Freed Ugandan Fans Turn To Kagame For Trip To Watch Arsenal

By

-

January 27, 2023

Arsenal fans who were freed after arrest for celebrating the club’s win against Manchester United have appealed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame to help them travel to London to watch a home match at the Emirates Stadium.

Felix Bagiire, a radio presenter, said Mr. Kagame was a renowned Arsenal fan who they admire.

Making the request to Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni would “politicise everything”, he added.

“Man United fans talked a lot before the match, they even went to church hours before the match, and [ex-Manchester United player] Gary Neville has been trashing our team’s chances so beating them made us very happy,” Mr Bagiire said.

Seven of those arrested were released after a night in custody where police interrogated them for any links to opposition politics.

Police said the one who remains in custody had been linked him to a previous incident of theft.

Upon their release on Tuesday, the group was invited to the capital, Kampala, where they met police spokesperson Fred Enanga.

They also met Asan Kasingye, the chairman of Arsenal fans in Uganda.

Arsenal scored a dramatic last-minute goal to win 3-2 in Sunday’s match against fierce rivals Manchester United.

The fans believe Mikel Arteta has instilled enough confidence in the team to battle for the premier league title.

Mr Bagiire said they will mobilise 10,000 fans in May to celebrate Arsenal’s victory – which they are sure is on the cards.

“I started supporting Arsenal when Thierry Henry was playing and I’ve never seen them lift the trophy,” he said. “This is our chance.”

Treasury Approves Equity’s Bank Acquisition Of Spire Bank

By

John Mutiso

-

January 27, 2023

The government has finally approved the sale of Spire Bank to Equity Bank, saving the troubled lender and turning over a new leaf for Kenya’s largest lender.

In a gazette notice published by the Central Bank of Kenya on January 25, 2023, Treasury has declared that Equity Bank will be acquiring some of the assets and liabilities of Spire Bank Limited.

According to the notice, Spire Bank Limited’s shareholders approved the acquisition by Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited in a resolution at a general meeting held on September 8, 2022.

On September 2, 2022, Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited’s shareholders approved a resolution approving the acquisition of certain assets and assumption of certain liabilities from Spire Bank Limited.

On January 24, 2023, the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning also gave his approval for the purchase. The deal will become official on January 31, 2023.

“Pursuant to section 9 (1) of the Banking Act, the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning on the 24th January, 2023, approved the acquisition of certain Assets and Liabilities of Spire Bank Limited by Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited. The acquisition shall take effect on 31st January, 2023. Dated the 25th January, 2023,” the gazette notice read.

Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited sees this acquisition as a strategic move to expand its operations and clientele in the Kenyan market.

Spire Bank Limited, which has recently experienced financial difficulties, will benefit from the acquisition by allowing it to offload some assets and liabilities.

Spire Bank has been struggling with liquidity issues as a result of its precarious position and has been forced to pursue a turnaround plan based on reduced costs, loan recoveries, and the conversion of shareholder deposits into equity.

Spire Bank reported total customer deposit liabilities of KES 1.9 billion and net loans and advances to customers of KES 1.7 billion in its unaudited half-year financial report as of June 2022.

These figures include additional statutory loan loss reserves of KES 800 million, which reduce net loan and advances after applying loan loss provisions of KES 945 million.

Equity Bank Kenya Limited will acquire approximately 20,000 deposit customers with a total balance of KES 1.3 billion as part of this transaction.

Trump To Be Allowed Back On Facebook, Instagram

By

John Mutiso

-

January 27, 2023

Social networking giant Meta announced Tuesday it would soon reinstate former president Donald Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram with “new guardrails,” two years after he was banned over the 2021 US Capitol insurrection.

“We will be reinstating Mr. Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said in a statement, adding that the move would come with “new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses.”

Going forward, the Republican leader — who has already declared himself a 2024 presidential candidate — could be suspended for up to two years for each violation of platform policies, Clegg said.

It was not clear when or if Trump will return to the platforms, and his representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But the 76-year-old tycoon reacted in typically bullish fashion, crowing that Facebook had lost “billions of dollars in value” in his absence.

“Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution!” he said on his Truth Social platform.

Facebook banned Trump a day after the January 6, 2021 uprising, when a mob of his supporters seeking to halt the certification of his election defeat to Joe Biden stormed the US Capitol in Washington.

The former reality TV star had spent weeks falsely claiming that the presidential election was stolen from him and he was subsequently impeached for inciting the riot.

In a letter asking for the ban to be overturned, Trump’s lawyer Scott Gast said last week that Meta had “dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse.”

He asked for a meeting to discuss Trump’s “prompt reinstatement to the platform” of Facebook, where he had 34 million followers, arguing that his status as the leading contender for the Republican nomination in 2024 justified ending the ban.

American Civil Liberties Union executive director Anthony Romero said Meta was making “the right call” by allowing Trump back onto the social network.

“Like it or not, President Trump is one of the country’s leading political figures and the public has a strong interest in hearing his speech,” Romero said in a release.

“Indeed, some of Trump’s most offensive social media posts ended up being critical evidence in lawsuits filed against him and his administration.”

The ACLU has filed more than 400 legal actions against Trump, according to Romero.

Extremism engine?

Advocacy groups such as Media Matters for America, however, vehemently oppose allowing Trump to exploit Facebook’s social networking reach.

“Make no mistake — by allowing Donald Trump back on its platforms, Meta is refueling Trump’s misinformation and extremism engine,” said Media Matters president Angelo Carusone.

“This not only will have an impact on Instagram and Facebook users, but it also presents intensified threats to civil society and an existential threat to United States democracy as a whole.”

A US congressional committee recommended in December that Trump be prosecuted for his role in the US Capitol assault.

His Twitter account, which has 88 million followers, was also blocked after the riot, leaving him to communicate through Truth Social, where he has fewer than five million followers.

Trump’s shock victory in 2016 was credited in part to his leverage of social media and his enormous digital reach.

Andrew Selepak, a University of Florida professor specializing in social media, suggested that Facebook doesn’t want to go to war with Trump’s supporters in Congress, who are likely to protest if he were kept off the platform.

“Trump needs the platform for fundraising and Facebook doesn’t want to be called before Congress,” Selepak tweeted.

Conservative republican leaders have raged against Trump being booted from Facebook, while a group of Democrats in Congress last month urged Meta to extend the ban to keep “dangerous and unfounded election denial content off its platform.”

New Twitter owner Elon Musk reinstated Trump’s account last November, days after Trump announced a fresh White House run. He has yet to post.

Nairobi: 292 Unclaimed Bodies To Be Disposed

By

Cyrus Kimanga

-

January 27, 2023

Nairobi County Government has declared that it will dispose of 292 unclaimed corpses that have been preserved in three of the county’s mortuaries.

Nairobi County Secretary and Head of Public Service Jairus Musumba stated in a Friday advert that the corpses will be disposed of in a week.

There are 214 unclaimed bodies at City Mortuary, 50 at Mbagathi Hospital Mortuary, and 28 at Mama Lucy Hospital Mortuary.

According to the Public Health Act Cap 242 of 1991, an unclaimed body must be removed from a mortuary within fourteen days.

Failure which it would be disposed in a mass grave only after the public officer secures court approval.

Klopp Expects Liverpool To Learn From Brighton ‘Horror Show’

By

John Mutiso

-

January 27, 2023

Jurgen Klopp has urged Liverpool to learn the lessons of their Brighton “horror show” as they return to the south-coast in the FA Cup fourth round.

Klopp branded Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton earlier this month as the worst performance of his managerial career.

The FA Cup holders have a quick chance to make amends for that listless display when they head back to the Amex Stadium on Sunday.

Liverpool lacked passion and purpose during the Brighton debacle, a recurring theme during a troubled campaign that sees them languishing in ninth place in the Premier League.

But Klopp believes his players understand what went wrong and will fix the issues in their latest confrontation with Roberto De Zerbi’s team.

“Of course we had intense talks after the Brighton game. We had to change immediately and we did. A couple of days later we played Wolves and we looked a different team,” Klopp told reporters on Friday.

“But I will not do a meeting where I show all bad situations from Brighton, it would be a proper horror show and we saw that already. We played it and saw it after.

“It is about general change and improvement of different things. We can lose a game and we did that and if you don’t learn from it, it is just a defeat.

“If you learn from it, it is important as well and we tend to do things like that.”

Klopp has tried to revitalise his lethargic midfield since the Brighton defeat.

Stefan Bajcetic, Naby Keita and Thiago Alcantara featured for the FA third round replay win at Wolves and the goalless Premier League draw against Chelsea.

Intriguingly, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, both criticised for their recent performances, were on the bench for those matches.

“We had injuries after Brighton or little niggles so it was clear we had to change anyway and then I liked the rhythm and the mix of offensive things and defensive readiness,” Klopp said.

“It was not the three alone because the three alone can do nothing, but the front line did really good as well, and that is really important to us.

“With Brighton a lot of things are clear and you have to respect that and defend that. If you don’t do that then you are screwed.

“The midfield three it just worked well for these games, we will see who will start on Sunday.

US Raid In Somalia Kills Senior Islamic State Figure

By

John Mutiso

-

January 27, 2023

A US military raid in Somalia ordered by President Joe Biden killed a key regional leader of the Islamic State group, Bilal al-Sudani, US officials said Thursday.

Sudani was killed during a gunfight after US troops descended on a mountainous cave complex in northern Somalia hoping to capture him, according to US officials.

Around 10 of Sudani’s IS associates at the scene were killed, but there were no American casualties, the officials said.

“On January 25, on orders from the president, the US military conducted an assault operation in northern Somalia that resulted in the death of a number of ISIS members, including Bilal al-Sudani,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

“Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group’s operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan,” Austin said.

From his mountain base in northern Somalia, he provided and coordinated funding for IS branches, not only in Africa but also Islamic-State Khorasan, the arm operating in Afghanistan, a US official said on condition of anonymity.

Ten years ago, before he joined the Islamic State, Sudani was involved in recruiting and training fighters for the extremist al-Shabaab movement in Somalia.

“Sudani had a key operational and financial role with specialized skills which made him an important target for US counterterrorism action,” the official said.

Months of planning

The operation had been prepared over a period of months, with US forces rehearsing at a site built to replicate the terrain where Sudani was hiding. Biden authorised the strike earlier this week after consulting with top defense, intelligence and security officials, the official said.

“An intended capture operation was ultimately determined to be the best option to maximize the intelligence value of the operation and increase its precision in challenging terrain,” another administration official said.

However, “the hostile forces’ response to the operation resulted in his death,” the official said.

The only injury to an American in the raid was that one serviceperson was bitten by a US military service dog, the official added.

“President Biden has made it very clear that we are committed to finding and eliminating terrorist threats to the United States and to the American people, wherever they are hiding, no matter how remote,” the official said.

US forces have long operated in Somalia in coordination with and on behalf of the government, mostly conducting regular aerial strikes to support official forces fighting Shabaab rebels.

Some of those are believed to be conducted out of a US base in Djibouti north of Somalia.

US aerial strikes in Somalia surged to dozens a year during 2017-2020, but also included two to four ground operations in each year.

Since Biden became president in 2021, the aerial strikes have fallen off, to just 16 in 2022, and no ground strikes have been recorded, according to data compiled by New America, a national security think tank.

The Somali operations added to three other targeted strikes Biden has ordered against Islamic extremist leaders.

In February 2022, US forces assaulted a home in northern Syria where Islamic State leader Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was staying.

Before the US forces could get to him, Qurashi detonated a bomb, killing himself and members of his family.

In July 2022, a US air strike in Syria killed another top islamic State leader, Maher al Agal.

And at the end of July, a US precision missile strike killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, in his apartment in Kabul.

Fraud Claims Wipe $45 Billion Off India’s Adani Group Stocks

By

John Mutiso

-

January 27, 2023

FILES-INDIA-BUSINESS-ECONOMY-ADANI — (FILES) In this file photo taken on November 19, 2022, Chairperson of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, Gautam Adani, speaks at the World Congress of Accountants in Mumbai. - Indian industrialist Gautam Adani is Asia's richest man, with a business empire spanning coal, airports, cement and media now rocked by corporate fraud allegations (Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP)

Shares in the business empire of Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani nosedived Friday, extending this week’s losses to $45 billion, days after a US investment firm claimed it had committed “brazen” corporate fraud.

Adani, 60, began his week the world’s third-richest person but has tumbled down the rankings to seventh on Forbes’ billionaires tracker after a $22.6 billion hit to his fortune in Friday’s trade.

His flagship Adani Enterprises plunged nearly 20 percent over the day’s trade in Mumbai, briefly triggering an automatic trading halt, before recovering slightly to close 18.52 percent lower.

Trading was also halted in five other group companies, with shares in Adani Total Gas, Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission falling 20 percent apiece and triggering their own stock exchange circuit breakers.

“Obviously this is panic-selling,” JM Financials equity research chief Ashish Chaturmohta told AFP, adding that traders were creating fresh short-sell positions to protect previously made bullish bets on Adani stocks.

Hindenburg Research this week alleged in a report that Adani Group had used undisclosed related-party transactions and earnings manipulation to “maintain the appearance of financial health and solvency” of its listed business units.

The conglomerate said it was the victim of a “maliciously mischievous” reputational attack by Hindenburg just as it was preparing for a major fundraising round.

Legal chief Jatin Jalundhwala said in a statement that Hindenburg’s short position in the firm, announced in the report’s release, was proof the company had a vested interest in driving down Adani stocks.

Adani was exploring its punitive action against the research advisory in US and Indian courts, he said.

Hindenburg responded that Adani had ducked the issues its research had raised and instead resorted to “bluster and threats”.

“If Adani is serious, it should also file suit in the US,” the firm said in a statement. “We have a long list of documents we would demand in a legal discovery process.”

Shares in Adani business units have soared as much as 2,000 percent in the past three years, adding more than $100 billion to its founder’s net worth and vaulting him up the ranks of the world’s richest people.

Adani — who now has an estimated fortune of $96.6 billion — is considered a close supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The report said a pattern of “government leniency towards the group” stretching back decades had left investors, journalists, citizens and politicians unwilling to challenge the group’s conduct “for fear of reprisal”.

“The issues strike at the heart of the Indian corporate sector scene where a number of family controlled conglomerates dominate,” Gary Dugan, chief executive officer of the Global CIO Office, told Bloomberg.

“By their very nature they are opaque, and global investors have to take on trust the issues of corporate governance.”

‘Old news’

Hindenburg’s report landed days before Adani’s ambitious $2.5 billion follow-on public offer — India’s biggest-ever — opened for bids on Friday, aimed at bolstering the business empire’s balance sheet.

“The report is 100 percent unsubstantiated,” market analyst Arun Kejriwal said, adding that Hindenburg was looking to “make money” with its short position in Adani.

“It is just a compilation of old news at a time when it hurts them the most,” Kejriwal said. “The more scandalous they make it, the more damage it causes.”

Shares in Adani Enterprises fell to 2,712 each at their lowest point in the day, well below the FPO price band of 3,112-3,276 rupees per share.

Hindenburg’s report accused Adani Group of engaging in a “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades”.

It claimed Adani’s elder brother Vinod managed “a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities” in tax havens including Mauritius, Cyprus and several Caribbean islands.

The Mumbai stock exchange’s benchmark Sensex index closed 1.45 percent lower on Friday afternoon, primarily dragged down by the Adani rout.

Women Tortured By Moi In 1992 To Be Paid Ksh 17 M

By

Cyrus Kimanga

-

January 27, 2023

The government has been ordered to pay Ksh 17 million to women tortured by the Mzee Moi regime.

On Friday, January 27, the Supreme Court ordered the government to compensate seven women for the horrible experience they endured during the 1992 Uhuru Park protests.

According to the court, the women were brutally handled while protesting and fighting for the release of political detainees during former President Daniel Arap Moi’s government.

Further, the court reversed a 2009 judgment by the Court of Appeal that maintained a High Court verdict that the ladies had filed the complaint too late.

“The Government of Kenya shall pay the appellants damages calculated at Ksh17.5 million,” the Supreme Court decision stated in part.

The court reasoned that the appellants’ delay was justified since they lacked trust in the legal system at the time.

“There is no time restriction in cases involving constitutional rights breaches that are assessed and determined on a case-by-case basis.

“The Court is credible in the sense that it was linked to a lack of trust in the court prior to 2010,” the Supreme Court said.

Moreover, despite the lack of medical records to establish the women’s physical injuries, the court determined that the police brutality during the protests was traumatizing.

“Although the appellants did not present any physical injuries or medical reports, the Court is satisfied that the whole experience had a devastating effect on them.

“This is because the respondent failed to establish any reasonable grounds why it was necessary to forcibly interrupt and disperse the appellants’ peaceful protests,” the court said.

The ladies, headed by Monica Wamwere, mother of activist Koigi Wamwere, went on hunger strike in February 1992 at a rally in Uhuru Park seeking the release of political prisoners jailed by former President Daniel Arap Moi’s regime.

US Military Operation Kills Senior ISIS Leader In Somalia

By

John Mutiso

-

January 27, 2023

A US military operation killed a senior ISIS leader and 10 members of the terror group in northern Somalia on Wednesday, two senior Biden administration officials said on Thursday.

“From a mountainous cave complex in northern Somalia, Bilal al-Sudani is assessed to have supported ISIS’ expansion and activities across Africa and beyond the continent,” the first senior administration official said.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed that al-Sudani had been killed in a statement later on Thursday.

“On January 25, on orders from the President, the U.S. military conducted an assault operation in northern Somalia that resulted in the death of a number of ISIS members, including Bilal-al-Sudani, an ISIS leader in Somalia and a key facilitator for ISIS’s global network. Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group’s operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan,” Austin said.

“No civilians were harmed as a result of this operation. We are grateful to our extraordinary service members as well as our intelligence community and other interagency partners for their support to this successful counterterrorism operation,” Austin added.

US forces, according to the official, were prepared to capture al-Sudani but the “hostile force’s response” ultimately resulted in his death.

No US troops or civilians were killed, although one service member was injured during the operation after being bitten by an American military dog.

The second official said that the US notified two counterterrorism partners, including the Somali government.

It’s unusual for the US to carry out an operation against ISIS in Somalia, where military operations have typically focused on al-Shabaab fighters, the dominant terror group in Somalia.

The strike comes after US forces killed two top ISIS leaders in an airstrike in Syria near the end of last year.

The operation represents the continuation of the Biden administration’s strategy to counter terrorist threats through “over-the-horizon” operations like this, a shift in strategy the president made clear following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Al-Sudani was sanctioned by the US treasury in 2012 for helping foreign fighters travel to an al-Shabaab training camp and facilitating financing, according to the first official.

The operation, according to the first official, is expected to provide “valuable information” for the US intelligence community, although they declined to go into specifics.

The operation was announced by US Africa Command (AFRICOM) on Thursday, which said only that the US military “conducted a successful counterterrorism operation in Somalia” and that “no civilians were injured or killed.”

The second senior administration official said on Thursday that senior members of President Joe Biden’s national security team were first briefed on the intelligence that led to this operation a “number of months ago.”

Biden authorized the operation earlier this week.

The first official declined to provide details on the service members who were involved in the operation but emphasized their “exceptional preparation” for the mission.

President Ruto: We Will Pursue Data Protection Regime That Is Pro-Transformation

By

John Mutiso

-

January 27, 2023

President William Ruto has said the Government will pursue a data protection regime that serves public interest.

He said this will be achieved by ensuring that there is sufficient information for effective and efficient delivery of services.

However, this will be pursued without compromising private data.

“But we must also ensure that criminals do not hide under data protection or exploit it to perpetuate crime,” he said.

The President was speaking on Friday at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre during the observation of the International Data Privacy Day.

He also officially launched the Data Protection Registration system.

For Kenya to realise the maximum potential of the Digital Superhighway, he explained, we must have a clear data management plan that is promotive of our agenda for the digital economy.

The government, he added, will partner with stakeholders to expand the space for creativity and innovation.

“It is our intention to ensure that Kenya reaps its overdue dividends from the heavy investment in ICT infrastructure made over the last two decades.”

The President noted that over the next five years, the Government will construct more than 100,000 kilometres of national fibre-optic network.

This, he added, will help achieve universal broadband connectivity in the country to enhance Government service delivery.

“We are developing the Digital Master Plan and establishing a regional hub to promote the large-scale development of software for export.”

He promised to support the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner to acquire the requisite capacity to effectively perform its functions.

“Our commitment to competitiveness, innovation, digitisation, automation and the digital economy requires a credible and legitimate facilitator to anchor investor confidence.”