Category: Business Daily

The East African Portland Cement (EAPC) failed to remit Sh4 billion in statutory deductions, including taxes and penalties, as of June 30, 2025, an audit has revealed. This exposes legacy liabilities facing the cement maker that recently transitioned to new ownership.

In a new report for the year ended June 30, 2025, Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu said the company had accumulated unpaid obligations, including value-added tax (VAT), pay-as-you-earn (PAYE), income taxes and related penalties.

‘The company has been unable to settle its obligations in respect of statutory deductions, which include pay as you earn (PAYE) balance of Sh2,446,389,041, value added tax (VAT) balances of Sh1,471,531,165, and income tax-company balance of Sh81,510,917 being principal, penalties and interest,’ Ms Gathungu said.

‘The above events or conditions, along with other matters set forth in…the financial statements, indicate that a material uncertainty exists that casts significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.’

The release of audit reports often lags, and some of the captured issues may shift by the time of publication. It is not clear if EAPC could have offset the unremitted deductions.

Statutory deductions are mandatory withholdings from an employee’s gross salary that employers must compute, deduct, and remit to various government agencies by the ninth day of the following month. They include PAYE, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), and the Affordable Housing Levy (AHL). Failure to remit such funds can result in penalties, interest charges and additional financial strain on businesses.

The audit finding means EAPC’s outstanding obligations have continued to build, adding pressure on a company in which Tanzanian businessman Edhah Abdallah Munif recently spent Sh2.32 billion to take a majority stake of 68.7 percent through his investment vehicle Kalahari Cement Limited.

He built up the EAPC stake by buying a 29.2 percent stake from Swiss multinational Holcim for Sh718.7 million or Sh27.30 a share in November 2025.

Mr Munif then acquired a 27 percent holding from NSSF for Sh1.604 billion, adding to the 12.5 percent he already controlled through Bamburi’s stake in EAPC.

EAPC registered a notable turnaround in fortunes in the financial year ended June 202, with its net profit growing nearly five-fold to Sh5.53 billion, compared to Sh1.16 billion a year earlier.

The company also announced a higher dividend of Sh1.25 per share for the period, up from Sh1 per share for the prior year. The performance meant that Mr Munif’s investment vehicle Kalahari Cement Limited would bag Sh77.3 million out of EAPC’s total payout of Sh112.5 million.

EAPC’s turnover more than doubled to Sh7.08 billion in the year to June 2025 from Sh3.28 billion the year before, attributed by the company to improved and consistent cement production, effective pricing strategies and strong demand recovery in key market segments.

Kenya is auditing its informal cross-border sugar trade amid severe market distortions, which are affecting pricing and revenue collections.

A brief seen by the Business Daily showed that the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) is conducting a comprehensive audit of the informal sugar imports in a bid to ascertain the volumes moved and the routes used by the traders.

‘The industry faces severe market distortions and inefficiencies, primarily due to unregulated cross-border trade. Kenya remains a net importer, producing approximately 72 percent of its domestic sugar requirement in 2024, and the market remains vulnerable to illegal sugar inflows through porous borders, weak traceability systems and significant price disparities,’ KSB said in its brief.

‘This informal trade undermines local producers, distorts prices, discourages investment and results in substantial loss of government revenue,’ it added.

The audit aims to map and profile the actors, supply chains, financing mechanisms and incentives driving informal sugar trade. It also aims to assess the effects of informal trade on farmgate prices, miller viability and national sugar pricing mechanisms, besides evaluating the revenue leaks from informal imports.

KSB Chief Executive Officer Jude Chesire told Business Daily that the audit is “work in progress”.

“We are largely focusing on the border with Uganda because there is a lot of sugar in the neighbouring country and the chances of smuggling are very high,” he said.

“We have requested extra police officers to help map out the informal trade in sugar. Although informal trade is allowed, some groups take advantage to advance large-scale smuggling.”

The audit comes amid anxiety among domestic millers and traders after Kenya lifted safeguards on cheap sugar imports from cane-growing members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) in January 2026.

Kenya’s decision ended 24 years of protection from imports of cheaper sugar from the economic bloc.

Kenya had been relying on the safeguards from Comesa against cheap imports since 2001 as a means to protect its struggling local sugar industry, where millers, especially State-owned factories, have been struggling with massive loads of debt. The country had sought extensions of the safeguards eight times before finally letting go.

Under the safeguard arrangement, Kenya had been allowed to import up to 350,000 tonnes of sugar from the Comesa region to bridge the local deficit. Kenya negotiated the safeguards because its once vibrant and dominant State-owned sugar millers in western Kenya, including Chemelil, Sony, Muhoroni, Nzoia, and Mumias, had slumped into a sorry state amid piling debt, aging machinery, and intermittent biting shortages of raw materials.

The removal of the Comesa safeguards came barely six months after the leasing of four inefficient State millers to private investors as part of reforms aimed at invigorating the industry.

Nzoia Sugar Company was leased out to West Kenya Sugar Company, Chemelil to Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries Ltd, Muhoroni to West Valley Sugar Company, and Mumias to Sarrai Group, although the latter deal faced legal hurdles and was halted in court.

Data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the country’s sugar production rose nearly 22 percent in the first five months of 2026 as increased cane deliveries and reforms in the sector boosted mill output.

Domestic sugar production grew 21.98 percent to 348,143 tonnes between January and May, up from 285,418 tonnes produced during the same period last year, KNBS data showed.

The increase followed a 25.1 percent jump in sugarcane deliveries by farmers, which rose to 3.9 million tonnes from 3.1 million tonnes over the review period, signalling improved supplies to mills.

The Supreme Court has ended a company’s bid to reopen a 22-year dispute with the Central Bank of Kenya over Sh14 million frozen during investigations into a Treasury Bonds fraud, shutting the door on its final appeal.

The five-judge bench ruled that Johmat Distributors Ltd’s grievances over interest, legal costs and a long-running freezing order did not raise issues of general public importance required for an appeal to the apex court.

The ruling closes litigation that began after CBK alleged that Sh205 million had been fraudulently obtained in 2002 through manipulation of Treasury bonds and Treasury bills.

The bank suspected Johmat’s account had been used to channel part of the money and obtained a court order in July 2003 freezing Sh14 million held in the firm’s fixed deposit account at Giro Commercial Bank, now I and M Bank.

Johmat was later joined to the recovery suit. After years of litigation, the High Court dismissed CBK’s claim in December 2019, finding it was based on mere suspicion.

The court, however, also rejected Johmat’s counterclaim for damages and interest after finding the company had not proved its entitlement to the claims. The parties subsequently recorded a consent allowing the release of the frozen funds.

The company challenged the decision at the Court of Appeal, arguing that it deserved interest because the money had remained frozen for about 14 years and that CBK had undertaken to compensate it if its claim failed. It also sought legal costs after successfully defending itself against the central bank’s case.

The appellate court dismissed the appeal in September 2024 after finding Johmat had failed to include typed proceedings from the High Court, making it impossible to evaluate the claim for interest.

It also upheld the trial court’s decision on costs before later declining to certify a further appeal to the Supreme Court.

Johmat then asked the Supreme Court to review that refusal, arguing that the dispute raised important constitutional questions touching on property rights, fair hearing and the consequences of freezing private funds.

The five-judge bench declined the request, saying the issues remained confined to the parties before the court and did not meet the constitutional threshold for a final appeal.

“We are not persuaded that they meet the threshold for certification,” the judges said, in a decision that closes one of the longest-running commercial disputes.

The court also found that some of the constitutional questions advanced by Johmat had not been raised before the Court of Appeal.

“An application for review is not a vehicle for advancing arguments that have no footing in the determinations of the superior courts below,” the judges said.

The bench further held that dissatisfaction with how lower courts applied settled legal principles could not, on its own, justify a hearing before the Supreme Court.

“Framing a grievance in constitutional terms does not of itself elevate the issue to the threshold contemplated under Article 163(4)(b) of the Constitution,” the ruling stated.

It added that the questions raised under the constitutional rights to property and fair hearing “identify no unsettled point of constitutional principle bearing on the public at large.”

The judges said Johmat had also failed to demonstrate that the dispute extended beyond its own circumstances or carried broader public importance.

“The applicant has not demonstrated that the issues raised transcend the circumstances of this dispute or have a significant bearing on the public interest,” the court ruled, dismissing the company’s application.

East African Breweries Limited (EABL) has increased its total dividend by 59 percent to Sh12.70 per share after the brewer posted a record Sh18.2 billion net profit for the financial year ended June 2026.

The company said in an investor briefing that the profitability was boosted by strong demand for mainstream spirits, growth across all its East African markets and sharply lower financing costs.

The company paid shareholders a total dividend of Sh8.00 per share for the financial year ended June 2024 after reporting a net profit of about Sh12.2 billion.

The strong performance comes at a time when the brewer is in the middle of a change of ownership after British drinks giant Diageo Plc agreed to sell its controlling stake in EABL to Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings, ending decades of British control of one of East Africa’s largest listed companies.

In the 12 months to June this year, EABL grew net sales by 13 percent to Sh146 billion from Sh128.8 billion, becoming the first time the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed brewer has crossed the $1 billion (about Sh146 billion) revenue milestone, said its Chief Executive Officer Jane Karuku on Thursday.

The company recorded growth across all its markets-Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania-with every major alcohol category posting positive growth.

Kenya remained the largest market, accounting for about 60 percent of group revenues, while Uganda and Tanzania posted even faster growth of 16 percent and 44 percent, respectively.

Sales of Kenya Cane, the affordable spirits brand whose flavoured variants such as ginger, pineapple and coconut have become increasingly popular in bars and entertainment joints, fueled a 30 percent jump in mainstream spirits, making it EABL’s fastest-growing alcohol category.

The company’s improved bottom line was also supported by a sharp reduction in financing costs as it cut debt by Sh6.2 billion during the year, benefiting further from a lower interest rate environment across East Africa.

The savings significantly boosted profitability, helping lift net profit by 49 percent despite a challenging consumer environment.

There was also increased interest in EABL’s newer offerings such as Manyatta, a category the brewer refers to as its ‘new frontiers’ business, alongside ready-to-drink cocktails and other innovations.

The segment grew 26 percent, reflecting changing consumer preferences and EABL’s push into new drinking occasions.

According to Ms Karuku, the strong performance reflected broad-based growth across the region.

‘All the countries came to the party,’ Ms Karuku said, noting that for the first time in recent years, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania all delivered strong growth, with every major product category contributing positively.

Read: Diageo set to pocket Sh4.47bn dividend on delayed EABL deal

She said EABL had also begun enjoying the benefits of reforms to Kenya’s excise tax regime, which ended years of what the industry described as double taxation on alcoholic beverages.

‘Years ago, there used to be serious double taxation within beer because they would say there is an inflationary increase, and then there is a very big increase per litre,’ said Ms Karuku.

‘That was cleaned up three years ago,” she added, noting that the stabilisation of the tax regime had encouraged higher consumption volumes.

The Board recommended a final dividend of Sh8.70 per share, bringing the total payout for the year to Sh12.70 per share, signalling confidence in the brewer’s cash flows and prospects even as it prepares for a new chapter under Japanese ownership.

Airtel Kenya has received a 25-year license, ending uncertainty over its operations after being offered a temporary permit until January 2027.

The telecoms operator said the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) has offered it a long-term permit under the unified licensing framework (ULF) after paying an undisclosed fee.

The firm has in the past decade fought with the regulator over its licence, which initially expired in 2015.

For years, it operated with a permit it inherited from YuMobile, a rival operator it bought in 2014 after the firm exited the Kenyan market.

But it inked an out-of-court deal in 2022 with the telecoms operator, which triggered renewal of its expired licence from 2015 to 2025 and later received the two-year temporary permit to January next year.

The fresh long-term licence offers Airtel greater certainty in its Kenya operations.

‘I am pleased to tell you that we have successfully renewed our licence for another 25 years, which assures us that we are here to stay,’ said Airtel Networks Kenya managing director Djibril Tobe.

‘We have stronger confidence in Kenya than ever, and we don’t think as investors that uncertainty is an issue for us. The approval is for one global technologically neutral licence.’

Airtel’s rival, Safaricom, also announced earlier that it had been offered a 25-year licence.

Previously, the two operators had paid Sh2.3 billion for 10-year permits each.

Safaricom’s spending on licences in Kenya rose by Sh1.7 billion for the financial year ended March 2026 to Sh14.66 billion, as the firm disclosed the 25-year permit.

‘This provides long-term certainty and strengthens our ability to invest with confidence and reinforces the platform from which we continue delivering on our purpose,’ Adil Khawaja, Safaricom’s board chairman, said in May this year.

‘As we celebrate our first 25 years, we have secured a licence to operate for the next 25 years under a unified framework from the CA.’

Airtel is now waiting for regulatory approval for its deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate a direct-to-cell service.

Airtel Africa has partnered with SpaceX to introduce Starlink’s direct satellite-to-mobile service to all its 14 markets.

It will start with delivering texts and calls over the internet, like WhatsApp, and upgrade in 2028 to allow for direct phone calls and SMS in a bid to extend access to remote areas.

Telecoms operators in Kenya currently rely on ground-based and rooftop cell towers, and the use of direct satellite-to-mobile services is testing the CA’s regulatory regime.

‘All the requirements in terms of security, in terms of customer satisfaction, process and maintenance have been satisfied. It’s now a matter of administrative procedures, but we are very confident that within weeks, the CA should be coming to us with our approval,’ said Mr Tobe.

The CA approval will mark the first time Kenya will authorise a satellite operator collaborating with a wireless carrier to provide supplemental telecommunications coverage from space on some flexible-use spectrum bands allocated to terrestrial service.

It is expected to lean on a framework for supplemental coverage from space to extend the reach of wireless networks to remote areas while preserving high service quality in 4G and 5G networks and preventing harmful interference.

Safaricom’s South African parent company, Vodacom, also signed an Africa-wide deal with SpaceX last November, which will see the Kenyan firm integrate Starlink’s satellite technology for data relay into its mobile network.

In this case, traditional cell towers are equipped with a satellite terminal, which transmits data directly to the LEO constellation, which then routes it to the core network.

A frivolous or trivial court case is a lawsuit that lacks legal merit or factual foundation. In most cases, such suits are filed to harass an opponent, squeeze out a nuisance settlement or simply delay an outcome.

A single trivial case might pass for a minor nuisance, but the cumulative economic damage it inflicts on a country’s justice system and litigants is enormous, though entirely preventable. Every frivolous suit occupies judicial time and courtroom space that should be available to litigants with genuine grievances.

Justice is not always delayed by complex litigation; sometimes it is delayed by cases that should never have been filed in the first place.

There is, therefore, an urgent need for a frank national conversation on the cost of allowing hollow litigation to choke the wheels of justice. The courts bear the most immediate burden of frivolous cases.

Lest we forget, taxpayers fund Kenya’s judiciary. Therefore, every hour a judge spends studying a petty case, listening to a baseless application, or composing a reasoned dismissal is an hour stolen from a real dispute.

That said the over 600,000 pending cases clogging Kenya’s justice system currently ought to be reviewed to weed out trivial matters.

A significant slice of that heap consists of claims that, in the language of civil procedure, are ‘scandalous, frivolous or vexatious.’ Ideally, these cases should have been thrown out a long time ago.

Kenyan courts do have the power, under the Civil Procedure Act and the Advocates Act, to order that the losing party pay the full costs of a frivolous action and to discipline lawyers who file abusive cases. But have we invoked that power every time we needed to?

Legal scholars who have studied the economics of frivolous litigation around the world stress that sanctions must be designed to deter, not merely to compensate the parties involved. When the punishment is a token slap on the wrist, the floodgates of the nuisance of trivial cases stay open.

In advocating stronger sanctions, however, we must draw an important distinction between a case that ultimately fails and one that was frivolous from the outset.

Finally, the Law Society of Kenya should exercise stronger oversight of advocates who lend their professional standing to claims that have no real chance of success.

This is necessary because a legal profession that polices its own ranks will earn the public trust that frivolous litigation erodes.

Every baseless suit that occupies a courtroom translates to theft from the citizen. We should therefore not tolerate the economic drain caused by an open legal system that entertains the filing of trivial court cases.

The administration of justice depends on litigants being free to bring bona fide claims, even where the court ultimately rejects them.

An unsuccessful case is not necessarily an abusive one. Sanctions should therefore be reserved for proceedings that are plainly devoid of legal or factual merit, brought for an improper purpose, or constitute an abuse of the court process.

To punish every unsuccessful litigant would discourage legitimate claims and undermine access to justice. The objective is not to deter genuine litigation, but to deter the misuse of judicial process.

Kenya’s justice system has yet to absorb that lesson it seems. The costs awarded against a party who brings a baseless suit often amount to only a fraction of the real expense, leaving the innocent defendant to bear a burden that is not of her of his making.

The economic damage caused by petty suits spills beyond individual cases. According to the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 report, it took an average of 465 days to resolve a commercial dispute in Kenya. The timeline is stretched needlessly by endless tactical applications and pointless adjournments. We should take note that domestic and foreign investors watch these numbers keenly.

A court system that is slow and open to abuse adds an invisible risk charge to every business decision. When contracts cannot be enforced quickly, the cost of credit rises, and the spirit of enterprise is ultimately dampened. Working hard as Kenya is to

attract investment and create jobs we possibly cannot afford the toll imposed on business by otherwise avoidable airlocks in the court system.

Given the foregoing scenario, Kenya should do better. The Judiciary should foster a case-management culture that identifies and strikes out frivolous pleadings early in the scheduling process.

That will forestall trials that never needed to happen. Besides, the scale of costs awarded against those who bring baseless claims should reflect the true economic harm they inflict, not just a nominal fee that one can shrug off as a minor irritation.

The government has kicked off the search for a technology firm that will host its top secret information online as it shifts public sector systems away from fragmented physical server rooms and agency-owned data centres in a bid to cut maintenance costs.

Disclosures in the implementation guidelines of the 2025 Kenya Cloud Policy show the State has opened applications for interested providers to seek accreditation from a soon-to-be-established Cloud Adoption Committee (CAC).

A single provider, chosen from the accredited list, will host all State-held data and systems on its servers, with top secret data restricted to be held in a data centre within Kenya.

Storage of data and systems like e-Citizen on physical government servers has been banned, and all State organs have 24 months to migrate all systems to the cloud provider that the government will settle on.

This is part of a broader cloud-first policy primarily meant to cut State spending on purchasing, setting up and maintaining physical servers.

‘Entities are prohibited from hosting systems, data, and applications in server rooms and entity-dedicated data centres except when authorised by the Cloud Adoption Committee (CAC),’ reads the guidelines published by the Ministry of ICT and the Digital Economy.

‘Migrate the non-exempted data and systems within 24 months. Entities are restricted from establishing new data centres unless approved by the CAC.’

According to the National Treasury, the government spends roughly Sh10 billion every year on data centres, servers, ICT services and infrastructure maintenance, an amount that will be significantly reduced if the services are collapsed and outsourced to a single vendor.

For instance, in the current financial year, the Treasury allocated Sh9.8 billion for ICT infrastructure, data centres, shared services and cybersecurity budgets for different State Departments and Agencies.

The shift to cloud services will create a new market for Kenyan cloud companies and data centre operators, although the exact list of providers eligible to host the most sensitive government workloads is yet to be published.

Under the new guidelines, State data will be grouped into three categories, depending on the level of sensitivity.

Top secret data, which is classified information guided by secrecy laws such as the Official Secrets Act and the Kenya Defence Forces Act, will be the most guarded and will require the cloud service provider to have a dedicated government server located in the country.

Restricted data is sensitive government information that is not legally secret but not meant for public consumption. This will be held by an accredited government cloud service provider (GCSP) with local presence.

Open data, which are intended for public use and transparency, will be hosted by an accredited provider but not necessarily within the country.

But having a data centre in Kenya does not automatically make a company eligible to host top secret government information.

The guidelines require providers seeking accreditation to demonstrate the physical location of their cloud and disaster-recovery infrastructure, disclose cloud partnerships, and provide evidence of certifications by the International Standards Organisation (ISO).

They must also demonstrate resilience, availability, backup capability and local technical support.

Safaricom, which recently launched its cloud services, could be a leading contender for the contract. The telco offers cloud services hosted in data centres in Nairobi and Kisumu, which it says offer data sovereignty and disaster-recovery benefits for Kenyans.

Konza data centre, which is fully State-owned, could also be a leading contender. It was allocated Sh175 million for expansion in the current financial year, and is set to be one of the largest data centres in the country.

Other local infrastructure is being built specifically around sovereign cloud requirements. iXAfrica Data Centres hosts Servernah Cloud. It also hosts Baobab Cloud, Paratus Cloud, and Zadara Sovereign Cloud.

These companies, however, will still need an assessment by the CAC to get GCSP status prequalifying them for the State cloud contract. Experts argue that currently, only one of the data centres in Kenya could host the State’s top secret data.

Michael Michie, a data scientist, AI engineer, and founder of AI firm EverseTech, argues that currently, only Konza can host top secret data as well as restricted and open, while Safaricom and Liquid Telecom’s Azure can host restricted, while the rest can only host open data.

‘Government contract requirements may conflict with common cloud business models. Many cloud businesses depend on committed subscription fees and shared global support systems,’ said Mr Michie.

‘Re-engineering these arrangements for government procurement will be difficult. The required operating model is expensive. It is not merely an infrastructure requirement. It requires a mature service-management operation, incidence-response team, compliance function and field support staff.’

Microsoft and G42 had announced a $1 billion investment programme, including a data centre in Kenya designed to run Microsoft Azure through a new East Africa Cloud Region.

The project was intended to provide local cloud capacity for government and other customers, but was cancelled after Kenya failed to provide guarantees for capacity uptake by neighbouring countries.

Kenya’s approach follows a model already used by governments that have sought to move away from ageing government infrastructure while retaining control over sensitive workloads.

Singapore, for example, began a five-year programme in 2018 to migrate most government IT systems from on-premise infrastructure to commercial cloud. The UK has similarly operated a Cloud First policy since 2013, requiring public sector organisations to consider public cloud before other options.

More firms have locked horns over lucrative State tenders, with formally filed disputes topping Sh107.45 billion in the year to June 2025, signalling stiff competition and rising scrutiny over public procurement.

Disclosures by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) show the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board–which is a quasi-judicial body that presides over public procurement disputes– handled 161 cases during the review period.

During the year, 411 procuring entities reported 25,994 contract awards valued Sh217.45 billion. This means the value of disputed contracts was nearly half (49.4 percent).

The number of disputes and the amount of money involved highlight how firms are aggressively contesting procurement outcomes in a bid to secure a share of public spending, which remains one of the largest sources of business for contractors across sectors including construction, health supplies and infrastructure.

‘During the period, the review board handled a total dispute value of Sh107.45 billion, reflecting a high level of procurement contestation, meaning that numerous results of procurement proceedings are being challenged due to concerns about fairness, compliance, or transparency,’ said PPRA.

The figure points to a procurement landscape where firms bidding for State contracts are willing to challenge outcomes they deem irregular in a challenging economic environment where businesses view government tenders as a stable revenue stream.

Data in the report shows dozens of cases were filed before the review board, with outcomes ranging from annulment of awards to orders for fresh evaluations, signalling frequent disagreements between procuring entities and bidders.

Nearly half of the procurement disputes were upheld, with 80 cases going in favour of the complainants, indicating that many of the complaints presented to the review board were deemed to be valid.

However, 66 cases were dismissed for lacking merit or sufficient evidence, while 15 were withdrawn after parties reached mutual agreements.

PPRA said the majority (108) of the public procurement disputes across various categories of procuring originated from State Corporations and Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs), indicating a significant concentration of procurement issues within this category.

‘This distribution highlights a trend where a substantial majority of procurement disputes are concentrated in larger or more complex government institutions, particularly State Corporations and SAGAs, potentially due to the volume and value of procurement activities they undertake,’ said PPRA.

The PPRA links the disputes to several factors, including non-compliance with procurement regulations, weak tender documentation and procedural lapses by procuring entities. In some cases, bidders challenged unclear specifications or evaluation criteria, while others cited lack of transparency in the award process.

‘The volume of disputes and the value in the matters resolved by the board demonstrates its critical role as a key institution in safeguarding public resources and upholding public confidence in the public procurement system,’ said PPRA.

The findings come amid concerns about transparency in public procurement, with the report also flagging inconsistencies in disclosure of contract awards and compliance with reporting requirements by procuring entities.

PPRA data showed that 57 percent, or 14,819 of 25,994 State contracts awarded in the year ending June 2025 lacked disclosure of beneficial ownership, raising concerns about hidden interests in the allocation of lucrative public contracts.

Read: Tycoons in half of tenders keep names, office secret

The findings point to persistent opacity among suppliers doing business with the State, undermining reforms introduced over the past five years to curb corruption, conflicts of interest and illicit financial flows in public procurement.

Firms are increasingly resorting to legal redress to protect commercial interests, even as regulators push for stricter adherence to procurement rules. Firms seeking appeal on the tender processes paid PPRA Sh10.65 million during the review period.

The PPRA report showed procuring entities flouted several rules, including failing to disclose beneficial owners, failure to publish complete contract information, delays in reporting and inaccurate data entries on the procurement portal.

PPRA said an analysis of data from the 2016/2017 to 2024/2025 financial years revealed an increase in the use of the Public Procurement Information Portal (PPIP) for tender postings and contract publications.

However, the watchdog said while the data reflects growing adoption of the PPIP, there is an inconsistency between tenders posted and contracts published, which is ‘an indication of gaps in compliance, particularly regarding post-award transparency.’

PPRA Director-General Patrick Wanjuki said the rollout of the electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system, where beneficial ownership disclosure has been fully embedded across all procurement methods, will enhance transparency in tender processes going forward.

‘The e-GP system is designed to enforce compliance by ensuring that procurement processes cannot be completed unless the required beneficial ownership information has been disclosed,’ he said.

PPRA has been pushing for increased transparency in the public procurement processes.

The rules on beneficial ownership disclosure were entrenched in law through amendments to the Companies Act in 2019 and subsequent Companies (Beneficial Ownership Information) regulations issued in 2020 and 2022, which expanded the obligation to firms bidding for public tenders and public-private partnerships.

Under the rules, companies must submit details of their beneficial owners at the bidding stage, with successful contractors required to provide full disclosure before signing contracts.

The information is then expected to be published on the PPIP to enhance transparency.

However, the PPRA report shows that compliance remains patchy, with many firms either failing to submit the information or providing incomplete disclosures, effectively shielding the real beneficiaries of public contracts.

The push for full disclosures of the ultimate beneficiaries of State tenders has come amid increasing global scrutiny following concerns that opacity in company ownership fuels corruption, tax evasion, money laundering and even terrorism financing.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog on illicit financial flows, has long recommended that countries establish mechanisms to ensure that beneficial ownership information is available and accessible to competent authorities.

Kenya’s reforms on beneficial ownership were partly driven by the need to align with FATF standards as well as pressure from the International Monetary Fund to unmask and publish the owners of firms winning state contracts as part of the loan access terms.

?palushula@ke.nationmedia.com

Aviation has long been celebrated as an engine of connection, trade and opportunity and every day, millions of people cross borders in search of work, education, safety and new beginnings.

But did you know that unknown to many, it is the same networks that make global mobility possible, that are now becoming increasingly exploited by criminal syndicates moving trafficking victims across continents. The systems criminals exploit can also become powerful tools for prevention and protection.

Working together, airlines, airports, governments and international partners can help transform aviation from a corridor of exploitation into one of the world’s strongest lines of defence.

Human trafficking has evolved dramatically, especially in the recent years. No longer confined to clandestine border crossings, today’s traffickers recruit victims through fake job advertisements, social media and online scams, then move them through legitimate travel routes into forced labour and other criminal enterprises.

Increasingly, victims find themselves trapped in scam compounds, where promises of employment quickly give way to exploitation.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s 2024 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, detected victims rose 25 percent in 2022 versus 2019, with forced labour cases up 47 percent and child victims up 31 percent.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates nearly 80 percent of international trafficking journeys pass through official border crossings, underscoring that airports and airlines are uniquely positioned to identify risks and support interventions before exploitation deepens.

As the world marks World Day Against Trafficking in Persons under the theme “Trapped Behind the Scam,” aviation has an opportunity to strengthen its role in combating this evolving crime.

Every check-in counter, boarding gate and cabin crew interaction is a potential moment to recognise vulnerability, respond appropriately and connect those at risk with support.

Encouragingly, examples across the industry show what is possible when aviation embraces this responsibility. In March 2023, Kenya Airways (KQ) became the first airline globally to adopt a dedicated Counter Trafficking in Persons Policy, a landmark achievement that set a new standard for the aviation industry’s response to human trafficking.

Developed in partnership with UNODC, the policy positioned KQ as an early leader in the fight against human trafficking, establishing a practical and scalable model for airline action.

By embedding prevention, detection, reporting and victim-support measures into its operations, Kenya Airways helped demonstrate how aviation can play a critical role in combating trafficking, contributing to growing industry momentum that has seen counter-trafficking become an increasingly important priority for airlines worldwide.

A year later, it deepened that commitment through a strategic partnership with the International Organization for Migration Kenya to enhance victim protection, promote safe migration pathways and build staff capacity.

These partnerships have translated into practical action. Between February and April 2025, Kenya Airways supported a multi-agency effort alongside HAART Kenya, the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, the Counter Trafficking in Persons Secretariat and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to repatriate 158 victims rescued from scam compounds in Myanmar, demonstrating what is possible when governments, humanitarian organisations and the aviation sector work toward a common goal.

As criminal networks grow more sophisticated, so too must our collective response. First, the industry should keep investing in frontline training so staff can recognise trafficking indicators and respond safely.

Second, there is an opportunity to deepen partnerships between airlines, airports, governments, UN agencies, law enforcement and civil society; strong referral pathways, coordinated protocols and trusted information-sharing can significantly strengthen victim protection.

Third, stakeholders must keep disrupting the financial and digital ecosystems enabling trafficking, as recruitment moves online and networks rely on cyber-enabled fraud and illicit financial flows.

Continued investment in safe migration pathways, responsible labour recruitment, survivor support services and cross-border cooperation will further reduce the vulnerabilities traffickers seek to exploit. Lasting progress comes from prevention, protection and prosecution working hand in hand.

As Kenya Airways prepares to mark five decades of connecting Africa to the world, our experience reinforces a simple lesson, that aviation’s greatest contribution is not only moving people safely but helping ensure they are never moved into exploitation.

On this World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the aviation industry has an opportunity to redefine its role. By strengthening partnerships, investing in frontline capability and working collaboratively across borders, airlines and airports can become an integral part of the global response to human trafficking.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has backed a decision by the operators of supermarket chain Carrefour to summarily dismiss a former head of its retail store in Kisumu for accepting undisclosed Sh40,000 cash payments from a registered supplier.

The court ruled that Cornelius Bulimo breached the company’s code of ethics by accepting two equal batches of Sh20,000 payments from a supplier, identified in court records as Peter Mbui, creating a conflict of interest while serving as the senior manager at the Kisumu branch.

“The claimant clearly breached the code of ethics in accepting money from the respondent’s supplier. The Code of Ethics provides that an employee must not derive personal benefit from a relationship with an employer,’ the court said as it backed the decision by the Carrefour operator, Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets Limited, to sack Mr Bulimo.

The court dismissed Mr Bulimo’s claim that his termination was unfair but directed the retailer to pay any admitted terminal dues that remained outstanding.

Mr Bulimo joined the retailer in February 2016 as a section manager before rising through several promotions. He became Department Head in 2018, transferred to the Fresh Food Department in January 2021 and was appointed the opening Store Manager for Carrefour Kisumu in June 2021. He was dismissed in March 2022.

He sued the company claiming his dismissal followed a campaign of victimisation after he disagreed with his Area Manager during an earlier disciplinary process involving another employee.

He also alleged discrimination, denial of Covid-19 leave, wrongful suspension, and unfair disciplinary proceedings. He claimed that he was coerced into signing a misleading ‘final warning’ letter backdated and denied his 2021 bonus.

The claimant asked the court to declare that his summary dismissal was unlawful and unfair and to award him more than Sh5 million in compensation, unpaid salary, bonus, overtime, leave, public holiday pay, costs and any other relief the court deemed appropriate.

The retailer denied the allegations, saying investigations established that he had received Sh20,000 on September 1, 2021 and another Sh20,000 on September 30, 2021 from a company that supplied cosmetic products to Carrefour.

It maintained that the transactions breached its code of ethics and amounted to gross misconduct.

The court found that the employer had established a lawful and valid reason for dismissal.

‘The Code of Ethics provides that an employee must not derive personal benefit from a relationship with an employer. There is no other way that can be interpreted of the money the claimant received from Mr. Mbui, Director of Miss Beauty Company Limited, a supplier of Cosmetics to the respondent,” the court said.

It added that Mr Bulimo had worked for the company for several years, understood its ethics policies and “failed to adhere to the same.”

The court noted that Mr Bulimo sought certified M-Pesa records but did not expressly deny receiving the money. The judgment also recorded that the supplier described the payments as being made on a “friendly basis”.

The court said the employment contract required workers to disclose any circumstances capable of creating an undisclosed conflict of interest.

“There is no other way that can be interpreted of the money the claimant received,” the court said, noting Mr Bulimo was simultaneously serving as the retailer’s store manager.

On procedure, the court found the company complied with the Employment Act by issuing notices to show cause, conducting investigations, inviting him to a disciplinary hearing and considering an appeal.

“The respondent complied with the above requirements,” the court ruled before concluding that the company had proved lawful and fair termination.

The court dismissed the suit and directed the retailer to pay any outstanding admitted terminal dues, including prorated salary, accrued leave and eligible public holiday pay, if those amounts had not already been settled.