Category: Business Daily

The United States has raised its travel advisory for Kenya to Level three, urging its citizens to reconsider trips to the east Africa country after escalating its assessment of health risks.

The US State Department announced the change on October 19, moving Kenya from Level two, which advises travellers to exercise increased caution, to Level three, which recommends reconsidering travel.

The latest advisory retains warnings over crime, kidnapping, terrorism and unrest, alongside health and road-safety concerns.

The escalation comes as Kenya grapples with an outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, with the disease spreading beyond the initial imported case to people who had contact with the patient, raising the stakes for the country’s public-health response and international travel reputation.

‘Medical services in Kenya are limited. They are often unavailable in rural areas. Medical facilities in Kenya often lack sufficient medicine and equipment,’ reads the advisory in part.

‘Except for a few private medical facilities based in the large urban centers with enhanced capability, many health issues may require medical evacuation at your own expense. Medical facilities will usually deny service if payment is not made upfront.’

Although the advisory’s record of the level change attributes the escalation to health risks without naming the disease, its wider health guidance references a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention travel health notice for Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease in Kenya.

The shift places Kenya closer to Level four, the State Department’s highest category, which advises Americans not to travel to a destination.

The previous Level Two advisory was issued on July 28, 2026, with the same broad risk indicators of crime, kidnapping or hostage-taking, terrorism, unrest and health.

The advisory has direct implications for tourism, one of Kenya’s major sources of foreign exchange, as international visitors weigh safety concerns when choosing destinations for holidays, wildlife safaris and business trips.

Kenya earned about Sh500 billion from tourism in 2025, when it received 2.7 million international visitors and 5.2 million domestic travellers, according to the Tourism Research Institute’s sector performance figures.

The US is particularly important to the industry as it was Kenya’s largest source market in 2024, accounting for 306,501 visitors or 12.8 percent of international arrivals.

A higher travel warning could prompt some American visitors to postpone trips, seek alternative destinations or demand additional assurances from tour operators, hotels and airlines, potentially affecting bookings and businesses that depend on international tourists.

Read: How bungled Nanyuki airstrip contract drew Sh1.2bn blow for KAA

Tourism businesses also face the risk that health concerns could overshadow Kenya’s wildlife, beaches and other attractions at a time when the country is seeking to grow international arrivals and tourism earnings.

A worsening international perception of Kenya’s health risks could further complicate business travel, conferences and investment visits.

Kenya confirmed its first imported case of Bundibugyo virus disease on October 6, involving a Kenyan who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and travelled to Nairobi through Uganda. He died hours after arriving in Nairobi.

By October 19, the number of confirmed infections had risen to eight, including health workers and people linked to the first patient.

Health authorities have intensified contact tracing, quarantine and surveillance as they seek to contain the infections.

As of October 18, officials said 128 of 130 identified contacts were in quarantine, with no evidence of wider community transmission reported at that point.

The outbreak is linked to a wider epidemic in the DRC, where the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported thousands of confirmed cases and deaths.

The Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, adding to the challenge of managing the disease.

The US advisory has also mapped out areas with escalated risks of crime and kidnapping attacks, including Nairobi’s Eastleigh and Kibera neighbourhoods, while the counties of Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Lamu, Tana River, and Kilifi have been flagged for terrorism risks.

Others include West Pokot and Turkana counties, which have been flagged for crime and unrest risks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) African Region has one of the world’s lowest tobacco-use prevalence rates. In 2025, about 8.9 per cent of people aged 15 and above were projected to use tobacco, meaning roughly nine in 10 adults did not. This achievement reflects decades of tobacco-control laws, taxation and public education.

Against this backdrop, a fundamental question arises: if vaping is intended to reduce harm among existing smokers, why are these products marketed to the much larger population that does not use tobacco?

Harm reduction should be measured by fewer cases of disease, disability and premature death, not product switching or sales.

Nicotine remains highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development, raise heart rate and blood pressure, and affect a developing baby during pregnancy. E-cigarette aerosols also contain fine particles, flavouring chemicals and metals that can damage the lungs. Nicotine pouches carry risks, including gum irritation, dependence and accidental poisoning among young children.

Evidence that e-cigarettes can help some smokers quit comes largely from controlled studies involving willing participants, defined products and professional support. That differs sharply from commercial markets where products are widely advertised, sold in numerous flavours and some-times supplied without adequate age checks or counselling.

Similarly, Sweden’s experience with alternative nicotine products cannot automatically be replicated in Kenya. Differences in smoking histories, culture, income and regulatory capacity matter. Evidence of benefits for individual smokers under controlled conditions does not prove that expanding commercial nicotine markets will improve population health.

Policymakers must also scrutinise who funds the research used to shape regulation. Kenya is a Party to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Article 5.3 requires governments to protect public health policies from the commercial interests of the tobacco industry. Funding, study design and potential conflicts of interest should therefore be dis-closed.

Marketing tactics, including celebrity endorsements, music festivals, motorsport sponsorships and sweet flavours, raise further concerns about attracting young people and non-smokers. For someone who has never smoked, vaping is not a transition away from cigarettes but the introduction of a new health risk and potential nicotine dependence.

Kenya should strengthen regulation of emerging nicotine products. Any vaping products intended to support smoking cessation should be used within controlled, time-limited programmes with appropriate professional support.

Ultimately, the question is whether promoting vaping will reduce nicotine-related disease and death across the population. Until independent evidence demonstrates that benefit outweighs the risks of new addiction and prolonged dependence, commercial expansion should not automatically be presented as harm reduction.

South Africa’s Vodacom Group says it will retain its controlling 55 percent stake in Safaricom as an appeal of a High Court judgement nullifying its acquisition of an extra 20 percent stake in the Kenyan telco continues.

The High Court issued its decision on September 15, 2026, noting that the National Treasury concealed material information regarding the sale of its 15 percent stake in Safaricom for Sh204.3 billion.

This included the fact that it resulted in Vodacom taking a controlling 55 percent stake in the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm.

The South African firm also acquired a five percent stake in Safaricom from Vodafone Group at a cost of Sh68.1 billion, lifting its ownership from the previous 35 percent.

An application by Vodacom and other affected parties came before Nairobi’s Court of Appeal on October 13, 2026 seeking a stay order against the High Court’s decision.

‘The [Court of Appeal] decided not to determine the application but instead recorded to fast-track the substantive appeal. The prevailing status quo in respect of the shares and purchase consideration shall be maintained pending the hearing of the appeal,’ the Midrand-based multinational said in a trading update.

‘The effect of the order is that [Vodacom] remains the registered holder of the Safaricom shares acquired from Government of Kenya (GoK) on 30 June 2026, and the corresponding purchase consideration paid to GoK is to be preserved, pending the hearing of the appeal.’

Vodacom bought the additional Safaricom stakes through its investment vehicle Vodafone Kenya Limited (VKL).

The South African firm says it remains confident in the strategic rationale for the additional investment in Safaricom, adding that it will update its investors on any material developments relating to the appeal process.

The government’s partial sale of its stake in Safaricom stake had already drawn legal action but the Attorney-General was granted an application to the Court of Appeal to lift a freeze on the deal on June 26, 2026, enabling the transaction to be closed two business days later.

Vodacom acquired the government’s shares through a block trade on the NSE on June 30, 2026, the same day it also bought Vodafone’s shares through VKL.

The High Court’s three-judge bench held that the deal had been presented as a partial divestiture when in reality it amounted to a takeover that gave Vodacom effective control of Safaricom.

The court declared the divestiture invalid, null and void, quashed all approvals relating to the transaction and ordered that the 15 percent stake be restored to the Government of Kenya on behalf of the people.

‘A declaration is hereby made that the partial divestiture of the 15 percent of the Government of Kenya shares in a camouflage merger or acquisition and takeover of Safaricom Plc is in contravention of the Constitution and the law,’ said the court.

The court noted that under the arrangement, the South African multinational’s ownership in the Kenyan telco rose to 55 percent after taking full ownership of VKL through which it holds the shares in the Kenyan telco.

The judges found that this critical information was not adequately disclosed to the public, the Cabinet or Parliament.

‘A declaration is hereby made that the partial divestiture of the 15 percent of the Government of Kenya shares in Safaricom PLC was marred with obscurities on the proposed buyer, misrepresentations and concealment of material information on the nature and effects of the partial divestiture in violation of the principles of integrity, transparency,’ said the court.

The court also raised concerns about national security, noting that Safaricom operates critical infrastructure, including election transmission systems, government payment platforms, mobile money services and stores the personal data of millions of Kenyans.

‘In the circumstances, even with regulatory safeguards, there is no guarantee that would prevent foreign and external influence or interference with the governance systems, personal security and data,’ the court said.

The judges added that any perception of external influence over election transmission systems could undermine public confidence in the democratic process. They held that transferring effective control of such infrastructure to a foreign entity without a prior national security assessment violated the government’s constitutional obligations.

Top parastatals have sold a combined 24.76 percent stake in Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) to an identified foreign investor less than eight months after spending billions to buy the shares.

A source familiar with the deal said at least eight parastatals sold their shares in the firm, which were listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on March 9, to a foreign institution.

The State pressured cash-rich parastatals in February to buy into the initial public offering (IPO) of KPC to avoid the sale being declared invalid after high- net-worth investors snubbed the deal.

This saw the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) buy shares worth Sh38.5 billion, followed by Public Servants Pension Scheme (Sh13 billion), County Workers Pension Fund (Sh3.6 billion) and Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (Sh3.2 billion).

Pension funds for Kenya Power, KPC and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) workers also participated heavily in the offer.

President William Ruto on Tuesday hailed the transfer of the 4.5 billion shares of KPC through the Nairobi bourse as a mark of confidence on Kenya’s capital markets.

‘In demonstration of growing confidence, private investors acquired 25 percent stake in Kenya Pipeline Company from public entities,’ President Ruto said in his address at the Mashuja Day fete, without disclosing the identity of the parastatals.

About 13 parastatals splashed Sh64.23 billion on the Kenya Pipeline IPO, taking a 38.35 percent stake in the firm.

The NSSF has an estimated 23.3 percent stake in KPC, Public Servants Pension Scheme (7.94 percent), County Workers Pension Fund (2.2 percent) and Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (1.98 percent).

The IPO had to raise at least Sh53.1 billion from more than 250 investors for it to proceed, a target that had not been achieved as the offer raced to a close.

This forced the State to urge parastatals, the State-backed pension scheme and the Ugandan government to save the IPO from collapse.

At Sh9.02, the State-owned firms sold the shares at nearly the same offer price as the listing of KPC at the Nairobi bourse.

The government priced the Kenya Pipeline IPO at Sh9 per share for the offer that opened on January 19 and ran until February 24, with the shares opening trading on the Nairobi bourse on March 9.

In the end, Uganda, together with 13 State-backed pension schemes and agencies, pumped in Sh95.8 billion of the required Sh106.3 billion, according to confidential documents seen by the Business Daily.

The offer received a 105.7 percent subscription ?rate, raising Sh112 billion against the State target of Sh106 billion.

Without the NSSF, Uganda and the pension fund, the IPO would have collapsed on failure to hit the success level.

About 90 percent of the top owners of KPC bought their shares through proxies during the firm’s IPO, keeping the identity of the investors anonymous.

Regulatory filings show that 18 of the top 20 shareholders of KPC are under nominee accounts.

Nominee accounts are registered to hold shares on behalf of the true owners, a structure used globally and at firms listed at the Nairobi bourse to mask the identity of beneficial owners.

The NSSF and the State agencies also split their stake under several nominee accounts, masking their position as KPC’s largest shareholders.

The success of the offer was dented by the apathy among foreigners, high-net-worth investors in the private sector, retail investors and oil marketers, who many believed considered Kenya Pipeline a strategic investment.

Local retail investors bought shares worth Sh4.1 billion against their allocation of Sh21.2 billion stocks, while foreigners spent a measly Sh32.7 million compared to their target of Sh21.2 billion.

Oil marketers took shares worth Sh22.9 million or 0.14 percent of the Sh15.9 billion stocks allocated to the dealers who rely on the pipeline to feed the market.

The concentration of local institutional investors and Uganda implied that the IPO was seen as a long-term strategic investment.

The KPC transaction comes after a series of large block trades at the NSE, as the bourse seeks to deepen liquidity and improve transparency around big share transfers.

The most notable was the Sh204.3 billion sale of a 15 percent stake in Safaricom by the government to Vodacom, involving 6.009 billion shares.

It was the largest single transaction ever conducted on the bourse and accounted for the bulk of equity market turnover around the time it was executed.

Diageo has also used the block-trade mechanism to increase its stake in East African Breweries (EABL), acquiring 14.97 percent of the brewer for Sh22.73 billion in 2023 and raising its total holding to 65 percent.

KPC’s net profit grew 13 percent to Sh11.58 billion in the year to June 2026, allowing the firm to splash Sh5.81 billion in dividends.

An arm of the UK government is buying a 6.5 percent stake in Quickmart through the retailer’s initial public offering (IPO) for Sh1.94 billion ($15 million), marking another bid by foreign anchor investment.

The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) announced it will buy 260 million of the two billion shares on offer.

It will buy the shares through MOBILIST, a UK government programme that uses taxpayers’ cash to buy stakes in private companies, which is seen as a shift from handing out foreign aid.

The FCDO will join the International Finance Corporation (IFC)-the World Bank’s private investment arm- as a cornerstone investor in the Sh15 billion IPO, which has valued Quickmart at Sh30 billion.

The IFC has also committed to buying a similar stake of 6.5 percent for Sh1.94 billion, providing a boost in confidence to an IPO, whose offer will close on October 30.

For the IFC, this is not the first equity investment in a Kenyan retailer, having participated in a consortium that bought and sold a 31.5 percent stake in Naivas between 2020 and 2022 for a tidy profit.

IFC and MOBILIST are hoping for a similar outsized return from Quickmart upon its exit, on the back of the retailer’s expansion plans and steady dividend payouts.

‘We welcome MOBILIST as an investment partner as we broaden Quickmart’s ownership. With MOBILIST’s support, our proposed listing will help realise Quickmart’s ambition to create long-term shareholder value’, Quickmart Plc CEO, Peter Kang’iri, says.

The Quickmart deal marks MOBILIST’s latest investment via the Kenyan public markets following its role as the cornerstone investor in the March 2026 listing of Kenya’s debut US dollar-denominated industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) floated by Africa Logistics Properties.

MOBILIST invested $9 million (Sh1.2 billion) in the Africa Logistics Properties industrial REIT, which raised Sh3.82 billion from investors.

Cornerstone investors are institutional or high net worth investors who agree in advance to buy a specific stake in an IPO, signaling confidence in an offer to other buyers.

The IFC, however, said its participation in the sale is not an endorsement or recommendation to other investors to participate in the IPO.

In Quickmart’s IPO, current owners who include Mauritius-registered private equity fund Adenia Partners, the founders of Quickmart and Tumaini supermarkets and the retailer’s chief executive officer Peter Kang’iri are offloading two billion shares, equivalent to a 50 percent stake.

Their shares are held through an investment vehicle known as Sokoni Retail Kenya Limited (SRKL).

The IPO could, however, usher in other large investors into the business, given the allocation criteria that sets aside 35 percent of the offer shares for Kenyan institutional investors, equivalent to an ultimate holding of 17.5 percent of the company’s issued shares.

Local retail and foreign investors have been allocated 20 percent each, East African Community investors 12 percent, and the IFC 13 percent. These limits can be adjusted depending on subscription levels per investor category.

Quickmart is now the second largest retail chain in Kenya behind Naivas by store count and turnover, with an estimated 15 percent share of the market. The company has a current store count of 72, in 16 counties.

In the year ended December 2025, Quickmart reported a 33 percent growth in net profit to Sh1.51 billion. Sales rose by 9.3 percent to Sh50.43 billion in the year.

The retailer paid its shareholders a dividend of Sh1.65 billion, representing a payout ratio of 109 percent and is aiming to distribute at least 80 percent of its earnings to shareholders in the coming years.

Kenya has become a saving nation. A generation ago, most retirement savings sat in an underfunded provident fund and a few large occupational schemes.

Today, the Retirement Benefits Authority’s June 2026 industry brief reports total pension assets under management of Sh3.2 trillion, surpassing the Sh3 trillion mark for the first time.

This massive capital pool now accounts for 17.64 percent of Kenya’s GDP, climbing steadily from 16.05 percent in December 2025. Kenya’s banking sector holds a further Sh8.9 trillion in assets.

Add insurance, collective investment schemes and individual savings, and the picture is of a country that has quietly built one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest domestic capital pools.

Pension funds invest 52.14 percent of their trillions in government securities, while 18.59 percent is in guaranteed funds. Despite this, infrastructure, which Kenya claims it can’t finance, makes up for approximately 0.02 percent of the portfolio.

There is still inadequate allocation to infrastructure within the pensions scheme compared to the regulatory ceiling of 10 percent. Recommendations have suggested revising this to 30 percent. Nonetheless, the current allocations are insignificant when compared to both the existing regulatory ceiling and the recommended one.

Pension trustees are expected to consider their fiduciary duty to members. They operate much like a corporate board. The scheme’s investment committee, made up of the pension trustees, consults with fund managers who must prove to the committee that the project can deliver predictable returns within a certain time frame.

The fiscal space has narrowed. Traditionally, Kenya has funded development activities through annual government budgets, sovereign borrowing, development finance institutions, and public-private partnerships (PPPs). While each plays a role, none can fund infrastructure projects alone.

The country’s debt stood at around Sh12.3 trillion at the end of 2025, up from Sh9.15 trillion at the end of 2022. Debt service will amount to Sh1.5 trillion out of the proposed Sh4.8 trillion budget for 2026/27.

The national budget should fund what only it can: schools, hospitals, community roads, and water points that serve the public but do not generate enough revenue to attract private capital. Commercially viable infrastructure, such as toll roads, airports, ports, energy facilities, and the digital backbone, should shift to a model that attracts equity and debt based on future revenues rather than future taxes.

McKinsey identified a paradox in Africa’s infrastructure markets: funding is available, the pipeline is large, and the need is clear, but 80 percent of projects fail at the feasibility and business-plan stage, and fewer than 10 percent reach financial close. In many cases, projects stall before investors can assess or finance them.

Kenya illustrates this gap: the PPP Directorate’s April 2026 status report lists 51 projects valued Sh1.7 trillion. Of these projects, 10 are in the implementation stage, meaning financing, contract signing, and construction are underway.

The remaining 41 projects, which make up more than 80 percent of the Sh1.7 trillion project pipeline, are still at various stages of preparation, procurement, or approval.

Since the establishment of PPP in 2013, Kenya has mobilised only $ 1 billion in private capital over 13 years.

The IMF indicates that almost half of more than 1,000 government-implemented projects stalled because of the Sh1 trillion required to implement them. Development expenditure was 58.3 percent of plan in March 2026 and just 37 percent in the first half of 2025/26. Unspent allocated funds are not a fiscal constraint.

An infrastructure project must pass tests unrelated to its ambition to attract institutional funding. The land should be legally owned, with no competing claims. The project’s demand should be analysed using objective data, not the ministry’s estimate.

The revenue should be secured through enforceable contracts or regulations. Risk, construction, operation, revenue shortfall, and currency should be distributed so that both equity and debt investors find it acceptable. Multilateral lenders require an environmental and social impact analysis that aligns with their standards.

Management should be able to implement the project.

Project preparation for developing countries usually takes 5-10 per cent of the project’s total value, but limited development budgets often make it the first thing sacrificed. As a result, projects are announced but never reach financial close because they were not properly prepared.

Financial close is an important accomplishment. This does not mark the end of the process. A pension fund which is investing in projects for fifteen or twenty-five years is not bidding on a construction contract.

The fund is bidding for the project’s entire operating life: the effectiveness of tariff adjustment mechanisms, the ability of off-takers, and the longevity of the institutions and regulations governing revenue streams over the concession period.

Kenya’s PPP regime, grounded in the PPP Act and implemented by the PPP Directorate, has increasingly laid the foundations for this: long-term commitments backed by sovereign governments to deliver predictable returns over the full life of the investment.

A case in point is the Nairobi Expressway project. This is a 27-year toll concession under Kenya’s PPP regime, with one of the best-structured termination clauses in sub-Saharan Africa and a transparent, agreed-upon method for compensating investors for the full investment period. The traffic numbers continue to confirm the demand assumptions.

The 2023/24 operating result testifies to the inflated costs of foreign-currency borrowing. For long-term capital providers, the Nairobi Expressway has catalysed the structuring conversation Kenya’s PPP market is now mature enough to have on behalf of the next generation of infrastructure investors.

Investors don’t demand a risk-free environment. They demand an environment where risks are explicitly identified, legally allocated, and separately manageable. The Kenyan institutional framework provides that structure, and Kenya’s track record of honouring long-term sovereign commitments across successive administrations reinforces it.

Well-designed first-loss coverage or risk guarantees will often be more effective than a coupon premium in attracting long-term financing because institutional investments are constrained by certainty, not yield. We are not after eliminating commercial risk for the investor, but rather ensuring that the risks on the investor’s balance sheet are ones it can price and that the mechanisms to manage them are ones it can rely on.

Contracts and institutions help hedge projects, but these must be resolved before capital is committed.

These consist of revenue floors which are capped, rule-based and transparent; conservative demand forecasts; payment security of the utility consumers, which is best done by development finance institutions; protection against tariff changes and changes in laws; termination provisions for all outstanding senior debts, which are enforceable; lender step-in rights and independent dispute resolution, which do not rely on the goodwill of the sitting government.

The role of investment banks

Investment banks sit between Kenya’s savings and its projects, and their value lies in making the second durable for the first. Banks can ring-fence revenues and design the vehicle, waterfall, reserve, and credit enhancement to withstand stress. They can assess a sponsor’s projections against conservative cases before investors do and advise government on terms that survive a change of administration, from tariff mechanisms to termination compensation.

They can present the project to the trustee’s investment committee in their language, find an anchor investor base, get the ratings, and list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. But the process does not stop there. Reporting, surveillance, and recycling matured assets back into the capital markets help keep the structure honest, as long as the conflict between advising on and placing the same deal is handled openly.

Investment banks can add the structure that keeps those savings protected once the project is operational.

Sharing work equipment with a colleague, friend or family member may seem harmless, but it can expose employees to disciplinary action. A recent court ruling highlights how handing over an employer’s vehicle to a spouse cost an employee their job.

After 17 years at Dormans Coffee, Irene Vwamula’s career came to an abrupt end after allowing her husband to drive a company vehicle when she suddenly fell ill while travelling on duty.

What she described as an emergency became the basis for her summary dismissal after the vehicle was involved in an accident along the Sagana-Karatina road in May 2023.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has upheld her dismissal, ruling that the health emergency did not excuse breach of company rules. The court accepted that Dormans could dismiss her for handing her employer’s vehicle to her husband.

Ms Vwamula was employed as a distributor, entrusted with a company vehicle while delivering coffee in the Mt Kenya region. She told the court she was travelling from Nanyuki toward Nairobi on May 30, 2023, when she suddenly became unwell. She allowed her husband, identified in the court judgment as Franco, to drive.

The vehicle was involved in an accident at about 6pm. The dispute centred on Ms Vwamula’s decision to let him take control of a vehicle assigned to her for work.

The company’s policy barred unauthorised people from driving its vehicles. It did not consider that the driver was her husband and treated him as an unauthorised driver.

Ms Vwamula acknowledged in court that she knew the rule and that her husband was not authorised.

Dormans Coffee, founded in 1950, supplies roasted coffee to hotels, coffee shops, supermarkets and wholesalers across the country. The company’s policy prohibited unauthorised people from driving its vehicles, including when employees were using them for official duties.

After the accident, Dormans issued Ms Vwamula a notice to show cause dated June 16, 2023. She responded on June 20 and was invited to a disciplinary hearing on July 3. The company said she attended with a colleague and had an opportunity to explain what happened.

‘By the respondent’s documentary evidence and its witness testimony, it is established that the claimant actually attended the hearing with a colleague and was heard contrary to her assertion that she did not,” said Justice Christine Baari.

Dormans dismissed Ms Vwamula on July 19, 2023, and informed her of a right to appeal. She argued that the company had removed her security pass, making it difficult to access management and challenge the decision.

Rose Magwilu, Dormans Coffee’s Human Resource Manager, denied that the pass had been taken. The judge found Ms Vwamula had not proved that the company prevented her from appealing and noted that she did not use the appeal process.

The court’s central finding was that the misconduct was not simply the accident. It was the transfer of control to a driver who had not been authorised by the employer.

“The misconduct complained of was the unauthorised transfer of control of the company vehicle, rather than merely the occurrence of the accident,’ the judge said.

The judge considered Ms Vwamula’s explanation that she had fallen ill. Dormans’ witness confirmed she had said she became unwell and went to hospital after the incident.

But the court said the emergency did not remove the company’s interest in enforcing its vehicle policy.

‘The existence of an emergency does not, without more, extinguish the employer’s legitimate interest in enforcing a vehicle use and safety policy,’ the court stated.

The court found the company had established a valid and fair reason for dismissal. Her claim that the dismissal was unfair therefore failed, as did her requests for compensation and declarations that her constitutional rights had been violated.

‘Further, the claimant’s initial response to the notice to show cause, in which she stated that she herself had been driving, also materially weakens her explanation, not to mention that she subsequently accepted that this was an error of judgment on her part,’ said the judge.

The company’s witness maintained that the policy did not permit a driver who was unwell to drive and neither did it permit a spouse or other unauthorised person to drive a company vehicle.

Dormans had filed a counterclaim asking the court to order Ms Vwamula to repay Sh211,330. The company claimed Sh107,444 for stock lost after the accident, Sh81,556 in customer collections allegedly used for medical and ambulance expenses, and Sh22,330 for a salary advance.

Ms Vwamula said members of the public looted goods after the crash. She acknowledged that money was used for emergency medical and ambulance costs, but disputed the amount.

The court rejected the counterclaim because Dormans had not sufficiently proved each amount or Ms Vwamula’s legal responsibility for it. Responsibility for the vehicle did not automatically make her personally liable for every loss arising from the accident.

The court also noted that Ms Magwilu acknowledged documents supporting deductions had not been produced.

‘The respondent was required to prove the individual heads of its counterclaim and the claimant’s legal liability for them,’ the judge said, dismissing the counterclaim.

Ms Vwamula had also sought Sh263,338 in salary for June and July 2023 and Sh97,000 in welfare savings. The court found evidence that July salary had been paid and that Ms Vwamula had acknowledged receiving it. But it found no proof that June salary had been remitted. Dormans was ordered to pay her Sh58,000 for that month.

The court did not award the Sh97,000 welfare savings. It said Dormans had retained the amount, but the legal basis for keeping it and whether it remained payable had not been sufficiently established.

New vehicle dealers have recorded a 27.03 percent jump in sales, largely driven by government payments to road contractors and renewed infrastructure activity that boosted demand for trucks, pick-ups and prime movers.

Dealers sold 12,606 showroom vehicles between January and September 2026 compared with 9,924 in the corresponding period last year, according to Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI) data.

The increase represents 2,682 additional units, the highest since the pre-Covid period.

The industry data shows truck sales rose 38.3 percent to 5,527 units from 3,997, while single-cab pick-ups posted a 55.9 percent climb to 2,089 from 1,340, signalling stronger demand for vehicles used in commercial operations.

Sales of prime movers, heavy-duty vehicles used to haul trailers, surged 63.6 percent to 1,088 units from 665, pointing to increased demand for freight transportation and heavy commercial equipment.

Isuzu East Africa, the market leader, attributed the industry’s expansion largely to the mobilisation of public funds to settle arrears to government contractors and restart road projects, which the firm said has stimulated demand for heavy commercial vehicles.

‘Industry performance was primarily propelled by government fiscal intervention-specifically the mobilisation of Sh139 billion to clear contractor bills and restart road projects, which spurred heavy commercial vehicle demand,’ Isuzu wrote in the KMI report.

The expansion comes as the government reduces arrears owed to road contractors, easing cash flow pressures that had forced some firms to abandon projects and exposed others to the risk of losing assets financed through bank loans.

Receiving overdue payments potentially helped release cash previously tied up in unpaid certificates, allowing contractors to meet obligations to suppliers, service loans and resume stalled works.

Renewed construction activity in turn potentially supported demand for trucks and other commercial vehicles.

The report does not establish how much of the increase resulted directly from government payments.

KMI had earlier in the year identified increased economic activity in State-backed affordable housing construction, road maintenance and agribusiness as key drivers of showroom vehicle sales this year.

Isuzu sold 5,722 vehicles during the nine-month period, a growth of 22.5 percent from 4,670 a year earlier, and adding 1,052 units of largely pick-ups, buses, trucks and sport utility vehicles to the market. The Japanese-owned vehicle dealer’s share of total sales, nevertheless, declined from 47.1 percent to 45.4 percent.

CFAO Mobility Kenya, the dealer for Toyota, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Hino, recorded faster growth, with sales rising 39.6 percent to 4,562 vehicles from 3,268. The company added 1,294 units, the largest absolute increase among dealers in the KMI data.

CFAO’s market share climbed to 36.2 percent from 32.9 percent, narrowing the gap with Isuzu as the two companies strengthened their dominance of the market.

Together, the two dealers accounted for 10,284 vehicles, equivalent to 81.6 percent of total sales, compared with 80 percent in the first nine months of 2025. The gains point to a market expansion concentrated among the leading distributors.

Tata Africa Holdings posted the fastest percentage growth among the other listed dealers, with sales increasing 65.5 percent to 614 vehicles from 371, while Simba Corporation, which holds franchise for Mitsubishi, Proton, Ashok Leyland and Mahindra, posted an 11.7 percent growth in sales to 984 units.

Sales by other smaller dealers slipped 1.4 percent to 724 vehicles from 734, showing that the expansion was not evenly distributed across the industry.

The rebound in showroom vehicle deals coincided with easing lending rates, potentially reducing the cost of financing for businesses and individual buyers. The Central Bank of Kenya’s data show the weighted average commercial lending rate fell to 14.34 percent in August 2026 from 15.17 percent in August 2025.

The rate has declined from a peak of 17.22 percent in November 2024, although borrowing costs remain substantial for businesses financing trucks, delivery fleets and other capital-intensive equipment.

Vehicle purchases commonly rely on bank loans or asset-financing arrangements, making sales sensitive to lending conditions. Lower interest rates can reduce monthly repayments and make fleet expansion more affordable, supporting demand beyond construction-related businesses.

However, KMI has warned in June that improved sales volumes have not insulated the industry from operational and geopolitical disruptions, which have delayed deliveries and raised costs.

‘A major trend is the shortage of number plates, affecting tens of thousands of vehicles, including motorcycles,’ the association said, highlighting a domestic bottleneck that can prevent vehicles from reaching customers promptly.

The combination of stronger demand and delivery constraints complicates the outlook for dealers, who must manage rising sales while navigating supply-chain delays and higher operating costs.

While the report does not show how much of the purchases resulted from contractor payments, lower lending rates or activity in housing and agribusiness, the numbers point to an improving showroom market supported by infrastructure activity and gradually easing credit conditions.

The State Department for Roads credits the securitisation of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) with helping settle outstanding payment certificates and accelerate construction, providing contractors with a more reliable source of cash.

‘Securitization of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF)…enabled the settlement of pending payment certificates and accelerated the implementation of road projects,’ the department writes in its latest Medium-Term Expenditure Framework report to the Treasury.

Securitisation allows the government to raise money against expected future income. The Ruto administration has committed nearly half of the fuel levy collected from motorists towards repaying banks and other investors providing the financing.

President William Ruto on Tuesday signalled reduced income tax for workers earning less than Sh32, 333, exemption of land transactions below Sh1 million from stamp duty and scrapping 25 percent import duty on phones in efforts to boost disposable incomes.

Workers earning Sh32,333 will enjoy an income tax of Sh2,083 monthly while property buyers in urban and rural areas will save Sh40,000 and Sh20,000 respectively for deals valued at Sh1 million.

The relief package will also see an expansion of the paid internship to 50,000 graduates from January from about 10, 000 to tackle youth unemployment. Kenya plans to weed out tax evaders and boost revenue by billions of shillings as part of a raft of measures to repair its coffers and cover for the tax cuts.

‘These measures address four barriers that Kenyans confront every day: the burden of taxation on modest incomes, the cost of acquiring property, the expense of accessing digital opportunities and the difficulty of entering the labour market,’ said Dr Ruto in his Mashujaa Day address.

The easing of taxes comes as the State seeks to placate the electorate with just months to the General Election in August next year. President Ruto’s administration has introduced a raft of new taxes and raised old ones since he was elected in August 2022.

The decisions proved unpopular with many Kenyans who believe he has betrayed his campaign pledge to champion the interests of ‘hustlers’ — those who struggle financially.

This emerged in a period when the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) estimates that workers’ purchasing power has declined by up to 12 percent over the past five years on the back of rising taxes, multiple statutory deductions, and the high cost of living.

KBA, which had earlier proposed a uniform five percent reduction in pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) across all income tax bands, said in May that the purchasing power of incomes for households has dropped by between 10.7 percent and 12 percent.

Besides the tax cuts, Mr Ruto is betting on increased economic growth to boost earnings and rev up jobs as he counted on increased earnings from farming, including sugar, coffee and dairy, to ease poverty.

Kenya’s economy shrugged off effects of the Iran war to grow 5.1 percent the second quarter of 2026, compared with 4.9 percent in the same period last year, ?the statistics office said on Friday. The growth was mainly supported by strong activity in sectors including transportation and storage, accommodation and food services.

Other sectors that recorded notable growth included electricity, information ?and communication technologies, financial services and construction. Earlier Treasury proposals had sought to raise the threshold of untaxed income from Sh24,000 to Sh30,000 and income falling between Sh30, 000 and Sh50, 000 taxed at lower rate of 25 percent. Currently, income above Sh32, 333 attract a tax rate of between 25 percent and 30 percent.

Under the current tax bands, the first Sh24,000 of monthly taxable income is taxed at 10 percent, while the next Sh8,333 attracts a 25 percent rate, with residents receiving personal relief of Sh2,400 monthly. At taxable income of Sh32,333, a worker currently incurs about Sh2,083 in PAYE each month after personal relief.

For land buyers, the government has proposed scrapping stamp duty on transactions valued at below Sh1 million, in addition to introducing progressive rates for more expensive transfers.

‘These measures will help reduce the cost of acquiring and transferring land, strengthen security of land ownership and make property ownership more accessible to ordinary Kenyans,’ said the head of State.

Currently, stamp duty on property transfers is generally charged at four percent of the property’s value in urban areas and two percent in rural areas, making the tax a significant additional expense for buyers already raising money for land purchases.

Savings on these taxes would lower the upfront cost of registering property ownership, with buyers left to meet other expenses associated with a transaction, including legal, valuation and registration charges where applicable.

The President also proposed removing the 25 percent import duty on mobile phones in a move intended to lower the cost of devices used for banking, education, communication and digital work.

The duty currently adds a quarter of the phone’s customs value before other applicable taxes and commercial margins are factored into the final price. Mobile phones are also subject to other applicable charges, including value-added tax and excise duty.

The government’s national internship programme, which is now set to accommodate 50,000 young Kenyans from next January, is intended to help young people overcome the experience barrier that often prevents fresh graduates from securing their first formal employment.

‘Too many young people cannot secure employment without experience, yet cannot gain experience without employment,’ said Ruto.

‘This programme is intended to break that cycle by providing a pathway from education to practical and productive workplace experience and, ultimately, meaningful employment. “Interns under the programme receive a monthly stipend of Sh25,000, meaning government will have to make an annual budgetary allocation of at least Sh15 billion to remunerate the expanded group.

At the heart of Kenya’s ambition to create productive and sustainable jobs at scale for its population is manufacturing. The sector remains the largest creator of formal employment in the country, making it a crucial contributor to the growth of our economy.

The groundbreaking of the East Africa Oil Refinery by Nigerian business magnate Aliko Dangote marks a landmark moment for Kenya, with the $16 billion (approximately Sh2.2 trillion) project representing the country’s largest single investment since independence.

For Kenya, this investment is more than a refinery. It presents an opportunity for more jobs, skills development, enhanced local supply chains, new markets, complementary investments, and increased productivity for the economy.

If it delivers on its commitments, it can demonstrate the possibilities that arise when large-scale investment, industrial ambition and an enabling business environment come together.

The investment has the potential to significantly reduce capital outflows associated with Kenya’s reliance on imported refined petroleum products.

Currently, Kenya imports about 10.88 million cubic metres of petroleum products annually, with about 55 percent consumed locally and the remaining 45 percent exported to regional markets, according to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra.

With the refinery projected to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, a greater share of domestic and regional fuel demand will be met from within the region.

This will help retain millions of dollars that would otherwise be spent on refined petroleum imports and subsequently, ease pressure on Kenya’s foreign-exchange reserves and the shilling.

The savings generated from lower import and logistics costs could also free up valuable foreign exchange for other productive uses, including the importation of industrial machinery, technology and other critical inputs.

This would then create a broader macroeconomic benefit by supporting investment and productive capacity across the economy. At the regional level, the refinery could position Kenya as a major energy and petroleum products hub.

East Africa remains heavily dependent on imported refined fuel, and a facility designed to supply petrol, diesel, jet fuel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to markets including Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo could substantially strengthen regional supply chains.

By leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Kenya will be better positioned to expand its role as an exporter of refined petroleum products, increase intra-African trade and strengthen regional energy security while reducing exposure to disruptions in external markets.

Energy accounts for a significant share of production costs in the manufacturing process. Kenya has made significant progress in renewable energy, particularly solar, wind power and geothermal energy.

These developments have been instrumental in reducing industrial reliance on fossil fuels. The emergence of a local refinery, therefore, provides us with an opportunity to strengthen our energy security as we continue the transition towards cleaner and more efficient energy sources for the local manufacturing sector.

On the job creation front, the project is expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs during the construction phase, including opportunities for engineers, technicians, construction workers and logistics professionals.

Estimates of more than 60,000 direct jobs, with associated wages running into billions of shillings each month, would provide a significant boost to household incomes and economic activity, particularly among Kenya’s large population of young people seeking employment opportunities.

At an industrial level, the investment shall also accelerate the growth of manufacturing and related industries. Economists have projected that the refinery could contribute to an increase in the manufacturing sector’s share of GDP, while the development of associated petrochemical industries could create additional value and stimulate demand for locally produced inputs.

This is particularly significant given the decline in the manufacturing sector’s contribution to Kenya’s GDP over the past decade from approximately 11.1 percent to about 7.1 percent in 2025.

The impact would also extend to the regional economy, particularly along the Coast. Beyond the direct economic activity generated by the refinery, the development could stimulate investment in logistics, transport, housing, services and other supporting industries.

For Lamu County, this could translate into a substantial expansion of its economic base, with projections indicating that its Gross County Product could rise from its current level of about Sh50 billion and significantly improve its position among Kenya’s counties once the facility becomes operational.

Overall, the refinery represents more than an energy investment. Its potential impact cuts across foreign exchange management, industrialisation, employment, regional trade and economic development.

The extent of these benefits will ultimately depend on the project’s implementation, the development of supporting infrastructure and the extent to which Kenyan businesses and workers are integrated into the emerging value chains.

A competitive manufacturing sector is heavily reliant on key enablers such as efficient transport and logistics systems, low cost of industrial inputs, affordable energy, stable and predictable policies and regulations, access to quality, reliable and affordable energy, among others. The Dangote Refinery, therefore, serve as a reminder that competitiveness is built across the entire value chain.

This moment calls for us as a country to nurture a resilient, innovative, competitive and energy efficient manufacturing sector.

Ultimately, the refinery’s impact on Kenya’s manufacturing sector will be measured on how we, as a country, respond to an increasingly interconnected and more competitive continental industrial economy.