Category: Business Daily

The bid to start competitive importation of cooking gas has derailed after a parliamentary committee rejected regulations that would allow the State to introduce an open tender system (OTS) for the commodity.

The National Assembly Committee on Delegated Legislation says the Petroleum (Operation of Common Petroleum Facilities) Regulations, 2025 were tabled in Parliament outside the stipulated time. It added that there was no public participation in formulating the laws.

The regulations would allow for the designation of private cooking gas handling terminals as common-user facilities. The energy regulator would then set tariffs for the handling and storing of LPG, and also set retail and wholesale prices of cooking gas.

Under the OTS model, the tender to ship petroleum products is awarded to the bidder who quotes the lowest price, ensuring that importation of the cheapest but quality fuel.

‘The committee recommends that the House annuls in entirety the following regulations for the following reasons; the legal notices were published on May 10, 2025 and transmitted to the clerk of the National Assembly on July 11, 2025 being outside the seven sitting days timeline contemplated under section 11(1) of the Statutory Instruments Act,’ the committee says in the report.

‘Failure to demonstrate public participation in compliance with Article 10, Article 118 of the Constitution and Section 5 of the Statutory Instruments Act.’

The government is relying on the regulations to permit the import of cooking gas via the OTS, which could enable it to control the retail price of the commodity, as it does with petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Currently, cooking gas is imported privately using two terminals, which has made it impossible for the State to intervene and control prices as it does for petrol, diesel and kerosene.

The Petroleum (Operation of Common Petroleum Facilities) Regulations, 2025 are one of ten new regulations that the committee wants revoked.

Early last month, Daniel Kiptoo, the Director General of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra), said that the new laws would anchor the shift to OTS importation of cooking gas.

Cooking gas dealers have failed to lower the price of the commodity in line with tax breaks introduced by the government, prompting the latest push to switch to the OTS.

Other regulations that the parliamentary committee rejected sought to allow the sale of cooking gas in tokens, which could enable more low-income households to afford the commodity for cooking.

Parliament is expected to debate and consider the committee’s recommendation to reject the ten regulations. Members of Parliament have traditionally agreed with proposals from House committees.

The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) is phasing out an inter-factory loan programme that has been running for decades in favour of commercial loans offered by banks.

The decision comes after a revelation that factories in the West of Rift had taken upto Sh 14 billion loans from those in the East of Rift over the years, with the credit facilities remaining unpaid.

The position has also been taken after the Principal Secretary for Agriculture Paul Kipronoh Ronoh directed the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK), the tea industry regulator to undertake audits on loans taken by KTDA factories.

The existing model was adopted to address short-term financial needs and ease the burden to the 700,000 small-scale tea growers supplying their produce to the KTDA factories from the effects of short and long-term commercial loans to finance operations.

As a result of the policy change, each of the 71 factories will from mid-November be able to access commercial loans from financial institutions in the country.

‘KTDA is in the process of phasing out the inter-factory loan mode and the reconciliation of previously borrowed funds is ongoing and nearing completion to ensure full accountability,’ KTDA said in a statement.

The agency allowed the inter-factory loans to finance operation costs, especially electricity costs, maintenance and repairs of machines and to cover shortfall in the annual bonus payment to farmers by factories that have cash flow challenges.

‘Beginning mid this month (November), factories will be able to access financing directly from commercial banks … a step that will enhance financial independence and strengthen stability across the tea sector,’ KTDA Board members stated.

KTDA Board vice chairman Omweno Ombasa led the zonal directors -Samson Mosonik Menjo, Vincent Arisi, Francis Wanjau and Philiph Langat- to welcome calls for an audit of the loans portfolio in the factories, but said that the cost of the exercise should not be passed on to the small scale growers supplying their green leaf to the agency.

‘We want to emphasise that we have nothing to hide and we welcome any lawful audit that promotes transparency and accountability. But the cost of such an audit should not be borne by farmers. Those calling for an audit should meet the associated expenses,’ the directors stated.

Last week, KTDA directors from the East of Rift led by Mr Chege Kirundi (KTDA Board chairman) said that there was a need to embrace ‘innovation, improve efficiency, and strengthen the resilience of the tea sector so as to increase income to farmers’.

Mr Gabriel Kagombe, who is the Gatundu South Member of Parliament claimed that factories in the West of Rift owed those from the East of Rift over Sh 14 billion in loans.

‘The loans were advanced by the East of Rift factories to those in the West of Rift to boost their operational capacities, pay bonuses and other financial demands. That is because factories in the Eastern region are doing well with farmers adopting high quality plucking of green leaf,’ Mr Kagombe said.

Principal Secretary for Agriculture Paul Ronoh has come under attack from a section of stakeholders for ordering the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) to conduct an audit on loans taken by KTDA factories.

Dr Ronoh directed TBK to establish the total amount borrowed by individual KTDA factories, how the loans were utilised, the terms and conditions under which the loans were acquired, and the current outstanding loans balances for each factory.

‘The findings of this audit will enable the Ministry to evaluate the financial sustainability of the factories and appropriate operational measures aimed at addressing the challenges currently facing the tea sub sector,’ Dr Ronoh stated in the memo dated October 22, 2025 and addressed to the TBK Chief Executive Officer Willy Mutai.

The PS directed the Tea Board of Kenya to hand in the audit report within 14 days from the time the directive was issued.

But the PS has come under a scathing attack by stakeholders for allegedly overstepping his mandate and seeking to police a private entity, issuing directives without consultation and introducing politics in the industry.

‘The PS (Dr Ronoh) has issued illegal directive to moribund Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) to conduct an audit over a private company, (KTDA) which much as it has its accountability challenges, is far much better than some government institutions,’ Nakuru-based advocate Benhard Kipkoech Ngetich said.

The KTDA directors have also called for an end to the increasing politicization of the tea sector challenges which have negative bearing on marketing of Kenya’s made tea in the global market.

‘The tea industry thrives on professionalism, co-operation and stability and not on political contestation. We urge leaders to approach the matters with sobriety, consultation, and respect for institutional structures,’ they said.

They added that ‘political interference (in the sector) only breeds confusion, drives away investors, and undermines market confidence, ultimately hurting the farmers we seek to serve.’

The death of businessman Hannington Juma inside Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) Lake Basin Mall in Kisumu recently dramatises the all-too-familiar daily script of agony by taxpayers in the hands of the taxman.

This sad account mirrors a tale of ancient Rome, where the emperor sent his General to pacify rioters in a small city over taxes. Instead, he wiped out everybody with the gun and reported restoring peace. A scribe then remarked: they created desolation and called it peace.

The KRA Commissioner General faces a similar dilemma, calling into focus the need to revamp its service charter to stop killing businesses literally.

Firstly, return to the twin canons of taxation on elasticity and certainty. Taxpayers need the psychological comfort of knowing that they are valued partners by intentional and responsive policies which create assurance that their businesses can be salvaged from risks of a depressed economy.

Bring back the MG Waweru tax model on tax policy units to cater for remission hardships contemplated under section 20 of the Value-Added Tax Act. This is an effective quick win for struggling taxpayers looking for a turnaround.

The KRA policy regime must consider flexible payment plans to align with the recent Court of Appeal ruling in a tussle with Keroche Industries. Section 5 of the KRA Act gives advisory powers to the Treasury Cabinet Secretary.

Nothing prohibits the KRA from repackaging its tax policies, including restructured payment plans to resuscitate ailing enterprises.

For instance, a while back, banks never used to give loans past three years without sureties; currently, they offer facilities running to 10 years without any security.

There is a need for strategic leadership to re-conceptualise Kenya’s debt burden and interface it with tax compliance.

The pressure to collect more taxes to hedge against risks of debt default must not destroy the industrial economy, resulting in business collapse, shutdowns, relocations, and capital flight.

Equally, staff suffocate under the weight of unrealistic targets when it has a data repository that can be used for informed revenue forecasts.

Again, while tax amnesty enabled KRA to surpass collection targets, such one-off schemes cannot adequately cater to the ever-changing dynamics of tax culture. It must loop in feedback from debt validation to craft long-term reward schemes for the taxpayers.

The concept of endgame is key to crafting a winning strategy. The KRA must take a hard look at set targets, staff attitude and infuse user-friendly policies to restore confidence in the hearts of Kenyan taxpayers.

There is also the lost art of institutional memory in change management. During Waweru era each TSO had clearly defined units for compliance, audit, policy-technical, debt and customer experience.

This sharply contrasts to the irony of bureaucratic nightmare occasioned by technology. A client recently shocked me when they received 5 letters from KRA in a span of 4 days.

To wit, Audit Notice; Special Table warning; TCC withdrawal threat; Agency Notice; and threat of TIMS shutdown. This is the level of uncertainty and anxiety which drives taxpayers to death and depression.

Mwanaisha leads a county works unit at the Kenyan Coast. She has started confronting a growing backlog in service failures after the rainy season exposed old infrastructure weaknesses.

She rushes to split her department into two new teams and then signs hurried contractor agreements for repair runs, but without first agreeing to how to handle handoffs or successful transition indicators.

Staff inside the unit start scrambling while contractors chase invoices pleading for payment. Essentially, confusion takes over the team. County customers queue at ward offices and demand action.

However, the two sides point fingers at each other while infrastructure continues to fail. A month later, the director calls a crisis meeting to uncover why all the well-intentioned hard work failed to provide better service for county citizens.

Counties across Kenya face similar choices about who should deliver public services and how learning should occur during service delivery. Leaders often treat governance choices as singular one-off events. But effort alone does not solve problems.

Real life rarely rewards hope without specific task re-design. Performance only improves when people learn during action taken and when public or private structures invite intentional learning rather than block or ignore it.

Careful choices about roles, incentives, and information flow can convert effort into actual improvement that county citizens can see and feel.

New research by Louis Mulotte and Simon Porcher investigates the concept of learning by doing as it relates to inside public service delivery. It looks at a rare comparison between similar public entities.

The scholars track hundreds of French municipalities that decided to either keep work inside city or county-equivalent departments or instead contracted out to private providers for water services during a 10- year window.

The study focused on operating performance through billed water over total water supplied, which is a way to ascertain how well different teams reduce water leak losses.

The research then examined how experience over additional years can shape outcomes under each internal or external structure choice while factoring in and controlling for complexity and political uncertainty.

Even though the research was not conducted in East Africa, patterns emerge that could provide useful clarity here.

First, more actual time on the job generally improves operating performance in both internal and external structures. However, each extra year only yields smaller incremental gains since teams start with the easy pipe and structure fixes first and then have to deal with the harder problems later on.

Second, external service provider contracting often delivers steeper learning curves early because heavy financial incentives push providers to search out and find efficiency quickly and then lock in routines that reduce losses.

That advantage, though, weakens depending on technological complexity rising or when political uncertainty clouds a firm’s future planning and leads them to proceed cautiously with investments that may or may not have longer term yields.

Third, in more simple municipal environments with quite clear causes and effects of decisions, the highest incentives do indeed fuel rapid service delivery improvement.

But in more complex networks with many interdependent parts or in volatile political climates, internal teams often learn better because of their unique proximity, tacit knowledge, and stable priorities that support a more comprehensive trial, error, and refinement approach to problem solving and working.

Not only water boards and water companies, but also county leaders for other types of service delivery can notice some direct lessons that impact their respective portfolios.

Treat internal or external structure choices as a learning engine rather than a static decision. If straightforward tasks with clean interfaces, short feedback loops, and transparent results are involved, then leaders should consider external contracting and design contracts that can reward measurable loss reduction, quick data sharing, and the capability transfer to parastatal or county staff at a point in the future.

But for tangled complicated situations and networks with many interdependencies, legacy baggage, and fragile interfaces, then the research recommends that leaders should favour inhouse internal provision of service delivery that anchors multi-skilled crews, codifies and captures local know-how, and protects continuous experimentation without fear of contract changes accompanying political changes.

Leaders must align the internal or external structure with the learning challenge, not with any type of ideology or habitual practice.

Leaders who match governance to the nature of the work can avoid Mwanaisha’s above predicament. Structure that incorporates intentional learning beats structures that only allocate team effort. Working hard is not always working smart.

Pay-television firm MultiChoice Kenya has slashed the cost of its decoders by up to Sh349, including installation costs, in the latest push to arrest the dip in subscriber numbers.

The company says its high-definition DStv Zapper decoders will now cost Sh850 down from Sh1,199, while the prices of the GOtv decoders have fallen to Sh799 from Sh999.

‘These offers are our way of saying thank you to our customers for their loyalty and trust, while inviting new customers to join our growing family,’ said Nzola Miranda, Managing Director at MultiChoice Kenya, when he announced the offers that will last up to December 31, 2025.

The slashing of the prices of the kits comes at a time when the firm is grappling with a mass exodus of subscribers amid costly packages and the rise of illegal online streaming platforms.

However, it remains to be seen whether the price reduction will arrest the dip in subscriber numbers.

More than 80 percent of DStv’s active customers dropped out in the year to June 2025, leaving the firm with 188,824 active subscribers compared to 1.19 million a year earlier.

Spending power

The firm has also reduced prices on installation accessories, with the DStv dish kit now going for Sh1,650 from Sh2,000 and the GOtv antenna dropping to Sh700 from Sh1,000. GOtv targets customers unable to afford DStv packages due to their spending power.

The cost reductions come barely months after the firm increased the price of its packages for the fifth time in under three years to avert a hit on revenues amid a decline in subscribers.

Prices of DStv packages in Kenya rose by up to Sh700 effective August 1 this year. Subscribers on the Premium were hit with the highest price increase to Sh11,700 from Sh11,000, while those on the Compact Plus are paying Sh7,300 from Sh6,800.

Revenues for MultiChoice in all its markets fell 27 percent in the year to March 2025, revealing the impact of the falling subscriber numbers amid competition from online streaming sites, most of which are illegally accessed.

Subscribers are opting for the cheaper online television streaming sites or illegally accessing others amid tough economic times.

MultiChoice Kenya is keen to turn around its dwindling fortunes in the local market and ward off further subscriber losses to the cheaper online television streaming services.

The price cuts on the kits are the first major move that MultiChoice has made in Kenya since it was acquired by French broadcaster, Canal+.

Canal+ bought MultiChoice Group in September this year in a deal that saw the French firm acquire 94.39 percent of all MultiChoice Group shares.

The French broadcaster said that it will undertake an in-depth market review of MultiChoice Group operations and announce any planned changes by April 2026.

Kenya has just taken a historic step toward becoming a regulated digital finance hub with the passage of the Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill. This landmark legislation marks a decisive moment in the evolution of Kenya’s financial landscape.

For the first time, the Central Bank has a clearly stipulated role in licensing stablecoins – a form of crypto that maintains a stable value by being pegged to traditional fiat currencies such as the US dollar.

Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority also now has legal responsibilities for the oversight of crypto exchanges and virtual asset providers.

These developments are crucial because businesses and consumers alike now have a legal framework that brings transparency, trust, and accountability to Kenya’s growing virtual assets ecosystem.

The implications of this legislation are profound. In Kenya’s case, many people have previously approached virtual assets with caution, concerned about the potential for scams.

By establishing licensing and oversight mechanisms, the new legislation creates a safe, transparent environment where users can engage with virtual assets with confidence.

Before the law was passed, forecasts suggested that 42 percent of Kenyans could be using or owning crypto or virtual assets by 2030. But with the new legislation significantly boosting consumer trust, which is of course a critical ingredient for widespread adoption, these numbers could be pushed higher still.

This is important because the benefits of virtual assets for Kenyans are considerable. Indeed, one of the most exciting aspects of this legislation is its potential to drive financial inclusion.

Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world, and millions of young people are already digitally literate and eager to engage with technology-enabled financial services.

Modern digital banking services, powered by blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, can play a powerful role in driving financial inclusion by empowering those excluded from traditional banking.

Accessible blockchain-based tools can give everyone direct access to savings, investment, and cross-border payment solutions without the friction of legacy banking infrastructure.

When properly regulated, as they now are in Kenya, stablecoins and digital exchanges offer a new avenue for wealth creation, entrepreneurial activity, and economic participation.

The parallels with Kenya’s past fintech achievements are clear. More than a decade ago, M-Pesa transformed how East Africans accessed and transferred money. Its success was built on a combination of innovative technology, forward-thinking regulation, and widespread adoption driven by consumer trust.

Today, Kenya has the opportunity to replicate, and perhaps even surpass, that success in the digital asset space. By providing clear regulatory guardrails, the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 lays the foundation for a new wave of innovation fuelled by the emerging virtual assets industry – innovation that could transform the financial prospects of millions of Kenyans for the better.

This regulatory clarity is also vital in reducing friction for innovators and investors. Startups can now plan with confidence, knowing the rules of the game and the requirements for compliance. International investors, too, gain assurance that Kenya is serious about protecting both consumers and investors’ capital.

Kenya has now joined a small but growing cohort of African nations that have provided clear regulatory guidance for virtual assets, signalling to local and international investors that the country is ready for the next wave of innovation.

This credibility will be critical in attracting the venture capital and corporate partnerships that are essential for scaling digital finance solutions across Africa.

Kenya’s Virtual Asset Service Providers law is a proactive move that positions the country at the forefront of the continent’s digital finance revolution.

In the years ahead, we may look back at this legislation as the catalyst that unlocked Kenya’s next financial frontier, just as M-Pesa did 15 years ago.

Young Kenyans will now have greater and stronger access to blockchain-powered tools that reduce friction in payments, enhance transparency in financial transactions, and create pathways for wealth and entrepreneurship that were previously out of reach.

Investors, entrepreneurs, and consumers now have a clear signal: Kenya is open to virtual assets and financial innovation.

Savings and credit co-operative societies (saccos) have been spared mandatory write-off of billions of shillings locked in the Sh13.3 billion fraud at Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Kuscco), putting them at odds with international accounting rules.

The High Court has quashed a guideline from the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) that directed the co-operatives to set aside partial funds or provisions to cover the expected loss of billions of shillings worth of deposits and shares at Kuscco.

This was in line with the global accounting tenet, or the IFRS 9 accounting rules, which require lenders, such as saccos, to book expected losses on assets in one go.

However, the court determined that the Sasra guideline was rushed and had not undergone public participation.

The State had asked big saccos to make provisions on their Kuscco investments and lower their dividend payouts to protect their liquidity.

The court’s directive will ease fears of dividend freezes or cuts, which were seen as a blow to sacco members who have enjoyed annual payouts that ranged between 8.22 percent and 10.22 percent in the five years to 2023, including during the Covid-19 economic hardships.

‘There is no proportional nexus between the objective and the rationality or justification whatsoever in the guideline that was advanced that was satisfactory to the court. The guideline is unreasonable, disproportionate and unconstitutional, whether or not there was a protest,’ said the court.

‘The court is of the view that a public participation process would have culminated in an inclusive, informed, acceptable and more effective eventuality. Such an open engagement would have created room to secure input from key instrumental players like statutory accounting organisations and the interested party.’

The judge said Sasra’s argument that in deed some saccos had already started provisions ‘cannot sanitise nor convert an illegality into a valid guideline.’

The decision came after Nyati Sacco Society petitioned the court to quash the Sasra directive, arguing that there were no legal reports to show Kuscco was insolvent.

It stands to lose Sh86 million invested in Kuscco as shares and deposits.

Nyati Sacco won the case on a technicality, with the court saying the regulator failed to give any reasons for the ‘rushed decision.’

Some top saccos have set aside partial funds or provisions to cover the expected loss of billions of shillings worth of deposits and shares at Kuscco.

Wrongdoings at Kuscco include the cooking of books, large-scale theft by executives, bribery, unexplained bank withdrawals and conflict of interest through issuance of contracts to firms owned by top managers and masking the schemes through manipulation of financial statements to report non-existent profits.

In the end, Sh13.3 billion has been lost, the umbrella body for saccos is insolvent to the tune of Sh12.5 billion and Sh8.8 billion it owes saccos as deposits and shares.

This violates the IFRS 9 accounting rules, which require the saccos to book expected losses on assets in one go.

The IFRS 9 rules, designed to respond to a central lesson arising from the global financial crisis of 2008, allow firms to predict and recognise financial losses earlier for stability. The firms are expected to provision for the expected losses upfront.

Some of the top saccos that have breached the rule include Nyati Sacco and Tembo Sacco.

Nyati Sacco has made a 10 percent provision against its Sh86 million investment in Kuscco.

It sued Sasra over the provisioning order, adding that the write-off will shield Kuscco and the regulator from their obligations.

Saccos that made full provisions include Stima (Sh108 million), Kimisitu (Sh353.95 million), LSK (Sh19 million), Mhasibu (Sh408 million), Sheria (Sh146.8 million), Balozi (Sh437.55 million) and Kenpipe (Sh149.18 million).

Saccos that were owed billions of shillings were advised to stagger the provisions over the coming years, while some have been directed to tap bank loans for the risk buffer.

The State has cast doubts about whether saccos will recover their investments in Kuscco, underlining the extent of fraudulent activities in the umbrella body.

The rot has left Kuscco with assets of Sh5.2 billion against liabilities of Sh17.7 billion, sinking it into Sh12.5 billion insolvency for an organisation that operated without a regulatory watchdog.

Sasra, in its defence, told the court IFRS 9 requires firms to make provisions ‘immediately upon realisation’ that the short-term recoverability of their investment is doubtful and failing to do so would be in breach of the standard and also result in misleading accounts.

‘Any failure to recognise the impairment of investments in Kuscco will automatically result in violation of section 40 (3) of the [Sacco Societies] Act as well as the IFRS 9,’ said Sasra in the court papers.

‘But more importantly, [it] will result in accounts and financial statements of sacco societies which do not reflect a true and fair state of their affairs contrary to section 40 (2) of the Act, with the resultant consequences of putting at risk of loss of members’ deposits and savings held in the sacco societies.’

The regulator told the court that provisioning would ensure saccos do not overstate their assets and income, which could trigger some to make excess payments out of their deposits or savings in anticipation of money that may never come.

‘Making provisions does not stop the pursuit of the recovery of the impaired assets or investments, but it is a recognition that such pursuits may take a long time for any recoveries to be made and therefore provisioning to allow continuation of the business is necessary while preserving the existing asset portfolio,’ said Sasra.

Nyati Sacco said its investment in Kuscco matured in April 2024, but the entity withheld payment ‘without giving any plausible explanation,’ and this was not enough for a write-off.

Nyati Sacco CEO Julius Bett, in an affidavit, told the court that Sasra’s argument that Kuscco had been ‘reported to be facing financial challenges’ lacked any authoritative basis and did not meet the threshold of a lawful administrative action.

A forensic audit by consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed the cooking of books and theft.

The audit retrieved the trove of incriminating information from e-mails, computer logs, M-Pesa statements and documents of at least 23 top managers at Kuscco in a review that placed eight executives in the spotlight, including then managing director George Ototo, finance manager George Owino and chairman George Magutu.

The PwC audit unearthed the cooking of financial books to the tune of Sh9.3 billion following the understatement of costs like commissions and interest expenses and the overstating of incomes-a scheme which saw Kuscco book phantom profits.

The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) has warned that the post-election disruptions in neighbouring Tanzania could threaten trade in the East African region.

This follows the contentious 2025 presidential election in Tanzania, where unrest has spilt across the border into the Kenyan town of Namanga, halting trade and prompting calls for calm amid a nationwide Internet blackout.

Demonstrations during the elections in Tanzania prompted curfews in major cities, including Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Mwanza, halting cross-border trade and transport operations.

‘What is happening in Tanzania is of interest to Kenya, the country exported goods in 2024, worth Sh67 billion to Tanzania, and imported goods worth about Sh58 billion. So that shows you Tanzania is a market that we need to have,’ Mr Tobias Alando, KAM chief executive, told the Business Daily.

‘If there is chaos in Tanzania, it means our businessmen who are exporting their products there are not able to access that market and we have to get concerned . and the businesses that also import some materials or some products from Tanzania are not able to import those products because of what is happening or what has been happening in Tanzania.’

Asked about how much manufacturers have lost to these disruptions, Mr Alando said: ‘We’ve not quantified yet, but I’ve just given you the figures in terms of what we’re exporting, and if that doesn’t continue, it means generally a loss to our markets, both in and out.’

Kenya imports a variety of goods from Tanzania, primarily food and agricultural products like maize, onions, and edible fruits.

The unrest in the country has impacted the movement of goods, raw materials, and finished products.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said on Tuesday that the ongoing unrest in Tanzania has disrupted trade between the two nations and, if it persists, could result in high inflation as goods from the neighbouring country will become scarce and expensive.

‘There is no economy that can succeed without peace. Peace is paramount, and peace is key.

‘Just see what happened in our neighbourhood a couple of days ago, there was a disturbance in our neighbourhood, even the food that used to come to Marikiti stopped coming,’ he said.

Mr Alando said political uncertainty affects trade in the East African Community bloc.

‘Peace and stability in the East African region are good for all of us. When one East African country is burning, then it affects every one of us.You see, logistics is affected, we can’t move people, we can’t move goods, we can’t move our trucks in and out of Tanzania,’ he said.

‘The airport, the air traffic is also affected. Traders who go in, pick certain goods from Tanzania and come back are also affected. So our prayer is that we need to work together to support Tanzania so that it comes back to stability.’

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has absolved a senior bank manager of wrongdoing following alleged contravention of Consolidated Bank’s credit procedures regarding loan facilities issued to customers.

Subsequently, the court ordered Consolidated Bank to pay its former Mombasa branch manager, Geoffrey Kisaka, Sh3.4 million in compensation for unfair dismissal.

The court ruled that the summary dismissal against Mr Kisaka was invalid, unreasonable and cannot be justified by the bank’s audit report.

‘The alleged breach of credit policy and procedures occurred in the credit department not with the claimant (Mr Kisaka), as the proposer (of the loan) he was not the ultimate approver,’ ruled the court.

The court said that, since the management credit committee members failed to undertake their due diligence, blaming Mr Kisaka was not the answer.

It also noted that the audit team had recommended that the management credit committee members undergo a refresher training in credit appraisal.

The court noted that the bank’s human resources manager had testified that several employees had been invited to show cause, but that only two, including Mr Kisaka, were suspended and denied access to work records to facilitate their responses.

The court also noted that the HR manager also testified that several credit department employees mentioned in the internal audit were not taken through the disciplinary process.

The court noted that on November 1, 2022, the head of credit, the credit analyst and the manager of credit, under the credit and finance committee, approved Sh51 million loan for a customer, a transaction which was further approved by the management credit committee, comprising the head of credit, head of finance, manager of legal affairs, head of operations and central processing, chief commercial officer and the chief executive officer.

‘All these officers are senior and supervise the claimant,’ noted the court in its October 30 judgment.

The court said that Mr Kisaka had served the bank diligently since 2010, rising through the ranks to become a branch manager. It also said that he had no record until the incident involving the customer, during which he secured benefits for the bank, but the credit department failed to provide him with the necessary support.

‘Blaming the claimant is shifting responsibility to the wrong employee,’ ruled the court.

The court ruled that Sections 41, 43 and 45 of the Employment Act not only concern the presence of valid reasons or grounds for termination of employment, but also require the employer to observe due process when dismissing an offending employee.

‘The employee must be informed of the accusations against him, given a chance to defend himself, permitted to call witnesses in support of his case and notified of the decision taken by the employer to terminate his services,’ ruled the court.

The claimant told the court that he had worked as the branch manager until October 17, 2024 and had been issued a notice to show cause dated August 20, 2024 regarding allegations that he had contravened the bank’s credit policy and procedures with respect to a loan facility advanced to Jowak Agencies Ltd and David Kanyi, and his related accounts, African Budget and Executive Homes Company Ltd.

The reasons, the court heard, were that the claimant had flouted the bank’s credit policy procedures, thereby exposing it to imminent loss.

However, Mr Kisaka said that the reasons were invalid because he had conducted due diligence when appraising the loan facilities for Jowak Agencies Limited and Mr Kanyi, as well as his related account of African Budget and Executive Homes Company Ltd. As the branch manager, he only recommended approval of the loan facility, he said, not approving it himself.

He said that the loan facilities had been analysed and approved by the credit department, management credit and the board of directors in accordance with the delegated limits, and not by the branch or himself.

The bank claimed that the audit review revealed flaws in the process of granting loans amounting to Sh75 million to the client and his related accounts, from the branch to the credit department at the head office.

The bank argued that the audit team had concluded that there were many obvious inadequacies in the customer’s application, which the branch and the credit department should have noted, resulting in the application being declined.

The bank told the court that it had identified significant flaws in the claimant’s handling of the loan applications, and that the disciplinary committee had deemed his integrity questionable, given that many of the errors could have been avoided based on his experience as a bank manager.

Fertiliser prices have sustained a rising trend globally, signalling possible renewed pressure on Kenya’s food production expenses ahead of the next planting season.

The latest World Bank’s Commodity Markets Outlook for October 2025 shows fertiliser prices rising by an average of 19 to 21 percent year-on-year, making them the only major commodity group to defy the global trend of easing prices.

‘Fertiliser prices have continued to climb, by 19 percent in the first nine months of 2025 (year-on-year), reflecting strong demand, the effects of trade restrictions, and production shortfalls,’ notes the Bank.

‘Fertiliser prices are projected to rise by 21 percent in 2025.’

The outlook attributes the sustained high costs to export restrictions in China, continued sanctions on Belarus and Russia, and logistical constraints that have kept supply tight through much of the year.

‘China has restricted exports of nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers, while Belarus -a major potash supplier- remains under EU sanctions. Together with Russia, it is also subject to new EU tariffs on fertilisers,’ says the World Bank.

In contrast, the report projects global energy prices to fall by 12 percent in 2025 and by another 10 percent in 2026, while food and metal prices are expected to ease modestly.

The divergence leaves fertiliser as an outlier, with market prices remaining far above their pre-pandemic averages.

Kenya relies heavily on imports for its fertiliser supply, sourcing most of its stocks from China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

The global price stickiness means that local procurement and retail prices could stay elevated, even as the government continues to implement subsidies under the national fertiliser support programme.

Latest data from the Kenya Bureau of Statistics shows that last month, consumer prices of key food items rose by double-digit percentage points when compared against a similar period last year, underscoring the impact of higher production costs.

Prices of tomatoes, for instance, grew 37.3 percent during the referenced period, while those of sifted maize flour and loose maize grain rose 16.4 percent and 13.7 percent, respectively.

Other food items whose prices recorded significant growth year-on-year included fortified maize flour (16.5 percent), sukuma wiki (15.4 percent), spinach (11.9 percent), cabbage (20.3 percent) and onions (12 percent).

The government has, in recent years, expanded the national fertiliser subsidy programme, under which farmers access discounted inputs through the National Cereals and Produce Board.

While the scheme aims to stabilise food prices by lowering farmers’ production costs, the sustained increase in global prices may put a limit on how far the subsidies can go in offsetting import costs.

According to the World Bank, global fertiliser markets have struggled to normalise since the supply disruptions that began in 2022 following the conflict in Ukraine.

Production capacity in key exporting countries remains constrained, while shipping and energy costs- though easing-have not fallen enough to offset structural shortages.

The World Bank, however, expects the prices to decline slightly by about five percent in 2026, but warns that any rebound in natural gas prices or extension of export curbs could reverse the trend.

For Kenya, the sustained global prices come at a time when food inflation remains sensitive to agricultural input costs. Official data shows that agriculture accounts for nearly one-fifth of the gross domestic product, and fertiliser is one of its largest recurrent input expenses.

Since the introduction of the subsidy programme, retail fertiliser prices have eased from highs of above Sh6,500 per 50-kilogramme bag at the peak of 2022, to between Sh1,775 and Sh3,500 in selected counties.

Fertiliser imports also account for a significant portion of Kenya’s foreign exchange spending on non-fuel commodities. A prolonged period of elevated global prices is, thus, a recipe for pressure on the import bill, especially during the main planting seasons when volumes peak.