Category: Business Daily

He had grand ideas about turning around the airline and growing it to comfortable profitability. Although he knew it would not be easy, he was determined to attempt what several CEOs before him had failed to achieve.

Eight months later, Capt. Kamal has flown away from KQ, leaving behind an ambitious turnaround agenda he believed was within reach.

When he resigned last week, he told Business Daily that he had not given up on those ambitions, but had a personal family matter that required him to be at home in Egypt.

Business Daily just a week before his departure, he had said his dreams for KQ were within grasp. His exit now leaves those ambitions unfinished, at least for the moment.

Dr Kamal’s stint at KQ, however short, was unique. He was the first pilot to run the airline, and one of the few career pilots to rise to the C-suite of a major carrier. At KQ, he had become the highest-ranking pilot, serving as Chief Operations Officer before taking the top job.

His path to the C-suite was unusual for a career pilot. After beginning his career as a pilot in the United States more than 30 years ago, Mr Kamal pursued a bachelor’s degree in Egypt, determined to build a life beyond the cockpit.

When the aviation industry was upended by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, while working as head of operations at Air Arabia in the United Arab Emirates, he enrolled for a Master of Science degree in Aviation Management at London Metropolitan University. He graduated in January 2023, two months before joining KQ.

He went on to obtain a PhD in Business Administration from Clermont School of Business in France, graduating in July this year.

Dr Kamal joined KQ as COO in March 2023 from Iraqi Airways, where he was Chief Executive and Operations Officer. Other than EgyptAir, where he worked as an Airbus A330 and A300/600 first officer, most of his career had been outside Africa. And part of the reason he took the KQ role was to return home.

‘I am African myself, and I strongly believe in African aviation and in connecting Africa better with itself and with the rest of the world. KQ has always had an important place in African aviation, and I felt my experience could contribute to its journey,’ he told Business Daily.

By the time he arrived at KQ, Dr Kamal had already built a career across several major airlines. At Etihad, he progressed from Airbus A330 first officer to Airbus A320 and Boeing 777 captain before leaving as head of quality operations and safety. He then moved to Air Arabia and later Iraqi Airways.

But it is his stint at KQ that has left the most indelible mark on him, he says. Although it lasted just over three years out of more than three decades in aviation, leaving was going to be ‘difficult.’

‘Leaving comes with mixed feelings. Professionally, I feel proud of the journey and grateful for the trust that was placed in me. Personally, it is difficult to leave KQ, difficult to leave your family, difficult to leave a place that became home,’ he said.

His stint at KQ was not an easy one. Soon after joining the carrier, he was confronted by one of its most persistent problems: a reputation for unreliability caused by flight delays and cancellations.

Dr Kamal helped streamline the carrier’s operations, with KQ recording an operating profit of Sh10.5 billion in 2023 and significantly improving its on-time performance. The airline completed at least 72 percent of its flights on time that year, overtaking arch-rival Ethiopian Airlines as Africa’s most punctual flag carrier.

In 2024, his first full year as operations lead, KQ posted a larger operating profit of Sh16.6 billion which contributed to its first net income of Sh5.4 billion after more than a decade in the red.

The national carrier plunged into a net loss of Sh17.1 billion last year. By then, Dr Kamal was facing a different challenge: keeping flights uninterrupted with 20 percent less capacity.

This year has been his most difficult assignment yet. Not only was he running the airline, but global disruptions linked to the US and Israel war on Iran compounded the problems already bedevilling KQ, pushing up costs and widening its losses.

Through the difficult days, Dr Kamal says his colleagues at KQ, who practically became his family, made an otherwise difficult job easier.

‘We went through challenges, difficult days and also some great moments together. I learnt a lot, and I am proud of what we achieved as one team,’ he said.

But as he exits just months shy of a year on the job, he leaves a critical question and the biggest test of his tenure unanswered: Does a career pilot make a better airline manager –and could it be what KQ needs?

Dr Kamal did not stay long enough to see through his vision for KQ. But he remains certain the airline will get there, regardless of who is at the helm.

‘I will always have a special connection to Kenya Airways, and I genuinely want to see KQ continue to grow and succeed and it will,’ he said.

The latest phase of the dispute followed the appointment of joint administrators on August 10, 2026, with Infinity subsequently obtaining interim orders that resulted in the administrators leaving the premises on August 27.

The company is now awaiting further directions from the High Court, with another hearing scheduled for October 5. Also pending is an application to cite the bank’s directors with contempt of court.

The loan was advanced in 2019 to finance the development of Infinity Industrial Park, including infrastructure and warehouses at Njiru on the Eastern Bypass. The facility was secured against several properties, including the industrial park land.

Infinity managing director and chairman Ashok Rupshi Shah said in court documents that the company borrowed the money when the economy was performing strongly and proceeded with the first phase of the project despite the disruption caused by Covid-19.

Court documents show Infinity completed the first phase in 2021 despite the pandemic and continued servicing the facility using income from other sources and proceeds from the sale of other assets.

By December 2023, the company said it had repaid about Sh500 million in principal and approximately Sh800 million in interest.

However, the pandemic, followed by the 2022 election year, disrupted the company’s cash flows and projections.

Mr Shah said Infinity subsequently sought restructuring of the facility and additional financing to develop more warehouses, but the requests were not approved.

The company claims that failure to obtain a partial discharge of about 15 acres, including 10 acres earmarked for a second cluster of warehouses, prevented it from securing additional financing for the development.

Infinity says the second cluster would have comprised 50 warehouses and generated an additional cash flow of about Sh2 billion.

The company also alleges that the bank delayed for about 14 months in discharging a title after a change of user had been approved, preventing it from transferring warehouses that had already been sold and restricting its ability to generate revenue.

The bank disputed the allegations in earlier proceedings, arguing that Infinity was in default and that the lender was entitled to retain the security until the debt was repaid.

In one of the applications, the bank said Infinity had failed to pay Sh55.94 million in interest on time, causing the facility to become non-performing.

The court at that stage found that the loan and charge documents entitled the bank to hold the security until the debt was settled. It also held that Infinity’s allegations concerning delays involved contested facts that should be determined at trial rather than through an interim application.

The court declined to order the release of land or withdrawal of credit listings, noting that such orders amounted to mandatory injunctions requiring an unusually strong and clear case.

Infinity later filed a separate suit in June 2024 seeking damages from the bank.

According to court records, the bank did not file its defence within the prescribed period despite several court appearances and reminders. On September 8, 2025, the High Court entered default judgment in favour of Infinity in terms of prayers in its plaint, including a claim for special damages of about Sh2.996 billion.

Bank of Baroda subsequently applied to have the judgment set aside but the application was dismissed on July 31, 2026. The court found that the bank had been given an opportunity to file its defence but failed to comply before the pre-trial conference.

The bank had argued that its intended defence raised triable issues concerning, among other matters, a replacement charge over the industrial park property, the amount secured and a statutory notice relating to a Sh2 billion claim.

The court, however, held that the existence of triable issues did not by itself justify reopening the case.

Infinity says the judgment also contained a permanent injunction restraining the bank from advertising for sale, selling or disposing of the Njiru property, taking possession of it, appointing receivers or administrators, or otherwise interfering with the property.

The company argues that the bank subsequently breached the order when it issued an insolvency notice on August 10, 2026 and appointed Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao and Swaroop Rao Ponangipalli as joint administrators.

‘That notwithstanding its knowledge of the subsisting judgment and order of the court and barely ten (10) days after its application to set aside the judgment was dismissed, the Defendant/Respondent, purported on 10th August 2026 to appoint Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao and Swaroop Rao Ponangipalli as Joint Administrators over the whole property and affairs of the Plaintiff in direct contravention of the default judgment,’ Mr Shah said in an affidavit filed in court.

The administrators entered the industrial park on August 11 and took possession of Infinity’s offices and records, according to the company.

In its application Infinity says its employees were immediately terminated and that its offices were locked, disrupting services to the 31 companies operating within the industrial park.

The company claims the takeover caused significant reputational damage, particularly after notices were published indicating that the industrial park was under administration.

The administrators remained at the property for about 17 days as the parties returned to court.

Infinity subsequently challenged the appointment and sought orders restoring the previous position.

‘That immediately following the purported appointment, the alleged administrators proceeded on 11th August 2026 to assert control over the plaintiff’s affairs, demand possession and control of its assets, title documents, books and records, displace the authority of its directors and take steps affecting its employees, thereby demonstrating that the impugned appointment was being actively implemented,’ he said.

In a ruling concerning a preliminary objection, the court held that the appointment of the administrators had taken legal effect upon the lodging of the notice on August 11.

However, the court declined to strike out Infinity’s challenge altogether, instead allowing the company to withdraw the application and file a properly instituted application.

‘Fairness demands that the Company be given the opportunity to have its grievance heard properly. I will therefore extend a lifeline to the Company. It may withdraw the present application and file a proper one, correctly instituted, within 14 days,’ said the court.

The court said the underlying issues surrounding the validity of the appointment remained open for determination.

Infinity has separately argued that the appointment was made in breach of the earlier injunction and has sought to have Bank of Baroda’s directors and the administrators cited for contempt.

The company says the bank relied on an alleged debt of about Sh2.2 billion to justify the administration, despite Infinity holding a judgment for special damages of about Sh2.996 billion against the lender.

Mr Shah, who is also the majority shareholder, says he has a personal interest in the dispute because he guaranteed loans advanced to the company.

He argues that the administration would have deprived him of the benefits of the judgment and affected his obligations arising from the guarantees.

Infinity says the industrial park currently supports about 1,000 jobs, with the potential to create about 20,000 direct jobs and 50,000 indirect jobs when fully occupied.

The company estimates the value of the property at more than Sh10 billion, based on a valuation commissioned by the bank, against an outstanding debt that it puts at about Sh1.5 billion.

Bank of Baroda has denied the characterisation of the dispute, maintaining that the company remains indebted to the lender and that its rights as a secured creditor have not been extinguished by the court proceedings.

Kenya has reduced expensive thermal power on the national grid to avoid burdening consumers with steep electricity prices even as fears deepen over Kenya Power’s ability to meet a fast-rising demand.

An analysis of electricity supply data shows Kenya Power tapped 646.46 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of thermal power, an equivalent of 8.1 percent of the total electricity bought from producers in the six months ended June 2026. This was a drop compared to the 727.16 million kWh (10 percent) tapped in the same period last year.

The drop in the costly thermal power coincided with a jump in electricity imports to 973.8 million kWh, or 12.3 percent of the total electricity available to Kenya Power, up from 743.92 million kWh, or 10 percent in the six months to June 2025. Kenya Power has increasingly leaned on Ethiopia to avoid tapping more of the costly thermal power.

Kenya Power recently revealed that it has been forced to ration power when demand peaks in the evening to ensure a balance in supply and demand and avert a collapse of the grid.

An increase in consumption has left Kenya Power with the twin headaches of meeting demand without hitting consumers with steep electricity bills.

Electricity prices marginally rose last month, underscoring the impact of the reduced use of thermal power despite a rise in two of the biggest variables used to determine power prices.

For example, the price of 200kWh of power slightly rose to Sh5,658.80 last month from Sh5,648.30 in July, while the cost of 50kWh marginally increased to Sh1,289.47 from Sh1,286.64 in the same period.

A rise in the fuel surcharge and forex adjustment- the two biggest variables in monthly power bills-triggered the marginal increase in electricity prices last month. The power bills could have been significantly higher last month had Kenya Power tapped more thermal power.

Fuel surcharge, technically called Fuel Cost Charge (FCC), and forex adjustment are the two biggest fluctuating components in the monthly prices of electricity. The biggest component is the base tariff, which is reviewed every three years and varies across different consumption bands.

FCC covers the cost of using heavy fuel oil and diesel to generate electricity by thermal power plants, while forex covers power purchase agreements and loans denominated in hard currencies like US dollars.

Thermal power is the costliest source of electricity in Kenya, with a kWh costing $0.27 (Sh35.09) on average last year compared to $0.07 for a unit of imported hydropower and $0.025 for a kWh of locally-produced hydropower.

Increased imports from Ethiopia were integral in increasing the amount of electricity supplied to Kenya Power by eight percent to 7.88 billion kWh in the six months to June this year.

High usage of thermal power coupled with costly fuel can significantly hit consumers with steep monthly power bills, a scenario that the government is keen to avoid and contain public outcry over costly living ahead of next year’s General Elections.

Kenya Power has since opted to tap more hydropower from Ethiopia and plug the gap that could have otherwise been filled by the expensive thermal power, especially in the evening when demand peaks.

The utility has a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement with the Ethiopia Electric Power to import 200Megawatts (MW) at peak and 65MW during off-peak, which will rise to 400MW and 150MW from December this year.

Additionally, Kenya Power has an electricity exchange deal with Uganda Electricity Generation Company and Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited, where the net-importing utility pays the other.

Foreign investors cashed in on shares worth Sh4.55 billion on the Nairobi stock market in August, taking advantage of a rally in blue-chip share prices to secure profits on their investment.

The August net sales, which rose from Sh1.35 billion in July, represented the biggest monthly foreign outflow in 10 months.

Market trade data shows that their net sales accelerated in the second half of last month, coinciding with the period when stocks such as Safaricom, Equity Group, KCB Group and Co-operative Bank of Kenya touched multi-year or all-time highs.

Safaricom, the largest company on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), is trading at Sh37.65 a share, representing a gain of 33 percent since the beginning of the year.

Equity touched an all-time closing high of Sh106 on Friday, having climbed 57 percent since January, while KCB touched an all-time high of Sh99.25 on Wednesday, translating to a 49 percent gain in the year to date.

The foreign traders usually concentrate their activities on these select large and liquid stocks, alongside others such as Co-operative Bank of Kenya and East African Breweries Plc (EABL) that have the necessary liquidity to support easy purchase and sale of large volumes of shares.

The stocks being offloaded by foreigners have been bought by local corporate investors, primarily cash-rich fund managers and pension funds that have been diversifying from government bonds whose interest rates have declined.

Latest data from the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) shows that in the six months to June 2026, pension funds raised their investment in listed equities by Sh130.51 billion to Sh443.35 billion, an increase of 41.7 percent.

This increase lifted equities’ share of total pension assets to a five-year high of 14.37 percent, from 11.13 percent at the end of last year.

At the same time, they cut their exposure in government securities by Sh35.14 billion, or 2.4 percent, to Sh1.43 trillion from Sh1.47 trillion.

The shift to equities investments has coincided with a strong recovery on the NSE, supported by improved corporate earnings, dividend payouts and renewed local investor confidence in the stock market.

For foreign investors, this has created a good opportunity to exit the market at premium prices, rewarding those who entered the market during the bear run between 2015 and 2023.

That lean period at the market was characterised by local investor apathy, leaving foreign investors to dominate trading with participation ratios of up to 80 percent.

Foreign investors are also looking at improving returns from assets in developed markets -particularly the US- as interest rates rise due to higher global inflation caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

The higher rates, combined with the dollar’s status as a safe haven currency in times of global geopolitical shocks, has led to some investors pulling capital from riskier emerging and frontier markets like Kenya.

The NSE has also seen more of its stocks gain visibility among foreign investors due to the inclusion of additional stocks in the closely watched Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) emerging and frontier market indices, amplifying foreign inflows and outflows.

Kenya’s NSE is represented by 17 companies on the MSCI frontier and small caps indices that are selected based on a number of metrics including liquidity and financial stability, giving them the exposure to the foreign investors that boosts their price discovery.

Safaricom, Equity, EABL, KCB, Co-op Bank and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya are listed on the MSCI frontier markets index, as at the most recent review of May 2026.

BAT Kenya, KenGen, Kenya Re, Kenya Power, DTB Group, Carbacid, Bamburi Cement, Jubilee Holdings, CIC Insurance Group, Centum Investment and HF Group are on the MSCI frontier markets small cap index.

Other countries included on the frontier markets indices are Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Mauritius and Côte d’Ivoire.

South Africa, which has the largest and most liquid stock market in Africa, and Egypt, are classified as emerging markets by the MSCI.

The difference between Frieda Kimanga’s physique last year and the one she carries today is striking. At 40, Ms Kimanga has managed to reshape her body in a way that takes more than simply spending hours in the gym. It is the result of consistency, discipline, and, perhaps most importantly, patience.

This is not to suggest that she was out of shape last year when she spent much of her time weightlifting and strength training. Even an eight-month battle to rehabilitate a nasty knee injury, which forced her to significantly scale back her physical activity, didn’t hamstring her from staying true to the cause, making her latest transformation all the more remarkable.

Today, she looks leaner and more agile, with noticeably less body fat and muscles that are sharply defined. And then there are the abs, peeking through as perhaps the most visible evidence of what she has been working towards since January of this year.

‘I am a mother of three children, by the way. How many mothers do you know who spot abs at this age, even those who are much younger than myself?’ she says, laughing.

She insists her current physique is less about chasing youth but rather about what the body can still do at 40 if you put your mind to it.

Before sustaining the injury when she was knocked by a speeding motorcycle, ironically, while on her way to the gym, Ms Kimanga had spent years weightlifting and strength training, building a muscular physique that came with regularly early morning runs and lifting weights in the evening.

The injury required surgery to fix, accounting for the eight months when she could hardly do as much. The injury had left her unable to walk without support. For eight weeks, she needed help getting into bed and even going to the bathroom. The rehabilitation would stretch much further, with physiotherapy, mobility, and strength conditioning taking significant time for her recovery.

For someone whose lifestyle had become intertwined with movement, being forced to slow down was particularly difficult, both mentally and physiologically draining.

‘I was just working on healing, doing just small exercises,’ she says. ‘But even that small exercise, when you’re not 100 per cent, looks like a mountain because of the pain I had to cope with.’

The enforced inactivity came with another unwelcome consequence, where Ms Kimanga gained 14 kilos, up from 63kg.

She attributes the weight gain during recovery to medication, reduced activity, and increased food intake.

‘I used to run in the morning, and then I would go to the gym in the evening to lift weights,’ she says. ‘So you see, I was very proactive. With recovery, I was doing something for like 30 minutes of very basic light exercise or zero. In fact, I started from zero progressively.’

The weight gain was difficult to reconcile. It was a far cry from the woman who had started her fitness journey in 2018 after a rather brutal reality check by her daughter, who was four then.

‘For me, my fitness journey began one random day when my daughter said to me, ‘Mom, why do you have a big stomach? Are you having another baby?’ Ms Kimanga recalls.

The comment stung. The following day, she looked for a gym. At the time, she weighed 87kg and at 5ft 2, that was obese by every measure. For long, she had argued like most mothers do and had largely accepted the idea that childbirth meant her body would never quite return to its previous form.

‘I thought once you give birth, you’ll never go back to when you’re like a small girl, most mothers argue so. So I think I was comfortable with that misconception.’

The first few weeks at the gym were brutal as her body tried to adjust to the new routine. She remembers crying almost every day and, on her first day of working out years earlier, even fainting. But she kept showing up.

Within six weeks, friends began noticing that she was losing weight. By 2019, a year after starting, she had lost 30kgs weighing 59kg.

No punishing diet, starving

Even then, her approach was not built around punishing diets or starving herself, but she still weighed her food, ate clean and exercised consistently, but allowed herself the occasional indulgence.

‘I don’t go for extreme diets, ooh! I love food so much, so what I did is eat small portions, but as often,’ she says. ‘I don’t believe in fasting to lose weight. I always argue, why not try a challenge? Take six months, put in the work, and lose the weight slowly. Exercise, fuel your body right. Don’t go for those extreme things where you’re not eating or those extremely expensive diets we now see on social media.’

She laughs at the idea of surviving for days without food while expecting the body to perform at its peak.

‘Without food, how will you get the energy to lift weights at the gym or run an average of 50 kilometres in a week?’

It’s that philosophy that became particularly important as she rebuilt her fitness after the knee injury.

Ms Kimanga is now back to running, having resumed about two months ago, and is training for the Standard Chartered half marathon.

And as she gets to understand her body with age, her current weekday runs are shorter, usually four times a week, while Saturdays are reserved for longer distances of between 18km and 21km.

Weightlifting twice

Weight training, however, has been scaled back. Where she once lifted weights almost every day, she now goes to the gym about twice a week, focusing on strength while giving her body room to recover.

‘I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on myself; I’m doing it just for strength, so that I don’t look emaciated from the runs.’

The numbers tell part of the recovery story. From the 77kg she reached during her rehabilitation, she is now back around 67kg, having lost 10kg since the injury.

But even with her current inspiring physique, Ms Kimanga is quick to point out that she has not yet achieved the physique and fitness level she so much desires.

‘I’m not where I was before surgery, but I’m heading there with the intention of getting even better as I chase the goal of my dream body.’

With age, Ms Kimanga also says she has discovered that getting fitter is no longer simply a matter of pushing harder.

When she was in her 20s, she could attack burpees and cardio sessions with seemingly endless energy. Today, the same workouts require considerably more effort, and recovery has become as important as the workout itself.

‘You have to really study your body, and adjust accordingly as you age,’ she says. ‘You have to sleep early. If you don’t go to sleep early and sleep enough, you can’t perform, especially at this age. In my 20s, I would easily go out partying the entire night and still show up at a workout session the next day and crush it with some zeal. With age, you have to choose your struggle.’

For women, she says, there is another layer to contend with as they age with hormonal changes, including perimenopause, altering how the body performs and responds to exercise.

‘With the lifestyle we have, these days women get into perimenopause as early as 35, something that in the past women used to first experience in their early 40s. So it’s now different from when we were younger.’

Yet she refuses to accept 40 as a line beyond which certain physical ambitions should be abandoned. In fact, she says some of the women who inspire her are older than she is. Her fitness clique includes women in their mid-40s and 50s who run and train alongside her.

‘When I see these people putting in the work and get to hear others go lame arguing that ‘I’m 40. I can’t do this or that,’ I go like, ‘Really?”

Co-operative Bank of Kenya customers tapped Sh2.4 billion worth of digital overdrafts in the seven months to July, reflecting the rising demand for short-term credit to bridge cash shortfalls when paying bills and making purchases.

The lender says the digital lending product, Kamilisha, formally launched in November last year, recorded average monthly disbursements of nearly Sh400 million during the period as more customers used the facility to meet immediate financial needs.

The product allows individuals and businesses to complete transactions when funds are insufficient at a time of paying bills such as house rent, electricity, stock purchases or sending money.

Co-op introduced the overdraft product as part of its push into the growing digital short-term credit market, putting it alongside products offered by rivals including Equity Bank and Safaricom.

Safaricom’s Fuliza and Equity Group’s Boostika also let customers complete transactions even when the money available in their account is insufficient to meet payments.

‘The product’s popularity is driven by its ability to help customers meet short-term financial obligations, address emergencies, and complete transactions when account balances are insufficient. Customers also benefit from a seamless digital experience, with loan limits, borrowing and repayments all digitised,’ Co-op Bank said in response to our queries.

The Sh2.4 billion disbursed between January and July this year brings cumulative Kamilisha lending since its launch to Sh3.3 billion, highlighting the rising uptake of the product less than a year after entering the market.

The lender said the overdraft’s personalised borrowing limits are generated through its digital scoring capabilities, with customer information and transaction behaviour helping to determine access to credit.

‘Co-op Bank’s robust AI-powered credit scoring engine uses customer transaction history and income patterns to allocate borrowing limits, enabling customers to access credit quickly without paperwork,’ said the lender.

The overdraft is part of Co-op’s digital credit offering, which also includes E-Flexi that offers salary advances to customers with salary accounts at the bank. E-Flexi remains Co-op’s larger digital product by volume, disbursing Sh41 billion in the seven months to July.

The bank sees room for further growth of the overdraft product as awareness increases and more already-approved customers begin using the facility.

The two digital credit products have lower default rates when compared to conventional credit, with an average of nine out of every 10 loans disbursed being repaid monthly, according to the bank.

Co-op Bank attributed the repayment performance to customer knowledge, AI-powered know-your-customer processes, and analytics that monitor transaction behaviour and credit performance.

Banks continue to deepen their digital lending offerings to capture demand for small, quick loans that can help customers manage short-term liquidity needs without going through traditional borrowing processes.

KCB partners with Safaricom for KCB-M-Pesa and fuliza loans. NCBA Group, which offers digital loans called M-Shwari, also partners with Safaricom for the Fuliza product.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has called for stronger safeguards from digital platforms and better protection for children as online sexual abuse increasingly takes place on platforms children use every day.

In its latest report, the agency ranked WhatsApp and Facebook as the top digital sites where children are sexually abused in Kenya. WhatsApp was responsible for the largest proportion of reported incidents of online sexual abuse involving children aged 12 to 17, accounting for 53.3 percent of cases, while Facebook accounted for 51.6 percent.

These figures show that abuse is occurring on platforms that children routinely use for communication and socialising.

YouTube was involved in 15.8 percent of incidents, followed by Instagram (14.9 percent), Twitter (7.9 percent) and TikTok (seven percent).

Social media accounted for 61 percent of incidents overall, gaming for 11.6 percent, and 17.9 percent involved an in-person element.

The agency has asked technology companies to strengthen the safeguards on their platforms, including introducing privacy-by-default protections, restricting unsolicited contact from adults, making recommender systems safer and proactively detecting sexual abuse material, including AI-generated content.

The report also calls for stronger laws and enforcement measures, improved reporting and support systems, and greater support for families, schools and communities.

‘We all have a role to play in protecting children online, including governments and technology companies,’ Unicef Executive Director, Catherine Russell, said.

Although the government has developed and adopted policies and enacted laws to protect children, thousands are still exposed to violence and abuse, harmful practices, a lack of parental care, and sexual exploitation.

In Kenya, 66 percent of incidents involved someone known to the child, compared with 17 percent involving a stranger. At the same time, few children report their experiences to the relevant authorities, while less than one percent of cases involving children were reported to the police, a social worker, or a helpline.

This places greater importance on adults and child protection workers who may be the first to notice signs of abuse or receive a disclosure.

Rose Mwangi, Head of Child Online Protection at the State Department for Children’s Services, has previously emphasised the importance of a coordinated approach to protecting children from online abuse.

‘We all play a part in protecting a child. It cannot be left to one single entity; it must be multidisciplinary. We need to be proactive in preventing violations of children’s rights rather than responding to them,’ said Ms Mwangi.

She has also emphasised the need to reach children in the online spaces where they spend their time, saying that the authorities need to ‘find them in their spaces’.

The report estimates that 20 million children aged 12 to 17, or nearly one in five, experienced at least one form of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse in a single year across 21 countries.

‘An estimated 20 million children aged 12 to 17- about one in five of the internet-using children in these countries-were sexually exploited or abused through digital technologies in a single year. They were targeted on the digital platforms they used every day, sometimes by someone they already knew and sometimes by someone they had first met online,’ the report read.

In Kenya, 26.83 percent of children using the internet in the same age group, approximately 1.29 million, experienced at least one form of such abuse. This figure was roughly in line with the average of 26.8 percent recorded across the six Eastern and Southern African countries covered by the study.

Ms Russell said that children in the countries studied had been subjected to unwanted explicit sexual content or exploitation online, often in spaces where they learn, play, and connect with friends.

‘Many children are suffering in silence, unsure where to turn for help,’ she said.

Unicef is calling for child protection systems to provide clearer and safer routes for children to report abuse and access support.

‘Police officers, teachers, social workers and judges require training, resources and coordination to enable them to respond in a child-centred, trauma-informed and effective manner,’ it said.

TikTok said it has introduced safeguards for minors, including restricting certain features for younger users and making accounts for those under 18 private by default. The company also said it uses technology to detect potentially predatory behaviour.

A Ruiru-based sacco wants the High Court to block the three liquidators appointed by the Commissioner for Co-operative Development to liquidate the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Kuscco) and instead appoint an independent insolvency practitioner.

Rupsa Sacco, which is owed Sh108.8 million by Kuscco, says the appointment of the State-picked team threatens existing court orders preserving the entity’s assets. The sacco also raises questions over the independence of the liquidation process.

The High Court on Friday certified Rupsa’s application as urgent and ordered the parties to appear before the court on September 8 for further directions.

The dispute follows the publication of a gazette notice on August 31, through which the Commissioner for Co-operatives, David Obonyo, cancelled Kuscco’s registration and appointed Peter Wanjohi Kiama, Habif Olembo Jesse and Mariann Adam Abubakar as liquidators.

The gazette notice came after Kuscco members on August 28, 2026, voted to liquidate their umbrella body, arguing that this was the only way to ensure equitable sharing of the assets left in the insolvent institution.

The High Court has quashed an Attorney-General’s advisory that found no conflict of interest in Sh69 million worth of fibre-optic contracts awarded to Nightingale (EA) Limited, a company linked to former Communications Authority (CA) chairperson Mary Wambui Mungai.

The court also faulted the Attorney-General for determining the conflict-of-interest question that falls within the mandate of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

‘Although Article 156 (4) designates the Attorney-General as the principal legal adviser to the Government, it does not authorise the Attorney General to usurp or trample on the constitutional role (of EACC),” the court said in ruling on a petition filed by Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek).

The dispute arose from a September 10, 2024 letter by the Communications Authority to the Office of the Attorney-General seeking a legal opinion on an alleged conflict of interest in the procurement and award of the Digital Superhighway Backbone and Metro framework contract to Nightingale (EA) Limited.

This followed concerns over the company’s links to then CA chairperson Mary Wambui Mungai and her daughter.

Solicitor-General Shadrack Mose, in an advisory dated October 1, 2024, concluded that no conflict of interest had arisen because Ms Wambui had resigned as a Nightingale director and shareholder and transferred her shares on December 5, 2022; had not participated in the procurement; and neither she nor her daughter was a director or shareholder when the contract was executed.

The court quashed this advisory and directed the petitioner to first pursue the matter before the EACC, opening a possible legal and investigative chapter in the controversy surrounding the government’s Digital Super Highway fibre-optic tenders.

The case concerned two ICT Authority tenders advertised in February 2023 for the Digital Super Highway-one for last-mile and public Wi-Fi connectivity and the other for backbone and metro connectivity.

The Sh15 billion project was financed through the Universal Service Fund, administered by the Communications Authority. The petition said the first phase would involve 2,500 kilometres of optical fibre and cost Sh5 billion.

The petition concerned the award of two contracts to Nightingale Enterprises Ltd for Sh14.8 million for last-mile and public Wi-Fi connectivity and Sh54.1 million for backbone and metro connectivity.

Cofek challenged the legality of the awards, alleging conflict of interest. It claimed that Nightingale was linked to the then Communications Authority chairperson through her daughter, Evelyn Nyambura Mungai.

Cofek alleged that ownership was shifted through the daughter and later to a business associate after the tender process.

However, Ms Wambui and the Communications Authority maintained that she had resigned and transferred her shares on December 5, 2022, and neither she nor her daughter held interests when the contracts were executed.

Cofek claimed that the ownership changes were intended to conceal the beneficial interest and create a conflict of interest in the procurement.

The lobby group sought declarations that the contracts were unlawful, order to repay money paid to linked entities, and a finding that Ms Wambui had violated the Constitution.

The court, instead, focused on whether the allegations had first been taken to the institution legally equipped to investigate them.

It held that the EACC, rather than the Attorney-General, was the proper body to examine the allegations, including the changes in Nightingale’s shareholding, the alleged use of proxies and the identity of the company’s beneficial owners.

‘The resulting opinion is thus unconstitutional and of no legal effect,’ the court said of the Attorney-General’s October 1, 2024 advisory.

Article 79 establishes EACC to enforce Chapter Six requirements, while Section 13(c) of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act gives it power to investigate on its own initiative or after a complaint.

The Attorney-General remains the Government’s principal legal adviser under Article 156, but that mandate did not allow the office to take over EACC’s work.

The judge rejected Cofek’s attempt to have the court determine the alleged conflict without an EACC investigation.

‘This court is of the view that EACC is the appropriate forum to initiate the complaint for in-depth investigation,’ he said, citing its investigative tools and expertise.

The court identified ownership changes, alleged proxy arrangements, beneficial ownership, and the financial trail after payments as matters EACC could examine.

“The petitioner remains at full liberty to petition the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission for formal investigation. Alternatively, the Commission may, on its own motion, decide to initiate such an investigation,” said the court.

It applied constitutional avoidance and declined to decide whether the procurement was actually affected by conflict of interest.

The ownership history formed the centre of the dispute. COFEK alleged that Nightingale changed its name and shareholding around the tender process, with Ms Wambui’s daughter, Evelyn Nyambura Mungai, holding 70 percent.

Cofek further alleged that Ruth Waithira Kinyanjui later became the holder of 90 percent and was acting as a proxy for Ms Wambui and her daughter.

The respondents denied wrongdoing and said ICT Authority alone handled procurement after Communications Authority transferred that responsibility under a formal arrangement.

They said Ms Wambui and her daughter were not directors or shareholders when the contract was executed, and Ms Wambui did not participate in procurement.

ICTA told the court it received 75 bids and recommended 18 firms. Nightingale was recommended under Lot Six at Sh14.7 million for one tender and Sh54 million for the backbone and metro tender.

Ms Wambui left the Communications Authority in August 2025 after President William Ruto revoked her appointment and replaced her with Charles Karondo, before she was appointed chairperson of the Athi Water Works Development Agency.

Kenya’s insurance penetration climbed to an eight-year high of 2.63 percent last year, lifted by a sharp rise in life insurance premiums that saw long-term covers overtake general insurance for the first time.

The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) data shows that insurance penetration, measured by premiums as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), rose from 2.45 percent in 2024.

This marked the fifth consecutive annual increase and put the indicator at its highest level since 2017 when it stood at 2.68 percent.

The sustained growth has been supported by life insurance, whose pace of growth has been above that of short-term covers over the past nine years. Between 2016 and 2025, life insurance premiums more than tripled to Sh236.29 billion, while general insurance premiums rose 1.85 times to Sh225.38 billion.

‘The growth in life insurance has been driven by product innovation, increased financial awareness and literacy, growing trust through easier claims and maturity payments, government intervention particularly in the pension space, and a shift towards greater personal responsibility for retirement,’ said Daniel Wang’endo, operations manager at Geminia Life Insurance.

He explained that life insurers last year, for instance, introduced or repackaged more than 40 products targeting changing customer needs and generational differences, boosting their relevance in the market.

Life insurance penetration rose to 1.35 percent in 2025 from 1.18 percent a year earlier, overtaking general insurance penetration, which increased marginally to 1.28 percent from 1.26 percent.

Overall insurance penetration fell from the 2017 peak to 2.43 percent in 2018, 2.34 percent in 2019 and 2.17 percent in 2020 before beginning a sustained recovery.

The 2020 decline was partly linked to the rebasing of Kenya’s economy, which increased the size of GDP and thereby reduced insurance premiums as a proportion of economic output. Kenya has rebased its economy seven times, including in 1957, 1967, 1976, 1985, 2005, 2014 and 2020.

The latest rise in penetration coincided with a shift in the structure of the insurance market in favour of life business when it comes to premium income.

Life insurance premiums increased 23.2 percent to Sh236.29 billion in 2025 from Sh191.80 billion a year earlier. Over the same period, IRA data shows general insurance premiums grew 9.93 percent to Sh225.39 billion from Sh205.03 billion.

The two segments generated a combined Sh461.68 billion in premiums, with life business accounting for about 51.2 percent of the market. The ascent of life covers marks a key change in an industry that has traditionally been dominated by short-term covers such as motor and medical insurance.

The growth in life business has increasingly been driven by products linked to long-term savings, pensions and investment as households and employers seek ways of building financial security.

‘The long-term nature of life insurance means there are more long-term funds available. If you start saving for a pension at 25 and access the money at 60, that is a 35-year period. It is money that you are not accessing in the meantime,’ said Mr Wang’endo.

Life premiums grew 20.66 percent in 2023 and another 12.77 percent in 2024 before accelerating to 23.2 percent last year. General insurance, by comparison, grew 14.46 percent in 2023 and 8.08 percent in 2024, before recording 9.93 percent growth last year.

The trend has continued into the first quarter of this year, with long-term insurance premiums rising 36.3 percent to Sh72.87 billion as general covers grew 8.4 percent to Sh81.88 billion.

Deposit administration and investment-linked business were among the major drivers in the first quarter of 2026, with the IRA linking much of the deposit administration growth to the contracting out of tier II National Social Security Fund contributions.

The changing balance between life and general insurance could help deepen penetration further since life products are designed around longer-term savings and protection, giving insurers access to larger and more predictable pools of funds.