Alphonce Shiundu

Broadening the tax base by registering informal workers

About 80 % of Kenya’s labour force work in the informal sector. Micro, small and medium-scale enterprises tend to be poorly regulated and often operate beyond the tax agency’s radar. As payments are mostly made in cash, business records are poor and…

Kenya’s new president wants to collect more tax money

© picture-alliance/ASSOCIATED PRESS/Brian Inganga Kenya’s huge public debt is choking public spending and undermining the economy. The country’s new government therefore wants to increase tax revenues. When Kenya’s new President William Ruto…

Mwai Kibaki was never a weak politician

When former President Mwai Kibaki was taken ill and airlifted to a South African hospital this week, his sickness rekindled a political debate pitting Cord versus Jubilee supporters about his legacy. Was Kibaki a foxy politician and great President,…

James Orengo: I’m not vying for any party position

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU Senator James Orengo (Siaya) has pledged loyalty to the Orange Democratic Movement, a day after reports emerged that he had fallen out with party leader Raila Odinga over the impending election in the country’s largest political…

Parliament wants JSC members investigated

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU Nairobi, Kenya: A parliamentary committee report has recommended that President Uhuru Kenyatta sets up a tribunal to investigate six commissioners of the Judicial Service Commission accused of impropriety. The Justice and Legal…

MPs asked to amend law to allow small parties obtain funds

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU Nairobi, Kenya: The Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u on Thursday asked MPs to amend the law to make sure that the small parties have access to taxpayers’ funds. Speaking in Parliament during a meeting with the Public…

MPs reject 50-50 share clause in Matrimonial Property Bill

By Alphonce Shiundu Nairobi, Kenya: Male MPs in the National Assembly used their numerical strength to defeat a controversial clause that sought to have matrimonial property shared equally upon dissolution of a marriage. The men in the House said…

Former MP gives up pension to save his house

Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua. (Photo:File/Standard) By Alphonce Shiundu Nairobi, Kenya: A former MP has surrendered more than half of his pension to save his house, which he bought through the parliamentary mortgage scheme. The MP owes Sh1.3 million in…

William Ruto: How he rose from roadside kuku-seller to multi-billionaire

He wore his first pair of shoes when he was going to Form One at the rural Wareng’ High School in Uasin Gishu County. He sold local chicken (kuku kienyeji) on the Great North Road for between Sh11 and Sh13 to truck drivers hauling cargo to Uganda and…

Judiciary put in a spot over Sh1.4 billion spending it can't explain

The Judiciary is in a spot over missing hundreds of millions of shillings following what Auditor General Edward Ouko has attributed to unsupported expenditure, stalled projects, bad book-keeping and poor management of public funds. The auditor is…

MPs: Uhuru-Museveni trade pact spells doom for Agricultural sector

Members of Parliament who sit on the National Assembly’s Agriculture Committee, Wednesday demanded details of the trade agreement that President Uhuru Kenyatta signed with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni. The deal on Uganda’s sugar exports to…

Revealed: Corner office intrigues in ‘Judiciary coup’ plot

A corner office on the ground floor of the Supreme Court building in Nairobi was the centre of judicial power coup that set in motion a paralysis in Kenya’s highest court on Friday. The events of the day have occasioned a “show cause” letter to the…

Rosemary Odinga: She loves ugali, matumbo and mchicha

The mother of two girls, who got married in 2004 at a colourful wedding when Raila was Roads Minister, but who now shies away from commenting what happened to her marriage, loves ugali, matumbo and mchicha. To win Kibra, she will have to campaign in…

Kenya’s most influential Somalis

When Jomo Kenyatta, President Uhuru’s father, took over the reins of power from the British colonialists, he had a problem on his hands: The Kenyan Somalis. They had rejected the colonialists, the British were afraid of them and had labelled them…

Will scandals rock Jubilee out of power?

Raila has already taken the anti-corruption message and run away with it. He has taken the opportunity and reminded the country that an election victory for his party is "not a party affair. It is a matter of national interest." Raila reminded the…

Queen's longterm relationship with Kenya in best and worst of times

It was a big story when news reached Kenya that King George VI had died and the 25-year-old Princess visiting Kenya was now the Queen, the head of the British Monarchy. That fortuitous accession to the throne on February 6, 1952 while at the Treetops…

The WTO has not collapsed, but it does look shaky

© picture-alliance/EPA/Martial Trezzini The World Trade Organization (WTO) was supposed to be a driver of globalisation. Today, it looks quite shaky, though it has not collapsed. The big promises made at the summit in Doha in 2001 did not come true.…

Elections in Kenya disputed once again

© picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS.com/John Ochieng Kenya’s 2022 presidential elections were more transparent than ever before. However, after William Ruto had been declared the winner, his opponent Raila Odinga challenged the close outcome. Now the Kenyan…

Kenyans living abroad voted in 12 countries, but not in Australia

“Diaspora Update!!!”reads amessage circulatingon Facebook since 9 August 2022. “Voting has ended at Kenya High Commission in Sydney, Australia. All 223 Kenyans had voted, (100% Turnout) and the polling officials had no otherwise but to count the…

Crowd in Kenya singing ‘everything is possible without Ruto’? No, video altered

A grainy video posted onTwitter on 3 August 2022 shows Kenyan deputy presidentWilliam Ruto and another man sitting on the sunroof of a vehicle, surrounded by a crowd of people. Thepeopleare waving placards and singing “yote yawezekana bila Ruto” –…