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It is the first time that the retail cost of petroleum products has changed since September 2025. [File, Standard]The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) has denied users of super petrol a bigger reduction in retail prices, holding back the full benefit of the falling cost of petroleum products. It instead used the savings to subsidise pump prices for diesel and kerosene. In reducing the pump prices by between Sh1 and Sh2 on Wednesday, Epra applied a Sh1.59 price stabilisation surplus on a litre of petrol, but also a stabilisation deficit of Sh2.57 per litre of diesel and Sh1.61 per litre of kerosene.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula played a key role in swinging huge votes to the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance. [File, Standard]Several political players close to President William Ruto’s inner circle are feeling the heat as the political cooperation between the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) gains momentum. The Standard has established that anxiety has gripped some of the president’s allies from regions where ODM commands major support, as the possibility of a dramatic shift in the president’s point men begins to hit home.
Kenya secures landmark zero-duty trade deal with ChinaThe government has confirmed that it has secured a preliminary trade agreement with China that will allow 98.2 per cent of its goods to enter the Chinese market duty-free.
[AFP]Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine is under house arrest, a day after elections in which early results showed a commanding lead for President Yoweri Museveni as he seeks to extend his 40-year rule. With around a quarter of votes counted, the Electoral Commission said Museveni was on 76.25 percent to Wine's 19.85. The final results of the presidential and parliamentary elections are due by 0200 GMT on Saturday. Wine, 43, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has emerged as his main opponent in recent years. "Security officers have unlawfully jumped over the perimeter fence and are now erecting tents within his compound," it added.
KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur coach Risto Vidakovic cut a frustrated figure after his side’s 0-1 Super League defeat to Penang, blaming excessive stoppages and time wasting for robbing the match of rhythm and flow at the Cheras Football Stadium on Wednesday night. We didn’t play like we normally do. Penang coach Wan Rohaimi Wan Ismail praised his players’ discipline and resilience after securing a third straight clean sheet. “Kuala Lumpur have quality players, but my team stayed focused and fought together,” he said. The win lifts Penang to seventh on 17 points, while Kuala Lumpur remain third with 29 points from 15 matches.
According to Marketing Mind, Bhushan Kumar led T-Series is India’s highest-grossing production house at the domestic box office. The studio has earned Rs 5,697 crore in India from 117 films over nearly three decades. Its biggest hit so far is Animal, which earned Rs 915 crore worldwide, including Rs 553 crore in India. Even without a four digit blockbuster, T-Series has earned more than both Bollywood and Hollywood backed studios in the country. Yash Raj Films ranks second with Rs 4,925 crore from 76 films, while Dharma Productions is third with Rs 4,569 crore from 62 releases.
Did Willie Geist leave Morning Joe? No, Willie Geist is still on Morning Joe. He remains a co-host on Morning Joe and also leads Sunday Today with Willie Geist . As of January 2026, Willie Geist is still the co-host of Morning Joe. Wrapping upDid Willie Geist leave Morning Joe?
ODM Council of County Coordinating Chairs at a press conference in Nairobi on January 15,2026. [Benard Orwongo,Standard]Grassroots leaders of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) have demanded the immediate convening of a National Delegates Conference (NDC). They warn that failure to regularise party leadership in line with the constitution risks plunging the party into uncertainty ahead of the 2027 General Election. He clarified that as a council, they are not disputing Oburu Oginga as the party leader or any other appointed leaders. In a pointed statement, the grassroots leaders accused external actors, including leaders allied to the ruling UDA party, of interfering in ODM’s internal affairs.
[File, Standard]As pressure mounts on the government to put in check public spending, staff working in Kenya’s independent commissions and constitutional offices say they are paying the price through stagnated wages, low morale and eroding dignity. Kenya Independent Commissions Workers Union (KICOWU) Secretary General Njeru Kanyamba says while teachers are represented by unions such as the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and KSUNET, non-teaching staff in commissions must also be allowed effective representation. But Kanyamba cautioned that no CBA can be initiated or signed without the involvement of unions. Union officials argue that the failure to sign the CBA has created glaring disparities between workers in independent commissions and those in the mainstream public service, many of whom have benefited from recent salary reviews and allowances. “Signing the CBA would send a powerful message that the state respects labour rights and values the people who uphold constitutionalism.
Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi inspects the ruins of his business premises after demolition along Douglas Wakihuri Road, behind Nyayo Stadium, Nairobi, on January 14, 2026. Police barricaded Douglas Wakihuri Road, along which the premises were located, turning away motorists and only allowing access to those seeking to fuel at a nearby station. The demolition of the structures on Kenya Railways land was carried out in the early hours of Tuesday under heavy police supervision, leaving the governor counting significant losses. Kenya Railways, however, insisted that it had issued notice weeks before the exercise. In court, Superclean stated that it had leased the property from Kenya Railways and had been occupying it for two decades.
An ambush by suspected bandits in Lolngunani, Samburu County left one police officer and another person dead after they fired at their lorry in an attack that saw them make away with 17 head of cattle. The owner of the cattle was injured alongside other police officers, the driver and another person who was traveling with them. Police say the suspected bandits numbered more than 30 and were armed with AK47 and M16 rifles. In Mandera County a multi-agency operation saw the arrest of 19 aliens within Mandera town after a rise in terror incidents along the Kenyan border with Somalia. They were arrested during a random check at a hotel in the town and among those arrested was a suspected firearms smuggler from Ethiopia.
Thus, there is an urgent need of fostering leadership and integrity and enhance youth’s livelihoods, among other governance issues, as mirrored in the 10-point agenda. However, some politicians have blatant contempt for the 10-point agenda. The implementation of the 10-point agenda is turning the UDA-ODM MoU into a progressive charter of transformation. The 10-point agenda issues are focused on public interest and founded on the values of good governance. Wearing broader lenses of development governance, we should join hands and transform Kenya by implementing the 10-point agenda.
Reports consistently described it as the most expensive election in Kenya’s history, with both William Ruto and Raila Odinga pouring billions into their campaigns. Presidents recover their campaign billions through political patronage, state influence, and opaque financial networks that blur the line between public service and private gain. In the United States, campaign spending for presidential elections runs into billions of dollars, with corporate donors and lobbyists shaping policy outcomes. The pattern is universal: Politics is business, and business seeks politics. Until then, the arithmetic of campaign billions versus presidential salaries will remain a paradox.
Iran delegation during the 7th Session of the Kenya-Iran Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC) in Nairobi on August 12, 2025. With a population of 85 million and the second-largest economy in the Middle East, Iran is viewed by Kenya as a premium alternative to traditional European markets. While Washington frames its trade preferences as a tool to contain "malign actors," Nairobi views its trade decisions as a matter of economic sovereignty. Iran also has the second largest economy in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia. Iran also has one of the most developed healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors in the Middle East.
