1. Lawyer Urges Court to Squash New Dress Code
A lawyer has challenged the new Law Society of Kenya dress code in court. Mr Andrew Barney Khakula has told the High Court that the Law Society of Kenya Dress Code (Revised 2013) violates his constitutional rights.
His application was certified as urgent on Tuesday.
2. Taxpayer’s Report Reveals Rot in Use of CDF Allocations
A significant chunk of the Sh1.8 billion that the Treasury allocated for community projects a year ago is either idling in constituency bank accounts or tied up in dormant projects.
A survey of 28 constituencies by the National Taxpayers Association (NTA) shows that Sh179.1 million was squandered in poorly executed projects, both complete and incomplete, in various parts of the country.
3. Kenya Hands Chinese Ivory Smugglers USD 340(KES29,240) Fines
Four Chinese men who pleaded guilty in a Kenyan court to smuggling thousands of dollars worth of ivory were Tuesday fined just $340 (250 euros) each. During sentencing in Nairobi, Magistrate Timothy Okello regretted that the defendants’ crime “is still considered as a petty offence” and called for Kenyan laws “to be amended to reflect the gravity of such matters”.
The four men were arrested on Sunday carrying ivory products including chopsticks, necklaces and bracelets, as well as two pieces of raw ivory weighing 9.6 kilogrammes (21 pounds). The raw ivory alone had an estimated black market value of $24,000 (KES 206,400) in Asia, said Patrick Omondi, the head of the elephant programme at Kenya Wildlife Service.
4. World Bank – Kenya-South Sudan Road to Cost USD 1.3 Billion(KES111.8 Billion)
A 960km stretch of road connecting South Sudan and neighbouring Kenya to help boost economic ties between the two countries is expected to cost an estimated $1.3 billion, World Bank officials say.
The road will link Eldoret in north-western Kenya to South Sudan’s capital of Juba and will be funded by the international donor community, as well as both governments, the World Bank’s transport engineer for Africa, Tesfamichael Mitike, told journalists in Nairobi.
Fastjet is being sued by its Kenyan subsidiary, Fly540, for $6.8 million that Fly540 claims is owed to it for financial support of its services.
Container traffic through Kenya’s biggest port grew by 9.9 percent in 2012, boosted by an expansion programme, the port’s management said on Tuesday.
The Indian Ocean port of Mombasa is also a bellwether for economic activity in east Africa as it handles imports such as fuel and consumer goods for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia and exports of tea and coffee from the region.
7. Zimbabwe Checks its Bank Balance and Only Finds USD 217
Before you get depressed about the state of your finances, spare a thought for the nation of Zimbabwe, which as of Tuesday had exactly $217(KES 18,662) in the bank. That’s 217 dollars, not $217 million or $217 billion.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said Tuesday that that was all that was left in the country’s public accounts after it paid its civil servants last week, the South African Press Association reported. He told reporters in the capital, Harare, that some of them were probably better off than the state.
Rising from the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, chairman of the A.U. Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Zuma said that the leaders all agreed now is the time to stop the trend of militancy and coup de-etat in the continent.
For the U.N Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, achieving stability on the continent will depend on economic growth.