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Press Review; The day’s top stories
Today is Thursday, November 10. It is exactly 10 days to the World Cup.
Here is what is making headlines.
Kenya defers KES 90 billion loan repayment
The International Monetary Fund has revealed that retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration deferred debt payments totaling nearly KES 90 billion to this fiscal year after cancelling plans to float a $1.1 billion (KES 133 billion) Eurobond last June due to high interest costs.
The administration made the decision after failing to borrow from international capital markets due to higher interest demands from investors of around 12%, more than double the 6.3 percent Kenya paid for a similar amount a year earlier in 2021.
As a result of the funding gap, the country failed to honour payments totaling 0.7 percent of GDP in the previous fiscal year.
“A constrained borrowing environment meant that planned external commercial financing did not materialise. The lack of funds contributed to 0.7 percent of GDP in unpaid obligations that were carried over to FY2022/23,” the IMF said in a statement late Tuesday.
With Kenya’s nominal GDP estimated at more than KES 12.75 trillion in June, the budgeted payments which were not made are equivalent of KES 89.26 billion.
The Treasury has said proceeds of the failed Eurobond were part of its suspended liability management operations for the financial year ended June 2022 that was aimed at “lengthening the maturity structure and reducing the refinancing risks in the debt portfolio”.
Who killed Pakistani journalist Arshad Shariff?
The death of prominent Pakistani journalist Arshad Shariff remains a big puzzle as Kenya and Pakistan differ on the cause of death.
On the one hand, Kenyan police claim the shooting was a case of mistaken identity, while the Pakistani government claims the incident was murder and that investigations are still ongoing.
According to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa), investigations show that police officers were involved in the killing.
Ipoa made their statement hours after Pakistani Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah pointed a figure to the Kenyan authorities saying they know what happened.
“Arshad Sharif’s death is not a case of mistaken identity – I can say, and, on the evidence we have so far, this prima facie is a targeted killing,” he added as he rejected a version of the incident given by the Kenya police that Sharif was shot and killed by officers at a roadblock on Magadi Road in Kajiado County.
“We still need to obtain more (evidence) to confirm all this … and we have asked the Kenyan government for more data,” said Sanaullah.
Ipoa chairperson Anne Makori supported a statement issued earlier by the National Police Service (NPS), indicating the journalist was shot dead by General Service Unit (GSU) officers.
“The team established that police were involved in the shooting. The matter falls within the mandate of Ipoa,” Makori said.
The conundrum over Arshad’s murder continues as investigative agencies fight against the clock to establish the motive behind his death.
DPP applies to drop Gachagua’s graft case
The Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions applied to withdraw a KES 7.3 billion graft case against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, yesterday.
The ODPP requested that the case against the country’s second in command be dropped, along with Nyeri Senator Wahome Mwangi and eight others accused of obtaining KES 7.5 billion through corruption.
The DPP’s application revealed a schism and strained working relationships between his office and former DCI leader George Kinoti, whom he blamed for placing pressure on the lead investigative officer to charge Gachagua despite a lack of evidence.
The DPP opted to end the case through senior prosecutor Grace Murungi after the DCI failed to offer any evidence linking the accused persons to the six accusations they were facing and the chief investigator admitted that he was unfairly influenced to press the allegations.
“The DPP raised several issues regarding the decision to charge Gachagua but was not getting any answers until the investigating officer admitted that he was under pressure from Kinoti to complete investigations and make recommendation to charge the accused persons,” said Murungi.
The DPP stated that he was withdrawing the charges in accordance with Section 87(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Gachagua and nine co-accused were charged with six charges of conspiracy to conduct economic crimes in July last year, with the prosecution alleging that he fraudulently obtained KES 7.3 billion through his personal accounts at Rafiki Micro-Finance Bank.
The other allegations were conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption and defrauding the County Government of Nyeri of KES 27.4 million and the Nyeri Provincial General Hospital of KES 6 million. He was also charged with two further counts of money laundering.
Nairobi Expressway lifts land value by 20%
Land prices along the Mombasa Road commuter belt and its satellite towns have increased at the fastest rate in the previous six years as a result of the opening of the Nairobi Expressway, creating opportunity for investors in Syokimau, Kitengela, and Athi River.
According to HassConsult’s third quarter report, house prices in Nairobi and the surrounding area increased by 10.3 percent in the year to September, reversing a depressing trend that had been present for the previous six years.
The HassConsult report shows the asking price of an acre of land in Syokimau rose by 20.1 percent from last year to KES 27.7 million on average, with some quoting up to KES 31.6 million.
Buyers seeking to invest in Mlolongo will cough up to KES 33.2 million after the price of an acre rose by 4.6 percent, the town having benefited from the launch of the Expressway this year and the standard gauge railway earlier.
Kitengela and Athi River recorded a land price jump of 11.2 percent and 5.3 percent respectively in the period under review.
Sports
Kenya shooting team aims for glory
The Kenyan shooting team will compete in the World Shooting Championship from November 16 to December 4 in Pattaya, Thailand, and they plan to win.
Kenya selected its final 14-person team for the postponed international competition run by the International Practical Shooting Confederation.
The Covid-19 pandemic caused the competition to be postponed from when it was initially slated to occur last year.
Although the task ahead won’t be simple, Captain Sammy Onyango said he feels the country has what it takes to produce greater results.
“We are represented by top cream shooters in all three categories namely: high-level master shooters, expert shooters and sharpshooters.
“We want to put our country on the global map and make our presence to be felt as we seek to join South Africa as a top shooting nation in Africa.”
This is the first time Kenya is taking a team to the global show since the inception of the IPSC shooting discipline in Kenya about four years ago.
Kane is very tired, says Conte
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte claims Harry Kane is “very, really exhausted” after being substituted in the second half of Tottenham’s Carabao Cup defeat against Nottingham Forest.
Twelve days before his team’s first World Cup match against Iran, England captain Harry Kane started the 2-0 loss.
Today, England manager Gareth Southgate will unveil his World Cup roster.
“It was a problem of tiredness,” said Conte, who stressed Kane would be OK. “It’s only fatigue but it’s normal because Harry played every game.”
On Wednesday evening, Kane earned his 21st consecutive start for Spurs in an EFL Cup third-round match at the City Ground.
Despite Spurs behind by two goals, he was replaced after 59 minutes, and Forest won thanks to goals from Renan Lodi and Jesse Lingard.
Conte said Kane was “really, really tired”, adding: “Yesterday we had a soft training session and at one point he stopped himself to recover energy.”
Conte said he had waited until Wednesday morning before deciding whether or not to start Kane in this match.
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