Category: News

{Photo courtesy of Nation}

By Samuel Owino

The government on Wednesday, 2 August, has suspended activities by World Coin pending assessment on its risks.

On a statement by interior CS, Kithure Kindiki, the government has suspended the activities by the American company, OpenAI, till concerned government agencies verify these activities and the risks they may pose to the public.

“Accordingly, the government has suspended forthwith, activities of ‘WORLD COIN’ and any other entity that may be similarly engaging the people of Kenya until relevant public agencies certify the absence of any risks to the people of Kenya whatsoever.” Part of the statement reads.

The statements also read that appropriate action will be taken on anyone who furthers, aids, abets, or engages with the suspended activities.

This suspension comes a day after Kenyans lined up at malls and at KICC for the second day to scan their eyeball for an award of 25 world coin that amounts to 7700 Kenyan Shillings and a virtual human identity, World ID.

In a interview on Wednesday morning, ICT CS, Eliud Owalo, said that as far as Data Act 2019 is concerned, World Coin is not violating any laws.

He also said that the ODPC (Office of Data Protection Commissioner) got wind of the activities by World Coin and they are going to release a comprehensive statement on the concerns about World Coin.

On Tuesday, 1 August, police officers had to suspend World Coin registration at KICC, citing security concerns.

{Photo courtesy of  FKF}

By Dennis Mungai

The draw for the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers was made and Kenya finds itself in a tight Group “F”, having being pitted against Gambia, Gabon, Seychelles, Côté D’Ivoire and Burundi. With the team’s first matches set to be played between November 13 and November 21, Harambee Stars has enough time to prepare for these matches.

Kenya has not even qualified for the World Cup in recent memory. The furthest the national team has come to participating in the global or continental stage was the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) where they were in a group featuring Sénégal , Algeria and Tanzania. Kenya only won one game in that group stage, beating neighbors Tanzania 3-2.

With the increase of participating countries in the World Cup from 32 to 48, this has seen African countries get a rise from the usual 5 countries to 10. From the face value, the only tough challengers in the qualifiers group would be Burundi. Out of the 10 slots, only 1 is through the play- off round while the other 9 are direct qualification. The winners of the groups qualify directly.

This might seem like a long shot, but with proper training and support, Kenya might just pull the surprise of the year by beating Ivory Coast and emerging as real contenders for group winners. Obviously they have to get maximum points from the other games as well, as the other teams would also be fighting for a chance to put their nations on the global stage.

Over- reliance on specific international players like Victor Wanyama does not send a good picture. One factor that leads to long lasting success is the ability to produce new talent almost on a daily basis. European teams like Belgium and Croatia may have ageing players like Kevin De Bruyne or Luka Modric respectively, but they already have younger and more upcoming players like Jeremy Doku, Thorgan Hazard( Belgium), Josko Gvardiol, Andrej Kramaric( Croatia).

Harambee Stars does not necessarily have players of such high caliber, but at least the aspect of developing talent should be at the fore front if we are to give a proper fight for glory. Even in the African countries that have qualified before, almost all are usually from either West Africa ( Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sénégal, Cameroon) or North Africa ( Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia). Last year’s edition saw Morocco become surprise semi finalists, beating the likes of Portugal and Spain on the way to a top four finish.

Young players are being recruited from the Kenya Premier League teams, which is a good sign. More recruitment needs to be done at grassroot level, where there may be hidden gems ready to shine their light to the world. The government together with all other stakeholders must have ensure everything is set and not allow room for sideshows: politics, leadership strangles, corruption cases and whatnot. Such incidences lower players’ morale and we should take advantage of this expansion. As they like to say in Swahili, “wakati ni sasa na kama si sasa ni sasa hivi.”

{Photo courtesy of Sean Andrew – Twitter}

By Janet Wambua

Mwai Kibaki’s grandson, Sean Andrew, defends Jomo Kenyatta amid unlicensed firearms allegations

Sean Andrew, the grandson of former President Mwai Kibaki, has come forward to defend John Jomo Kenyatta, the son of former head of state Uhuru Kenyatta. Sean asserted that he was unjustly singled out in relation to allegations surrounding the possession of unlicensed firearms.

“Jomo is someone i know personally and i think he was unfairly targeted. I’m not going to pick sides politically or anything but i think Jomo is innocent and so is Mama Ngina,” he stated.

During an interview, Sean Andrew emphasized that the focus should not have been on targeting Jomo, irrespective of any disagreements they may have had. He expressed that it would have been more appropriate to engage in a dialogue and refrain from involving him in the matters of the protest or any related issues.

“They should not have targeted anyone unrelated to what their disagreements are. I think these are grown men and they should talk it out. they should not involve us in protests or anything. We have real issues as human beings as people of Kenya we have real issues. I think it’s quite unfair that they’ve gathered young people to gang up and die and protest and fight the police and fight the power whatever.”

The well known personality further remarked that, being grown men, their responsibility was to engage in open discussions to address their political differences. He expressed his view that it was unjust to neglect the purpose of electing leaders, which is to serve the people. However, he made it clear that he personally did not identify as a politician and had no desire to entangle himself in such matters.

“I think it’s quite unfair because they’re grown men, they can discuss these issues. Why did we elect them? We elected them to serve us. That’s what Kenyan people have forgotten. But anyway i’m not a politician and i don’t want to get in that mess.” he stated.

When probed about his potential political aspirations, he firmly asserted that he would never entertain the idea of entering politics. He underscored the belief that political involvement was not a prerequisite for serving the public effectively. According to him, it was entirely possible to make a positive difference in people’s lives without engaging in politics. Thus, he stated that he could continue to contribute to society privately as an ordinary citizen.

“Never, never. I don’t think in Kenya you need to be a politician to serve people publicly. I think you can help a great number of people without being a politician, and that’s the way it should be. Politics is an ugly business and i’m not interested in that. I can serve people in my only way privately as a private citizen.” he said

On Friday, 21st July, a police raid was conducted at Jomo’s residence in Karen, Nairobi, in search of firearms. According to the former head of State, the officers involved in the operation utilized vehicles bearing Sudanese number plates and appeared to be intent on thoroughly searching the premises.