Author: Lorine Otamo

The Kenya Revenue Authority board has declined to renew the contract of Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga, placing him on terminal leave and opening a leadership transition at a critical point in the financial year. In a statement dated April 8, 2026, the board confirmed that Lilian Nyawanda, currently Commissioner for Customs and Border Control, will serve as acting Commissioner General while the authority runs a competitive recruitment process for a substantive replacement. The board credited Wattanga with advancing the authority’s mandate and driving organisational restructuring reforms during his tenure. Leadership change arrives mid-revenue push The exit lands as KRA races…

Kenyan families can now secure a funeral cover for as little as KSh 1,000 a year, as Britam Connect and Montezuma Funeral Home launch the Heshima Farewell Plan, a last-expense policy designed to spare grieving families the burden of scrambling for funds at the worst possible moment. The launch arrives at a time when funerals in Kenya have become a serious financial event. In Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, a funeral now regularly costs upwards of KSh 300,000. Even in rural areas, families face mounting bills for transport, mortuary fees, coffins, ceremonies and catering. Research commissioned by the Association of Kenya…

Zenith Bank Plc has completed its acquisition of Paramount Bank Kenya Limited, securing regulatory clearance from authorities in both Kenya and Nigeria. The Central Bank of Kenya confirmed the transaction on April 8, formalising what it described as a deal that would “ensure continued stability, enhance the resilience of the Kenyan banking sector and promote competition.” CBK approved the acquisition on March 9, 2026, under Section 13(4) of the Banking Act, followed by Cabinet Secretary approval from the National Treasury and Economic Planning on March 16, 2026, under Section 9 of the Banking Act. The deal gives Zenith Bank 100…

UNFPA and Britam Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to reduce preventable maternal and newborn deaths in vulnerable communities across Kwale and Nairobi counties. The partnership will scale the Lea Salama Programme, an initiative to expand access to care for pregnant women and newborns in underserved rural areas and urban informal settlements where health inequities are most pronounced. The Scale of the Problem Kenya confronts a stark reality: an estimated 15 mothers and 92 newborns die every day from preventable causes. The national maternal mortality ratio stands at 355 deaths per 100,000 live births. In Kwale County, the figure…

Kenya’s developers, engineers, students, and policy minds packed into Safariccom’s Decode 4.0 conference this week, gathering under a theme that doubled as a declaration: Made of Kenya. Now in its fourth edition, the annual technology festival has grown from an internal engineering showcase into something closer to a national conversation about where Kenya’s digital economy is headed and who gets to build it. A 25-Year Platform, Pointed at 2030 James Maitai the Group Chief Technology and Information Officer (CTIO) at Safaricom PLC opened the morning by connecting Decode to the company’s 25th anniversary, framing the event not as a celebration…

Kenya’s annual inflation rose to 4.4% in March 2026, up from 4.3% in February, as food costs continued to squeeze household budgets, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reported on Tuesday. The Consumer Price Index moved from 149.20 in February to 150.00 in March, translating to a monthly inflation rate of 0.5%, compared with 0.2% the previous month. Prices overall stood 4.4% higher than in March 2025. Food Remains the Biggest Pressure Point Food and non-alcoholic beverages drove the bulk of the increase, rising 7.7% over the year and contributing 2.2 percentage points of the total 4.4%. Transport added 3.8%…