Category: Business Daily

Local investors have joined the scramble for the gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at Kenya’s stock market amid a global rush for the yellow metal market that has driven prices to record levels.

The Absa NewGold ETF, which mirrors the price of gold in the global market, has surged past the Sh5,000 mark for the first time in a blistering rally that made it one of the top movers at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) this month.

Senior managers employed at Jubilee Allianz General Insurance Kenya and Sanlam Kenya’s general insurance subsidiary will compete for the same roles once the two businesses are merged, with those left out to be declared redundant.

The draft business transfer agreement between Jubilee Allianz General Insurance Kenya and Sanlam General Insurance -a subsidiary of Sanlam Kenya- shows the completion of the deal will also result in unspecified job losses in the lower ranks.

We build not to be seen, but so others may stand.’ African Proverb

This week marks the opening of a two-part reflection on a truth that finds every founder in time: that legacy, though luminous, carries its own gravity. We celebrate valuation, vision and victory, yet beneath the applause lies a quieter weight – the cost of continuity, the ache of endurance, the fear that what we build might not outlive us.

East African Breweries Plc (EABL) is set to raise up to Sh20 billion from the sale of a new bond, soon after announcing that it will repay its existing Sh11 billion bond at the end of this month, a year before its scheduled redemption date of October 29, 2026.

The Business Daily has established that the upcoming corporate bond has received regulatory approval but its terms, including the offered interest rate and tenor, was not immediately available.

Chief executive officers (CEOs) in the tourism and manufacturing sectors expect to suffer the biggest hit from US President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies and the non-renewal of preferential terms under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), a new Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) survey has revealed.

The survey, which sampled the views from over 1,000 private sector CEOs, shows that overall, about two-thirds (64 percent) of the respondents expect to be negatively impacted by the recently raised US trade tariff on Kenyan goods and the expiry of the Agoa, which provides duty-free access to the US for thousands of products from 32 eligible African countries.

On the outskirts of Kitengela, Kajiado County, a one-acre farm hums with an unusual kind of life.

We arrive and the first thing that greets us is the high-pitched calls of hundreds of guinea fowls roaming freely on the farm. Here, Fredrick Omondi keeps guinea fowls, Brahma chickens, and other rare ornamental birds.

A sombre mood gripped the nation following the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a towering figure in Kenyan politics and a symbol of resilience for millions.

From the streets of Kisumu to the corridors of power in Nairobi, Kenyans mourned the man many called Baba, even as attention shifted to preparations for a State funeral and the long goodbye to one of the nation’s most influential leaders. He played a pivotal role in shaping Kenya’s political landscape and mentoring many of its past and present leaders, including President William Ruto.

Throughout the day, tributes poured in from across the political divide, hailing Odinga as a liberator, Pan-Africanist, and tireless advocate for democracy. From the corridors of power to the streets, Kenyans reflected on his life and legacy.

President Ruto, in a televised address on Wednesday, announced Odinga’s death and declared seven days of national mourning and a State funeral. He described him as ‘a colossus of Kenya’s modern politics, an indomitable warrior in our struggle for freedom and prosperity.’

‘In his passing, we have lost a patriot of uncommon courage – a Pan-Africanist who offered a compelling model of principled politics,’ President Ruto said.

In Nairobi, Mama Ida Odinga, the widow of the former Prime Minister, broke her silence outside their Karen home.

‘I know you’re all upset. We didn’t expect it to happen this way, but it has already happened,’ she told supporters before retreating into the house, flanked by ODM party leaders.

Hundreds of supporters, many weeping and waving twigs to ward off bad omens, gathered at the home to pay their respects.

Across Odinga’s other political strongholds in Siaya, and Homa Bay, similar scenes unfolded – processions, mourning songs, and chants of resistance blending into a shared outpouring of grief. For many, Wednesday was not just a day of mourning but the beginning of a reckoning – with grief, history, and a future suddenly uncertain without Baba.

In a statement, the Orange Democratic Movement called Odinga ‘a true giant of the nation and a darling in the hearts of Kenyans.’ ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna told reporters at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport that it was ‘too early’ to discuss who might succeed him as party leader.

Flight to India

President Ruto detailed Deputy President Kithure Kindiki to co-chair the funeral committee with Odinga’s elder brother, Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga.

A delegation headed by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi left for India on Wednesday evening to supervise repatriation of Odinga’s body.

According to senior family members and State House officials directly involved in his funeral arrangements, he left a clear directive; that he wished to be interred within seventy-two hours of his death.

The Competition tribunal has dismissed two more appeals by steel companies against the decision by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to penalise them for fixing prices, bringing the total to seven.

On a September 11 sitting, the Competition Tribunal dismissed appeals lodged separately by Jumbo Steel Mills Limited and Corrugated Sheets through which the companies had sought to quash CAK’s decision.

Raila Amolo Odinga, former Prime Minister of Kenya and the party leader of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), is dead at the age of 80.

Sources at his office on Wednesday confirmed the passing of veteran politician in India where he was recovering from treatment for undisclosed condition.

President William Ruto and Odinga’s family, led by his elder brother, Oburu Oginga, are expected for address the nation on the death. The 80-year-old leader breathed his last on Wednesday morning in the southern Indian city of Kochi, with Indian Press reporting that he suffered a cardiac arrest during a morning walk.

He was later rushed to Devamatha Hospital in Koothattukulam where he was pronounced dead, with the Indian press quoting police and hospital sources.

Odinga served as Kenya’s prime minister between 2008 and 2013. He contested for the presidency five times – 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2022.

Odinga flew to India on October 3 amid major speculations about his health status.

At the time his secretariat said, ‘Raila travelled out of the country on Friday evening – one of the many trips he has made this year, and definitely not the last. He is not indisposed.’

Dr Oginga later confirmed that Odinga had been unwell for a while, but was now recuperating in India.

‘Raila, just like any other human being, was indisposed a few days ago but at the moment he is doing fine. He went for a check-up in India and he is now recuperating,’ said Dr Oginga, who is also the Odinga family spokesperson.

Odinga’s wife, Ida, had earlier claimed that he had taken a sabbatical leave from politics.

‘As someone who lives with him, I know his health better than anyone. How could someone who doesn’t reside with him claim to know more about his condition than I do? What I’ve shared with you is the truth,’ she said.

Odinga has kept away from public engagements, including major political events by his ODM party, fueling the ill-health reports.

He was conspicuously missing in the party’s political jamborees held in Kisii, Wajir and Narok counties in the build-up to its 20th anniversary national celebrations.

He, however, made a public appearance after chairing the party’s consultative meeting on the planned celebration at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi on Friday October 3. A party official had at the time told the Nation that Odinga had travelled for a routine medical check-up.

The source explained that Odinga has always travelled for check-ups following his 2010 head surgery.

He underwent the procedure in June 2010 in order to relieve pressure that had built up outside his brain.

In 1997, he contested the presidency and came third but retained his position as Lang’ata MP.

After the election, he led a merger between his party, NDP, and President Daniel arap Moi’s Kanu party.

He served in Moi’s Cabinet as Energy Minister from June 2001 to 2002. In the subsequent Kanu elections, he was elected the party’s secretary-general as part of the power sharing deal of the merger.

In 2002, Odinga fell out with Moi after he endorsed Uhuru Kenyatta as his successor. Odinga and other Kanu members, including Kalonzo Musyoka, the late George Saitoti and the late Joseph Kamotho, opposed this step arguing that the then 38-year-old Mr Kenyatta was politically inexperienced and lacked the leadership qualities required to govern.

They joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which later teamed up with Mwai Kibaki’s National Alliance Party of Kenya, a coalition of several other parties, to form the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) that eventually defeated Mr Kenyatta in the 2002 poll.

He later fell out with Kibaki and contested the presidential election in 2007 that was marred by Kenya’s deadliest post-poll violence. He was named Prime Minister in the subsequent grand coalition that was formed after the peace talks mediated by late former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

He also lost the 2013 presidential election to Mr Kenyatta. After the Supreme Court nullified the poll results, he boycotted the repeat election held on October 2017.

He ran for president again in 2022 but lost to William Ruto. Dr Ruto garnered 50.49 percent of the vote against Raila Odinga’s 48.85 percent.

Guaranty Trust Bank is locked in a court dispute with one of its customers over the release of pound 9.5 million (Sh1.4 billion) allegedly wired to his account by a foreign company, even as the presiding judge gagged his lawyer, Nelson Havi, from publicly discussing the case.

Justice Fredah Mugambi’s ruling paints a picture of a high-stakes financial dispute mired in allegations of suspicious transactions, potential money laundering, and a fiery battle over lawyers’ rights to comment on ongoing cases.