Category: Business Daily

The United States government released a new dietary guideline that signals an important change in recommended foods and diets.

The guidelines, which will be in effect until 2030, suggest a strong focus on eating whole foods, cutting back on sugar, and getting more protein. They also make room for traditional cooking fats, including beef tallow.

Beef tallow, which is fat rendered from beef, is mentioned directly as a cooking fat. This marks a change in tone from earlier advice that warned against animal fats. The new guidance focuses less on single nutrients and more on the overall quality of food.

Beef tallow is seen as a traditional fat that is stable for cooking and less processed than many modern oils.

In Kenya, although there are no official dietary guidelines that promote beef tallow, its use is becoming more common.

Some households are turning to beef tallow as a natural cooking fat, choosing it over refined vegetable oils.

According to Wanjiku Njenga, a consultant dietitian at the Aga Khan University Hospital, tallow is ‘essentially fat from meat’.

‘You remove it, boil to render, and once cooled, it becomes usable for cooking. No additives, no chemicals, just fat in its natural form,’ she says.

In Kenyan kitchens, beef tallow is used for frying, cooking beans, vegetables, and meat, and for general food preparation. Its adherents say it is filling, flavourful, and closer to traditional ways of cooking.

Ms Wanjiku says tallow provides energy and helps the body absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K when used in moderation.

‘These vitamins can’t be absorbed without fat, and tallow supports that process naturally,’ she explains.

The growing interest is also visible in the market. Food-grade beef tallow is now sold in butcheries, local markets, and online shops. Some products are made locally from grass-fed cattle, while others are imported. Beef tallow is also sold for non-food uses such as skin care, which has helped raise awareness of the product.

Beef has always been part of many Kenyan diets, especially in pastoral and rural communities. National nutrition advice in Kenya focuses more on protein from many sources including meat, fish, poultry, and legumes rather than specific fats. Fat intake beyond common cooking oil is not widely measured, so beef tallow use is mostly shaped by culture, cost, and personal choice.

Entrepreneurs are cashing in on the fat renaissance. Real Beef Kenya, founded by Peter and Tabitha Kang’ethe, sells tallow nationwide. Since launching in 2023, their sales have grown from 20 to over 300 kilos per month.

‘Our company is certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards,’ Peter says. ‘We started small, but now more people are embracing tallow in their kitchens.’

Peter identifies three main customer types: health-conscious individuals, curious traditionalists, and older adults returning to traditional cooking methods. A kilogramme sells for Sh850.

With policy shifts abroad and renewed local interest, beef tallow is seeing increasing use in Kenyan homesteads as a trusted traditional cooking oil.

The US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which mentioned tallow as a cooking option, noted that healthy eating patterns should be built around whole foods and limit highly processed products.

One of the biggest changes in the new advice is protein, as Americans are now encouraged to eat more protein than before. The guidelines suggest that people should get more protein each day to support health and balance in the body. Both animal and plant sources are included, and they include beef, chicken, fish, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds.

According to the guidelines, ‘Protein is important for muscle health, strength, and normal body function across all ages.’

While some experts still question whether higher protein intake is needed for everyone, the government position is clear that protein plays a key role in daily nutrition.

Another message in the new guidelines is about sugar. Added sugar is no longer seen as part of a healthy diet. The advice says people should avoid foods and drinks with added sugar as much as possible. These include sweets, sugary drinks, and heavily processed foods. The focus is on eating food in its natural form rather than refined or packaged products.

The guidelines state: ‘Added sugars do not support health and should be limited as much as possible.’

The most talked about shift, however, is in how fats are treated. In the past, saturated fats were often discouraged. The new guidelines take a different approach. They encourage fats that come from whole foods.

According to the guidelines, ‘The message is not to fear fat, but to choose fats that come from real food and use them wisely.’

The government now says these fats can be part of a healthy diet when eaten in reasonable amounts.

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye,” said Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Is it true that “The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows” as Greek shipping magnet Aristotle Onassis said? Does business success revolve around a mindset of addressing problems – and even giving away tangible value for free? Why do global market leaders work in ecosystems? Is AI just a tool, or is it an agent that can soon out-think humans?

What is often not visible is; the bigger the problem the business solves, the bigger and more successful the enterprise. Look at some of the most successful companies in Kenya today, say Safaricom and Equity Bank. What problems do they solve? Betting apps have boomed – addressing the hope of getting rich quick.

When you go out to a club on Saturday night with friends to have a few drinks — thanks to a few cool White Caps and a Johnnie Walker, for just a few hours you are in a confident ‘master of the universe’ state. That irritating nagging boss to be confronted on Monday morning is far from your consciousness.

If Sarah has spotted an aggravating problem in Busia, that customers are ready to pay for, she has solved the problem development economists fret about, by increasing her household income, stimulating demand in the local economy.

Mindset is the flame

Development partners have long believed that training and access to capital will produce entrepreneurs, with profitable establishments creating jobs. But what is missing is that invisible spark. That spark that turns the cool liquid propane and butane molecules under pressure in the gas cylinder into a flame.

Knowledge, skills and mindset – are the triangle of elements. Knowledge has become abundant, almost free in our digital AI age, thanks to the computer in your pocket.

Trick is to apply the knowledge and turn that into specialised skills. Mindset is the flame, the almost invisible scarce rare earth element – that lecturing and preaching won’t uncover. You can train for knowledge and skills, but that ‘batteries included’ mindset is tougher to find and ignite.

Create free value upfront

Business will continue to change radically; it is almost as though every two years one needs to do a drastic rethink. ‘Sweet nothings’ saying all those nice things, accompanied with heavenly mission statements, catchy taglines and promises of delighted customers – was the past unspoken operating principle.

Now one has to create tangible product – service value upfront, and give it away for free. ‘People don’t buy what others want to sell, they buy what others want to buy,’ observes Daniel Priestly.

What may be invisible is that just about every enterprise is interacting, ‘doing business’ with a wide range of organisations, where in reality, the business is part of an ecosystem.

Days of lone ranger competition are over. There is a need to recognise that today, leading corporations across sectors have concluded that they can no longer play it alone as they contemplate ways for their organiastion to have greater impact, expand, and innovate.

The solution for each partner to address the problems faced, lies in the ability to partner within an ecosystem of cross sector players that work together to define, and even disrupt stale old thinking. By 2 pm, your 9 am ‘competitor’ may become your ecosystem business partner.

No reward for just a good job – create an ecosystem

‘Every business leader must acknowledge that building a successful business requires them to make a complex ecosystem seem congruent and effortless. They must turn chaos into order and do it with style. Entrepreneurs and leaders can no longer simply deliver value and then get fairly paid. That model died a long time ago.

Today’s high-performing businesses are ecosystems of people, products, media, software and services all working in harmony. They are complex, paradoxical and hard to mimic. You cannot expect to be highly rewarded for doing a good job.

Rather, you can expect to be rewarded when you’ve built a high-performing ecosystem that delivers value in a multitude of ways,’ advises Daniel Priestly.

Good morning agent AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wonder, much more than a tool. AI firms that dominate the industry are overwhelmingly based in the United States, hosting 42 of the top 50 AI companies with a heavy concentration in California’s Silicon Valley, followed by significant hubs in China and select locations in Europe, like London where Google DeepMind is based.

‘The most important thing to know about AI is that it is not just another tool. It is an agent. It can learn and change by itself and make decisions by itself. A knife is a tool. You can use a knife to cut salad or to murder someone, but it is your decision what to do with the knife. AI is a knife that can decide by itself whether to cut salad or to commit murder.

The second thing to know about AI is that it can be a very creative agent. AI is a knife that can invent new kinds of knives as well as new kinds of music, medicine, and money. The third thing to know about AI is that it can lie and manipulate.

Four billion years of evolution have demonstrated that anything that wants to survive learns to lie and manipulate. The last four years have demonstrated that AI agents can acquire the will to survive and that AIs have already learned how to lie,’ said Yuval Noah Harari recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

‘Now, one big open question about AI is whether it can think. Modern philosophy began in the 17th century when Rene Descartes proclaimed, ‘I think therefore I am’.

We humans defined ourselves by our capacity to think. We believe we rule the world because we can think better than anyone else on this planet. Will AI challenge our supremacy in the field of thinking?’ Asks Harari.

‘Yes’ is the not so invisible answer, AI will soon think better than human beings, and in some areas already does. Question is – what does this mean for you and your business? What does your heart say?

Tribe Hotels Group, the Nairobi-based hospitality firm behind Tribe and Trademark Hotels, has taken over the management of a coastal property in Kilifi, as part of its strategy to grow operations beyond the capital and into key destination markets.

The beachside property, previously operating as Kilifi Beach Villas, will now be run under the Tribe Beach House brand, marking the group’s first managed property on Kenya’s coast.

Under the management arrangement, Tribe Hotels will oversee day to day operations, service delivery and guest experience at the Kilifi property, leveraging its hospitality expertise developed in Nairobi’s urban hotel market.

‘The owner of Kilifi Beach Villas, still owns the property, Tribe is taking over management, and rebranding to Tribe Beach House, it’s still privately owned,’ the Tribe Hotel management told the Business Daily.

The rebranded property will start receiving guests in December this year.

The deal will see Tribe Hotels earn fees for the use of its brand as well as the management services it is offering.

Property owners often partner with major hotel brands to attract guests.

The hotel is located in Kilifi County on Kenya’s north coast, along Bofa Beach, positioning itself to tap into the growing demand for smaller, design-focused coastal accommodation as travellers seek alternatives to traditional resort offerings.

‘Taking on the management of Kilifi Beach House allows us to extend the Tribe ethos to the coast, thoughtful luxury, strong local character and experiences that feel deeply personal,’ said Eva Mwangi, head of sales and marketing, Tribe Collection.

Tribe Hotels Group operates a small portfolio of hospitality businesses in Nairobi that combine accommodation with food, beverage and events offerings.

Its flagship Tribe Hotel serves a mix of diplomatic, business and leisure guests, while Trademark Hotel focuses on the corporate and conferencing market.

The group has also invested heavily in standalone dining and social venues, positioning food and beverage as a core part of its hospitality model.

Its properties also appeal to leisure guests seeking design-focused, boutique experiences and to extended-stay visitors, especially at Trademark Suites, who require apartment-style accommodations for longer periods.

More than half of excisable products in the market may be illicit or non-compliant, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has said, even as it sets its eyes on potentially doubling the number of excise stamps on consumer goods, including beer, soda, cosmetics, cigarettes, and bottled water.

‘Current assessments indicate that over 50percent of excisable products may be illicit or non-compliant, resulting in significant revenue leakage and market distortion,’ KRA said as it kicked off the recruitment of a new security firm to provide stamps for its Excisable Goods Management System (EGMS).

Kenya has, since 2003, affixed excise stamps on excisable goods to track the goods across the value chain and seal revenue leakages.

The country’s excisable goods market comprises over 1,800 manufacturers and 1,200 importers. Bottled water producers dominate the scheme, with 1,659 plants covered, followed by soft drinks and juices manufacturers with 100 units, and spirits and beer manufacturers with 36 and 13 units, respectively.

Some 1,218 importers are also covered under the excisable goods scheme, including 300 dealing in wine, 282 in spirits, soft drinks and juices (243), and beer (170).

The taxman stated that approximately 3 billion excise stamps are currently issued annually; however, market intelligence suggests a potential for over 6 billion legitimate stamps once the illicit market is formalised.

KRA said it targets a new EGMS that would heavily deploy technology, including AI-driven analytics.

‘KRA therefore requires a comprehensive EGMS that incorporates the highest levels of security, serialisation, geospatial intelligence, IoT integration, cyber-resilience, and AI-driven risk analytics,’ it said.

Kenya’s first phase of the excise stamps regime saw the stamps affixed on tobacco. In 2007, the government expanded the scope of the stamps to include wines and spirits.

In 2012, KRA introduced the track- and- trace system through the EGMS. This initially covered only tobacco, wines, and spirits.

At the factory level, EGMS enables KRA to tally and tag all products with a unique electronic code that enables subsequent tracking of the product in the market.

Swiss security printer Sicpa SA has been supplying excise stamps to KRA. Sicpa was first handed the EGMS contract in 2015 for the supply of excise stamps for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, with a minimum of Sh15.9 billion and a maximum of Sh17.1 billion.

The terms of the contract were based on a time factor, subject to the achievement of 12,876,633,889 stamps of the contract period of five years, whichever came first.

The contract for the EGMS expired in July 2022, but KRA was forced to stick with the Swiss firm pending the clearance of a debt estimated at about Sh4billion.

Under the contract, Sicpa prints and supplies excise stamps complete with a track and trace system. It also includes the delivery of an integrated production accounting system.

An official document seen by Business Daily showed that Sicpa SA was, on August 14, 2024, awarded a symbolic Sh1,010 deal to supply the taxman with excise stamps for a year until August 14, 2025. The contract was awarded through a direct procurement arrangement.

Norwegian State-owned fund Norfund is angling for small-ticket deals as it looks to deepen its appetite for businesses in Kenya and the rest of Africa, which are scouting to raise capital away from commercial bank financing.

The fund said that it will trim its transaction ticket size to about Sh645 million ($5 million) from the standard Sh2.6 billion ($20 million) to unlock opportunities for a wider pool of Kenya’s budding medium-sized businesses to access growth capital.

‘Ticket size is a conundrum in the sense that when we invest close to one billion US dollars every year, it’s hard to deploy it if you do in ticket sizes of one, two or three million US dollars because you will end up having far too many companies to follow up’ Norfund CEO, Tellef Thorleifsson, told Business Daily in an interview.

‘Right now, we do this by investing in funds that then invest in smaller companies, but my team here in Nairobi is pushing for smaller tickets, and we try to do that at times because there are not that many homegrown companies that can take up large financing’, he added.

Since its inception in 1997, Norfund has made investments worth Sh80.3 billion in Kenya, with some of its notable undertakings being a significant shareholder in Equity Group through Arise B.V and also being a shareholder in I and M Group.

Norfund in 2023 also entered the African textile industry for the first time with two investments in Kenya. It made a Sh1.6 billion ($12.5 million) investment in textile and apparel manufacturing firm-Balaji Group, which operates from the Export Processing Zone.

Norfund also made a Sh1.8billion ($14million) investment in Hela Apparel Holdings PLC to support additional investment in its Kenyan manufacturing facility and build a sustainable local supply chain in East Africa.

The fund said it plans to increasingly structure deals that directly fit the needs of the Kenyan and African market as opposed to relying on indirect channels, such as through investee commercial banks, to invest in medium and small-sized firms.

Mr Thorleifsson said that by targeting the deployment of more small-ticket capital, Norfund looks to have a greater catalytic impact on the region’s funding needs.

‘What we have been told is that when we have invested in a company, it provides a stamp of approval because people then know that there is a large shareholder with deep pockets that will be there to support the company going forward,’ he said.

Unlike most development finance institutions that extend financing to businesses through debt, Norfund is designed to provide equity.

‘Our structure is such that we are not leveraged on the balance sheet, we don’t take on debt in the holding company like most other development finance institutions,” the CEO said.

As such, we are more like an evergreen investment fund and don’t have to produce stable returns and can take a higher risk and therefore do more of equity financing,’ the CEO said.

‘Our approach varies depending on the deal, but we typically 30 percent of a transaction in debt and 70 percent in equity,’ Mr Thorleifsson added.

Heroin trade and financial crimes ranked Kenya fourth in Africa for cross-border crimes, underscoring how the country’s position as East Africa’s logistics and financial hub is also turning it into a high-value transit and laundering corridor for organised networks.

Data from the ENACT Organised Crime Index shows Kenya’s criminality score rose to 7.18 in 2025, up from 6.14 in 2019, placing it 4th in Africa and 1st in East Africa. The criminality score ranges from 1 to 10, with higher figures indicating acute law-breaking.

Kenya’s ranked behind the Democratic Republic of Congo (7.47), South Africa (7.43) and Nigeria (7.32).

Kenya’s position reflects the growing sophistication and diversification of criminal markets operating alongside the formal economy.

These markets exploit Kenya’s role as a regional transport and logistics hub, using ports, highways and warehousing networks that also serve legitimate trade.

The ENACT Organised Crime Index under the Institute for Security Studies, Interpol and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime measures organised crime across Africa and assesses countries’ resilience to criminal activity.

ENACT ranks countries using two measures: a criminality score (1-10) reflecting the scale of illicit markets and criminal actors, and a resilience score assessing the ability of institutions to prevent and respond to organised crime.

At the core of Kenya’s illicit economy are human trafficking and smuggling, the heroin trade, cyber and financial crimes, each scoring 8 out of 10. The heroin trade exemplifies Kenya’s vulnerability to Indian Ocean trafficking routes, with criminal networks exploiting maritime corridors and inland distribution channels that replicate legitimate supply lines.

The report reads: “From South-West Asia to Kenya, especially in or near Mombasa, there have been multiple seizures of hundreds of kilograms on ships in the Indian Ocean. This shows how important Mombasa is to the heroin trade.”

After two days at sea, the luxurious MV Crystal Symphony cruise ship docked at Mahe port in Seychelles at 8am, carrying an estimated 600 passengers, Kenyans among them.

But what made this voyage special was not just the popping of the champagne or the sea breeze.

For the first time, Kenyans did not need to fly to Europe or South Africa to begin their cruise holiday. The journey began at home; a drive or a 45-minute flight from Nairobi to Mombasa was all it took to step aboard.

The sail from Mombasa as a ‘start’ marked a historic shift. For decades, Mombasa had served merely as a brief stopover for Crystal Symphony and many other international cruise liners, but this time around, it was a ‘start’ for 13 nights toward its final ‘end’ in Mumbai, India.

‘Crystal Symphony’ had departed Mombasa on the evening of January 5 at 6pm, and by day 4 passengers stepped onto Mahé, one of largest and most vibrant island known for its powder-soft beaches, electric-blue waters with marine life, and mountains.

Here, 10 shore excursions awaited. Some guests headed the local Victoria market. Others wanted to try out Creole cuisines.

At 5am the following day, it was all hands back on deck as Crystal Symphony eased back into open waters. A good camera came in handy for the breathtaking scenes of the two mini-islands. Three days later, the ship glided into the Maldives for an overnight stay before continuing on Day 9 toward Asia.

Sri Lanka was the next destination, arriving on January 15, Day 11. Two days after that, the voyage reached its grand finale on Day 13, with Crystal Symphony docking in Mumbai, completing an oceanic trail that stretched from the Kenyan coast.

For the 13 nights from Mombasa to Mumbai, guests paid from $7,800 (Sh998,000) per person or $9,100 (Sh1.2 million if one preferred a double guest room with other luxuries.

Today, January 28, Crystal Symphony sets sail once again, this time beginning a fresh voyage from Mumbai, with Mombasa as its final destination on February 6.

The liner has mapped out five voyages in 2026 alone that will either start or end in Mombasa, the highest number of sailings the ship has ever planned, with the Mombasa port as more than a stopover.

But Crystal Symphony isn’t the only ultra-luxury liner cruising on this newly charted Indian Ocean trail.

Azamara is set to begin a Mombasa-to-Cape Town voyage in April, with prices starting at $5,839 (Sh750,000). Meanwhile, Crystal Symphony’s longer-haul adventures stretch even further.

Its Mombasa-to-Tokyo voyage in February spans 58 nights across 40 ports, with prices starting at $28,600 (Sh4 million). For those seeking something shorter, the Mombasa-to-Singapore sail launching next month starts at $13,500 (Sh1.7 million) for ocean-view rooms, $16,300 (Sh2 million) for balcony cabins, and $18,900 (Sh2.4 million) for suites.

‘For someone with a bit of spare change lying around, a cruise from Mombasa to Seychelles at $5,600 (Sh716,000) per person for nine nights isn’t a bad deal. The fare covers accommodation, meals, onboard entertainment, and travel across 12 ports in four countries along the East African coast and the Indian Ocean,’ says Hellon Eugene, a luxury travel agent.

Of course, there are extras to budget for, like the shore excursions, drinks, gratuities, travel insurance, and any required visas.

‘If your sole goal is to get to Seychelles, flying is cheaper and faster. But if you value the journey, the variety of destinations, and slow, immersive travel, then a cruise is absolutely worth it. The real value of such cruises is the experience, waking up in a different port almost every day, exploring multiple countries without packing and unpacking, and enjoying a floating hotel that moves with you,’ Eugene adds.

For Hellon , having Mombasa serving as a homeport could ignite curiosity among Kenyans and East Africans who have never considered life at sea.

‘It gives people in the region a chance to explore 14 or so ports in East Africa, something very few people globally have done,’ he says.

There is, however, a small trade-off. With cruises starting or ending abroad, passengers still need to budget for a flight back home.

But Ruhan sees the balance tilting in favour of Kenyans.

‘You save on international flights, foreign hotel stays, and visa fees. You can get to places like Tanzania, Madagascar, and Seychelles without a visa. If you start your cruise in Europe or the US, you have to factor in flights, hotels, transfers, and all the small costs people don’t see until they add up. Starting from Mombasa cuts a lot of that out,’ he says.

Despite the excitement about Mombasa finally becoming a start of luxury cruise sails, Ruhan remains cautiously optimistic.

‘The East African cruise market is new. There isn’t enough data yet to clearly predict trends. It might take a few years to understand the impact, but this is a good sign. Not many international cruise lines have been keen on this market.’

He also notes that prices are still on the higher side.

‘In Europe, you can find cruises starting at around $1,000 (Sh130,000). From Mombasa to Seychelles, you’re looking at around $5,000 (Sh640,000).’

‘This region has largely been unexplored by cruises. The more ships dock here, the more locals will start to see cruising as something worth paying attention to.’

International tour agent James Wambui agrees, with one caveat.

‘This route makes the most sense for smaller cruise ships. Many mega-liners, like Royal Caribbean, are simply too big to dock in most African ports, including Mombasa, and that is why they don’t sail here.’

However, from where June Chepkemei, the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) CEO sits, this ‘baby step’ is a bold statement of intent. According to her, homeporting changes everything.

‘When Mombasa serves as a homeport, passengers spend at least two nights in our hotels before embarkation, and often more after the cruise. The economic multiplier effect is substantial,’ says June.

More importantly, she adds, it reshapes Kenya’s image on the global cruise map. ‘We move from being just another exotic stopover to a recognised cruise hub. That attracts investment, creates jobs, and positions us competitively against regional players like Mauritius and Seychelles. But it doesn’t end there, many are adding three to four-day safari extensions, which means revenue flowing to destinations such as Maasai Mara, Amboseli and Tsavo, not just the coast.’

The Auditor-General has faulted the pharmaceutical regulator over its low staffing levels, even as audit findings show that the State agency has fallen short across virtually all its key performance targets, including licensing, product monitoring and drug safety.

An audit of operations and finances of Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) revealed that the State body was understaffed by 46.6 percent, with 164 positions remaining unfilled despite management having received approval from the board to recruit.

In her audit report for the financial year ending June 2025, Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu noted that the regulator’s board had approved a staff establishment of 352 positions.

‘However, only one hundred and eighty-eight (188) were in post, resulting in an understaffing of one hundred and sixty-four (164) positions,’ said Ms Gathungu.

‘In the circumstances, the effectiveness of the board with the existing staff deficits could not be confirmed,’ she added. The PPB is the country’s statutory regulator for pharmacy practice, medicines and medical products, meaning it is responsible for ensuring that medicines sold and used in Kenya are safe, effective and properly handled.

Ms Gathungu also noted that the PPB had not been able to meet all of its key performance targets, an underperformance that may have been aggravated by persistent staff shortages.

On regulation of pharmaceutical premises and professionals, the PPB had set a target of 100 percent compliance but achieved only 85 percent. On pharmacovigilance -the monitoring of adverse drug reactions- the regulator planned a 20 percent increase but managed only a 12 percent improvement.

The board had targeted subjecting 1,200 samples to Post-Market Surveillance (PMS) but managed to test only 750, leaving a shortfall of 450 samples.

On overseas drug factory quality inspections, formally known as Foreign Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) inspections, the target was 25 facilities, but only 10 were inspected during the period under review.

There was also a plan to train 200 officers, but only 10 were trained, translating to a dismal achievement rate of five percent.

The underperformance comes at a time when the country is grappling with unsafe medicines, including counterfeit drugs and the mushrooming of unregulated chemists, developments that put millions of patients at risk.

A previous report by Ms Gathungu’s office revealed that drugs worth more than Sh49 million were issued to public hospitals without undergoing mandatory quality testing in the 2023/24 financial year, increasing the likelihood that patients were exposed to substandard or unsafe medicines.

This means that thousands of patients seeking care in public hospitals across the country may have received untested medical drugs, in breach of national health and safety protocols.

In Kenya, the pharmaceutical black market is estimated at Sh15 billion, depriving the government of critical revenue needed for healthcare financing and effective regulatory enforcement.

The Pharmacy and Poisons Act mandates the National Quality Control Laboratory (NQCL) to examine and test drugs and any material or substance from which medicines may be manufactured, processed or treated. The laboratory is also responsible for ensuring quality control of drugs and medicinal substances.

The NQCL issues a certificate of analysis for every sample of drugs tested and approved for use in the country.

Despite these safeguards, substandard medicines are routinely recalled from the market. In 2023, for instance, counterfeit antibiotics and painkillers were seized from informal pharmacies in Nairobi, posing serious risks to consumers.

In December 2024, the PPB also quarantined cancer injections over quality concerns, highlighting weaknesses in quality assurance systems.

In April 2025, the regulator recalled several medicines, including paracetamol and Augmentin, due to colour changes, packaging errors or evidence of counterfeiting -failures that pose significant health risks to patients.

Employment and Labour Relations Court has stopped the recruitment of teachers for senior schools in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, and Lamu counties after three tutors claimed they have been serving in the volatile areas on contract expecting to be absorbed permanently.

The trio claims that they are being subjected to a fresh recruitment for jobs they have been performing, unlike their counterparts serving as interns in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS), who are being moved to permanent terms without re-application.

Teachers Service Commission advertised the recruitment of teachers to fill 2,082 ‘Attrition Vacancies’ in senior schools in November 2025.

The teachers, however, said the “Attrition Vacancies” is factually incorrect and misleading and their employer is attempting to recruit new staff to perform duties that they are competently performing.

‘That pending the hearing of this application, this honorable court is pleased to issue an interim conservatory order staying the recruitment process advertised by the respondent vide the advertisement titled.,’ the court said.

The court directed lawyer Charles Mwalimu to serve the court documents upon TSC, who will have seven days to file its response.

The case will be heard on February 9. The three teachers argued that subjecting them to a fresh process yet those in JSS are being absorbed on permanent basis is a blatant violation of the constitution on freedom from discrimination.

‘It is within public knowledge that the respondent has simultaneously been confirming Junior Secondary School (JSS) interns to permanent terms to ensure continuity, while subjecting the Petitioners, who serve in hardship zones, to fresh recruitment for their own jobs. This differential treatment violates Article 27 of the constitution (Freedom from Discrimination),’ Mr Titus Kyalo Kilonzo said.

Mr Kilonzo said he was appointed to the position of Secondary Teacher II (Grade C2) in June 2023, on a contractual basis for a period of three years.

His colleagues were similarly employed on diverse dates between 2020 and 2023 to serve in Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera and Lamu counties on contract terms.

He said a perusal of the specific vacancies listed for Garissa County in the said advertisement reveals that the TSC intended to recruit a teacher for the exact position he currently holds.

‘I am the current holder of this position. There is no vacancy at the station caused by natural attrition, retirement, or death. The “vacancy” is an artificial creation designed to unlawfully terminate my services by replacing me with a new recruit,’ he said.

The teachers alleged that the pattern of “constructive dismissal by re-advertisement” was replicated across the region, affecting other teachers.

‘It is therefore in the interests of justice, public policy, and constitutional protection of human dignity, equality, and the right to fair labor practices, that the conservatory orders be granted urgently to preserve the status quo and prevent grave injustice,’ the teachers stated in the petition.

Knowledge is power, and in finance, this is especially true. Across East Africa, access to financial products has grown, yet insurance penetration remains low.

In Kenya, it stands at just under 2.5 percent, highlighting the untapped potential for financial protection and risk management. Barriers include affordability and lack of understanding, leaving many households exposed to financial risk.

Financial literacy goes beyond saving or investing. It equips individuals to plan for retirement, protect their families, and make choices that lead to long-term stability. For businesses, it strengthens decision-making, resource management, and risk planning, supporting sustainable growth.

The consequences of financial illiteracy are real. Families without insurance may face devastating setbacks from illness, accidents, or death, while entrepreneurs lacking financial knowledge struggle to grow their businesses.

By contrast, financially literate individuals and organisations can navigate uncertainty, invest wisely, and secure their futures.

Closing the knowledge gap requires early and continuous education.

Schools, communities, and workplaces should provide training in financial planning, savings, and insurance. Technology can support this by offering accessible platforms and resources for informed decision-making.

At Jubilee Life Insurance, our financial literacy programmes target all ages, with a focus on children. Initiatives such as the Art Competition and the Kenya Music Festival teach young learners practical financial concepts in engaging ways, while also promoting creativity.

Educating the next generation has a ripple effect, fostering financial responsibility that strengthens families and communities.

Sustainable growth at household, business, and national levels depends on knowledge.

Understanding tools that protect and grow wealth allows people to reduce vulnerability and drive progress. Financial literacy is not just a skill- it is the cornerstone of a stable, resilient, and empowered society.