Category: Business Daily

Conflicts in two laws have stalled the sale of the government’s 43.77 percent stake in a wines and spirits firm that distributes Amarula and Viceroy, delaying a bidding for shares valued at about Sh3.3 billion.

The freshly amended Privatisation Act, which guides sale of shares, is in conflict with the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012 on the transaction in companies where the government does not have majority ownership.

Privatisation Act, which was amended last year, exempts firms where the government is a minority owner from following strict steps, including seeking parliamentary and Cabinet approval ahead of stake sales.

But the PFM Act demands the approval of both the Treasury and the Cabinet.

The clash in the two laws has frozen the sale of the government’s 43.77 percent stake Kwal Holdings East Africa Limited (KHEAL), where Dutch brewer Heineken has a 55 percent stake.

The Privatisation Authority had in 2024 invited local as well as foreign investors to bid for the stakes as the State sought to fully exit the wines and spirits firm.

But evaluation of the bids was scuttled by the legal hitch as the authority seeks clarity from the Attorney-General on which law to rely on in the sale of the shares.

The State’s stake in the wines and spirits firm has dropped slightly from Sh4.1 billion to Sh3.3 billion as of the end of June 2023 from a year prior as per disclosures by the Kenya Development Corporation (KDC).

‘We are still consulting to seek advice on whether to continue with the sale or restart it,’ said Jane Rose Omondi, the acting chief executive officer of the Privatisation Authority, while citing the legal hitch.

The sale was opened under the previous Privatisation Act, which did not require the nod of Parliament.

Now, the Cabinet Secretary has the role of identifying a firm for sale and the privatisation plan detailing benefits of the stake auction must be approved by the Cabinet and the National Assembly.

But the valuation of the stake has dipped as the stake sale delays.

KDC owns the shares on behalf of the government.

‘The valuation we did was, for instance, done in 2024 and based on the financial performance of 2023. We have since seen more recent disclosures,’ said Ms Omondi.

KHEAL manufactures and distributes several brands of spirits, wines, ciders and fruit juice. These include Kibao Vodka, Hunter’s Choice, Viceroy, Amarula, Drostdy-Hof, Savanna and Yatta.

The Privatisation Authority sought all sorts of bidders, including high-net-worth individuals who may want to hold the stake as a passive financial investment, in the 2024 sale.

‘Interested bidders must provide information that meets the following eligibility criteria … Evidence that the bidder or, in the case of a consortium, the consortium leader, is legally registered or incorporated,’ the Privatisation Authority said in a notice.

‘In the case of individuals, copies of certified national identification cards or passports for international bidders.’

Heineken Beverages, which has a 55 percent stake in KHEAL, was formed in 2023 following Dutch firm’s buyout of South Africa’s Distell Group.

Heineken has no right to acquire the 43.77 percent stake in the firm, setting up the multinational firm for a bidding war for the shares.

A source familiar with the deal reckons that South Africa’s beverage firm Distell Group failed to insert the pre-emptive clause in a shareholder agreement with the government, after it became a majority shareholder in KHEAL following its acquisition of an extra 26.4 percent stake from Centum Investment.

It acquired the Centum stake in 2017 for Sh1.1 billion, giving it majority control, and its omission of the pre-emptive rights will hurt Heineken if it has ambition to fully acquire the Kenyan and avoid a hostile co-owner.

Majority shareholders often push for the pre-emptive rights to maintain control by avoiding dilution in the event of new shares being issued and avoid aggressive partners from sale of existing stocks.

The pre-emptive rights require that the shares being sold in a firm cannot be offered in the open market until existing shareholders have been given a chance to invest.

Before 2017, Distell was the minority shareholder behind the government and Centum, with its initial 26 percent stake that it had acquired from State for Sh860 million.

The State now seeks to fully exit KHEAL, triggering a bidding war that looks set to attract the interests of private equity firms and high-net-worth investors warm to beer and spirits stocks as a relatively cheap way to benefit from growth in alcohol sales in emerging markets like Kenya.

International brewers are increasingly reviewing their investments amid a drop in global alcohol consumption.

Heineken’s acquisition of South AfricaDistell marked the entry of a major brewer with local production in the Kenyan market that is dominated by East African Breweries Limited (EABL), a subsidiary of Diageo Plc.

London-listed Diageo, maker of Johnnie Walker whisky and Captain Morgan rum, said in December it had agreed to sell its 65 percent stake in EABL to the Japanese brewer Asahi Holdings, as it implements a turnaround strategy to reduce debt and revive growth.

The Diageo stake sale is worth Sh300 billion.

KWAL commenced operations as a 100 percent parastatal owned by KDC before a divestiture process, which began with the 2014 sale of an initial 26 percent stake to Distell Group.

The sale of the government’s stake in the wines and spirits manufacturer is part of plans to raise funds through divestiture in multiple firms where the State has substantial or full ownership.

It has since sold stakes in Kenya Pipeline Company and Safaricom.

Nearly three-quarters of banks have snubbed the use of the new risk-based pricing formula introduced by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), denying customers a more transparent reference rate to assess the cost of borrowing.

An analysis of commercial bank lending rates established that 27 out of 37 banks have opted for the Central Bank Rate (CBR) as their key reference rate, with only a minority adopting Kesonia as their benchmark.

The final revised risk-based credit pricing model was to be anchored on the Kenya Shilling Overnight Interbank Average (Kesonia), which is the new base rate for all variable interest loans, designed to increase transparency and lower credit costs.

Banks were, however, allowed to deploy the CBR benchmark as a backup option.

Low uptake

The banking industry lobby says banks had little time to recalibrate loan pricing to Kesonia in time for the transition, hence the fallback to the CBR rate.

‘It was an issue of the timelines that were provided. It was easier to adopt the CBR from the get-go. The timelines were quite tight and the Kesonia system recalibration would have taken time,’ said Dr Samuel Tiriongo, the Head of Research at the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA).

Almost all tier-one banks have adopted the CBR as their benchmark rate for loan pricing, including Equity, KCB, Absa Bank Kenya, Standard Chartered, NCBA and DTB.

The Cooperative Bank of Kenya has been an outlier, opting for Kesonia as its benchmark alongside Habib Bank AG Zurich and ABC Bank.

Two banks – Citibank N.A. Kenya and Stanbic Bank Kenya – have adopted both CBR and Kesonia.

Five – Access Bank Kenya, Development Bank of Kenya (DBK), Kingdom Bank, Premier Bank and SBM Bank Kenya – did not disclose their benchmark rates.

Previously, each commercial bank had its own approved benchmark from which to price loans, an aspect that created chaos in tracking the pricing of loans, as the industry had approximately 37 reference rates.

Banks argued that the different reference rates made it difficult for the lenders to lower borrowing costs as an industry, resulting in rebuke from the CBK, which demanded interest rate cuts to reflect the ease in monetary policy or a lower CBR.

The CBK expects a closer comparison of interest rates across banks as both Kesonia and CBR are tied at the hip following the establishment of an interest rate corridor around the apex bank’s benchmark.

Pricing model

Kesonia can only rise by 0.75 percentage points above the prevailing CBR rate and must not fall below the benchmark by more than 0.75 percentage points. The corridor implies that Kesonia and CBR would only differ slightly.

The CBK has insisted that it does not desire to control bank interest rates but seeks to have commercial banks’ borrowing costs mirror the CBR. Commercial banks began applying the new pricing formulas on all new variable loans on December 1, 2025, while changes on existing variable loans took place between December 1 and February 28, 2026.

Under the new model, the total lending rate will be the interbank rate plus a premium or K, which is believed to align with the policy rate.

The interbank market rate refers to the rate at which commercial banks borrow and lend money among themselves on a short-term basis and is widely relied upon as the gauge of how liquid the market is.

The premium K will be a factor of a bank’s operating costs related to its lending business, the expected return to shareholders, and the borrower’s risk premium.

The interbank rate, however, has limits in terms of volatility because it operates within limits fixed on the CBK benchmark rate to ensure the benefits of monetary policy are transmitted to the real economy.

The limit currently stands at plus or minus 75 basis points of CBR.

This means that the interbank rate cannot rise above 0.75 percentage points of the CBR of 8.75 percent or a maximum of 9.50 percent, and not less than 8.0 percent.

Kenya’s central bank paused its rate-cutting cycle on April 8, keeping its benchmark lending rate at 8.75 percent to monitor second-round effects from a surge in global energy prices triggered by the Iran war.

The decision follows 10 consecutive rate cuts in the push to lower the cost of credit and stimulate lending.

Banks still insist they favour Kesonia over CBR and that they hope to make the transition to the overnight lending rate as the industry benchmark over time.

‘We still desire to transition to Kesonia and we continue to have discussions among ourselves and even with the CBK,’ added Dr Tiriongo.

The Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) is scheduled to float a sustainability bond on April 28, with a target to raise Sh3 billion, in what would mark the second green-debt issuance just four months after Safaricom listed a record Sh40 billion one on December 16, 2025.

KMRC will be going to market with the second tranche of its Sh10.5 billion bond programme, coming four years after its debut issuance in February 2022, during which it raised Sh1.4 billion through its inaugural corporate bond that attracted 480 percent oversubscription.

The mortgage refinancer will be floating an eight-year tenured note with a 5.1-year average weighted life, meaning principal will be repaid gradually as opposed to a bullet payment at maturity.

Pricing plan

Whereas the pricing of the note is yet to be disclosed, KMRC is eyeing a tax exemption status to allow a single-digit interest rate to lower its funding cost.

Proceeds from the sustainability note are expected to provide a boost to KMRC’s loan book, which closed 2025 at Sh19.6 billion, having grown from Sh11.9 billion in 2024.

‘One hundred percent of the net proceeds will be allocated to refinancing eligible green home loans and eligible social home loans as defined in KMRC’s Sustainable Finance Framework dated March 2026. Bond proceeds will be used alongside other concessionary funding at KMRC’s disposal,’ KMRC says in a note to investors.

The offer period of the Sh3 billion note will run between April 28, and May 12, with the issuance of the company courting investors with a minimum investment of Sh100,000.

Results announcement and allotment are slated for May 15, 2026, while listing and commencement of trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) are earmarked for May 25.

The company had planned to return to the capital markets in 2024 but was prohibited by a high-interest-rate environment that would translate into a higher cost of funds and undermine its agenda of pushing affordable mortgages downstream in the market.

Market context

In November 2025, Safaricom Plc raised Sh40 billion through a sustainability-linked bond at a coupon of 10.4 percent, drawing bids worth Sh41.86 billion, which translated to 177 percent oversubscription against the Sh15 billion target.

Still in November 2025, East African Breweries Plc took advantage of the low-interest-rate environment and raised Sh16.76 billion in a five-year non-Sustainability Linked corporate bond issuance with the coupon set at 11.8 percent.

In the year ended December 2025, KMRC net earnings stood at Sh1 billion, having contracted marginally compared to Sh1.3 billion in 2024.

The mortgage refinancer’s performance was impacted by a decline in net interest income from Sh2.2 billion to Sh1.7 billion while its expenses grew to Sh370.9 million from Sh341.2 million in 2024.

The lead arranger and placing agent of KMRC’s Sh3 billion note is NCBA Investment Bank, with Cygnum Capital and C and R Group serving as financial advisor and Registrar, respectively. KCB Kenya Ltd is the designated receiving bank, while Ropat Trust and Mboya Wangong’u and Waiyaki are the Note Trustee and Legal Counsel, respectively.

A Supreme Court award of Sh10 billion for a botched electricity contract is being claimed by three Spanish firms, including one that has been declared bankrupt and dissolved, putting Kenya at risk of paying three times that amount, or Sh30 billion.

The apex court in October 2022 ordered Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) to pay Spanish firm Instalaciones Inabensa pound 37.6 million for breach of contract after cancelling a deal for building a high-voltage transmission line and substations.

However, unknown to the Kenyan lawyers and judges, Inabensa was fighting for its life in the Spanish capital, in a struggle that saw it declared bankrupt a month after the Supreme Court verdict.

In the end, Inabensa was reported dissolved, and some of its assets were tipped for sale to a firm called Cox Energy, with Ernst and Young tapped as the insolvency administrator, said a confidential brief from the Attorney-General’s office.

Court documents show that on July 28, 2023, Inabensa transferred its rights to another Spanish firm, C.A. Infraestructuras T and I SLU, which is also pursuing payment in the decade-long dispute.

Payment risk

Now, the Attorney-General reckons that Ketraco is at a loss on whom to pay the Sh10 billion, with the State law office warning that Kenya could end up paying Sh30 billion to three firms.

In Kenya, Inabensa has frozen part of Ketraco’s billions of shillings in 17 bank accounts in NCBA, Standard Chartered Kenya, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, Citibank N.A. Kenya, and KCB Bank Kenya.

Separately, Infraestructuras T and I SLU is seeking to wind up Ketraco over non-payment of the Sh10 billion award following the Supreme Court verdict.

The Attorney-General has added a fresh twist to the spat after telling the court that the insolvency administrator in Spain, Ernst and Young Abogados, could still assert rights over the money on behalf of creditors.

This echoed a confidential brief that the Attorney-General prepared for Ketraco to help in the court proceedings where both Infraestructuras T and I SLU and Inabensa are seeking the Sh10 billion.

‘The company (Inabensa) was declared dissolved, its directors ceased to hold office and were replaced by the insolvency directors,’ said a brief from the Solicitor-General, Shadrack Mose, seen by the Business Daily.

‘Noting that the directors of the company [Inabensa] ceased to hold office and were replaced by an insolvency administrator… the insolvency administrator acquires the stature of a foreign representative,’ added the brief, while questioning the competence of Inabensa to enter into settlement talks with Ketraco.

The dispute has its origin in two engineering, procurement, and construction contracts awarded in April 2013 for the 400kV Lessos-Tororo transmission line and the extension of the Lessos substation.

Project dispute

The projects were valued at over pound 24.5 million (Sh3.6 billion) and Sh893 million, totalling more than Sh4.5 billion.

The claim for the botched contract has grown to Sh10 billion.

They were meant to facilitate electricity trade between Kenya and neighbouring countries, but were terminated in 2016 following a fallout between Ketraco and Inabensa.

Ketraco terminated the contract on April 25, 2016 after it received a notice from the Spanish firm on April 12, 2016, that it was suspending works after the State agency failed to settle several invoices.

At the centre of the ongoing dispute is a 2019 arbitral award in favour of Spanish contractor Instalaciones Inabensa S.A., which was contracted in 2013 to build the Lessos-Tororo transmission line and extend the Lessos substation.

The tribunal found Ketraco breached the contract by failing to pay invoices and unlawfully terminating the agreement, awarding the contractor more than pound 30.8 million (Sh4.6 billion) plus interest and costs.

That award was adopted as a judgment of the High Court in 2021, making the debt final and enforceable.

But the amount has since ballooned to over pound 62.6 million (about Sh10 billion), including interest and costs.

Ketraco attempted to overturn the arbitral award through a series of legal challenges in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and later the Supreme Court, but all attempts failed, leaving it exposed to enforcement proceedings.

Following the failed appeals, Inabensa obtained garnishee orders from the court against Ketraco’s bank accounts and began execution proceedings to recover the award.

The dispute has now split into two competing claims.

On one hand is Instalaciones Inabensa, the original contractor seeking to recover the debt through garnishee proceedings.

On the other hand is CA Infraestructuras T and I SLU, which claims to have taken over the rights to the award and is now pursuing liquidation of Ketraco – creating confusion over who the utility should legally pay.

Legal dilemma

Court filings show the insolvency petition was presented in May 2024 and is scheduled for a hearing in July 2026, placing the State corporation at risk of liquidation.

This has created a legal dilemma over who is entitled to payment.

Government lawyers warn that under Kenya’s Insolvency Act, foreign insolvency proceedings must first be recognised by Kenyan courts before any enforcement.

‘Until such recognition… neither Inabensa nor its legal agent has the capacity to engage Ketraco,’ the advisory states.

The uncertainty exposes Ketraco to the risk of paying the same debt more than once.

If it pays the Spanish assignee, Infraestructuras, it could still face claims from the insolvency administrator acting on behalf of Inabensa’s creditors.

If it pays the administrator, it could trigger further litigation from Infraestructuras.

This risk has already been flagged in court proceedings, where Ketraco warned that paying one party could result in ‘further legal proceedings being instituted’ by another claimant.

‘Since the first respondent is under liquidation, it cannot be said to be a credit-worthy going concern capable of refunding the sums,’ Ketraco’s lawyers argued, warning that enforcement threatens its operations.

The Court of Appeal proceedings also reveal the scale of financial pressure facing the utility.

Ketraco said freezing its accounts had crippled its ability to operate, pay staff and sustain electricity transmission nationwide.

‘The magnitude of the award… far outstrips the applicant’s financial capacity… and will bring its activities to an abrupt halt,’ the company said.

Government spending on development projects jumped by Sh91.8 billion in the first nine months of the current financial year, signalling a renewed push to stimulate economic activity and support growth.

Data from the National Treasury shows that Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) spent Sh262.63 billion on development between July and March 2026, up 53.7 percent from the Sh170.83 billion recorded in a similar period last year.

The increase marks a big shift from the previous financial year, when development expenditure fell to an 11-year low, dragged down by budget cuts and diversion of funds to recurrent obligations.

The rebound comes as the State faces mounting pressure to revive economic momentum, create jobs, and unlock stalled infrastructure projects, which are critical to private sector activity.

The push further coincides with a period when Kenya is seeking to strengthen its economic recovery following shocks linked to drought, high inflation, and global economic uncertainty.

In the fiscal year ended last June, development spending took a hit after the government implemented expenditure rationalisation measures to accommodate emerging needs, including security operations and drought response.

Treasury documents at the time showed additional funding requests for unbudgeted priorities, forcing a reallocation of resources away from capital projects to recurrent expenditure.

The low spending levels saw development expenditure fall below the legal threshold set under the Public Finance Management (PFM) law, raising concerns over the government’s commitment to growth-enhancing investments.

The current rebound signals an effort to correct the trajectory, with the State accelerating disbursements to capital projects in a bid to support economic expansion.

The increase, however, comes against the backdrop of persistent fiscal constraints, including rising public debt obligations that continue to exert pressure on government finances.

During the review period, for instance, Kenya’s debt servicing costs stood at Sh1.36 trillion, accounting for 79.5 percent of the country’s total tax revenues for the period.

The government also continues to grapple with underperformance in revenue collection, complicating efforts to sustain higher development expenditure.

The Kenya Revenue Authority has, in recent years, failed to meet ambitious tax targets, forcing the Treasury to rely on borrowing and expenditure adjustments to bridge financing gaps.

This has, in the past, led to delays in funding development projects, with contractors facing prolonged payment timelines that disrupt project implementation.

Life insurance products have for the first time generated more premiums for underwriters than general covers such as motor and medical, indicating a shift in Kenya’s insurance market as customers turn to long-term financial planning products.

Industry data shows gross written premiums from long-term covers grew 23.1 percent to Sh235.39 billion in 2025, surpassing general insurance premiums, which rose at a slower 11.4 percent to Sh227.17 billion.

The crossover marks a turning point for the industry, where general insurance has traditionally dominated due to compulsory covers such as motor and a higher uptake of medical covers.

Life insurance premiums now account for 50.7 percent of the total Sh464.72 billion market, pointing to the growing weight of long-term savings and protection products. Many insurers have been launching and promoting such products.

The picture was different over a decade ago, with general covers dominating in terms of the value of premiums.

In 2013, life business made up just 33.8 percent of industry premiums, with general insurance commanding more than two-thirds (66.18 percent) of the market.

The shift reflects changing consumer behaviour and insurers’ strategy. Kenyan households are increasingly taking up life and pension products as long-term financial planning tools, while insurers are leaning into these segments for their predictable income streams.

Jacqueline Karasha, chief executive of SanlamAllianz Life Insurance, said in a phone interview that the life insurance business has, for several years, enjoyed a faster growth pace compared with the general business, mainly driven by individual life covers and pension deposit administration lines.

‘Deposit administration has gained traction on the back of stable returns, direct distribution channels and bancassurance, while fund managers have become more proactive in marketing pension products. At the same time, insurers have stepped up investment in marketing, financial literacy and distribution channels,’ said Ms Karasha.

Premiums from deposit administration grew 18 percent to Sh79.75 billion in the period, life assurance grew nine percent to Sh46.3 billion, and investments rose 3.9 times to Sh30.3 billion. Personal pension business grew by 14.9 percent to Sh24.97 billion, closing the top four major classes of life products.

Ms Karasha said part of the boost in pension business has also been through the enhanced compulsory contributions to the National Social Security Fund, part of which is managed by life insurers. Many life insurers have also been launching new products and enriching existing ones to cater for the evolving needs, such as simplified policies, digital onboarding and claims management.

Life products have lower claims volatility compared to general business, which is often hit by rising claims in medical and motor covers-the two main classes that take up over 68 percent of the gross premium income under short-term business.

The rebalancing could improve profitability and capital stability for insurers, given the long-term nature of life policies.

For general insurers, the shift raises pressure to reprice risk more accurately or innovate to counter slowing growth in their core segments.

‘That turn shows that, as a market, we are on track to increase insurance penetration. This is a good signal of sustained industry growth going forward. You cannot leverage much on short-term covers to deepen penetration,’ said Ms Karasha.

We call them mentors now. Coaches. Angel investors. But scripture named them first: destiny helpers – people sent by God to shift the course of a life, a family, a sector. They leave everything better than they found it. Job Kariru Muriuki was one.

Kenya’s financial sector has been mourning him. As founder and CEO of Momentum Credit, he built a non-bank lender whose flexible financing kept small businesses breathing.

Since inception, Momentum Credit has disbursed Sh40 billion to more than 300,000MSMEs; 52 percent of clients are women who record an average 28 percent income rise within 12 months. That is SDG 1 and SDG 5 showing up at dinner tables.

The firm’s loan book grew 34 percent year-on-year in 2024, with non-performing loans held below 6.0 percent – proof that trust and rigour can coexist.

Two weeks ago, his first boss eulogised him thus: I had the privilege of working with him from 2008 when he returned from Cambridge with a first-class engineering degree, after a UK management consultancy stint, to join Centum Investments.

I saw him grow into an exceptional leader: highly intelligent, deeply committed, a man of great integrity. Beyond the boardroom, he was a devoted family man.

I didn’t meet Job as a headline. I met him through his mother, Pauline Muthoni Muriuki – a woman of firsts. To know Pauline is to have known Job. She is an outlier, a pioneer whose work crossed borders without ever needing the border of a camera frame.

The titles tell part of it: Marketing Director at Unilever East Africa. CEO of Smart Applications International. Non-Executive Director at E-Soft and Linepal Holdings. In strategy rooms, they speak her name with Harrison Muiru – that rare leader who holds the whole map while others trace one road.

At Smart Applications, she stepped in as CEO to lead its founding years. Under her, Smart became the first company in Kenya to put a fingerprint on healthcare: biometrically controlled smart cards for medical schemes.

The system cut fraud by over 40 percent within two years and reduced claim processing time from 14 days to 48 hours. No more lost papers. No more fraud draining a family’s lifeline. Just a thumbprint, and a mother could treat her child. Pauline didn’t chase innovation for the word. She used it to remove the small indignities that keep people poor.

Yet when I searched for her online, there was almost nothing. Her life was never staged for applause. It was stitched into other people’s breakthroughs. She is a north star – fixed, quiet, unadvertised – the one you navigate by when the night gets too wide. To the world, she is the architect of firsts.

To me, she is simply Pauline. Sometimes ‘mum.’ Always my mentor. To be mentored by Pauline is to understand Job’s clarity. She taught what she lived: faith isn’t Sunday only. It’s the cornerstone you build Monday to Monday on.

My career began in 1995 as a management trainee at East Africa Industries, later Unilever East Africa. Pauline was among the directors who saw something in me I couldn’t see yet. She and leaders like Patricia Ithau, Timothy Kaloki, Martin Mburu, Betty Keittany, Margaret Mwaura, Peter Karatu and Judy Geda understood the sacredness of mentorship.

Pauline called greatness out with tough love, intentional conversations, and by living the example. Bounce back. Learn. Climb the next mountain.

On April 2, 2026, aged 41, Job rested after three years fighting Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis – a rare autoimmune liver disease affecting one in 10,000. It damages bile ducts silently for 10 to 15 years before diagnosis. Median survival from diagnosis: 12-18 years. There is no cure. Yet Job fought. And lived fully.

From London he went to Rela Hospital, Chennai. He received his new liver on October 29, 2024. Despite heavy immunosuppressants, his body began rejecting it in October 2025.

He flew back to Rela on February 7, 2026. Becks, the wife of his youth, prepared to donate part of hers. His best friend David had already given part of his – nearly costing his own life. ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’

Yet his organs failed. The battle ended April 2. Before he passed, Job said he intended to enter full-time ministry. At his memorial on April 14, testimonies agreed: his ministry started young – childhood friends, family he raised, staff he mentored, lives changed by one encounter. The work remains with us. Changed lives are the only audit that matters.

When a patient walks into a health centre in Bomet or a dispensary in Lamu, they are entering a county facility. The nurse who takes their temperature is a county employee. The records system that logs their symptoms runs on county infrastructure. The data generated belongs to the county health service, a function the 2010 Constitution explicitly devolved from the national government.

So when the national government signed an agreement in Washington committing “Kenya’s health data” to American authorities, a constitutional question should have been front and centre: whose data is this to give?

In my previous articles on the Kenya-US health cooperation framework, I explored what this deal means for ordinary families and why our health data is a national asset. But the devolution question cuts deeper. It is not just about fair terms. It is about whether the agreement was legally valid to begin with.

The Fourth Schedule of Kenya’s Constitution distributes functions between national and county governments. Health appears on both lists, but with a crucial distinction. The national government handles “health policy” and “national referral health facilities.”

Counties handle “county health services,” including county health facilities, pharmacies, ambulance services, and primary health care promotion.

In practice, this means the national government sets policy direction. Counties deliver the services. The clinics, the staff, the equipment, the record-keeping systems: these are county functions.

The data generated through those services flows from county operations.

Article 6(2) of the Constitution is explicit: the relationship between national and county governments must be “consultative and cooperative.” Neither level is senior to the other. When the national government commits county resources, including the data those counties generate, meaningful consultation is not optional. It is constitutionally required.

The Council of Governors, which coordinates Kenya’s 47 counties, confirmed it was not consulted before the agreement was signed. County directors of health report being summoned to Nairobi with almost no notice, not to negotiate, but to review documents already finalised.

“The time was so short we could not even call our peers in the other counties for us to consult before agreeing to greenlight the documents,” that is what one county official told DeFrontera.

Dr Gordon Okomo, chair of all county directors of health in Kenya, was summoned but could not attend due to the sudden notice. Some counties are now seeking clarity directly from the US CDC because the national government has not provided detailed information.

This is not consultation. This is notification after the fact. And county health leaders have seen this pattern before.

County directors cite the medical equipment leasing scheme as precedent, a case where the national government made major health spending decisions without consulting counties, then offloaded the costs onto them. Counties ended up with expensive machines they could not use or maintain.

The US health deal follows the same trajectory. The agreement commits Kenya to “co-investments” of nearly Sh11 billion over five years. It requires hiring thousands of health workers and lab technicians who, when the agreement expires in 2030, must transfer to government payroll. But which government? County health services are a county function. These costs will land on county budgets.

No county assembly debated these commitments. No governor signed off. The Council of Governors learned about the details after the framework was already signed in Washington.

Here is the constitutional knot: if county health services are a devolved function, and data is generated through those services, then county governments have a legitimate claim over that data. The national government sets health policy, but it does not operate the clinics. It does not employ the nurses. It does not run the systems that capture patient information.

When the US agreement commits Kenya to sharing “disease data, biological samples, and genetic information” within days of detection, it is committing resources that counties generate. When it grants access to “digital health systems and outbreak databases,” those systems often run at county level.

This does not mean counties should hoard health data or refuse to participate in national disease surveillance. Public health requires coordination.

But coordination is different from unilateral commitment. Article 187 of the Constitution allows transfer of functions between levels of government, but only by agreement, and only if the receiving government can effectively perform the function.

The court has given the government until January to respond to challenges against the agreement. If the framework is to be renegotiated, and it should be, counties must be at the table as parties, not bystanders.

This means the Council of Governors should be formally included in any revised negotiations. County assemblies should have the opportunity to debate commitments that affect county budgets and county data. Intergovernmental consultation mechanisms under the Constitution should be activated, not bypassed.

It also means governors should be asking hard questions. What happens to data generated in your county facilities? Who controls access? What share of any benefits, whether funding, technology transfer, or intellectual property, flows back to the counties that generated the underlying information?

Kenyans fought for the 2010 Constitution precisely because power had been too centralised for too long. Devolution was not a bureaucratic reshuffling. It was a transfer of authority to the people through their county governments. Health was devolved because Kenyans understood that decisions about their wellbeing should not be made exclusively in Nairobi.

When an agreement that affects county health services, county budgets, and county data is signed without county participation, it does not just raise practical concerns. It undermines the constitutional settlement Kenyans voted for.

Your governor was not in the room. Your county assembly did not debate this. The data generated at your local clinic, data that could be worth billions when processed into AI systems and drug discoveries, was committed without your county’s consent. That is not how devolution is supposed to work.

Three years ago, lawyer Emily Chepkor put out a simple Instagram post inviting anyone in Nairobi to join her for a free Saturday morning run at 8 am, no fuss.

Only three women showed up, jogged a 6km loop, grabbed coffee at a café nearby, and went home.

‘Then the following weekend there were six, then 10 the next. Every time we would post on social media and more would join the following weekend,’ says Emily, an avid runner and a gym regular.

That casual call became ‘We Run Nairobi,’ now one of the city’s most consistent running clubs. On a good day, more than 1,200 runners turn up. On many days, 100 to 300 people take over roads around Nairobi.

We Run Nairobi is part of a wider wave of running clubs reshaping Nairobi’s streets and social life and, Emily says women are driving the movement.

In recent years, that energy has spilled well beyond weekend runs. What started as fitness habits, Emily says has now evolved into a travel lifestyle. Recreational running has stretched beyond city routes into travel plans, and the culture has been quietly growing.

According to recent report by Miles4Mind, salaried Kenyan women quietly setting the pace in this movement. They spend millions in a year conditioning their bodies, and planning their calendars around races, booking flights and hotels months in advance.

The study, based on 250 recreational runners in Nairobi, shows that middle and upper-middle-income earners are most invested, often setting aside dedicated budgets for race travel abroad.

Of the 175 respondents who shared their monthly income, 60 earn between Sh150,000 and Sh300,000. Another 43 take home less than Sh150,000, while 34 fall in the Sh300,000 to Sh500,000 bracket. A further 38 earn between Sh500,000 and Sh1,000,000.

Employment appears to be the engine behind the trend. ‘Recreational runners in employment represented the largest segment at 73 percent, with business owners at 12.8 percent and the self-employed at 10 percent,’ the report notes.

Age also plays a role. The strongest appetite for running and race travel is among those aged 36 to 4, suggesting that the trend is being driven by financially stable, mid-career professionals.

Women slightly outnumber men in the running scene. Of 178 respondents who disclosed their gender, 93 were women and 85 were men.

For many, this journey began during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, when running offered both escape and routine. For many recreational runners, the Standard Chartered Marathon in Nairobi was the first step into this lifestyle.

‘Once you’ve conquered the Standard Chartered Marathon in Nairobi, your eyes immediately turn to the Kilimanjaro Marathon in Tanzania. It’s almost a rite of passage and a natural next step for ambitious runners,’notes Emily.

‘It isn’t just about the race itself; it’s about the journey. We make it a road trip, sign up with friends, and ‘collect’ an international marathon under our belts. And once you’ve done that, there’s always another adventure in the corner,’ adds Emily, who has participated in 11 marathons, several of those abroad, including the Boston Marathon.

But this lifestyle comes at a cost.

For many runners, a single race abroad costs an average of Sh300,000, when flights, accommodation, registration fees, and travel documents are factored in.

‘The cost depends on the destination, but that is the rough average. Logistics add up quickly, from tickets to hotels and even getting your passport in order,’ says Judy Karambu, a recreational runner based in Nairobi.

To keep up with the trend Judy has turned budgeting into part of her training plan.

‘Every year, I aim to run at least two marathons in Europe and one in South Africa. That means raising at least Sh1 million. Personal savings are my main cushion, and I always recommend putting money in collective investment schemes like money market funds, so it keeps growing as you plan your travel.’

For perspective, for her Sanlam Cape Town marathon slated for May this year, she is working with a Sh350,000 budget.

‘I will be returning to Cape Town once again, and I plan to stay there for 10 days. It’s a very beautiful city, but very expensive,’ Judy says.

Amos Ronoa, who has been a recreational runner for more than five years now and who will be participating in the Chicago Marathon in September, recently tells the BDLife that he plans to spend Sh400,000 for his trip.

‘My minimum budget for Chicago is Sh400,000 to take care of my race entry ticket, which is Sh37,000. Air tickets, I am looking at Sh100,000 for return. A good accommodation, probably at an at a AirBnB, will cost between Sh50,000 and Sh70,000 for three to four days. I will also need some pocket money for transport around the city and meals. I am looking at spending between $10-20$ a day, so that is about Sh14,000 in every five days,’ he notes.

But besides the travel budgets, there is an additional cost when you factor in the training and racing gear expenses.

Limo Kipkemoi, an avid ultra-runner, says a good Garmin GPS smart watch will cost at least Sh 70,000.

‘A good pair of running shoes will cost anything from Sh25,000, depending on the brand, and you will need to have at least two pairs. You also need to invest in the running bibs and jackets,’ Limo says.

The Miles4Mind report shows that the majority of Kenyan recreational runners prefer the Garmin smart watch compared to other brands such as Apple, Samsung, Fitbit, and Coros. Of the 151 respondents who revealed their fitness trackers, 105 own the Garmin series.

‘It’s just not the runners, even trekkers prefer Garmin smartwatches, and that’s primarily because of their superior battery life, GPS accuracy, and detailed analytics like running dynamics, lactate threshold, and all that. They also have built-in maps of the entire world,’ Limo adds.

The World Bank has cited three hurdles that Kenya must clear before it unfreezes a Sh96.9 billion ($750 million) loan ahead of June 30 amid the economic shocks triggered by the Iran war.

The multilateral lender reckons it will release the billions once Kenya passes regulations indicating the criteria it uses to determine the beneficiaries of monthly stipends offered to orphans, the elderly and persons living with disabilities.

It also wants regulations guiding the issuance of sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) and legal backing to a policy that obligates Kenya to raise its tree cover to at least 30 percent by 2032 as part of the Forest Conservation and Management Act.

These are the terms that the World Bank offered Kenya at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Meetings in the week ended April 17.

The country risks missing out on the sizeable loan from the World Bank’s budgetary support loan, known as development policy operations (DPO), for the second financial year if it fails to meet the three conditions.

‘Regarding the DPO, outstanding prior actions include approved regulations to the Social Protection Act, amendments to the Conservation Act, and an approved sustainability-linked financing framework,’ a World Bank spokesperson told the Business Daily.

‘In addition, DPOs require an adequate macro-fiscal policy framework.’

The World Bank froze disbursements from the same facility last year after Kenya delayed passing seven laws and four policy reforms.

Kenya has since met some of the demands, including the enactment of the Conflict of Interest Act and the Social-Protection Act.

The country had gone easy in pursuit of the World Bank and the IMF for financing to cover the months to the end of the financial year in June, buoyed by billions of shillings it has received from the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC)’s initial public offering and issuance of new Eurobonds.

The Treasury has banked Sh106.3 billion from the sale of a 35 percent stake in KPC and is also selling another 15 percent stake in Safaricom to South Africa’s Vodacom in a deal worth Sh244.5 billion.

Kenya also issued two Eurobonds of Sh290.3 billion ($2.25 billion) to fund a $415.35 million (Sh53.5 billion) buyback, leaving it with Sh237.7 billion for budget support. But with delays in receiving the Safaricom cash and transfer of the KPC billions to the infrastructure fund, the need for additional help to plug the deficit is key.

The World Bank cash flows directly to budget for use at the discretion of the State, including paying civil servants’ salaries.

Besides the DPO, Kenya has requested rapid financial support from the World Bank to help it manage the economic shocks triggered by the Iran war.

Like other nations that are heavily reliant on energy imports, Kenya is scrambling to stave off shortages of essential commodities, including petrol, while managing cost increases that could drive up inflation.

The country is the first larger emerging economy to publicly confirm a formal request to the World Bank, although others, such as Egypt, have said they have approached multilateral lenders. Rapid Response Support is a term used by the World Bank for its fast-disbursing financial ?windows and policy support that help countries respond quickly to shocks or crises.

In a sign of the risks facing Kenya’s public finances, President William Ruto signed a law on April 17 cutting value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum products to 8.0 percent from 16 percent for three months to cushion consumers from a surge in crude prices.

The condition on the eligibility criteria for cash transfers aligns with an agreement between Kenya and the World Bank that the country will improve efficiency in the delivery of social protection benefits and services.

The regulations being sought are expected to mandate the national government and counties to establish eligibility criteria using the enhanced single registry (ESR) system for the delivery of poverty-targeted cash transfers and other pro-poor social sector interventions.

The Cabinet approved the National Forest Policy, which incorporates the 30 percent target for tree cover, but is yet to make amendments to the Forest Conservation and Management Act of 2016 to incorporate the target in the law.

Kenya is yet to approve sovereign Sustainably-Linked Bonds rules, which would guide the issuance of the special bonds and improve Kenya’s climate finance credentials.

The sustainability-linked bonds are tied to achieving predetermined environmental or social sustainability targets, and the issuer or government faces penalties such as higher interest rates if they fail to meet the aims.

The government had plans to borrow $500 million (Sh65 billion) using sustainability-linked bonds by March 2026. The Treasury says it is fast-tracking the pending regulations and cited an agreement with Parliament for the passage of amendments to the Forest Management Act, which requires the nod of both the National Assembly and the Senate.