Category: Business Daily

If you take a keen look at construction listings today, one pattern repeats itself. Homes, particularly middle- to high-income units and maisonettes, are featuring not one but two living rooms.

It goes by different names, a ‘family room’. A ‘ TV room’, sometimes simply a second lounge. But whatever the label, modern homeowners are carving out additional living spaces that reflect how people actually live today.

This comes up in modern home life, where family members keep different schedules and interests and often require different kinds of spaces at the same time. Today’s homes are leaning toward flexible spaces that can adapt to entertainment, work, privacy, or quiet retreats.

Experts say the shift has been happening gradually over the years, with developers, architects and interior designers changing layouts.

Today, many home buyers are moving from formal living spaces to more functional spaces rather than symbolic ones to fit their lifestyle.

Architect John Inya traces this concept back to both cultural and social roots.

‘It’s rooted in culture and social needs, and these are the ones that inform architectural evolution,’ he explains. ‘Architects are trained to offer solutions.’

In some cultural contexts, he notes, separation of spaces is essential, such as in Muslim households where men and women may not mingle in the same area. Socially, too, the need for distinction emerges, with children and adults sometimes requiring their own spaces. In earlier settings, the secondary living room was a reserve of the extremely rich or wealthy; the number wouldn’t be limited.

Its necessity, Mr Inya says, depends on several factors: the age and structure of the family, social status, available space and even local authority by-laws. In dense urban settings where every square metre counts, allocating space to a second lounge may seem indulgent. Yet, he maintains, it can still be justified provided it aligns with planning regulations and is thoughtfully executed.

‘A second sitting room is bound to affect the overall functionality and flow of a home’s layout. But this is subject to the thought process of the planning architect, which may come out as a challenge that an architect needs to solve,’ he says.

For homeowners weighing the decision, he points to family size, lifestyle, and long-term property value. ‘The more space that is appropriately planned makes a unit functional, hence adding to its value. The secondary living room allows the adults to have their own space and the children theirs too.”

He affirms that a well-planned second sitting room can improve resale appeal, though its impact depends heavily on placement and design.

Evolving lifestyles, such as remote work, smaller family units, and open-plan living, do not diminish the relevance of multiple lounges. If anything, they reinforce it. ‘It doesn’t come out as a challenge. It comes out as space that is very handy for remote working plus relaxation, depending on how it is planned,’ he says.

Yet despite its potential, underutilisation remains common. The culprit, more often than not, is poor planning or placement. Homeowners may also fall into the trap of over-decorating, misfurnishing, or failing to clearly define the room’s purpose from the outset.

Mr Inya advocates for more integrated approaches: ‘Townhouses and villas do well with such spaces. This concept doesn’t work with apartments unless they are duplexes.’

‘The most important spaces in the house are living spaces; the more we have them, the higher the value.’

And looking ahead, he sees no decline in their relevance. ‘The secondary living room is here to stay. It’s bound to diversify; the only limitation would be the cost of implementation constraint from the client. It only redistributes the existing space more efficiently,’ he adds.

Home buyers are more likely to want separate spaces for different activities, which may happen at the same time. Homes with two living rooms often increase perceived value, as buyers may interpret it as larger and more functional.

Faith Kosgei, an interior designer, says the difference between a purposeful second sitting room and a forgotten one lies entirely in how it is furnished. ‘The best way to define any space is by the way we furnish. The overall theme of the room, the type of furniture pieces and fixtures, furnishings like rugs and décor – what you put in there makes the room,’ she says.

Ambience, she adds, often not tangible, is what ultimately differentiates the second sitting room from the main living area. It can be infused by setting the mood, tone, feel and character into a room to reflect the owner’s personality.

‘The ambience can be achieved by playing with different design elements, lighting, layering of textures and materials or how the furniture is placed,’ she says.

Without it, the two spaces risk becoming indistinguishable. One of the most common mistakes she encounters is when the second room becomes a storage area for old or outdated furniture. Also, just having two almost similar spaces with no defined purposes.

For even in homes which rarely use their second sitting room, she recommends that it doubles up as a study room. ‘Alternatively, it can be repurposed into production studios for content creatives and even workout spaces or a gym,’ she says.

Improvements to the room may include soundproofing, changing or adjusting the lighting to change the mood, painting, wallpaper application, or the addition of murals or portraits, which can transform the space.

The size and proportion of the room, she notes, its placement within the layout, furniture arrangement, and colour tones all contribute to whether the space feels justified or excessive.

Striking the balance between luxury and practicality comes down to one principle. In other cases, she says one can maintain a second living room; if it already exists, it can be repurposed without bursting budgets to suit the current need.

However, for those still in the planning stage, she urges careful consideration of financial constraints and life stage. “Consider family dynamics, culture and traditions, and socialisation. But overall, it should give you something that the first room doesn’t.’

She notes that second sitting rooms are not outdated. If anything, they are becoming more relevant in an era defined by open-plan living, blurred boundaries between work and home, and an increasing need for both connection and privacy.

She believes that the rooms are not often utilised correctly. Some homes use one room for adults and the other for the children. ‘Ideally, one is meant for entertainment purposes, for guests or gatherings often larger. The other one can be used for more intimate gatherings, a close circle of family, but because of space constraints, many times the functions are blended into one room,’ adds.

‘But if correctly furnished, the two are useful and shall serve the intended purposes regardless of the size of the room. The need for some privacy for the homeowner is paramount.’

Danstan Omari has seen enough courtrooms to know that most Kenyans are walking around breaking the law without the slightest idea they are doing it.

The lawyer, who runs his practice at Danstan Omari and Associates Advocates in Westlands, Nairobi, is not talking about robbery or fraud. He is talking about spitting on the pavement. Kissing at a bus stop. Yelling across a street market. Things that feel completely ordinary but sit squarely within the reach of Kenyan law.

He is clear from the start about what the law is actually for. ‘The law was never designed to follow people into their private lives,’ he says. ‘It exists to manage behaviour that affects other people.’

The moment what you do in public touches someone else, whether their health, their safety, or their comfort, the law has every right to step in. Everything else, what you do in your house and your private space, is yours entirely.

What many Kenyans do not realise is that this regulation happens at a very local level. Kenya has 47 counties and each one of them has its own bylaws governing everyday public behaviour.

These are not national laws debated in Parliament. They are county-level rules that speak directly to how people conduct themselves within specific boundaries.

Spitting, dressing, noise, public display of affection, food hygiene, all of it falls under these bylaws. And Mr Omari says most Kenyans have never heard of them.

‘That ignorance is exactly why enforcement fails,’ he says, ‘and why corruption thrives in its place.’

He starts with something as basic as spitting. The law does not regulate it because it is unpleasant to watch. It regulates it because the person spitting might be carrying a disease that can spread to every person who walks past that spot.

‘If you must spit,’ Mr. Omari explains, ‘the law requires that you cover your mouth or use a handkerchief.’ It is not about manners. It is about the person walking behind you who has no idea what they are about to step into.

Noise follows the same reasoning. People assume that screaming or yelling in a public space is harmless, just someone being loud. But he explains that the streets of any Kenyan town are full of people carrying invisible burdens, trauma survivors, people with medical conditions, people with severe anxiety. ‘Sudden loud noise can trigger panic,’ he says.

‘It can cause stampedes. It can endanger lives.’ The law is not silencing anyone. It is protecting the people who share that space with you.

Public displays of affection are another area on the spot where people often feel the law is overstepping. Mr Omari disagrees. ‘The law does not regulate who you love or how you love them,’ he says.

‘It regulates where.’ A couple kissing or being physically intimate in a shared public space is surrounded by children, elderly people, and strangers who have not agreed to be part of that moment. The space belongs to everyone, and that changes what is acceptable within it.

Dressing is perhaps the most argued point. People feel their clothing is entirely their own business, and he does not completely disagree. But he explains that the law uses a specific standard to decide when dressing becomes a public matter.

‘The measure is the ordinary person on the street,’ he says. ‘If the majority of ordinary people would find your dressing offensive or harmful to public order, the law can act.’ It is not about one person’s opinion. It is about the shared experience of a community moving through the same space.

Now comes the part most Kenyans would find shocking. When asked what the actual penalties are for breaking these bylaws, the answer is almost embarrassingly small. ‘The minimum fine is Sh50,’ he says, ‘and the maximum is Sh100.’ These are petty offences and they are not handled anywhere near a criminal court. County courts and city courts deal with them specifically.

‘For someone who cannot afford to pay, the consequence is jail time of between one and seven days, or a community service order requiring them to report and clean public premises until the penalty is considered served.’

The catch, Mr Omari explains, is that those fines have not been reviewed since the 1970s. And because most Kenyans have no idea the fines are that law, Kanjo enforcement officers have made a business out of that ignorance.

‘Someone gets arrested for kissing on the street,’ Mr Omari says, ‘and they panic. They do not know the fine is Sh50, so they negotiate and end up paying a few thousand shillings or more just to be released.’ He calls it exactly what it is. Corruption. And it works because the public has never been told what the law actually says.

He is also candid about the Kanjo officers themselves. Many of them, he says, were employed for their physical presence and their ability to be forceful, not for their understanding of the law. Some of them do not know the fines any better than the people they are arresting. ‘When someone who actually knows the law stands their ground,’ he says, ‘the officers walk away. Because the case is not worth pursuing.’

When the conversation moves to sexual offences, the tone shifts entirely. ‘This is no longer the territory of a Sh50 fines. Sexual harassment carries a fine of over Sh20,000 and a prison sentence of 20 years and above. Rape is between 25 years and life imprisonment. Indecent assault, which covers any unwanted touching of another person’s body, carries a sentence of around 15 years.’ Explains Mr Omari.

And for anyone convicted of a sexual offence, the consequences follow them permanently. They are entered into a register that bars them from receiving a certificate of good conduct and from obtaining a visa to travel anywhere. ‘The record is permanent,’ says Mr Omari.

Assault and wife battery sit in the same serious category. The law does not soften because the victim is a spouse. ‘Causing grievous bodily harm to anyone, a wife, a child, a workmate, can carry a sentence up to life imprisonment,’ he says. ‘The defence that this is your wife carries absolutely no weight in law.’

But laws alone, he argues, are not the answer. Kenya does not need more legislation targeting offenders. What it needs is a legal framework that holds officials accountable when they look the other way. ‘A chief who ignores a rape report, a police officer who throws a domestic violence case aside, a judge who fails to protect, none of them face any legal consequence for that failure,’ says Mr. Omari.

And until that changes, he believes nothing else will. ‘Until accountability reaches the enforcers,’ he says, ‘nothing changes on the ground.’

Stephen Ogweno spent his childhood carrying a weight no one around him fully understood, not even himself. While his peers ran and played freely, he struggled with obesity, a condition that quietly shaped every part of his early life.

Relatives who picked the young Stephen up always had something to say about his size.

‘I was heavier than my peers. Around Class Seven was when I first realised my weight was a concern,’ says Stephen.

At the time, he weighed about 50 kilograms, while most boys his age averaged closer to 30 kilograms. As his classmates entered adolescence, proudly showing off broader shoulders and muscles, Stephen felt left behind.

‘My agemates were undergoing adolescence, and their shoulders were broadening. They would showcase their muscles when all I had was a mass of fat. I was not developing masculine features yet al my peers were,’ he recalls.

‘The stigma and discrimination from my peers really affected my self-perception, but I found solace in beating them at schoolwork.’

As early as Class Four, his body began showing signs of distress. He developed gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and severe tooth decay, both conditions linked to obesity.

‘That was when I knew that beyond appearance, my weight was beginning to affect my health,’ says the 30-year-old.

At his heaviest, Stephen weighed around 120 kilograms. At his lightest as an adult, he dropped to 74 kilograms, yet even then, his Body Mass Index still fell within the overweight or Obesity Class One range. Altogether, he has shed over 50 kilograms, a journey he describes as anything but linear.

‘Obesity is influenced by many factors, including lifestyle, environment, stress, biology, and access to healthcare.’

His turning point came in university, where he embraced a more structured lifestyle and a consistent exercise routine. He took up several sports, handball and rugby among them, but resistance training made the most significant difference.

‘While I sometimes gained weight during training, my body composition changed significantly with more muscle and less fat,’ he explains.

‘My family hardly regarded obesity as a sickness. Rather, they considered me healthy. They didn’t accept that I had GERD. They thought the constant regurgitation of food was a distasteful act I pulled for fun. I could get continuously nauseated and would not even sleep in certain positions.’

Those experiences eventually shaped his career in population health. In 2016, he moved into public health, championing awareness of non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes through community health programmes across Africa through his organisation, Stowelink Foundation. He also serves as a board member of the World Obesity Federation, which focuses on representing scientific, medical and research on obesity.

Over the years, Stephen experimented with various eating approaches, including vegan diets, though some left him feeling bloated. One of the most effective was a long-term carnivore-style diet centred on high protein intake.

‘Combining high protein intake with resistance training helped improve my body composition significantly,’ he says.

In time, he evolved towards what he calls a modified carnivore approach, reintroducing vegetables and broadening his dietary variety. That balance, he says, helped him reduce body fat, improve satiety, and better manage his overall health.

Still, he cautions against reducing weight loss to a single nutrient.

‘Weight loss is a metabolic symphony involving calories, hormones, and lifestyle,’ he says.

For him, the most effective routine combined high protein intake with intense resistance training and regular physical activity.

‘I focused heavily on strength and weight-based exercises,’ he explains. ‘Building muscle helped improve my metabolism, fitness, and overall body composition.’

He also notes that while men may consume larger absolute amounts of protein due to greater muscle mass, the most reliable guide remains protein intake per kilogram of body weight.

One of the biggest misconceptions around high-protein diets, he says, is the assumption that they revolve around extreme ‘bodybuilder meals’.

‘I focused on balance and sustainability rather than extremes,’ he says.

Over time, he paired protein with vegetables, paid closer attention to portion sizes, and widened his dietary variety. He recommends prioritising lean, minimally processed protein sources. Plant-based options such as lentils, chickpeas, and beans offer added fibre that supports weight loss, while fish, poultry, and eggs are preferable to processed meats like sausages and deli cuts, which tend to be high in sodium and saturated fat.

‘The goal was not just weight loss, but building a healthier long-term lifestyle that I could realistically maintain,’ he says.

Even so, he reminds people that protein is not exempt from basic nutritional rules.

‘At the end of the day, protein still has four calories per gram. If you eat protein in excess of your daily energy needs, your body will store that excess energy as fat,’ he says, adding that there is no specific amount on a plate that can be equated, as people use different sizes of plates depending on the specific type of protein. For example, the concentration of protein in beef is higher than that of beans, though both are proteins.

He also warns that excessive protein without adequate fibre can trigger constipation, bloating, and sluggishness. Other signs of overconsumption may include dehydration; foamy urine linked to kidney stress; chronic constipation; fatigue; and hair loss, the result of neglecting fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats.

Protein’s role in appetite regulation is another reason many find it useful during weight loss.

‘Protein suppresses ghrelin, the hormone responsible for hunger, while boosting the fullness hormone,’ he explains. ‘Your body also uses more energy to digest protein than fats or carbohydrates, a process known as the thermic effect of food.’

Dr Nicola Okech, a physician, endocrinologist and obesity medicine specialist at Uzwena Health, agrees that protein plays a crucial role in both weight loss and long-term weight maintenance, primarily because it helps preserve muscle mass.

‘Muscle burns fat even when not active,’ she says. ‘The more muscle one builds, the more weight is lost.’

She cautions, however, that protein intake should always be individualised and guided by a doctor and a dietitian, as conditions like kidney disease may prohibit large ingestion. An average adult’s daily need for protein is 0.8 to 1.2 grams per kilogram of ideal body weight. For weight loss, this increases up to 1.8 grams per kilogram of ideal body weight.’

She also stresses that muscle health goes beyond aesthetics.

‘Muscle is important for strength and bone health. These reduce frailty and the likelihood of falls and injuries.’

Dr Okech advises people to pay close attention to the type of protein they consume. Plant proteins carry carbohydrates alongside protein, making them especially relevant for people managing diabetes. Animal proteins, particularly red meat, may raise cholesterol levels depending on an individual’s baseline health.

While low-carbohydrate diets remain popular, she warns against cutting them out entirely.

‘Cutting carbohydrates is not sustainable in the long run. The body still needs carbs as a source of immediate fuel. What is important is the quality and quantity of the carbohydrate.’

She encourages people to focus more on complex carbohydrates and limit highly processed sources.

Dr Okech also cautions that those who lose weight without sufficient protein risk losing muscle mass in the process, an outcome she considers dangerous.

‘Even patients undergoing bariatric surgery must pay close attention to protein intake.’

She points to sarcopenic obesity, a condition in which a person may appear to be at a normal weight while carrying very little muscle relative to fat.

‘This must be monitored during weight management to prevent muscle loss, which inevitably occurs during weight loss but can be counteracted by increasing protein intake and focusing on strength and resistance training,’ she says.

For Stephen, the change has gone beyond what the scale shows. His mood, mental well-being, and confidence have all improved alongside his health.

‘I feel healthier, lighter, and physically fitter than before,’ he adds.

Cracks are emerging in the boardroom of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) over whether the firm should have initiated the recruitment of a new managing director without a fully reconstituted board that includes Uganda’s representatives.

KPC’s board last week put out an advertisement seeking to recruit a managing director following the resignation of Joe Sang, just weeks after the company’s shares started trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

Mr Sang left amid a fuel scandal that saw three senior public officials step down. The company’s chief finance officer, Pius Mwendwa, is the acting managing director.

However, a section of the board warned the largely Kenyan boardroom against beginning the process of replacing Mr Sang, noting that such a move would be against the revised articles of association.

The articles were revised in the middle of KPC’s initial public offering (IPO), which ran from January 19 to February 24, when the offer struggled to meet fundraising targets for the government’s 65 percent stake sale.

Under the revised articles, Kenya gave Uganda concessions, including two board seats in the firm after the neighbouring country threatened to walk away from the IPO because of lack of authority in the running of the firm.

Uganda also got the right to veto future hiring and firing of the firm’s CEO.

Five of KPC board members expressed discomfort in proceeding with the hiring of the CEO before Uganda’s representatives are appointed as directors, said a member of board who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Business Daily has seen correspondence of the full board, chaired by Faith Bett Boinnett, where part of the minutes indicates that nothing stops the board from initiating the hiring of the CEO, noting that Uganda’s directors will have their say once they join later.

Ms Boinnett did not respond to our questions on whether or not the advertisement was legal and procedural.

The Treasury had also not responded to our questions on whether it was consulted before the advert went out.

It is a move that has incensed Uganda, as it expected its input on the hiring process to be sought.

Besides the approval of a director appointed by Uganda, the revised memorandum of association also requires that the recruitment of KPC’s CEO, as well as any redundancy exercise, receive the nod the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury (CST).

‘So long as the CST and GoU are eligible to nominate a CST director and a GoU director respectively, the following matters shall require the approval of a CST director and a GoU director:…(a) the appointment of the managing director,’ reads Section 21 of the memorandum of association.

The section adds that the two directors should also be involved in ‘the appointment or removal of the chief executive officer, where such office is distinct from that of the managing director.’

Following the IPO, which saw the Kenyan government offload a 35 percent stake in KPC, with Uganda playing a major role in the success of the sale by snapping up shares worth Sh20 billion, the petroleum logistics firm was converted into a publicly listed company and is now governed by a revised memorandum of association.

However, Uganda is yet to be invited to the board despite having notified Kenya of its representatives, said a source at KPC.

KPC stopped being a government-owned entity on April 22, after it officially converted into a public limited company (Plc) through a gazette notice. This means that the board as presently constituted does not represent the new shareholders as they were all appointed by the Kenyan government, said a source.

The Kenyan government sold a 65 percent stake in the pipeline company, raising Sh106.3 billion in what made the transaction country’s first major IPO in nearly two decades. The government retained a 35 percent stake.

Other Kenyan and regional institutional investors had a combined 20.85 percent shareholding while KPC employees have five percent.

Uganda, through Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), emerged as the single-largest non-government shareholder after acquiring a 20.15 percent strategic stake worth about Sh20 billion.

‘The board therefore lacks the mandate to transact any business, to make any decisions or make any approvals because they are in office illegally and contrary to the memorandum and articles of association of the company,’ said the source, adding that all the decisions made after the gazette notice are illegal and null and void.

It has also emerged that the representative from the Attorney-General’s office, who would have guided the board on the law, has since been dropped, leaving five independent directors with an outsized role in driving the recruitment of KPC’s first post-IPO CEO.

KPC has also announced the exit of some executives in a major reshuffle of the firm’s leadership following its listing on the Nairobi bourse.

Uganda will invest and hold a strategic stake in KPC through UNOC, the state-owned oil company that imports fuel to the landlocked Uganda.

The country says its participation in the IPO was a deliberate strategic decision aimed at strengthening regional energy co-operation and safeguarding national interests.

The push for Kampala’s bigger say in KPC affairs comes less than two years after Kenya allowed the landlocked country’s state oil firm to import petroleum products through its port of Mombasa, ending a row between the two neighbours.

Kenya has given X owner Elon Musk a three-month ultimatum to establish a local office in the country, in a move aimed at tightening regulation and improving oversight of the platform’s operations.

The government has warned that it could suspend X if the directive is not met.

The State says the requirement is intended to curb rising cases of cyberbullying, deepfakes, and the spread of sexually explicit content online. ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo said Kenya is stepping up pressure on global technology companies to comply with local laws and accountability standards.

‘For Elon Musk’s platform (X), we have given them temporary operating licences on condition that in the next three months, they must have an office in Kenya,’ Mr Kabogo told the Senate. ‘They must operate subject to our local laws.’

He added that the same approach is being applied to other tech giants such as Meta and TikTok, arguing that local offices would ensure faster response to complaints and enforcement of regulations.

Lawmakers have raised concern over increasing online harassment, cyberbullying, and a surge in AI-generated manipulated media, commonly referred to as deepfakes.

They also cited the spread of sexually explicit content on social media platforms as a growing risk, especially for young users. Kabogo warned that the Communications Authority (CA) would take action against platforms that breach Kenyan regulations, including suspension of services where necessary.

The directive places Kenya in a direct regulatory standoff with Musk, whose estimated fortune of about $826 billion (approximately Sh105.8 trillion) far exceeds Kenya’s annual economic output.

X is owned by Musk’s artificial intelligence firm xAI, while his aerospace company SpaceX controls Starlink, which is already licensed in Kenya as an internet service provider.

Starlink has rapidly expanded in the country since 2023, offering satellite internet services that have disrupted the telecoms market. It has also partnered with local operators such as Safaricom and Airtel to improve rural connectivity and expand coverage.

In addition to its ISP licence, Starlink has received temporary approvals from the Communications Authority to test direct-to-cell satellite connectivity in partnership with Airtel. However, it remains unclear whether Kabogo’s remarks relate to these approvals or broader licensing conditions for tech companies operating in Kenya.

Kenya’s push mirrors earlier regulatory actions against TikTok, which in 2023 agreed to establish a Nairobi office after parliamentary pressure over explicit content concerns. Lawmakers had initially pushed for a ban but later settled on stricter content moderation and compliance requirements.

Unlike TikTok, X does not currently have an office in Africa. Musk closed Twitter’s Ghana office after acquiring the platform in 2022, as part of global cost-cutting measures. However, X later established a legal presence in Nigeria following regulatory pressure linked to a seven-month suspension of the platform in that country.

When President William Ruto launched the Hustler Fund barely two months after taking office in 2022, he presented it as a financial revolution meant to free millions of small traders from shylocks and punitive digital lenders.

The President spoke passionately about boda boda riders, market traders or mama mbogas, and small entrepreneurs trapped in cycles of expensive debt and economic vulnerability.

He promised a new economic order built around affordable credit, savings and dignity for ordinary Kenyans struggling at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

‘We are establishing a culture of saving, investment and social security,’ Dr Ruto said at the launch of the programme in November 2022, describing the fund as the cornerstone of his bottom-up economic model.

Less than four years later, the National Treasury has quietly begun withdrawing taxpayer support from the flagship programme, signalling a policy shift within the Kenya Kwanza administration.

Development budget estimates tabled in Parliament show the government has allocated zero shillings to the Financial Inclusion Fund, popularly known as the Hustler Fund, in the next fiscal year starting July, a situation projected to persist in budget cycles thereafter.

The decision marks a turn for one of the most politically symbolic projects of Dr Ruto’s presidency.

The fund was allocated Sh20 billion in its launch year, but this was scaled down to Sh5 billion during its first full budget year in 2023/24, followed by Sh2 billion in 2024/25 and a sharply reduced Sh300 million allocation in the current financial year ending in June.

The budget allocations are ending before the government fulfils even half of the Sh50 billion President Ruto pledged to inject into the programme when he assumed office. Official records show the Exchequer had released only Sh14.8 billion to the fund by June 2025.

The shortfall highlights the growing strain between the political ambition behind the programme and the reality of increasingly constrained public finances.

Treasury officials insist the move does not amount to abandonment of the fund, arguing it was always designed to operate as a revolving facility financed by loan repayments rather than endless taxpayer injections.

Albert Mwenda, the director-general for budget, fiscal and economic affairs at the National Treasury, defended the removal of funding on Friday.

‘Given the initial capital, the fund is adequately funded at the current uptake of loans. Please note that it was intended to be a revolving fund,’ Mr Mwenda said.

His explanation reflects a shift taking shape within government as pressure mounts on the Treasury to contain spending amid rising debt servicing obligations and growing fiscal strain. As the Hustler Fund is losing direct budget support, another youth-focused programme is rapidly gaining prominence within Treasury spending plans.

Budget allocations to the World Bank-backed National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement programme, popularly known as NYOTA, have been retained, suggesting the government is pivoting from direct lending towards job creation, skills development and enterprise support.

NYOTA has been allocated Sh4.78 billion in the current financial year, and will get Sh1.6 billion in next fiscal year 2026/27 and Sh2.65 billion in each of the following two years.

The contrasting budget paths paint the picture of a government recalibrating its approach to economic empowerment for young people and informal sector workers.

When the Hustler Fund was launched, the programme was designed around simplicity and speed. Borrowers have access to unsecured mobile loans at an annualised interest rate of eight percent repayable within 14 days. Late repayment attracted a higher annualised rate of 9.5 percent.

The programme initially targeted low-income Kenyans who had historically struggled to secure loans from banks because of lack of collateral, formal employment or credit history.

Former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u defended the initiative in its early days as an intervention aimed at correcting structural failures within the financial system.

‘The Hustler Fund is an instrument to correct market failures at the bottom of the pyramid,’ Prof Ndung’u said at the time.

‘Most of the time we start financial products to address needs at the bottom of the pyramid, but what happens is that the product leaves and moves on to the next level, whereas the intention should be that people are the ones to move upwards not the product.’

The scheme expanded rapidly as millions of Kenyans turned to the mobile platform for quick credit to support household spending and small businesses. In December 2024, the government introduced a second-tier product known as Bridge Loan for borrowers with strong repayment records.

The upgraded facility increased borrowing limits by as much as 300 percent and extended repayment periods to 30 days while maintaining the same pricing structure. By March 2026, the State Department for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises told Parliament that the fund had disbursed Sh83 billion in loans, of which Sh71 billion had been repaid.

The department was simultaneously seeking Sh300 million from lawmakers to facilitate recovery efforts targeting roughly Sh12.5 billion in defaults. The figures reveal both the popularity of the programme and the mounting challenges associated with sustaining a large-scale State-backed lending scheme targeting low-income borrowers.

In the financial year ended June 2025 alone, Kenyans borrowed Sh17.9 billion from the fund, highlighting the continued demand for accessible short-term credit among millions outside conventional banking. The fund has also faced growing scrutiny from auditors over governance weaknesses and loan management controls.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu, in her report for the financial year ending June 2025, disclosed that 104,631 loans worth Sh116.5 million had been issued to customers whose national identity card numbers were missing from the customer database.

‘In the circumstances, the issuance of loans to customers without established loan limits points to inadequate credit assessment controls and increases the risk of lending to unqualified or unverified customers,’ Ms Gathungu said.

Her audit also questioned the closure of 386,735 loan accounts linked to Safaricom SIM cards before borrowers fully repaid outstanding balances.

‘The outstanding principal on these accounts amounted to Sh377,490,360, which should have been recovered before account closure. Management did not provide any evidence to justify or support the closure of these accounts.’

The findings added to concerns that the rapid expansion of the programme may have outpaced internal controls and recovery mechanisms.

The government, however, maintains the programme has achieved significant milestones in expanding financial inclusion.

During his State of the Nation address in November 2025, Dr Ruto described the Hustler Fund as the largest financial inclusion programme since independence.

‘The Financial Inclusion Fund, the Hustler Fund, now stands as the largest financial inclusion programme since independence, extending over Sh80 billion to millions of Kenyans,’ the President told Parliament.

‘Seven million once-blacklisted Kenyans have since repaired their credit. Three million small business owners previously locked out of formal finance are now banked. And two million Kenyans are now frequent borrowers.’

He added that 800,000 entrepreneurs were already accessing loans of up to Sh150,000 through the Bridge Facility without collateral.

But even as the President defended the programme, he also hinted at the government’s changing priorities.

‘Credit alone is not enough,’ Dr Ruto told lawmakers as he unveiled NYOTA as the administration’s next major youth empowerment platform.

The latest Treasury estimates suggest that while the Hustler Fund may continue operating as a revolving credit scheme, the centre of gravity in the government’s economic empowerment agenda is steadily shifting toward NYOTA and broader employment-focused interventions.

Africa’s pay-TV industry is at a crossroads. Traditional growth engines including household subscriptions, linear programming, and fixed monthly bundles are under pressure from shifting consumer behaviour, economic realities, and rapid digital adoption. Yet disruption is not decline; it is reinvention.

While attending the inaugural StreamTV Europe 2026 in Lisbon from April 13 to 15, I observed global media executives grappling with these challenges.

A dominant theme was the fragmentation of the media ecosystem, with telcos increasingly positioning themselves as super-aggregators to simplify user experience and counter piracy; driven less by price and more by consumer demand for convenience.

What stood out to me is that this reinvention is not theoretical. It is already happening-at scale-in Kenya.

Kenya is no longer simply participating in Africa’s pay-TV evolution; it is helping define it.

The country has emerged as one of the continent’s most dynamic innovation hubs for the live testbed sector where new operating models, technologies, and audience strategies are being validated in real time.

This leadership stems from a rare convergence: robust infrastructure, youthful demographics, progressive regulation, and deep digital adoption. Mobile penetration exceeds 130 percent, broadband access continues to expand, and over 96 percent of adults use mobile money. Kenya is, effectively, one of the most digitally integrated consumer markets globally.

For pay-TV operators, this matters enormously.

As highlighted at StreamTV Europe, the critical challenge is closing the ‘simplicity gap’ in an increasingly fragmented content landscape.

Kenyan consumers are already setting this standard. They expect seamless, intuitive experiences, transacting digitally, consuming content across multiple devices, and shifting fluidly between live TV, streaming platforms, and mobile-first formats.

Today, over 60 percent of internet users in Kenya watch video on their mobile phones, signalilng a decisive shift away from single-screen viewing.

This creates a powerful advantage: innovation cycles that are faster, and immediate feedback loops.

Flexible access models, mobile-led consumption, data-driven discovery, and hybrid subscription structures are not just concepts-they are being tested and refined in Kenya before scaling to other markets.

Crucially, the industry is moving away from passive, one-size-fits-all broadcasting toward personalised, on-demand experiences. Audiences now expect relevance, choice, and control.

Kenya reflects this shift vividly. Consumers engage actively; through viewing behaviour, social interaction, and churn patterns thus creating real-time data signals.

For operators, this enables continuous optimisation of content and pricing strategies, moving from instinct-led decisions to data-led execution.

Technology is not replacing storytelling; it is amplifying it. Platforms that deliver the right content to the right audience at the right moment will define the next phase of growth. Personalisation is no longer a differentiator. It is the baseline.

Demographics reinforce this momentum. With over 70 percent of the population under 35, Kenya has one of the youngest media markets globally. This generation values authenticity, local relevance, and seamless access.

Regulation, often perceived as a constraint, has been a key enabler. Kenya’s relatively mature media and ICT frameworks provide stability in a rapidly evolving landscape.

The proposed 2026 Copyright and Related Rights Bill aims to modernise intellectual property protection, strengthen creator rights, and tighten enforcement against digital piracy while directly addressing concerns echoed by global industry players.

This is reinforced by recognition from the International Telecommunication Union, which recently ranked Kenya among Africa’s leading countries in ICT regulation. Such credibility enhances investor confidence and supports innovation.

The conclusion is clear: the future of African pay-TV will not be defined by a single platform or model. It will be shaped by markets that move faster, listen better, and balance innovation with affordability and trust.

Kenya has enacted a Technopolis Act, allowing counties to build their own Konza-style smart cities to create new hubs for startups, research institutions, and foreign investors beyond the capital, Nairobi.

The law establishes a new Technopolis Development Authority (TDA), replacing the Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA), and gives counties legal backing to develop gazetted technology zones focused on innovation, research, and tech-driven business.

It is Kenya’s most ambitious attempt yet to decentralise the ‘Silicon Savannah’, the popular moniker for the country’s tech ecosystem centred around Nairobi, while positioning counties as potential magnets for venture capital, manufacturing, cloud infrastructure, and artificial intelligence (AI) investments.

Technopolises are typically planned urban areas or special economic zones concentrated with technology companies, research institutions, and innovation hubs.

They are designed to foster research, commercialisation, and tech development. Examples include America’s Silicon Valley, China’s Zhongguancun, and France’s Sophia Antipolis. Governments globally are increasingly using tech cities to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), jobs, and research funding.

Under Kenya’s new law, the ICT Cabinet Secretary can declare new technopolises across counties, creating opportunities for regional specialisation in areas such as agri-tech, renewable energy, logistics, health-tech, and financial technology (fintech).

Incentives boost

The law allows early-stage startups to receive exemptions from licensing requirements, potentially easing one of the biggest challenges among founders – high compliance costs before achieving scale.

It also allows the authority to grant exemptions from fees, levies, and charges, while government-backed incentives could include tax holidays, reduced customs duties, and subsidised infrastructure access.

For technology startups, which often face high upfront costs in hardware, cloud services, and specialised talent, the incentives could improve survival rates in the critical early years. Dedicated small-enterprise support centres will also be established within technopolises to provide mentorship, technical support, and business development services.

Analysts say the institutional support could help address the so-called ‘valley of death’ period, where many startups fail due to weak operational structures, limited financing, and a lack of market access.

Strong collaboration

The clustering of startups within innovation hubs, science parks, and research institutions is also seen to create stronger collaboration among entrepreneurs, universities, investors, and established firms.

For foreign investors, the law provides multiple new entry points into Kenya outside Nairobi. Kenya is one of Africa’s top venture capital destinations by deal value and volume, and Nairobi is home to the majority of these businesses.

By allowing counties to establish technopolises based on local economic strengths, analysts say investors could target specialised sectors in different regions – from logistics and maritime technology at the Coast to agritech in food-producing counties and renewable energy innovation in northern Kenya.

The Act also seeks to attract investment into cloud computing facilities, AI systems, and data centres by mandating the hosting of government infrastructure powered by these emerging technologies. It could create opportunities for global cloud providers and AI companies looking for regional expansion bases in East Africa.

Foreign investors are also expected to benefit from tax incentives and streamlined approvals through a proposed ‘one-stop-shop’ system aimed at reducing bureaucratic delays often associated with setting up businesses in Kenya.

Currently, Konza Technopolis remains Kenya’s only operational technopolis and serves as the blueprint for the county-based smart city model.

Started in 2009 during former President Mwai Kibaki’s administration, the 5,000-acre development along Mombasa Road was envisioned as a futuristic science city driving Kenya’s transition into a knowledge economy.

Construction is still ongoing, albeit slowly, and the government has invested more than Sh90 billion in Konza, focusing on foundational infrastructure, flagship buildings, digital hubs, and a tier-3 data centre serving more than 170 public and private clients.

Some of the companies operating in the technopolis include Kenya’s largest telco, Safaricom, and the Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Still, some analysts say a strong centralisation of authority in Nairobi could limit county governments’ autonomy in managing local technopolises, potentially undermining the decentralisation agenda.

Others caution that incentives could disproportionately favour large multinational investors at the expense of local entrepreneurs and small businesses if safeguards are not put in place.

There are concerns that the promised efficiency gains could still be slowed by bureaucratic approvals and regulatory bottlenecks, particularly if multiple government agencies retain overlapping oversight roles.

Over the next few weeks, I want to explore the creation of dynasties. No, not the ‘Hustler-turned-tenderpreneur-turned-Runda rich but legacy poor’ types of dynasties.

I want to explore the real family dynasty that emerges when hard-working individuals put their backs into it, start businesses that have both legitimate employees and customers and which businesses generate dividends that form the backbone of wealth, passed on from generation to generation.

In transitioning that wealth successfully, the founder’s family gains prominence for their role in business and, quite often, philanthropy. Philanthropy in this case means meaningfully helping societies rather than handing out crumpled banknotes on the sidelines of political rallies.

A key cog in the success of wealth transition is the role of the family office. Family offices are specialised entities designed to manage, preserve and grow the wealth of ultra high net worth families, often emerging from successful family businesses.

They serve as the backbone of dynastic wealth management, ensuring that fortunes built over generations are not only sustained but strategically deployed. Their evolution reflects centuries of financial innovation, from Renaissance banking dynasties to today’s tech billionaires.

The concept of the family office dates back to the Medici family, which was a powerful banking dynasty that rose to prominence in Renaissance Florence, Italy, starting in the early 15th century.

They built one of Europe’s largest banks, which helped them gain immense wealth and political influence. The Medicis became de facto rulers of Florence, patrons of the arts and key figures in European politics, producing several popes and monarchs. However, their original line ended in the 18th century, and their vast wealth and power gradually faded.

Today, while the Medici family no longer holds the immense wealth or influence they once had, their legacy lives on through their contributions to art, culture, and history, especially in Florence. This model of centralised wealth management laid the foundation for future family offices.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Rothschild family expanded the idea globally, creating one of the first cross border family offices. Their ability to coordinate investments across Europe made them a financial powerhouse.

Originally from Frankfurt, Germany, the family’s founder, Mayer Rothschild (1710-1812), originally started as a financial advisor to various European princes, eventually founding a banking business in Frankfurt. He had five sons, each of whom established banking houses in major European cities: Frankfurt, London, Paris, Vienna, and Naples. The sons helped create a banking network that facilitated massive financial transactions across Europe.

This network played a significant role in funding various national endeavours, including wars and infrastructure projects. Today, the Rothschild family is involved in diversified activities, including investment banking, asset management, and more, with businesses spanning industries such as agriculture, wine, and finance and estimated to run into the billions of dollars.

The modern family office structure emerged in the United States (US) in 1882, when John D. Rockefeller established an office to manage his fortune. This institution became the template for wealth preservation, philanthropy, and investment diversification. John D. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York, in 1839.

At age 16, he began working as a bookkeeper in Cleveland, Ohio, developing meticulous financial habits. In 1863, he entered the oil business with partners, building a refinery in Cleveland. By 1870, he co-founded Standard Oil with his brother William and several associates, capitalising on the oil boom.

Through aggressive acquisitions, favourable railroad deals and vertical integration, Standard Oil controlled about 90 percent of US refineries and pipelines. The Standard Oil Trust (1882) consolidated Rockefeller’s empire, creating one of the first major US business trusts.

By the early 20th century, Rockefeller had amassed unprecedented wealth, becoming the world’s first billionaire in 1916. His fortune and philanthropy (funding universities, medical research, and public health) cemented the family’s influence. The Rockefellers transitioned from industrialists to philanthropists and political leaders, ensuring their legacy across multiple fields.

A critical distinction in the family office model is the separation between the underlying businesses that generate wealth and the management of dividends and investment returns. The family business, whether it is Walmart, Microsoft, or Amazon, focuses on operations, growth and profitability.

The family office, by contrast, manages the dividends, distributions and capital generated by those businesses. This separation ensures that wealth management decisions are not conflated with business operations, allowing for diversification, risk management and long term planning independent of the family enterprise’s performance.

For example, the Walton family continues to oversee Walmart through corporate governance, but their family office manages the dividends, investing in philanthropy, real estate and other ventures.

Similarly, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos use their family offices to channel wealth from their companies into diversified investments and social initiatives.

Next week, we’ll take a deeper dive into how these family offices are structured to ensure that wealth transition across generations endures.

India’s billionaire Gautam Adani has settled its case with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as he continues to snub Kenya talks, over compensation after the verbal cancellation of a multi-billion shilling deal to build electricity transmission lines and substations.

US enforcement agencies plan to end actions against Mr Adani and his business conglomerate, following accusation of the tycoon’s involvement in a $265 million bribery scheme.

President William Ruto, in November 2024, ordered the cancellation of a 30-year, Sh96 billion public-private partnership deal that an Adani Group firm signed with the energy ministry to construct power transmission lines citing the US indictment.

Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani paid $18 million in a settlement with the SEC without admitting or denying the allegations-which formed the basis of Kenya’s termination.

But as the billionaire battled to clear his longstanding US legal problems on back of his close relationship with President Donald Trump’s, he remained muted and detached in Kenya’s push to settle the termination of the Sh96 billion deal.

Multiple lawyers familiar with the Adani deals in Kenya reckon that the Indian conglomerate was little engaged for an amicable resolution to the Adani contract and the establishment of compensation for one of the world’s richest individuals.

‘They have never accepted or rejected the cancellation made during the presidential state of the nation address,’ said a top lawyer who advised on the Adani deals and sought anonymity.

‘They have remained reticence on the Kenyan matter. They believe there was no legal basis for cancellation.’

The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) unit at Treasury last year indicated that talks were underway for amicable resolution to the Adani contract. This came as it emerged that Kenya had not issued a formal termination notice to the Adani Group.

The termination was hinged on Section 62 of the PPA Act, with Kenya citing material governance issues and offenses under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.

Adani had been charged by US prosecutors on November 20, 2024 over an alleged years-long scheme to bribe Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms on solar power contracts that were projected to bring in more than $2bn in profit.

US federal prosecutors said more than $250mn in bribes were ‘offered and promised’ between 2020 and 2024 to people in the Indian government as part of the scheme, which was allegedly concealed from the US banks and investors from which they raised billions of dollars.

The day after the US indictment, President Ruto on November 21, cancelled the 30-year public-private partnership deal that an Adani Group firm signed with the energy ministry in October, 2024 to construct power transmission lines.

President Ruto attributing the cancellation to “new information provided by investigative agencies and partner nations”.

At the time of cancellation, the Adani deals in Kenya had drawn sharp criticism from many politicians and members of the public over concerns about a lack of transparency and value for money.

‘In November 2024, the indictment of the Adani principles was live and conviction was a real prospect,’ said another who requested not to be named. ‘With the charges, now reportedly being dropped, that foundation has softened.’

The US Justice Department is close to dropping criminal fraud charges against Mr Adani.

Adani on Thursday resolved a related civil fraud lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over an alleged scheme to bribe Indian government officials, subject to court approval.

Kenya favoured the less costly route of mutual separation over termination.

Termination is an action initiated by a single party, and in this case, will see Kenya pay Adani Group at least Sh5 billion based on lawyers’ estimates and the size of the deal.

Mutual separation is a negotiated agreement ending the agreement on the power deals inked in October, 2024, which will see Kenya offer a small payout to cover costs that Adani used in securing the contract.

Some lawyers argued that termination under Section 62 of the PPP Act does not provide for compensation.

The PPP directorate reckoned last year that it was not possible to talk about termination costs.

‘Termination process is underway, thus the termination costs are yet to be determined,’ the PPP unit said in a review of the public-private partnership deals as at June.

Under the PPP deal, Adani inked a deal to construct two power transmission lines and two substations.

This included a 206km 400kV Gilgil-Thika-Malaa-Konza power transmission line that will boost power supply around Nairobi. The line was expected to be completed in 2027.

It was also set to build the 70km 132kV Menengai-Olkalou-Rumuruti transmission line that will extend high voltage to Olkalou, providing an alternative evacuation path for the Menengai geothermal complex. The line was slated for completion in 2028.

Adani was also building two substations– the 132kV Thurdiburo substation and the 400/220/132kV substation at Rongai-both set to be built by 2028.

But the election of President Trump saw the US soften its stance in pursuit of Mr Adani.

Representatives for Adani have since met officials from Trump’s administration to seek dismissal of criminal charges in an overseas bribery probe, with a resolution possible.

President Trump also paused prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), further weakening Adani’s indictment.

The FCPA was central in the pursuit of the Adani’s and President Trump reckons the law is a disadvantage to American businesses competing globally.

India’s conglomerate was expected to generate outsized profits for 30 years before handing over the lines to the Kenyan government.

It was to spend Sh96 billion on capital expenditure, and expected to generate revenues of Sh634 billion in the 30 years or Sh21.2 billion annually.

The conglomerate was going to recoup its investments through a new charge in households’ monthly electricity bills technically called a wheeling charge.

The revenues excluded other expenses like debt, salaries and maintenance costs.