.

‘The last mega project we did was Line 5 which was the replacement of Line 1 from Mombasa to Nairobi, a 450-kilometer pipeline. That was eight years ago and we spent upwards of Sh50.0 billion. If we were to do a line today of the same magnitude we would probably be talking about Sh60.0 billion or Sh70.0 billion,” Mwendwa said.

“When we are financing most of our projects, especially those which are huge in capital outlay, we usually do a hybrid where about 30.0 percent is financed through equity and the remaining 70.0 percent through debt and that is what we continue doing.’

In the twelve months ended June 2026, KPC’s net earnings grew 13.1 percent to Sh11.58 billion while the firm’s total revenue grew 8.8 percent to Sh42.98 billion. In the same period, the company’s total assets grew 6.15 percent to Sh149.27 billion.

Every day, millions of Kenyans hail rides, order meals and pay for services without handling cash. These everyday conveniences reflect a significant shift in how people move, shop and transact, powered by payment systems that make digital commerce seamless and secure.

Kenya is widely recognised as one of Africa’s most dynamic digital payments markets.

More than 85 percent of Kenyan adults had access to financial services, mainly through digital platforms, as of 2025. Consumption trends also point to growing cashless transactions across formal and informal sectors.

This is a structural shift reshaping commerce, from small traders accepting contactless payments to ride-hailing, delivery and e-commerce platforms processing millions of transactions monthly.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are also embracing the transition. Visa research found that 84 per cent of surveyed Kenyan SMEs consider investment in payment technology crucial to business growth, while 68 per cent of those already accepting digital payments plan further in-vestment.

Cash remains costly for businesses. According to the research, 56 percent of cash-only SMEs reported losing business because customers lacked cash, while 91 per cent cited security concerns, including robbery and employee embezzlement.

These figures reflect business owners’ growing recognition that digital payments can improve efficiency, reduce risks and help capture sales.

E-hailing and on-demand delivery illustrate this transformation. Whether commuters are travel-ling to work, families ordering dinner or businesses fulfilling deliveries, digital payments allow transactions to happen without disrupting daily activities.

The process is designed to be effortless: customers select a payment method at checkout, transactions are processed in the background, and funds are settled. The best payment systems work reliably without demanding users’ attention.

Security remains essential to sustaining this trust. As more transactions move online, consumers expect protection against fraud, while businesses need dependable infrastructure to operate confidently.

Kenya’s digital economy will continue expanding, with secure, efficient payment systems providing an essential foundation for inclusive growth, business innovation and everyday convenience.

The High Court will on October 22 hear a petition by Naipa Supermarkets seeking to block the restructuring or privatisation of New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (New-KCC) until an ongoing arbitration dispute is deter-mined.

The court directed Naipa to serve New-KCC with its application by October 14, giving the dairy company seven days to respond.

The supermarket wants orders stopping New-KCC from selling, transferring, leasing or disposing of assets, in-cluding processing plants, machinery, vehicles and equipment.

Naipa is also seeking an order compelling the dairy company to secure its Sh420 million claim within 14 days, either through a bank guarantee or a cash deposit into an interest-earning joint escrow account held by the par-ties’ advocates.

The dispute stems from the distribution of New-KCC products in Kapenguria, Lodwar and areas bordering South Sudan. The matter was referred to arbitration.

Naipa further wants New-KCC, its bankers and agents barred from withdrawing, transferring or otherwise deal-ing with funds in the company’s bank accounts until the dispute is resolved and any arbitral award enforced.

The supermarket says the application follows directives issued by President William Ruto during the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit held between October 7 and 9, calling for New-KCC’s immediate restructuring and privatisation.

The proposals include settling about Sh8 billion in outstanding debts and liabilities through the forthcoming Supplementary Budget, modernising processing plants and machinery, and requiring payments to dairy farmers every two weeks.

Naipa argues that the planned changes could lead to the disposal or transfer of assets before arbitration con-cludes, undermining its ability to recover any money awarded.

SBM Bank Kenya is eyeing new capital to sustain growth after doubling its net profit for the nine month period ended September 2026, riding on increased lending and higher transactional income.

The lender reported a net profit of Sh591.2 million for the first nine months of the year compared to Sh283.4 million posted in the corresponding period last year.

SBM’s loan book grew by 23.3 percent to Sh56.5 billion up from Sh45.8 billion in September last year. This saw the lender’s fees and commissions from loans and advances triple to Sh235 million.

The bank’s non-interest income, including transaction fees, increased by Sh484 million to Sh2.02 billion which management attributed to increased customer transactions.

‘What we did over the last two years is fix the fundamentals such as changing our old systems, introducing a lot more functionality on our mobile banking apps and new products. We also introduced attractive interest rates and all of that resulted in getting more customers who transacted more with us,’ said SBM’s Chief Executive Officer, Bhartesh Shah, in an interview with Business Daily.

Customer savings with the bank expanded 28.6 percent to Sh97.2 billion but its cost of deposits grew at a slower pace of 14.8 percent, to Sh4.2 billion, underlining the drop in interest rates in the Kenyan market.

SBM will have to inject additional capital in the lender to sustain the business growth following a thinning of its capital adequacy ratios.

The bank’s total capital to total risk weighted assets declined to 15.4 percent being 0.9 percentage points above the statutory minimum of 14.5 percent.

‘We’re actively looking at ways of increasing our capital … we’re looking at various options for tier two capital, as we’re hoping we can go into the next year with a much bigger capital base,’ said Mr Shah.

SBM Holdings, the Mauritius based parent company of the bank, has made several capital injections in the local subsidiary to support the growth with its paid up capital increasing by Sh1.2 billion in the last 12 months.

The bank, which entered the Kenyan market through the acquisition of Chase Bank and Fidelity Bank, reported a 40 percent drop in its non-performing loans to Sh9.9 billion which management attributed to closure of bad loans inherited from previous owners. The bank’s bad loans to total loan book ratio (NPL ratio) declined sharply to 16.9 percent from 32.3 percent 12 months ago.

‘A large part of that (32.3 percent) were loans we inherited from the previous Chase Bank and from Fidelity Bank as well… we took the approach of sitting down with the clients and negotiating for a settlement with them,’ said Mr Shah.

Management expects the NPL ratio to continue dropping as it books new quality loans.

Bad loans in the banking sector dropped to a 44 month low 13.9 percent in September mirroring improved loan repayments and credit affordability.

SBM becomes the first lender to publish its nine months financials with its performance giving indications of another season of huge profits for the banking sector.

Every evening, thousands of professionals sit trapped in gridlocked traffic, enduring grueling, multi-hour commutes from Nairobi’s central business district to their homes in satellite towns.

Driven by a severe shortage of reasonably priced urban housing, this uncontrolled outward expansion carries heavy, often invisible burdens for both households and municipal governments alike.

While families exhaust up to 40 percent of their disposable incomes and invaluable personal time on multi-hour journeys, historic downtowns suffer from declining business activity and shrinking tax revenues. Meanwhile, expanding residential suburbs consume vital rural farmland and overextend public utility networks.

The reality is that families rarely move to the city edges out of preference. Most Kenyans want to live close to their workplaces, schools, hospitals, local markets and other key amenities.

In fact, global urban planning data-including research by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute-confirms that when developers deliver high-quality, reasonably priced homes inside major city centres, urban workers eagerly embrace the opportunity to settle there.

To ensure the long-term economic and social health of major metropolises such as Nairobi and Mombasa, we must pivot away from peripheral sprawl and actively revitalise our historic downtowns.

Building inside congested, established urban centres is difficult, but public-private partnerships (PPPs) offer a viable path forward, as evidenced by urban renewal initiatives-such as the GulfCap model applied at Buxton Point in Mombasa and Starehe Point in Nairobi.

By strategically mixing low-cost, social housing with market-rate units, developers can leverage higher-end sales to cross-subsidise premium community infrastructure, including playgrounds, kindergartens, green spaces, and sports facilities.

This balanced approach creates diverse, well-integrated neighbourhoods where individuals from various financial backgrounds can comfortably coexist.

To ensure these projects are sustainable, developers must ensure that they actively benefit the surrounding neighbourhood from the very first day of construction.

True urban renewal goes beyond simply erecting buildings; it requires developers to hire local labour, source regional materials, and directly upgrade neighbouring roads, drainage systems, and water lines.

By improving the broader precinct’s infrastructure, these developments earn genuine community buy-in and generate immense market demand from buyers looking to eliminate heavy commute overheads.

Over the next decade, these coordinated efforts can entirely reshape the fabric of Kenyan cities, turning crowded business centers into lively, 24-hour residential neighbourhoods.

Moving out to the distant city edges should no longer be an enforced compromise for families seeking affordable homeownership, because the true future of Kenyan housing lies right in the heart of our downtowns.

Former KPMG Kenya senior partner Richard Boro Ndung’u has been allowed to amend his claim against KPMG International Cooperative over his removal from the accounting firm in January 2017.

The High Court granted Mr Ndung’u permission to revise his pleadings to clarify the relationship between KPMG International (KPMGI), the Swiss entity that coordinates the global network, and its member firms, as well as the duties arising from that relationship.

Mr Ndung’u was removed as a partner of the audit firm on January 13, 2017, on allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with his former personal assistant.

He sued KPMG Kenya and was awarded Sh379 million in March 2019, but his former employer has appealed the decision.

Mr Ndung’u is now also separately seeking damages from KPMGI, arguing that the global firm failed to protect him and instead aided his removal as a partner from the regional firm.

KPMGI has opposed the claim, arguing that it is a foreign entity registered in Switzerland and has no office in Kenya.

The firm has also accused Mr Ndung’u of seeking double recovery by pursuing damages from the global entity after securing the Sh379 million award against the Kenyan partners.

The proposed amendments also seek to establish the links between Mr Ndung’u and the global firm, cite comparable cases involving its oversight of member firms, and strengthen his constitutional claims.

Mr Ndung’u cited the 2022 fines imposed by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) on three KPMG member firms and KPMGI’s takeover of KPMG South Africa as examples of the global firm’s oversight role.

KPMGI opposed the application, arguing that some of the proposed amendments introduced new causes of action, including tortious interference, an alleged automatic duty and implied fiduciary relationship, as well as failures in disciplinary action after arbitration.

The global firm argued that the claims did not arise from the same facts as the original suit and were time-barred under the three-year limitation period for tort claims.

It also accused Mr Ndung’u of introducing evidence, legal arguments and matters involving parties who were not part of the suit, contrary to procedural rules.

However in a ruling on October 8, the court rejected the objections at this stage, saying KPMGI would have an opportunity to respond to the amended claims in its defence.

‘Leave is granted to the Plaintiff to amend the plaint in terms of the draft Amended Plaint marked ‘RBN-1′, save that the following are excluded paragraphs,’ the court ruled.

Mr Ndung’u was directed to file and serve the amended plaint within 14 days of the ruling. KPMGI will then have 14 days after service to file its amended defence, including any objection based on limitation of time.

The dispute stems from a complaint Mr Ndung’u lodged in October 2016 against senior officials at KPMG East Africa Association and KPMG Kenya.

In May 2019, he sued KPMGI, alleging that the global firm failed to protect him after he raised concerns about the conduct of the regional and Kenyan leadership, instead facilitating his removal without notice, reasons or a hearing.

A Certified Public Accountant, Mr Ndung’u rose through the ranks to become senior partner and chief executive of KPMG Kenya.

He said he formally lodged the complaint on October 17, 2016, through the chairman of the Senior Partners Forum and KPMG South Africa chief executive Trevor Hoole. He added that KPMGI was also made aware of the allegations.

Three days later, on October 20, 2016, KPMG initiated internal investigations into the matter, and his then boss was notified of the complaint.

Mr Ndung’u accuses the global firm of acting as an accomplice in what he describes as machinations and deliberate actions by KPMG Kenya to deny him justice.

He argues that KPMGI failed to provide the support and protection required when he faced what he considers injustices by the Kenyan firm.

He further alleges that the global network applied double standards in handling complaints involving African partners compared with their European counterparts.

In his court filings, Mr Ndung’u argues that cases involving European partners facing comparable allegations were handled more favourably.

‘My treatment at KPMGI’s hands was therefore discriminatory and racially motivated, given the disdain they have for the citizens and the laws of Kenya in particular, and Africa in general,’ he said.

He also accuses KPMGI of violating assurances contained in its Global Code of Conduct, as well as obligations under the licence agreement governing its relationship with member firms and the Constitution and laws of Kenya.

His claim against the global firm cites alleged breaches of duty of care, the Global Code of Conduct and his constitutional rights under Articles 27, 28, 35 and 47, alongside the Fair Administrative Action Act.

Separately, Mr Ndung’u sued KPMG Kenya and was awarded Sh379 million in March 2019. The former employer has appealed against that decision.

In the case against KPMGI, he is seeking damages, arguing that the global firm failed to protect him and instead aided his removal as a partner from the regional firm.

KPMGI has opposed the claim, arguing that it is a foreign entity registered in Switzerland and has no office in Kenya.

The firm has also accused Mr Ndung’u of seeking double recovery by pursuing damages from the global entity after securing the Sh379 million award against the Kenyan partners.