Category: Business Daily

KCB Bank Kenya has been directed to release Sh76.8 million belonging to a State agency to transport firm AA Bayusuf and Sons.

The High Court directed the lender to release the amount to the company to settle a debt owed to it by the Northern Water Works Development Agency.

The amount arises from a contract for the Garissa Sewerage Project in 2009.

“Garnishee Order Absolute is hereby granted commanding KCB Bank Limited to forthwith pay Sh76,822,199.82 from the account domiciled at the Garnishee’s Garissa Branch, in satisfaction of the decretal sum due to the Decree Holder (AA Bayusuf and Sons Ltd),” said the court.

The state agency had opposed the application, arguing that it was irregular as AA Bayusuf and Sons had commenced execution proceedings before taxation of costs.

The agency also argued that the move to seek the leave within the application makes the said application defective, irregular and illegal.

According to the Northern Water Works Development Agency, the correct procedure is to first seek permission of the court as required by Section 94 of the Civil Procedure Act.

AA Bayusuf and Sons submitted that Section 94 of the Civil Procedure Act only requires that permission of the court to execute before taxation be sought where the party elects to proceed with execution before costs are assessed by the taxing master.

The firm said there was nothing illegal or irregular in seeking the permission within the same application for execution such as the present application.

The company argued that it is their prerogative whether or not to pursue costs at a later date, and since the court awarded them costs in the matter, nothing stops them from coming back to collect the same once they are ascertained by the court.

“I am in agreement with the Applicant that the object of Garnishee proceedings is to enable the Decree Holder to reach a debt due from the Judgment Debtor, sufficient to satisfy the decree. The only requirement is that the Garnishee is indebted to the Judgment Debtor,” said the court.

The court noted that the debt was admitted and adopted by the court in a decision in June 2025.

The High Court further noted that KCB had confirmed that it was holding funds sufficient to satisfy the said debt in the accounts of the debtor in its Garissa Branch and that there was no one else laying a claim on the funds.

The court said the state agency had the opportunity to file grounds of opposition to the said prayer but made none.

On November 20, 2025, President William Ruto presented a grand vision to transform Kenya from “third world to first world.”

While the aspiration for prosperity is commendable, continued mentioning of the Singapore model as the only benchmark without assimilating her core elements and the use of the outdated “first-third world” framework are fundamentally misguided.

Kenya needs an alternative route to prosperity – one built on foundational values and tailored to its unique context, rather than a flawed foreign blueprint.

The President’s use of “third world” terminology is a demonstration of neocolonialism of the mind and must be clarified. The terms “First World,” “Second World,” and “Third World” originated during the Cold War.

‘First World’ referred to the US and its capitalist, democratic allies. ‘Second World’ was the Soviet Union and its communist allies. ‘Third World’, on the other hand, referred to nations non-aligned with either the ‘First’ or ‘Second’ world blocs.

Clearly, therefore, Kenya was labeled “third world” simply for remaining non-aligned.

Even more clear is that these terms were tools of geopolitical categorisation, not economic destiny. However, they have now been used in a derogatory and simplistic way, perpetuating a colonial-era narrative that success requires abandoning one’s own path for a Western-defined standard of “modernisation.”

For a leader to copy this framework today is a regrettable step backward, unless the President wants Kenya to be taken over by the US.

The current administration champions a “big picture, big money” approach, frequently announcing ambitious, multi-trillion-shilling projects aimed at “joining the league of world class nations.”

However, this focus on colossal budgets misses the tiny, yet essential, fundamentals that actually built Singapore and any thriving economy. These basics-discipline, integrity, honesty, meritocracy, and the courage to say NO to corruption-seem to have been misplaced along the way.

A values-based foundation can attract trillions, but trillions cannot buy values. Indeed, development is not magic; it is governance, credibility, and ethical leadership. It does not take rocket science to know that no country can develop if the custodians of its wealth have compromised ethical settings.

Fixation on an abstract “first-world” status ignores the immediate, fundamental needs of the Kenyan people: ensuring healthcare for residents in Kiambu, providing security and inclusion for citizens in marginalised areas like Tana River, ensuring timely capitation for children’s education, and implementing viable funding models for universities and job market access for graduates.

The recent Gen Z movement, which mobilised to fight for a corruption-free Kenya, understood this instinctively, choosing to fight for the foundation of national dignity rather than chase a title we have not earned.

Singapore is a desirable destination but a wrong blueprint for Kenya. Blindly anchoring Kenya’s narrative on Singapore’s success ignores two critical contextual differences. First, Singapore was positioned for a breakthrough even when its economic indicators seemed comparable to Kenya’s in the early 1960s.

The British colonial power had invested significantly in the right education system and basic infrastructure for the vital trading port. In this developmental race, Kenya might have started the journey hours ahead, but Singapore was already fueling a chopper for take-off, while Kenya was navigating in a Land Cruiser.

Their fundamentals were simply ahead.

Second, the population disparity is critical. When Singapore became independent in 1963, its population was roughly two million. Today, it stands at about 4.8 million. Kenya’s population in 1963 was approximately 8.6 million and is now over 56 million.

A development blueprint for a densely governed, ethnically distinct city-state of five million people is fundamentally not transferable to a massive, diverse republic of over 56 million. It would be more pragmatic for the President to advise the governor of Nairobi, whose city is closer in population size to Singapore, on urban delivery than to impose the city-state model on the entire republic.

Kenya is unique, but not special. We cannot be defined by any single country’s success. Rather. prosperity must be sought through a Solomonic alternative path, one that understands that the political, social, and economic context of Kenya is too different for any single nation’s blueprint to suffice.

China, for instance, did not slavishly follow the European or American model. Instead, it copied shamelessly what worked elsewhere, discarding what failed: it adopted meritocracy from Japan and Germany, learned pragmatism from the Americans, and instilled a form of social ethics and discipline.

For Kenya, our focus must be on tapping into the deep-seated order and ethics seen in nations like Japan, where citizens respect law and order so that development becomes effortless. We must cherry-pick different, applicable elements from various successful models-especially those focusing on ethical governance, meritocracy, and rigorous public discipline.

The golden age for Kenya, and Africa, will be birthed when we focus not on an empty title like “first world,” but on building an alternative route to prosperity founded on integrity and contextual realism.

The High Court has delivered a victory for the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in a tax dispute with a building and civil engineering contractor, reinstating a Sh773 million tax assessment that had been partially overturned by the Tax Appeals Tribunal last year.

The court ruled that the Tribunal erred in law by dismissing KRA’s findings on Dinesh Construction Ltd’s alleged tax evasion through ‘missing trader’ schemes and unexplained bank deposits.

The dispute stemmed from KRA’s audit covering Dinesh Construction’s business operations for the period 2016 to 2021. The scope of the audit was extensive, encompassing multiple tax obligations: corporation tax, value added tax (VAT), pay as you earn (PAYE) and withholding tax.

Revenue officials had identified discrepancies in corporation tax, VAT, PAYE and withholding tax declarations.

The audit initially calculated a tax liability of Sh1.1 billion, which was later reduced to Sh773 million in 2022 following engagements with the company.

At the heart of the case were two major findings by KRA investigators. The audit flagged Sh689 million in purchases from suppliers suspected to be ‘missing traders’ -entities that issue invoices but do not supply actual goods.

It also uncovered Sh187 million in unexplained bank deposits that did not match the company’s declared income.

The tax agency accused the company of underreporting income, inflating input VAT claims through transactions with non-existent suppliers, and failing to declare employee benefits.

When Dinesh Construction challenged these findings at the Tax Appeals Tribunal, the tribunal partially ruled in its favor in last June slashing the assessment and dismissing claims related to missing traders as unproven.

It also declared part of the demanded taxes as time-barred and accepted the company’s argument that it could not be held responsible for its suppliers’ tax compliance failures. The tribunal also questioned KRA’s banking analysis methodology.

It held that the company had provided sufficient documentation to support its purchases and that the KRA had failed to prove fraud regarding the alleged missing traders. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the assessments related to disallowed purchases.

However, while allowing KRA’s appeal, the court found the Tribunal erred in law by ignoring binding precedents on tax fraud investigations.

The court emphasized that taxpayers must provide concrete proof-such as delivery notes, purchase orders, or transport records-when KRA raises credible doubts about suppliers.

“An invoice alone cannot prove its own validity when the supplier’s existence is disputed,” the court stated, dismissing Dinesh Construction’s reliance on invoices and ETR receipts as insufficient.

The ruling emphasised that companies must provide supporting documents like delivery notes, purchase orders and goods movement records – not just tax invoices.

The court found Dinesh Construction failed this test despite holding ETR receipts, as it could not substantiate actual receipt of goods from some of the suppliers. The ruling established that commercial transactions involving hundreds of millions must leave verifiable footprints.

“Commercial reality dictates that the movement of goods worth hundreds of millions of shillings leaves a footprint beyond a paper invoice. A prudent business dealing in construction materials must have LPOs, Delivery Notes, Weighbridge tickets, stock records and site usage logs,” said the judge.

On the company’s argument that it was not required to keep such elaborate records or police its suppliers, the court said this defence is legally unsustainable under section 23 of the Tax Procedures Act and section 43 of the VAT Act, which mandates the keeping or records to ascertain tax liability.

On the statute of limitations issue, the judge ruled the Tribunal miscalculated the five-year window for tax assessments, which actually expired on December 14, 2022 – coincidentally the same day KRA issued its final demand to the company.

“Taxpayers cannot benefit from their own delays in filing returns to avoid scrutiny,” the judge observed.

More significantly, the judgment establishes stricter evidentiary standards for businesses claiming input VAT deductions.

Overturning the Tribunal’s approach, the judge cited binding precedents which held that once KRA presents credible evidence of “missing trader” fraud, the burden shifts to the taxpayer to prove the legitimacy of transactions.

The judge held that the right to deduct input tax under the VAT Act is premised on a valid supply. If the supplier is a “missing trader” who never bought or possessed the goods they purportedly sold, then no supply took place in law.

“The transaction is a fiction. If the respondent cannot prove -via delivery notes and transport logs- that it actually received goods from these specific suppliers, it cannot deduct the input VAT, regardless of whether it holds a tax invoice,” said the judgment.

The judge concluded: “The Tribunal’s approach would make it an unwitting facilitator of the very fraud the tax system seeks to prevent.”

According to the court, the correct position is that where the KRA Commissioner alleges missing trader fraud and provides evidence, the taxpayer must prove the transactional reality of the supply. In this instance, Disnesh failed to do so.

Regarding the Sh187 million in bank deposits, the court upheld KRA’s banking analysis method as legally sound under Section 24(2) of the Tax Procedures Act.

The judge dismissed the company’s explanation that these were inter-account transfers or director loans, noting the complete absence of supporting documentation like bank reconciliations or loan agreements.

Despite this verdict, the company may still appeal to the Court of Appeal.

On November 20, President William Ruto delivered the annual State of the Nation Address, a moment when the country pauses to measure progress and weigh the government’s priorities.

This is more than a constitutional requirement; it is a national mirror that shows Kenyans where we stand and how prepared we are to confront the pressures shaping our economic and social well-being. This year, the issues of climate change, food security and sustainability stood out sharply.

At a time when many parts of the country that depend on the end-of-year short rains are experiencing unusual dry spells, we face the stark reality that climate unpredictability has become the new normal.

Farmers across the country are anxious, and the question arises: can the Kenya Meteorological Department step up its accuracy and communication to give farmers timely, reliable climate information? Without this, we risk continuing a game of chance that leaves farmers exposed.

Among the standout moments of the State of the Nation Address was the acknowledgement of youth-centred climate initiatives.

The President highlighted the Climate WorX programme and the Nairobi River Regeneration Programme, where 44,000 youth are restoring the river corridor and preparing sites for 10,000 new homes.

This is the kind of climate action that speaks to people’s daily realities. It links restoration with urban renewal, public health, dignity and livelihoods.

Yet this is where Kenya often finds itself at a crossroads. We have strong ideas, but scaling them beyond pilot stages is the real test. If Climate WorX is to be truly transformative, it must offer structured training, long-term green jobs and clear career pathways.

Otherwise, the country risks applauding short bursts of activity while missing the deeper opportunity to build a climate-resilient workforce under the stewardship of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry.

The President also tackled the persistent challenge of food security. He noted that Kenya can no longer allow clouds to determine whether people eat or not.

Only 15 percent of the country can support rain-fed agriculture, yet it feeds over fifty million people. The remaining arid and semi-arid regions can be productive if supported through irrigation, rainwater harvesting and modern water storage. The reminder that the lack of rain is not the same as the lack of water is timely.

This vision is necessary, but it must be grounded in transparency, equitable land allocation and strong community involvement. Kenya has seen major projects that consumed significant investment without transforming lives. To avoid this, we need accountability across relevant ministries and genuine participation from communities.

This year’s address shows that the architecture of climate action is taking shape. What matters now is proving that the promises translate into cleaner rivers, predictable harvests, reliable water and dignified green jobs. Kenya has the ambition.

Delivery must now take centre stage.

In a century defined by speed – faster news, faster tech and faster expectations – restraint has become a rare, almost radical act. We live in a world that celebrates the instinct to say yes, while treating a simple no as a barrier rather than a boundary.

It was not a mentor or a leadership seminar that reminded me of the value of boundaries. It was ChatGPT. As an educator, I often use AI to create cartoons that simplify complex economic concepts for my IGCSE and A Level students.

One afternoon, when I requested an illustration of an unemployed youth – dishevelled, exhausted and worn down – the response surprised me: the AI politely refused, saying it could not create an image that depicted a person in distress or in a demeaning way.

Curious, I tried again, this time asking for a cartoon of a citizen being squeezed by a giant metal ‘TAX’ press to demonstrate the pressure of taxation. The answer was another gentle no: it would not create imagery that portrayed a person being physically harmed, even symbolically.

What initially felt like a limitation slowly revealed itself as something more purposeful – ethical guardrails, deliberately coded into the system.

Modern AI is often accused of being unregulated or soulless, yet models like ChatGPT operate on extensive research in safety and ethics.

The 2024 Stanford AI Index Report notes that over 72 percent of leading AI systems now incorporate strict guardrails to prevent harmful or demeaning content. In a digital world driven by algorithms that chase engagement at any cost, this quiet commitment to restraint is striking.

The more I thought about it, the clearer it became: the AI’s refusal was not a lack of capability but a choice-an encoded principle. As a leadership teacher, I tell my students that every choice is an economic choice, a trade-off.

Ethics works the same way. A University of California study found that professionals with poor boundaries are 168 percent more likely to suffer burnout. Unlike us, the AI did not hesitate to say no. It chose integrity over efficiency.

In an unexpected way, a machine reminded me that true leadership is not defined by everything we can do, but by what we consciously choose not to do. Boundaries are not constraints; they are commitments – to dignity, focus and purpose.

In choosing restraint, we do not weaken our potential. We elevate it. And perhaps, in a world that rewards speed over reflection, that is the lesson today’s leaders need most.

Kenyans have failed to claim Sh67.16 billion worth of shares of 47 companies that are listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), highlighting the difficulties that the State faces in reuniting the assets with their rightful owners.

Data from the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) shows that Safaricom tops the list in both number and value of shares, with 705.46 million units worth Sh20.28 billion unclaimed at the end of September this year.

KCB Group and East African Breweries Plc (EABL) are second and third with Sh11.16 billion (190.1 million shares) and Sh5.54 billion (25 million shares) unclaimed respectively. The value of the shares are based on market prices at the close of trading on the Nairobi bourse on Friday last week.

Shares are deemed to have been abandoned if the owner has not claimed dividends or other distribution they are entitled to and the company remains unaware of the owner’s whereabouts for more than three years.

UFAA has for years struggled to reunite unclaimed assets with their rightful owners as Kenyans shy away, mainly due to a lengthy verification process, low value assets and costly expenses like travel to file the physical documents.

The 47 listed firms had a total of 1.85 billion unclaimed shares as at September this year.

UFAA said it had attained a reunification rate of under five percent, a performance that was recently flagged by the Auditor-General.

The unclaimed shares include Sh3.45 billion worth of 150.6 million units of Co-operative Bank of Kenya, 26.72 million units of Diamond Trust Bank worth Sh2.95 billion and Sh2.74 billion worth of 32.9 million units of NCBA Group.

Other firms with unclaimed shares with a total value of over Sh1 billion are Absa Bank Kenya with units valued at Sh2.4 billion, Jubilee Holdings with Sh1.85 billion worth of units and BAT Kenya with Sh1.82 billion worth of units.

UFAA has since adopted measures to boost the reunification efforts such as decentralising services to Huduma centres, publishing names of potential claimants in national newspapers and proposed amendments to the law to make the process cheaper.

The authority has cited low staff numbers handling operations countrywide, low awareness levels among beneficiaries as other impediments derailing the reunification efforts.

The Unclaimed Assets Act of 2011 requires that most assets that remain unclaimed for up to five years be relinquished to UFAA.

Besides shares, other assets that firms are required to forfeit to UFAA upon expiry of five years are dormant bank accounts, deposits from collapsed financial institutions, uncollected money in betting wallets, death benefits and annuities from insurance companies.

Most assets are declared unclaimed in case the owner of the particular asset dies, when there is no communication between the owner of the asset and the holder beyond the maximum dormancy period of five years.

Cheques and life insurance policies are some of the assets deemed to be abandoned if they are not cashed in within two years.

UFAA is allowed by the law to invest unclaimed assets in government securities and use a portion of the income to fund its operations, both subject to approval by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary.

But the authority does not operate an account at the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (CDSC), denying it powers to receive and manage non-cash assets like shares. A CDSC account is critical in facilitating the transfer of unclaimed shares, posing the risk of loss and devaluation.

Inability to manage the unclaimed shares has left UFAA with a conundrum over how to maintain their value. This is because of the high fluctuation rates of the share prices at the bourse.

For example, shares of listed firms could be relinquished to UFAA with a market value of Sh20 each but this could drop to Sh15 by the time the rightful beneficiaries are lodging claims.

‘The Authority [UFAA], through The National Treasury, should develop a framework for the receipt and management of unclaimed non-cash assets from holders, for subsequent safeguarding and reunification,’ the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu said in a report on the agency’s finances.

BAT shares are the most valuable of all the unclaimed shares with a unit price of Sh431 behind those of Limuru Tea where a single share is priced at Sh460.

The least valuable of the unclaimed shares are those of Mumias Sugar, each priced at Sh0.27, followed by Uchumi Supermarket at Sh1.08 and Eveready East Africa at Sh1.31 each.

The three were once dominant in the 1990s and early 2000 but have since collapsed amid stiff market competition and mismanagement.

The total length of roads repaired by the State fell 28 percent to 35,965 kilometres in the year to June 2025, the lowest level in six years, as the government cut allocations for development, including road maintenance.

Road construction and maintenance agencies, for the first time in almost a decade, failed to meet their annual maintenance targets, missing the mark by 5,148 kilometres, which is roughly equivalent to more than circling Kenya’s borders.

The Department for Roads attributed the miss to a reduction in the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) allocations during the year, with the State diverting part of the levy for administrative use and as securitisation for new loans.

‘Target [was] not achieved due to reduction in RMLF budget during implementation,’ said the Department in its performance assessment report for the year ended June 2025.

In the previous year, the agencies surpassed all targets, repairing 50,094 kilometres against a target of 43,532 kilometres.

Records at the Kenya Roads Board (KRB), which manages the levy, show that allocations to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) were all cut after part of the fund was redirected.

KeNHA, responsible for highways and major roads, recorded the largest reduction, from Sh20.6 billion to Sh16.8 billion, an 18 percent drop, though it was still expected to maintain nearly the same road length.

KeRRA’s allocation fell by Sh1 billion to Sh18.1 billion, while KURA’s fell by Sh2.4 billion to Sh6.6 billion. Kenya Wildlife Service, which maintains roads in game reserves and parks, had its allocation cut by Sh60.8 million to Sh639 million.

These reductions came despite increased consumption of petroleum fuels, on which the levy is charged.

Data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) shows that diesel consumption rose to 2.3 million tonnes from 2.1 million, while super petrol rose to 1.6 million tonnes from 1.4 million, signalling higher potential RMLF collections.

The National Assembly had also removed county governments from the list of RMLF beneficiaries in 2023, citing increased county allocations under equitable revenue sharing, a move that left more funds for the road agencies.

While the courts reinstated counties as beneficiaries of the fund, KRB only sent Sh3.7 billion of the expected Sh10 billion in the year to June 2025.

At the same time, the Roads and Transport Ministry sought amendments to the Kenya Roads Act to allow the Department for Roads to take 1.5 percent of RMLF collections for administrative use, and a further 10 percent for ‘critical interventions’.

The amendment is under consideration.

Although the government last year raised the levy from Sh18 per litre to Sh25 per litre, KRB securitised the additional Sh7 per litre to raise Sh175 billion for settling pending bills owed to road contractors. Securitisation involves using the expected income from future RMLF payments as security for a loan.

The road agencies also fell sharply below target on rehabilitation works. They face lifted 72 kilometres against a target of 199 kilometres, down from 79 kilometres last year, citing delayed payments to contractors.

Rehabilitation involves a full overhaul of a road and is costlier than routine maintenance, but both are funded through the RMLF paid by motorists and industrial fuel users.

The fall in maintenance and rehabilitation came against the backdrop of an overall cut in development spending in the year to June 2025.

Allocations for road construction, maintenance and rehabilitation fell to Sh193.2 billion from Sh244.9 billion in the 2023/24 financial year.

Kenyans can breathe a sigh of relief as edible oil prices are expected to drop following a High Court judgment that overturned the government’s decision to introduce a 10 percent import duty on crude palm oil.

The court’s Constitutional and Human Rights Division in Nairobi declared the tax unconstitutional, citing violations of parliamentary oversight and public participation laws.

The legal battle began when the Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) challenged the levy, arguing that its introduction through an East African Community (EAC) Gazette Notice – without parliamentary approval or public consultation – breached Kenya’s Constitution.

The duty, which took effect in July 2024, had pushed up cooking oil prices, straining household budgets amid rising living costs. This followed the government’s decision to halt the zero percent import duty rate on crude palm oil and impose the 10 percent rate.

“It is important to observe that the constitutional requirements of parliamentary approval and public participation are not empty formalities,” the court stated.

“They serve as crucial mechanisms to subject policy decisions, especially those with significant socio-economic ramifications, to democratic scrutiny and debate.”

The court emphasised that the process of introducing the duty was flawed, adding: “By bypassing these procedures, the respondents denied the people of Kenya the opportunity to have a say on a measure that directly affects their fundamental rights to food and dignity.”

While ostensibly introduced to curb revenue losses from misdeclared palm oil imports, the duty had an immediate and painful ripple effect – driving up the cost of cooking oil, a staple commodity in Kenyan households already grappling with soaring food prices.

According to Cofek, the government’s decision destabilised the local edible oils manufacturing sector by significantly increasing raw material costs.

The consumer group contended that this escalation adversely affected local industries’ competitiveness and threatened closures, potentially costing more than 10,000 Kenyans their jobs in palm oil processing and related value-addition chains.

In allowing the petition, the court ruled that taxation powers reside solely with Parliament and cannot be delegated to regional bodies without legislative scrutiny.

“The Executive’s unilateral imposition of the 10 percent duty on crude palm oil without specific parliamentary approval is unconstitutional,” the court noted, adding that the move violated Articles 209 and 210 of the Constitution, which safeguard against arbitrary taxation.

The court dismissed the government’s argument that public participation occurred through generic budget forums, stating that Kenyans were never specifically consulted on a policy directly impacting food affordability.

It stressed that public participation must be “real, not illusory” – requiring targeted outreach, transparency, and genuine opportunities for citizens to influence decisions.

While acknowledging Kenya’s obligations under the EAC Treaty, the court clarified that regional agreements cannot override domestic constitutional requirements.

The court issued prohibitory orders barring authorities, including the Kenya Revenue Authority and Cabinet Secretaries for Treasury and EAC, from enforcing the duty.

It also mandated that future tax measures under the EAC’s Common External Tariff must undergo proper public and parliamentary scrutiny.

Further, the court found that the Treasury and the EAC Cabinet Secretary had unlawfully bypassed Kenya’s legislative process by introducing the tax through regional mechanisms rather than seeking parliamentary approval.

Citing Articles 209 and 210 of the Constitution – which mandate that taxes can only be imposed or varied through legislation – the court emphasised that “taxation is a sovereign function exercised by the people through their elected representatives.”

“The Executive cannot use regional treaties as a backdoor to impose taxes without involving Parliament,” the judgment stated. “To hold otherwise would create a dangerous precedent, allowing the Executive to unilaterally burden citizens without democratic checks.”

Local edible oil manufacturers had earlier sounded alarms, warning that increased raw material costs threatened thousands of sector jobs.

Small banks increased their share of sector profits for the nine months to September 2025, showing growing confidence by customers after years of flight triggered by the collapse of three lower-tier lenders in 2015 and 2016.

Latest Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows that large banks contributed 83.3 percent of the industry profits, down from 89 percent in December 2024, capturing the faster growth by smaller players.

The industry posted an 11.8 percent growth in pre-tax profits to Sh227.9 billion for the nine months to September, up from Sh203.8 billion in a similar period last year.

Notably, 29 small and mid-sized banks grew their profits by an average 31 percent while the nine large banks recorded an 8.6 percent rise.

The shift came in a period of high liquidity in the market as private sector borrowing slowed down and the CBK eased cash reserve ratios, helping smaller lenders save on the high cost they usually have to pay to attract deposits.

Recent stability in the banking industry- previously shaken by the collapse of Chase Bank, Imperial Bank and Dubai Bank- boosted depositors’ confidence in small banks.

‘One function of this performance could be that smaller lenders tend to focus on niche sectors such as MSMEs and tend to have higher loan rates to capture SME risk premiums, supporting their margins as deposit costs decline. Additionally, most of these lenders achieved higher returns by reallocating capital to high-yield government securities,’ said Melodie Ndanu, a research analyst at Standard Investment Bank.

‘Furthermore, some large banks have faced headwinds amid stable forex rates this year, reducing non-funded income, while subdued credit demand has impacted interest income.’

Large banks hosted 67.5 percent of the industry deposits as at September, being a drop from the 75.7 percent they held in December 2024. The nine large banks were holding Sh4.02 trillion in customer savings against an industry total of Sh5.95 trillion as at September.

The 38 banks in the country had issued Sh4.25 trillion in loans of which Sh2.88 trillion were from the top nine.

Recently the Nairobi County Government made Sidian Bank, a small lender, the principal banker of its health facilities, moving the business from Co-operative Bank, a tier-one bank. Slow credit growth also took away an advantage of wide spreads enjoyed by large banks as they pay less for customer deposits while charging borrowers competitively.

Data from the CBK showed the interest spread – difference between lending and deposit rates – enjoyed by the banks was clustered around seven percentage points unlike in the past when the gap tended to be wider.

As at September large banks had an interest spread of 7.9 percentage points while mid-sized lenders were at seven percentage points and small banks at 7.5 percentage points.

The banks have also been forced to rely more on returns on government securities to drive their performance, levelling the playing field.

While some of the small and medium-sized banks grew their profits in folds, Equity Bank Kenya recorded the fastest growth among large banks at 50.3 percent.

HF Group, a mid-sized lender, recorded the fastest profit growth in the industry, with its pre-tax earnings growing more than seven-fold to Sh902.6 million from Sh116.1 million a year earlier.

Sidian Bank, which was classified as a small lender, grew its profit before tax more than six-fold to Sh1.99 billion, up from Sh289 million a year earlier.

Some of the small lenders rose from the red to record profits, with government earnings being the key drivers.

Consolidated Bank, which has been in the red for over a decade, recorded a Sh88.3 million pretax profit while UBA Kenya reversed a Sh338 million loss to a Sh406,000 profit.

Some of the large banks recorded drops in profits, with Standard Chartered Kenya’s 44.9 percent the largest, attributable to a one-off cost of settling a pension claim by 629 former employees. Stanchart’s pre-tax profits fell by Sh9.9 billion to Sh12.1 billion from Sh22 billion a year earlier.

Stanbic Bank also posted a profit drop, 8.3 percent, owing to a dip in interest income as interest rates retreated.

Large banks ride on wider spreads between the return they give depositors and what they charge borrowers to outperform their smaller competitors. Smaller lenders are forced to pay higher to attract deposits and price loans competitively in order to lure corporates.

Greece is Justine Kosgei’s, CEO of AAR Insurance, idealised destination, his ‘hidden gem’, the place he just can’t get enough of. If God made anything better than Greece, he kept it for himself.

But Kosgei also has a thing for Cape Town, where, ‘if I get some good money, I must buy an apartment.’ And he doesn’t bother with clothes, ‘Clothes are the same everywhere,’ he says.

What he wants is to get to the destination, feel the town, and satisfy his customary, if not cultish, love for greens, stewFor now, he makes do with an expansive office and its fish-eye sweep of the Nairobi skyline.

What never makes it to your CV?

I don’t put a lot of my hobbies on my CV. I love cars. I like the wide variety of cars, and it just shows you how dynamic the world is. I am also into running and golfing.

Did you grow up around cars?

I grew up admiring them. My dad had some old vintage cars back then. But I generally admired cars in newspapers and magazines because in the village we didn’t get to see the new variety of cars that we see now.

How did you pick up running?

Most of the world champions come from the school I went to, like Ezekiel Kemboi. Naturally, in our school, when we reported, we were supposed to run; it was a priority [chuckles]. I didn’t hate it or like it.

Later on, I valued being fit and the correlation between feeling great and fit, which is how you remain fresh and collaborative. 12 years back, I started working on products that combined wellness and health insurance and rewarding people, and I started creating running groups, and that’s how I became more involved in running.

I have an official running group that’s been there for about 10 or 11 years.

What’s something you know about running that an outsider generally wouldn’t?

It’s like life in a way; you do the pace the way you feel, and you have to be consistent to be able to achieve it. Sometimes you procrastinate about things, and wish you did it differently, so running for me is like life; if you fail to run, you feel like you’ve missed a lot, and when you run, you moderate how you put in your effort and how you measure your energy, when to accelerate or slow down, and the strategy you apply.

Sometimes people burn out because they start on a very fast pace for the first two or three kilometres and complain the rest of the kilometres [chuckles].

You’ve been doing this for a long time. Does running still surprise you?

Yes, there are days in which you come psyched up, and those are the days you thought you had all the energy, and you really don’t do as much. You can find that the weather is different or your body is not ready, but you have to remain focused on the goal.

Every run is a different experience. It’s just like golf; there are good days and some meh days. In our group, after every run, we have some tea in a restaurant, but there are people who go directly to the restaurant. Our goal is ‘Show Up’, and in life, I think that is the key: to show up and try something.

Is golf the final step toward becoming a CEO?

Interestingly, when I started running 10 years ago, my employer then gave me the opportunity to join a golf club, but I felt I was young, my children were young and I didn’t want golf to take too much of my time.

But I’ve come to learn golf is for everyone, I should have juggled golf and running and my life. There are many lessons for CEOs, because golf gives you lots of curveballs and tests your patience, grit, and willingness to expect the unexpected.

Golf teaches you that not every variable is under your control, but it’s how you respond to these elements that matters most. Mike Tyson said, ‘Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the face.’ [chuckles].

Are you a competitive golfer?

I am an average to good player, but I like to punch above my weight. I play with the pros who stretch me to my best level.

I have participated in so many tournaments, yet I have played for just a few years. I like to be among the top in anything I am doing, whether at work, in sporting activities, or whatnot.

Have you introduced your children to golf?

I have two boys and a girl, and they love golf, which they are also training for. My boys love football too, but they have been interested in golf since they saw me playing it.

What’s your top parenting secret for the festive season?

Being present for the kids. Across my career, I have spent a lot of time at work. I don’t think you can do a work-life balance, but you can blend or combine.

I realised that one of the best ways for my children to feel like I’m not working a lot is that I tend to work with them around me.

We travel together, if possible, I golf with them or get an activity for them when I am running, and I get to know their strengths, their weaknesses, what they’re struggling with, and how I can help them.

Which part of fatherhood is stretching you presently?

Haha! My firstborn is turning 13, and actually getting them to be their best, but you don’t know whether their best is to be like you? [chuckles]. I am pushing them to get their best grades, spend time off gadgets, and behave in a certain way.

What they want to be in life without you deciding for them is the most challenging part for any parent.

Do you have a family tradition for the holidays?

Where I come from, most Christmases, we have to be in the village all of us. It’s also the time we can identify children in the village who we need to support as they go back to school. Before or after that, we travel to other places now as a nuclear family.

What are you secretly good at?

I am very good at picking people who help me in one way or the other. I’ve probably mastered how to get more familiar with people quietly and build relationships that last really long.

What have you had to unlearn this year to become a better Justin?

I have seen situations where we have relied on data, but technology and data change so fast. I have learned that a skill you had six months ago might be obsolete six months later.

What has been this year’s most unexpected gift?

I won the CEO of the Year Award from ThinkBusiness. I thought that would happen three years down the line but it has shown me you don’t need to take a lot of time to be felt.

As a business, we have also grown; we are licensed now to do General Insurance in Uganda, car insurance in Kenya, and we have signed up partnerships in DRC.

When you look back over the year, what feelings come to you?

I am not quite emotional when it comes to work; I remain sober, listening and observing. The year has been rough for many sectors due to competition and economic factors, but I have seen people remain resilient and focused.

I am an optimist, and I do not allow emotions to cloud my judgment, but I remain positive even when people are too excited or not.

What is a personal resolution you made that you have kept?

To always get better. Not to stop doing something.

What have you gotten better at?

My work, my family, and my schooling. I have earned many certifications throughout my life, and I never want to stop.

Give me a holiday tip.

When you go for a holiday, rest. For me, I don’t overthink, I get there, enjoy myself, and relax. Whenever we go to a new country, when the people I have gone with are thinking of shopping, I feel that clothes are the same everywhere, so I will go to a restaurant and enjoy the view of the town. Enjoy the moment [chuckles].

Do you follow a diet on holiday?

I have the same diet everywhere. Whenever I travel, I like to have the same food that I do in Kenya, which is greens, stew and ugali or sometimes chapati. I try and recreate that everywhere I go, which is a challenge. [chuckles].