1. Kenya PM Visits Blast Site Condems Tourism

 Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Thursday strongly condemned the recent terror attacks in Eastleigh, Nairobi and in Garissa saying the government will ruthlessly deal with the perpetrators of the violence against innocent people. The PM remained categorical that the government will not let terrorism take root in the country adding that all terror groups will meet the full wrath of the law. “As a government, we will not abdicate our responsibility to provide security to people and their property,” he added.

2. Chartis Goes Back to AIG to Reclaim

Insurance firm Chartis Kenya has reclaimed its US based parent company's brand name AIG after it said over 90 per cent of its clients preferred the former identity despite the woes that led to the change. AIG Kenya changed its name to Chartis Insurance to distance itself from its parent firm headquartered in New York which had to be bailed out by the US government to save it from imminent collapse at the height of the 2008 recession.

3. KenGen Pursuing PPP Plan in Bid to Exploit Geothermal Opportunity

Power utility Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has decided to resort to public–private partnerships (PPPs) in implementing mega geothermal projects owing to the colossal financial resources required. The company has realised that raising a staggering $4.5-billion to finance power plants to generate an estimated 1 200 MW in the Olkaria field would be a tall order.

“KenGen plans to develop up to 560 MW of geothermal power plants at the Olkaria field in phases of 140 MW each through PPPs,” the company says.

4. Emirates to Roll Out Windows 8 Tablets for its 900 Aircraft

Emirates airlines will be rolling out Windows 8 tablets for its 900 aircraft from January with Emirates built-in app knows as Knowledge Driven Inflight Service (KIS). “We have signed a deal with HP for its ElitePad 900 tablet and we will be rolling out in the first four months of next year starting from January. The senior cabin crew member will have the tablet and will have all the details of the passengers as well as the crew,” Kevin Griffiths, senior vice-president – cabin crew, service delivery, Emirates, told Gulf News.

5. Cabinet Approves Bill to Convert NSSF into Pension Scheme

Cabinet has approved the National Social Security Bill (NSSF) 2012 which will convert the institution from a provident fund into a public social security scheme. The Bill proposes to among other things have workers contribute a bigger portion of their salaries to NSSF, allow transfer of benefits between East Africa Community member countries and also, for the first time, recruit the unemployed to become members.

6. Kenya Rules Out Plans to Privatise Port

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), a government entity that controls Mombasa Port, has dismissed reports that there is a plan to privatise the facility that serves most of the East African countries. This was said yesterday by Bernard O. Osero, the Public Relations Manager, KPA, during an interview with The New Times at an ongoing regional media conference to discuss the transport logistics along the Northern Corridor.

7. Invest in Kenya, Raila Urges Asia

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has urged Asia to exploit investment opportunities in Kenya. Mr Odinga, who arrived in Nairobi Thursday morning after a week-long trip in Malaysia and South Korea, showcased Kenya as an investment destination. He spent the better part of his working trip wooing the business community to venture into the country for mutual benefit.

8. EU Budget: Leaders to Study New Proposals

European Union leaders have suspended talks on the bloc's seven-year budget in order to give the 27 leaders time to study new proposals. The leaders of France and Germany have already expressed doubts whether an agreement can be reached.