Category: Business Daily

Civil society organisation, the Katiba Institute, has written to the Controller of Budget Office demanding strict compliance with a High Court ruling that declared the creation and staffing of offices for Presidential Advisors unconstitutional, intensifying scrutiny over the government’s use of public funds.

In a letter dated February 4, 2026, addressed to Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o, the organisation sought written confirmation that no funds have been approved for the former advisers or their offices since January 22, when the High Court nullified the positions.

‘I write to draw your attention to the aforementioned judgment and to request confirmation that, in line with Article 228, no payments to the former Presidential Advisers, their staff, or offices have been approved since January 22, 2026, nor will they be approved hereafter,’ Katiba Executive Director Nora Mbagaithi said.

The move shifts the dispute from the courtroom to Kenya’s public finance oversight system, placing the Controller of Budget under scrutiny regarding whether funds have continued flowing to the affected offices despite the court’s decision.

Under the Constitution, the Controller of Budget serves as a gatekeeper for public spending, authorising withdrawals from public funds and ensuring expenditures comply with the law.

The demand follows a High Court decision rejecting an attempt by the 21 former advisers to suspend the January ruling.

The court dismissed their application for a stay of execution, allowing full enforcement to proceed.

Among those affected are David Ndii, Makau Mutua, Monica Juma, Harriet Chigai, and Edward Kisiang’ani, who had served in various advisory roles to the President.

In its January verdict, the court ruled that the advisory offices lacked a clear legal basis and duplicated roles already existing within the public service.

‘The court found that the establishment of these offices and the appointment of advisers were undertaken without constitutional or statutory backing, bypassing the mandates of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC),’ Katiba stated in its letter.

The court also flagged concerns over public finance management, noting the offices carried ‘significant budgetary implications’ without proper legal and institutional oversight.

As part of the judgment’s implementation, the PSC and SRC were ordered to cease recognising the posts and stop related payments.

Additionally, the PSC was directed to conduct a 90-day audit of offices created under the Executive Office of the President since the 2010 Constitution.

The advisers, listed as interested parties in the case, swiftly returned to court seeking a stay of execution.

They argued that a temporary return would facilitate an orderly transition, protect their intended appeal, and prevent prejudice to the President. The Attorney General, PSC, and SRC supported their application.

However, the court dismissed the bid, citing the doctrine of res judicata, which bars relitigation of matters already conclusively decided.

‘I find and hold that the application dated January 27, 2026, is indeed res judicata,’ the judge ruled, noting similar stay requests had been rejected shortly after the January 22 judgment.

The court warned against ‘cyclic litigation,’ stating that repeatedly revisiting settled issues exacerbates case backlogs and undermines judicial certainty.

‘Where the substance and arguments are identical, res judicata bars a second attempt,’ the judge affirmed, effectively ending any prospect of a temporary return to office.

With enforcement now unimpeded, Katiba’s letter turns attention to the Controller of Budget, whose constitutional mandate under Article 228 includes authorising withdrawals from public funds and ensuring lawful expenditure.

By demanding confirmation that no payments have been approved post-judgment, Katiba seeks to ensure the ruling has financial as well as administrative consequences.

‘The judgment also addressed concerns about the use of public funds,’ Ms Mbagaithi wrote, emphasizing that the offices’ creation lacked proper oversight. The letter requested a response within 14 days.

The dispute originated from Katiba’s petition, which argued that the advisory roles duplicated existing offices, encroached on public service functions, and were established without legal checks.

The court concurred, underscoring that public sector appointments and remuneration must follow PSC and SRC procedures and be rooted in statute or the Constitution.

While the advisers retain the right to appeal at the Court of Appeal, the High Court has affirmed they have no legal basis to remain in office pending further litigation.

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has unveiled a Sh30 billion plan to build office blocks and luxury apartments in Nairobi’s central business district as the capital joins a growing number of towns where residents work and stay in the city centre.

The multi-billion shilling mixed development, comprising twin towers of 35 and 60 floors, will also hold conference and retail facilities and a hotel.

This will mark the return of the cash-rich NSSF to mega real estate projects, with the 60-storey tower set to be the tallest in Nairobi. It will also keep the city in line with the global resurgence in city-centre living as students and young professionals seek convenience and shorter commutes to their workplaces.

NSSF managing trustee and chief executive officer David Koross told the Business Daily on Thursday that the decision to include apartments in the development is part of the regeneration of the Nairobi CBD, which has suffered from an exodus of major businesses to other commercial nodes in recent years.

The NSSF is also seeking to unlock the value of its 3.85-acre idle land on Kenyatta Avenue, which it estimates at Sh4 billion.’We are also considering the idea of regenerating life in the city centre, and that’s why in that design we are doing apartments, to bring people to live in the CBD. In other places in the world, people are living within city centres,’ said Mr Koross.’NSSF will be funding the project fully, over the next four years. We estimate its cost at Sh30 billion.’The Sh30 billion is a third of the Sh100 billion that NSSF will collect this year from members, riding on the higher contributions and underlines its funding war chest.Workers will pay up to Sh6,480 per month from Sh200 in 2022 starting February after the previous four annual reviews.While living within city centres is common in other countries, Nairobi has not seen developers setting up apartment units within the CBD, which is predominantly left to offices, business outlets and government facilities.Other key commercial hubs such as Westlands and Upper Hill, however, have a sizeable supply of modern apartments, which has helped attract corporates that factor in convenience for staff in picking office location.A lack of sizeable and readily available land holdings within the CBD has partially contributed to the shift to other hubs.

In cities such as Addis Ababa, Luanda, Tokyo, Manila and Shanghai, there is a sizeable portion of the population that lives and works within city centres under mixed-use zoning systems that incorporate high-rise residential buildings within their business districts.Urban planners are also shifting to hybrid developments that combine residential, co-working and entertainment facilities, mainly to cater for young professionals under what is known as a ’15-minute-city concept’ that shortens commutes between the various spots and reduces the carbon footprint of residents.The growth of serviced apartments and other short-stay platforms such as Airbnb has also supported city centre residential property development, targeting tourists, conferences and transit passengers.At 3.85 acres, the NSSF plot is one of the largest undeveloped parcels of land in the CBD, a fact that has in the past attracted purchase bids from private firms and ownership intrigues.The much-coveted plot was previously used as a makeshift car park.In the late 2000s, billionaire Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani had planned to buy the plot for Sh1.3 billion, but later pulled out of the deal after it emerged that the land was smaller than what was indicated on the title deed.He planned to build a 21-storey hotel on the property, but later built Delta House in Westlands after the collapse of the deal.The land was also the subject of several investment proposals by investors and wheeler-dealers in the Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Arap Moi administrations.Several parties, including the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation, hospitality chain Holiday Inn, Japan’s Chori and the Ataka Group, were among those fronted by the fixers as potential developers on the land.The decision by the NSSF to put up the new towers will now draw a line under the decades-long pursuit of the land by powerful actors.The development will also mark a return to large-scale property projects that once dominated the State-controlled fund’s assets portfolio.The fund has in recent year diversified to other asset classes, opening a headroom to make fresh property bets without risking a breach of Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) rules that cap real estate exposure at 30 percent of total assets.In the year to June 2025, the fund held immovable property worth Sh35.45 billion on its books, accounting for 6.35 percent of its total investment assets of Sh558.05 billion.Five years ago, the fund’s property holdings worth Sh43.3 billion accounted for 18 percent of its total investment assets.Bonds and listed stocks account for the largest shares of NSSF investment assets at 69.83 percent or Sh389.67 billion and 15.26 percent or 85.13 billion, respectively, with property a distant third.Other significant asset classes are fixed cash deposits at Sh13.35 billion (2.39 percent) and private equity investments at Sh7.29 billion (1.31 percent).In terms of annual asset value growth, property lagged behind bonds and equities in the year to June 2025, showing the effect of idle property holdings such as the Kenyatta Avenue land.The value of the NSSF’s property holdings only rose marginally from Sh35.39 billion to Sh35.45 billion in the period, in contrast to bonds (including Eurobonds) whose valuation rose to Sh389.68 billion from Sh260.98 billion in June 2024. Equities, meanwhile, appreciated to Sh85.14 billion from Sh61.19 billion in valuation.Some of the growth was attributable to additional investments in the period at a time when the fund’s collections have gone up after the implementation of the NSSF Act 2013 from February 2023.

LemFi, the global financial platform built for the underserved, is launching its remittance services in Australia after receiving approval from the country’s financial services regulatory unit.

The approval marks a significant milestone in LemFi’s global expansion and enables the company to begin offering its remittance services to customers in Australia, one of the world’s fastest-growing and most important outbound remittance markets.

Australia’s migrant population has grown rapidly, now accounting for 31.5% of the total population, or 8.6 million people, following record net overseas migration over the past two years.

Migrants contribute USD $330 billion ($480.5bn) to Australia, and outbound remittances from Australia have surged, with USD$38.2 billion (AUS$56.6bn) sent overseas in 2024 alone.

India is the single largest recipient, receiving $7.3 billion in remittances from Australia in 2024, followed by China at $5.35 billion. Other major remittance corridors include Vietnam, the Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya and Nigeria – all of which are markets already served by LemFi.

A high regulatory bar and a strong signal of trust

LemFi has received formal authorisation from AUSTRAC, Australia’s financial intelligence and regulatory authority, to operate as an independent remittance dealer. Securing approval demonstrates LemFi’s operational maturity and its ability to meet stringent international compliance standards.

As an independent remittance platform, LemFi can now directly provide its remittance services to Australian residents, offering competitive exchange rates, fast transfers, and low-cost fees. Australian customers will join over 2 million LemFi users across Europe and North America, sending money to more than 30 countries worldwide.

Rebeca Wignall, Chief Legal Officer at LemFi, said:

‘Remittances are more than transactions; they are about family, responsibility and opportunity. Receiving AUSTRAC approval reflects the strength of our compliance framework and allows us to support Australia’s diverse migrant communities with secure, transparent and accessible financial services.’

Mamadou Mareme Diop, VP of Remittance at LemFi, said:

‘Australia is a critical remittance corridor, and demand continues to grow alongside migration. This approval allows us to bring LemFi’s trusted, customer-first remittance experience to a market where these services are essential to millions of people.’

A growing global footprint

Australia becomes the latest addition to LemFi’s expanding regulatory and geographic footprint, alongside licences and approvals in the UK, Ireland, the US and key remittance corridors across Africa and Asia.

The expansion supports LemFi’s broader mission to build a full financial ecosystem for immigrants, spanning remittances, savings and credit, designed around the realities of global mobility.

A legal dispute between commercial motor vehicle distributor Tata Africa Holdings and industrial machinery supplier Berlin Equipment has returned to the High Court for a fresh hearing after the Court of Appeal overturned conditions that had stalled the case for six years.

The appellate court reversed a High Court decision that required Berlin Equipment and Kwale International Sugar Company to deposit Sh22.3 million as security before defending themselves against Tata’s 2019 lawsuit.

The judges deemed the condition ‘oppressive’, ruling that the dispute should be decided on its merits rather than forcing the defendants to pay the contested amount upfront.

The conflict began in 2019, when Tata sued Berlin Equipment and Kwale International Sugar Company over an alleged unpaid debt of $5 million (Sh642 million at current exchange rates) for supplied machinery. The defendants denied owing Tata any money.

After the defendants failed to file a defence on time, the High Court issued a default judgment in June 2019.

However, following an application, the trial judge set aside that judgment, acknowledging that the defendants had raised triable issues in their defence and counterclaim.

The judge imposed a condition requiring them to deposit Sh22.3 million in a joint interest-earning account within 30 days, failing which the default judgment would be reinstated.

The condition was intended to ensure that the parties demonstrated a commitment to resolving the dispute promptly.

Berlin Equipment and Kwale International Sugar Company challenged the condition, leading to the appeal.

The Court of Appeal ruled that once a court identifies triable issues, any conditions for setting aside a default judgment must be fair and reasonable. The judges found that forcing the defendants to deposit the full claimed amount before liability was determined was unjust.

‘Requiring the appellants to deposit the entire decretal sum as a precondition to defending the suit had the practical effect of compelling them to secure the full claim before liability was determined,’ the judges stated.

They emphasised that efficiency in litigation should be achieved through proper case management, not by imposing disputed financial burdens.

The discretion to set aside default judgments, they noted, exists to prevent injustice, not to create additional barriers.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal lifted the deposit requirement unconditionally and directed that the case proceed before a different High Court judge for a full trial.

The parliamentary Finance and National Planning Committee says only Sh29.8 billion will be available for development expenditure in the 2025-26 financial year, underscoring the urgent need for divestiture of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) to ease pressure on public finances.

The committee chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani said out of projected ordinary revenue of Sh3.321 trillion, Sh1.097 trillion will go towards interest payments on the country’s ballooning debt, while Sh960 billion will be spent on the public wage bill.

Kenya’s public debt currently stands at Sh12 trillion, according to recent figures from the Parliamentary Budget Office, an independent think tank that advises MPs on fiscal and budget matters.

In a position paper supporting the proposed partial sale of government shares in Safaricom PLC to raise Sh204.3 billion for critical infrastructure development, the committee said of the revenue collected nationally, Sh415 billion will be allocated to the 47 counties, while Sh205.2 billion will go towards pension payments and Consolidated Fund Services (CFS).

Mr Kimani said civil servants’ pensions alone will consume Sh34.4 billion, while the Equalisation Fund has been allocated Sh10.6 billion.

‘The truth is that we have been living a lie all this time. There is no way we can build our country with Sh29.8 billion,’ Mr Kimani told a public participation forum held in Nairobi on Tuesday on the proposed sale of 15 percent of the government’s shares in Safaricom.

‘The 2025-26 fiscal framework offers a real-world example that shows the urgent need for divestiture to ease pressure on public finances,’ he added.

Mr Kimani further revealed that the government had a guaranteed debt stock of Sh83.236 billion in the 2024-25 financial year. This includes Sh46.156 billion owed by the Kenya Ports Authority, Sh27.39 billion by KenGen, and Sh9.69 billion by Kenya Airways.

The National Assembly’s joint committees on Finance and National Planning and Privatisation and Public Debt are currently conducting public participation forums in 30 counties on Sessional Paper No 3, which proposes the partial divestiture of government shares in Safaricom.

Through the sessional paper, the government seeks to generate approximately Sh204.3 billion ($1.57 billion) in gross proceeds by selling a 15 percent stake in Safaricom at a premium of 23.6 percent above the six-month volume-weighted average price as of December 2, 2025.

The government plans to sell six million shares to Vodacom at Sh34 per share. Currently, the government owns 35 percent of Safaricom, the Vodacom Group holds 40 percent, while public shareholders, including ordinary Kenyans, own the remaining 25 percent.

Parliament had 28 days from December 2025 to approve, reject, or amend the sessional paper, failing which it will automatically take effect on March 26.

The sale will be conducted through a negotiated transaction at Sh34 per share, above the recent market average.

As of January 30, Safaricom shares were trading at about Sh29.50 on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

The sale is expected to raise about Sh204 billion in immediate cash. In addition, the government will receive an advance payment of Sh40 billion against future dividends from the remaining 20 per cent stake. The government will repay about Sh55 billion over six years using dividends from the unsold shares. After this period, it will continue to receive full dividends.

Vodacom has committed that the transaction will not result in acquisition-related job losses for at least three years.

Safaricom will retain a Kenyan chairperson and independent directors, while Vodacom has pledged continued support for the Safaricom Foundation.

“No matter how sophisticated our choices, how good we are at dominating the odds, randomness will have the last word,” wrote Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Is the business world inherently chaotic, or is randomness simply a result of human ignorance regarding hidden, complex variables? Is your organisation ordered and predicable, or does the unseen hand of randomness influence success or failure? In physics, in quantum mechanics, particles behaviour is inherently random. Doesn’t the same logic apply in business?

Can one recognise randomness for what it is and actually profit from what may appear a chaotic state of affairs?

Reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s provocative thinking in The Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness and Antifragile will shake any Kenyan manager’s worldview, causing one to think again about uncertainty and the chances of accurate prediction.

Title of the book comes from the past belief that all swans where white, where it turns out a rare Black Swan was spotted in Australia.

Black Swan events as defined by Taleb are an outlier, lying outside regular expectations, where nothing in the past can point to it’s possibility – where the event carries an extreme impact.

Strangely enough, as he points out, the Black Swan phenomena is a fact that we tend to ignore, because we don’t even recognise it exists.

Alexander Fleming was a meticulous researcher. However a set of random events, a messy lab, a vacation and a contamination, a series of highly improbable coincidences, led to his 1928 discovery of penicillin, that has saved millions of lives.

Discovery of penicillin is a classic example of a “Black Swan” event in science-an unexpected, rare occurrence with extreme impact, often rationalised in hindsight.

Value what you don’t know

Taleb is a Wharton trained financial economist who makes you think, the kind of paperback where you go back a few pages to make sure one really understood his ideas. Black Swan logic makes what you don’t know, far more relevant than what you do know.

His thesis is that ‘contrary to social science wisdom, almost no discovery, no technologies of note came from design and planning – they were just Black Swans.’

Taleb is brash and pulls no punches when he writes: ‘Go ask your portfolio manager for his definition of risk and the odds are that he will supply you with a measure that excludes the possibility of the Black Swan – hence, one that has no better predictive value for assessing the total risks than astrology .. dressed up intellectual fraud with mathematics.’

Mediocre or extreme

Taleb writes about the land of Mediocristan [type 1 randomness] and Extremistan [type 2 randomness] where Black Swan social phenomena lie.

For instance, if you randomly got 100 people to line up shoulder to shoulder on a street in Nairobi, you would get an excellent [statistically correct] picture of the average height of Kenyans.

Even if you brought in the tallest person in Kenya, who is say more than eight feet tall it would not significantly affect [by less than 1 percent] the average height of the group.

In other words, when your sample is large, no single instance will significantly change the aggregate, the total, or the overall average. In other words, in Mediocristan [a place of physical measures] a single event does not contribute much individually, only collectively.

In the land of Extremistan, filled with mostly social phenomenon where the Black Swan events lie things are totally different.

Take another randomly selected group of 100 hard working Kenyans and compute their average income, now bring in the richest individual in the country. It is not hard to see that the affluent person’s earnings would be many times the income of the total group combined.

‘In Extremistan, inequalities are such that one single observation can disproportionately impact the aggregate or total’ notes Taleb.

Lesson for Kenyan managers is to know how to make the distinction between the two worlds of man-made social events and the physical world [like measuring waistlines].

Stop trying to predict everything and recognise [and hopefully be able to take advantage of] uncertainty. Maybe we can even come to the shocking self-awareness that we not even aware, we [often] don’t learn.

Was that luck or skill?

Taleb’s core thinking is that we massively underestimate randomness. Managers often see patterns where none exist and risk attributing success to skill, when luck played a major role. Then, to explain what we think happened we create neat stories after the fact.

Problem with not seeing randomness in business is that we have an overconfidence in forecasts, celebrate ‘star performers’ without adjusting for luck, and tend to copy approaches that worked once in unique conditions. Truth may be that many business successes are not repeatable formulas, they are a result of partly (or largely) random events.

Risk is that we confuse survival with skill, seeing only the survivors. The startup that made it, fund manager with a winning streak, or the CEO who ‘beat the odds’. What we don’t see, and may choose to ignore is the thousands who used the same approach, and failed.

Taking advantage of randomness

So how does one turn Taleb’s randomness into a competitive advantage? When you accidently drop a fragile china plate on the kitchen floor it shatters. Taleb’s suggestion to profit from randomness is to build in antifragility.

For instance, when you exercise a muscle, it is stressed, yet with time it becomes stronger. Or a manager that went from a bordering on fatal stressful set of events in a failed merger, may come out a broader more informed perspective, developing a sense of Solomon like wisdom.

Taking an antifragile approach may mean avoiding leverage that can wipe you out, diversify revenue streams even if it looks inefficient, and prefer modular systems over tightly linked ones. Better to be slightly inefficient than fatally fragile.

Makes sense to pilot projects instead of big-bang transformations and make small experiments across multiple ideas. Many small failures plus one big success beats one grand ‘big bet’ plan.

Helps to always look for the ‘asymmetric upside’ that has a limited downside, with a big potential gain. Building partnerships across various sectors, is a smart ‘spread the bets’ approach.

Precise but irrelevant

Taleb is known for criticising how some professionals handle risk, including accountants. He argues that accountants often focus on ‘precise but irrelevant numbers’ versus a broader understanding of uncertainty. Risk management is often based on past data that can be fatally flawed.

Taleb thesis is that we massively underestimate the impact of randomness, often confusing skill with luck, an insightful investor with a lucky idiot, and market out performance with a survivorship bias.

And, in ‘always on’ designed to distract social media — do we confuse signal for noise? Last word: randomness always wins.

South Africa’s Absa Bank is exploring plans to buy another Kenyan lender in a move that would help it grow its share of the retail banking market.

The bank is actively looking at several acquisition options to expand its lending capacity, targeting households and small businesses, in the race to reclaim its former top position.

‘We are always on the lookout for opportunity be they organic or inorganic, but the regulatory environment must be conducive and positive for that. Fortunately, Kenya and many of the countries in East Africa have a very conducive environment for us to be looking at inorganic growth,’ Kenny Fihla, the Absa Group CEO, told the Business Daily in an interview during his ongoing Kenya visit. ‘We have not yet come across anything, but we continue to look, we continue to explore and at the right time we will do what is necessary to ensure that our business grows.’

Absa joins a growing list of South African banks, including Nedbank, Standard Bank, and FirstRand Bank, trying to find new avenues to grow and diversify their regional footprint via buyouts.

If Absa closes a transaction, it will be the latest in Kenya’s banking sector where a tenfold increase in the minimum core capital requirements for commercial banks to Sh10 billion is expected to trigger deals and tie-ups.

Absa Group will seek to close the deal through its Kenyan subsidiary, where it has a 68.5 percent stake.

The move is part of an effort by the bank to diversify its income further under a fresh strategy that is marked with increased pursuit of the retail market, which Absa has been slow on since 2016.

Absa’s renewed push for the retail market started in 2024, when it increased its branches for the first time since 2016.

It

It added two branches to 121 outlets in 2016. But the bank soon after began a cutback that saw the outlets reduced to 91 in 2017 and 83 in 2023. In 2022, it added three branches to 86.

In recent years, commercial banks in Kenya have increased their use of mobile and internet technologies to increase efficiency and reduce the costs of running a branch network.

Mr Fihla said Absa sees opportunities for growth in Kenya’s and East Africa’s retail market, and that the lender will be looking to widen its scale on that front.

‘Ultimately, we want to be a scale player because banking is about scale. If you are too niched, your relevance to the economy and your ability to make a big impact tend to be limited and so we would want to grow on scale,’ he said.

‘We understand that we cannot get there overnight and have to be selective around which client segments we want to play in and then create scale within a defined area before using that platform to move to the next set of opportunities.’

Top banks asset base (Sh bn)

Table with 5 columns and 7 rows. (column headers with buttons are sortable)

2007 2024

Barclays 157.93 KCB 1277.77

KCB 112.21 Equity 1027.68

StanChart 91.25 Co-op 687.82

Co-op 65.70 NCBA 588.70

Equity 53.13 Absa 506.13

Citibank 47.30 Stanbic 414.87

National Bank 41.41 I and M 414.87

Absa’s previous cutback in the retail space coincided with rivals-Equity, Cooperative and KCB-increasingly targeting the market.

This saw Absa lose its position as Kenya’s largest lender by assets to the three rival banks and the NCBA Group.

In 2007, Absa was Kenya’s largest bank with Sh157.9 billion assets ahead of KCB, with Sh112 billion, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

The tables turned, and in 2024, Absa had been relegated to the fifth position with assets of Sh606 billion against KCB’s Sh1.27 trillion, Equity’s Sh1.02 trillion, Cooperative Bank’s Sh687.8 billion and NCBA’s Sh588.7 billion.

Absa’s strategy of widening its footprint in the retail market is hinged on gathering cheap deposits from households and small businesses.

The cheap deposits could ultimately be deployed into areas that could generate higher returns, such as corporate lending.

‘The retail market is very attractive to Absa Bank for several reasons. First, it helps us to gather liabilities or liquidity that is required for us to lend to clients,’ said Mr Fihla.

‘That liquidity is viewed favourably by regulators and consequently makes it easier for us to lend cheaply. That is the reason why everyone would want to access that segment of the client base.

‘Secondly, you cannot call yourself an African bank if you are not relevant to the people who live in Africa and make sure that people have access to the financial system.’

Mr Fihla is on a three-day tour of Kenya that started on February 3.

His visit came just a week after Standard Bank’s Sim Tshabalala visited the country, underlining South African banks’ interest in Kenya and East Africa.

Standard Bank lost the race to acquire NCBA Group after its South Africa rival, Nedbank Group, agreed a deal to buy the Kenyan bank in a cash-and-stock transaction as part of the lender’s ambitions to expand in East Africa.

Nedbank, like most South African and Nigerian lenders, views East Africa as strategically important, citing strong macroeconomic fundamentals, a large and growing population and the region’s role as a trade corridor linking Africa with the Middle East, India and Asia.

Nigeria’s second-largest bank by asset base and market capitalisation, Zenith Bank, has also inked an agreement to acquire Kenya’s Paramount Bank.

The ability to charge your phone at home is something many of us take for granted. Yet for millions of Kenyans, this simple act is not possible.

Recently, I was in Naivasha with MPs as they discussed the priorities in their legislative calendar, and their most pressing ask was how to facilitate robust electrification. It was not a surprise to hear that there are constituencies in Kenya where less than 10 percent of households are connected to the national grid.

In such places, the development conversation is very different.

At the weekend, I was in the village attending a function where our MP was present. I was struck when a middle-aged woman spoke passionately about the same issue.

She vehemently told the MP to stop prioritising the construction of more schools or water projects the community wants electricity first.

This illustrates how electricity has become central to every other aspect of development. The quest for power is no longer just about lighting; it is now a matter of inclusion in the modern world. Every human being has a strong desire to seek truth and happiness.

Electronic gadgets, especially communication devices, support this need. With powered gadgets, people can access information that promotes dignity, freedom, opportunity, and full participation in modern life.

Without power, individuals and households are cut off from the digital world that increasingly defines how we learn, work, transact, and relate.

Any parent of teenagers or young adults understands the mood in a home without Wi-Fi. The absence of Internet brings gloom, frustration, and isolation. But beyond inconvenience, a lack of electricity cuts people off from essential services.

Statistics show that more than 99 percent of financial services are transacted through digital channels-from mobile money to online banking. These transactions require powered devices. Anyone without access to electricity is excluded from this economic flow.

E-commerce, which also supports the creative economy, relies on platforms powered by electricity. Artists upload content, traders market products online, and freelancers serve global clients-all enabled by power.

Grid connection is, therefore, not optional; it is imperative for unlocking economic potential. Cottage industries and Jua Kali artisans also need power to operate various machines. Productivity and income rise dramatically once it is available.

Education is another area where electricity transforms lives. Just as irrigation extends farming beyond rainfall, electric light extends learning beyond daylight. Without electricity, students depend solely on natural light, which switches off religiously at around 7pm.

Relationships, too, are now digital. Families stay connected through video calls, messaging apps, and social media. Without power, people live with a constant fear of losing out-on information, opportunities, and connection.

The world today is digital. The government, through Parliament, should treat connecting every household to electricity as a national strategy for inclusion.

An inclusive country is one where citizens are not excluded simply because they live beyond the reach of the grid.

With electricity, we create equitable access to jobs, markets, education, and government services, including opportunities in the international arena. For all Kenyans to thrive in the 21st century, universal access to power must be treated as a priority.

A dispute over official travel and per diem claims involving a senior Kenya Power manager’s daughter led to the dismissal of a long-serving employee, a decision that has seen her awarded Sh3.2 million compensation for unfair sacking.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nakuru ruled that Kenya Power unfairly terminated Catherine Mwangi, an ICT manager with 37 years of service, following a disciplinary process deemed procedurally and substantively flawed.

Ms Mwangi, who joined Kenya Power in 1983 as a technician apprentice, rose through the ranks to become Functional Head for ICT in the North Rift before transferring to the Central Rift as Regional ICT Head.

Her role covered seven counties with extensive fibre infrastructure, requiring frequent emergency travel. Scheduled to retire in 2024 at age 60, she was dismissed in February 2021 over allegations of misusing a company vehicle and irregularly approving per diem and mileage claims.

Ms Mwangi sued, alleging her termination stemmed from nepotism after she refused to approve undeserved travel requests for a top manager’s daughter.

Court records indicate the dispute began in 2020 when she faced increasing pressure over travel approvals. She testified that the manager’s daughter repeatedly demanded inclusion in official trips and reacted angrily when denied allowances, escalating to hostility and threats.

However, Kenya Power denied any improper influence, insisting her dismissal was purely disciplinary.

The company cited a forensic audit that allegedly uncovered irregularities in vehicle use, work ticket approvals, and per diem claims.

The audit accused Ms Mwangi of authorising fictitious claims, improperly delegating approvals, and irregularly claiming Sh75,600 in per diems and Sh18,029 for mileage while using a company car.

On January 4, 2021, she received a notice to show cause and was given 72 hours to respond. Ms Mwangi stated she was never provided the audit report or supporting documents.

Despite this, she submitted a written defence explaining that disputed trips involved her personal vehicle, while the company car was used by technicians transporting equipment.

A disciplinary hearing on January 26, 2021, was described as tense and disorganised, conducted without key documents.

‘The hearing was hostile and unfair, resembling a shouting match, with the outcome seemingly predetermined,’ she told the court, claiming she was denied a fair chance to defend herself.

She was dismissed on February 2, 2021, with the letter repeating allegations but offering no explanation for rejecting her defence. Her appeal on February 24 received a delayed response, ultimately upholding the dismissal.

In court, Kenya Power maintained it followed due process under the Employment Act, arguing that Ms Mwangi, as a senior officer, bore responsibility for transport management and provided unsatisfactory explanations.

However, the court identified significant gaps in Kenya Power’s case, ruling violations of Article 47 of the Constitution, the Fair Administrative Action Act, and the Employment Act.

The internal auditor admitted that Ms Mwangi was not given the audit report before the hearing and acknowledged that weaknesses were ‘largely systemic issues within the transport department.’

The auditor also conceded that no driver testified about alleged vehicle misuse and could not confirm fictitious payments.

The human resources officer admitted that the transport policy cited was circulated after the audit and lacked documentary proof of fictitious claims.

The court noted confusion within Kenya Power over transport controls, with management witnesses unclear on approval authority.

“There was no clear strategy on the transport policy and approval of work tickets. The respondent witness, the internal auditor, was not crystal clear who was to sign the work ticket and also the Human Resource Manager was not certain about the applicability of the transport policy,” the court observed.

The judge ruled Kenya Power failed to prove termination was justified, violating Sections 41, 43, and 45 of the Employment Act.

The court emphasised that disciplinary fairness requires both valid reasons and fair procedure. It faulted Kenya Power for failing to supply the audit report, denying the employee a meaningful opportunity to defend herself.

While no direct evidence proved nepotism influenced dismissal, the court found allegations unproven and the termination process fundamentally unfair.

Ms Mwangi was awarded one month’s salary in lieu of notice and 12 months’ compensation totalling Sh3.2 million, plus costs and 14 percent interest.

Kenya has only two artificial intelligence (AI)-capable data centres against South Africa’s five, highlighting a growing infrastructure gap that could lock the continent out of the most valuable cornerstone of the generative technology economy.

An analysis from Data Centre Map, a global data centre directory, shows that South Africa leads Africa with 60 data centres, followed by Nigeria with 22 and Kenya with 19. But most of these centres lack AI capabilities.

South Africa only has five, which are AI-capable, while Nigeria has one.

While AI promises to be a powerful tool in boosting productivity, Africa is being left behind because it lacks the digital infrastructure, including connectivity in the form of fast fibre-optic broadband.

The lack of connectivity is compounded by a shortage of the heavy-duty data centres needed to crunch the masses of data required to train large language models and run the AI-powered applications that could boost Africa’s economic growth.

These days, much of the content and processing needed to keep websites and programmes running is held in the cloud, which is made up of thousands of processors in physical data centres.

Yet Africa has far fewer of these than any other major continent.

Fifteen of Kenya’s 19 data centres, mostly light-duty, are located in Nairobi.

Data Centre Map indicates that Kenya is ahead of Morocco (14) and Egypt (13), as well as Tanzania (11) and Angola (10).

Globally, there are 10,793 data centres listed across 174 countries.

The United States alone hosts nearly 40 percent of them, cementing its position as the engine room of the AI economy. The UK follows the US with 498, while Germany comes third with 470.

The AI infrastructure race is dominated by countries with deep capital markets and established hyperscale cloud ecosystems. These markets are also home to the largest cloud and chip players, which means they control not only the software layer of AI but also the hardware, from GPUs to specialised data-centre networking.

Without such infrastructure, African firms and governments are forced to rely on overseas cloud regions, meaning the continent risks becoming mainly an importer of AI services rather than a producer of the technologies that will shape future productivity and competitiveness.