Category: Business Daily

The Auditor-General has called out the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) for breaching the law by deducting Sh3 billion upfront from debt collected on behalf of the exchequer as its agency fees in the fiscal year ended June 2025.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu said CBK’s management was in breach of the Public Finance Management Act in deducting its agency fees, worth Sh3 billion, at source and remitting only the net proceeds to the exchequer.

NCBA Group valuation at the Nairobi bourse has increased by Sh22.65 billion in three days, amid news that the lender is the acquisition target of South Africa’s Standard Bank Group.

The lender closed on Thursday valued at Sh137.16 billion compared with Sh114.5 billion on Monday -before the news which Standard Bank has neither confirmed or denied. The multinational said it cannot comment on ‘market speculation.’

President William Ruto is leading Kenyans in paying their final respects to the late Raila Odinga, as the opposition leader lies in state in Nairobi ahead of his funeral service on Friday and burial on Sunday.

Airfares on the Nairobi-Kisumu route have surged sharply ahead of the burial of former prime minister Raila Odinga, with most flights fully booked through the weekend as mourners and political delegations prepare to travel to Nyanza for the final ceremonies.

A spot check by the Business Daily shows that one-way ticket prices on major carriers now range between Sh18,000 and Sh23,000, nearly double the usual Sh8,000 to Sh10,000 charged on the route.

On a chilly morning of October 15, 2007, opposition leader Raila Odinga hastily organised a visit to the Nairobi bourse.

The firebrand politician was not seeking to buy shares, but rather to calm the market after his earlier comments about the bourse being used for money laundering had spooked investors.

On October 25, Nairobi’s One-Off Art Gallery will unveil Kind Human, a solo exhibition by self-taught artist Naomi Van Rampelberg.

The show brings together a striking collection of works that reveal Naomi’s distinctive and emotionally charged artistic style – one that feels at once personal and universal.

Operations at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) were paralysed on Thursday after hundreds of mourners and supporters of deceased opposition chief Raila Odinga gained access to restricted areas ahead of the arrival of the former Prime Minister’s body, prompting aviation authorities to order a temporary shutdown.

The decision is expected to result in flight delays. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) confirmed that it had suspended all operations at the airport to allow security teams to restore order and ensure the safety of passengers, crew and airport personnel.

In a statement on Thursday, KCAA Director General Emile Arao said the precautionary closure was necessary following what he termed an “ongoing security situation” triggered by the arrival of the late opposition leader’s remains.

‘A large number of mourners gained access to restricted areas, prompting a precautionary closure to allow security teams to restore order and ensure safety,’ said Mr Arao in a mid-morning notice.

‘Members of the public and travelers are advised to remain calm and avoid the airport area until further notice. Normal operations will resume once the airport is declared secure in the next two hours,’ he added.

The aviation sector regulator further said it had issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), notifying airlines of the temporary suspension as emergency teams worked to clear unauthorised persons from the airside sections of the airport.

Mr Odinga’s remains were flown in from India earlier Thursday morning under tight security ahead of a planned transfer to Kisumu on Saturday for public viewing and burial in Bondo, Siaya County, on Sunday.

The government has declared a period of national mourning in honour of the veteran politician, whose death earlier on Wednesday has drawn widespread grief and tributes from across the world.

The brief closure of Kenya’s busiest aviation hub highlights the scale of public emotion surrounding Mr Odinga’s death and the logistical pressure it has placed on national transport systems.

JKIA, which handles an average of 20,000 passengers daily and over seven million annually, serves as the country’s primary gateway for both international and domestic travel.

The late opposition leader, who served as Kenya’s second Prime Minister between 2008 and 2013 and was a five-time presidential candidate, will be laid to rest at his ancestral home in Bondo on Sunday.

Collins Omondi Okello, a self-taught artist, always loved sketching faces, but he never imagined his pencil would one day draw him into the national spotlight. Even less did he imagine going from earning Sh500 for his early artworks to selling a single painting for Sh2 million.

The turning point was his striking pencil portrait of Raila Odinga, a piece that ultimately led to a chance to meet the former Prime Minister.

More farmers continue ditching the State’s Hustler Fund and digital lending alternatives such as Fuliza in favour of banks and savings and credit cooperatives (saccos) to finance agricultural activities, a new Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) survey shows, encouraged by lower interest charges.

The survey showed that the proportion of farmers who tapped credit from the Hustler Fund dropped to a low of nine percent last month.

Global logistics firm DHL Group is planning a pound 300 million (Sh44.9 billion) investment in its African operations, part of which will see the Germany-headquartered firm put up a new head office for its Kenyan unit in Nairobi.

The company announced the new investment in Johannesburg, South Africa during the launch of its latest logistics tracker report, which showed that Sub-Saharan Africa recorded the fastest growth in trade value in the first half of the year, ahead of the Americas and the Caribbean, driven by exports.