National Bank of Kenya hacked, millions lost

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BY Unknown Friday, January 19, 2018 0

National Bank of Kenya hacked, millions lost

The National Bank of Kenya on Friday confirmed it was hacked and 29 million shillings (N101.4m) lost in the process.

In a statement seen by Kenyan Pulse, the bank disclosed that the  fraud happened on January 17, 2018.

NBK assured customers that their accounts were not affected by the robbery.

“We confirm that there was an attempted fraud in the normal course of business on 17 January, but the Bank’s monitoring and security resources frustrated the attempt.

“The amount of attempted fraud is about 29 million shillings and we are confident we will recover most of that money.

“Customer accounts have not been affected and the latest social media speculation on the potential loss is incorrect,” the statement read.

Kenya’s opposition postpones ‘swearing-in’ of alternative president

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BY Unknown Monday, December 11, 2017 0

Kenya’s opposition postpones ‘swearing-in’ of alternative president

Kenya’s opposition postpones ‘swearing-in’ of alternative president

(FILES) This file photo taken on September 1, 2017 shows Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga waving to supporters as he leaves the Supreme Court in Nairobi. Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga announced on October 10, 2017 that he was withdrawing from a re-run of the presidential election, saying electoral officials had failed to make necessary reforms. / AFP PHOTO / SIMON MAINA

Kenyan opposition has postponed plans to swear in its leader Raila Odinga as an alternative president, easing political tensions and opening a window for possible talks with the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Opposition coalition National Super Alliance Coalition (NASA) had planned to publicly “inaugurate” Odinga at a rally on Tuesday, Kenyan independence day, in what the attorney general said this week would be an act of treason.
Kenyatta was re-elected as Kenya’s president with 98 per cent of the vote in a repeat election held on Oct. 26 which Odinga boycotted.
He had beaten Odinga in the original poll, held in August, which was nullified by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds following opposition allegations of vote-rigging and other malpractices.
NASA said in a statement it would postpone the swearing-in after “consultations and engagement with a wide range of national and international interlocutors”.
It did not specifically name any mediators involved in the talks.
The coalition said it would be announcing a new date for the swearing in ceremony and the launch of its People’s Assembly “as well as a more vigorous and prolonged resistance”.
The plan to install Odinga as an alternative president had threatened to exacerbate rifts opened by an acrimonious election season that left more than 70 people dead in political violence.
The U.S. had also urged opposition leaders to work within the law and avoid actions like the proposed “inauguration ceremony.”
NAN reports that on Dec. 7, Kenya’s Attorney-General Githu Muigai warned that any attempt to hold a parallel swearing in of a president would amount to treason.
Such an inauguration, he said, would worsen the rifts opened by an acrimonious election season, when more than 70 people died in political violence.
Muigai said unless a candidate was declared the victor in an election by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and the swearing-in was conducted by the Kenyan chief justice.
“The criminal law of the Republic of Kenya stipulates that sort of process is high treason.
“It is high treason of the persons involved, and any other person facilitating that process.”
Under Kenyan law, treason is punishable by death.
Muigai said people’s assemblies proposed by the NASA, Odinga’s opposition coalition, were illegal as well.
“These institutions are unconstitutional they are illegal, they are null and void.
“The persons involved in their creation are involved in extra-constitutional activity and may be visited by the full force of the law,” he said.
The Supreme Court nullified the result, and a repeat election was held on Oct. 26. Odinga boycotted that vote, saying reforms needed to avoid “illegalities and irregularities” had not been made.

Kenyatta Publicly Endorses Ruto to Succeed Him

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BY Unknown Sunday, December 10, 2017 0

Kenyatta Publicly Endorses Ruto to Succeed Him

President Uhuru Kenyatta has endorsed his Deputy William Ruto to succeed him when he heads into retirement in four and a half years time.

While addressing family and mourners during the burial of Susan Wairumu, mother of Murang'a Women Representative, Sabina Chege, the President also for the first time publicly announced his intention to retire from active politics when his current term of office formally lapses in 2022.

"Kenyans now want to see a country transformed, they want to see our country moving forward. And that is the dialogue we want to be participating and engaging in. That dialogue that transforms lives, that brings development, lakini hii ya kuongea masiasa siasa hio ingojee 2022 mutaongea na William mimi nitakuwa naenda nyumbani (but these politicking should wait for 2022, you'll discuss with William (Ruto), I will be heading home to retirement).

The Head of State is currently serving his second and final term in office following his oath of office on November 28, and the constitution prohibits him from seeking another term in office.

Besides the presidential backing, political analysts believe Mr Ruto has a head start compared to his yet to be known opponents, as the race to succeed President Kenyatta begins in earnest.

Kenya police detain senior opposition official David Ndii Crackdown follows disputed elections

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BY Unknown Monday, December 04, 2017 0

Kenya police detain senior opposition official David Ndii Crackdown follows disputed elections

Police have arrested one of Kenya’smost prominent economists as part of a crackdown against the opposition following disputed elections, opposition officials and activists said. 

David Ndii, a senior adviser to the opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa), was detained on Sunday evening at a resort on the Kenyan coast and taken to Nairobi, the opposition said. Police confirmed the arrest but gave no further details. 

Dennis Onyango, an opposition spokesman, said he expected the arrest to be “the start of a bigger crackdown”.

“All the signs suggest we’re going back to the Moi era when if you differed [from the government] you got arrested,” he said, referring to the autocratic rule of former president Danial arap Moi. “What worries us is the conduct of the police. They’re behaving like kidnappers, just running around.”

Kenya was plunged into its deepest crisis in a decade following a disputed election in August and an opposition boycott of a repeat presidential vote in October. 

Raila Odinga, the veteran opposition leader, has refused to accept President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory in the October 26 rerun. Mr Kenyatta was inaugurated last week, but Mr Odinga has launched a so-called national resistance movement in a bid to force a fresh vote. 

The authorities have responded with force to counter opposition attempts to hold protests and rallies, using tear gas and live ammunition to target Mr Odinga’s convoy and his supporters. 

About a dozen people have been killed in clashes between the police and opposition supporters in the last month. More than 70 people have died in politically-related violence since the August vote. 

John Githongo, a former government anti-corruption chief and a pro-democracy activist, described Mr Ndii’s arrest as “really sinister”. 

“It’s not only what is done but how it’s done,” he said. “It’s being done in a way that harks back to one of the worst moments in Kenya’s history, the 1990s, when people were disappeared after being arrested.” 

Mwende Gatabaki, Mr Ndii’s wife, said on Monday the officers who arrested her husband refused to tell her what crime he had committed. She was briefly detained when she went to the nearest police station to look for him.

Opposition lawyers said they expected Mr Ndii to appear in court on Monday facing charges of incitement. The economist was last week appointed to head the organising committee of the resistance movement’s so-called people’s assembly.

The committee was expected to present its findings by December 12, when the opposition alliance is due to swear in Mr Odinga as the “people’s president”. The opposition has yet to clarify what this will entail. 

Mr Ndii has been one of the more prominent figures to discuss the possibility of areas loyal to Mr Odinga in western Kenya seceding from the rest of the east African nation. Mr Odinga opposes secession.

Kenya’s crisis began when the supreme court nullified the result of the August presidential election, citing “illegalities” and “irregularities” in the vote tallying, and ordered a repeat poll. Mr Odinga withdrew from the second vote, claiming the electoral commission had not been sufficiently reformed to ensure a fair vote. 

He urged his supporters not to vote and Mr Kenyatta was re-elected with 98.3 per cent of the vote, on a turnout of 39 per cent.