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+{"doc_id": "0172547adce8a1d606c59186d5039643", "text": "Civil servants meet RBZ chief • Call off planned strike • Bonus still coming • Constant pay dates promised\nFelex Share Senior Reporter\nRepresentatives of civil servants on Wednesday met Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya whom they said gave them a “satisfactory” insight on the state of the economy, which made them rule out a premature strike that was being planned.\nMembers of the Apex Council, a body that represents all civil servants in salary negotiations, yesterday said Dr Mangudya assured them that the 2015 bonuses would be paid as promised and pay dates would be constant this new year.\nThis comes as labour lawyers yesterday said the right to strike did not apply to civil servants, adding that Section 65 of Constitution “does not saddle an employer with any legal obligation to pay a striking employee.”\nAlso Read:\nThe experts said civil servants were governed by the Public Service Act.\nGovernment is yet to pay some civil servants after shifting their pay dates from December 29 to next Tuesday.\nThis prompted the unpaid workers, mainly health workers, to threaten a strike beginning today.\nSome members of the uniformed forces were paid before Christmas Day, while teachers got their dues on Tuesday, instead of Monday.\nTeachers Union of Zimbabwe chief executive, Mr Manuel Nyawo, said following their meeting with Dr Mangudya, they had concluded there was no need for a premature industrial action.\n“He (Dr Mangudya) took us through what Government has in its coffers and the reasons for the delays in the payment of salaries,” he said.\n“He assured us that bonuses will be paid and that those owed will get their salaries as announced.”\nCivil Service Commission regulations call for engagement between Government and civil servants and if no solution is found, an independent arbitrator comes into play.\nIf the arbitrator’s decision is disputed by the employees, they can give a 14-day strike notice.\nZimbabwe Teachers Association president, Mr Richard Gundane, said the RBZ chief had created space for dialogue.\n“Dr Mangudya told us that his door was open for us to have an insight of what is going on with them as bankers of Government,” he said.\n“He said it was important that we have an input into the processes that feed into the monetary policy. He said frantic efforts were being made to ensure that commitments are honoured.”\nPublic Service Association president, Mrs Cecelia Alexander, whose constituency is yet to get paid, said the meeting had given the workers an “in-depth understanding of how the economy is performing.”\n“They told us what Government has gone through to make us earn,” she said.\nLabour lawyer, Mr Caleb Mucheche, said while Section 65 (3) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe gave employees a right to strike, that privilege could be limited to maintain essential services.\n“Section 86 of the Constitution contain a limitation clause, which can also restrict the right to strike,” he said.\n“In the case of private sector employees, in terms of Section 104 (1) of the Labour Act, a lawful strike is only permissible to resolve disputes of interest and not disputes of right. Section 3 of the Labour Act provides that the Labour Act does not apply to members of the public service thereby meaning that all restrictions on the right to strike in the Labour Act do not apply to public service employees.”\nSome doctors and nurses yesterday threatened to forge ahead with their plan to embark on an illegal strike.\nSaid Mr Mucheche: “For private sector employees, Section 104 (1) of the Labour Act outlaw a strike in a dispute of right such as this one on nonpayment of salaries. This is not the case with public service employees who directly draw their right to strike from section 65 (3) of the Constitution which makes no distinction between a dispute of right and a dispute of interest when it comes to the right to resort to a collective job action. Under the common law, an employer can lawfully withhold paying employees’ salaries.\n“There is a potential grave risk that employees who embark on a strike may lose remuneration for the duration of their strike. A strike is a double edged sword that will result in the employer having a legal right not to pay such striking employee for the period of the strike. It is ironic to strike for non-payment of a salary and then give the employer a legal right not to pay a salary for the period you are on strike.”\nAnother labour expert, Mr Rodgers Matsikidze said: “Our Constitutions gives one, except the security sector, to strike but because our labour laws are yet to be harmonised, the old provisions of the Labour Act are still applicable. The right to strike is therefore subject to restrictions.\n“Normally, the employers use strike as a bargaining weapon because the more effective the strike, the more gains come but they should also note the ‘No work No pay principle’. The employer is not entitled to pay a person who is on strike whether or not the strike is illegal.”\nHe went on: “The right to strike is part of our law but the dispute of right is supposed to be solved through arbitration or the courts. It is always advisable for social partners to have meetings before the pay day and show each other the finances or bank balances rather than ambushing the workers on the eve of the pay date. This erodes the trust.”\nDr Mangudya was not available for a comment yesterday.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/civil-servants-meet-rbz-chief-%E2%80%A2-call-off-planned-strike-%E2%80%A2-bonus-still-coming-%E2%80%A2-constant-pay-dates-promised/"}
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+{"doc_id": "0213b94013e06693d1ee4052783aac89", "text": "President William Ruto’s first year in office has faced many challenges compared to his predecessors Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, largely because of different leadership styles and structural differences.\nThe President has explained that his government inherited empty coffers as he urged Kenyans to tighten their belts through paying taxes while also causing an uproar after introducing more levies to an overstretched populace in the Finance Act 2023.\nAnalysts say the three presidents have different personalities, Kibaki more professional, astute and direct, Uhuru charming and easy going and irresistible, while Ruto is more aggressive and hands on. A study carried in July showed majority of Kenyans irrespective of their political affiliations perceive the country is headed in the wrong direction.\nThat was a stark contrast to a similar survey done when President Kibaki took power when Kenyans were ranked most optimistic in the world.\nThe main reason given in the omnibus survey done by Tifa Research for the dire outlook, was the ever-increasing cost of living that has created economic hardships for most families.\nPundits and analysts also agree with the report that most of the appointments in Ruto’s government lacked meritocracy because they were based more on loyalty and cronyism.\nProf Gitile Naituli from the School of Management and Development at Multi Media University, says unlike President Kibaki who appointed a Cabinet full of experts in different areas the current administration is loaded with loyalists.\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto to launch UHC on Mashujaa Day\nPolitical analyst Martin Andati also thinks President Ruto and his Kenya Kwanza team should have picked more competent people than going for political allies.\nNominated MP Tabitha Mutemi, a stanch Ruto ally, however defers with the President’s critics, and has argued that the president managed to steady the ship after taking over government when it was in turbulent waters.\nShe has praised the president for successfully launching the hustler fund and kicking off the bottom up economic model as promised, in his first year.\n“He gave farmers subsidised fertiliser among other agricultural support and came up with practical taxation policies, including debt repayment and generally improving the economic well-being of people,” Mutemi told The Standard last month.\nOther pro-Ruto supporters claim he has done much in the education sector where reforms recommended by the Rapahel Munavu-led taskforce released recently are being implemented.\nThey point at the hiring of 50,000 teachers, return of the Junior Secondary School classes to the primary section and implementation of the Competence Based Curriculum as major milestones.\nBut disillusioned critics appear to be the majority and they all think President Ruto has not achieved much compared to President Kibaki or even Uhuru’s administration.\nSome Kenyans interviewed on TV this week as the President marks one year in office, also said they are not happy with the new school fees format for university students and the delayed disbursement of funds.\nOthers like opposition leader Raila Odinga argue that the president should support devolution more through increasing allocation from 15 to 35 per cent. They also said Ruto should stop visiting counties to open already completed projects.\nOther pundits blame the president for getting diverted by noise from the opposition instead of keeping the eye on the ball and delivering on the Kenya Kwanza campaign promises.\n“You don’t have to listen to everything the opposition says, because doing that shows the President has not moved from the campaign mode,” says Andati.\nHe advices the president to borrow from President Kibaki, who ignored Raila’s bickering over the MoU he claimed was not honoured by the Narc government and remained focused on delivering free primary education and infrastructure projects.\nKibaki also pioneered distribution of free fertiliser whose launch was graced the current president in Eldoret in 2009.\nAgriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has told Kenyans that because of President Ruto’s interventions in providing subsidy for farm inputs, the country will harvest over 60 million bags.\n“The government has put in money to subsidise production against consumption and so we are expecting to harvest between 45 and 60 million but the country could hit above 60 million when we combine produce from the short and long rains seasons,” said Linturi.\nShould that happen, the country will have surpassed its past limits of slightly over 40 million bags of maize harvested when the conditions were most ideal and farm inputs were also affordable.\nProf Naituli however argues that subsidising farmers does not necessarily mean subsidising production as advocated by Linturi and the Kenya Kwanza government.\nHe says it is not automatic the so-called subsidised produce will meet the targets or create a surplus as imagined by those in power because of many other production factors.\n“It is true prices of maize will always go down during harvesting but the cycle continues after that and prices will again definitely increase by January going forward as has been the case over many years in the past,” says Naituli.\nIt is also unlikely that prices will dramatically fall in major cities like Nairobi because of other factors like the high cost of fuel and electricity which makes transportation and milling of the corn expensive.\nHis advice is that the President should have stuck to his guns of refusing to subsidise anything and instead wage a war against all cartels in the agricultural inputs sector.\nCorruption networks in the inputs sector were also rampant during President Kibaki and Uhuru’s time when police arrested many people repackaging fertiliser distributed by the National Cereals and Produce Board.\nThe analysts however say during Kibaki’s time there were lesser imports of goods because he emphasized on local manufacturing, unlike today when nearly everything is coming from China and other places.\nSpeaking to The Standard recently, Narc chairperson Charity Ngilu pointed out that manufacturing has died because of cheap imports leading to the collapse of many factories.\n“Do you see any smoke in industrial area these days?” Asked Ngilu adding that the chimneys stopped emitting due to unfair competition from cheap and untaxed imports.\n“Most of those factories were turned in go-downs now used to store the cheap imports. That is the problem Azimio wanted to address in its manifesto,” said Ngilu in an interview.\nProf Naituli says Kibaki did well because he knew bringing imports amounts to exporting labour and so it is the foreign manufacturers who create employment in their countries.\nPresident Ruto said last year Kenya was not going to subsidise fuel again and would instead engage in country to country purchasing of oil products in local currency instead of US dollars.\nKenya Kwanza politicians claimed the fuel subsidy introduced by Uhuru’s Jubilee administration was for the benefit of petrol stations owned by politicians.\nThe government has however gone back to the same old practice after silently abandoning the much touted government to government contracts that promised a lot but delivered little.\nIn June, ODM’s John Mbadi said figures at the time indicated the current government engaged in heavy borrowing immediately after taking power despite claiming that it would stop going for loans.\n“When Ruto came into power, Kenya’s debt stock was Sh8.7 trillion on September 30, 2022, and Sh9.39 trillion on March 31, 2023, a difference of Sh689 billion.\n“When Uhuru was in power, the debt stock as of September 2021 was Sh7.99 trillion, and as of March 31, the stock was Sh8.4trillion, with a difference of Sh405 billion. Who is borrowing more?” asked Mbadi in June.\nSo how does the Kibaki administrations compare with Ruto’s in their first year performance?\nProf Naituli thinks the proposed increment of salaries for low cadre civil servants by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission will not help in reducing inflation.\nHe says unlike Kibaki who maintained public servant salaries at the same rate because of controlled inflation the cost of living is currently getting out reach for ordinary Kenyans.\n“Increasing salary is useless when inflation shoots up at an alarming rate because the money will not be adequate for even the very basic of necessities,” he says.\nCentre for Multi-Party Democracy (CMD) Executive Director Franklin Mukwanja has also described Ruto’s handling of politics as one driven by realities of the 2010 Constitution.\nWhile Kibaki wasn’t seen to have interfered with other political parties by poaching MPs to support his agenda, Mukwanja thinks it could also be because he served when there was no clear separation of powers.\n“We have since 2013 seen that the Uhuru and Ruto styles of leadership is to capture the legislature and that possibly is because of the increased powers of that arm of government,” says Mukwanja.\nAlthough President Ruto’s critics think he should have ignored the politics mounted by Azimio leaders, others argue that he can only do so at his own peril.\nThey say President Kibaki paid dearly in 2007 after allowing Raila to create a hostile environment against his government for four years, making his re-election a herculean task.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001481347/rutos-scorecard-as-compared-to-kibaki-uhuru-a-year-into-the-job"}
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+{"doc_id": "0749bc2b9b233b63a6d4b1b3ec2c9a0d", "text": "New plans by the State to regulate destination charges afresh will be damaging to the Kenyan economy, the Kenya Ships Agents Association (KSAA) has said.\nIn a letter to Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and his Maritime Affairs counterpart Salim Mvurya dated October 30 this year, KSAA said over-regulation will discourage investments since it will make Mombasa Port less competitive\nKSAA CEO Juma Tellah said highly regulated destination charges will lead to an increase in freight rates which will make the port more expensive to use.\n“Freight rates are collected internationally and therefore increasing them will not benefit the Kenyan economy. At present, destination charges are paid to companies incorporated in Kenya that pay Kenyan taxes and employ Kenyan people,” said Mr Tellah.\nHe argued that if the destination charge component is paid abroad, instead of how it is currently done with local currency, it will worsen the exchange rate.\nKSAA has now proposed that the government commissions an independent international consultancy to compare the competitiveness of Mombasa Port and other ports.\n“If there is price control in the shipping industry, there is fear it will spread to other industries,” Tellah opined.\nKSAA has proposed that shipping lines continue to keep money in Kenya rather than paying increased freight rates outside the country.\n“Since shipping lines will need to cover their costs and to pay agents to provide a service, they will need to increase freight,” he noted.\nTellah noted that shipping line charges are only one component of the supply chain. He added that factors such as distance and time to destination, inland road transport fees, customs clearance procedures, border controls as well as port efficiency affect Mombasa Port competitiveness.\n“Shipping lines contribute to the Kenyan economy and should be supported. The shipping industry is a major employer in Kenya,” he said.\nHe maintained that the objective of the shipping lines is to improve efficiency which reduces the cost to the end user - that is the Kenyan importer and exporter.\nTellah observed that when ships are delayed at the port, they can be charged between $30,000 (Sh4.2 million) and $100,000 (Sh14 million) a day in operating fees.\nKSAA opposed the ongoing push by the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa) to reduce shipping line service charges.\nKifwa has accused the shipping lines of collecting many charges at the port of Mombasa, therefore reducing the competitiveness of the facility.\nKifwa national chairman Roy Mwanthi said the charges included equipment management fee, ex-border charge, late documentation charge per the bill of lading, container clearing charge, and logistics fees.\nAccording to Mr Mwanthi, the charges amount to an additional $500 (about Sh70,000) per consignment and contribute to the high costs of doing business at the port.\nMwanthi recently petitioned Mr Murkomen and Mr Mvurya to address the high cost of doing business at the port following the increase in shipping charges.\n“In the last three years, shipping lines have been introducing additional charges that have increased the cost of doing business at Mombasa port thus lowering the stature of our port, especially for the transit market that has migrated to the Port of Dar es Salaam,” Mwanthi wrote.\nHe noted that the Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation (Tasac), which is the equivalent of Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA), stopped the introduction of any further charges by shipping lines.\nAccording to Mwanthi, sometimes shipping lines demand up to $30,000 (Sh4.2 million) as replacement value for transit containers to DR Congo and South Sudan.\nHe said the shipping lines have also been demanding between $10,000 (Sh1.4 million) and $20,000 (Sh2.8 million) from clearing companies as a deposit for the container revolving fund.\nKSAA has countered Kifwa’s sentiments by arguing that the push comes at a time Kifwa is trying to introduce a tariff that will lead to increased fees for Kenyan importers and exporters. KSAA said that the move behind this is to increase their own profits rather than to benefit the Kenyan economy.\nThis is in reference to a recent announcement by Kifwa that clearing costs will go up by December 1 this year to cushion agents against inflation.\nMwanthi had said that goods handled by air, sea, or land will attract a minimum of Sh5,000 for either 20 or 40-foot container, adding that some unscrupulous clearing agents were under-cutting, charging as low as Sh3,000.\nA 20-foot container will cost a minimum of Sh15,000, while a 40-foot container will attract a minimum charge of Sh25,000 or 1.5 per cent of the total cost, insurance, and freight (CIF).\nClearing and forwarding agents will introduce fees of $100 (Sh14,987.99) for 20-feet containers and $150 (Sh22,481.99) for 40-feet containers for export goods.\nTransit charges will be as follows: $100 (Sh14,987.99) for 20-foot containers and $200 (Sh29,975.39) for 40-foot containers.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/shipping-logistics/article/2001484523/punitive-destination-charges-will-kill-industry-shippers-warn"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4e9fe389be21a80ddb27802023e6a8eb1593115d
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+{"doc_id": "07e6968fa47d7dce430658869ad30099", "text": "The success of the private equity (PE) fund model is based mainly on the fund managers’ ability to spot and acquire businesses that provide real solutions to felt society’s needs and problems.\nWhere the company has developed superior solutions to these needs and has demonstrated a track record of consistently solving them, the company becomes a desirable target for the fund.\nThe PE manager will identify and package a proposition to the founders or promoters of the target company to bring on board missing ingredients through long-term capital, management support and such value-creation additives to significantly grow the target before an eventual sales or exit of the PE fund.\nMost PE funds are not actively involved in running their investee companies, and support is usually through board representation and technical assistance. Therefore, the PE fund relies heavily on existing management to deliver on the envisaged growth targets.\nStill, in some cases, PE will hire and incentivise a new team that can achieve the ambitious goals of growing value rapidly before exiting the company. A problem arises where the investee company, usually an owner-managed entity, has a key man risk.\nThis risk is the possible loss of value in a situation where a founder, a CEO or a staff member is so crucial to the company that their exit would spell doom to its continued success or existence. Identifying and mitigating these risks at the initial stages of a business acquisition is possible, but this is one risk that the PE funds tend to overlook or underestimate.\nIn the excitement of closing a deal, parties need to be more critical of the company’s history and how entrenched the founders are in the fabric of the entity. Sometimes, it is almost impossible to separate the company from the founder, and parties only fully grasp the extent of dependency on the founder or critical staff once it is too late.\nSuppliers, customers, key staff, and bankers could have had unwritten loyalty to the founders, and the company may not be the same without these key individuals.\nThis risk is crucial to a PE fund whose end goal is a successful exit to another fund, preferably a larger one, to help grow the business to even greater heights. Key man risk can negatively affect the valuation of the business where the business is too dependent on key persons. It is analogous to acquiring assets that check in the morning and walking away at the close of the day.\nSmall professional practices, sole proprietorships, and boutique firms are typical examples of high key man risks where the firm’s services cannot be effectively separated from the founder. Such firms also bear the names of the founders or their families.\nThe funders are usually the spokespersons and the public face of the business. To reduce this risk, the founder must deliberately open the business, let other people be associated with the firm and lessen any perception that the business cannot survive or thrive without the founder. This deliberate effort takes time but is necessary if the business is to become an attractive PE candidate.\nEffective mitigation starts with identifying the presence of key man risk and the specific persons in the business and assessing the extent of the dependency on the person or persons. Immediate mitigation to risk includes open and honest negotiation with the key person to stay post-acquisition in exchange for equity options that vest over time, thus encouraging a more extended stay.\nThis solution can be combined with performance-based pay and bonuses to align long-term interests. Secondly, conscious succession planning, leadership training, and development programs for potential successors to the key person are crucial mitigations.\nThirdly, proper documentation of processes and procedures can also eliminate dependence on key individuals and reduce the chaos witnessed when vital and sensitive information and knowledge is carried in the heads of key individuals.\nIn addition, the company could take out a key-man insurance cover to compensate the PE fund if the loss crystallises through the unexpected exit or demise of the key man. Identifying the risk should be a continuous exercise as the risk can emerge at any stage in the business’s life.\nThe writer is the Investment Manager at TransCentury", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486680/managing-the-key-man-risk-in-private-equity-transactions"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b328ee72bdce1a8293b06cfadeebf75d49771e6e
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+{"doc_id": "0a258218349040f50efd79336bece328", "text": "Azimio leader Raila Odinga yesterday opened a legal battle with the Kenya Kwanza administration over political party funds.\nRaila, through the ODM party, asked the High Court to suspend the implementation of the supplementary budget following a Sh1.2 billion cut of the political party entitlement.\nLawyer Jackson Awele argued that the allocation in the supplementary budget was below the Sh6 billion allocated to political parties during the 2023-2024 financial year.\nAccording to the lawyer, a total of Sh1.2 billion is missing from the allocation in the supplementary budget.\nAwele claimed that the Kenya Kwanza regime intends to cripple multi-party democracy by starving main opposition parties of funds.\n“There is plausible cause to believe that the respondents’ actions are a well calculated, deliberate, surreptitious collateral attack on multi-party democracy; the fundamental pillar under-girding the Republican, sovereign democratic state that the Constitution declares Kenya to be,” he said.\nIn 2019 Court of Appeal ordered the government to allocate at least 0.3 per cent of the national budget to political parties.\nEach party gets funds according to the number of MPs it has in Parliament.\nAwele said that on November 23, President William Ruto assented into law the Supplementary Appropriation Act (no 3), 2023, paving way for the use of the funds allocated.\nHowever, the government allegedly amended the law and slashed the amount.\nThe Orange party argued that the Registrar of Political Parties confirmed that the reductions violate the law.\nODM wants the court to freeze the implementation of the supplementary budget.\nIn the alternative, it wants the court to order the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndungú to release the full entitlement.\n“The net effect of these reductions is that the petitioner or applicant, a political party with grassroots offices, several employees, member programmes and work plans across the country has, without notice and in violation of its legitimate expectations in law been deprived of over Sh1.2 billion of much-needed funds thereby gravely compromising its ability to effectively discharge its mandate and or run its programmes,” stated Awele.\nThe lawyer said that a cursory review of the law signed by President Ruto shows the list of the offices or persons consulted and excluded political parties and members of the public.\nThe lawyer argued that public participation was a cosmetic public relations exercise designed to create the facade of compliance.\n“Taken together with the colossal adverse variation to the appropriated funds to the political party’s fund, all qualifying political parties and their members and members of the public at large needed to be given a meaningful opportunity to appreciate and comment on the same,” he said.\nODM Executive Director Oduor Ong’wen said that opposition parties will bear the greatest brunt and there is real danger of Kenya relapsing to autocracy or monocracy.\n“The petitioner pleads that in passing the impugned Act, the National Assembly and the President failed in their mandate under Articles 10, 93, 94 and 139 to respect, uphold and defend the Constitution and in particular to promote and defend the edict of multipartyism and the rule of law,” said Ong’wen.\nODM is also asking the court to find that the National Assembly cannot adversely vary already appropriated funds through a supplementary appropriations law.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001486765/raila-ruto-lock-horns-over-sh6-billion-political-partys-fund"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..19a5516a77cd55e01be22a79afffe8c0ccf25116
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+{"doc_id": "0ab0966e71a6bf13b050b479ec9288f1", "text": "What you need to know:\n- The signs have been on the wall. At the local government elections of 2021, ANC’s support fell below 50 percent of the total vote.\n- In a recent study, only 39 percent of likely voters said they were willing to give the ANC another chance.\n- Expected to grow to around the mid-teens, perhaps 15 to 16 percent, in the next elections, Malema’s EFF gives a much-weakened ANC a singular possible ally that could save it from being tossed aside after decades in power, as has happened to so many African liberation movements elsewhere.\nSouth Africa’s political scene is expected to heat up these coming weeks ahead of the polls that could determine the fate of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).\nIn fact, the heat started months earlier. Late last year, 11 parties opposed to the 30-year rule of the African National Congress (ANC) agreed that they would combine their collective support in the forthcoming national elections to oust the ‘party of Nelson Mandela’.\nWith the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) playing a leading role, the Multi-Party Charter (MPC) was formed as an expedient between parties, which often disagree on policy. This time, they all said it was ‘essential’ for the rectification of South Africa’s much-damaged economy – the singular agreed objective of this voting coalition being the removal of the ANC from power.\nSince historic highs of support through the 1990s and into the first decade of this century at over two-thirds of the vote, the ANC initially retained national and provincial hegemony, controlling all major levers of power and all nine provinces. But it has suffered corruption scandals and become gradually detached from the masses’ needs.\nThe signs have been on the wall. At the local government elections of 2021, ANC’s support fell below 50 percent of the total vote. Now the question is which of the opposition movements will provide a new political home for the disenchanted voters.\nThe formation of the Multi-Party Charter has changed that calculus, according to a new poll.\nIn a recent study, David Everatt, Professor of Urban Governance at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, found that of likely voters, only 39 percent said they were willing to give the ANC another chance.\nMore worrying for President Cyril Ramaphosa and his ANC colleagues is that of the 9,000 statistically-selected likely voters, 38 percent said they would support the new MPC.\nUsually held around end of April, to coincide with the historic 1994 poll in which people of all races were allowed to vote for the first time in this country, the provincial and national polls could be delayed as late as the end of August, depending on President Ramaphosa’s decision.\nThat delays may give more time for the ANC to show some progress against historically high unemployment levels, pervasive poverty, persistent power outages which have now become part of life, and improved ‘service delivery’, as well as meaningful action against corruption – all sore points for many South Africans.\nBut a delay in the polling date by a few months is unlikely to resolve the long-standing issues over which the ANC has had the power to take action, but which have only become worse with time, rather than better.\nLast year, for example, in a bid to bring economically damaging daily power outages to an end, Ramaphosa appointed an electricity minister whose role was to ensure power flowing reliably again. Those outages have continued, albeit at a slightly reduced rate.\nANC, however, may have a way out. That is if it swallows the pride into some convenient coalition with the hard left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) led by firebrand Julius Malema.\nFormed as a breakaway from the ANC in 2013, the EFF showed some initial rapid gains, reaching 10.3 percent support in the 2021 local government elections, and is expected to grow to around the mid-teens, perhaps 15 to 16 percent, in the next elections.\nThis gives a much-weakened ANC a singular possible ally that could save it from being tossed aside after decades in power, as has happened to so many African liberation movements elsewhere.\nBut being the ‘king-maker’, a role the EFF has played previously in several cities and towns, will come at a high price for the ANC and is very unlikely to last long.\nFor one thing, the policies of the ANC and the EFF are fundamentally different, the ANC oscillating, issue-dependent, between ‘soft socialist’ policies on public health and other key services to citizens, and a more hardline stance of promoting by law those previously the victims of race-based oppression under apartheid.\nThe EFF, meanwhile, is overtly ‘Marxist-Leninist’, of the hardest kind.\nMalema previously told the Nation, in one of his most in-depth interview of his political career, that “when the EFF comes to power, not if it does”, it will nationalise nearly everything.\nThis includes the Reserve Bank and all other commercial banks, all commercial farms, all or nearly all businesses especially major sectoral players, all mines and mining, and probably much private property, to be owned collectively by the state, or in the case of farms and residential properties seized, to be distributed by the state to those who have nothing.\nMalema is an admirer of Zimbabwe’s deceased former “revolutionary leader” Robert Mugabe and his ‘land grab’ of the early 2000s which led to the collapse of the Zimbabwe economy, a disaster from which that country has not yet begun to recover.\nIn South Africa, he told the Nation, that picture would not be repeated, but even if it was, to some degree, that would still be better than the current situation where the negative heritage for the majority – after three centuries of colonialism and nearly five decades of highly-focused racist oppression – had yet to be substantively undone.\nAsked if he and the EFF would work with the ANC, Malema said that his party would “work with anyone”, to get the country to where he wanted it. EFF wants a fully Marxist state wherein the state itself runs and owns, in effect, everything.\nA compact between the ANC and the EFF, as may seem a possibility – has been tried and failed repeatedly before at metro and local government levels. Their relations, in fact, could strain, not improve in this election, some observers argue.\nThis opinion poll is only an indicator of what might be going on in the potential electorate, as admitted by the authors of the Wits poll showing ANC support sliding below even the 40 percent level.\nThe pollster says it conducted the study rigorously and participants were questioned in their own home language: South Africa having 11 spoken languages and international sign language recognised officially.\nThis means that the interviewers could delve into nuances and subtleties usually lost in generic pollster questions.\nWhat they found was highly unexpected and running against perceive trends, as shown by ongoing citizen protests over poor or non-existent services supposed to be delivered by government at various levels. Those included electricity supply and fresh water, through sewage and waste removal, policing in high crime areas and many other co-travelling issues.\nRather than the expected boycott to protest bad service, it appears that citizens have been galvanised by a real alternative to voting for a party which they perceive to be ‘the least bad’, and rather for a loose coalition which broadly represents what they want to see from their government.\nMany of those surveyed had not previously heard of the new anti-ANC coalition of parties, the MPC – but even among these people, there was a high level of interest in this new feature of the political playing field.\nAnd a previously ‘open’ question, whether the EFF would join with the other parties opposing the ANC, has been ruled out with Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen saying there was “no possibility” of the EFF joining the anti-ANC grouping. That is because the EFF’s seven-pillar policy platform was fundamentally at odds with those of the 11 participating parties, he argued.\nANC’s own survey from earlier last year showed that it might expect 48 percent support at the polls. It may be driven by circumstance to rely for its retention of power on the EFF – one of its harshest critics.\nHow such a volatile coalition, as may be formed by a weakened ANC and a rampant EFF, might work remains to be seen.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/africa/news/south-africa-s-anc-faces-a-nightmare-possibility-a-coalition-with-julius-malema-s-eff-4517806"}
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+{"doc_id": "0ace12ffbc9b0434ea0ed94847226d01", "text": "President William Ruto's 10 months in office have been full of upheavals: An opposition rejecting to recognize him as president. Chaotic anti-government demonstrations. Banditry in the north. An economy in bad shape. A predecessor is sympathetic to the opposition's cause.\nIt was a trial by fire. Ruto took the helm of a country mismanaged for so long that upon his arrival, warning lights were blinking red.\nThe debt crisis was so severe that he had to temporarily postpone some civil servants' salaries. The shilling was (and still is) losing ground to the dollar. The cost-of-living crisis -- now exacerbated by new tax measures that walloped employees' basic salary and imposed a 1.5 percent housing tax and raised fuel's value added tax to 16 per cent, up from 8 per cent -- showed little signs of abating.\nPresident Ruto's initial efforts to clean up his predecessor's mess was as hard a task as that of Hercules, the man who after 30 years cleaned King Augeas's stables. For example, there is fear that individuals may have indeed pocketed more than Sh4 trillion of the country's Sh9.39 trillion debt (as of March this year). In such a condition, you would expect opposition leader Raila Odinga to be rubbing his hands in glee, as the man he refused to accept his election victory or recognize his presidency ran into problems right out of the gate. The new corruption scandals that have hit Ruto's nascent government should have added to Raila's schadenfreude.\nBut, Raila is neither overjoyed, nor is he nearer to his goal of delegitimizing Ruto's rule. Worse, President Ruto, who so far hasn't buckled under the weight of the country's myriad crises, is plowing ahead with his agenda, The Plan. Why is Raila, even after going as far as threatening to split the country in two, so unsuccessful to have his way and Ruto still so lucky to stand his ground and possibly set to win?\nThe answer could lie in the difference between Ruto's survival strategy that combined both offensive and defensive strategies and Raila's reactive tactics that garnered more media coverage, but did little to compel Ruto to share power as the last two former presidents did. After months of Raila-led protestations, Ruto isn't only standing, he has a real chance of once again outsmarting the opposition, even as problems pile up nationally. Into his first year now, Ruto still has four more years on his side to correct things.\nAlready, there's a sense of relief, if shaky, in Ruto's camp that the best is yet to come.In recent months, Ruto has been more relaxed in his public appearances, particularly more confident than he was a couple of months ago when he wore an angular look and pinched face. He recently admitted that he had gone back into the gym after two years of rigorous election campaigns disrupted his timetable.\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto to launch UHC on Mashujaa Day\nNew allies\nPolitically, Ruto is winning new allies, as many opposition members have decamped to his side. Internationally, he's made waves with his anti-imperial, pan-African speeches, the latest being his Friday address on climate change and financing at the Champs de Mars, Paris, France that was interrupted by a sustained eruption of applause from his audience before he could even finish his greetings.\nAt least to his supporters, the scathing lead stories in national newspapers and on TV stations are good omens that Ruto is trying to reform a system that has been badly broken by his predecessor and made worse by outside forces, such as the war in Ukraine that triggered global food crisis. There's some truth to this argument. The rising cost-of-living pain, for instance, is not limited to Kenya.\nIn the UK, prices are rising so high that the government has recently broached food price caps. In France, protesters, who have adopted Azimio supporters' tactics and put saucepans on their heads, have for months been marching through Paris's streets to express their opposition to the government's plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. In the US, the Biden administration has narrowly survived a devastating default after the opposition, the Republican Party, frustrated the White House's bid to raise the country's debt ceiling.\nThis turbulent world is making little of Raila's threats for mass actions, a stark contrast to the days when world affairs were relatively calm and Raila's protests captivated the world and hit international headlines. To Ruto's supporters, the new government's reform agenda is being stymied by vested interests, whose concerns are mainly dictated by selfish pursuits and personal vendetta than by the betterment of a lot of Kenyans. In fact, a victory for Raila would have meant more influence for the officials of the former administration and a cover-up for their misdeeds.\nPresident Ruto came to office cognizant that his biggest challenge to his rule will come from former friends turned foes, his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila, the opposition leader known for nagging those who beat him in elections. To minimize their threats, he courted as many opposition politicians - both elected and unelected - from every corner of the country.\nAnti-Ruto opposition\nThat strategy paid off in a big way, as the president's party now enjoys a decent majority in Parliament, calling into question the survival of the anti-Ruto opposition, already an amalgam of over two dozen parties, whose raison d'etre largely dissipated after the election loss.\nThe campaign to delegitimize Ruto's rule, which is running on fumes now, was - right from the off - a mare's nest. The reactive strategy was a set of confused actions, whose effectiveness was vitiated by a lack of well-articulated end game, inconsistency and poor timing and planning. Raila's anti-Ruto agenda, it seems, is being determined by the daily policies of the Ruto administration. For the last 10 months, Raila has been reacting to one crisis after another: The August election loss, the attack on Kenyatta family's farm, the cannibalization of the opposition, the Mungiki, and now the Finance Bill.\nAll but two of them found their way into the ever-changing demands of Raila's irreducible minimums, raising questions about Raila's real strategy, if any, in confronting the ever more live wire Ruto. With no clarity on the end game of his anti-Ruto crusade, Raila's agitation now seems to have fallen into some sort of a trap that the new administration would be very much happy to see him entangle in day in, day out. Better clarity would have been good for Raila's political capital, messaging and retention of the goodwill of his supporters. He could barely afford to fritter away his precious time on chasing his tail, when the opposition is already hemorrhaging as a result of the no real war, no real peace state of affairs.\nAs stressful as Raila's activism is for the new administration, Ruto is muddling through. To Ruto's relief, the current war of attrition between him and Raila is likely to further weaken Raila politically more than it would hurt Ruto, an incumbent with the levers of power. Raila's rejection of Ruto's legitimacy has already become an old story, as it was overtaken by reality. Kenyans and the international community have accepted Ruto's presidency.\nRaila's early missteps have helped solidify Ruto's rule. He almost disappeared from the national arena for months. The shock victory was so devastating that it appeared to have beaten the hell out of Raila.\nAccepted loss\nAt one time, many Kenyans assumed that Raila had accepted his loss after the country's Supreme Court rejected the soundness of his petition calling for the annulment of Ruto's victory.\nDuring the lull, Ruto - far from being heady with victory - worked his guts out, seducing opposition members to ward off any potential onslaught from Raila and his allies. He succeeded in eating into the support base of the opposition, persuading its lawmakers to close ranks with his ruling coalition, Kenya Kwanza. When on December 7, Raila reappeared to hold his first public engagement with his supporters, it was a flop of sorts, as he only attracted hundreds of people, far lower than the tens of thousands he used to pull in the past on short notice (six months later, Raila is threatening to return to the same venue, Kamukunji Grounds, for the same reason, public consultations).\nEven when the opposition's anti-Ruto strategy picked up momentum months after elections, Azimo's message was incoherent and hardly resonated with the public. It had no wide support even in areas where some of the opposition leaders hail from. Worse still, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, the chairman of Azimio, initially steered clear of publicly throwing his support behind his party's agitation at the right time. And when he eventually did, he did it just because Ruto-allied officials had seized control of his Jubilee's leadership.\nWhile it's too early to give a conclusive appraisal of the Ruto-Raila battle in less than a year, the odds are Raila will - if he continues his anti-Ruto crusade - likely be weakened further, as the head of state is unlikely to take the opposition leader lying down.\nRuto has already made inroads into some constituent parties of the Azimio coalition, and if pushed to the wall, he could be unsparing and make quick work of Raila's ODM, as he did to Jubilee, and by 2027 there could be no more ODM to talk about. Just a few months ago, Ruto quipped that Raila may not even get agents to look after his votes in the next election.\nRuto's success can't only be attributed to pure luck. He was indeed super-proactive - and that is why a lot seems to be going on for him now, to the annoyance of the opposition group, Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition Party. Ruto has, for instance, restructured the security sector and, in the process, headed off any threat of a mutiny or coup by any disgruntled officers or members of the former administration, a fear that was first expressed by one of Ruto's aides earlier this year.\n'Destabilising the government'\nLast February, Denis Itumbi, an aide to Ruto and Deputy Cabinet Secretary nominee, tweeted that there was a meeting by former government officials, whose agenda was to sponsor 'distraction and general destabilisation of government'. The attendees, he wrote, agreed to raise Sh15 billion to sponsor opposition rallies \"to spur resistance over payment of tax, ensure the cost of living remains high and activate phase two of protests, which is expected to lead to a citizen revolution.\"\n\"Pay generous stipends to Government officials in strategic positions so as to undermine (Ruto's) government programmes and frustrate the new plans,\" read part of Itumbi's revelation.\nRaila can't be blamed for the improving fortunes of Ruto, or for not trying. He did his best under the circumstances. He went hammer and tongs at Ruto, declaring his government illegitimate and saying that he will not recognize him as the country's president. He bounced back fairly quickly from the depths of despair that he had sunk into after the election loss and managed to bring tens of thousands of people onto the streets in Nairobi, Kisumu and several towns in the western region, demonstrations that eventually compelled Ruto to propose the bipartisan talks (now-faltering) to open discussions on the reconstitution of the electoral body.\nBut Raila - now at 78 - has less stamina and tenacity to continue headlining energy-sapping protests that have so far done more harm to ordinary citizens, businesses and the image of the country than force Ruto to yield any meaningful ground to the opposition. Much as he would have liked to unseat Ruto, Raila hardly wants to risk the possibility of pushing the country over the cliff, as he did in 2007, nor does he desire to have a date with the International Criminal Court prosecutor for causing bloodbath in the country. Raila, whose contribution to the citizens' fight for multi-party democracy is still well respected nationally, doesn't seem to want to live with the ignominy of becoming the man who destabilized the country he sacrificed so much for.\nIf Raila Amolo Odinga had a fair chance of becoming Kenya's president in August, he now knows that he has almost zero chance of toppling Ruto, even if his opposition to the current administration stretches into the next election. His intransigence and rejection of Ruto's presidency could only drive him away from the more urgent task on hand: Reorganizing the opposition and then keeping it united until the next election. That realistic calculation may have influenced Raila's decision to de-escalate the tension and accept Ruto's outreach last April. Any hope by Raila supporters that their hero will go all-in was further dashed after a neighbour, Sudan, exploded into street battles in its capital, Khartoum, after two rival generals failed to resolve their differences amicably.\nSuch a cautious approach is a win for President Ruto. The on-off bipartisan talks will likely drag on for some time and buy Ruto more time to further reinforce his authority before the August harvest hits markets to ease the country's cost-of-living crisis, something that will help chip away at one of Raila's potent items in his laundry list of demands.\nIn fact, the Raila crisis has served President Ruto pretty well. The new head of state has needed a peg on which to hang his early blunders. Now, he's handily blaming the economic mess he's grappling with on Raila's ties with the former government, popularly referred to as the \"handshake regime.\" Ruto's allies have gone further and demonized the former president, accusing him of financing destructive riots that threatened to destabilize the country. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has recently accused Uhuru, of \"setting young people, innocent young people, against security apparatus,\" in reference to the alleged resurgence of the proscribed Mungiki sect.\nRaila's agitation has also helped Ruto in another way: Many Kenyans saw the president's purging of Uhuru allies from the government as a justifiable surgery. Ruto - that line of thinking goes - is in a fight with individuals who wanted him toppled. The lack of an international support for the opposition's efforts to delegitimize Ruto has angered Raila and his allies, who accused an unnamed foreign country of being behind Ruto's victory.\n\"We believe that this election was stolen, was rigged by UDA (United Democratic Alliance), by the IEBC in cahoots with some international interest that I don't want to name (it) here today. We believe that very strongly and we have evidence for that,\" Azimio spokesperson Prof. Makau Mutua, told Citizen's JKL show.\nIn a changing world, where African countries are caught in the ideological and economic war between the West and the East, particularly China and Russia, Ruto's ascent has pushed Kenya's foreign policy toward the West, especially toward the European Union and the US, while at the same time chilling ties to China and, to a lesser extent, to the former colonizer, Britain. In a geopolitical viewpoint, the Ruto-Raila contest last August was a competition between their international friends, as each side tried to have its man carry the day. The post-election antagonism still seems to reflect that dynamic.\nIn realpolitik, though, prolonging the anti-Ruto agitation serves Raila just fine, regardless of whether a foreign country feeling let down by Ruto's win supported him or not. For Raila, the more he is in the national limelight, the more relevant he will be, even if his anti-government crusade come to naught. Keeping his name and cause in the national discourse was sufficient enough to preserve his stature as the country's foremost opposition leader.\nBeing a persistent nuisance could have an added advantage for Raila in the long run: It can help threaten Ruto's second term chance if a rematch between the two ever takes place.For example, if Raila persists in his politicking and resists any temptations to strike a political deal, the anti-Ruto agitation would give him a leg up and a hard fight for Ruto in 2027.\nIn any re-election bid, Ruto is likely to be up against the full force of his predecessor and his team. Uhuru and Co. suspect that they would be harassed - and possibly prosecuted - should Ruto win a second term, which will free him from any political baggage.\nRaila's apparent acceptance to call off the bi-weekly demonstrations to give dialogue a chance could have been a strategic-cum-personal tactic to foil the ongoing anti-Raila onslaught by a new crop of politicians in his backyard that is allegedly being egged on by Ruto's party, Kenya Kwanza.\nRaila has no desire to lose everything. If he lost the presidency to Ruto, that shouldn't result in a post-Raila era in Luo land or in Kenya at large. He knows that an all-or-nothing strategy could jeopardize any dream to have one last shot at the 2027 presidential race. A Raila who's busy with his own survival is good for Ruto and his 2027 aspiration. It will offer him a breathing space to try to cure the malaise he inherited from his predecessor - and possibly an other opportunity to romp to victory in the next election cycle.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001475918/ruto-gets-into-his-stride-as-raila-stumbles"}
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+{"doc_id": "0b237c2640d3cfae6b52d6b9739ece14", "text": "Agribank splashes $1m on ICT upgrade\nAfrica Moyo Business Reporter\nAGRIBANK has so far spent $1,1 million on information communication technology (ICT) infrastructure hardware, as it presses ahead with efforts to ensure system stability and provide more functions for effective service delivery.\nThe entire ICT core banking upgrade is expected to gobble $6,6 million, of which almost $3,9 million is required in foreign currency.\nAgribank chief executive officer Sam Malaba, told the bank’s annual general meeting last week that the upgrade is expected to be concluded in the second half of next year.\n“The bank is in the process of upgrading the core banking system to bring improved functionality, performance and to bring it within the supported software versions by the vendor, Temenos.\n“The project is being implemented over 18 months, targeting completion by the second half of 2019. The objective is to improve on the stability of the system and bring more functionalities for effective service delivery,” said Malaba.\nApart from the core banking system, the ICT upgrade also targets agency banking (point of sale machines).\nThe bank plans to have up to deploy 10 000 POS machines by year end, as it heeds Government calls to promote the usage of plastic money as part of measures to stem cash shortages.\nAgribank’s ICT and e-channels grew last year, processing an estimated 18 million transactions.\nDecember recorded the highest volumes of 3,6 million from about 0,2 million in January last year, representing a transactional growth of more than 1 800 percent, in respect of mobile, e-channels and POS machines.\nGovernment owns Agribank 100 percent, and has been battling to capacitate the financial institution so that it plays its role of financing agriculture efficiently.\nThrough the 2018 National Budget, Government allocated $10 million towards capitalising Agribank, which is striding towards achieving the $100 million capital requirement to be a tier 1 bank by December 31, 2020.\nAs at December last year, the bank’s minimum regulatory capital was $54,9 million, which is double the current minimum threshold of $25 million.\nAgribank, which has been recording profits in the last two years, expects to record yet another profit this year.\nBy May 31 this year, the bank had recorded a profit of $2,9 million, which was 13 percent above the $2,579 million budgeted for the period.\nLast year, the bank posted a profit after tax of $7,9 million compared to $4,8 million in 2016, representing a 65 percent growth driven by non-funded income.\nThe bank declared a dividend of $3 million to the shareholder, who immediately ploughed it back into the business for recapitalisation.\nPermanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Willard Manungo, who attended last week’s AGM, praised Agribank for recording profit for the “second consecutive year”.\n“As shareholders we are happy that for the last two successive financial years, Agribank has been able to perform within the budget structures that it had set for itself and in doing that they have also been able to declare a profit.”", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/agribank-splashes-1m-on-ict-upgrade/"}
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+{"doc_id": "0d571f7a21afd875e8e2691b3b0fc89c", "text": "King Charles III and Queen Camilla's visit as royals to Mombasa would find many footprints of their family in the Coast region.\nMombasa City played host to the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1963. Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September 2022, was King Charles III’s mother.\nThe family is “revered” in Mombasa, known for an imposing four aluminum tusks in an M shape, representing Mombasa, across Moi Avenue, previously Kilindini Road, right at the heart of Mombasa town.\nIt is the late Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, who first visited Mombasa in 1956. In neighboring Kilifi, the monarchy is infamous for atrocities during the 1914 Giriama uprising led by Mekatilili wa Menza.\nLawyer Joseph Mwarandu said many Mijikenda youth were killed in the First and Second World Wars, and 200 traditional Giriama priests (Gohu) were burned to death at Katangani by the British military.\n\"The probe into atrocities committed by the British covered between 1952 to 1963 during the Mau Mau uprising should be concluded,” said Mwarandu, a secretary of the Malindi District Cultural Association (Madca).\nHe added: “Our youth died in the first and second world wars, our traditional priests were burned to death, our women were raped, our cattle and granaries were burned during the Giriama uprising.\"\nThe biggest uprising, according to historical accounts, was on January 14, 1914, near Shakahola Forest, during the forced enlistment of the youth to join the British Army to fight in the First World War.\nOn this eventful day, hundreds of Giriama people were killed while Mekatilili and her son-in-law Wanje wa Mwadorikolo were arrested and sent to Kisii to be jailed.\nBut in recent years, the revered treasured Vigago, a carved wooden 9ft tall artifact stolen from the Giriama, during the colonial rule and taken to Europe and the US, is being returned.\nThe Vigago serves as a memorial for reincarnated spirits of the dead among the Mijikenda people.\nIn Mombasa, National Museums of Kenya (NMK) said Queen Elizabeth II was among the many celebrities who patronised the Mombasa Club (Yatching Club), adjacent to the Fort Jesus within Mombasa Old Town.\n\"Many celebrities have patronised this place, including Queen Elizabeth in 1963,\" says NMK in its records.\nFounded in 1897, Mombasa Club is the oldest club in Kenya and was, when it opened, exclusively reserved to a white male clientele.\nIts European members were not more than 50. To qualify for membership, one was required to have an income of 250 sterling pounds a year.\nToday, although admission is still limited to membership, there are no more restrictions on race, gender, or income.\nIn 1952, Mombasa became its main landmark when wooden structures resembling elephant tusks were erected to commemorate visits by the British royal family.\nPrincess Elizabeth was then visiting colonial Kenya and Mombasa had prepared to receive her, but the tour was cut short while in Nyeri following the death of her father. She had to be airlifted home to be officially crowned queen.\nToday, the monument comprises four aluminum tusks in an M shape (representing Mombasa) across Moi Avenue, previously Kilindini Road, right at the heart of Mombasa town.\nThere were originally just two tusks over Moi Avenue, which was then a one-lane road. However, the road was later expanded to two lanes, and a new set of tusks was built in 1956 by the Mombasa municipal council.\nThe refurbishment was in preparation for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II's sister, Princess Margaret, to the region in 1956.\nFormer Mombasa mayor Rajab Sumba remembers Princess Margaret's visit to Mombasa when she made her way to view the imposing tusks erected in honor of the royal family.\n\"I was around 18 years old and working with a petroleum company at Shimanzi in Mombasa. The modern tusks were put up in honour of Princess Margaret in 1956,\" he recalls.\nThe four new tusks, two over each lane, are made of weather-resistant aluminum and have become a major tourist attraction and a meeting place for many as the structures lay near the Uhuru Gardens recreational park. The monument is under the jurisdiction of the NMK and Mombasa County government.\nIn 2017, the county government and its partners refurbished the tusks. They added wooden models of elephants to the center of the tusks as part of aesthetics.\nFormer Fort Jesus museum curator Mr Jimbi Katana noted that many buildings at Mombasa's Treasury Square and the Old Town have British footprints.\nHe cited the Ivory House behind the KCB Treasury Square, the Government Square at Mombasa Old Port, and the Mombasa Yachting Club (Mombasa Club).\n\"The Mombasa Club remains one of the most popular places that celebrities from the United Kingdom visited,\" he explained.\nAt Mama Ngina Waterfront Park in Mombasa, he said the green spaces bear many historical traces, such as the military bunkers. The British used the bunkers during the First and Second World Wars.\nMana Hotel near the Customs House in Mombasa, which was demolished nearly 20 years ago, was also a popular haven for British settlers from Nanyuki and elsewhere who visited Mombasa.\nSarova Hotels and Resorts group managing director Jimi Kariuki, said the UK has invested a lot in Kenya's tourism and infrastructure-related projects, citing the modern cruise ship terminal at the port of Mombasa funded through Trademark East Africa.\n\"The UK and the British Royal family, in particular, have been very strong supporters of wildlife conservation in Kenya through charities such as TUSK, whose Royal patron is Prince William, Prince of Wales,\" said Kariuki.\nThe veteran hotelier, who also served as chairman of the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), said the introduction of direct passenger flights between the UK and the Kenyan Coast should be effected to boost tourism. He said that good air accessibility is key to the success of long-haul tourism destinations.\n\"Whereas Nairobi is quite well serviced by Kenya Airways and British Airways from the UK, the coastal destinations are not,\" he argued. He said since 2014, there have been no charters flying to the coast.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001484447/royal-family-footprints-in-coast-as-king-charles-visits"}
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+{"doc_id": "0d714a28b75e557cc796585d5aa31046", "text": "Governors who have been promised plum positions after the forthcoming elections will make millions of shillings per month should their push for a lifetime pension succeed.\nTheir demands, which could cost taxpayers more than Sh2.3b a year to maintain their specified lifestyle, has however been opposed by Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), which argues that it is unrealistic, unsustainable and a burden to taxpayers.\n“Their proposals for pension and other non-pension benefits for governors and deputy governors are not fiscally affordable and sustainable due to the budgetary implication. For instance, it will cost public coffers in excess of Sh2.3b in the first year alone,” said SRC.\nThe demands by the governors and their deputies for hefty payoff perks are contained in a petition filed through the Council of Governors (CoG) in which they are demanding similar send-off packages like retired presidents, deputy presidents, chief justices and speakers of Parliament.\nThe CoG suit, which is set for hearing at the High Court today, means the outgoing governors who have been promised various positions in their political formations and those seeking fresh elective seats will be having double salaries every month for the rest of their lives. Kakamega Governor Wycliff Oparanya, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and Kitui’s Charity Ngilu are some of the governors who have been promised Cabinet Secretary positions by Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga, should the win.\nFor Kenya Kwanza, Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua leads the pack of those set to earn double salaries from taxpayers. Others are Turkana’s Josephat Nanok, Kwale’s Salim Mvurya and Amason Kingi of Kilifi. Other outgoing governors seeking elective positions, including Uasin Gishu’s Jackson Mandago, Makueni’s Kivutha Kibwana, Elgeyo Marakwet’s Alex Tolgos, Narok’s Samuel Tunai, Samburu’s Moses Lenolkulal and Busia’s Sospeter Ojaamong' will also have double pay should they win.\nThe CoG argues in the suit that they are justified to receive the hefty pensions, just like any other civil servant, and that by virtue of their offices as heads of counties; their perks should be equated to those of retiring president. They want a monthly pension of Sh739,200 for governors and Sh700,000 for deputy governors, in addition to a lump sum payment equivalent to one-year pay, a 3,000cc four-wheel-drive vehicle, fuel allowance, each a driver, a personal assistant and medical cover for local and overseas treatment.\nBut the SRC, through a replying affidavit sworn by the Commission Secretary Anne Gitau, argues that paying the retiring governors, some who will have employment in the Government, would have a ripple effect on all other state officers in national and county governments.\n“Besides fiscal unsustainability, providing the benefits to governors and their deputies would distort the retirement benefits structures for State officers and occasion disparity in retirement benefits for State officers,” swore Ms Gitau.\nShe said if the same demands were to be applied to other State officers like AG, CSs, PSs, judges, constitutional office holders and MPs, it would mean taxpayers foot a Sh17b bill annually.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001450793/retired-governors-fight-for-monthly-millions"}
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+{"doc_id": "106972ceaa9fd9369c76c300e77d8f6d", "text": "What you need to know:\n- With health now devolved, inadequate funding of counties imposes further financial constraints on the system.\n- We must streamline the cost of healthcare provision to curb exploitation of patients by unscrupulous health providers.\nUniversal healthcare being one of the pillars of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ‘Big Four’ agenda, the political will to achieve quality, affordable health coverage is not in doubt.\nThe right to health is entrenched in the Constitution.\nArticle 43 states that every person has the right to the highest standard of health and no one should be denied emergency medical treatment.\nVision 2030, Kenya’s roadmap to a middle-income economy, prioritises health as a major component of the social pillar.\nAn analysis of the system reveals a cocktail of challenges hindering optimal delivery of universal healthcare despite it being so strongly anchored in law and policy.\nPOVERTY\nFirst, most Kenyans cannot afford treatment and medication and the rising high cost of doctor consultations and medical procedures have pushed healthcare beyond their reach.\nResearch shows 32 per cent of households’ health budget is financed out of pocket as State and non-governmental actors account for 31 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively. Health insurers finance 13 per cent.\nGiven that Kenyans pay directly for a larger chunk of medical expenses, the surging cost of healthcare has had a direct adverse effect on households.\nThe high prevalence of poverty aggravates barriers to healthcare access by the majority.\nREGULATION\nSecond, there is lack of a clear legal framework on computation of the cost of treatment and medicines.\nHealthcare value chain actors — including hospitals, pharmacies and drug suppliers — are not effectively regulated regarding fees and prices.\nThis opacity makes it difficult to ascertain the reasonable cost of healthcare in Kenya.\nThird, public health facilities are underfunded. Government spending on healthcare is just six per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).\nThis is low compared, for instance, to education or infrastructure.\nDEVOLUTION\nWith health now devolved, inadequate funding of counties imposes further financial constraints on the system.\nThrow in recurrent strikes by health personnel and one begins to fathom the enormity of the crisis in the system.\nInadequate funding compromises quality and availability of health services.\nDue to dilapidated public health facilities, many Kenyans resort to the more expensive private health outlets.\nIn addition, most public hospitals suffer a chronic lack of drugs, forcing patients to turn to private pharmacies.\nFUNDING\nThe rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as cancer has further strained the health system and impoverished many families.\nThese diseases are expensive to treat and involve protracted medical procedures and care.\nThese challenges undermine the ability of our health system to deliver universal healthcare.\nWe must streamline the cost of healthcare provision, including consultation fees and medicines, to ensure predictability and curb exploitation of patients by unscrupulous health providers.\nA well-managed cost regime also encourages health insurers to lower premiums, enhancing coverage, directly reducing the burden on households.\nThe government should also increase public health funding at county and national levels and expand and modernise our healthcare infrastructure.\nCAPITATION\nFinally, we need to create incentives for service providers to tame the escalating costs.\nCapitation for service providers in lieu of the fee for service would allow for patients to pay for only what they need and reduce the tendency of health providers to prescribe unnecessary medical procedures and medication.\nThese measures, taken in totality, will certainly make universal health coverage an attainable goal for Kenya.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/How-Kenya-can-attain-universal-healthcare/440808-4361990-4ts828/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "121d523d549aeb7af097b5878061b9d9", "text": "Acardia project targets 1 000 jobs\nGolden Sibanda\nCHINESE firm, Huayou, expects to create up to 1 000 new jobs during the construction and production phases of the Arcadia lithium project following the firm’s US$372 million acquisition of Zimbabwe based lithium-ion batteries mineral producer.\nA global corporation based in Tongxiang, China, Huayou announced the acquisition of the Arcadia lithium project from Prospect Resources Plc and minority shareholders on April 20, 2022.\nFollowing the acquisition, the company said it would invest US$300 million to develop the mine and construct a processing plant over the next 12 months.\nThe mine will have capacity to treat about 4,5 million tonnes of ore per annum, translating to roughly 400 000 tonnes of lithium concentrate per annum, the company said yesterday.\nThe massive investment by Huayou has potential to significantly transform the local community and drive economic growth in Zimbabwe.\nPresident Mnangagwa officiated at the ground breaking ceremony for the project in April 2018 and dovetails into his “Zimbabwe open for business mantra”.\nLithium is of strategic importance to Zimbabwe’s economy and forms a crucial element of the Second Republic’s target to build a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023.\nThe mineral, whose popularity has grown tremendously in recent years amid growing demand in the production of electric vehicles, is expected to contribute half a billion US dollars by that time.\nNotably, mining in general is an integral part of Zimbabwe’s economy given it generates more than 75 percent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and accounts for at least 12 percent of gross domestic product.\nHuayou’s Arcadia project is Africa’s most advanced lithium project and would further elevate Zimbabwe’s status, already world fifth largest producer with a single active mine (Bikita Minerals), as a major global producer of battery lithium minerals.\nHuayou said the Arcadia project would be implemented with special attention to the necessary environmental care to limit to a bare minimum emissions that harm the environment.\nThe company also pledged significant investments in the latest technology to produce lithium concentrate and has committed itself to ensure the knowledge is also transferred to its employees.\n“Huayou estimates that there will be more than 600 Zimbabweans employed during the construction phase while direct employment during the production phase will be between 700 and 900 employees,” the company said.\nThe Chinese battery minerals producer pointed out that priority for employment would be given to people from the local community and around the mine site, 38 kilometres east of Harare in Goromonzi.\n“There will be focus on training and development, as well as finding suitable graduates from universities in Zimbabwe for attachment programmes,” Huayou said.\nThe company said it would continue to focus on corporate social responsibility and has already invested in a local school, Vhuta, which is near the mine site.\nA CSR committee has already established a needs analysis conducted in wards surrounding the area to determine areas that should be accorded priority.\n“The CSR committee will focus on implementation of CSR projects to address the needs including employment, education, health, accessibility to potable water initiatives.”\nThe company said it had a proud record of CSR investments initiatives in agriculture, education, training and medical support at its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).\n“In 2016, the agricultural project launched in the DRC was enrolled by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations as a demonstration project of Chinese foreign economic and technological cooperation,” Huayou said.\nHuayo is a global corporation that specialises research in development, manufacturing and sale of lithium-ion battery and cobalt minerals. The firm was established in 2002 and set up African operations in 2006.\nThe company acquired its first mining assets in the DRC in 2009. Since then, the company has gone on an expansion and investment crusade to become a global leader in refined cobalt materials and lithium iron battery materials.\nHuayou has a global footprint with operations in South America, Africa, Indonesia and China as well as a customer base in the USA, Europe, China and South Korea.\nAmid growing demand for lithium, triggered by the transition to clean energy sources for electric vehicles, Zimbabwe is among countries hogging global limelight as investors take positions in the country.\nChengxin Lithium Group started the spate of several lithium asset acquisitions in Zimbabwe last November when it bought a 51 percent interest in Max Mind Investments’ Sabi based Star Lithium Mine in eastern Zimbabwe at a cost of US$77 million.\nZhejiang Huayou Cobalt then followed when it announced in December last year it would purchase an 87 percent stake in Zimbabwe’s Arcadia Mine lithium project from Australia’s Prospect Resources.\nOn February 8, 2022 the Sinomine Resource Group revealed it had paid US$180 million to acquire 100 percent of African Metals Management Services and Southern African Metals and Minerals, which jointly own 74 percent of Bikita Minerals.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/acardia-project-targets-1-000-jobs/"}
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+{"doc_id": "14030555d472b7ec8fac6215e2ec839d", "text": "$90m package for SMEs unveiled\nZvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter—\nVice President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday launched a $90 million funding package to capacitate upcoming businesses across all sectors and help formalise their operations to ensure they contribute to the mainstream economy. This comes as Government enhances efforts to stimulate economic growth through small to medium enterprises. The $90 million\nOf the $90 million facility, $10 million will go to horticulture, $15 million to cross border traders, $40 million for the gold facility, $15 million for women empowerment, while $10 million has been earmarked for business linkages.\nThe launch, held under the theme “Promoting Financial Inclusion for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development”, was attended by representatives of SMEs from different sectors, bankers and senior Government officials.\nIn his address, VP Mnangagwa said the package will complement policy interventions such as Zim-Asset and the 10 Point Plan for Sustained Economic Growth and the country’s industrialisation policy whose over-arching goal is to ensure the rapid transformation of the economy.\n“As Government, we recognise the critical role played by the MSMEs and cooperatives in addressing the issue of poverty reduction, job creation and income generation,” said VP Mnangagwa.\n“That is why the Ministry of SMEs and Cooperative Development, in collaboration with the RBZ have organised this important launch in order to avail funding facilities for the identified five sub-sectors.”\nVP Mnangagwa said the SMEs sector had grown to become the bedrock of economic growth, as most retrenches and graduates had been absorbed and were stimulating development.\n“Given the potential contribution that MSMEs and cooperatives can make to the Zimbabwean economy, it is important that they be provided with the necessary tools to ensure that they grow into large entities that can further provide decent jobs, contribute to the alleviation of poverty, and address economic inequalities in our societies,” he said.\nVP Mnangagwa said despite their significance, micro, small and medium enterprises continued to struggle to acquire funding and knowledge on financial inclusion.\n“While the availability of funding has been improving, access to the same, especially by MSMEs and cooperatives, has been elusive because the funds are too expensive,” he said. “Moreover, MSMEs remain largely informal and, therefore, considered risky business.”\nThrough Command Agriculture, said VP Mnangagwa, Government had demonstrated how access to capital and proper business planning and implementation could enhance production and efficiency.\n“We will also be launching the Command Livestock on Tuesday, which will include beef, goats, fisheries, chicken and sheep among others,” he said.\nSpeaking at the same occasion, Small to Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni said SMEs had become the biggest provider of jobs.\nShe said Government scaled up its support for the sector to enhance increased production.\nMinister Nyoni urged entrepreneurs to be disciplined and comply with the requirements of financial institutions.\nRBZ Deputy Governor Dr Jesimen Tarisai Chipika urged SMES to deposit their sales in bank accounts.\nShe said the central bank will soon roll out banking agents in unserviced remote areas.\n“We already have 400 access points,” said Dr Chipika. “We want SMEs to be in the mainstream of the economy. As SMEs we must be prepared to be formalised, otherwise banks will collapse because it would be difficult to trace you.\n“We cannot give money to people of no fixed abode.”", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/90m-package-for-smes-unveiled/"}
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+{"doc_id": "15a58329f900d3c9b8f016a7270eb458", "text": "Africa to speak with one voice at COP28\nKudzanai Sharara in Dubai, UAE\nAfrican countries will speak with one voice at the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28) which convenes from today to the 12th of December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).\nThis is according to the Draft African Position paper for COP28 seen by this publication.\nThe Draft African position, which was prepared by the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) shows Africa has a common position for COP28.\nThe continent’s common position is informed by its unique circumstances, being the, lowest in terms of development index, highest in poverty levels and unable to achieve SDGs by 2030 as compared to other regions.\nFurther, Africa’s unique circumstances are characterised by resource and capacity constraints, climate vulnerabilities, historical and future greenhouse gas (GHG emissions responsibility, immediate needs for adaptation and mitigation, and a long-term vision for sustainable development.\nDespite contributing minimally to historical and current greenhouse gas emissions, Africa is disproportionately subjected to the far-reaching impacts of climate change.\nThis includes biodiversity loss, dwindling water supplies, diminished food production, loss of human lives, and constrained economic growth.\nRecent findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in their Sixth Assessment Reports revealed that developing countries will face an overwhelming burden of adaptation costs, reaching an annual figure of US$127 billion.\nSpecifically for Africa, the annual cost by 2030, is projected to be a staggering US$86.5 billion.\nAs a result, for Africa to be able to cope with this existential threat, there is a need for the continent to speak with one voice and call for urgent climate action.\nPermanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife Professor Prosper Matondi said Africa needs a strong voice if its climate change concerns and what needs to be done are to be heard and acted upon.\nSpeaking to this publication on the first day of COP28 Prof Matondi said, “Climate change is a global issue and requires a collective voice and also requires agreement on what needs to be done”.\nHe said that agreement can only be done at part-to-part level.\n“I know there are other stakeholders with an interest in this but we need to have Governments agreeing on the basic framing of issues of climate change that affect the ordinary society and also the large economies.\n“And for that in Africa, we have a Group of Negotiators on Climate Change and we are trying to coordinate our efforts through the regional bodies we have, it might be SADC, ECOWAS, the East Africa Community or through the Africa Union,” said Prof Matondi.\nAccording to the draft position paper, Africa’s approach to these multilateral climate negotiations is underpinned by principles of multilateralism, equity, sustainable development, and common but differentiated responsibilities.\n“African countries will seek to prioritize Africa’s interests and speak with one voice while ensuring that their voices, concerns, and proposals are heard and acted upon,” reads the AGN position paper in part.\nThis year, African negotiators will be coordinated by Zambia as the Chair of the Africa Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN), Ministers by Senegal as the Chair of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN), and heads of state by Kenya as the Coordinator of the Committee of Africa heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), to effectively advance Africa’s common position on climate change.\nThere is already a set of guiding principles for the African common position which negotiators will use as a useful guide and source of information and reference in the UNFCCC committees, panels and other climate-related institutions.\nOne such principle is that of multilateralism. African countries are firmly committed to a multilateral approach to the global challenge of climate change, with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at its centre.\nFull implementation of the Convention and its Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement is in the best interest of African countries particularly vulnerable to climate change and already adversely affected.\nAfrica’s negotiation position is also guided by the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, the principles of historical responsibility, and equity, in light of different national circumstances.\nAfrica is of the view that developed countries have clear commitments to take the lead on mitigation action and to provide support to developing countries.\nAt the same time, developing countries have a commitment to take action, determined by them and in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and supported by developed countries.\nThe continent also seeks justice and equity given its contribution to global GHG emissions remains low (about 3 percent from fossil fuels and industry and 4 percent from LULUCF) but suffers disproportionately from the impacts of climate.\n“The African continent endures a disproportionately higher impact from climate change, manifesting in severe weather patterns, reduced agricultural productivity, increased water insecurity, and threatened biodiversity, among others.\n“This harsh reality underscores the need for global climate response strategies that are centred on justice and equity, recognising Africa’s low GHG emissions and its heightened vulnerability.\n“Consequently, this necessitates increased support for African nations in climate adaptation, resilience-building, and access to climate finance and climate-smart technologies to cope with these stark climate impacts,” reads the draft position paper in part.\nIn terms of priorities, African countries will prioritise adaptation and will make sure that imminent impacts should not be overlooked and must remain an essential element of any outcome on adaptation.\n“Addressing loss and damage as a result of climate change impacts is a critical element of the multilateral response to climate change, both from a legal and from a moral standpoint; loss and damage associated with climate change impacts must be addressed multilaterally in affected countries and communities in a comprehensive manner; both during crises and after crises in rebuilding and rehabilitation.”\nAfrica will also push for a just transition and get its fair share of the opportunities associated with the transition to a low-carbon global economy.\n“Negotiations should further seek to avoid negative impacts on African countries’ economies and national sovereignty; on the contrary, these must address Africa’s urgent sustainable development challenges, and ensure that African countries are at the heart of the low carbon global economy,” reads the draft position paper.\nAfrican countries are undertaking ambitious actions to tackle climate change both in adaptation and mitigation; these efforts should be recognised.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/africa-to-speak-with-one-voice-at-cop28/"}
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+{"doc_id": "15b2a97982474bd5f54eb6fd222991b6", "text": "Address by His Excellency\non the Commemoration of Heroes Day National Heroes Acre, 8th August 2011.\nHonourable Vice President, Mai Joice Mujuru and General Solomon Mujuru,\nHonourable Vice President, Comrade John Landa Nkomo,\nHonourable Prime Minister, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai,\nHonourable Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Arthur Mutambara and Amai Mutambara,\nHonourable Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Thokozani Khupe,\nHonourable President of the Senate, Mai Edna Madzongwe,\nThe Chief Justice, Honourable Godfrey Chidyausiku,\nHonourable Ministers,\nService Chiefs,\nWar Veterans, Detainees, Restrictees and Collaborators,\nMembers of Parliament,\nHis Worship the Mayor of Harare Mr Muchadeyi Masunda,\nMembers of the Diplomatic Corps,\nFamilies of Heroes of Zimbabwe’s Liberation Struggle,\nInvited Guests,\nLadies and Gentleman,\nComrades and Friends\nEvery year, on this day, which falls in August, our nation gathers in one accord, at this sacred National Shrine and others across the country, to remember and pay tribute to the heroes of the liberation struggle who won for is the freedom and independence we celebrate in April.\nToday, as we remember the immense sacrifices of our heroes we also celebrate their courage and bravery in confronting the Settler colonial enemy.\nWe celebrate with mixture of both pride and nostalgia, our dear departed and living heroes whose enduring courage blood and suffering enabled us to reclaim our cherished land, our national heritage, freedom, sovereignty and independence.\nWhilst we salute these gallant sons and daughters of the soil, our experience with the enemy has taught us the fundamental lesson of unity in defending our national heritage and vigilance in guarding our freedom and cultural values.\nAs we gather here today, let no man or woman, dream that they can dismantle these formidable foundations forged on the anvil of the armed liberation struggle, and for which our people perished during the liberation struggle waged twice by our heroes, the first in 1896-1897 and the second in 1967-1980.\nToday, however, the main struggle is a socio-economic one of improving the standards of living of our people as Government continues to direct its efforts towards continued economic recovery. As part of these efforts, Government having successfully implemented the Short Term Emergency Recovery Policy (STERP) has now adopted the Macro-Economic Policy and Budget Framework (2010-2012) in order to hasten the turnaround of the economy.\nThe recent launch by Government of the Medium Term Plan (MTP) (2011-2015), should ensure not only the consolidation of the macro-economic stability so far achieved, but also the sustenance of our development thrust.\nToday, due to the hard work of all Zimbabweans and development partners, we enjoy a very low inflation rate. Our economic growth rate is also higher than the regional average. These economic indicators bode well for rapid economic growth and employment creation, as confidence in the economy continues to grow on the back of increasing investment.\nHowever, it is fundamentally important to recognise that stability and rapid economic progress of a country cannot be achieved unless there is peace in the country. The promotion of a culture of sustainable peace in the country is of utmost importance to our nation.\nThe Organ for National Healing Reconciliation and Integration thus remains a critical institution for ensuring a framework for lasting peace and sustainable development. We are happy that significant progress is being realised towards creating a more tolerant and more peace loving society.\nIt is the responsibility of all political parties, civil society, religious groups and churches, local authorities, the corporate sector, workers organisations and all other institutions, to work hard for peace and the social cohesion of the nation as a whole.\nEven as we prepare for the coming National Elections, our political environment should remain peaceful stable and people friendly.\nLet us closely guard ourselves against the divisive antics of neo-colonialism, which is persistently rearing its ugly head in our midst and employing devilish tactics to sow seeds of discontent and disharmony amongst our people so that they turn against each other.\nThis is not only a deliberate ploy to format political instability and derail our development, but it is also is a well orchestrated move designed to undermine the basics and pillars of our nation by destroying the very foundation of the liberation struggle we are celebrating today.\nThe impact of the illegal economic sanctions imposed by some Western countries, assisted by their proxies, to advance their regime change agenda continues negatively to undermine our economy in its various sectors.\nWe call upon those who have imposed these illegal punitive sanctions to remove them forthwith. We reiterate that we cannot continue to receive the battering of sanctions without hitting back. Let them heed this warning!\nThe on-going Constitution making process, which is in its final stage, should give full meaning to our freedom by consolidating conditions necessary for development under a peaceful environment.\nIn particular, it should empower Zimbabweans to unequivocally assert their sovereign right over the ownership, control and use of their God-given resources for the benefit of all our citizenry.\nGovernment’s continuing focus on the productive sectors of agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism is intended to grow the economy by intensifying value addition activities that will improve the competitiveness of the country with its trading partners.\nThe infrastructure sector also offers many investment opportunities in power, water, roads, rail, Information Communication Technologies (ICT’s) and telecommunications, and the social sectors of health and education which, despite resources constraints, will continue to receive due attention of Government.\nGiven the broad range of investment opportunities, domestic and foreign investors are not only invited to invest in sectors of their choice but also do so through the medium of Public Private Partnerships and joint ventures.\nThe empowerment agenda remains central to Government’s priorities. In this regard, resettled farmers, and in particular A1 and communal farmers, are the targeted benefices of Government subsidies input programmes to enable them to timeously prepare for the cropping season so as to increase productivity.\nThe subsidised inputs programme will be extended to A2 commercial farmers depending on the availability of resources at Government’s disposal.\nGovernment will continue to look for resources to support farmers with critical inputs, including those for purposes of irrigation development, modernisation and mechanisation of agriculture.\nThe right of sovereign ownership of our resources must find expression in various projects and programmes under the Indeginisation and Economic Empowerment Act, prioritising at the same time the promotion of small to medium scale enterprises as drivers of economic growth.\nGovernment will also ensure that the operation of Indeginisation and Economic Empowerment Act will be to the mutual benefit of both indigenous entrepreneurs and other investors.\nThe low remuneration levels of workers, who include civil servants and who are struggling to meet their daily needs, are a major concern.\nGovernment is therefore continuously looking for ways of reviewing salaries and conditions of service so that they become attractive, and are in line with the improving economy. Measures are also being taken to review pensions to protect pensioners.\nAs Government pursues various initiatives to cushion vulnerable groups in our society, the National Heroes Dependents Assistance Fund will continue to be reviewed in order to provide a decent life to the surviving spouses and minor children of deceased heroes. Although the provision of social services has improved tremendously as evidenced by the enhanced level of social services delivery particularly in health, education and social amenities, Government however, recognises the challenges still faced by ordinary citizens in accessing these basic services.\nAppropriate intervening will continue to be taken where necessary. These include the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) in education and free anti-retroviral treatment to mitigate the scourge of the HIV and Aids pandemic.\nZimbabwe’s historic struggle for self-determination would be incompetent without mentioning the support rendered by various countries.\nAs we take time to pay homage to our heroes, let is also recognise the critical part played by our neighbouring countries in SADC and beyond.\nInternationally, a number of countries have stood firm behind Zimbabwe at the time of our greatest need, among which were our well-weather friends, China, Russia and Cuba, who have always stood firmly in defence of Zimbabwe’s sovereign rights.\nFinally, allow me to pay tribute to our defence, police, prison, and security services for their unflinching, relentless and dedicated service in guaranteeing and maintaining peace, stability and the security of our free sovereign Zimbabwe.\nThis is the role that history has given to them and we ate grateful that they have performed that role in an honourable way.\nComrades and Friends, before we depart from this sacred Shrine, let us re-dedicate ourselves to work harder, in our various spheres of life, to engender tolerance and peace among our people and every day to remember there is a oneness that binds us as Zimbabweans.\nThis is a pledge of unity in diversity and peace forever.\nI thank you.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/address-by-his-excellency/"}
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+{"doc_id": "15e9287f804f2390d8b4679b2a3ff372", "text": "U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has praised Senegal President Macky Sall’s announcement that he would not seek a third term in next year’s election.\nPresident Sall announced his decision in a nationally televised speech, ending weeks of speculation that raised the possibility of political uncertainty in the West African nation.\n“Senegal is more than just me,” Sall said in Monday’s speech, “it's full of people capable of taking Senegal to the next level.”\nIn a statement Blinken said, “We believe that free and fair elections and transitions of power yield stronger institutions and more stable and prosperous countries. President Sall’s clear statement sets an example for the region, in contrast to those who seek to erode respect for democratic principles, including term limits.”\nSall was first elected in 2012, defeating incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade who was seeking a third term of his own. Sall was re-elected in 2019 under a revised constitution that limited a president to two five-year terms – but his supporters have argued that Sall could seek a third term because he was elected under the previous constitution.\nSpeculation that Sall could run again in 2024 set off nationwide protests last month between security forces and supporters of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko in which 16 people were killed after Sonko was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison on sexual assault charges.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001476535/us-praises-senegals-president-for-bowing-out-of-2024-election"}
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+{"doc_id": "17480d2e3ce1148cd73c38f6be508040", "text": "Africa Day: The dream lives on\nSifelani Tsiko Sydnication Writer\nAfrica today celebrates the 54th anniversary of the founding of the continental body — the African Union — at a time when Africa is building up the momentum to press for industrialisation to rapidly transform its desire to turn its vast economic potential into reality. There is no doubt that the continent’s thrust to\nWith bold leadership and state support, consistent monitoring and evaluation, inclusivity and prioritisation of major sectors, it is possible that Africa can be firmly put on the tough and winding road to structural transformation.\nThe era of begging bowls is ending and Africa increasingly needs to finance its development programmes to ensure sustainability of projects and, more importantly, for its own survival.\nThe continent has posted enviable economic growth rates in the past few years despite a slowdown in its 2016 economic growth rate which stood at 2,2 percent down from a 3,2 percent in 2015 owing largely to low commodity prices, weak global recovery and adverse weather conditions that badly affected the continent’s agricultural sector.\nDespite, the slowing growth, Africa still remains a major global destination for investment.\nThe latest African Economic Outlook report shows that the continent’s foreign direct investment stood at US$56,5 billion in 2016 and is projected to hit US$57 billion in 2017.\nFor the continent, the priority is keeping up this momentum and meeting the challenges that lie ahead.\nAfrica Day provides an opportunity to celebrate that African solidarity, African identity and a common humanity and destiny which is shared by the continent’s more than one billion people.\nAfter nearly five-and-half decades of the existence of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, now AU), it is a time for reflection for this continent that is so strategically important to world economics.\nDespite all the harsh criticism, Africa is in a considerably better shape than popular perceptions may suggest.\nBrutal wars and famine have declined, though not to the scale Africans may want to see.\nIt is a fact that people still struggle to make ends meet, just as they do in Europe, the US, Brazil, China and India.\nThey don’t always have enough to eat, they may lack education, they may not have the best of infrastructure, they despair about corruption, lack of jobs, poor service and social injustices and some even want to emigrate.\nIn the process, the dominant Western media continue to capture these problems to paint a different picture about the continent.\nPowerful countries, too, continue to subdue and hurl everything they can find at this collective African spirit that seeks to bind, integrate and ensure Africans have control of their destiny and resources.\nDespite this assault, the African spirit still lives on, unbowed by the divisive and dominant policies of powerful countries, which aim to exploit for next to nothing Africa’s economic resources.\nIn the terms — AFRICA DAY, Zimpapers Syndication unearths some of the major highlights of events and processes driving change on this continent, home to more than one billion people.\nA – for Africa\nThe origin of Africa’s name is an area of major contestation by etymologists. One school of thought suggests that “Afri” was the name of a people, maybe the Berbers of North Africa, given by the Romans while others say the addition of the Latin word aprica, meaning “sunny”, or the Greek word aphrike, meaning “without cold” would ultimately lead to the use of the term Africa.\nSome historians or Egyptologists say the name Africa is of African origins from the Egyptian word “Afru-ika” or ‘Motherland”.\nOther scholars suggest that the name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra — “land of the Afri” referring to the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, in modern-day Tunisia. The Roman suffix “-ca” denotes “country or land”. There are so many theories around the origins of the name and most historians say the actual etymology of Africa is uncertain. No one knows the exact origins but it has come to be acceptable on the continent and globally.\nF – Founding fathers\nFounding fathers who gathered together on May 25 1963 in Addis Ababa to establish the OAU (now AU) had to come up with a united, independent and strong Africa.\nThey dedicated their lives and worked tirelessly to liberate Africa from the shackles of colonialism.\nThe OAU was established, first and foremost, with the express objective of working towards the greater unity of the African continent while at the same time ensuring that the remaining colonies on the African continent are assisted to achieve their freedom and independence.\nThe memory of the founding fathers should not got to waste.\nThe legacy of the likes of Dr Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Modibo Keita of Mali, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Sekou Touré of Guinea, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Ben Bella of Algeria, Emperor Haile Selasse of Ethiopia, William Tubman of Liberia, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya and many others who were part of the major driving forces for a common and shared vision for Africa must live on and never be downplayed.\nTheir vision inspired the pan-African movement and also influenced the transformation of the continental body in the years that followed.\nThese founding fathers must continue to be part of our collective memory as the continent continues to celebrate their work and soldier on in achieving their dreams.\nR – is for Resources\nAfrica has a large quantity of natural resources including oil, diamonds, gold, platinum, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum and a whole range of plant genetic resources. Much of its natural resources are undiscovered and have not been harnessed. Africa is the prime target of most industrial nations who want to exploit its resources.\nDespite the abundance of natural resources, the bulk of resources exploited from Africa is causing most of the value and money from the natural resources to go to the West rather than the African.\nAfrica could be losing more than US$15 billion from its biodiversity as medicines, cosmetics, agricultural products and indigenous knowledge surrounding these are being patented illegally by multinational companies without any of the benefits accruing to local communities in countries of origin.\nThe scourge of illicit financial flows (IFF) from the continent is milking the continent dry. Proceeds from Africa’s resources that could easily turn the continent into one of the most developed and industrialised continents in the world are being squirrelled away in billions depriving the majority of the poor of vital infrastructure, uninterrupted power supplies, jobs and a peaceful and stable socio-economic environment. Economists estimate that Africa is losing up to US$70 billion a year through illicit financial flows — the illegal movement of money out of Africa countries, mostly by transnational corporations.\nThe Global Financial Integrity calls IFFs “the ugliest chapter in international affairs since slavery”, and says as a percentage of GDP, IFFs in Africa are the highest in the world, with multinational corporations a lead contributor, undermining the effect of foreign direct investment and aid.\nFor Africa’s struggling masses, the questions are: “What are we as Africans doing to help stop IFFs, to stop transnational corporations from cheating African nations out of revenue due to them? What is the role of multilateral finance institutions in all this? It is estimated that Africa has lost more than US$1,8 trillion to IFFs between 1970 and 2008 through tax evasion, mispricing of goods and services by multi-national companies.\nIf nothing is done to halt IFFs, Africa’s resources that are intended to develop the continent will be used to improve the quality of life for people in industrialised countries.\nI – for Inter-Africa trade\nAfrican countries are losing out on billions of dollars in potential trade earnings every year because of high trade barriers with neighbouring countries‚ and that it was easier for Africa to trade with the rest of the world than with itself. Africa has a great potential to increase intra-continental trade and create more economic opportunities.\nSub-regional and regional economic groupings are no doubt a great step towards a realisation of the African dream for intra-continental trade and the creation of the African Economic Community.\nOver-reliance on Western markets still remains high and Africa is the loser in this scenario in which rich powerful nations peg the prices for their commodities.\nIntra-Africa trade has the potential to transform the continent and this has been shared by all African leaders and technocrats at various African trade and investment indabas. According to the Africa Economic Outlook Report 2016, intra-regional trade accounted for only 16 percent of Africa’s total trade in 2014, mainly driven by manufactured goods which accounted for 60 percent of total regional trade. The report, notes that the commercial potential of the continent has not yet reached its peak, calls for increased trading within the continent saying intra-African trade would greatly boost growth and development. Economic experts all agree that intra-regional trade is key to boosting economies and in the fight to attain all Sustainable Development Goals. Despite the challenges, regional economic groupings in Africa, are making steady efforts to boost inter -Africa trade.\nC is for Common vision\nGreater regional coordination and a common vision are required for the development of a vibrant Africa in all its key production and processing sectors. Africa needs a strong resolve to reverse the trends of poor performance in all key sectors including accountability, transparency and governance of its projects. Experts all agree that promoting successful innovative partnership platforms, investments in public-private partnerships, smallholder farmer initiatives and the agro-processing sector remains key.\nThe adoption by African leaders in 2015 of Agenda 2063 as the continent’s new long-term vision for the next 50 years was a milestone in the history of Africa. What now remains is the task of fast-tracking the implementation and monitoring of major continental development programmes and frameworks, including Agenda 2063 and the SDGs for the benefit of the continent’s people.\nA is for Aids and health-related matters\nAfter more than 30 years of battling the HIV and Aids, Africa has registered some success in slowing the rate of HIV/AIDS infections to appreciable levels. The progress in tackling the pandemic on the continent has been evident particularly on prevention, treatment and care. According to the latest report by UNAIDS, Global AIDS Update 2016, new HIV infections declined by 14 percent between 2010 and 2015 in Eastern and Southern Africa, the world’s most affected region, and by 8 percent in West and Central Africa. Despite economic constraints, sub-Saharan Africa set up the world’s biggest HIV treatment programmes, providing antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to more than 12 million people, compared with 11 000 in the year 2000.\nHealth analysts say by 2015, for instance, about 10 million people living with HIV in East and Southern Africa and 1,8 million in West and Central Africa were on ARVs, according to the report. To achieve these results, the countries used several health approaches: affordable prices were negotiated for ARV medicines, service delivery systems were simplified and decentralised, and strong supply chains for ARV medicines and other HIV-related commodities were established. More and more countries are integrating prevention and treatment at the community level, meaning home-based caregivers are now becoming responsible for delivering treatments and managing patients. Addressing rising cases of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and the constant threat of Ebola remains a major challenge for Africa. The recent outbreak of Ebola in the DRC is threatening the entire Southern African region and closer collaboration among states remains important.\nD is for Delivery\nMotivational speakers are well known for saying: “If you promised the moon, deliver it along with a handful of stars.” So many promises have been made in Africa in large and small blueprints and yet delivery still remains elusive. Delivering on promises is what the majority of the poor are waiting for. If our leaders follow through on a commitment, small or large, they build trust. And if they go above and beyond they even make an even stronger impression. When everything is said and done, Agenda 2063 has to deliver in terms of improved quality of life for people on the continent.\nA is for Aid\nMore aid is not the answer. Development aid is no substitute for sound economic policy choices. What Africa needs is trade and support to strengthen its industrialisation drive. After a decade of aid fatigue and dwindling development assistance, African countries are realising that domestic mobilisation of resources and financing their own development programmes is vital for sustainable development. Our accumulated knowledge of what works and what does not is now key in fighting issues of poverty and human hardships in Africa. The history of aid in Africa has been documented and shown to be inefficient and at times has proved more of a hindrance to development than a help. A case in point is development aid to Africa that has amounted to more than US$1 trillion since 1950. The pumping of this aid has also apparently increased the dependency syndrome in the period. Corruption has also frittered the resources while conditions have made the donor-receiver relations more complex and problematic. Aid has failed to deliver higher economic growth for Africa and new innovative strategies such as industrialisation plans, private and public sector reform and domestic mobilisation of resources are more crucial than ever now. Promoting entrepreneurship could also spur development.\nY is for Youth in Africa\nAfrican governments need to pay more attention to Africa’s youth which needs more empowerment programmes and more job creation initiatives to help transform the continent and defuse a ticking “time bomb”. With 200 million people aged between 15 and 24 (the youth bracket), Africa has the youngest population in the world. The current trend indicates that this figure will double by 2045, according to the 2012 African Economic Outlook report prepared by experts from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other UN agencies. The story of Africa’s worrisome youth unemployment is shown by the dark side of drug abuse, crime, violence, sex and deaths by many attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe in search of jobs. The youth account for 60 percent of all African unemployed, according to the World Bank. About 10-12 million young people join the labour market each year in Africa and to defuse the youth unemployment time bomb, African governments need to mobilise resources, including from the private sector for youth development. Countries need to implement youth empowerment action plans to both unemployment and under-employment. The African youth are crying for the creation of safe, decent and competitive employment opportunities for themselves.\n“We must unite now or perish,” Kwame Nkrumah, said in 1963. – Zimpapers Syndication", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/africa-day-the-dream-lives-on/"}
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+{"doc_id": "1b59d9d64d5dc6cb158921fd4c01c4fd", "text": "Kenyans are anticipating President William Ruto's articulation of plans to address what his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, describes as \"the economic quagmire\" on the country's 60th anniversary.\nPolitical analysts also expect him to tackle the persistent challenge of corruption in government offices, despite his tough rhetoric against it. The latest instance, the edible oils saga, remains unaddressed.\nOther pressing issues include high unemployment rates, soaring living costs, the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum in education, and funding for health programs and infrastructural development projects.\nSpeaking at the recent Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya conference, the deputy president urged attendees to contribute ideas to the Treasury and President Ruto on how to remedy the economic challenges.\nIdeas needed\n\"Let anyone with ideas on fixing this economy come and talk to us. On behalf of the President, I welcome ICPAK to engage with our team at the National Treasury. We invite you to share insights with the President as we are all aligned in this effort,\" said Gachagua.\nHe emphasised their openness to advice, acknowledging that no one knows everything. They expressed gratitude for any prudent advice from ICPAK that can help the country navigate the challenges it currently faces.\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto reaffirms State's support for health sector under devolution\nPolitical analyst Martin Andati, however, disagrees with Gachagua, advising the president not to take his advice seriously. Andati says accountants, like Gachagua, are bean counters who keep and audit books but are not recognised for wealth creation.\nAndati suggests that the President should appoint top economists to lead the Treasury, guiding the economy toward growth instead of relying solely on instructions from the IMF and World Bank.\nHe recommends that, in his Jamhuri Day address to the nation, President Ruto should provide hope by explaining how the economy will be fixed to lower the cost of living.\nFurthermore, Andati says the president should focus on assessing the country's current situation and seek solutions, especially since he has fulfilled political obligations to those who supported him in gaining power.\nTough decisions\n\"He must now seek individuals ready to work, make tough decisions, and have the courage to inform him of our predicament. Independent-minded individuals who can walk away if he ignores their advice,\" says Andati.\nIt has also been argued that the current government has not met expectations due to the caliber of people appointed to assist President Ruto in governing the country.\nFormer Cabinet Minister Kipruto arap Kirwa, who served in President Mwai Kibaki’s administration, believes the issue is that Ruto rewarded many of his political allies who helped secure the presidency, and they have now fallen short of expectations.\n“The fact is that some in the Cabinet were his campaigners, but whether they can create a team that delivers his administration's agenda is another matter altogether,” says Kirwa. He says President Ruto's leadership style does not allow him to bring in experienced individuals capable of delivering results.\n“It is not him alone. It is a widespread issue across the African continent where leaders are reluctant to share credit with others. Consequently, they select individuals who are either incapable or inexperienced,” says Kirwa.\nHe also believes the Cabinet was not taken through what he calls Government Dispatch, a process that could have assisted Cabinet Secretaries in understanding the concept of collective responsibility.\nThe former minister further asserts that a seemingly dysfunctional cabinet has not assisted the president much. There should be a collective responsibility to allow them to support each other instead of making pronouncements on issues concerning other ministries independently.\nConsultation\n“The Cabinet must be a proper clearinghouse that ensures individual ministers make decisions after consulting colleagues, so whatever is decided has the backing of the entire government,” says Kirwa.\nHis perspective is that the president has not been able to create a team that synergises to collectively deliver, which is how governments, like the one he served under President Mwai Kibaki and in civilised nations worldwide, typically operate.\nHe further contends that some individuals in the Cabinet may be struggling because they do not work through collective responsibility, making it challenging to correct mistakes.\nKirwa highlights this dynamic frequently in Kibaki’s administration, where ministers would make mistakes, and the president would engage them, allowing each to propose a solution.\n“I think the main problem with my brother President Ruto is that he may not be taking advice from anybody, and as you know, advice is only as good as the recipient,” added Kirwa.\nUnless significant changes are implemented in the governance structure, he does not foresee any dramatic improvements in what the government will achieve.\nOvertaxation\nAnalysts anticipate the President to address the severe state of the economy, as it is in disarray, impacting all facets crucial for the country's development.\n“It cannot be fixed by overtaxation. The shilling is in a free fall. Jobless youth are engaged in crime. The cost of living is out of reach. Those are the things he should be talking about today,” says Prof. Gitile Naituli of Multi-Media University.\nHe suggests that President Ruto will likely continue emphasising that the global economy is in disarray, and he inherited a challenging economic situation from Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.\nThe President might also emphasise his commitment to creating jobs for Kenyans abroad, with the analysts arguing that this can only happen through proper investment in education, health, transport, and energy.\nThe shilling has lost 29.8 per cent of its value this year. If nothing is done, analysts fear inflation could reach the levels seen in 1992 when the ruling Kanu party was funding the YK92 lobby group. “The president painted himself as our saviour and we believed him,\" Naituli said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001487125/cost-of-living-weakening-shilling-expected-to-be-top-in-ruto-address"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..98ac31311309a919d980e2f0c0b7a3ff4ac7de5a
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+{"doc_id": "1b87f3c14ee729ab8c5e0dcfe29705b4", "text": "Diamond Trust Bank's (DTB) shareholders are set to take home a total of Sh1.4 billion in dividends, representing a 66 per cent higher payout than last year after the lender posted a 54 per cent jump in net earnings.\nDTB posted Sh6.79 billion in profit after tax for the full year ending December 2022, riding on higher funded and non-funded income streams.\nThe lender's total operating income surged 21.76 per cent to Sh31.9 billion, driven by growth in net interest and non-interest income.\nBased on the year-end results, DTB directors have recommended the payment of a first and final dividend of Sh5 per share for 2022 compared to the previous year's Sh3 per share.\n\"Following this strong performance, the board has proposed a dividend of Sh1.4 billion, or Sh5.00 per share, reflecting a 67 per cent growth in the dividends paid last year,\" said the lender in its financials published on Monday, March 27.\nDTB Chairman Linus Gitahi said the lender will continue to progressively increase the dividend payouts \"on the back of an improving performance by the Group as well as ensuring that there is an equitable balance between rewarding shareholders and retaining capital to fund DTB's ambitious growth aspirations.\"\nThe bank recorded Sh4.41 billion in net earnings a year earlier.\nIt said its regional expansion had paid off after its subsidiaries continued to post increased earnings. The lender has opened 10 new branches since July last year in Kenya and plans to open another 20 branches over the next nine months, it said. This will increase its footprint in East Africa to over 150 branches by the end of the year.\nGroup Chief Executive Nasim Devji said the lender is confident the investments in its traditional branch footprint as well as in its digital transformation journey will deliver value to its customers as well as shareholders.\n\"We believe that the investments we are making in our people, branch and digital platforms will deliver not just convenience and ease of access to our customers, but also provide them with innovative value propositions which speak to their needs,\" said Devji.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/stocks-markets/article/2001469824/dtb-to-pay-out-sh14-billion-in-dividends-after-sh679b-profit"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a992a9c339c0fc3ebf98ae6665f0fdf70fa4f44d
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+{"doc_id": "1fbf5be6a8b0a6f16ea7a89b808b183a", "text": "County bosses have claimed the medical equipment leasing scheme is scandalous after it was varied by more than 100 per cent.\nThe Council of Governors (CoG) says under the Sh38 billion Managed Equipment Service (MES), counties were originally paying Sh95 million, but are now being told to fork out Sh200 million annually.\nThis means that counties now pay cumulatively Sh9.4 billion per year up from Sh4.5 billion. The money is deducted directly from county allocation and paid to the private suppliers by the National Treasury.\n“The Government signed an agreement for MES and later signed MoUs with the county governments on the same. The governors have actually just learnt with shock that the cost of the MES has moved from Sh95 million to Sh200 million per year, without clear explanations,” said CoG Chairman Josphat Nanok.\nThe county bosses have protested that Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich reduced the County Revenue Allocation by Sh14 billion without consultation or reasons given.\nKenya gazette\nMr Rotich had published in the Kenya gazette dated June 29, 2018 the revised disbursement of county governments’ equitable share of allocation of the 2017/2018 year funds.\n“The CS has gone ahead to publish the revised county governments share downwards by Sh14 billion in the gazette notice. This is without discussion, consultation or approval of Parliament in the amendment of the Division of Revenue and County Allocation of Revenue Acts. This renders the process illegal and outright abuse of office,” said Mr Nanok.\nThe county chiefs also questioned why there was more scrutiny on county budgets and expenditures than in the national Government, adding that if the Government was serious about fighting corruption, all unaudited reports and accounts must be approved by Parliament.\nAudited accounts\nNanok argued that the last audited accounts for the counties were that of 2016-2017, while the last audited accounts for the National Government were still as far as 2013-2014 financial year.\n“There is more scrutiny on county budgets and expenditures. The last audited accounts for the counties are 2016-2017, while the last audited accounts for the national government are 2013-2014,” said Nanok.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001287395/governors-raise-alarm-over-sh200-million-lease-of-medical-equipment-scam"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0986bd9c0b7dc5dd2cc51e4b9a44e05f433f6760
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+{"doc_id": "2029825f1bad483b5951944596bba10f", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Climate campaigners are clamouring for an end to investment in carbon-spewing fossil fuels.\n- Launched in 2019, the project was supposed to be completed in 2022, but the Covid-19 pandemic slowed it down, said Nafiou Issaka, deputy general manager of the West African Oil Pipeline Company (WAPCO).\nGaya,\nChinese and Nigerien workers haul giant steel pipes over mounds of earth as heavily armed soldiers keep guard.\nAt Gaya in southwest Niger, near the border with Benin, the longest oil pipeline in Africa is being built.\nWith a projected length of nearly 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) — including 1,250 km in Niger itself — the pipeline will connect oil wells in the eastern region of Agadem, a zone troubled by deadly jihadist incursions, with the Beninese port of Seme.\nClimate campaigners are clamouring for an end to investment in carbon-spewing fossil fuels.\nBut in Niger -- the poorest country in the world according to the benchmark of the UN's Human Development Index -- this project is seen as an economic lifeline.\nThe landlocked West African state became an oil producer in 2011. The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), exploiting the reserves, has been sending oil by pipeline to refineries in Zinder in south-central Niger.\nFor exports, Niger initially planned to ship crude through the Cameroonian port of Kribi via neighbouring Chad.\nIt eventually opted for the \"Beninese corridor\" terminating on the northern rim of the Gulf of Guinea.\nLaunched in 2019, the project was supposed to be completed in 2022, but the Covid-19 pandemic slowed it down, said Nafiou Issaka, deputy general manager of the West African Oil Pipeline Company (WAPCO).\nMore than 600 km of pipeline has already been laid, and Niger is on track to sell crude on the international market from next July, according to the ministry of petroleum and energy.\nMore than 700 soldiers have been deployed to ensure security for the project, though a large part of the territory it crosses has so far been spared from jihadist violence, according to a security source who asked not to be named.\n'Niger's biggest investment'\nNiger has long been a major producer of uranium, ranked in global 7th place in 2021 with a total output of 2,248 tonnes, after a year-over-year decline in the past decade, according to the World Nuclear Association.\nBut uranium revenues continue to fall and the country's leaders are banking on oil to boost the national budget, much of which is devoted to the fight against jihadists in the southeast and the west.\nSix billion dollars will be invested in the pipeline.\n\"It is Niger's biggest investment since independence\" from France in 1960, said Kabirou Zakari, who heads the ministry's oil refining division.\nFrom 2023, oil production should be increased to 110,000 barrels per day, of which 90,000 barrels will be exported, Zakari told AFP.\nOil could then \"generate a quarter of the country's GDP\" — more than 13.6 billion dollars in 2020 according to the World Bank — and \"about 50 percent of Niger's tax revenue\", compared to four percent and 19 percent respectively today, added Zakari.\nHe estimated Niger's oil reserves at around two billion barrels. According to official projections, Niger will produce 200,000 barrels per day in 2026.\nFuel smuggling\nThe Algerian oil company Sonatrach has announced an \"encouraging\" discovery of oil in Kafra, a vast area of 23,737 square kilometres (9,165 square miles) on the border with Algeria.\nThe British company Savannah Energy, a major player in the gas industry in neighbouring Nigeria, says it too has found deposits in the Agadem region, where the Chinese are already operating.\nA black market for oil products is flourishing in the capital Niamey and in other big cities. A litre of petrol (gasoline) exchanges hands for 300 FCFA (40 US cents), just under half of the price at the pump.\nOn Tuesday, Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum said fuel smuggling organised from neighbouring Nigeria had become a source of \"supply for terrorists\" and called for a crackdown.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/africa/news/africa-s-longest-oil-pipeline-takes-shape-in-niger--3984636"}
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+{"doc_id": "243d04eec4311364e31297f52191eefe", "text": "Chinamasa grilled over cash ‘black market’\nZvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter\nFinance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa was yesterday taken to task by legislators over Government’s inaction on the illegal sale of scarce cash on the black market.\nMembers of Parliament across the political divide asked the minister why there was no evident effort to prosecute cash dealers whom they claimed acted in cahoots with financial institutions and influential individuals.\nThe questions were raised in the National Assembly during a question-and-answer session. Shamva South Member of Parliament Cde Joseph Mapiki (Zanu-PF) was the first to ask why cash dealers were not being jailed and fingered members of the Indian and Chinese communities for selling cash at a premium.\nCde Mapiki said EcoCash dealers were also levying charges on desperate customers. Minister Chinamasa said there was no law providing for the arrest and imprisonment of such individuals, but that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was empowered to impose penalties under the Banking Act.\n“The law to jail people (dealing in cash) is not yet there. What is there are penalties for those found doing that. “We have agreed as Cabinet that a law be put in place. I am not saying cash is not being sold, but I do not know about it because I would not be there when people sell it,” said Minister Chinamasa.\nHis response was met with howls of disapproval from legislators, particularly when he said he wanted to get more information in respect of EcoCash dealers.\nLegislators were riled that Minister Chinamasa appeared to suggest he was not aware of a practice that is rampant in the country. Zvimba West MP Cde Ziyambi Ziyambi (Zanu-PF) said a new law would not solve the problem since financial institutions were the major culprits.\n“They sell cash and banks are involved. If you want to travel outside the country they will ask you to deposit your money. Where do they think we would have got it (from)?” said Cde Ziyambi.\nMinister Chinamasa said he was getting regular reports from the central bank on such vices. He undertook to issue a ministerial statement next week giving full details on the issue.\nThis was after he was subjected to a barrage of criticism from legislators on why he was not giving precise responses. The legislators were furious that the minister in some instances said he was not aware of any alleged illegal financial practices.\nGlen View North MP Mr Fani Munengami (MDC-T) implored Minister Chinamasa to give detailed responses, including information on a proposed $300 million stand-by liquidity facility and central bank governor Dr John Mangudya’s views on the performance of the bond notes so far, given that he had indicated that he would resign if they failed to achieve intended objectives.\nDr Mangudya introduced the bond notes as part of the multi-currency system in November last year, stating they would be paid out as an incentive to encourage exports and promote formal Diaspora remittances.\nResponding to another question, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joram Gumbo said engineers were already on the ground in preparation for the commencement of the Beitbridge-Harare highway dualisation.\nHarare South MP Cde Shadreck Mashayamombe (Zanu-PF) had asked for an update on the project. Meanwhile, the Public Entities Corporate Governance Bill was tabled before the National Assembly yesterday.\nThe Bill provides for governance of public entities in compliance with the Constitution, provide a uniform mechanism for regulating the conditions of service of members of public entities and their senior employees.\nThe Bill was referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee to scrutinise whether it is consistent with the national Constitution.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/chinamasa-grilled-over-cash-black-market/"}
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+{"doc_id": "252e4a636acb57edbac62faab0b4e47d", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Truth be told, we are nation of euphoric cry babies who sulk like spurned adolescents and never understand instructions\nShhhh! I’d like to guess it is now safe to mention Artcaffé. Some weeks ago, blue-blooded “indigenous” Kenyans who have made the new media their theatre of war would have bullied you out of cyberspace if you had said something nice about it.\nYou were only safe if you claimed that it spices its schnitzel, linguine carbonara, margherita basilica, tagliatelle Bolognese — and many of its hard-to-pronounce items — with racism and garnishes them with slices of half-baked and stale michetta, ciabatta, boule, brioche or dampfnudel.\nFor the uninitiated, Artcaffé is a delicatessen with outlets in four shopping malls in Nairobi. To regular patrons, it is just a food outlet, an eatery, but for many pseudo-middle class Kenyans, it is a status symbol, thus when these wolves in cheap second-hand clothes visit, they expect chefs and wait staff to put everything on the back burner, roll out the red carpet and mount guards of honour for them.\nIt does not serve what is considered traditional African food and many congenitally-rude Kenyans cannot pronounce the items on its menu, but, all in the spirit of keeping up with the Joneses, they still patronise its outlets.\nSome weeks ago, an “indigenous” Kenyan received what he considered to be unsatisfactory service at one of the outlets. Instead of fighting for his rights himself, he cried out to a sister who bolted to new media screaming that racial discrimination was the main condiment in her brother’s order. Then hell broke loose as epithets were hurled at the establishment’s “racist” foreign proprietors and local wait staff.\nIf you have lived in Kenya long enough, then you know labelling service providers racist or accusing them of racial discrimination is not new. It is an art Kenyans have perfected. When we do not receive what we consider to be good service, we infer racial discrimination — even when the person who supposedly served us poorly is of our race.\nIt is not easy to know exactly who cast the first croissant those many weeks ago, but I can bet my last stick of baguette that whatever transpired did so because the customer was rude, considering that Kenyans are generally obtuse, belligerent and never admit they are at fault.\nDon’t Kenyans just love being “victims” of racial discrimination? We are always discriminated against yet we mistake politeness for stupidity, so much so that even when we seek to be attended to, we do not talk to wait staff but make catcalls at them because the former is a sign of weakness.\nKenyans never ask (for services), we demand — with a fixed mind on what the answer should be. When we are given a different answer, we scream racial discrimination, rally our troops and the rest is hysteria.\nTruth be told, we are nation of euphoric cry babies who sulk like spurned adolescents and never understand instructions. And it is not due to illiteracy, but because we are obstinate, uncivil and are unschooled in simple matters of good mannerisms.\nWe are the people who can go to motorbike races with bicycles and when turned away, complain about racial discrimination, a war-cry that is gaining currency amongst Kenya’s growing ersatz middle class.\nLet’s admit it. We are an unruly, discourteous people who do not understand that bad behaviour is infectious or that we do not have a monopoly over rashness. That is why we throw tantrums when the other parties hit back after we have infected them with our despicable mannerisms.\nWhile there is a dearth of good customer care in many establishments in Kenya, we do not do not know how to stand up for our rights. When we think we are doing so, we end up exposing our inferiority and superiority complexes (which are the same) because we have low self esteem and needlessly and unnecessarily try to stamp our authority.\nLook at how we behave in Parliament, on the roads, on the streets, in mass transport or in places where we are supposed to queue and you will understand how foggy and narrow our collective national mindset is.\nWe experience chaos in Kenya primarily because we are an uncivilised people without the mental capacity to see logic, to reason, to engage in meaningful dialogue, to talk to one another — we are an ignorant, argumentative and combative nation which thinks that we make sense only when we shout and that all our problems are caused by foreigners.\nLaid down procedures or laws are just proposals which we feel we are not obliged to adhere to, and when we are reminded, we throw tantrums and blame it all on foreigners, yeah, racial discrimination, yet we have never internalised our mistakes or shortcomings.\nWhen it comes to haute cuisine, molecular gastronomy or upmarket restaurants, our palates are numb, our taste buds are dead and also, we have limited, or no knowledge at all, about culinary arts or fine foods.\nThus, we order items because they are high-priced — all in trying to keep up with the Joneses — then wail, whine, hurl epithets when they do not taste like the bland, ordinary, badly-cooked fare we usually consume in road-side eateries.\nDear Kenyans, Five Star is not a building. It is a lifestyle. As long as we do not understand that, and change our mannerisms or learn to be polite, we deserve to be racially discriminated against — and, yes, we can complain till kingdom come but the so-called foreigners will not budge and we will never run them out of town either. Thanks for reading.\n----------------\nWhy do kenyans love to hide behind social media?\nDo you know who I am?” an enraged celebutard asked, and the proprietor coolly answered: “If you don’t know who you are, then you need to see a doctor.”\nIf there is an “art” I am yet to master, it is the ranting on the new media about an establishments with unsatisfactory service. Maybe I will do it, probably I have done it, but to the best of my recollection, I do not think I have.\nI also patronise establishments that offer “poor” services, but I defend my rights there and then, after all, I am the one who is affected, so why should I seek validation by bringing in other people with one side of the story?\nI find it a bit malicious and foolish, an ill-advised activity that reveals more about the complainant’s feeble mind, meekness, low self esteem, lack of confidence, than the establishment’s bad service.\nThe point is, I get what I need and I never accept poor service at any time of the day or night at any establishment, be it a supermarket, restaurant or corporate companies.\nWhen it comes to the latter, I call them (or the public relations agencies that handle their issues) and explain my problem and even the lethargic Kenya Power has sorted me out numerous times just through phone calls.\nDid I mention that the biggest whiners are “celebutards” and TV personalities with do-you-know-who-I-am–mentality? They feel slighted when they are not recognised, so they rush to the new media to rally their troops even after they have caused a ruckus at the establishment.\n... And why do they bully?\nKenyans are bullies and many a time their victims let them off lightly. One thing I have promised myself is never to be bullied — and in turn, I never bully people.\nIf you cut in front of me in a queue anywhere, I tell you to get back, no matter your social status, gender, age, religion or sexual orientation.\nIf you hoot at me when I am crossing the road at a zebra crossing or when I have right of way, I stop and remind you that I also drive.\nWhen I am behind the wheel and you honk when I am waiting for the lights to change, I stay put because a vehicle’s horn has never blown another vehicle out of the road.\nAnd yes, I give way to essential services like ambulances and fire engines, and I am not so narrow-minded as to fight for space so I can rush after them.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/Features/DN2/The-croissant-scandal-that-never-was/957860-1908800-m09t9w/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "25ab7eea4003b0e6912b76b237b69fe3", "text": "AfDB plans Zim financial package\nSydney Kawadza in MALABO, Equatorial Guinea\nTHE African Development Bank (AfDB) is working on a financial package for the country, as the continental bank continues to be impressed by political and economic reforms being implemented by Harare.\nIn an interview on the sidelines of the 54th Meeting of Boards of Governors of the AfDB and the 45th Annual Meeting of the African Development Fund (ADF), which ended last week, AfDB director for the Southern African region Dr Kapil Kapoor confirmed that a package was being crafted.\n“We are in the process of having discussions with the African Development Fund donors on what are the size (of funding) the AfDB would disburse; what are the conditions of the entire programme?” said Dr Kapoor.\n“Once those numbers appear by December this year, then we start seeing what sort of finance to fund from the system.”\nThe move by the AfDB comes immediately after the bank approved the Zimbabwe Country Brief, in an overwhelming endorsement of the country’s reforms under the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP).\nDr Kapoor said he met Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube during the Bank’s meetings here and told him the AfDB was happy with the reforms.\nHe said the board would be providing resources for disasters such as Cyclone Idai and some relief projects.\n“The reason our board was encouraged to do that was because of the agreement with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) on the programme and some of the laws the country is in the process of changing,” said Dr Kapoor.\n“We believe there is a lot of momentum taking place (and) as long as that happens, we will continue supporting; we will be able to continue supporting it.\n“There is an agricultural programme that will be probably ready around October of this year, as you know this is the end of ADF cycle; so we are drawing down on the AfDB resources and it’s limited.”\nDr Kapoor said as part of the reforms underway in the country, the Staff Monitored Programme (SMP) being implemented under the watchful eye of the IMF was “a very good step”, adding that the next step was to ensure “Government delivers on its commitments”.\n“Government has to commit to all these laws that they are changing,” he said. “Once this track record of reforms is established, this will then allow for further funding. What is important now is to maintain that reform momentum.\n“Once that confidence is there, then we will go to the next step.”\nIt is also expected that at least three major projects funded by the AfDB would be launched in the country by October this year.\nGovernment is also confident that it could start drawing funds under the ZimFund starting January or February next year.\nAn arrears clearance plan is central to more funds coming from the AfDB.\nZimbabwe owes the AfDB US$605 million.\nMeanwhile, the AfDB said Zimbabwe’s economy expanded by an unprecedented 3,5 percent last year, driven by agriculture together with a peaceful election despite cash shortages and the three-tier pricing system.\nThe AfDB also says the growth came despite foreign currency shortages\nThe bank projects a 4,2 percent economic growth this year and 4,4 percent next year.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/afdb-plans-zim-financial-package/"}
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+{"doc_id": "265ae3c04469359b11ac89f26ff8de3d", "text": "-\nFreeman Razemba Senior Reporter The redesigning and rehabilitation of the Harare-Kanyemba Road in Mbire, Mashonaland Central has moved a gear up, with 2km of a stretch between Mahuhwe and Mushumbi being completed and opened to traffic. The contractor, Exodus & Company (Pvt) Limited, is presently working on redesigning and the total construction of a 10km […]\n-\nVictor Maphosa recently in MUDZI The construction of Chimango Clinic in Mudzi District, through the use of devolution funds, has been completed, much to the relief of hundreds of villagers. Mudzi Rural District Council deployed devolution funds towards construction of Chimango Clinic, as it plays its part in the attainment of the nation vision of […]\n-\nZimbabwe is a beautiful country, not so much because it is home to one of the seven wonders of the world—the mighty Mosi-oa-Tunya (The Smoke that Thunders), known to the world as the Victoria Falls, her wildlife heritage or stunning scenery, but her people.\n-\nHerald Reporter The US$153 million expansion of the terminal at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport will be completed by mid-next year, with two shuttle buses commissioned yesterday in anticipation of increased traffic once the upgrade ends. In terms of the airport upgrading, construction is almost complete and just a few final touches are being conducted, […]\n-\n-\nMichael Tome Business Reporter AFRICAN Risk Capacity(ARC) Limited intends to invest US$100 million towards agriculture insurance in Zimbabwe, as it broadens its African footprint and interventions to improve the strategically key sector’s resilience in the face of climate change. ARC is a specialised agency of the African Union (AU) established to help African Governments to […]\n-\nHerald Reporter GOLD coins to be released onto the market on July 25 provide an investment option and will also help in stabilising the local currency, whose value against the United States dollar has declined in the last few weeks due to speculative tendencies, as some of those driving up the black market switch to […]\n-\nNqobile Bhebhe Bulawayo Bureau THE on-going massive infrastructural development projects being implemented in Matabeleland region and across the country are testimony to the fulfilment of the ruling ZANU PF Government’s promise to the electorate and commitment to transform Zimbabwe. Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development, Dr Matthew Nyashanu, said […]\n-\nJoseph Madzimure Senior Reporter AFRICAN governments, including Zimbabwe should invest more in value addition and beneficiation of its minerals to realise the more value from its resources, Organisation for United Africa (OUA) secretary general Mr Tinos Dumba has said. He said African diamond and gold producing countries needed to increase beneficiation and value chain development […]\n-\n-\nTina Musonza Herald Reporter A review of the National Action Plan for Care of Orphans and Vulnerable is underway to enhance their protection against violence and other forms of abuse, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Professor Paul Mavima, has said. Prof Mavima said this during a high level policy dialogue on child protection […]\n-\nYoliswa Dube-Moyo Bulawayo Bureau THE construction of an Engineering Laboratory and Innovation Complex at Gwanda State University is set to spur mineral beneficiation and exploration initiatives as the country moves towards attaining a $12 billion mining milestone by 2023. The project dovetails with Government’s National Development Strategy (NDS1), which supports establishment of centres of excellence […]\n-\nBulawayo Bureau Massive road construction projects in Beitbridge, which dovetail with the ongoing US$300 million modernisation of the border post and being spearheaded by the Second Republic, have transformed the face of the border town. The modernisation of Beitbridge Border Post is among the top infrastructural projects aimed at stimulating economic transformation in line with […]\n-\nA major water project is being launched in Muzarabani as part of efforts to continue developing rural areas, Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, said this week when commissioning infrastructure in the area.\n-\n-\nGibson Nyikadzino Herald Correspondent ZIMBABWE, through its engagement and re-engagement policy under President Mnangagwa, has an opportunity to be re-admitted into the Commonwealth of Nations nearly two decades after withdrawing its membership, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association president, Mr Brian Speers, has said. In 2003, Zimbabwe withdrew from the Commonwealth after former imperial power Britain internationalised […]\n-\nHerald Reporter Government has started implementing home-grown solutions to ensure local manufacture of fertilisers for increased wheat production as part of efforts to counter the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has impacted on global wheat and fertiliser stocks. The conflict has resulted in challenges with shipments of wheat and fertiliser, spurring shortages and pushing […]\n-\nEnacy Mapakame Business Reporter Listed hospitality group, African Sun Limited will commit a significant amount of capital this current financial year towards sprucing the image of its hotels as it repositions itself for the anticipated tourism rebound. The group has indicated one of its focus areas is enhancing guest experience and consolidating its market share. […]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/category/vision-2030/page/2/"}
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+{"doc_id": "26a81edc884b57237b0e7d833e78c5ca", "text": "Johannesburg,\nPresident William Ruto is expected to address the third African parliamentarians Summit on Climate Policy and Equity hosted by the Pan- African Parliament in Midrand, Johannesburg South Africa, this week.\nThe aim of the two-day summit is to invigorate a critical mass of stakeholders to catalyse broad support of pro-poor just, equitable, locally-led and science based decisions in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) implementation and climate action.\nOn top of taking stock of the COP27 and overall Africa’s progress in the NDCs implementation since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, the Summit will also interrogate the contentious issue of just transition and come up with recommendations to guide member countries on the direction which aligns with African countries.\nIn April, President Ruto challenged Pan African Parliament -PAP to be the continent’s stand bearer on issues affecting Africans which include Intra-African trade, climate change, democracy and good governance.\nEconomic growth\nDuring the meeting at State House Nairobi the President of Pan-African Parliament Chief Fortune Charumbira, the President asked the continental legislative organ to play a key role in the implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area(AfCFTA), which presents immense opportunities for exponential economic growth through trade and investment.\nThe implementation of the AfCFTA is in line with the African Union theme for 2023 “Year of Acceleration of the African Continental Free trade Area Implementation”.\nPresident Ruto said it was time for Africa to end the use of fossil fuels and embrace renewable sources of energy, given that the content has the largest untapped reservoirs if clean energy.\nThe second ordinary session of the Sixth Pan-African Parliament which started on Monday May 15, was officially opened by President Azali Assoumani of Comoros and who is Chairperson of the African Union gave a commitment of African Heads of State and governments to fully support the continental legislative house fully function.\nOn his part, the President of Pan-African Parliament Chief Charumbira decried continued underfunding of the institution which he says has slowed down operations and crippled some activities.\n“PAP is the only Parliament in the world where its members do not received sitting allowances, yet all other organs in AU get paid, Why? posed Charumbira. PAP's budget has been on the downward trend. Without the requisite budgetary support, the PAP remains a new vehicle, ready and raring to be driven but cripplrd by lack of fuel\"\nHe also decried the state of political instability in various countries in the continent saying its claw back on big democratic gains that had been made.\nSenate Speaker Amason Kingi who addressed the continental house said climate change, presently poses threats to humanity in dimensions and scale not contemplated before.\n“For humans and wildlife across the globe, the race for survival in the face of the adverse effects of climate change has never been more intense and desperate” Mr Kingi said.\nMr Kingi is accompanied by senators Tabitha Mutinda and William Kisang.\nKenyan representatives in the continental parliament are Esther Passaris, Majimbo Kalasinga, Rahab Mukami, Senators Danson Mungatana and Prof Margaret Kamar.\nAfrican Union’s Climate Change and Resilience Strategy (2022-2023) which stands out as a guide on matters climate action and green recovery, advocates for clarifying the role of the various AU structures and agencies involved in Climate policy, and for strengthening collaboration between the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) and the committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC).", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/africa/news/president-ruto-to-address-pan-african-parliament-in-south-africa-4235966"}
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+{"doc_id": "280af70f512510f092b10ac24366e8a2", "text": "President William Ruto has failed to actualise almost fifty per cent of the promises he committed to achieving in his first hundred days.\nRuto had promised to lower the cost of living, implement the hustler fund, have 50 per cent of Cabinet positions held by women and appoint judges rejected by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.\nHe also promised to implement the two-thirds gender rule, define the responsibilities of the Deputy President and Prime Cabinet Secretary, take action on corruption cases he claimed were politically instigated, fund counties in time and return port operations to Mombasa.\nOf the promises, only two directly touched on the people's welfare nationally and only one- the hustler fund- has been implemented.\nOut of the nine promises, President Ruto has fulfilled 56 per cent of them missing out on the critical issue of reducing the cost of living which keep rising.\nDuring his inauguration, the president scrapped the fuel subsidy that had cushioned Kenyans from the rising cost of living arguing that the country cannot sustain consumption subsidies in the coming months.\nKen Gichinga, the chief economist at the firm Mentoria Economics, criticises the government's decision to scrap the fuel subsidy which he said has played a major part in raising the cost of living and inflation.\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto reaffirms State's support for health sector under devolution\n\"Removing the subsidy on fuel was not a very sound decision because that's what has driven up inflation. When the cost of fuel goes up, everything goes up... that would have remained in place so that there is a bit of money circulating in the economy,\" argued Gichinga.\nHowever, the president has taken a different strategy of subsidising production where the government has allocated Sh3.55 billion to subsidise fertiliser for growing food crops during the short rains season.\nDuring the Jamuhuri Day celebrations on Monday, President Ruto said that the government will continue with the subsidy programme that has farmers buy a bag of fertiliser at Sh3,500 a bag. \"A consignment of two million bags has already landed at the port of Mombasa, and the remaining 4 million will arrive in the first week of January in time for the long rains,\" he said.\nFruits of the efforts in the agricultural sector are yet to be seen by many Kenyans who expected a drop in the price of maize flour once the new government took office.\nAlso, he president took a u-turn in having a gender-balanced Cabinet, breaking the promise he made in the Women's Charter signed in June 2022. Ruto has only seven women among the 22 Cabinet secretaries.\nNevertheless, Ruto sent proposals to the National Assembly to amend the Constitution and even proposed a formula that will guide the computation of the gender ratio in Parliament.\nCounties are still starved of funds for October, November and December yet he promised that counties will get funds without delay.\nThe president has been true to his promise of halting the investigation of cases he claimed were politically instigated. In the last two months, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has withdrawn cases against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Public Service and Agriculture Cabinet secretaries Aisha Jumwa and Mithika Linturi, respectively\nDespite the president's push for austerity measures by directing the Treasury to raise Sh300 billion from various ministries, little has been done to put in place a system to stem graft and budgeted corruption.\nGovernance expert Tom Mboya argues that dealing with corruption may open a gateway to economic recovery at a time Kenya is grappling with high inflation.\n\"We are losing more than Sh800 billion a year to corruption and official wastage. That is not sustainable. Aggressively dealing with that can register small but quick wins which can begin having the impetus to turn around the economy in a favourable direction,\" said Mboya.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001463167/ruto-clocks-100-days-but-bulk-of-promises-not-met"}
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+{"doc_id": "2933b8f22aec764e44fe72db3d99e991", "text": "‘China aims for 6,5pc economic growth over next 5 years’\nBEIJING — President Xi Jinping of China announced on Tuesday that the Communist Party and the national government had set a 6,5 percent target for annual economic growth from 2016 to 2020.\nThe announcement, an apparent attempt to temper expectations that China’s slowing economy will rebound to anything near the double-digit growth of recent decades, came as the party released the broad outlines of proposals for its next five-year plan.\nThat blueprint of its economic development was discussed at a recent party plenary session in Beijing and is expected to be completed next spring by the National People’s Congress, a legislature that grants proforma approval to party policy.\nIn declaring the target of 6,5 percent, Mr Xi was reiterating a figure that Prime Minister Li Keqiang had used in a speech on Sunday in South Korea.\nThe leaders say the target must be met for China’s gross domestic product and per capita income in 2020 to be double what they were in 2010.\n“China aims to narrow the income gap and raise the proportion of the middle-class income population in the next five years,” according to a report by Xinhua, the state news agency, on the proposals for the next five-year plan, which will be the 13th in the party’s history.\nChina’s gross domestic product per capita is about $7,800, the Xinhua report said, citing figures released on Tuesday. With nearly 1,4 billion people, China is the world’s most populous country. The current development plan, which runs from 2011 to the end of this year, set an annual growth target of about 7 percent.\nThe party said the proposals for the new plan aimed to, among other things, eradicate rural poverty (an “arduous task”); promote inclusion of the Chinese currency, the renminbi, in the International Monetary Fund’s basket of currencies; and attract foreign investment while encouraging more Chinese businesses to invest overseas.\nThe party also said that China would set up a “Green Development Fund” to promote clean industry and sustainable growth.\nThe proposals emphasised the need to strengthen conservative party ideology in public realms, an important goal under Mr Xi. For example, they called for cultivating a positive culture on the Internet and cleansing the online environment.\nAt the same time, the plan said China wanted to improve Internet speeds — a task seemingly incompatible, at least on a global level, with the country’s Great Firewall system of web censorship.\nThe proposals were approved after about 200 full members of the party’s Central Committee held a meeting for four days last month in a heavily guarded hotel in western Beijing.\nLast Thursday, during the session, the party announced that it was changing its one-child policy of family planning to a two-child policy in an attempt to stimulate economic growth.\nThe new policy is also expected to be approved by the National People’s Congress next spring and will go into effect afterward, although economists and demographers say they do not expect a big spike in the national birthrate.\nOn Tuesday, some critics expressed scepticism about whether any five-year plan could address the evolving complexity of China.\n“Rarely do people compare the plan and the eventual reality,” said Mao Yushi, chairman of the Unirule Institute of Economics in Beijing. “Not one five-year plan has unfolded as planned. Why? Because you can’t predict the problems five years from now.”\nThe Chinese economy grew 6,9 percent in the third quarter, relative to a year earlier, according to data released in October. That figure, while robust compared with those of advanced economies, was the slowest for China since the global financial crisis of 2009, and some economists say the economy is actually much weaker.\nMr Xi and Mr Li have said they want to shift China away from heavy industry and high investment toward a larger service sector and more consumer spending. But recent economic shakiness has fed doubts about whether they can smoothly manage that transition.\nThe annual plenary sessions of the Central Committee are part of the ritualised cycle of Chinese politics, giving top leaders a platform to win elite endorsement for their policies and to settle disagreements.\nMost famously, a plenum in late 1978 sealed Deng Xiaoping’s re-emergence as a dominant leader and opened the way to market overhauls that transformed the economy over the next decade.\nBefore the latest meeting, party propaganda depicted Mr Xi, who is also the general secretary of the party, as a visionary in the mold of Deng.\n“It is consistent with the broader trend of the C.C.P. General secretary acting as the ‘chairman of everything’ and ensuring his personal stamp is on every policy,” said Scott Kennedy, a researcher on Chinese economic policy at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington who has followed the drafting of the new five-year plan.\nAlthough China has shed many of the top-down economic controls of the Maoist era, the five-year plan still plays an important role in setting long-term goals, Mr Kennedy said.\nAfter the National People’s Congress endorses the plan next spring, ministries and agencies will issue more detailed strategies for making changes regarding energy, the environment, trade and other areas.\n“The plan serves as the most authoritative statement on the state’s priorities,” Mr Kennedy said. “The party, government agencies, financial institutions and companies then spend a great deal of effort aligning themselves with these priorities.” — AP", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/china-aims-for-65pc-economic-growth-over-next-5-years/"}
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+{"doc_id": "2a987e5ed3458354d276e261ec280b84", "text": "China-US trade war: Zero-sum game, a loss-loss confrontation\nSpecial Correspondent\nThe United States of America’s administration wielded tariffs as a “big stick” and coerced other countries into accepting its demands in the name of “America First”.\nThe US has launched investigations under the long-unused Sections 201 and 232 against its main trading partners, causing disruption to the global economy against the trend of multilateralism.\nSince August, 2017, it has launched a unilateral investigation under Section 301, accusing China of not being able to properly protect intellectual property and forcing foreign enterprises to transfer their technologies, which is totally unfounded. Though China is willing to resolve trade disputes with the US through dialogue and consultation, which is conducive to the interests and expectations from both sides, the US administration, however, has once and again breached the consensus reached in previous consultations, and imposed additional tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US, upgrading the trade friction to a degree in no one’s favour.\nNeither side shall be the winner in the prolonged trade friction. International landscape today is no longer governed by zero-sum game. On the contrary, in a world where all countries’ interests are more intertwined than ever before, any party’s loss will impact the global economy as a whole. Given the large volume of intermediary goods and components from other countries in Chinese end-products exported to the US, US tariff hikes will hurt all the multinationals that work with Chinese companies, US companies included.\nTariffs hike is not a solution but a weapon, a weapon not to enemies, but to partners. Researchers found that, to avoid loss of customers, some enterprises have to afford part of the tariffs themselves, some others will do their best to reduce tariffs by way of entrepôt and processing trade or readjust their global supply chains at the expense of optimal resource allocation. Ultimately, customers and enterprises in both countries will suffer, slowing down bilateral trade and investment as a result since profits are shrinking.\nAccording to the research by the US National Retail Federation, the 25 percent additional tariffs the US imposed on furniture alone will cost the US consumer an additional US$4,6 billion per year.\nAccording to a joint report by the US Chamber of Commerce and the Rhodium Group in March 2019, due to the impact of China-US trade friction, US GDP in 2019 and the following four years could decrease by US$64-91 billion per year, about 0,3-0,5 percent of its total GDP. The International Monetary Fund also lowered its projection of 2019 world economic growth down to 3,3 percent from the 2018 estimate of 3,6 percent in its World Economic Outlook report published in April 2019, suggesting an even sagging world economy caused by the trade fiction.\nSo why is the US administration determined to launch the trade war at the cost of a possible recession of its own economy and pose threat to a looming world economy? Is it true that an emerging China will endanger US economic interests or world trade order? Economy and trade between China and US is not the main cause for China’s growth, nor is it the cause weakening US’s national power, but a driver for a balanced world economy instead.\nEric Fishwick, CLSA’s head of economic research, said that the China-US tariff battle isn’t just about Americans buying too many Chinese goods. This is really because China is the next geo-economic and geopolitical rival to the US, and the US is uncomfortable with that. China US trade war is not simply a war in trade or economical volume, but a war in political strength and influence.\nLooking back at US geopolitical strategic foreign policy, containmentism and cold war mentality remains as the features till today. The US policy-makers hold the view that only by keeping finding a rival and defeating it, could the US stay in absolute advantage and security till it reaches hegemony, its final goal.\nThe rival might not only mean a “hard power” giant in either military or economy, but also indicates a “soft power” threat who doesn’t buy in US value. Being a superpower for decades in post-Cold War era, US holds that its national interests is at risk if they fail to curb a potential hegemony, namely China, before it becomes too strong.\nThe pursuit of the ultimate power is uncompromising, thus a zero-sum game is inevitable. In its new National Security Strategy issued in December 2017, it addresses key challenges and trends that affect US world status, including revisionist powers, such as China, that use technology, propaganda, and coercion to shape a world antithetical to US interests and values, and to succeed in geopolitical competition, the US will protect its national security innovation base from intellectual property plagiarism and unfair innovation exploiting, to ensure its leading role in those fields. Uncertainty and insecurity by seeing a growing China touched the nerves of US, and they decided to resort to a trade war as the first step ahead.\nWith such a mindset, the US neglects the close partnership and complementarity in two-way trade and investment, while regards all China’s development as dangerous, arbitrarily interfering in normal economic activities. The current US administration is owing its domestic issues to the unbalanced trade with other countries, internationalising and politicising economic problems.\nChina became the primary target as the biggest source of US trade deficit. Trying to solve domestic problems and bring the manufacturing sector back home, the US adopted technological and industrial development policies whereas making unwarranted accusations against other countries’ industrial policies, attacking China’s “Made in China 2025” plan, accusing China of “stealing” IPR and violating world trade order, curbing China’s high-tech development by imposing sanctions on Chinese private owned technology companies, and using protectionist measures to unilaterally claim normal contractual technological cooperation as forced technology transfer.\nTo guard its own interests, the US adopted unilateralism in the name of America First. By using proactive expansive measures the US assorted to “long-arm jurisdiction” based on its domestic law, asserting influence on transnational corporations or even containing other countries’ economic development by impeding the free flow of goods, services and capital.\nThe US, as the biggest economy in the world, however, refused to shoulder its due responsibility in international community. It denies the trend of globalisation and defies multilateral mechanisms by withdrawing from JCPOA, the Paris Agreement on climate change, UNESCO and UNHRC. It is because the US deems that a fair and cooperative multilateralised world will constrain it from realising its selfish and aggressive aim, which is to keep its position as the one and only global leader.\nHistory has witnessed the vicissitudes of the changing world. China is not the only target the US attempted to contain. In the 1980s, the US administration launched 24 investigations under the auspices of Section 301 towards Japan, holding Japan responsible for the unbalanced bilateral trade, coercing the Japanese government to accept almost all demands and forcing Japan into signing the Plazza Accord, which led to the Japanese asset price bubble of the late 1980s.\nToday’s China is not Japan in the 1980s, but a dynamic economy second biggest in the world with a large market, a low degree of dependence on export, and a strong momentum of technological innovation. China does not want a trade war, but it is not afraid of one and it will fight one if necessary.\nActually speaking, the trade war ignited by the US also brought with it opportunities to China, in that China saw clearly of its own shortages in innovation and high-tech development, and realised the importance of a development path of self-independence.\nThe trade war comes when the world is at a crossroad, with one direction leading to the pursuit of hegemony, the other leading to cooperation for common development. No matter how far China develops, it will never seek hegemony.\nChina will never pursue development at the expense of others’ interests and China’s development does not pose a threat to any other country. China is a firm believer of multilateralism and a strong promoter and defender of globalisation. As the biggest developing country, China is devoted to its own development and is selflessly sharing its experience with other developing countries.\nThe Belt and Road Initiative initiated by China will continuously serve as an open platform to enhance connectivity between countries for a more prosperous world, and China’s gate for international cooperation will only open even wider, never shall it be deterred by any forms of deterrence.\nA Chinese proverb goes that “a just cause enjoys abundant support, while an unjust cause finds little”. Dialogue and consultation is the only correct choice for China and the US, and win-win cooperation is the only path to a better future. When the US and China work together, they can be the anchor of world stability and the propeller of world peace.\nChina doesn’t believe in the Thucydides Trap, nor did China be a self-fulfilling prophecy through a peaceful development path. China and the US should have confidence in each other and stick to cooperation on mutual interests.\nIt is hoped that the US, in the spirit of no conflict or confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation, pull in the same direction with China to strengthen trade and economic cooperation, work together on a new way of harmonious coexistence, healthy competition and cooperative win-win results, without being disturbed by disputes or differences, jointly advancing the sound development of China-US relations. — Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/china-us-trade-war-zero-sum-game-a-loss-loss-confrontation/"}
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+{"doc_id": "2bd925c8f854ba8d964dc0ba1bc3b9e2", "text": "Kenya risks losing funding from the Global Fund due to poor accountability and suspected quality in HIV testing, condoms and medicines.\nAn audit report by the Office of the Auditor General of Global Fund covering 2016 and 2017 tells of massive irregular payment to workers and project activities.\nMost worrying, the report says, up to a quarter of healthworkers are not following the required HIV testing procedures. This could mean a significant number of Kenyans may be getting false HIV results.\n“About 24 per cent of the 21 facilities visited do not consistently follow the national standardised HIV testing procedures or algorithms,” says the audit report published in November.\nNot tested for quality\nThe auditors found none of the testers had attended the annual refresher course as required and no supervision was being done.\nThe auditors found condoms worth ($6 million) Sh600 million procured by the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) had not been tested for quality at the National Quality Control Laboratory as required.\nThey also report finding medicines worth ($3.8 million) Sh380 million stored by Kemsa in leaking warehouses along Commercial Street in Industrial Area.\nThe storage facilities at Commercial Street, the report says are sub-optimal: ‘the roof leaks and the warehouse floods during the rainy season.’\n“At the time of the audit, Global Fund commodities worth ($3.8 million) Sh380 million were stored in these sub-optimal conditions.”\nThis is despite Global Fund having allocated ($9.5 million) Sh950 million in 2016 for construction of a new warehouse which had not commenced by June 2018.\nThe auditors say they could not reconcile stocks worth ($1.9 million) Sh190 million at Kemsa because some of the expired medicines had been destroyed without adequate records.\nFor instance, the report says some destruction certificates issued only indicated that assorted items were destroyed without detailing the name of the medicines, quantities or the donor.\n“Kenya thus risks losing funds in line with Global Fund guidelines,” warns the audit.\nKenya Red Cross Society also a recipient of substantial funding from Global Fund is reported to be procuring defective needles and syringes worth ($470,000) Sh47 million.\nThe report says appropriate quality assurance had not been carried out before the devices were distributed to users.\n“The users reported defects and the devices had to be withdrawn,” says the report which has been shared with government.\nGlobal Fund, Kenya Government and other stakeholders, the report says have agreed on a course of actions to be implemented by December 2019 otherwise Kenya risks losing substantial funding.\nThe audit also unearthed cases where several donors are unknowingly funding the same project through the same implementor and getting the same reports.\nThere was also a case where Global Fund and another donor were unknowingly paying the same Community HealthVolunteers to perform the same activities and reported the same results to the different partners.\n“Further, over 400 community health workers receive multiple payments at different rates for the same activities under different Global Fund grants,” says the report.\nThe audit report also tells of another instance where the fund and another two donors are financing same 26 implementors for same work in same area.\nThe auditors also expressed disappointment with Kenya’s efforts in controlling tuberculosis (TB) having missed set targets for three years.\nThe auditors say although the fund has supported the procurement and roll out of GeneXpert machines for TB diagnosis less than half of their capacity is being utilised.\nThis, the report says is due to poor maintenance of machines and lack of diagnostic cartridges. Forty seven per cent of the machines were not functioning when the auditors visited hosting facilities.\n“In addition, the cartridges required by the machines were not consistently available in 18 of the 21 facilities visited by the auditors.”\nThough Global Fund had helped the country acquire additional 30 GeneXpert machines in mid-2017 these had not been installed a year later in 2018. In many cases the report found some machines, which require uninterruptible power supply had been delivered to facilities without power.\nOut of four performance indicators the audit shows Kenya to have performed poorly. Apart from procurement of medical commodities, Kenya scored poorly in quality and service delivery, governance and oversight within devolution and grant performance.\nThe national government is also blamed for poor funds absorption and programme delays of upto eight months. Because of these delays the report warns that Kenya risks losing some grants from Global Fund. In 2015 and 2016 the report shows about Sh1.8 billion was returned to the Treasury due to non utilisation despite funding gaps, says the report.\nSince 2003 Global Fund has signed over (S$1.4 billion) about Sh140 billion for Kenya and so far disbursed ($1 billion) Sh100 billion including an active grant for up to June 2021.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/reproductive-health/article/2001309972/health-workers-may-be-giving-you-false-hivaids-results"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..161672e5896c42f4fef018879d0d698e76d989a8
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+{"doc_id": "2d7f90528216b485e1fde7349df4c505", "text": "About Zimpapers\nZimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Ltd is the oldest newspaper publisher and commercial printer in Zimbabwe, as well as being the largest publisher of newspapers, having been in the industry since 1891. It publishes 13 newspaper titles and runs a Broadcasting Division.\nThe company is the proprietor of Zimbabwe’s leading daily newspapers, The Herald, The Chronicle and H-Metro. It owns two Sunday newspapers The Sunday Mail and The Sunday News.\nThe largest Provincial newspaper in Zimbabwe, The Manica Post, a weekly, anchors the Mutare unit. In recent decades; Zimpapers launched two newspapers in the country’s two main indigenous languages, Shona and Ndebele. Kwayedza, the Shona weekly is published in Harare while Umthunywa, the Ndebele weekly paper is published in Bulawayo.\nThe Zimpapers Group and New Era Newspapers of Namibia jointly launched a regional weekly newspaper; Southern Times in 2004.\nIn 2012 Zimpapers launched the country’s first commercial radio station, Star FM. It brought together the finest presenters and disc jockeys to start up and develop a fast growing and multi-faceted radio brand. Zimpapers added to its broadcasting portfolio with the launch of Diamond FM radio station in Mutare in 2016. Further expansion into broadcasting resulted in the introduction of the Zimpapers Television Network.\nZimpapers also publishes two magazines, Zimtravel covering tourism and Bridal Magazine; which looks at weddings and related issues. The Group has responded to emerging digital technologies and migration by creating innovative digital products that have increased its audience reach and enhanced the visibility of advertorial content.\nBesides being the biggest newspaper publisher in the country, Zimpapers is the only publisher and printer operating as a public company, having been floated on March 8 1927; then as the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company Limited. It changed its name in 1980 when Zimbabwe gained its Independence from colonial rule.\nThe 1927 launch incidentally makes it one of the oldest listings on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.\nFor more than 80 years, readers, have had the opportunity to buy and trade in the shares of “their newspaper”, – which has seen hundreds of smaller investors joining the big institutional investors in taking a stake in the equity.\nZimpapers has newspaper offices in Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare and commercial printing works in Harare and Bulawayo. Gweru hosts a newspaper bureau and a commercial office, while journalists are stationed in bureaus across the country.\nThe Group also has a strong presence on digital publishing platforms, which is where the future lies.\nThe Vision\nTo be the leading integrated media, commercial printing and packaging company in Zimbabwe and beyond.\nMission Statement\nTo publish newspapers, magazines and books; produce print and packaging products as well as offer broadcasting services of the highest quality at competitive prices that add value to our stakeholders.\nCore Values\nTo ensure the prosperity and wellbeing of Zimpapers’ shareholders, employees and customers. In pursuit of its mission and vision, Zimpapers is guided by the following core values:\n- Customer success and satisfaction\n- Equal opportunity employment\n- Offer quality products and services\n- Efficiency\n- Good corporate governance\n- Profitability\n- Continuous innovation\nCapitalk FM\nNyaminyami FM", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/about-zimpapers/"}
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+{"doc_id": "2e01c91f4fc8d0e336df2c0dfed6270f", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Last week I joined leaders in policy, business and academia from around the world in Kampala for Africa’s largest blockchain conference.\n- A majority of the people have no clue what cryptocurrency is, let alone how it works. There are just a few excited people who will want to move with lightning speed. But it requires the courage of a few to speak out like the governor did.\n- Uganda has set aside resources to support innovation. No country, however, will succeed alone. The emerging business models require a significant population to make it.\n- In President Museveni we have that political will and hopefully we can rally behind him to get other African countries interested in these emerging technologies that will drive the upcoming fourth industrial revolution.\nLast week I joined leaders in policy, business and academia from around the world in Kampala for Africa’s largest blockchain conference.\nSome 700 delegates from 23 countries had converged at Kampala’s Serena Hotel to discuss the role of blockchain technology in Africa’s transformation. President Yoweri Museveni officially opened the conference.\nI considered my role as a keynote speaker ordinary. However, at dinner on the eve of the conference, someone whispered to me that I would moderate the presidential panel featuring President Museveni and Mauritian President Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim.\nAlthough I have worked around presidents before, this was different. President Museveni is unlike many presidents. He is sharp, witty and bluntly honest at times.\nI bade farewell to my colleagues at 11pm to start preparing for the next day’s speech and the panel moderation.\nWe agreed to meet at breakfast at 7.30am and be at the conference venue at 8am before the president’s arrived.\nMy strategy that night was to get as much data as possible for East Africa right in case the presidents were to seek clarification for my questions. It was getting to 3am when I slept.\nOLD SCHOOL\nMy phone rang at 8.30am in the morning.\n“What happened?” inquired Kwame, the event organiser.\n“Oh oh, I overslept!” I explained.\n“Please send your presentation,” he pleaded.\nBy the time I was arriving at the conference hall, it was 9am. Luckily, due to security arrangements, delegates were still queuing.\nI had some time to reset before giving my opening speech at 9.45am, followed by a panel discussion that was interrupted by the President’s arrival.\nOrganisers shifted the programme to opening ceremonies, inviting the minister for communication, Frank Tumwebaze, who invited the governor of the Bank of Uganda, Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, then Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda.\nI have in the past interacted with Frank and Rugunda on matters related to ICT. The minister’s speech was revolutionary and resonated with the audience, which wanted to hear the government’s position on cryptocurrencies.\nThe governor’s speech was from the old school of thought and took the audience through an introductory lecture in economics.\n“Money is a medium of exchange, a measure of value, a store of value …it will be risky to invest in cryptocurrency that is unregulated and undermines the role of central banks,” he inveighed.\n“Cryptocurrencies do not have the privilege of legal tender,” he declared.\nBANK GOVERNOR OUT OF TUNE\nHis speech dampened the spirit of the audience that was obviously looking forward to Uganda’s endorsement of the emerging financial disruptions.\nWhen President Museveni got to the podium, he did not waste time to declare his governor irrelevant in this day and age.\nHis largely off-the-cuff speech differed sharply with that of the governor. Sarcastically, he warned the governor not to be dogmatic. “Be inquisitive,” he advised.\nHe spent a great deal of time talking about the history of money over the past 3,000 years, from the origins of batter through the time Africans used cowrie shells as a medium of exchange to gold and silver.\nHe said that at some point there was a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account was based on a fixed quantity of gold.\nThis too was replaced by fiduciary (faith or trust) in paper money that is issued by central banks.\nHe, however, respected the governor’s views and explained areas of convergence in blockchain.\nIn his understanding, he likened blockchain to the cooperative movement, where people agree to work together for the common good and any party that fails the group’s trust threshold is thrown out.\nHe explained how the cooperative movement failed when only a few had the knowledge but the majority were mostly illiterate and were taken advantage of.\nIf this blockchain is to succeed, every participating member has to be equally knowledgeable, he concluded.\nAUTOMATING TRUST\nHe was right in his description of blockchain. It is indeed a process of automating trust, with all participating members having similar information.\nIn retrospect, both the president and the governor were right. A majority of the people have no clue what cryptocurrency is, let alone how it works.\nThere are just a few excited people who will want to move with lightning speed. But it requires the courage of a few to speak out like the governor did.\nIn so doing, we seek a middle ground that does not condemn the ignorant majority at the expense of a few, just like the cooperative movement did to Ugandans.\nEventually, the shape of currency will change. Cryptocurrency itself may become legal tender.\nTo facilitate digital transactions, perhaps we may consider some electronic token that translates to fiat currency one on one, just like M-Pesa.\nWe can then graduate to some other encrypted currency.\nThe president urged delegates to focus on four areas in order to help African economies to grow: agriculture, industry, services and ICTs.\nIn agriculture, Museveni said more than 68 per cent of Ugandans were involved in subsistence farming. They are not capable of using land to create wealth, he said.\nHe hoped that such systems could be used to transition farmers to large-scale production where they can create wealth.\nHe finished his speech by clearly differentiating cryptocurrency from the blockchain technology, which no one, including the governor, had a problem with.\nTHE VIEW FROM MAURITIUS\nThese were basically some of the issues that the conference was seeking to tackle. The delegates were ecstatic, giving him a standing ovation.\nAs the aides signalled me to move to the dais for the panel discussion, I was struck by temporary paralysis. What do I ask a man who understands all these emerging jargons?\nI nevertheless gathered myself and walked to the front. “Your Excellency, thank you for succinctly capturing what our purpose here today is all about. Your Excellency, these technologies are new innovations and will require new regulations, but before the law is made, we require legal sand boxes to enable us to move forward. Can you comment on this, sir?”\nHe was gracious in his response, offering to help in any way he can. Africa should not be left behind this time around, he said.\nHis many years of public experience had given him many examples that he took time to explain. I could not cut him short and it is one thing that had not featured in my planning.\nI had a small window to profusely thank him, and then turned to President Gurib-Fakim.\n“Your excellency, how do we foster collaboration in these emerging technologies that will drive the fourth industrial revolution?” I posed.\nThis affable academic-turned-politician had the answers at her fingertips. She talked about across-country, and industry-academic collaborations, and emphasised the role of women in these collaborations.\nENABLING ENVIRONMENT\nThen President Museveni interjected to share his broad experience. With the kind of support that the presidents were offering, it was clear that the challenge was in the hands of the young innovators to seek the support.\nUganda has set aside resources to support innovation. No country, however, will succeed alone. The emerging business models require a significant population to make it.\nFor example, blockchain is used in many countries to raise funds for start-ups to scale.\nIn our case, we need resources for both start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).\nIn this case, we need an enabling environment to issue the Initial Coin Offers (ICOs), the equivalent of Initial Purchase Offers (IPOs), in listed companies that can help raise funds for SMEs.\nThis will require guidelines for responsible and practical use of the digital assets framework throughout the African continent.\nIt needs just a few countries, possibly East Africa, to start, then it can be expanded to the rest of Africa.\nThe potential in Africa to leapfrog is enormous but what has been lacking in the past was political will.\nIn President Museveni we have that political will and hopefully we can rally behind him to get other African countries interested in these emerging technologies that will drive the upcoming fourth industrial revolution.\nThe writer is an associate professor at the University of Nairobi’s School of Business. Twitter: @bantigito", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/blogs/dot9/ndemo/2274486-4584046-5exusuz/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "2f3f48f0b7dd29405c84347316cecbb2", "text": "President William Ruto’s pronouncements on the successes of the multi-billion-shilling Hustler Fund have elicited mixed reactions from the political class.\nRuto on Thursday said one year after its inception, the fund has disbursed Sh39.7 billion to Sh21.8 million people and mobilised Sh2 billion in savings. He added that total repayments stood at Sh28.75 billion, with the fund positively impacting the lives of Kenyans.\nLeaders from across the political divide have now chimed in on the financial inclusion programme, with the Raila Odinga-led Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition clashing with the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance on its efficiency.\nLegislators allied to Raila are now calling for the scrapping of the Hustler Fund while their Kenya Kwanza Alliance counterparts have moved to justify the positive impact the fund has had through the provision of cheap loans.\nSaboti MP Caleb Amisi yesterday discredited the gains of the fund terming it an ill-thought-out fiscal plan that should be abolished.\n“There is no change in the lives of Kenyans who have accessed the Hustler fund. There is no measurability to show what the fund has done in terms of the fund elevating a person’s life from one stage to the next,” said Amisi.\nHe likened the fund to “daylight thievery” by the current regime.\n- State set to publish new health insurance charges\n- Taking care of you: Mental well-being in a constantly changing world\n- Where are we on affordable food for Kenya's citizens?\n“When the fund was being implemented it had no economic planning and this rendered its implementation hot air. The fund should be abolished and the kitty turned into another fund for the less fortunate in society,” added Amisi.\nAlego Usonga MP Sam Atandi (pictured) dubbed the Hustler Fund a political tool for the Kenya Kwanza administration and questioned the loan amounts given to borrowers.\n“There is nothing serious happening around the Hustler fund. The amount of loans being issued is not enough to change the lives of the borrowers. The fund is a political tool for the Kenya Kwanza administration meant to keep it afloat and not meant to help Kenyans,” said Atandi.\n“The transformation Ruto promised is far off from what is happening on the ground. This is a busybody project that should be done away with. With loan amounts of Sh500, no meaningful development will come from the same.”\nKitui Senator Enoch Wambua questioned what the Kenya Kwanza administration sought to achieve with the programme.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001486448/azimio-kenya-kwanza-mps-clash-over-hustler-fund"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/341885b909719b34c634d5e4e9a0d64c.json b/clean/cc/341885b909719b34c634d5e4e9a0d64c.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3b8e6047d6ba7de2d5589fb4231c34361a5920c5
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+{"doc_id": "341885b909719b34c634d5e4e9a0d64c", "text": "The African Court on Human and People’s Rights has ordered the government to pay the Ogiek community Sh157 million in compensation for material and moral damages.\nIn ruling in Arusha, the judges dismissed objections by the government and ordered it to pay the community Sh57.8 million for material damages and Sh100 million for moral damages, including restitution.\n“…the court, in the exercise of its equitable jurisdiction, ordered that the respondent state must compensate the Ogiek with the sum of Sh57,850 000 for the material prejudice suffered.”\nThe court delivered its judgment on the merits of the application on May 26 2017. It found that the government had violated the rights of the Ogiek under Articles 1, 2, 8, 14, 17(2) and (3), 21 and 22 of the Charter.\nThe court also noted that the violations alleged by the Ogiek established in its judgment of May 26 2017 remained unaddressed up to the time it was considering reparations.\nTo ensure all registered Ogiek of Mau Forest benefit from the outcome of litigation, the court ordered the government to State to establish a community development fund for the Ogiek which should be a repository of all the funds ordered as reparations in the case.\nIt was further ordered that the community development fund should be used to support projects for the benefit of the Ogiek in health, education, food security, natural resource management and any other causes beneficial to the well-being of the Ogiek as determined from time to time by the committee managing the fund.\n“The respondent state was thus ordered to take the necessary administrative, legislative and any other measures to establish this fund within 12 months of the notification of this judgment.”\nThe court held that comprehensive reparations needed to take into account harm suffered by the Ogiek in relation to the infringement of their rights. In the present application, the court noted that while it was not possible to allocate a precise monetary value equivalent to the moral damage suffered by the Ogiek, nevertheless, it could award compensation that provided adequate reparation.\nIn determining reparations for moral prejudice, the court confirmed that it takes into consideration the reasonable exercise of judicial discretion and bases its decision on the principles of equity.\nThe court confirmed that moral prejudice includes the suffering and distress caused to the direct victims and their families, and the impairment of values highly significant to them, as well as other changes of a non-pecuniary nature, in the living conditions of the victims or their family.\nThe government had asked the Court to allow it to consider ordering an amicable settlement but the court dismissed the plea.\n“In the present application, given the failure of an amicable settlement procedure at the merits stage, and also the parties’ failure to agree on the procedure at the reparations stage, the court held that the conditions for an amicable settlement were not satisfied. The respondent state’s prayer was thus dismissed,” part of the ruling read.\nThe government had opposed Ogiek’s prayer for restitution of their ancestral land in Mau Forest by means of delimitation, demarcation and titling noting that the community had misinterpreted the findings of the court in relation to the ownership of the Ogiek ancestral land.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001448695/african-court-awards-ogiek-sh157m-in-land-rights-case"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f1026dcb828542959d95a82a5d6261547f8b5555
--- /dev/null
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "3452b0ef336d515eaf9b3045bbb4357a", "text": "Botswana’s annual diamond sales jump\nSales of rough diamonds by Debswana Diamond Company jumped 64 percent in 2021, statistics released by the Bank of Botswana showed on Monday, driven by the reopening of key global consumer markets.\nThe total value of Debswana’s diamond exports stood at US$3,466 billion in 2021 compared with US$2,120 billion in 2020, the central bank data showed.\nDebswana, a joint venture between Anglo American unit De Beers and Botswana’s government, sells 75 percent of its output to De Beers with the balance taken up by the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company.\nDebswana sales fell by 30 percent in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hit demand while global travel restrictions impacted trading.\nSince mid-2020 De Beers has shifted some of its rough diamond viewings to international diamond centres such as Antwerp to cater for customers unable to travel to Gaborone.\n“Demand for rough diamonds remained robust, with positive midstream sentiment and strong demand for diamond jewellery continuing over the holiday period, particularly in the key U.S. consumer market,” Anglo American said in a production update last Thursday. Debswana accounts for almost all Botswana’s diamond exports, with Lucara Diamond Corp’s Karowe mine being the only other operating diamond mine in the country.– Reuters.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/botswanas-annual-diamond-sales-jump/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..dec35ee24b45d6fb8dc02adf93180ff5cd4126e1
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+{"doc_id": "349b951409561d9260fe7678f0fbd4e9", "text": "-\nClickatell (https://bit.ly/3yfdmhr), a leader in mobile communications and Chat Commerce (https://bit.ly/3GqJr8U), collaborated with senior executives across the CPaaS, CCaaS, and Digital Commerce industries to predict the stand-out trends for 2022. The responses point to the consolidation of all three sectors into a single new sector called Chat Commerce. The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation […]\n-\nAmerican multinational energy corporation Chevron has signed an agreement with the government of Equatorial Guinea for Block EG09 – located in the Douala Basin on the border of Cameroon. Representing a notable achievement for both Chevron as it moves to increase its penetration in the Equatorial Guinean market, and the country itself in its journey […]\n-\nVerdant Capital (Verdant-Cap.com) has been named by Private Equity Africa as the best Local Financial Adviser for 2021. Private Equity Africa, or PEA is an authoritative journal for private equity investors in Africa and into Africa. Now in its 10th year, the PEA awards are the ultimate accolade of success in the African Private Equity […]\n-\nThe print industry in Africa and the Middle East is growing despite predictions; Digital printing and personalisation are major growth drivers; Sustainability is high on the print industry agenda. The future of print in a digital world was in question even before COVID-19. Yet, according to regional experts, in discussion at a special edition of […]\n-\n-\nMeta (https://about.facebook.com/Meta/) today released its ‘2021 Africa Year in Review’, an infographic capturing some of the company's significant investments and initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa this year – focused on driving innovation, connecting communities, helping businesses to grow and supporting the tech and creator ecosystem. The infographic highlights key Meta successes and milestones across the region, […]\n-\nFollowing the launch of the new International Standard, ISO 37000, FluidRock Governance Academy (www.FluidRock.co.za) and Candor Governance have announced the availability of their virtual course entitled ISO 37000 Governance of Organizations Course, Foundations Level. FluidRock Governance Academy and Candor Governance have partnered to deliver the training globally. The international standard, ISO 37000, provides guidance for […]\n-\nJumeirah Group (www.Jumeirah.com) today unveiled its latest ultra-luxury resort; an avant-garde superyacht architectural design with unmatched experiential spaces, that will charter a new era for luxury hospitality. Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, planned to open in 2023, will lead a new generation of Jumeirah Group’s ultra-luxury portfolio. Known for its exceptional service and unparalleled hospitality, Jumeirah […]\n-\nJumeirah Group (www.Jumeirah.com) today unveiled its latest ultra-luxury resort; an avant-garde superyacht architectural design with unmatched experiential spaces, that will charter a new era for luxury hospitality. Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, planned to open in 2023, will lead a new generation of Jumeirah Group’s ultra-luxury portfolio. Known for its exceptional service and unparalleled hospitality, Jumeirah […]\n-\n-\nRadisson Hotel Group (https://bit.ly/3ozC7Sl), one of the world’s leading hotel groups, looks optimistically towards 2022 as it positively culminates the year with numerous milestones achieved in Africa over the past twelve months. The Group set a record in the continent this year with 14 signings to date, adding over 2,500 rooms to its African portfolio. […]\n-\nDHL (www.DHL.com) to meet growing demand for transport, logistics solutions in Algeria and north Africa; The logistics leader to open an additional office in Oran as part of its growth plans. Following its recent expansion in North Africa, DHL Global Forwarding, the leading international provider of air, ocean, and road freight services, has announced it […]\n-\nDHL (www.DHL.com) to meet growing demand for transport, logistics solutions in Algeria and north Africa; The logistics leader to open an additional office in Oran as part of its growth plans. Following its recent expansion in North Africa, DHL Global Forwarding, the leading international provider of air, ocean, and road freight services, has announced it […]\n-\nBank One (www.BankOne.mu) announced that it won the Best Mass Affluent Banking Offering award in the Service Innovations category at the Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards 2021 (GRB21) organised by the Digital Banker. Every year, The Digital Banker celebrates “the world’s most cutting-edge retail banks that are pioneering unrivalled standards and capabilities and are transforming […]\n-\n-\nIn a move upending the hottest part of the fintech market, two of the world’s leading issuer processors – Paymentology (www.Paymentology.com) and Tutuka – are merging to create a new payments and card processing powerhouse. Operating under the Paymentology name, the merger creates a new force in payment solutions; giving banks and fintechs the technology, […]\n-\nThe legal action filed on behalf of investors alleges that Hawilti and its French Citizen Director, Mickael Vogel knowingly deceived investors in 2019 to collect funding for the business without having any intentions of giving out shares. Hawilti has fought mightily to keep all data and agreements away from its African investors that financed the […]\n-\n100% black-owned energy infrastructure company, DNG Energy (www.DNG.Energy), announced today that it is commencing the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to commercial customers in the industrial, transport, marine and power sectors. This new and affordable energy alternative and it is the culmination of 7 years of planning, permitting and licensing efforts, which heralds the […]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/category/companies-news/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d97bea5757f23cbdb8ba9e5cd3e88417f4fe2802
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "34b00add737f50f51634badeff5ddbb1", "text": "As the world convenes in Dubai for COP28, developing countries will be looking out for opportunities to scale up action against the “loss and damage” arising from climate change.\nThe principle of “Loss and Damage” acknowledges the irreversible adverse impacts and economic losses already underway as a result of years of denial and lack of attention to climate change issues. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable are least equipped to fight climate change.\nHence, we expect Africa to be among priority beneficiaries, given that the continent has contributed the least to the global climate crisis, estimated at 3 per cent, yet suffers the most significant losses due to its limited adaptive capacities. Agriculture in Africa, heavily reliant on rainfall, bears the brunt of climate-related damages, impacting energy production, water resources, the environment, and infrastructure.\nThese challenges lead to suppressed GDP, forcing governments to redirect resources to food imports, social protection and aid.\nIn countries heavily reliant on agriculture, constituting over 43 per cent of GDP in 2018, these impacts can slash national GDP by up to 4 per cent annually. From 1990 to 2019, floods and droughts notably hampered African countries’ GDP per capita. Covid-19 and global security issues have further exacerbated these challenges, reducing the average national GDP by up to 10 per cent.\nThe situation is dire in highly vulnerable regions of the Sahel, Horn of Africa, and countries along the Equator, which continue to suffer inter-annual and longer-term changes in rainfall patterns, extreme temperatures, recurring droughts, floods, dust storms, and heatwaves, among others.\nThese adverse conditions and more frequent extreme climate events make it difficult for farmers to produce, store, and market food, leading to increased food shortages that cause price volatility. African countries have increased debt levels, and this, combined with the severe climate shocks, is likely to impede growth and threaten decades of developmental progress.\nAt COP27 in Egypt last year, the decision to create the Loss and Damage Fund represented a historical breakthrough, recognising the injustices in distributing the burden of responsibility. The Fund aims to finance developing countries deal with negative consequences of climate change and help them rebuild physical and social infrastructure.\n- Amid climate change, mosquitoes migrate; will malaria follow?\n- Kenyan scientist elected as vice chair of global Climate panel\n- Health adversely hit by climate change, experts say\n- US researchers push front lines of mosquito control as planet warms\nSo far, negotiations have been underway to address the many considerations required to operationalise the Fund. We appreciate the consensus to host the Fund at the World Bank for four years. However, recognising the urgent need for a coordinated response, it is the hope and expectation of many that leaders at COP28 will raise the financial resources required to activate the Fund, and establish a clear timeframe for its operationalisation.\nFrom an African perspective, critical considerations for COP28 regarding the Loss and Damage Fund encompass various crucial aspects. These include urgency of speed and urgent action to address severe and irreversible climate consequences, underlining the historical context of climate funds that took years to become effective.\nAdditionally, Africa advocates strong, robust, and flexible compensation mechanisms, highlighting the importance of clear criteria, transparency and accountability.\nThe Fund’s replenishment involves targets for regular replenishment from high-emission countries, international donors, development agencies, and philanthropic organisations, aligning with its vision for effective operation. Private sector involvement is encouraged through public-private partnerships, climate bonds, insurance, and CSR initiatives.\nUltimately, stakeholders must work for an independent oversight body for the Fund, since the governance of the Fund by the World Bank is temporary. Global leaders must ensure the Loss and Damage Fund becomes a catalyst for recovery and sustainable development.\n-Ms Kalibata is AGRA president and Mr Sene is MD of AFS Forum", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486577/loss-and-damage-fund-must-work-for-africa"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c7f152b14e6a9911eb8a870b90dde633a3624696
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+{"doc_id": "3695293941c19a6869490bf60b615e2a", "text": "Border skipping returnees a risk to us all\nLeroy Dzenga Features Writer\nThere have been reports that truck drivers are smuggling returnees from neighbouring countries.\nUsing their familiarity and friendships formed over the years, truck drivers are finding it easy to bypass health and security officials at borders.\nThey are using trickery in delivering their dangerous consignment.\nOne truck driver said they are getting what would ordinarily be enough airfare from South Africa to Zimbabwe.\n“People are willing to pay as much as US$150 to come back home.\n“If I bring two people every week, I get US$300 a week.\n“I can manage to finish my house,” one truck driver said.\nOne observation though was most of the people reaching out to truck drivers for “assistance” are youthful.\nSome who had gone to look for greener pastures in foreign lands saw their plans being thrown in disarray by the Covid-19 pandemic.\nBeing far from home without guarantees of your next meal is difficult, this is why even the closure of borders has left a window open for returnees.\nAll governments across the globe have not closed out citizens as there is no better place than home in times of crisis.\nIn Zimbabwe’s case, there has been State-funded quarantine upon return.\nThis helps authorities have an idea on the scale of the disease and apply mitigation strategies based on accuracy.\nA national response devoid of intricate data may not yield intended results.\nPeople sneaking into the country outside Government radar are threatening to dislodge Zimbabwe’s good standing against the Covid-19 disease which had otherwise been well handled.\nAs travellers return home, there is need to rewrite some of the unwritten pacts in our society.\nThese are not normal times.\nIt takes a village to raise a child, but the same village risks being wiped to extinction if it lets people return under dubious circumstances.\nCommunities should demand to see documentation confirming returnees having been satisfied to leave quarantine centres.\nWhen there is opacity, it is in the community’s best interest that it alerts authorities.\nThis is key for a number of reasons.\nCovid-19 is a disease with no precedent.\nWhat it means is there is no concrete knowledge on its progression, this is why countries are being affected differently.\nOne thing that is for certain, there is a real threat of health systems being overwhelmed.\nNo country in the world has been able to fully prepare for the virus and the subsequent disease, health systems have been put under pressure.\nChina had to expeditiously build hospitals, Italy was pressurised to the extent doctors had to decide on helping younger people affected by the disease instead of the elderly.\nOur health system was in the process of finding its feet again when this pandemic happened.\nThis means a sustained Covid-19 assault may have casualties.\nThere have been efforts to beef up existing hospitals, but even that may not be enough in the event of a full-scale Covid-19 outbreak.\nAuthorities are currently seeking resources, working with numbers currently under their watch.\nFor example, if the disease spreads in Mufakose because Joe from Polokwane decided to be deviant, it means the resources may not meet demand in time of need.\nThe same applies to those who are running away from quarantine centres after admission, they are not doing themselves, their loved ones and their community any favours.\nIf anything, there should be a law that criminalises evading quarantine and keeping quiet knowing that someone did not go through the necessary checks.\nThis is the only way the country can navigate the risk brought forward by returnees.\nWith the way Covid-19 is highly infectious, silence can be fatal.\nThis is not to suggest that all returnees are infected, results have shown that most of them do not have coronavirus, which causes Covid-19.\nBut health interventions cannot be subject to expediency.\nOf course, there have been concerns over some of the quarantine facilities, but it would be a miscalculation if we prioritise one’s comfort over public health.\nGovernment is awake to the concerns in quarantine, this led to them inviting private players to provide their own facilities to those with the capacity to pay.\nThey even reduced days for mandatory quarantine in facilities, citizens can now do eight days in a Government facility and the remaining 13 days are done at home.\nWith all these compromises, time has come for citizens to meet Government halfway and play their part.\nThey should alert people who return under opaque circumstances, alert authorities through toll free numbers 2019 and 2023.\nKeeping quiet in times like these can be fatal in that probability dictates that the virus spreads within its surrounding environs.\nThe closer someone is to those infected, the higher their chances of contracting the disease.\nNot to say everyone returning from the Diaspora is infected, a lot of people have come out of quarantine and have self-isolated at home until they reach the 21-day mark.\nIt simply is in the best interest of the country that people use designated entry points and follow due diligence as is required by law.\nYouths ought to know better or the revered access to information may be going to waste.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/border-skipping-returnees-a-risk-to-us-all/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..652ea93e8ff086df71b99c6faa7a5efd0bcd9799
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+++ b/clean/cc/3928efb009773d158b1db3c19987ffcd.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "3928efb009773d158b1db3c19987ffcd", "text": "You just recharged but you’re not sure how much airtime you have left. Or you bought a data bundle last week and you want to know if it’s still active. Here’s a quick guide to checking your balance on all three Zimbabwean networks.\nEconet\nDial *125# to check your USD and ZiG airtime balance plus expiry dates. For data bundles, dial *143# and look for the balance enquiry option.\nThere’s also *121#, which shows both your USD and ZiG airtime balances in one go. Some people find this one easier to remember.\nIf you’d rather skip USSD menus entirely, the My Econet app (available on Android and iOS) shows your airtime, data, and SMS balances on one screen.\nNetOne\nDial *134# for your airtime balance (both USD and ZiG) and data balance including expiry dates.\nFor USD bundles specifically voice, data, social media, combos, dial *379# and select the balance enquiry option.\nNetOne also has *171#, which is a broader menu covering airtime, bundles, and balance enquiry all in one place. It’s the Swiss Army knife of NetOne USSD codes.\nTelecel\nTelecel splits things by currency. Dial *124# for your USD airtime balance. Dial *146# for your ZiG airtime balance.\nFor a general balance enquiry that covers everything, *122# also works.\nA few things worth knowing\nUSSD codes work without mobile data or Wi-Fi. They run on the basic GSM network, so even kambudzi or ndorindori (a basic feature phone) can dial them. This is one reason USSD remains so important in Zimbabwe. It’s the one service that works everywhere there’s signal, no smartphone required.\nDialling these codes is free. You won’t be charged airtime just for checking your balance.\nOne common frustration is that sometimes the USSD session times out before you finish navigating the menu, especially during peak hours. If this happens, just try again. Have your menu selection ready before you dial so you can respond quickly.\nWe maintain a full list of USSD codes for all three networks, banks, and other services here.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.techzim.co.zw/2026/03/how-to-check-your-airtime-data-balance-on-econet-netone-and-telecel-ussd/"}
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new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6a64414c3e88a8b1ea7e748e67685f5a975da5e0
--- /dev/null
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+{"doc_id": "39bce7a53ca07ce80401ab2b27cbd31f", "text": "Call to incentivise investment in renewable energy\nProsper Ndlovu Bulawayo Bureau\nGovernment and the private sector should increase support for local engineers to develop cost effective domestic renewable energy solutions, which largely remain inaccessible to the majority of citizens because of the prohibitive costs.\nAs more companies and individual households are turning to solar and other renewable energy alternatives in view of crippling power cuts, experts have said the cost remained heavy on the consumer.\nSchweppes Holdings managing director Mr Charles Msipa said Zimbabwe could swiftly tackle the energy deficit gap through incentivising adoption of renewable energy solutions.\n“We are looking forward to a time when green energy will not cost a premium and urge authorities to incentivise the investment in renewable energy for local businesses,” he said.\n“This will have significant national benefits of increased power generation, of which the excess can be channelled to the national grid for the benefit of communities.\nMr Msipa is a former Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president. He challenged Government and the private sector to plough more resources towards research and development that would capacitate local engineers to produce renewable energy equipment locally.\nPresently, Zimbabwe heavily relies on imports for solar gadgets, which drains the little forex available in the economy.\n“Cost effective renewable energy solutions are essential for making it more accessible to the vast populous and general economic development,” he said.\n“A good starting point for innovation is lower cost option of batteries for harnessing solar energy.”\nLast Friday, Schweppes officially commissioned a US$2 million 1MW solar plant at its Willowvale factory in Harare in partnership with Distributed Power Africa (DPA) through a power lease agreement that runs for years.\nEnergy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi, who presided over the event, was told that the cost of the solar equipment for the company was on the higher side and prohibitive. “The current cost of batteries for this plant is three times the cost of the solar panels themselves, and with replacement required every four years, it is very prohibitive,” said Mr Msipa.\n“We have very capable engineers and institutions who can be supported and encouraged to develop solutions to some of these challenges.”\nIn view of persistent power cuts, Schweppes expects the solar plant to ensure reliable power supply for its main operations during the day, reduce demand on the national grid, save on utility bills and have green energy in support of our organisational sustainability goals in line with environmental, social and economic pillars of growth.\nMr Msipa, who also chairs the Business Council for Sustainable Development Zimbabwe, called on industry to adopt clean technologies in line with the global patterns of production and consumption.\n“In these modern times, businesses have a major role to play in ensuring that global sustainable development is realised,” he said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/call-to-incentivise-investment-in-renewable-energy/"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/3b6989be7ab9e61f77ed1ddd888e84ad.json b/clean/cc/3b6989be7ab9e61f77ed1ddd888e84ad.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d66a9cb0f74b2db8a73d30698ffd058ce489a557
--- /dev/null
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+{"doc_id": "3b6989be7ab9e61f77ed1ddd888e84ad", "text": "By some strange coincidence, the world celebrates toilets and men on November 19 every year. This year, residents of Tudor Ward presented Mombasa County Assembly Members with feaces ceremonially wrapped in a beautiful box and an open letter. Their demand was simple and in line with the theme this year. The Mombasa County Government must not leave any behind, behind.\nDespite progress globally, struggling to find a clean, safe and available toilet is still a familiar experience for many of us. Four out of seven people on the planet don’t have a safe way of managing the 350 million tonnes of human waste they produce annually. A total of 670 million people regularly relieve themselves in open spaces.\nFifty-six years after independence, more than 61 per cent of Nairobians live in a one room unit and only 4 per cent live in homes with more than four rooms. Only 62 per cent of Nairobians use a flushing toilet, 32 per cent use pit latrines and 6 per cent use open spaces or other means. Six hundred kilometres away, Muoroto community members decided to do something this year about the lack of toilet access.\nMuoroto is an informal settlement in Tudor water-front. Ten thousand human beings live, trade and work here. They have one public toilet, no waste management sewage system or access to public drinking water. They buy 20 litre jerry cans for between Sh50 and Sh100. Like any other informal settlement in the country, being poor is not only undignified, it is also expensive.\nSocial housing\nMuoroto is already within the sights of the Mombasa County government and national government. Under social housing and slum upgrading programmes, it has been indicated that they may be relocated to new houses after the upgrading of Mombasa’s ten old council estates. The draft Beach Management County Bill may bring its own risks. It remains to be seen whether these initiatives will not further displace and impoverish this community and others. In the meantime, the good men and women of the Mombasa County Assembly could prioritise water and sanitation for the Muoroto in the County Integrated Development Plan and Budget.\nExperts tell us toilets save lives, protect our dignity and create opportunities for others. There is also a feminist lens to this. On average, women empty their bladder more regularly and take at least 30 seconds longer than men. They also use toilets to change sanitary pads and care for children. Modern female toilets usually have two to three more supplies than male toilets. Yet men usually enjoy more facilities than women and trans-gender and inter-sex persons have none. A men’s toilet with a cubicle and five urinals is usually allocated the same space as three cubicles in the women’s toilet. Yes my brothers, this is the reason women’s queues are usually longer and women take longer.\nToilets are not just an issue of equity, they are also a matter of rights and dignity. For decades, slum neglect and then demolition has been a well-established cruel technique of political and social control. Governments have failed to provide meaningful levels of water and sanitation to people living in slums and informal settlements. Treating some human beings differently from others without an objective, reasonable and humane argument is discriminatory and irresponsible. If essential services cannot be supplied to areas that are unsuitable for people to live, then the government should provide a minimum level of sanitation as they develop resettlement plans to new locations where they can.\nFailure to do this will open the door for more creative and direct actions by residents in the same situation as Muoroto. Where could this end? Processions of parents dropping off their children at county headquarters to be schooled, relatives dropping off their sick or dead who need treatment or burials they cannot afford and citizens relieving themselves on the county governor’s official car. Another creative idea could be to hang signs on all public toilets on World Toilet Day that say, “Closed today in solidarity with 670 million people.” Let us not get there.\nSanitary and right to water and health standards, framed by our Constitution, the Public Health Act and building codes, should be rigorously enforced, accelerated and invested in. Within five kilometres of most residents and State Officers reading this article there is an informal urban settlement or a rural village that is denied the most basic of services, a safe and clean toilet. Think about this the next time you visit a toilet.\n- Irungu Houghton is Amnesty International Executive Director. [email protected]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001350471/access-to-toilets-is-a-matter-of-equity-rights-and-dignity"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/3cb849029bda9c192f72c94e3ec9ef6d.json b/clean/cc/3cb849029bda9c192f72c94e3ec9ef6d.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c63f39d909b866d8b6e36b301d7c1c00c629f8d6
--- /dev/null
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "3cb849029bda9c192f72c94e3ec9ef6d", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Under food security, there is fertile ground to finance adoption of new technologies and climate-smart approaches in agriculture.\n- We must now shift from discourse to implementation, especially at the county level and across the private sector.\nThe pursuit of a green and circular economy in Kenya is an idea whose time has come.\nAbout 42 per cent of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product and approximately 70 per cent of the total employment is drawn from natural resources and related sectors. These include agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, mining, forestry and fishing.\nThese sectors are sensitive to climate variability, making the economy vulnerable.\nStructurally, the transition to a green economy is on course. A Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (GESIP), offering low carbon and resource efficient solutions, has been developed to reinforce the country’s economic blueprints, including Vision 2030 and the Big Four Agenda.\nHowever, in Kenya and the world over, the pursuit and shift to a green economy has been a journey weighed by challenges, mostly financial and policy in nature.\nCLIMATE CHANGE\nThe Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that between now and 2030, an additional Sh60 trillion infrastructure investment is needed, per year, to meet the Paris agreement climate change goals across energy, transportation and other sectors.\nIn Kenya alone, the cost of climate change adaptation has been estimated at Sh2.3 trillion annually over the next 10 to 20 years.\nTo make those billions more realistic, climate change adaptation will cost Kenya the same amount as installing a new standard gauge railway every year.\nIf we don’t make this investment to climate proof our economy, millions of jobs will be lost by 2030 and millions of Kenyans will be displaced by extreme weather patterns.\nAgainst these conditions, among the many emergent innovations proposed through GESIP is the introduction of climate-aligned finance.\nAlready being used successfully in other countries to fund projects that in turn help reduce carbon emissions, enhance resilience and create employment, green finance comes in several forms including loans from development finance institutions such as African Development Bank and IFC, mezzanine finance, which is structured as debt that can be converted into equity, and the increasingly popular green bond.\nINNOVATION\nThere are reasonable prospects for green finance in actualising the Big Four Agenda. Under food security, there is fertile ground to finance adoption of new technologies and climate-smart approaches in agriculture.\nWeather index insurance, through which farmers can be cushioned against adverse weather conditions, is another innovation.\nEnergy efficient initiatives, renewable energy and recycling are all green manufacturing areas that require significant financing.\nUnder housing, an avalanche of financing opportunities exist that can engender affordable green technology housing concepts to realise the one million new houses plan.\nThe Park Road project which features 30,000 units is an excellent window to “green” the affordable housing pillar. In fact, all housing under this agenda should be green certified.\nGREEN BONDS\nSignificant work remains to create the requisite policy and institutional framework needed for green finance innovation to thrive and inspire uptake by both local and foreign investors.\nProgressively, the Capital Markets Authority has updated its issuer guidelines to include green bonds and National Treasury has signalled the intent to utilise green bonds in Kenya’s development agenda.\nWe must now shift from discourse to implementation, especially at the county level and across the private sector. As the late Prof Wangari Maathai said, sustainable development is an idea whose time has come.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/Instead-of-raising-taxes--issue-green-housing-bond/440808-5109788-lcw7tdz/index.html"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/3e53dca0ebae87c114f8e68a3f6f587d.json b/clean/cc/3e53dca0ebae87c114f8e68a3f6f587d.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ac70d7550cfdaf93d094071ee8083331cfb63038
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clean/cc/3e53dca0ebae87c114f8e68a3f6f587d.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "3e53dca0ebae87c114f8e68a3f6f587d", "text": "The Government is set to give banks a run for their money again as the National Treasury seeks to borrow directly from the public to plug the gaping budget deficit.\nTreasury yesterday reopened the mobile-based M-Akiba infrastructure bond targeting Sh250 million for the security that matures in the next one and a half years.\nThe bond offers a return of 10 per cent without taxes and can be purchased for as low as Sh3,000 via the mobile phone.\nIt will be on sale up to March 8 and will be listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) four days later on March 12.\nThe latest bond issue is expected to attract depositors who have been earning peanuts on their deposits from banks. Lenders had been adjusting their rates on savings downwards even before Parliament removed the floor on the lending rates, allowing banks to pay less for depositors’ cash which they use to do business.\nCentral Depository and Settlement Corporation Chief Executive Rose Mambo said they are hopeful the new issue will exorcise the ghosts of the last issue that flopped badly.\n“We have identified a lot of areas of improvement, including publicity and marketing,” said Ms Mambo at the launch in Nairobi.\nWhen Treasury first tested the waters with an issue of a Sh150 million M-Akiba bond, it got 100 per cent uptake. The issue was a world’s first and was aimed at expanding the pool of investors as the Government sought money for infrastructure projects.\nHowever, a subsequent Sh1 billion infrastructure bond with a Sh4 billion Greenshoe raised only Sh247 million from the market.\nA Greenshoe is an option allowing the underwriter to sell more shares to investors than were originally agreed.\nNSE Chief Geoffrey Odundo said they intend to issue the rest of the programme (Sh4.6 billion) in four tranches depending on the performance on the current issue.\n“If we get this one successfully, we will probably go for a bigger tranche,” said Mr Odundo.\nIf the mobile bond programme picks, it may challenge lenders who are not giving any returns on small deposits especially after the 70 per cent charge specified in the rate cap law was removed.\nSterling Capital researchers said banks took steps to reduce their credit expense once interest rate floors were introduced.\nAmong the steps was a reclassification of interest-earning accounts that did not require a new minimum into non-interest bearing transactional accounts.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nIn addition, banks, especially top tier banks, took the deliberate action of looking for current as opposed to savings and fixed deposit accounts, with some rejecting expensive interest-earning accounts altogether.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001314412/state-makes-third-stab-at-m-akiba-with-sh250m-offer"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/404ae8dbee25ef0ca005ff7e28dcd7cb.json b/clean/cc/404ae8dbee25ef0ca005ff7e28dcd7cb.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d3e4604f9be11d362e3913f5bdb6997aae61e313
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clean/cc/404ae8dbee25ef0ca005ff7e28dcd7cb.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "404ae8dbee25ef0ca005ff7e28dcd7cb", "text": "Another telecoms tariff hike looms?\nTawanda Musarurwa\nZimbabwe’s telecommunications sector could soon be agitating for another increase in both data and calling rate tariffs in view of a general consensus between the players and the regulator – the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) – that the current tariffs are lagging behind inflation.\nAn inflationary environment, largely as a result of a depreciating local currency, has in some instances, created a dislocation between fundamentals and pricing dynamics.\nEarlier last year, telecoms firms are said to have requested an over 40 percent increase in tariffs that Potraz turned down on the basis of needing to maintain a balance between affordability for consumers and viability for the businesses themselves.\n“Due to the inflationary conditions in the country, tariffs are lagging behind inflation,” said Econet chairman Dr James Myers recently.\nAnd although there has been an outcry from telecoms services consumers that data prices are too high, the regulator has maintained that the tariffs are fair, but appear to be high due to weakening disposable incomes.\nSaid Potraz director-general Dr Gift Machengete at the close of last year’s fourth quarter:\n“The prices of data are not high. You know why, because our salaries are low. Our salaries are not increasing in accordance with inflation, so what has happened is that last year this time the disposable income was something else now it has been eroded and because of that erosion of the disposable income it now appears as though the data prices are high and people are failing to afford so it’s a question of affordability, people are now failing to afford the data but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s too high.”\n“It is high because our disposable incomes have gone down, so I actually think that we have also to do something about the disposable income so that they go up because when you compare our data prices with the data prices of other countries around us we are actually far much below others but the difference is they have a stable currency and their disposable incomes have not been eroded.”\nAlthough there have been several tariff increases over the course of 2019, the last mobile tariff hike that was approved by Potraz saw an overall 95,39 percent jump in voice, data and SMS tariff adjustment for mobile cellular and fixed network operators.\nIn respect of that last upward price adjustment, Econet Zimbabwe increased its voice tariff with 98 percent to $0,963 per minute from $0,486 per minute in August, while data and SMS prices have gone up to $0,1926 per MB and $0,2440 per SMS respectively.\nTelecel Zimbabwe’s voice, data and SMS tariffs are now $0,96 per minute for Telecel to Telecel, $0,92 per minute for Telecel to other networks, $0,19 per MB and $0,24 per SMS.\nAnd NetOne’s tariffs increased to $0,95 per minute for NetOne to NetOne, $0,92 per minute for NetOne and other local networks, $0,19 data and $0,24 for SMS in compliance with the regulator.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/another-telecoms-tariff-hike-looms/"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/407555079547bfd51e868e0e3c49c080.json b/clean/cc/407555079547bfd51e868e0e3c49c080.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..07e03fde0b1c22f8df37450787b42f1289fe869b
--- /dev/null
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "407555079547bfd51e868e0e3c49c080", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Social media tools were deployed to mount vitriol against perceived enemies, along the usual tribal contours that define our politics while degrading our capacities as a united nation.\n- Many government agencies have deployed ICT platforms to share documents that were previously inaccessible in their \"hard-copy\" state.\nHave ICTs enhanced political participation, social accountability, public service delivery and citizen engagement in East Africa in the recent past?\nThese were the research questions behind a study commissioned by CIPESA, a regional think tank focusing on ICTs in East and Central Africa.\nIn Kenya's case, the answers are found in its recently published ICTs in Governance report. Some, which make for interesting reading, are highlighted below.\nICT IN POLITICS\nDuring the last general elections, Kenyans flocked onto social media platforms in support of their parties and presidential candidates.\nParties also embraced ICTs and used it to extensively engage with supporters in dynamic and interactive ways that were previously impossible.\nBlogs, Facebook walls, Twitter pages and websites were constantly updated with real-time information about campaign events, meetings, party manifestos amongst others.\nHowever, the ugly side of ICTs was later to emerge after the Supreme Court validated the hotly contested presidential results.\nWith the ICC case hanging in the background, many say that Kenyans opted for \"electronic\" rather than the \"physical\" post-election violence experienced in 2007/8.\nSocial media tools were deployed to mount vitriol against perceived enemies, along the usual tribal contours that define our politics while degrading our capacities as a united nation.\nThis ethnicised use of ICT continues to be worrying as we move towards the 2017 elections.\nICTs AND SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY\nICTs have proved to be a strong platform for enhancing transparency and accountability. Many government agencies have deployed ICT platforms to share documents that were previously inaccessible in their \"hard-copy\" state.\nParliament’s website has regularly updated copies of the Hansard, the Treasury has recent copies of the Budget, with the Controller of Budget regularly reporting on how it is administered.\nPublicly procured contracts are also frequently listed and updated by the Public Procurement Oversight Authority.\nVarious commissions have also adopted ICTs with the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution, the body mandated to ensure that the Constitution is implemented deploying a bill tracker - a tool for monitoring proposed, pending and enacted constitutional bills.\nThe problem, however, is that Kenyans do not read or visit such useful sites, preferring instead the easier route of embracing, without filtering, whatever they get from their political, religious and so-called FM radio \"celebrities\".\nICTs and PUBLIC SERVICES\nThe report observes that due to the high penetration of mobile services, the government has been able to improve services.\nMobile money markets have also helped in making electronic payments and reducing the risks associated with handling physical cash.\nNotable mentions go to the Kenya Revenue Authority's iTax system, the government financial system IFMIS, the Huduma Centres and the eCitizen portal. Local governments have also not been left behind, with many of them adopting electronic revenue systems such as Nairobi’s parking system.\nThe challenge, however, remains, in that corruption persists both in the public and private sector. Just because money was paid electronically doesn't mean it can't also be stolen electronically.\nICTs AND CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT\nHere is where Kenyans have excelled, particularly Kenyans on Twitter (#KOT). Using the power of social media, the report cites several instances where Twitter campaigns were mounted, leading to a change of action or policy.\n#SpeechYa500K led the government to abandon flying the President’s Madaraka Day speech to far-flung counties at the cost of 500,000 shillings while #AngloLeasing got the government hard-pressed to explain why it was making further payments to shadowy contractors.\n#SomeoneTellCNN has also been used to get CNN to apologise for negative publicity, while #TintedWindows spared Kenya’s middle class from a police directive that would have compelled them to remove their much-valued tinted film from their car windows.\nIn summary, ICTs have indeed come a long way and have played a significant role in the governance framework. We must be cautious, however, since ICTs cut both ways – they can be used positively or negatively.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/blogs/dot9/walubengo/2274560-2997286-xk6re4z/index.html"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/41c4c59087b38c52bee276ba1d2547ee.json b/clean/cc/41c4c59087b38c52bee276ba1d2547ee.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..34d15357efddc3b3c6385f0128fc9f88d2d15252
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clean/cc/41c4c59087b38c52bee276ba1d2547ee.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "41c4c59087b38c52bee276ba1d2547ee", "text": "A crisis is brewing regarding how South Sudan cargo should be cleared following a State directive that reverted cargo clearance to the Port of Mombasa.\nIn March this year, Kenya made an agreement with South Sudan for the latter's cargo to be ferried to the Nairobi Freight Terminal for clearance.\nThe South Sudan government wanted its cargo to be specifically cleared at the city terminal.\nHowever, two weeks ago, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) advised shipping lines in a notice that cargo owners are free to nominate where their cargo should go and have the right to choose their mode. This was a result of the directive from President Ruto reverting cargo clearance to Mombasa.\nNow, Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has written to his National Treasury counterpart Ukur Yatan seeking guidance on how the South Sudan cargo should be handled.\nMr Macharia revealed that South Sudan and Kenya made the government-to-government arrangement in a letter dated March 7 this year.\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto to launch UHC on Mashujaa Day\nIn 2018, the government had ordered that cargo be ferried to Nairobi and Naivasha Inland Container Depot by Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) prompting a protest from business people who felt the directive favoured the SGR.\nIn a letter dated October 4, of this year, Macharia noted that the government of South Sudan has not yet reversed the government-to-government arrangement since even the officers deployed by the South Sudan National Revenue Authority are still stationed at the NFT facility.\nThe facility is owned by Kenya Railway Corporation but operated by a Mombasa-based private transport logistics company.\n\"The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to confirm that handling of cargo for South Sudan at the Nairobi Freight Terminal facility is still considered a government-to-government arrangement until we are advised otherwise by the government of South Sudan,\" said Macharia.\n\"This ministry will also be writing to the minister of transport to reaffirm the same and also seek more arrangements on how to serve South Sudan better to continue using our transport corridors.\"\nHe stated that the government of South Sudan identified Nairobi Freight Terminal as its favourite clearance terminal on February 25 this year.\nAt the time, the Sudanese Transport Minister Madut Biar Yel said his government had settled on the facility in a communique to Kenya's Foreign Affairs ministry.\nSouth Sudan had also wanted cargo destined for its borders cleared by six clearing and forwarding firms at the Nairobi facility.\nThe arrangement which was made in April this year and implemented early this month has caused controversy, with manufacturers and traders from South Sudan rejecting the move on grounds that the decision would raise their cost of operations.\nThey have complained that NFT is being operated by a private company that cannot accommodate all South Sudanese cargo imported through the port.\nThey want the order rescinded until their country builds its own inland container depot at Naivasha where they have acquired land.\nOn June 13, this year, the Association of South Sudan Manufacturers (ASSM) wrote to the Trade and Industry Minister expressing disappointment at the cargo haulage order.\nThe association noted that the order would raise the cost of transporting a container to Sh175,500 as a result of double handling in Mombasa and Nairobi as well as rail charges.\nASSM chairman Adam Kubanja argued that most traders and manufacturers in South Sudan have invested in trucks to transport cargo but they were now being forced to pay extra costs for transportation by rail to Nairobi.\nMr Kubanja noted that the security of the containers from the vessel berth to loading on the train to Nairobi was not guaranteed by the South Sudan government. The security cost would be passed on to cargo agents.\n\"We expect congestion and delays of between five to seven days in Mombasa as the containers wait for rail transportation to Nairobi,\" he said.\n\"This will greatly affect the free days given by shipping lines and subsequently heap extra charges on containers.\"", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/shipping-logistics/article/2001457982/ruto-cargo-order-leaves-south-sudan-in-catch-22-situation"}
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new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a3c2a10029cb305e23f278678138aecfdc54021e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clean/cc/4515e27a840219d4982bb155d67ba025.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "4515e27a840219d4982bb155d67ba025", "text": "Brainworks pioneers JSE main bourse listing….Set to acquire new hotel, horticulture businesses….Seeks to raise $15 million\nTaurai Mangudhla recently in JOHANNESBURG, South Africa\nBrainworks Limited on Friday broke new ground after it became the first Zimbabwean company to have a primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Brainworks has subsidiaries in real estate (Dawn Properties), hospitality (African Sun), logistics (FML) and financial services (GetSure, GetBucks and GetCash). It is the 16th company to list on the JSE this year.\nThe kudu horn was blown early Friday morning to signal Brainwork’s listing at a colourful ceremony held at the JSE. The shares opened at R11.50. The anticipated market capitalisation of the company is around R869.7million. The listing is seen expanding the company’s capital base and supporting its vision for growth and expansion into regional and global markets. CEO Bretts Child told the Herald Business in Johannesburg on Friday that the company targets raising $10 million in the first 12 months of trading.\n“With regards to capital, we are looking to raise about $15 million in the first year which will be used to fund various operations and to retire debt obligations. But we are really hoping to use our equity to raise more capital in Zimbabwe also,” he said after the listing ceremony.\nThe company immediately announced plans to acquire a new hotel business and move into horticulture. Zimbabwe Ambassador to South Arica Isaac Moyo said Brainworks was pioneering the Zimbabwean dream to have its businesses spread into the world.\n“Today we are welcoming them into the new territory and I am optimistic they will make it and we expect more Zimbabwean businesses or those with a strong footprint in our country to do the same” Ambassador Moyo said.\nRegional stock market analyst and FNB head of research Chantal Marx said Brainworks is expected to raise “a huge amount” of capital and reap benefits from the general excitement around new stocks on the bourse.\n“The reason why they are listing is obviously to gain access to more equity and also market themselves to debt providers. This is their debut in the most liquid market in Africa and the expectation is that it gives them a boost to reputation and credibility. When this becomes a success, other Zimbabwean companies are expected to follow suit and we may perhaps see dual listings. In South Africa there is a very deep pool of capital and people are always interested in new listings and new companies have been very successful,” Miss Marx said.\nDonna Nemer, Director Capital Markets at the JSE, said: “As Africa’s largest stock exchange, the JSE believes we can make an important contribution to the growth and the development of our continent. We do this through offering foreign investors a secure and transparent entry point into Africa and providing the companies who do business here with a liquid platform to raise further capital to fund their expansion.”\nBrainworks is also working on a facility with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which will allow Zimbabwean investors to buy shares of the company without the need to source foreign currency. When it was established in 2011, Brainworks was owned 100 percent by George Manyere and Walter Kambwanji, but the shareholding shifted in 2012 and now foreigners own over 65 percent of the company. The group says that its main investment case lies in the fact that it offers ground floor access to a recovering emerging market and through the planned listing provides exposure to Zimbabwe based assets without risks associated with direct investment through the ZSE.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/brainworks-pioneers-jse-main-bourse-listing-set-to-acquire-new-hotel-horticulture-businesses-seeks-to-raise-15-million/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..45c6d6d1ec758334dbf7156e4e8a7f197435ad08
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+{"doc_id": "459f5c27ac176924507ec1b1f8a3581a", "text": "Listed property fund ILAM Fahari I-REIT posted a 16 per cent fall in profit for the year ended December 2020 attributed to the revaluation of property on a year that also saw interruption from the Covid-19 pandemic.\nNet profit fell by Sh148 million compared to Sh175.2 million recorded the previous year.\n“The real estate market was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic with most tenants, especially in the retail sector facing the biggest challenges. The year 2020 was particularly challenging for ILAM Fahari I-REIT, due to the financial difficulties experienced by the anchor tenant at Greenspan Mall,” he said.\n“The resultant closure affected business for the other tenants as a result of reduced foot traffic. We expect that 2021 will be a better year after the replacement of the anchor tenant at the mall,” he added explaining the losses caused by struggling retailer Tuskys which was the anchor tenant.\nThe ILAM Fahari I-REIT (formerly Stanlib Fahari I-REIT) is the first and only listed real estate investment trust in East Africa. It was taken over last year by ICEA LION Asset Management from Stanlib.\nThis was the first full year result of the REIT since ICEA took over in May last year.\nThe distributable earnings fell 7 per cent to Sh134.4 million compared to Sh144 million the previous year owing to an increase in property expenses emanating from the provision of bad debts.\nThis saw property expenses grow by 14 per cent.\nRental income declined slightly by one per cent due to rental rebates offered to tenants at Greenspan Mall Limited and Bay Holdings Limited.\n“This was, however, offset by the lease escalations at Starling Park Properties LLP as well as Greenspan Mall Limited hence the minimal impact of the rebates on the portfolio performance,” noted Kihanda.\n“The financial difficulties experienced by the anchor tenant at Greenspan Mall Limited as well as COVID- 19 pandemic hampered rental collections hence the significant increase in bad debts,” he added.\nKihanda noted they discounted management fees to support the REIT and also said that leases were being renewed at reasonable rats with the portfolio vacancy standing at 13.2 per cent.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001407245/property-fund-ilam-fahari-i-reit-records-16-pc-fall-in-profits"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bb382032abbcfd3b3919678656f0f63663b8d01b
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+{"doc_id": "45fa5cf74a2d6bbeebb203239360f716", "text": "Kenya will buy an additional $25 million (Sh3.23 billion) stake in Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) as the infrastructure development-focused multilateral institution moves to set up its first office outside Nigeria in Nairobi.\nPresident William Ruto said on Wednesday during ongoing ‘The Africa we Build Summit 2026’ in Nairobi, the investment is part of Kenya’s move to continue strengthening regional development finance institutions.\nKenya has been one of the shareholders in AFC since 2017.\nThe pledge for additional equity came as AFC president and CEO Samaila Zubairu announced that the firm was going to set up a regional office in Nairobi. This will be AFC’s first office outside its headquarters in Lagos.\n“I want to inform AFC fraternity that as you set up office in Nairobi, the Kenya government is going to enhance its equity by $25 million as a demonstration of the confidence we have in African financial institutions,” said Dr Ruto.\nMr Zubairu, who said AFC reached the agreement with Kenya officials to set up Nairobi office, explained that the office will be the first one outside Nigeria and aims to ride on opportunities in the East African region.\n“This is strategic. Nairobi sits at the heart of a region where trade capital, energy and industrial opportunity are increasingly interconnected. Establishing a presence here will allow us to work more closely with East African governments and partners who are moving from plans to projects and from commitment to capital,” said Mr Zubairu.\n“It allows us to support what comes next— integrated corridors, regional energy platforms, industrial ecosystems, pipelines and domestic capital mobilisation at scale.”\nAFC was created to help Africa nations plug infrastructure gaps via financing. Global shocks and geopolitical shifts have made it harder for African nations to raise funds for development abroad, making it imperative states can draw on internal capital.\nBut that is not happening enough, according to the AFC's annual study, the State of Africa's Infrastructure Report published on Thursday at the start of a two-day meeting in Nairobi.\nThe talks will try to achieve deals for infrastructure projects in Africa.\nMr Zubairu said domestic funds focused too much on low-risk assets such as government bonds that do not fully translate into productive investments. The need was to invest in infrastructure, which creates jobs and can have wider economic benefits.\n\"The Africa of tomorrow will not be shaped by hope alone. It will be shaped by what we build,\" he said.\nKenya’s planned fresh equity in AFC follows a similar move in the likes of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), African Development Bank (AfDB) and African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (Atidi) and Trade and Development Bank (TDB) where the country has been increasing its equity.\nIn 2023, Kenya raised its stake in TDB by about $40 million (Sh5.17 billion), making it among the countries with highest stake in the Bujumbura-based institution. President Ruto said he has held talks with TDB for further injection.\n“We have already discussed how Kenya, being among the highest shareholders of TDB, is going to enhance our equity and shareholding. We are doing it intentionally and deliberately. We will continue as leaders in this continent to continue building our own Africa financial institutions and give them capacity,” said President Ruto.\nAFC has over 47 shareholders including sovereigns, pension funds, banks, and multilaterals across Africa. Since the start of the equity raise in 2018, the corporation has cumulatively mobilised over $1.1 billion (Sh142.1 billion).\nThe corporation plans to further diversify its shareholding by attracting investment from regional and non-regional institutional investors and double its current capital size to accelerate Africa's infrastructure development and economic growth.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/kenya-to-buy-an-extra-sh3-23bn-stake-in-afc-5434346"}
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new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..eb0dfba4636e74c3b3e2e1ddb379e22a35102232
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+{"doc_id": "47093ed4798d652f9573071f7c266f19", "text": "2022: Year of highest wheat yield, self-sufficiency\nElita Chikwati-Features Editor\nThe year 2022 will go down in history as the farming season Zimbabwe recorded its highest wheat harvest since production of the cereal started in 1966, thanks to the Government’s Agriculture Recovery Plan aimed at boosting food security and nutrition in line with Vision 2030.\nThis year saw the country recording surplus after harvesting 375 000 tonnes of wheat from the 80 883 hectares planted by farmers during the winter cropping season.\nAbout 360 000 tonnes of wheat are required for national consumption annually.\nFollowing the success of the wheat production last season, the value chain has the potential to increase its production reaching national sufficiency and export the surplus.\nThe Russia and Ukraine Conflict has revealed the need for a nation to rely on locally-produced food.\nThese two countries used to be the major wheat producers globally and the conflict meant disruption of food supplies.\nThus it is important that Zimbabwe was able to produce enough wheat for national consumption.\nThe value chain should continue to work together in a co-ordinated manner to ensure the linkages are strengthened by ensuring that the wheat value chain is highly-dependent on our locally-produced crop.\nOver the years, Zimbabwe has been a wheat importer as local production could not meet the annual requirement of 360 000 tonnes.\nWheat production had been affected by several challenges that include interruption of power supply, high costs of production and unavailability of funding as most financial institutions were not willing to fund the crop due to high risks associated with the cereal.\nGovernment has been targeting increases in wheat production to meet the national requirement in line with the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy, the Agriculture Recovery Plan and the National Development Strategy 1 and in pursuit of the vision of becoming an empowered and prosperous upper middle income society by 2030.\nThus a number of strategies have been put in place to boost production and wheat has not been left out.\nThe Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has been working closely with important stakeholders to ensure all things were in place for wheat production.\nThe private sector on the other hand is also playing a role in boosting production through contract farming.\nThese stakeholders include the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa which also worked hard to ensure farmers had supply of water for irrigation the ZETDC also came up with different strategies to ensure farmers had interrupted power supply during the winter cropping season.\nThis saw farmers being put in clusters so they could be prioritised on power supply.\nInputs manufacturers also played their role is ensuring there was enough seed on the market while the Ministry ensured farmers received the required advisory service to produce wheat viably.\nFarmers were trained on important agronomic practices to increase yields.\nThe private sector was also tasked by Government to contribute at least 40 percent of the production of their raw material requirements in line with Government policy and the target was met this year.\nAs with all crops under the Second Republic a number of public and private financing arrangements were put in place so farmers could access their needed inputs in good time.\nWheat was planted under the Presidential Inputs Scheme, National Enhanced Agricultural Productivity Scheme also known as Command Agriculture/CBZ Agro-Yield and private sector schemes.\nAgritex extension teams were in full force going to wheat growing areas training farmers on planting, calibration of planting machines, fertiliser application and disease control among other important agronomic practices.\nEfforts were also made to avail combine harvesters so that the wheat could not be damaged by early rains.\nSome challenges were, however, experienced in some parts of the country.\nVeld fires and early rains affected the crop although no significant damage was done. The country remained self-sufficient.\nFarmers also complained of challenges in transportation of the crop to the Grain Marketing Board Marketing.\nConcerns were also raised over the delays in payments after farmers had delivered their wheat to the GMB.\nThe attainment of soft wheat self-sufficiency is premised on Government’s agricultural transformation anchored on active private and public sector participation.\nAccording to Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement food self-sufficiency, import substitution, increased exports, increased value addition and beneficiation, increased employment and improved livelihoods can be better guaranteed by a vibrant water sector, anchored on robust, transparent, fair and accountable management of the sector.\nIrrigation has been identified as a key component in wheat production.\nIn Zimbabwe wheat is grown in winter under irrigation.\nAccording to the Ministry of Lands, irrigation will continue to have a prominent role in propelling agriculture in the context of Vision 2030. In this regard, efficient water use, through efficient irrigation systems, will be advocated.\nThe country will continue to register surplus if all stakeholders play their part; if adequate funding is availed, inputs distributed early and farmers trained on important practices.\nFarmers should also be equipped so they always plant within the planting window to prevent destruction of the crop by early rains. Harvesting equipment should also be available and affordable.\nThe announcement of pre-planting producer prices by Government also help motivate farmers to produce the crop.\nA number of farmers have welcomed government’s move to peg producer prices in foreign currency. According to the farmers inputs are pegged in foreign currency and therefore they will not be able to break even if they get their payments wholly in RTGS.\nThe area under wheat production can also be improved.\nThe Ministry has also encouraged tobacco farmers to also consider producing wheat during the winter cropping season.\nTobacco growers could utilise their land for the irrigated tobacco for wheat production to ensure the country continue attaining self-sufficiency and building a strategic grain reserve for the cereal.\nAll farmers with land and have access to water for irrigation can also produce wheat even on a small scale so the nation become self-sufficient.\nThe tobacco industry has a sizeable hectarage that they put to irrigated tobacco about 20 000 hectares.\nAll this land could be utilised to grow wheat. The tobacco farmers’ 20 000 hectares can be used to produce a 100 000 tonnes of wheat.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/2022-year-of-highest-wheat-yield-self-sufficiency/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f48b33422915e87976ed4e47bcb5fcd3544d3f75
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+{"doc_id": "484ecb730a16ad2d1b78a44bd7d64eed", "text": "EXCLUSIVE: CBZ in major strategic shake up\nNelson Gahadza-Business Reporter\nPursuant to the strategic vision of creating one of the country’s largest financial services groups, renowned banker, strategist and businessman Mr Luxon Zembe, has been appointed acting chairman of CBZ Holdings to superintend over the merger with ZB Financial Holdings, The Herald can reveal.\nCBZ, in a notice to shareholders, said Mr Zembe takes over from Mr Marc Holtzman, who has tendered his retirement as a director of the company and from the position of chairman, with effect from December 31, 2023.\nIn addition to that, group chief executive, Dr Blessing Mudavanhu, will also retire effective December 31, 2023, and Mr Lawrence Nyazema, will immediately take over in an acting capacity.\nThe group said smooth transitional arrangements have been put in place for both senior appointments mandated with the facilitation of the proposed merger.\nHowever, the proposed merger comes after the acquisition of ZB Financial Holdings in 2020 by CBZ Holdings in a transaction, the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) disposed of its 37,79 percent ZB Financial Holdings (ZBFH) shareholding in exchange for CBZ shares worth $640 million (US$7,8 million).\nRevealed a source closer to developments in the bank: “Luxon Zembe has been appointed acting chairperson of CBZ Holdings. He is the current chairman of ZB Financial Holdings. The reason for his appointment is to facilitate the merger of CBZ Holdings and ZB Financial Holdings.\nThe perceived objective (of the appointment of Mr Zembe) drives towards the creation of a stronger financial services group in the country that can drive and support national developments projects both from a private and public sector perspective.\nIn terms of the transaction, for the 50 percent consideration, NSSA received 14,341 million new shares, valued at $640 041 800 in CBZ, representing a 2,15 percent stake, while for the 50 percent cash transaction, NSSA received US$11 646 889 after factoring in transaction costs.\nCBZ Holdings has been actively seeking potential acquisitions and alliances in the local and regional markets that align with the group’s growth strategic goals.\nMr Zembe is a highly experienced business management consultant and strategist with over 30 years of experience in corporate governance and strategic planning across various sectors, said the bank in a notice to shareholders.\nHis financial sector experience includes serving on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Advisory Board and Monetary Policy Committees, as well as holding executive positions at Standard Chartered Bank. Mr Zembe has also held senior roles in the manufacturing, mining and retail sectors.\n“He currently runs a management consulting business,” reads part of the notice.\nMr Zembe holds an MBA degree from Henley International Business School and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) (UK), among other qualifications.\nThe group said in addition to his professional roles, he is involved in academic and consultancy work, serving as an adjunct lecturer at Solusi University and Zimbabwe National Defence University, and as a senior consultant, mentor and trainer for the Zimbabwe Institute of Directors.\n“With his vast corporate experience, Mr Zembe is adequately positioned to provide strategic leadership in driving to completion the corporate actions currently underway in the company,” CBZ said.\nThe group noted that during his tenure, Mr Holtzman served with distinction and showed strong leadership as he steered the company and group on a clear growth trajectory.\n“The board sincerely expresses its gratitude to him for his service over the past four years, during which the company has embarked on a number of corporate actions that will bolster its balance sheet and transform it into an integrated financial services group that will support business and national development projects.\n“While the board and management will miss Mr Holtzman’s insights and wisdom, the company will continue to benefit from the many relationships that he built over the years with key stakeholders,” reads the notice.\nFull story on www.herald.co.zw\nMr Nyazema is currently the Managing Director of CBZ Bank Limited, a position he took up on January 1, 2022, having joined CBZ Bank as Executive Director, Wholesale Banking, in January 2020.\nPrior to that, he spent 19 years with Barclays Bank (now First Capital Bank) in various capacities, including being Commercial Director from April 1, 2011 to January 2020, when he joined CBZ Bank. He also spent 10 years at ZB Financial Holdings.\nDr Mudavanhu, with over 20 years of experience in regional and international financial services organisations, said he was key to driving the company’s growth strategy by the successful acquisition of a significant shareholding in a leading, publicly listed insurance group.\n“His leadership was instrumental in restoring the company’s brand and reputation, the momentum of which will no doubt continue into the future,” reads the notice in part.\nThe group said Dr Mudavanhu’s passion for staff development and welfare, as well as equity, will be sorely missed.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/cbz-in-major-strategic-shake-up/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8939b73e8a547e23af550251fd135bab797a08ab
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+{"doc_id": "485d60a40a076b484ea762c3c5f8f6b7", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Raising revenue through fees clearly is not the answer to funding shortfalls, particularly in public universities.\n- Universities would be better able to make meaningful contributions to society if they worked with the private sector.\n- One trick that policy makers are missing is involving the informal business, which is growing across the continent.\nThe increasing demand for university education in Africa and the huge intersecting challenges remain unparalleled, giving new impetus to the search for solutions.\nFirst, enrolment is rising without universities increasing their capacities to deliver quality education aligned to the continent’s needs.\nSecond, raising revenue through fees clearly is not the answer to funding shortfalls, particularly in public universities.\nThis policy has continued to lock out poor students who cannot pay.\nUniversities would be better able to make meaningful contributions to society if they worked with the private sector to develop innovations that people need.\nOne trick that policy makers are missing is involving the informal business, which is growing across the continent.\nAccording to the African Development Bank, the sector employs around 80 per cent of the workforce and accounts for 40 per cent of the overall gross domestic product.\nA more imaginative and engaged approach to informal business would spur its growth, position universities as socially relevant, and help galvanise new sources of funding.\nFor example, many African countries have embraced the use of motorcycle taxis, or boda boda in Kenya.\nWith enough support for engineering departments, African states can produce motorcycles and their spare parts locally rather than rely on expensive imports.\nThe booming music industry is another space where university art studios can establish commercial units that support the digital distribution of music products.\nHIGH-QUALITY RESEARCH\nIn fact, universities should have originated ideas for the M-Pesa money transfer system, an innovation that has become a game changer in technology and business.\nUniversities are failing to engage properly with businesses in the formal sector and indeed, African academics and international organisations have expressed concern about this.\nThey cite factors such as businesses’ lack of confidence in the universities to undertake sophisticated research and innovation, small size of industry and business, and the mismatch between university research strength and regional industry.\nTo reverse this trend, a large proportion of public financing for universities should go to high quality research to attract private investment in science parks along with technology and business incubators in academic institutions.\nThese initiatives may be modest, only involving small- and medium-sized enterprises, but they could expand and become business enterprises that generate revenue for universities.\nAn example is the Taifa laptop, developed by a joint project of the government and the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology for primary schools.\nThe returns from commercialised research can make additional resources available to fund other university programmes such as scholarships, basic research infrastructure, and researchers’ allowances.\nHowever, for universities to move into the innovation sector, governments should provide seed funds.\nAnd yet few African countries have honoured their commitment to invest at least one per cent of their GDP in research by 2010.\nAnother challenge is that university researchers and innovators rarely meet with entrepreneurs and their counterparts in the private sector.\nUniversities can change this by establishing or revamping offices that foster partnerships and increasing the number of joint activities with partners.\nIt is obvious that industry players can only work with universities if they are sure that their interests are protected and a return on their investment is guaranteed.\nEffective university leadership is, therefore, critical to honour commitments in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect so as to manage partnerships effectively.\nThe leadership wrangles in a number of Kenyan universities should be resolved to allow the focus to turn to reforms and initiatives that promote the growth of the institutions.\nDr Muganda is director of higher education at the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research, Nairobi. Kenya@pasgr.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/Opinion/Future-of-innovation-lies-with-varsity-business-cooperation/440808-3348268-ws026f/index.html"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8130c29e7a3c78ce2737153bc69b4db90b00b71e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clean/cc/4bdf20ae679a146ec4f683e333eaffd1.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "4bdf20ae679a146ec4f683e333eaffd1", "text": "Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has questioned the veracity of the financial statements of the eCitizen, after a review flagged widespread inconsistencies for the year ended June 2025, including suspect Sh206.13 billion cash transfers.\nAn audit unearthed unsupported balances, missing documentation and gaps in the system used as the single point of access for all government services. eCitizen is an online portal through which the government provides essential services such as applications for passports, driving licences, business registration certificates, vehicle logbooks, and title deeds, among others.\n“The statement of financial performance reflects total transfers of Sh206,130,045,721. However, the corroboration of the amount transferred for various entities revealed variances. The variances have not been explained or reconciled,” Ms Gathugu said.\nShe said that, as reported in a special audit report in March, 2025, the eCitizen operations indicated that collections were automated, but the transfer of funds to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) was conducted manually.\nThe Auditor General pointed out that the transfer from the settlement account to the MDA collection accounts process involved system batching, manual preparation and approval of payment records at both the Government Digital Payment Unit and the National Treasury Directorate of Accounting Services before submission to the bank for onward settlement to the MDA collection accounts.\n“In addition, the MDA collection accounts and services were already mapped within the eCitizen platform to allow for seamless automated transfers, making the current practice of manual settlements unnecessary and inconsistent with the logic of an integrated digital payment system,” Ms Gathungu said.\n“The manual processing of settlements exposes the process to errors and security risks. Management has indicated that it is in the process of procuring a revenue management system that will ensure real-time reconciliation going forward,” she added.\nThe audit officer further pointed out that the statement of financial position of eCitizen reflected Kenya Shillings-denominated accounts payable balances of Sh3,052,142,281 and United States Dollars accounts payable equivalent of Sh618,162,052, even though the corroboration of payables balances for various entities revealed variances.\n“The variances have not been explained or reconciled. Management has indicated that it is in the process of procuring a revenue management system that will ensure real-time reconciliation going forward,” Ms Gtahungu said.\n“In the circumstances, the completeness and accuracy of total transfers of Sh206,130,045,721, Kenya Shillings denominated accounts payables balance of Sh3,052,142,281 and United States Dollars (USD) accounts payables equivalent of Sh618,162,052 could not be confirmed,” she added.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/gathungu-raises-doubts-on-sh206bn-cash-transfers-on-ecitizen-5434430"}
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new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e1c292f05631c7cfdfefd1c9d0444b94e3525bd5
--- /dev/null
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "4c6d668f9dccef1709ce7100c3cd9873", "text": "AfDB grants Kenya US79,6m for economic recovery\nThe African Development Bank granted Kenya a €73 million (US$79,6m) loan to aid Phase III of the Competitiveness and Economic Recovery Support Programme, with the funding extending through the fiscal year 2023-2024.\nThis was revealed in a meeting of the board of directors of the African Development Bank in Abidjan on 29 November 2023.\nThe loan is intended to build resilience and support inclusive post-Covid-19 economic recovery, by improving economic governance and boosting industrial development and competitiveness.\nNnenna Nwabufo, the Bank Group’s Director-General for East Africa said “Kenya is pursuing the vigorous recovery of its economy after the Covid-19 pandemic and is currently faced with significant shocks. The country is facing its worst drought in 40 years and the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,”\nShe noted that “This additional €73 million in financing, approved today by the Bank’s Board of Directors, will enable the country to consolidate the progress it has already made and allow the Government to have fiscal space to deal with the impact of external shocks,”\nThe program will support Kenya’s medium- and long-term development across three key components: ensuring fiscal consolidation for the sustainability of public finances, strengthening industrial development and competitiveness, and promoting economic and social inclusion. According to AfDB, the programme is designed as a programmatic General Budget Support operation, and phase I and II have enabled the Kenyan Government to fill the funding gaps for the fiscal years 2021/22 and 2022/23, enabling it to carry out post-Covid-19 economic recovery.-Business Insider Africa", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/afdb-grants-kenya-us796m-for-economic-recovery-2/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0872151b156847fdbb1f7fd7ffb42e24a897c46f
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+{"doc_id": "4caee048c0d4226b8cbe74b1f927606a", "text": "Chinese partnerships for rural transformation\nSydney Kawadza Senior Writer\nAt the height of the 2015/ 2016 drought, Loreen Chitalo of Village 8, Ward 30 in Masvingo District, south-west of Harare, was nursing injuries instead of joining her friends in school. She was bed-ridden after she was injured in a freak incident when a thirsty cow gored her as it tried to reach the water she was carrying in a bucket.\nThe stranger-than-fiction incident was a result of the desperation for scarce water in the semi-arid region. Her mother Chenesai says: “The situation is desperate. Animals and people are fighting over the scarce water at the various points in the area.” The drought was devastating for women in the province and other parts of Zimbabwe where water shortages are endemic, especially in Natural Regions IV and V.\nWeather experts have already predicted a below normal to normal 2017/ 2018 Summer season and this is a bad omen for regions such as Masvingo. Sadc’s Climate Services Centre says countries in the region should prepare for the worst in the 2017/ 2018 rainfall season. The CSC has noted that there will be normal to below normal rains from October to November and normal to above normal rains from January to March 2018.\nThe southern parts of Zimbabwe, including Matabeleland and Masvingo regions, will have normal to above normal rains of between 200mm and 300mm in the first half of the season. The first phase of below normal to normal rains could result in the southern regions experiencing serious drought conditions. The second phase could see floods leading to serious humanitarian disasters including food shortages.\nThe above are some of the enduring issues discussed at a Media Workshop on Reporting Africa-China Engagements: Agriculture Developments, Climate Change, Industrialisation, Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063, for African and Chinese journalists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia recently. The meeting was organised by Oxfam International’s Africa-China Dialogue Platform and the Wits Africa-China Reporting Project. African-China relations have witnessed rapid developments in the past two decades and the main objective was, among others, to look at these engagements’ impact on food security on the continent.\nMr James Murombedzi of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s African Climate Policy Centre told the meeting that although agricultural productivity had been increasing in Africa, this has not translated into food security for most Africans.\n“In the last decade, agricultural GDP growth has increased from an average of 2-3 percent to 3-4 percent, and significantly higher in some countries. But the number of people suffering from hunger is estimated at 239 million. This is projected to increase in the near future as the continent’s population increases,” he said. Mr Murombedzi further noted that Africa possesses the potential to expand its agricultural output.\n“However, productivity remains very low with most countries failing to achieve 25 percent of their potential yield.” He said this year alone around 800 million people, about 11 percent of the world population, were suffering from chronic hunger, with a majority in Africa.\n“Today’s major food concern is not availability, but lack of access, that is, people’s ability to purchase good food and enjoy nutritious, diverse and balanced diets as well as people’s inability to produce and enjoy adequate and nutritious food of their own,” he said. Much of Africa’s agriculture was rain-fed as only seven percent of farmland in sub-Saharan Africa was under irrigation, he said.\n“Investment in infrastructure is obviously a key driver of the African rural development agenda. Africa’s infrastructure financing needs are estimated at $135 billion per year,” he added. Mr Murombedzi said food prices had also increased drastically across the world since the turn of the century due to collapsing financial systems and changes in agricultural systems imposed by climate change.\n“Prolonged droughts in Southern Africa . . . flooding and the spread of pests and diseases all contributed to declines in agricultural output which in turn pushed the prices of agricultural commodities upwards,” he said. In seeking growth opportunities, Mr Murombedzi noted, developing nations, particularly in Africa, had turned to Foreign Direct Investment. (FDI) The investments in infrastructure include irrigation, energy, transportation and marketing.\n“However, investments should empower, not dispossess, smallholder farmers. Food production should be both domestic and imports. In climate change mitigation and adaptation, opportunities exist for partnerships in renewable energy — hydro, solar and wind — climate resilient infrastructure and climate smart agriculture. China and Africa can also develop partnerships to promote global climate governance.” Chinese Mission to the African Union charge d’Affaires Mr Chen Xufeng acknowledged the traditional friendship China enjoys with African countries on the basis of equality, mutual support and mutual benefit.\n“Today, China has become Africa’s largest trading partner, main investor and engineering contractor. China-Africa cooperation faces new historic opportunities.\n“Since 2013, China has initiated new concepts for China-Africa cooperation, which is outlined by the principles of sincerity, practical results, affinity and good faith as well as the values of friendship, justice and shared interests. China is firmly committed to promoting the cooperation with the continent through common, intensive, green, secure and open development and supporting Africa’s efforts to address the main bottlenecks, namely lack of quality infrastructure, professional and skilled personnel and financial resources. China is ready to help Africa resolve three fundamental issues of employment, food and health by developing self-sustainable system of industrialization, food security, and disease prevention and control systems.”\nChinese President Xi Jinping, during the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit in December 2015, pledged a $60 billion financial package to implement Ten Major Cooperation Plans that mainly focus on accelerating Africa’s industrialisation and agricultural modernisation. Mr Chen said since the FOCAC Summit, more than 600 projects had been either completed, were underway or signed to be implemented.\n“These projects together amount to over $108 billion. They could directly create 209 000 jobs, and could contribute $1,15 billion of tax revenue for African countries. The China-Africa Fund for Production Capacity Cooperation is now running with an initial contribution of $10 billion. Besides, China has provided vocational training opportunities to over 100 000 African people and offered nearly 20 000 government scholarships for African countries.”\nThe Zimbabwean Government enjoys excellent relations with China which it hopes can help fight challenges of water shortages in the dry regions of the country. Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister (Cropping) has indicated that with the right technology, Zimbabwe could put more than 150 000 hectares under irrigation. Using effective technology, Zimbabwe, anchoring its projects on the recently commissioned Tokwe-Mukosi Dam, the envisaged Runde-Tende Dam and several other water bodies across the province, could mitigate the challenges faced by rural communities in the dry regions.\nFeedback: [email protected]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/chinese-partnerships-for-rural-transformation/"}
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+{"doc_id": "4cdadc0bdd78fb4c7168587cf4f80feb", "text": "$2,4bn boost for constituency development\nZvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter\nThe Constituency Development Fund had a major boost when allocated $2,4 billion in the 2022 National Budget, which translates to $11,4 million per constituency, a development that has excited legislators who had just $2 million each last year for extra development work within the 210 constituencies.\nFinance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube allocated $2,4 billion for the fund and the money is expected to transform communities as well as complement the Government’s larger and more formal devolution agenda in line with NDS1.\nCommenting on the allocation, chairperson for the portfolio committee on Budget and Finance, Dr Matthew Nyashanu, commended Prof Ncube for the huge allocation, but implored him to disburse the money speedily.\n“The committee calls upon the Minister to expedite the release of the funds before they are eroded by inflation. The committee also noted that constituency information centres were allocated $300 million.\n“This may be inadequate given the target to establish 210 constituency information centres in 2023 in line with the Parliamentary Institutional Strategic Plan and the Blue Book.\n“The 2022 Budget must lay the foundation for the establishment of the centres through procurement of the land, construction of the offices as well as equipping some of the centres,” said Dr Nyashanu.\nCommenting on the allocation for the Constituency Development Fund in the National Assembly recently, Vungu MP Cde Omega Sibanda also brought up the need for rapid disbursement. Some disbursements were delayed this year and that meant it would be difficult completing identified projects.\n“Our wish is that in January and February, constituency development funds should be released and given to Honourable Members so that they are able to work especially those in the rural areas.\n“The Minister promised to resuscitate constituency offices and there will be researchers for the constituency. Therefore, my plea to the Minister is that constituency offices should be built on time so that we are able to work well.\n“Right now, some of us are in rural areas; it is not even clearly indicated where MPs can meet the people and we end up meeting them behind the shops, which is what we cannot continue to do because it denigrates our status as equal to the Executive or the Judiciary,” he said.\n“We should work in a way that people feel proud in what we do. For instance, seeing that here is an MP coming and he has a proper meeting place and they can listen to him.”\nHwange Central legislator Daniel Molokele Tsiye said delays in disbursement of the funds meant the money would fail to make the intended impact.\n“Even that small amount is not coming on time. So this year we are allocated $2 million each, but it came in the second half of the year and some have not received their allocation as of now. So, most of that allocation has already been affected by inflation,” he said.\n“For 2022, the Minister needs to make sure that it does not happen. MPs are operating not offices, three years after the Minister promised that there will be allocation of funds to ensure that at least they have constituency level offices, support staff, and allowances to do their work in constituencies; this has not yet happened.\n“This is crippling the capacity of Parliament to work as the third arm of the State.”", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/24bn-boost-for-constituency-development/"}
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+{"doc_id": "4cdf49dc76f8b190b6d156771814e312", "text": "The facts of ‘state capture’ show that, while there are few places in the world where corruption is entirely absent, in South Africa under a corrupt ruling party, the impacts on the wider economy and the functioning of the state have been profoundly damaging.\nBeginning with the most fundamental metrics, South Africa’s (SA) economy has weakened, almost from the minute that former president Jacob Zuma took the reins of power over the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in 2008.\nThat year, SA’s sovereign debt was at an historic low of 23.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).\nBy the time Zuma left office a decade later in 2018, the ratio of debt to national income had more than doubled to 51.59 percent.\nThat figure has grown dramatically since, largely due to Covid-19, shooting up from 56.3 percent in 2019 to 69.4 percent in 2020.\nIn 2022, the debt ratio sits at a hair over 70 percent, virtually the same level as its all-time high of 2021, at the height of government borrowing to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.\nIn the same period, the country’s sovereign debt rating – a measure of its creditworthiness, as assessed by internationally used ratings agencies – SA went from a creditable and respectable BBB+ to the ‘junk’ status of BB-. This means every loan costs significantly more and pushes the country towards defaulting on national debt serving.\nNational default has happened a few times in the modern era, each instance bringing a full economic ‘meltdown’, sky-high inflation, loss of savings and property by many who had accumulated some wealth, and long-term economic damage.\nAs of 2021/22, total SA government debt and liabilities were about $239 billion, and taking in government guarantees to troubled entities such as intermittent power supplier Eskom, the country's debt-to-GDP ratio in October 2020 was calculated at 82.76 percent by the International Monetary Fund.\nIt is a startlingly high figure and means SA is but a few steps away from defaulting on its sovereign debt and triggering a collapse in the value of its currency and a crisis for every citizen.\nEven without a full-scale economic meltdown, it is expected that the current formal unemployment figure of around 34 percent will have risen to at least 40 percent by 2030 – and that’s not counting the additional 10-11 percent of employable adults who have given up looking for a job.\nThe ‘good’ news, if there is any in this gloomy outlook, is that the international ratings agencies have, at least for now, reversed a long series of downgrades and improved SA’s previous outlook from negative to stable.\nRatings agencies consider ‘sentiment’ but do not use it in their calculations, indicating that there is “real hope for the South African economy”.\nBut not if it falls back into the hands of kleptocrats, which will certainly see another flight of foreign investment, making all citizens immediately poorer, and putting the country on track to becoming what some have predicted will be “another Zimbabwe”.\nAlso helping a little is that roughly 90 percent of the national debt in 2019/20 was denominated in the rand, thereby reducing borrowing risk due to currency fluctuations. In September 2020, around $157 billion of SA's national debt was externally owned.\nBut as of December 2021, the share of domestic bonds held by foreign investors was down to 28.2 percent, a decline to a 10-year low.\nOne could skip reading all the figures and, in summary, say that South Africa Inc is all but broke, just like the ANC itself, the party repeatedly failing to pay staff for months on end due to lack of funds.\nThis situation has been driven by wayward governance, looting of public funds and mismanagement, to the point that SA has been pushed to the brink economically, Covid only an accelerator of a process already underway for a decade or more.\nAnalysis below the national level shows a similar picture.\nHardly any of around 200 state-owned enterprises (SOEs), all fully controlled by the ANC government, are breaking even, most losing money annually and needing large bailouts.\nWithout yet another such bailout, South African Airways has failed, while state power-producer Eskom owes some $24.25 billion, most underwritten by the government and thus constituting a major fiscal threat all on its own.\nThis is not even addressing ongoing issues of inadequate power provision, which costs around $200 million a day, further damaging the economy.\nThe great majority of municipalities in debt are or were until recently run by the ANC, and collectively have debts of $42.7 million, some broke and having been taken over at the provincial level.\nMany ANC-run municipalities are not getting unqualified audits years in a row, while irregular and wasteful expenditure – some theft of funds, some merely ill-spent money with little value accruing – in all spheres of governance continues apace, as shown by the auditor-general's annual reports in recent years.\nWith dozens of corruption-accused people, including alleged private sector corruptors, recently and with increasing frequency appearing in the courts, there is a sense that “corruption is everywhere”.\nEven the National Lotteries Commission, proceeds of which are to be used to help the poorest of the poor, has been ripped off by former executives to the tune of $16.7 million, says the auditor-general.\nThat something has gone badly wrong in the running of SA, especially in the handling of public money during the Zuma era, is self-evident on these and many other supporting facts.\nSome argue that not all that has happened is Zuma’s fault and that there is more at play than one man, no matter what he personally may have to answer for.\nZuma ascended to the South African presidency on May 9, 2009, on a wave of euphoria fuelled by the belief that he would “deliver” on the post-apartheid promise of more opportunities for the formerly oppressed masses.\nZuma’s election campaign was built mostly on Zulu nationalism and his personal charisma.\nHe projected this identity and character through an ostensibly leftist ideological lens, while entertaining supporters with his song-and-dance routines when making public addresses – further entrenching the image of a ‘man of the people’.\nFamed for his singing of his favourite anti-apartheid struggle song, \"Umshini wami\", also known in the isiZulu and IsiXhosa languages as \"Awuleth' Umshini Wami\" (English for bring me my machinegun), Zuma actively promoted the ‘national democratic revolution’, as favoured by the far left in the ANC and its alliance partners, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).\nThis ‘next phase’ of the liberation movement was aimed at the “economic emancipation” of the masses who had been actively deprived under apartheid and before that colonialism.\nAs a notion, it was widely popular and engendered near-adulation of Zuma among those who had felt betrayed by the Mandela presidency of the mid- to late-1990s, and by a decade of seeming ‘disengagement’ by his successor, Thabo Mbeki, from the daily struggles of ordinary South Africans – as infamously embodied in Mbeki’s much-derided Aids denialism.\nViewed as a ‘man of the people’, and a ‘good Zulu boy’, Zuma’s prior legal travails enhanced, rather than undermined, his image in the eyes of a section of mainly Zulus and some others who saw in him their own hope for the future.\nAs a ‘man of the people’, Zuma’s effectively loosening of the purse strings of state was seen in some influential quarters as the much-longed-for “levelling of the playing fields” of the economy.\nBut this populist assault on economic inequalities, which are a large component of SA’s legacy of colonial and racist oppression, and with the society among the most unequal in the world, was to prove more rhetorical than real.\nAs a cover for what was to be mass thievery of public money, the notion of ‘radical economic transformation’ was paraded as the ostensible end of alleged ‘white minority capital’.\nBoth terms are misnomers, dreamt up by now-defunct UK-based PR firm Bell-Pottinger, specialists in advising governments on ‘political dirty tricks’, as some have described that outfit’s dubious conduct.\nBoth terms were used in tandem to operate as a cover for what Zuma and others in the ANC were actually up to.\nFor one thing, most ‘white’ capital subsists in the value of urban homes owned by people given that tag, little of it residing in the value of land dispossessed from its original indigenous owners and due for restitution.\nAnd ‘radical economic transformation’ – including calls to nationalise mines, the Reserve Bank, all other commercial banks, mines, major commercial enterprises and, from some, even of all the land itself – translates in practice as a smokescreen for theft of public funds.\nEven while rural and urban land-hunger grew, it was claimed that officials were working for the poor masses, a pretence under a false flag.\nAmong other moments when the estimable Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, during his four-year probe into systemic state capture graft, was in open shock, shaking his head without words, was when he realised that ANC ‘deployees’ and appointees to key government and state-owned enterprise positions had betrayed the poor for their own profit, severely damaging the economy as they enriched themselves.\nA number of these people have since been charged with corruption and related crimes, and others are likely to be dragged to court on similar charges.\nBut the outright and blatant thievery involved, wherein the victims were the most vulnerable in society, was breathtaking in its audacity and cynical self-interest.\nA case in point is the ‘asbestos in indigent houses’ replacement tender-that-never-was, in which former Free State provincial ANC premier Ace Magashule is charged, along with several others, with fraud and corruption, as no such work was done.\nThis and other instances bespoke the absence or collapse of any sense of morality or responsibility by the people empowered to make decisions to help their fellow citizens, but who rather wielded that power for self-enrichment.\nDespite both the terms ‘radical economic transformation’ and ‘white minority capital’ being manufactured and thoroughly discredited – both smokescreens for misconduct and meant to facilitate more of the same – there is still a radical economic transformation (RET) faction contesting the top spots and control of the ANC in its December elective conference.\nBeyond that, Zuma has allowed one of his daughters to put out a midnight tweet recently in which she announced that Zuma “would make himself available” for election to the post of ANC national chairperson in the leadership race.\nBesides Zuma receiving early release from imprisonment for contempt, after only a short time behind bars – on grounds of his “potential imminent demise”, according to the ally who allowed that release, since ruled irrational and illegal, with the former fighting a rear-guard action to keep himself out of prison for the remainder of his term – he is also fighting 783 counts of fraud, money-laundering and corruption charges, dating back more than 20 years.\nThis means he cannot possibly stand for election to any party position, since the ANC has determined, as part of its own ‘clean up’ process, to not allow formally charged persons to run for any of its offices or positions.\nThe announcement of Zuma’s “availability” is obviously more posturing than real, but still is part of the mythology of Zuma as a put-upon victim of ‘machinations in the dark’ by forces arrayed against him, precisely because he has cast himself in the ‘man of the people’ role.\nAccording to Zuma, during his uninterrupted and rambling opening statement to Justice Zondo, there were already “plots” against him as far back as the early 1990s, by, among others, the then apartheid-serving National Intelligence Agency of South Africa, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and British MI6.\nAll the allegations of state capture levelled against him were the result of such plotting, claimed Zuma.\nThat testimony, unbelievable to Zondo as it was, was offered in the only time Zuma took the stand before Zondo.\nSubsequently, the former president refused to be subjected to cross-questioning on his highly improbable account, or any other aspects of state capture, and ultimately was jailed in July last year for refusing the Constitutional Court’s order that he must again appear before Zondo.\nHis story was patently ludicrous as, on return from exile as an anti-apartheid combatant, Zuma was not unknown but was hardly someone the CIA and MI6 could somehow have known would lead the country and therefore be plotting his downfall.\nJustice Zondo did not fall for that line, finding Zuma central to state capture, with the ANC itself equally accused of complicity.\nThere are other metrics by which to measure the ANC’s performance in governance, such as SA persistently being in the ‘top 10’ globally for murders, rapes and violent robberies, even eclipsing countries involved in outright conflicts.\nBut on the hard numbers themselves, with little space for ideological interpretation, it is clear that the cost to SA and its citizens of the second half of the ANC’s 28 years in power has been severe.\nAnd the cost continues to rise, even as the party, as one analyst put it, “plays political musical chairs”, against a background of intensifying demands for leaders who will work for the people, and not for their own and their family’s personal wealth.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/africa/news/the-cancer-and-cost-of-systemic-corruption-in-south-africa-3970828"}
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+{"doc_id": "4dae69f374c4c0a3c9d76eabfc741fd4", "text": "Cassava brings back US-dollar remittance agents\nProsper Ndlovu Bulawayo Bureau\nLISTED digital solutions concern, Cassava Smartech, says it would start issuing out hard cash through its Sasai remit agency network across the country, targeting diaspora remittances.\nAlthough the group had a wider network of EcoCash agents, persistent cash shortages and the shift to the local currency last year, had severely crippled the service.\nOf late there is a growing interest on the diaspora remittance service and the company now seeks to tap into that lucrative window. The Econet sister company has already set up EcoCash bureaux de change footprint in a bid to harness the foreign exchange business.\nCassava Smartech general manager in charge of international remittances, Mr Shephard Hondoyemoto, said plans were underway to revitalise the EcoCash agent network, which would start issuing out United States dollars to locals receiving money sent from abroad via Sasai remit.\nSasai is Cassava’s new product, a “super all-in-one” innovative mobile app that offers pay, chat, remit, shop and explore features.\n“With that influx of people sending (remittances) via Sasai at zero percent to 2,5 percent, we are saying the most important thing is to go back to that model where we are covering every part of the country,” said Mr Hondoyemoto. We will set up lots of agents in rural areas to work on remittances. We will put agents where people are and offer a service at arm’s length.\n“So, you will see in the next coming couple of days or weeks, those key constituents, those key districts who have agent representation, they will be offering the US-dollars cash not bonds. Every remittance you will get your US-dollar cash.”\nMr Hondoyemoto said the setting up of EcoCash bureaux de change facilities would greatly complement the Sasai remittance feature by giving clients an option to exchange their hard cash for local currency or electronic money at the prevailing rate of the day. Because of limited banking services, rural communities remain disadvantaged and many of them are forced to travel to urban centres at high cost to access their cash. “This is meant to make it easier and convenient for clients,” said Mr Hondoyemoto.\nHe was responding to questions from the media in Bulawayo as to what the company was doing to assist remote or rural communities to access cash sent from abroad. Cassava Smartech executives were in Bulawayo last week to launch the Sasai app, whose operating system is now integrated to local language — IsiNdebele and Shona as part of its global menu.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/cassava-brings-back-us-dollar-remittance-agents/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5cfc8e1880805d978997917af2d2b8dd899121b2
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+{"doc_id": "4f31d3912b85aa61dc2ac80e028a2092", "text": "In a dynamic move to revitalise Kenya’s economic landscape, over 13 counties have embarked on the establishment of County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs). Spearheaded by the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry, this collaborative effort aims to propel manufacturing in counties. The signing of the Intergovernmental Partnership Agreement on November 22 between the ministry and Governors marked a milestone in enhancing collaboration between counties and the national government in realising the CAIPs vision.\nThe first CAIP was launched in Nyamira County by President William Ruto in August and similar ones have since been started in other counties. The CAIPs hold immense potential for fostering economic growth, particularly in counties heavily reliant on agriculture.\nOne of their primary benefits lies in the creation of a ready market for farmers. The processing section of the CAIPs is crucial for value addition, opening up opportunities for branding and direct connections to both local and international markets. For example, avocados, bananas, pineapples, and value-added products like processed coffee and tea can find a lucrative market through these industrial hubs.\nThe ripple effect on youth employment is equally noteworthy. As industrial parks flourish, housing, schools, and hospitals become imperative, leading to increased demand for local products and services. This surge in purchasing power, coupled with increased farmers’ earnings, is poised to create a thriving economic ecosystem.\nThe timely completion of CAIPs is paramount to unlocking their economic potential. County governments must prioritise the selection of competent contractors, and ensure adherence to construction schedules and timelines within the stipulated three-year timeframe. The incorporation of green energy such as the use of solar should be considered to mitigate the high cost of operation upon completion.\nCounties should create a conducive regulatory environment such as streamlined licensing processes, and other financial incentives to make investments in CAIPs more appealing.\nCounty governments, working hand in hand with the ministry should proactively create platforms for local and international investors to explore opportunities within these industrial hubs. Dedicated local and international forums and investment conferences can serve as powerful tools to attract potential investors, fostering collaboration that transcends geographical boundaries.\nCounty governments must prioritise comprehensive engagement strategies to ensure that the benefits of the CAIPs are widely distributed by involving farmers, local businesses, and other stakeholders from the planning phase.\nIn conclusion, Kenya’s CAIPs can serve as beacons of economic growth, job creation, and sustainable development, setting the stage for a prosperous future for the nation and its people.\nThe writer is Nyamira Governor. [email protected]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486940/industrial-parks-key-to-spurring-counties-economic-potential"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d7a3e59cca6f624a8c225efcc6f55745dfed7efb
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+{"doc_id": "507c5c72ac9e214e945566ce53fb1251", "text": "AfDB to lead Zim debt clearance roadmap\nTapiwanashe Mangwiro-Senior Business Reporter\nAFRICAN Development Bank (AfDB) president Dr Akinwumi Adesina has formally accepted President Mnangagwa’s request to lead Zimbabwe’s debt clearance strategy, which is key for Harare to unlock fresh funding from international financial institutions (IFIs).\nThe AfDB president met President Mnangagwa at State House in Harare yesterday where he formally informed him that he had accepted a role to champion the debt and arrears clearance process because the region and the continent needed a stronger Zimbabwe.\n“The President invited me to play a champion role for the debt clearance on debt resolution for Zimbabwe and it is clear that the President is committed to clear the arrears. It is also clear that the President wants to re-engage with the international community,” said Dr Adesina.\nThe AfDB president said Zimbabwe and its people have continued to suffer through economic challenges faced by the country and the bank had decided to lend a helping hand as a reliable partner to the country, which is a shareholder of the bank.\nZimbabwe paid US$9,6 million towards its general capital increase obligations for the 6th and is on course to full obligations under the 7th General Capital Increase expectations in line with provisions governing the bank.\n“It is my duty to do so, as we have 54 member states in Africa and Zimbabwe is one of those. So, if one of them hurts, all the parts of the system begin to hurt,” Dr Adesina said.\nAccording to the AfDB, Zimbabwe has continued to make token payments of about US$700 000 each quarter to service some of the outstanding debt with the regional banking group, the World Bank, and other lenders.\nThe country owes external lenders US$14,4 billion in principal debt and arrears.\n“I really believe that we need to reinvigorate, re-dynamise the economy here because it is critical for the SADC region and also in the conversation of AfCFTA,” Dr Adesina added.\nZimbabwe has been making token payments to all the foreign financiers it owes among them the Paris Club, which has 17 members, the World Bank and the AfDB.\nSpeaking at the same occasion, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said Zimbabwe is committed to fulfilling its obligations.\n“We are making token payments to the 17 members of the Paris Club, this means that we are now servicing all our creditors, and payments are being made quarterly for the past 12 months.”\nOn his part, Minister Ncube said the country is willing to continue with its housekeeping issues in order to make sure efforts to clear its debts pay desired dividends and give the economy a new direction and a new lease of life.\n“While key strategies for the implementation of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) are underway, the overall strategy is the clearance of arrears. But what needs to be done is to implement the full debt arrears clearance strategy.\n“We have to continue with the reforms we have started and make sure that they are completed. At one time civil servants were not sure if they were going to be paid or if they would get bonuses, but we have now gone past that as they are now assured of when they’ll be paid.”\nAccording to Minister Ncube, the bank is doing a lot more by supporting Zimbabwe through investment support in infrastructure, energy, health and agriculture sectors.\n“The AfDB also recently set up a fund to support African countries (cushion themselves) from the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Zimbabwe might benefit (from a disbursement of) US$26 million after the bank’s board meeting this Friday.\nIn terms of reforms, Minister Ncube said Zimbabwe has introduced a new pension fund and moved away from the pay-as-you-go method. The pension fund is already investing in the economy as well.\n“Government now has an internal audit arm which audits the Ministry of Finance and across all Government departments. This Government has also not used the Central Bank overdraft facility and will continue with these reforms.”\nThe president of the AfDB held meetings with development partners and the private sector in order to grasp the full picture of the situation in the country.\n“I had meetings with all the developmental partners today (yesterday) and also the private sector through chief executive officers in order to understand and appreciate what needs to be done in order to get where we need to be,” said Dr Adesina.\nIn meetings with the private sector, the bank discussed ways to complement the Government’s infrastructure programmes as well as how they can access capital and increase foreign direct investment into the country.\nThe bank has supported the private sector with a US$25 million guarantee extended to CABS, which the institution repaid in record time.\n“What we need to talk about is planning today in order to harvest later, and the question is, what are we doing to get funding when the debt fog has cleared.\n“So we are committed as a bank to seeing the debt expunged. We will walk with our partners. We will walk with the World Bank. We will walk with the IMF; we will walk with all the bilateral partners,” Dr Adesina said.\nZimbabwe is presently ineligible to get loans from the IFIs due to its external debt, which prevented it from getting the Covid-19 induced debt relief funding, which was extended to many member countries including neighbours South Africa and Zambia.\n“Zimbabwe has been a member of the IMF in good standing since it repaid arrears outstanding in late 2016. However, Zimbabwe has external arrears to multilateral development institutions (World Bank, AfDB, and EIB). As a general rule the IMF is prevented from lending to any member country that has arrears to other international financial institutions,” the IMF said in November 2021.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/afdb-to-lead-zim-debt-clearance-roadmap/"}
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+{"doc_id": "51b5c0d553b1e432f70db3bad219b8fb", "text": "What you need to know:\n- The future can be bright for the youth and this will only be achieved if we pull more resources together.\n- If more organisations looked at their supply chains from an innovation perspective, therein lies numerous opportunities yet to be tapped.\nThe economy generated more than 840, 600 jobs last year.\nThe Economic Survey 2019 released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that private sector employment grew from 69.1 per cent in 2017 to 69.5 per cent last year.\nThis growth could be attributed to the enabling environment which has been created by the government to enhance employment opportunities and support for the youth.\nAmong the initiatives is the allocation of 30 per cent of tenders to the youth, women and persons with disability.\nSimilarly, the government, with the support of the World Bank, has implemented the Kenya Youth Empowerment Project that h focuses on training, capacity building and policy development to improve youth employability.\nLikewise, the private sector has also played a critical role towards job creation in the country.\nLABOUR FORCE\nThe Private Public Partnership (PPP) has supported the job creation projects, which have also been necessitated by the fact that nearly four in every 10 Kenyans of working age have no jobs.\nIn terms of job creation, there has been a concerted effort by all key stakeholders to join hands motivated by the unprecedented unemployment figures compared to the global unemployment rate which is at about six people in every 100.\nThe United Nation’s Human Development Index 2017 puts Kenya’s unemployment rate at 39.1 per cent.\nThese statistics continue to reflect on high youth unemployment rate as a number of companies’ downside due to harsh economic environment.\nThe number of the unemployed globally in 2017 stood at over 201 million — with the figure expected to rise this year — as the pace of labour force growth outstrips job creation.\nSMEs\nTherefore, supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is very strategic.\nSMEs constitute 98 per cent of all businesses in Kenya, create 30 per cent of the jobs annually as well as contribute three per cent of the GDP.\nYet, even with its immense contribution to the economy, the SME sector is facing numerous challenges.\nIt is no secret that SMEs are hindered by inadequate capital, limited market access, poor infrastructure and rapid changes in technology.\nThere are several PPP projects that have been implemented to create jobs for the youth under the Vision 2030 programme.\nIt is for this reason that Coca-Cola System in Kenya and other like-minded organisations have come together to supplement the government efforts.\nThe company, for instance, is leading an initiative dubbed \"Kuza Kazi\", a platform that convenes organisations with similar goals and partners with government agencies to provide lasting solutions to the challenge of unemployment among the youth.\nEXPERTISE\nThis unique partnership is modelled as a de-risking plan for investment, which allows various financial partners to invest in the youth who then set up new table-top businesses within the Coca-Cola system’s outlet creation value chain.\nThe youth are later absorbed into the retail network and have the opportunity to grow their businesses.\nUnder this initiative, the pilot seeks to provide up to 1,000 jobs by equipping the youth with skills, capital and know-how to start own businesses.\nBased on the learnings from this pilot, the project will be scaled to reach more youth.\nThis is in addition to other initiatives, such as “5by20”, which seeks to economically empower five million women by the year 2020 globally. In Kenya a total of 557,000 women have been empowered.\nWASTE MANAGEMENT\nAs we move towards a circular economy and make progress on sustainable management of waste, bottling companies need to leverage plastic recycling initiatives to create more employment opportunities for youth through innovative packaging, waste collection, recycling and even upcycling.\nThe future can be bright for the youth and this will only be achieved if we pull more resources together by getting more individuals, companies and government sign up to these joint initiatives to create jobs.\nIf more organisations looked at their supply chains from an innovation perspective, therein lies numerous opportunities yet to be tapped and platforms to create thousands of jobs.\nThe writer is the General Manager of Coca-Cola East and Central Africa Franchise.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/How-to-create-job-opportunities-for-youth/440808-5232120-p4979fz/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "524061e952cf253497efc800f0ad98a2", "text": "Africa must tap from India\nDr Nkosazana Dhlamini-Zuma\nIf we consider the evolving geopolitics of our times, according to the last Human Development Report titled “The Rise of the South”, it is believed that by 2020, the joint GDP of Brazil, China and India will overtake the combined economies of the UK, the USA,\nIt is clear from the above that emerging economies are here to stay. Their influence on the world economy is not only significant today, but it will also continue to grow in the future.\nSimilarly, Africa represents a frontier for global economic growth and stability, now and in the future. The resources of Africa have been the driving force upon which the world economic engine has depended. This situation is likely to continue long into the future but this time with Africa having a greater say and benefiting from its resources.\nAfrican leaders have initiated and embarked upon ambitious and far-reaching strategies and plans that will have a transformative impact on the continent.\nThese include a plan to industrialise the continent through the Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa, a plan to increase trade between African countries through the Boosting Intra-Africa Trade and a plan to eliminate trade barriers and deepen the integration of the African market through the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area as well as the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa and Agro-Industry Development Initiatives among others.\nIn this regard, we urge the Government of India to support these initiatives. Africa and India have had, since times immemorial, historic trade relations. The Indian Ocean, which lies between us, not only provides us valuable links of blue highways and optic fibre highways, but it is rich in marine resources that are vital to Africa’s and India’s blue economies and trade relations.\nIt is encouraging to note that trade between India and Africa has grown exponentially during the past decade and is expected to reach US$90 billion by 2015. As of 2011, India has emerged as Africa’s fourth largest trade partner behind China, EU and USA while Africa has emerged as India’s sixth largest trading partner behind EU, China, UAE, USA and Asean. More than 20 percent of India’s oil and gas imports are from Africa.\nTrade is not the only sector growing in the relations between Africa and India. India has begun investing in the energy sector in Africa as well as in mining, including uranium and hydrocarbons, precious metals and gemstones, especially gold and diamonds. We look forward to these investments contributing to Africa’s agenda of promoting industrialisation and value addition to its raw materials within the continent prior to their exportation and to the development of African skills and know-how.\nThis will ensure inclusive growth that translates into sustainable and decent job creation and retention as well as poverty eradication. In addition, while calling for more Indian foreign direct investment in Africa, such investment should be diversified and encourage local private sector participation, particularly for women and Africa’s growing youthful population.\nAfrican governments have adopted a joint Plan of Action with India for enhanced co-operation including trade. But we rely heavily on the private sector and on public private partnership to concretise this agreement. We therefore expect a lot from the Africa-India Business Council.\nThere is no doubt that both Africa and India have much to gain through South-South co-operation. In this regard, human resource development, investment in infrastructure development and institutional capacity building will be critical to ensure successful South–South co-operation, based on mutual and equal benefit.\nWe therefore wish to express deep appreciation to India for the number of capacity building institutions and various training programmes it is offering to African citizens. I am urging our member states who have offered to host those institutions to move with speed in the operationalisation of these institutions and programmes.\nWe must assess the state of play with all of the institutions, see where we can assist those countries that offered to host to move forward, and if not possible, to then identify other countries where these can be established in the shortest possible time.\nAt the recent Conference of Ministers of Industry as well as at a meeting of the African Women Entrepreneurship Programme, the need for business incubators was raised to enable women and youth to be better trained and equipped with the necessary skills so as to graduate from micro-enterprises to medium and larger enterprises with a view to satisfying both national and export demands and contribute to their respective countries’ economies.\nAs we prepare for the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, we need to ensure that the interests of developing and least developed countries are safeguarded, particularly in agriculture and food security.\nWe must ensure that this process is used to push for greater policy space for all developing countries to pursue national and regional policies that allow them to industrialise and develop their economies, eradicate poverty and build shared prosperity.\nAs much as trade facilitation in itself is a necessary action for boosting intra-African trade and increasing our competitiveness, the proposed text could create supplementary challenges to our weak technical, administrative and financial capacities.\nIt is therefore important to ensure that the negotiation outcomes strike the right balance in ensuring that African priorities are reflected without African countries incurring crippling costs to meet WTO trade facilitation obligations. Thus, it is important to ensure adequate financial and technical support for African countries to meet the binding obligation that may be agreed upon.\nThe priorities for Africa are clear: we must industrialise, grow our manufacturing sectors, expand intra-Africa trade, develop our skills and human resources, grow our agriculture and agro-processing sectors and develop our infrastructure. We encourage our Indian partners to support us on this issue.\nAs we start reflecting on areas of co-operation for the next Africa-India Forum, it is fortunate that the period of the next Programme of Action coincides with that of the AUC’s Strategic Plan and therefore will facilitate harmonisation and follow-up action.\nDr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma is Chairperson of the African Union Commission.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/africa-must-tap-from-india/"}
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+{"doc_id": "55edf1da5be42ff3aae0d95d87bdaae3", "text": "Business decries power outages\nOliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter\nBUSINESS leaders say the prevailing power outages are crippling production across various sectors of the economy while the use of generators as an alternative source of energy remains costly and not sustainable.\nOf late, Zimbabwe’s power supply situation has worsened on the back of constant breakdowns mainly at Zimbabwe’s biggest thermal power plant, Hwange Power Station as well as the three small thermal power plants.\nSpeaking after a Cabinet meeting last week, Energy and Power Development Minister Zhemu Soda said problems at Hwange Power Station and the small thermal power plant in Harare have been corrected while negotiations were on course for the importation of electricity as a short-term measure to lessen the impact of the outages while the country awaits for the results of medium to long-term projects.\nConfederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Mr Kurai Matsheza said in an interview that the current power supply situation in the country was now dire as businesses cannot move forward with production.\n“Its really crippling industry, we can’t go forward and you know without power we can’t start our machinery and not only industry is affected. All facets of life and we are really at a point where all our predictions to year end will not be realised at this rate.\n“We are actually going back and we hear stories that there is 300MW (imported power) we are not seeing; we have not seen it. From the utility, we don’t want to talk, we want power. So the power situation at the moment is really crippling,” he said.\nThe CZI president said it was likely that capacity utilisation will retreat this year from 56,25 percent recorded last year largely on account of the obtaining power situation in the country.\nCapacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector was projected at 65 percent this year.\n“In terms of capacity utilisation level for this year, we are going to register regression. I don’t know the level at this stage because it depends on how sustained these power cuts are going to be, is it going to be just for one month or to last until the end of the year. It depends on how quickly they resolve the problem.\nAsked if CZI has ever engaged the authorities over reducing outages on industry from the existing erratic power supplies, Mr Matsheza said: “The real problem my brother has is if there is no power, there is no power.\n“We engage them on a daily basis and they tell us if there is power we give you, unfortunately there is nothing. We know the difficulties they are telling us and we know it . . .10 years ago we raised power issues in Zimbabwe even much longer than that.\n“If we don’t have a proper development plan of what it is theY are going to do, we are looking like today in 10 years’ time, it will be the worst situation, so something has to start happening now, but they are just talking and nothing is happening.”\nHe said a number of businesses have 24-hour operations and the existing power outages have disturbed the smooth running of plants and equipment by the productive sector.\nSome of the machines, he said, in terms of their efficiency have been compromised as they were designed to operate 24 hours non-stop while others would take time to build up after having been switched off.\n“It also takes time to switch on the machine; a machine takes time to build up. Maybe they have got some systems to warm up for 8 hours before you produce.\n“And when 8 hours are over, you are into another load shedding schedule so you don’t produce anything at all. A production process is not like switching off an engine,” said Mr Matsheza.\nIn a separate interview, the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) president Mr Mike Kamungeremu said: “The outages obviously are disrupting production, you realise that there are manufacturers with machines that don’t need interruption and once there is a power cut during a production process in some cases like those in the manufacturing of plastics, they have to throw away all the raw materials, so there are serious losses that are associated with the current power outages.”\nHe said some businesses were now resorting to using generators as an alternative source of power, but this was not sustainable owing to the costs that came with it.\nMr Kamungeremu said when running a generator, the cost was huge looking at the fuel prices and the cost of repairing and maintaining the generator.\nAsked to quantify the quantum of the cost of production induced by the erratic power supplies to business, Mr Kamungeremu said: “I do not have the numbers off hand, but I can confirm to you that the normal cost of power probably at maximum could be around 12c per kilowatt hour at peak.\n“We did some analysis sometime back on what the cost of generator power would be and it was around 30cents per kilowatt hour so you can actually see that it’s more than double the power.\n“So, it’s a serious concern when you look at fuel, repair and maintenance of the generators, not factoring the cost of lost production, so it’s a serious cost that businesses are having to bear because of the power outages.”\nThe Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) president Dr Shadreck Makombe said wheat farmers have also not been spared from the current power blackouts.\n“From the onset we used to have meetings to interface with Zesa (Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company) and it would appear that there was an understanding that farmers should be ring-fenced or there should be in clusters wherever there are to curb these outages.\n“And it appeared by then it was working, then all of a sudden it was like a bolt from the blue. Even if there is load shedding we are saying it should not be hard on wheat farmers.\n“Even if the load shedding is going to be there, may you inform those farmers because you know wheat needs a lot of watering, so given the situation we are appealing to Zesa to be sensitive to wheat farmers at this point in moment and we are saying this because we have got farmers that have been affected in irrigation cycles.\n“If you have been affected there is no way you can cover up because wheat goes by stages. If you have missed up to three or five cycles of irrigation, there is no way you can cover up, it means the yield is going to go down,” he said.\nDr Makombe said the wheat crop was at different stages of growth across the country.\n“The wheat is in different stages of growth depending on when the farmer put the wheat down, but those that planted early the crop are now at milking stage,” he said.\nThis year the country has planted close to 80 000 hectares under winter wheat compared to 66 000ha planted in 2021.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/business-decries-power-outages/"}
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+{"doc_id": "56c46b82b54f51ffba95e334b2d82352", "text": "The US government has imposed sanctions on Sudan’s warring chiefs, declaring that the violence since April 15 constitutes an \"unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States\".\nIn an Executive Order on Thursday, President Joe Biden revisited previously lifted sanctions on Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism and humanitarian atrocities, freezing any Sudanese assets on US soil and directing the Treasury Secretary to determine warmongers and spoilers of the peace to be sanctioned.\nThe order also directed that “any foreign person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to be responsible for, or complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in” assisting warring factions, looting or harming civilians will have their assets frozen and barred from transacting with US entities and proscribed individuals barred from stepping on US soil.\nThe sanctions are the first US response to Sudanese warring sides, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), previous allies who helped toppled former leader Omar al-Bashir but refused to transition to civilian-led government.\nSince April 15, at least 800 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced, including 100,000 who have already crossed into neighbouring countries. Four ceasefire agreements have also largely been violated as the SAF led by junta leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF's Mohammed Dagalo \"Hemedti\" fight in Khartoum.\nThe sanctions could return Sudan to isolation, just two years after it was relieved as a state sponsor of terrorism.\n“Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited,” Biden said in the order.\nHe said the sanctions would prevent actions or policies that threaten the peace, security or stability of Sudan, actions that prevent a transition to civilian-led government and human rights abuses as well as looting of Sudanese resources.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/africa/news/us-imposes-sanctions-on-sudan-warring-chiefs-their-backers-4223732"}
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+{"doc_id": "576a93514ed6f45077d924f3f773b0e0", "text": "Members of Parliament have vowed to continue paralysing House business until the billions of shillings owed to them under the National Government Constituency Development Funds (NG-CDF) are released.\nThe lawmakers are also agitating for the release of funds for the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF).\nYesterday, the members staged a walk out of the National Assembly chambers lamenting the lack of transparency from the Treasury on what had led to the delay in remittance of the funds and the subsequent remedial action.\nIt all started after Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi rose on a point of order seeking guidance on the NG-CDF and NGAAF issue from Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss Shollei, who was the session Speaker.\nMr Wandayi said members had not been given any justification by the Treasury for not releasing the funds.\n“We are now in the tenth month of the 2023/24 financial year and since this House disbursed funds, no single cent has hit the accounts of the constituencies. This House is going for a long recess yet we know that school children are opening school in the first school of January. Those who sat KCPE are joining Form One in that same period yet the counties have no funds,” said Wandayi.\n“Without NG-CDF bursaries and NGAAF, more than three-quarters of the students will not go back to school. The House would also be in order not to handle any other business in sympathy with the children of hustlers suffering out there and not knowing how they are going back to school,” he added.\nMajority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah, while agreeing that the funds release was a pressing issue, told the House that he had engaged the Treasury and the NG-CDF CEO over the matter and assured members that the funds would be released soon.\n“I agree that this is a matter that ought to be treated with special attention. We have taken up this matter with the National Treasury which must deal with the twin issues of money to Parliament and money towards NG-CDF through the State Department for Planning.\n“I have engaged with the CS, NG-CDF CEO and State Department Cabinet Secretary. They have indicated that they are working on ensuring there will be disbursements of the funds by the time we break,” he said.\nHowever, Azimio and Kenya Kwanza lawmakers stormed out chanting “no CDF, no recess!”", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001486773/mps-disrupt-sitting-over-ng-cdf-cash"}
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+{"doc_id": "5a9ae745db4fb31a4a37e52265486c1f", "text": "What you need to know:\n- To boost production, revert the farm extension services function to the relevant department of national or county government dealing with agriculture.\n- There is need for active stakeholder involvement in these reforms. This will result in a win-win outcome in the tea value chain.\nTea is indisputably one of the leading foreign exchange earners in Kenya.\nRecent estimates aver to the fact that tea exports contribute 23 per cent of country’s total foreign exchange earnings. In addition, the tea sub-sector gives well over five million Kenyans a livelihood.\nRecent data from the Ministry of Agriculture show that last year, the tea industry earned the country Sh117 billion in export earnings and Sh22 billion in domestic sales.\nIn terms of supplies, the local sales value also increased from Sh15 billion in 2018 to Sh18 billion last year.\nIn addition to the regulations for the sub-sector recently announced by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya, there is a need to fine-tune the proposed reforms. This is primarily to buttress key concerns raised by small-scale tea farmers over the years.\nFirst is the critical issue of governance of tea factory companies. The rules governing the election of directors were drawn by the then Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA).\nClearly a gerrymandering exercise with no input by farmers, they were designed to lock out directors who championed farmers' interests.\nCRITERIA\nTo address this key concern and chart the way forward, redraw all the boundaries to ensure equitable and fair representation of farmer shareholder representatives based on shareholding, acreage and crop yield or production.\nSet minimum qualifications based on education because of the complexity of matters involved in tea governance.\nThe qualification for a nominee for the position of director should be a university graduate from a recognised institution, besides a threshold in shareholding and acreage production.\nSecondly, conduct a forensic audit to determine all payments to farmers over the past 20 years. In addition, track and verify shares held by farmers in current and former factory companies where they delivered their produce.\nThirdly, to increase farmers' earnings, ensure that 70 per cent of the tea exported is in value-added form.\nIn this regard, benchmark with top tea producers locally in the large-scale tea sector and internationally, such as Sri Lanka. This would require, among others, examining how their tea brands find their way to supermarkets in the West.\nRESERVE FUND\nFourthly, establish an online auction where all teas will be sold. Buyers would collect teas from their respective companies.\nExplore the establishment of tea trading in derivatives to mitigate price fluctuations, just like with oil.\nFifthly, start a reserve fund for marketing Kenyan tea as a quality global brand. The fund should receive 1.25 per cent of gross sales of all teas.\nThe drafters can borrow the model of the Tourism Trust Fund, which is used to market Kenya as a tourism destination.\nFinally, to boost production, revert the farm extension services function to the relevant department of national or county government dealing with agriculture.\nTo address the perennial issue of labour shortages, introduce tea plucking machines. The oft-cited compromised quality as a result of mechanisation will be effectively addressed through value addition.\nThese proposed reforms are, no doubt, the most radical since independence. To ensure they are implemented, only a legally mandated body should oversee the process. To achieve this, establish the Tea Reforms Transition Authority (TRTA).\nThe authority would, among other key functions, design a structure to replace the current model of the small-scale tea sub-sector under the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA).\nLastly, there is need for active stakeholder involvement in these reforms. This will result in a win-win outcome in the tea value chain, especially for the hardworking tea farmer.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/Reforms-in-tea-sector-necessary/440808-5565706-iq30myz/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "5ea975a019e42f61c6aa2660581c1c34", "text": "CBZ nine months profit\nTapiwanashe Mangwiro\nFinancial services group CBZ Holdings reported a profit after tax of $636,6 billion for the 9 months to September 30, 2023, representing a 696 percent inflation-adjusted increase from the 2022 comparative period.\nThe performance drove significant improvement in the group’s profitability indicators, with return on assets rising to 21 percent from 8 percent, and return on equity rising to 80 percent from 22 percent.\nThe group’s total revenues climbed 137 percent to $1,5 trillion, although the cost-to-income ratio declined to 27 percent from 32 percent. Total assets increased by 113 percent to $6,7 trillion and total equity increased by 171 percent to $1,4 trillion.\nTotal loans and advances grew by 57 percent to $1,7 trillion while total deposits increased by 113 percent to $4,8 trillion.\nLooking ahead, the group highlighted the downside risks of further interest rate hikes abroad raising external borrowing costs, and the normal to below normal rainfall being forecasted for the upcoming agricultural season.\nAnalyst Namatai Maeresera said the relatively stable currency environment in the third quarter saw a moderate recovery in the group’s balance sheet, with total assets and deposits closing marginally higher, although still below their values at the end of the first quarter.\n“On the sharp growth in the group’s revenues and profits, technical gains arising from the group’s real assets and USD balances are likely major contributing factors. Otherwise, the high interest rate environment and the sharp local currency depreciation experienced earlier in the year are expected to translate to subdued income interest growth, in real terms.\n“Similarly, the squeeze on local currency liquidity and increased use of cash are likely to slow down income from fees and transactions. Beyond that, the possibility of a weak agricultural season presents a real threat for the group, given the increasingly significant contribution of the Agro-Yield unit to the group’s income,” he said.\nOn a positive note, the group’s asset management unit has been appointed the Fund Manager in the upcoming Revitus REIT – an ambitious project that aims to raise funds from investors to reinvigorate a number of CBD properties held under the property portfolio of the National Railways of Zimbabwe. Under a multi-phased development/rehabilitation programme, the REIT is projected to generate more than US$6 million per year in rentals at completion.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/cbz-nine-months-profit/"}
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+{"doc_id": "5f0638aaae68c236bcdc602e288ca28e", "text": "Opposition leaders Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka have criticized President William Ruto's plans to privatize key public parastatals.\nSpeaking at Nyamache in Kisii county on Tuesday during the launch of ODM mass registration, the leaders termed Ruto's bid to privatize Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) and the National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK) as dangerous and uninformed.\nThey said the two parastatals were among key installations in the country and selling them to private investors was an act of economic aggression.\nRaila argued that selling of KPC and NOCK will see fuel prices skyrocket, something that will not be of benefit for mwananchi who were already burdened with huge taxes amid high cost of living.\n\"KPC is a strategic investment and selling it to a private investor is the worst mistake and it will make prices of oil double in the country,\" Raila said.\nHe promised to reveal more details about the ill-informed privatization after receiving the National Dialogue Report Wednesday.\nThe leaders believe the privatization of the parastatals will jeopardize economic security and leave Kenyans at the mercy of private players.\nKalonzo said privatization of the oil companies would compromise the integrity of national security.\nOn Monday, the national government announced the intention to sell 11 parastatals which are estimated to have a total asset value of more than Sh200 billion.\nThe sell-out of the institutions is part of the International Monetary Fund-backed reforms that are aimed at restructuring public entities and restructuring public entities and lessening reliance on taxpayers.\n\"National Oil Corporation is an important installation whose privatization will have far-reaching National Security implications,\" Wiper leader Kalonzo said.\nThe two leaders cited the President's privatization policy even as they praised the National Dialogue Committee Report which they said they would unveil today.\nRaila took a jibe at Ruto whom he said had failed to tame run-away corruption which had riddled public service and especially the National Treasury.\nThe two leaders told the President to stop blaming his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta over the woes the country is facing and instead put Kenya Kwanza house in order.\n\"It is 15 months now and the regime is still blaming Uhuru for their problems. Why then have they failed to cook their own food for Kenyans to eat because they have been around for some time now? He is defeated,\" said the ODM leader.\nThis came as the leaders prepares to make a decision on the report by the National Bi-partisan Dialogue Committee.\nKalonzo said some of the recommendations would require President Ruto and Raila to sit down and talk about the best way forward.\n\"Most of the most serious issues will require Raila and Ruto to sit down and find amicable solutions for Kenyans to be relieved of the many problems we compiled,\" Kalonzo said.\nThe leaders also claimed that the President's economic policies are unpopular with Kenyans.\nAmong the issues that they said needed urgent address are the withdrawal or reduction of some of the punitive taxes that had been imposed on Kenyans by Kenya Kwanza government.\nThe rivalry between Kisii Governor Simba Arati and some of the local legislators came to the fore as they condemned Senator Richard Onyonka and Woman MP Doris Aburi whom they said were distracting the governor from doing his work.\nArati said those who were against his leadership want him to engage in corruption.\n\"In the few days I have been Governor, I have seen corruption in its nudity here in Kisii. That's why you see I am fighting the wars that I am fighting now with some people,\" the governor said.\nRaila's trip to Kisii is part of his wider strategy to strengthen his grassroots support in the region.\nOn Monday, the ODM brigade pitched tent in Kisumu and have also visited Homa Bay and Migori counties in recent days.\nOn Tuesday, Raila and his allies hinted at challenging the planned privatisation of key parastatals.\nThis came as the High Court in Nairobi Tuesday blocked the government’s bid to privatise Mombasa and Lamu ports.\nJustice Chacha Mwita issued the orders in a case filed by a lobby group, the Taireni Association of Mijikenda, which claimed the government was illegally handing a public utility to private individuals.\nThe judge issued the orders until December 6 when the application will be heard.\nIn the case, Taireni sued Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u, his transport counterpart Kipchumba Murkomen, Attorney General Justin Muturi, and the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).\nThe lobby alleged that KPA has no power to dispose of any of the public assets. In seeking the court to stop the sale, the lobby said the authority had advertised, seeking private investors to bid for both ports.\nAccording to the lobby, KPA was relying on public-private partnership law to float for investors.\nIt asserted that partnership only applies where the government has a new project where investors inject their money, recoup it, and hand it back to the government.\nFurther, the petitioners argued that taxpayers paid more than Sh90 billion for the construction of the two ports.\nTaireni said there is no justification for privatization as KPA has fully functional ports, has tens of thousands of employees, and earns the taxpayers nearly Sh30 billion profit every year.\n“It is evidently clear that there are clear public contributions as the said investors are coming to take over already developed or constructed berths and because of these capital contributions, the Public Procurement and Assets Disposal Act, 2015, was meant to apply and thus the provisions of Section 4(3)(b) the Public Private Partnership Act, which the respondents have tactically failed consider,” argued Taireni.\nThe lobby claimed that public participation had not been conducted. It asserted that Kenyans have a say in the promotion of national values and good governance adding Kenyans will lose immensely if the process is allowed to sail through.\n“The whole process is tainted with substantive and constitutional impropriety and in furthering justice in the spirit of the constitutionalism, meeting the objects and principles in the constitution for the establishment of the offices of the Honourable judges as the guarantor of justice and as the protector of the rights of the people and their properties. We urge you to consider this application in the light of protecting public assets and the public capital investment from any plunder, whatsoever,” the lobby argued.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001486292/raila-kalonzo-fault-ruto-over-plans-to-sell-critical-parastatals"}
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+{"doc_id": "60573b0594286dd693f6cdc412206f3c", "text": "The DP's allegations and an investigation by Parliament over some Sh55 billion used without parliamentary approval ahead of last August's election have resulted in an all-familiar public clash between current and former government officials.\nOn Wednesday, former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani responded to claims by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o that he had pressured her to approve billions of shillings worth of payments that seemed irregular.\n\"Now that the Controller of Budget works under a new administration, has she weaponised her office to get back at those seen as a stumbling block to her?\" Yatani posed in a press statement.\nAnd he would rope in Gachagua, who he said had requested Sh1.59 billion to facilitate his office and that of his spouse, stating that Nyakang'o's remarks were \"politically choreographed\".\n\"...and designed to hurt public servants due to change of regime, which, unfortunately, will have long-term unhealthy effects of precipitating fear and inactions in future,\" Yatani added.\nHis response prompted other officials such as Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale to wade into the matter.\n\"You were used and abused by the Handshake brothers to loot and now you bear economic and criminal culpability individually,\" Duale tweeted in the wake of Yatani's bombshell. The exchange between Yatani and Nyakang'o sparked questions on how governments should operate in transition, even as they both acknowledged things must stay running and government will keep spending on its programmes.\n\"Governments are perpetual entities and respect and full protection of public servants while undertaking lawful discharge of their mandates remains the hallmark of a decent society,\" Yatani said.\nSince he assumed the office of DP, Gachagua has constantly accused Uhuru of overseeing alleged running down of the economy and pursuing selfish goals at the expense of the nation.\nLike other current officials, he has blamed the current economic hardship on the former regime, with observers seeing his moves as aimed at asserting dominance in Mt Kenya politics.\nRarely has Uhuru fought back, only responding in January by asking the government to end endless politicking. \"They are talking too much because they are idle,\" the former President said in January as he commiserated with the family of the late Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha.\nUhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto take a walk moments after a Cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi on August 14, 2018. [PCS]\nVihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi on Friday termed Ruto vindictive. \"He is acting contrary to his pledge not to weaponise State institutions to fight political wars. He should learn from former President Kibaki who did not revenge against Daniel Moi,\" he said.\nBut for Ruto allies, the issue is not whether or not Uhuru is being targeted but holding the former government to account.\n\"Ukur Yatani, his masters and accomplices must account for every dubious deal during his tenure at the National Treasury,\" Duale had tweeted on Thursday. Molo MP Kimani Kuria does not believe the president is settling scores. \"Kenya is governed by the rule of law,\" said Kuria, who chairs the National Assembly Finance committee.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nHis committee is set to investigate one of the expenditures Nyakang'o said Yatani had pressured her to approve - the Sh6 billion disbursement to Telkom Kenya to buy out Helios Investment Partners.\n\"The inquiry on Telkom is to also give the adversely mentioned officials a public opportunity, within the laws of the land, to shed light on the matter,\" Kuria added of investigations that are likely to rope in Yatani.\nBad blood\nThe bad blood between Ruto and Uhuru has existed since Uhuru and Raila's handshake in 2018, which eventually led the former president into endorsing Raila for president.\nSo nasty has the fight been that the two have had bitter public spats over the years. No previous president has consistently attacked their predecessor's legacy. When he took over as president, Moi vowed to emulate founding father Jomo Kenyatta. On his part, Kibaki promised his presidency would depart from the bad policies that had destroyed Kenya's economy in his inauguration speech. But he never publicly criticised Moi thereafter.\nUhuru followed the same unwritten tradition. In his exit speech a day before he quit as president, Uhuru praised his predecessors for laying a foundation upon which he would build.\n\"The work of building a nation is a continuous endeavour passed from one generation to another, as one Administration hands over to the next, in an unbroken chain that seeks to progressively build a more united, equitable, and prosperous Kenya,\" the former President said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001468658/blame-game-as-ghosts-of-uhuru-ruto-wars-haunt-kenya-kwanza"}
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+{"doc_id": "61ea64bd5a64b47203fd7ecc86ff6a94", "text": "Chirundu border now open 24 hours\nZvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter\nChirundu One-Stop border post now operates 24 hours a day as Zimbabwe and Zambia seek to enhance intra-Africa trade and respond to the surge in volumes of feeder traffic from Beitbridge and Forbes border posts as well as the traffic from each country.\nThe border had been opening between 6am and 10pm before the third shift went active for continuous operation. It is the second border post after Beitbridge to offer a 24-hour service.\nChirundu Border Post has been one of key links of trade from South Africa to Zambia and other countries in the north and needed to have the same hours as Beitbridge.\nThe extension of hours of opening of Chirundu One-Stop border post was announced by Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe in a Statutory Instrument gazetted last Friday.\nThis is also consistent with the Government’s policy thrust to improve the ease of doing business by removing all possible trade barriers that might impede on economic activity.\nEconomic analysts said allowing Chirundu Border Post to work for 24 hours had huge benefits to the economy.\nDr Langton Mabhanga of the Africa True North Strategy Institute said the extension of opening hours dovetailed with the spirit of the African integration in the context of Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement which was the theme during the African Union summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, early this year which was attended by Heads of State and Government in the continent.\n“The increased hours is testimony of how Zimbabwe has become the nerve centre for ease of passage, linking maritime ports of entry for Eastern and Southern Africa, and general trade,” said Dr Mabhanga.\n“These are the early signs of how Zimbabwe will be a key centre piece in the execution of the emerging Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement.”\nAnother analyst, Mr Kelvin Machoko said the 24-hour service will help the country grow its gross domestic product as a result of increased revenue due to heightened economic activities such as taxes, levies and fees charged to those using the point of entry.\n“It will help unlock the country’s potential as more revenue will now accrue owing to various fees that will be levied directly and indirectly. Zimra will collect more revenue due to increased activities as service providers will respond by extending their operating times,” he said.\nA member of Shipping Agencies Association welcomed the extension, saying it will go a long way in facilitating trade and decongest points of entry.\n“It’s an issue that we have always been calling upon authorities. We are quite excited,” she said.\nRecently Finance and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube commissioned accommodation of staff for Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, saying construction of more houses for staff had become imperative in preparation for the 24-hour operating times meant to facilitate trade.\nHe pledged continued Government support of border post infrastructure.\nChirundu was the first one-stop border post in Southern Africa, and has hosted a number of countries that have come to benchmark in their development of similar projects.\nThe latest development will ensure that Government meets its long-term national and economic objectives through Zimra’s revenue collection and trade facilitation efforts in line with Government’s economic blue print National Development Strategy 1.\nOther measures that Zimra has helped achieve include domestic resource mobilisation through improving ease of doing business, restoring fiscal balance and plugging revenue leaks.\nThis is in line with the country’s desire to become a prosperous and empowered upper middle income society by 2030.\nThe upgrade of the Harare-Chirundu Highway, the northern leg of the main north-south corridor, has begun with five of the contractors now on site doing preparatory works as the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway moves to completion.\nThe five contractors have all successfully worked on the 570km Harare-Beitbridge Highway, and are still finishing their sections, but can now use that experience as they turn their eyes onto the 342km Harare-Chirundu Road that helps Zimbabwe connect with South Africa, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania.\nMost of the highway needs a rebuild, with the Karoi-Kariba stretch now having bad patches characterised by potholes and eroding edges, making it difficult for motorists to manoeuvre. Only the stretch from Chirundu up the eascarpment is considered to be in good condition after the recent major work partly financed by Japanese support.\nThe upgrade has similar characteristics and same policies as that of the Beitbridge-Harare Highway that is nearing completion.\nThis also come as efforts to turn Beitbridge Border Post into a One-stop border is under way between Zimbabwe and South Africa as President Mnangagwa and his counterpart, President Cyril Ramaphosa met at the border last week.\nIn 2018, the New Dispensation led by President Mnangagwa undertook to transform the Beitbridge Border Post at a cost of US$300 million in partnership with the Zimborders Consortium.\nThe border post transformation was then done in three phases which are the construction of a freight terminal, bus terminal and pedestrians/ private motor vehicles’ terminal, which also came with the introduction of the automation and biometrics security systems.\nServices have literally been streamlined to become paperless and reduce the human interface that promotes rent seeking activities between border agencies and border users.\nThe transformation of the border has been completed and the government has set its target on constructing a third bridge across the Limpopo River to link the two countries to cater mostly for commercial traffic.\nOne of the major pillars for the border upgrading is having the necessary infrastructure to speed up the implementation of the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) concept between South Africa and Zimbabwe.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/chirundu-border-now-open-24-hours/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..24641d3ef7c514bd5673a6377a0a1a093dd2d091
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+{"doc_id": "6414e4ee2f30c0f2c3c2fe3e21b6cb40", "text": "NAIROBI, KENYA: Kenya has been hit with various graft scandals in the recent past that have left citizens baffled and resigned to a fate that the wealthy and powerful can steal from the nation’s coffers unabated.\nFrom the latest assertions by the Auditor General Edward Ouko that as much as Sh8 billion could have been lost through the National Youth Service (NYS) scam to barons selling harmful contraband sugar - raking in billions of shillings - ill-acquired wealth has rapidly become a part of the national psyche.\nThough acquiring affluence through corruption should be frowned upon, the State has devised an ingenious way to have this cash reinvested in the economy.\nBut it also seeks to lure genuine traders who have cash abroad to bring their wealth back home.\nThe introduction of a controversial tax amnesty for Kenyans holding money in overseas bank accounts, through an amendment to the Tax Procedures Act in the Finance Act 2016, was at first taken with a pinch of salt by experts who wondered what Treasury’s real intentions were.\nThis is despite Kenya being a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).\nOECD has developed the Common Reporting Standard - an information standard for the automatic exchange of tax and financial information at a global level – and Treasury would have easily taken advantage of this regime and nabbed the tax-cheats. The amnesty was supposed to expire on June 30 last year, before it was extended for another year. Perplexingly, Treasury has extended it yet again.\nCS Rotich attributed the amnesty extension to its slow uptake. “In 2016, the Tax Procedures Act was amended to provide a tax amnesty on income declared for the year 2016 by a person who earned taxable income outside Kenya.\nIn 2017, I extended the period from December 30, 2017 to June 30, 2018 for the year of income 2016,” he said during his budget speech recently.\n“However, despite the extension, the uptake of amnesty has been low partly due to concerns that when the monies are returned, questions will be raised regarding the source as required by Financial Reporting Centre.\n“In this regard, and in order to encourage the uptake of the amnesty, I propose to extend the period of amnesty from June 30, 2018 to June 30, 2019 and the year of income declaration to be 2017.”\nBut experts point out, the amnesty is a platform for typical sugar barons or NYS fraudsters to launder money.\nAll one needs to do is to bank the ill-acquired money in an account abroad, say a tax haven like Mauritius, the Virgin Islands or Jersey then return it under amnesty without questions asked.\nKunal Ajmera, a partner at tax and audit firm Grant Thornton says the amnesty leaves room for abuse.\n“By barring prosecution under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, would-be offenders can now take advantage of this window. However, one may argue that the proposed amendment would be empty in its enforceability,” he said.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nMr Ajmera said restricting provision is to be made in the Tax Procedures Act and not the Proceeds of Crime and Anti Money Laundering Act. This is also not the only Act that provides powers to prosecute economic crimes. He reckons that the Tax Procedures Act cannot purport to govern other Acts.\nAmnesty extension\n“In its preamble, it defines its objects and purpose as the provision of administrative efficiency and consistency in tax matters and facilitation of compliance by taxpayers. This scope cannot be extended to prosecutor powers under other Acts,” he added.\nTreasury says amnesty extension is attributed to low uptake last year. But as Ajmera explains, there were concerns over what other scrutiny those who repatriate the cash will be subject to. This is because the amnesty only barred the Commissioner for Domestic Taxes from further querying the source of the income.\nHowever, it lacks clarity as to whether the same exemption would be applicable to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and further prosecution under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act.\n“To this end, in his extension of the filing period to June 2019, the CS Treasury also extended the amnesty from prosecution to cover all these other bodies. The only exception to this would be proceeds from poaching, terrorism and drug trafficking,” Ajmera said. This has seen observers question how much money is stashed outside the country that is making Treasury have sleepless nights trying to see its repatriation.\nA top banker at an Asian-owned lender revealed to this writer that Kenyans have stashed huge cash in overseas tax havens that Treasury is eyeing.\n“My own bank has a branch in a famous tax haven that wealthy Kenyans use to stash cash. At that branch, there is Sh3 billion held by Kenyan account holders who were waiting for clarification that the money will not be subject to scrutiny by judicial bodies. They have now started to bring it in following Rotich’s assurance,” said the banker who cannot be named for his own professional protection.\nAn analysis by Grant Thornton indicates that the money runs into hundreds of billions of shillings.\nInstitute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya Chairman Julius Mwatu says Treasury could be having noble intentions in holding on to the amnesty.\n“I wouldn’t read much into it. I think the Government genuinely intends to attract capital flight back through the amnesty. The low uptake was perhaps as a result of the political tensions last year,” he said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001285520/why-rotich-s-tax-amnesty-seeks-to-cleanse-graft-cash"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a714c364a99ae3bcd4dfe70c72befde764a96f05
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+{"doc_id": "64a47e0934975404a14159a831b99ea6", "text": "African football makes inroads in women recognition\nRuth Butaumocho African Agenda\nThe capital of Cameroon, Yaounde on Sunday broke into song and dance when thousands of fans convened at the Olembé Stadium for the 33rd edition of the African Cup of Nations ceremony.\nElsewhere, millions of football fans were also glued to their television sets as the much revered continental football fête finally kicked off in Central Africa, after a long sabbatical owing to Covid-19.\nThe opening ceremony was an assemblage of events that was spiced up with a good musical performance by one of Africa’s best, Congolese singer, Fally Ipupa, who enthralled fans with his rhumba dances.\nUnknown to the legions of football fans, the celebrations were also a harbinger of a novel experience, which was to unfold two days later, when Salima Rhadia Mukansanga made history by becoming the first ever woman to officiate in a match at the tournament.\nThe 33-year-old Rwandese was the fourth official on Monday as Guinea took on Malawi at the Bafoussam Omnisport Stadium in Kouekong.\nWhile that may not amount to much for some, the grand entry of Mukansanga in continental football, considered a male domain, affirms the long held principle that women are as capable as men, if given the necessary support.\nHer selection to officiate such a high level football match was meritocratic, and an affirmation that women can compete on the same pedestal with men, if there are supporting systems and structures for their ascendancy.\nAccording to several online reports, Mukansanga has a rich history in football officiating, having also taken charge of games in other major tournaments before, including the Women’s World Cup, Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, and the CAF Women’s Champions League.\nGetting such an opportunity did not come cheap, but she had to prove her mettle to meet the grade needed to officiate at such revered platforms, which are often reserved for highly seasoned match officials and men of integrity.\nIt is heartening to note that the Confederation of Africa Football, (CAF) is following in the footsteps of FIFA which appointed a female secretary-general, Senegalese Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura.\nThe decision to elect Samoura affirmed the assertion of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter that the future of soccer is feminine. He said this back in 2013, when he was still at the helm of the world governing body.\nWhile Blatter’s comment was in reference to participation of women in women’s football, quite a number of women have taken a keen interest in football refereeing at global level.\nBlatter’s assertion was neither ill-conceived nor parochial, but it was grounded on the global trends where there was a growing interest in football and promotion of gender equality in different spaces back then in 2013.\nNearly 10 years later, the pace to include women in decision making has hastened, if ongoing developments are anything to go by.\nFrom 1917, when Loretta Walsh became the first woman to join the army and became the first American Marine woman in active service, the gender equality discourse is shaping up, albeit with challenges.\nAlthough the discourse is sometimes steered off the course by a few people for self-serving interests, it is clear that the world is slowly moving towards gendered leadership.\nGlobally, women are getting much space and recognition to prove their worth than what was the case four decades or so ago.\nIn politics, business and governance, a few women are now on the powerful tables that were once reserved for men. Such developments, though slow, are an affirmation of the hard work women are putting in to get recognition and walk alongside men.\nAfrica has not been left behind, but it is also now enjoying the benefits of gender equality and equity, although a lot would need to be done to open more spaces for women.\nThe swearing-in of President Samia Suluhu Hassan as Tanzania’s first female leader last year in March, becoming the third female president in Africa, is one of the rare, but exciting news the continent should celebrate and use it as basis for the ascendancy of women.\nMs Hassan joined Sahle-Work Zewde, the first elected President of Ethiopia, and Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, the 24 President of Liberia (2006 – 2018).Their election gives hope to nearly 700 million female voices across the continent, whose aspirations and expectations were not equally captured due to the gender dynamics in the leadership, that equality can be achieved.\nOf course, the election of the three might be considered as insignificant, compared to the numerical significance of women in Africa, but the acknowledgment of their capabilities is what counts most.\nIt remains crucial for the African leadership to promote systems and structures that promote gender equality and gender equity, not as a privilege, accorded to women, but actually as a human right.\nGlobal organisations and leaders are calling for inclusive leadership, where women are given opportunities in governance and decision-making. If anything, female leaders have qualities that are now being recognised as critical to the new leadership of the decade — empathy and collaboration.\nDepending on which side of the fence one sits, both qualities are more admirable, in addition to vision, confidence and honesty.\nIn a world reeling under the effects of corruption, women have been found to be less corrupt than men, and have always strived to serve diligently, something that existing leadership badly needs for countries to move forward.\nWomen have also proved to be saleable brands in corporate organisations and surely they have proved their worthy in political leadership as well, if given the necessary support structures.\nThe onset of the New Year, should create an enabling environment for capable women to thrive in different spaces.\nWith so much talent, ingenuity and competence among close to 700 million women in Africa, the continent should be the bastion of gender equality.\nThe selection of Mukansanga to officiate at such a highly revered continental football platform speaks to the ingenuity that Africa has among its women. It is that ingenuity that Africa would to safeguard against brain drain to bolster human resource across the continent.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/african-football-makes-inroads-in-women-recognition/"}
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+{"doc_id": "664f92db9ba067f672be57d2140640d6", "text": "2024 Budget balances relief for workers, bolstering revenues\nMartin Kadzere-Senior Business Reporter\nThe cocktail of tax measures introduced by Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube yesterday in the 2024 Budget strikes a balance between providing relief to workers by raising the thresholds of tax-free income, bonuses and taxes on smallholder deliveries, while bolstering Government revenues to finance the economic development and infrastructure of Zimbabwe.\nThe tax measures are part of a comprehensive strategy aimed at easing the financial burden on taxpayers and using fiscal policy to tame speculation, bring the tuckshops and much of the informal sector into the main economy while simultaneously boosting the Government’s capacity to generate more revenue to support essential socio-economic programmes.\nUnveiling the 2024 National Budget that largely reflects the Government’s commitment to fostering a more equitable society, consolidating stability and driving economic growth, Minister Ncube proposed to raise the monthly tax-free threshold from $500 000 to $750 000, resulting in an annual tax-free threshold of $9 million and adjusting other tax bands so that the highest tax rate of 40 percent applies only to annual income exceeding $270 million.\nRegarding the local currency bonus tax-free threshold, he proposed to increase it from $500 000 to $7,5 million, meaning that almost everyone in formal employment will get their entire bonus tax free.\nThe proposed new tax thresholds would be effective from January 1, next year while the bonus tax-free threshold would take effect from November 1, 2023.\nThe widening of the bonus tax bands will provide much-needed relief to many employees, particularly low-income earners allowing them to retain a larger portion of their hard-earned money and boost their spending power, overcoming the “band creep” of the fairly low monthly inflation seen since mid-year when the last major adjustment was made.\nOn revenue enhancing measures, Minister Ncube proposed taxation of the micro and small enterprises and licencing of traders to restore the supply chain from the manufacturer to wholesaler and retailer. Under the new measures, only licenced and tax-compliant operators would procure goods from manufacturers and wholesalers. This provides a major incentive for the informal sector to regularise, but without the tax authorities having to spend any money on enforcement.\nTo ensure fair competition and enhance revenue collection, Minister Ncube proposed only traders registered for VAT purposes and in possession of valid tax clearance certificates will be eligible to procure goods from manufacturers. This would level the playing field and ensure all businesses contribute to the fiscus, the minister said.\nPresident Mnangagwa and his two Vice Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi follow proceedings during the 2024 National Budget presentation at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden yesterday. — Picture: Innocent Makawa.\nThe measure would also end the growing practice of the US dollar underground cash economy, with tuckshops in the lead, being the preferred customers of manufacturers. They can still buy direct, but now need to be licenced, collecting and paying VAT, just like the formal sector.\nFurthermore, he wants to include more by lowering the VAT registration threshold to US$25 000 or local currency equivalent, effective January 1. This adjustment aims to bring more businesses into the formal tax system and broaden the base of VAT payers.\nEnterprises that meet the revised threshold will be required to register for VAT and comply with all applicable regulations. Failure to do so will result in the imposition of penalties.\nGiven the recent developments where mining rights are disposed of privately outside the country “at astronomic prices”, revenue generated on sale would be shared equally with the State. Even local mining rights sales will only be valid if all capital gains and other taxes are paid. The move should dampen the extreme speculation in mining rights, without affecting the real miners who produce the minerals.\nTo enable the Government to track the movement of mining rights for tax purposes, a register of mining rights with a record of applications, grants, variations, dealings, assignments, transfers, suspensions and cancellations will be kept at Zimra.\nAny lithium processing that does not result in the production of lithium carbonate will not be considered beneficiation and will be subject to an export tax. Lithium cannot be processed to the extremely reactive metal, and lithium carbonate is the product that is traded globally and which is what is delivered to battery factories.\nTo ensure compliance, all lithium producers will be required to submit their beneficiation plans by March 31, next year. No new licences will be granted to prospective lithium mining firms without prior approval of their beneficiation plans.\nMinister Ncube also proposed to introduce a 1 percent levy on the gross proceeds of lithium, black granite, cut or uncut dimensional stones and quarry stones. This levy will be directly channelled towards community development initiatives and ensure the benefits of mining activities are shared equitably among those most impacted.\nThe Finance Minister proposed to enact the international rules on the Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (DMTT) rules to prevent ceding taxing rights to foreign jurisdictions on top-up tax arising from tax incentives that are provided to those investments. The DMTT is part of the Global Rules, which aim to ensure that global profits of large multinational enterprises are taxed at a minimum corporate income tax rate of 15 percent.\nGranting of tax incentives results in an effective tax rate of less than 15 percent for some multinationals, but now their Zimbabwe subsidiaries will have to pay the difference for local operations.\nUnder the Global Tax Rules, where a tax incentive results in an effective rate of less than 15 percent, the tax jurisdiction where the multinational is headquartered collects the difference between the effective tax under the tax incentive and the minimum effective rate of 15 percent , the top-up tax.\nThe DMTT allows the country where the low tax profits arise to collect that tax on operations within its jurisdiction, rather than ceding taxing rights to the headquarters jurisdiction. The calculation of the DMTT will be based on the effective tax rate charged on the jurisdictional profits, not the jurisdictions’ statutory corporate income tax.\nTo secure the necessary funding for road infrastructure development, the strategic reserve levy would be raised by 3UScents a litre for diesel and 5UScents a litre for petrol, from January 1. The extra money is added to the pool for road infrastructure.\nMinister Ncube proposed an increase of toll fees on premium roads, including the Harare-Beitbridge, Plumtree-Mutare, and other designated routes with effect from January 1, 2024. The revenue generated from these increased fees will be directly deposited into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, ensuring its allocation towards road infrastructure.\nTo discourage consumption of high sugar content beverages, he proposed to introduce a levy of 2USc a gramme of sugar contained in beverages from January 1, with the money assigned to cancer health services. This has become common around the world.\nMinister Ncube proposed the introduction of a Wealth Tax levied at a rate of 1 percent of market values of residential properties with a minimum value of US$100 000. Those over 70 will not pay this on their principal residence. Another tax again aimed at the rich imposes a series of duty surcharges on vehicles valued at more than US$120 000 on import.\nOn the excise duty, he wants better enforcement. “The growth of illicit trade, in particular, cigarettes, has increased contraband cigarettes produced in legally registered factories under registered brands, thereby decelerating the growth of revenue to the fiscus.\n“A digital platform that provides real-time, traceable and authentic data on locally manufactured goods would be beneficial to the fiscus. Government, will, thus, explore the implementation of a digital platform on locally produced goods, in particular, cigarettes.”\nThe 2024 National Budget, themed, “Consolidating Economic Transformation,” builds on socio-economic achievements that have been made over the past five years and seeks to place the country on a solid foundation for further development and growth.\n“Going into 2024, the budget seeks to consolidate and entrench the stability to facilitate economic transformation and preserve disposable incomes,” said Minister Ncube.\n“Fiscal restraint and tight monetary policy, together with a healthy current account position, provides the necessary conditions for currency and price stability.”\nIn line with the projected economic growth of 3,5 percent next year, total revenue collections in 2024 are estimated at $53,9 trillion or 18,3 percent of the GDP.\nAlmost all, $51,2 trillion would be tax revenue. Expenditures are projected at $58,2 trillion. This means a portion of the capital budget, although a lot is still funded from taxes, will come from borrowing, with the rest of the borrowing needed to pay off matured loans.\nThe proposed expenditures for next year take into account safeguarding the purchasing power of incomes of civil servants, ensuring the continuous provision of essential social services to vulnerable groups, maintaining and rehabilitating Government infrastructure, prioritising support for ongoing public infrastructure projects, preventing the accumulation of arrears as well as increasing funding for capital projects through public-private partnerships, Minister Ncube said.\nCivil servants will see their Covid-19 allowances consolidated into their pensionable salaries.\nThe 2024 budget is estimated to face a financing gap of $9,2 trillion, which includes the $4,3 trillion budget deficit or 1,5 percent of the GDP and $4,9 trillion needed to repay maturing loans and Government securities. The Government aims to bridge this gap through a combination of domestic and external borrowing.\nMinister Ncube said the Government was looking to maintain a month-on-month inflation rate below 3 percent throughout next year, a move that aims to stabilise prices.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/2024-budget-balances-relief-for-workers-bolstering-revenues/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bf82bb787b3e81ad6e1151b17e908c8a4713eeee
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+{"doc_id": "687a43ac42624874b6f108688912e287", "text": "Clerk of Parly charged with corruption in computer scandal\nNyore Madzianike-Senior Court Reporter\nThe blocked attempt by Parliament last year to buy large batches of grossly overpriced laptop and desktop computers has now seen Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda and Parliament’s director procurement Stanely Bhebhe formally charged with two counts of criminal abuse of duty as public officers.\nThe pair were yesterday released on bail of $100 000 each when they appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court with the abuse of duty tied to alleged violations of procurement regulations when they wanted to buy 173 laptops and 79 desktops on behalf of the Parliament of Zimbabwe.\nThe two were not asked to plead to the two charges when they appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mrs Vongai Guwuriro, who remanded them to May 31. The first charge deals with the 79 desktops and illegal attempts to change the prices offered by the bidder, and the second with the 173 laptops, the illegal specification of brand, and the price reduction negotiations with the other bidder.\nOnce the Treasury had blocked payment on the grounds that the two successful tenderers had not offered value for money, the Parliamentary administration should have simply cancelled the tender awards and flighted a new tender, this time with all required declarations and no specification of brand.\nThe State led by Mr Lancelot Mutsokoti alleges that on June 17 last year, the Parliament of Zimbabwe flighted an advert inviting interested bidders for the supply and delivery of the 173 laptops and 79 desktops for Tender POZ/DOM/013/2022, which closed on July 15.\nInitially 92 companies showed interest, but were later reduced to 30 after some were disqualified for a range of reasons.\nOn August 19 Mid-End Computers was notified by the Parliament of Zimbabwe that it had been awarded the contract for the supply and deliver 79 desktops at US$3 076 each with a total value of US$243 052,59 payable at interbank rate on the date of payment.\nThe Treasury, as part of its then recently introduced stringent policy of seeking value for money, refused to release the payment citing exorbitant prices, which had also caused an outcry from legislators and members of the public. Although the prices were quoted in US dollars, those US dollar prices were considered well above the US dollar prices for similar imported equipment.\nOn September 16 Bhebhe, as the director procurement, wrote a letter on the instructions of Chokuda to Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) asking for authority to negotiate price reductions.\nBhebhe instructed Rudo Doka, the director of external relations, to append her signature on behalf of Chokuda saying that they were working on the instructions from Chokuda, who was in Bulawayo for a workshop.\nPRAZ in its response advised the Parliamentary administration that negotiating price reduction was contrary to Section 52 of the Procurement Act which prohibits negotiations between procuring entities and bidders.\nIt is alleged that when the Chokuda and Bhebhe asked for authority from PRAZ for price reduction on September 16, they had already negotiated for price reduction with Noah Sakudye the Director of Mid-End Computers on September 7. The court heard that an agreement was reached and price was reduced from US$243 000 to US$180 000 for the supply and delivery of the 79 desktops. According to the State, the meeting was chaired by the chief director finance Bernard Zvamada.\nAgain, it is alleged that the standard bidding document issued to bidders had no signed declaration by Chokuda who is the accounting officer to the effect that the procurement was based on neutral and fair technical requirements, violating section 20 (2) (c) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (General) Regulations in the process.\nIt is further alleged that Chokuda and Bhebhe on page 16-17 of the standard bidding document specified that they required HP brand laptops on Lot 1 in violation of Section 27(2) of the same regulations, which bans specification of brands. The State alleges that by negotiating price reduction, issuing an unsigned standard bidding document to bidders and specifying the brand of laptops required, the two acted contrary and inconsistent with their duties as public officers. Section 52 provides measures which should have been taken by the accounting officer, in this case where the price of the lowest evaluated responsive bidder exceeded the budget.\nChokuda should have simply cancelled the contract and then proceeded with a re-tender but he went on to negotiate price reduction showing favour to winning bidders and disfavour to other bidders, it is alleged.\nThe second count deals with the 173 laptops. Blinart Investments Pvt Ltd was notified by the Parliament of Zimbabwe that it had been awarded a contract for the supply and delivery of 173 laptops at USD$9 264.49 each with a total value of US$1 602 755,77 payable at interbank rate. Again the Treasury refused to release the payment sighting high prices, which caused an outcry from legislators and members of the public.\nAgain on September 16, the same date he asked for authority to renegotiate the desktop prices, Bhebhe allegedly originated a letter on the instructions of Chokuda to PRAZ asking for authority to negotiate price reduction. He received the same reply that this was illegal.\nBut again they had already negotiated for a price reduction from the chosen supplier, this time with Elizabeth Muchenje the Director of Blinart Investments Pvt Ltd on September 6, 2022. An agreement was reached on the same day and the unit price was reduced from US$9 264.49 to US$7 985.69, according to the State.\nThat meeting was allegedly also chaired by chief director finance Zvamada on the instruction of Chokuda.\nFull story on : www.herald.co.zw\nThe same problems with the standard bidding document missing the normal declaration of neutrality and the laptop brand are part of this second laptop charge.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/clerk-of-parly-charged-with-corruption-in-computer-scandal/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..86ab1f3d8fae12486ba1398815396d71b925db67
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+{"doc_id": "68bf7481aa1d6c9af3542905b1307bc7", "text": "Kericho County has cleared pending bills worth over Sh500 million giving small businesses much-needed working capital that was locked up to local contractors and suppliers.\nGovernor Erick Mutai said he inherited pending bills worth Sh600 million, and within one year he has managed to settle over Sh515 million after an internal pending bills task force verified them.\n“We established an internal pending bills task force which approved payments totaling over Sh515m. We have paid all genuine pending bills as approved by the committee,” he said during his State of the County address at the Kericho County Assembly.\nDr Mutai reiterated his administration’s dedication to fulfilling promises outlined in the County Integrated Development Programme (CIDP), promising to work every day to ensure effective services are delivered.\n“I wish to reaffirm that the state of our county is strong. We have kept our promise and utilised county resources for the greater good. I remain bullish about our state of the county, working every day to ensure services are delivered,” he said during his 45-minute address.\nCombat unemployment\nIn the education sector, the governor said his administration had addressed the issue of Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers by hiring 1,136 teachers on permanent and pensionable terms.\n“There are ongoing efforts to employ 65 more to meet current shortfalls,” said the governor.\nIn a bid to combat youth unemployment, Mutai said his administration initiated a crucial intervention, offering 300 internships to skilled youth across the county.\n“Diploma and Degree holders will serve for one year, receiving a monthly stipend and the much-needed hands-on training to launch their careers. We aim to roll out the same number every year,” said Mutai.\nHe termed the elevation of Kericho County Referral Hospital as a level V facility as a milestone in the sector.\nWith 169 dispensaries operational, surpassing MOH guidelines, Mutai proposed the conversion of some of the facilities to health centres for enhanced service delivery.\n“We also launched Primary Care Networks and the training of 167 community units is almost reaching the target of 203,” the governor said.\nHe detailed the water department’s success in increasing access to quality drinking water to rural households through new schemes and rehabilitation efforts.\nIn agriculture, Mutai said his administration subsidised Artificial Insemination services, distributing over 10,000 doses of semen to farmers.\n“Additionally, 30 Agricultural Extension Officers were employed to ensure farmers stay informed about best farming practices,” he said.\nIn infrastructure development, the governor announced a total expenditure of Sh514,777,680 in the 2022/23 fiscal year.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/rift-valley/article/2001486471/governor-mutai-outlines-growth-plans-as-he-pays-over-sh500m-bills"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e455683f862f9089e385e9e043ce4585aaf089e7
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+{"doc_id": "6a9f092c47ee797173f784d8f0b0751a", "text": "Businessman Jimi Wanjigi says he supports Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah’s move to challenge the Finance Act, 2023 in court.\nAccording to Wanjigi, Omtatah’s case is supported constitutionally and if the law is to be observed, then the Act might be quashed.\nWanjigi, speaking during an interview with Spice FM on Tuesday, July 4, concurred with the lawmaker saying that the government has been neglecting the inclusion of the revenue estimate in the budget which is a requirement by law.\n“The current bill only contains the expenditure estimate and does not have the revenue estimate. The expenditure estimate is simply what we are going to spend money on in terms of development and recurrent whereas revenue estimate is the money we are looking for,” said Wanjigi.\n“Constitutionally, a budget should have both the expenditure estimate and the revenue estimate, which should both go through the Parliament for approval. The priority should be the revenue estimate which will now develop tax measures to raise the money.”\nAccording to Wanjigi, the decision to deliberately ignore the revenue estimate is because the government cannot account for some of the loans borrowed.\n“Over the last ten years, revenue estimate has never been tabled to parliament and that is what Omtatah is trying to challenge. What we normally see is the Treasury releasing statements of revenue and exchequer issues which was never passed by Parliament,” he said.\n“This is because there is something they cannot explain in parliament which is the domestic borrowing. Constitutionally, any amount borrowed should go to development however, in all the years that we have taken domestic borrowing, you do not find it funding development projects.”\nIn his petition, Omtatah argued that the Finance Act is unconstitutional and the legislative body has neglected the required procedure of tabling a Budget in Parliament.\nOn Friday, June 30, Justice Mugure Thande of the High Court suspended the implementation of the Finance Act, 2023, and scheduled the mentioning of the case to July 5.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001476542/jimi-wanjigi-why-i-support-omtatahs-petition-against-the-finance-act"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..340d7400a63b8b83f3c6eeefb47c5d765184fa7d
--- /dev/null
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+{"doc_id": "6af71bc52a72bd220a949f6c0d30f401", "text": "A litre of petrol might in the coming weeks hit Sh200 if new tax proposals by the National Treasury sail through.\nTreasury has in the Finance Bill 2023 proposed an increase on the value-added tax (VAT) levied on petroleum products to the standard rate of 16 per cent from the current rate of eight per cent.\nThis is among the new tax measures that President William Ruto's administration has pinned its hopes on to grow tax revenues.\nOnce in place, the new taxes across different products and services including fuel are expected to generate an additional Sh289.3 billion.\nOil marketing companies, however, warn that this could see the price of super petrol increase to Sh200 per litre on July 1 should the 16 per cent VAT get the backing of MPs.\nThe Petroleum Outlets Association of Kenya (Poak) warned that this would be the wrong time to increase taxes on fuel.\nThe Kenyan economy, the lobby noted, heavily relies on petroleum whose cost is already at historical highs and pushed up the cost of living.\n\"This will cause an immediate rise in the cost of living, which is already very high,\" said Poak at a forum called on Thursday to give its views on the Bill.\n\"It should not be lost to all that the inflation of fuel prices has been the main cause of the rise of the cost of living.\n\"An additional tax on petroleum borders on immorality. This proposal would see Kenyans buy petrol at almost Sh200 per litre.\"\nInject capital\nOther than the cost to consumers, the association also noted that higher VAT would hit their businesses as it would require them to inject more capital.\nThis is at a time they are grappling with other challenges including high cost of acquiring products owing to the depreciation of the shilling and a general rise in operational costs.\nThe marketers also said they have been hit by the subsidy programme in which they would forego their margins at the pump to keep prices stable, but would later be compensated by the government, albeit at a slow pace.\n\"Now, the petroleum business operates under thin margins that are also regulated by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority,\" said Poak.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001472783/petrol-price-could-hit-sh200-per-litre-oil-marketers-warn"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f33721c97d3b3b20838ac9838af3e16206c5b834
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+{"doc_id": "6bdbe5a55d873235bb022af07690855b", "text": "844 bus drivers arrested for speeding\nFreeman Razemba and Ivan Zhakata\nBUS drivers are now being routinely fined for speeding as the police applaud the Zimbabwe Public Transport Organisation (ZPTO) for their support in implementing the innovative speed tracking system which has so far seen 844 drivers arrested since last month.\nTransport operators recently started fitting buses with speed tracking and limiting devices in line with Statutory Instrument 118 of 2023, which limits speed to 100km/h on the open road.\nA monitoring centre has been set up at Harare Central Police Station.\nGovernment recently ordered that all public service vehicles, including buses, be fitted with speed limiting and monitoring devices to ensure speeding by drivers is curbed, thereby saving lives.\nPolice will be capacitated to ensure compliance, following the gazetting of new regulations by Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Felix Mhona in June.\nYesterday, police held a preparatory meeting for the festive season campaign which was attended by transport operators and other stakeholders in Harare.\nSpeaking during the meeting, the Officer Commanding Operations in Harare province, Assistant Commissioner Taonei Nyazema, said the festive season was a time for joy and celebrations, but unfortunately, it was also a period marked by increased road carnage.\n“We, as the law enforcement agents, operators and other stakeholders we share the same decisive actions to prevent road accidents, injuries, loss of lives and property destruction. We definitely should not allow the situation to get worse under our watch. Your presence at this important meeting is testimony of the value you are attaching to this meeting.\n“Your dedication and commitment to this cause is therefore greatly appreciated. Together we can make a real difference and save lives during the impending festive season. Now, I must share with you the seriousness of the situation we are currently facing.\n“From January to October 2023, Harare Province alone recorded a total of 25 409 accidents, compared to 24 010 accidents during the same period last year. This represents a 9.4 percent increase,” he said.\nDuring the same period, 3 300 people were injured as compared to 3 025 in 2022.\nAsst Comm Nyazema said the province also witnessed 316 deaths resulting from road accidents, compared to 366 in 2022.\n“For the festive season, 15 December 2022 to 15 January 2023 we had a total of 2 945 accidents where 310 people were injured while 43 were killed. These statistics highlight the urgency and importance of this meeting.\n“In light of this, I would like to express my appreciation to the Zimbabwe Public Transport Organisation (ZPTO) for their support in implementing the innovative speed tracking system. Since its launch, we have a cumulative arrest of 844 accused for speeding and revenue of $1 050 was realised through deposit fines.\n“With the implementation of the speed tracking system, this year’s festive season should be an accident free period. No accidents should be recorded. I implore you all to urge all drivers to observe road rules and regulations,” Asst Comm Nyazema said.\nHe said they have also observed a significant reduction in accidents involving buses as a result of the enforcement of speed limits.\n“This is indeed an encouraging development, and we hope that all bus operators will join this initiative before December 15, to ensure that the safety of our travelling publics is guaranteed. Apart from use of the speed tracking initiative, our Province has managed to do a total of 112 campaigns conscientising drivers and operators to avoid speeding.\n“I also want to take this opportunity to reiterate that the Zimbabwe Republic Police is fully committed to maintaining law and order on the roads. We will not tolerate any form of lawlessness.\n“Our duty is to enforce traffic regulations, hold accountable those who violate them, and ensure the safety of all road users. With the support of everyone gathered here, the objective of ensuring a bloodless festive season is within reach.\n“However, it saddens me that there are still hosts of operators who are yet to join the programme. Some operators are even disabling the speed tracking devices, which undermines the purpose of our gathering. This behaviour is deeply troubling, and we must address it collectively,” Asst Comm Nyazema said.\nZPTO Chairman Dr Sam Nhanhanga said their organisation represents the interests of passenger transport operators who provide intercity, intra city and cross border transport service.\n“Today the 29th of November 2023 we are here with law enforcers and insurers to give us their expectations as far as road usage is concerned and promote safety and reliability which is ZPTO’s mission of existence.\n“We have realised compliance is being eroded day by day due to lack of communication among bus operators, bus crews and the law interpreters. Road carnage has become an enormous killer in this country because of accidents.\n“According to the UN and reliable sources, Zimbabwean accidents cost 4 percent of our GDP. At the same time experts have predicted a 4 percent growth of GDP, meaning we are going nowhere.\n“Fellow citizens, drivers, passengers and pedestrians lets join hands and fight road carnage. We have seen it worthwhile to come together during this period where Christians and non-Christians move from one place to the other in high volumes celebrating Christmas and New Year holidays. Drinking and over excitement are at their highest level,” he said.\n“We need your word of wisdom to safeguard the lives of citizens and all trespassers. To my fellow bus operators and other road users it has been proved that human error is the main cause of accidents.”\nVehicle Inspection Department (VID) acting director Mr Martin Musengezi said they have put in place measures to ensure the safety of travellers.\n“The VID and the police will be in full force throughout the festive season to ensure that there is full compliance and we are ready to maintain safety on our roads. We would like public transport operators to be cautious on the road.\n“As VID we are very much concerned about the roadworthiness of vehicles with particular reference to the bus sector, kombi drivers, the public in general and private motor operators,” he said.\nThe meeting was attended by senior police officers and bus operators.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/844-bus-drivers-arrested-for-speeding/"}
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+{"doc_id": "6c85fe47d886787f644b8199ccefbb30", "text": "China contributes over 30pc to world economic growth\nBEIJING. — China’s average contribution to global economic growth exceeded 30 percent during the 2013-2021 period, ranking first across the world, a recent report showed.\nIn 2021 alone, China’s economic aggregate accounted for 18.5 percent of the world’s total after currency translation based on average annual exchange rates, the second largest in the world and up 7.2 percentage points from 2012, according to the report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.\nChina’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an average annual growth rate of 6.6 percent from 2013 to 2021, higher than the growth pace of 2.6 percent for the global economy and 3.7 percent for developing economies. The country’s per capita GDP hit 80,976 yuan (about 11,684 U.S. dollars) last year, surging 69.7 percent from 2012 after deducting the price factor.\nThe report highlighted China’s progress in promoting innovation-driven development in the past ten years.\nThe country rose to 12th on the Global Innovation Index 2021, up from 34th in 2012, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation.\nOver the past decade, China has seen a better economic structure and more coordinated growth, as final consumption expenditure contributed 65.4 percent to the 2021 economic expansion.\nIt is up ten percentage points from 2012, and the added value of the manufacturing sector jumped 74.3 percent during the same period.\nOn the green development front, China’s accumulative afforestation area amounted to approximately 59.44 million hectares from 2013 to 2021. The report also showed that the total value of China’s goods and services trade reached 6.9 trillion U.S. dollars in 2021, continuing to rank top globally. China has also pursued more inclusive growth, aiming to make achievements that benefit all. From 2013 to 2020, China had lifted 98.99 million rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty, it added. — Xinhua", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/china-contributes-over-30pc-to-world-economic-growth/"}
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+{"doc_id": "6cc988723a6d4e0d70f170f20891c079", "text": "Can Libya break its vicious cycle?\nDavid Wood Correspondent\nOn the final day of April, Cairo hosted a crucial meeting between the African Union, Arab League, European Union and United Nations. The topic: Libya. After the summit, the delegates announced their recommendation – the embattled nation should hold presidential and parliamentary elections before the year’s end.\nTwo days later, a pair of suicide bombers broke into the High National Elections Commission in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Their attack, for which Islamic State has claimed credit, added 14 more bodies to Libya’s post-revolutionary death toll.\n“Tripoli is a city the international community has made significant efforts to secure,” commented Issandr El Amrani, International Crisis Group’s project director for North Africa. “This is a worrying sign.”\nLibya has endured varying degrees of anarchy since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Countless armed groups maraud across the country, wielding real power while the UN-endorsed national government struggles for legitimacy.\nThe UN, along with several key foreign backers, points to fresh elections as the best option for filling this power vacuum. Many Libyans seem to agree, registering to vote in impressive numbers.\nBut a hasty poll might condemn Libya to even more turmoil. In 2014, Libya’s most recent national vote resulted in bloodshed and the House of Representatives fleeing to Tobruk amid violent threats. The UN has since sponsored an inclusive “unity government” to shepherd Libya towards fresh national polls.\n“That was at a time when rival armed groups were less organised,” BBC correspondent Rana Jawad wrote this year. “Imagine holding another election today!”\nAnd even if elections do occur safely, they are unlikely to resolve the fundamental source of conflict – a bitter struggle to control Libya’s oil reserves. Ahmed Jehani, former World Bank country director for Libya, believes that democracy will not take hold until the country adopts a fairer, less corrupt economic system.\nTo date, the international community has shown far more interest in sponsoring elections. If the polls again end in chaos – and Libyans continue battling over oil money – it may rue ignoring Jehani’s advice.\nOil money is eye of the storm\n“Everyone who lives in Benghazi has a story that could be a film,” says Jalal El Hassia, a businessman in Libya’s second-largest city. “I used to live a normal life,” he continues, “but for a month or two there, every day I would find someone dead.”\nFollowing the revolution, Gaddafi’s rule gave way to a series of weak governments, each incapable of quelling the country’s internecine feuds.\nMuch of the chaos comes back to oil money. The resource-rich “oil crescent” region has been the scene of rolling armed clashes between government-aligned forces, militias and terrorist groups. Public funds pay off the armed gangs that run checkpoints across Tripoli. Isolated desert areas play host to unchecked jihadis, warlords and smugglers, all hell-bent on turning anarchy into profit.\nLast August, UN Envoy Ghassan Salame accepted the unenviable task of salvaging Libya’s shattered political institutions. His mandate was clear – get public approval for a constitution and conduct elections within a year.\nDespite the ugly precedent, the international community’s election drive resonates with many Libyans. “In society, there is support for presidential elections,” says an anonymous political observer. “What many people really care about is any kind of process that gives them a new president like Khalifa Haftar.”\nSome hope that the ageing strongman Haftar can restore law and order as president. The general might command respect in eastern Libya, where he has spearheaded military operations against jihadis, but he remains a divisive figure elsewhere.\nEmad Badi, a Tripoli-based researcher and activist, fears that elections could again create a dangerous flashpoint for these deep social rifts. He adds that the capital remains volatile, despite the number of violent clashes having dropped off recently.\n“There is a narrative that the security situation is improving somehow,” Badi says. “But there has been no disarmament programme changing the ability of armed groups in Tripoli to mobilise.”\nEconomics by anarchy\nBadi is one of several activists who believe that holding elections will not address Libya’s chronically unfair distribution of oil wealth. “We do not have a social contract,” he said. “The government does not feel as though it has any responsibility towards its citizens.”\nThe fraught security situation has stolen headlines away from economic waste on the grandest of scales. “Libya has lost more than $350 bilion in the past seven years,” estimates Hama El Fassi, an economic analyst. “We have nothing to show for it other than a broken country.”\nCriminals get ahead under what passes for a financial system in Libya. The economy has lost as much as $140 billion overseas to suspicious letters of credit, according to Libyan banking expert Said Rachwan. Another $20 billion has likely disappeared into the rampant black market for currency within Libya, where public officials stand accused of profiteering alongside business elites and gangsters.\nWhen the government tries to govern, it does so without competence or restraint. Gaddafi’s successors were loath to dismantle what El Fassi describes as a decades-long system of “grand appeasement”, where Libyans received unsustainable subsidies and government salaries in exchange for political quiescence.\nUnfortunately, oil revenue has not always kept pace with lavish public spending. Conflict over Libyan oil fields and market forces drove down both production and prices over 2014-16, decimating foreign currency reserves.\nLibya now faces a crushing liquidity crisis. People routinely queue at banks for hours, and only those with connections can be sure of withdrawing money. Banks struggle to pay the government salaries on which many rely.\nBadi points out that Libyans’ standard of living has remained abject, even now that oil production has almost returned to pre-revolution levels. Water and power shortages have become the norm, while prices for basic commodities have spiralled upwards.\n“If you are the [average] Libyan who doesn’t have access to a salary, you really have to pick and choose what you buy,” says Badi.\nAs most sources of income vanish, at least one job option remains open – signing up for a militia. “It’s not very difficult to join an armed group,” says Badi. “It’s probably one of the easiest solutions at this point.”\nGuarding the guardians\n“Libyans are all suspicious of each other trying to get the lion’s share of wealth and political power,” says Amrani of International Crisis Group. “The only way out is to share the resources more equally.”\nAhmed Jehani has championed a “Libyan Economic Agreement” (LEA), which proposes an economic framework for Libya based on citizen’s rights. The new national constitution would require the government to distribute 50 percent of annual oil revenues directly to the people and dismantle the system of wages and subsidies. Similar schemes exist in other resource-rich jurisdictions like Norway and Alaska.\nEl Fassi, who worked on the LEA, argues that the proposal effectively depoliticises half of Libya’s oil wealth. “It does not become a subject of budgetary discussion.”\nBadi believes strongly in placing financial constraints on Libya’s leaders, who currently fritter away oil revenues to self-serving ends. “At this point, we cannot appeal to the political elites’ integrity,” he asserts. “That’s why we need to begin crafting this social contract, through an economic agreement.”\nLike many wealth redistribution proposals, the LEA has met with resistance from those in power. Jehani’s team has lobbied senior Libyan politicians, but they did not seriously consider the idea. “Everybody is playing to the rules of the old system,” El Fassi says, “because there is a lot of money to be made.”\nEl Fassi asserts that the LEA needs strong backing from the international community. Salame, the UN Envoy to Libya, seems a likely ally. In March, he told Reuters that tackling Libya’s black market for currency and the “predation of public funds” are the nation’s most pressing challenges.\nThe LEA has apparently generated some interest within the UN, EU and US State Department. But each of those bodies has its own special, diverging priorities in Libya. For instance, Europe generally emphasises curbing refugee flows from Libya, while the US is more focused on combating Islamic State in Libya (ISL).\nAmongst these issues, financial reform does not rank highly. “There is still not an organised approach or project on the economy,” El Fassi reports.\nThe eternal curse\nAfter news broke of last month’s electoral commission bombing, the UN Support Mission in Libya defiantly tweeted: “These terrorist attacks will not deter Libyans from moving forward.” To date, the UN has not changed its advice on holding elections.\nIn February, a Western diplomat offered the BBC an explanation for this doggedness. “There’s nothing else the international community can work on to end the stalemate, and they need to show they are doing something.”\nBack in Benghazi, businessman Hassia wants Libya to confront the albatross dangling from the nation’s neck – oil, whose corrupting power predates all of the scheming elites, the militias and the jihadis. “Libya has been cursed since its foundation. Whatever happens in Libya has always been [based on] an interpretation of the charts for oil prices,” he laments. “And the whole place is living with that curse.” – New African magazine.\nEditor’s Note: In early May, Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, issued an unprecedented apology for Britain’s role in the “appalling” treatment of a Libyan dissident and his wife, who were victims of a rendition operation mounted with the help of MI6. Abdel Hakim Belhaj and his wife, Fatima Boudchar were seized in Thailand in 2004 and flown to one of Muammar Gaddafi’s prison where Belhaj was tortured. The couple will receive £500 000 in compensation although Belhaj had only demanded an apology from the British government.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/can-libya-break-its-vicious-cycle/"}
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+{"doc_id": "6eb966b29cb379ceaf031fe5b91479e4", "text": "Afro Worldview: Is it a game plan on Zim polls?\nHildegarde The Arena\nLAST month, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) was compelled by the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) to ensure that all political parties and candidates receive equal coverage after the sitting of the Nomination Court on June 14.\nZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba intimated: “The commission has written to the Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe in line with Section 160 of the Electoral Act.\n“The best time to ensure there is access to and equal coverage of all political parties by the media would be after June 14 when the commission knows who will be contesting.”\nZEC was not asking for the impossible, because the role of the media, in an electoral process cannot be underestimated.\nA free and unbiased media is a catalyst to inclusivity that each election process strives for. Apart from providing voter education, the media also has watchdog and peace building roles.\nWhile these expectations are for the local media, there is need to see how ZEC, political players, observer missions and other stakeholders view the participation of foreign media in the forthcoming electoral process. How far do they influence the process – be it positively and/or negatively?\nSatellite television, the Internet, social media and other information, communication technologies have reduced the world into a global village, although it is a village governed by different laws and none whatsoever, in some cases.\nA British-based consultancy company, Portland Communications, yesterday released a study – “The How Africa Tweets” that covers elections “held between June 2017 and May 2018 in Angola, Kenya, Egypt, Liberia, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, Lesotho and Rwanda – as well as the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in northern Somalia.”\nAccording to an Al Jazeera report, “54 percent of key non-domestic voices were from outside”.\nZimbabwe is no exception to these “non-domestic voices” being major influences in the July 30 harmonised elections, but what this writer takes issue with is how they do it. Do these platforms make a deliberate effort for these “non-domestic voices” to influence the processes? Do the owners of these platforms want to expose their prejudices? Do they have a sinister agenda they are advancing?\nThe writer once again writes about the South African-owned satellite TV station Afro Worldview and the insensitive programmes about Zimbabwe that they continue to air. On June 7, I wrote about the TV station regarding their hosting of the foul-mouthed Tinashe Jonas, who claims to be the leader of a political outfit called Ideal Zimbabwe.\nWhy is Jonas so important to Afro Worldview and its broadcasting of the Zimbabwe narrative that this week on Tuesday, news anchor Lesego Mokonane once again spent an hour with him, as he spewed venom on the personalities of Zimbabweans?\nWhat is the bigger story behind Jonas and Afro Worldview, who seems to have an attention seeking deficit disorder?\nAs a Zimbabwean national and professional, I continue to be amazed at how the former satellite TV channel ANN7, now Afro Worldview, seems to be making strenuous efforts to play devil’s advocate in Zimbabwe’s 2018 harmonised polls to be held on July 30.Just a few days ago, South African TV stations were apologising profusely for capturing a live event involving Black First Land First activists and an AfriForum personality because of the vulgar language used. When the footage was later replayed, all the uncouth language had been muted. Jonas is not, and has never been a player in the 2018 elections, but Afro Worldview believes otherwise, as it continues to invite him to make damaging and unsubstantiated claims about people whom they do not give a right of response. They invited him even after the violence he perpetrated against a Zanu-PF activist in the studio, during a live programme with the same anchor.\nWhat ratings is Afro Worldview getting if it brings the likes of Jonas to talk about Zimbabwean politics, claiming that his objective is “To bring practical and measurable change through action not election?” It is clear that he is anti-establishment, and is against elections, so why bring him to speak about the elections?\nHe called leaders from both the ruling party and the opposition: murderers, vampires, devils, gay, to mention but a few of the disparaging remarks?\nWhy should DStv get our hard-earned currency if they continue to host a TV station that is so anti-Zimbabwe, and a station that believes that the voices of thousands of intelligent Zimbabweans resident in South Africa are inconsequential, except of the outrageous Jonas? As a media house, what is Afro Worldview’s role in Zimbabwe’s election, and the prevailing peaceful environment?\nDo they believe that they have a positive role to play, or they do not care who says what about Zimbabwe? Are they stoking some fires using Jonas? If the more than 15 personalities that Jonas called despicable names in his hate-filled ranting and raving were to sue, what then for the struggling media house whose paper Afro Voice collapsed a few weeks ago?\nWe hope the social media responses will make Afro Worldview rethink their tact on Zimbabwe. Below are a few responses that the writer took: Ndunankulu writing on his Twitter handle @nyatidumi remarked: “Such insults on a public media is uncalled for. Let dignity b preserved”; with Takunda Chawatama @BreezyT Raww saying, “You need to get real, does Tinashe Jonas pay you guys to be on ur show? The producer of the show needs to be serious. That Jonas dude is nuts!”\nBruce K @; Geo©þ @WejenaMafura responded: “If you invite the same calibre of activists who are a nonentity you lose your rating. Whoever is managing this station is not business minded.”\nFrancis Gava Mufambiþ @francismufambi summed up the whole programme’s contents: “This is an insult to Zimbabweans and this channel is bend on undermining Zimbabweans! Is there any way I can block @Afro_worldview from my DStv please?? I have had enough of this clown.”\nHowever, the media in any country does not exist in a vacuum. If a Zimbabwean broadcaster were to do the same: take a foreign national to say despicable things about his/her country, complaints would have been raised a long time ago.\nThe media industry has self-regulatory mechanisms through its own gate-keepers, who ensure that the profession is kept in good standing.\nWe have in each country editors’ platforms. In South Africa, there is the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) while Zimbabwe has the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (Zinef).\n“We also have the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA); the Press Council of South Africa; African Media Barometer and other advocacy groups.\nWhen Afro Worldview is drubbing journalistic principles and values in a manner witnessed by many viewers this week, who will stand up to speak for true journalism?\nWhen Afro Worldview uses an unsuitable personality to comment on Zimbabwean affairs despite his claims that he is Zimbabwean, who will stop the madness?\nDo we need a tragedy before Jonas is stopped insulting the people of Zimbabwe, irrespective of their political standing?\nBut the million dollar question is: What is Afro Worldview’s agenda regarding Zimbabwe’s forthcoming harmonised elections?", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/afro-worldview-is-it-a-game-plan-on-zim-polls/"}
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+{"doc_id": "6ee36cfd4a9e6280cd6ba78180f4fddb", "text": "Millions of Kenyans who own phones are knowingly or unknowingly surrendering their privacy as well as the contacts list of those they communicate with in exchange for exorbitant mobile loans.\nOther conditions set by online lenders that are oblivious to mobile loan users include giving up a pound of flesh for instant cash include a lifetime of SMS notifications, full surrender of their personal data to third parties and a waiver of their right to dignity.\nThis is according to the analysis by the Financial Standard on the terms and conditions attached to several mobile loan products in the country, including those provided by Branch, Tala, Okash and Fuliza, which was launched a fortnight ago.\nA large majority of consumers who take mobile loans do not read the lengthy and densely-worded set of conditions and terms they are committing to and are later shocked when the contracts are enforced.\nIn recent months, for example, consumers of mobile app Okash who delayed or defaulted on their loan repayments have had the unpleasant experience of having the service provider contact people in their contact list in a bid to recover the funds.\n“Hello, kindly inform XX to pay the Okash loan of Sh2560 TODAY before we proceed and take legal action to retrieve the debt,” says the text message the service provider sends to people in one’s contact list.\n“We have tried calling in vain. This is the last reminder. Many thanks, Okash team.”\nInterest rates\nUsers have taken to social media and in review pages of the mobile app to vent their frustration as well as raise concerns about privacy and the interest rates charged on the application.\n“Has anyone filed a suit regarding @opera #Okash data privacy infringement in Kenya?” asks Twitter user James Mutua last month.\n“Or the industry is not regulated. Why spam people. I don’t need to know if my contact has your facility.”\nAnother user, Peter Musyoka, vents: “I also don’t have money to clear their loan at the moment until month end. I’ve no problem accruing their interest till then however they must keep threatening. No peace. No longer interested in your loans.” (sic)\nMajority of the users are surprised when informed that they consented to have Okash reach out to anyone in their contact list in the event they failed to pay.\n“We may contact you and or your emergency contact,” reads the terms and conditions from Okash posted on the company’s website.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\n“You also expressly authorise us to contact your emergency contact to verify your information or when we are unable to contact you or when we have not received repayment from you.”\nAt the same time, many users do not know that by agreeing to the conditions, they are also giving the consent of people on their contact lists without their knowledge.\n“You confirm that your emergency contact has consented to the sharing of his or her information with us and to us contacting them with respect to your use of the Service,” reads one of the clauses.\n“In the event, we cannot get in contact with you or your emergency contact, you also expressly authorise us to contact any and all persons in your contact list.”\nTrick users\nA lawyer who specialises in Internet Law and Policy at Mutemi Sumbi Law, Mercy Mutemi, says the service providers are using such provisions to trick users into giving up as much data as possible.\n“Consent should be expressly sought by a data processor and expressly given by the data subject,” she explains. “You cannot give consent on behalf of someone else. Okash’s clients cannot, therefore, give consent on behalf of their emergency contacts or the persons in their contact list.”\nMs Mutemi says this tacit admission from Okash that they have access to the contents of the phone including the contact list raises questions of privacy and how this data can work to the user’s disadvantage.\nOther conditions require users to consent to receive endless communication from the service provider.\n“You may stop receiving promotional messages by following the opt-out instructions in the message,” reads part of the clause in the terms and conditions for Okash.\n“Even if you choose to opt out of receiving promotional messages, you may not opt out of receiving service-related messages.”\nMs Mutemi says although consumers enter the contracts wilfully and agree to abide by the terms and conditions, some of the legal demands made by service providers are in violation of the Constitution.\n“In theory, no matter how ridiculous the terms proposed, it is assumed that a mobile phone user has freely accepted these terms and should be bound by them,” she says.\n“Enter constitutional rights specifically the right to dignity and the right to privacy. You cannot consent to have your right to life be taken away and similarly, you cannot sign your dignity away.”\nBy sending messages to their peers informing them that they have defaulted on payment Okash is bringing indignity to users. This constitutes a violation of the constitutional right to be held in considerable esteem by one’s peers.\nLast year, some M-Pesa users were surprised to find their accounts were deducted to settle other users’ Okoa Jahazi debts when they purchased airtime for them.\nSubscribers venting their frustration on social media were informed they had consented to the deduction when agreeing to purchase the airtime.\n“When purchasing data for a number with Okoa Jahazi you will be given a breakdown of the bundle cost and the due Okoa Jahazi then the total deduction,” Safaricom explained through it’s Twitter handle.\n“If the recipient has an outstanding Okoa Jahazi, it will notify you and prompt you to either accept or decline if you do not intend to pay,” the firm further explained.\nGayatri Murthy and David Medine, financial analysts at the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) say terms and conditions set by service providers are often skewed against consumers.\n“In an ideal world, consent requests would be designed to help consumers carefully consider their privacy options and consent only to the parts with which they agree,” state the analysts in a recent article.\n“But today, privacy notices are often long, complex documents written by legal teams to ensure that companies limit liability and protect against regulatory scrutiny by granting themselves close to free reign over customers’ personal data.”\nData is the bedrock of the digital economy and for fintechs, analysis of transaction data continues to reap benefits in terms of eye-watering revenues.\nSafaricom recently launched Fuliza, an overdraft facility on M-Pesa that allows consumers to make Lipa na M-Pesa payments and pay bills even when they are short of funds.\nJust like determining amounts on the other mobile loan products, the service relies on users’ transactional data to establish an overdraft limit within which users can borrow several times.\nA report by financial consultants Citibank last week upgraded the rating on Safaricom’s stock from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’ whilst projecting the counter to hit Sh27 from the current Sh24 – largely boosted by the launch of Fuliza.\n“Based on the popularity of Okoa products (emergency credit for airtime and data, fees which generates 2 per cent of service revenue for Safaricom), we think the demand for an overdraft is likely to be strong,” said Citibank in the report.\nSafaricom Chief Executive Bob Collymore confirmed this last week saying Fuliza is already exceeding growth projections, lending out more than Sh1 billion just one week after going live.\n“We got a million customers by day eight and we had lent Sh1 billion. Now we are probably at Sh1.5 billion,” he said in an interview with Reuters.\n“If you don’t have enough cash, you simply draw down from the overdraft and you keep drawing down until you have got to your overdraft limit, which is predetermined by an algorithm.”\nHowever, a vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of users who have already used the facility are unaware of or indifferent to some of the conditions they have agreed to in the terms and conditions running more than 7,000 words.\n“On your death or bankruptcy, your obligations shall remain in full force and effect until such a time as they shall be duly satisfied,” reads one of the clauses in Fuliza terms and conditions.\nThis comes even as some users pointed out that the fees charged on the product is steep. Users are charged a facility fee of 1.083 per cent of the loan as well as a daily administrative fee that can go to a maximum of Sh30 each day the loan remains unsettled.\nRegistration data\nAgreeing to the terms and conditions on Fuliza also grants Safaricom access to users’ population and registration data held by the Government.\nAll M-Pesa users have already granted Safaricom the right to hold their data for up to seven years.\n“You hereby agree and authorise us to obtain and procure your Personal Information contained in the integrated population registration system (IPRS) from the Government of Kenya and you further agree and consent to the disclosure and provision of such Personal Information by the Government of Kenya to us,” reads one of the clauses in Fuliza’s terms and conditions in part.\nMs Mutemi says this raises concerns about the administration of such sensitive data and the implications to consumers in the event the data falls into the wrong hands.\n“This is of particular concern given the sensitive nature of the IPRS,” she says. “There is no legal framework governing the IPRS or dictating how individuals can access the IPRS. The Government is also not transparent on who has access to the system.”\nReports that State agencies have in the past been the cause of privacy violations Kenyans have experienced also undermine users’ confidence.\nA report by Strathmore University’s Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law on the use of biometric voter technology in the 2017 General Election revealed that public officials mishandled voters’ private data and evens shared the same with political aspirants.\n“A vast majority of campaign messages sent to voters during the 2017 election period were unsolicited,” states the report in part.\n“Furthermore, a majority of voters did not provide politicians with their phone numbers as part of a political message subscription service or for any other related purpose.”\nThe messages sent to the respondents were further said to contain information that identified the name, or voting location of the respondent, indicating political aspirants were able to obtain structured data of voters they sought to target directly.\nMeanwhile, Kenyan regulators are struggling to catch up with the rapidly evolving fintech sector giving service providers a blank cheque in how they structure the products.\nIn 2016, the Communication Authority (CA) said it was working with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and was in advanced stages of drafting a policy on the regulation of fintech providers.\nNothing has been heard of the policy again and similar rhetoric from the CBK and Treasury to rein in “predatory lenders” over the past two years have remained just that.\nThis has re-ignited calls to fast track the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2017 that has been in the works for more than five years.\nWith increased uptake of digital payment methods and mobile loans, the law is considered one of the safeguards to the massive datasets currently generated by users of the various facilities.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001310291/how-kenyans-give-up-privacy-for-costly-mobile-loans?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--lQXH0SIbZG6hQh4OnRPsRRNCuczriDQ-NxC-ESiMu8vWEkaA8uxOMQkENUKHqC8KQBxo4"}
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+{"doc_id": "6f1133e41cbff78aba2f4b41e9ca56be", "text": "What you need to know:\n- The BRI, mooted in 2013, is an elaborate loan regime that China is rolling out to poor countries, especially in Asia and Africa.\n- When States default on the loans, this affords China the liberty to seize assets and even territory in lieu of the repayments.\n- Sea and land rights are critical for this expedition that is desirous of dislodging the US from the super power perch.\nAlarm bells are ringing in Asia and Pacific countries. Chinese loans advanced under the Bridge and Rail Initiative (BRI) have started to sting.\nThat is why recently, Myanmar announced that it was scaling down on Chinese loans for its Kyaukpyu deep water port, noting that the project could be unviable and could trap the country in unsustainable debt.\nIn the same week, Tonga, the tiny Asia-Pacific nation, also raised the alarm and begged China to write off her debt.\nMalaysia is also likely to drop a $20 billion (Sh2th) loan from China intended for the construction of a railway line.\nMyanmar has cut the loan portfolio for Kyauk Pyu from $7.3 billion to $1.3 billion.\nPREDATORY PRACTICES\nAnd for the Tonga case, Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva cried out aloud that: \"If we fail to pay, the Chinese may come and take our assets, which are our buildings.”\nIt is estimated that Tonga’s debt to China is about $100 million.\nMr Rex Tillerson, the former US Secretary of State, was worried by the increased Chinese loans to African countries.\nHe complained China “encourages dependence using opaque contracts, predatory loan practices and corrupt deals that mire nations in debt and undercut their sovereignty, denying them their long term self-sustaining growth”.\nOf course the US was uncomfortable with a rising China. Yet, the latest concern from indebted countries vindicates Mr Tillerson’s concerns.\nAngola is one such country. Today, approximately half of Angola’s 1.7 million barrels a day of oil goes to China.\nYet with the BRI diplomacy, more loans are set to be dangled to states.\nDEFAULTERS\nThe BRI, mooted in 2013, is an elaborate loan regime that China is rolling out to poor countries, especially in Asia and Africa.\nThe epic project targets more than 65 countries for land and sea infrastructure, a powerful diplomatic statement that is sending tremors across the globe.\nChina is projecting the initiative to cost $1 trillion. States are scrambling for the loans that will ultimately, if the BRI succeeds, position China as a super power.\nBut observers of international relations have dabbed BRI an instrument of what is now called \"Debt Trap Diplomacy”.\nIndeed, China is a calculating financier. Most of its loans are collateralised against strategic assets like minerals or seaports.\nWhen States default on the loans, this affords China the liberty to seize assets and even territory in lieu of the repayments.\nHAMBANTOTA PORT\nIn March, the think tank, Centre for Global Development (CGD), in a report, Examining the Debt Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative from a Policy Perspective, determined that eight countries (Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Tajikistan and Mongolia) were likely to default on their obligations to China.\nThis will have far-reaching political and economic consequences, likely to change their histories in the process.\nThe infamous case of Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port is legendary. Sri Lanka had taken a loan of $1 billion for the port.\nBut the port, according to observers, lacked any commercial viability.\nFinally, when Sri Lanka failed to repay the loan, it had to lease the port to China for 99 years.\nTo China, economics may not make much sense now, but the port will be a key instrument for its expanding navy power.\nSEA POWER\nMr Tillerson was acutely uncomfortable with the Chinese loans, especially to Africa.\nHe reckoned they don't bring significant training programmes that enable African citizens to participate fully in the future.\nAccording to him, \"the financing models are structured in a way that the country — when it gets into trouble financially — loses control of its own infrastructure or its own resources through default”.\nThough it has been resisting the description, China is determined to expand its empire.\nIt is engaged in all the trappings of a rising global power.\nIt is bolstering its sea power, ranging from the controversial South China Sea, to pursuing strategic ports in Asia, Africa and Mid-East.\nIt is no accident that strategic ports such as Djibouti and Hambantota are firmly under its grip.\nNAVY BASES\nThat's a scoop. And who knows, the proposed $10 billion Bagamoyo port in Tanzania may soon be in its fold too.\nAt our doorstep, China has also secured a 10-year lease for Doraleh Multipurpose Port in Djibouti at an annual rent of $20 million.\nDjibouti, a poor Horn of Africa state, is heavily indebted to China. Djibouti’s debt ratio to GDP is 85 per cent.\nThe 10-year lease essentially affords China the benefits of Djibouti’s strategic geopolitical location with an outlet to the Red Sea and Mandeb Strait, a busy commercial sea route.\nIt is also a favourite base for Western navy bases including the US, France, Italy and Japan.\nIn the scramble for the Horn, Beijing has secured a navy base here too, its first outside Mainland China and would be key to securing its national interests.\nChina, in this loaning charm offensive, has demonstrated its Alpha State stripes and hegemonic aspirations.\nLESS STRINGS ATTACHED\nSea and land rights are critical for this expedition that is desirous of dislodging the US from the super power perch.\nUltimately, the loans are designed to construct a more sinocentric world order.\nTo China, the strategic geopolitical advantage across Africa, Europe and Asia is what matters and if it takes a poisoned chalice in form of unsustainable loans, so be it.\nThe rise of the Oriental empire has left Americans smarting. On a recent tour of Asia, the US Secretary of State, Mr Mike Pompeo, rolled out a $113 million financing strategy in emerging Asian countries in a bid to counter the BRI.\nMr Pompeo’s initiative targets energy, infrastructure, and technology. However, pundits find this counter strategy as too little too late.\nLoans from China are irresistible because they come with less strings attached on matters such as governance, democracy or human rights.\nBureaucrats too can easily get a cut without much accountability. Yet, the loans are like a Trojan horse. Its consequences will be far-reaching.\nSOVEREIGN DEBT\nWhile the British expanded the empire through conquest, China understands a subtle approach, which is sovereign debt.\nIt is now the ammunition of choice for China to penetrate developing countries and get them to suit its expanding economic and military interests.\nObservers will be concerned about the implications of this to sovereignty.\nEric Toussaint in his report, Debt as an Instrument of the Colonial Conquest of Egypt, aptly observed “in the case of Egypt and Tunisia, the European powers used debt as their most powerful weapon for ensuring domination, leading to the total submission of previously independent states”.\nEven Hong Kong fell in British hands for a 99-year lease as a concession. China seems to be following this script.\nIn Sub-Saharan Africa, China’s expeditions augmented since 2000 when Beijing launched Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).\nThis is a more structured foreign policy on Africa that sought to cement cooperation in political, economic and social development. Then the loans started to pour in — fast and furious.\nTAXATION NET\nToday, never has one country exercised so much influence in Africa since the fall of the British, as China does.\nIMF’s Wenjie Chen and Roger Nord capture this dizzying reality in their report, China and Africa: Crouching Lion, Retreating Dragon?, that China has become, by far, the largest source of bilateral loans, accounting for about 14 per cent of stock of total debt contracted by sub-Saharan African countries, excluding South Africa.\nToday, China controls 66 per cent of Kenya’s bilateral debt.\nThis is incredible. Kenya is one of the countries listed in tier two of the CGD report that will likely struggle with servicing of the Chinese debts.\nTo meet her obligation, Kenya may be forced to embark on stringent austerity measures as well as increased taxation.\nIt is no wonder that the Budget for financial year 2018/ 2019 expanded the taxation net, capturing wide-ranging products including petroleum.\nIn any case, prices at the pump are set to rise in September.\nSTABILITY\nWhen it comes to geopolitics, Kenya is strategically located.\nThe most advanced economy in the region, peaceful and with access to the Indian Ocean, Kenya is a jewel that both the West and the East covet.\nIt is no wonder that President Uhuru Kenyatta will soon be meeting with world powers ranging from UK’s Prime Minister Teresa May to US President Donald Trump later this month.\nTheir discussions will surely touch on terrorism, but the Chinese question will definitely be high on the agenda.\nKenya has been an ally of the West since independence.\nBut Kenya developed a \"Look East\" foreign policy at the dawn of the new millennium, responding to Beijing’s charm of no-strings attached loans.\nBut the loans have also been a subject of heated debate with discomfitures expressed by the local political class as well as international regimes like the IMF and World Bank.\nThat is why Mr Tillerson warned about the loans from China.\n“When coupled with the political and fiscal pressure, this endangers Africa’s natural resources and its long-term economic political stability.”\nNATURAL RESOURCES\nBut it is no secret that Africa’s natural resources have been auctioned to Beijing.\nFrom mines in Zimbabwe to Angolan oil, Africa is being drained day and night in a systemic design.\nGoing forward, investments that end up comprising the welfare and sovereignty of states should be discouraged.\nThis is why a framework for citizen participation in determining the debts that a State should seek should be inculcated in governance systems.\nIf not tamed, the loans from China will continue to subject poor nations into new rounds of dependency, and therefore, will lead them down a path to more underdevelopment.\nMyanmar, Sri Lanka and Tonga are just a tip of the iceberg.\nThe Trojan horse in form of the sweet loans is turning out to be anything but a gift.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/Debt-weapon-of-choice-for-China-/440808-4717560-19buny/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "70a3cc67374f73c915ef565c4e585788", "text": "The State Department for East African Community (EAC) is mandated to proactively secure Kenya’s grand national interests through regional diplomacy and shrewd statecraft.\nThis is a venerable mandate ensconced in the economic diplomacy pillar, being one of the main planks of our foreign policy.\nKenya’s economic and political interests are conjoined to the EAC, a regional economic project that hitherto has safeguarded its interests.\nToday, we celebrate EAC’s 24 years of sheer hard work guided by our shared values, common heritage and conspicuous geography.\nEAC is an economic bloc and a special purpose vehicle to spur economic transformation of the region in order to put us on the trajectory of sustainable robust economic growth while allocating equal prosperity to partner States.\nTo this end, the EAC is constructed on four pillars, namely the Customs Union, Common Market, Monetary Union and Politica l Federation with deep econo-political integration being its peremptory goal.\nThe Customs Union (CU) as the first pillar of the EAC was established and became operational on January 1, 2005.\n- Ministry of Health seeks EACC's support to strengthen, implement UHC\n- How new technique can spur learners' curiosity\n- Agony for woman detained over Sh2m bill after son's lungs collapsed\n- Medical milestone as KU Hospital undertakes first CyberKnife treatment\nIndeed, this was a game changer in the trade dynamics of the region. It opened up borders, sought to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers and established the much vaunted Common External Tariff (CET) with third parties.\nIntra-EAC trade\nSince its inauguration, CU has unified our approach to intra-EAC trade by putting safeguards in place to ensure that there is fair competition while securing the region against dumping, manipulation and coercion.\nIt has a provision for small-scale traders (MSMEs). The Simplified Trade Regime (STR) caters for the people and entities at the bottom of the pyramid by ensuring that they robustly participate in regional trade under fair terms.\nThe CU has helped institutionalise the CET regime and single customs territory among others. The CET and the Rules Of Origin (ROO) are both designed to protect the economic pillars of the region while protecting our nascent industrial base.\nThere is a direct nexus between the CU and the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) pillars. The BETA is a well-engineered economic turnaround tool that seeks to leverage on a value chain approach to multiply Kenya’s economic growth through scintillating pillars that resonate with the aspirations and capabilities of all Kenyans.\nThe most innovative outcome of the BETA economic architecture is to ensure that the country achieves inclusive economic growth while empowering those at the bottom of the pyramid to contribute their fair share to the economic miracle of our country.\nThe two pillars of the BETA are supported by the CU. The CU is the enabler of the agricultural revolution of our country by providing a market space of 300 million people.\nSimilarly, the EAC acts as the source market for agricultural produce that feed our agro-business industry. Additionally, the CU is ubiquitous in supporting the growth of Kenya’s MSME economy.\nTogether with the Common Market are foundational pillars of the EAC and are essential in growing the MSMEs to access the regional market and to trade under fair terms. The MSMEs, including those domiciled around the points of entry/exit (PoEs), enjoy market access like none other and their propensity in accessing the regional market is seamless and satisfying.\nTo this end, the State Department for EAC Affairs will continue to cultivate a facilitative environment aimed at expanding market access for our MSMEs.\nThe Common Market (CM) further deepens economic cooperation among partner States. It was launched on July 1, 2010.\nIt provides for five freedoms and two rights. These include free movement of goods, persons, capital, labour and services and the right of establishment and of stay.\nThe substance and aspirations of the CM are in tandem with the BETA pillars. The Universal Health Care (UHC) is the most discussed subject in the CM Protocol and the Community has a dedicated sector handling health issues.\nThe Community is seized of the dynamics of the digital superhighway and creative economy. As the global economy becomes more sophisticated, digitisation has become the enabler of economic breakthroughs.\nThe EAC region is our backyard, our source of security and economic stability. Therefore, we are in EAC to stay.\nEast African Monetary Union and Political Confederation and BETA are essential pillars in the fulfilment of our dream as a region.\nMonetary Union\nAt age 23, EAC is a viable project determined to further integrate the economy of the region through the East African Monetary Union (EAMU) and attain the single currency area by 2031.\nThe EAMU seeks to accelerate economic growth of the region and empower East Africans to live quality lives. The same economic mantra is reaffirmed in the BETA. Therefore, BETA and EAMU reinforce each other in a symbiotic relationship.\nOn the other hand, the EAC Political Confederation is a conspicuous initiative by East Africans to establish a political order that will assure us as a region of copious security, law and order and good governance.\nTherefore, as EAC celebrates 23 years since its revival, Kenyans should actively participate in doing so knowing that it is our project and the backbone of our security and economic growth.\nAbdi Dubat is the Principal Secretary for East African Community", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486438/eac-pillars-in-sync-with-kenyas-bottom-up-economic-agenda"}
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+{"doc_id": "71323f35bafa461f4e7c9f707c8c93f3", "text": "In 1932, USA President Franklin Roosevelt, fresh from winning his first term, was faced with the same crisis President William Ruto is currently facing economically. The USA's turmoil was so severe, it was called the Great Depression.\nIn all soberness, Kenya, much of Africa and a large portion of the world are staring at a similar crisis. Kenya's inflation at 9 per cent has caused a lot of apprehension, with prices rising steadily. This then speaks of the general direction the solution will come from. The answers cannot come from using the same model the world has been using for a century now.\nPresident Roosevelt knew about this through his economic advisors, especially John Maynard Keynes who offered a contrary model known as Keynesianism. His method was extremely effective that it not only rescued USA from the grips of a depression, but within five years, America was back to its superpower status. How do you come from a depression, back to superpower status, to funding the second world war, all within 10 year?\nThe answer lies in what Keynes discovered; the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). It states that a Sovereign nation can never be broke. This is so because governments are not currency users, they are currency issuers and the rules or status for an issuer differs foundationally from those of currency users. A nation's government is the exclusive source of its currency, meaning that the Kenya shilling has no other source other than the Kenya government. How then can a nation run broke of a commodity whose supply is limitless and it is the sole supplier of that commodity?\nPresident Roosevelt used MMT by ordering for the creation of national infrastructure projects, large labour intensive public works programmes and a wide series of arts and creative projects, which created high demand. To fund it, he didn't rely on taxes that had diminished with the depression, he instead printed the money. Yes, he printed and spent it on these projects that spurred mass employment and mass supply of goods and services. This initiated massive supply to fulfill the large government orchestrated demand.\nThis immediately spurred growth, cash flow and confidence and the economy's upward trajectory began. Bridges, schools, libraries, hospitals, roads and airports were built. Music, art, plays and songs were commissioned. Teachers, nurses, doctors, researchers, engineers, drivers, technicians and people from numerous other jobs categories were employed. Poverty was almost quashed and personal dignity was restored.\nDeficit funding helps government avoid the catch-22 situation of either burdening citizens with new taxes or borrowing. It's not about printing and funding as much as one can. No, there are limits and real dangers to over-creating, but the limit is and can never be financial since governments are currency issuers. The real limit is inflation.\nThat said, inflation isn't an automatic occurrence of deficit spending. Due to the economic downturn since 2020, Kenya has enormous slack and this tool can be used to employ hundreds of thousands of unemployed and have them work in production such as agriculture, dam creation, manufacturing, it can be used to increase the SME financing through the Hustler Fund to figures such as Sh35,000 per entrepreneur, and it can be used to decrease the cost of fuel by Deficit Funding the Sh62. Fuel prices can be reduced by the same amount and yet government will have maintained its revenue, which will most certainly reduce inflation by 2 to 3 per cent. What is critical will be a Pre Disbursement Inflation Analysis that will determine areas of funding, amounts to fund etc. With this the inflation question is answered pre spending.\nThe other category this tool can be useful at is international barter trade. We can't print local currency for international use, but in concert with a foreign central bank, we can both utilise this tool to pay the local import/export trader. Take Kenya and Pakistan for example. Pakistan purchases 50 per cent of Kenya's tea and Kenya imports thousands of tonnes of Pakistan rice. Pakistan is currently in a severe crisis and only has three weeks of import cover available in USD dollars. As much as Pakistan has accepted to cluster our tea as an essential commodity, which means we are in the list of those prioritised to be paid in those scarce dollars, that victory is short-lived. They are in a recession facing great dollar shortage pressures and may soon also default on the essential commodity list.\nAccording to online sources, the average export value of Kenya's tea to Pakistan over the last five years is $500 minion or Sh65 billion per annum. The Kenya Central Bank can, through Deficit Funding, pay KTDA the Kenyan shilling equivalent of proven tea being exported to Pakistan.\nThis will guarantee payments to the Kenya traders and farmers and stabilise the tea sub sector and halt a seemingly inevitable national crisis. This won't result in inflation since it's a replacement of monies that would have circulated into the Kenyan economy should Pakistan not have had its crisis. Economic solutions abound if we opt to remove the current economic lens and put on a new lens.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001475107/kenya-must-change-tack-to-get-out-of-current-economic-crisis"}
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+{"doc_id": "72144130aee8488b748d2f3c78df31b5", "text": "British unemployment total falls slightly\nLONDON. —The UK unemployment total has fallen slightly, but the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said the jobs market could be “cooling off”. Unemployment fell to 1,69 million between January and March, down 2 000 from the previous quarter. The jobless rate remained at 5,1 percent, the ONS said.\nBut the number of job vacancies dropped by 18 000 to 745 000, the ONS added, marking the first fall for almost a year.\nMr David Freeman, a senior statistician at the ONS, said: “The employment rate has hit another record high, but this time the increase is quite modest.\n“With unemployment very little changed, that is further evidence the jobs market could be cooling off.”\nAverage earnings including bonuses rose 2 percent from a year earlier, up from 1,9 percent in the three months to February.\nThe ONS said the timing of bonuses this year had affected the rise in total earnings.\nExcluding bonuses, earnings rose by 2,1 percent year-on-year in the three months to March, down from 2,2 percent in the three months to February.\nThe number of people claiming jobless benefits fell by 2 400 in April to 737 800, although revised data showed the figure rose by 14 700 between February and March, the largest increase since autumn 2011.\nThe Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Stephen Crabb, said: “These are another record-breaking set of figures, with more people in work than ever before and the unemployment rate is the lowest in a decade at 5,1 percent.”\nBut economists were less upbeat. Mr David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said that despite the UK employment rate reaching a record high, “the cumulative picture – including manufacturing, trade and GDP figures – points to a softening in economic activity”.\nMr Paul Hollingsworth, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: “Although there were some bright spots in today’s UK labour market figures, on the whole they offered a further indication that the economic slowdown has sapped the jobs recovery of its recent vigour.”\nHowever, Martin Beck, senior economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said: “With the unemployment rate back to the pre-crisis average . . . it would be unrealistic to expect the rapid drops in unemployment seen in 2015 to continue indefinitely.” — Reuters.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/british-unemployment-total-falls-slightly/"}
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+{"doc_id": "74446bf3b24372b44fdd2bd498ec1727", "text": "Experts are calling for radical changes in financing of higher education to ensure access for all and improve quality.\nBesides a review of the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) policies, they say funding of universities should be pegged on institutions’ performance.\nParticipants at a workshop on higher education that ended on Thursday in Nairobi proposed that Helb be strengthened on three fronts: better targeting, resource mobilisation and improved loan recovery, preferably through an income-contingent approach.\nJamil Salmi, a global tertiary education expert with the World Bank, said the most equitable and sustainable approach to tuition fee policy would be to eliminate the present parallel fees system and move instead to a targeted free tuition scheme, following the example of South Africa.\nNeedy students\n“This would require shifting from a system of fee exemptions that benefit the most qualified students from an academic viewpoint—often coming from wealthier families—to a system where the neediest students who qualify for higher education studies would not pay tuition fees,” Prof Samil said.\nHe raised concerns over the quality and relevance of university graduates.\n“The 2013 World Bank Enterprise Survey showed that 30 per cent of Kenyan firms reported an inadequately educated workforce as a major obstacle to their operations and growth, compared to only three per cent back when the 2007 Enterprise Survey was administered,” Salmi said.\nParticipants asked the government to apply allocation methods that are not only equitable but also effective in encouraging innovation and promoting an efficient use of public resources among higher education institutions.\nRather than continuing to allocate annual budgets to public universities on the basis of history, Salmi suggested a combination of performance-based budget allocation mechanisms that would provide financial incentives for improved institutional results and better alignment with national policy goals.\n“They include close alignment with national priorities, explicit link to performance, equity among all population groups, objectivity and transparency in the allocation process and criteria, consistency and compatibility among the various financing instruments in use, stability over time, institutional autonomy and accountability, and allocation as a block grant,” Salmi said.\nParticipants, including officials from the Ministry of Education, all Vice Chancellors of public and private universities, World Bank and other stakeholders, called for radical measures to lift the higher education sector from its deathbed, insisting that if universities don’t urgently change the way they operate, they will cease to be competitive.\nWhile launching the workshop, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said Kenya’s higher education system is full of contrasts.\n“On the one hand, five Kenyan universities are among the top 100 African institutions. Several Kenyan universities are recognised as hotbeds of innovation.\n“On the other hand, Kenya’s public universities are in a dire financial situation. Quantitative expansion seems to have occurred at the expense of quality,” said Prof Magoha.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nHe said the share of education public expenditures going to higher education has grown in recent years, from 15.5 per cent in 2013-14 to 22.7 per cent in 2018-19.\nHe said the 2017/18 global competitiveness index identified insufficient capacity to innovate, poor work ethics and inadequately educated workforce as some of the most problematic factors for doing business in Kenya.\nFrancis Aduol, the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) Vice Chancellor and chairman of the VCs, called on his colleagues to seek additional resources through donations, contract research, consultancies, continuing education and other fund-raising activities.\nSandwich programmes\n“Social innovation approaches also offer promising avenues for mobilising additional resources and reducing disparities in higher education,” Aduol saids.\nParticipants agreed that universities can address staffing needs by expanding masters and PhD programmes to hire their graduates into the system and training Kenyan students abroad or sandwich programmes.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001324969/radical-measures-to-revive-kenya-higher-education"}
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+{"doc_id": "7640c99079da7ed5d83e2c43a08175fe", "text": "For the past five years, Cytonn Investments, led by its suave founder Edwin Dande, has been one of the hottest investment firms in town.\nWith its sweet tongued salespeople, glitzy media adverts and sharp analysts, Cytonn has made money market funds cool.\nAnd Kenyans have fast bought in, especially lured by the promise of high returns of even up to 20 per cent annually.\nCytonn has raised over Sh15 billion and from Karen to Machakos, it boasts of an ambitious and futuristic real estate portfolio – real and on paper.\nThe model has been simple: pool funds from the public and deploy the monies raised for investments mainly into real estate projects.\nHowever, the Capital Markets Authority has sounded the alarm on the safety of investors’ funds warning that should anything happen to Cytonn, investors risk losing their money in the Cytonn High Yield Fund (CHYF) that it regulates. Dozens of investors have also complained that Cytonn has failed to pay them on maturity of their investments.\nCytonn has had to extend maturities for some of the investments for up to two years, arguing that the coronavirus pandemic had hurt its cashflows. Some critics have likened the investment company to a Ponzi scheme due to its promise of giving returns way above the market rates.\nDande has come out strongly to defend the activities of his firm, touting it as a genuine Kenyan success story.\n“A Ponzi scheme has no underlying assets; we do,” he said in response to The Standard as he dismissed claims he was running a pyramid scheme that promised high returns but failed to pay on maturity.\n“We pay around 15 to 16 per cent per annum in returns, blended across all our products,” he added.\nThe projects include off-plan housing projects which are sold to investors or homeowners. And from the sales made, Cytonn then pays investors the “high yields.”\nMost of the investor money has been sunk into their own real estate projects, one of the red flags its critics are now raising.\nBeing private placements, the funds have been largely unregulated except one which is now exposing Cytonn especially after picking up a nasty legal battle with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).\nAmong its successes, Dande says, include the creation of high yielding products, developments where Kenyans can live with “dignity” and creation of over 1,000 jobs.\n“Most importantly, showing young people that entrepreneurship is possible, you don’t have to be a tenderpreneur,” buttressed Dande.\nBut how did Cytonn get here?\nThe fight between CMA and the real estate investment firm’s CHYF, which is exposing Cytonn’s soft underbelly, is over a request that the CHYF lessen its investments into Cytonn-related projects to 10 per cent of the fund’s total assets under management (AUMs) as per set regulations.\nThis is meant to minimise risks and protect investors in the investment.\nCHYF is authorised by CMA to invest in real estate assets with a maximum limit of 80 per cent of the total assets under management, which should not be in Cytonn related entities to reduce concentration risks.\nThe AUMs consist of publicly pooled funds. Cytonn High Yield Fund made losses of Sh394,000 in the year ended December 2019 with an investment income of Sh1.5 million.\nThe CHYF is a collective investment scheme (CIS) regulated by CMA but the sponsor is Cytonn Investment Management, which is not regulated by the authority.\nThe regulator warned that failure to comply might lead to the loss of investor money. CMA said that 13 investors owed Sh122.8 million have approached CMA with complaints. CMA was responding to Cytonn, which curiously moved to court seeking to fight the 10 per cent limit, in a case that still ongoing.\nThese funds are held in investment schemes that the authority does not regulate but termed them “high risk.”\nThe complaints were from investors on the Cytonn High Yield Solutions and Cytonn Project Notes – these are the ones that Cytonn now says have been impacted by the coronavirus.\nIn an annexed letter, CMA Acting Director, Marketing Operations, Abubakar Hassan Abubakar wrote to Dande for a quick resolution to the outstanding complaints.\nIn a rebuttal last week, Cytonn says that out of 4,000 investors only 13 were unhappy with a unanimous decision hence the complaints.\nIt says that CHYS is a fund invested in real estate and its board of investors approved an extension of maturities by 12 months for pre-Covid funds in a binding decision.\nFighting the 10 per cent limit, Dande had told the court that the directive was an economic sabotage.\nAnd last week, Cytonn received a reprieve from the High Court after it suspended CMA’s attempt to limit CHYF from not investing more than 10 per cent of funds in its portfolio and freezing any investment of the funds held in SBM Bank, pending the determination of the case.\nCMA, in its petition, further says that following a review, it allowed CHYF to invest up to 25 per cent of its AUM in Cytonn related entities, but Cytonn still went to court and has refused to divest.\nThe Authority says the CHYF is already in breach of the maximum investment limit of 25 per cent in related parties. Investments by CHYF in Cytonn related entities are currently at 64 per cent of its AUM as at August 2020.\n“The failure to comply the aforementioned provisions of CIS regulation exposes the investors to the risk of losing the hard earned money they have invested,” warned CMA.\nCMA said it had agreed with Cytonn that the CHYF be converted into a regulated investment vehicle, but Cytonn had been slow in meeting the regulatory requirements.\nIn its defence, Cytonn says the CMA directive was purportedly based on regulation 16 (2) of the Collective Investment Schemes Regulation, which it says is only applicable to a Fund where the Fund Manager, the Custodian and the Trustee are related, with the view that given the relatedness in the governance of the Fund, it is prudent to limit investments into in-house projects to 10 per cent.\nLast October, Kenneth Kasinga was approached by a Cytonnn representative and presented with an offer he couldn’t refuse.\nHere was a product tipped to return a 19 per cent interest annually for just one year.\nKasinga then invested Sh3 million into the Cytonn High Yields Solutions. A year later he has sued the investment firm telling the court that the money was at risk. The investor says that Cytonn “purported” to be offering private offers in order to remove themselves from CMA regulation, but their offer was public and requires approval from CMA.\nHe had been told that the investment was a private placement with not more than 100 investors, but Cytonn had raised money from 3,000 investors.\nKasinga now wants a declaration that the CHYS is a public offer subject to regulation and approval of CMA. He also wants it audited.\nThe investor wants a permanent injunction preventing Cytonn from extending the maturity date of his investment. He says Cytonn unilaterally gave him the option of extending his investment by 12 months after the date of maturity or enter an agreement for an additional two years after the date of maturity, a decision he had to make within 30 days.\nCytonn said the CHYS and the Cytonn Real Estate Project Notes (CPN) had been impacted by the virus causing reduction of labour force translating to longer development periods, slowdown in building approvals as well as in collections from those who’ve purchased off-plan real estate on installment plans.\nOne of its products, Cytonn Cash Management Solution lost over Sh50 million in collapsed supermarket Nakumatt. It was part of commercial paper holders owed Sh4 billion who went home with nothing.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/the-standard-insider/article/2001388218/were-not-a-ponzi-scheme-declares-cytonn-boss-as-cash-crisis-grows"}
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+{"doc_id": "76c536b42c4f9358364daac4bd550d79", "text": "A new report by the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o has shed light on the ongoing wastage in Government, fueled by a frenzy of luxury travels, fuel guzzlers, and unused idle billions even as some senior government officials make claims that the government is broke.\nThis report highlights the paradox of extravagant spending and wastefulness, despite claims of financial instability and the need for increased tax revenue and borrowing.\nSpecifically, the report reveals that the government’s budget for luxury foreign travel has increased by almost a third in the first three months of the 2023/24 financial year, from July to September. This contradiction raises concerns about the ruling administration’s priorities at a time that calls for austerity measures.\n“Sh4.3 billion was spent on domestic and foreign travel, while Sh1.04 billion was spent on hospitality,” says the new report examining the expenditures of the Kenya Kwanza administration in the first three months of the 2023/24 financial year between July and September this year.\nThe report notes that compared to a similar period in the Financial Year 2022/23, travel expenses increased by 27.6 per cent from Sh3.37 billion to Sh4.30 billion.\nNon-core items\n“The Controller of Budget recommends that the National Government reduces expenditure on non-core items, including travelling expenses, in FY 2023/24,” says Ms Nyakang’o.”\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto reaffirms State's support for health sector under devolution\n“The savings should then be channeled towards addressing the cost of living for Kenyans and other priority programmes.”\nDr Patrick Muinde is categorial wasteful spending and budgeted corruption are our bane. He opines the basic rules of economics dictate that when the economy is struggling the best thing to do is trim spending, avoid waste, and put money in the right projects.\n“When its (economy) struggling the basic response is to leave money in the hands of citizens so they continue spending. When you take the money to foreign trips you are taking blood from an already bad situation,” he said in previous interview.\nLast week, there was growing concern regarding the expenditure priorities of the Kenya Kwanza administration after the Government stated that it had been forced to manage its finances carefully due to financial difficulty.\nThe announcement made by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u signaling the Government is broke has raised questions among analysts with a keen eye on the Government’s priorities, particularly due to the sustained extravagant lifestyles of State officers.\nProf Njuguna Ndung’u revealed these concerns while appearing before the National Assembly Finance and Planning Committee, where he had a difficult time explaining why Treasury is unable to allocate funds for the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) amidst the loud protests from Members of Parliament.\n“NG-CDF will be released as soon as the government has enough funds, at the moment we are not getting taxes as required and the government is having challenges paying salaries, so please bear with us, we are working around the clock to make things work,” he said.\nFinancial crisis\nDespite Ndung’u’s explanation to MPs that the financial crisis is a consequence of natural disasters such as prolonged drought and El Nino rains, which has caused government to divert funds, decreased tax revenue, and a global economic downturn, the warning signs have been evident for several months, analysts said.\nThe government’s economic strategies, including tax hikes to generate funds, have attracted scrutiny with restless Kenyans piling pressure on the Ruto administration to address the runaway cost of living.\nThis is not the first time the National Treasury has encountered such difficulties, as civil servants’ salaries have already been delayed twice since January and the Controller of Budget is now recommending an end to wastage.\n“The Controller of Budget recommends prioritising budget cuts for non-essential expenditures, inefficient programmes and projects with a low socio-economic impact,” says the report by the Controller of Budget Ms Nyakang’o.\n“Specifically, reducing allocations to non-critical infrastructure projects, streamlining administrative costs, and optimising subsidies through targeted interventions can help minimise deficit financing and promote fiscal sustainability.”\nAccording to the Controller of Budget, money allocated for development that was not absorbed ran into billions of shillings in the first three months of the financial year.\n“In the first three months of the FY 2023/24, overall national government budget absorption was Sh784.18 billion (18.6 per cent) against the targeted rate of 25 per cent,” says the report.\nThis comprised Sh83.70 billion (10.4 per cent) for ministerial development expenditure, 320.70 billion (20.5 per cent) for ministerial recurrent expenditure, and Sh379.79 billion (20.7 per cent) for Consolidated Fund Services.\n“Analysis of reports submitted for the first three months of FY 2023/24 by Ministries, Department, and Agencies to the Controller of Budget attribute low absorption of budget to delay in uploading Procurement Plans into IFMIS and disbursement of funds by the National Treasury,” said Ms Nyakang’o.\nThe Controller of Budget recommends that the National Treasury streamlines the funds’ disbursement cycle so that ministries, departments, and agencies know when funds will be released as per the approved work plans.\n“In addition, Accounting Officers ensure compliance with various National Treasury Circulars and other regulations to minimize non-essential expenditure and timely payment of pending bills/carryovers,” she said.\nIn June, President William Ruto committed to tackle corruption, wastage, inefficiency and negligence in government, which, he said are serious threats to the realisation of his Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).\nAt the time, he was commenting on the subject of maize flour and fuel subsidies that the Uhuru Kenyatta administration had granted, which the President said had dug the country into a debt hole due to excess borrowing.\n“We must admit that we had been living large and way beyond our means as a country. The time has come to retire the false comforts,” he said.\nHe instead said he would subsidise fertiliser to increase food yields as a long-term, sustainable solution to the high cost of living.\nDuring his campaigns and after his election, Ruto vowed to reduce foreign borrowing, saying debt shall be a “last resort” in raising funds to plug holes in the budget.\nHe promised not to make Kenyans “slaves” of debt from any place or any country.\nIt is the same reason he gave for imposing various taxes and raising VAT on fuel to 16 per cent from 8 per cent, which has been cited as the single-most contributor to the high cost of living.\nHe said the high taxes were necessary for his administration to fulfill the many pledges, chief among them, growing the economy, reducing the cost of living and addressing unemployment.\nHowever, more than one year after coming into office, his administration appears to be backpedaling on the campaign promises, analysts said.\nHigh-end vehicles\nFrom perceived extravagant spending on travel, purchase of high-end vehicles for senior officials, and sustained appetite for borrowing, many of his pledges remain unfulfilled, they said.\nAn order on austerity measures across government, including on trips and budget cuts has been largely ignored.\nSeveral government agencies controlling multibillion-shilling State contracts also continue to defy President William Ruto’s order to slash hospitality budgets to curb wastage.\nA spot check by The Standard shows several State agencies are still engaging in non-essential spending on such goods and services as the provision of cut flowers and lunches, against the President’s directive through the National Treasury.\nPresident Ruto had last November tasked the National Treasury to begin planning spending cuts on non-priority items to tame the country’s huge budget deficit.\n“I have instructed Treasury to work with ministries to find savings of Sh300 billion in this year’s budget,” said Dr Ruto in his maiden speech as President to the National Assembly.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001487067/irony-of-a-broke-ruto-government-living-large"}
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+{"doc_id": "79375f48737e45a7ea9c3da396088693", "text": "The government of Kenya and the International Agricultural Development Fund (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has established a Sh19.7 billion ($134.05 million) fund aimed at improving access to finance for smallholder farmers.\nPrincipal Secretary to the National Treasury and Economic Planning, Chris Kiptoo said the Kenya Rural Financial Inclusion Facility Project (RK-FINFA) would better mobilize resources from private financial institutions and partner development institutions for allocation to the agricultural sector.\n“This will lead to an increase in financial resources at the bottom of the development pyramid while strengthening the climate change resilience of actors in the agricultural value chain,” said Kiptoo.\nHe said this drive should benefit 190,000 rural Kenyan households both directly and indirectly.\nThe facility will feature a rural credit guarantee system that will help reduce the perceived and real risks associated with agricultural value chain lending, Mr. Kiptoo added.\nMariatu Kamara, IFAD Country Director and Representative for Kenya said the facility would also provide technical assistance to agricultural value chain players to help them improve their production, marketing, and various other business practices.\nThe funds allocated to improve farmers’ access to finance in Kenya will be utilized in various ways, including supporting initiatives that link smallholder farmers to banks and other financial institutions to increase access to financing, and to improve the quality and supply of agricultural inputs.\nSmallholder farmers make up a significant percentage of the individuals employed in agriculture across developing regions. Yet, most smallholder farmers are also unable to access the financing they need to secure farm inputs.\nSmallholder farmers lack basic inputs such as fertilizer, seeds, tools, and the knowledge provided by agricultural extension services to increase their yields. Further, they are also frequently isolated from markets because of a lack of basic infrastructure that would enable them to bring their goods to markets.\nSmallholder farmers also suffer from significant post-harvest loss because of a lack of proper storage. These challenges make it difficult for farmers to obtain the best price for their crops by creating pressure to sell as soon as they harvest.\nTo increase access to finance, donors and development finance institutions (DFIs) should increase the use of official finance to incentivize commercial banks and rural-focused financial institutions.\nImproving farmers’ access to finance is crucial for increasing agricultural productivity, reducing poverty, and promoting sustainable development in Kenya. By linking smallholder farmers to banks and other financial institutions, these initiatives can help farmers access credit, purchase agricultural inputs, and improve their yields.\nAdditionally, providing training, mentorship, and seed funding can help augment the livelihoods of youth in Kenya by providing access to invaluable networks and resources.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/smart-harvest/article/2001483097/un-allocates-sh19-b-to-improve-kenya-farmers-access-to-finance"}
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+{"doc_id": "79d22c7f0614af193dfa43d6d8d2b0e5", "text": "What you need to know:\nThere is a crying need in this country to have healthcare professionals without a mercenary outlook.\nExcessive greed, blind pursuit of profits and a culture of quick deals are making society to start having a hostile attitude towards private hospitals.\nVulture-type private equity firms invest in companies with a singular objective: Maximisation of short-term returns to investors.\nWe Kenyans are a docile people. That is why we endure injustices that are capable of provoking massive riots in other societies.\nIndeed, the media exposé of the shenanigans at The Nairobi Women’s Hospital should elicit widespread consumer outrage. We have been taken through a lesson on health in a sick society.\nKey providers of health insurance have acted by suspending dealings with the hospital and changes have happened in the top management.\nBut there are broader policy questions about the provision of healthcare by private hospitals. Is the private equity business model suitable when it comes to managing and funding hospitals? What must policy do to support local private investment in private healthcare?\nThe saga reminded me of a story I recently read in a US magazine with the headline “How private equity makes you sicker”. Then there was this story in the Financial Times with the headline “How private equity has inflated US medical bills”.\nLast year, I came across a paper by two American academics, Ms Hellen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt, whose conclusion was that the design of the private equity business model drives up costs for patient care in private hospitals.\nWe have seen what obtains when vulture fund-type private equity firms corner and become major investors and operators of private hospitals.\nA few years ago, the Dubai- and London-based private equity firm Abraaj came to town and took majority control of a total of five private hospitals and 10 clinics. They included The Nairobi Women’s Hospital, Avenue Hospital, Ladman Hospital and Metropolitan Hospital.\nVulture-type private equity firms invest in companies with a singular objective: Maximisation of short-term returns to investors.\nThe model is simple. Buy a hospital, triple revenues as quickly as you can and, within five years, sell it at above-market returns, possibly to another private equity firm.\nSome of the key findings of the exposé included that private hospitals under management of private equity tend to employ cheap labour and that clinical officers were admitting patients even when such admissions were not necessary.\nThen the most egregious and unethical practice: Clinical officers were being paid incentives based on the number of admissions. We saw how clinical officers were constantly under pressure to ensure that the number of patients discharged do not exceed the number of admissions on any one day.\nThere is a crying need in this country to have healthcare professionals without a mercenary outlook. Excessive greed, blind pursuit of profits and a culture of quick deals are making society to start having a hostile attitude towards private hospitals.\nIf I were the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK), I would be stricter when approving mergers and acquisitions, especially in a situation where these vulture-type firms appear to be cornering a segment of providers of healthcare.\nI am not against private equity firms per se. But as we have seen in the case of Abraaj, these companies are no paragons of virtue. A company that was well on its way to colonising part of the private hospital sector was found to have been involved in deceiving investors and misappropriating funds by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.\nA few years ago in Nigeria, leading American private equity firms were found to have links with companies that authorities in Abuja had fingered as fronts for laundering money for former state governor James Ibori.\nThe second big policy questions that the hospital saga raises is the dearth of long-term capital and that we have left institutions created to promote entry into big business by local entrepreneurs to die.\nThese vulture-type equity firms have mushroomed due to failure by policy to build and nurture institutions that provide affordable and long-term credit to local entrepreneurs interested in investing in private hospitals.\nI can assure you that the local owners of The Nairobi Women’s, Avenue, Metropolitan and Ladman hospitals did not just sell stakes to those greedy private equity firms for the big money. To put up a private hospital, you buy land and put up buildings for wards, laboratories and other facilities. Where in the world can you sustainably finance real estate development from hospital bills?\nThe first crop of local entrepreneurs in the hotel industry only survived because of support from entities such as the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation. It is not by chance that some of the best private hospitals in the US are university-based, financed by endowments.\nWe have to find a way in which local capital and long-term credit can be directed to building private hospitals.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/To-ward-off-greedy-investors--fund-locals-to-put-up-hospitals/440808-5452186-view-asAMP-pq2x9nz/index.html?__twitter_impression=true"}
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+{"doc_id": "7b12c996035cce33e432c5c840dab12e", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Providing community development has been one of the most effective ways of winning sub-national polls in Kenya for over 50 years writes Nic Cheeseman.\nCounty governments have been criticised for not doing enough to protect development expenditure.\nMany county leaders appear to believe that increasing their personal status and wealth is the best way to securing re-election.\nThis is a mistake. Providing community development has been one of the most effective ways to win sub-national polls in Kenya for over 50 years.\nDevolution and development\nColumnist Mutuma Mathiu recently wrote an excellent piece in the Daily Nation titled: “Any governor who fails to spend on development should not be re-elected”.\nIn it, he noted some of the worrying trends in county expenditure.\nIt seems that only 10 counties — Wajir, Turkana, Bomet, Machakos, Murang’a, Homa Bay, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Kisii and Nyamira — are spending more than 30 per cent of their budgets on development.\nEven if some development funds are being spent in other ways, this is a worrying figure.\nWorse still, some counties appear to have earmarked very little money for development.\nThe worst performers include some opposition strongholds: Kisumu and Mombasa.\nAgain, it may be the case that some of these counties are spending funds on development related activities that do not show up as such in their accounts.\nBut it is disappointing that some opposition figures who demanded devolution to kick-start development in their regions are not performing better.\nComplaints by Cord leaders and governors that the central government is “underdeveloping” their regions may have hit home in the past, but they will fall on deaf ears unless this pattern changes.\nThe overall figures are also very worrying.\nThe recent report of the Office of the Controller of Budget found that personal emoluments accounted for 55 per cent of total county level expenditure, while operations and maintenance took up 28 per cent.\nSome of this expenditure is necessary — salaries comprise a major part of the expenditure of any government, and maintenance is often necessary.\nBut some of the other information in the report is less easy to stomach, such as the Sh473 million spent on sitting allowances for Members of County Assemblies, the Sh4.9 billion that went on local and foreign travel, and the Sh241.9 million on conferences and hospitality.\nThis pattern has not gone unnoticed domestically and internationally.\nIt was recently reported that the frequency and size of county delegations to other African and European states on “fact finding” missions had led to eight countries, including the United States and Rwanda, taking the unusual step of requesting the Kenyan government to block any further delegations on the basis that they are “not of any value to our bilateral relationship”.\nThe recent delegation of the IMF, led by African Department assistant director Mauro Mecagni, came to a similar conclusion, questioning the spending priorities of county governments.\nIt is easy to understand why so many Kenyan politicians have been keen to go on trips and to secure access to resources. Higher salaries and perks enable those in power to reward their supporters and so consolidate their hold on public office.\nAt the same time, events that increase their status make it easier for county senators and governors to broadcast power, and to create a role for themselves within the national political system.\nBoth are advantageous when it comes to seeking re-election. But such strategies may be short-sighted.\nThe number one electoral currency in Kenyan elections over the past 50 years has not been ethnicity, or status, or wealth, but development.\nWhy not ethnicity? Because in many elections, a number of candidates from the same ethnic group will compete for the same position.\nThis means that voters have to decide who to vote for on some other criteria, such as their level of performance.\nOf course, this does not mean that ethnicity is not important, just that it is not enough.\nAnd why not status or wealth?\nBecause status and wealth only go so far.\nIt is true that Kenyan voters have been very keen to line-up behind individuals who appear to have the right background to improve the lives of their peoples.\nIn the words of scholar Joel Barkan, voters have tended to demand that their representatives perform “linkage” functions, above all else.\n“Linkage” here refers to actions that connect the community to sources of political and economic influence in Nairobi.\nIn a survey conducted in the 1970s, Barkan asked Kenyans what they most wanted their MPs to do.\nThe three most common answers were: MPs should visit the district frequently (11 per cent), obtain projects and benefits for the district (25 per cent), and tell the government what people in the district want (29 per cent).\nSurveys in the past five years have found similar results.\nIn their search for representatives that could “obtain projects and benefits for the district”, Kenyan voters began to choose businessmen and senior civil servants over teachers and traditional leaders.\nAs a result, the complexion of the National Assembly changed radically in the first 10 years of independence.\nBut those elected to parliament soon came to realise that their wealth and status was not enough to keep them in power.\nInstead, those MPs who failed to meet the demands of their constituencies and visit their home area were frequently rejected at the ballot box.\nAlthough the one-party state restricted competition at the national level, polls at the constituency level remained competitive, with around 50 per cent of MPs losing office every election.\nOne of the political realities that MPs quickly came to terms with was that the worst thing an aspiring political leader could do was to fail to meet local expectations.\nBut this was problematic, because expectations were often unfeasibly high. This meant that wealth and status could be a burden.\nTake assistant ministers. Those appointed to this position were often thrilled to have moved up the legislative pecking order.\nBut many soon came to see their new roles as a poisoned chalice, because it increased the expectations of their constituents, while giving them no new powers to be able to deliver development.\nAs a result, assistant ministers were particularly vulnerable to defeat, with over 60 per cent losing office in polls.\nThe development dividend\nThe one thing that MPs could typically rely on to get re-elected was, therefore, not simply ethnicity, wealth, or status, but development.\nProviding a school or a hospital, and helping to coordinate development activities in a particular area, often carried much more weight than handing out small amounts of money around election time.\nFor one thing, it represented a much larger and more durable contribution to the people. For another, it demonstrated that the MP had not just gone to Nairobi and “eaten”.\nBut where does the obsession with development come from? The connection was made even before the end of colonial rule, with Jomo Kenyatta’s call to “harambee”.\nKenyatta wanted citizens to pull together to build a state, and people to build local services.\nShortly after independence, he made it clear how development was to be achieved: it was not to be the responsibility of the local state but of people themselves.\nUnder the harambee system, if people got together to build schools or clinics, the government committed itself to provide teachers and nurses.\nHowever, people were not simply left to their own devices. Kenyatta made it very clear that MPs were the agents of local development, and that people who were frustrated with the rate of progress should complain not to him, but to their own representatives.\nThis was a very smart move, because it deflected pressure for provision of services away from the central government.\nIn turn, the connection between development, MPs and elections rapidly captured public imagination.\nEarly studies on one-party elections in Kenya and Tanzania came to the conclusion that competition between MPs did not revolve around their position on national issues but was inherently localised.\nBy the 1970s, the centrality of development to local political competition was so great that it became common to speak of elections as referenda on development.\nThe implications of this trend were not lost on Kenyan politicians. Figures such as J.M Kariuki built strong followings by making large harambee contributions across the country, and demonstrating a willingness to promote development.\nWhen Daniel arap Moi was attempting to hold onto power in the early 1990s, the ruling party spent a considerable amount of money on various strategies such as vote buying, but far more on making contributions to harambee projects.\nThis was one of the reasons Kanu did not lose more seats in the 1992 polls, when Moi garnered just 36 per cent of the vote.\nWinning and holding on to power\nThe connection between development activities and popular support for political leaders is as strong today as it was in the 1980s.\nA number of the country’s more effective political operators are well aware of this, and have responded accordingly.\nIt is this knowledge that underpins the strategy that Governor Alfred Mutua has followed in Machakos County, and it is the reason that Senator Mike Sonko sought to get one over Governor Evans Kidero by launching the Sonko Rescue Team of breakdown trucks and ambulances in Nairobi.\nMutua and Sonko have both realised that it is far easier to win power than it is to hold on to power.\nWhen running for senator or governor in 2013, candidates could make great promises of what they would accomplish, safe in the knowledge that they had no record in office that their constituents could evaluate them against.\nIt will be very different at the next election, when the development performance of the winners in 2013 will be clear for all to see.\nWe are likely to see a high number of incumbents losing their seats: 50 per cent if we go by history.\nGovernors who fail to provide development are in for a rude awakening come 2017.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/Development-Elections-Leadership-Politics-Government/440808-2631464-format-xhtml-9wv3coz/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "7c5aad2771445a5335d0226cd7fadf3f", "text": "Chinese, N.Korean envoys discuss regional concerns: state media\nBEIJING. – A senior Chinese envoy discussed regional concerns with officials in Pyongyang on Saturday, North Korean state media said, as the US presses China to help ease the standoff over the North’s nuclear weapons.\nThe visit by Song Tao, described by Pyongyang as a special envoy of President Xi Jinping, is the first by a senior Chinese envoy for more than a year. Relations are severely stressed over Pyongyang’s nuclear sabre-rattling and Beijing’s support for tough UN sanctions on its neighbour.\n“The two sides exchanged their views on such matters of mutual concern as the situation of the Korean peninsula and region and bilateral relations,” the official KCNA news agency said in describing Song’s talks with Ri Su-Yong, a senior ruling party leader, and other officials.\nRelations between the two communist neighbours, once said by Mao Zedong to be “as close as lips and teeth”, are at their worst in decades over North Korea’s actions, and Beijing faces pressure from US President Donald Trump to pile pressure on Pyongyang.\nSong, who arrived on Friday, met that day with Choe Ryong-Hae, another senior official in North Korea’s ruling party and a close aide to leader Kim Jong-Un. Each side’s account of the meeting with Choe mentioned that both sides stressed the importance of their longstanding ties.\nA Chinese Communist Party report on the Choe-Song talks said they agreed that mutual ties were “the common treasure of the two peoples” and that both sides “should make concerted efforts” to maintain them.\nThe United States wants China, which accounts for 90 percent of North Korea’s foreign trade, to apply more economic pressure. Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing this month that time was “quickly running out” to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail Song’s mission as “a big move, we’ll see what happens!”\nBut experts have expressed doubt it will yield breakthroughs, saying Beijing has far less political influence on Kim than is thought despite the economic ties.\n“Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War. Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration,” said Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.\nChina has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enforcing a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.\nBut Beijing fears that squeezing Pyongyang too hard would cause its collapse. Analysts say Song’s trip is probably aimed more at urging Kim’s regime not to escalate tensions rather than applying real pressure for disarmament.\nAs nuclear tensions have soared, Xi has pushed for negotiations and a “dual track approach” in which the United States would freeze its military drills in South Korea while North Korea halts its weapons programmes.\nTrump claimed this week that Xi had agreed during their talks last week to drop that approach, but Beijing subsequently stood by the policy. – AFP", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/chinese-n-korean-envoys-discuss-regional-concerns-state-media/"}
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+{"doc_id": "7d58e049d5da2859c8cb770481e64ffc", "text": "36 babies behind bars\nNyemudzai Kakore Herald Reporter\nThe country’s prisons have recorded a dramatic increase in the number of children living with their convicted mothers barely a year after more than 60 children were released together with their parents under a Presidential Amnesty.\nA total of 36 children now live with their jailed mothers in the country’s 15 prisons.\nZimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services spokesperson Chief Superintended Elizabeth Banda told The Herald that of this total, 20 were girls while 16 were boys.\nShe said the children’s ages ranged from infants to two years with Mashonaland region topping the list.\n“As the Zimbabawe Prisons and Correctional Services we have 36 children with their mothers. In most cases the inmates’ children are 2 years and below which is the required age limit,” Chief Supt Banda said.\n“In rare cases we are forced to keep children above 2 years because relatives are not forthcoming. We liaise with social welfare or children homes for relocation of the children with the consent of the mother.”\nAs at January 16, Chikurubi Female Prison had 12 children, Mutare 4, Mlondolozi 3, Plumtree, Chipinge, Mutoko, Kwekwe, Shurugwi prisons had two children each while Gokwe, Chiredzi, Hwange, Karoi, Chinhoyi, Mt Darwin and Gwanda had a child each.\nLast year, all female prisoners living with their babies were released when President Mugabe extended a Presidential pardon in terms of the country’s laws.\nAfter the amnesty, only two women serving life sentences remained behind bars. The convicted mothers committed various crimes that included murder, fraud, assault and domestic vilolence.\nChief Supt Banda said the prisons were facing serious challenges in terms of providing adequate and nutritional food for the infants accompanying their mothers to jail.\n“Although a dietary scale was gazetted for children accompanying their mothers to prison, the ZPCS still faces challenges because the allocations we received from Treasury for rations are not enough,” she said.\n“The dwindling numbers of donors who were supporting the children has worsened the situation.”", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/36-babies-behind-bars/"}
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+{"doc_id": "7e1aebbf41b9943b6ef0a351b5cc2b67", "text": "A court battle over the dismissal of a senior manager at Kenya Airways (KQ) has exposed an internal dispute over an aircraft engine maintenance contract at the national carrier.\nThe case was triggered by the airline’s decision to sack Daniel Okello and his supervisor over the selection of a higher-cost, third-ranked supplier from Germany instead of a lower-priced Israeli top bidder for a Boeing 737 engine maintenance contract.\nThe Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi ruled that the airline unfairly terminated Mr Okello, a B787 Materials and Tools Support Manager, but only on procedural grounds.\nThe court found that although the August 2019 dismissal was valid, the process was flawed due to bias and lack of disclosure. It upheld the airline’s claim that Mr Okello had defied instructions from his supervisor to halt the procurement process and stop engaging the supplier.\n“The claimant’s supervisor fully participated in the decision-making process that resulted in the claimant’s termination. This participation no doubt creates a sense of bias and a possible conflict of interest,” the court said.\n“The participation of the claimant’s accuser is, in my view, fatal and impairs the fairness of the process.”\nProcurement row\nThe case stems from a 2019 procurement dispute over Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services for CFM56-7B aircraft engines used on Boeing 737-700 and 737-800 fleets.\nMr Okello told the court he had been instructed to abandon a completed Request for Proposals (RFP) process that had ranked Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Bedek and KLM Engineering & Maintenance as top bidders.\nInstead, he said, his supervisor directed him to engage Germany’s MTU Aero Engines, a third-ranked bidder offering higher costs and less favourable contractual terms.\nHe objected, arguing the move violated internal procurement procedures, the company’s code of ethics and public procurement laws.\nMr Okello said the directive would expose the airline to financial loss and undermine value, especially given its well-documented financial strain.\nHe further argued that the directive breached multiple frameworks, including the KQ Procurement Procedure Manual (2015), the KQ Code of Ethics, and the KISM Code of Ethics and Conduct.\nHe maintained that Israel Aerospace Industries and KLM Engineering had been recommended based on better pricing, contractual value and more favourable terms.\nThe airline, however, maintained that the instructions were lawful and issued by a superior, Irene Lempaka, acting within her mandate as Acting Head of Supply Chain and Facilities.\nIt told the court that its managing director and chief operating officer had directed that the RFP process with Israel Aerospace Industries be halted, and that Mr Okello was required to comply.\nAccording to the airline, Mr Okello continued engaging suppliers despite clear instructions to stop, amounting to insubordination.\nHe was issued with a notice to show cause in June 2019, accused of defying instructions, confronting colleagues and maintaining an insolent attitude towards his supervisor.\nMr Okello responded by defending his actions as necessary to protect the company from irregular procurement decisions and financial risk.\nHe was invited to a disciplinary hearing on July 4, 2019, dismissed on July 22, 2019, and his appeal was rejected by the airline’s chief executive on August 21, 2019.\nHe later challenged the decision in court, seeking a declaration that his dismissal was unlawful, unfair and in violation of his constitutional rights.\nHe also claimed Sh161.7 million in compensation, including lost earnings, benefits and damages.\nCourt findings\nIn court, Mr Okello argued that the termination process was fundamentally flawed. He said he was denied access to witness statements and that Ms Lempaka, who initiated the complaint, sat on the disciplinary panel.\nThe court agreed, finding that the process violated his right to a fair hearing.\n“Fair hearing includes disclosure of evidence to enable adequate defence,” the court ruled, noting that the airline failed to provide the requested witness statements.\nIt added that the supervisor’s dual role as accuser and decision-maker “impairs the fairness of the process”.\nHowever, the court drew a clear distinction on the substance of the dismissal.\nIt held that employers are entitled to enforce lawful instructions and discipline employees who defy them.\n“It is undisputed that instructions were issued to the claimant to halt the RFP process, and the claimant admits challenging and continuing engagement, albeit on grounds of legality and financial prudence,” the court said.\nMr Okello’s claim that the procurement directive was unlawful or would cause financial loss was not proven.\n“The claimant has not provided any credible proof of the respondent’s alleged violation of procurement laws and potential financial losses, as he did not conclusively prove illegality,” the court said, ruling that KQ had a valid reason to terminate his employment.\nMr Okello had sought Sh161.7 million, including projected earnings over 22 years, pension contributions and travel benefits.\nThe court rejected the claims as speculative and lacking legal basis, warning against unjust enrichment.\nInstead, it awarded him six months’ salary, amounting to Sh2.7 million, citing his long service and the procedural flaws in the dismissal.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/how-a-kq-manager-dismissal-exposed-engine-tender-dispute-5435450"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..172a628115fc22ad2000d8aa2416072afb77d932
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+{"doc_id": "7e3d33705f14504582e33d11bee13088", "text": "\"We see the government as very determined to be in a position of strength. What is the evidence? We have a programme and in the programme, there is an agreement tightening the fiscal side,\" IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told The Standard in an earlier interview, alluding to the clearer painful taxation measures.\n\"We have seen the budget that has been crafted exceeding that target. We are in very intensive discussions with the Central Bank on how it can help in retaining that position of strength.\"\nKenya and both the IMF and the World Bank have agreed on lucrative loan programmes running into hundreds of billions of shillings to help support the cash-starved Kenya Kwanza administration.\nIt is betting on these multi-billion economic support packages to stabilise its finances.\nThe much-needed bailout packages from IMF and the World Bank are tipped to help the Ruto administration avert a potential debt default and economic collapse, amidst the persisting political and economic uncertainty, according to analysts.\nBut the conditional deals include strict austerity plans, including a controversial public sector pay freeze and increased taxes on fuel and key commodities.\nBallooning inflation, escalating borrowing costs, and a strong dollar have made repaying sovereign loans and raising money significantly more expensive for Kenya amid fears of default.\nThe cash shortage crisis has seen the government struggle to pay civil servants and disburse funds to the counties and schools.\nCost of living\nThe shilling has also weakened sharply against the dollar, piling further pressure on Kenyans amid a cost of living crisis that has plunged many into poverty and fuelled demonstrations.\nOver time, IMF and the World Bank have been subject to a range of criticisms, generally focused on the conditions of their loans.\nTreasury Cabinet Secretary Prof Njuguna Ndung'u. [File, Standard]\nTeams from the Bretton Wood Institutions had met with President Ruto and officials from the National Treasury in the months preceding the budget day.\nAs expected, they prescribed another round of tax, governance and monetary policy reforms as part of their ongoing debt negotiations with the government.\nIt is these measures as presented in the budget that have now stoked fears of a return to painful measures that have resulted in civil servants losing their jobs and increased taxes.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nEchoing IMF's and World Bank objectives, President Ruto has, however, emphasised the need for the government to live within its means even as the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) comes under pressure to onboard more taxpayers into the tax net.\nThe new government has already done away with maize and the fuel subsidies that had been put in place by the previous regime, exposing Kenyans to a higher cost of living.\nThe prices of basic commodities rose to eight per cent in May from 7.9 per cent a month earlier, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), with inflationary pressures expected to continue.\nIMF had been against the fuel subsidy instituted by the Jubilee regime, terming it regressive.\nIt has maintained that subsidies must be more \"targeted\" to benefit the poor and not be a drain on State coffers.\nSubsidising inputs\nRather than targeting assistance to consumers, the new administration, President Ruto has said, will seek to reduce food production costs and increase output by subsidising inputs such as fertiliser and quality seeds.\nTreasury CS similarly told MPs that government-proposed spending and tax measures will reboot the struggling economy, which is battling record debt, and high energy and food prices. IMF and the World Bank have agreed on lucrative loan programmes to help support the cash-starved Kenya Kwanza administration. [iStockphoto]\nHe argued that the government has taken \"the long-term sustainable approach of subsidising the production of goods instead of consumption to respond to the rising cost of living.\"\n\"In this regard, the government has instituted immediate interventions that are aimed at providing short-term solutions to the high cost of living while at the same time building a momentum for the long-term economic vibrancy and transformation,\" he said.\nThe budget presentation programme was earlier marked by controversy after MPs allied to the opposition alliance, Azimio staged a walkout in protest of the proposed budget.\nThe MPs led by Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi booed Prof Ndung'u and walked out as soon as he started speaking.\nBefore the current arrangement, IMF had to cut short a programme it had with the previous Uhuru government for a stand-by facility after the latter failed to meet some of the conditions, including reducing its debt appetite.\nThe Ruto government has since rolled back all measures that were put in place to cushion Kenyans against the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.\nWith inflationary pressures expected to continue, the cost of living, which has generally gone up, is expected to worsen, with many Kenyans still reeling from the negative effects of Covid-19, which saw a majority of them lose their livelihoods.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001475527/world-bank-s-and-imf-s-unseen-hand-in-painful-sh3-6tr-budget"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..00b0ebc8439a6819615bd6490604b1ba1729bdf1
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+{"doc_id": "7e53703cb6126486ea73e19d46aa1214", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Sudan was brought to its knees by two decades of international sanctions against former dictator Omar al-Bashir, as well as rampant corruption and the 2011 independence of South Sudan which held almost all the country's oil.\n- Sudan's fledgling banking sector -- which does not accommodate credit card payments or international transfers between individuals -- had $11.2 billion in assets at the end of 2019, according to the IMF.\nKhartoum,\nOn a scorching sidewalk, Ibrahim Said hopes to withdraw his savings from a Sudanese bank, but the wait seems as unending as the war that has brought the country's financial system to a standstill.\nSaid is one of dozens of depositors who have queued at a branch of the Bank of Khartoum in Madani, a city about 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of the capital, to recover their savings.\n\"I have been here since seven in the morning hoping to withdraw money from my account,\" he told AFP.\nOne of half a million people who fled Khartoum for safer cities, Said escaped with what little cash he happened to have in the house when the capital was rocked on April 15 by air strikes and shelling that have not stopped since.\nNow, he is locked out of his savings as the fighting between the army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-foe Mohamed Hamdan Daglo's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shows no signs of abating.\nIshraq al-Rih has been coming to the same bank branch for three days, and on each occasion it has been the same.\n\"At around 3:00 pm, they open the doors, let in a very small number of people, and if you're not one of the lucky ones you have to come back the next day,\" she said.\nEvery passing day brings more anxiety, as families ration their cash to make ends meet, terrified of what footage shared online of looted banks and empty safes means for their savings.\nLocked out\n\"We don't know what to do. We have money in the bank but we can't touch it,\" Ahmed Abdelaziz told AFP, standing outside the closed gate of Omdurman National Bank.\nThe 45-year-old civil servant thought he was safe in Madani, where tens of thousands of people have settled but cannot escape the impact of the battles that rage in the capital.\n\"The servers that control every bank's operations are all in Khartoum, and employees can't get to them because of the fighting,\" said Mohamed Abdelaziz, who works in the banking sector.\nEven in states untouched by the violence, \"branches have lost contact with the headquarters that used to validate operations,\" leaving managers unable to replenish reserves and allow withdrawals, he said.\nIn a move questioned by observers considering the entire sector is at a standstill, army chief Burhan declared a freeze on RSF assets this week and dismissed the central bank governor.\n\"Bank-to-bank payments have been completely cut; we can't transfer any money between accounts,\" said an employee of Sudanese French Bank who spoke on condition of anonymity.\nSudan was brought to its knees by two decades of international sanctions against former dictator Omar al-Bashir, as well as rampant corruption and the 2011 independence of South Sudan which held almost all the country's oil.\nEven after Bashir was toppled in 2019 and the sanctions were lifted, the International Monetary Fund said Sudan remained on an international donors' list of \"heavily indebted poor countries\" and characterised its banking sector as \"fragile, with several banks undercapitalised\".\nEmptied out safes\nSudan's fledgling banking sector -- which does not accommodate credit card payments or international transfers between individuals -- had $11.2 billion in assets at the end of 2019, according to the IMF.\nIt is unclear how much of that is left, however, as the country had already experienced years of economic woes, including a free-falling currency, before fighters began smashing their way into banks and emptying safes.\nFrom the first week of the war, the army accused the RSF of breaking into a subsidiary of the central bank in Khartoum and stealing \"huge sums of money\".\nThe country's banking federation has repeatedly moved to assure clients that their assets and financial records are intact and has vowed to \"restore banking services as soon as conditions permit\".\nDespite promises of ceasefires and the restoration of services to increasingly desperate civilians, conditions have remained unchanged for over a month.\nFor the time being, depositors like Said, Rih and Abdelaziz are being forced to use whatever means they have to get staples such as flour, which has doubled in price, or petrol -- now 20 times what it cost before the conflict.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/africa/news/sudan-war-locks-depositors-out-of-savings-4240488"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7b48bbdf338092f478f3df653bbbba0debbafc5a
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+++ b/clean/cc/7e9e41952e64c6b70dd3bd5e50dd0106.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "7e9e41952e64c6b70dd3bd5e50dd0106", "text": "Jubilee Party Vice-Chairman David Murathe says he will challenge the government’s plan to privatise 35 State corporations, saying they are symbols of Kenya and should not be sold to private investors.\nMurathe was speaking on Spice FM on Thursday, November 30, where he accused civil servants and 'cartels' of driving the privatisation agenda.\n“The problem actually is that this country is driven by civil servants and if you joke with them, they can bring you down and that is why there is a funny marriage between politicians and civil servants. Cartels are in government and in bed with the private sector,” claimed Murathe.\nThe Jubilee Party Vice chairperson cited the example of China, where he said State corporations are efficient and have lifted millions of people out of poverty.\n“Look at the privatisation for example that they are talking about, do you know why China has succeeded in removing people out of poverty? It is because the corporations...the things that work are government-owned. Those companies you see here from China are State corporations but if you try and do something wrong they hang you, they don’t waste time,” he said.\nHe claimed that some of the corporations earmarked for privatisation such as the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) and Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), are landmarks for the country and should not be sold to foreign companies.\n“These are Kenyan symbols... then you go there is a company in Dubai which has bought KICC and when you go to Dubai you find that it’s 'David Murathe,” he said.\n“This is something we are going to fight. They removed the law that these things have to go to Parliament before they are privatised, now they can just wake up like a finance minister and say I am privatising Kenya Pipeline.”\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto to launch UHC on Mashujaa Day\nMurathe added that former President Uhuru Kenyatta had appointed a taskforce to look into the privatisation of state corporations but never implemented the report because he believed they could be made more efficient.\n“Uhuru thought you can actually make Mumias, Muhoroni or Chemelil sugar companies efficient and if the private companies can do it, why can’t Mumias Sugar Company do it?” he posed.\nLast week, President William Ruto said the government was ready to privatise 35 State companies “trapped in government bureaucracy” in a bid to boost productivity following a change to laws.\nThis is after he signed a revised Privatisation bill into law that makes it easier to sell State enterprises to private companies.\nRuto said the revised law aims to push up the private sector’s participation in the economy.\nKenya last privatised a state-owned company in 2008 with an initial public offering (IPO) for 25 per cent of the shares in telecommunications firm Safaricom.\nIn a notice on November 27, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u invited members of the public to give their views on the plans to hand over the institutions to private investors.\nAccording to the CS, the move to privatise the companies is geared towards the government’s efforts for fiscal consolidation and spurring economic development.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001486417/murathe-vows-to-fight-government-plan-to-privatise-state-corporations"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a9fc49a8e64fa6d6d448ded09f52061eae468ed1
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "7f2745e214d211d24f8b41475e736120", "text": "Bayer releases maize seed hybrid varieties\nElita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter\nBayer, a crop protection products provider, has launched maize seed hybrid varieties tailor-made for different agronomic regions in Zimbabwe.\nThe DEKALB maize varieties: DKC 80-33, DK 777, DKC 90 -89 and DKC 80-53 are expected to give yields of between eight and 12 tonnes per hectare.\nBayer territory manager, Mr Farai Munyanyi said they had introduced the hybrid varieties to support farmers to sustainably meet food security needs and stable yield performance.\n“The maize seed varieties focus on yield stability, drought tolerance, disease resistance and good grain quality.\n“Our farmers face many challenges accessing quality and reliable maize seed hybrids they need to produce high yielding harvests that can support their families and communities.\n“We believe it is from high quality seeds that farmers can easily enhance their productivity and profitability, it is from high quality seeds that we generate jobs and income,” said Mr Munyanyi.\nHe said the DEKALB varieties could offer farmers climate smart options that can help make big leaps in fighting climate change, providing food and nutrition security and improving livelihoods.Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister, Vangelis Haritatos said the coming in of new seed houses witnessed in the past was true testimony of the impact of the new dispensation’s “Zimbabwe is open for business mantra”.\n“This has contributed to Zimbabwe being one of the countries with the highest maize seed hybridisation in the region.\n“Maize seed plays a critical role in the sustainable development of agricultural industry; more so in the livelihood of our smallholder farmers. The increase of players and improvement in organisations structure of the maize seed industry has certainly improved performance in terms of accessibility of quality seed by our farmers throughout the country,” he said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/bayer-releases-maize-seed-hybrid-varieties/"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/7f8de325eb1b1cbc9a949421a4f1ea66.json b/clean/cc/7f8de325eb1b1cbc9a949421a4f1ea66.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c4526c4d32a78b05cb07ec2ea054328c5d0aab4a
--- /dev/null
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "7f8de325eb1b1cbc9a949421a4f1ea66", "text": "China drives Zim tobacco exports\nLivingstone Marufu\nZIMBABWE has earned $113 million from 25,2 million kilogrammes of tobacco exports, mainly to Indonesia and China, since January this year.\nHowever, the tobacco export proceeds are $80 million less than the amount of tobacco Zimbabwe exported in the same period last year.\nStatistics from the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board’s latest weekly bulletin show that of the country’s total exports, China accounted for over 6,9 million kg valued at $47,02 million while Indonesia bought 3 million kg for $14,6 million.\nWith an estimated 350 million smokers, China has been spending over $200 million a year on Zimbabwean tobacco.\n“As of last week March 28, 25,2 million kg were exported to more than 39 countries so far, generating $131,1 million into the local economy,” TIMB said.\n“During the same period last year tobacco exports generated $193 million from 39,1 million kg. The golden leaf is presently being exported to these countries at an average price of $4,48 a kg compared to $4,93 (during) the same period last year.”\nBelgium bought 3 million kg for $8,3 million at an average price of $2,69 per kg.\nZimbabwe’s neighbour, South Africa has since January bought 2,3 million kg worth $6,7 million at average price of $2,83/kg, followed by Russia, which has spent $4,4 million on 1,5 million kg, while exports to Sudan stand at 1,5 million kg worth $4,4 million.\nOther buyers include Bulgaria, Vietnam, Hong Kong, France, Netherlands, Germany, Holland, Nigeria, Taiwan, Spain and Tanzania.\nTobacco is Zimbabwe’s single largest foreign currency earner followed by gold.\nLast year tobacco export earned Zimbabwe about $900 million compared to $933 million achieved the previous season.\nAcross the country, hectarage put under tobacco slightly decreased from 110 518 hectares last year to 104 397 hectares this year.\nMashonaland Central now has about 29 117 hectares under tobacco, while Mashonaland East and West have 34 956ha and 18 674ha, respectively.\nMidlands, Masvingo and Matabeleland South have the least number of hectares under the golden leaf at 298ha, 48ha and 2ha, respectively.\nAccording to the TIMB bulletin, the total number of new tobacco growers went up to 34 550 this season from 16 462 in the last season.\nMashonaland Central registered a 232 percent increase in new registrations from 13 690 in the 2016 /17 season to 6744 this season.\nPreviously, a preserve for commercial farmers, tobacco has become an attractive source of livelihood for many of Zimbabwe’s communal and small scale farmers.\nThe number of communal farmers taking up tobacco farming had grown to 58 434 as at the review period. The opening of floors late last month is expected to improve foreign currency inflows.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/china-drives-zim-tobacco-exports/"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/8138cec2222b14313d72497f00429472.json b/clean/cc/8138cec2222b14313d72497f00429472.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..68dd07eebae93d77a2916e3f2b4c909cd152c213
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clean/cc/8138cec2222b14313d72497f00429472.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "8138cec2222b14313d72497f00429472", "text": "What you need to know:\n- For many African families, those quick returns come if their child becomes a doctor, lawyer or engineer\n- Straitjacketing students into one exclusive profession in an interdisciplinary world is not wise\n- Without addressing these key issues, universities will undo whatever good the new primary and secondary curriculum may achieve.\nAccording to Gina Yashere, a brilliant British comedian of Nigerian descent, in African families a child has four career choices: doctor, lawyer, engineer or disgrace to the family.\nYashere says that her mum picked a profession for her before she was born. When her mother was pregnant, “Someone went up to her and asked, ‘What are you having?’ She was like, ‘I'm having a doctor.’\" And that was it.\nWhen Yashere decided to become a comedian, she immediately slipped abysmally into category four, and thus became a “disgrace to the family.”\nSadly, career choices are rather limited in underdeveloped countries. The more underdeveloped, the less the importance given to passion and talent, which are sacrificed at the altar of economic gains and quick returns.\nFor many African families, those quick returns come if their child becomes a doctor, lawyer or engineer.\nTimes are changing, however, and career decisions are progressively being untied from the bondage of parents' unfulfilled personal dreams, prestige, social status or financial returns.\nIt is becoming more common for candidates to focus on talent, passion, ability, and their sense of responsibility.\nThese changes also place a greater responsibility on educational institutions, and specifically on universities.\nUniversity education should be at the forefront of innovation. Universities are supposed to be talent hubs, passion igniters, and university education should be a development pacesetter. It should make the societal box grow bigger so that thinking outside the box becomes the norm.\nIRREVERSIBLE IMPACT\nWith great concern, we are hearing plenty of chatter about the new educational system, the proposed reforms, changes in our primary and secondary approach but we hear littl or nothing about reforms in our university education.\nWhat should the expected output of our education system be ? What type of professionals are we looking at? What are the values and strengths of our current graduates? How should we adjust, improve or change them?\nEducation is not limited to a few years in primary and secondary school, but is a continuum. Education lasts a lifetime, and has a beginning but no end, because today’s education changes the destiny of future generations.\nWe need to examine educational reforms more deeply and resist the temptation to shallow decisions, which will have an irreversible impact on Kenya’s future.\nIt's not a matter of adjusting a few things here and there but a matter of life and death for the country’s culture and identity. If we get it wrong now, we will pay for it tomorrow, and the day after.\nThese reforms will yield no fruit if we do not rethink our university education system. This is a mammoth task which cannot be completed by general or blanket reforms, because each course has its own characteristics, demands and best and worst learning practices\nINFLEXIBLE COURSES\nI refuse to believe that in the 21st century, an information technology graduate or undergraduate student should still sit six or seven hours a day just to listen to theory for the sake of meeting a threshold of “contact-hours” determined by regulation, instead of designing new applications and concepts.\nIt makes no sense to teach commerce through long, boring theoretical sessions, instead of drawing up plans to do real or simulated commerce, create new enterprises, simulate stock markets, mergers, acquisitions, and so on.\nI also refuse to believe that a law student can graduate without having stepped into a court of law, a law firm or legal office; without having spoken in public, without having made a presentation, or having read a judgement.\nIt would be like a doctor who has never touched a corpse or seen blood.\nWe have a rather rigid university system. Reforms at university education level will necessitate a change in the regulations, more openness, and a desire of to regulate output rather than focusing on the process.\nMost universities and university regulators are still stuck on the “à la carte” menu. This menu includes three inflexible courses that a student must \"eat\".\nThe approach is “you have chosen this career; these are your subjects and you must take them all to get a degree.”\nWhile this was sensible in the past, today’s life is quite complex. A good lawyer needs to know IT and economics; a good politician should know the law and finances; a good journalist needs to specialise and may need to study medicine, law, sociology or economic subjects.\nStraitjacketing students into one exclusive profession in an interdisciplinary world is not wise.\nDEPTH AND THOROUGHNESS\nThe modern university student should not be rigidly pushed into “à la carte” menu. A student should, rather, be given a buffet of options, a pool of subjects to choose and mix, with proper guidance and mentorship.\nThis way, students prepare their own menu and come up with wise combinations, without compromising the depth and thoroughness of their own major choice.\nIt would be so much more relevant for a journalist to graduate with a combined degree on journalism and law or economics; and for a lawyer to get a degree on law and economics, law and IT, and so on.\nWe can identify three key factors in the rigidity of our university education. The first is superficial, poorly designed regulations that apply in the same way to different courses. For example, when it comes to \"contact-hours\", our regulations apply to every course, be it jurisprudence, anatomy, coding or calculus.\nSecond, the laziness of our lecturers, who ought to think outside the box and come up with attractive, innovative ways of delivering the subject in an appealing fashion, for example, making use of alternative aids such as simulation exercises, research and writing, games, etc. This requires commitment.\nUninspired lecturers often teach students. They abuse repetitive teaching aids and learn to read slide after slide of PowerPoint presentations that lack the power to make the point.\nUNMANAGEABLE NUMBERS\nThird, greed that has led our universities to fall into the vice of \"massification\", admitting unmanageable numbers of students and compromising quality education for the sake of short-term financial gain.\nThis makes it practically impossible to allow students to crossbreed from faculty to faculty. It would be too messy.\nWithout addressing these key issues, universities will undo whatever good the new primary and secondary curricula may achieve.\nSo much effort will get lost, and graduates of medicine, law and engineering will slowly by slowly join the rest, to become, according to Yashere, a “disgrace to the family”.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/blogs/dot9/franceschi/2274464-3954420-d9h31w/index.html"}
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new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..932de8f3b06601593b09af2889cf6259f58056cc
--- /dev/null
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "816d7d1b2f7899d3eed643d50daf1f84", "text": "Bank of Israel estimates cost of war against Hamas\nIsrael’s war on Hamas will cost the country $53 billion and hamper economic growth into 2024, according to figures published by the Bank of Israel on Monday.\nFighting has been paused since a truce came into effect on Friday, but the Israeli military is expected to resume operations in Gaza this week.\nDirect military spending will account for $29 billion of the $53 billion total, the bank stated, adding that this figure includes military aid provided by the US.\nCompensation for damage will come to $6 billion, while other civilian expenditure will come to $6.75 billion. Lost tax revenue and interest on government debt will make up the remainder.\nThe war will also stifle Israel’s economic growth, the bank warned. Growth will remain at 2 percent for the rest of the year and through 2024, down from earlier projections of 2.3 percent and 2.8 percent respectively.\nThe conflict will result in the loss of about 3 percent of GDP by the end of 2024, the bank noted, pointing to the probable closure of businesses and educational institutions during hostilities.\nHamas militants launched a surprise rocket and missile attack on Israeli cities on October 7, before pouring across the Gaza-Israel border and occupying nearby Israeli towns and settlements.\nIsrael responded with an intense campaign of aerial bombardment, followed by a ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave at the end of the month.\nMore than 1,200 people were killed in Israel and at least 15,000 have lost their lives in Gaza, according to the most recent figures from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Gaza Health Ministry.\nA truce came into effect on Friday, and was extended for a further 48 hours on Monday, to allow for the exchange of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners – some of whom were being held without charge – in Israeli jails.\nSo far, 40 out of around 240 hostages have been freed by Hamas, in exchange for 117 Palestinian prisoners.\nIsraeli officials have said that they may extend the truce for each additional 10 hostages released, although Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday that the IDF’s operation will resume once the truce expires, and will continue until Hamas is destroyed.\nAlthough the war is costing Israel around $270 million per day and chipping away at the country’s GDP, its toll on Gaza’s fragile economy has been far more pronounced.\nNearly half of the strip’s structures have been destroyed and almost 400,000 jobs have been lost, according to UN reports.\nWith poverty set to rise by almost 45 percent if fighting continues into December, the UN Development Programme warned earlier this month that the war would set back development in Gaza between 16 and 19 years. — Russia Today", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/bank-of-israel-estimates-cost-of-war-against-hamas/"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/81bf7f63c7e89ddaeb4ac9d10b223f62.json b/clean/cc/81bf7f63c7e89ddaeb4ac9d10b223f62.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e97ec3e5cdeb6d4d1807c21b0bdd2cf5ed0c42d1
--- /dev/null
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "81bf7f63c7e89ddaeb4ac9d10b223f62", "text": "Call to implement ‘use it or lose it’ principle on Exclusive Prospecting Orders\nFidelis Munyoro Chief Reporter\nTransparent prospecting orders are needed to enforce the rule that the rights must be used within deadlines or cancelled, Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) president Ms Henrietta Rushwaya has said.\nThere were still some who managed to get Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs) allocated for speculative purposes, blocking access to minerals by genuine miners.\nShe made the appeal during a meeting for ZMF stakeholders on responsible and sustainable mining held in Harare over the weekend.\n“The issue of EPOs has become a thorn in the flesh in so far as the sector is concerned,” said Ms Rushwaya.\n“There are areas that are under EPOs and are being held from time immemorial and we are now calling on the Government to assist us in ensuring that this comes to an end.”\nSome of the EPOs have been in place since 1908, said Ms Rushwaya, and with small-scale miners now contributing significantly towards the country’s GDP, it was time to revisit them.\nShe said the EPOs had closed off mining land and people no longer had mining space.\n“There are too many EPOs that pass through our grave yards, there are too many EPOs that even pass through our livestock grazing areas and as such, this has led to quite a big conflict between the EPO holders and our members and the general public,” she said.\nThe issue of EPOs also came under discussion when miners, under the Miners4ED banner, met President Mnangagwa in June, where they called for their scrapping to free up space to allow other miners with capacity to come in.\nEffective management of the small-scale mining sector can help the Government formalise operations to support better environmental and social outcomes, including decent livelihoods, gender equality, and environmental protection for affected communities.\nMs Rushwaya said the ZMF wanted to engage Government at the highest level on issues and policies that affect the members.\n“We unceasingly continue to engage Government at the highest level in ensuring that some of our challenges are addressed,” she said. “As early as last week, we made a special request to the Head of State (President Mnangagwa) with regards to the gold sector and I am pleased to note that as a listening President, he will and has always listened to our plight.”\nIn May this year, President Mnangagwa launched the Responsible Mining Initiative Audit, to provide oversight on the sector and ensure compliance with the country’s statutes.\nMs Rushwaya emphasised that responsible mining was key to the survival of the economy and reminded artisanal and small-scale miners that the land on which they operate also belonged to future generations, hence the need for sustainable mining.\n“For sustainable mining to be achieved, environmental stewardship is a must, hence we need to implement practices that minimise environmental degradation,” she said.\n“A lot of our mining areas are now known for contributing to environmental damage and I urge you to shun environmental degradation.\n“A lot of our mines have become so polluted to the extent of causing harm to the animals, rivers and people living in our mining areas. Let us act responsibly.”\nZMF is also concerned with the provincial mining directors’ delays in the issuance of mining claims, adding that some office holders have become interested parties.\nMashonaland West is sitting on 8 000 applications that are still to be processed, and there is only one cartographer, the person who draws or produces maps.\nIn this regard, Ms Rushwaya appealed to the parent ministry to employ more cartographers to expedite the process. The mining sector is central to the attainment of Vision 2030 to become an upper-middle-class economy. This year, the mining sector is expected to grow by 300 percent through new operations and old projects that will be revived.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/call-to-implement-use-it-or-lose-it-principle-on-exclusive-prospecting-orders/"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/823765cf1ae6207d4b48214dd84959a8.json b/clean/cc/823765cf1ae6207d4b48214dd84959a8.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..59b81b10e13d73e06842c463d29511398609bb07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clean/cc/823765cf1ae6207d4b48214dd84959a8.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "823765cf1ae6207d4b48214dd84959a8", "text": "Another Sh400 million will be used to promote 2,637 graduate teachers to Group C4 from Group C3. Over Sh175 million will be needed to promote 652 graduate teachers in Grade D3 to Grade D4.\n\"Another 4,750 diploma teachers in Job Group C2 will require Sh1 million to be promoted to Job Group C3,\" she told the National Assembly Education Committee.\nThe education committee's chairman Julius Melly urged the commission to compensate and promote teachers who had stagnated in the same job group for many years as well as those who have been working in an acting capacity.\n\"How will the teachers who have been acting as principals, deputies or heads of a department be compensated? Failing to promote them means their retirement package will be affected,\" Melly said.\nMacharia said the stagnation of teachers in the same job groups was due to the lack of funds and asked the government to provide the Sh2,175,038,528 they needed to carry out the teacher promotion.\n\"We have been unable to promote teachers because of financial constraints. The commission has not received funds to promote teachers since the implementation of the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement CBA. This has tainted the commission's image,\" Macharia said.\nMalava MP Malulu Injendi sought to understand what TSC's priorities were in its strategic plan.\n\"We have seen in your tabulations. You want us to give you Sh2.1 billion towards a Teacher Professional Development (TPD) programme to improve their pedagogical skills, management skills and learning outcome,\" Injendi said.\nHe added: \"Between the TPD programme and teachers' promotions, which is your priority area.\"\nMacharia said: \"To address the problem, the commission requires Sh2.2 million to promote teachers. Those teachers who were employed as interns will be absorbed under permanent and pensionable terms, paving the way for new cohorts of teachers to be admitted to the commission.\"\nMelly asked the commission to provide the roadmap for reforms and innovations in the provision of teaching services to learners in the delivery of curriculum in schools.\nHe observed that as of now, learning in some Grade Seven classes is at standstill due to a shortage of teachers. He said this denies learners equity and inclusivity in the management of the teacher resource.\n\"In some schools, there is not even a single Junior Secondary School teacher, and in others, the ministry has only posted one. It is the reason we are calling on TSC to move fast to address the problem of shortage of teachers,\" Melly said.\nMacharia assured the committee that the commission's focus areas are the recruitment of additional teachers to address the existing shortage and the building of the capacities of teachers on the competence-based curriculum.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nTSC promised to employ more teachers as long as the government provides resources.\n\"The commission wishes to review the 2021-2025 CBA on salaries with an aim to motivate teachers under the employment of the commission,\" Macharia said.\nMacharia observed that an additional 450 secondary school teachers will be hired.\n\"We had a budget to hire 36,000 teachers last year. We managed to hire 35,550 teachers,\" Macharia said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001468255/tsc-set-to-promote-over-12000-teachers-in-country"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/838563f1ae6e3401de2c2a8e67276a95.json b/clean/cc/838563f1ae6e3401de2c2a8e67276a95.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..18be1033ae1c8430293be46b208717452a230393
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clean/cc/838563f1ae6e3401de2c2a8e67276a95.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "838563f1ae6e3401de2c2a8e67276a95", "text": "Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria is now proposing the removal of the 35 per cent duty on edible oils as a way of supporting local manufacturers.\nKuria, in a statement on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, wants the tax on imported crude oil substituted with 10 per cent export and investment promotion levy.\nIn a letter addressed to his Treasury counterpart Njuguna Ndung'u, Kuria said if implemented, the move will greatly support local manufacturing in the edible oils value chain.\n\"It is proposed that we remove the 35 per cent duty on crude oil and instead introduce 10 per cent exports and investment promotion levy on imported crude oil. This levy, introduced on selected goods which local manufacturing industries have the capacity to produce, is meant to incentivize investments in local manufacturing,\" according to Kuria's letter.\nAccording to the Trade CS, the introduction of the levy on edible oils will also create a more level pricing of the basic food commodity.\nThe CS also recommended the proposed substitution to be effected once the exports and investment promotion levy comes into effect stating that it will contribute to the growth of palm, soya and sunflower farming.\nKuria said despite measures created by the government to stabilise prices of essential household goods, the importation of crude oil into Kenya which is estimated at Sh102 billion continues to hold back local manufacturing of basic food commodities.\nKuria's statement comes on the backdrop of an edible oils importation scandal, which revealed how private firms import oil tax-free, and sell the commodity to State agencies at a higher fee.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001475650/edible-oils-deal-trade-cs-kuria-wants-tax-removed"}
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new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e541e1a5ebc609d62ee1af9b2df2b3808222a0dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clean/cc/84d5ed009e27a59511f9668e11dfa5e6.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "84d5ed009e27a59511f9668e11dfa5e6", "text": "In a rather nerve-wracking, awe-provoking, colorful Kuza awards ceremony, Radio Maisha and its sister station Berur, carried the day, winning in their categories to the envy of their competitors.\nThe Standard Group PLC-owned stations proved their leadership in the broadcasting station drums rolled for their celebrations during the annual event themed \"Shaping The Future of Broadcasting: Towards a Creative Economy\". It wasn't just a win but rather a 'Gold' trophy win for the two innovative radio stations whose triumph saw representatives from the giant multimedia center take turns on the podiums with fireworks renting the air.\nThe People's Choice Award Category win was the fifth straight for the station in the six years the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has hosted the awards. Berur, which scooped the best South Rift win in the Regional radio category, proved its prowess, this coming hardly two years since it was launched.\n\"This win brings me and the team great joy. We're all ecstatic about this fifth straight win at the Kuza Awards. The Kenyan listening public has unequivocally declared that Radio Maisha is indeed the people's choice radio station in the country. We can only offer thanks and promise to continue doing what we do best. At Radio Maisha we marry creativity with technology to give impactful journalism and radio experience, hence our slogan - radio zaidi ya radio,\" Tom Japani, General Manager- Radio, at Standard Group said.\n\"We built a brand that can withstand all manner of disruptions, especially talent movement. At Radio Maisha the station is the brand. Our knack for identifying and growing great talent has not only benefitted the station but the wider industry. Our greatest identifier has always been our unwavering focus on our audience's needs,\" he said.\nJapani noted that Berur was a beautiful story of the Standard Group venturing into the vernacular market. The station, he said, boasts of some of the most accomplished, talented, and disciplined broadcasters. The already existing professional ecosystem, he noted, has helped hone their skills and offer the much need professional structures.\nThe ceremony, a red-carpet black-tie affair' that was attended by hundreds of players in the broadcasting sector was unique in that for the first time it incorporated online content creators in its People's Choice Awards category. Blessed Njugush won 'Bronze' with Crazy Kennar taking 'Silver' and comedian Muchiri Mike 'Gold'. In this category, the big honors went to celebrated actor and film producer Abel Mutua who was awarded the 'Platinum' trophy.\nThe fete also saw the recognition of unique regional FM stations as well as pay-for-streaming TV channels. The awards categories were based on broadcast content monitoring or programming code, inspection of broadcasters' facilities, complaints handling and resolution, and license conditions.\nThe Coast-based Mohammed Ali-owned Mo Radio FM - Jicho Pevu Limited was amongst the biggest winners, this coming only two years after it was launched. It won the Upcoming Broadcaster Radio award with the gospel Gabriel Times TV owned by Glorious Times Limited winning the Upcoming TV Broadcaster slot.\nIn his speech, the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and Arts, Ababu Namwamba, who was the chief guest, noted that the awards' theme was timely as it dovetails into the broader government agenda of reinvigorating our creative economy as the next frontier of economic transformation.\nHe said the ICT industry in general and the broadcasting sector in particular, is catalysing content creation in diverse forms, and with increased efforts to avail broadband access and expanding broadcasting platforms, is giving the much-needed impetus to the creative economy.\n\"With emerging technologies and platforms, our content creation must not just be inward looking but also target markets beyond our borders. Thanks to technological convergence, our local media and content creators can effectively completely on the global stage, even as our consumers also have access to diverse international content,\" Ababu said.\n\"As the value chain continues to change, so are how the content creators and distributors relate. While content creators have immense opportunities to distribute their content, and can now connect directly with the consumers, the question of distribution is no longer a going concern.\n\"In this age, everyone with a social media account is a content creator. Blogs and websites are fundamentally influencing what we consume. No one can now claim monopoly in this sphere. Online streaming platforms such as YouTube have democratized content creation. Data shows that every minute, 300 hours of content are added to YouTube alone,\" said the CS.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nHis sentiments were complimented by Ezra Chiloba, the Director General, Communications Authority of Kenya as he emphasized the value and worth of the creative economy.\n\"According to research data published for the period 2019-2021, the worth of the creative economy in Kenya was approximated at Sh85 billion. It was noted that this worth not only translated to a contribution of about 5.3 per cent of our GDP but was also projected to have the potential of doubling if well nurtured. It is for this reason that we saw an opportunity to leverage the convergence between broadcasting, the creatives, and digital technology, a now renowned recipe for employment creation, in this era of 'youth bulge' in our country,\" said Chiloba.\n\"It was for this same reason, that this year's theme \"Shaping the Future of Broadcasting: Towards a Creative Economy\" was arrived at. Additionally, the selection of this theme was deliberate, symbolic, and a demonstration of our full commitment to support the delivery of the government's Bottom-up Economic Transformational Agenda (BETA),\" he added.\nAmong the notable regional innovative winners included Radio Kaya in the Coast, Mutongoi FM in Lower Eastern, Pillar TV in Central, Sidai FM from Narok, and Ata Nayeche FM located in Kakuma.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001475402/radio-maisha-berur-shine-at-broadcasters-awards"}
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+{"doc_id": "871b7c2d1b7b3b4a94909c9de50162f1", "text": "What you need to know:\nThree categories of dangerous cases are on the rise in Kenya.\nFirst are dangerous drugs cases, which have increased from 5565 cases in 2017 to 8,021 in 2018.\nThe second are economic crimes which increased from 3,503 in 2016 to 4,100 in 2018.\nThird are cases categorized as “corruption” while shot from 92 in 2016 to 119 in 2018.\nIn the wake of the arms fraud on February 13, 2020, Kenya risks sliding into Mafia capitalism. Despite enchantments of the “Africa rising”, the continent is newest frontier of a new global capitalism: Mafia capitalism as a new, totally unregulated and unscrupulous form of capitalism, mired in dirty money.\nAs an operational concept, mafia capitalism came into vogue after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the eastern bloc amid a growing number of companies and gangs involved in drug-dealing and trafficking young women to work as sex slaves, weapons, immigrants and counterfeit goods, corruption and cyber crime syndicates in Western democracies.\nArms deals in Africa’s emerging markets heralds the age of Mafia capitalism. It all started in South Africa, with the “Arms Deal”, a military procurement in 1998-1999 that involved a US$4.8 billion purchase of weaponry tainted with repeated, and seemingly substantive, allegations of corruption.\nIn Nigeria, an arms procurement deal between December 2014 and May 2015 resulted in the embezzlement of $2 billion. And in February 13, 2020, Kenyans were struck mute by the news of $400 million (Sh 40 billion) fake arms scandal involving former Sports Cabinet Secretary, Rashid Echesa, and which has tragically sucked in Deputy President William Ruto whose Office on the second floor of Harambee House Annex in Nairobi is the crime scene where the fake contract for the supply of military equipment was signed.\nFor long, East Africa’s most robust economy has been a source and transit area for global Mafia capitalism. In the year 2018/19 the Ethics and anti-corruption Commission (EACC) received and processed a total of 9,303 complaints and 571 reports on ethical breaches. In the same vein, the State of the Judiciary and the Administration of Justice Annual Report, 2018 – 2019 reveals a country stalked by home-grown mafia barons operating with total impunity.\nThree categories of dangerous cases are on the rise in Kenya. First are dangerous drugs cases, which have increased from 5565 cases in 2017 to 8,021 in 2018. The second are economic crimes which increased from 3,503 in 2016 to 4,100 in 2018.\nThird are cases categorized as “corruption” while shot from 92 in 2016 to 119 in 2018. A total of 58 cases were filed in the Milimani Anticorruption Court in 2018/19 financial year, with 44 cases resolved by the end of 2019.\nThree cases of corruption stand out and signify the threat of mafia capitalism. On March 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta sacked Echesa reportedly due to possible links with a criminal enterprise behind the $320 million fake currency seizure in Ruiru, Kiambu county on February 28, 2019.\nIn July 2019, 27 Kenyan officials, including the Finance Minister Henry Rotich and the treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge, were arrested and charged with corruption involving $2.22 billion relating to the inflating of the cost of constructing the Arror and Kimwarer water dams in Elgeyo Marakwet County.\nAnd on January 20, 2020, former CS Mwangi Kiunjuri was grilled by the anti-graft agency in an ongoing investigation into an alleged illegal payment of Sh1.8 billion for maize supply in 2019.\nClosely linked to the three categories of drugs, economic crimes and corruption cases are spiraling deadly fraud cases. In May 2019, police arrested six suspects over the gold scam in Nairobi, which turned out to be part of a complex fraud scheme where a Saudi royal was conned of Sh400 million gold million.\nOn February 13, 2020, Echesa was arrested in regard to the Sh39 billion guns scandal case where reportedly duped the US and Poland-based Eco Advanced Technologies that he would help them secure an arms tender at the Ministry of Defence, a deal in which he pocketed Sh11.5 million as consultancy fees.\nMafia capitalism is also capturing local spaces. The high-profile corruption cases of Nairobi and Kiambu counties shows that Kenya is descending into lawlessness with a Mafia-like local governance.\nThe venal capitalism is riding on electronic communications, which enables criminals to shift large sums of cash rapidly around the world and thus keeping it hidden and unregulated.\nKenya’s local mafia capitalists are joining forces with more seasoned and entrenched counterparts in Western capitalism. Tellingly, the Arror and Kimwarer water dams case involved Italians from the CMC di Ravena—the firm that was contracted—signifying linkages with global mafia capitalism.\nThe success of the mafia capitalists and their henchmen rests on their ruthless capacity to punish and silence those either attempting to expose their deals or knowing too much. In Mexico, close to 33,000 people went missing and across the country in 2017: silent victims of the drug war. Kenya’s Mafia capitalists are neither taking chances nor prisoners. They are resorting to brutal violence to cover their footprints.\nThe involvement of the political class at the highest level has given credence to the fear of state capture. Kenya’s mafia capitalists are being defended by those holding the levers of power, and even colluding with elements in state security forces. Their political henchmen are politicizing and ethnicising relentless efforts by security forces to rein in corruption and cronyism.\nFailure by the country’s courts to bring to to justice and convict Mafia capitalists and their cronies undermining the rule of law and encouraging others to employ the same means to keep their dirty operations going. Why should one remain a law-abiding citizen, faithfully working eight to five and paying tax bill?\nThe few pockets of the rule of law holding the country together are at dire risk of virtually collapsed in the Mafia capitalists capture the helm of state power.\nBut, like patient hunters, Kenya’s robber barons and oligarchs are unbowed, and waiting the country out. Ahead of the 2022 elections, they are hell-bent on deploying their wealth to capture and take control state power, and deal brutally with their challengers.\nPeter Kagwanja is the President and Chief Executive of Africa Policy Institute and former Government Adviser.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/Arms-scam-heralds-Kenya-s-slide-to-mafia-capitalism/440808-5465396-6hesjp/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "897b94c3692b45569cc75fd53da9a917", "text": "Are we in a crisis? the intricate web of socio-economic challenges we are facing today leaves us no room to answer the question any other way but in the affirmative. As such it is safe to say that our defining challenge is the ability to create an economic momentum that can sustainably help us put a material dent on poverty.\nEconomic growth is the key through which a society unlocks opportunities, raises living standards and avails mass prosperity. It is more than abstract economic indices. For the fortunes of the citizens rise and falls on economic growth.\nWhile it may be convenient to look back and point fingers, we must realise that buck-passing will certainly not offer solutions to the people of Kenya.\nWhen public policy does not encourage the productive capacity of citizens then you know you are staring at a polity that is headed into an abyss.\nThat is why besides the president’s pet projects of avoiding default while raising production, he may also want to focus more seriously on regional integration.\nWith a population of 238.7 million people the East African community provides a market so big that if we are to get our acts right then a healthy competition which includes but not limited to removal of non-tariff barriers will not only see emergence of thriving industries but also help us deal with the problem of sovereign debt.\n- Ministry of Health seeks EACC's support to strengthen, implement UHC\n- How new technique can spur learners' curiosity\n- Agony for woman detained over Sh2m bill after son's lungs collapsed\n- Medical milestone as KU Hospital undertakes first CyberKnife treatment\nThis is how. Part of the reasons why we are now drowning under the heavy weight of the sovereign debt is that our currency has weakened significantly against the dollar; The currency in which the debt was borrowed. As at June 2024, we will spend 50 per cent more on debt repayment on account of shilling depreciation alone.\nIf you compare Kenya’s debt situation and its advanced peers like Japan which the previous administration liked to compare it with whenever the debt to GDP ratio debate popped up, you realize that the comparison is of two very disparate scenarios. Japan has a huge export portfolio that earns it immense revenue in foreign exchange thus strengthening the Yen against other currencies. Japan, just like America also pays its debt in its own currency. If push came to shove, they can print themselves out of debt.\nThe combined EAC economy under a common currency would literally awaken the sleeping economic giant that it is. Secondly, that currency would stand up to other foreign currencies like the dollar and the pound. The East African Community common currency can then now become the means through which we pay our debts and not the shillings.\nFree flow of capital within the community would also incentivize competition as consumers would be looking for high-quality goods at affordable prices. The resultant economic growth would provide the foothold with which to fight some of the seemingly intractable challenges facing the region such as radicalisation, triple planetary crisis and, the mounting disease burden.\nA genuinely unified EAC on the economic front would then have the fiscal muscles to undertake major infrastructural projects without draining close to 20 per cent of the GDP of one particular country in one infrastructural project without the buy-in of neighbouring countries thus rendering the project a white elephant as we did with SGR.\nMay the uncertainties of these present times remind us, as the citizens of the East Africa region that we are better together. We have dragged our feet for too long on the issue of the common currency as well as on the common market.\nThe writer is Convenor; Inter Parties Youth Forum [email protected]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486171/eac-integration-a-silver-lining-for-kenya-will-boost-economy"}
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+{"doc_id": "8a8e5d26811f9a4f7a1302d890888604", "text": "Kenya has opted out of fully drawing a Sh193.8 billion ($1.5 billion) loan facility from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to its high pricing.\nAn official from the Treasury has indicated that the financing facility is now out of the picture, due to high costs as the country sees the scope for cheaper funds from institutions such as the World Bank.\nKenya already drew Sh64.6 billion ($500 million) from the facility in the last financial year but will now sit out of unlocking the Sh129.2 billion ($1 billion) balance.\nThe country reached an agreement with the UAE for the seven-year facility which is priced at an 8.25 percent interest rate and accessed a part of the funds in April 2025, amid prevailing high interest rates in international capital markets and the lack of concessional financing.\n“The $1 billion Abu Dhabi financing is out of the picture because of high pricing,” the Treasury source told the Business Daily.\nThe UAE facility was previously seen as a lifeline for Kenya especially after the cancellation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) multi-year programme in March 2025 and delays to fresh disbursements from the World Bank Development Policy Operations (DPO).\nThe loan arrangement was also reached at a point when international investors were demanding a steeper return to buy/hold Kenya’s debt at the pronouncement of US tariffs which caused jitters around the world.\nMarket access has since improved for Kenya including the international capital markets with Eurobonds yields sitting in the single digits’ territory.\nYields on the 10-year Eurobond maturing in 2028, the six-year 2031 Eurobond and the 12-year 2034 Eurobond closed last week below the 8.25 percent coupon rate for the UAE loan at 7.32 percent, 8.11 percent and 8.12 percent respectively as of Thursday April 16.\nThe UAE loan was the first commercial financing arrangement from the Gulf, with the government having previously relied on Eurobonds and syndicated loans, mostly from Western lenders, for commercial debt.\nThe UAE has had a growing influence in Kenya under the Kenya Kwanza administration, mainly through State-level business ties.\nIn March 2023, Kenya entered into a direct petroleum importation agreement with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, dubbed the government-to-government oil deal, at the height of a dollar crisis in the country.\nThe UAE also provided a private jet used by President William Ruto during his four-day State visit to the US in May 2024.\nIn May of the same year, the Gulf State pledged Sh245.4 billion ($1.9 billion in aid to Kenya to manage the effects of widespread flooding.\nPreviously, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said that Kenya was under no obligation to take up the balance of the UAE loan despite closer ties, insisting that the country would take up cheaper loan options if available.\n“We are not tied to one specific financing because of an arrangement. We will only take it if it makes economic sense,” he said.\n“If the World Bank DPO is available, it would be at concessional rates. If we can also get debt for development swaps or Samurai bonds, these would also be better options.”\nKenya estimates its net external financing requirement for the fiscal year to June 30, 2026, at Sh225.8 billion or an estimated 1.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).\nNet domestic financing is expected to fill the bulk of the 6.4 percent fiscal deficit at Sh998.6 billion or 5.3 percent of GDP.\nThe World Bank DPO financing is expected to play a significant role by providing the cheapest external financing option while also slightly putting checks on the relatively costlier domestic borrowing sources.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/why-kenya-has-snubbed-sh129-billion-uae-loan-5434448"}
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+{"doc_id": "8ba006131a63f911d907512997aaf7ea", "text": "The slapping of new taxes on internet promises to topple Kenya from its top position as one of Africa’s most affordable internet locations.\nMobile and internet companies have in the last two weeks been struggling with how to prepare their customers for the new price changes that will make internet usage costlier.\nSome operators have been offering a new bundle to soften the blow to their consumers as the inevitable finally sinks in.\nThe new taxes will affect over 44.1 million subscribers according to the latest data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).\nThough there is still a confusion on the effective date, it is only a matter of time before players pass on the 50 per cent excise tax hike to their customers.\nA report by Citi says operators may be delaying the implementation of the new telco tax from 10 per cent to 15 per cent due to competitive reasons.\nThis means that for every Sh100 of airtime bought, the State will now take Sh15 in excise taxes up from the Sh10 taken previously. The biggest dilemma is how to pass this to consumers.\n“We see the risk. There may be a delay in price adjustments for competitive reasons, which would negatively affect revenue and earnings, beyond our assumption of one-quarter impact,” the Citi research reads.\n“Demand may also be weaker than we assume, should prices be adjusted.” Some players say they are still in a limbo on the effective date and as soon as the Government clarifies the period, then consumers will have a taste of the full impact of the new taxes.\nThe taxman is also expected to explain how exactly they will tax data and whether the taxation will spread all the way to cover the undersea cable operators all the way to the consumer.\n“The wording of the (draft) Finance Bill with regards to money transfer services lacks clarity and, in our view, leaves room to enforcement authorities to apply higher rate (than 12 per cent) to some of M-Pesa services, for example, those offered in partnership with banks,” the report notes. The third risk outlined in the report is in regards to the regulatory decisions that remain outstanding.\n“Even if the tone from telecom regulator appears to have softened and macro: budget reviews are done every year, further unfavourable decisions cannot be ruled out.” It is not yet clear how much of the taxes the operators will be willing to absorb but if they were to take part of the costs, it would mean they will have to take a dent on their profitability. The biggest operator Safaricom is expected to take a beating on its revenues given that consumers are price sensitive.\nIn the last financial year, Safaricom made Sh95.64 billion in voice revenue up from Sh93.46 billion in the previous financial year. Mobile data revenue grew from Sh29.3 billion to Sh36.36 billion during the period.\nWith this, the new taxes will see the Government easily collect Sh5 billion more this year. Kenya is one of the countries with the fastest internet on the continent.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nA 2017 report ranked Kenya 23rd out of 108 countries sampled globally. The State of the Internet Connectivity Report ranked Kenya’s internet as the fastest in Africa and one of the most affordable. The report says that the internet is expensive in most African countries and speeds are generally slow. South Korea was ranked as the best country with the highest average connection speed globally at 26.1 megabytes per second (Mbps).\nAccording to the report, Kenya overtook third-quarter leader Israel to gain the top spot for average connection speeds among the surveyed Middle East and Africa nations in the period.\n“Kenya’s speed ranks higher than Israel at 14.4Mbps, Qatar 11.9Mbps, South Africa recorded 6.6 Mbps, Morocco 5.2 Mbps, and Nigeria 4.1 Mbps,” the report by Akamai, a content delivery network said.\nIt also beat South Africa that recorded 6.6 Mbps, Morocco 5.2 Mbps, and Nigeria 4.1 Mbps.\nKenya also had the highest adoption growth of 15 Mbps range at 5,159 per cent, though this is the first time Kenya is being included in this metric.\nThe low internet charges have been a great enabler to thousands of innovators who have been coming up with applications that have made Kenya emerge as the Silicon Savannah of Africa. Kenya has also been a bright spot in the east African region. But it will now be following in the footsteps of Uganda which recently imposed a social media tax.\nEarly this year, Uganda’s parliament passed new laws that introduced a new tax for use of popular social media platforms which include WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Google Hangouts, Yahoo Messenger, Instagram, YouTube, Skype, and others.\nThe Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) says the Government should give operators some incentives that can help them absorb these costs. “Coverage and penetration of the internet will be affected. The quality of the internet will also be affected. Future reviews should remove taxes,” Cofek Secretary General Stephen Mutoro said.\nMr Mutoro, however, noted that the smaller internet service providers who may not have the capacity to absorb the new taxes may end up being disadvantaged since they may lack the capacity to compete on price.\n“This will hurt competition in the sector. Kenyans were now getting used to better speeds and we are moving to 4G and 5G,” Mutoro said. “We have already received complaints from consumers of providers some providers who have made announcements on the new price changes that are not commensurate with the new taxes.”\nReliable and fast internet speeds in Kenya have significantly supported online shopping in Kenya and seen the set-up of several e-commerce platforms.\nMillions of Kenyans are now able to bank and transact online, download music and videos. The uptake of e-learning resources and usage of social media platforms has also greatly improved over the past few years.\nThe improvement to Kenya’s connection speeds and broadband adoption rates is attributed to the successful implementation of the National Broadband Strategy. The strategy has been to see the transformation of the country to a knowledge-based society driven by a high capacity nationwide broadband network.\nThe uptake of smartphones in Kenya has also helped drive internet penetration in the country. The ICT sector contributed up to eight per cent of Kenya’s gross domestic product last year.\nThe latest report by the CA shows that during the third quarter of 2018/19, total data and internet subscriptions grew by 8.2 per cent to record 36.1 million subscriptions from 33.3 million subscriptions recorded during the second quarter of the same financial year.\n“Mobile data or internet has continued to experience rampant growth following the deployment 4G Long Term Evolution network by the three mobile network operators and one ISP,” CA report says.\nOther operators have also deployed the technology which includes Airtel in the 800MHz, Telkom in 800MHz and Jamii in 700MHz. Unlike the other operators who provide both voice and data services Jamii only provides data service.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001299245/new-tax-threatens-kenya-s-affordable-internet-service"}
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+{"doc_id": "8bab4de7f51763617fd504e583203692", "text": "Janet Akinyi, a mama mboga (greengrocer) in one of Nairobi’s low-income suburbs, is neck-deep in debts which she incurred from the myriad mobile lending platforms that seem to mushroom with every crack of dawn.\nYet, unlike some few years ago, she is not worried.\nIn 2010, she had a similar experience. Only then, instead of mobile loans, she was drowning in a pool of debts she secured from various microfinance institutions (MFIs). Just as in the current mobile phone debt imbroglio, she borrowed from one MFI to repay another one. But this was not sustainable in the long-run and she defaulted.\nFrom then on, she would spend most of her days hiding from different ‘loan sharks’ who were always accompanied by mean-looking auctioneers whose appearance betrayed their darker side than the lenders’ noble intentions of getting their money back.\nHer heart jumped to her mouth every time she heard a knock on her door. “At some point, with the high blood pressure getting worse, I was advised to go into hiding,” she remembers. Akinyi’s predicament was not unique.\nThe zenith of microfinance lending in Kenya, as perfected by institutions such as Kenya Women Microfinance Bank saw many poor borrowers saddled with untenable debts.\nEven as deposit-taking microfinance institutions (simply known as microfinance banks (MFBs) recorded massive profits, it was at the expense of an increasing number of poor borrowers who lost their cows, fridges, TV sets, motorbikes, houses, families and even lives. Loan officers with high targets aggressively signed up poor women in slums and rural villages for loans they did not know how they would repay.\nThus, just as the seeds of micro-lending found fertile grounds across the globe - from Bangladesh through India to Kenya - and grew into sweet fruits that lifted millions out of poverty, they also sprouted bitter fruits.\nGrameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus might have won a Noble Prize for helping the poor people in his home country of Bangladesh wriggle out of the cycle of poverty through, it has also sucked the happiness from the faces of many.\nPerhaps, because of MFIs’ bitter fruits, its popularity among Kenyans is fast waning, replaced by mobile lending platforms whose worst threat to defaulters is the many calls and text messages in addition to forwarding their names to Central Rating Bureaus (CRBs).\nMost of them are not scared. Or perhaps MFIs are simply being disrupted in the same fashion their advent in the late 1990s shook snobbish commercial banks to their core.\nEither way, today, what would be described as sub-prime lending- or lending to people with a lower credit score such as those without collateral, once in a risky territory that only MFIs dare walk into - has dramatically shifted to the mobile phone. Its catastrophe, when it hits, might be painful than MFBs’.\nMobile lending platforms, the new villain among poor borrowers, has just started. And it is riding roughshod on technology. Changing market dynamics, says CBK in the 2017 Bank Supervision Report, presents MFBs with a myriad of challenges.\n“These challenges include: changing business environment, primarily driven by technology,” said CBK. But perhaps MFBs’ main usurper, according to CBK, is emerging financial technology (Fintech) and unconventional players in the finance sector like Fintechs.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nFintech is driving local microfinance institutions to an early grave. Numbers for the 13 MFBs regulated by CBK are not inspiring. Deposits are dissipating, loan books are shrinking and profits are drying up.\nLoss-making streak\nTheir pre-tax losses increased to Sh935 million by end of June 2018, compared to a loss of Sh171 million in June 2017. This was an earth-shattering decline of 450 per cent that stretched the loss-making streak by CBK-regulated micro-lenders to three consecutive financial years.\nAnother report by the regulator shows that by the end of 2017, about 70 per cent of MFBs recorded losses - bringing into question the viability of a financial sub-sector which not long ago was hailed as a panacea for financial exclusion in the country.\nWith little customer savings coming in, Kenyans, who are yet to trust Tier 3 banks with their money, certainly can’t entrust it to MFBs.\nThis has forced MFBs to rely on high-cost loans from commercial banks, driving up their operating costs even as the bad-loans surge. “Bad economic conditions would explain the high cost of money and non-performing loans (NPLs),” says Johnson Nderi, a manager at ABC Capital. Four of them - Choice Microfinance, Century, Daraja and Maisha- had breached their minimum statutory requirement for core capital, signalling financial instability. That of Century and Choice slid to the negative zones, -33 per cent for the former against a statutory minimum requirement of 60 per cent and -8 per cent for the latter against a statutory requirement of 20 per cent.\nDuring this period, Kenya Women Microfinance Bank, the biggest MFB and one of those which did not slide into the loss-making zone, however, saw its profit decline by 92 per cent to Sh18.7 million from Sh224 million in December 2016. Only Faulu survived the loss-making whirlwind, registering a profit growth.\nCommercial banks, which MFBs derided for their financial aloofness, are leading the mobile lending onslaught. At first, starting mobile lending simply offered commercial banks another revenue stream.\nCommercial Bank of Africa (CBA), Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and Equity Bank were among the first to experiment with this revenue stream.\nAnd then politicians put in place the interest capping regime that tinkered with interest income, commercial banks’ main source of income. “Interest rate cap changed the way things were done, encouraging the new technologies,” says Gerrishon Ikiara, an Economics lecturer at the University of Nairobi.\nSuddenly, there was a proliferation of digital creditors. Barclays Bank, Co-operative Bank, Family Bank, and Housing Finance joined the fray.\nSince the first mobile lending platform in 2012, M-Shwari, by CBA and telecommunications provider Safaricom, the value of mobile payment has surged by 128 per cent to hit 343 billion by December 2018 from Sh150 billion six years ago.\nThe number of transactions has grown even faster, doubling from 56 million in 2012 to 155 million in 2018.\n“There are reports that lending through M-Pesa has overtaken the formal banking system, which was a surprise to me,” explains Ikiara. In three years, however, MFBs’ loan book has shrunk by six per cent from Sh49 billion in 2016 to Sh46 billion by June 2018.\n\\Moreover, having been given the go-ahead to mobilise savings from the public MFBs have been forced to borrow- sometimes at prohibitive rates- so as to lend.\nMFBs’ customer deposits decreased by Sh2.1 billion (five per cent) from Sh40.6 billion to Sh38.5 billion between June 2017 and June 2018, according to the CBK’s 2018 report.\nIt might be true, as a survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) showed, over half of the credit given out by MFIs tends to go to investment and school fees while a large fraction of credit from mobile loans is used for personal consumption.\nBut mobile lending platforms are quickly turning this trend on its head, gutting through what Nderi would describe as a niche for MFBs.\nKCB says the share of the money it forked out for investment activities via its mobile lending platform, or B2B (business-to-business) transactions, jumped by 8.2 percentage points in the third quarter of 2018 from 23.6 per cent in the same quarter in 2017.\nAlthough at 49.9 per cent, credit for consumption (B2C) still took up the largest fraction of transactions during this period, it has slowly but surely been thinning down.\nIndeed, the quarter three reading of 49.9 per cent was a climb down from 56.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2017.\nIt is the same with Equity Bank. A huge fraction of the bank’s transactions in the first half of 2018 was done through agencies, mobile, and internet banking, a move that saw its CEO James Mwangi during an investor declare they inching closer to the end of the branch.\nIndeed, 93 per cent of the loans were applied and processed through mobile phones, as banking goes digital.\nThis left only seven per cent of loans - and mostly business - being processed through the branches which Mwangi predicted would be snapped up by mobile loans by the end of 2018 as they moved business loans on mobile phones.\nAnd by end of this year, he said, there will be no loans processed through the branch as corporate borrowers are moved to internet banking. “We are going to witness the death of a branch as we know it,” said Mwangi. If he only knew, he might have added, ‘and Microfinance banks too.”\nTransactions on Equity Bank’s Eazzy Banking App grew by 208 per cent to 168 million transactions from 55 million year-on-year and a value of Sh89 billion from Sh52 billion. Equitel’s transaction value grew by 20 per cent to Sh425.1 billion up from Sh353.6 billion.\nThe losses by MFBs, a number of analysts reckon, might also be informed by the new CBK Governor’s high-handedness.\nUnlike his predecessor Prof Njuguna who is said to have been a little cosy with financial institutions, Dr Patrick Njoroge has been ruthless in enforcing regulations. His ultra-regulations has already seen a number of banks go into receivership. “It is difficult to massage the numbers so as to appeal,” said Dr Joy Kiiru, an Economics lecturer at the University of Nairobi. And, as Johnson Nderi, a manager at ABC Capital notes, MFBs don’t like being regulated. And rightly so. Because they are struggling to mobile deposits, they have to borrow. And they cost of borrowing has gone up.\nCommercial banks, sitting on huge deposits of about Sh2.9 trillion as at December 2017 (MFBs deposits is at Sh38.9 billion in the same period), rather than lend to MFBs so that the latter can put a mark-up on the borrowed and lend it to the poor, are instead doing it themselves through mobile lending platforms.\nKiiru says that while it is not bad that MFBs are being dislodged by mobile lending platforms, digital lending also presents another problem- one that was characteristic of MFBs. “There is a rule in lending that only responsible borrowers should access credit. Otherwise, you will infuse instability into the financial system,” says Kiiru.\nBesides mobile lending platforms by commercial banks, there are mobile lending apps that have made access to credit extremely easy.\nAll you need is an impressive record on M-Pesa and a Facebook account whose posts reflect an income earner.\nSilicon Valley-based mobile lender, Branch, which has just announced a new financing round of Sh500 million, is one of the increasing digital creditors that have taken over the country by a storm.\nThe mobile lender which says it has since disbursed more than Sh25 billion using the application, recently raised Sh7 billion to deepen its ability to meet the rising demand for mobile loans.\nBranch currently loans out $4 million (Sh400 million) monthly and is one of the top five most downloaded apps in Kenya, according to Jumia’s Kenya Mobile White Paper 2018.\nIt is estimated that 18.2 million Kenyans own mobile phones and 35 per cent of them have tried at least one digital mobile loan.\nAbout 20 per cent who have not said it was only because of lack of information. At the time of the survey, according to a report by Financial Sector Deepening Kenya (FSD- Kenya).\nThe report found out that about half of the borrowers had an outstanding loan. As a result, many Kenyans are now caught in a web of mobile loans to service, forcing them to jump from one service provider to another.\nThe survey, also showed 14 per cent of the digital borrowers were balancing loans from more than one digital lender at the time of the survey, pointing to a refinancing crisis in which one borrows from Paul to pay Peter.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001309493/mobile-lenders-drive-microfinance-entities-to-early-grave"}
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+{"doc_id": "8e6706a6e86fc836070af7222db3be06", "text": "Some of Kenya’s leading companies have made it to the final list of a prestigious continental award that recognises the best use of technology to deliver business value.\nThe award, organised by a leading African technology driver, dx5, received over 600 applications from across the continent for this year’s CIO100 Awards.\nThe shortlisted Kenyan companies include the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), Sarova Hotels & Resorts, and Absa Bank Kenya, which represent a diverse range of sectors, such as agriculture, hospitality, and banking.\nThey will compete with other top companies from different African countries in various categories.\n“We are delighted to showcase the best of African technology and innovation through this award. Technology is the ultimate winner here, and it’s inspiring to witness our continent’s technological evolution,” said Harry Hare, the Chairman and Co-Founder of dx5.\nThe CIO100 Awards, which has been dubbed as The Oscars of Tech in Africa, will honour the leaders of tech in different categories, with the most coveted prize being CIO of the Year for the individual who has led the most compelling project that not only successfully incorporated technology but also merged business strategy with the organisation’s vision.\nLast year’s winner, Moses Okundi of Absa Bank Kenya, has been nominated for the second year in a row and will face stiff competition from 10 other outstanding nominees, including James Nyakomitta of APA Insurance, Martin Mwarangu of KTDA, and Debra Ngina of Sarova Hotels & Resorts.\nThe winners will be announced at a gala dinner at a beach resort in Diani on November 24, 2023.Other award categories are the Education Sector Award, Health Sector Award, Manufacturing Sector Award, SACCO Sector Award, Insurance Sector Award, and Banking Sector Award.\nNoteworthy accolades to watch out for are the dxNova Woman of the Year Award, Company of the Year Award and the CXO Influencer of the Year Award.\nThe winners will be announced at a gala dinner at the Diamonds Leisure Beach and Golf Resort in Diani on November 24, 2023.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/tech-innovation/article/2001484590/kenyan-companies-among-africas-top-tech-innovators"}
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+{"doc_id": "90def57c6a923159905bd56b8282b304", "text": "-\nCaesar Zvayi My Turn\nTHERE is a ruckus in South Africa over the opposition Democratic Alliance’s decision to use pictures of Nelson Mandela and Helen Suzman embracing, with the words “We played our part in opposing apartheid” on its awareness campaign pamphlet. The DA’s attempt to put itself in -\nLord of the Flies is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning English author William Golding that tackles the topical issue of individual interest versus the common good.\nThe plot centres on a group of boys marooned on an uninhabited island after their plane crashes during wartime evacuation. -\n-\nNEO-LIBERALISM is certainly full of contradictions. Though the biggest has been taken to be the attempt to pass the world as a global village regardless of the glaring disparities in political, economic, social and cultural development as well as value systems in various regions; the phenomenon of the so-called civil society certainly takes the\n-\nWhen I was unceremoniously booted out of Botswana by Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s presidential decree in August 2008, former Minister of Media, Information and Publicity in the Office of the President and Cabinet Professor Jonathan Moyo characterised the Botswana government’s approach to international relations as a ‘‘monkey-see, monkey-do’’\n-\nMY TURN with Caesar Zvayi\nKENYANS went to the polls last week to elect leaders of their choice in a contest that drew interesting reactions from western countries that ended up tipping their hands about their meddlesome role in African politics.\n-\nThe lizard and rat went for a swim but it is the rat that came out dripping wet. Sot it was with MDC-T deputy organising secretary, Abednico Bhebhe. He must be a bitter man. There he was in Umzingwane, Matabeleland South Province, toeing the party line at a rally only to have his fingers rapped by his bosses in Harare the next day for saying precisely what they have been telling people around the country.\nBhebhe had told the gathering that MDC-T would rewrite the Constitution if it assumes power saying the document which may emanate from the Copac process will just be a transitional one, or to put it simply, one specifically to facilitate regime change.\nBhebhe told the Umzingwane rally that his party would rewrite the Constitution, if it assumed power even if people approved the draft at the -\n-\nThe Bible, in the book of Genesis, gives us the story of Noah, who apparently cultivated a vineyard and ended up imbibing intoxicating wine. In his inebriated state, Noah stripped and lay indecently exposed.\n-\n-\nWhat is the matter with our brothers who invest in the banking sector? Given how many indigenous-owned banks have gone under over the past decade leaving many a depositor seething, it seems the thinking is, ‘‘let’s form a bank and lend each other as much money as possible. Bugger the consequences!’’\nThis is the under-developed middle-class or comprador bourgeoisie that Frantz Fanon decries in his classic work, The Wretched of the Earth. They are not concerned really about creating wealth for the -\nIt is a common, but seemingly heartless response by any newsman whenever reports of a road traffic accident filter through. The first question is always, ‘‘were there any fatalities/ pafa vangani?’’\n-\nTomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,\nCreeps in this petty pace from day to day\nTo the last syllable of recorded time,\nAnd all our yesterdays have lighted fools\nThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player\nThat struts and frets his hour upon the stage\nAnd then is heard no more: it is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,\nSignifying nothing.\nGoes Macbeth's famous soliloquy in William Shakespeare's book by the same name. Whats immediately striking about this soliloquy is the phrase \"tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. \"", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/category/s7-blogs/c58-caesar-zvayi/"}
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+{"doc_id": "92c37457fdc43834fc33ea37a09a392e", "text": "Despite the progress Kenya has made in reducing hunger, it is among 50 countries where levels of hunger remain serious or alarming, a new global report reveals.\nKenya’s score of 22 places it at number 72 out of a list of 118 countries. The study does not include developed countries because they have extremely low hunger levels.\nEven with talk of rising investment in agriculture, Kenya continues to struggle to feed its people, especially its children. One in five Kenyan is undernourished while roughly one in four children is stunted and four per cent are wasted, shows the International Food Policy Research Institute study.\nA review of Kenya’s health data by Nation Newsplex confirms that the figures concur with the numbers in the 2016 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey.\nRAVAGING DROUGHT\nIn September this year the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) issued drought alerts for 11 counties and an alarm for one. According to the authority’s early warning bulletins, Narok, Kajiado, Taita-Taveta, Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River, Kitui, Makueni, Marsabit and Garissa counties are experiencing a decline in food and livestock production as well as water supply. The food security situation in the counties is expected to get worse in the coming weeks. The drought status of Lamu was moved up from alert to alarm.\nBesides the counties that the authority listed, Devolution Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri on Friday added West Pokot, Tharaka-Nithi, Samburu, Wajir, Mandera and Isiolo among the worst-hit counties.\nMr Kiunjuri said 1.3 million Kenyans in 23 counties are affected by the drought, with Kilifi being the worst-hit.\nA Kenyan is three times more likely to go hungry compared with a Tunisian. Kenya’s hunger level is 22 and Tunisia’s is 6.\nGlobally the level of hunger remains alarmingly high, with 795 million people still facing hunger, roughly one in four children affected by stunting, and eight per cent of children affected by wasting.\nThe countries with the highest hunger levels are the Central African Republic, with a score of 46, and Chad with 44. A Kenyan is three times more likely to go hungry compared with a Tunisian. Kenya’s hunger level is 22 and Tunisia’s is 6. The 2016 Global Hunger Index (GHI) shows that the level of hunger in developing countries as a group has fallen by a third. But this progress has been uneven and great disparities in hunger continue to exist at the regional and national levels.\nA Haitian is almost three times as likely to be undernourished as a Kenyan but the two countries have the same proportion of stunted children. Haiti has the highest share of its population undernourished on the list.\nThe proportion of undernourishment in the countries with the best record — Argentina and Turkey — is less than one per cent while the level of stunting in each of the two countries is less than 10 per cent.\nThe GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale. Zero is the best score (no hunger), and 100 is the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice.\nALARMING SCORES\nAcross regions and countries, GHI scores differ greatly. Regionally, the highest hunger levels are found in Africa south of the Sahara and South Asia. Although GHI scores for these two regions have declined over time, the current levels are still on the upper end of the serious category and closer to the alarming category than to the moderate.\n“Massive disruptions to food systems caused by climate-related disasters and the destruction and displacement of armed conflict take a severe toll, but so too do the poverty and hunger of every day, persisting as a way of life generation after generation, beyond the world’s interest or attention,” said Dr Till Wahnbaeck, chief executive officer of the aid organisation Welthungerhilfe, in the report’s forward.\nKenya’s index, which is in the serious category, is about eight points less than the sub-Saharan Africa average score of 30, a region whose hunger level is three times higher than that in Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Latin America and the Caribbean.\nSub-Saharan Africa’s index is double that of North Africa’s score of 12 even though the latter is situated in the Sahara desert. The Near East region’s index is the same as North Africa’s and slightly better than the East and Southeast Asia score of 13.\nMost of the countries with alarming GHI scores are in sub-Saharan Africa. The IFPRI study finds that 34 (68 per cent) out of the 50 worst-performing countries are in Africa.\nThe current rate of reducing hunger will leave South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa with GHI scores near the divide between moderate and serious hunger — falling far short of the goal to reach Zero Hunger by 2030.\nTo reflect the multidimensional nature of hunger, the GHI combines four indicators into one index, including undernourishment, which refers to the proportion of undernourished people in a population.\nOther indicators are child wasting, which is the share of children under the age of five who suffer from wasting (low weight for their height, reflecting acute under-nutrition), and child stunting, which is the fraction of children under the age of five who are too short for their age, reflecting chronic under-nutrition The final component is the under-five death rate.\nAn examination of national malnutrition statistics by Newsplex reveals that efforts to reduce malnutrition (stunting and wasting) in Kenya have had mixed results since 2000, when 35 per cent, or one in three children, were stunted. The figure dropped to 28 per cent in 2003 but went up to 30 per cent in 2008.\nMalnutrition can lead to irreversible brain and body damage if it is not treated before the age of two and undernourished children are more prone to diseases.\nMalnourished (stunted and underweight) children go on to earn 20 per cent less in adulthood, according to a 2008 Lancet review of cohort studies from Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines and South Africa.\nA cohort study follows participants through a certain period of their lives, which in this particular study was from childhood to adulthood.\nZERO HUNGER\nOverall, developing countries has made substantial progress in reducing hunger since 2000. No countries have been in the “extremely alarming” category for a second year in a row. Twenty-two countries have reduced their GHI scores by half or more since 2000 and another 70 countries have reduced their scores by 25-49.9 per cent since 2000. During this period Kenya’s score has dipped by 42 per cent.\nThe three countries in the world that achieved the biggest percentage reductions in hunger in the serious and alarming categories are Myanmar, Rwanda, and Cambodia, with 2016 GHI scores for each country down by just over 50 per cent compared with the 2000 scores.\nEach of these countries has experienced civil war and political instability in recent decades, and the improvements in part may reflect increased stability.\nThe countries with the lowest percentage reductions in hunger are the Central African Republic and Chad.\nBut to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 of getting to zero hunger while leaving no one behind, it is essential to identify the regions, countries, and populations that are most vulnerable to hunger and undernutrition so progress can be accelerated there.\nFurther, although Africa south of the Sahara has achieved the largest absolute improvement since 2000 and South Asia has also seen a sizable reduction, the decline in hunger must accelerate in these regions if the world is to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.\nSince 2015, GHI scores were calculated using a new and improved formula. The revision replaces child underweight, previously the only indicator of child undernutrition, with two indicators of child undernutrition — child wasting and child stunting.\nAs the drought situation in Kenya deteriorated, it prompted the NDMA to disburse Sh53 million from the Drought Contingency Fund (DCF) at the beginning of August.\nThe authority disbursed funds from the Sh1.1 billion kitty that is supported by the European Union, as follows:\n• Kilifi County - Sh11.5m to support security, water and livestock sectors, including livestock off-take for slaughter in Kayafungo, Bamba, Mariakani.\n• Kwale County - Sh6.5m for support to livestock, health and nutrition, security and water sectors.\n• Tana River County - Sh3.3m to support livestock, health and nutrition, security, education and water sectors.\n• Taita-Taveta County - Sh7.7m to support livestock, health and nutrition, security and water sectors.\n• Kitui County - Sh7.8m to support livestock, health and nutrition, and water sectors.\n• Makueni County - Sh5.1m to support livestock, health and nutrition and water sectors.\nKiunjuri said that in August the Treasury released Sh254 million for emergency food relief.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/newsplex/Hunger/2718262-3419114-uxt5piz/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "96285967d079026d7e90da04146d6d51", "text": "‘Africa has the sovereign right to choose partners’\nOleg Ozerov\nAmbassador-at-Large, head of the secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, MFA of Russia\nAs announced a few days ago, on September 13, the second summit of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, whose secretariat I have the honour to chair, is scheduled for the summer of next year 2023. In order to prepare it, an Organising Committee was created, headed by Yu.V. Ushakov, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation.\nThis summit is designed to give new impetus to Russian-African political, trade, economic, investment, scientific, technical and humanitarian cooperation, and thus ensure it is even more comprehensive and comprehensive.\nHowever, while preparing the forum, carefully analysing information from other international actors, we had to state that there are forces in the world that oppose the development of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between African countries and Russia, and, noteworthy, these are not Africans themselves.\nParticular attention was drawn to the address of the EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, J. Borrell, published on the EU website, as well as a number of his statements during his recent trips to Mozambique, Kenya and Somalia, in which he did not fail to blame Russia for all world troubles, calling on African partners to build closer cooperation with Europe.\nMr Borrell outlined his arguments in four postulates, each of which deserves special attention.\nAccording to a European diplomat, the Russian special military operation is an example of “brutal imperialism of the 19th century, which Africa experienced first hand.”\nAnd now, says J. Borrell, Europe, after recognising its responsibility for what happened at that time in Africa, has the full moral right, hand in hand with the Africans who have been oppressed for decades, to fight against Russia and build an “international order based on rules.”\nMoreover, as is often the case with our Western opponents, they do not bother to explain what rules they are talking about, briefly mentioning the UN Charter and not specifying how these rules differ from the universal norms of international law, which they have regularly violated in recent decades, whether in Iraq, Libya or other regions and not very zealously defended against Syria or the Palestinians.\nBut it is obvious that these rules are not the UN Charter, since they are declared separately.\nThe question arises: who wrote these rules and for whom? Since this is not deciphered anywhere and is not presented in the form of a full-fledged document, under which would be signed by its compilers and states that agree with it, it creates a strong impression that they are invented by Western countries to solve their own problems and can be changed so that\nThe Western European agenda, proposed along with the “rules-based world order”, raises many questions.\nThere, along with declarative slogans about democracy and human rights, there is also a gender “saga” ambiguously accepted in the world with the rejection of the natural division of the sexes, total digitalisation without ensuring the proper level of information security, and much more.\nSeparately, it is worth mentioning the “green agenda” imposed everywhere, which limits developing countries in their desire to create a solid energy base for electrification and industrialisation.\nFor example, the other day the European Parliament demanded to stop the construction of the East African oil pipeline under the pretext of violating human rights and endangering the environment. It is significant that the European Union, calling on African states to reduce the emission of harmful gases,\nIt is curious that any participant in international relations who does not accept these attitudes automatically falls into the category of “autocratic” and they try to isolate and weaken him as much as possible.\nToday, using the example of Russia, we are witnessing how the West is trying to deprive sovereign states of their independence through the use of a system of collective punishment, violation of basic political and economic rights, and harsh illegitimate unilateral restrictions.\nBlocking of settlement systems, supply chains, freezing of financial assets, confiscation of state and private property, deprivation of the rights to free movement, education, labour activity on the basis of nationality, use of one’s native language, “cancellation” of national culture abroad — these are the measures that are being introduced against Russia in order to punish her for an independent political course, protecting her borders and sovereignty from NATO claims.\nAfrica should be well aware that today this is how Russia is treated, and tomorrow this fate may befall any country that does not agree to accept Western conditions and standards in the economy, politics and even morality. And the punishment will be selective.\nThus, Ukraine banned a number of political parties,\nUnfortunately, such a policy of double standards today can be applied to any country that does not fit into the Western system of values. African nations have experienced for decades the consequences of illegal economic restrictions imposed for the purpose of political blackmail and, in some cases, the change of political power.\nThe West consistently imposed sanctions against Burundi, DRC, Zimbabwe, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. And this is only part of the list. To say the least, the US bill “On counteracting the malicious activities of Russia in Africa”, which provides for the collective punishment of Africans for any cooperation with us, is also puzzling, to say the least.\nSuch a restriction of basic political and economic freedoms indicates unfair competition and a crude imposition of the Western agenda on other countries.\nRussia, which Borrell calls “the stronghold of imperialism,” openly advocates the sovereign right of African nations to choose their own path of development, as well as political and economic partners, depending on their own national interests.\nMr. Borrell’s second argument concerns Africa’s food security. In recent months, European politicians have been repeating the same mantra about a global famine looming in developing countries, for which Russia is invariably to blame, while the EU has been working to ensure “uninterrupted supplies” of agricultural products to the continent.\nThe diplomat refers to the fact that the economic sanctions of the European Union do not prevent African states from purchasing, paying for and transporting Russian agricultural products.\nThis statement, if we follow the Cartesian logic on which the European world outlook used to be based, does not correspond to reality.\nIt is absolutely obvious that the food shortage arose, firstly, before the crisis in Russian-Ukrainian relations and without connection with it, and, secondly, due to the West’s underestimation of Russia’s role in the world commodity markets, as a result of which severe restrictive measures by the United States and the EU against our country led to the most serious consequences for the whole world. However, even after the conclusion of the so-called “grain deal”, Europe interprets in its own way the agreements on the export of food and fertilisers through the Black Sea humanitarian corridor.\nWhen we unblocked the Black Sea ports for the transportation of Ukrainian wheat, almost all of this grain was sold mainly to rich European countries, and not really “needy”, as the leaders of the Western world declared at the Food Security Summit in New York.\nAs of September 20, in accordance with the data of the Joint Coordinating Center of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, out of 178 ships that left Ukrainian ports, only 20 went to Africa and 87, or half, to Europe. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin called this “another impudent deception of the international community, Africa’s partners, and other countries that are in need of food.”\nThe hypocrisy of the West also lies in the denial to the African partners of their own sanctions imposed on Russian companies supplying food and fertilisers.\nLast week, during the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Vladimir Putin announced that he was ready to transfer free of charge 300 thousand tons of Russian fertilisers blocked by the EU to developing countries, primarily Africa. We asked the UN to influence the European Commission to remove discriminatory restrictions on the supply of Russian fertilisers to developing countries, but so far there has been no progress.\nA similar situation is happening with Russian grain: Europe still maintains restrictions on freight for its export. There is a feeling of a clever game in which the West deliberately creates a threat to food security in African countries,\nThe third thesis of J. Borrell is the provision of security in Africa by the West.\nAnd here the main argument of Europe is the broad financial support of the African Union, regional forces and African armies.\nIn the last fifteen years, the security situation in the countries of the continent has really changed dramatically with the direct participation of Western countries, but in the most tragic sense.\nIt was they who initiated a number of full-scale military operations that led to the death of civilians, socio-economic degradation, the migration crisis, the growth of transnational and continental terrorism, the illegal trafficking of weapons and human trafficking in Libya, the Central African Republic, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and the Sahel.\nThe French military operations Serval and Barkhan in Mali and Sangaris in the Central African Republic demonstrated their complete failure. There is a feeling that today, by directing billions of euros to the military budgets of African countries, the West is trying to pay off the consequences of the chaos that it has sown.\nMr. J. Borrell’s theses about the small size of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation in Africa and the unfounded accusations of destabilizing the situation in Mali and the Central African Republic with the participation of Russian private military campaigns have little connection with reality.\nFirst of all, I would like to recall that Russia is one of the ten main contributors to the budgets of UN peacekeeping operations, while 80% of the Russian contribution falls on peacekeeping in Africa. In addition, our country provides broad support to African military and police personnel, annually training them in Russian educational institutions both in higher education programs and in advanced training courses.\nAs for the accusations about the presence of “Russian mercenaries” in African countries, I would like to remind you that the global and African market for relevant services has long been “mastered” by private Western companies.\nIt is significant that the European Union, which so vehemently condemns Russia, for example, is in no hurry to condemn the activities of the American company Blackwater and its clones. Each state has the sovereign right to decide to whom and under what conditions to apply for military assistance. In particular, at the request of the legitimately elected Central African authorities and subject to the sanctions regime\nThe UN Security Council in the Central African Republic are Russian instructors. They are sent to this country, which is experiencing an unprecedented military-political crisis after the failed French operation “Sangaris”, with an official mission to train and assist the National Army.\nAnd, finally, the fourth argument of the European politician is the EU’s commitment to the principle of the African Union “African problems – African solutions” and the need to turn the page of the colonial past. J. Borrell operates on the fact that, unlike the “repentant” European partners, today the “others” are pumping out natural resources and agricultural lands from the African bowels, making their economies financially dependent.\nIn fact, there is a new form of Western colonization of the non-Western. After decolonization, developed countries spent years destroying the economic structures and economies of young African states built with the participation of the Soviet Union.\nBy the 1980s, most of them were partially or completely dependent on loans and borrowing from the institutions of the Bretton Woods system.\nThe collective West transformed African national socio-economic models into a single tracing paper, led to the devaluation of national currencies, a reduction in the participation of states in the economy, and destroyed the national industry of developing countries.\nLomé Conventions 1970-1990s – Isn’t this the economic division of the “colonial possessions” by the former metropolises? Agreements aimed at preferential trade and economic cooperation, only increased foreign competition for African companies, and European agricultural, food, oil, mining and transport and logistics companies benefited most from them.\nHas France, denying its neo-colonial course, renounced control over the monetary and financial systems of the countries of the CFA franc zones, has it returned its gold and foreign exchange reserves to the treasury of “independent” African states?\nIsn’t the never-implemented reform on the transition of the CFA franc to the new “eco” currency a fiction? The discussion about creating their own African currency has been going on for decades, but why don’t European partners hear their African friends, why is Mr. Borrell silent about this? mining and transport and logistics companies.\nHas France, denying its neo-colonial course, renounced control over the monetary and financial systems of the countries of the CFA franc zones, has it returned its gold and foreign exchange reserves to the treasury of “independent” African states? Isn’t the never-implemented reform on the transition of the CFA franc to the new “eco” currency a fiction?\nThe discussion about creating their own African currency has been going on for decades, but why don’t European partners hear their African friends, why is Mr. Borrell silent about this? mining and transport and logistics companies. Has France, denying its neo-colonial course, renounced control over the monetary and financial systems of the countries of the CFA franc zones, has it returned its gold and foreign exchange reserves to the treasury of “independent” African states? Isn’t the never-implemented reform on the transition of the CFA franc to the new “eco” currency a fiction?\nThe discussion about creating their own African currency has been going on for decades, but why don’t European partners hear their African friends, why is Mr. Borrell silent about this? did it return gold and foreign exchange reserves to the treasury of “independent” African states?\nIsn’t the never-implemented reform on the transition of the CFA franc to the new “eco” currency a fiction? The discussion about creating their own African currency has been going on for decades, but why don’t European partners hear their African friends, why is Mr. Borrell silent about this? did it return gold and foreign exchange reserves to the treasury of “independent” African states? Isn’t the never-implemented reform on the transition of the CFA franc to the new “eco” currency a fiction?\nThe discussion about creating their own African currency has been going on for decades, but why don’t European partners hear their African friends, why is Mr. Borrell silent about this?\nOne of the most famous African intellectuals of the 20th century, the pan-Africanist Franck Fanon, wrote in 1961: “In this very Europe, they have never stopped declaring that their only concern is the welfare of all mankind. But today we know what suffering humanity has paid for every triumph of European reason.”\n- Fanon wrote these words at the height of the parade of African sovereignties – during the decolonization of Africa. More than half a century has passed since then, and we have again returned to the post-colonial struggle, which today has acquired a global dimension, and in this confrontation Russia considers itself in the same camp with the African nations.\nWe stand for the sovereignty and independent development of the African continent – one of the regional centres of power in the new system of world order, which, like Russia, has its own political and economic agenda. Moreover, Russia is ready to become a provider of African sovereignty, and the upcoming Russia-Africa summit will be convincing proof of this.\nArticle published in Kenian Daily Nation: <https://nation.africa/kenya/blogs-opinion/blogs/africa-has-sovereign-right-to-choose-partners-3962216>", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/africa-has-the-sovereign-right-to-choose-partners/"}
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+{"doc_id": "963fbc9cf4fdd80a92555edf96b23bf9", "text": "For months, there has been unfettered and unified condemnation of opinion polls on the popularity of presidential candidates which has thrust local survey firms into the spotlight.\nIn what sounds like an oxymoron, both sides of the political divide have poured vitriol on recent opinion polls over their \"inaccuracies\" even as the formations needed reliable evidence-based data to inform campaigns.\nAt the heart of the sustained attacks and disdain of the pollsters' findings are what are perceived to be inexplicable discrepancies in survey results, even those conducted during a similar period using near similar methodologies. One would ask: Why will the difference in one candidate's popularity be so large among the firms even when the errors of margin are the same? How can one explain the fact that some pollsters consistently rate one candidate ahead while others show the same candidate trailing in their opinion polls all the time?\nYet, we must start from one known fact: If a quantitative study is well conducted scientifically, even by different firms, it should yield near similar findings, which can be easily generalised throughout the whole population. In essence, it means that sample surveys - like the renown Kenya Demographic and Health Survey - should yield findings that can be generalised to the entire population, as those that may arise from a census survey.\nIt, therefore, easily follows that the unexplained disparities arising from the political opinion polls deserve to be dismissed for failing to remain consistent even among the pollsters using similar study approaches. It can also be deduced that recent poll findings may not be used to predict voting patterns in the August 9 General Election due to their spurious and incoherent conclusions.\nAlthough many have attributed these questionable findings to ownership of the polling firms, researchers must rise above the proprietorial interference excuses and hold firms accountable for - either deliberately or obliviously - employing rookie and incongruent survey methodologies that fail to explain the intricate political phenomena and voting patterns of all the 42 tribes in Kenya.\nBased on science, and an analysis of some of the comments made by some of the prominent pollsters in the country, one cannot avoid to aver that serious audits must start from the key researchers involved in drawing the methodologies of the surveys. The kind of gaffes they make in explaining their methodologies every time they are called on to face Kenyans on national television have always been mindboggling.\nFrom the TV interviews, one cannot struggle to see that the pollsters start scrambling for the route to making wrong conclusions by employing wrong research designs. For instance, one of the pollsters recently showed a shocking lack of understanding of the differences between a cross-sectional research design, and longitudinal research design. By explaining that the pollster often returned to collect data from the same sample often times using a database established over a long period of time, the pollster fell into the trap of collecting echoed data akin to a cohort study. The pollster's findings were unfortunately always reported as though they emerged from a trend study. This fallacious example is just one glaring reason we cannot parade some survey findings as true reflection of the voting intentions of the 21 million registered voters.\nOn the face of it, it would appear that some pollsters obliviously conduct hotchpotches of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies without being aware on the data processing. Failure to clearly anchor studies in the correct designs sets the pollsters up to the blunders in data collection that lead them to drawing wrong results. Worse, the pollsters miss the basic chance of accurately using probability sampling, which would easily insulate them against making ungeneralisable findings.\nAlthough some pollsters give the impression that they utilise the quantitative research approach, some of them have ended up generating qualitative findings. Indeed, this exposes them to various questions since the many close-ended questions that they pose in their data collection tools do not generate any textual data.\nOne other scandalous admission of the pollsters that certainly drives them to biased results is their propensity to load the political opinion questions on other paid-for polls, some of which are meant to collect data on totally different purposes, including for commercial products. By doing so, the firms always box themselves up into the muddle of using the right sample for the wrong study. For a sample targeting to collect political views will not always be the same as one meant to collect views on tastes and preferences about types of soap, for instance.\nDifferent surveys target respondents of specific demographics such as gender, age, region and education level, that do not necessarily have an interest in politics and would not even be registered as voters. By chaperoning respondents targeted for a study on soap to answer questions on politics when indeed their social interests would be different would likely lead to drawing of wrong conclusions, some of which many parties could be sneering at today.\nRelated to this is the issue of pollsters utilising the wrong sampling frame. Whereas the ideal sampling frame for the pollsters should be the 22 million registered voters under the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, some of the pollsters have created their own computer-based databases, which clearly do not provide a true representation of the register. In so doing, the pollsters set themselves up to utiising the wrong study population to extract equally wrong samples that yield unreliable, unverifiable and invalid findings.\nIt is also of noteworthy that one of the most fallacious methodological flaws of the pollsters is their near assumption that Kenya's electoral and regional areas comprise homogeneous population characteristics. In such cases, for instance, a pollster would pick six respondents from Kibra constituency using randomised sample selection criteria and generate data assuming that the constituency will be well represented in the survey.\nYet, given the cosmopolitan nature of Kibra's informal settlements including Kisumu Ndogo, Makina, Kianda, Toi and Gatwikira, the six respondents may belong to one tribe that in one or more of the kijijis and, therefore, exclude other communities that could be leaning to a different political formation. The import is that findings will be utterly misleading based on Kenya's tribal-based voting patterns.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nOne plausible conclusion, therefore, is that the best poll finding will be those from the census survey expected from the General Election booths on Tuesday. May the best formation win.\nThe writer is Turkana governor and director general of the William Ruto presidential campaign", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001452528/why-opinion-polls-may-count-for-nothing-in-the-general-election"}
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+{"doc_id": "96a81898f4a1be2a646cf6ff547af50b", "text": "As Kenya finds itself at a pivotal crossroads in its economic evolution, it is both a moment of introspection and an opportunity to chart a course toward a renaissance driven by the twin engines of agriculture and tourism.\nThese very pillars were enshrined in the ambitious Vision 2030, a blueprint that foresaw their central role in propelling our nation's growth.\nI hold a steadfast belief that the path to rejuvenating our economy lies in embracing these intrinsic foundations, which have woven themselves into our national fabric and deserve renewed emphasis to rekindle the flames of prosperity.\nAgriculture and agro-processing: nurturing our roots\nKenya stands on the edge of economic transformation, with its vision for 2030 firmly etched in the aspirations of its people. Within this vision, agriculture has the potential to not only revamp the nation's economy but also provide a sustainable and robust foundation for future growth.\nRemarkably, Africa houses 60% of the world's arable land, a statistic that positions our nation as a central player in global agriculture. It is time to leverage this precious resource and channel our efforts into agro-processing, a strategic move that recognizes the current limitations in competing with manufacturing powerhouses like China and the United States of America.\nRather than embarking on an uphill battle in manufacturing, Kenya should harness its strengths in agriculture to nurture agro-processing industries. This shift in focus aligns with our realistic capacities, creating opportunities for growth while cultivating a sustainable edge in global markets.\nAgriculture not only holds the promise of economic prosperity but also resonates with the essential need of every household – a regular income. This pursuit is the cornerstone of a thriving society, serving to uplift communities from the grassroots.\n- State to install digital assets to equip youth with critical skills\n- Science of thrill: why it's so easy to be an adrenaline addict\n- Proposed Conflict of Interest Bill contradicts Employment Act, doctors say\n- Fiction writers fear rise of AI, yet see it as a story\nBy investing in agriculture and agro-processing, we can empower households across the nation with dependable sources of income. This not only contributes to the well-being of families but also generates tax revenue for the government, fostering fiscal stability. This vision aligns with a medium-term timeline, setting the stage for a pragmatic evolution that nurtures economic vibrancy at both individual and national levels.\nWhile we advocate for diversity in our agricultural pursuits, our strategic focus must rest on the cultivation of high-value crops and commodities that have already demonstrated their mettle in international markets.\nThe time-honoured tea and coffee sectors, long-standing foundations of our agricultural exports, must be rejuvenated through the infusion of cutting-edge farming techniques, value augmentation, and sustainable agricultural practices. Beyond these, our dairy and meat processing industries hold immense potential for expansion, serving to meet local demands while concurrently opening avenues for lucrative international trade.\nAmid this landscape of potential, it's imperative to draw attention to the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), a quintessential example of world-class best practices in agro-processing. The KTDA, a farmer-owned organization, showcases how effective management and cooperative collaboration can elevate an entire sector. Through its intricate network, KTDA empowers smallholder tea farmers by providing them with resources, technical assistance, and access to international markets.\nThe shared ownership model ensures that farmers reap equitable benefits from their labour, contributing to the socio-economic upliftment of communities and the overall advancement of the tea industry. KTDA stands as a beacon of inspiration, demonstrating how local empowerment and strategic processing can transform agriculture into a driving force of economic growth.\nFurther afield, the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) has exemplified the potential for agro-processing to create a global impact. The structure and success of KMC were emulated by the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), which has now risen to prominence as one of the world's leading meat commissions.\nThis testament to Kenya's agro-processing prowess underscores the importance of benchmarking against global standards. KMC's legacy serves as a testament to how meticulous planning, efficient processing, and sustainable practices can not only elevate local industries but also serve as blueprints for international success. This cross-border recognition sheds light on Kenya's potential to be a source of expertise and innovation in agro-processing on the global stage.\nTourism: Showcasing Kenya's Natural Beauty\nBeyond agriculture, the tourism sector stands as a beacon of opportunity for economic revival. Kenya boasts a unique blend of captivating wildlife, pristine beaches, and diverse cultural experiences that can make it a global tourism powerhouse. The sector's impact on employment generation cannot be overlooked. A key statistic worth noting, for every 10 tourists who visit the country, one permanent job is created.\nHowever, it's crucial to underscore the vast untapped potential that lies within Kenya's grasp. A fascinating comparison puts this into perspective. France, a world-renowned tourist destination, welcomes a staggering 117 million tourist visits annually. In contrast, Kenya's highest-recorded tourist numbers reached 2 million in 2011. Remarkably, Kenya is approximately 5% larger than France in terms of land area. This stark juxtaposition brings to light the immense room for growth within Kenya's tourism sector.\nThe implications of this growth are profound, particularly when considering Kenya's demographic challenges. With approximately 5 million unemployed youth, the potential of tourism becomes more than just an economic endeavour – it transforms into a solution to a pressing societal issue.\nAchieving even 50% of France's tourist numbers could potentially resolve a significant portion of Kenya's youth unemployment problem. The equation is straightforward: more tourists mean more demand for services, accommodation, and entertainment, translating to increased job opportunities for our young population.\nAnother intriguing aspect is the trajectory of France's tourism industry. A substantial portion of its tourist visits originate from neighbouring countries. This dynamic emphasizes the importance of regional collaboration. In Kenya's case, fostering strong ties within the East African community can significantly augment tourist inflow. As we embrace our regional partners, we tap into a vast pool of potential visitors who seek the allure of Kenya's wildlife, landscapes, and cultural diversity.\nForeign tourism aside, virtues of tourism have been particularly magnified in recent times, especially during the tumultuous era of the COVID-19 pandemic when international tourists faced vast travel restrictions. It was during this period that the significance of domestic tourism shone through.\nAs foreign tourists were unable to visit the country due to various limitations, the local population took the opportunity to explore their own backyard. This not only rekindled a sense of pride in our nation's natural splendour but also provided a vital lifeline to many businesses that relied on tourism. The rise of local tourism during the pandemic showcased its potential to provide a stable revenue stream, even during global crises, positioning it as a steadfast pillar of economic resilience.\nAn intriguing facet of Kenya's landscape lies in the numerous citizens who own houses in their rural homesteads, often left unused for long stretches of time. These properties represent a latent resource that can be harnessed for economic gain. By converting these houses into Airbnb accommodations, owners can generate passive income while simultaneously promoting inter-county tourism.\nThis multifaceted approach addresses not only economic revitalization but also encourages the discovery of hidden gems within our nation, creating a sense of unity and shared experience among Kenyan citizens.\nWhen it comes to foreign tourism, we must embrace our immediate neighbours in the East African community. This collaborative approach fosters a sense of solidarity among neighbouring nations while collectively strengthening the appeal of the region. By easing travel restrictions and promoting cross-border tourism, we can stimulate the flow of visitors within East Africa, providing a much-needed boost to our economies. This sense of interconnectedness contributes to the strengthening of regional ties, fostering stability and mutual growth.\nWhile local tourism should be accessible to all segments of our society, promoting inclusivity and unity, a distinctive pricing model for foreign tourists should be implemented. By charging a premium to international visitors, we can capitalize on their tourism expenditures, fortifying our economy and funnelling these resources into the broader development of our nation.\nThe dual approach of revenue generation has an integral component: the preservation of our natural heritage. While it is prudent to charge top dollar for foreigners visiting our renowned national parks, this approach should not deter local citizens from experiencing their own treasures. Ensuring that entrance fees remain affordable for Kenyan citizens encourages broader engagement with our natural wonders.\nCritical enablers: ICT and financial services\nThe resurgence of agriculture and the rekindling of tourism stand as the cornerstones of Kenya's economic revitalization. As these sectors thrive, their impact reverberates beyond their immediate domains, creating a fertile ground for the growth of ICT and financial services.\nIn a world driven by connectivity and innovation, the surge in agricultural productivity and the expansion of the tourism industry creates demands that can be met by technological advancements. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is poised to be the driving force that catalyses these advancements.\nFrom smart farming solutions to seamless online booking platforms, ICT bridges the gap between traditional practices and modern efficiency, amplifying the impact of growth in agriculture and tourism. The nexus between agriculture, tourism, and ICT sparks a chain reaction of growth that extends into the realm of financial services. The burgeoning agricultural and tourism industries invigorate the financial sector by generating a demand for banking, insurance, and investment solutions.\nFinancial institutions will play a pivotal role in sustaining this growth, offering tailored services to support the expansion of these sectors. Moreover, the growth in financial services will lead to a symbiotic cycle, as increased capital availability paves the way for more substantial investments in agriculture and tourism. This virtuous cycle contributes not only to the immediate financial landscape but also to long-term stability, propelling Kenya toward economic self-sufficiency and resilience.Ultimately, Kenya's pursuit of economic revival beckons us to return to the pillars envisioned by Vision 2030. Our concerted efforts to revitalize both agriculture and tourism will pave the way for a renaissance that promises not just economic resurgence, but enduring sustainability and resilience in the face of future challenges.\nIt is my firm belief that this back-to-basics strategy is the compass guiding us toward a future illuminated by prosperity and a higher quality of life for all Kenyans. It is time to sow the seeds of renewal, cultivating a harvest of sustainable growth that nurtures both our people and our land.\nDr Kipngetich is Group CEO Jubilee Insurance", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486892/how-kenya-can-retrace-its-path-to-economic-revival"}
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+{"doc_id": "96e87ba1cc45f1dff50f12870552d844", "text": "Kenya’s financial landscape has undergone a transformation, revolutionising how we handle money and conduct daily financial transactions.\nToday, with a simple click, anyone, whether in Nairobi or Turkana, can seamlessly send and receive money using their mobile phones, regardless of their location.\nThis financial revolution, largely driven by the interoperability of mobile money services, has not only enhanced the lives of Kenyans but has also played a pivotal role in bolstering economic development and fostering financial inclusion.\nA fin-access survey conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows that by 2021, access to financial services had grown to 83.7 per cent compared to 26.6 per cent in 2006.\nThe report cites rapid technological advancement driven by key innovations in mobile money and mobile banking as the dominant factors.\nKey innovations in mobile money and mobile banking have been the driving force behind this remarkable leap, reducing geographical barriers and extending financial services to those previously excluded.\nTwo decades ago, sending money across the country or to remote villages was a complex and tedious task. At the time, banking infrastructure was largely confined to urban areas, leaving most rural parts of Kenya underserved.\nLuckily, these challenges faded with the introduction of mobile money in the late 2000s.\nThe rise in popularity of mobile money can be widely attributed to its ability to promote access to financial services among secluded and unbanked populations, allowing them to participate in the formal financial system, save, transact, and access credit through their mobile phones.\nOne key driver of financial inclusivity is mobile money interoperability, which empowers various mobile money service providers to facilitate cross-platform payments.\nIn the context of financial services, interoperability allows a person using one mobile money network to easily send money across other networks.\nA standard case of interoperability is the person-to-person (P2P) transfer which allows you to transfer money between different mobile money platforms, such as Airtel Money, M-Pesa, and T-Kash.\nWe also have merchant interoperability where Airtel Money registered customers can make payments to any M-Pesa Buy Goods Till and Paybill Numbers. This not only saves time and reduces costs but also enhances the overall functioning of the financial system.\nSeamless process\nIt has opened doors for individuals who may not have the same mobile money provider to engage in transactions effortlessly. For instance, when you use Airtel Money to transfer money to other networks, you will experience a seamless process. Additionally, sending money from Airtel Money to other networks is affordable.\nHowever, there are some setbacks Kenyans still encounter regarding mobile money interoperability, which include, the challenges encountered by subscribers of other mobile money operators when they try to send money to Airtel Money customers.\nFor example, all feature and smartphone users cannot send money directly to Airtel Money from other networks, while using their SIM tool kit, customers are charged high fees for the transaction.\nWith today’s technological advancement, I am sure these processes could be made better by allowing a seamless and trouble-free customer journey, where customers can send money directly to other recipients’ mobile money wallets.\nAchieving the full potential of mobile money requires sustained investments in infrastructure and favourable regulatory frameworks.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486226/easing-mobile-money-interoperability-a-boon-to-financial-inclusion"}
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+{"doc_id": "97eb9d7e3693fd3abbbe964bc3baa332", "text": "A question in the minds of observers is whether South Sudan leader Salva Kiir Mayardit will be an astute vision bearer for the East African Community.\nKiir, whose country joined the bloc in 2016 became its chairman last month after Burundi’s Évariste Ndayishimiye called it a day.\nThere are fears that he lacks the moral authority to rally the region toward peace and common aspirations. At home, it’s alleged he embodies repression and has betrayed his people’s hopes.\nAlso, Kiir is settling in for the new role when opinion is divided over the brittle peace process in South Sudan. In August last year, the president and other parties to the 2018 treaty extended it for two years from February this year following a missed deadline. The outcome could be dicey.\nNo matter how things pan out in South Sudan, failure will not be an option for the new EAC torchbearer who dons a giant Texan cowboy and loves threatening journalists that press freedom doesn’t mean you ‘work against’ your country.\nHere’s my two cents for Mr Kiir. He must remedy all EAC’s past failures and pave the way for creative energies that will build good governance, innovation and economic consciousness. He must become politically moderate and seek a swift departure from the ‘all mouth but no action’ trend.\nKiir will need to look beyond selfish interests to inspire confidence. He must shed off the tag of dictator – real or imagined – and wear the mien of a diplomat who overlooks boundaries, converts them to stepping stones and builds bridges that will make the region formidable.\nHe should embrace the words of Sir Kristian Goldman who, in the ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’, said that the world needs peacemakers than warmongers…and war is unworthy since the dignity of humanity will be trampled underfoot. Yes, the new chairman could take us to Canaan or bury our dreams in a dark abyss.\n- Ministry of Health seeks EACC's support to strengthen, implement UHC\n- How new technique can spur learners' curiosity\n- Agony for woman detained over Sh2m bill after son's lungs collapsed\n- Medical milestone as KU Hospital undertakes first CyberKnife treatment\nFailure at home, if any, should not blur the future. Let Mr Kiir work with Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and now Somalia (the new kid in the bloc) to rethink what, where, and how we undertake production in view of a globalised economy. Empowering micro producers is a good starting point.\nAddressing petty border fights, ending climate-driven hunger and addressing unwarranted sibling wars will equally be too important to ignore. We’ve seen countries auction and burn poultry and animals from across the border. In the Covid period, truck drivers suffered in neighbouring countries. Many were harangued before the courts for lacking test certificates.\nSimilarly, there have been barbs over consumer products like sugar, milk and eggs. A territorial conflict in Lake Victoria has split pet neighbours of Kenya and Uganda, with fishermen, mostly Kenyan, harassed, beaten up and made to pay illegal taxes.\nKiir and his technocrats must end obstacles to integration. Author Joyce Meyer says patience is not simply the ability to wait – it is how we behave while waiting for an outcome. Usually, when the wait time slogs, things tumble.\nIt is a new chance for the EAC leadership to move beyond meetings in Arusha to widen space for synergies on human rights, jobs, climate change, justice, migration, education, equity and other fundamental rights. The region is raring to go and Article 5 of the EAC treaty should ring a bell.\nIntra-EAC trade has surged to $11 billion. Let growth in formal and informal trade, low tariffs, elimination of barriers, free movement of goods and people, intermodal connectivity and one-stop border posts impact lives. There’s no justification for EAC if it least benefits ‘hustler’ citizens.\nWill Kiir finally make EAC a single market and an economic powerhouse? Will we have a vibrant trading bloc with diverse benefits such as employment rights, peace and stability? How about the region’s ability to provide development assistance? He has the answers.\nThe writer is a communications practitioner. X: @markoloo", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486973/kiirs-term-a-new-chance-to-make-eac-work"}
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+{"doc_id": "98b5e4b5404a74afe910af26fb76be9c", "text": "Bombing Libya: The origin of Europe’s immigration crisis\nWilliam Blum Correspondent\nTHE world will long remember the present immigrant crisis in Europe, which has negatively affected countless people there, and almost all countries.\nHistory will certainly record it as a major tragedy.\nCould it have been averted? Or kept within much more reasonable humane bounds?\nAfter the United States and NATO began to bomb Libya in March 2011 — almost daily for more than six months! — to overthrow the government of Muammar Gaddafi (with the completely phoney excuse that Gaddafi was about to invade Benghazi, the Libyan center of his opponents, and so the United States and NATO were thus saving the people of that city from a massacre}, the Libyan leader declared: “Now listen you people of Nato. You’re bombing a wall, which stood in the way of African migration to Europe and in the way of al Qaeda terrorists. This wall was Libya. You’re breaking it. You’re idiots, and you will burn in Hell for thousands of migrants from Africa.”\nRemember also that Libya was a secular society, like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, all destroyed by America while supporting Saudi Arabia and various factions of al Qaeda. It’s these countries that have principally overrun Europe with refugees.\nGaddafi, like Saddam Hussein, had a tyrant side to him but could in important ways be benevolent and do very valuable things.\nHe, for example, founded the African Union and gave the Libyan people the highest standard of living in all of Africa; they had not only free education and health care but all kinds of other benefits that other Africans could only dream about.\nBut Muammar Gaddafi was never a properly obedient client of Washington.\nAmongst other shortcomings, the man threatened to replace the US dollar with gold for payment of oil transactions and create a common African currency.\nHe was, moreover, a strong supporter of the Palestinians and foe of Israel.\nIn 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the prime moving force behind the United States and NATO turning Libya into a failed state, where it remains today. The attack against Libya was one that the New York Times said Clinton had “championed”, convincing President Obama in “what was arguably her moment of greatest influence as Secretary of State.”\nThe American people and the American media of course swallowed the phoney story fed to them, though no evidence of the alleged impending massacre has ever been presented. The nearest thing to an official US government account of the matter — a Congressional Research Service report on events in Libya for the period — makes no mention at all of the threatened massacre. Keep this in mind when reading the latest accusations against Russia.\nThe US/NATO heavy bombing of Libya led also to the widespread dispersal throughout North African and Middle East hotspots of the gigantic arsenal of weaponry that Gaddafi had accumulated. Libya is now a haven for terrorists, from al Qaeda to ISIS, whereas Gaddafi had been a leading foe of terrorists.\nWilliam Blum is the author of Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, Rogue State: a guide to the World’s Only Super Power. This article is reproduced from Counterpunch", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/bombing-libya-the-origin-of-europes-immigration-crisis/"}
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+{"doc_id": "9c341c23ac0dbcaf9eb30c0e9e5ce0ae", "text": "President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga are on a collision course over the latter’s incessant calls for a referendum on key proposals contained in the recently launched National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report.\nRaila, who has hinted at taking a sixth stab at the presidency in 2027, has rallied his troops in readiness for a plebiscite which could not only have far reaching political ramifications but one that also seeks to alter the country’s governance structure.\nHis remarks during an ODM party member registration drive in Kakemega County on Friday have given the clearest indication yet that the former premier has opened a new battle front with the Ruto administration and seeks to ride on its current wave of unpopularity to gain political leverage ahead of the general polls in the next four years.\n“Increasing taxes will not address the current cost of living. The Kenya kwanza government came to power without any plan on how to lead and if they stayed even for 100 years there is no change that they are going to bring,” said Raila.\nThe remarks came two days after he endorsed the NADCO report and explicitly called for a referendum to implement key proposals in the report such as the establishment of the office of the official opposition leader and entrenchment of the Prime Cabinet Secretary’s office into the Constitution.\n“…Besides it is a constitutional requirement that such significant restructuring of government must go through a referendum to avoid the mischief that may be played by some people going to court,” he stated.\nA plebiscite before the next general election would however deal President Ruto a huge blow even as he faces the dilemma of going that route or staying his course. Should he heed to the calls by the opposition, Ruto risks losing his political grip owing to his mounting unpopularity, including among those who voted for him last year, emanating from lacking solutions to the high cost of living, the country’s dwindling economic fortunes, a weakening currency and unemployment more than one year into office.\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto reaffirms State's support for health sector under devolution\nThe President’s allies and lieutenants are also alive to the fact that a referendum this early in his presidency could lead to a vote of no confidence in his administration- a development that could easily propel his political nemesis, Raila, into power come the next elections.\nMembers of Parliament from the Kenya Kwanza Alliance fold are now hurtling to shut out talk of a referendum, accusing Raila and his Azimio la Umoja Coalition of exploiting the NADCO report for political leverage.\nThey estimate a plebiscite would cost approximately Sh6 billion, an expense that would not only disrupt the regimes development agenda but also the economic recovery blueprint.\n“I have never supported the dialogue right from the word go since it does not address common Kenyan issues rather top class political comfort....this (referendum) is a route that the President must not follow. The president must focus on economic recovery,” said Mukurweini MP John Kaguchia.\nSabatia MP Clement Sloya pointed out the insincerity in the calls for a referendum by the opposition, questioning how it continues to agitate for such an expensive undertaking while at the same time demanding the cost of living needs to be addressed.\nPolicy shifts\n“If a plebiscite is to happen, it should be undertaken at the right time but not now when the opposition seeks to disrupt the President’s programmes and add another tax burden on the people of Kenya. Let us focus on growing the economy and creating opportunities, “observed Sloya.\nApart from the creation of the office of leader of official opposition and two deputies and entrenchment of the Prime Cabinet Secretary’s office, report by NADCO, which was co-chaired by National Assembly Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wa and Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, proposes a raft of constitutional amendments and policy shifts to deal with the perennial post-election crises such as the extension of presidential election petition timelines within which the Supreme Court considers and rules on contested outcomes from 14 to 21 days.\nIt has also called for an increase in the term of the Senate from the current five to seven years, the formation of an independent commission to take over the roles of the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties and the merger of three commissions. They are the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).\nBut with a plebiscite in sight, pundits argue that a series of hurdles in the way could throw a spanner in the works and delay the change in the governance structure or even push it to after or during the 2027 General Election.\nThe first hurdle is the absence of a properly constituted Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) whose core mandate is to oversee and manage the electoral process and carrying out a boundaries’ delimitation exercise in line with the Constitution. The electoral agency is currently a shell of its former self following the exit of former chairman Wafula Chebukati and commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye on January 17 after their unrenewable six-year terms lapsed.\nThe three were appointed in January 2017 alongside four others, who later resigned after the disputed 2017 elections. Former Vice-chairperson Juliana Cherera, and commissioners Francis Mathenge Wanderi, and Justus Nyang’aya resigned in December 2022 after President Ruto formed a tribunal to consider a petition seeking their removal from office over their conduct during the tallying and announcement of presidential results last August. Commissioner Irene Masit’s appointment was later terminated by Ruto after a tribunal found her guilty of gross misconduct.\nIn February, Ruto named an IEBC selection panel to pick nominees for appointments as the chairperson and members of IEBC.\nHowever, Azimio protested leading to the stoppage of its work to allow for dialogue.\nIn its report, NADOC recommends the establishment of an expanded IEBC selection panel, composed of nine members up from seven.\nPolitical Analyst Javas Bigambo was however categorical that the referendum is not a national priority and if it must be conducted, it should run concurrently with the 2027 General Election.\nResource intensive\n“Even once the IEBC is reconstituted, it will have its hands full dealing with more immediate and resource intensive matters such as the boundaries delimitation and comprehensive electoral reforms ahead of the 2027 general elections. Given the economic situation, we cannot go for the referendum then the boundaries delimitation and later the General Election,” said Bigambo.\nThe second hurdle, he pointed out, is the lack of legislation on how to conduct a referendum which clearly outlines how to deal with challenges that may arise upon conclusion such as a tie and other disputes.\n“Recent remarks by the Azimio leadership easily demonstrate that they are oblivious to gaps in policy and law and that they are not interested in a referendum but derailing Ruto’s programmes to try and expose his incompetence in the next general polls,” added Bigambo.\nAnother hurdle, observe pundits, is the cost of the referendum itself given that the country is still reeling from the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic that gutted major economic sectors and worsened the debt burden.\nThat, coupled with a rising high cost of living and mounting taxes have left low-income earners struggling.\nCompounding Kenyans’ woes is the fact that the NADCO report failed to clearly outline measures to tackle the high cost of living with the same being referred to the principals, President Ruto and Raila.\nLawyer Morara Omoke observes that should the political class arrive at a consensus to go the referendum route, they need to jump the hurdle of ensuring that there are limited proposals and that they must ensure the initiative is people driven.\nOmoke, who was instrumental in the sinking of the Building Bridges Initiative - which had similar proposals as the NADCO report - noted that the pursuers of the plebiscite need to ensure that their proposals are separated into two so that what requires parliamentary approval is done and what requires a popular initiative follows that route as opposed to presenting an omnibus proposal.\n“The challenge is that the political class needs to find a way of making the process people driven for it to pass the constitutional test. They have to make sure that the proposal are limited and if need be they could have multiple choice questions,” said Omoke.\nAll eyes are now on the two principals to seen how they proceed with implementation of the NADCO report.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001486582/is-a-referendum-the-new-battle-front-between-ruto-and-raila"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bf021087bc6bf8293e2659ef7771a6bd3d70e537
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+{"doc_id": "9e17fafcc123393937455efa82c7f985", "text": "2,5pc insurance tax not only peculiar to tobacco\nEdgar Vhera\nAgriculture Specialist Writer\nAS some tobacco farmers whine over the 2,5 percent insurance tax contained in Statutory Instrument (S.I.) 103 of 2023, the Insurance and Pension Commission (IPEC) has revealed that it was the standard charge internationally and was not only peculiar to Zimbabwe or the tobacco crop.\nIPEC director insurance and microinsurance Mrs Sibongile Siwela recently said the externalisation levy was charged for all insurance business that is placed outside the country and was not peculiar to tobacco insurance, adding that it had been in existence since 2016.\n“The levy is partly meant to discourage the externalisation of insurance business outside Zimbabwe as this results in the country losing the much-needed foreign currency, yet the local market may have the capacity to absorb the risk.\n“This practice is not unique to Zimbabwe but is done by most jurisdictions when an insurance company externalises risk. The main objective is to ensure that the collected premiums are used to develop the local economy instead of that of another country,” she said.\nS.I. 21 of 2016, S.I. 46 of 2022 and the recent S.I. 103 of 2023 all use the same formula to calculate insurance.\nAccording to S.I. 103 insurers and brokers placing business outside Zimbabwe shall be levied using the formula (a + rx), where a is fixed levy of US$92 per application, r is the rate of 0.025 and x is the external premium.\nThe only difference between these three S.I.s is the fixed levy, which was US$50 in 2016, $10 000 in 2022 and the current US$92.\nZimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) chief executive officer Mr Rodney Ambrose recently said due to the high-risk nature of insuring the high value tobacco crop, 80 percent of the risk was insured offshore as the local re-insurance market was unable to cover the risk.\n“IPEC has directed that all tobacco insurance premiums paid by farmers be subjected to a 2,5 percent tax payable to them. This tax will further increase the farmers cost of production and discourage farmers from taking out crop insurance, which is totally contrary to what the tobacco industry and the Government are pushing for, more so in light of climate change and the need for protection of the investments made by farmers and financiers,” he said.\nMr Ambrose believes before IPEC issues an approval for the placement of offshore insurance, the levy must be paid to them with the levy then added to the farmers insurance invoice by the insurance company who then remits it to IPEC on settlement.\n“Our concern remains that due to insufficient local risk cover capacity, tobacco has to be insured externally with global insurers. This is not the fault of the farmer and as such should be exempted from the 2, 5 percent tax. If there was sufficient local risk cover capacity and farmers chose to insure externally, we would have no objection to the levy,” the ZTA boss added.\nMeanwhile, in an effort to increase access to local funding, the Government localised tobacco production financing starting this 2023/24 season by removing restrictions on the use of locally sourced funds to support the production of tobacco in the country.\nPresenting the mid-term monetary policy statement recently, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Dr John Mangudya said locally sourced funds can now be used in funding tobacco production.\n“In terms of Section 4 of the Exchange Control (Tobacco Finance) Order, Statutory Instrument 61 of 2004, tobacco merchants are required to source offshore financing to produce and buyback green leaf tobacco. Tobacco merchants who fail to secure offshore financing are required to apply to the RBZ for authority to raise funds on the local market. With immediate effect, there will be no restrictions on the use of locally sourced funds to support the production of tobacco in the country,” said Dr Mangudya.\nThe RBZ boss said as a result of this development the Exchange Control (Tobacco Finance) Order, Statutory Instrument 61 of 2004 shall be amended to take account of this change. The RBZ has since issued directive RY114 of 2023 to operationalise the monetary policy statement.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/25pc-insurance-tax-not-only-peculiar-to-tobacco/"}
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+{"doc_id": "a0442e60fd86478e54251e49efc41f83", "text": "British politics needs dragging into 21st century . . . . . . lessons from Boris Johnson’s tenure\nJohn Harris-Correspondent\nOver the next few weeks, a maddening political game will unfold. The gaggle of MPs who want to be Tory leader and prime minister — some comically overconfident, others downright absurd — will make their pitch to Conservative MPs, party members and the general public.\nAll of them will claim they can clear up the debris left by Boris Johnson.\nAmid what is already starting to look like frenzied internal warfare, some of the loudest noise will be made by contenders offering a thoroughgoing return to the Tory credo of the small state and free market.\nMeanwhile, another ritual will continue — one that is as essential, in its own way, to political business-as-usual grinding on.\nWhatever is suggested by polls done in the midst of such a huge Tory meltdown, the Labour party still faces a huge uphill struggle to win a parliamentary majority.\nIt still has no convincing or even coherent narrative about what Britain has been through or where it is going, and a fresh fear may soon be nagging at its senior figures: when Johnson finally exits, what if a new Tory leader enjoys a honeymoon period and edges ahead?\nBut whenever any frustrations with Labour start to surface, the electoral system ensures it has an almost brutal pitch to voters: if millions of people want to try to get rid of the Conservatives, it remains the only option they have.\nSo far, Johnson’s downfall has been almost wholly understood as a matter of his character flaws and administrative incompetence, and the politicians who now present themselves as an alternative are mostly viewed in the same superficial terms.\nAt the same time, an awareness is slowly dawning of a much deeper aspect of what is happening: a tangle of crises that Johnson’s time in power made more vivid than ever, and that his downfall perfectly symbolises.\nPut bluntly, this country is in an awful, increasingly frightening mess, because its politics and system of power remain stuck in the past. The Conservatives have no answers — but neither, in any meaningful sense, does Labour. So what are we going to do?\nOne of our crises goes back centuries. The UK’s structures of government are based around an antiquated and centralised state, much of which was built during the distant days of empire, and that now barely functions.\nSwollen Whitehall departments cannot possibly do what ministers and civil servants claim.\nThe Houses of Parliament are a shabby symbol of institutional decay. Thanks to the continued existence of the House of Lords, our legislators include a Russian-British newspaper proprietor, Ian Botham and 92 hereditary peers.\nAnd the way we elect the Commons is a creaking joke: the “personal mandate” Johnson recently cited to try to keep himself in office amounted to the support of less than 30 percent of the electorate.\nWorse still, there is a deep, symbiotic connection between the institutions of Westminster and Whitehall and the structures of privilege centred on a handful of private schools, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.\nTogether, they have churned out people trained in the arcane ways of the establishment and how to network their way into power, but who usually turn out to be dangerous bullshitters and chancers.\nJohnson, obviously, was all this incarnate: once he had got to the top of a system that grants prime ministers mind-boggling levels of power, he could trample over constitutional conventions, push through legislation nullifying basic civil rights, and champion the breaking of international law (not to mention hand out honours to whomever he fancied — a habit that looks set to come roaring back).\nOur two other crises are closely interlinked. For 40 years now, the Conservative party has been devoted to the economic ideas glued into its soul by Margaret Thatcher, and overseen a mess of inequality, insecurity and economic fragility.\nAfter the crash of 2008, this approach was patched up on the basis that stagnating wages were matched by flatlining prices, and unprecedentedly low interest rates meant that enough people could get access to cheap credit.\nBut thanks to Brexit, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, all that has started to implode. The scale of the UK’s predicament sets it apart from just about all other advanced economies.\nNo one seems to have any palatable idea about how to tackle the return of inflation; in some quarters, there is grim talk about the only effective option being the return of mass unemployment.\nAgain, Johnson symbolises a lot of this story. The clearest proof to date that the post-Thatcher order could no longer hold was the huge vote for exiting the EU in places that had been the victims of it.\nOnce he had surfed the resulting political wave and become prime minister, he offered people in Brexit’s heartlands a winning bargain: that in return for their support, they would benefit from “levelling up” .\nClearly, he had no intention of keeping that promise: apart from anything else, his party’s enduring attachment to Thatcherism runs too deep. But even if his successor tries to somehow make levelling up meaningful, they will bump up against one of modern Britain’s defining paradoxes: the fact that Brexit’s dire economic consequences make the chances of helping many places that voted for it almost non-existent.\nA new Conservative leader will get nowhere near even beginning to untie these knots. The official opposition hardly suggests that it will be able to do so.\nBut in the anxious noises now being made by some Tories, you can divine how a new politics may start to take shape.\nThere is a lot of fear on the political right about cooperation between non-Tory parties that — in the words of a Johnson ally recently quoted in the Times — “would change the voting rules and force the Tories out of power for decades”.\nThis reflects increasingly huge support for changing the electoral system among Labour’s grassroots that matches longstanding policies of the Liberal Democrats and Greens, and a plan now being advocated by, among others, the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham.\nIts starting point would be something either opposed or spurned by every Labour leader from Tony Blair to Keir Starmer (including Jeremy Corbyn): Labour working with other progressive parties to bring in proportional representation, abolish the Lords and pursue unprecedented devolution.\nWhen I interviewed Burnham 10 days ago, his pitch was clear enough: “Business as usual isn’t going to get us where we need to get to. Not just from a political point of view, but in terms of where the country is.”\nDrastically altering our systems of power — and, via radical thinking about private education and Oxbridge, breaking up ancient networks of privilege and influence — would open the way to changes that would start to pull us out of our endless malaise: a huge housing drive, a basic income, security both within and without work, the kind of moves towards a closer relationship with Europe that the stupidities of current politics rule out.\nIt would also quash the chances of another entitled would-be Tory autocrat wheedling their way into power.\nThis is surely the lesson of the past three torrid years — that if Johnson’s time in power demonstrates one thing beyond question, it is the fact that British politics has to finally leave the 20th century. — Guardian", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/british-politics-needs-dragging-into-21st-century-lessons-from-boris-johnsons-tenure/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ab77493ede4931fd412b9a3baef5f2680394e3f5
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+{"doc_id": "a10976a47faf033a4f445128d40d4c4b", "text": "Agric Ministry bids for $55 trillion in 2024 budget\nThe Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development on Tuesday said it required at least $55 trillion from the 2024 budget to enable it to fully deliver on its mandate and programmes next year.\nIn the 2023 budget, the Ministry was allocated $362 billion, which was later revised to $1.6trillion.\nPresenting the Ministry’s expectations from the 2024 budget before the parliamentary portfolio committee on Lands and Agriculture, chief finance officer, Peter Mudzamiri said the Ministry was big, and had several programmes under implementation, hence the need for a commensurate budget.\n“The expenditure to date only reflects what has been paid, at present the government is on cash accounting; some might have been consumed but not yet paid. $1,6 trillion has been paid. Our projection is as of the end of this year we could spend $2,1 trillion cumulative from January to December,” he said.\n“We invited the parastatals to prepare the ideal budget which they think will effectively help them to deliver their mandate. Each parastatal submitted a bid figure, the total bid from the Ministry comes to $55 trillion, obviously it is segregated into various programmes and sub programmes,” he said.\nHe, however, said the Ministry had been given a ceiling of $2.9 trillion for the 2024 budget by Treasury.\n“The 2024 expenditure target, as you know Treasury has adopted a system of giving actual amounts, they give you a figure that you have to work around with, so what we got from Treasury is $2,9 trillion and we distributed it among the nine programmes,” Mudzamiri said.\nPermanent Secretary for the Ministry, Professor Obert Jiri pleaded with the committee to push for the allocation of more funds from the national budget.\n“Our budget is never enough and our programmes are too many. Most of the people think we can be treated like any other ministry, but we are five ministries in one. Our resources are never enough. We got a resource envelope of $2.8 trillion which is not adequate. We require your support so that the envelope is increased,” he said. — New Ziana", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/agric-ministry-bids-for-55-trillion-in-2024-budget/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d59856cbd2799a0ac6913168b99caaf74549bb00
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+{"doc_id": "a4a160eaa1f8d33445b83d1ce9fa447e", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Today, more than 80 per cent of Kenyans have, thanks to rapid financial innovation and evolution of mobile money, agency banking and other captive financial products.\n- The first challenge that Equity turned into an opportunity was to shelter low-income Kenyans who were being kicked out of imperial banks in the early 1990s.\n- Equity has achieved a ten-fold growth every five years; Ethiopia has sustained a double-digit growth rate for a long time; and China has been growing at a consistently respectable rate.\nThe oft-told story of Kenya’s thunderous success in deepening financial access to the poor never loses flavour.\nFew would recall that, just 10 years ago, having access to financial services differentiated the rich from the poor. Only the privileged few had access to banking services.\nToday, more than 80 per cent of Kenyans have, thanks to rapid financial innovation and evolution of mobile money, agency banking and other captive financial products.\nThe transformative impact of access to financial services is captured in a book launched in Nairobi on Monday, which features Equity Bank as a unique high-impact enterprise that has revolutionised banking and changed people’s lives.\nDeveloping Africa’s Financial Services: The Importance of High-Impact Entrepreneurship, edited by Dana T. Redford, features the Equity Bank Group alongside Atlantico Bank of Angola, Fidelity Bank of Ghana and Banco Unico of Mozambique as undisputed market leaders in high-impact entrepreneurship in Africa.\nINSPIRING STORIES\nAlthough Equity has been extensively profiled as one of the most inspiring stories of African entrepreneurship and financial innovation, there’s always a fresh flavour and interest in its character.\nThe book intertwines Equity’s contribution to financial services access, economic growth and equity with the vision and high-impact entrepreneurship of its leader James Mwangi, credited with transforming it from an insolvent building society in 1993 to the top banking group in Eastern and Southern Africa.\nThe biggest story isn’t really about Equity as an institution but more about how entrepreneurs take huge risks to turn challenges into opportunities even in the worst of times.\nThe first challenge that Equity turned into an opportunity was to shelter low-income Kenyans who were being kicked out of imperial banks in the early 1990s. The latest FinAccess survey, of February 2016, showed that only 26.7 per cent of Kenyans enjoyed formal banking services in 2006 but, a decade later, that had tripled to 75.3 per cent. Most of the hitherto desperate “unbankable” Kenyans are some of the leading micro-, small- and medium entrepreneurs.\nFINANCIAL ACCESS\nEquity has made the greatest contribution to deepening financial access. It has more than 12.1 million clients, or 56 per cent of all bank customers — meaning the other 42 banks share 44 per cent of the customers or one per cent each.\nEquity also survived through the political and economic shocks that Kenya has gone through in the past two decades, including several banking crises that shook the financial sector to the core. It built a balance sheet of over $5.5 billion — eight per cent of Kenya’s gross domestic product — created more than 350,000 direct and indirect jobs and turned small investors into millionaires and billionaires.\nHigh-impact entrepreneurship can transform financial services, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare and the other pillars of the economic growth and shared prosperity. The private sector has a great opportunity to shape Kenya’s future by taking investment risks that will pay off when the tide turns.\nSLUGGISH ECONOMY\nKenyans are ambitious. They have an opportunity to drive Kenya from a sluggish economy stuck in a five per cent growth rut to a high-growth middle-income economy sustaining a medium- to long-term growth rate of 8-10 per cent a year.\nEquity has achieved a ten-fold growth every five years; Ethiopia has sustained a double-digit growth rate for a long time; and China has been growing at a consistently respectable rate, churning out millionaires with ease.\nThe government has a responsibility to support risk takers by removing constraints to enterprise growth and providing a conducive environment for expanding opportunities for innovative, high-impact ideas to be converted into wealth and jobs.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/Lessons-from-Equity-Bank-financial-inclusion-success-story-/440808-4258764-bxlles/index.html"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9a60205e41074f3e199bb62da4a0329f2d3e3a34
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+{"doc_id": "a5a9af3d72162fbd5103692e5ddf0020", "text": "What you need to know:\nTo many, including the UN Security Council, Russia “unjustly invaded” Ukraine, sparking the food and energy crises that are rocking the Kenyan and global economy.\nBelievable as it may sound, that is just one side of the story laced with “American propaganda”, according to Russia’s ambassador to Kenya Dmitry Maksimychev, who— like Moscow— maintains this is not an invasion but “a special operation”.\nIn this wide-ranging email interview with Nation.Africa, Maksimychev cites whom to blame for the high prices of fuel, cooking gas and wheat products.\n- How would you describe Kenya-Russia ties in the past and today? Has there been any change?\nI think that our cooperation with Kenya is developing very dynamically. A boost to it was given in 2019 by the historic meeting of our two leaders Vladimir Putin and Uhuru Kenyatta in Sochi at the Russia-Africa Summit. Of course, some plans had to be changed because of the Covid pandemic, but now, we are back on track. According to Russian official statistics, in 2021, our bilateral trade grew by 12 percent to reach almost $400 million. Of course, as ambassador of Russia, I would prefer more rapid progress, but I am still optimistic because the trend is clear and positive.\nWhat is important is that the trade has become more balanced. I mean, Russia now buys more Kenyan goods than previously. Kenyan exports to Russia grew by 60 percent in 2021!\nWe appreciate our cooperation with our Kenyan friends on international affairs. We maintain a vibrant and frank political dialogue, which is valuable given Kenya’s membership in the UN Security Council. On many international issues our positions are very close.\n- Based on Nairobi’s diplomatic ties with Moscow, were you disappointed that Kenya did not vote “No” to the US call for a UN General Assembly meeting to debate Russia invasion of Ukraine?\nFirst, a correction. It is not an invasion. It is a limited special military operation with goals and objectives that have been clearly formulated right from the beginning – demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine, and the protection of four million Russian-speaking people of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, against whom the Kiev regime has been waging a genocidal war for eight years with heavy artillery and rockets. Of course, for eight long years Western-dominated media, including here in Kenya, never paid attention to the plight of those millions of people being slaughtered.\nOn the other hand, we are still trading with Ukraine. We use their pipelines to pump natural gas to Europe. And we pay them hard currency for the transit services. And Ukraine takes the money. And asks for more gas to pump and more money. Does an invasion look like that?\nNow, on Kenya’s position. Kenya is a sovereign country that has every right to vote in accordance with its own reasons and circumstances. We respect that.\nWe also understand that many countries are under a lot of outside pressure and sometimes they are forced to make very difficult choices. This is a fact of life.\nUnlike US-led Western countries, we do not coerce UN member states to vote in our favour.\n- Later, in its statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kenya strongly condemned the Kremlin’s actions, warning that it was likely to rekindle dangerous expansions by “dead” empires. What is your reaction to that?\nAgain, it is not an invasion. I will not come back to it anymore.\nI do not think that the allusion Ambassador Kimani made to the former British empire is accurate or in any way relevant to the Ukrainian situation. The Soviet Union was not a colonial empire but a free federation of states. When those states decided to separate, they did so in a peaceful and orderly manner.\nThe problem in Ukraine, who within the USSR became one of the richest and most industrially developed economies of Europe, is its tragic inability to find a raison d’etre and an ideology that would enable them to develop freely, happily and in harmony with its neighbours.\nAll they could think of as national identity was extreme nationalism and neo-Nazism embodied in the figures of WWII Nazi collaborators and convicted war criminals Bandera and Shukhevich, personally responsible for the genocide of hundreds of thousands of Jews, Poles, Belorussians, Ukrainians and Russians under Nazi occupation of the Soviet Union. This is what alienated millions of their own countrymen from the Kiev regime.\nBut Kiev still does not understand that they cannot build a stable and prosperous country by brute violence and oppression, terror and torture against their own people. It is tragic that the countless crimes committed by the Kiev regime over the last eight years have always been not only condoned but openly encouraged by their EU and US patrons who have been and still are using Ukraine as a pawn in their dirty geopolitical games against Russia. This makes them accomplices in these crimes.\nAnd, by the way, did you know that Ukraine and the US are the only two countries in the world who year after year vote against a UN General Assembly resolution on combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance? They definitely must know something about themselves.\nI am saying this not to argue with Ambassador Kimani, whom I respect deeply, and who is undoubtedly better versed in British colonial history than I am, but just to put you in context.\n- Kenya and other African states are experiencing acute shortages of wheat and petroleum products, among other essential commodities, because of Russia’ invasion of Ukraine. Do you regret your actions?\nOn food shortages, there are two things that you need to understand.\nFirst, the growth of food prices started several years ago as a result of the very irresponsible and, frankly, inadequate policies of the US, the EU and the like in response to an unfolding global financial and economic crisis they themselves provoked that was also exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. Basically, what they did was printing money, borrowing, speculating, and printing money again. Inevitably, this led to inflation. There are certain economic laws that even the US and the EU cannot violate with impunity.\nSecond, they used the pretext of the Ukraine crisis to wage economic war on Russia, isolate us as one of the world’s largest producers of food and fertilisers from the markets by denying us access to financial and transport services. Of course, this leads to shrinking offers of food and fertilisers and soaring prices. It’s the economy…\nYour question on regrets should be redirected to Brussels [EU headquarters], Washington, London, Ottawa, etc., who generated the food crisis.\nMy only regret is that the West’s inept economic policies and dirty geopolitical games jeopardise food security and development of Africa.\n- And why has Russia stopped wheat exports to regions that heavily depend on such supplies, including Kenya and the Horn of Africa in general?\nTo supply something to somewhere, you need access to money, to transport, insurance, etc. You also need access to the money your buyer is willing to pay to you. Without all this, trade is impossible. But because of illegal “sanctions” by the EU, US, UK and the like, we do not have access to all these services, we cannot use the SWIFT payment system, and we cannot use neither euros nor dollars. How can we trade? Ask Brussels, London, Washington, etc.\nAnd, by the way, ask them, why don’t they sell you the wheat Africa needs? They are also big producers. And they make lots and lots of money on it.\nWe are trying to figure out other ways to trade, but we are not yet there.\n- Still on trade, how can Russia be considered a reliable partner in trade if they announce that gas and oil deliveries are to be paid in rubles, in spite of existing trade agreements that say otherwise?\nBy stealing our sovereign reserves and other assets, the EU, UK, US and the like have defaulted on their financial obligations to us. In spite of the existing agreements that say that thou shalt not steal. That is why we do not consider them reliable partners and do not want to use their currencies that they are going to steal from us through their financial system. Even if they pay. That is why we have told them (only unfriendly countries) that if they want our natural gas, they will have to pay in Russian rubles that they physically cannot steal. This makes them nervous for some reason.\nOf course, these limitations do not apply to friendly countries who do not steal our money.\n- What is your message to hundreds of millions of Africans, including innocent students, who have suffered because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?\nTo African students, I would say that we sympathise with your sufferings that were caused not by Russia but by the racist Kiev regime who exacerbated your plight by not allowing you to evacuate to Russia (the shortest and safest route from Sumy), and making you spend exorbitant amounts of money to travel a thousand kilometres to the Polish border and harassing and humiliating you along the way. And I would add that those who would like to continue their studies in Russia on government scholarships are welcome to apply to the Russian Embassy in Nairobi. We will see what we can do.\nTo the hundreds of millions of Africans, I would say that Russia is your true friend. We never colonised Africa, we never engaged in slave trade, we never exploited Africa economically. What we did was play a key role in the liberation of Africa from colonialism, and we helped African countries to build their free independent states. We are continuing the same glorious traditions of friendship and cooperation with Africa.\nThe problem is that the former colonial masters of Africa, slave traders and racists want to prevent us from cooperating with you. Think of it.\nAnd don’t let yourself be fooled by the empire of lies that is Western propaganda and Western media. Be intellectually free and independent.\nNext: Read Russia's take on Africans fighting in the war in Ukraine.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/africa/news/russia-to-kenya-blame-us-and-eu-for-high-food-fuel-prices-3780782"}
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+{"doc_id": "aa2ac5798c346eca4d160d28cbf8c1ff", "text": "ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi who was nominated by President William Ruto as Prime Cabinet Secretary will today be vetted by the National Assembly.\nIf approved by MPs, he will become a powerful politician.\nMudavadi will be the first to appear before the Committee on Appointments which is vetting 21 nominees to the Cabinet between today and Friday.\nThe ANC leader is likely to return to government after nearly 10 years in the cold. His last appointment was in 2012 when he served as Deputy Prime Minister in the grand coalition government.\nMudavadi was the brains behind the formation of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance that brings together President Ruto's UDA, ANC and Ford-Kenya party of Moses Wetang'ula, among others.\nThe Head of State has assigned the ANC leader key roles that place him at the centre of the Kenya Kwanza administration.\nIf approved by Parliament, Mudavadi will assist the President and the Deputy President in the coordination and supervision of ministries and State departments.\nPolitical analysts believe the ANC leader is suitable for the Prime CS position since he will be the link between the Executive and the Legislature in ensuring the policies of the Kenya Kwanza government are fully actualised.\nDelivery fulcrum\n\"The docket entails coordination, evaluation, monitoring and implementation. As designated, it will be the fulcrum upon which delivery of public services will be measured,\" said Dr Alutalala Mukwana.\nProf Peter Kagwanja added, \"Character is key in terms of how one delivers the assigned task. Mudavadi has been known to be a safe pair of hands, humble, trustworthy, focused leader, and diplomatic. These are key attributes for the effective delivery of the job.\"\nUnder Executive Order No.1 of 2022, President Ruto designated the roles of the holder of the Office of the Prime CS, including handling the Government Delivery Unit.\nThe ANC leader will be tasked with liaising with the ministry responsible for Interior and National Administration in overseeing the implementation of national government policies, and coordinating the national government legislative agenda.\nMudavadi will also chair the Principal Secretaries Committees and supervise the technical monitoring of government programmes. According to the Kenya Kwanza agreement, Ford Kenya and ANC will jointly have 30 per cent of the positions in the national government, including Cs, PS, ambassadors and directors of State corporations and parastatals.\nSources say these positions are reserved for the political parties and not for the duo as Western leaders hence will be distributed to ANC and Ford-K allies across the country.\nFord Kenya leader Wetang'ula has already been rewarded by being elected National Assembly Speaker.\nAccording to the Kenya Kwanza agreement, Western is poised to benefit from the construction of 1,000km of bitumen roads and the revival of Mumias Sugar Company, among other projects.\nIn Western, Mudavadi and Wetang'ula chipped away Azimio leader Raila Odinga's support in Bungoma, Kakamega, Vihiga, and Trans Nzoia.\nMudavadi has been out of government for more than 10 years, having last served as Deputy Prime Minister and minister for local government between 2008 and 2013 in the grand coalition government.\nThe one-time Finance minister promised that a Kenya Kwanza government would prioritise revamping the economy and lowering the cost of basic items.\nHe is remembered for his steadfast leadership at Treasury in the early 1990s when he convinced donors to resume aid to Kenya after they had placed sanctions over claims of massive corruption.\nLiberator\nIt was during his stint at the Exchequer that he initiated the Kenya Revenue Authority while his stint at the Transport docket was marked by the liberalisation of the communications sector.\nThe move led to the emergence of numerous radio and TV stations and the split of the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) and; a bold go at privatisation that opened doors for the birth and growth of entities like Safaricom and Airtel.\nMudavadi, who has been in politics for 33 years, made his political debut in 1989 when he was elected to Parliament as MP for Sabatia at the age of 29 in a by-election following the death of his father Moses Budamba Mudavadi.\nUpon his election as MP for Sabatia, he was appointed minister for Supplies and Marketing.\nHe served in Cabinet for 18 years in the ministries of Agriculture, Finance, Transport, Information and Broadcasting as well as Local Government in addition to being appointed Vice President by former President Daniel arap Moi and serving as Deputy Prime Minister in the grand coalition government.\nOther key nominees to be vetted today include former Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi who is the nominee for Attorney General, Aden Duale (Defence), Alfred Mutua (Foreign Affairs) and Alice Wahome (Water).", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001458295/musalia-mudavadi-makes-comeback-after-decade-in-political-cold"}
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+{"doc_id": "ac4406ffc1045de15a0eb00ba7a5550e", "text": "Budget puts leash on Govt spending\nTaurai Mangudhla Senior Business Reporter\nGovernment has proposed a cocktail of measures to cut recurrent expenditure, including civil service and diplomatic staff rationalisation, a reduction in the size of the executive, a cut in staff benefits and restrictions on travels in 2018 National Budget proposals announced yesterday.\nThis is part of a new economic order involving the implementation of a comprehensive and coherent expenditure management strategy that reorients resources towards development programmes for the benefit of Zimbabweans, said Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa.\nHe said measures to reduce the Government wage bill included a freeze on recruitment, retirement of staff above 65 years of age in line with existing policy, the introduction of a voluntary retirement scheme and a cut in staff benefits.\nThis dovetails with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s move last week when he trimmed his Cabinet by 22 percent from 27 to 22 ministers by combining some functions and removing duplication.\nMinister Chinamasa said redundant officers will be retired.\nHe said Cabinet had resolved to abolish youth officer posts in the Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment by transferring their roles and functions to ward development coordinators in the Ministry of Women, Gender and Community Development with immediate effect.\nThis, Minister Chinamasa said, will rationalise the total youth officers and the ward development coordinators establishment from 7 269 to 3 530, translating to a saving of $1,6 million per month and $19,3 million per annum.\nMinister Chinamasa said 528 members of the Public Service without requisite qualifications in terms of Section 18 (4) e (ii) of the Public Service Regulations were being retired.\nHe said Government had reduced fuel benefits across the board and will also cut the number of people who benefit from the personal vehicle scheme.\n“Currently, too many grades in the Public Service are provided with vehicles as a condition of service every five years, with the vehicles being licensed, insured, serviced and repaired at Government expense,” said Minister Chinamasa.\n“The total outstanding request for condition of service vehicles is now close to $140 million, which the economy in its state cannot afford,” he said.\nHe said Government had reviewed the vehicle scheme to allow permanent secretaries and equivalent grades, one personal issue vehicle; commissioners and equivalent grades, one vehicle; and principal directors, directors and deputy directors and their equivalents, vehicle loan scheme.\nStrict reduction in the size of delegations that travel to regional and international destinations would be restricted to levels that are absolutely necessary where there is diplomatic presence, taking advantage of this to realise representation in outside meetings.\n“As directed by His Excellency, the President, Government will also be enforcing restrictions on the class of travel on the basis of grade, as communicated through periodic Treasury Circulars to Heads of Ministries.\n“In this regard, business class travel will, with immediate effect, be restricted to the following categories: Ministers; Heads of Ministries and equivalent grades; parastatals chief executive officers; local authorities mayors, town clerks, chief executive officers; and constitutional commissioners,” Minister Chinamasa said, adding all those below the stipulated grades would be restricted to economy class travel regardless of flight duration, with immediate effect.\nGovernment also proposed to reduce its diplomatic presence and introduce a ceiling on rentals for foreign missions.\nCurrently, Zimbabwe has 46 embassies and consulates, manned by both home based and locally recruited staff.\nThis was imposing annual Budget support levels of around $65 million, which was far above available capacity, the Minister said.\nPackages and conditions of service for constitutional commissions would also be reviewed to make commissioners part-time except for the chair and also abolish vehicle benefits.\nPublic enterprises and local authorities would no longer get budgetary support unless they motivated for it by proving that their projects were bankable as part of means to reduce losses, while execution of public sector projects would be done with increased accountability, he said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/budget-puts-leash-on-govt-spending/"}
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+{"doc_id": "ad94bd45fb8e2e087b6d4afec77e09c3", "text": "8 300 more teachers hired\nMukudzei Chingwere–Herald Reporter\nAnother 8 382 teachers are being hired by the Government as the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is looking to further its national educational goals anchored on providing quality, inclusive and equitable education for all.\nSchools opened on January 9 for the first term, and Government is looking forward to an intensive and disruption-free term.\nThe previous three years saw some disruption as lockdowns and other measures were put in place to control the spread of the Covid-19.\nMinistry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson Mr Taungana Ndoro said schools had opened smoothly and it was back to business for all schools.\nThough the staffing levels were coping with the current work load, Mr Ndoro said Government, however, felt the need to recruit more teachers to complement the existing staff.\nOver 7 000 names were sent to Treasury for its concurrence and to budget for their salaries and allowances before they were engaged while 1 382 names were still with the Public Service Commission for vetting and approval.\nMr Ndoro confirmed the developments saying: “We have 1 382 attrition posts awaiting PSC approval, and they will be recruited once the processes are done.\n“We also have 7 000 posts sent to Treasury for concurrence so they will also be joining once the process is done,” said Mr Ndoro.\n“Everyone is back at school and it’s business as usual across the country. However, there are schools which need more staff and that is why the process of engaging more teachers is in place,” said Mr Ndoro.\nThe incoming teachers were coming to complement the existing staff as classes were ongoing without any disruption.\nRecruitment of more teachers is informed by President Mnangagwa’s strategic vision of ensuring quality and affordable education for all.\nThe vision of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is to engage all trained teachers willing to join the public sector.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/8-300-more-teachers-hired/"}
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+{"doc_id": "adf0a04024330fe985022e3d65b59263", "text": "Why does a red hot coals beget cold impotent ashes? As Kenya celebrates its 60th birthday tomorrow, the tribulations of some of the families whose patriarchs laid the foundation for the country give credence and currency to this question.\nPerhaps the clearest illustration is offered by the family of Eliud Wambu Mathu. This is the Riruta goatherd who defied his parents by going to school against their wishes in 1919, after befriending Johnstone Kamau Ngengi (Jomo Kenyatta), unwittingly opening up his world.\nMathu earned a place at Alliance High School where he also taught as the first African teacher, moved out to start his own school in Waithaka but later ditched the profession to join politics. He later made history as the first African representative in the Legislative Council (House of LEGCO) in 1944, where he served for 13 years.\nHe had also founded Kenya African Students Associations which later morphed into Kenya Africa Union and later Kenya African National Union (Kanu).\nThe pioneer teacher also distinguished himself as a polished politician and a keen investor.\nHowever, his 69-year-old daughter, Victoria Ngina, cannot understand why her father’s vast business empire, which he once guided from his headquarters at Development House, has vapourised like dewdrops in a desert.\nPerched on a poolside lounge at the 117-year-old Parklands Sports Club, Ngina intensely peers through her glasses in search of answers to the riddle of the Eliud Mathu’s family tribulations.\n“Can you believe it! None of Mathu’s 10 children got university education. It is sad that the children of a man who was the second Kenyan (after Mbiyu Koinange) to obtain a university degree could not advance their education,” Ngina observes.\nBut how could this be for a man who in 1972 owned a 3,000-acre ranch in Gilgil, was residing in Kianugu farm, a 40-acre piece of land in Gikambura ,which he had acquired before Kenya got independence in 1963? How could a man who also owned Mimosa Farm, a 500-acre coffee plantation which is today Runda Estate, leave his children rotting in want?\nThis is the same man who, while serving as the first comptroller of State House minding Kenyatta’s diary, had teamed up with two Greek brothers – Andrew Zagoritis and Elia Zagoritis – to establish Mae Properties derived from abbreviating the first names of the three partners.\nThe formation of the company was strategic because Nairobi had just won a bid in 1972 to establish United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters, the first third-world country to accommodate a UN body.\nOwing to Mimosa Estate’s proximity to Gigiri, Mathu saw an opportunity to establish a high-end residential estate to accommodate the UN staff. This is how Runda came into being. Today, in honour of the founders, the palatial estate has named roads after Eliud Mathu, Andrew Zagoritis and Elia Zagoritis.\nNgina’s world was shattered on April 16, 1972. She had skipped church to watch over her mother, Sophia Nyokabi, who was not feeling well. When her mother requested warm milk, Ngina hurried away but by the time she returned to her sickbed, the 52-year-old matriarch was sprawled on the floor.\nMathu was in his 3,000-acre Gilgil ranch at the time supervising the culling of his beef cattle. By the time a Good Samaritan helped the unconscious Nyokabi on to a vehicle to Nairobi Hospital, it was too late. She was pronounced dead on arrival.\n“This hit my father hard. He was so devastated that for about three weeks, he was hospitalised. When he later recovered somehow and returned to his duties at State House, Kenyatta and some other elders prevailed upon him to remarry. But life was never the same again.”\nWhen Mathu married Lilian Wambui in the course of that year, he shifted from his home to a new house in Runda. Ngina and her siblings were now left in Gikambura.\n“Every time we wanted to see our father, we had to book an appointment. He was such a stickler to that rule that even his children had to see him only at the appointed time.”\nThe differences between the two family are such that when asked about her stepbrothers and sisters, Ngina explains they have never interacted.\nWith her father inaccessible, Ngina explains that none of her brothers and sisters could go to university and college.\n“I had to hide my identity to secure a job. It was demeaning for Mathu’s daughter to go looking for jobs without university education,” she says.\nAlthough she later acquired university education and a post-graduate degree, her brother and sisters were not as lucky.\nMathu’s only surviving son Nyoike is partially paralysed after a motor vehicle accident in his youth. He was able to live a normal life after medical intervention and years of managing the condition with medical treatments. His condition started to deteriorate when he retired and could no longer afford the medical treatments that he required, as a result of which he is now completely paralysed on one side and confined at home, requiring a full time nurse to take care of him.\nEliud Mathu’s other sons – Kimani, Ngugi and Kamau – died between 2000 and 2019.\nThey died, according to Ngina, because of “years of neglect resulting to misery, various ailments which could not be treated properly due to poverty, i.e. financial resources.”\nEven after working in foreign countries, sometimes disguising her identity from unsympathetic bosses who hated Mathu with a passion, Ngina says she was ultimately forced to sell her house in Lavington and settle in Machakos because she could not have the means to sustain herself after retirement.\nShe and her siblings are now fighting battles for a share of father’s business empire.\nThe strains in Mathu’s two families were more demonstrated during his burial on June 4, 1993.\nHis family life, in his eulogy which dedicated pages of his professional and academic exploits, was summarised in three short paragraphs where none of children were named.\nCourt documents filed later in pursuit of his estate show that Mathu died an unhappy man. He had at one time filed divorce proceedings against Wambui and there were claims that he had been confined against his will, at the time some of his properties were sold without his consent.\nA will he had allegedly prepared sharing out his vast empire between the two families was disputed.\nFor the last 30 years the battle for Mathu’s billions has raged in courts, the real worth of the estate has not been established but a peek into one of his investment vehicles offers some useful insights.\nOn August 17, 1971, Mathu teamed up with Jomo Kenyatta’s eldest son Peter Kenyatta, former freedom fighter Kungu Karumba and James Muhu Kangari to set up Nairobi Ranching Company.\nInvestment vehicle\nSome of the companies that were affiliated to Nairobi Ranching Company were Kenya Building and Construction Limited, Kungu Karumba Transport, Limited Sullivan Transport Limited, W.E Tilley Limited, Waithaka Slaughterhouse, Kenya Uniforms Limited, NAS Airport Services Limited, Gatharani Transport Limited and Elimu Limited.\nOthers were Tourist Africa Company Limited, Trio Properties Limited, Sweet Soil Kenya Limited, Kenya Building and Civil Engineering Contractors Limited, Gulf Engineering E.A Limited, Mae Properties Limited, Kianugu Farm and Nyoma Limited.\nIronically, the families of Mathu’s other partners, such as Kung’u, are also embroiled in a 49-year-old dispute over his property. Karumba disappeared in mysterious circumstances in 1974.\nPeter Muigai Kenyatta’s family has also been battling in various courts over his wealth. He died on October 28, 1979, a year after Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s death, and would be followed shortly after by one of his wives Esther Njoki Muigai, who was murdered on October 16, 1980.\nThe families of Mathu’s peers, Mbiyu Koinange, Njenga Karume and Fred Kubai, too have been afflicted by the curse of inheritance where they have spent millions of shillings in courts as they engage in long battles.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001487056/eliud-mathu-property-fights-curse-of-kenyas-founding-fathers"}
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+{"doc_id": "ae0f2a42fc6edc57318f1e0d466f83b5", "text": "Commercial sex workers and other con artists who used to flock to tea-growing counties such as Kericho and Bomet are now finding it harder to lure tea farmers due to increased financial literacy.\nJoel “Maendelo” Chepkwony, a prominent farmer in Kericho county, recalls that back in the '80s and 90s when the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) released tea bonuses, twilight girls would take over bars and restaurants as well as Kericho town's streets.\n\"I know of a farmer who was lured by a prostitute into a lodging in the town where he was drugged and conned over Sh100,000. He is one of the many farmers who were conned in a similar fashion,\" he said.\nJames Cheruiyot added that when it wasn't the commercial sex workers having a field day, it was a con artist who would defraud gullible farmers' non-existence properties such as land or motor vehicles.\n\"Such criminals would for instance walk around with fake title deeds posing as land sellers only to vanish into thin air after swindling a farmer leaving him or her holding fake land documents,\" said Cheruiyot.\nBut such incidents are now rare.\nFinancial literacy and the rise of Saving and Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies (Saccos) have made tea farmers wiser and they are no longer easy prey to twilight girls and other cons.\nOne of the leading Sacco in safeguarding tea farmers and their earnings is Kenya Highlands Sacco.\nThe Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alice Koskei said the Sacco was registered in 1991 to address the financial challenges tea farmers were grappling with.\nThe Sacco has around 70,000 tea farmers who channel their tea proceeds through it.\n\"The Sacco is a brainchild of small-holder tea farmers under Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) who supply green leaf to Tegat tea factory. They were thereafter joined by their counterparts from Momul and Toror satellite factories,\" she said.\nThe CEO said after the establishment of the Sacco what followed was financial training and investment advice to the farmers.\n\"The first thing was to advise the farmers to draw up sound financial plans for the money and withdraw it in instalments,\" said Koskei.\nShe added, \"This was a change of approach from the days they were left by commercial banks to withdraw all the tea bonus from their accounts leading to misuse of the tea bonus and exposure to commercial sex workers and conmen,\" she said.\nKoskei indicated that Sh200 million of tea proceeds is channelled monthly through the Sacco which has five branches; Kapsoit (Headquarters), Kericho, Kabianga, Litein, and Silibwet in the neighbouring Bomet county.\n\"The branches were opened to take services closer to our members. We also have 21 agents spread across Kericho and Bomet county,\" she said.\nKoskei said this was a masterstroke against the criminal elements who used to prey on the tea farmers during bonus payout in Sacco's loan advance products.\n\"Based on a farmer's tea production and projected earning, a farmer can take school fees, farm or development loan product. The amount can be as little as Sh20,000 to as high Sh4 million at an interest rate of 12 per cent on reducing balance,\" she said.\nAt the end of the year, the Sacco members also earn dividends, which is also another reason which made them ditch conventional commercial banks.\n\"After deducting the Sacco's recurrent expenditure, the surplus money is released to the members at not less than 13 per cent,\" said Koskei.\nOn the other hand, Imarisha Sacco which in 2014 rebranded from Kipsigis Saving and Credit Cooperative Society (Sacco), has 7,000 tea farmers drawn from Kericho, Bomet, and Nandi as its members.\nChanging farmers' fortunes\nThe Sacco's Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ernest Langat argued that since the Saccos took root in the county, the farmers' fortunes had taken an award curve due to financial literacy training, saving plans, and low-interest loans.\n\"Even if a farmer doesn't have an immediate plan for the tea bonus, they can earn a good sum by opting for our saving plan or buy the Sacco's shares whereby they can earn dividends at 12 per cent,\" he said.\nLangat added that tea bonuses nowadays end up paying the financial advance farmers have taken.\n\"As any salaried remember, we advance money to farmers and apply standing orders to deduct the money from their tea proceeds,\" he said.\nThe farmers are eligible for the Kilimo advance loan product which attracts a 12 per cent interest rate on reducing balance.\nThe product allows farmers to reinvest in their farms a contrast to the era they would wait for the tea bonus to for instance plough and expand their tea farms.\n\"The farmers are now wiser. You will hardly find a farmer misusing tea bonus anymore through impulse expenditure,\" he said.\nThe success of Kericho's Sacco recently saw 16 Ghana's Savings and Credit Co-operative Society (Sacco) to benchmark with ImarishaDr. Bernard Bingab the President and the Board Chair of Ghana Sacco's said they were impressed by Sacco's phenomenal growth having which hit Sh14.1B at the height of Covid-19.\n\"In Ghana, Saving and Credit Society (Sacco) membership is around 1 million people which is too low compared to Kenya where millions are registered members of various Saccos,\" he said.\nDr Bingab said cooperative societies play a key role in creating wealth for members and offering services where big financial institutions can't be found.\nImarisha Sacco CEO Mathew Rotich attributed the institution's growth to the vision of providing efficient financial services to its customers through continuous innovation.\n\"We continue to align ourselves to the vision of being a Sacco with a customer-centric experience,\" he said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/rift-valley/article/2001439323/sacco-saves-tea-farmers-from-twilight-girls-criminals"}
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+{"doc_id": "aec75da6fd61075a5bc0bc5bbae52346", "text": "‘Broaden access to ICTs’\nGolden Sibanda Senior Business Reporter\nPresident Mnangagwa has challenged the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Potraz) to be more transparent in the deployment of the universal services fund (USF) to ensure broader access to postal and telecoms services.\nSpeaking after officially opening the telecoms regulator’s $22 million head offices in Mt Pleasant yesterday, President Mnangagwa said Potraz should ensure broader access to telecoms by all regardless of geographical location, ethnicity or other factors.\n“In this vein, the expectation of my Government is that you will increase the financing of the extension of information communication infrastructure to under serviced areas, the underprivileged, women and youth as well as people living with disabilities.\n“Equally important is the need to use the fund to promote research, development, innovations, start-ups and general training in ICTs,” the President said.\nThe USF is a pool of resources levied on all licensed operators managed by Potraz.\nIt is made up of annual contributions from all the licensed mobile network operators (MNOs). The MNOs pay 1,5 percent of their gross revenues towards the fund, which are used mainly to develop infrastructure in under serviced areas.\nPresident Mnangagwa said Potraz should diligently continue to play its role of creating a competitive environment for the provision of affordable and universally accessible postal and telecommunication services and promoting the interests of consumers, focusing mainly on accessibility, affordability, availability, quality and variety.\nLast month Government through Potraz directed all MNOs in Zimbabwe to cut the price of mobile data by 60 percent with effect from this month, adding that it will now review charges annually. The telecoms regulator said mobile data will cost 5 cents per megabyte, down from 12,5 cents, exclusive of taxes effective July 1, 2018.\nIt is expected the cuts will speed up internet penetration rate, which stands at 50,8\npercent.\nIn the same vein, Government ordered MNOs to cut by similar margin the cost for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) from 12,5 cents to 5 cents per transaction.\nPresident Mnangagwa also implored investors to compliment Government by investing in various telecoms infrastructure development projects, in line with his administration’s modernisation and industrialisation agenda envisaged in Vision 2030.\nThe President thus exhorted Potraz to create an enabling environment to attract investment in the ICT sector and enhance competition in the market for the ultimate benefit of consumers.\nThe increased growth of the ICT industry, the President pointed out, fuelled by rapid changes in technology across the world, entailed greater responsibility by Potraz, as technologies and platforms had become integral part of the modern society.\n“To this end, efficient use of telecommunication can enhance efficiencies in various business processes and procedures, resulting in increased productivity and overall turnaround time.\n“The ICT sector has thus, undoubtedly, emerged as an important catalyst and pillar for the socio economic development and growth of our country. I therefore urge all sectors to leverage on ICTs to stimulate innovation and enhance business and product competitiveness,” he said.\nThe President was speaking after earlier in the morning launching the C-trade platform at the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), which is a unique, strategic and game changing platform that allows people from all walks of life to buy and sell shares on the ZSE.\nThe President said the exchange allowed people to use cell phones and other electronic devices to use their cell phones to trade on the ZSE from any location where there is access to internet connection.\n“This development will result in the democratisation of our economy, through financial empowerment and inclusion of a broader section of our society, at every level.\n“It is further commendable that this platform is the first of its kind in Africa and was developed by young Zimbabweans. These innovations give greater impetus for Potraz to ensure that service providers increase their mobile cell phone coverage to every corner of the country,” he said.\nOn Potraz’s new headquarters, President Mnangagwa said the multi-million dollar modern and environmentally friendly two-storey building was a symbol of Government’s commitment and confidence in the postal and telecommunications industry in Zimbabwe.\nHe said the building was in sync with the Government’s overall quest to develop appropriate and modern infrastructure across every sector of the economy, as a key enabler for industrialisation, human development and economic growth.\n“Infrastructure is the basic physical and organisational structure needed for the operation of any society and enterprise and necessary for any economy to function.\n“It facilitates the production of goods and services as well as the distribution of finished products to domestic and international markets,” the President said.\nICT, Postal, Courier Services and Cyber Security Minister Supa Mandiwanzira, host of yesterday’s event, said the construction of the building, which started in 2013, was expedited after President Mnangagwa’s inauguration speech last year, during which he asserted that development could not be achieved through speeches. The minister said after the President’s inspirational speech his ministry and POTRAZ hit the ground running resulting in nearly 40 percent of the building being completed over the last nine months.\nPotraz director general Dr Gift Machengete said the new modern headquarters will,\ncomplete with an auditorium for national and international conferences, meeting rooms for large scale engagements and small rooms for consultations, enable Potraz to better serve its stakeholders and the entire Zimbabwean populace.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/broaden-access-to-icts/"}
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+{"doc_id": "af68b05fd2b815fe2d274c23c11a0a7e", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Only 1.1 per cent of the top 60 per cent of income earners in Kenya have an outstanding loan to purchase a home, while only 0.6 per cent of the bottom 40 per cent of income earners have a mortgage.\nAbout two months ago, Central Bank of Kenya governor Prof Njuguna Ndung’u sent shock waves through the property sector when he announced that the bank would conduct a survey to ascertain the source of the money behind the boom in the country’s real estate sector.\nHis concern was that the high level of activity in the sector was at variance with the low level of home purchase borrowing, which currently stands at only about 17,000 mortgage accounts.\n“There is something wrong somewhere that needs to be investigated. Where is the money coming from? We need to engage a consultant,” he said during the opening of trading on Housing Finance Sh3 billion housing bond on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.\nSo where is the money being used to build the many new pricey homes in Nairobi and other major urban centres really coming from? Some have suggested that piracy or some other “blood” money is the one financing Kenya’s real estate sector.\nNo one knows for certain, for now. But even if that were to be true, it would just be half the story.\nAccording to a new survey, very few Kenyans have an outstanding home purchase loan.\nTitled, 2012 Yearbook: Housing Finance in Africa, the survey conducted annually by South Africa-based Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa, says that most Kenyans own homes through construction loans, rather than through mortgages.\n“Loans for home construction are more prevalent,” it says. Here are the numbers: 3.4 per cent of the top 60 per cent of income earners have construction loans, and 3.8 per cent of the bottom 40 per cent of income earners also have one.\nOn the other hand, the report says, only 1.1 per cent of the top 60 per cent of income earners in Kenya have an outstanding loan to purchase a home, while only 0.6 per cent of the bottom 40 per cent of income earners have a mortgage.\nThe report, which describes Kenya as one of the most developed economies in East Africa with a vibrant housing finance sector and a booming property market, says this trend is surprising, especially given the country’s high level of financial inclusion: 37.9 per cent of rural and 76 per cent of urban Kenyans over 15 years of age have an account with a formal financial institution.\nIt notes that credit is fairly common in Kenya: 66.3 per cent of adults over 25 years of age report that they had a loan in the past year to 2011.\nMost of these loans were from family or friends. Only 12.6 per cent of adults had a loan from a financial institution and only 7.6 per cent had a loan from a private lender.\nAccording to the report, Kenya has a dynamic mortgage industry, which is growing rapidly and become increasingly competitive, with 33 financial institutions currently offering mortgage finance.\nAs at December 31, 2011, the total mortgage book was Sh91.2 billion and comprised 16,135 mortgage loans.\nThis is up 48.5 per cent from the May 2010 figure of Sh61.4 billion and 15,049 mortgage loans.\nDuring that period, the average loan size rose from Sh4.1 million to Sh5.7 million.\nQuoting the Central Bank of Kenya, the report says it is believed that the rise is likely to be due to an increase in property prices.\nAnother thing: Non-performing loans sat at 3.9 per cent of total outstanding mortgages, or Sh3.6 billion, and comprised 764 accounts.\nBetween May 2010 and December 2011, there was also another observable trend: There was a shift towards variable rate mortgages, which make up 90 per cent of all mortgages issued in 2011.\nThe shift is seen to be a likely consequence of the volatility of the interest rate in the period, and contributed to a slowing growth in Kenya’s residential mortgage market.\nDespite all these developments, however, the bad news is that mortgage lending is still accessible to only a tiny minority – mortgage lending as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) was 2.6 per cent in 2010, growing at 14 per cent annually.\nWhat is wrong? According to the new report, which reviews housing finance markets in over 30 African countries annually, affordability ranks very high.\nIt says that only about 11 per cent of Kenyans earn enough to support a mortgage. This means that most middle-income earners cannot afford an average mortgage necessary to buy an entry-level house.\n(The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics defines middle income households as those whose monthly incomes fall between Sh23,671 ($260) and Sh112,717 ($1,330).\nThe Central Bank of Kenya recently stated that the average mortgage in the country is worth Sh6.6 million, thus demanding a monthly repayment of about Sh90,000 for 20 years. Only a handful of Kenyans can afford that.\n“High levels of inflation and interest rates in 2011 and 2012 affected house prices severely, especially for those with variable interest rates. Borrowers who had taken out loans at the edge of their affordability found they were unable to manage the increased monthly costs,” says the report.\nIt continues: “A highly speculative property market and high demand for housing has driven Kenya’s residential property price inflation up steadily over the last 12 years, especially, more recently in the rental market.”\nIt says property prices have gone up by 3.7 times since 2001, a 2.7 per cent rise in the last quarter and a 1.9 per cent rise in the past year.\nThe average price of a stand-alone house is Sh32.6 million, up from Sh8.8 million in December 2000.\nTownhouses have also gone up, by 2.9 times since 2001. The average price for a townhouse is Sh19.1 million, up from Sh6.5 million in December 2000.\nApartment sale prices have increased by 2.2 times since 2001, and the average price is Sh11.7 million at present.\nRentals have also risen rapidly – 10 times the rate of the last two years, as landlords have sought to manage rising costs and deal with increasing demand.\nAll these have made mortgage to be out of reach for most Kenyans who have instead chosen to go for home construction loans.\nAnd aiding this is Kenya’s strong microfinance sector. The report notes that currently, Kenya has 34 microfinance institutions (MFIs).\nBy 2011, these financial institutions had clocked 1.1 million active borrowers and a gross loan portfolio of Sh144.5 billion ($1.7 billion).\nKenya also has an emerging housing microfinance sector. “A number of pioneering Saccos and non-governmental organisations are using this lending methodology to provide housing finance for the poor,” it says, citing Jamii Bora Bank and the National Cooperative Housing Union (Nachu).\nRooftops Canada is involved together with Homeless International, the Cooperative Housing Federation of Norway, the Swedish Cooperative Centre and other partners, in a programme with Nachu to provide technical and financial support to scale up Nachu’s housing microfinance and housing support services.\nA crucial component of this work, it notes, involves identifying appropriate and sustainable finance for Nachu to be able to extend housing credit to its members.\nThe promised Central Bank of Kenya audit report on sources of real estate funding may not be out yet, but we certainly now know why mortgage uptake is low – and where aspiring home owners turn to when they need money to put up a dream house.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/Features/DN2/What-is-financing-Kenyas-construction-boom/957860-1661210-1v23rx/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "b40680aae5f7624b84abb970673fbca7", "text": "Basel II: The role of credit bureaus\nFarayi Dyirakumunda\nTo enable the global banking sector to function efficiently, a set of international banking agreements called the Basel Accords were developed by an international committee on banking supervision. The accords are an important part of the global financial system as\nThe negative effects of a banking crisis are not alien to Zimbabwe and at a recent meeting with experts from the South Africa-based Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion (CENFRI).\n“I was asked if our credit reference bureau is geared to service banks in their efforts towards Basel II compliance and the strengthening of the local banking sector”.\nAfter deliberating our expertise in credit risk management with the CENFRI team.\nThis series of articles will firstly look at the intent of the Basel Accords and elaborate how the Zimbabwean banking sector will benefit from the value offered by private credit reference bureaus such as XDS in their compliance with Basel II.\nIn simple terms, the Basel Accords serve to determine how much capital a bank must hold based on a detailed and precise knowledge of the risks incurred by the banks.\nThe decision to hold this capital and to subject owners to a potential loss in case of failure is one of the measures that signals to depositors and potential investors that the bank will not undertake too much risk.\nFurthermore, it is also important that banks be adequately capitalised for several other reasons aside from the fact that the RBZ mandates it:\nl Holding adequate capital encourages banks to undertake better managed risk since their capital is at risk in case of failure.\nl The capital provides a buffer against certain cash flow shortages, which can pay depositors if the need were to arise.\nl Banks know more about the soundness of their operations than investors (what economists call information asymmetry) and if a bank is forced to close, capital can be used to pay off unpaid debts.\nBasel II therefore serves to adequately align the required regulatory capital with actual bank risk.\nThe accord has multiple approaches for different types of risk and operates on three pillars namely, Minimum Capital, Supervisor Review and Market Discipline.\nThe accord recognises three main risk categories: i. Credit Risk, ii. Market Risk iii. Operational Risk and ultimately a bank must hold capital against these three types of risks.\nThe role of credit reference bureaus is in the first risk category of Credit Risk.\nWe enable banks to objectively and accurately assess the quality of its credit assets and thereby evaluate and analyse the concentration of its risk exposures.\nThis may be sectoral, geographical or by customer among other criteria.\nIn addition, the bureau will have served to encourage responsible credit behaviour by enforcing discipline on borrowers.\nWe have seen this in action within multiple sectors that utilise our credit exposure reports in their credit granting process and it helps limit consume over-indebtedness because a borrower’s credit standing which is dependent on the individual’s capacity to meet their financial obligations, becomes known to all institutions.\nIn addition, bureaus are also an instrument to give a better understanding of the corporate clients including Small to Medium Enterprises (“SME”) and their credit standing as they turn to the banking sector in search of financing to carry out their investment projects.\nIt is therefore clear that private credit reference bureaus are critical in providing a better and more accurate picture of borrowers in addition to facilitating appropriate analysis of their creditworthiness. We foster greater transparency and encourage healthy competition between credit providers including banks as interest rates and the cost of credit will be in line with the actual risks incurred.\nIn other words, we allow easier access to the credit market on better terms.\nFrom the macro-prudential standpoint, this contributes to raising the stability of the financial system as a whole and encourages analysis and research geared to arriving at an accurate assessment of the inherent credit risk of the banking system.\nBasel II allows for credit granting institutions to use their own credit risk models (specifically, their estimates of Probability of Default (“PD”), Loss Given Default (“LGD”) and Exposure at Default (“EAD”) to determine their minimum regulatory capital, provided they are adequately validated.\nA credit bureau therefore has an important role to be used as the basis on which to develop an overall rating system and thus act as a supplementary tool in verifying the Probability of Default.\nOur system capabilities and expertise enable XDS to maintain and process the most precise information possible so that the minimum regulatory capital, among other parameters, can be determined accurately.\nRegarding LGD, the bureau comes into play with a solution based on the practical application of the information contained in our systems.\nUnder this approach, supervisors could obtain individual values of LGD based purely on credit data, with which the banks’ estimates could ultimately be compared.\nValidation would be carried out via an empirical estimate of the LGD itself based on quantitative variables in order to identify which of them turn out to be statistically significant determinants of the LGD.\nRegarding EAD validation, we simply compile the main characteristics of loan commitments and can thus provide information on drawn and undrawn exposures.\nAn analysis of how borrowers make use of their credit commitments over time would be a good first approximation for validating EAD.\nMoreover, as noted above for LGD, an assessment based on qualitative elements could also be a reasonable validation solution.\nOur potential to contribute notably to this crucial task of implementing Basel II has thus been established.\nGiven our capabilities, the financial sector and supervisors have a unique opportunity, at a relatively low cost, to adapt, adjust and, finally, take full advantage of these instruments so that they may contribute to Basel II in a rigorous and orderly manner.\nFarayi Dyirakumunda is a director at XDS Zimbabwe, a credit reference bureau and risk management company. He can be contacted on [email protected] / www.xds.co.zw", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/basel-ii-the-role-of-credit-bureaus/"}
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+{"doc_id": "b4100aaeb8cc7a480a8d15468e826b98", "text": "Socialite Huddah Monroe has said her monthly expenses exceed Sh600,000, and she would barely survive on the budget.\nWhile commenting on American rapper Safaree and ex-wife Erica Mena's divorce settlement, the Huddah Cosmetics founder criticized the former couple's agreement that will see Safaree pay Sh519, 000 a month in child support.\nHuddah says the amount is too little to meet her monthly needs.\n\"I can barely survive on $5000 a month,\" she wrote.\nThe business entrepreneur, believed to have numerous income streams, has maintained a high profile life on social media with constant trips worldwide, enjoying fine dining and riding in luxurious cars.\nSpeaking on how she made her first million in a previous interview, the beauty guru disclosed that she did not have to break a sweat to get the cash as it came as a gift from a well-wisher.\n\"I was 20 years old. From a well-wisher lol! Not hard work to be honest,\" she said.\nOpening up on more instances she made quick money, Huddah said she secured a whooping Sh1.7 million in 30 days from an only fans account.\n- CS Nakhumicha tells Senate 4,129 medical interns posted to hospitals\n- Include menstrual products in household budgets, Maasai men urged\n- The vital role of media in the fight against climate change\n- CS Nakhumicha pleads with parliament to increase health budgetary allocation\nContrary to the norm, the video vixen explained she did not mean to post explicit content on the account but meant for it to be a platform where all her true fans would come together to speak on growth and business.\n\"I joined only fans. They say it's a p**n site. But I want to use it for my real fans. Somewhere we talk. Connect like real-life friends. Ask me anything, business ideas. Unlocks the thirst on how to win life apart from my nudes.\n\"I am not knocking anyone's hustle. I made a cool $17,000 in 1 month on only fans! If I was daring enough, I could be making $100,000 monthly. Let me gather my bad gals get legal documents for them to sign. I will be back! On Only fans! All gas no brakes,\" she wrote on Instagram.\nWith her earnings, Huddah started Huddah Cosmetics, which deals in makeup, and skincare, and recently launched feminine care.\n\"Huddah cosmetics is a lifestyle, not a cosmetics line. It's a movement of positive-minded women who have dreams no local mind can comprehend! A Huddah Cosmetics woman is a fearless woman. A woman who believes in herself, a powerful woman. A woman who doesn't give a f**k what society has to say about her. She stays focused on her goals and she achieves all of them,\" she wrote.\nOn a few occasions, Huddah has admitted to dating men of high social class, adding to her already expensive lifestyle.\n\"I love chubby daddies with money. I wanna bounce on them. I am so petite, a chubby daddy would be my bouncing castle,\" she wrote on her Instastories.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/showbiz/article/2001456131/huddah-monroe-i-can-barely-survive-on-sh600-000-a-month"}
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+{"doc_id": "b52304bd5e5756cbf95849a5b1bb1cf6", "text": "Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa posted something interesting on Facebook recently. He shared that Sasai Fintech, part of the Cassava Technologies ecosystem, has partnered with Circle Internet Financial to expand access to the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) in Africa.\nHe called it the arrival of “digital dollars”.\nBut first… a quick Sasai note\nOne small thing worth noting though. Sasai itself has been around for a few years now, but it hasn’t exactly killed it, at least in Zimbabwe. If you stopped someone in town and asked them what Sasai does, chances are they wouldn’t have an answer.\nSo when Masiyiwa talks about stablecoins through Sasai, the real question becomes whether this is the thing that finally gives the platform a clear use case that people actually feel.\nCrypto has actually been here for years\nNow, if you read that “digital dollars are here” line and thought, wait, haven’t people been using crypto here for years? You’d be right.\nZimbabwe has been part of the crypto conversation for quite a while. Some of you will remember Golix, the local exchange that used to operate here. Around the 2017 currency chaos, Bitcoin prices in Zimbabwe were crazy high because people were trying to move money out or just hold something that wouldn’t lose value overnight.\nGolix eventually disappeared after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe told banks in 2018 to stop working with crypto companies. Once the banks stepped away, the exchange couldn’t really continue operating.\nBut crypto didn’t disappear. People simply moved to other foreign exchanges and peer-to-peer trading. There are plenty of WhatsApp groups where you people trade crypto in Zim.\nSo when Masiyiwa talks about digital dollars arriving, it’s not really that crypto is suddenly entering Africa. It’s been here.\nWhy telecom fintechs are suddenly interested\nWhat’s different now is who’s getting involved.\nInstead of startups and traders pushing crypto adoption from the shadows, we now have a large fintech that’s linked to a large telco openly building around stablecoins.\nStablecoins like USDC are crypto tokens designed to stay equal to the US dollar. Unlike Bitcoin, which swings wildly, the idea is that one token stays roughly equal to one dollar.\nFor African markets, you can see why that’s appealing.\nA lot of countries on the continent struggle with currency volatility or limited access to foreign currency. A digital version of the dollar that moves quickly across borders starts to make sense in that environment.\nAnd then there’s remittances.\nSending money into Africa is still expensive. Banks and intermediaries all take their cut along the way.\nStablecoins promise to reduce some of those layers. In theory, money can move from one person to another much faster and with fewer middlemen.\nThat’s probably the real angle behind this move from the Cassava side. On our side, we hope fewer middlemen lead to lower fees.\nTelecom groups already operate massive payment networks through mobile money and digital wallets, EcoCash is massive.\nIf stablecoins become the way those systems settle money across borders, transfers could become cheaper and faster.\nBut there’s still one big practical question.\nSending a stablecoin across the internet is easy. Turning it into usable money locally is the hard part. That requires exchanges, liquidity, and integration with banks or mobile wallets.\nI think for this to work, the whole thing may use stablecoins in the background, but the end user in Gutu should just get a notification that they can go cash out from their nearest EcoCash agent.\nWithout those pieces, stablecoins tend to remain something traders use rather than something ordinary people pay with.\nSo Masiyiwa’s post doesn’t mean crypto has just arrived in Africa.\nHowever, it means that large telecom and fintech players are starting to see stablecoins as part of the future plumbing of money. And if that happens, the real story won’t be crypto trading.\nIt will be how money moves across Africa.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.techzim.co.zw/2026/04/masiyiwa-sasai-stablecoin-usdc-africa/"}
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+{"doc_id": "b63f0e5b0a3485cceb48f8e20086a99b", "text": "The National Dialogue Committee (NADCO), chaired by Former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah, presented its report to the President and the Azimio coalition leader at the end of November.\nNADCO was mandated to tackle the two-thirds gender rule, high cost of living, loyalty to political parties and coalitions, enshrining political party funds in the Constitution and establishing the offices of the Opposition leader and the Prime Cabinet Secretary.\nAmong other things, the hearings highlighted our history of irresponsible borrowing and corruption, the state of the economy and police misconduct during the protests over the high cost of living.\nThe Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o recently made a startling allegation of three-fold exaggeration of her salary in the budget estimates, pointing to budget corruption.\nObservers point out that the NADCO recommendations were underwhelming because they offer no concrete solutions to the problems that bedevil Kenya, such as corruption, tribalism, unlawful policing, human rights violations and disregard for the rule of law and constitutionalism, among others.\nThe process seemingly was meant to appease the political class. For instance, it was an open secret that both parties at the onset wanted the entrenchment of funds and the creation of new offices despite the grim economic outlook.\nAs expected, the NADCO recommends entrenchment of National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF) and other funds for Women Representatives and Senators, despite an August 2022 Supreme Court decision declaring the NGCDF unconstitutional and invalid because it violates public finance principles on the division of revenue between national and county governments.\nAccording to the Supreme Court, any fund directed at service delivery can be constitutionally compliant only if it does not entangle MPs or the National Assembly in the discharge of services. The court recommended that such funds be integrated within the county executive or national executive structures.\nAccording to the doctrine of separation of powers between the executive and legislature, MPs cannot execute or implement projects that are the province of county and national governments. There was a walkout by MPs this week who were protesting the failure of the Treasury to remit NGCDF funds. They claimed that three-quarters of students would be unable to return to school without the funds. Will MPs agree to empower counties to administer the funds for the sake of the students?\nThe committee recommended establishment of the Office of the Leader of the official Opposition based on the leader of the largest party that garnered the second highest number of votes immediately preceding the presidential election.\nIt also recommended that the President appoint a Prime Minister after the National Assembly approves the nominee. It is noteworthy that the Constitution establishes neither office. Like most of the recommendations, they would require an expensive referendum to entrench.\nThe NADCO recommended a larger selection panel for the IEBC commissioners who will play an integral role in electoral justice and boundary delimitation.\nThe recommendations on the cost of living and fiscal responsibility have been criticised for failing to address endemic corruption, budget deficit, debt sustainability, and the slipping value of the shilling, among other issues.\nThey suggested cost-cutting measures, such as a 50 per cent reduction in travel budgets and a 30 per cent reduction in allowances for state and public officers. In collaboration with the National Treasury, the committee also advised the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to decrease the road maintenance levy by Sh5 and the anti-adulteration levy by Sh3 per litre.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486867/dialogue-committee-focussed-more-on-political-interests-not-wanjiku"}
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+{"doc_id": "b6acb4da9ea251187eb3e6f2ae3c9559", "text": "African economies’ growth to stabilise at 4,1pc\nAfrica Moyo in SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt\nAfrican economies are expected to continue to withstand the various global shocks, including the effects of the war in Ukraine, with average growth projected to stabilise at 4,1 percent in 2023 to 2024.\nThis is contained in the African Economic Outlook 2023 which was launched here yesterday by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the sidelines of the bank’s ongoing annual meetings.\nFinance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has projected that Zimbabwe’s economy could grow 6 percent this year, on the back of strong performances in agriculture, mining and tourism.\nThe launch was attended by AfDB president Dr Akinwumi Adesina and United Kingdom Minister of State for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, among others.\nIn his presentation during the launch of the African Economic Outlook report yesterday, AfDB vice president Professor Kevin Urama said African countries are dealing with multiple shocks, including the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, disruptions to global supply chains due to the war in Ukraine, and a tightening of global financing conditions.\n“These shocks have reduced the continent’s real GDP growth from 4,8 percent in 2021 to 3,8 percent in 2022. “However, African economies remain resilient, with average growth projected to stabilise at 4,1 percent in 2023–24,” he said.\nProf Urama said the growth outlook is subject to significant downside risks, including subdued global growth weighing on Africa’s exports, persistence of tight global financial conditions exacerbating debt servicing costs, significant losses and damages due to frequent extreme weather events exacerbating fiscal pressures, and the continued war in Ukraine, which is increasing global uncertainty.\nOther factors include persistent disruptions to global supply chains and elevated geopolitical risks due to upcoming national elections in some countries.\nThe African Economic Outlook 2023 underscores the urgency to fast-track climate action and green transitions to drive the continent’s inclusive and sustainable development. The AfDB’s new research, based on African countries’ latest submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), estimates that private sector financing will need to grow annually by 36 percent until 2030 to close the continent’s climate finance gap, evaluated on average at US$213,4 billion per year.\nThis will be important to address the continent’s climate financing needs, estimated at as much as US$2,8 trillion over 2020-2030, or US$250 billion annually.\nProf Urama said unlocking private climate financing will require addressing both demand- and supply-side barriers while developing innovative financing instruments to tap into the continent’s enormous investment opportunities in climate and green growth.\nThe report also highlights the important role of Africa’s huge natural capital, valued at US$6,2 trillion in 2018, in bridging the prevailing climate finance gap and promoting green growth transitions.\nThrough sustainable management, Africa’s abundant natural capital can be transformed into financial assets to complement financing for climate adaptation and mitigation, as well as into investments that support green growth transitions.\nThis will require the deployment of appropriate policies and instruments, including fiscal instruments, to better understand the true value of Africa’s natural capital and strengthen local content and value addition.\nIt will also build institutional capacity to address gaps in governance that have prevented the continent from realising the full potential of its natural endowments and create regional value chains and markets to benefit from cross-regional synergies, reads the report in part.\nThe launch was attended by AfDB president Dr Akinwumi Adesina and United Kingdom Minister of State for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, among others.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/african-economies-growth-to-stabilise-at-41pc/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..af6d3085877807d1dd1684d61b43688b51d405e0
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+{"doc_id": "b6ef432919c08367cf7e278c13b9af79", "text": "President William Ruto has detailed how his administration’s bottom-up plan is progressively transforming the country’s economy as he announced the government will in December repay $300 million (Sh45 billion) out of the $2 billion Eurobond debt that is due next year.\nThe President, in his second State of the Nation address, painted a picture of the gains his administration has made in one year even as he acknowledged the difficulties the government is facing in the wave of unprecedented macroeconomic challenges.\nHe said he took control of the country when its economy was facing external shocks, fiscal distress courtesy of the debt burden and structural imbalance.\nThe challenges were exacerbated by geopolitical conflicts, high-interest rates, prolonged drought and suppressed production in agriculture.\nDr Ruto said his administration has been able to “normalise” relationships with development partners, among them the International Monetary Fund (IMF), African Development Bank (AfDB) and World Bank.\nEven as he gave himself a pat on the back, he noted that the economic situation the country was in when he took the reins was avoidable, saying the country was living large and way beyond its means.\n“Time has come to retire the false comforts and illusional benefits of wasted expenditure and counter-productive subsidies on consumption by which we dug ourselves deeper into the hole of avoidable debt,” he said.\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto reaffirms State's support for health sector under devolution\nHe said due to his strategy to subsidise production and not consumption, the price of a two-kilogramme packet of maize flour has dropped to Sh145 from Sh250 last year.\nFertiliser subsidy\nThis has been facilitated by his administration’s fertiliser subsidy programme that distributed 5.5 million bags at a cost of Sh2,500 instead of Sh6,500.\nThese interventions have also seen increased farming of maize by 200 acres with expected additional production of 18 million bags.\n“As a result, the famous gorogoro of maize is now retailing at between Sh60 and Sh75,” he said.\nPresident Ruto said the country needs a new direction, which may not be easy, to drive the economy out of debt. However, he said this was ethical, responsible, prudent and a necessary move to make.\n“We have had to take hard decisions and painful choices,” he said, adding that public borrowing had suppressed the growth of private sector.\nHe said the government’s efforts to stabilise the situation have yielded such progress that next month, the country will settle the first batch of the Sh300 billion ($2 billion) Eurobond debt.\nPay debt\n“I can now confirm with confidence that we will and shall pay the debt that has been a source of concern to citizens, market and partners,” said the president.\nHe said the country has ironed out relations with development partners locally and abroad and they are also supporting the country’s efforts to get out of debt distress.\n“They( development partners) are now working with us to implement the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda,” he added.\nThe president said the government plans to put up more than 700,000 housing units in the coming years, with about 50,000 already under construction and at different stages of completion while work on another 40,000 is set to start in the coming weeks.\n“The construction of 46,792 units across the country is underway. Another 40,000 are ready to commence in a few weeks.\n“More than 50,000 Kenyans are working, people who were previously unemployed are engaged directly and indirectly. The numbers will significantly increase as the projects move into the next phase and as we roll out many more units,” he said\nHe noted that the affordable housing project was aimed at addressing the major challenges that Kenyans, mostly in urban areas, face that range from poor health and insecurity.\nThe President also told MPs that the government is constructing 400 markets across the country that are equipped with water, electricity and other amenities that will provide traders with dignified working places\nThe President also said the National Cereals and Produce Board would take receipt of a first batch of mobile dryers for use by maize farmers.\nHe added that the government is streamlining the coffee sector and farmers will soon have greater say in taking the produce to market, including enhanced participation at the auction.\nThe president also said his government is restructuring the public sugar millers in a process that will result in the leasing of the five public-owned sugar milers to private sector players. This would boost competitiveness, raising farmers incomes and enhancing productivity\nThe government has waived Sh117 billion non-performing debt owed to the government by sugar millers.\nIt has also set aside Sh1.7 to pay cane farmers who had not been paid by the State-run millers for the cane they have delivered. The President said the Treasury would release the money to the farmers in the coming weeks.\n“In the next couple of weeks we shall be disbursing that money so that farmers in the sugar growing areas can go home for Christmas with that money,” he said.\nAmong the things that the government implemented early this year was to increase contributions to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) after a court ruling on the constitutionality of contributions that had dragged on in court for years.\nNSSF contribution\nFollowing the ruling, NSSF increased monthly rates from employees to Sh1,080 from Sh300, matched by the employer. This was greeted with uproar by both employees and employers, noting that this would reduce the disposable income as well as increase the cost of labour.\nRuto, however, noted that this had significantly increased the country’s savings and now gave the government the opportunity to borrow locally for infrastructure development as opposed to sourcing for funds from foreign institutions.\n“As a result of our initial intervention, the savings situation has changed for the better. Contributions to NSSF has grown from Sh1.4 billion in January to Sh6.5 billion this month.\n“The implication of this growth in our national savings is that it will significantly consolidate our nation;s ability to invest in development using domestic resources as opposed to us going to borrow other people’s money when they borrow ,” he said.\n[Graham Kajilwa and Macharia Kamau]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001485046/president-says-bottom-up-economic-model-bearing-fruit"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ae52830f961dc78a54bf56a9cc90c266d317f9c2
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+{"doc_id": "b8ce7424cfaaa1f83a474b846c2e8048", "text": "Brainworks withdraws $20m Telecel offer . . . as Zhuwao calls for the unbundling of Empowerment Corporation\nHappiness Zengeni and Conrad Mwanawashe—\nBrainworks Capital Management has withdrawn the offer that it had made to Empowerment Corporation to purchase its 40 percent shareholding in Telecel Zimbabwe due to protracted shareholder wrangles which have not provided a clear decision on the transaction. Brainworks had sought to acquire the\nThe transaction was affected by an urgent court application with respect to the sale of the Telecel shares, dispute in terms of the valuation of the company and the authority of certain shareholders representatives, chief among them business persons Mr James Makamba and Mrs Jane Mutasa.\nThe EC shareholder disputes originate from the various reorganisations the company went through during the formative years dating back to 1998.\nThe withdrawal also comes at a time the mobile telecoms company is facing imminent closure over its failure to pay for an operating licence as stated under the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe Act. In addition Telecel Zimbabwe is practically bankrupt with no ability to meet its short term and long term liabilities.\nIn a letter dated March 19, 2015 to EC’s company secretary, which The Herald Business is in possession of, Brainworks said it had become subject of court processes and a sustained public onslaught on its business.\nAs a result of the disputes, EC had to date not responded to the offer with various parties making conflicting statements both in private and the media. This is in spite of a resolution once reported by this paper that shareholders had given their unconditional approval to the sale of shares to Brainworks.\nIt has, however, emerged that after the February 27 resolution, which agreed to the transaction, two of the main EC shareholders Mr Makamba representing Kestrel Corporation and Mrs Mutasa who stands for the Indigenous Business Women’s Organisation had held a secret meeting at the Saxon Hotel in Sandton South Africa. Lawyer Gerald Mlotshwa and EC company secretary Carlton Chikosi also attended the meeting.\nThe meeting resolved that it would dispose of the shareholding as at least two of the shareholders of the company having a majority in value of the company’s issued and paid up shares shall agree. The two agreed that they would now accept bids for the stake which should be submitted within seven days from March 10.\nHowever, Brainworks in the letter said it was surprised that it was now being invited to a bidding process when the process had initially been guided by the offer which had been submitted to EC, the terms of which had not been fulfilled.\nPursuant to that EC managing director Mr Patrick Zhuwao called for the unbundling of the investment vehicle as the best way of resolving the shareholder disputes.\n“In light of the criminal act and in the process of exercising my fiduciary responsibility of protecting the Empowerment Corporation and its shareholders, I’m left with no option but to recommend that the beneficial shareholders of Telecel Zimbabwe hold their interest directly without having to go through Mr (James) Makamba and Mrs (Jane) Mutasa who have persistently and consistently failed to distinguish their individual persona from their fiduciary persona as directors who are legally required to uphold the interest of the company and all shareholders.\n“This is primarily why Telecel Zimbabwe is found to be in a negative equity position as compared to Econet’s net asset value of $700 million.\n“The case of EC reflects a classic case of the failure of corporate governance such that the continued existence of EC as an entity is prejudicial and detrimental to the interests of the shareholders who include ware veterans, farmers, small scale miners and indigenous businesswomen.\nIt is unfortunate that Mr Makamba and Mrs Mutasa are so personally conflicted in the pursuit of their private interests that the failed to protect and safeguard the interests of shareholders,” said Mr Zhuwao.\nIf the EC is unbundled the shareholding structure will see Kestrel Corporation holing 8,57 percent, Independent Engineering group 5,71 percent, Affirmative Action Group 5,14 percent, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association 5,14 percent, National Miners Association 5,14 percent, Indigenous Business Women’s Organisation 5,14 percent and Zimbabwe Farmers Union 5,14 percent.\nMr Zhuwao said pressure groups empowered by Government should have access to the opportunity given to them directly without having to access it through Mr Makamba and Mrs Mutasa.\nZFU represents more 1,5 million farmers.\n“The pressure groups will have direct benefit of 25,7 percent which is enough to represent a significant say in the operations of any company,” said Mr Zhuwao.\nWhen contacted for comment Brainworks CEO George Manyere said the discontinuance of negotiations with EC does not otherwise affect the company’s view of the opportunity in the telecoms sector.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/brainworks-withdraws-20m-telecel-offer-as-zhuwao-calls-for-the-unbundling-of-empowerment-corporation/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5bb3e163c08ff194562125872ce99f0dbd5f1413
--- /dev/null
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+{"doc_id": "b939d3dc7475ca89108f5c6b97f51ff7", "text": "Accidents bleeding Zim’s GDP: Gumbo\nWalter Nyamukondiwa in MAKUTI\nROAD traffic accidents are prejudicing the country of three percent of its Gross Domestic Product through human injuries, deaths and property losses.\nThe loss from the accidents amounts to about $400 million a year.\nThis comes as 1 041 people have died in road accidents between January and June this year, compared to 830 people during the same period last year.\nThis represents a 12,5 percent increase in road carnage. This also comes as Government has secured $21 million under a Japanese government special grant to widen and reconstruct a dangerous 15-kilometre stretch between Makuti and Chirundu.\nThe stretch is commonly known as Hell’s Gate or Wafa Wafa, owing to sharp curves and steep gradient, which result in drivers, especially those of haulage trucks, failing to safely negotiate them, resulting in accidents.\nSpeaking at the handover of an ambulance at Makuti Clinic, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joram Gumbo said more needs to be done to mitigate the impact of road accidents.\n“Zimbabwe is estimated to be losing about $406 million every year due to road traffic accidents,” he said.\n“This is almost three percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is estimated at $14 billion. It is sad to note that from January to June 2018, Zimbabwe has lost 1 041 people due to road traffic accidents, up from 830 people killed during the same period last year.”\nMinister Gumbo said progress to widen and reconstruct the Wafa Wafa stretch was being stalled by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), which was taking too long to process an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project. He said work should have already commenced, but bemoaned the bureaucratic red tape when Government, under the new dispensation, was emphasising on ease of doing business.\n“I am happy to report that the Government of Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, recently received a grant of US$20 935 524 from the Japanese government for the upgrade and realignment of the 6,5 kilometres of the 13,6km Makuti-Hells’ Gate Road section,” he said.\nA widened two-lane single carriageway with a third ascending and passing lane, he said, would help reduce accidents in the area.\n“Even with the money now secured, we are unable to proceed because EMA is not treating the matter with the agency it deserves because of the daily occurrence of accidents and resultant loss of life,” said Minister Gumbo.\n“The President is saying things have changed and Government departments should be responsive.”\nMinister Gumbo said it was regrettable that accidents continued to occur despite efforts to reduce them, including road safety awareness programmes.\nTurning to the ambulance, which was donated by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe to Makuti Clinic, Dr Gumbo said it was a post-crash management response which would help save lives.\nThe ambulance was refurbished to the tune of $38 000 after it had broken down several months ago, resulting in loss of life as mostly accident victims failed to get assistance during the crucial hour within a crash.\n“A place like Makuti needs to have a functional ambulance and police utility vehicle owing to the high incidence of accidents along the stretch to Chirundu,” he said.\nChief Chundu welcomed the gesture, saying daily occurrences of accidents were a cause for concern and having an ambulance would help reduce deaths.\nHe expressed gratitude to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe for the gesture, saying the ambulance should be stationed at Makuti after it was previously taken to Karoi and Chinhoyi where it was grounded.\n“We want that whatever is donated to an area should serve the identified community because the death rate here is very high,” said Chief Chundu.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/accidents-bleeding-zims-gdp-gumbo/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f5de0a4c20de168bf36c6944c57e7e3821183c61
--- /dev/null
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+{"doc_id": "b97bfdc6dad6553e94c240a5769719f9", "text": "57 000 gold panners arrested\nCrime Reporter\nAlmost 57 000 gold panners, including machete gangs and other criminal elements, have been arrested in mining communities countrywide since January under the ongoing “Operation Chikorokoza Ngachipere” and “No to Machete Gangs”.\nMachete gangs, including those using knobkerries, have resurfaced countrywide targeting mines and people keeping large amounts of cash at home, as well as intimidating communities.\nIn a statement yesterday, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the operation will continue until there was order countrywide.\n“The ZRP has arrested 56 764 people in the ‘Operation Chikorokoza Ngachipere/Isitsheketsha Kasiphele’ and ‘No to Machete Gangs’. Offences range from failure to comply with Covid-19 regulations, criminal trespass and others,” he said.\nAsst-Comm Nyathi said the operation is ongoing and they had covered all the provinces and those that resist risk being arrested and face deterrent sentences as the police are in constant contact with the judiciary.\nA few months ago, police restored order in mining areas after taking on the machete gangs head-on, arresting large numbers of people and thwarting a wave of violence that threatened to disturb gold mining and consequently deliveries to Fidelity Printers and Refiners.\nMost of those arrested were fined since there was no evidence they had committed other criminal offences.\nBut others were sent to court for prosecution, facing various offences.\nIn another operation targeting foreign currency dealers in Harare, police arrested about 20 illegal dealers. Some were made to pay fines while others will appear in court soon.\nThe operation will continue until streets have been rid of the illegal dealers.\nLast week, about 40 such dealers were arrested in Harare.\nA team of police officers has been deployed, targeting areas where the dealers normally operate from.\nThis came after the ZRP observed the proliferation of illegal money dealers in cities and towns around the country and intensified its operations against all illegal forex dealers.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/57-000-gold-panners-arrested/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1c72b0f49b6775d3d6a72a86e8c85f775e774cc8
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+{"doc_id": "bce9727498ebcbfe3254d8be67273dee", "text": "A recent Daily Mirror editorial on Sri Lanka mentions that since independence, the country had implemented a number of welfare measures such as, “subsidizing costs of food and fuel.”\nIt adds that “these measures were intended to gain electoral popularity, but they also led to a weakening of the economy.”\nLast year, Sri Lanka reached the zenith of its economic and financial crises. Angry protestors converged on the presidential residence.\nThe Prime Minister declared a state of emergency and a curfew. Despite the police firing teargas, the protesters were undeterred even as violence and political chaos gripped the country. The president eventually fled to the Maldives.\nAnalysts attribute the sad state of affairs in this island nation to economic mismanagement that weakened the country’s public finance. The situation was exacerbated by deep tax cuts enacted by President Rajapaksa’s government soon after taking office in 2019.\nRunaway inflation reached dizzying heights of over 60 per cent. The country’s currency collapsed by 80 per cent. It was soon unable to make interest payments on its loans. It became commonplace for Sri Lankans to skip meals as they lined up for hours to buy scarce fuel and cooking gas. Despite the necessity, Sri Lanka held off talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The country instead banned imports of fertilisers and precipitated the decimation of the nation’s staple rice crops. This only drove the price of rice higher.\nEventually, much too late, Sri Lanka got into talks with the IMF and other lenders to restructure its debt. These events sound far removed from Kenya. But to analysts who have been warning of profligate public borrowing and spending on vanity projects, these occurrences instill a sense of foreboding.\nLast year’s fuel shortages across the country were a warning shot across the bow. The country’s staple maize, having reached an unprecedented Sh250 for a two-kilo pack spoke, of an impending crisis.\nAnd aspersions were cast on Kenya’s ability to repay its onerous public debt mostly acquired under the former Jubilee administration.\nBut the country has defied all odds and managed to stay afloat. Only just! It has taken hard and painful decisions to undo the financial damage of a putative bibulous former leader.\nEschewing food and fuel subsidies in favour of fertiliser subsidies, the antithesis of the Sri Lankan approach, is proving beneficial. There are no fuel shortages reported.\nMaize meal is now available at under Sh200 for a two-kilo pack. Inflation has been brought down from 9 percent to under 7 per cent, well within the Central Bank of Kenya’s target. Tax cuts have been avoided even as the country engages in timely talks with Bretton Woods institutions on the management of its debt.\nNo doubt, Kenyans are hard hit by these measures. But there is no other way around them. Not if the country wants to avoid going the Sri Lankan way. While calling for reintroduction of food and fuel subsidies and tax cuts poses a seemingly arresting prospect, it is nothing more than manifest bunkum. It is impractical, populist and like former Sri Lankan leaders, meant to gain electoral popularity. It must be called out.\n-The writer is a public policy analyst", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486294/lessons-from-sri-lanka-on-populist-economic-interventions"}
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+{"doc_id": "bd49c7efb31a492faa36c4403ebaec2c", "text": "Dr Josephine Mburu has become the first high-ranking officer in the Kenya Kwanza administration to be dismissed, barely five months into office.\nThis is after President William Ruto on Monday, May 15 terminated Mburu's appointment as the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards over graft allegations on the donor-funded National Malaria Programme.\nThe Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei said the decision to show Ms Mburu the door followed complaints of alleged impropriety, within the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa), in its management and administration of various medical programmes that are being undertaken by Kenya jointly with its development partners.\nA statement by Koskei who is also President Ruto's Chief of Staff, read: \"The President has been briefed on the complaints of alleged impropriety within the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) in its management and administration of various medical programmes being undertaken in conjunction with our development partners.\"\n\"The complaints follow the regular verification of expenditure by the Global Fund with regard to the National Malaria Programme that targets millions of low-income Kenyan households within our nation's malaria-endemic regions.\"\nMburu was among the 51 PSs appointed by President William Ruto in December 2022.\nShe is now the subject of an investigation into the Sh3.7 billion mosquito net deal at Kemsa, a scandal that happened when the agency was still smarting from the Sh7 billion Covid-19 pandemic scandal.\nHer appointment was terminated by the President on Monday following a meeting at the State House in Nairobi that brought together officials from the ministries of Health, the National Treasury, and the Public Service Commission.\nRuto fired Mburu alongside other Kemsa officials, a day after he promised to crack the whip on the alleged graft in the agency, as part of the President's efforts to redeem the government's image in the face of the danger of driving away international donors.\nThe Head of State also suspended Kemsa CEO Terry Ramadhani.\n\"I am doing something about it. You will see results. I want to give you my commitment, I will clean up Kemsa, whatever it takes, whatever it costs,\" he said during an interview on Sunday.\nWho is Josephine Mburu?\nThe axed PS holds a Higher National Diploma in Microbiology from Kenya Medical Training College-Nairobi in 2002 with a Diploma in Medical Lab Sciences from Kenya Medical Training College-Nairobi.\nThe 56-year-old also holds a Certificate in Medical Lab Sciences from Kenya Medical Training College-Kakamega, which she obtained between 1986 and 1988.\nMburu completed her O' level examinations at St. Francis Primary School in 1981 and 'A' level examinations at Mary Hill High School in 1985\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nShe worked as a lecturer at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) in Nairobi, where she served as a practical instructor in the clinical area during rotation, conducted research, and assessed students' research work.\nDr Mburu was also the Acting Head of the Microbiology Unit (National TB Lab, Public Health Bacteriology, and Oncology) from December 2016 to February 2021, the Head of the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory Technologist from 2011 to 2012, the Head/Manager at the Central Reference TB Laboratory (National Public Health Labs) from 2006 to 2011, and the Deputy Lab in charge - Quality Control Bacteriology (National Public Health Labs) from 2000 to 2005.\nShe also had a stint at the Microbiology Department (National Public Health Labs) from 1994 to 1999, the Kiambu District Hospital Integrated Laboratory from 1992 to 1994, and the Gatundu District Hospital Integrated Laboratory from 1988 to 1992.\nMburu is also affiliated with the Association of Kenya Medical Laboratory Scientific Officers.\nShe holds a Doctorate in public health from Jomo Kenyatta University and a Masters degree in public health from Kenyatta University College.\nDuring her vetting in Parliament, Mburu told MPs she has never been mentioned in any investigatory reports, dismissed, or removed from office over the period she has been working.\nPresident Ruto sacked the PS and the whole of the Kemsa, including its chair Daniel Rono.\nFollowing the development, Health CS Susan Nakhumicha reconstituted the Kemsa board and appointed new members, who include Hezborn Oyieko Omollo, Bernard Kipkirui Better, Jane Masiga and Jane Nyagaturi Mbatia.\nThe President appointed Irungu Nyakera to serve as the new chairperson of the Kemsa board.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001473019/dr-josephine-mburu-the-health-ps-ruto-fired-over-kemsa-scandal"}
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+{"doc_id": "c0174ae671180e490d6e83d8b4ca528b", "text": "Reproductive health care is essential to everyone, however, individuals living with disabilities are still facing challenges in their quest for the services.\nJosephine Mwende, born with cerebral palsy condition, says that accessing reproductive health care has remained a major challenge in her life.\nCerebral palsy is a group of neurological disorders and disabilities that can cause disability in movement, balance, and posture of a patient.\nBringing back the memories, Josephine remembers her teenage life and how she faced the adolescent physical changes.\n“When I first saw my menses at around 10 years, I really got scared. I had heard my peers talking about menstruation in school but I thought mine would come a bit later in life. I never expected it that soon,” she recalled.\nAs a teenager, she had little knowledge about reproductive health. The little she knew, was from lessons in school. In fact, she had no idea of how to keep her menstrual hygiene.\nBack at her home, there were no funds to purchase sanitary towels, and Mwende says she had to make use of cotton wool.\n“I was very ignorant, I didn’t know much about sexual reproduction. My mother got me a cotton wool and showed me how to use it during my menses,” Mwende recalls.\n- Raising a child with cerebral palsy is no walk in the park\n- Diet tips to ensure your cerebral palsy child is healthy\n- Provide free therapy sessions, parents of children with CP plead\nIn school, she quickly blended with fellow girls and learned a lot with time about menstrual hygiene and other reproductive health issues.\nThe 32-year-old reveals that she had no idea about the existence of family planning until she one day realized that she was expectant after college.\n“I started having mood swings and missed my menses then I decided to conduct a pregnancy home test. I confirmed that I was expectant and started my antenatal visits,” she says.\nDuring her antenatal visits, she did not experience challenges even though she could not understand why fellow patients looked at her with sympathy as some whispered in her presence pointing towards her direction.\nIt was in March 2017, when she had an unforgettable experience at the hands of medics being tossed to different health facilities.\n“On the day I was in labour pain, my mother rushed me to a nearby hospital but the in attendance told me that they needed cash to facilitate my delivery and I had to look for another hospital that could accept my insurance cover,” she narrates.\nHer mother took her to another hospital but the reception was quite hostile.\n“The water had already broken (membrane rapture) but when the medic in charge saw me, he told me that they don't attend to people of my kind,” she recounts teary-eyed.\nLuckily, she was rushed to a national hospital where she was attended to and delivered her baby safely.\nThrough the Nguvu collection, the mother of one has now embarked on an initiative for online petitioning the government and relevant stakeholders to empower healthcare workers with knowledge and empathy to treat women with cerebral palsy.\nJosephine is not alone, Sarah Bosibori, an autistic adult also expresses her fears about seeking reproductive health care in hospitals.\nAutism spectrum disorder is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact, communicate, learn, and behave with others.\n“I am really scared of going to a hospital to ask for reproductive health services. How do I explain to the doctor that I am sexually active?” Sarah poses.\nThe 29-year-old's fears are derived from previous experience with the myths that people have about disabled individuals.\n“Some people think that women with disabilities are asexual. You get to a medical facility and the medical practitioner asks why you need reproductive health care,” Sarah says.\nSarah feels that such questions are only posed to women with a disability which she feels is very offensive.\nShe also feels that the caregivers of disabled individuals are so overprotective that, in some instances, they speak on behalf of the patient.\n“I get pissed off especially when I visit a health facility and the doctor in charge seeks opinion from my caregiver instead of taking my word as final,” she says.\nSince she was diagnosed with autism at 4 years old, Sarah has struggled with her identity and has since then accepted and learned how to take care of herself.\nThrough online campaigns, she has been actively championing equity in the delivery of healthcare services for autistic patients.\nThe challenge of access to reproductive health care is experienced by both genders and basically, people disabled differently.\nNicodemus Nyakundi shares his experience while trying to access family planning services.\nNyakundi has a physical disability with a Charcot left leg and narrates his childhood life and how he found out about sexual reproductive health.\n“It was around the year 2006 during the epitome of HIV/AIDs stereotyping when we would be shown videos of victims mostly in full-blown stages. The videos were gross and scary and it formed the basis of my understanding of sexual and reproductive health,” Nyakundi narrates.\nThe 28-year-old says that was the only form of reproductive health education that he could receive in school which he believes was meant to scare him as an adolescent.\nGrowing into adulthood he came to learn more about the disease and other infections but the challenge came to him when he sought to understand reproductive health.\n“Sometimes I would go to a hospital to consult about family planning services but because I went limping I got weird responses. The person in charge would ask me why I can't wait to get well first before you engage in sex,” says Nyakundi.\nHe says that it sounded like a joke but deep inside he knew that he was perceived as a person who couldn't engage in sex or reproduction.\nHaving visited different health facilities, he feels that inequity in healthcare provision is caused by a lack of awareness and inadequate resources.\nSamuel*, visually impaired says that his journey of seeking health care services has not been easy.\nHe says he used to learn about sexual education through friends and radio.\n“I feel like there is no targeted awareness of blind people. There is no community empowerment related to the visually impaired,” he says.\nHe reveals that he feared getting into sexual relationships to avoid rejection from the opposite sex.\n“I once got attracted to a lady but when I showed my advances she told me that she doesn’t have the grace to marry a blind person,” Samuel says.\nHence, he didn't get into relationships and never inquired about reproductive health services.\nHe says that in adulthood people were always curious about how he went about his sexual life.\n“A friend once asked me, how do you manage to engage in the sexual act in your condition?. So I imagined the kind of questions I could get when I visit a health facility,” he said.\nSamuel says that the discrimination, inequity, and lack of inclusion have lowered the self-esteem of people of his kind discouraging them from seeking services in the facilities.\nAccording to Doctor Nelly Mugo, a reproductive health specialist, healthcare providers face various challenges when attending to persons with disability.\n“As a practitioner, I tend to act on respect for the autonomy of my patient but at times it becomes difficult when he/she can not express themselves due to communication barriers,” Dr.Mugo says.\nShe also cites challenges like curiosity which makes the medic want to know more about the patient’s life in detail.\n“At times, fellow patients get disrespectful asking how a disabled person got pregnant. However, this draws empathy from the service providers who then offer social support to the patient,” she added.\nShe says that despite encountering numerous challenges when attending to such individuals, she has learned in the process to treat them with care since “they are very special”.\nThe Ministry of Health has however noted that there are still challenges in accessing reproductive health care in the facilities.\nWhile appearing before the Senate on November 1, 2023, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha confirmed the state has been facing a significant challenge in the provision of disability-friendly maternal healthcare.\n“Reproductive health and maternal health services are now offered in both outpatient and inpatient services. However, there is a significant challenge in the provision of disability maternity-friendly in health facilities,” Nakhumicha told the plenary.\nShe further read a preliminary report from facility assessment that sought to evaluate whether the health facilities had disability-friendly infrastructures such as ramps/lifts, friendly washrooms, maternity beds, and wheelchairs.\n“In a recently concluded facility assessment report, out of 12,483 facilities analysed, 47 per cent had at least one disability-friendly infrastructure, 82 per cent had at least a ramp, 54 per cent had wheelchairs,15 per cent had disability-friendly washrooms and only seven per cent had disability-friendly maternity beds. Further analysis revealed that 80 per cent and 42 per cent of level 6 and 5 facilities had disability-friendly maternity beds,” she noted.\nThe CS said that disability mainstreaming mechanisms are ongoing in health facilities to enhance the unhindered safe movement of people with disability and access to reproductive health services.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/reproductive-health/article/2001486306/how-persons-with-disabilities-struggle-with-reproductive-health-care"}
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+{"doc_id": "c01f33783621ad4b2d5e1cb5a98b7aac", "text": "Bond notes, wholesaler ’tuckshops’ and Zim’s irregular economy\nTinashe Nyamunda\nI moved around Harare CBD observing how people are making do (kukiya-kiya). I was perplexed at how quickly they have adjusted to the bond note economy. How they are trading with it in inventive ways and exploiting any opportunity to make a quick buck is remarkable. Someone explained to me how they are buying a carton of sugar at $17,50 bond and selling it at US$13 . . . just slightly under the purchase price.\nApparently, they then sell the foreign exchange in physical cash to desperate importers who transfer the proceeds of the sale to them at a premium of 30-35 percent.\nThis transferred money (a novel form of kuburner) is then used to make more purchases allowing them to replenish the stocks and start the process all over again.\nAs their volumes increase, they get a healthy profit. So instead of just facilitating exchange and easing the liquidity shortage, the bond note has become a prime target of increasingly speculative activities in different ways, as in the example given above.\nAlthough the introduction of bond notes eased cash liquidity problems to some extent, and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) continues to be cautious not to stimulate inflation by injecting plenty of notes into the market, I get mixed signals from people about the current experiences and prospects of bond notes. On the basis of my observations, I will share some perspectives about Zimbabwe’s prospects.\nFinX once moved a comment on how arbitrage will create mispricing. For the purposes of this article, I will paste the comment: “Zimbabweans, as we well know, are good at lying to themselves as well as each other with their statements on “being educated” and what the real impact of the bond notes will be. It’s one word – “arbitrage”. Arbitrage creates mispricing and mispricing allows some people to make a lot of money while the greater majority generally get poorer.\nAlthough there is an impression that bonds notes have managed to maintain their general circulation value, even at par with the US dollar, I am concerned about their exchange value against foreign currency among importers and the arbitrage taking place. When making certain ordinary purchases, I have been using the bond at par with the dollar.\nI purchase airtime, ice-creams and other trinkets from vendors and other SMEs and grocery businesses where much of the money is circulating, including an estimated $86 million bond notes. However, determining how much of the US$ is circulating is very difficult.\nNonetheless, at a closer look, one needs to fully appreciate all the nuances that inform what makes up the bond economy. Whereas Statutory Instrument (SI) 64 was implemented to substitute imports of goods that could be locally produced and aid RBZ exchange controls in saving foreign currency, its effects have also been mixed.\nThe manufacturing industry has responded positively to SI 64 as many food processing industries such as Zim Gold, Cairns, Nestle and others are reportedly enjoying a steady increase in demand. In fact, according to the CZI, industrial capacity utilisation has risen from around 20 percent to 47 percent.\nIf this can be sustained, money made by local companies can benefit the local economy through creating liquidity, expanding the capital base and gradually creating jobs.\nJust walk into Bhadhella, Mahomed Mussa and other formal wholesalers; you can swipe your debit card or use the EcoCash facility to make transact or purchase goods. If this is maintained across the economy, a very positive effect can be anticipated.\nHowever, the economy has continued to operate irregularly and in ways that the State failed to anticipate or plan for.\nThere is a very vibrant parallel economy that strives on imports. The pseudo-wholesalers, largely known as “tuckshops”, which are largely located downtown around the Charter, Rezende and adjacent streets operate a thriving smuggled goods economy with impunity right under the noses of the state.\nThe products that they sell are smuggled into the country under the noses of law enforcement agents and revenue authorities, making their way from the borders to the main city centres where they are openly traded in spite of the existence of SI 64.\nHow they are smuggled is an open secret. So, in spite of the State’s appearance to be implementing import controls to stimulate local industry whose capacity has been questioned, the smuggling economy’s modus operandi is hidden in the plain view.\nAll traders, particularly SMEs at the very bottom of the value chain, then benefit from these products sold at very marked down prices that compete with local products.\nTherefore, this undercuts the benefits that can accrue to local producers. Yet many of these “tuckshops”, never mind the deceiving name as they sale well above what can be deemed “tuck”, are un-licenced and contribute very little towards taxes. Many of these businesses represent the highest form of what Janet Roitman termed “fiscal disobedience”, not paying tax, licenses and import duties.\nConsequently, the benefits of SI 64 are at best limited and inadequate to contain imported, creeping inflation. This is because the “tuckshops” survive on selling goods that formal wholesalers such as Bhadhella and Mohammed Mussa do not necessarily specialise in or do not stock; goods which require a lot of foreign exchange.\nThe “tuckshops” phenomena proliferated as the country’s economy largely became informal, a key characteristic of what former Finance Minister Tendai Biti termed “supermarket economy.” The country became predominantly consumptive but very unproductive, indicative of severe economic decline.\nAlthough some offer smart-cash facilities, the majority of these enterprises thrive, not on plastic money, bank transfers or mobile banking through EcoCash, but run/operate on cash.\nThey especially depend on foreign exchange, often demanding half of the currency of purchase from their customers to be denominated in foreign currency.\nWorsened by outright externalisation of foreign currency by certain elites and other people as reported in the media, it is little wonder that foreign currency is fast disappearing from the banking sector and is increasingly becoming monopolised by these traders.\nIt may be among them also that the first foreign exchange traders and cash barons characteristic of yesteryear may re-emerge. This is where the SI 64 initiatives and exchange controls are compromised. But is this really a bad thing, or is it indicative of a more profound problem: The failure of the State to plan, police and coordinate productive and sustainable policies?\nAn anthropologist who works in West Africa, Jane Guyer recently published an interesting paper on the “hard-soft currency spectrum”. She describes how local African currencies, former assemblages of the major world currencies, struggle to retain their international exchange value especially because of the structure of their economies which are extractive based but also characterised by a predominantly consumptive behaviour.\nAs such, because of their compromised exchange capacity of the local currencies on global money markets, these “soft currencies” injected into the market as legal tender tend only to be used in local transactions. But the foreign exchange that is used in transnational transactions tends to have a higher demand on the market.\nIn Zimbabwe’s case, “tuckshops”, are much keener than local small business people and ordinary everyday traders to have foreign exchange instead of bond notes. In fact, many of these wholesalers are now demanding half or more of the cash payment to be made in foreign exchange, particularly the US dollars.\nThus, existing outside of the formal structures of the State where they require import licenses and need to apply for foreign exchange to import goods that are listed under SI 64 anyway. They utilise the informal channels to maintain their own parallel economy. Ironically, all of this is happening under the clear purview of the authorities.\nIt’s also happening as many business-people are struggling to access Point of Sale (POS) machines from the banks. Only those with access to POS machines can benefit from clients struggling to access cash from the banks. They, thus, have to balance up forms of payment at their tuckshops if they are to remain competitive with established wholesalers where plastic money is accepted.\nSo, locals have used bonds notes as the soft currency for local transactions whereas most people are retaining harder currencies for transnational business. The thinking is that one saves US dollars, but quickly disposes of bond notes.\nAlternatively, one can use bond notes where they are accepted, but keep dollars for purchases where the local notes are not. Even some traders are marking their prices higher where they are denominated in bond and lower in cases where they are encouraging dollar purchases.\nIn short, the bond notes currency is on the soft side of the spectrum held in contempt by traders while the US dollars are increasingly sought after.\nThe result of this bond note-US dollar spectrum does not require too much imagination in forecasting.\nWith more importance attached to foreign exchange, this has provided a vent for surplus among currency dealers who are charging a premium on the foreign currency. Currently, the loose exchange rate of bond to dollar is an average of B$108 equivalent to US$100.\nWhether this differential will remain stable is difficult to determine. Even if harvests have reduced the need for certain food imports in the country, the hard-soft currency differential will widen. This is largely driven by a misco-ordination among government ministries which do not cooperate in policing the economy.\nThere are disparate voices on economic issues from relevant ministries responsible for different sectors of the economy. The Zimra, police force, Ministries of Finance and Industry among others have all failed to coordinate their efforts in order to protect and sustain SI 64 and make exchange controls sufficient.\nSo, in spite of the efforts by the Government, their main challenge is how to incorporate the informal sector, tuckshops and other stakeholders in their vision of economic recovery. These groups hold much of the currency in circulation, most of which remains unbanked.\nYet the responsibility of confronting these challenges has largely been left to the RBZ alone, which has very limited capacity to police, monitor and attend to the deficiencies of policies passed by a poorly coordinated government.\nAs foreign currency becomes even scarcer, and as long as the tuckshops are allowed to dominate the smuggled goods market, both SI 64 and the bond notes initiatives may eventually collapse. It is from these unregulated, unmonitored and uncontrolled elements of the economy that inflation will be imported or rather smuggled into the country to eventually intensify, unless the Government takes up its role and engages the relevant stakeholders in national development and try as best as possible to coordinate their policy efforts. – This article was first published on finx in March 2017.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/bond-notes-wholesaler-tuckshops-and-zims-irregular-economy/"}
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+{"doc_id": "c222288c64cf89def4b78e44bd759d3b", "text": "The government has allocated Sh1.5 billion to New Kenya Cooperatives Creameries (KCC) to help stabilize milk prices and protect farmers from poor earnings.\nThrough the Ministry of Cooperatives and Macro and Smallholder Enterprises (MSMEs), the funds will help regulate market prices and revitalize the dairy sector in the country.\nSpeaking in Nandi county during a church function over the weekend, Cooperatives and MSMEs Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui said New KCC will buy milk from farmers at a minimum price of Sh45 per liter, to curb exploitation by middlemen and other players in the sector.\nChelugui announced that the first disbursement of Sh500 million will be done before the end of December and appealed to farmers to continue supplying milk to New KCC collection centers across the country.\n\"We seek to protect dairy farming like any other businesses in the country. The minimum price of buying milk is fair and enables farmers to earn good returns despite the high cost of operation,\" he said.\nHe regretted that unscrupulous traders have ruined the dairy sector prompting many people to abandon dairy farming, which has subsequently, led to a significant drop in milk production in the country.\n\"We have local and international markets for our agricultural produce and the county and national government is deliberately working with farmers' cooperative societies to scale up milk production,\" said CS Chelugui.\nChelugui said that the government has secured market for Kenyan milk in the Middle East.\nHe promised that more milk cooling facilities will be established in Nandi, Baringo, Kericho, and Runyenjes.\n\"Lack of storage facilities is among the challenges that have hindered the production of quality and sufficient milk in Kenya. And we are working with the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure that we have the capacity of milk that meet the internal demand,\" he said.\nChelugui further said that farmers will access stimulus funds through cooperative societies to boost animal and crop production.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/rift-valley/article/2001486676/state-injects-sh15b-in-new-kcc-to-stabilise-milk-prices"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8425a1d9d0c1d24848cf5feac3e493fd10fb00fa
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+{"doc_id": "c38213b3f5b1bbcff1330540ecb2d678", "text": "Businessman Jimmy Wanjigi has slammed President William Ruto for plunging the country into a deep economic crisis by borrowing excessively and unlawfully.\nHe also alleged that Kenya paid over 100 per cent for the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and the Nairobi Expressway projects, which he said were money laundering schemes.\nWanjigi made these remarks during an interview on Spice FM on Monday, November 6.\nHe said he gave Ruto a year to prove himself before criticizing him, but he was disappointed by his performance.\n“I was not about to criticize President William Ruto, I gave him a year because that is how you know what the government template will be,” he said.\nHe added that Ruto was doing the same things he had been criticizing over the last ten years, such as borrowing without parliamentary approval and transparency.\n“We talked about legality of debt, Parliament, and this information he is aware of because I myself made sure he knows. Parliament in Misappropriation Bill 2023, passed external and foreign loans to be taken of Sh313 billion, a month later in what is gazetted by the National Treasury as statement of Exchequer, puts it categorically that external loans and grants is Sh870 billion, domestic loans Sh693 billion,” he said.\n“When did Parliament approve Sh1.6 trillion in debt? And this is the bonoko politics I’m talking about.”\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto to launch UHC on Mashujaa Day\nWanjigi also revealed some shocking details about the SGR and the Expressway projects, which he said were inflated and overpaid by the Kenyan government.\nHe said that the contract between Kenya Railways and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) in 2012 was for the civil works for building railway between Mombasa and Nairobi and the provision of locomotives and installing some facilities.\nThe financing Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in 2023 were for how to finance those two contracts, signed by National Treasury, and the Exim Bank of China.\nThe agreement was for 3.8 billion dollars (Sh380 billion).\n“But going all the way to Naivasha, increased another 1.2 billion dollars (Sh120 billion) which totals to 5 billion dollars (Sh500 billion). The country was supposed to finance 10 per cent of the total amount with Exim Bank financing 90 per cent,” he said.\nHe then dropped the bombshell that Kenya paid more than double for the project.\n“Our total contribution as Kenya, should have been Sh50 billion but we ended up paying Sh644 billion. Exim Bank paid 5 billion dollars (Sh500 billion). Essentially we paid over 100 per cent for the project which means we didn’t need a loan. This is just simple math. People are not doing math here, we have a big problem and you are asking why we have a big problem,” he said.\nHe said that the Nairobi Expressway, which cost around Sh100 billion, was also a money laundering scheme by CRBC, which had received over Sh700 billion above their cost for the SGR project.\n“If you have been paid over Sh700 billion above your cost, you just bring it back to wash it and legitimize it. The actual construction of Nairobi Expressway, was an investment by China Roads and Bridges Company estimated at around Sh100 billion to be recouped after 27 years which is guaranteed by the Kenyan Government,” he said.\nHe warned that the country was facing a serious economic crisis due to the huge debt burden and the depreciation of the shilling.\n“We have so much money going into debt. Every time our exchange rate is dropping. Sh1 drop increases debt by Sh40 billion and that is never going to end, it is increasing by the day. The fuel price will keep going up every day until it will reach Sh300 and beyond,” he said.\n“Our shilling is dropping because we are not producing but 70 per cent is going to repaying debt and 15 per cent is going to recurrent expenditure and we are left with 12 per cent which is supposed to go to development.”", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001484810/jimmy-wanjigi-kenya-paid-double-for-sgr-and-expressway-projects"}
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+{"doc_id": "c3eb99acd0ecf55d96c984b75c52f43c", "text": "Harare\nWith runaway inflation eating into incomes, staple foods have vanished from the tables of Zimbabweans like Emina Chishangwe, who lives in a poor dormitory town south of the capital Harare.\n\"I can't remember the last time I ate meat. It has become a luxury for some of us,\" said the 57-year-old single mother of two adult sons.\nZimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world, according to Steve Hanke, a professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, who believes it can only be remedied by the full adoption of the US dollar.\nThe situation has quickly worsened this year as the Russian invasion of Ukraine compounded with black market foreign exchange has depleted the value of the Zimbabwe dollar.\n\"The parallel market is to blame to a large degree for the spiralling inflation,\" AgriBank chief economist Joseph Mverecha told AFP.\nEconomy on a downturn\nZimbabwe's economy has been on a downturn for nearly two decades, marked by shortages of cash and food.\nDistrust has led people to exchange their cash for US dollars, further driving down the local currency.\nInflation soared to 191.6 percent in June, up from 60 percent at the beginning of the year, driving prices of goods ever upwards.\nThe rate dwarfs even the 41 percent inflation in war-torn Ukraine.\nA kilo of choice beef now costs ZWL8,768 ($21.92) and five kilos of chicken drumsticks ZWL21,000 (US$65.22) — the equivalent to a civil servant's average monthly salary.\nChishangwe, who runs a vegetable stall in Chitungwiza town, and her sons have two meals a day instead of three, usually a thick cornmeal porridge called sadza and kale or tiny dried sardines.\n'Anguish'\nRising fuel prices forced Edwin Matsvai to downgrade from a fuel-guzzling Toyota Land Cruiser to a more economic Honda Fit.\n\"My friends made jokes about me 'stepping down' when I made the change but now some of them are considering following suit,\" said Matsvai, a car salesman.\nPetrol rose to US$1.77 per litre this month from US$1.41 in January.\nZimbabweans endured and survived some of the worst hardships of 2008 when hyperinflation saw the central bank mint a one-trillion-dollar note.\nGrowing discrepancies between incomes and cost of living, forcing people to make tough decisions of how and where they live, is taking a toll on mental health, according to specialist psychiatrist Isabel Chinoperekwei.\n\"I see many of them coming with depression, anxiety disorder and also alcohol abuse,\" said Chinoperekwei, who has a private practice in Harare.\nIt's not just working professionals feeling the anguish.\n\"I have seen adolescents who have changed schools because their parents could no longer afford the schools they were going to,\" Chinoperekwei said. \"They find it hard to cope.\"\nLeaders to blame\nMany blame the country's leaders.\n\"The old men have failed us,\" said Matsvai, referring to the government. \"If they don't act swiftly and fix the economy, it will cost them in next year’s general elections.\"\nAlready in the March by-elections, the long-ruling Zanu-PF party lost to the opposition Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC) which was formed barely three months earlier.\nThe southern African nation is due to hold general elections in 2023.\n'Hand to mouth'\nAnalysts say the current political and economic landscape now mirrors the crisis leading into the 2008 election, which saw ex-ruler Robert Mugabe nearly fall from power.\n\"People who are earning starvation wages, those without jobs and all those who are feeling the pinch of the rising cost of living have lost faith in Zanu-PF,\" said Takavafira Zhou, a political scientist at Masvingo State University.\n\"The only hope lies in a new government that will give (the public) reprieve.\"\nZanu-PF has been in power since 1980, when British colonial rule ended. Current president Emmerson Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe in a 2017 military coup, pledging to fix the moribund economy he inherited.\n‘Frantic measures’\nThe risk of losing power in upcoming polls is now pushing Zanu-PF to \"frantic measures\" to halt price hikes that have plunged millions into deeper poverty, said economist Prosper Chitambara.\n\"The world over, no ruling party is expected to do well in an environment of chronic high inflation,\" said Chitambara, of the think-tank Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe.\nLast month Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced a raft of monetary policies including maintaining the dual use of the US dollar, adopted after the 2008 hyperinflation, and the Zimbabwe dollar reintroduced in 2019.\nMinimum interest rates more than doubled to 200 per cent last week.\nGold coins\nThe country is also introducing gold coins \"as a store of value\" starting July 25.\nBut those are for the rich.\n\"The ordinary citizens, those who are struggling and living from hand to mouth are not going to afford it,\" said Chitambara.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/africa/news/no-cash-for-food-as-zimbabweans-battle-hyperinflation-3874950"}
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+{"doc_id": "c408bc30604b1258ec7557db93f78b12", "text": "What you need to know:\nGranted, the professional bodies can play a big role in ensuring that professional competencies and learning outcomes necessary for entry into professions are taken into account at the conceptualisation of the degree programmes.\nThey also should have a say into the kind of facilities and calibre of teaching staff on offer to guard the dignity and reputation of the profession.\nBut these, as the Act rightly states, should only be done in consultation with the commission.\nBy blocking professional bodies from approving and accrediting university courses, the National Assembly has shown uncharacteristic acuity and set the tempo for reforms in the management of our institutions of higher learning.\nBefore the Universities (Amendment) Act was gazetted just three weeks ago, the institutions had almost been stripped of their autonomy and authority in making decisions on the kind of programmes they should offer, how they should run them and how to create some degree of uniqueness for marketing purposes. This is because of the emergence of numerous regulatory bodies, all scrambling to inspect the institutions to determine if their programmes are valid, index students, collect fees, check facilities etc.\nThis had become especially exasperating to the universities because the professional bodies would be repeating an exercise already carried out by the Commission for University Education (CUE). In a nutshell, these professional bodies were only duplicating a task already completed by the commission.\nThankfully, Members of Parliament (MPs) have now stripped the professional boards of any mandate in the recognition, licensing, indexing students, approving or accrediting any single academic programme, giving full authority over such tasks to CUE.\nPRUDENT RATIONALE\nObviously, the professional bodies are unhappy with the amendment, but the rationale behind it is not only persuasive but also prudent. In an institution like the University of Nairobi which offers more than 300 academic programmes, how is it possible to have the same number of professional bodies accredit each of the courses before they can be approved? How can universities operate normally in a toxic environment where engineers, lawyers, journalists, teachers, community workers, et cetera are all demanding to inspect the curricula, books, facilities and staff quality all at once?\nMost the universities offer between 10 and 100 different courses that lead to various careers, therefore, wouldn’t the professional bodies be suffocating them with inspection demands for issues already authoritatively assessed by the commission?\nStill, the regulators were operating under the Universities Act, meaning that as legal entities, they were entitled to funds from the Treasury and the universities themselves just like the commission does, which raises questions about the management of taxpayer funds given the wasteful duplication of roles.\nADD VALUE\nIn many parts of the world, especially in developing nations, professional bodies add value to the lives of students because they expose them to networking opportunities, subsidise fees for students attending professional seminars and conferences and help them find internship opportunities. They also offer direct recruitment services, give students access to reduced literature, competitions and awards and student-specific events.\nMost of their work is student-centred rather than institution-centred and so the winner is always the learner. Not so in Kenya where professional bodies merely sought to stamp their authority on the universities, while giving little or no dividend to the learner. Meanwhile, they would be earning millions from the universities and the exchequer.\nThe Council for Legal Education, the supervisor and regulator for legal education in Kenya, ordered the closure of Moi and Mount Kenya universities Law Schools in 2015 after it declared that the institutions physical facilities and teaching resources were inadequate for the programme. The council asked the universities to come up with a clear plan to facilitate the transfer of the students to accredited institutions. Though the High Court annulled the decision, saying the council did not have authority to approve or withdraw accreditation, the fact that the row ended up in court is a manifestation of how disruptive such disputes can be to the management of the universities and the lives of the students. These are public institutions, including the Commission which was dragged into the court case as an interested party, hiring lawyers using taxpayer funds on a dispute that should not have been there in the first place.\nNOT APPROVED\nThe Engineers Board of Kenya recently condemned more than half of engineering degree courses offered by universities on the grounds that it had not approved them.\nThese two are just examples of the kind of turmoil that would have been seen in both public and private universities were it not for the amendments.\nGranted, the professional bodies can play a big role in ensuring that professional competencies and learning outcomes necessary for entry into professions are taken into account at the conceptualisation of the degree programmes.\nThey also should have a say into the kind of facilities and calibre of teaching staff on offer to guard the dignity and reputation of the profession. But these, as the Act rightly states, should only be done in consultation with the commission. And even then, the composition of the professional bodies themselves must also be subjected to strict examination to guard against a situation in which, people with only first degrees are being called to determine the kind of postgraduate courses that universities should offer.\nAs the Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i embarks on reforming the universities, the amendment of the Universities Act should serve as a promise that the changes he introduces will not be self-serving, aiming to benefit individuals or some institutions but will be beneficial to the whole country.\nKariuki Waihenya is rewrite editor, ‘Daily Nation’.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/Opinion/mp-restored-autonomy-higher-education/440808-3781482-jm0a6pz/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "c6cace44b7f91edb88cc2e6a05e2863e", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Al Shabaab remains banned from purchasing or accessing weapons on the international market, and countries must work together to ensure no violations.\n- Just a week after Somalia had been formally admitted into the EAC, the arms embargo lifting generated a celebration in Mogadishu.\n- Somaliland is yet to be accepted internationally as an independent state, even though it runs its own government, military, currency and central bank.\n- In the past, Kenya has been among countries that sought tougher sanctions on Al Shabaab, including having them listed in the same regime as Al Qaeda.\nSomalia’s entry into the East African Community (EAC) as well as promising domestic reforms helped earn the country a lifting of an arms embargo imposed 31 years ago.\nThe embargo was initially to tame warlords but later targeted Al Shabaab militants.\nThe Resolution 2714/23 lifted Resolution 733/92, which had been amended several times to reflect the menace of Al Shabaab.\nThe Council, however, will still require Somalia to submit a list of weapons purchased to the Council’s sanctions committee, and Mogadishu is required to establish a national inventory of weapons, besides promoting adequate training of the police and military.\nThe Council says Somalia must also vet and license private security firms that seek to import weapons into the country, and that it must ensure those weapons are not resold, transferred or supplied to entities that are not entitled to use the equipment.\nBut the celebrations of the move by the UN Security Council could come with new worries among Somalia’s peers in the EAC, where irregular flow of weapons through porous borders has often led to frequent violent extremism.\nThe lifting of the embargo frees Mogadishu to arm its police and military forces with modern weaponry. But peers in the EAC face Somalia’s big task of ensuring that weapons that fall in the wrong hands are not used to perpetrate violence across borders.\nDiplomats who spoke at the Council’s briefing on December 1, cited Somalia’s continued legal reforms in security and financial sectors, as well as its readiness for integration with neighbours among biggest influences to lift the restrictions.\nJapanese diplomat Shino Mitsuko said her country supported the new resolution because it targets violators rather than a government seeking to rebuild. She argued Somalia would now be free to engage and “enhance greater regional cooperation to degrade Al Shabaab in the region.”\nAl Shabaab remains banned from purchasing or accessing weapons on the international market, and countries must work together to ensure no violations.\n'Ready to confront security threats'\nSomalia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Abukar Dahir Osman said his country would now be ready to “confront security threats, including those posed by Al Shabaab”.\n“Sustainable peace and security can only be achieved through a comprehensive approach that integrates security measures with initiatives aimed at fostering long-term stability and prosperity,” he said.\nSomalia announced that it would immediately proceed with the second drawdown of African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis), with 3,000 troops expected to leave by end of this month. Atmis should be completely out of Somalia by December 2024.\nThe move by the UN Security Council meant President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had delivered two of his three promises: Joining the EAC, having the embargo imposed in 1992 lifted, and obtaining debt relief, allowing Somalia to discuss lending terms with international financial institutions.\nAll three are important, but the arms embargo could affect relations between Somalia and its federal states, and Mogadishu will be forced to make urgent reforms that could stop re-arming of Al Shabaab from the national armoury.\nBut critics say it will not be Mogadishu’s headache alone. Hilaal Institute, a security think-tank in Mogadishu, suggested the embargo, which has lasted 31 years, was being lifted prematurely.\n“The evidence suggests that the premature lifting of the arms embargo could precipitate a range of adverse outcomes, from intensifying clan conflicts and enabling illicit arms flows to posing broader threats to regional and global stability,” Hilaal said in an advisory last week.\n“The interplay of domestic dynamics -- the clan-based societal structure, limited government control over ports of entry, open arms markets in Mogadishu, and instances of Somali National Army weapons appearing on the open market.”\nJust a week after Somalia had been formally admitted into the EAC, the arms embargo lifting generated a celebration in Mogadishu.\nPresident Mohamud and Prime Minister Hamza Barre said the same thing: Somalia is ready to confront its archenemy, Al Shabaab, now that it will be allowed to arm itself.\n“The voting in our (Somalia’s) favour has several benefits,” said the President, noting that Somalia’s armed forces would be sufficiently empowered, paving the way for clearing the Khawarij (religious deviants) from the country, he added, in clear reference to Al Shabaab.\nPresident Mohamud reiterated that this move gives Somalia permission to buy the weapons it needs to defeat terrorists and secure its borders.\n“Besides, members of the international community can have the faculty to offer us arms and ammunitions that can help our drive to stabilise our nation.”\nAutonomy headache\nPerhaps Mogadishu’s first headache is to ensure it remains united on the issue given the federated structure the country has adopted in the past 15 years, with regional governments enjoying significant autonomy and laws leaving gaps for anyone to interpret.\nOn December 2, Somaliland, the region that self-declared independence over 32 years ago, said the UN Security Council must tighten checks on Somalia to ensure warlords do not emerge.\n“We believe that lifting the embargo at this time would have detrimental ramifications for Somaliland, the Horn of Africa region, and the international community,” the Somaliland government said in a statement.\nSomaliland is yet to be accepted internationally as an independent state, even though it runs its own government, military, currency and central bank.\nIts history with the Somali civil war that led to the initial imposition of the embargo in 1992 is that the government of then Somali leader Siad Barre bombarded Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, where a rebellion had first emerged against Somalia. Somaliland claims some 200,000 people were killed in those episodes and says part of the problem was irregular flow of weapons and no accountability on usage.\nRecently, clan militias engaged Somaliland in Las Anod, a region straddling Somaliland and Puntland federal state. The clan militia have since pledged allegiance to Mogadishu, which they want to directly administer the region until it creates sufficient structures to become a new federal state.\nBut that is both a problem and benefit for Somalia. A problem because the law does not yet guide on the formation of federal states nor does it create a limit. However, the clans aligning with Mogadishu mean that Somaliland loses more ground in seeking international recognition.\n“The emergence of clan militia groups such as Las Anod ones, aligning themselves with extremist entities presents a clear and present danger in the region. Lifting the embargo could fuel these groups, jeopardising regional security and exacerbating ongoing humanitarian crises,” Somaliland argued.\nWeapons management\nAt least both Hargeisa and Mogadishu agree that there are gaps in weapons management, something that the UN Panel of Experts on Somalia had argued in previous reports after it found weapons donated to the government forces had been sold off in the black market to Al Shabaab.\nHargeisa argues there has been no demonstration that Mogadishu can account for its weapons, hence there is a danger of diverting weapons to terror groups. But the two sides cannot agree on the definition of terrorists.\nThe Mohamud administration did admit his government faces the challenge of establishing a proper weapons management system.“It is the mandate of the government to keep strict records of arms inventory,” said Prime Minister Barre.\nUsually, Al Shabaab tends to increase its tempo of attacks inside and outside Somalia when it gains more access to weapons and money.\nPreviously, the militant group smuggled charcoal to fund its terror activities in neighbouring Kenya and Uganda. Then the group changed its tactics by infiltrating key government agencies like the revenue authorities and security agencies.\nA top diplomat in Kenya said they have genuine concerns about management of the arms inventory, but said Kenya welcomed the lifting of the embargo because it allows Somalia and peers to collaborate better on security management as regional forces under the Atmis start to leave Somalia this month.\nIn the past, Kenya has been among countries that sought tougher sanctions on Al Shabaab, including having them listed in the same regime as Al Qaeda. But strong lobbying by activists curtailed the move, as some argued it could lead to collective punishment of innocent civilians in areas the Al Shabaab control.\nOn the lifting of the arms ban, Somalia radio stations aired call-ins from locals, with some being bland.\n“There is no point in celebrating the lifting of the arms embargo, unless the authority establishes a demonstrable means of controlling the arms,” said a listener of Kulmiye Radio, an independent broadcaster in Mogadishu.\nSeveral other political figures in Somalia also took the same cautious view.\nBut government officials see it as a good sign.\nGhanaian diplomat Harold Adlai Agyeman, speaking for Gabon and Mozambique, the other African members in the Council said Somalia had already made positive steps in setting up a weapons management system, “which has been recognised in the resolution,” he added.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/africa/news/mixed-reactions-as-un-lifts-arms-ban-on-somalia-after-joining-eac-4458280"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c63e8899d4d9b68acfedadd96395b554fc240faf
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+{"doc_id": "c7e995cc41244237852cb791931ebcab", "text": "Although the new administration is still in its infancy, the President has already pronounced himself boldly on the matter of small businesses. He is spot-on.\nAfter all, SMEs create 80 per cent of employment in Kenya. During his speech to the joint session of Parliament last Thursday, he said his government would allocate Sh50 billion every year to the Hustlers Fund for MSMEs.\nThere is no doubt that the Hustlers Fund, if well executed, can provide much-needed affordable credit for small businesses. Currently, such credit is virtually impossible to come across.\nThe Youth Enterprise Development Fund provides a business loan product that attracts a single-digit interest of 6 per cent.\nBut there is a catch - the loan can only be secured through conventional security, which is a challenge for many youth.\nBanks are worse. Some of the cheapest loan rates in the banking sector are at 13 per cent interest rate. This effectively knocks out many small businesses as they simply can't afford to service such high-interest loans.\nTo make matters worse for them, last Thursday the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) raised the key lending rate from 7.50 to 8.25 per cent. This will likely lead to higher-interest bank loans, further marginalising small businesses.\nIn developed countries, affordable credit is often the norm, not the exception. Back in 2013, Britain's Sainsbury's Bank launched a personal loan rate of a mere 4.8 per cent for three years. Despite this low rate, customers were allowed to borrow up to Sh2 million! It would be amazing for small businesses in Kenya, wouldn't it?\nThe Hustlers fund seems intended to fill a gap currently not met by existing financial institutions. To ensure its success, transparency and accountability must be the norm. We must also be intentional in training to eradicate the culture of entitlement of free money.\nDirect partnerships between the government and renown manufacturers of tools of business that Kenyans regularly borrow to buy, may provide one of the possible fool-proof measures in Hustler Fund loan disbursements. In this bargain, the government in a well thought out arrangement that involves umbrella associations would directly pay manufacturers of popular products like motorbikes, posho mills, tillers and water pumps.\nUsing existing systems of recovery to reduce risk of default, the manufacturers would then supply the products of choice to Hustler fund loanees. Both parties will get value for money.\nIn addition, local manufacturing will be boosted, which will create more jobs for Kenyans. Further, this arrangement would save the fund from the high default rate that have plagued previous such funds.\nIn most businesses, it takes time for a Return on Investment (ROI) to be realised. It is therefore unrealistic to expect that small businesses will within weeks break even and afford paying back loans, however, low the interest may be.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nThe Hustler fund, therefore, ought to provide sufficient grace period before the loan repayment commences. Further to this and perhaps even more important, the government should consider enrolling select small business owners into business incubation programmes.\nThis is what green money entails - it tackles the bigger picture in a sustainable manner. Think green, act green!", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001457173/hustlers-fund-must-avoid-pitfalls-of-similar-well-intentioned-plans"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..eae548617f5ad95425673757fc2959d71e1fe058
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+{"doc_id": "c892c71ebde3837d85b02faa6959c5e6", "text": "The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has suspended Nairobi Women’s Hospital from its list of approved medical care providers.\nIn a memo dated February 5, 2020, the taxman told its staff that the directive took effect immediately.\n“Nairobi Women’s has been suspended from the KRA list of approved medical service provider with immediate effect. This suspension will stand until such a point where the contentious issues between the Authority and the hospital are resolved conclusively,” Deputy Commissioner HR Mukuriah Nelson said.\nHe added that the staff were advised to access medical services from other approved providers.\nNairobi Women’s woes\nThe hospital has been in the limelight following recent claims that its doctors forced patients to undertake unnecessary procedures.\nA leaked Whatsapp conversation revealed alleged ‘strategies’ that the facility used to meet their revenue targets.\nAmong the claims is that doctors allegedly admitted patients who do not necessarily require to be admitted and delayed discharging patients unnecessarily to allow more time to meet the targets.Private health insurers suspended services with Nairobi Women’s Hospital on February 5, following allegations of cost inflation at the facility.\nThe Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) said the indefinite suspension would remain as a “thorough review” on quality and costs of the hospital’s services is conducted.\n“All medical insurers have from February 5, 2020 suspended Nairobi Women’s Hospital from their list of accredited service providers. This follows recent accusations made in the media against the institution,” said AKI in a statement.\nThe regulator said the suspension would not affect insured customers already admitted to the hospital.\n“Billing and settlement of expenses incurred by these customers will not be affected,” said AKI.\nAKI in a meeting with the Chief Executives of the insurance companies on Monday noted that there are several administrative issues concerning the hospital which disadvantaged insured customers.\n“This is contrary to the interest of medical insurers which is to ensure that customers get the best services at competitive rates,” said AKI.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\n“The medical environment has many players, including doctors, pharmacists, laboratories, imaging services, among others. For medical insurance to make sense, each of these players has to give the best service at the most reasonable rates. This is, however, far from the reality on the ground.”\nSeven insurance companies have withdrawn their services with the facility. They include Jubilee, Britam, UAP, AAR, APA, CIC and GA Insurance.\nNairobi Women’s Hospital has said it was conducting an internal review on the allegations along with an independent one by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001359437/kra-suspends-nairobi-women-s-hospital-from-its-list-of-service-providers"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e19e303fda6cb8a074cd2b34642c5c4900d6d68c
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+{"doc_id": "cb71022a7b8e30d23183343656326bfc", "text": "$52m for Gwanda solar\nBusiness Reporter\nCHINESE electrical engineering giant, CHiNT Electric, has committed a $52 million advance payment demand guarantee for the 100 megawatts Gwanda solar farm (Matabeleland South), as it seeks to unlock funding needed to develop the project. The Chinese company, with $30 billion in assets and annual turnover of over $12 billion, said it was willing and ready to provide a guarantee covering 30 percent of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) aspect of the contract.\nConstruction of the Gwanda solar plant was initially quoted at $172 million, but the price was later reviewed down to $132 million due to the falling costs of constructing solar energy plants across the entire world.\nThe price cut represented 20 percent of the original project cost. State power utility, Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), is the contractor. Gwanda solar farm is part of a series of national strategic power projects envisaged to close the country’s acute shortage of power, which is augmented by regional imports at a time the country is facing serious shortage of hard currency.\nAccording to the Chinese firm, upon receipt of the advance payment demand guarantee, ZPC is contractually obligated to effect payment equivalent to 30 percent of the EPC project cost, less $7,4 million advances it would have paid for pre-commencement works.\nCHiNT said the proposal for immediate payment after an advance payment guarantee comes in light of progress on the pre-commencement works, which are nearing completion and to avoid delays, it needed part of the EPC funding to perform the works.\nCompletion of pre-commencement works will clear ZPC’s exposure from the contentious $5 million it paid for initial works without getting a bank guarantee. Since ZPC is supposed to pay $7,4 million for pre-commencement works, it will owe $2,3 million on completion of ground clearing, for all initial works.\nThe company’s Vice President, Dr Lin Bosheng, told the contractor, ZPC’s acting managing director Josh Chirikutsi that CHiNT wanted to make an advance payment guarantee and immediately after ZPC to release part of EPC funding. Dr Bosheng said this was provided for in clause 5b of the Contract Agreement for the project.\nImplementation of the solar project is expected to receive massive boost following President Mnangagwa’s State visit to China.\nThe company noted that arrears from previous State guaranteed projects had scuppered financial mobilisation and delayed the project.\n“In addition to the efforts by our counterpart to secure funding locally and the achievement of financial closure, we will assign CHiNT to obtain an advance payment demand guarantee provided for in terms of Clause 5b of the (Gwanda solar farm EPC) contract agreement.\n“The advance payment by ZPC will be accordingly utilised for, among other purposes, funding the facility costs and fees.\n“The advance payment will also be used to complete any outstanding works in anticipation of the commencement of the EPC contract once financial closure has been reached,” Mr Bosheng wrote to ZPC.\nEng Chirikutsi could not be contacted for comment, but Gwanda solar project local partner Intratrek Zimbabwe executive chairman Wilson Manatse said the new dispensation had brought hope to all “Zimbabweans, consequently successful implementation of the project was inevitable.”\nIntratrek is expected to complete pre-commencement works for Gwanda in the next three to four months and these included completion of a feasibility study (successfully completed and submitted), acquisition of land for the project (concluded), due diligence of CHiNT and Intratrek (Done), authorisations by parties to the EPC to execute the project and production of an environmental impact certificate.\nCHiNT Electric Co has built more than 4 000MW of solar farm energy across the world and is among leading global firms in installation of turnkey solar systems.\nCHiNT was founded in 1994 by Nan Cunhui, who was part of Chinese businessman and members of the Chinese Communist Party that held meetings with a powerful delegation led by the President on his recent visit to China. He participated in the meetings in his capacity as member of the Chinese Communist Party.\nThe businessman is a member of the Chinese National People’s Congress and President of the Chinese Federation of the Industrial Economy.\nFurther, Mr Cunhui is also an executive member of the Chinese Federation of Industrial Economy who has received several awards for his business acumen.\nThe Chinese group said that it was committed to attract as much capital for the Gwanda solar project as possible from local and international infrastructure financiers, a commitment evidenced by its agreement to the reduction of the EPC price.\nThe Gwanda solar farm will be built in phases of 26,1MW, 28,2MW, 21,7MW and 23,9MW for maximum cost to benefit to ZPC.\nMeanwhile, Intratrek Zimbabwe, CHiNT Electric’s local partner in the Gwanda project, is finalizing alternative funding for the project locally through pension funds and insurance backed infrastructure bonds.\nFinance and Economic Planning Minister Patrick Chinamasa last year granted prescribed and liquid asset status to infrastructure bonds meant to raise part of the fund (equity contribution) for the solar project.\nThe bonds will be raised through Zimbabwe’s biggest bank by assets and revenue, CBZ Bank, a behemoth financial institution in which the State has significant stake. The State Procurement Board, now Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, approved the alternative funding arrangement. It (SPB) is also the one that awarded the project to the lowest bidder to specification.\nInitiatives to address the energy deficit are in line with medium term policy, Zim-Asset targets, which aims for energy self-sufficiency beyond 2018. Currently, Zimbabwe has an energy deficit of 600MW, but with the economy depressed, the deficit will widen as the economy recovers.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/52m-for-gwanda-solar/"}
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+{"doc_id": "cb931250e5c50bd2aadd53c17f1b1d4e", "text": "44th Cabinet meeting decisions matrix\n44th Cabinet Meeting Decisions Matrix: 10th December, 2019\n1. Local production of number plates as an import substitution strategy\nFollowing a presentation by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development on the need to produce number plates locally as an import substitution strategy, Cabinet tasked local innovation hubs to come up with a patent for the local production of number plates with the requisite security features.\nCabinet is confident the move to produce number plates locally will ease the current shortages being experienced in the country due to the limited availability of foreign currency.\nThe local production of new number plates will also increase the utilisation of the country’s resources, including local scientists, and create employment for citizens.\n2. The country’s power and fuel supply situation\nFollowing an update report by the Minister of Energy and Power Development on the country’s power and fuel supply situation, Cabinet noted with concern that although the daily average diesel and petrol uplifts for the past week had increased compared to the previous week, fuel queues continue to be visible.\nConsequently, Cabinet reiterated that all service stations caught engaging in illegal activities be identified and perpetrators brought to book through fines and, where appropriate, withdrawal of operating licences.\n3. Update on the implementation of the 4th 100-day cycle priority projects\nCabinet received and appreciated progress reports in the implementation of the 4th 100-day cycle priority projects, which ministers presented as follows:\n1. Energy and Power Development The minister informed Cabinet as follows:\n- The expansion of Hwange Thermal Power Station’s units 7 and 8, which is envisaged to add 600MW to the national grid, is progressing well, with all the geotechnical investigations having been completed and design reviews, excavations and site levelling at an advanced stage. The completion of the expansion works will help ease power supply challenges currently besetting the country;\n- Ninety-two out of the 2 010 transformers to be manufactured countrywide under the Transformer Manufacturing Project have been completed;\n- Under the Smart Metering Project, 404 out of the targeted 2 000 smart meters configured with GSM sim cards have been installed; and\n- Under the Rural Provinces Grid Extension projects, 31 of the 35 targeted institutions comprising schools and clinics have been grid electrified, with prepaid meters connected.\n2. Transport and Infrastructural Development\nThe minister informed Cabinet as follows:\n- Bush clearance and road formation of the 5km-stretch from Melfort to Bromely has been completed, and the road is now awaiting surfacing;\n- Construction works on the Harare-Bulawayo Road bridge-over-rail in Norton have been completed, with the bridge now awaiting commissioning;\n- 28,6km of the 48,2km-stretch of the Mhandamabwe-Chivi-Tugwi Road has been completed and opened to traffic;\nApproaches for three bridges ravaged by Cyclone Idai on the Wengezi-Chimanimani Road, namely: Umvumvumvu Number 2, - 3 and 4 have been completed and opened to traffic, and\nWorks on the upgrading of the 5km-stretch in Chivhu and the 3km stretch in Beatrice along the Harare- Masvingo Highway have been carried out to base two and to priming levels, respectively.\n3. Environment, Tourism, Climate and Hospitality Industry Minister reported as follows:\n- Under the Customer Care and Services Project, identification of institutions to undergo training and the development of customised training manuals have been completed;\n- Under the Community Participation in Fisheries Programme, construction of eight ponds at designated schools and communities in Chinyika, Bonstead and Hibury in Mashonaland East Province has been completed, with the ponds now awaiting stocking;\n- Identification of biogas digester sites has been competed, while construction of the same is in progress in Masvingo and Matabeleland North provinces under the Bio-degradable Solid Waste Management Project;\n- An application for tender waiver for the establishment of a sawmill plant in Cashel Valley, Manicaland Province, has been\n- submitted; and\n- The construction of an ablution block in Hwange under the Community Participation in Tourism Conservation project in Matabeleland North Province has now been approved by the local leadership, with the Environmental Impact Assessment having been completed and the project site pegged.\n4. Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development\nThe minister informed Cabinet as follows:\n- Work on the upgrading of a Technology Centre at Harare Institute of Technology and a Common Facility Centre in Chinhoyi are at an advanced stage, with transportation of new machinery and equipment from Chitungwiza Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation warehouse to the two sites having been completed;\n- The renovation of a one-stop centre in Rusape under the one-stop centre phase 2 project has been completed. The one-stop centre had been ravaged by fire in September 2018;\n- Funding for 30 small and medium enterprises projects in Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland North provinces has been secured, while monitoring of the funded projects is ongoing; and\n- The disbursement of a total of ZW$480 641,64 to 14 of the 20 community-initiated projects has been effected in Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Harare provinces. The project will benefit communities in various sectors, which include horticulture, brick moulding, cattle fattening and poultry.\n5. The Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation informed Cabinet as follows:\n- The National Sport and Recreation Strategy has been reviewed and is set to be benchmarked with international best practices;\nThe establishment of the Tabudirira Vocational Training Centre tomato processing plant in Mutoko, Mashonaland East - Province is at 60 percent completion and on course;\n- The establishment of the Youth Interact Centre in Harare Province is 85 percent complete; and\nThe installation of a drip irrigation system in Masvingo is complete, and its utilisation will commence during this current agricultural season. 6. Minister of Local Government and Public Works\nThe minister of Local Government and Public Works reported as follows:\n- Construction work at ZRP Tomlinson Depot Flats in Harare, which is meant to improve access to accommodation for ZRP staff, is progressing well;\n- Upgrading of the Mabhula Sewer Treatment Plant in Zvishavane Town, Midlands, which will improve sewer treatment capacity in the town, is at 80 percent completion;\n- The Magamba Extension Water Reticulation project targeting to connect a total of 1 181 properties to water supply in Rusape Town, Manicaland Province, is at 95 percent completion;\n- The Tsholotsho Disaster Recovery Project in Tshiro/Sawudweni, Matabeleland North Province, is now complete, with five houses having been constructed. The project targets to rehabilitate communities affected by cyclone-induced floods in the 2016-2017 rainy season; and\n- The Kamutsenzere piped water scheme being undertaken to increase access to safe water under Pfura Rural District Council in Mt Darwin, Mashonaland Central Province, is complete and 2 765 people will benefit from the project.\n4. Ratification of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, East African Community-Southern African Development Community (COMESA EAC-SADC) Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement\n- Cabinet considered and approved the Ratification of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) Agreement, which the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs presented as chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Legislation.\n- The TFTA brings together combined membership of COMESA, EAC and SADC under a single free trade area, thereby addressing the challenge of multiple membership and boosting intra-regional trade and economic development among member states. The TFTA seeks to achieve the following objectives, inter-alia:\n- To promote economic and social development of the Tripartite region;\n- To create a large single market with free movement of goods and services in order to promote intra-regional trade; and\n- To enhance the regional and continental integration processes.\n- In essence, the TFTA will bring together 29 African countries with a combined current population of more than 632 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product of US$1,3 trillion.\n- The TFTA constitutes half of the African Union (AU) in terms of membership.\nSuch a market naturally creates opportunities for economies of scale for producers of various goods and services in the Tripartite region. - Zimbabwe stands to benefit immensely from membership of the TFTA.\n- The country will no longer be restricted to the production of traditional goods and, instead, will become the hub for new manufacturing operations that serve wider markets. The country will substantially reduce the cost of doing business and, thereby radically transforming its industrial processes and models.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/44th-cabinet-meeting-decisions-matrix/"}
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+{"doc_id": "cd82ab9c8e04051cff13aee2122efd57", "text": "-\nGeorge Maponga–Masvingo Bureau A lot has been achieved by the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa’s leadership for information to be accessible to Zimbabweans, including those in rural areas, in schools and in various Government departments, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere has said. He was speaking at Chivi Growth Point in Masvingo […]\n-\nUrbanites benefiting from the Presidential Borehole Scheme will now be connected directly to the boreholes so the water comes through their taps, as President Mnangagwa’s initiative continues to deliver potable water across the country.\n-\nMukudzei Chingwere-Herald Reporter PARTNERSHIPS with local companies have been approved by Government to upgrade, rehabilitate, widen and construct the 352km Harare-Chirundu Road, the other part of the major North-South Corridor that will see work on the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway moving towards conclusion. The project is in line with the Second Republic’s vision of providing state-of-the-art road […]\n-\nHerald Reporters THE policies being implemented by the Government to stabilise the economy and strengthen the local currency by removing large sums from circulation and promoting its desirability, have started bearing fruit, with the Zimbabwe dollar becoming scarce as predicted by President Mnangagwa. The Zimbabwe dollar is now firming against the US dollar on the […]\n-\n-\nBulawayo Bureau THE construction of the massive Lake Gwayi-Shangani in Matabeleland North province has led to the establishment of downstream industries, which have widened the economic impact of the project through job creation and reducing cost of implementation. On the sidelines of the lake construction site is a new metal fabrication business unit, quarry making […]\n-\nPatrick Chitumba Midlands Bureau Chief DEVOLUTION funds have transformed education, health and social amenities with a new clinic, class-room blocks and rehabilitated roads emerging in the six wards making up Gokwe Town Council as the Second Republic continues pushing development all corners of the country by channelling funds to local councils. According to Gokwe Town […]\n-\nAfrica Moyo in BEITBRIDGE MOTORISTS, commuters and Beitbridge residents, yesterday welcomed the directive by President Mnangagwa for the immediate construction of the 760km Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway. In his keynote address while commissioning the Beitbridge Border Post upgrade and modernisation project on Wednesday, President Mnangagwa directed Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona to immediately ensure […]\n-\nAfrica Moyo in BEITBRIDGE President Mnangagwa yesterday commissioned the modernised Beitbridge Border Post and said all border posts would be upgraded to improve the quality of services in the transport sub-sector. He directed Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona to ensure the speedy upgrading of the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway. President Mnangagwa, who arrived in […]\n-\n-\nThupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau Zimbabweans yesterday hailed the Second Republic for delivering on its pre-election promises to accelerate infrastructure development, especially the modernisation and transformation of the Beitbridge Border Post and the county’s southern border town. Civil works on the border post began last year under the US$300 million Private Public Partnership (PPP) between the […]\n-\nBulawayo Bureau DEVOLUTION funds have transformed the health sector with new clinics emerging in several districts in Matabeleland as the Second Republic steps up the inclusive developmental philosophy of leaving no one and no place behind. The programme has helped local authorities in Matabeleland and other parts of the country boost health service delivery, particularly […]\n-\nLesego Valela and Trust Freddy The 112th edition of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show started yesterday at the Exhibition Park in Harare, with high expectations from exhibitors on unique business and networking opportunities. A few exhibitors were still putting last touches to their stands yesterday. As expected on the first day every year, there was a […]\n-\nTrust Freddy Herald Correspondent The Government is targeting to plant three million orange trees across the country to improve nutrition and pollinator species which are declining, posing a threat to the country’s food security. Chief director for Agricultural Advisory and Rural Development Services, Professor Obert Jiri, recently told a beekeepers’ symposium that was held at […]\n-\n-\nConrad Mupesa Mashonaland West Bureau A NEW mining technique to address Muriel Mine’s receding gold levels through extracting the metal from slime dumps has the potential to boost the company revenue and contribute towards the attainment of a US$12 billion economy by 2023. The Zvimba-based Pan African Mining’s (PAM) Pvt Ltd operating mine is expected […]\n-\nZvamaida Murwira in KWEKWE ZIMBABWE is poised to be at the apex of development given its rich pool of talented youths in various fields like engineering who have put shoulders to the wheel in transforming the country towards an upper middle class economy by 2030, President Mnangagwa has said. Taking advantage of the conducive business […]\n-\nMidlands Bureau There has been growing hope among the Redcliff community as the revival of former Steel giant, Zisco Steel takes shape. Closed for over a decade, Zisco Steel in Redcliff was once one of the largest steel giant in Southern Africa, producing over one million tonnes of steel annually with around 8 000 workers. […]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/category/vision-2030/"}
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+{"doc_id": "cdfacbe8204f32916adfda9e677d030b", "text": "Did taxpayers lose Sh20 billion in NYS scandal?\n“That NYS alone, they stole more than Sh20 billion, not Sh1.6 billion.”\n- Raila Odinga in Kakamega on June 3, 2017\nIn 2016, a special audit of the National Youth Service accounts by the Auditor General revealed an elaborate scheme to defraud taxpayers that led to the loss of Sh1.9 billion and an attempted theft of Sh695 million.\nBut the losses could have been worse than what the Auditor General uncovered, according to a report on the special audit by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC).\nThe report, that was released in March this year, states that the sum which may have been misappropriated, and needs to be further investigated by the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission(EACC), may be to the tune of Sh23 billion for the entire ministry. Of that sum, slightly over Sh10 billion is directly traceable to NYS.\nThe committee concluded that the theft was well orchestrated and recommended that Ms Waiguru “be barred from holding public office, if found guilty after due process, in light of her overall leadership failures at the Ministry.”\nIt also found the then Principal Secretary, Peter Oganga Mangiti, responsible for the loss of public funds, and recommended that Mr Mangiti, Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, and others involved in the scam be investigated and charged for loss public funds at NYS. The PAC also affirmed other recommendations of the Auditor General.\nThe audit by the Auditor General, done at the request of the clerk of the National Assembly, found that the biggest beneficiary of the scandal was Mrs Josephine Kabura Irungu, who received Sh1.3 billion on account of 11 companies. She was also meant to benefit from the attempted theft of Sh695 million.\nDIRECTLY TRACEABLE\nAbout Sh791.4m was illegally paid for the construction of the 3.5km Kibera road, yet there was no works included in the procurement plan for the 2014/2015 fiscal year. The special audit noted that the money was fraudulently paid, between December 2014 and March 2015, to three suppliers whose site details were irregularly defined.\nOne of the suppliers, Form Home Builders received all its irregular payments of about Sh219 million at least five months before it was even registered by the Registrar of Companies while the other two Roof and All Trading started receiving their payments about two months after registration.\nThe Register of Companies confirmed that they were recognised as business names and not companies or entities and therefore it was likely that the businesses were not bound by either the Companies Act or the Registrar of Companies.\nFurthermore, the proprietor of all of the three business names was Ms Josephine Kabura Irungu who received the entire amount of Sh791.4 million on the account of the three business names via their corporate bank accounts held by Family Bank Ltd.\nAnother Sh609 million was fraudulently paid out for alleged supply of good and services. According to the audit, inadequate controls over wage payments to youth working on NYS projects could have led to the funding of NYS operations using money held at the NYS Huduma Funds amounting to Sh55.7 million.\nParticipating youth made a monthly mandatory contribution of 30 per cent of their wages to the fund.\nIn October 2014, an AIE (authority to incur expenditure) whose value amounted to Sh70 million was issued to the NYS College in Gilgil but a year later the audit found that the money could not be traced.\nThe PAC report on the Auditor’s General report on NYS accounts did conclude that Sh23 billion may have been misappropriated in the Planning ministry of which almost half is directly traceable to NYS but it called for further investigation to determine the extent of the theft.\nUntil the investigation is completed and findings released, Mr Odinga’s allegation is unproven.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/newsplex/NYS-loss-Raila-Odinga/2718262-3986036-tpbb6uz/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "d030352162ac152ab70b6fcbe832b4b3", "text": "This argument emerged last week when experts and leaders gathered at a hotel in Mombasa County for a blue economy forum.\nThe forum dubbed \"Leveraging the blue economy through efficient small-scale fisheries management and aquatic biodiversity conservation to build the Africa we want,\" was organised by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad).\nLamu Governor Issa Timamy said foreign trawlers are making a killing by fishing the highly prized tuna within Kenya's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that measures more than 200 nautical miles; local fishers are unable to venture into the deep-sea due to lack of modern vessels.\nTimamy noted that it costs his administration Sh1 billion to buy a good ship to take local fishers to the deep sea where the foreign trawlers harvest tuna.\n\"We have a county budget of Sh3 billion a year and we cannot afford buying trawlers for fishermen,\" he said.\nBenefits other countries\nMr Timamy said almost half of Kenyan waters falls under the EEZ in the Indian Ocean but its fisheries potential particularly tuna has not been tapped and only benefits countries outside Africa.\nHe also called for the promotion of sustainable practices in the blue economy noting that plastic pollution posed a challenge to fisheries at the coast.\n\"I agree with experts that by 2050, our oceans will have more plastics than fish. We need to promote sustainable use of our resources,\" said Timamy.\nHe called for support to promote the planting of mangroves in coastal counties to ensure communities benefit from carbon credits.\nHe also called for increased investment in water transport.\nChairman of the Beach Management Units (BMUs) at the coast Somo Mohamed Somo said attempts by government and partners to give boats to fishers under BMUs have been hit by conflicts.\nKenya's representative to Igad Fatuma Adan said the blue economy has the potential to be the largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but was untapped.\nShe said traditional sectors of the blue economy like fisheries, tourism, mineral extraction and marine and river transport are showing evidence of development in member states.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nHowever, attention is lacking on emerging sectors of the blue economy such as aquaculture, marine biotechnology and bio-prospecting, desalination and renewable energy.\n\"Blue economy is therefore critical for the African continent and Kenya at this time when African countries are losing up to 15 per cent of GDP due to climate change,\" she stated.\nThe blue economy is a phrase used to describe all sea-based trade and resources such as fisheries, tourism, mineral extraction, marine and river transport, emerging sectors such as aquaculture, marine biotechnology and bio-prospecting, desalination and renewable energy.\nInformation system\nSecretary for the Blue Economy and Fisheries Rodrick Kundu said Kenya is planning to set up an electronic information system to enable capture accurate data on fish landed.\nHe said this will inform national planning and funding for the fisheries sector.\nIn a speech ready by Dr Kundu, Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya cited insecurity, pollution, destruction of habitats, climate change, and IUU as major challenges in the blue economy.\nThe CS said government is encouraging BMUs to join the cooperative movement to make savings to ensure they benefit from lower loan interest-rates.\nMombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir said the county is pushing BMUs to form Saccos so as to benefit from a Sh200 million revolving fund.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001475685/poor-investment-belies-blue-economy-potential"}
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+{"doc_id": "d09df25dd20f1402bb77a1fc2e70b73b", "text": "Outside of snippets and sound-bites, the interview did not offer the feel of a holistic economic, social, governance or security agenda, or its sub-topics such as education, healthcare, water, agriculture, manufacturing or even linkages with devolution. However, it confirmed the president's state of confidence and determination to get things done and be held accountable.\nWe don't know much about the dynamics of the retreat, especially behind closed doors and \"nyuma ya tent\". But its public face seemed positive, with calls to take time to discover Kenya, serve all Kenyans, identify opportunities for private sector participation and digitise ministerial work.\nOfficials were asked to prioritise decisions and results over bureaucracy and processes. Done well, this delivers better government. Done carelessly, it is a slippery slope to impunity and anarchy.\nWe also heard that, by retreat end, sectoral and ministerial strategic planning priorities were aligned/updated to capture the Kenya Kwanza manifesto and transformation strategy. Hopefully, this seamlessly fits into the forthcoming fourth Medium-Term Plan of Vision 2030 as well as county-integrated development planning priorities as part of a true \"whole of government\" lens.\nBut the real test of this problem-solving, solution identification, prioritisation, sequencing and implementation planning and budgeting is the content of the national budget (and county budgets). The best and finest policies and plans have always met \"earth is hard\" reality at budget stage.\nContextually, how have programmes changed, and what might be the composition of Kenya Kwanza's transformative bottom-up project portfolio in this new programming? More broadly, since the budget is the sum-total of all programmes (not projects), are there signs of new discipline?\nOutside of macro-aggregates shared with the IMF before discussion by Parliament, we have little detail on the 2022/23 supplementary budget estimates. But we are in the middle of the 2023/24 budget preparation process. The 2022 Budget Review and Outlook Paper (BROP) was released last December; one purpose being to set 2023/24 resource ceilings for Kenya's 10 MTEF sectors.\nSectors then retreated to develop sector reports (basically 2023/24 resource bids), which are now published. According to Treasury's budget calendar, these reports (and bids) are to be presented to the public in hearings to be held between January 10 and 12; an opportunity for Kenyans to ask hard questions. Assuming this timetable remains valid, let's review the earlier questions above.\nPresident William Ruto. [PCS]\nAs it has done in the past, Treasury is likely to ignore these bids and stick with its original ceiling, particularly in these IMF times. Which makes this process a public con. I mentioned last time that this is the \"budget impunity\" that leads to \"budgeted corruption\", but maybe the reality at the micro-level is that we have \"corrupted budgeting\", which we don't mind if macro-level balances.\nIf this is the case, then we don't care about spending outcomes and impacts - which will differ between budget lines, programmes, ministries or sectors - as long as the grand totals are in balance!\nHere's the really interesting part. The Cabinet retreat - a \"top-down\" affair discussing a \"bottom-up\" agenda - probably concluded with beautifully prioritised, sequenced and costed strategies for every sector and ministry.\nSomeone is now doing much macro-level thinking to fund this agenda. But it doesn't yet fit into the budget framing that sectors - technical and budget officers below the top honchos - have developed through these reports. That's where the rubber truly meets the road.\nThe top honchos in the Energy, Infrastructure and ICT sector might be interested in a sector report that seeks a massive Sh1.2 trillion in development spending against a ceiling of less than Sh300 billion.\nEducation and social protection leaders will probably want to understand the Sh100 billion plus resource gaps in their recurrent spending. Similarly, those in general economic and commercial affairs (trade, tourism, etc) will wonder about a Sh90 billion development spend gap in a sector that enables, not replaces, the private-sector. These excesses cut across all sectors.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nIndeed, they lead us into an even more interesting new discovery in the sector reports. None of the sectors actually uses the BROP ceiling because they have their own. For seven out of nine sectors, the ceiling they accorded themselves in their sector reports is higher than Treasury's. We find ourselves in an Oliver Twist space where sectors use their own ceilings and still want more! This is not the planning and budgeting space that can conceivably transform Kenya for Kenyans.\nWhat the sector reports tell me is that this is Kenya Kwanza's first \"rubber meets the road\" moment!", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001464785/new-budget-where-the-rubber-meets-the-road-for-ruto-projects"}
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+{"doc_id": "d1febc7ff3a4a9d321b46d53a52088b0", "text": "-\nTHE HAGUE. – China has told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the Palestinians “must not be denied” justice at a hearing on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. “Justice has been long delayed, but it must not be denied,” China’s Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser Ma Xinmin told the court in The Hague […]\n-\nRio de Janeiro. – Foreign ministers of the G20 gathered Wednesday in Brazil to discuss poverty, the climate crisis and heightened global tensions. Brazil which took on the annual presidency of the bloc, laid out its priorities. It notably pushed for stronger representation of developing nations in global governance institutions and multilateral banks. “Brazil’s presidency […]\n-\nBEIJING. – The US veto at the UN Security Council against a cease-fire has pushed the besieged enclave of Gaza to a “more dangerous situation,” China warned yesterday. “China voted in favour of a UN Security Council draft resolution that would have demanded an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza,” said Mao Ning, spokeswoman of China’s […]\n-\nKRAMATORSK, Ukraine. – As the Ukraine war enters its third year, the infantry of 59th Brigade are confronting a bleak reality: they’re running out of soldiers and ammunition to resist Russian forces. One platoon commander who goes by his call sign “Tygr” estimated that just 60-70 percent of the several thousand men in the brigade […]\n-\n-\nMOSCOW. – In a sign of growing de-dollarization efforts, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (Brics) have ditched the US dollar in 95 percent of their trade. The secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Tatiana Mohaghan, revealed the massive shift in currency usage in Russia’s dealings with the two countries. The shift […]\n-\nLUSAKA. – The Zambian government yestreday announced a restriction on the export of maize and mealie meal due to a prolonged dry spell that could affect the harvest. Minister of Agriculture Reuben Phiri said the restriction will only be lifted after a careful assessment of the next harvest. “Owing to the prevailing situation, the government […]\n-\nUNITED NATIONS. – The United States yesteray again vetoed a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on the Israel-Hamas war, blocking a demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire as it instead pushes the 15-member body to call for a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas. Thirteen council members voted in […]\n-\nABUJA. – Several Nigerians in the northeastern state of Borno are refraining from food after their governor called for “divine intervention” over the country’s grave economic and security situations. On Friday, Governor Babagana Zulum urged residents to partake in a one-day statewide fast this week in response to the rising cost of food and the […]\n-\n-\nIvan Zhakata Herald Correspondent SOUTH Korea and Cuba agreed to establish ambassador-level diplomatic relations between the two countries through diplomatic and official exchanges, at the United Nations in New York, last week. Cuba is the nation’s 193rd diplomatic country and one remaining member of the United Nations which did not have diplomatic ties with South […]\n-\nADDIS ABABA. — The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday that 10,8 million children in Ethiopia are in need of emergency humanitarian aid in 2024. In its latest Ethiopia Humanitarian Situation Report, the UN agency said at least 20 million people, including about 10,8 million children, are in need of emergency humanitarian aid […]\n-\nThe World Health Organisation (WHO) says it has helped facilitate the evacuation of 14 patients from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which has been under siege and has come under fire from Israeli forces over the past several weeks. “After two days of being denied entry into the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza, yesterday WHO […]\n-\nNairobi. — Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to the 37th African Union (AU) summit on Saturday, calling for drawing up a new blueprint for China-Africa cooperation and promoting the joint building of a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future. People from all walks of life in various African countries said they […]\n-\n-\nJOHANNESBURG. – Kenneth Nkosana Makate wants R29 billion from Vodacom for his Please Call Me idea – which would instantly make him the fifth richest person in South Africa – placing him among the likes of Motsepe, Oppenheimer, and Rupert. It was recently revealed in court documents related to the ongoing Please Call Me legal battle […]\n-\nGAZA-JERUSALEM. –Israeli forces on Thursday stormed Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis after demolishing its southern wall, according to a statement from Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. The statement said the Israeli forces ordered medics to move all patients into an older building of the hospital which was not properly […]\n-\nNairobi. – As people around the world marked Valentine’s Day on Wednesday with flowers and chocolate, Kenyan women were mourning. Hundreds of them donned black outfits and held lit candles and red roses at a vigil in honour of more than 30 women who have been murdered in the country in 2024. Wednesday’s vigil in […]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/category/articles/international/"}
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+{"doc_id": "d303ad5ef2ab9d9fd5be3b9084f4a0e8", "text": "Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha says private hospitals in Kenya are the biggest beneficiaries of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).\nThe CS made the remarks while appearing before the National Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday, June 20.\nAccording to Nakhumicha, about 60 per cent of NHIF payments go to private facilities. She adds that according to the records, small private facilities conduct more surgeries than public hospitals combined.\n\"How is it that over 60 per cent of payments from NHIF goes to private facilities? It is shocking that of the payments we met last month after having delays from Exchequer for a long time, we realized that the facility to be paid the most is one that we have suspended,\" the CS says.\n\"In all honesty, I am yet to be convinced that you will have small private facilities doing more surgeries than Kenyatta, Moi, or KU hospitals,\" she added.\nThe CS has also defended her move to suspend some NHIF officials and close down some health facilities.\n\"I hear that there are concerns regarding my decision and the impact on the public. Before I took the decision, I had an early morning meeting with the chair of NHIF and the CEO of KMPDC and we discussed the ways out of this matter, we did not just suspend the facilities chair,\" she explained.\n- NHIF cover still the most popular health insurance despite failings\n- Delayed launch of clinical guidelines causing needless deaths\n- New offices and appointments illegal, PSC tells Nakhumicha\n- Probe into NHIF scandal postponed\n\"I gave them 24 hours to evacuate patients because I knew there will be an impact. So, within that period, they ought to have transferred patients to other hospitals. And one of that facilities dared to write back to the attendant.\"\nThe Health CS had also announced that NHIF staff will have to undergo a lifestyle audit to explain their wealth about their earnings, following the recent NHIF scandal.\n\"We are going to commence an elaborate lifestyle audit of all NHIF staff, to ensure every staff can explain their wealth portfolio in consistency with their earnings,\" the CS ordered.\nThis was after an expose aired at the weekend alleged that hospitals have been stealing from Kenyans by inflating bills that are footed by NHIF.\n\"I wish to express my deepest disappointment and contestation at the staff in my Ministry who may be part of this callous syndicate.\"\nMoreover, the CS ordered the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board to immediately commence investigations on certain facilities.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/the-standard/article/2001475595/private-hospitals-biggest-nhif-beneficiaries-says-nakhumicha"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..147bc46b4193221524653fecf6d5babdd5549172
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+{"doc_id": "d7181d4dc23afef420b3f2882abb80d8", "text": "The United States has imposed sanctions on two senior South Sudanese officials it accuses of fomenting conflict, the US Treasury Department said on Monday, in its latest move to pressure the country’s politicians to form a unity government.\nMinister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro and Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs Kuol Manyang Juuk were blacklisted for their role in perpetuating the conflict by obstructing the peace process, the Treasury said in a statement.\nCivil war broke out in South Sudan in 2013, less than two years after the country gained independence from Sudan. The conflict has killed an estimated 400,000 people and forced millions from their homes.\nSouth Sudanese President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar signed a peace deal in 2018 to form a unity government by Nov. 12 this year, under pressure from the United Nations, the United States and regional governments.\nDays before the deadline, the leaders agreed to an extension of 100 days, prompting Washington to recall its ambassador to the African country.\nThe sanctions freeze any U.S. assets held by the officials and prohibit Americans from doing business with them.\nThe U.S. Treasury accused Lomuro of recruiting and organizing militias to attack opposition forces, and Juuk of failing to remove forces from the battlefield as agreed, stirring up violence with rival tribes and preparing militias for the possibility of renewed violence.\nDeng Dau Deng, South Sudan’s deputy foreign affairs minister, defended the two officials and said Washington should resume bilateral relations to help with the peace process.\n“These are not sanctions against individuals but sanctions against the whole country,” Dau Deng told Reuters.\nDeputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Justin Muzinich said the cabinet officials were targeted for “their role in inhibiting political unification, expanding the conflict, and profiting from South Sudan’s war economy”.\nIn prepared remarks seen by Reuters to a Partnership to Combat Human Rights Abuse and Corruption meeting, Muzinich said non-governmental organizations had provided documented findings supporting the designations.\nU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week threatened visa restrictions on anyone who endangers the peace process in South Sudan and said on Monday that Washington could take further action.\n“The United States stands ready to impose other measures against any who seek to expand the conflict and derail peace efforts in South Sudan,” Pompeo said in a statement.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001353539/united-states-hits-south-sudanese-officials-with-sanctions"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2fdc220ac48c264eff81662d196e563233accc57
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+{"doc_id": "d7568c2a705e4156fd961b132ba52c84", "text": "Abuja,\nNigeria has ordered closure of all its land borders and restricted vehicular movement across the nation as electoral materials are moved ahead of Saturday’s election involving 18 presidential candidates.\nThe Federal Government on Thursday directed total closure of all these borders ahead of Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly Elections.\nMr Isah Jere, Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, said all land borders were to be effectively closed from midnight on Saturday to midnight on Sunday.\n“Accordingly, all command comptrollers, especially those in the border states, are to ensure strict enforcement of this directive,” he said.\nThe country, which borders Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin Republics, has also banned vehicular movement from 12am to 6pm on Saturday.\nThe order was in line with the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Usman Baba.\nOnly officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), electoral observers, ambulances, firefighters and others on confirmed emergency services will be exempted.\n“There will be no movement or escort of VIPs throughout the election period, while State Security outfits are not allowed to take part in the exercise,” the police also said.\nElection materials\nAs the nation takes necessary precautions for hitch-free polls, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has started moving all sensitive materials for the Saturday polls to the 774 local government areas.\nINEC has fixed February 25 for Presidential and National Assembly elections as well as March 11 for the Governorship and State Assembly elections.\nINEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Enugu State, Dr Chukwuemeka Chukwu, said early on Friday that the trucking process of lifting the sensitive materials to various council areas had been smooth.\nDr Chukwu said the sensitive materials being moved included the Bi-Modal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machine, the ballot paper and the result sheets among others.\n“Once we load sensitive materials, the trucks accompanied by security and INEC officials will get the election result sheets from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Enugu branch, before onward movement to the council area.\n“I sincerely believe that early this morning, all the trucks must have got to their respective local government areas, as some reached the council areas before midnight,” he said.\n“Where buses will further take the materials, INEC staff and security to INEC’s Registration Area Centres (RAC) already activated for the poll this morning, Feb. 24. From the RAC centres, both materials (sensitive and non sensitive), INEC staff and security will move to the various polling units under each RAC early before 8 am on Saturday for the polls proper [sic].”\nThe INEC has also warned politicians to be wary of social media posts after voting, prior to the official declaration of results.\nThe Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, said: “Fake news is now a trend and can mar our efforts to ensure free, fair and credible elections. We urge you to be wary of social media posted results before official declaration. Only INEC Returning Officers at wards, local governments and state levels have the statutory authority and power to declare the results.”\nBroadcast rules\nFurther, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has ordered broadcasting stations across the nation to desist from announcing election results until the INEC makes a formal announcement.\nThe NBC also encouraged all broadcasters to adhere to the ethics and codes of the commission by prohibiting commercials on its facilities 24 hours before election day and on election day.\nNBC’s Director of Broadcast Monitoring, Francisca Aiyetan, said broadcasters must end all partisan political programmes by 11:59 pm on Thursday 23 February 2023.\n“The National Broadcasting Commission wishes to underscore the enormous responsibility thrust on broadcasters at this period, and therefore calls for strict adherence to the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code and the Electoral Act, in order to ensure a sane airwave that will enable a free, fair, credible and transparent election,” the official said.\nThe commission asked broadcasters to note, for full compliance, the following sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code:\nThe broadcaster shall ensure that the broadcast of a partisan political campaign, jingle, announcement and any form of partisan party identification or symbol ends not later than 24 hours before polling day.\nIn exceptional circumstances, a government functionary may perform a service relating to his office within 24 hours campaign restriction period, provided there is no coloration of partisanship by the official or the broadcaster;\nThe broadcaster shall not permit any political campaign or advertisement on its facilities 24 hours preceding polling day or on polling day.\nThe broadcaster shall not use any vote obtained at a polling station or from exit poll, to project or speculate on the chances of a candidate.\nThe broadcaster shall relay Election Results or declaration of the winner only as announced by the authorised electoral officer for the election.’’\nBig numbers\nRegarding where Nigeria’s 93.5 million voters will cast their ballots, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC chair, said there were 176,606 polling units across the country.\nHe said the commission had made it easier for voters to locate their polling stations and that those assigned to new ones will receive text messages letting them know which they are before the voting days.\nThey will only send texts or WhatsApp messages to a dedicated telephone number, which will be uploaded on INEC’s social media platforms.\nAnother big number in Nigeria's election is that of the presidential candidates - there are 18 of them, three being the frontrunners.\nThey are Bola Tinubu, the candidate of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC); former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is the main opposition candidate and is vying under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP); and Peter Obi, of the Labour Party.\n----\nPresidential election results from 1979 to date\n1979 - Shehu Shagari (NPN): 5.67m (33.77%); Obafemi Awolowo (UPN): 4.92m(29.18%); Nnamdi Azikiwe (NPP): 2.82m (16.75%)\n1983 - Shehu Shagari (NPN): 12.08m(47.51%); Obafemi Awolowo (UPN): 7.91m(31.09%); Nnamdi Azikiwe (NPP): 3.56m(13.99%)\n1993 - MKO Abiola (SDP): 8.34m (58.36%); Bashir Tofa (NRC): 5.95m (41.64%)\n1999 - Olusegun Obasanjo (PDP): 18.74m (62.78%); Olu Falae (AD/APP): 11.11m (37.22%)\n2003 - Olusegun Obasanjo (PDP): 24.46m (61.94%); Muhammadu Buhari (ANPP): 12.71m (32.19%)\n2007 - Umaru Yar'Adua (PDP): 24.64m (69.60%); Muhammadu Buhari (ANPP): 6.61m (18.66%); Atiku Abubakar (AC): 2.64m (7.45%)\n2011 - Goodluck Jonathan (PDP): 22.49m (58.87%); Muhammadu Buhari (CPC): 12.21m (31.97%); Nuhu Ribadu (ACN): 2.08m (5.44%)\n2015 - Muhammadu Buhari (APC): 15,42m (53.96%); Goodluck Jonathan (PDP): 12.85m (44.96%)\n2019 - Muhammadu Buhari (APC): 15.19m(55.6%); Atiku Abubakar (PDP): 11.26m (41.2%)", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/africa/news/nigeria-election-govt-shuts-all-land-borders-restricts-car-movement-4135714"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..adc649b90f810f74a3a1f0d169b6fac1e966c427
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+{"doc_id": "d83712f008e722097567d928df9cfedb", "text": "Reproductive health care is essential to everyone, however, individuals living with disabilities are still facing challenges in their quest for the services.\nJosephine Mwende, born with cerebral palsy condition, says that accessing reproductive health care has remained a major challenge in her life.\nCerebral palsy is a group of neurological disorders and disabilities that can cause disability in movement, balance, and posture of a patient.\nBringing back the memories, Josephine remembers her teenage life and how she faced the adolescent physical changes.\n“When I first saw my menses at around 10 years, I really got scared. I had heard my peers talking about menstruation in school but I thought mine would come a bit later in life. I never expected it that soon,” she recalled.\nAs a teenager, she had little knowledge about reproductive health. The little she knew, was from lessons in school. In fact, she had no idea of how to keep her menstrual hygiene.\nBack at her home, there were no funds to purchase sanitary towels, and Mwende says she had to make use of cotton wool.\n“I was very ignorant, I didn’t know much about sexual reproduction. My mother got me a cotton wool and showed me how to use it during my menses,” Mwende recalls.\n- Raising a child with cerebral palsy is no walk in the park\n- Diet tips to ensure your cerebral palsy child is healthy\n- Provide free therapy sessions, parents of children with CP plead\nIn school, she quickly blended with fellow girls and learned a lot with time about menstrual hygiene and other reproductive health issues.\nThe 32-year-old reveals that she had no idea about the existence of family planning until she one day realized that she was expectant after college.\n“I started having mood swings and missed my menses then I decided to conduct a pregnancy home test. I confirmed that I was expectant and started my antenatal visits,” she says.\nDuring her antenatal visits, she did not experience challenges even though she could not understand why fellow patients looked at her with sympathy as some whispered in her presence pointing towards her direction.\nIt was in March 2017, when she had an unforgettable experience at the hands of medics being tossed to different health facilities.\n“On the day I was in labour pain, my mother rushed me to a nearby hospital but the in attendance told me that they needed cash to facilitate my delivery and I had to look for another hospital that could accept my insurance cover,” she narrates.\nHer mother took her to another hospital but the reception was quite hostile.\n“The water had already broken (membrane rapture) but when the medic in charge saw me, he told me that they don't attend to people of my kind,” she recounts teary-eyed.\nLuckily, she was rushed to a national hospital where she was attended to and delivered her baby safely.\nThrough the Nguvu collection, the mother of one has now embarked on an initiative for online petitioning the government and relevant stakeholders to empower healthcare workers with knowledge and empathy to treat women with cerebral palsy.\nJosephine is not alone, Sarah Bosibori, an autistic adult also expresses her fears about seeking reproductive health care in hospitals.\nAutism spectrum disorder is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact, communicate, learn, and behave with others.\n“I am really scared of going to a hospital to ask for reproductive health services. How do I explain to the doctor that I am sexually active?” Sarah poses.\nThe 29-year-old's fears are derived from previous experience with the myths that people have about disabled individuals.\n“Some people think that women with disabilities are asexual. You get to a medical facility and the medical practitioner asks why you need reproductive health care,” Sarah says.\nSarah feels that such questions are only posed to women with a disability which she feels is very offensive.\nShe also feels that the caregivers of disabled individuals are so overprotective that, in some instances, they speak on behalf of the patient.\n“I get pissed off especially when I visit a health facility and the doctor in charge seeks opinion from my caregiver instead of taking my word as final,” she says.\nSince she was diagnosed with autism at 4 years old, Sarah has struggled with her identity and has since then accepted and learned how to take care of herself.\nThrough online campaigns, she has been actively championing equity in the delivery of healthcare services for autistic patients.\nThe challenge of access to reproductive health care is experienced by both genders and basically, people disabled differently.\nNicodemus Nyakundi shares his experience while trying to access family planning services.\nNyakundi has a physical disability with a Charcot left leg and narrates his childhood life and how he found out about sexual reproductive health.\n“It was around the year 2006 during the epitome of HIV/AIDs stereotyping when we would be shown videos of victims mostly in full-blown stages. The videos were gross and scary and it formed the basis of my understanding of sexual and reproductive health,” Nyakundi narrates.\nThe 28-year-old says that was the only form of reproductive health education that he could receive in school which he believes was meant to scare him as an adolescent.\nGrowing into adulthood he came to learn more about the disease and other infections but the challenge came to him when he sought to understand reproductive health.\n“Sometimes I would go to a hospital to consult about family planning services but because I went limping I got weird responses. The person in charge would ask me why I can't wait to get well first before you engage in sex,” says Nyakundi.\nHe says that it sounded like a joke but deep inside he knew that he was perceived as a person who couldn't engage in sex or reproduction.\nHaving visited different health facilities, he feels that inequity in healthcare provision is caused by a lack of awareness and inadequate resources.\nSamuel*, visually impaired says that his journey of seeking health care services has not been easy.\nHe says he used to learn about sexual education through friends and radio.\n“I feel like there is no targeted awareness of blind people. There is no community empowerment related to the visually impaired,” he says.\nHe reveals that he feared getting into sexual relationships to avoid rejection from the opposite sex.\n“I once got attracted to a lady but when I showed my advances she told me that she doesn’t have the grace to marry a blind person,” Samuel says.\nHence, he didn't get into relationships and never inquired about reproductive health services.\nHe says that in adulthood people were always curious about how he went about his sexual life.\n“A friend once asked me, how do you manage to engage in the sexual act in your condition?. So I imagined the kind of questions I could get when I visit a health facility,” he said.\nSamuel says that the discrimination, inequity, and lack of inclusion have lowered the self-esteem of people of his kind discouraging them from seeking services in the facilities.\nAccording to Doctor Nelly Mugo, a reproductive health specialist, healthcare providers face various challenges when attending to persons with disability.\n“As a practitioner, I tend to act on respect for the autonomy of my patient but at times it becomes difficult when he/she can not express themselves due to communication barriers,” Dr.Mugo says.\nShe also cites challenges like curiosity which makes the medic want to know more about the patient’s life in detail.\n“At times, fellow patients get disrespectful asking how a disabled person got pregnant. However, this draws empathy from the service providers who then offer social support to the patient,” she added.\nShe says that despite encountering numerous challenges when attending to such individuals, she has learned in the process to treat them with care since “they are very special”.\nThe Ministry of Health has however noted that there are still challenges in accessing reproductive health care in the facilities.\nWhile appearing before the Senate on November 1, 2023, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha confirmed the state has been facing a significant challenge in the provision of disability-friendly maternal healthcare.\n“Reproductive health and maternal health services are now offered in both outpatient and inpatient services. However, there is a significant challenge in the provision of disability maternity-friendly in health facilities,” Nakhumicha told the plenary.\nShe further read a preliminary report from facility assessment that sought to evaluate whether the health facilities had disability-friendly infrastructures such as ramps/lifts, friendly washrooms, maternity beds, and wheelchairs.\n“In a recently concluded facility assessment report, out of 12,483 facilities analysed, 47 per cent had at least one disability-friendly infrastructure, 82 per cent had at least a ramp, 54 per cent had wheelchairs,15 per cent had disability-friendly washrooms and only seven per cent had disability-friendly maternity beds. Further analysis revealed that 80 per cent and 42 per cent of level 6 and 5 facilities had disability-friendly maternity beds,” she noted.\nThe CS said that disability mainstreaming mechanisms are ongoing in health facilities to enhance the unhindered safe movement of people with disability and access to reproductive health services.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/reproductive-health/article/2001486306/how-the-cerebral-palsy-blind-struggle-to-access-reproductive-health-care"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bc67a8ae6a4d6765a71b06fe5104ea570ef65021
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clean/cc/db3914bfc5f50fa91abc2570d8ef22af.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "db3914bfc5f50fa91abc2570d8ef22af", "text": "Brainworks in $35m capital raise\nHappiness Zengeni Business Editor\nLocal investment holding firm Brainworks Capital Management has successfully raised $35 million following the closure of a capital raise last week.\nThe proceeds will be used to strengthen various company investments, which include Dawn Properties and African Sun, and to pursue investment into the telecoms sector in spite of the withdrawal of the offer to purchase a stake in Telecel Zimbabwe.\nThe rights offer was underwritten by major foreign shareholders Red Rock Capital and Blue Air Capital. The offer opened on March 2 and closed on March 23.\nALSO SEE\nAccording to the company’s circular on the capitalisation exercise, Brainworks will seek to obtain control of African Sun by making an additional purchase of shares and effectively hold more than 51 percent of the issued share capital.\nThe acquisition will cost approximately $3,5 million.\nAbout $7,4 million will be used to buy out minorities in Lengrah Investments, the special purpose vehicle holding shares in African Sun and Dawn Properties including Stewart Cranswick.\nThe purchase of the shares will be completed on May 31, 2015. Lengrah Investments holds about 43 percent in Dawn and a similar stake in African Sun.\nBrainworks is required by Zimbabwe Stock Exchange rules to make an offer to minorities in the companies as they have exceeded the mandatory 35 percent shareholding.\nThey will also use the proceeds to have a rights offer in African Sun in order to clean up its balance sheet.\nBrainworks was also recently granted a licence to operate a life assurance company, which needs to be capitalised with equity of $1 million.\n“The other $1 million will be injected by a technical partner who has been secured, to meet the regulatory requirements of $2 million capital.”\nChief executive Mr George Manyere told The Herald Business that even though they had withdrawn the offer to purchase the 40 percent stake in Telecel Zimbabwe, the company was still looking at entering the lucrative sector.\n“We believe the telecoms sector provides an opportunity for long-term growth and strong cash flows.\n“In spite of Brainworks withdrawing its offer to acquire the shareholding in Telecel, we are still looking at entering into the telecoms sector either on the mobile, fibre or infrastructure side. There is value in the telecoms space.”\nThe investment holding company last week withdrew its offer to acquire Empowerment Corporation’s stake in Telecel after protracted shareholder wrangles had stalled the transaction.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/brainworks-in-35m-capital-raise/"}
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+{"doc_id": "dd8966e4b64971ac1922cfcc9d995236", "text": "What you need to know:\n- In 2014, container traffic volumes at the port of Mombasa surpassed the one million mark, signalling robust economic performance for Kenya and other countries in the region. This feat is testimony to the remarkable journey the port has made since 1975, when it recorded its first sizeable container volumes at 1,278 TEUs.\n- This historic milestone, like many others, makes it even more poignant that the port of Mombasa, the gateway to the region, could build on the growth of the past five years to handle one million TEUs in 2014.\n- The upshot is that actual performance in 2014 was aligned with the underlying economic fundamentals. In crossing the one-million mark, Mombasa has firmly cemented its place among the world’s leading ports.\nThe transportation of goods in standardised steel containers commonly known as twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) is a relatively recent phenomenon in maritime trade.\nWhereas TEUs gained global currency in the late 1950s, it was not until the 1970s that Kenya registered sizeable volumes of container traffic.\nContainer volumes, and indeed port traffic, is a useful barometer of a country’s or geographical region’s economic performance. As the domestic or regional economy grows, so does the volume of goods passing through the port.\nIn 2014, container traffic volumes at the port of Mombasa surpassed the one million mark, signalling robust economic performance for Kenya and other countries in the region. This feat is testimony to the remarkable journey the port has made since 1975, when it recorded its first sizeable container volumes at 1,278 TEUs.\nThis historic milestone, like many others, makes it even more poignant that the port of Mombasa, the gateway to the region, could build on the growth of the past five years to handle one million TEUs in 2014.\nTo get a clearer picture of the port’s growth, one needs to go back to the underlying trends. The past decade has seen Mombasa register exponential growth in container volumes. In 2002, it recorded 305,427 TEUs, rising to 615,733 in 2008 and 894,000 in 2013, an annual growth rate of 10.8 per cent. In 2012, the projected growth rate was surpassed, reaching 903,463 TEUs.\nOne reason for this is that 2012 was a pre-election year. One sees a similar trend in 2006 and 2007, when container traffic increased by 22 per cent, only to drop to 5.8 per cent in 2008 following the post-election violence.\nECONOMIC FORTUNES\nApplying the estimated 7.1 per cent increase, container traffic for 2014 should have been 959,616 TEUs, but it shot past the one-million mark as a result of the upswing in the country’s economic fortunes following the peaceful 2013 General Election.\nThe port defied predictions by moving 1,004,500 TEUs, representing 12.1 per cent growth compared to 894,000 TEUs in 2013, a rate that is almost 1.5 times the global maritime container traffic growth for that year.\nThis “over-heating” is indicative of the immense activity generated by the (regional) economy served by the port of Mombasa. The 44,500 TEUs above the expected throughput of 2014 can be attributed to confidence in the prevailing economic climate. This is further underscored by accelerated regional integration resulting in increased growth and development.\nThe upshot is that actual performance in 2014 was aligned with the underlying economic fundamentals. In crossing the one-million mark, Mombasa has firmly cemented its place among the world’s leading ports.\nTo match this new reality, pressure should be managed systematically through harmonised interventions in the port hinterland that stretches all the way to the Great Lakes Region. One such intervention is to eliminate or minimise non-tariff barriers. Also, road and rail infrastructure will need to be in good shape and incidental statutory interventions optimised on the Northern Corridor.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/Opinion/Mombasa-port-has-finally-come-of-age/440808-2594948-blcvjy/index.html"}
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+{"doc_id": "ddc9bb071d849be35d5abb361a902e47", "text": "The Government has launched a fruitful war against tax evaders at the country’s borders, going by latest official data.\nFigures from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) show import duty in the first two months of the current financial year more than doubled to Sh18.1 billion compared with Sh13 billion collected in the same period last year.\nThis is the highest increase in recent past. In the last financial year that ended in June 2018, Kenya collected Sh103 billion from customs and other import duties.\nThe Treasury has projected to collect taxes on imports of about Sh119 billion by the end of the current financial year. Customs duty is levied at rates between zero per cent and 100 per cent, with an average rate of 25 per cent.\nThere have been fears that the crackdown by the multi-agency committee comprising Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), Anti-Counterfeit Agency and Kenya Industrial Property, among others, has affected the inflow of goods into the country, with truckloads being confiscated for various violations.\nThe agency has employed a multi-pronged strategy to deal with illegally imported products, including 100 per cent inspection for verification of consolidated cargo consignments at the port, tightening of operations at border entry points to stop tax evasion and monitor the quality of goods coming into the country.\nIn April, KRA and Kebs developed a new procedure known as Route D which requires traders who import different products by pooling them into a single consignment to register with the latter agency.\nThe procedure is aimed at curbing tax evasion and fake products entering the country.\nHuge losses\nThe procedure affects goods brought into the country by both sea and air. All products imported under “Consolidated Cargo” are to be inspected at the country of origin by the standards body under the Pre-Export of Conformity (PVOC) programme. The PVOC programme was developed in 2015. It requires all imported products to be inspected at the country of origin by the standards body.\nThe new procedure has affected a wide range of products imported as consolidated cargo by several small individual importers.\n“This procedure applies to cargo containing a wide range of products or merchandise generally in small quantities or parcels belonging to several consignees who have pooled or assembled together their parcels to form one consignment,” said KRA and Kebs in a joint statement.\nThe consignment may be declared as belonging to one importer at the port of destination or de-consolidated back into the original individual cargo for delivery to the respective owners upon arrival at destination port.”\nThere have been heightened protests, with traders saying they have made huge losses as their goods continue being held at the port of Mombasa by the State.\nHowever, KRA has insisted it is the guilty ones that are afraid. “The context in which this issue came up, is that consolidators – allow me to use the word – were duped by some people who they gave their consignments because these people they gave to clear their consignments for them misdeclared them,” said KRA Commissioner of Customs and Border Control Julius Musyoki.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nKRA also recently announced plans to punish individuals who buy goods or services from persons or entities that fail to declare their income in a move aimed at growing tax revenue.\nThe system, which entails in-depth data analytics, is expected to cure the problem of fictitious value added tax (VAT) inputs mismatched against outputs.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001301442/state-war-on-tax-cheats-nets-sh181b-in-2-months"}
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+{"doc_id": "de42f3f3e5ca0ffedc85ede586dad335", "text": "Business leaders, experts commend 2024 National Budget\nOliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter\nECONOMIC analysts and business leaders have commended the 2024 National Budget delivered by Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube on Thursday, saying it centres on mitigating the headwinds that could threaten the growth of key economic sectors.\nAgriculture, mining, tourism and manufacturing are Zimbabwe’s major economic sectors expected to anchor the country’s progress towards the envisaged upper-middle-income society status by 2030.\nEconomic analysts said the budget and its accompanying fiscal policy statement would promote economic stability and increase Government revenues.\nEconomist and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Monetary Policy Committee Member Mr Persistence Gwanyanya said: “It gives me confidence when the Treasury prioritises growth with stability, especially at this time when we are faced with economic headwinds, global and domestic, that threaten the momentum that we have now started seeing on real economic activity.\n“We would be shaken as a country by geopolitical factors; the slowdown in the global economy is due to a fall in international commodity prices. That’s why it gives me confidence when the budget is centred around maintaining growth and stability in real economic activity.\n“We have seen progress in terms of the real economic activities, and that progress is coming out from agriculture, mining, and tourism, which sectors have to be promoted.”\nThe unprecedented tightening of global monetary conditions in response to decades-high inflation levels has slowed the pace of global economic recovery.\nConsequently, the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook forecast for October 2023 projects global growth to slow down from 3,5 percent estimated in 2022, to three percent this year, and 2,9 percent in 2024.\nMr Gwanyanya said in the past five years, the Government has been investing in interventions that promote economic growth and recovery, prioritising key sectors of the economy.\nIn light of the predicted lower rainfall induced by El Nino, he said the investment in climate-proof technology that the Government has invested in agriculture would be bearing fruit as far as mitigating the adverse effects of the envisaged dry weather conditions in the present summer cropping season.\n“We have made investments that are necessary to mitigate the effects of El Nino this year.\n“The irrigation infrastructure and the conservation agriculture methods are seen as supporting the economy faced with the El Nino drought. These are investments that are starting now to show us why they were necessary when the Government embarked on them,” he said.\nIn the 2024 national budget, Prof Ncube pointed out that the country has achieved national food security through its agriculture support model, and thus going forward into next year, the thrust is on consolidating the gains achieved so far.\nAgainst this background, the Government allocated $4,3 trillion to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to spearhead the implementation of the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy.\nTurning to the mining industry, Mr Gwanyanya said: “In the mining sector, we have seen quite a lot of activities including increased production despite the fall in mineral prices.\n“Although revenue is going to be affected because of the fall in mineral prices on the international market, this would not be as much as in the case where production could have been limited.”\nZimbabwe Farmers Union executive director Mr Paul Zakariya hailed the Treasury for the $4,3 trillion allocation to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development saying this would go a long way in spearheading activities under that ministry’s purview.\n“Most of the funds allocated to ministries are for recurrent costs within the ministries and ministries themselves to meet operational cost to sustain the ministry. It’s good that the funding allocated to the ministry is going to agriculture to support various activities including those by extension officers so that they are present and active on the ground as well as for report writing, capturing information in real time.\n“All that is very important is also farmer training. So, supporting agriculture from a service point of view, the ministry would be adequately financed to roll out and implement its mandate,” he said.\nTo support smallholder and subsistence farmers in the delivery of grain to the Grain Marketing Board and other commercial buyers, Prof Ncube proposed to review the tax-exempt threshold on withholding tax on agricultural commodities that include soya beans, sunflower, groundnuts and cotton seed from US$1 000 per annum to US$5 000 or local currency equivalent.\n“We expected more in as far as that is concerned actually, we were expecting the minister to waiver the withholding tax component completely so that the farmers get 100 percent of the value of their sales.\n“We are saying this because there are so many competing expenses that our farmers are having to incur until they eventually have the commodities (soya, sunflower) to sell.\n“Energy costs are very high at the moment . . . there is also the IMMT which is charged and now if you levy another withholding tax at 30 percent, never mind the threshold that already spells disaster to the farmer,” he said.\nZimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Dr Shadreck Makombe said from the $4,3 trillion vote to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, the bulk of the funding should be allocated to irrigation development.\n“I am imploring the ministry to look at the capacitation of irrigation on account that rainfall is no longer as we expected in the past. We are now talking of irrigation.\n“In light of uncertainties such as the predicted El-Nino, we should mitigate such a scenario before we are found wanting,” he said.\nThe Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Mr Kurai Matsheza said the 2024 national budget would see the Government improving on its revenue enhancement measures.\n“For example, only traders registered for Value Added Tax purposes and are in possession of valid tax clearance certificates will be eligible to procure goods from manufacturers, such a policy will improve the revenue base for the Government,” he said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/business-leaders-experts-commend-2024-national-budget/"}
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+{"doc_id": "de7dcbeb11c77655263edd804923a9e6", "text": "Africa can discard foreign prescriptions for local solutions\nLovemore Chikova-Development Dialogue\nSince African countries started gaining independence, starting with Ghana in 1957, a number of development blueprints, ideas and models have been fostered on them.\nThese development blueprints, mainly emanating from Western countries, have been regurgitating the same issues to the extent that there is nothing really knew when it comes to their application.\nFor decades, these paradigms, theories and blueprints have had one strong theme running through them — that the development of poor countries can only take place with the involvement of Western developed nations.\nIt is just about prescriptions from the West and their attempt to take developing countries through the same processes that uplifted Western countries.\nThe same remedies used in an attempt to bring development to African countries in the 1950s are the same being recommended and implemented today.\nThis is despite that such scripts have failed to take the developing countries out of poverty.\nNothing has really changed, the world is going in circles when it comes to bringing development equality to emerging economies.\nThe plausible explanation could probably be that developed countries deliberately offer prescriptions that do not work in developing countries because they want to perpetuate the cycle of poverty.\nIn fact, a competitive Africa, Asia or Latin America could pose a serious challenge to Western dominance and hegemony, hence this desire to put developing countries in a revolving circle over the same development prescriptions that seem not to work.\nIt is clear that the 1945 multilateral settlement, as represented by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, is running out of steam, is no longer representative and no longer has the financial means to provide the resources for addressing global concerns.\nThis explains why many developing countries are now starting to ask probing questions, agitating for a new settlement and a new development paradigm that brings tangible benefits to their citizens.\nThe concept of development, as it has been presented from the Western view, is now a bone of contention, especially with its strong links to colonialism and the expansion of colonial subjugation in developing countries.\nThere is indeed a crisis in global development today because of over reliance on development initiatives that have proved not to produce the desired results.\nThere is now a yawning gap for a new shift in global affairs that challenges the approach and perspective to development propagated over the years with little or no results.\nThe development prescriptions from Western countries always put emerging economies on a catch-up game, yet the chase has proved to be an illusion for many decades, with the world gravitating back to where it started, where the same solutions are offered once again.\nYet, the fact is that development as designed by Western countries for application in developing countries has totally failed, otherwise we should be having examples to point at.\nDevelopment blueprints from multilateral institutions that are seen as agents of development, despite their repeated applications, have failed to uplift underdeveloped countries.\nLooking at where these Western development perspectives started being enforced in Africa and other developing countries and where they are today, one can easily conclude that the world is back to square one — with developing countries still trying out the same prescriptions since decades ago.\nNo matter how these development prescriptions are modelled, portrayed or applied, their vital features still remain the same — that of being inherently Eurocentric and largely Western in their approach.\nYet, rich countries have become wealthy on the backs of poor countries on which they depended and are still depending for their raw materials.\nCutting off the supply of raw materials to developed countries can even mean war or the resurgence of colonialism in its raw form.\nEven after colonialists let them get independent, poor countries are still exploited through neo-colonialism where multilateral institutions like the IMF and the World Bank continue to shape their developmental paths.\nFrom where world systems stand now, it appears it is in the interest of Western countries to keep the developing countries poor and dependent on them.\nWestern countries would still want to extract mineral resources and other raw materials from developing countries and the appetite for such is insatiable.\nAs a result, they have deliberately created a cycle of failed prescriptions since the partition of Africa in 1884-85.\nMuch of the so-called development failures in Africa and other developing continents are in most cases pinned on the approach by Western countries, which is hostile to those emerging economies that attempt to come up with their own home-grown prescriptions for development.\nFormerly colonised states were awarded some resemblance of political independence, but the former colonisers still dictated economic affairs directly or indirectly, limiting the potential of such countries to chart their own way to development.\nWestern countries tout themselves as development models for developing countries, arguing that they have already set the standards and therefore development has to be seen in the context of the achievements of the West.\nThe Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) is one of the development programmes that clearly indicates that there is a recycling of the same ideas that have failed to end poverty in developing countries.\nESAP is being pushed by the IMF and World Bank, with the two organisations still insisting it works, when in actual fact it has failed to bring any results in the countries it has been implemented.\nThe programme is mainly based on free market principles comprising deflation, devaluation, decontrol and privatisation.\nIn the majority of cases, including in Zimbabwe, ESAP had serious consequences — poverty levels increased, unemployment shot up, retrenchments were implemented, exports declined and the cost of living became unaffordable to many.\nThis took several developing countries many years back in terms of their pace of development, yet the IMF is still regurgitating the same prescriptions it gave developing countries in the 1950s.\nIt is now clear that developing countries are caught up in an untenable situation in which they are expected to catch up with the developed Western countries.\nYet, the Western countries continue progressing in their developmental path uninterrupted.\nThis means that developing countries will never catch up because when they think that they have achieved certain levels of development, Western countries will be on a new level altogether.\nThis becomes a vicious circle as the developing countries continue to chase the developed countries in a bid to catch up.\nThis means more paradigms and theories of development will continue to be developed, but without departing much from the core of the argument that there is an imbalance and exploitation between the developed world and the developing world.\nThe best way forward is for developed countries to leave the developing countries alone to chart their own way forward to development, considering their own unique situations and the immediate needs of their citizens.\nIf colonialism had not happened, Africa could have been probably different today, with a different, but successful development roadmap.\nA new world order that treats countries as equals is urgently required if development is to be witnessed in all parts of the world.\nAs long as there are some countries that think it is their responsibility to bring development to other regions, then the world will continue to go round in circles, with the mightier continuing to exploit the weak.\nInstead of a bi-polar world, a uni-polar world will bring new alternatives to development paradigms.\nWhat is needed is a win-win cooperation that brings mutual benefits to all the countries.\nAs of now, this is not happening. Western countries remain hostile to developing countries that show some form of independent thinking in their development models.\nZimbabwe can provide many examples in this area, just by studying how Western countries became hostile when the country embarked on the land reform programme.\nYet the programme was more like an internal development programme that was to ensure equal access to land as an economic resource.\nThe equitable distribution of land was meant to be the start of ending poverty in Zimbabwe as farming was to boom, hedging families against food shortages and ensuring adequate supplies of raw materials to industries.\nBut the country got devastating economic sanctions for trying to break from the norm.\nFeedback: [email protected]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/africa-can-discard-foreign-prescriptions-for-local-solutions/"}
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+{"doc_id": "e07b78d1f9f4f77f4605402460142179", "text": "President Uhuru Kenyatta has handed Fred Matiang'i sweeping powers on the oversight of Government programmes, signalling his confidence in the Interior Cabinet Secretary in his final term in office that will shape his legacy.\nIn his new role, Dr Matiang'i will chair a key committee on the implementation of development programmes, whose membership includes all Cabinet secretaries, the Attorney General and Head of the Public Service, a mandate that a Government insider said essentially elevates him to a \"prime minister or chief minister.\"\nThe president's move, however, drew mixed reaction from a cross section of leaders with some of Deputy President William Ruto allies saying it could be a move to undermine the DP.\nThe president delegated the powers to Matiang’i in an Executive Order that for the first time hands a CS an expansive responsibility to chair and coordinate government development programmes and projects.\nWith four years left to his presidency Uhuru is keen to streamline operations within his Cabinet to help deliver the Big Four Agenda.\nAccording to Executive Order number 1 of 2019 signed in Mombasa on Monday, Matiang’i will report to the President.\nMatiang'i will now chair the National Development Implementation and Communication Cabinet Committee whose vice-chairperson will be National Treasury and Planning CS Henry Rotich.\nExecutive order\nMembers of the committee include all Cabinet Secretaries, Attorney General Paul Kihara while Head of the Public Service forms the secretariat.\n“The composition of the National Development Implementation and Communication Cabinet Committee and other specified committees for delivery and oversight of national government development programmes and projects shall be organised as set out in the structure detailed in the schedule hereto,” read part of the order.\nAccording to insiders, the president met Matiang’i in Mombasa on Sunday where they discussed the new roles.\n“The functions are now broad and show some level of confidence in Matiang’i and his team,” said an insider who knows the developments in Government.\nThe move comes at a time that Uhuru is rushing to implement his Big Four Agenda against tight budgetary allocations. Yesterday, the president addressed security chiefs in Mombasa telling them national unity, development, security and zero tolerance to corruption were national priorities in the next four years.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\n\"I have given you authority to deal with anyone, and I mean anyone, coming to give you funny orders,\" Uhuru is reported to have told them.\nThe Big Four Agenda items are food security, manufacturing (mainly focusing on job creation), affordable universal healthcare and affordable housing.\nIn his new powerful role, Matiang’i will now provide supervisory leadership throughout the delivery circle of all national government programmes and projects.\nHe will also receive and deliberate on reports from the National Development Implementation Technical Committee and provide timely guidance on appropriate measures to address challenges constraining effective implementation and delivery of projects.\nMatiang’i, as the chairman, will also monitor and evaluate follow-up mechanisms for resources allocated for the projects to ensure proper utilisation and realisation of the targeted outcome. He will also provide coordinated strategic communication to the public and other stakeholders on the progress of the projects.\nThe CS will prepare accurate and timely progress reports for presentation to the president and perform other functions as directed by the president.\nEfficiency\nThe president met the country’s top security members and provincial administrators yesterday in Mombasa where he also revealed the new Executive Order to those present.\nThe president said for efficient co-ordination and administration of national government development programmes and projects across the republic and for proper discharge of executive authority across the nation, there is need to establish implementing and coordinating committees at various levels.\nThese include the National Development Implementation and Communication Cabinet Committee, the National Development Implementation Technical Committee, eight regional development implementation co-ordination committee and that of 47 county ones.\nThe president said there is need to foster greater co-ordination and harmonisation in the implementation of national government development programmes and projects under the Medium Term Plan Three with focus on the Big Four Agenda.\n“It is necessary to issue a Presidential Executive Order to provide for the framework for facilitating effective oversight, co-ordination, implementation, administration and supervision of government development programmes and projects,” the president said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001310397/matiangi-now-most-powerful-minister"}
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+{"doc_id": "e0ecea6951d45d324380431ed0371a18", "text": "Today marks 365 days since India assumed the G20 Presidency. It is a moment to reflect, recommit, and rejuvenate the spirit of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future.’\nAs we undertook this responsibility last year, the global landscape grappled with multifaceted challenges: recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, looming climate threats, financial instability, and debt distress in developing nations, all amid declining multilateralism. In the midst of conflicts and competition, development cooperation suffered, impeding progress.\nAssuming the G20 Chair, India sought to offer the world an alternative to status quo, a shift from a GDP-centric to human-centric progress. India aimed to remind the world of what unites us, rather than what divides us. Finally, the global conversation had to evolve - the interests of the few had to give way to the aspirations of the many. This required a fundamental reform of multilateralism as we knew it.\nInclusive, ambitious, action-oriented, and decisive — these four words define our approach as G20 president, and the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration (NDLD), unanimously adopted by all G20 members, is testimony to our commitment to deliver on these principles.\nInclusivity has been at the heart of our presidency. The inclusion of the African Union (AU) as a permanent member of the G20 integrated 55 African nations into the forum, expanding it to encompass 80 per cent of the global population. This proactive stance has fostered a more comprehensive dialogue on global challenges and opportunities.\nThe first-of-its-kind ‘Voice of the Global South Summit,’ convened by India in two editions, heralded a new dawn of multilateralism. India mainstreamed the Global South’s concerns in international discourse and has ushered in an era where developing countries take their rightful place in shaping the global narrative.\nInclusivity also infused India’s domestic approach to G20, making it a People’s Presidency that befits that world’s largest democracy. Through “Jan Bhagidari” (people’s participation) events, G20 reached 1.4 billion citizens, involving all states and Union Territories (UTs) as partners. And on substantive elements, India ensured that international attention was directed to broader developmental aims, aligning with G20’s mandate.\nAt the critical midpoint of the 2030 Agenda, India delivered the G20 2023 Action Plan to Accelerate Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), taking a cross-cutting, action-oriented approach to interconnected issues, including health, education, gender equality and environmental sustainability.\nA key area driving this progress is robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). Here, India was decisive in its recommendations, having witnessed the revolutionary impact of digital innovations like Aadhaar, UPI, and Digilocker first-hand. Through G20, we successfully completed the Digital Public Infrastructure Repository, a significant stride in global technological collaboration. This repository, featuring over 50 DPIs from 16 countries, will help the Global South build, adopt, and scale DPI to unlock the power of inclusive growth.\nFor our One Earth, we introduced ambitious and inclusive aims to create urgent, lasting, and equitable change. The Declaration’s ‘Green Development Pact’ addresses the challenges of choosing between combating hunger and protecting the planet, by outlining a comprehensive roadmap where employment and ecosystems are complimentary, consumption is climate-conscious, and production is planet-friendly.\nIn tandem, the G20 Declaration calls for an ambitious tripling of global renewable energy capacity by 2030. Coupled with the establishment of the Global Biofuels Alliance and a concerted push for Green Hydrogen, the G20’s ambitions to build a cleaner, greener world is undeniable. This has always been India’s ethos, and through Lifestyles for Sustainable Development (LiFE), the world can benefit from our age-old sustainable traditions.\nFurther, the Declaration underscores our commitment to climate justice and equity, urging substantial financial and technological support from the Global North. For the first time, there was a recognition of the quantum jump needed in the magnitude of development financing, moving from billions to trillions of dollars. G20 acknowledged that developing countries require $5.9 trillion to fulfil their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2030.\nGiven the monumental resources required, G20 emphasised the importance of better, larger, and more effective Multilateral Development Banks. Concurrently, India is taking a leading role in UN reforms, especially in the restructuring of principal organs like the UN Security Council, that will ensure a more equitable global order.\nGender equality took centre stage in the Declaration, culminating in the formation of a dedicated Working Group on the Empowerment of Women next year. India’s Women’s Reservation Bill 2023, reserving one-third of India’s Parliament and state legislative assembly seats for women epitomizes our commitment to women-led development.\nThe New Delhi Declaration embodies a renewed spirit of collaboration across these key priorities, focusing on policy coherence, reliable trade, and ambitious climate action. It is a matter of pride that during our Presidency, G20 achieved 87 outcomes and 118 adopted documents, a marked rise from the past.\nAs we hand over the G20 Presidency to Brazil, we do so with the conviction that our collective steps for people, planet, peace, and prosperity, will resonate for years to come.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486383/indias-g20-presidency-and-the-dawn-of-a-new-multilateralism"}
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+{"doc_id": "e1b499ddb857e04c141b105312f9958a", "text": "-\nIvan Zhakata in Mutare Over 30 individuals with hearing impairments in Manicaland Province have taken a significant step towards digital inclusion, having successfully completed a week-long Information Communication Technology (ICT) skills training program. Organised by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) and funded by their Universal Services Fund (USF), the initiative aims […]\n-\nPrecious Manomano Herald Reporter Former Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) Chief Executive Officer Cde Karikoga Kaseke has died. He was 62 years. His wife, Mrs Irene Kaseke confirmed that Cde Kaseke died at a local hospital in Harare where he was admitted following deterioration in his health. Cde Kaseke suffered a stroke in 2018 which forced […]\n-\nHerald Reporter PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has today replaced condition of service vehicles for chiefs, distributing 100 double cab Isuzu vehicles. This is part of Government’s ongoing programme to ensure chiefs are mobile and to restore their dignity. Speaking during the handover of the vehicles at a local hotel in Harare, President Mnangagwa said: “Given the role […]\n-\nWalter Nyamukondiwa Mashonaland West Bureau Chief Mamina Irrigation Scheme in Mhondoro-Ngezi, which has not been operating since 2018 owing to vandalism has been rehabilitated. The scheme will benefit 300 farmers supporting a total of 270 hectares, divided into Ngezi A (215ha) and Ngezi B (55ha). Vandals destroyed transformers and electrical lines to the scheme covering […]\n-\n-\nIvan Zhakata Herald Correspondent National Youth Services (NYS) officials have called on young people across the nation to cultivate a sense of patriotism by cherishing and holding loyalty to their country, regardless of their political affiliations. Speaking at the delayed National Youth Day celebrations in Tongorara, Shurugwi, NYS national commander, Cde Benhilda Gunda, […]\n-\nFreeman Razemba in Geneva, Switzerland As the country’s engagement and re-engagement efforts continue bearing fruits, the new executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Ms Tatiana Molcean, has pledged to support Zimbabwe on international transport systems, regulations and requirements on road safety and climate change mitigation.\n-\nNelson Gahadza-Senior Business Reporter ZB Financial Holdings (ZBFH) has unveiled an innovation hub to drive the group’s digital transformation journey, which will be instrumental not only in exploring and providing solutions to customer pain points but also in engineering brands for strong performance. The hub was officially launched by Professor Amon Murwira, the Minister of […]\n-\nEthiopia now supplies 11 percent of the electricity consumed by Kenyans daily, growing the Horn of Africa country’s stake in local power supply. Data from Kenya Power shows imports from Ethiopia Electric Power beat supply from thermal generators and solar to emerge as the fourth largest source of power supply. Geothermal retained its lead as […]\n-\n-\nTapiwanashe Mangwiro Senior Business Reporter Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) listed diversified agricultural concern, CFI Holdings, registered strong growth in sales volumes across key revenue drivers in the first quarter to December 31, 2023. In the retail division, key revenue drivers experienced marked growth in sales volumes, after seeing a 16 percent jump to 21 453 […]\n-\nWith Liverpool in League Cup final action against Chelsea tomorrow, the chasing pack have a chance to close the gap on the Premier League leaders. Manchester City can move within one point of Jurgen Klopp’s team if they win their game in hand at Bournemouth, while Arsenal must beat Newcastle to stay in touch with […]\n-\nWalter Nyamukondiwa Mashonaland West Bureau Chief Fire has gutted at least eight market stalls at Chegutu Bus Terminus, destroying wares including electrical and mining equipment worth nearly US$50 000. The cause of the fire, which broke out at around midnight on Tuesday, has not yet been established. Devastated stall holders who had mining tools, electrical and […]\n-\nYeukai Karengezeka Court Correspondent A local fuel company, Elima Fuels, which was selling substandard fuel that did not meet the minimum requirements of the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) was recently fined US$600 by a Harare Magistrate, Mrs Ruth Moyo. The complainant was ZERA, represented by Shakespear Kunaka who is employed as a fuel quality […]\n-\n-\nChinese President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulations on Thursday with President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo on the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, and vowed to join Sassou in promoting the strategic partnership of the two sides. The friendship between China and the Republic of the Congo has stood the test of […]\n-\nNigeria’s unemployment rate increased to 5 percent in the third quarter of 2023 from 4,2 recorded in the second quarter of 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This information was disclosed in the Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS) report for the third quarter of 2023, released on Monday. Per the NBS, this rate […]\n-\nChinese President Xi Jinping stressed on Monday that the capability of land resources should be enhanced to ensure the high-quality development of regions which enjoy competitive strengths, and that the grassroots emergency management capacity should be further improved. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the […]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/category/uncategorized/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..355d13a1dd72f49ef66873ecfae81a2ffd184ed6
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+{"doc_id": "e2774d51d4953940c6927cabe87a1eec", "text": "NAIROBI, KENYA: National Treasury Cabinet Secretary will on Thursday unveil the spending plans for the financial year that begins on July 1.\nHe will also indicate how his ministry plans to fund the Sh3.02 trillion budget, likely through a raft of new taxes and new loans estimated at Sh608 billion.\nAccording to a budget statement on the ministry’s website, Education sector will get the lion share (Sh473.4 billion) compared to other sectors; the General Economic and Commerce Affairs sector has been allocated Sh23.9 billion\nBelow is how the money is distributed per sector.\nEducation sector-Sh473.4 billion\nEnergy, Infrastructure and Information, Communication and Technology-Sh406.8 billion\nPublic Administration and International Relations - Sh270.9 billion\nGovernance, Justice, Law, and Order - Sh204.8 billion\nNational Security - Sh153.6 billion\nHealth- Sh93.0 billion\nEnvironment Protection, Water and Natural Resources- Sh82.3 billion\nAgriculture, rural and urban development sector-Sh59.1b\nSocial Protection, Culture, and Recreation Sector- Sh 54.8 billion\nGeneral Economic and Commerce Affairs-Sh23.9 billion\nThe government projects budget on education to hit Sh Sh504 million by the time President Uhuru Kenyatta leaves the office.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nIn the 2019/2020 budget estimates, the education sector has been allocated Sh473 billion probably the highest among other sectors in this year’s budget.\nThe Sector has prioritised several programmes for implementation including the recruitment of additional teachers to support 100 percent transition policy of the Government and continued support to Free Primary Education and Free Day Secondary Education through increased capitation.\nOther prioritise include continued support to Special Needs Education (SNE) through increased capitation to SNE learners and the provision of examination fees for all students in KCPE and KCSE.\nThe Sector will also complete the ongoing construction and equipment of technical training institutes (TTIs) and support university education in public and private universities in order to equip the youth with relevant skills required to drive the industrialisation agenda.\nThe agriculture rural and urban development sector on the other side has been allocated Sh59.1 billion.\nThe Sector plays a key role in the development agenda of the country through enhancing food and nutrition security; employment and wealth creation.\nIt has also prioritized the implementation of “The Big Four” Plan initiatives.\nThe Big Four Agenda items are Food security, manufacturing (mainly focusing on job creation in this area), affordable universal health care and affordable housing.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001329433/how-sectors-will-share-kenya-s-sh3-02-trillion-budget"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d6aec2f8ab0b98fcc46b5fd2cfc1c98840eb05e0
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+{"doc_id": "e2db1009b686d71c624783bebfa88f40", "text": "Brainworks reflects resilience, growth\nBusiness Reporter\nBrainworks’ underlying businesses have continued to reflect resilience and growth notwithstanding the myriad of challenges the country is facing, the company’s management have said in a statement accompanying its half-year results. Revenue for the half-year ended June 30, 2017 was up 23 percent to $24,2 million from $19,67 million achieved prior year comparative.\nThe bulk of the revenue as usual came from the hospitality businesses where revenue amounted to $21 million up 17,31 percent from $17,98 million for the comparative prior year. The hospitality segment contributed 87 percent of the total group revenues for the period under review, 4 percent lower when compared to the comparable 2016 period on the back of revenue growth in the other business segments. The real estate businesses was even better after registering a higher growth rate than that of the hospitality businesses. Revenue for the real estate business came out at $2,2 million up 18,91 percent from $1,85 million prior year comparative.\nIn explaining the revenue growth for the hospitality business, management said the tactical downward review of the hotel room rates yielded the desired outcome as occupancy increased by 8 percentage points from 37 percent reported last year to 45 percent. As a result, revenue per available room (‘RevPAR’) increased by 14 percent to $40 from $35 achieved last year. This management said, had a notable impact on revenue growth.\n“Occupancy growth was supported by strong performance from all our markets, with local, international and regional rooms sold increasing by 21 percent, 33 percent and 2 percent respectively. In addition, the commissioning of the upgraded Victoria Falls International Airport which now has capacity to handle wide body aircraft positively contributed towards improving occupancies and ultimately revenue from the group’s Victoria Falls based hotel assets.” The group, however, posted a loss before tax of $4,87 million, which was substantially higher when compared to the $2,20 million recorded in same period last year. Management attributed the loss to once off expenses amounting to $1,78 million made up of non-recurring expenses of $0,52 million, $1,26 million listing costs as well as impairment allowance of $0,92 million.\nThe impairment is attributed to the group’s receivable from its associate investment, Coporeti Support Services (Private) Limited t/a GetCash. Brainworks has since disposed 51 percent in GetCash to MyBucks, a Luxembourg company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The disposal is still subject to approval by the regulatory authorities in Zimbabwe. Overall, the group’s operating expenses increased by 23 percent to $16,3 million with operating expenses in the hospitality businesses increasing by $1 million in line with revenue increases.\nManagement, however, defended the loss saying historically, the group incurs losses in the first half of the year as the business cycle is such that the peak season of the group’s principal business activity is in the second half of the year. Accordingly, as in previous years, the group expects the improvement in performance seen in the first half of the year to accelerate in the second half of the year. In 2016, approximately 60 percent of the group’s revenue and gross profits were achieved in the second half while a loss of $1,6 million in the first half was turned into a profit of $3,4 million by the end of the financial year. In the outlook, the Group expects improved performance from Victoria Falls based hotels as well as sales of its maiden residential units. With the Group’s current liabilities exceeding its current assets by $16,08 million, with loans contributing a significant portion, management intends to raise capital via a share placement and disposal of the existing treasury shares to raise funding for repayment of some of the maturing debt, simultaneously engaging Lenders for debt restructuring.\n“The group is also considering issuing a convertible loan note with interest in the convertible instrument having been received from certain investors. The board is confident that the combined impact of these initiatives would enable the group to fully discharge its obligations as they fall due.”", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/brainworks-reflects-resilience-growth/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..11c877c748eec67e3830bdb233b47a6079466edb
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+{"doc_id": "e36c6f15b6f10075fbb07c4a83ba95d6", "text": "$20 notes legal tender: Govt\nHerald Reporter\nPublic transport operators and traders must accept $20 notes as they are legal tender and failure to accept legal tender in transactions is outside the law, the Finance Ministry warned this week.\nSome public transport operators and informal traders in the capital are no longer accepting the $20 notes as legal tender, months after they also rejected $10 and $5 notes, effectively taking them out of circulation.\nThe rebuff has left travellers stranded as many kombi operators and tuckshop owners are not accepting the $20 notes, only $50 and $100 notes.\nSupermarkets and other big furniture shops are accepting all local notes in circulation including $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes.\nHowever, Government yesterday said the rejection of local bank notes was illegal and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would inquire into the matter.\n“The rejection of bond notes is illegal and we will do an inquiry with the RBZ. The $20 notes are legal tender and no one has reason to refuse the currency,” said chief director of communications and advocacy in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Mr Clive Mphambela.\nTransport associations also blasted operators who are rejecting notes, saying urgent action will be taken against those refusing to accept the bond notes.\nZimbabwe Passenger Transporters Organisation chairman Dr Sam Nanhanga said it was an offence for public transporters to refuse bond notes.\n“As long as it is legal tender we accept it. We also accept all forms of payment be it in local currency or foreign currency,” he said.\nMr Ngoni Katsvairo, the Greater Harare Association of Commuter Omnibus Operators secretary-general echoed the same sentiments, saying action would be taken against those who were not accepting local currency.\n“As an association, we have not ordered any operator to reject bond notes. If the operators are rejecting local currency, the passengers must get the code inscribed at the back of the kombi and urgent action will be taken against the driver and the conductor and eventually the owner of the vehicle,” he said.\nZimbabwe Union of Drivers and Conductors president Mr Frederick Maguramhinga concurred with his counterparts and said: “To be honest, we do not allow what is not allowed by the Government, that is to reject the legal tender of this country.”\n“This is our policy and we are we do not allow any driver or conductor to refuse the bond notes. We are accepting every form of payment and we are not selecting the types of notes to be paid.\n“If the passengers see any of our members refuse to collect the $20 notes, they should call us and proper action will be taken against the driver or the operator of the kombi,” Mr Maguramhinga said.\nPassengers have also raised an outcry over the rejection of the $20 notes saying it has greatly affected their transport from their homes to the city centre and back.\nThey have urged Government to act against informal businesses that were rejecting $20 notes, a situation that is now adding pressure on the cash crisis.\nMiss Nyaradzo Chibukwa from Warren Park said Government should intervene and resolve the situation as bond notes were legal tender.\n“What the conductors are doing is not fair because we would have received the money from the bank in $20 notes so they have no right to refuse the money. They are saying the money is not accepted in the tuckshops in the downtown of the city centre so they cannot accept the money. Police should arrest them because it is legal tender and no one should refuse it,” she said.\nMr Bornwise Jacha from Tynwald had no kind words for the public transport operators and calls for the banning of kombis on the road.\n“I think Government has made a good move when they banned kombis during the lockdown period. These people are not human because how can a driver or a conductor refuse to accept $20 notes? Where do they think we can get the money from? This is totally absurd,” Mr Jacha said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/20-notes-legal-tender-govt/"}
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+{"doc_id": "e67593a8e4d35ddda93708d571a1a116", "text": "-\nFinance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, says Government will prioritise economic, governance and property rights reforms to increase agricultural production in the country.\n-\nNearly 155 million units of substandard products have been rejected by Zimbabwe since the implementation of the Consignment Based Conformity Assessment (CBCA) programme in 2015 enabling the country to reduce the influx of hazardous and suboptimal products locally.\n-\nCAIRO. - China’s economic development path is people-oriented, with coordination between the public and private sectors to improve the lives of its citizens, said an economic consultant in a recent interview with Xinhua.\n-\nExperts in capital markets have warned listed firms across the region to keep a watchful eye on the evolving technology especially artificial intelligence (AI) which is seen as the biggest threats in 2024.\n-\n-\nSouth Africa’s inflation rate rose for the first time in three months in January on the back of higher fuel and food prices.\n-\nAmidst a backdrop of cheap imitations and imports, National Tyre Services (NTS) demonstrated resilience and agility, achieving commendable growth in the third quarter of 2023.\n-\nAs Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presents his 2024 Budget speech to Parliament this week, SA Canegrowers is calling on the National Treasury to prioritise measures to aid economic recovery and job retention and asked for the sugar tax not to be raised.\n-\nBEIJING. - Ever since Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced the term “new productive forces” in September last year, foreign think tanks and media outlets have widely discussed the concept. In a recent high-level meeting, new productive forces were again the focus of discussion, bringing attention to its various implications.\n-\n-\nBased on press reports it appears that cases of alleged fraud over title deeds is on the increase. From those reported cases my understanding is that such cases involve the following:\n-\nEnacy Mapakame Zimbabwe remains within range of Africa’s forecast average economic growth rate albeit the projected slowdown in 2024, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has said. This comes as the continent is set to remain the second-fastest-growing region after Asia. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB)’s latest Macroeconomic Performance […]\n-\nGold prices could soar to US$3 000 per ounce, and oil to US$100 per barrel within the next 12 to 18 months subject to any one of three possible catalysts, according to Citi. Gold, which is currently trading at US$2 016, could surge by about 50 percent, if central banks sharply ramp up purchases of […]\n-\nTapiwanashe Mangwiro Senior Business Reporter Consumers may benefit from the scrapping of import permits on several essential goods, including agricultural inputs and construction materials, as competition might improve, leading to reduced prices. Through Statutory Instrument (SI) 6 of 2024, the Minister of Industry and Commerce made changes to the Control of Goods (Import and Export) […]\n-\n-\nBusiness Reporter First Mutual Holdings Limited (FMHL) says it disagrees with the findings in the BDO Chartered Accountants (BDO) report and the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) corrective order on asset separation. The financial services group argues its submissions were not properly considered. In 2022, IPEC undertook a forensic investigation on First Mutual Life Assurance […]\n-\nKenya’s public debt shot up by Ksh1,93 trillion (US$13,3 billion) in the year ended December 2023, raising the country’s indebtedness to a new high of Ksh11,14 trillion (US$76,83 billion). This translated to a daily increase of Ksh5.29 billion (US$36,5 million) for the entire 2023, the year when the Kenyan shilling shed 26,8 percent of its […]\n-\nNelson Gahadza Business Reporter Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC) says it will focus on commissioning the SubVertical Rock Winder (SVR) bull gear in the fourth quarter of the firm’s trading period, which ends in March. The equipment has stalled production since September 2023. The SVR is one of the company’s major pieces of fixed mining equipment and […]", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/category/articles/business/page/2/"}
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+{"doc_id": "e70e9c1cb4e6b3146b7362e6634c9cda", "text": "Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka (pictured) on Wednesday confirmed that he had formally received the notification on the impeachment of Governor Anne Waiguru.\nKirinyaga County Speaker Anthony Gathumbi also provided Lusaka with a roll call register of votes by Members of the County Assembly and a copy of the motion containing the grounds for yesterday’s impeachment.\nLusaka said he has convened a special Senate Business Committee to deliberate on the matter.\n“Yes we have received the proceedings, we have handed it over to the legal team in preparation for the prosecution,” he said, adding the decision on the issues addressed will be fair to the parties involved.\nWaiguru was ousted with 23 ward representatives supporting the motion anchored on violation of the Constitution, abuse of office and gross misconduct.\nFour MCAs abstained and six of the 33 ward reps were absent.\nThe County Assembly Speaker Anthony Gathumbi announced the vote to remove Waiguru in the Tuesday session as dissenters were expelled from the House.\nThe impeachment motion was tabled in the Assembly on March 31 by Mutira Ward Representative David Kinyua Wangui, who said he enjoyed the support of at least 24 MCAs in the 33-member legislature.\nThe MCAs have accused Waiguru of deliberately failing to submit county plans and policies to the County Assembly for approval.\nKinyua accused Waiguru of gross violation of the Constitution by failing to deliver the annual State of the County address to the County Assembly.\n“The governor has deliberately refused, failed and/or neglected to deliver the same for the financial year 2018- 2019 which failure amounts to a gross violation of the Constitution and the County Government Act,” said Kinyua.\nThe governor is also accused of using her office to improperly confer a benefit to herself when she was irregularly paid for travel allowances by way of impresses amounting to Sh10.6 million yet she did not travel. The amount was paid to her personal account in the name of Anne Mumbi Waiguru held at Equity Bank.\nA section of Kirinyaga MCAs who had endorsed Waiguru's ouster spent Monday night in the county assembly as they prepared to debate an impeachment motion against the governor on Tuesday.\nThe Assembly Majority leader James Murango, who was in support of the ouster motion, called on the Senate and President Uhuru Kenyatta not to let them down by retaining Waiguru.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nHigh Court had barred the MCAs from proceeding with the motion on the grounds that the Covid-19 restrictions were likely to bar the governor from offering a full defence to the issues raised against her.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001374684/lusaka-receives-correspondence-on-waiguru-s-impeachment"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a6101eedf8b4e10d6c0ac9bed16dc15d7ed1d54a
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"doc_id": "e741d95493da532456de05c064b664b0", "text": "The Office of the Controller of Budget has flagged the low rate of development across the 47 counties attributing it to dwindling national revenue.\nAccording to the national and county governments budget implementation review report for the third- quarter of the 2022/2023, county governments are now being forced to prioritize payment of salaries at the expense of development.\nThe report released by the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o on Wednesday, explained that development in counties was at an all-time low, highlighting that out of the Sh239.7 billion released to counties in the last nine months, only Sh29.7 billion (12 per cent) was spent on development.\nNyakang'o disclosed that out of the funds channelled to devolved units, Sh135.8 billion had been directed towards payment of salaries while Sh74.09 billion was expended on maintenance and operations.\nLamu, Tharaka Nithi and Embu counties were also flagged as being the lowest spenders on development at Sh2.15 billion, Sh2.79 billion and Sh2.89 billion respectively for the period under review.\nThe report further observed that a decline in own-source revenue collections by county governments had also exacerbated the situation.\nOn the flip side, Nairobi, Turkana and Kiambu counties are the biggest spenders at Sh17.32 billion, Sh10.04 billion and Sh8.83 billion respectively.\nSpeaking during the launch of the report, the Controller of Budget noted that a delay in the release of funds by the exchequer led to the devolved units addressing their most demanding problems which in their case were salaries.\n\"Due to the delay in the release of funds, the counties are unable to implement their development budgets and instead choose to redirect the same towards salary payment. This, however, leads to low development,\" said Nyakang'o.\nShe defended delayed disbursement by the National Treasury saying that it was only able to release what was in the country's purse.\n\"The National Treasury cannot release what it does not have. They only release what is available,\" she said.\nNyakang'o also urged the counties to implement measures to scale up own-source revenue collection which, according to the report, have taken a plunge in the period under review.\nThe Controller of Budget further implored the county chiefs to set realistic budget revenue targets and avoid a pile up of pending bills.\n\"Pending bills accrued in counties stood at Sh159.73 as at March 31, 2023. Nairobi accounted for Sh102.81 billion, Wajir Sh5.38 billion, Kiambu Sh5.33 billion and Mombasa Sh4.91 billion,\" read the report in part.\nAt the same time, the Office of the Controller of Budget has revealed that 22 counties are trailing in own-source revenue collections.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nThey are Nakuru, Murang'a, Kericho, Vihiga, Nyamira, Kwale, Embu, Kisumu and Kakamega counties.\nOthers are Taita-Taveta, Wajir, Makueni, Tharaka-Nithi, Busia, Homa Bay, Kisii, Kajiado, Nairobi, Garissa, Tana River, Nandi and Mandera counties.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001475166/controller-of-budget-says-counties-prioritising-salaries-over-development"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4b10e89f8caa8eb7a9767dbfdffa2e2c6a742dc8
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+{"doc_id": "ec840d20cab8d5f3ccd34835caaae2f9", "text": "Banks offer 60pc funding for tobacco farming\nBusiness Reporter\nBankers Association of Zimbabwe said about 60 percent of funding from banks for the 2014/ 15 farming season will go towards tobacco farming as banks believe that tobacco repayment arrangements are markedly more efficient and effective.\nBanks are putting various financing schemes for agriculture for the 2014/15 season and will once again play a pivotal role in supporting the agricultural sector.\nDuring the 2013 /14 season, banks availed $620 million towards agriculture financing and as much as $343 million (55 percent) was for tobacco.\nBAZ president Mr Sam Malaba told the Commercial Farmers Union annual congress that there is growing preference for cash crop farming particularly tobacco and horticulture by small scale and commercial farmers to grain crops and cotton due to uncertainty in terms of prices and timing of payments.\n“There is a likelihood that over 60 percent of the financing from banks will be dedicated for tobacco financing due to reasons highlighted earlier.\n“Tobacco is likely to register even higher number of growers for the 2014 /15 season compared to last season, notwithstanding the likelihood of lower prices due to over production and quality concerns,” Mr Malaba said.\nHe said Government should optimise synergies for agriculture financing and development through private sector partnerships, encouraging private sector agriculture infrastructure investment.\nMr Malaba said Zimbabwe does not have medium to long term funding required in agriculture and the available short term funding is not adequate to meet the myriad financial requirements in Agriculture.\nHe said over 80 percent of total deposits are demand deposits that are not available for longer term lending.\n“Compounding the challenge is the growth of Non Performing loans accounting to 18,5 percent of total banking sector assets and locking as much as $700 million in potential financing which would be financing the productive sectors of the economy.\n“Accordingly banks have become more risk averse and have therefore reduced lending, in particular to farmers whilst increasing lending to corporate agriculture,” said Mr Malaba.\nHe said in order to resolve the problem of limited financial credit to the agricultural sector calls for concerted efforts by all stakeholders including farmers, bankers, Government, non-banking financial institutions to chart collective response to augment the flow of credit to agriculture.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/banks-offer-60pc-funding-for-tobacco-farming/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8dd163867529ec4667e86c0eff9bc9a3bf7e1d89
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+{"doc_id": "ed35f2dd36026854dcf9e66d2d2fe6f7", "text": "CFI back on ZSE after 4-year hiatus\nNelson Gahadza – Senior Business Reporter\nTHE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) has lifted suspension in the trading of CFI Holdings’ securities after the company regularised its corporate governance shortcomings as required under the listing requirements.\nThe agro-industrial concern was suspended from trading on January 2, 2018 for failure to comply with the free float requirements and some corporate governance related matters under the ZSE Listing Requirements.\n“The ZSE is satisfied that CFI has regularised its corporate governance shortcomings as required under the listing requirements. Trading in the securities of CFI will commence on Monday, 11 October 2021,” Mr Justin Bgoni, the ZSE chief executive said in a statement.\nHe said whilst the issue of the free float remains unresolved, the ZSE has given CFI a moratorium of five (5) years to address the free float requirements and the local bourse will be reviewing progress on regularisation of this requirement on an annual basis.\n“During the subsistence of its suspension, CFI demonstrated commitment to its listing on the ZSE by ensuring timely compliance with its continuing listing obligations and reporting cycles,” Mr Bgoni said.\nIn addition to free float requirements, CFI was requested to address issues relating to the appointment of substantive board chair, chief executive and finance director; and the appointment of independent non-executive directors who are not affiliated or have any association with any of the company’s shareholders.\nMessina Investments, currently the largest shareholder in CFI, is an international investment holding Company owned by business tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten and incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.\nAccording to the trading update for the quarter to June 30, 2021, CFI Holdings’ sales volumes in the key revenue drivers improved by 169 percent over the previous period largely as a result of an increase in aggregate demand following the relatively good 2020/2021 rainy season, which boosted both summer crops and tobacco.\n“Also contributing to the growth during the period, though modest, was the resurgence in construction activities,” the Group’s secretary Mr Panganai Hare, said.\nHe noted that the Group also benefited from growing demand for Agrifoods’ stock-feeds after it exited judicial management in prior year as well as opening of additional retail stores during the period.\nMr Hare said Farm & City reopened its Chipangayi branch in May 2021 and added another branch in Masvingo at the beginning of June 2021.\nAt Glenara Estates, both maize and table potatoes harvested increased by 42 percent and 85 percent respectively.\nVictoria Foods’ legacy foreign and local creditor debts were fully repaid during the period and Mr Hare said having resolved the legacy debt issues, Victoria Foods is expected to exit judicial management once the courts sanction the same.\nLooking ahead, the company expects an improved business outturn overall for the 2021 financial year, due to the implementation of the more flexible lockdown measures compared to prior year.\n“The management of consistent raw material supplies for Agrifoods and Victoria Foods will remain an on-going priority as the Group seeks to play its part in underpinning food security in the country,” he said.\nMr Hare said priority will also be given to the development of low cost housing delivery in Harare South in support of Government’s Vision 2030 housing plans.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/cfi-back-on-zse-after-4-year-hiatus/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ef8a7a09bd83c280306b0cd4b31591b47ac33716
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+{"doc_id": "ed50d0e3051bbed1641dd9b5f387bcc2", "text": "Civil servants welcome USD pay increase\nIvan Zhakata\nHerald Correspondent\nCivil servants have welcomed the 25 percent salary increment in that portion of pay paid in US dollars, although they would like it to be higher, but teachers especially said there was inequality in allowances and wished to see every State employee having the same conditions of service.\nCivil servants will be getting a total US$200 as the foreign currency component, up from the US$175 of recent months, made up of the unaltered US$75 a month Covid-19 allowance plus, now, US$125 a month as the standard US dollar portion, up from US$100.\nThe Government has also committed itself to continue paying the annual bonus, a 13th cheque, in foreign currency as was done last year. Full details of that payment are still being settled, but last year the large majority of civil servants had the full allowance in foreign currency, with only some senior staff seeing the payment split.\nThe rest of their salary and allowances are paid in local currency, with the foreign currency slice designed to ensure that they have some protection from inflationary forces.\nTeachers have welcomed the increment saying it will go a long way in complementing their salaries earned in local currency but pleaded with the Government to increase their allowances to meet those of some others in State service whom they said had higher allowances.\nThese allowances, like much of the salary, are paid in local currency. The teachers intervention is part of the larger salary negotiations that go beyond the foreign currency slice.\nThe new salary regime was tabled on Tuesday during a meeting of the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) that brings together the major civil service unions and the Government negotiators. The meeting saw Government committed to paying the 13th cheque in foreign currency.\nSecretary-General of the Association of School Heads Mr Munyaradzi Majoni said they welcomed the increment.\n“Any increment is welcome though we are still lagging behind when compared to other Government departments. Education is paid five times less than nurses and other civil servants. Our allowances are too low and the allowances should be the same for all civil servants But we welcome the increment,” he said.\nMrs Cynthia Khumalo, chairperson of the National Association of Primary Schools noted the increment as welcome but wanted the foreign currency slice increased to US$540.\n“We appreciate the increment but we want the authorities to look further into the issue because 25 percent will not change anything. It is difficult to accept but at least the increment is better than nothing.\n“We want the money to be reviewed to US$540 because we once earned that money some time back during the dollarisation era,” she said.\nZimbabwe Teachers’ Union (Zimta) secretary-general Mr Goodwill Taderera said while they welcomed the increment there was a need to increase it to meet that of others in the civil service.\n“The money is not adequate or to our expectations. When the minister promised us an increment, we had higher expectations. We want social dialogue to prevail so that we can address our concerns to the Government,” he said.\nHe also wished the total package to have a minimum of the equivalent of US$500 in salaries and allowances, a long term negotiating position of the civil service unions.\nApex Council president Mrs Cecelia Alexander on Tuesday confirmed the new salary package that Government has offered to employees.\n“The employer offered an increase of 25 percent on the USD$100 to make it US$125 and maintained the USD$75 Covid-19 allowance to make the total US dollar package US$200 with effect from September 1, 2022. The workers acknowledged the increase but chose to wait for specific modalities on how this is going to be implemented,” she said.\n“The employer did not offer or table any increase on the Zimbabwe dollar salary and the workers demanded that this be also reviewed without fail. In the end the Government side asked for time out to consult.”\nMrs Alexander said the meeting also deliberated on the payment of bonuses where the employer guaranteed that the bonus is assured.\n“Government committed to paying the 2022 bonus in US dollars but did not provide any figures and again asked for time to consult on the payment details and the total offer.”", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/civil-servants-welcome-usd-pay-increase/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3ce6b881b4c13ab5efad4c2360645daf4838e3d6
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+{"doc_id": "eec874008998b0c18d877009479e0d89", "text": "What you need to know:\nA diverse international movement is building to address the denial of women’s human rights as regressive tax systems continue to increase.\nDemocratic states rely on tax revenues as the main source of funding to meet the needs and rights of citizens.\nBogota Declaration on Tax Justice for Women’s Rights calls on governments to implement progressive tax policies to deliver on their human rights obligations to citizens, especially to women and girls.\nPicture this: you are a small-scale retail trader selling your merchandise in a market where garbage has remained uncollected for as long as you can remember.\nThe market taps have been dry for days on end and the toilets are filthy.\nBut you still pay daily fees to the municipal council or county government in the hope that they will provide these critical services to you.\nOn the other hand, you pay the regressive value added tax (VAT) on many of the goods and services that you purchase.\nAt home, as the woman of the house you carry out household chores, help your ill mother-in- law and look after the whole family, all as unpaid care work.\nMeanwhile, a large corporation in your neighbourhood employs accountants and lawyers to help it avoid paying its fair share of taxes in the country.\nThe company also receives other state subsidies, along with access to an educated workforce, good infrastructure and justice and security services.\nGENDER EQUALITY\nThis scenario replicates itself daily in the lives of many women across the world, especially in the global south.\nThis, despite commitments by world leaders to increase gender equality and women’s economic empowerment by 2030.\nIt is in this context that the first ever global convening on tax justice for women’s rights was held earlier this year in Bogota, Colombia.\nThe meeting drew together a global community of women as a united voice to advance tax justice as the most effective solution to gendered economic inequality.\nA diverse international movement is building to address the denial of women’s human rights as regressive tax systems continue to increase.\nThese continue to impoverish and marginalize women in the global economy.\nTAX REVENUES\nDemocratic states rely on tax revenues as the main source of funding to meet the needs and rights of citizens.\nYet, regressive consumption taxes such as the value added tax – which hurt poor people-, are increasingly being used to fill in for tax cuts that benefit wealthy persons and corporations.\nWithout sufficient tax revenues, governments are unable to fund universal public education, health, water and other services.\nIf this is met, then it protects the fundamental economic and social rights of women.\nOn December 7 this year, the Bogota Declaration on Tax Justice for Women’s Rights was launched. Organisations around the world are already signing it.\nThis declaration calls on governments to implement progressive tax policies to deliver on their human rights obligations to citizens, especially to women and girls.\nWEALTHY INDIVIDUALS\nThis includes creating gender-responsive fiscal systems, ensuring corporations and wealthy individuals pay their share of taxes, and that all countries have a seat at the table to decide international tax policies through a UN global tax commission.\nAnnually, 10th of December is the UN Human Rights Day and marks the conclusion of the 16 days of action to end violence against women.\nThe Global Alliance for Tax Justice, and committed partners including the Public Services International global union, the Tax Justice Network, and the Friedrich-Ebert- Stiftung foundation, invites organizations to sign on and support the Bogota Declaration on Tax Justice for Women’s Rights.\nThe author is the Campaigns and Policy Coordinator, Africa Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ)", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/It-s-time-for-tax-justice-to-deliver-women-s-rights/440808-4220400-3ro28p/index.html"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7ca0f6751e77339b4a977bdf3c6e7be4351fb0fa
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+{"doc_id": "eef7c1e8df1373a4c81602305d7ead46", "text": "As the world observes the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in 2023, Kenya emerges as a pioneer in fostering inclusivity by adopting a groundbreaking national standard for information and communication technology (ICT) accessibility. Kenya has become one of the first countries in Africa to gazette such standards, solidifying its commitment to ensuring that ICT products and services cater to the needs of persons with disabilities, older individuals, and other users who benefit from accessibility features.\nThe standard, known as Kenya Standard KS 2952-1-2:2022, was gazetted in May 2022 and it aims to ensure that ICT products and services are designed to meet the needs of persons with disabilities, older individuals, and other users who benefit from accessibility features. By implementing this standard, organizations can create more inclusive workplaces that respect the diversity and dignity of their employees and customers.\nKS 2952-1-2:2022 covers various ICT domains such as web content, software applications, hardware devices, telecommunications, and multimedia. It also aligns with international standards and best practices. The standard was developed by a collaborative working group involving stakeholders from government, academia, industry, civil society, and persons with disabilities.\ninABLE, a non-governmental organization dedicated to empowering persons with disabilities through assistive technology and digital skills training, played a pivotal role in the development of these accessibility standards. The standards, freely accessible on the inABLE website, are intended for use by ICT producers, service providers, procurers, regulators, users, accessibility experts, consultants, and testers.\nThe standards aimed to address the lack of accessibility faced by students with disabilities upon graduating from high school. These comprehensive accessibility standards are designed to ensure inclusivity across various sectors of the economy, including education, workspace, and opportunities.\nThe standard also places particular emphasis on websites, requiring them not only to be navigable but also considerate of individuals with visual impairments or blindness. For instance, audio versions of articles or articles written in a format that is accessible to screen readers, a software program that allows blind and low vision individuals to read the content on a computer screen with a voice synthesizer or braille display.\nThese standards are poised to benefit the wider public, with a focus on creating content that demonstrates how to access this information. The decision to make these standards freely available aligns with inABLE’s mission to establish accessibility as a right for all, not just a privilege for those who can afford it.\nThe launch of these standards marked a significant milestone in the history of ICT accessibility in Kenya and Africa. It is anticipated that these standards will inspire other countries and regions to adopt similar measures, contributing to the global movement towards a more accessible and inclusive digital world. As Kenya celebrates this achievement on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, it sends a powerful message of progress and inclusivity to the world.\nAccording to the latest data from DataReportal, Kenya had 50.95 million internet users as of January 2022, representing 91.1 per cent of the total population. However, only 13.5 per cent of internet users had some form of disability, according to the 2019 census. This indicates a gap in digital inclusion that needs to be addressed by implementing the ICT accessibility standards.\nThe standards also have the potential to boost the economic and social development of Kenya, as ICT accessibility can enhance the productivity, employability, and quality of life of persons with disabilities and older individuals. According to a study by the World Bank, improving ICT accessibility could increase the GDP of low- and middle-income countries by up to 7 per cent. Moreover, ICT accessibility can foster social inclusion and participation, as well as human rights and dignity, for persons with disabilities and older individuals.\nThe goal is to make a website easy to use for everyone, not just about the technical details. It’s about how you arrange, organize, design, and make the website work well to make digital spaces that are friendly and helpful for everyone, not just because you have to, but because you care. This has to be entrenched in the organization’s DNA.\nThere are plans to make these standards work for all of Africa, not just Kenya. We are working with African Organizations for Standardization (ARSO) to make this happen. We want to create a marketplace where everyone can share their ideas, products, and services without any problems. We want to make a place where everyone can join in. ARSO is a regional organisation that harmonises and promotes African standards in various fields.\nGeorge Siso is the Business Development Manager at inABLE, a non-governmental organization dedicated to empowering persons with disabilities through assistive technology and digital skills training", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486658/how-kenyas-ict-accessibility-standards-can-create-more-inclusive-workplaces"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1b6e658965e487e797686fd658b1339ab3ac3eb8
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+{"doc_id": "f04ac2b4102eec3217b2e10e8b7efa0e", "text": "Beitbridge elects new mayor\nThupeyo Muleya\nBeitbridge Bureau\nBEITBRIDGE’S Ward 1 councillor, Mr Peter Pirato Mafuta, has been elected as the town’s mayor.\nCllr Mafuta of CCC was elected unopposed on Monday, and immediately declared that he would continue with the town’s transformation thrust set by the Second Republic.\nCllr Mafuta will be deputised by Ward 6 Councillor Mr John Manatsa.\nHe replaces Mr Munyaradzi Chitsunge who was Ward 2 councillor after the 2018, while Mr Manatsa replaces Cllr Agness Tore from Ward 6.\nBeitbridge Town has six elected councillors and two others from the women’s quota system.\nIn his acceptance speech, Cllr Mafuta said he has an open door policy, and accepts all ideas from all people that will help transform the town into a medium city.\n“Let me thank my fellow councillors for the nomination and subsequent election to the post of mayor of Beitbridge,” said Cllr Mafuta.\n“I am advised the 2023 municipal budget speech ran with the theme: ‘Accelerating Economic Transformation’. The theme is premised on the National Development Strategy 1 anchored on moving the nation towards a prosperous and empowered upper middle-income society by 2030.\n“Our 2023 budget was responding to the various issues raised by stakeholders through the 2022 consultative process.” Cllr Mafuta said key issues to be tackled include the need to permanently deal with sewer blockages, provision of potable water in Tshithaudze, Madinginye and Khwalu suburbs, as well as infrastructural development to match the border upgrade spearheaded by the Government.\nHe added that upgrading the sewer system, tarring of roads, completion of stands servicing, completion of the main rank, and public lighting, were some of the immediate concerns.\nIn the first six months in office, Cllr Mafuta said they intend to start the construction of a new clinic, complete a toilet block at Alfred Beit Primary School for the school to open next January.\nThe completion of the Dulivhadzimu Bus Terminus, which is long overdue, would be attended to, he said.\n“We are also going to improve public lighting and I am advised that we have entered into an agreement with Econet to use some of their base stations to install public lights,” said Cllr Mafuta.\n“In addition, it is critical for us to start offering stands on the new central business district, which will make our town look new and modern.\n“Our town has faced challenges of water shortages, roads in need of resealing/ reconstruction, the need to control vending, control illegal occupation of council land, low payments by rate payers and the slow pace of stand servicing.”\nTo ensure the local authority remains viable, Cllr Mafuta said there was a need to increase revenue generation, particularly through payments in foreign currency.\nHe said the development will see workers getting a rise in the foreign currency component of their salaries.\nThe new mayor also said he would focus on council’s vision of becoming a ‘smart city’, which provides “excellent sustainable services to the community by 2030”.\n“Service delivery is currently subdued due to financial constraints as witnessed by the low budget expenditure. Residents and stakeholders have bemoaned deteriorating service delivery,” he said.\nBeitbridge Municipality had budgeted to redevelop or renew the oldest part of Dulivhadzimu Township, which is located north of Dulivhadzimu Stadium, including the stadium itself, and west of Makhado Road, extending westwards to include the old bus terminus and the Wamlala stream.\nThe area has buildings that are not only decaying, but also do not satisfy the minimum requirements for habitable buildings.\nMr Chitsunge challenged the new leaders to be involved in community programmes and ensure they move along with national vision. He said election time was over and expects the new leadership to hit the ground running.\nBeitbridge District Development Coordinator, Mrs Sikhangezile Mafu-Moyo, said they were looking forward to seeing accelerated infrastructure development in the town.\n“The Government has set the tone for development in our town and we expect to see the local authority complementing these efforts,” she said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/beitbridge-elects-new-mayor/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b017f8194ca982bfdfde55c4631ccab7a78b808d
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+{"doc_id": "f09f4d49fcb49fe7a4a477e2f94b52a5", "text": "Bankers, analysts call for forex market liberalisation\nTapiwanashe Mangwiro\nThe Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said the country had total foreign exchange payments of US$8,6 billion in the year 2022, but only 3 percent of that money was facilitated through the interbank market.\nForeign Currency Accounts accounted for the biggest chunk as it processed 84 percent of the payments and the auction market taking care of the other 13 percent.\nSuch dynamics have resulted in economic analysts and bankers calling for the market to be further liberalised in order to see the interbank market increase its participation in the foreign currency market.\nAccording to the RBZ; “Total foreign exchange payment for the period January 2022 to December 2022 were US$8,6 billion broken down as follows, (i) foreign currency accounts US$7,3 billion (ii) foreign exchange auction allotments US$1,1 billion and (iii) the interbank market US$218 million.”\nEconomist and FBC Research Analyst, Enoch Rukarwa, says thin liquidity on the interbank market remains largely a phenomenon of a limited supply side creating a continuous bullish trend.\n“The interbank market disequilibrium due to a crawling peg can only be addressed by free floating the market structure. Alternatively, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe can broaden the peg to simulate semi-market conditions at the same time reducing the parity between official and alternative market rate,” he said.\nThe auction system was created to bring transparency and efficiency to the allocation of scarce resources like foreign currency. However, the widening gap between the official and black market rates continues to be a cause for concern for many companies.\nOn the parallel market, one US dollar can sell for $1 200, while selling at $732,00 as at the recent auction.\nBankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ) chief executive, Fanwell Mutogo, believes that if the RBZ takes into account changes proffered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of letting the market find the true value, then we will have more trades on the interbank\nmarket.\n“From where we stand, this is really a national problem because when you look at it, it is about the behaviours that we are all seeing in this market and we need to have a rate that is determined by the players and not be tied around the auction,” Mutogo said.\nEconomist Dr Prosper Chitambara said; “We need to unify the two exchange markets as it is not desirable to have slightly two different rates as they bring about arbitrage opportunities.”\nAccording to Chitambara, a market based system is the best and I believe allowing the interbank market to be the fore-market.\n“When unified we need to lean more to the interbank market as it pushes price discovery quite quickly than the foreign market auction as it is more market determined and it will be important that we have a single official foreign exchange market,” Chitambara said.\nForeign currency shortages have been a perennial economic problem for Zimbabwe, and although it has been on up and down since independence, the country has for the large part been living with very high black-market premiums.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/bankers-analysts-call-for-forex-market-liberalisation/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5d7394abf7d722e903cd8b58b8d4d198dc2ebaee
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+{"doc_id": "f0fced7e1413be3ec27c55c6b0dd3a15", "text": "MPs from across the political divide Wednesday had heated exchanges over the arrest and prosecution of the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o.\nTempers flared after leaders from the opposition accused the ruling Kenya Kwanza of trying to kick out Dr Nyakang'o, who was on Tuesday arraigned in a Mombasa court, owing to her firm stance against corruption.\nNational Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi rose on a point of order and invited the Speaker to make a ruling on the way forward on the matter.\n“I think it is the first time that the holder of a constitutional office has been charged in a court of law since 2010. This raises serious questions. The Controller of Budget is exercising her mandate pursuant to the function of this House of appropriating funds. There is a notion created out there that the office of Controller of Budget is now vacant following her arraignment in court or she is now impeded from performing her functions,” said Wandayi.\nThe Ugunja MP went on to accuse Kenya Kwanza of seeking to replace her with a “friendly” officer.\n“Some of us are of the strong view that she (Nyakang'o) is being hounded out of office for her strong stand against corruption. The functions of COB are so important to the nation and therefore any insinuation that she is barred from her duties can cause a lot of distress in the economy generally,\" he said.\nSuna East MP Junet Mohammed questioned the timing of the arrest and castigated members of Parliament who supported the prosecution.\n“Mr Speaker, we have to look at this matter retrospectively. As a House, we passed Margaret Nyakang'o here and I participated in 2019 in passing her as the Controller of Budget after a thorough vetting by the Finance committee. Didn't we know that she had a case at that time?” said Junet.\n“What indictment is that on us a Parliament Mr Speaker? Because she came with documents from relevant organisations that deals with criminal offences, the EACC, DCI and here years later we are told that she had a matter pending.”\nMajority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah accused the opposition of trying to instigate a political duel and urged them to let it be handled by the courts.\n“I would want to urge all of us treat the matter as what it is. I agree with the Minority Leader that Nyakang'o holds an independent office. What I don’t agree with is that holders of independent offices there is absolutely nothing in the constitution that says they cannot be charged or is above the law,” he said.\nWhen the CoB appeared before the National Dialogue Committee last month, she said that her salary had been pegged at almost two times more than what she earns, pointing to budgeted corruption by the Treasury.\nSpeaker Moses Wetang'ula warned the MPs from prejudicing the matter and abstained from giving a way forward.\n“Honourable members, let's not prejudice Dr Nyakango's case. If what Wandayi is alleging is true, and he has evidence to show the Speaker, then the Speaker will have a some locus on the matter. As it is now, I have absolutely no locus… You may think that you are defending Nyakang'o but you are actually prejudicing her case through debate,” he said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001486846/azimio-kenya-kwanza-mps-clash-over-arrest-of-nyakango"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a62a68633dec6eca6d97243d9bbd782e8bcc3211
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+{"doc_id": "f392969b723d5707bae0840cf6c6ee02", "text": "High Court in Nairobi Thursday handed Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o a first-round win against the State after halting a criminal case pressed against her for six months.\nJustice Lawrence Mugambi issued a directive that the criminal trial before Mombasa Magistrate Court should not proceed until May 21 next year.\n“A conservatory order is hereby issued suspending the prosecution of Margaret Nyakang'o in Mombasa Chief magistrate's criminal case No. E1674 of 2023, Republic V Margaret Nyakang'o and 10 others until May 21, 2024,” ruled Justice Mugambi.\nIn the case, the judge heard that the Kenya Kwanza regime wants to either kick her out of office or silence her using trumped-up charges.\nThe case was filed on Tuesday by West Mugirango Member of Parliament Stephen Mogaka.\nHe claimed that government agencies and the National Assembly cleared Nyakang’o in 2019 when she was hired.\nAccording to him, the charges by the State revolve around allegations claimed to have happened in 2016. He stated that none of the agencies had ever questioned or summoned her over the same until recently when she spilled beans on Kenya Kwanza’s expenditure.\nHis lawyer Danstan Omari argued that Nyakang’o is unwanted by the current government, hence, the charges to kick her out.\n“The Controller has zealously and without fear or favour discharged her mandate and has in recent times exposed fiscal improprieties and the instant criminal proceedings are clearly politicized attempts to discredit her integrity and ultimately impeach her credibility and suitability for office thus forcing her out of office without following due process,” argued Omari.\nIn the case, Mogaka sued the Director of Public Prosecution and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.\nHis lawyer asserted that the Controller is clean and the case was only meant to put her to shame.\nAccording to Omari, the Sh29 million dispute had been litigated before courts and Nyakang’o was not a party. He stated that she was also not aware of the saga that has now come to haunt her.\n“The arrest comes in the wake of her public exposes with regards to the fiscal improprieties within the running of various state arms and agencies and is a glaring manifestation of a knee-jerk reaction accentuated by ulterior motives, malice and an unprecedented abuse of process,” claimed Omari.\nNyakang’o was arraigned at a Mombasa court with multiple counts of fraud, false pretence, and operating a Sacco without a license.\nShe appeared before Chief Magistrate Alex Ithuku and denied all charges before being released on a Sh2 million bond with a similar surety, or an alternative cash bail of Sh500,000.\nIn the High Court, Omari argued that the criminal charges were founded on a civil transaction and, hence, ought to have first been resolved in a different court.\nHe argued that Parliament held three sittings to scrutinise her suitability and past records but did not find any dirt on her. According to him, her only sin is to whistle blow on the Kenya Kwanza excesses.\nWhile pleading with the judge to quash the charges, Mogaka had asked the court to block the criminal trial.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001486895/reprieve-for-controller-of-budget-as-high-court-halts-criminal-trial"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..60c0b5821acf499a028e85e8d11aaf6de6a1e7c7
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+{"doc_id": "f5fcdd87017e71068e7ddb479e8ea44a", "text": "The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) is seeking a tax cut for workers earning more than Sh500,000 per month, arguing that easing the burden on top earners would boost disposable income, stimulate spending and support economic growth.\nThe private sector lobby wants the top Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) rate capped at 30 percent and monthly personal relief for all workers raised to Sh3,000 from the current Sh2,400.\nIn proposals to the National Assembly Finance and National Planning Committee, Kepsa said adopting its proposals will put an estimated Sh28.1 billion in workers’ pockets.\nThis, it argued, will potentially drive a Sh42 billion expansion in economic output, or gross domestic product (GDP), and support up to 36,000 new jobs. The business leaders want the proposal to form part of the Finance Bill 2026, which will be presented to the National Assembly by end of the month for debate, amendment and adoption.\n“The Finance Bill 2026 presents an opportunity not just to assess fiscal numbers but to reanchor Kenya’s policy direction toward stability, competitiveness and long-term growth,” Kepsa director James Mwangi said in a statement following the meeting.\nThe proposal directly targets latest amendments under the Finance Act 2023, which introduced higher PAYE bands of 32.5 percent on income between Sh500,000 and Sh800,000, and 35 percent on all earnings above that threshold.\nKenya’s PAYE structure also imposes a 10 percent tax on monthly income up to Sh24,000 — which is handed back to workers in form of relief of Sh2,400. The PAYE rate rises to 25 percent for salary income between Sh24,001 and Sh32,333, and 30 percent for earnings up to Sh500,000.\nThe push by Kepsa builds on earlier proposals by the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), which in February called for a uniform five percentage-point reduction in PAYE rates across all income bands. The bankers argued that a broad-based cut — capped at 30 percent for top earners — would restore purchasing power, support growth and ultimately strengthen tax revenues.\nIn submissions to the Treasury, KBA said aligning the top PAYE rate at 30 percent would also be consistent with the National Tax Policy 2023, which recommends that personal income tax should not exceed corporate tax rates.\nThe private sector’s proposal came against the backdrop of earlier plans by Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi to grant targeted relief to low-income earners.\nIn February, Mr Mbadi proposed tax cuts of between Sh731 and Sh2,127 for workers earning Sh50,000 and below, and indicated that those earning Sh30,000 or less could be exempted from PAYE through a Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026.\n“We have agreed with the President [William Ruto] that low-income earners in this country should be given a reprieve,” Mr Mbadi said at the time.\nHowever, the plan has since been shelved, with Mr Mbadi telling lawmakers in March that the standalone Bill was dropped due to its proximity to the Finance Bill 2026, which must be tabled by April 30 and passed by June.\nThe Treasury instead opted to consolidate the proposals into a single legislative process.\nThe proposals to cut PAYE reflect growing concern within the private sector that aggressive taxation is dampening consumption and weakening Kenya’s attractiveness to skilled professionals and investors.\nBusiness leaders warned that policy unpredictability and rising tax burden risk eroding competitiveness at a time when the economy is under strain.\nKepsa framed the current environment as a “triple crisis” marked by fiscal pressure, energy constraints and regulatory instability. With the national budget standing at more than Sh4.7 trillion and debt servicing consuming more than half of government revenues, businesses say the room for further tax increases is limited.\nPending bills, estimated at Sh664.8 billion, have further squeezed liquidity in the private sector, slowing operations and investment.\nLawmakers signalled openness to the proposals but cautioned that any tax cuts must be weighed against the government’s urgent need to mobilise revenue.\nSpeaking on behalf of the committee chair, Turkana South MP John Namoit said Parliament would seek a balance between raising funds and sustaining growth.\n“Sustainable fiscal policy must not only secure government resources, but also create an enabling environment for enterprise, innovation and competitiveness,” he was quoted saying in a statement.\nMr Namoit added that the Finance Bill would be treated as part of a broader economic strategy rather than a standalone exercise.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/kepsa-seeks-paye-cuts-on-salaries-above-sh500-000-5434454"}
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diff --git a/clean/cc/f63a2e5f750c3f1418d9b231a0c71248.json b/clean/cc/f63a2e5f750c3f1418d9b231a0c71248.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..023fc0d7684b59365a1206b7467cf4b5b93c26ec
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+{"doc_id": "f63a2e5f750c3f1418d9b231a0c71248", "text": "Thousands of small investors in Kenya’s government infrastructure retail bond, M-Akiba have received their final dues from Treasury.\nThe Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (CDSC), which is the issuing and paying agent for The National Treasury (TNT), paid out the principal amount and final interest of Sh935.9 million to 13,592 M-Akiba 2 Retail Infrastructure Bond investors.\nM-Akiba 2 was first issued on June 30 2017 after a successful pilot phase launch of M-Akiba 1 on 23 March 23, 2017.\n“The final interest and the principal amount paid out to M-Akiba 2 investors is Sh44.6 million and Sh891.4 million respectively,” read an M-Akiba statement. “This follows the final payout in April 2020 to 5,609 M-Akiba 1 Retail Infrastructure Bond investors totaling Sh157.6 million.”\nM-Akiba 2 Retail Infrastructure Bond Investors have previously received five interest payments on totaling Sh222.8 million.\nAfter buying the bond, one is paid back their initial investment amount, the principal, after one and a half years in addition to the annual interest payments received throughout the period.\nIn its time, a total of Sh312.4 million was paid out in interest to all M-Akiba Retail Infrastructure Bond Investors, with Sh1.04 billion raised from the five Bond Issues since 2017. CDSC also recorded a total of 582,572 M-Akiba registrations since the first Issuance in June 2017.\nThe retail Bond was issued by the Government of Kenya to raise money to fund infrastructural projects.\nCDSC Chief Executive Nkoregamba Mwebesa thanked Kenyans who participated in the two M-Akiba Bond issues “with interest and optimism”.\nNkoregamba also thanked the National Treasury for bestowing confidence in CDSC as the issuing and paying agent during the M-Akiba Bond tenure. The Chief Executive also thanked the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Integrated Payment Services Limited (Pesalink), Safaricom PLC, and Airtel Kenya for partnering with CDSC during the Bond issuance and coupon payments.\nThe Chief Executive reaffirmed that the objectives of the M-Akiba Retail Infrastructure Bond were achieved.\n“The National Treasury was able to leverage on increased mobile phone penetration across the Country to democratize access to formal financial systems for savings and investments among Kenyans,” he said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001385658/m-akiba-bond-investors-pocket-final-interest-payout"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..437ae18e03ea22f6a4eea0ea58c7b3eb769bf7ae
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+{"doc_id": "f83311eb090c8bd84340dd29f8edfb91", "text": "What you need to know:\n- Kagame’s administration intervened directly in the economy in a process of state directed development.\n- There are also serious questions about how sustainable the model really is.\nRwanda is often touted as an example of what African states could achieve if only they were better governed. Out of the ashes of a horrific genocide, President Paul Kagame has resuscitated the economy, curtailed corruption and maintained political stability.\nThis is a record that many other leaders can only dream of, and it has won him praise around the world.\nIn 2011, the International Olympic Committee awarded Kagame the 2010 IOC prize for “Inspiring Young People” around the world. Two years later, the Said Business School of the University of Oxford presented him with the Oxford African Growth Award. Partly as a result, Rwanda has often been cited as an economic success story that the rest of Africa would do well to follow.\nIn response, critics have sought to puncture the image of Kagame as a progressive reformer by pointing to the human rights violations committed under his leadership. But while these are important concerns, the notion that the Rwandan model should be exported also suffers from a more fundamental flaw: It would not work almost anywhere else on the continent.\nTHE MODEL\nMany of the achievements of President Kagame and his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party are genuinely impressive.\nSince taking control of a deeply divided nation in desperate need of economic and political reconstruction in 1994, the tight personal control that Kagame has established over Rwandan politics has enabled him to maintain political stability and to build a platform for economic renewal.\nSignificantly, the new government did not sit back and wait for foreign investors and the “market” to inspire growth.\nInstead, Kagame’s administration intervened directly in the economy in a process of state directed development.\nMost notably, his government kick started economic activity in areas that had previously been stagnating by investing heavily in key sectors through party-owned holding companies such as Tri-Star Investments.\nThe telecommunication sector provides a good example of how this worked. According to a 2012 paper written by David Booth and Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, having been told the mobile phone market was too small to be of interest to foreign investors, Tri-Star “largely funded the initial establishment of the MTN cellphone network” as part of the formation of MTN Rwanda in the late 1990s.\nMOBILE PHONE\nThis move significantly decreased the costs of entry facing MTN, and Tri-Star also helped the company to minimise financial risk by taking a 65 per cent share, with MTN South Africa only holding 26 per cent of the equity.\nOver the next decade, the mobile phone sector proved to be one of the country’s most compelling success stories.\nAs the market grew, and its profitability was demonstrated and Tri-Star was able to transfer its holdings to the South African parent company until the point that it became the majority shareholder in 2007.\nTaken together with the careful management of agriculture – which makes up around 40 per cent of GDP — these policies resulted in economic growth of around 8 per cent between 2001 and 2013.\nPartly as a result, the percentage of people living below the poverty line fell from 57 per cent in 2005 to 45 per cent in 2010, while other indicators of human development such as life expectancy and literacy also improved.\nAn example for the region?\nDespite the impressive headline figures, a number of criticisms have been levelled at the strategy pursued by the Kagame government.\nMost obviously, the Rwandan model sacrifices basic human rights — such as freedom of expression and freedom of association — in order to sustain the RPF’s political hegemony and economic model. It therefore requires both political leaders and their citizens to compromise democracy for the sake of development.\nOPPOSITION\nThat decision may be an easy one to make for those who enjoy political power, but is likely to sit less well with the opposition.\nLess obviously, the use of party-owned enterprises to kick start business activity places the ruling party at the heart of the economy, and means when the economy does well it strengthens the position of the already dominant RPF.\nFor example, Booth and Golooba-Mutebi estimate that Tri-Star realised five to ten times its initial stake when it transferred control of MTN-Rwanda to its parent company. In turn, this empowers Kagame to determine who is allowed to accumulate economic power, and hence to cut off potential sources of funding for opposition leaders and critics.\nThere are also serious questions about how sustainable the model really is. Despite Kagame’s penchant for anti-Western and anti-aid rhetoric, Rwanda remains heavily aid dependent, with around 30 to 40 per cent of the budget coming from international donors.\nWhen foreign aid was cut in 2013 following the publication of a UN report in 2012 that showed the Rwandan government was arming rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, growth fell to 4.7 per cent.\nYet although these arguments have been around for some time, they have done little to dampen the allure of the Rwandan model for many commentators and leaders.\nWEAKER OPPOSITION\nIn Kenya, the political instability generated from a prolonged electoral crisis led some of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s advisors to argue that the country would do better if its political system was more like Rwanda’s — by which they meant a stronger presidency and weaker opposition.\nDuring recent visits to Zimbabwe I have also heard people arguing that it would not necessarily be a bad thing if the new government of Emmerson Mnangagwa followed Kagame’s example, on the basis that job creation and poverty alleviation are more important than competitive politics and free and fair elections.\nIn these contexts, in which people are willing to embrace the negative aspects of the Rwandan model, the strongest argument against exporting it elsewhere is not that it is undemocratic, or that it centralises economic power in the hands of the ruling party, but that it will not actually work.\nWhy it can’t work everywhere\nOne of the most rigorous efforts to conceptualise the political conditions that made the Rwandan model possible has emerged from the African Power and Politics research project led by David Booth, Tim Kelsall and others. They argue that Kagame’s government is an example of “developmental patrimonialism”, in which the potentially damaging aspects of patrimonial politics — jobs for the boys, waste and inefficiency — are held in check by a leader who is able to secure tight control over patronage networks.\nCORRUPTION\nThis authority needs to be established both internally and externally.\nExternal political control is needed because the threat of electoral defeat by a strong opposition party is likely to encourage governments to prioritise short-term survival over long-term investments in the country’s future. Internal control is needed because otherwise the lack of checks and balances on the ruling party is likely to exacerbate corruption.\nWhen these conditions hold, elements of patrimonialism may be economically productive by generating resources that can be channelled back into the system.\nIn the Rwandan case, Kagame’s political dominance and the extension of ruling party control over the economy have not undermined development because the funds generated through party-owned enterprises have mainly been reinvested in the economy.\nThus, making the Rwandan model work requires a political leader and a ruling party that is able to a) establish tight central control over the political system, b) use that control to limit corruption and c) ensure that the proceeds of patrimonialism are used to strengthen national infrastructure and promote economic growth.\nThe problem is that these conditions don’t hold in most African states. Although transfers of power remain relatively rare on the continent, there are only a small number of states in which the ruling party enjoys the level of control witnessed in Rwanda: Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and Namibia, and possibly a few others such as Angola and Botswana.\nCONTRAST\nBy contrast, in most of the continent the opposition is too strong for this degree of political control to be sustained. In Kenya, for example, the opposition has consistently won 40-50per cent of the seats in parliament and the same proportion of the presidential vote.\nSimilarly, in Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change has been weakened in recent years, but is still a considerable political force in urban areas.\nAt the same time, even some of the states that feature more dominant ruling parties have consistently failed to impose economic discipline on their governments.\nInstead, entrenched clientelism and internal factionalism has typically undermined anti-corruption efforts in countries such as Angola and Chad, with negative consequences for poverty reduction and economic growth.\nECONOMY\nShorn of the internal and external political control required to make it work, the application of the Rwandan model is likely to lead to very different results.\nOn the one hand, extending the control of the ruling party over the economy is more likely to increase graft and waste than to spur economic activity.\nOn the other, efforts to establish political hegemony by reducing opposition parties to just a few seats in parliament are likely to be strongly resisted, leading to the kind of political instability that undermines the economy.\nPut another way, if other countries on the continent try to implement the Rwandan model, they are likely to experience all of its costs while realising few of its benefits.\nNic Cheeseman (@fromagehomme) is Professor of Democracy at the University of Birmingham and the author of Democracy in Africa: Successes, failures, and the struggle for political reform.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/Africa-should-not--follow-the-Rwandan-economic-model/440808-4253762-iwqd5hz/index.html"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c0ee0c06890c5bcaf8c13cf5f014820b4d2058fa
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+{"doc_id": "f93361448f3497dfddf3fc48555ba75a", "text": "$8,6m set aside for rural electrification\nEmmah Chinyamutangira Manicaland Correspondent\nThe Rural Electrification Fund (REF) has set aside $8,6 million for energy development projects in the country which are aimed at increasing access to electricity in rural areas.\nThe fund has earmarked 335 energy projects countrywide which will increase access to electricity in rural areas from 27,7 percent to 60 percent.\nThe projects are set to benefit schools, clinics, Government extension offices and chief’s homesteads.\nREF chief executive engineer Joshua Mashamba said 189 projects had already been completed this year and they were working on an additional 335 projects which would be completed early next year.\nThe institutions that have benefited were electrified through grid extension this year at a cost of $6,2 million.\n“We are working on three programmes, namely electricity grid extension, solar micro grids and institutional biogas digesters leading to 335 institutions estimated at $8,3 million and 13 institutional biogas digester plants estimated at $220 000,” said Mr Mashamba.\n“As at 30 September 2018, we have electrified over 9 160 rural institutions countrywide. Of these, over 1 700 are in Manicaland Province alone.”\nMr Mashamba revealed that over 420 solar micro grid systems were installed at remote rural schools and clinics countrywide with 40 of those in Manicaland.\nSix biogas digesters were also constructed at some rural institutions in Manicaland.\n“REF has prioritised electrification of rural public institutions by way of 100 percent capital subsidy and attention should now also shift to include rural households in prioritisation,” said Mr Mashamba. New mechanisms are now required to finish off rural public institutions while accelerating electrification of households so that the 60 percent target is met by 2030.”\nMr Mashamba said nine biogas digester projects were commissioned during the period under review. Cumulatively, REF has commissioned 66 biogas digesters countrywide.\nHe said the current year’s performance had been negatively impacted by erratic supply of various materials, mainly transformers, conductor wires.\n“The main reason supplier’s site for lack of performance is shortage of foreign currency,” said Mr Mashamba. Most of the project materials are now imported and with the biting shortage of foreign currency, REF has to find innovative ways of procuring the materials.”\nMr Mashamba indicated that since its inception, REF had remained consistent with the mandate to facilitate rapid equitable provision of energy to rural areas.\n“It is, therefore, incumbent upon us to raise the level of awareness within our sector and without on the practicality of meeting rural population energy needs with other means besides the grid,” he said.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/86m-set-aside-for-rural-electrification/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0f899236eeec08d7848c615bb59ae407911d7718
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+{"doc_id": "fa2df5ab93917e2550e390f5d982bca7", "text": "Brainworks confident about economy\nProperty Reporter\nOne of the country’s top players in property and tourism sectors, Brainworks Capital, believes the firm is poised to benefit from various infrastructure projects that are taking place in the country as President Mnangagwa’s Government prioritises economic development and growth.\nBrainworks Capital, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, owns hospitality concern African Sun, and hotel property owner Dawn Properties.\n“Various infrastructure projects across the country, including the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport upgrade, Beitbridge to Chirundu road rehabilitation and Beitbridge border post development present opportunities which the group is set to benefit from,” said Brainworks.\nThe company, through its subsidiary, is already seeing the benefits of President Mnangagwa’s policies with its results for the half year ended June 30, 2018, showing a 28 percent growth in revenue to $31 million relative to $24 million achieved during the 2017 comparable period.\nChief executive officer Brett Childs attributed the strong performance to growth across all the group’s three main operating segments, with major growth being recorded by the hospitality segment.\n“In line with the prior year, the hospitality segment remains the major contributor to group total revenue, with contribution of 87 percent ($27million) in line with same period in the prior year,” said Mr Childs.\nThe hospitality business segment’s revenue increased by 29 percent to close at $27million compared to $21million recorded over the same period in 2017.\n“Both domestic and foreign revenue registered growth, achieving 26 percent and 32 percent respectively,” he said.\nMr Childs noted that the group had witnessed an exceptional increase in both local and foreign arrivals during what would have traditionally been a quiet period.\nThe first half of the year also coincided with the election period which saw observers from across the globe flocking to the country and filling up hotels.\nRevenue for the group was thus boosted by a 10 percentage points increase in occupancy rate to 55 percent during the period under review to 45 percent reported prior year comparative.\nImproved hotel occupancy resulted in the average daily rate (ADR) improving to $97 from $89 reported during the comparative period. As a result, revenue per available room (RevPAR) firmed by 33 percent to $53 from $40 achieved last year.\nWith interest on investing in Zimbabwe also increasing, the sector and Brainworks in particular also benefited immensely and the trend is expected to continue into the future.\n“The second half of the year presents the group’s peak trading season. The group expects conferencing and international market business to bolster performance, particularly in our Victoria Falls properties, where inward foreign arrivals have been on the increase,” said Mr Childs in a statement accompanying the groups results released Friday last week.\n“We anticipate that the New Victoria Falls Airport will continue to be a conduit for increased foreign arrivals into the destination,” he said.\nThe group recorded profit after tax of $7,3 million during the period under review, compared to losses of $5,2 million and $8 million for the interim period ended June 30, 2017, and year ended December 31, 2017, respectively.\nEarnings per share of the Company is expected to be 7,41 US cents per\nThe out-turn for Brainworks is to be expected given the performance of two of its local operations that reported significant improved results.\nOne of the entities, hospitality group, African Sun Limited reported earnings growth for the half year to June 30, 2018 as operating profit surged 672 percent to $3,8 million on good business during election period.\nAfsun’s strong performance also translated to an equally good set of results for its landlord Dawn Properties.\nThe property concern, posted a profit after tax of $942 177, about 9 percent up from $90 442 recorded in the same period last year.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/brainworks-confident-about-economy/"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3531294c4066f7b0d22b5067c2562ff16b8f63c4
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+{"doc_id": "fa8d56f553d8122f902cbb25e034ecc7", "text": "During the inaugural Jamhuri Day celebrations in 1963, Kenya marked a significant milestone as it transitioned from British occupation to becoming a republic. Jomo Kenyatta, revered as the father of the nation, made a solemn promise to combat three formidable adversaries – poverty, disease and ignorance.\nFast forward to the present day, as President William Ruto takes centre stage today at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi to lead the nation in marking the 60th Jamhuri Day celebrations, he faces a nation seeking empathy amidst what has undeniably been one of the most challenging years in recent Kenyan history.\nPresident Ruto's ascent to power last year, at the age of 55, symbolised a generational shift in Kenya's political landscape, but he finds himself grappling with the same enduring issues as his predecessors, with his first year in power turning out to be a baptism by fire, as he confronts a multitude of pressing challenges.\nHuge debts\n\"The economy was dying. We have huge debts. Agriculture was at its worst. Insecurity was on the rise. Those we competed with should wait. They should give us the chance to fix the country where they destroyed,\" said the president last month.\n\"We are on a clean page. I commit that we will be faithful to transforming all sectors of our economy. Everyone will, however, have to play their role to build a nation that fits all of us,\" he said.\nElected on a “Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Plan” that was meant to jumpstart the economy by putting money in the pockets of small-scale traders commonly referred to as hustlers, the president made significant policy changes immediately after being sworn in.\n- Community health workers boost counties universal healthcare bid\n- Inside UON's digital health facility\n- Cabinet okays NHIF scrapping if four bills get MPs nod\n- Ruto reaffirms State's support for health sector under devolution\nOn the first weeks in office, he ended Credit Bureau Referencing, slashed fertiliser prices, introduced the Hustler Fund, gave the police financial autonomy, ordered a review of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and reverted the clearance of cargo back to the port of Mombasa.\nHe also launched his pet low-cost housing project, ended fuel and unga subsidies, swore six judges that had been shunned by the previous administration, ordered a restructuring of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and ordered an end to extra-judicial killings.\nToday, the impacts of these policies, which have shaped Ruto’s first year in office, have been significant.\nFertiliser subsidies, plus sufficient rainfall, have helped to push down the cost of food and inflation to some extent. In October, Kenya’s inflation rate was 6.9 percent after hovering above 7 percent for the better part of last year.\nThe low-cost housing project too has made thousands of apartments to spring up in urban centres across the country thereby creating employment for the hustlers and business opportunities for manufacturers and suppliers of construction materials.\nThe Hustler Fund has so far disbursed Sh39.7 billion to 21.8 million people and mobilised Sh2 billion in savings.\nYet despite some of these positive changes, the cost of living remains a huge problem for most households. The raft of new taxes and levies introduced by Kenya Kwanza over the past one year have made life even more difficult for Kenyans than it was last year.\n“Resolving Kenya’s economic hardships has proved a hard nut to crack. Just over a year since he was sworn in, Ruto is no nearer to turning the Kenyan ship around,” wrote Westen Shihalo, a Senior Research Fellow, Institute for PanAfrican Thought and Conversation (IPATC), University of Johannesburg in his analysis of Ruto’s first year in office.\nOver the past year, the shilling has lost 30 percent of its value against the dollar, petrol prices have increased 22 percent, electricity by 50 percent and household staples like sugar and beans by 61 percent and 30 percent respectively, further eroding the purchasing power of Kenyans.\nIn his first State of the Nation address, President Ruto, who has always maintained that some of the painful decisions he has made like increasing taxes are meant to save the economy, admitted that putting the country back on the right track will not be an easy job.\nKenya’s economy is currently saddled a Sh10 trillion debt, most of it from foreign lenders and accrued during tenure of the then President Uhuru Kenyatta for the funding of infrastructure. Data from the Treasury and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) place Kenya’s debt stock at Ksh10.189 trillion ($69.3 billion) at the end of June 2023 in contrast to Ksh8.579 trillion ($58.4 billion) in June last year.\nVarious analysts have projected a potential debt repayment crunch in 2024 when the first instalment of the Sh304 billion Eurobond debt repayment falls due in June, putting more pressure on Kenya’s forex exchange reserves.\nWith an impeding debt repayment crisis next year amid a high cost of living, the Kenyan economy is not out of the woods yet and Kenyans will be hoping that President Ruto in his Jamhuri Day address to the nation provides a clear pathway on how to get out of the current turbulence.\nLike his predecessors Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel Moi, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, Ruto's speech will most likely be a long way from not offering solutions on how to end poverty.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/politics/article/2001487114/ruto-has-very-little-to-offer-today-as-he-addresses-broke-citizens"}
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+{"doc_id": "fb3aeb4975d01efbabe15702f501d927", "text": "Samsung announced the Galaxy S26 series on 25 February at its Unpacked event in San Francisco. The phones went on sale globally on 11 March. They’re now available in Zimbabwe through our shop.\nHere’s what each model costs:\n- Samsung S26 (256GB, 12GB) — $940\n- Samsung S26+ (256GB, 12GB) — $1,080\n- Samsung S26 Ultra (256GB, 12GB) — $1,390\n- Samsung S26 Ultra (512GB, 12GB) — $1,590\n- Samsung S26 Ultra (1TB, 16GB) — $1,950\nEvery device comes with a 24-month Samsung manufacturer warranty. This is new. When we sold the S25 series last year, we could only offer 12 months. The difference is that Samsung now has official presence in Zimbabwe. That happened towards the end of 2025 and it changes things. It means proper warranty coverage, official distributors, and authorised retailers. If something goes wrong with your phone, you’re not on your own.\nThis matters to us because it’s why we got into selling phones. We wanted Zimbabweans buying genuine devices without the usual anxiety. No refurbished units disguised as new. No disappearing sellers. If you have a problem, we sort it out. Our Google reviews tell the story.\nYes, the S26 prices are higher than last year. The S25 Ultra 256GB launched at $1,350 on Techzim. The S26 Ultra 256GB is $1,390. The base S26 is $940 vs $900 for the S25. The biggest jump is on the 512GB Ultra — from $1,450 to $1,590.\nA few things are driving this. Samsung itself raised prices some globally. There’s also the effect of the AI driven memory crisis that has caused the increased of smartphone prices across board.\nWhat’s actually new on the S26 series? The headline feature on the Ultra is Privacy Display. It narrows the viewing angle so people next to you can’t see your screen. It’s like a privacy screen protector, but built into the display itself, and one you can turn on and off as you wish (even for specific specific apps or just notifications.)\nThe camera gets a wider f/1.4 aperture (up from f/1.7), which means better photos in low light. Charging jumps to 60W wired, the fastest on any Galaxy S phone. And all models now start at 256GB. Samsung finally dropped the 128GB option.\nYou can order any of the models from our shop or reach us on WhatsApp. Delivery is free in Harare and $3 everywhere else in Zimbabwe, enabled through our partnership with FedEx.\nTechzim also provides Fiscal Invoices to business, NGOs & schools looking to buy these devices.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.techzim.co.zw/2026/03/samsung-galaxy-s26-series-now-available-in-zimbabwe-here-are-the-prices/"}
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+{"doc_id": "fb75b0971f6a65525e7f4a53899420e4", "text": "NAIROBI, KENYA: The wave of lay-offs has hit Kenyan companies once again with more than four firms spelling intentions of getting rid of hundreds of workers before the end of the year.\nOut of over 60 listed companies at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), 15 companies have so far announced that they are not making enough money signalling tough times ahead.\nSome analysts attribute the layoff wave to the high cost of labour and production as well as mass adoption of technology.\n“The cost of labour in this country is very high and that means that if companies cannot rejig their businesses to be more efficient they are going to go down, to avoid going down, the first place to look at basically is how to reduce the labour cost,” says Patrick Obath, Kenya Private Sector Alliance trustee.\n“A lot of companies are also going digital and buying various innovations most of which are now being developed locally; the innovations carry a lot of efficiencies leading to redundancies in some jobs,” he says.\nHe added that the technology wave means many people are going to lose their jobs and forced to rethink their careers and at times, it will call for retraining to fit into the digital economy that Kenya is fast-moving to.\nTelkom, Stanbic, East Africa Portland Cement, and the Diageo, the parent company of East African Breweries have already issued layoff warnings to workers with some of the retrenchments planned for as early as this month.\nEast Africa Portland, which is the latest firm to announce the retrenchment plan, says all workers will have to go home as competition in the industry and lack of sufficient capital makes it untenable for the firm to operate as expected.\nThe company had 448 permanent and 488 contract employees on its payroll as of last year, with the former being offered a severance package of one month’s pay for every year worked as well as a gratuity payment.\nThe company also revealed that it has been making Sh8 million loss daily, making its turnaround strategy untenable.\nStanbic bank plans to part ways with around 255 employees in a voluntary retirement package plan.\n“The voluntary early retirement is an outcome of a clear strategy, where we are looking at how to become in the business that we run. But also as digitise, and become more digital it means some functions will have to be re-organised as a result,” said Stanbic Bank Kenya Chief Executive Charles Mudiwa.\nStanbic joins a number of banks in the country that have been restructuring their operations in line with a changing economic landscape.\nIn the telecoms sector, Telkom with last month announced that it would send home hundreds of its workers following an impending merger with Airtel Kenya.\n“We intend to terminate the employment of approximately 575 of our employees, on account of redundancy, as a result of the transaction,” says Telkom CEO Mugo Kibati.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nIn February, Telkom and Airtel announced the signing of a binding agreement to combine its respective mobile, enterprise and carrier service businesses in Kenya to operate under a joint venture company to be named Airtel-Telkom.\nConsequently, the company said in a memo to staff that it will discontinue the transferred business and must terminate the contracts of employees currently deployed in the affected business areas.\n“In accordance with the provisions of Employment Act, we have notified communications workers union and sent out letters to individuals affected giving one month’s notice with effect from July 31,” Kibati said.\nThe Joint Venture Company, said Kibati, might consider offering employment to some sacked employees “subject to positions being available in the new organisation and those individuals meeting the recruitment criteria.”", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001337474/tough-time-as-companies-plan-mass-job-cuts"}
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+{"doc_id": "fbbf3101aac89be84c3ef21b9f8feaf6", "text": "DRC has become a meaningful market for Equity Bank since acquiring BCDC in 2019. In the financial results for the nine months to September 2023, the DRC subsidiary contributed about one in every Sh3 of the group's net profit.\nEquity Bank reported a net profit of Sh34.6 billion, with the DRC subsidiary reporting a net profit of Sh11.4 billion.\nIn terms of assets (such as loans), DRC contributes one out of every Sh3, which sits on the bank’s balance sheet - which combines all the six countries that Equity has a presence.\nThis number has continued to grow aggressively over the last two years and I’m expecting it to grow even further to more than 40 per cent of the overall group because the DRC is growing quite rapidly.\nKenya is not growing at the same rate. Equity has about 28 per cent of the market share in DRC, in a country with a vast population of 100 million people, and the banking penetration rate is obviously quite low given that there has not been a sophisticated market in the past.\nBased on this, the growth perspective is quite significant, and it is achievable for Equity Bank to grow to 25 million customers (roughly about half of Kenya’s current population) in DRC in the medium term.\nThe bank has about 1.8 million retail customers in DRC. To achieve the same, taking into consideration the size of the country, Equity will need to scale up its branch and agency network in the vast country.\nAs of the end of June 2023, Equity had 127 branches in the country.\nWe expect Equity to complement those branches by growing the agency network.\nWe have been able to see Equity grow its branch and agency network in Kenya and that is the model we will see them import into DRC. In addition to this, there is a hidden value in Equity Bank’s DRC operations.\nAnother potential area of innovation for Equity Bank is on the technological front but it is still in the early days given that the connectedness of the country is still relatively poor.\nBut as mobile and internet penetration grows, it will enable the bank to push its products and acquire clients through its digital channels.\nThe writer is the director of Sub-Saharan banks at EFG Hermes", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486210/drc-is-a-cocktail-of-challenges-and-opportunities-for-equity-bank"}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a968170ce8b9c1b848fa10df4b77b1f1fe7faf43
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+{"doc_id": "fbe2325f5cdc034918d07ab91283e658", "text": "Benefits of credit scoring to banks\nFarayi Dyirakumunda\nLending to individuals and businesses continues to be a risky endeavour.\nMore so in a market where credit providers and financial intermediaries such as banks have limited exposure to advanced credit management tools and\nIn addition, prospective credit clients such as Small to Medium Enterprises and the informal sector have been driving economic activity yet the SMEs and informally employed individuals hardly maintain proper financial records.\nThis makes it even more complicated when trying to assess their credit worthiness. Credit granting has therefore proved to be time consuming, with the information asymmetries and processing requirements increasing the costs even towards good quality borrowers.\nLoans granted have ended up representing subjective biases rather than a systematic evaluation of risk.\nNotwithstanding the challenges, the market is starting to embrace the use of credit scoring and analytics.\nThere is a growing realisation, particularly among early adapters with dynamic management, that the process of credit scoring and the use of credit bureau scores, serves to enhance the credit analysis process and effectively evaluate risks associated with different categories of borrowers.\nThe process uses statistically validated criteria that are objective and independent. As a result, credit risk is better managed and efficiency is enhanced.\nThe credit granting process becomes streamlined with processing taking a matter of minutes where it could have taken up to weeks or even months in certain instances. Ultimately a reduction in loan processing costs to the lender contributes to a lower cost of credit to the benefit of consumers and businesses.\nThis article seeks to unravel the subject of credit scores, particularly credit bureau scores as they relate to individual borrowers.\nA credit score is simply a numerical expression based on a statistical analysis of a person’s credit files, to represent the credit worthiness of that person.\nThe actual score is a number within a range typically between 100-1 000 with 100 being the poorest score and 1 000 representing an individual with the highest possible credit rating.\nIn other words, the higher your credit score the better for you as it translates to higher credit worthiness.\nThis gives rise to the distinction between prime and sub-prime credit. It therefore is important for the market to understand what goes into the credit bureau score and individuals can be mindful of the multiple factors that will have a bearing on their credit score.\nThis is an important starting point towards encouraging a culture of responsible borrowing and credit activity.\nWith the emergence of more advanced credit risk management tools by our credit reference bureau, the local market has moved towards the use of a bureau score by credit providers and financial intermediaries.\nInstitutions will soon incorporate bureau scores in their credit granting criteria and loan pricing and this is done in a variety of ways.\nA credit provider will apply variable interest rates and differing loan charges corresponding with predetermined bureau score categories.\nThis enables good quality borrowers with higher scores to benefit from less onerous requirements, lower or even no down-payment requirements as well as favourable rates. The cut-off scores will be determined based on the company’s risk appetite and profitability per account, as illustrated in the accompanying table.\nThe table illustrates the potential profit and loss from customers within each score band.\nEach customer who is granted a loan will make purchases resulting in a profit to the business.\nGenerally, customers with higher scores will make larger purchases, and result in higher profits.\nThe main factors that go into determining an individual’s credit bureau score are summarised into five categories listed below in order its importance. Each ingredient carries a different weight depending on its relevance:\nPayment history;\nAmounts owed;\nLength of credit history;\nNew credit;\nTypes of credit.\nPayment history is the most important determinant of credit scores. It includes an individual’s performance in account payments, the existence of default judgments or bankruptcy, overdue payments, amount past due, and the time since any adverse occurrences.\nAmounts owed include those on accounts individually and totalled together as a whole. This looks at the level of indebtedness of an individual.\nIt can be reasoned that past some point, more debt will lower the score by raising questions about the repayment ability of a borrower.\nConversely, not having debt means that the subject cannot demonstrate a good payment history.\nThe length of credit history looks at the time a consumer has had active accounts and long running accounts generally indicate stability in credit relationships, whereas new ones might indicate financial distress especially if there are many of them.\nFactors that are excluded from determining a credit bureau score include your race, religion or national origin.\nConsumers can typically keep their credit scores high by maintaining a long history of always paying their bills on time and not having too much debt.\nXDS Credit Bureau provides credit risk management solutions and specialised credit management analytics.\nThe company collects and processes credit data to generate the scores that are used by credit providers. In addition, the bureau data is one of the main external sources that banks can use for calculating and validating their internal risk management outputs.\nOver time, larger financial institutions will use scores as inputs into their internal models while smaller institutions will prefer to directly use credit bureau generic models.\nBanks will have periodic cycles of model validation that includes monitoring of model performance and stability; review of model relationships; and testing of model outputs. Therefore, banks can use XDS bureau models for benchmarking and demonstrating the quality of their own models.\nXDS combines strong business practices, information technology skills and experience that enables us to provide consumer, business and personal solutions that significantly contribute to sound and informed credit decisions for our clients.\nFarayi Dyirakumunda is a director at XDS Zimbabwe, a credit reference bureau and risk management company. He can be contacted on [email protected] / www.xds.co.zw", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/benefits-of-credit-scoring-to-banks/"}
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+{"doc_id": "fcf8e10a11c43a883eaba1dda4932946", "text": "Nairobi recently hosted the 59th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), just weeks after the global agency completed its Sixth Assessment Report.\nPart of the findings of the report includes the concern that the pace and scale of climate action are insufficient to tackle climate change and that multiple, feasible and effective options are available to help economies cut greenhouse gas emissions.\nAccording to the report, enabling conditions to help adapt to climate change include finance, technology, capacity building and international cooperation.\nA World Bank Climate Change Status Report for Kenya indicates that temperatures in the country are projected to continue rising by 1.7°C by the 2050s and by about 3.5°C by the end of the century.\nThe report also cautions that extreme rainfall events are expected to increase in frequency, duration and intensity, with the proportion of heavy rainfall occurring in heavy events set to increase.\nWorryingly, rainfall in the arid zones is generally projected to decrease and the period between heavy rainfall country-wide could increase.\nThese projections notwithstanding, Kenya has already lived through the adverse effects of climate change and taxpayers have paid the attendant costs directly and indirectly.\n- Report unveils USD21 Trillion climate losses\n- Rising temperatures, rising injustice for victims of abuse\n- Youth are the key to smart solutions in Africa food systems\n- What is the 'first global stocktake' all about?\nAccording to the World Bank, the drought that hit the country between 1998 to 2000 cost an estimated $2.8 billion (394 billion), mostly attributed to losses of crops, livestock and fisheries sectors, forest fires, reduced hydropower generation, reduced industrial production and reduced water supplies.\nOne of the tools at our disposal is to tap into the potential of our young entrepreneurs as part of the fight against the threat of a warming planet.\nIn the first place, young people have a bigger stake in ensuring the threat of global warming is kept at its barest minimum. This imbues them with a passion for climate change action and fresh perspectives often aided by the technological know-how that can lead to transformative solutions.\nDriving sustainability\nYoung people‘s participation in entrepreneurial ventures addressing climate change is particularly vital for fostering innovation, driving sustainability, and shaping a more resilient and environmentally conscious future.\nEncouraging this entrepreneurial activity among the youth has been cited as a defining strategy in integrating them into the workforce and channelling their potential to contribute meaningfully to sustainable economic development.\nYoung entrepreneurs possess a unique ability to think outside the box and challenge conventional wisdom. Their innovative ideas and approaches can revolutionise the way we address climate change.\nAccording to a report by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, youth-led startups are more likely to introduce disruptive technologies and business models compared to their older counterparts.\nBy harnessing their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, we can unlock new solutions to mitigate climate change.\nEntrepreneurial ventures led by young people have the potential to drive sustainable practices across industries.\nThey are more likely to integrate environmental considerations into their business models and supply chains, reducing waste, and promoting resource efficiency.\nA study by the UN Environmental Programme found that sustainable startups led by young entrepreneurs achieved a 37 per cent decrease in their carbon footprint compared to traditional businesses.\nIrri-Hub KE is a pioneering venture founded by Eric Onchonga, a YGAP (Organisation that creates positive change by making entrepreneurship more inclusive) Kenya alumni whom we have been fortunate to work with.\nIrri-Hub KE harnesses the power of technology to provide climate-smart irrigation solutions to smallholder farmers, who are most vulnerable to climate change.\nThe climate-smart irrigation solutions offered by Irri-Hub KE bring multiple benefits as they not only conserve water resources but also minimise soil erosion, leading to improved crop yields and enhanced crop quality.\nEmployment opportunities\nRoka Bags Africa is another example of a youth-led enterprise that has improved livelihoods of young people at the Coast region by creating internship and employment opportunities where they harness their skills.\nA design and fashion brand that makes trendy bags by upcycling redundant billboards and banners, Roka Bags Africa has since attracted an investment to facilitate increased production and expansion to an international market.\nThe start-up has further attracted partnerships with brands such as Juicy Fruit to upcycle their used banners.\nThe fight against climate change and the efforts to meet our targets means that it will take a concerted effort - from government, private sector and academia to develop a road map towards sustainability.\nIn the 2023/2024 budget, Treasury has allocated Sh3.6 billion for the Kenya Financing Locally Led Climate Action Project and Sh1.5 billion for the Climate Smart Action Agricultural Productivity Project.\nThe private sector could match this funding and ensure those entrepreneurs working at the forefront of developing innovative solutions to safeguard our plant are well-resourced. The success stories of companies like Irrihub and Roka Bags exemplify the transformative impact that youth-led entrepreneurship can have in mitigating climate change.\nAs a society, we must provide the necessary support, mentorship, and resources to empower our young entrepreneurs to pioneer sustainable solutions.\nTogether, we can forge a path towards a greener and more sustainable Kenya, leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come.\nLet us seize this opportunity to harness the power of youth entrepreneurship and build a better tomorrow.\nThe writer is the Country Director, YGAP Kenya", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/opinion/article/2001486753/harnessing-youth-entrepreneurship-power-to-tackle-climate-change-issues"}
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+{"doc_id": "fd8b2068f6df3d0a3cfe46aaa77a78e7", "text": "President Uhuru Kenyatta has created the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) office headed by Major General Mohamed Badi (pictured) of the Kenya Air Force.\nThe new Director-General will be deputised by Enosh Momanyi, whose term begins today, March 18.\nThe NMS is now in charge of some functions of the Nairobi County which have been transferred to the National Government.\nUhuru asked the general to end the rampant corruption in the county and cartels who run important functions, rendering slow growth in the county.\n“I have tasked the Nairobi Metropolitan Services to bring an end to the corruption and dismantle the cartels that have slowed growth in the county,” the president said.\nUhuru also pledged full support from the government towards achieving this goal.\nThe two have also been tasked with streamlining urban renewal projects, for example, those along Jevanjee and Pangani areas in Nairobi.\nThe president was speaking during the official hand-over of some functions of the County Government to the National Government at State House, Nairobi.\nHe said that the biggest problem the county faced were corruption and cartels.\n“In recent weeks, we have witnessed a lot of uncollected garbage in some streets in the CBD. These cartels either controlling water supply or issuance of permits have made service delivery almost impossible,” he said.\n“Forty per cent of the country’s GDP is produced in Nairobi, hence for the county to continue as such, it is paramount that services are provided timely,” Uhuru added.\nIt was at the State House function that Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko officially transferred some functions of the county to the National Government, 21 days after the execution of the deal on February 25.\nStay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter\nKenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will now oversee revenue collection in the county while the Public Service Board takes over the county’s affairs.\nThe transferred services include Health, Transport, Planning and Development, and Public Works.\nThe signing was witnessed by Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja, County Speaker Beatrice Elachi, Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka. Attorney-General Paul Kihara read out the contents of the deed.\nThe decision by Sonko to surrender key county functions to the national government last month was considered the least disruptive of the options available to address the leadership crisis at City Hall.\nThis means the county will surrender substantial revenues generated by these key dockets as well as forego billions of shillings allocated from the county’s share of national revenue as corresponding resources must be taken back to the national government- which essentially leaves the governor with a shell.\nArticle 187 of the Constitution provides that a function or power of government at one level may be transferred to a higher level of government.\nSonko signed away the city’s devolved functions to the national government, effectively losing his grip on his chaotic reign at City Hall.\nState House described the decision as a breakthrough that will ensure Nairobi residents receive services efficiently.?", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001364748/take-over-uhuru-creates-nairobi-metropolitan-services-office"}
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+{"doc_id": "ffe740018205d05117db34c44fff2bd2", "text": "Bank of China opens in Saudi Arabia as BRICS members expand use of yuan\nRIYADH. – Bank of China, one of China’s four biggest state-owned commercial banks, opened its first branch in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, which will further expand the use of the yuan in finance and trade.\nExperts noted that since the BRICS Summit, members of the bloc have been accelerating the use of local currency settlements in cross-border trade to reduce reliance on the US dollar. The Chinese currency is playing an increasingly important role in facilitating trade and improving efficiency among the BRICS countries, they said.\nAccording to an announcement published by the BOC yesterday, the bank opened the Riyadh branch on Tuesday, with BOC president Liu Jin, Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chen Weiqing, governor of the Saudi Central Bank Ayman Al-Sayari and other officials attending the opening ceremony.\nLiu said that the establishment of a branch in Saudi Arabia to serve trade and investment exchanges is a solid initiative to promote the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road Initiative with the power of finance.\nThe bank will continue to improve its global service network and provide high-quality financial services, contributing to the deepening of cooperation between China and Arab countries, between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council, and between China and Saudi Arabia.\nAmbassador Chen congratulated the bank on its opening of the branch.\nHe said that the opening is the fruit of the continuous development of friendly relations between China and Saudi Arabia and represents that China highly recognizes Saudi Arabia’s financial regulation, investment environment and the location’s advantages, marking a new level of co-operation between the two countries in the field of finance, which will provide stronger support for bilateral pragmatic cooperation.\nAl-Sayari said that the establishment of the branch is another milestone in deepening practical co-operation between the two countries and is of great significance in expanding bilateral economic and trade cooperation. The Saudi side will continue to support and facilitate the development of BOC and other Chinese-funded enterprises in the country.\n“As a very important emerging market economy that has just joined the BRICS, the opening of the branch in Saudi Arabia can further promote economic and trade cooperation and facilitate exchanges between Saudi Arabia and China,” said Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.\nAs the largest buyer of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil, China imported 87,5 million tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia in 2022, accounting for 21,7 percent of Saudi Arabia’s total crude oil exports, according to media reports.\nIn addition to Saudi Arabia, companies in Brazil have also made significant progress in the use of the yuan in trade.\nAccording to Brazilian media outlet The Rio Times, Brazilian pulp company Eldorado Brasil sent its first pulp shipment using the yuan for payment to China. The aim is to open new credit options in China, and the BOC helped with this pilot move.\nThe shipment was sent on August 25. It had 43 containers.\nThe expansion of the use of the Chinese currency reflects very important progress and mutual trust among BRICS countries in the use of local currency settlements to better enhance financial and foreign trade efficiency,” Wang said, adding that the yuan will play an increasingly important role in BRICS co-operation with more application scenarios.\nTrade settlements among BRICS countries using the local currency or the yuan can prevent exchange-rate losses, according to the expert.\nMoreover, this will improve the efficiency of the operational process of trade, and prevent the US from using the dollar as a weapon to sanction a certain country, Wang added. – Global Times.", "source": "cc", "stratum": "cc", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.herald.co.zw/bank-of-china-opens-in-saudi-arabia-as-brics-members-expand-use-of-yuan/"}
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