Author: David Indeje

Business enterprises in Kenya need to shoulder the responsibility of protecting human rights and not to be viewed as an additional burden to them. Speaking at the Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) webinar on Business and Human rights, Mercy Mutemi, a digital rights lawyer of MS law said on a day to day basis, businesses interact with individuals and “Beyond providing a service, businesses have an obligation to advance human rights.” “Businesses should start rethinking about human rights. It is not about corporate social responsibility,” she empasised adding that, “It is a fact, business needs come first, then human rights,…

Rwandan passports will expire June 28, 2021 according to the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration following  adoption of the East African e-passport in June last year. All passports issued before June 27, 2019, will be phased out, and replaced by the Rwanda East African electronic passport. https://twitter.com/Rwandamigration/status/1293840701357199366?s=20 The East African Passport, is an initiative by the East Africa Community signed at the EAC Heads of State summit in December 2016. Among the member states, Kenya was the first country to roll out the new passport in September 2017. Currently, it has extended the deadline to travel on the new second-generation…

Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and the Mastercard Foundation have launched a Ksh 600 million fund that will extend interest-free loans to 400 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The loan facility will be repayable by up to six months. Loans will range in size with an expected average size of Ksh 1 million. The fund is created through support from the Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme. It is targeting businesses that find it difficult to access financing from formal lending institutions such as banks and micro-financers. Priority will be given to businesses…

Equity Bank says it will offer a refund to all its customers on home deliveries if they shop online on the Naivas platform using their visa cards. “The free delivery shall be in the form of a cash-back send directly to the customer’s Naivas e-wallet within 24 hours of the transaction to be used on the next purchase,” Equity says. The offer which runs till the 18th of September 2020 will require Equity Visa cardholders to purchase goods worth KShs 1,000 and above using the Visa service from Naivas online to be eligible for the free delivery service. Get a…

Safaricom staff members in a joint partnership with the telco’s foundation, have donated foodstuff worth over KSh4 million to more than 2,500 needy households across the country. The donation is part of a staff initiative that saw Safaricom employees come together to contribute over KSh2 million to help vulnerable families affected by COVID-19.  The amount raised was then matched by Safaricom Foundation which gave an additional KSh2 million. As part of the donation, more than 1,300 families in Korogocho and another 1,200 households in Kitengela, Thika, Naivasha, Mombasa and Bungoma will receive one month’s supply of foodstuff. Over the last…

KCB Group PLC posted a 40 percent drop in first-half pre-tax profit attributed to the effects of coronavirus pandemic and its impact on its loan-loss provisions. Its after-tax profit dropped to Ksh 7.6 billion while pretax profit declined to  28 percent to Ksh 12.82 billion. “The second quarter was the toughest in our recent history as the pandemic hurt economic activity across markets,” Chief Executive Joshua Oigara said in a statement. https://twitter.com/KCBGroup/status/1293566301361901569?s=20 “We project a continued strain on the business and economy in the remaining part of the year as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves. We will accelerate our support to…