Category: Business Daily

When Mercy Akoth moved to Canada nearly three years ago, she quickly discovered that setting up a home away from Kenya came with unexpected costs, particularly when it came to decorating her living space.

Mercy, who works as a caregiver while pursuing her master’s degree in nursing at McGill University, has had to move houses several times to accommodate her work and studies. Although her residences have not been far from her school, each move has meant finding ways to make her space comfortable and homely.

One of the first things she noticed was the difference in curtain options between Kenya and Canada. In Nairobi, curtains were readily available in countless designs, colours, and fabrics. Abroad, she found the variety limited and the prices steep. Outfitting a one-bedroom apartment could cost her about USD37 (Sh4,800) per metre for curtains, prompting her to look back home for solutions.

‘I realised Kenya has a variety of curtains with different designs compared to what I was finding here. When I came back for the holidays last December, I decided to buy from here instead,’ she says. ‘I travelled with them in my suitcase, but the charges were high.’

The curtains cost her about Sh9,800 in airline fees for a 7-kilogram package.

Her experience reflects a growing trend among Kenyans in the diaspora who are turning to local retailers for home décor products. Curtain sellers in Nairobi say overseas clients from Canada, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom are becoming a steady part of their business.

Retailers attribute the appeal to variety, affordability, and the ability for customers to choose fabrics and designs before the curtains are stitched and shipped. Kenya has also become a destination for buyers from other African countries, including Ghana and South Africa.

Most curtain fabrics are imported, primarily from China, then customised locally to suit customer preferences.

At Dream Curtains on Tom Mboya Street, head of sales Dan Khaemba says diaspora clients have been a key market since he joined in 2023.

‘The clients we have delivered to come from different countries. We recently delivered curtains for a Kenyan living in Australia, but we also have many clients from the United States,’ he says. The shop serves about three to five diaspora clients each month.

Social media has been central to this growth. Online platforms allow customers to browse designs, select materials, and communicate directly with sellers before making payments. Still, building trust takes time.

‘Not everyone believes in online business. Some people send someone to confirm if it is real. Once they confirm, they become serious buyers,’ Khaemba explains.

Curtain demand also follows seasons, with sales peaking between October and January. For diaspora clients, purchases often rise during winter, when people focus on making their homes warmer and more inviting.

Unlike local buyers who often bargain, diaspora clients tend to prioritise quality and transparency. Payments are made through bank transfers or mobile numbers, with prices ranging between Sh350 and Sh1,800 per metre depending on material. Blackout curtains are increasingly popular.

Shipping, however, remains the biggest hurdle. Costs can significantly inflate the final price, sometimes catching clients off guard.

At Najibu Curtains, sales representative Mugoya Shakur says most of their overseas customers come from the United States and Canada.

‘The price here is very affordable compared to those diaspora countries,’ he notes. Curtains range between Sh350 and Sh2,000 per metre, serving both homes and businesses. Yet shipping can nearly double the expense. A client may buy curtains worth Sh300,000, but transport costs can add Sh200,000.

Despite this, referrals continue to drive growth. ‘Most of the clients who purchase from us are referrals from other citizens in the diaspora. If you do a good job, people will trust you,’ Shakur says.

Some clients combine curtain purchases with other Kenyan products such as home décor items and African clothing, including vitenges, to maximise shipping.

At Suli Home Curtains, manager Lugendo Swaib says orders come from the UK, US, Canada, and African countries like South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana.

‘They prefer curtains from here because we offer variety in colours and designs as well as good quality curtains,’ he says.

Unlike local buyers who shop seasonally, diaspora clients purchase year-round, often driven by new homes, construction projects, or business ventures. Swaib says the shop rarely misses at least ten diaspora clients a month.

‘As long as you advertise well, you will never miss a client purchasing curtains,’ he adds.

Some buyers even purchase in bulk to resell abroad, with prices typically between Sh700 and Sh900 per metre.

Kenyan retailers say their edge lies in customisation. Customers choose the material, which is then stitched, packaged, and shipped. Depending on whether the order goes by air or sea, delivery takes between seven and 21 days.

For many in the diaspora, curtains are more than functional items. They are cultural touchstones, reminders of home, and symbols of identity. The colours, textures, and designs often carry memories of Kenyan households, where curtains are central to interior décor.

Mercy recalls how curtains in her childhood home were carefully chosen to match the furniture and wall colours. ‘In Kenya, curtains are part of the personality of the house. They make the home feel complete,’ she says. Abroad, she found that curtains were often plain, functional, and expensive, lacking the vibrancy she associated with home.

Retailers are keenly aware of this emotional connection. By offering diaspora clients the chance to select fabrics that resonate with their tastes, they are not just selling curtains but exporting pieces of Kenyan culture.

The business opportunity is significant. With more Kenyans moving abroad for work and study, the demand for affordable, customised home décor is expected to grow. Retailers are already exploring partnerships with shipping companies to reduce costs and streamline delivery.

For now, the challenge remains balancing affordability with logistics. Shipping costs can sometimes outweigh the savings of buying curtains in Kenya. Yet many diaspora clients are willing to pay the extra price for quality and familiarity.

As Mercy puts it, ‘It is not just about the curtains. It is about feeling at home, even when you are far away.’

The Treasury has published new regulations to govern stablecoin and tokenisation issuers, virtual asset exchanges and wallet providers, brokers, managers, investment advisers and payment processors.

This is in response to the rising use of digital currencies in recent years, as Kenyans adopt them as a payment method for imports, from freelance work to multinational firms, and to wire money home using the tokens.

The new Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Regulations, 2026, form subsidiary legislation for the Virtual Assets Service Providers Act 2025, which became effective in November 2025.

Who exactly will need to be licensed under the new framework?

The regulation covers virtual asset exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase, wallet providers, tokenisation businesses that turn real-world or digital items such as real estate and bonds into digital assets, virtual asset offerings, stablecoin issuers, and virtual asset managers.

Do firms incorporated abroad fall within the regulations if they target Kenyan customers?

Yes. The regulations state that a company is considered to be operating “in or from Kenya” if it actively solicits Kenyan consumers or earns revenue from Kenyan users, regardless of whether it has a physical office in the country.

That means international crypto exchanges wishing to continue serving Kenyans will need to comply with local licensing requirements and regulatory obligations.

What should Kenyan Bitcoin investors expect when opening an account, trading crypto or transferring digital assets?

Consumers should expect more rigorous onboarding procedures. Licensed providers will be required to verify customers’ identities before onboarding, conduct customer due diligence, disclose all fees, explain investment risks, provide complaint mechanisms and give transaction confirmations.

Virtual asset investors should also receive clearer information about withdrawal procedures, cybersecurity measures and consumer protections before using a platform.

Which consumer protection rights do crypto users gain under the new rules?

Virtual asset providers must disclose their licence status, business address, fees, risks, withdrawal policies, cybersecurity measures and complaints procedures in plain language before offering services.

The regulations also demand that providers assess whether investment recommendations are suitable for individual customers and maintain formal complaint-handling systems.

What are the capital requirements?

Stablecoin issuers have the highest minimum paid-up capital requirement of Sh300 million; virtual asset exchanges are required to have Sh100 million, and token issuers and initial coin offering (ICO) platforms Sh20 million.

Firms engaged in virtual asset tokenisation will require Sh10 million, with virtual asset wallet providers requiring Sh150 million, while virtual asset managers are required to hold Sh20 million.

Investment advisers are exempt from minimum paid-up capital requirements.

Why are stablecoins treated differently and more strictly than other digital currencies?

Stablecoins – digital currencies pegged to assets such as the US dollar- are designed to maintain a stable value and therefore resemble payment instruments more closely than speculative cryptocurrencies.

As a result, issuers must obtain separate licences, publish white papers, maintain reserve assets backing every issued stablecoin, ensure redeemability, safeguard reserve assets and submit regular reports.

The regulations also prohibit stablecoin issuers from paying interest on stablecoins.

What are the licence fee requirements for the companies?

Virtual asset exchanges will pay a licence fee of Sh1 million; wallet providers Sh500,000, while stablecoin issuers will pay Sh2 million. Asset managers will, meanwhile, pay Sh200,000.

How will regulation responsibilities be divided between the Capital Markets Authority, Central Bank of Kenya and other agencies?

The CMA will regulate initial coin offerings, trading platforms, token issuance platforms and tokenisation activities, while the CBK authorises businesses converting virtual assets into foreign currencies and licenses stablecoin issuers.

Other State agencies such as the Directorate of Criminal Investigation, the Financial Reporting Centre, and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission also have powers to inspect and investigate licensed firms depending on their mandate.

How do the governance, capital and cybersecurity requirements compare with standards imposed on banks and other financial institutions?

The regulations adopt many prudential standards already common in mainstream finance companies. Licensed firms must maintain minimum capital, appoint compliance officers, establish risk management frameworks, undergo independent cybersecurity audits, maintain disaster recovery plans, separate customer assets from company assets, keep detailed records for at least seven years and implement robust governance structures with independent directors.

These requirements are intended to bring crypto firms closer to the regulatory standards applied to other financial institutions.

Former Safaricom chief executive Michael Joseph has joined the board of De La Rue Kenya EPZ Limited amid ownership changes, signalling a return to operations for the banknote printer more than two years after it suspended operations.

The appointment comes alongside sweeping ownership changes that have seen Switzerland-based Thomas De La Rue AG transfer its entire 60 percent stake in the Kenyan subsidiary to Mauritius-registered investment firm Monarch Capital Limited, according to filings at the Registrar of Companies.

Thomas De La Rue AG is a wholly owned subsidiary of London-listed De La Rue plc, which has operated in Kenya for nearly six decades and dominated the printing of Kenyan banknotes until it lost the multi-billion shilling deal to Germany’s Giesecke+Devrient.

The latest changes mark the biggest restructuring at the Ruaraka-based security printer since freezing note printing operations in January 2023, pointing to the possibility of the company resuming business by targeting new security printing opportunities beyond currency.

In 2023, De La Rue said it did not expect any new orders from Kenya’s central bank for the next 12 months due to low market demand, suspending its note printing operations in Nairobi.

The note printer said its joint venture with the Kenyan government, through which its operations in Kenya are conducted, will remain active.

When we reached out to him with questions on what his new role on the board of De La Rue will be, Mr Joseph promised to call back but had not done so by the time of going to press.

Mr Joseph is among three new directors appointed to the board alongside Andrew Pkemoi Lopokoiyot, an executive director at Wilson Airport-based aviation company Wilken Group, and Ugandan businessman Humphrey Arnold Munyamerere Nzeyi, founder of Invicta Africa Limited.

Mr Nzeyi’s company has, since September 2015, provided technical services to Uganda’s Ministry of Internal Affairs in the production of passports on behalf of De La Rue.

The company has also tapped a new secretary, a Kenyan advocate known as Isaac Mukui Nduru, who is also a director of Galana Energies, one of the major beneficiaries of the government-to-government fuel import scheme.

Despite relinquishing its shareholding, its chief financial officer, an Australian national, Michael James Aumann, remains a director of the Kenyan subsidiary.

The Kenyan government, through the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury, retains its 40 percent stake in De La Rue Kenya EPZ Limited.

Mr Joseph is one of Kenya’s most respected corporate executives, having helped transform Safaricom from a little-known mobile telephony unit within Telkom Kenya into East Africa’s most profitable company and one of the most valuable firms on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

After retiring as chief executive in 2010, the British-born executive remained on Safaricom’s board, later serving as chairman between 2020 and 2022, while simultaneously chairing the board of Kenya Airways from 2016 until 2025.

De La Rue’s fortunes changed after it lost the Central Bank of Kenya’s banknote printing contract, ending a decades-long dominance in the production of Kenyan currency.

In April 2024, the CBK awarded Germany’s Giesecke+Devrient a five-year contract worth Sh14.10 billion ($109.4 million) to print Kenya’s banknotes through a classified procurement process.

The banking regulator said the German company was selected through a restricted tender because delays in replacing the country’s banknote supplier risked a shortage of currency in circulation, with potentially serious economic and security consequences.

However, the classified procurement process later attracted scrutiny from the Auditor-General, who questioned the secrecy surrounding the award of the contract.

The loss of the tender forced De La Rue to suspend banknote production in Kenya in January 2023 and send home most of its workforce after bringing its Nairobi operations to a halt.

According to De La Rue’s latest annual report, the group booked £13.8 million (Sh2.39 billion) in restructuring costs linked to the closure of its Kenyan currency printing operations, largely covering redundancy payments and other costs associated with winding down the business.

The annual report further shows that the Kenyan subsidiary generated no revenue during the financial year, posting a small operating loss while retaining net assets valued at about £9 million (Sh1.55 billion).

Despite losing the currency printing business, industry players believe De La Rue could still rebuild its order book by pursuing other government security printing contracts.

Among the potential opportunities are the printing of national examinations administered by the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec), including the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KEPSEA), should the company win future tenders.

Other potential deals are printing excise stamps for the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), tamper-proof security labels and standards verification marks for the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), as well as other government-issued secure documents.

The company has previously undertaken passport production in Kenya and continues to support passport manufacturing in neighbouring Uganda through technical partnerships.

De La Rue traces its Kenyan roots to 1966 through its predecessor companies Thomas De La Rue and Company Limited and Bradbury and Wilkinson, the latter having been acquired by Thomas De La Rue in 1986.

The company established its Ruaraka printing plant in October 1992, becoming the country’s principal producer of banknotes.

For more than three decades, successive generations of Kenyan currency were printed at the Nairobi facility, including the 2019 series of banknotes introduced following the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution.

The Treasury acquired a 40 percent stake in De La Rue Kenya EPZ Limited in 2017, turning the company into a joint venture with the British security printer.

The company also played a central role in the replacement of the old Sh1,000 note under former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, a move that sought to flush out illicit cash held outside the banking system.

That long-standing relationship ended when the Kenya Kwanza administration opted for a new supplier, ending De La Rue’s decades-long monopoly in printing Kenyan currency.

A search of records at the Business Registration Service on May 25, 2026 showed De La Rue Kenya EPZ Limited was jointly owned by Thomas De La Rue AG, with a 60 percent stake, and the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury, who held the remaining 40 percent on behalf of the Kenyan government.

However, a fresh search of the company’s CR-12 records conducted on July 28 showed significant changes in both ownership and the composition of the board.

The filings indicate that Thomas De La Rue AG transferred its entire shareholding to Monarch Capital, a Mauritius-registered investment company incorporated on October 6, 2025.

This week, Kenya hosts the 7th African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF) Forum, bringing together governments, qualifications authorities, the African Union, development partners and education experts to advance a common qualifications system for the continent.

The meeting marks a major milestone as the ACQF shifts from policy to implementation. A key outcome will be the launch of the Qualifications and Credentials Platform, a trusted continental database that will make it easier to verify qualifications, reduce fraud and support the recognition of credentials across Africa.

For decades, African integration has focused on roads, railways and ports. While these remain vital, the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will depend just as much on the movement of skilled people as it does on the movement of goods.

Millions of Africans have faced barriers because qualifications earned in one country are often difficult to compare or recognise in another. This has forced professionals into costly re-certification, limited labour mobility and made it harder for employers to recruit talent across borders.

The ACQF addresses this challenge by providing a common reference framework that enables countries to compare qualifications while respecting national education systems. It creates greater trust in qualifications and opens opportunities for students, professionals and employers alike.

The forum also recognises that the future of work is changing rapidly. Artificial intelligence, automation and the green economy demand qualifications systems that recognise lifelong learning, workplace experience, micro-credentials and digital certifications.

Kenya has positioned itself at the forefront of these reforms through the Kenya National Qualifications Authority, which has strengthened recognition of prior learning, digital qualifications and credit transfer systems.

Ultimately, Africa’s greatest competitive advantage is its people. When qualifications become trusted and portable, education translates into opportunity, opportunity into labour mobility, and labour mobility into shared prosperity. The ACQF is laying the foundation for a continent where talent-not geography-determines opportunity.

Kenya is one of seven countries in the world on track to reduce new HIV infections by 90 percent by 2030, a new analysis has shown, highlighting the country’s remarkable progress in curbing new infections over the past decade.

Analysis by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) shows that Kenya has cut new HIV infections by at least 78 percent since 2010, one of the steepest declines recorded globally, placing it alongside Benin, Eswatini, Lesotho, Nepal, Rwanda and Zimbabwe as one of only seven countries currently on course to meet the 2030 target.

Kenya’s success is attributed to sustained investment in HIV prevention programmes, particularly those that prevent mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy and childbirth. The country has surpassed 90 percent coverage of these services, alongside expanded HIV testing and treatment programmes that have helped drive down new infections over the past decade. ‘In 2025, seven countries achieved at least a 78 percent reduction in the number of new HIV infections since 2010, placing them well on track towards the goal of a 90 percent reduction by 2030,’ the report said.

UNAids has named Kenya as being among a small group of countries that are increasing their domestic HIV funding as donor support shrinks. It is one of 55 nations that have reported raising their public HIV budgets since 2025, signalling a shift towards greater domestic financing to sustain HIV programmes as external aid declines.

Kenya has committed to providing about $850 million (approximately Sh110 billion) in domestic funding over five years under its new HIV partnership with the United States.

Kenya has achieved this progress despite being hit by shrinking international funding. The country’s response to HIV has historically relied heavily on donor support, particularly from President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar) and the Global Fund, both of which have reduced funding in recent years.

In Kenya, we hold a very strong culture. Since colonial invaders long ago clumsily decided on our national boundaries, we have developed a strong sense of national identity as well as of maintaining our ethnic and other diversities.

In the investment space, different nations favour different stores of value for their hard-earned savings. Russia and Central Asia tend to prefer precious metals, the United Kingdom holds pensions, while in the United States people strongly prefer stock equities. But here in Kenya, we prefer and love our real estate investments.

Holding property is extremely important to us. However, given that our main store of savings value is in real estate, it foments a litany of scammers and unscrupulous developers. Buying off-plan developments carries significant risk, with very little recourse if a project falls through. Even existing homes, plots and apartments come with title deed fraud risks. Consequently, buyers have become increasingly careful, relying on legal advisers to ascertain a property’s legitimacy before purchase.

However, what about real properties coming up all over Nairobi, Mombasa and in several county headquarters such as Eldoret, Kisumu and Nakuru? Internationally, investors tend to look at the projected return on investment (ROI) for real estate. In Kenya, developers also show projected monthly rental income as the ROI for a project.

But what developers often do not show would-be buyers are the annualised ROI figures for prospective projects and comparisons with nearby rental incomes and ROIs of similar developments. Since there is no national database of real estate projects or rental prices, it is hard for individual investors to conduct due diligence on a property’s anticipated ROI.

But our ROI on real estate rental returns is staggeringly low. In the United States, one can easily get a 12 percent annual ROI on residential real estate investments, and the tax regime there allows investors to write off mortgage loan interest and repair expenses to drastically reduce taxes, which is much harder to do here in Kenya.

In Nairobi, an investor might put Sh3 million into purchasing a studio apartment in Kiambu and receive only Sh18,000 a month in rent. Unfortunately, that gives a 7.2 percent gross annualised ROI, but after the 7.5 percent flat tax on rental income and an assumed 10 percent agent fee, depending on the building and project, the investor is left with only a 5.9 percent net return. Conversely, one could spend Sh6.5 million buying a one-bedroom apartment in Kilimani that may sit vacant because of oversupply before the rent is lowered to attract a tenant. One might then achieve Sh55,000 a month in rent, yielding a gross ROI of 10.2 percent, but after income taxes and agent fees, this falls to 8.4 percent.

Sadly, though, when one drives through Westlands Road or Ring Road, Kilimani, we see numerous vast, upscale new one- and two-bedroom apartment blocks going up everywhere. Many of the buildings block sunlight from neighbouring apartments. In a slowing economy, as any developing nation progresses towards middle-income status and beyond, who will fill those new units, and at what rents?

Supply and demand will eventually fill the apartments, but at what monthly rental price points, and will investors be satisfied with the resulting ROI? Even the unexpected 2025 collapse of USAID caused the loss of tens of thousands of middle- and high-income NGO jobs in Kenya that could have occupied some of those buildings. As artificial intelligence starts to reach its grubby fingers into our service sector and cause massive job losses, which industry or sector will employ the newly unemployed who can rent those units?

Ironically, though, we do have an investment vehicle in Kenya that provides fantastic returns compared with other countries. While in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, savings account interest rates range from 0.5 percent to 4.9 percent in annual ROI before taxes, here in Kenya we can achieve a staggering 6 percent to 11.5 percent annual ROI on bank savings accounts or fixed-term deposits. Further, our annuity sector, run by our big insurance companies, offers annual returns of 10 percent, 11.5 percent and beyond.

All the while, the Kenya Revenue Authority gives us favourable tax rates on savings income at 15 percent, rather than earned income tax rates. If someone is disciplined and will not touch their principal investment, one can earn far better returns on savings, fixed-term and annuity investments than in the residential rental real estate market.

As Kenya’s savings ROIs remain notably higher than those in many other countries while rental income ROIs remain lower, one cannot help but ponder whether we will start to see a shift in our preferred store of value over the next five years. It also leaves one asking what further steps the Central Bank of Kenya can take to enhance trust in savings accounts and fixed-term deposits, and what the Insurance Regulatory Authority can do to improve trust in insurance companies’ annuity products.

The High Court has temporarily halted recruitment of at least 12 senior management and professional positions at the Kenya Reinsurance Corporation (Kenya Re) pending determination of a case challenging the exercise on claims of non-transparency.

The court barred the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed insurer from processing applications, interviewing candidates or issuing appointment letters.

The frozen recruitment relates to vacancies advertised on June 4, 2026, including three general manager positions for reinsurance business, legal services and corporate services.

The recruitment also covers the positions of two chief financial officers for Kenya Re Tanzania and Zambia, and chief executive officer/principal officer for Kenya Re Tanzania.

Other positions include: assistant manager for internal audit, assistant manager for risk and compliance, senior underwriter for life, treaty and facultative business, and executive assistant to the group managing director.

The High Court granted the interim injunction after petitioner Brian Ochieng argued that Kenya Re had already started inviting shortlisted applicants for interviews and risked completing the process before the constitutional dispute could be heard. The freeze order will remain in force until October 1, 2026, when the case is scheduled for mention.

Mr Ochieng told the court that Kenya Re, through a contracted recruitment agency, had invited candidates for interviews beginning July 15, creating urgency for intervention.

He alleges that the recruitment lacked transparency, saying job applications were being processed through an email account accessible only to the group managing director, creating room for “canvassing, compromising and interference.” Those allegations have not been determined by the court. He argued that allowing the process to continue would undermine the pending petition.

“If the respondents are allowed to proceed with the said interviews and issue letters of employment to successful candidates, the substratum of the application… and the Petition herein will be defeated,” Ochieng’s advocate said.

He further argued that “the actions will be irreversible as successful applicants will be confirmed as employees of the respondent.”

He alleged lack of transparency, saying applications were being processed through an opaque system vulnerable to meddling.

The petitioner insisted that the balance of convenience favoured preserving the recruitment until the court determines whether it complied with constitutional and statutory requirements.

The application relies on a recent Supreme Court decision affirming that the High Court has authority to hear constitutional challenges involving pre-employment recruitment processes where no employer-employee relationship exists.

Mr Ochieng said he was neither an employee of Kenya Re nor an applicant for the advertised positions.

The High Court earlier certified the matter urgent and directed the respondents to file responses within seven days.

The constitutional petition underlying the injunction seeks declarations against Kenya Re Group Managing Director Hillary Wachinga and general manager for finance and credit control Ruth Ngugi and Kenya Re over alleged violations of constitutional rights, procurement law and public service principles.

Kenya Re is a publicly listed reinsurer in which the Kenyan government holds a majority stake. It provides reinsurance services in Kenya and several African markets, making the halted recruitment significant for the corporation’s senior management and professional staffing.

The court has warned employers that they cannot fire workers based on suspicion alone, ordering I and M Bank to compensate a former employee after finding it dismissed him without proving he had done anything wrong or following the proper disciplinary process. The ruling highlights the need for employers to have evidence and observe fair procedures before dismissing staff accused of misconduct.

Consequently, I and M Bank has been ordered to pay a former staff Sh1.1 million after a court ruled that it dismissed him without proving misconduct or right procedures.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled that I and M Bank unfairly dismissed a credit analyst accused of improperly accessing a joint US dollar account belonging to one of its directors and the director’s spouse.

Justice Ocharo Kebira said the termination of Tom Mongare was unfair, as the bank relied on an incomplete investigation that left critical questions unanswered.

Mr Mongare joined I and M Bank in 2019 as a credit analyst in the personal and business banking division at its Mombasa Nyerere Avenue branch. He earned a gross monthly salary of Sh105,688 before his dismissal on May 20, 2024.

The dispute arose from him accessing a joint US dollar account held by one of the bank’s directors, who also serves as group executive director of Coast Bottlers, and the director’s spouse.

The bank argued that the employee had no legitimate business reason to access the account and alleged the customer’s spouse was later contacted by strangers who appeared to possess confidential banking information.

Mr Mongare denied wrongdoing. He told the court he was conducting preliminary due diligence after the bank’s relationship manager informed him Coast Bottlers was considering acquiring vehicles through financing or leasing arrangements that could involve the bank.

He testified that reviewing links between a corporate borrower and its directors formed part of his work as a credit analyst and insisted he never disclosed any customer information to anyone. He told the court that his work required him to verify account turnover and transactions between the company and its directors.

Justice Kebira found the explanation remained largely unchallenged because the relationship manager, identified only as Zadock, was never interviewed during investigations or called to testify despite the bank’s own human resources manager describing him as ‘a vital witness.’

‘It is a well-established evidentiary principle that where a party fails to call a witness peculiarly placed to speak to a fact material to the dispute, the court may draw an adverse inference,’ the judge said.

The court also found no evidence connecting Mr Mongare to the alleged disclosure of confidential information.

‘There is nothing beyond suspicion connecting the claimant to the disclosure of the customer’s private details to any third party,’ the judgment said.

Justice Kebira noted the bank never identified the alleged callers, produced evidence tracing any communication to Mr Mongare or called the customer to testify.

The court further found there were serious procedural failures during the disciplinary process.

It said the bank did not issue a show-cause letter, withheld the investigation report from the employee, fixed a disciplinary hearing while investigations were supposedly continuing and failed to interview a witness central to the employee’s defence.

‘The sensitivity of an allegation, if anything, calls for more scrupulous observance of an employee’s procedural entitlements, not their suspension,’ the judge said.

Justice Kebira also cited contradictory testimony from the bank’s own witnesses over whether other employees had accessed the same account on the material day.

Mr Mongare was awarded notice pay, accrued leave, seven months’ salary as compensation, interest and legal costs. The court also ordered I and M Bank to issue him with a certificate of service.

Every person who has sought medical care knows that treatment rarely begins with a doctor. It often starts at a registration desk, with an identity check, an eligibility verification, or a pre-authorisation request. These steps may appear administrative, but they often determine how quickly care is received and how confidently providers can deliver it. They remind us that healthcare is shaped as much by the systems behind it as by the care itself.

According to the World Health Organization, sub-Saharan Africa has approximately 0.2 doctors per 1,000 people, one of the lowest physician-to-population ratios in the world. Expanding healthcare workforce remains essential. But even if every country doubled its number of doctors tomorrow, healthcare would still struggle if systems supporting those professionals remained slow, fragmented and disconnected.

Behind every successful consultation is an invisible system. It verifies a patient’s identity, confirms insurance eligibility, authorises treatment, processes claims, reimburses providers and generates the information needed to make better decisions. When these systems work well, patients rarely notice them. When they fail, everyone does.

The importance of these invisible systems is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Across the world, healthcare leaders are recognising that sustainable healthcare depends not only on hospitals, healthcare workers and financing, but also on the digital infrastructure that connects them.

Kenya’s transition from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the Social Health Authority (SHA) reflects this broader shift. Beyond financing, it signals a growing recognition that connected digital infrastructure is becoming just as important as physical infrastructure. Modern healthcare increasingly depends on systems that enable faster decisions, greater transparency, and more reliable information across the healthcare ecosystem.

The transition has also demonstrated that health financing reform cannot succeed without modern administrative capability. As healthcare becomes more digital, citizens increasingly expect the same speed, transparency and convenience they experience in banking, telecommunications and other services. Healthcare can no longer afford to operate differently.

Digital infrastructure is quietly becoming healthcare’s operating system. When patient identity, eligibility verification, provider management, pre-authorisation and claims processing operate as one connected ecosystem information moves more quickly, decisions become more consistent, and trust grows across the entire healthcare ecosystem.

The next breakthrough in healthcare may not be a new treatment. It may be the ability to connect every stage of care into one trusted system. The real opportunity lies in connecting every administrative touchpoint from patient registration to provider for reimbursement into one intelligent ecosystem.

Artificial intelligence is often portrayed as the future of diagnosis. Its immediate impact may prove to be far less visible, but just as significant. Intelligent claims adjudication, automated pre-authorisation and predictive fraud detection are helping health systems make faster, more consistent and more transparent decisions. The objective is not to replace professional judgment. It is to strengthen it.

This shift also changes how we should evaluate innovation. Success should not be measured by how sophisticated a technology appears, but by whether it removes unnecessary complexity for patients, providers and funders. The most valuable innovations are often the ones people barely notice because they simply make healthcare work better.

Across Africa, there is already compelling evidence that this transformation is underway. Rwanda has integrated telemedicine into its national health system, extending specialist care to underserved communities. In Kenya, digital financing platforms have demonstrated how technology can improve transparency, strengthen financial inclusion and simplify healthcare payments. These innovations address different challenges, yet they all point towards the same destination: healthcare systems that are more connected, more responsive, and more centred on the people they serve.

What is encouraging is that many African countries are building these capabilities without decades of legacy infrastructure. Rather than modernizing outdated systems, they have an opportunity to design connected healthcare ecosystems from the outset. That is an advantage the continent should not underestimate.

One lesson has become increasingly clear through years of working across healthcare technology and administration: healthcare rarely struggles because clinicians lack expertise. More often, it struggles because the systems surrounding clinical care cannot keep pace with the demands placed upon them. We often think of delayed claims, fragmented information, and disconnected workflows as operational issues. In reality, they influence patient confidence, provider sustainability, and ultimately the quality of care itself.

The strongest health systems will not necessarily be those with the newest technologies. They will be those that use technology to remove friction instead of creating it, connect information instead of isolating it and replace uncertainty with trust. Technology, on its own, is never the destination. It is the infrastructure that enables healthcare to become more responsive, more transparent, and ultimately more human.

As governments, healthcare providers, insurers and technology partners continue investing in healthcare transformation, three priorities deserve greater attention. Healthcare systems must be designed to communicate with one another rather than operate in isolation. Investments should simplify patient journeys rather than merely digitize existing processes. And above all, every technological advancement should strengthen trust because healthcare ultimately depends on confidence as much as capability.

Better hospitals will always matter. Better medicine will always matter. Outstanding clinical care will always matter. But the healthcare systems that define the next decade will be distinguished by something less visible: their ability to connect people, information and decisions in ways that make care more accessible, more efficient and more trusted.

The High Court has barred the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) from impounding unregistered imported vehicles held by used-car dealers, handing a major relief to the traders.

The court, however, upheld the legal requirement that imported vehicles be registered before sale. It ordered the NTSA to give a fresh notice of at least 60 days to the dealers before enforcing the 2024 rules. The court found the NTSA’s earlier seven-day compliance deadline was procedurally unfair.

The ruling followed a petition by the Car Importers Association of Kenya (CIAK) challenging NTSA’s December 2024 directive requiring dealers to register imported vehicles before sale or risk impoundment and prosecution.

The association argued that immediate registration reduced resale value because buyers preferred newer registration series.

But Justice Ngaah Jairus backed the NTSA requirement and said that the authority’s decision was legal under the Traffic Act.

However, he found the authority failed to meet constitutional standards of fair administrative action after abruptly enforcing the notice following years of tolerating a different practice.

‘The Petition succeeds in part only,’ the judge said, declaring that the registration requirement was lawful and ‘is not displaced by any legitimate expectation or estoppel.’

The dispute arose after NTSA announced a multi-agency exercise involving Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the Financial Reporting Centre, immigration officials and security agencies targeting unregistered vehicles held by car dealers.

The notice warned of impoundment and criminal charges after December 16, 2024.

Ruling on the CIAK’s case, the court restrained NTSA from impounding vehicles or prosecuting association members solely for missing the December 16, 2024 deadline until it first gives reasonable notice and a fresh 60-day compliance period.

CIAK represents used-car importers with showrooms across Kenya. It said members import second-hand vehicles from Japan and Dubai through Mombasa.

Dealers said they have long paid duty, cleared vehicles from customs areas and kept them in showrooms before registering them after finding buyers.

It also claimed franchise dealers of new vehicles could hold stock pending sale while registering later, amounting to discriminatory treatment.

NTSA defended the notice as enforcement of mandatory Traffic Act provisions, not a policy change. It argued no public authority could be prevented from enforcing statutory duties through legitimate expectation or estoppel. The authority also cited security concerns over unregistered vehicles.

The court agreed statutory obligations could not be overridden by administrative practice. ‘No representation could have had the legal effect of permanently exempting the Petitioner’s members from registration requirements,’ the court said.

The court nevertheless found procedural unfairness. It said NTSA gave dealers seven days to comply, spanning a weekend and public holiday.

The association met NTSA officials on December 10, 2024, and requested three months to comply, but received no response before the deadline.

Justice Jairus said Article 47 and the Fair Administrative Action Act required ‘prior and adequate notice’ and ‘a reasonable opportunity to be heard.’

He found regulators should not abruptly terminate a settled commercial practice without allowing sufficient adjustment time.

The court also rejected CIAK’s discrimination claim and accepted NTSA’s argument that used-car dealers and new-vehicle franchise dealers operate under different customs regimes.

Used imports enter the domestic market after duty is paid, while new vehicles may remain under bonded warehousing until sale.