1. 14.3 Millions Kenyans Registered to Vote in March
Some 14.3 million Kenyans have registered as voters for the general elections due in March 2013, the Kenyan electoral body said on Thursday.
A total of 14,337,399 voters signed up during the registration exercise that opened on November 19th and ended on Tuesday, according to a statement sent by the Independant Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
2. Kenyan Accused of Cannibalism “sorry”
A 22-year-old Kenyan man accused of cannibalism apologised in a US court for carrying out a separate attack on a fellow student.
“My deepest apology and sympathies will not be able to cover up what happened,” Mr Alexander Kinyua said in pleading guilty, on Wednesday, but denied criminal responsibility in a beating that left his victim blind in one eye.
3. High Court Stops 31st December Analogue Switch Off
The High Court yesterday morning stopped the 31st December 2012 analogue switch off deadline until 11th January 2013 when it will make a ruling on the same.
This comes after Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) filed a case under certificate of urgency seeking orders to prevent the government from effecting the 31st December 2012 deadline to switch off analogue signal in Nairobi and its environs.
4. Treasury to Borrow KES 10.8 Billions for Projects
The Treasury has bowed to pressure from MPs and will borrow Sh10.8 billion from domestic sources to meet the 2012/2013 Constituency Development Fund allocation.
The news was received with joy by MPs who have been pushing the Ministry of Finance to release the entire amount before the end of their term.
5. Cabinet Passes Supplementary Budget
Cabinet yesterday passed the The Supplementary Budget No. 1 of 2012-2013, which recommended an additional 60.2 billion shillings for recurrent expenditure and 13 billion shillings for development expenditure.
6. Kenya, S Sudan Bank Chiefs in Co-operation
Kenya and South Sudan’s central banks have signed a memorandum of understanding. The two banks of last resort agreed to co-operate in monetary and economic policy formulation and capacity building.
The memorandum was signed by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor, Njuguna Ndung’u, and Kornelio Koriom Mayik, the governor of Bank of South Sudan (Boss).
7. Foreign Investors Own Almost half of Stake in Equity
Equity Bank is on course to become a foreign institution as international investors step up their purchase of the lender’s shares inching them closer to the 50 per cent mark.
Regulatory filings show that foreign investors own 46.24 per cent of the bank compared to 40.82 per cent in October last year.
8. Loss Making Companies Increase to seven on the NSE
Announcing losses has always been a dreadful affair for CEOs of Nairobi bourse listed firms, but not this year. The company of chief executives announcing losses hit seven this year compared to one company, CMC Holdings, which posted a loss in 2011 when most companies returned double-digit growth in profit.
“This year it was easier for chief executives to convince investors that they are operating in a tough environment and hence the losses unlike last year,” said Johnston Nderi, an analysts at Suntra Investment.