What you should know about IMF facilities
“The Covid-19 shock also worsened the country’s pre-existing fiscal vulnerabilities and even if Kenya’s debt remains sustainable, it is still at high risk of debt distress,” IMF said. Below, an explainer of some of the facilities and terms offered by IMF. Extended Credit Facility: The ECF is the equivalent to the EFF for low-income countries and falls under the PRGT. Unlike other facilities, RCFs and RFIs are provided in one outright loan disbursement, meaning no conventional constitutionality needs to be met during the programme prior to disbursements. Five countries have used the FCL so far (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Poland).
Source:The Star
April 10, 2021 01:52 UTC
Communication key in curbing murder and suicide cases
The rising of murder and suicide cases in our society should be a wakeup call that people need to hold conversations to establish the root cause of the problems they to be able to solve them. When the pandemic broke, the cases shot up. The Covid-19 pandemic could have just pushed people further from their human skins into beasts but that should not be accepted. Communication is key in all aspects of our lives and it is the only way we can be able to understand what the other person is thinking or feeling. That way, those affected will know how to cope with the different emotions and stop the surge in suicide and murder cases.
Source:The Star
April 10, 2021 01:52 UTC
Lenku under siege as clan politics play out
In a recent popularity poll on social media in Kajiado, Meja surprised people after he thrashed many other candidates. Everything that I started was buried alive by the current regime of Lenku. POLITICAL PARTIESWhile Governor Lenku is a Jubilee Party member, he is leaning towards the One Kenya Alliance. All the hopefuls who want to unseat Lenku come from the Odomong’i clan, which might hand Lenku an easy reelection. Kajiado North and Kajiado East constituencies carry the largest number of voters, and 90 per cent are non-Maasai.
Source:The Star
April 10, 2021 01:52 UTC
Kenyans want details on debt-funded projects
That Kenya’s debt has risen astronomically since the current Jubilee administration took over is no secret. In that time the debt has risen from about 1.7 trillion shillings to the current 7.2 trillion shillings which is about 65 per cent of our GDP. Supporters of the Government’s borrowing point at the infrastructure projects that have been funded through debt. Others question the appropriateness of investing debt capital in large infrastructure projects in an economy which is largely micro-enterprise driven. This argument wrongly assumes that large infrastructure projects do not impact the micro economy.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 21:11 UTC
IMF will not save us from our economic mismanagement
While the petition will not amount to much, this particular petition is a powerful indictment of the Government's dismal finance record. For eight years, the Government borrowed a lot of money which was either stolen or invested in over-priced infrastructure. In an ideal world, Jubilee would have invested the borrowed money in ways that boosted economic growth and generated ever increasing revenue (to repay the loans and boost development expenditure). The facility it is providing the Government is meant to signal to international lenders that Kenya is creditworthy. In order to increase the odds of a quick post-COVID recovery, the Government needs to borrow money to sustain recurrent and development expenditures.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 21:11 UTC
Gunshot and poison add to the mystery in killing of Ruto office security man
The arrest had been made at the doorstep of the Deputy President’s office where Kenei had worked for seven-and-a-half years. The questions they had at the time of Kenei’s death still remain unanswered. But when he called to say he was going back to Nairobi, Chesang had no option but to accept. Sometimes when the sun sets, Chesang is taken back to the night the news of his son’s death reached him. He knew of his son’s death through a radio broadcast.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 21:00 UTC
30,000 squatters lose 76,000 SGR pathway land
[Standard]The Environment and Land Court in Nakuru has dealt a blow to 30,000 squatters claiming ownership of 76,000-acre land along Maai Mahiu- Narok road in Naivasha. Justice Dalmas Ohungo dismissed a suit by the squatters against Kedong Ranch Limited, Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC), National Land Commission (NLC) and the Attorney General. Ohungo echoed Munyao’s judgement in his ruling;“I am afraid that the suit land doesn’t form part of Maasai community land. Through Robinson Torome, the group argued that they were born and raised on the suit land. But Christine Cronchey, Kedong Ranch board of director’s chairperson, disowned the squatters saying that they are strangers.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 21:00 UTC
Muslims warned against holding pre-Ramadhan party
[Omondi Onyango, Standard]With Ramadhan just around the corner, clerics are raising concern over an age-old tradition to usher in the holy month that goes against the teachings of Islam. Mfungo has been observed since time immemorial, the timing slotted to coincide with the weekend before the commencement of fasting. According to the Sheikh, Ramadhan is a month of mercy and forgiveness. Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims Coast Branch chairman Muhdhar Khitami also said faithful should make peace with others before turning to Allah for forgiveness in preparing for the holy month. They said that was among the worst possible preparations for the holy month.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 21:00 UTC
Will a cup of tea, flowers resolve spat with Britain?
Travellers from countries on the list are barred from entering the UK unless they are citizens or permanent residents. Despite seemingly having an upper hand in the matter, UK has agreed to talks with Kenya with expectations of a middle ground. There are over 210 British companies based in Kenya valued at over £2.5 billion (Sh370 billion). It is also one of the largest consumers of Kenyan tea as well as fresh produce such as flowers and vegetables. In January this year, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace opened a £70 million (Sh9.8 billion) military training facility for Batuk.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 21:00 UTC
Kenya’s painful surgery picks up where IMF left off
Even as Uhuru shelved plans to slap motorists with 16 per cent VAT, the government introduced other IMF-driven tax measures. In the third review of the 2011 programme, Kenyan authorities promised the global lender to make the excise tax on mobile transactions operational. IMF is back with its painful prescription, which will include primarily that Kenya Revenue Authority collect more taxes. In addition, landlords have not known peace due to an IMF deal that saw the government unveil a 12 per cent tax on gross rental income. The merger of parastatals that has been planned for years was started during the 2011 programme.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 21:00 UTC
Raila receives brief on night talks with DP
Yesterday, Oparanya, also the Kakamega governor, met Raila and briefed him on his Wednesday talks with Ruto. In an interview with The Saturday Standard, Oparanya said he met Raila at 9am at his Karen residence and they held talks that lasted till 2pm. The governor said he met Ruto in a Masai Mara hotel and their talk went late into the night and the following morning. Oparanya said whichever way, the ODM party would be in the next government and they would explore all options. Raila has been under pressure from MPs in his ODM party to sever ties with Uhuru and begin to put his best foot forward ahead of 2022.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 21:00 UTC
Julius Nyerere’s song must not die, let freedom reign
Former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere. “I have a dream, a song to sing,” they sang, “To help me cope with anything. They all embraced a socialist dream. The Tanzanian dream, and Africa with it, was passed on to Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Benjamin Mkapa, Jakaya Kikwete, John Pombe Magufuli and now to Samia Suluhu Hassan. But did Magufuli have a distorted version of the Tanzanian dream?
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 20:37 UTC
Kingi’s efforts to form Coast party hit brick wall in talks
After two-day negotiations, the officials rejected Mr Kingi’s proposal for a merger, insisting that they were only open to talks of forming a coalition. The resolutions were reached after talks between representatives of Kadu Asili, Shirikisho Party of Kenya and Umoja Summit Party of Kenya (USPK). Raila has since advised Kingi to abandon the idea of forming a Coast-based party or coalition of parties and return the Orange party. It emerged yesterday that the Republican Congress Party of Kenya that was associated with Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala, which was represented at the Coast parties’ talks, was dissolved in 2017 to join Jubilee Party but its leaders were just co-opted in the Coast coalition meetings. “We strongly feel the ground in the Coast region is ready for a political coalition.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 19:16 UTC
Lawyer wants Mwilu to leave CJ applicants interview panel
[George Njunge, Standard]Senior Counsel Philip Murgor wants Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu stopped from sitting in the interviewing panel in the search for a new Chief Justice to replace David Maraga. Mwilu is a member of Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and Murgor is one of the candidates. The latter, in a letter to JSC, claims that there might be bias and favouritism towards another candidate, Senior Counsel Fred Ngatia. Murgor also wants Mwilu to disqualify herself over Law Society of Kenya president Nelson Havi, who wrote a memorandum to the JSC opposing his candidature. Other candidates are Court of Appeal President Justice William Ouko, Employment and Labour Relations judges Mathew Nduma Nderi and Njagi Marete, Prof Moni Wekesa and lawyer Alice Jepkoech Yano.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 18:57 UTC
Real Madrid host Barcelona in El Clasico as LaLiga title race hots up
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and Barcelona's Lionel Messi. [Photo: Courtesy]Barcelona travel to Real Madrid today in what is set to be one of the most pivotal El Clasico meetings in recent memory, with both sides fast closing in on stuttering Atletico Madrid at the top of the LaLiga table. “They’ve got a great goalkeeper and of course Messi, the player who does everything for Barcelona. Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi challenges Real Madrid's Brazilian midfielder Casemiro (R) during the Spanish League football match between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on October 24, 2020. [LLUIS GENE / AFP]Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid striker Luis Suarez has been ruled out of action for around three weeks with a muscle injury, handing another blow to the club’s fast fading title bid.
Source:Standard Digital
April 09, 2021 17:02 UTC