Category: Business Daily

The Court of Appeal has ruled that logistics services for exports qualify for zero-rated Value Added Tax (VAT), dealing a blow to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which sought to impose a levy on the utilities.

The court said that taxation of export services should be done where the end product is consumed and not where the logistics are physically performed.

The July 10, 2026 decision by the court arose from a dispute between Airflo Ltd, formerly Panalpina Airflo Limited, and the Commissioner of Domestic Taxes over VAT refunds amounting to Sh46 million.

Zero-rated Value Added Tax (VAT) applies a zero percent tax rate to goods and services. Under the arrangement, customers are not charged any VAT, but businesses can reclaim the VAT paid on the raw materials and production costs.

At the centre of the dispute were two key questions: whether logistical services such as cold room storage, vacuum cooling, X-ray screening, palletisation and customs documentation are consumed in Kenya or abroad, and whether services physically performed in Kenya can qualify as exported services under the VAT Act.

Airflo Ltd, a Kenyan company, provides handling services to its Dutch parent company, Airflo BV, which transports cut flowers and other horticultural produce from Kenya via the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to destinations around the world, mainly on behalf of customers in the Netherlands who have already purchased the flowers from Kenyan growers.

Under the service agreement, the Dutch customers own the flowers before Airflo Ltd’s services are engaged. The company receives instructions from the overseas market on how the flowers should be packed, screened and consigned before shipment.

The Court of Appeal found that the services were intended to benefit foreign customers rather than Kenyan farmers or the local export process.

“The ultimate economic benefit and consumption of the respondent’s logistical services accrued to the Dutch entities that required their flowers delivered in pristine condition in Europe. The physical location of the performance of the services at JKIA does not alter this commercial reality,” the court said.

The appellate court agreed with the High Court that the decisive test for zero-rating under the VAT Act is the place where the service is used or consumed.

“We therefore find no error in the High Court’s conclusion that the determining factor for zero-rating was the place of use or consumption, which in this case was the Netherlands,” the court ruled.

The court further held that the services could not be classified as exempt horticultural services merely because they involved flowers.

It described cold room storage, vacuum cooling, X-ray screening, palletisation and customs documentation as logistical support services ancillary to international freight transport rather than horticultural production.

“The mere fact that the subject matter of the logistics is horticultural produce does not transform the nature of the service itself. To hold otherwise would expand the exemption beyond its ordinary meaning, effectively converting a sector-based commercial relationship into a statutory exemption without textual foundation,” the judges said.

The KRA had argued that because Airflo Ltd is based in Kenya and the services were supplied within Kenya, they should be subject to the standard 16 per cent VAT rate under Section 8 of the VAT Act.

It also maintained that the services were consumed locally because they enabled the flowers to meet export and phytosanitary requirements before leaving the country.

The court disagreed, saying that to hold, as the KRA urges, that a supply made in Kenya under Section 8(1) cannot simultaneously be a service exported out of Kenya under Section 2 would render the zero-rating provision in the Second Schedule meaningless in respect of services performed by Kenyan residents.

‘Parliament could not have intended such an absurdity,” the court held.

It added that the two provisions work together, with Section 8 establishing Kenya’s taxing jurisdiction while the Second Schedule provides for zero-rating where the services are ultimately used or consumed outside Kenya.

“The two provisions operate harmoniously. Section 8(1) brings the transaction within Kenya’s taxing jurisdiction; Section 2 and the Second Schedule provide for zero-rating where the service, though supplied from Kenya, is for use or consumption abroad. There is no superfluity,” the judges said.

The court also dismissed KRA’s attempt to classify the services as exempt horticultural services.

“The Appellant’s position amounts to an impermissible attempt to re-characterize the services as exempt merely to avoid processing a refund lawfully due, without any proper statutory basis,” it said.

Airflo Ltd had charged VAT at the zero rate on services rendered to Airflo BV and subsequently sought refunds of excess input VAT amounting to Sh36 million for January to September 2019 and Sh10 million for June to October 2020.

KRA rejected the claims in January and February 2021, prompting the company to appeal to the Tax Appeals Tribunal.

The tribunal ruled in Airflo’s favour in April 2022, finding that the services were exported and therefore zero-rated. The High Court upheld that decision in May 2023.

The Court of Appeal further directed KRA to process the VAT refund claims within 90 days of the judgment.

The sweetness of your favourite ‘pure honey’ may not be entirely the result of bees painstakingly converting flower nectar into the natural sweetener.

Instead, it could also be the work of crafty manufacturers concocting substances that give it the sweetness of natural honey.

A nationwide investigation into the honey industry by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) found that four out of every five sampled brands contained additives despite being labelled and marketed as “100 percent pure and natural honey”, opening a probe into yet another case of false and misleading advertising and consumer deception.

The findings, contained in the CAK’s annual report for the financial year ended June 2025, followed laboratory tests on honey brands collected from manufacturers and importers across the country. CAK said the tests were done by an accredited laboratory.

More than 80 percent of the sampled products were found to be non-compliant because they contained additives above the permissible limits.

The CAK said that following the results, it launched a formal investigation into the implicated manufacturers and importers.

“Notably, the affected honey products were marketed and labelled as ‘100 percent Pure and Natural Honey,’ which was found to be misleading and contrary to Clause 4.1 of KS EAS 36:2020,” the authority said.

“The clause stipulates that pure honey must not contain any added substances,” added the watchdog, whose mandate includes protecting consumers from unfair trade practices.

The authority said marketing adulterated honey as “100 percent pure and natural honey” amounts to misleading consumers by making false claims about the quality and composition of the product.

It also found that the affected brands failed to meet the prescribed consumer product standards for honey, making their sale an offence under the Competition Act.

“The labelling and sale of adulterated honey were deemed to violate Sections 55(a)(i) and 60(1) of the Act, which prohibit the supply of consumer goods that fail to meet prescribed product information standards,” said the CAK.

The parties involved were required to implement corrective measures on product packaging, storage and handling to ensure compliance with the applicable laws and standards.

“The entities further committed to periodic compliance monitoring by the Authority to safeguard consumer welfare.”

According to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the international food standards body established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), honey must not contain any added food ingredients or additives, including sugars and sweeteners.

“Honey sold as such shall not have added to it any food ingredient, nor shall any other additions be made other than honey. Honey shall not have any objectionable matter, flavour, aroma, or taint absorbed from foreign matter during its processing and storage,” says Codex.

Honey has become increasingly popular as more health-conscious consumers switch from refined sugar to what is perceived as a healthier natural sweetener.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that honey production rose by 19.3 percent to 20,602.5 tonnes in the five years to 2025, reflecting growing demand for the product.

The 2019 Population and Housing Census showed that 201,406 households engaged in beekeeping as a source of livelihood, a figure that is likely to have increased as demand for honey has grown.

In 2020, juice maker Del Monte Kenya was fined Sh776,025 by the competition watchdog for misrepresenting the quality of one of its products.

The anti-competition watchdog later entered into a settlement agreement with the firm after finding that it had contravened Section 55(a)(i) of the Competition Act.

A person commits an offence under the law if they “falsely represent that goods are of a particular standard, quality, value, grade, composition, style or model or have had a particular history or particular previous use.”

Del Monte said CAK investigations related to missing wording on the packaging of one of its products.

Azam juice maker Bakhresa Food Products was also fined Sh47,711 for a similar infringement involving the composition of its juice products.

The CAK’s previous crackdown on misleading representations has also targeted the financial services sector, with firms such as Faulu Microfinance Bank and Harambee Sacco being sanctioned for similar violations.

A company linked to the estate of the late billionaire businessman and former Starehe MP Gerishon Kamau Kirima, Kirima and Sons Limited, is embroiled in a Sh52.8 million rental income tax dispute with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

The Tax Appeals Tribunal has set aside KRA’s objection decision and ordered a fresh review of the tax after directing the company to submit documents supporting disputed repairs, maintenance and security expenses.

Kirima, who died in 2010, was one of the wealthiest property magnates, leaving behind an estate valued at nearly Sh2 billion, including prime commercial and residential properties, extensive landholdings, company shareholdings, and investments that have been the subject of prolonged succession litigation.

He served as Starehe MP and Assistant Minister for Public Works during the late President Daniel Moi’s administration. He was also a Nairobi City Councillor before building one of the country’s largest private property empires.

The taxation dispute stems from additional income tax assessments covering the 2019 to 2023 tax years.

The tribunal, chaired by Robert Mutuma, ordered the company to produce original or certified supporting records within 30 days and directed KRA to issue a fresh objection decision within 60 days after receiving the documents.

‘The just course, and the one that best serves the object of tax dispute resolution as envisioned in the Tax Procedures Act of ensuring assessments are made on complete information, is to remit the matter to the respondent for an informed objection decision to be made after its sight of the outstanding records,’ said the tribunal.

The tax dispute arose after KRA reviewed the company’s income tax declarations and disallowed deductions claimed for repairs, maintenance and security costs incurred on rental properties.

The authority subsequently confirmed additional income tax assessments amounting to Sh52.8 million after concluding the company had failed to provide documents supporting the claimed expenses.

Kirima and Sons challenged the assessment, arguing that the disputed costs were genuine business expenses incurred to maintain ageing residential properties and provide security for tenants.

It maintained that the records could not be accessed because prolonged succession disputes following Kirima’s death disrupted the company’s governance and custody of its documents.

“The properties are of age and required major repairs to continue to make them habitable and competitive,” the company told the tribunal. It added that “it is the responsibility of the landlord to provide security to the tenants through hiring of security guards for day and night.”

The company said that newly appointed administrators of Kirima’s estate had written to previous administrators seeking bank statements, expense schedules, invoices, receipts, contracts and property records covering 2019 to 2024 to support the disputed deductions.

KRA opposed the appeal, arguing that the company repeatedly failed to comply with statutory requirements despite being given several opportunities to do so during the verification and objection process.

The tax authority said the objection lodged through the iTax system lacked both supporting grounds and documentary evidence.

“It is now evident that the appellant is attempting to cure its non-compliance at the appeal stage by submitting new factual allegations and attaching documents that were not part of the objection process,” KRA argued.

The Commissioner further maintained that “the burden of proof lies with the taxpayer, and in this case, the appellant has failed to discharge this legal burden both factually and procedurally.”

The tribunal agreed that taxpayers must keep adequate business records and observed that Kirima and Sons had not produced documents proving the disputed expenditure either before KRA or during the appeal.

“It is common ground, and admitted by the appellant, that no documents substantiating the disallowed repair and maintenance, and security expenses were furnished to the respondent at any stage,” the tribunal said.

However, it found that the company’s explanation for failing to access the records was supported by court documents appointing new estate administrators and correspondence requesting the missing records from previous administrators.

“The tribunal finds the appellant’s explanation for its inability to produce the outstanding records plausible,” the tribunal ruled.

It said the explanation was “corroborated by a court-issued grant of letters of administration and by contemporaneous correspondence.”

The tribunal held that KRA was entitled to issue a best-judgment assessment based on the information available at the time.

It nevertheless concluded that the objection decision should be reconsidered after the company produces the outstanding records, allowing the Commissioner to make a fresh determination on a complete evidentiary record.

Nairobi County posting Sh15 billion in own-source revenue is no small achievement. Put in perspective, it is nearly equivalent to its equitable share of national revenue, which stands at Sh22 billion.

The milestone is hardly surprising. Nairobi is Kenya’s commercial hub, the seat of government and the country’s largest economic engine. Some analysts argue that Sh15 billion still falls below the city’s true revenue potential, and they may be right. Even so, Governor Johnson Sakaja’s administration deserves credit for reversing years of underperformance.

Not long ago, Nairobi’s own-source revenue fluctuated between Sh3 billion and Sh7 billion a year. Huge leakages, weak enforcement and manual systems denied the county billions in collections.

Digitising revenue streams, mapping revenue sources and simplifying payment systems have significantly improved compliance and reduced opportunities for corruption.

Residents are also beginning to see the results. Roads are being recarpeted, public spaces upgraded and parts of the city given a facelift.

That matters because Nairobi is Kenya’s gateway to the world. The impression visitors form of the country often begins with the capital, making investment in urban infrastructure more than cosmetic; it is part of the nation’s image.

Yet higher revenues alone will not solve Nairobi’s problems. The county serves nearly seven million people during the day and about five million at night, placing immense pressure on roads, housing, sanitation and other public services. Every additional shilling must therefore be matched by disciplined planning, prudent spending and clear priorities.

The city still bears the scars of decades of poor governance, corruption and failed planning. Informal settlements, inadequate infrastructure and overstretched services are reminders of opportunities lost over many administrations.

Sustaining improved revenue collection is important, but using those resources effectively will be the real measure of success.

The challenge now is to ensure that every shilling collected delivers visible improvements in the lives of Nairobi residents and strengthens the city’s position as Kenya’s economic heartbeat.

In that sea of an office that is the vice-chancellor’s floor at the University of Nairobi (UoN), docked on the 18th floor of the UoN Towers, Prof Ayub Gitau revels in numbers.

He is a good dancer, we hear, but what comes out in this fast-paced morning is his better-known attribute; that of being a numbers man. He has 30 minutes before he goes to meet the university’s senate, and well under 24 hours before his big day starts.

Come the following morning from 8am, underneath white tents being set up in the university’s grounds, he will be installed officially as the ninth vice-chancellor of the institution.

Among the numbers bothering him is one from recent university rankings that placed UoN at position 17 in Africa.

‘That’s not where we belong,’ he says. ‘We belong to the top five and, in the worst case scenario, the top 10 universities in Africa.’

He is also not proud when he reveals that the past decade has been somehow ‘lost’ at UoN due to squabbles of different shapes.

‘From 2015, we have been up and down, and we have been there for about 10 years,’ he says. ‘I would like a situation whereby, first of all, we make the University of Nairobi great again.’

But there are other numbers he is happy to mention, like a recent Sh530 million grant from the World Bank. He also takes pride in the fact that the UoN has more than 300,00 alumni, including President William Ruto, as he lays out plans to involve them more in the institution’s turnaround.

As far as dates are concerned, Prof Gitau got his Bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering in 1990 from Egerton University. By the end of 1994, he had his Master’s from the UoN, while his PhD came in 2004. It wasn’t until 2023 that he became a full professor.

Dressed in a brown suit and carrying a down-to-earth aura, Prof Gitau is the type that scribbles down your question on his notebook as his mind calculates a response in real-time.

Congratulations on your installation. Did you ever dream of being here?

It has been a journey. I’ve been in management for over 15 years. I started in 2010 as the chairman of the Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineering.

Then I became the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering for another five and a half years, from 2019. And for close to two years, I’ve been

acting as the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. So, the journey tells you I was moving and hoping that one day, I would be the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nairobi. It could have happened earlier, or later, but that dream has been there.

Which people, family or others would you not want to miss in your installation?

I have my wife, Veronica, our two daughters and my siblings. I also have a good number of friends. Some are businesspersons and others are in the corporate world. Ultimately, I would like the professors of the university to be there and all the staff of the university.

For how long have you been married to Veronica?

For many years. We are talking about over 35 years. My lastborn is turning 28 in a month.

Some have said that being in academia is a sacrifice. Have you ever lived a situation where you see your peers rising through the ranks while you feel like you are stagnated?

[Laughs]. We call it [academia] CSR. Even in this office, there is an element of sacrifice to it. If you were to monetise it, nobody can pay you. It’s a sacrifice. It’s just like religion; it is corporate social responsibility as it were. And specifically once you go to the management, it is a service. I normally say: service to mankind. And it has worked well.

You serve mankind, automatically you also get your reward from God. I’ve seen it happen. But as you have put it, I remember after undergraduate, most of our [peers] were getting very good jobs. You hear somebody is getting a Sh20,000 job.

Those days, the government salary was Sh3,000. Then after that, we went to the postgraduate studies. The [peers] were just marrying. So, you won’t marry because you have got another level. By the time you are done with your PhD, you are over 40 years yet those guys are growing in the corporate world.

But I’ve realised it is a matter of patience. Once you get what is yours, rightfully yours, you overtake them and within two years you are doing better by far.

You turn 60 on October 20. Is this lined up to be your best birthday yet?

It should be one of my most exciting birthdays. The beauty behind it is it always happens on a holiday [Mashujaa Day].

But it’s more exciting now when you’re in this role…

True, true, you’re right.

What are your immediate plans for UoN?

From 2015, we have been up and down, and we have been there for about 10 years. It shows there is a lot of reflection and teamwork that is required. Currently, the University of Nairobi is heavily divided. That’s a fact. So, the first thing is to bring the staff together, noting that we have the best faculty in the region: highly experienced, highly trained.

And if you think about our mandate of teaching and learning, research, innovation and enterprise, consultancy, community outreach, across the board, the faculty is well-endowed.

You’ll realise even our non-teaching staff are involved in most of these activities, be it community service outreach, even consultancy, and some also in research. So, the whole idea is to bring the team together, and then after that we can look at the various facilities.

Our dream is to have students whose well-being is taken care of, staff who are enabled and who are also motivated. Then we have to think about our alumni. We are very rich in our alumni; over 300,000. They include the President and the who-is-who in the country. That is another area that we can tap.

What would you want to be remembered for in your role as VC?

I would like a situation whereby, first, we could make the University of Nairobi great again; where we are not comparing ourselves with other universities. I want us to form a brand, our original brand where we come up with futuristic leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs so that the CEOs, the VCs, the presidents of the future are well mentored and brought up at the University of Nairobi.

I know within one year, we shall have brought all the staff together and at that point, when the staff are motivated, they give their best.

Then the productivity will be seen. I’m very sure even within this year, our ranking nationally, not just for Kenya, will start [rising]. I foresee a futuristic university, nurturing talent, bringing in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Mauritius-based insurer MUA Limited is weighing recapitalisation of its Kenyan subsidiary following the uncovering of Sh1.6 billion hidden liabilities through a forensic audit that was concluded last year.

The group, which has operations in six countries including Mauritius, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Seychelles, says its Kenyan unit remains under pressure due to foreign exchange losses and under-capitalisation.

MUA says in the latest review of operations in 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 that the under-capitalisation of the Kenyan arm has constrained growth and customer acquisition and it is working with the regulator to resolve the issue.

‘MUA Kenya’s profitability remained under pressure due to foreign exchange losses and lack of scale, which itself is a result of regulatory challenges in the recapitalisation of the entity. We are working with the authorities to resolve this,’ said MUA in a market update.

MUA Group, which owns 66.38 percent stake in MUA Kenya, said in last year’s forensic auditing findings that it discovered that between 2017 and 2020, reinsurance balances in the Kenyan unit were ‘significantly overstated’ through inaccurate accounting.

The overstatement of reinsurance balances meant the company was recording higher than expected recoveries from reinsurers yet in reality, it owed more.

The misstatements left it with inflated assets and understated liabilities, leading to a Sh1.63 billion write-down to correct the issue. This left it requiring fresh capital. MUA is working with the Insurance Regulatory Authority to resolve the challenge.

‘At group level, our key remaining challenge continues to be the under-capitalisation of our Kenyan subsidiary which is a major hurdle for its customer acquisition efforts. We are confident that our actions to solve this issue, in cooperation with the Kenyan regulator, will be effective,’ said MUA.

Latest IRA industry data shows MUA Kenya (which offers general insurance) closed March 2026 with a negative equity of Sh359.92 million, with accumulated losses having hit Sh2.19 billion.

The Mauritian firm entered Kenya in 2014 by acquiring Phoenix of East Africa Assurance Company and renaming it MUA Kenya.

The local operation in July 2020 then acquired Saham Kenya for $12.325 million (Sh1.59 billion) and integrated it into the entity that continues to trade as MUA Kenya.

MUA said its East African operations posted a marginal loss of one million Mauritian rupees (Sh2.73 million) last year compared to a profit of 15 million Mauritian rupees (Sh41 million) in 2024, dragged by Kenya and Uganda performance.

The firm said excluding Kenya where insurance revenue declined by 18 percent, the region would have remained profitable given that Tanzania and Rwanda delivered strong growth.

Overall, MUA reported record group profit of 523 million Mauritian rupees (Sh1.43 billion) in 2025, representing a 23 percent increase when compared with 2024. This was supported by improved underwriting performance and growth across other markets.

‘This strong performance reflects continued improvement in underlying insurance profitability across most operations,’ said MUA.

A law firm has lost its bid to recover Sh56.3 million in legal fees from Dutch brewer Heineken after the High Court upheld the dismissal of its advocate-client bill of costs.

The court found that LJA Associates LLP and Heineken had operated under an agreed work-in-progress (WIP) billing arrangement, making the advocate-client bill of costs ineligible for taxation.

LJA Associates previously represented the Heineken Group in its long-running legal battle with businessman Ngugi Kiuna’s Maxam Ltd over the termination of East African distributorship agreements in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

It was not immediately clear from the court record whether the Sh56.3 million in legal fees arose from that litigation.

In rejecting LJA Associates’ attempt to overturn an earlier decision by the taxing master dismissing the firm’s bill of costs, the court found no basis for interfering with the taxing master’s findings on the merits.

“The evidence demonstrates that both parties understood, accepted, and operated under a WIP-based (work-in-progress) fee arrangement. The respondent repeatedly sought estimates, the applicant furnished them, invoices were raised pursuant to those estimates, and payment followed. Such conduct is wholly inconsistent with the absence of an agreement regarding remuneration,” the court said.

LJA Associates argued that no valid fee agreement existed because Section 45 of the Advocates Act requires such agreements to be in writing and signed by the client.

The firm maintained that the work-in-progress estimates and email correspondence merely reflected projected costs and could not replace taxation.

It also argued that the taxing master had wrongly treated correspondence and billing updates as a binding agreement governing remuneration. The law firm said the decision deprived it of legal fees for services rendered in protecting Heineken’s interests.

Heineken opposed the application, arguing that it had settled every invoice raised by the advocates and that no money remained outstanding.

It is said that every generation inherits its defining challenge. For this one, that challenge is preparing for a world of work that is changing faster than any previous generation has gone through.

Artificial intelligence is transforming industries. Climate change is reshaping economies and livelihoods. Demographic shifts are redefining labour markets. Entirely new careers are emerging while others disappear.

In this environment, competitiveness of nations and businesses will increasingly depend not only on technology or capital, but on the quality of human capability they cultivate.

The priority issue, therefore, is no longer whether the world of work is changing; it is whether our education systems, employers, and public institutions are changing quickly enough to prepare young people for it.

As we reflect on World Youth Skills Day, we should ask ourselves a more fundamental question:

Are we preparing young people with yesterday’s skills merely to compete for jobs that may soon become obsolete, or are we equipping them to shape the future and meaning of work itself?

For decades, conversations about youth employment have centred on technical and vocational skills. These remain essential, but they are no longer sufficient. Increasingly, employers are looking beyond qualifications.

They need people who can navigate uncertainty, collaborate across differences, solve complex problems and create value in environments where the roadmap changes constantly-or where no roadmap exists at all. In other words, the future belongs to change makers.

This is especially true for Africa. Home to the world’s youngest population, the continent stands at an extraordinary crossroads. Millions of young people will enter the labour market over the coming decades, yet formal employment alone will not absorb them all.

Many will create enterprises, strengthen communities, pioneer new industries, and re-imagine systems that no longer serve society. Their success will depend as much on human capabilities as on technical expertise.

The first is cognitive empathy-the ability to understand the experiences, perspectives and aspirations of others. In an increasingly interconnected world, empathy is no longer simply a personal virtue; it is an economic and civic advantage.

It enables people to design products and services that genuinely meet people’s needs, build inclusive workplaces, bridge social divides, and strengthen trust within organisations and communities.

The second is collaborative leadership. The image of the lone heroic leader is rapidly giving way to something more powerful: leaders who convene, connect, and enable others to contribute.

Today’s most pressing challenges, whether unemployment, food insecurity, public health, or climate resilience, cannot be solved by any single institution.

They require governments, businesses, civil society, and communities to work together. Young people must, therefore, learn not only how to lead, but how to lead with others. Third is creative problem-solving. The pace of change means that many of tomorrow’s opportunities have not yet been imagined.

Young people who can identify unmet needs, experiment with solutions, and adapt continuously will be better positioned than those waiting for predefined career paths. Creativity is becoming an economic necessity rather than a luxury.

Finally, there is sophisticated teamwork. Work increasingly happens across cultures, disciplines, geographies, and digital platforms.

The ability to collaborate with people who think differently, live differently, and possess different expertise is becoming one of the defining characteristics of high-performing individuals and resilient organisations.

These capabilities reinforce one another. Empathy helps us understand the problem worth solving. Creative problem-solving generates new possibilities. Collaborative leadership mobilises others around those possibilities. Sophisticated teamwork enables solutions to grow beyond individuals and create lasting impact.

Ultimately, this conversation is not simply about employability. It is about Africa’s future competitiveness, resilience, and prosperity.

Africa does not simply need a generation prepared to fit into existing systems.

It needs one equipped to improve those systems, creating inclusive economies, more innovative firms, stronger institutions, and more resilient communities.

The High Court ordered the government to produce key records underpinning the privatisation of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) before a petition challenging the sale proceeds is heard.

Justice Patricia Nyaundi ordered the National Executive, the Attorney-General, the Privatisation Commission and the Privatisation Authority to produce valuation reports, Cabinet memoranda, procurement records, International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreements and other transaction papers within 21 days.

The court issued the order after declining the Attorney-General’s bid to dismiss the constitutional petition challenging the transaction. The court also declined to refer the dispute to a multi-judge bench, allowing it to continue before a single judge.

From the cohort of emerging artists last showcased at One Off Art Contemporary Gallery last year, it is Yusuf Mirumbe that the deities of art seem to have been kindest to.

From his journey at Alfajiri Street Kids Art where he learnt and taught painting with street children, there has hardly been a dim to his shine in as far as the progress and evolution of his craft is concerned.

Now, a body of his works is being showcased at the PhotoGallery on Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis in a solo show dubbed Mothers of Mathare which explores his traditional style of figure painting that plays form and posture while maintaining a classical renaissance look on his female subjects