Category: Business Daily

Kenyan-born athlete Stephen Cherono, who switched to Qatari citizenship in 2003 and changed his name to Saif Saeed Shaheen, angered a judge by attempting to disown the identity he used during his previous bankruptcy filing.

Cherono-who holds the 3,000-metre steeplechase world record-responded to a preliminary objection in a land case by claiming he was a ‘stranger to the bankruptcy proceedings filed against him’ in a Kisumu court in 2015.

This came as his appeal was opposed by Daniel Ladama Ruto on the grounds that, as a bankrupt, he lacked the legal capacity to file a case-a matter that Environment and Land Court Judge Charles Kimutai eventually ruled in Cherono’s favour, but delivered a stern rebuke for his perceived dishonesty by denying him the costs of his application.

Justice Kimutai noted that although Ruto’s preliminary objection had failed, Mr Cherono did not approach the court with ‘clean hands.’

‘It has become very evident that the Respondent (Cherono) knowingly lied to this court on the issue of his identity, and denied being the Petitioner/Applicant in Kisumu High Court Bankruptcy Cause No. 5 of 2015,’ said Justice Kimutai.

‘This court is appalled at the ease with which the Respondent took to lying and feeding this court with falsehoods with regard to his identity while under oath, and this practice must be frowned upon,’ said the judge while refusing to grant him the costs of the application and the preliminary objection due to his dishonesty.

In 2002, the athlete changed his name to Shaheen after switching allegiance to Qatar, with the oil-rich Gulf State luring him with an irresistible package that included a guaranteed stipend of $1,000 (Sh128,970) a month for life.

This is more than six times the Sh20,000 an average informal worker takes home in a month, and twice the median income of Sh58,611 per month for formal wage employees, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

‘Yes, I have moved for the money,’ he confirmed after winning his heat in the 3,000-metre steeplechase qualifiers at the 2003 World Championships in Paris.

Lured by the largesse promised by Qatar against the backdrop of tough economic times in Kenya, some athletes did not hesitate to migrate to the Gulf state.

Albert Kipkurui Chepkurui, now Ahmad Hassan Abdullah, is another Kenyan-born distance runner who also switched his allegiance to Qatar in 2003.

Bahrain is the other Gulf States that has benefited from this migration of desperate athletes, as the country struggles with poor management and meagre rewards.

Athletes have also been known to switch sides to European and American countries.

In 2004, while playing for the Qatari club Al-Arabi, football star Denis Oliech was reportedly offered between Sh200 million and Sh890 million to switch his citizenship to Qatari.

Qatari officials are said to have put him in a room with a phone and given him just one hour to decide his future.

However, the former Harambee Stars captain is said to have famously declined the offer, stating: ‘I love my country and would not take anything to change my identity.’

The migration of athletes for financial gain caught the attention of the country’s top leadership, with then-President Mwai Kibaki, when meeting the country’s top athletes in 2009 before they left for the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, urging them to resist the temptation of disavowing their country for money.

‘Let us resist the temptation to change our citizenship for financial gains,’ the then President told them, reminding the athletes that Kenya is where their talent was nurtured and should remain.

However, it appears that Cherono’s fortunes did not remain steady, with the athlete facing several court cases, including allegations of neglecting his wife and children.

He is also involved in another land ownership dispute in the Environment and Land Court at Eldoret, where he sued Mr Kenneth Kiptum Kandie over property in Uasin Gishu.

The case revolved around conflicting claims to land and alleged irregular registration, with the court being asked to extend the time for filing an appeal against an earlier decision in a related matter.

The High Court in Kisumu on February 25, 2015 declared Cherono bankrupt, meaning his liabilities exceeded his assets.

According to the respondent in the present case, being declared bankrupt meant that Cherono had no legal capacity to lodge the appeal on his own, and that the same should instead have been done by the official receiver.

However, the court came to Cherono’s aid by stating that only creditors were barred, but not debtors.

The expenditure on advertising within the betting and gaming sector dropped by a sharp 89 percent in the quarter to September 2025, hit by stricter regulations from the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) earlier in June, aimed at promoting responsible gambling and protecting minors.

Fresh data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) show that the total sector advertising fell to Sh131 million, down from Sh1.2 billion recorded in the preceding quarter. Television and radio received Sh80 million and Sh51 million, respectively.

The decline followed a regulatory directive in June that imposed firmer guidelines requiring adverts to obtain prior approval from both the BCLB and the Kenya Film Classification Board.

The directive further prohibited the use of celebrities, influencers and content creators to promote betting activities, directing that all advertising content be vetted before broadcast or publication.

The new rules were aimed at ensuring gambling adverts do not embellish betting or present it as a risk-free activity to the public.

In July last year, a joint committee of the Senate and National Assembly proposed increasing the security deposit payable by betting firms for online gambling by 400 times to Sh100 million, up from the current Sh250,000, as part of the Gambling Control Bill 2023.

The substantial security was intended to protect deposits of punters in the event a company goes under, besides guaranteeing payment of winning bets.

Some 226 licensed betting firms were operating in the financial year ended June 2025, more than double the number that was in the market three years ago, underscoring the gambling appeal of the Kenyan market.

CA data shows that during the quarter to last September, the office equipment and supplies sector advertising expenditure grew at the fastest pace of 537 percent to Sh255 million, up from Sh40 million the prior quarter.

This was followed by tourism and entertainment, whose advertising expenditure grew 128 percent to Sh1.8 billion, followed by communications and transport sectors whose spend rose 124 percent to Sh2.2 billion and 122 percent to Sh1.2 billion, respectively.

Other sectors that recorded significant increments in spending during the period are publishing and education (97 percent), food (48 percent), and property and building (43 percent).

‘Overall industry spending increased by 15 percent during the quarter. The industry’s total spending increased from Sh15 billion to Sh18 billion,’ wrote the CA.

‘The predominant allocation of advertising spending is directed towards free-to-air TV, highlighting its central role in the advertising landscape. This emphasis on free-to-air TV underscores its effectiveness in reaching a wide and diverse audience.’

Nayan Savla, 45, a businessman in Nairobi, runs barefoot.

He believes the fitness world has become overly obsessed with gadgets and shortcuts. For the past four years, he has ditched heavily padded running shoes, choosing instead to trust what the human body was designed to do.

‘Our bodies come with a readymade design which, when explored, will reveal so much that we ignore, including our natural walking and running gait,’ he tells BDLife.

Nayan bought an elliptical bike, which he could use to simulate outdoor cycling, often riding 100 kilometres at a time while staring at a screen where the rides were projected.

When restrictions eased, he went back to running on the road in cushioned trainers. Almost immediately, old injuries returned. That was when he began to question his footwear. He swapped carbon-plated shoes for grip socks and started running barefoot.

Looking back, he says it was one of the best decisions he has made.

‘I started noticing that the aches and pains I used to have just weren’t there anymore,’ he says. ‘The shoes were comfortable, yes, but they had changed how I ran. They had created an artificial gait that weakened my natural biomechanics.’

His biggest test came when he ran 80 kilometres around Lake Naivasha over two days. He carried shoes for rough, rocky sections but ran most of the distance in socks.

‘After Lake Naivasha, I got the confidence that, you know, I am on the right path,’ says Nayan, emulating Shambel Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian marathoner who famously won the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome barefoot, crossing the finish line in 2:15.

That experience made him question the idea that runners need thick layers of foam and air pockets to protect their joints. Running with less cushioning, he says, helped him feel the ground better, naturally correct his posture and gradually ease the hip and knee pain he used to struggle with.

Fitness, for Nayan, is not a solo pursuit. He has made it a family mission.

He believes children learn more from what they see than what they are told. His two children, born in 2013 and 2016, have grown up watching discipline in action.

‘If your children see you do it, then for sure they are going to follow in your footsteps.’ When they were younger, he would ask them to record him doing push-ups in their living room before going to school. ‘Seeing is believing,’ he says.

Indoor climber

He even redesigned his home to reflect that mindset. Some sofas were removed from the living room and replaced with an indoor climbing frame. To visitors, the lack of seating might seem odd. To Nayan, the living room is meant for movement, not sitting still.

‘The more active the children are, the stronger their foundation will be. If you plant this in the memory of young children, they develop this sense that their abilities can also get to that level.’

Most weekends, the family takes part in the ‘We Run Nairobi’ runs and walks. At first, Nayan had to slow down to match his children’s pace. Over time, everyone found a rhythm they could maintain.

The results have been remarkable. His daughter is recognised by the Mountain Club of Kenya as potentially the youngest Kenyan girl to reach Point Lenana on Mount Kenya. She has also summited Uhuru Peak on Mount Kilimanjaro and has been named Sports Girl of the Year for two consecutive years. His son has won medals as a swimmer and hiker.

Beyond running, Savla and his family are avid cyclists. On a relaxed Sunday morning, you might find them riding 35 to 50 kilometres through the hills of Kiambu or around Westlands.

‘My children are not scared [of cycling on the road],’ he says. ‘They make friends along the way and genuinely enjoy it. It’s also our way of bonding as a family.’

Vegetarian and intermittent fasting

On food, the Savlas are vegetarians, and Nayan follows a strict intermittent fasting routine. He ‘squeezes’ all his daily meals into a six-hour window, usually between 1pm and 6pm.

‘I don’t have a normal eating routine. For example, I don’t have breakfast in the morning and lunch at noon. My first meal is after 1pm, my second meal is maybe two hours later, and in the evening, we have dinner with the family at around 6pm.’

He says the long fasting window gives his body time to rest and recover. He avoids processed sugar entirely and rarely eats out. ‘You’ve got to be deliberate, just cut out the sugar, avoid eating out too much, don’t have too much processed food.’

For Nayan, the benefits of this lifestyle go far beyond physical fitness.

‘Many working fathers struggle to spend quality time with their children, especially when they’re young. The demands of life make it impossible. Cycling, hiking and running with my children kills two birds with one stone, bonding with my family and keeping it healthy at the same time.’

Still, he admits it comes with sacrifices.

‘It will call for a few trade-offs here and there. You can’t show up for running early Saturday morning if you came back home at 3am from a nightclub. That kind of fun has its place, but so does family. At the end of the day, men must ask themselves what kind of family am I raising? What kind of values do I want to instil in my children? Once you meet the most important truths of your life regarding your loved ones, it is not difficult to make these choices.’

Thousands of households, mostly in low-income areas, are set to be affected after energy firm Koko Networks announced that it is winding up operations in the country amid financial woes.

Management informed workers that a decision had been made to close operations due to difficulties in obtaining approval to sell carbon credits outside the country to raise funds.

Koko currently sells fuel to an estimated 1.5 million customers across Kenya, most of whom are from low-income households. However, the price of the fuel and cooking stoves is subsidised, with the company relying on the sale of carbon credits to bridge the gap and fund its operations.

The startup employs at least 650 direct staff and works with thousands of agents who sell and refill fuel at more than 3,000 automated refilling machines countrywide.

‘We are just from a meeting with the management, and they have communicated the decision to close operations. Nobody is supposed to be in the office tomorrow, the decision has been made,’ a staff member told Business Daily on Friday.

By press time, Koko Networks had not responded to a request by Business Daily for comment on the alleged closure. Business Daily sent a request for comment through the company’s media communications portal.

Customers refill their containers at KokoPoints, which are automated teller machines, the majority of which are operated by female entrepreneurs.

LOA rejection

The exit is largely attributed to unsuccessful efforts to obtain a Letter of Authorisation (LOA) to sell carbon credits in lucrative markets outside Kenya. The company had banked on the sale of carbon credits abroad to raise sufficient funds to sustain its operations.

The rejection of Koko’s application for an LOA to sell carbon credits abroad casts doubt on the government’s commitment to supporting startups, particularly in the energy sector, where pollution from fossil fuels remains a major global concern.

Koko sells a litre of fuel at a subsidised price of Sh100, compared with a market price of Sh200. The cost of the stoves is also subsidised at Sh1,500, against a market price of Sh15,000.

The company sells carbon credits and uses the proceeds as a non-government subsidy to lower the prices of biofuel and cooking stoves, making them affordable for low-income households.

Koko’s exit is likely to push many of its low-income customers back to dirtier fuels, notably kerosene and charcoal, due to the high prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and electricity.

The cost of refilling a six-kilogramme container of cooking gas currently averages Sh1,350.

Koko, whose operations are based in Nairobi’s Baba Dogo area, entered the Kenyan market six years ago and has been instrumental in helping hundreds of thousands of low-income households access affordable cooking fuel.

The exit comes barely a year after the company received a $179.64 million (Sh23.18 billion) guarantee from the World Bank to cushion it against risks amid its expansion plans in Kenya.

The guarantee, advanced through the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the World Bank’s guarantee arm, was intended to cushion Koko against risks such as civil strife, land expropriation for public use and breach of contract in its local operations.

Koko had targeted adding at least three million customers in Kenya by December 2027, a move that could have significantly boosted the government’s efforts to scale up the use of clean cooking fuels.

The company, whose key investors include Mizuho Bank of Japan and Rand Merchant Bank of South Africa, also has a presence in Rwanda.

The United Kingdom has, for the first time in three years, overtaken Saudi Arabia as the second-largest source of diaspora remittances to Kenya, reclaiming a position it had lost to the Middle East country amid policy-driven disruptions in Gulf labour markets.

Data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows remittances from the UK rose marginally by 0.72 percent to $360.2 million (Sh46.47 billion) in 2025, edging past inflows from Saudi Arabia, which fell 25.06 percent to $302.1 million (Sh38.97 billion). This reversed a ranking that had held since 2023.

Saudi Arabia had displaced the UK after a rapid expansion in the recruitment of Kenyan workers into the Gulf, turning the kingdom into Kenya’s leading remittance source in the Middle East and a key driver of growth in foreign exchange inflows.

Turning point

The latest numbers, however, point to a shift. Inflows from Saudi Arabia retreated from a peak of $403.12 million (Sh52 billion) in 2024, while UK inflows remained largely stable, underscoring the relative resilience of remittances from mature Western labour markets.

Diaspora groups attribute the slowdown from Saudi Arabia to a combination of higher transaction costs and sweeping labour market reforms that took effect last year, disrupting wages, contract renewals and onboarding schedules for thousands of Kenyan workers.

Saudi Arabia, the leading Middle East source of Kenya’s remittances, began enforcing a value-added tax on services, requiring money transfer platforms to charge and remit tax on transaction costs at a rate of 15 percent, effectively raising the cost of sending money home.

Rising costs

The Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) warned that the higher costs were altering remittance behaviour among Kenyan workers in the kingdom.

‘The cost of sending money from Saudi Arabia has recently increased. As a result, most Kenyans who generally make about Sh50,000 a month after taxes could be holding onto their cash and saving it in KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] rather than sending it,’ KDA said last November.

The group noted that many workers were increasingly turning to informal remittance channels such as hawala networks, which carry risks, because of the higher costs of sending money home.

‘For many Kenyans in KSA, it is better to save or use unofficial transfer channels,’ KDA said, pointing to growing leakage outside formal systems.

CBK data appears to support this trend, showing that average monthly remittance flows from Saudi Arabia dropped 25.06 percent to $25.17 million (Sh3.2 billion) in 2025 from $33.59 million (Sh4.3 billion) the previous year.

Labour reforms

The decline coincided with the rollout of a skill-based work-permit framework in Saudi Arabia, replacing the decades-old, one-size-fits-all iqama system under which all foreign workers – from janitors to surgeons – held the same residency and permit category regardless of education or experience.

Reclassification of existing workers began on June 18, while categorisation for new arrivals started on July 1 last year. Enforcement for already contracted workers, including thousands of Kenyans, began on July 5, with new recruits placed under the regime from August 3.

Read: Remittances from Saudi fall on new permit rules

Under the framework, foreign workers are grouped into three tiers – highly skilled, skilled and basic – based on academic qualifications, experience, technical capability, wage brackets and age.

The highly skilled tier includes doctors, engineers, IT specialists and corporate executives, requiring at least a bachelor’s degree and five years’ experience. The skilled category covers technicians, craftsmen and mid-level supervisors with vocational or secondary training and at least two years’ experience.

The basic tier, which captures the bulk of Kenyan migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, covers entry-level and manual roles, carries no formal education requirement, and is restricted to workers below the age of 60.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development says the reforms are intended to align labour deployment with the kingdom’s economic transformation priorities, curb over-reliance on low-skilled labour and boost productivity.

Income impact

For Kenya, however, where migrant flows to Saudi Arabia are dominated by domestic workers and other lower-skilled categories, the transition appears to have interrupted earnings, delayed contract renewals and slowed cash transmission.

The reversal in cash wired home by Kenyans in Saudi Arabia is striking, given the kingdom’s role as a key driver of incremental remittances between 2021 and 2024. Inflows expanded from $122.96 million (Sh15.86 billion) to over $400 million (Sh51.62 billion) over that period, driven by domestic work placements, contract formalisation and rising Gulf wage floors.

US watch

While the UK’s return to second place in diaspora flows to Kenya restores a more traditional remittance hierarchy dominated by Western economies, attention is also turning to the United States, Kenya’s top source of diaspora inflows.

The US accounted for 54.23 percent of Kenya’s $5.04 billion (Sh650.16 billion) in total diaspora remittances last year, up from 53.17 percent of $4.95 billion (Sh638.55 billion) in 2024. However, its stability as the dominant source will be tested after Washington introduced a one percent excise tax on money sent abroad, raising the cost of remitting funds from January 1 this year.

Shem Ochuodho, the global chairman of KDA and president of the Africa Diaspora Alliance, said the developments reflected a wider global shift towards protectionism.

‘I think what we are witnessing is the global effect of President Trump’s protectionism. Many countries are waking up to the realisation that remittances could be chipping into their revenues,’ he said in a recent interview.

‘By their [developed countries] standards, it’s not a lot. But for the developing world, it makes a whole lot of difference. These are people’s personal earnings. They should be free to do whatever they want with it.’

Dr Ochuodho warned that restrictive policies undermine the spirit of the UN Global Compact on Migration, which calls for making it easier for migrant workers to deploy their resources to support development in host and source countries.

‘Being restrictive just sends people underground. That’s why people turn to hawalas and even carry cash,’ he said, adding that protectionist measures were unlikely to be sustainable in the long term.

He also argued that Kenya itself still captures only a fraction of diaspora wealth. A study by a Kenyan graduate in Norway, he said, found that remittances account for just five percent of the potential pool.

‘If the government created attractive incentives and pathways, even an extra five percent would easily double remittances within a short time,’ he said. ‘Let’s create sweeteners for the diaspora to send more money back home.’

Several domestic airlines plan to shift some of their scheduled flights to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) from Wilson Airport, which is set for rehabilitation works, signalling extra costs for carriers and disruptions for passengers.

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is undertaking extensive rehabilitation works at Wilson Airport, including improvements to pavements, aprons and the facility’s two runways.

Wilson Airport has recently become highly popular with passengers due to its proximity to Nairobi’s central business district (CBD) and nearby middle-class residential areas such as Karen, Lang’ata, South B, South C and Kilimani.

Several domestic airlines, including Safarilink Aviation Limited, Renegade Air, AirKenya Express and Skyward Express, operate flights through Wilson Airport.

Wilson is one of the busiest airports in terms of aircraft movement in East and Central Africa. Domestic flights account for about 90 percent of total traffic at the facility.

Alex Avedi, chief executive officer of Safarilink Aviation Limited, confirmed that airlines will review their landing and take-off operations to accommodate the rehabilitation works at Wilson Airport.

‘All takeoffs and landings, instead of being on two separate runways, will now be on one runway, which is runway 14,’ he told Business Daily.

Safarilink has already rescheduled several flights to operate through JKIA from February 3. An operations schedule showed that all Safarilink inbound evening flights arriving in Nairobi after 6.00 pm will land at JKIA instead of Wilson. These include flights from Lamu, Malindi, Mombasa and Zanzibar, with arrival times at JKIA between 7.15 pm and 8.20 pm.

Mr Avedi said the relocation has introduced additional costs for the airline, including running parallel operations at Wilson and JKIA, as well as passenger transfers between the two airports.

‘We have to move some of our operations, not all, with some of the bigger aircraft to JKIA for the duration of the rehabilitation,’ the Safarilink CEO said.

Sources told Business Daily that other airlines are also expected to move some flights to JKIA from Wilson as the upgrade works progress.

The US has expanded the Mexico City Policy, commonly known as the ‘global gag rule’, in yet another sweeping executive action that marks President Donald Trump’s aggressive reshaping of American foreign policy, with implications for healthcare in Kenya.

Announced on January 23, one year after reinstating the policy, the expansion extends abortion-related restrictions from global health programmes to all non-military foreign assistance worldwide.

This means organisations receiving US funding for education, agriculture, economic development, disaster relief and other sectors must now comply with restrictions prohibiting them from providing, advocating for, or referring patients for abortion services.

‘We believe that every country in the world has the duty to protect life. We’re expanding this policy to protect life, to combat diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the radical gender ideologies that prey on our children,” announced Vice President JD Vance on January 23, 2025, at a ‘March for Life Rally’ in Washington, DC.

Human rights

Amnesty International’s senior director for Research, Advocacy Policy and Campaigns, Erika Guevara-Rosas, termed the expansion an assault on human rights that will deliberately deepen inequality and put the lives of millions around the world at risk.

‘The Global Gag Rule is a disastrous and deadly US policy. It forces many struggling organisations that depend on US funding into an impossible choice: limit essential healthcare for the most vulnerable populations or shut their doors,’ said Ms Guevara-Rosas.

In Kenya, the rule could disrupt the ‘Continuum of Care’ (CoC), putting the lives of millions of people at risk, particularly those who are vulnerable, such as women, girls, people living with HIV and marginalised communities, by potentially cutting access to essential health services.

The CoC refers to a comprehensive, integrated approach to healthcare delivery, where various services – from preventive care and family planning to HIV screening, maternal health and cancer screening – work together to ensure patients receive seamless and coordinated treatment throughout their lives.

Legal dilemma

Nelly Munyasia, executive director of the Reproductive Health Network Kenya (RHNK), warns that the gag rule wrongly assumes abortion services can be isolated from other essential women’s health services when, in reality, comprehensive reproductive health is deeply interconnected with all aspects of women’s healthcare.

Kenya’s Constitution allows abortion in specific circumstances, such as when the life or health of the mother is in danger and in certain cases of sexual violence. However, the expanded global gag rule creates an impossible dilemma for organisations that depend on US funding.

“What this expanded rule means is that organisations will no longer be able to support access to even these legally permitted services if they wish to retain US funding. The policy comes with a strict compliance checklist, and countries are being assessed based on their abortion laws and policies, as well as how those policies are implemented,” Ms Munyasia explained.

For Kenya, which received an estimated 95 percent of its foreign aid for sexual and reproductive health services from the US government in 2018, the effects will be devastating.

Health impact

‘We anticipate this will lead to increased maternal mortality and morbidity. Over the years, the government and partners have made progress in reducing unsafe abortions through preventive efforts, including providing accurate information and improving access to contraception for women and girls. Those gains are now at risk,’ said Ms Munyasia.

Kenya has made remarkable strides in managing maternal deaths, reducing the maternal mortality ratio from 488 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008 to approximately 342 by 2023.

“Over the years, the government and partners have made progress in reducing unsafe abortions through preventive efforts, including providing accurate information and improving access to contraception for women and girls. Those gains are now at risk,” she warned.

‘If organisations are restricted from offering information, referrals, and advocacy, we are likely to see a rise in unsafe abortions. We already know the pattern: women attempting to terminate pregnancies in unsafe conditions, arriving at hospitals with severe complications such as sepsis, ruptured uteruses, or life-threatening infections. These are preventable tragedies, but they could become more common under the expanded rule.

Youth risk

The timing is particularly concerning given Kenya’s ongoing challenges with adolescent pregnancy, which affects approximately 15 percent of girls aged 15-19.

“The wider effect on reproductive health services could be severe. Kenya is already grappling with high rates of teenage pregnancy and unintended pregnancies. With reduced access to contraception, counselling, and comprehensive reproductive health services, we may see increases in teen pregnancies, child marriages, unsafe abortions, and post-abortion complications,” Ms Munyasia warned.

‘Progress made in these areas could be undermined if organisations working on gender and reproductive health lose funding or are forced to scale back their work,’ said Ms Munyasia.

Funding fallout

First instituted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, the Global Gag Rule has been reinstated by several presidents since. Among them, President Trump reinstated and dramatically expanded it during his first term in office and again on January 24, 2025. The January 2026 announcement extends the policy to all non-military foreign assistance.

Among the organisations affected by the rule were Marie Stopes International (MSI) and RHNK, which lost all US support in 2017. This led to the redundancy of some staff members, the suspension of training for medical workers and a reduction in the number of people receiving healthcare.

Others include the Family Planning Association of Kenya, which was forced to increase the cost of previously free services. Family Health Options Kenya lost $1.5 million (Sh193.5 million) in 2017, which led to the closure of some clinics and the termination of a mobile outreach programme serving around 76,000 people each year.

A new year often forces us to look ahead with a clearer eye, and Kenya’s livestock sector is one space that needs that fresh scrutiny.

Meat remains deeply embedded in how Kenyans eat, socialise, and run the economy. From nyama choma joints to our homes, meat culture is part of the rhythm of daily life.

While demand keeps rising, production has not kept pace. Kenya is a meat-deficit country, and despite that reality, we continue exporting live animals and raw product at a scale that erodes the very value chains we are trying to build.

In 2024, Kenya produced 613,600 tonnes of meat. Beef accounted for 260,000 tonnes, while goat, poultry, sheep, and pork made up the remainder. Poultry production, in particular, rose sharply to 102,500 tonnes, almost double the previous year’s value.

This growth shows how quickly consumers adapt to price shifts and how farmers respond given the right incentives. And yet, even with these improvements, domestic supply still falls short; especially in urban centres where meat consumption continues to rise.

Then comes the export paradox.

In 2023, Kenya exported 500 tonnes of beef, 7,000 tonnes of lamb, 20,000 tonnes of goat meat, and 30,000 live animals. Most of this went to Gulf markets such as the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.

But opportunity also sits closer to home. There is huge unmet demand in African markets such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Sudan. Markets that could be served with refrigerated cuts, processed meats, and value-added products if the right systems were in place.

Exporting live animals remains one of the biggest value leaks in the livestock sector. Once an animal leaves the country alive, every industry that depends on it loses out.

Processors miss the meat, tanneries lose the hides, and sectors that rely on bones, fat, and trimmings such as gelatine, leather goods, broth concentrates, pharmaceuticals, and pet food, are left without raw material.

One animal has the potential to support multiple industries, yet all that value ends up in the importing country instead of being retained and multiplied here.

Anyone who has spent an evening at a local butchery knows the scene: a butcher shaking a five-litre bottle of bone soup, selling cup after cup. It looks simple, even informal, but bones are a valuable commodity globally.

In other markets, bones are processed into high-value collagen powders, gourmet broths, health supplements, and culinary stock bases. Kenya has both the raw material and the consumption culture. What we lack is structured processing and investment that can transform kathufu from a roadside staple into a branded, export-ready product.

Kenya has sound frameworks in place, the National Livestock Policy, the Meat Control Act, the Veterinary Policy, and now the Livestock Bill awaiting approval in Parliament.

These policies outline ambitions on genetics, disease control, feed systems, regulation, and market organization. But implementation remains uneven.

Many farmers still struggle with poor animal nutrition, seasonal feed shortages, high feed costs, recurring droughts, weak extension services, limited credit, and inadequate veterinary coverage. These gaps constrict productivity long before the animal ever reaches a slaughterhouse.

Market dynamics add another layer of challenge. Kenyan meat fetches about $7.60 per kilo in export markets; well below the $10-$12 that global suppliers earn.

This price gap stems from inconsistent standards, weak traceability, antibiotic misuse, and cold-chain interruptions. These issues make Kenyan meat less competitive, push buyers to cheaper or more reliable markets, and reduce producer margins at home.

That, in turn, discourages farmers from adopting improved genetics or finishing practices that would raise output and quality.

However, all hope is not lost. Kenya has a clear path to reclaim regional competitiveness. Brazil is a strong example of how an agricultural economy can transform livestock into an industrial powerhouse through investment in feedlots, genetics, cold-chain infrastructure, and value addition.

Brazil exports everything from prime cuts to canned meats, sausages, gelatine, rendered fats, pet foods, and ready-to-cook products.

Kenya can adopt the same model, beginning with regional trade, where demand is accessible and logistics are simpler compared to long-haul global exports.

The success of this transition depends on strengthening the entire value chain. Farmers need affordable feed and reliable breeding support.

Counties must invest in disease surveillance and local feed reserves. Processors require capital, cold-chain systems, and predictable supply. Tanneries need consistency. Exporters need certification and traceability.

Manufacturers need raw material that supports product diversification. When these components align, Kenya can shift from exporting raw value to exporting finished value.

As we look towards the future, it is useful to study countries that turned their livestock into premium brands. Japan’s Wagyu industry is a striking example. The value of Wagyu did not emerge from volume; it emerged from discipline, strict breeding systems, rigorous standards, and unwavering quality control.

Kenya may not follow the Wagyu model, but if we can apply that level of intentionality across our own value chain, Kenya can finally stop exporting potential and start exporting products that reflect the true value of our livestock sector.

The National Treasury is working to introduce a new version of the retail bond programme that will allow Kenyans to invest as little as Sh500, in what it sees as a bid to deepen the domestic debt market and reduce reliance on more expensive commercial loans from international markets.

This will be a revised version of the botched M-Akiba bond, which failed nine years ago and had a minimum investment threshold of Sh3,000.

In the standard Treasury market, investors currently need a minimum of Sh50,000 to buy either a Treasury bill or bond. The new retail bond programme is expected to kick off in July 2027, opening access for small investors to a market with fixed returns currently ranging between 12 percent and 14 percent.

A source at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) involved in the ongoing overhaul of the failed M-Akiba bond told Business Daily that the new version will see investors’ mobile money accounts linked to the online DhowCSD system, allowing them to buy bonds directly.

‘It (the new retail bond programme) will be incorporated into the DhowCSD. So it is part and parcel of the infrastructure. So, you see, the DhowCSD is the central securities depository – everything that has to do with bonds has to interface and link into that. As we develop the solution, it would be a core part of the DhowCSD offering,’ said the source.

‘We are yet to finish the full framework for it, but obviously, it aims to significantly improve on where M-Akiba left off.’

Efforts to get comments from National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo and the Director General of the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO), Raphael Owino, proved futile as calls and text messages to their mobile phones went unanswered.

A person investing Sh500 to buy a bond with an interest, or coupon, of 12 percent would earn Sh60 per annum, assuming no withholding taxes.

The plan, however, faces several hurdles, including low-income households’ need for liquidity, competition from products such as money market funds, and better returns in the informal sector’s services and merchandising businesses.

The M-Akiba bond was launched by the government in June 2017 but flopped partly due to poor timing, low understanding of the product and weak customer care.

Although more Kenyans were expected to participate by investing the reduced minimum of Sh3,000, the auctions suffered massive undersubscription.

Business Daily has learnt that the new retail bond offering will be given a new name to distance it from the troubled M-Akiba.

‘M-Akiba was a bond, the product is the same, but maybe we would look at the name just to make it relevant for today’s day and age. So the lessons from M-Akiba that we can build and improve on would be factored in now into the new offering through the DhowCSD,’ the source said.

The National Treasury said, through its draft medium-term debt management strategy, that it will explore innovative financing options to fund its budget deficit and manage public debt.

These include issuing domestic retail digital bonds via mobile money, diaspora bonds, debt swaps, Samurai bonds, Panda bonds, and green and sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs).

Kenya is urbanising at a pace that its cities and towns are ill-prepared to manage. The Status of the Built Environment (SBE) Report 2025 lays bare a sobering truth: while urban growth is inevitable, our preparedness is not.

Urban planning is a constitutional obligation and a foundational tool for orderly, inclusive, and sustainable development. Planning determines where people live, how they move, how services are delivered, and ultimately, whether cities enhance the quality of life.

Kenya’s planning framework is comprehensive in law, providing a clear hierarchy of plans, ranging from the national spatial plan, inter-county plans, metropolitan plans, and county spatial plans to city-level, municipal, town, and neighborhood plans. These instruments are intended to work together to guide orderly and sustainable development.

However, the effectiveness of this framework is weakened by gaps and overlaps within the legal regime. This has underscored the urgent need to harmonise the Urban Areas and Cities Act, the County Governments Act, and the Physical and Land Use Planning Act, a reform process initiated by the State Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2025.

Notwithstanding the existence of plans in law, they have not been implemented on the ground. For instance, the National Spatial Plan (2015-2045) exists, yet there has been limited public sensitisation and little clarity on how it is being operationalised across counties. Without deliberate effort to implement and align lower-level plans to it, the plan remains largely aspirational.

Data from the National Land Commission (NLC) indicates that only 19 of 47 counties have approved County Spatial Plans. Meaning 28 counties are operating illegally without a fundamental instrument for guiding land use, infrastructure development, environmental protection, and urban growth.

More alarming is that only 202 (7.7 percent) of Kenya’s 2,636 gazetted urban centres are adequately planned. This leaves over 90 percent of towns and trading centres growing arbitrarily.

These are the spaces where informal settlements proliferate, where roads are carved out after buildings are constructed, and floods, fires, sick buildings, and building collapse become recurring tragedies rather than exceptions.

The NLC highlighted several constraints preventing counties from fulfilling their planning mandate. Inadequate budgetary allocations, weak political goodwill, and frequent political transitions disrupt continuity in planning efforts.

Planning units remain chronically understaffed, even as unemployment among built environment professionals remains alarmingly high.

A survey conducted by AAK among 1,709 graduates revealed that 90 percent of graduate and technician-level built environment professionals are unemployed- an indictment of a system that simultaneously lacks capacity and wastes available skills.

Digital transformation has also failed to take root in urban management. By December 2025, only 8 counties, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Kajiado, Machakos, Kilifi, and Murang’a, had online development permitting systems.

Even among these counties, systems in Nakuru, Kisumu, Machakos, and Kajiado were offline, undermining the very efficiencies digitisation is meant to deliver.

Operational online systems were also undermined by persistent challenges that delay approvals. This weakens efficiency, perpetuates discretion, delays, and has opened opportunities for malpractice in development control.

The breakdown extends to legally mandated urban governance structures. Kenya’s legal framework provides for boards, committees, and liaison mechanisms to support effective urban management.

Section 76 of the Physical and Land Use Planning Act requires every county to establish a County Physical and Land Use Planning Liaison Committee to offer a quick, non-adversarial forum for resolving planning disputes.

Yet in practice, many of these committees are either nonexistent or dysfunctional, leading to an overwhelmed Environment and Land Court and unnecessary aggravation of development matters.

For instance, the Nairobi Physical and Land Use Planning Liaison Committee was effectively dormant throughout 2025 due to the county government’s failure to facilitate its operations.

In Mombasa, the County Executive Committee Member admitted before the County Assembly on 6 November 2025 that no such committee exists. Kisumu and Marsabit appointed representatives in October 2025 and January 2025, respectively, but neither convened any meetings.

Kajiado County held only a few symposia and a kick-off meeting in June 2025, with no formal committee sittings to date. These failures point to a deeper urban governance crisis- where institutions exist on paper but are hollow in practice.

All these gaps persist against the backdrop of rapid urban growth, rising informality, an increasing number of unsafe buildings, intensifying climate change impacts, and a constitutional promise of the right to accessible, adequate, and safe housing, as well as to a clean and healthy environment.

When planning repeatedly fails, it effectively becomes a form of state-sanctioned exposure of citizens to risk, disaster, and loss of life.

Therefore, the question is not whether Kenya will urbanise, but whether it will do so by design or continue by default.