1. Poll Shows that There May not Be a Run Off
A new poll by research company Infotrak says Raila Odinga could clinch the presidency in the first round next year, depending on who he picks as his running mate.
The poll shows that an Odinga/ Kalonzo Musyoka ticket can clinch the presidency in round one with 52 percent of the votes if their main challengers were Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto on one ticket.
2. Small Businesses Struggle to Recover From Sandy
After filling dumpsters with ruined inventory, many owners of New York City’s shops and restaurants find themselves waiting on emergency loans and insurance companies or trying to personally finance their recovery from Superstorm Sandy. The progress is uneven on lower Manhattan’s trendy Avenue C, which was heavily flooded during last week’s historic storm.
A still unheated hardware store was doing a busy trade in clean-up supplies and equipment but a supermarket on the next block was still closed and in disarray a week and a half after Sandy flooded its basement and sales floor. A bar and beer shop across the street was open, but serving a limited menu to fewer than usual customers.
3. Firm Blames Agency for Road Delays
A contractor on Sunday blamed the national highways authority for the delay in reconstruction of a section of the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.
Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) had not liaised with Kenya Power to move electricity lines and provide for a diversion lane between Jomvu and Miritini, said Talewa Construction Company managing director John Wainaina.
4. Kenya Airways in Code Share Deal with Vietnam Airlines
National carrier, Kenya Airways, said Thursday it has entered into a code share agreement with Vietnam Airlines, extending its footprint in the Southeast Asian market. The airline CEO Dr. Titus Naikuni said the agreement is expected to provide a framework for partnership between Kenya Airways and Vietnam Airlines that will see them market and sell one another’s flights as if they were their own.
5. Yet Another Chapter in the Samsung Vs Apple Court Case
Apple Inc. told a judge that Samsung Electronics Co. (005930)’s Galaxy Note 10.1 device infringes its patents, and sought to add the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system to an existing lawsuit against Samsung in California.
Apple made the arguments yesterday to U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal in federal court inSan Jose. Apple’s bid to expand the lawsuit follows Samsung’s Oct. 1 move to add patent- infringement claims against the iPhone 5 in the same case. Apple won a $1.05 billion jury verdict against Samsung on Aug. 24 in a separate patent case in the same court.
6. RBA Raises Concern Over NSSF Bill
PENSIONS industry regulator has faulted the proposed NSSF Bill saying that the scheme should not be allowed to be its own watchdog. Retirement Benefits Authority which regulates the industry has said NSSF should not be the one deciding which private scheme can opt out of the mandatory payments as stipulated under the proposed law.
7. Keroche in KES 1.25 Billion Expansion Project
Keroche Breweries plans to raise its share of the beer market in Kenya to 20 percent in two years and is increasing capacity to meet that target, its chief executive said on Thursday. Tabitha Karanja told Reuters the brewer of Summit and Summit Malt beers was constructing a one million a year hectolitre brew house in order to introduce two new beer brands and meet demand for the existing two.
8. CBK Cuts Independent Directors Quota in Banks
The Central Bank of Kenya has reduced the quota of seats held by independent directors on bank boards to a third from the previous half, offering relief to more than half of Kenya’s lenders who were preparing to reconstitute their boardrooms. The regulator had in June asked banks to reserve half of non-executive board seats to independent directors under corporate guidelines which were to take effect from July 2 before they were frozen.