IS MTN TAKING A LOOK AT AIRTEL KENYA

Unconfirmed reports indicate that mobile operator MTN of South Africa is considering making a bid for Airtel Kenya operations as the struggling carrier continues to bleed cash.

It is not clear at what stage those talks, if at all, are but the corporate grapevine suggests that this may be more than a passing interest for the giant telecom with a footprint across the continent.

If valid, this would provide leading telco Safaricom with its first serious challenge from a company with experience in doing business on the continent.

The Kenyan market is not altogether new terrain for MTN. The company already operates in the country as MTN Business after taking over the operations of corporate Internet Service Provider, Uunet Kenya a few years back.

And with margins from Voice revenue shrinking, the battle for the next decade is likely to shift to Data services and Mobile Financial Services. MTN already operates on both fronts.

Concurrently, the industry regulator, Communications Authority of Kenya, is awaiting the findings of a study it has commissioned on Market Dominance out of which far reaching policy changes affecting the competitive landscape could be made.

Also, third operator Orange, recently taken over by private equity firm Helios Partners, is expected to make a resurgent push for market share in Q1 2017.

After assessing its network and realizing that Orange had made significant investments into a first class network, Helios has gone about getting the right people to run the company quietly staffing it with experienced managers.

Reports indicate it could overtake Airtel into second place in market share after its initial push.]

An independent report by Safaricom for instance, showed that Orange is gaining the largest share of the teen market something it could work hard to convert into long time subscribers.

Either way, the market is about to witness interesting developments.

GOTV CUTS MONTHLY PRICE TO SH699 FOR FESTIVE SEASON

Pay-TV market leader GOTV has announced a 24 per cent drop in its monthly subscription prices for the coming three months as viewers get into the festive season.

This is a drop from Sh920 that subscribers have been paying for access to 44 channels including all the local channels.

This will also include Telemundo, FOX life, Eva Plus, M-Net Movies Zone, Zee World, E! Entertainment, Nat Geo Wild, SuperSport 9, Disney Junior, and Nickelodeon.

The move comes barely a month after GOTV proprietor, Multichoice also slashed prices of its satellite pay-TV DStv and ramped up channel offerings by up to 11 channels per bouquet.

This coincided with the original MNET channel hitting the 30 - year mark during which it released a documentary highlighting the path from a single channel to the multimedia content provider that Multichoice is today.

Since its inception, GOTV has grown to be the top TV subscription service in the country with a presence in most towns.

The new prices are effective immediately.

KQ MD MBUVI TO QUIT AIRLINE

Mbuvi Ngunze will quit as Group MD and Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Airways early next year.

A statement issued by newly appointed KQ chairman Michael Joseph said Mbuvi would leave within the first quarter of 2017 and after a successor has been named.

Joseph said he will personally lead the search for the next CEO along with the Board's Governance committee.

The CEO is exiting at a time the national carrier is weathering financial and operational turbulence occasioned by massive losses and a weak balance sheet.

The airline has earned the dubious distinction of announcing the largest corporate losses amongst listed companies losing over Sh25billion in successive years.

Mbuvi who came in as Chief Operating Officer in 2011, succeeded Titus Naikuni as CEO about two years ago.

However, the problems the airline has faced are seen to have been brewed during his predecessor's era when the airline went on an expansion spree that placed financial strains on its operations.

It has been involved in what some see as a fire sale of some of its assets including a prime landing slot at Heathrow Airport.

The Kenya Airways share closed at Sh6 (US$.06) on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Mbuvi is the latest senior management member to leave the airline following the exits of former CFO Alex Mbugua, former Chairman Dennis Awori and several senior management staff.

MPESA CARD TO TAKE ON VISA IF TRIAL SUCCEEDS

Listed-telco Safaricom has confirmed it will take on Payment processors and Banks with its MPESA card if pilot testing gives positive results.

It has put its MPESA card on trial in the market with college students and the company's staff serving as the test groups.

If successful, the company plans to launch the card in the market to take on the market dominant Visa Card.

Safaricom is testing a Tap and Go card which users only need to tap onto its own Point of Sale card readers.

This is likely to build on the success of its Lipa na MPESA (Pay via MPESA) merchant service which grew by 73 per cent in the first half of the current financial year as compared to the same period last year.

However, for some points of sale such as at the Supermarket, the service tends to be tedious and delays queues perhaps calling for the much faster Tap and Go Card.

American payments processor, Visa Inc has seen its Visa Card grow rapidly in the Kenyan market the last few years.

Leading the charge have been Gas Stations where customers prefer to pay using cards. Supermarkets, Restaurants, Pubs and other outlets especially in malls have also embraced the card payment system as it is both efficient and cuts down on risks.

The Customer to Business transaction segment is among the fastest growing for MPESA. Lipa na MPESA alone grew 74%.

Overall, MPESA generated Sh26bn in revenues from 17.6m active customers in the six months to September 30, 2016.

By moving into this space, Safaricom seems set to take advantage of the failure by the Banking Industry to implement a seamless inter bank switch to bypass MPESA and other Telcos fees as initially envisaged when transferring money.

That plan was dented in large part by the two big players in the industry; Equity Bank and KCB.

Equity in particular, with its multiple partnerships with card vendors like MasterCard, Visa, American Express and so on was implacably opposed to the inter bank switch having Merchant Banking.

Until the issue of dropping Merchant Banking was dropped, Equity would not sign on, its CEO James Mwangi said,

Merchant banking would have meant that Kenyans could buy goods and services and the settlements take place within the banking system without involving Visa or Mastercard or even Lipa Na MPESA.

SAFARICOM TO REPORT H1 EARNINGS FRIDAY

Profit machine Safaricom, a listed telco on the Nairobi Securities Exchange will on Friday tell the market how its business activities performed for six month period ended September 30, 2016.

Things Investors will look for

Investors will take keen interest in the company's Statement of Income. Also known as the Profit and Loss statement, it shows, in figures, the company's operations during the period under review and tells the market whether these operations resulted in a profit or loss.

On May 11 this year it reported full-year earnings of Sh55 billion (US$550million) before tax with net profit coming to Sh38bn ($380m).

In making its forward looking statements at the time, Management said it expected full-year earnings in the year ahead to come in at between Sh89-92bn before deducting Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation.

This compares to EBITDA of Sh83bn the previous year.

Analysts will be right to expect Profit Before Tax to cross the Sh30bn threshold.

MPESA, the Mobile Financial Services product, will attract particular attention for two major reasons.

1. Rapid growth - The service grew revenues by 27 per cent in the last financial year to stand at Sh41bn ($410m) and will expect this growth to be matched contributing to the bottom line.
2. Mobile Betting - At the last briefing, Management indicated that betting companies that use its MPESA service did not contribute significantly to its revenues. This observation will come under greater scrutiny this time round especially given the high profile marketing campaigns and international endorsements that some of the betting companies have been making.

Investors will look out for a possible Interim Dividend. With Free Cash Flow oscillating around Sh30bn, many will be keen to see if the company will choose to give back some of this cash to them.

In the last period reviewed, the Board issued a Dividend of 76 cents per share, an exponential rise from a few years back when investors would bitterly complain about a 10 cents per share dividend.

Investors will also seek Management's Performance Guidance for the second half of the year.

The new Chief Financial Officer, Sateesh Kamath, will be presented to investors for his first Earnings Briefing at Safaricom. He replaced John "JT" Tombleson in the position.

DSTV PRICES FALL TODAY, TARGETS LONG HOLIDAYS WITH NEW CHANNELS

Pay TV company Multichoice will from today slash the prices of its flagship DStv Service while simultaneously announcing the addition of new channels ranging from 4 to 11 depending on the subscription package.

Top of the offering Premium service will from now cost Sh8100 (US$81) per month down from Sh9400.

The bouquet will also see the addition of four HD channels.

Multichoice, which also owns the market leading GOTV digital terrestrial TV (DTT) brand, will cut prices just as the long school holidays begin.

The presence of school kids at home for over two months will convince many parents to take up more channels to cater for the younger audience.

"I usually pay Access (the least expensive) but when the kids close, I have to pay for Compact," Julius, a subscriber at the line at the Sarit Customer Care Shop said earlier today.

A number of other parents take on Extra View to avoid inconveniencing kids.

"Sometimes, you want to stay indoors," Kuria, another subscriber said. "But you cannot watch cartoons the whole day! You are forced to go to the pub to catch the Game. I need another TV"

He said he was paying extra-view.

DStv the leading Satellite pay-TV service on the continent, is navigating difficult terrain with the advent of digital migration and the proliferation of illegal decoders being sold on the black market.

It has however signalled continued confidence in the DStv service with additional investments into new satellites and expanded content.

Already one of the leading Sports content providers, it has with the introduction of Catch Up and Box Office services created access to international shows particularly series within 24 hours of their first showing in the US for instance.

The entry level Access package remains at Sh1,050 a month but will see the addition of three new channels.

At 1,900 the Family package will feature an additional 5 channels while the Sh3500 Compact package will come with 6 new channels.

Compact Plus will now cost Sh5425 down from Sh6,400. It will also come with a whopping 11 additional channels.

DSTV SLASHES PRICES ADDS CHANNELS

Pay TV DStv has announced an across the board slash in subscription prices with top end premium bouquet now costing Sh8,100 ($81) down from Sh9,400 ($94).

It will also carry an additional four HD channels.

The entry level Access package remains at Sh1,050 a month but will see the addition of three new channels.

At 1,900 the Family package will feature an additional 5 channels while the Sh3500 Compact package will come with 6 new channels.

Compact Plus will now cost Sh5425 down from Sh6,400. It will also come with a whopping 11 additional channels.

Meantime, the Premium package will feature 4 new HD channels. DStv, has undergone a series of rapid changes and upgrades in the last year including the rollout of the DStv Explora, a hulking black decoder that carries up to 1 Terabyte of recorded content, and comes with the popular Catch UP service.

Catch Up allows viewers to keep up with the latest US shows within 24 hours of their airing in the US.

PWC VET CHARLES MUCHENE ELECTED BARCLAYS KENYA CHAIRMAN

Charles Kahara Muchene has been elected the chairman of Barclays Bank Kenya to replace the outgoing Francis Okomo-Okello.

The 58-year old accountant by profession also chairs the Board of East Africa Breweries, a position he has held since 2011.

Before that, he was the Senior Partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers Kenya for 11 years. He has also served on the boards of CFC Stanbic Holdings and CFC Stanbic Bank,

Francis Okomo-Okello, 67, has served as Chairman of the Board of Barclays Bank Kenya since 2005. He is also the chair of the TPS East Africa-Serena Group and the Executive Director in charge of Legal and Corporate Affairs at Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), the industrial development arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Development. IPS has holdings in companies like Farmer's Choice, Premier Foods, Seacom undersea cable among others.

At the Barclays chairmanship, Okomo-Okello replaced Sam Ambundo who had spent more than half a century with the bank. Ambundo had joined the board in 1983 after rising to the position of General Manager in the institution he had joined as a clerk in 1948, earning 83 Shillings a month. He had ascended to the chairmanship in 1996.

Before him was veteran lawyer Sam "SN" Waruhiu who was the first African chairman of the Bank after Barclays Bank Kenya was incorporated.

The Bank which entered the Kenyan market in 1916 as the National Bank of South Africa, was later taken over Barclays DCO (Dominions, Colonies and Overseas) in 1925 when it operated 3 branches.

It would however, not appoint its first Kenyan CEO until 2002 when Adan Mohammed rose from the position of Finance Director to become the MD. Adan Mohammed had been recruited from London and replaced Martin Oduor-Otieno as FD when the latter was named to the Richard Leakey-led Dream Team in 1999 to serve as the Permanent Secretary Treasury.

Muchene as the new Chairman will oversee Barclays at a time of business and regulatory changes.

It's parent company Barclays Africa Limited is to be sold by Barclays PLC as the UK-based lender seeks to reduce its capital requirements for its African holdings. The process of reducing its holdings in BAL to less than the majority stake is expected to take place over the next two years.

BBK is also having to deal with the Banking Amendment Act 2016 which has imposed lending caps for interest charged on loans and set a floor for deposit rates. This is expected to squeeze banks' margins, and drive optimization which is likely to see job losses as automation is implemented for many operations.

KPLC TO PILOT TOSHIBA GAS INSULATED TRANSFORMERS, CUT OIL VANDALISM

National power distributor KPLC will pilot the use of gas-filled transformers in place of the conventional oil insulated ones in a bid to cut losses occasioned by vandalism.

The utility suffers millions of dollars in losses annually owing to vandalism who seek to drain transformer oil for sale.

This leaves the transformers without insulation causing them to blow whenever it rains.

In an MoU with Toshiba Transmission and Distribution India, a 100% owned subsidiary of Toshiba Energy of Japan, KPLC will pilot three technologies that if successful will see it adopt the technology for its nationwide network.

Dr. Katsutoshi Toda, the MD of TTDI said the new Gas Insulated Transformers were capable of replacing the entire stock of conventional transformers on the Kenya Power grid.

These transformers are however about 1.5 times more expensive than conventional transformers because they are yet to go into mass production.

However, they will be roughly the same size but slightly lighter as they will be filled with carbon dioxide gas instead of transformer oil.

TTDI is currently supplying KPLC with 12,000 conventional transformers. This is after KPLC last year decided to stop dealing with traders and brokers for critical equipment and opted for original equipment manufacturers who can provide 5-year warranties for their equipment.

GOTV GRABS 56% MARKET SHARE AS DTT PAY TV CLOCKS 3M USERS

As GOTV turns five years old in Kenya, it has now reached 56% of digital terrestrial TV subscribers, with rival Startimes coming in at 40% while Bamba and Azam trail far behind at about 1.5% each.

Latest figures indicate GOTV had 1,730,279 subscribers by the end of June 2016 while Startimes was at 1,268,419 users.

With Azam TV and Bamba/KTN, the number of formerly analogue TV viewers who have digitally migrated to DTT decoders has now surpassed 3million users country wide.

A good number are also on Satellite provider DStv, and cable TV Zuku.

GOTV used both its early mover advantage but also better pricing and content leveraged on its parent Multichoice's 20 year experience in the country to establish market leadership.

The fast growth in digital TV users vindicates the Communication Authority of Kenya's tough stance against local broadcasters who sought to frustrate the digital migration process.

Kenya is now one of the few African countries that have been able to fully migrate to DTT.

GOTV will tomorrow celebrate its five years of existence since 2011.

This is the current comparison of the market players pricing:

DTT PROVIDER	DECODER PRICE	BOUQUET
BAMBA	3599	FTA
GOtv	1999	Lite: 160 per month, 375 per quarter, 840 per year Value: 470 Plus: 920
STARTIMES	Pay TV: 1800 Free to air: 4399	Nyota: 199 Bas ic: 499 Classic: 999 Unique: 1499
AZAM	3800 for decoder	Azam Play: 870 pm Azam Plus: 500 pm Indian bouquet: 800 pm Azam Pure: 200 per month

 :

GOTV CUTS MONTHLY PRICES TO SH160 AS RIO KICKS OFF

GOTV the market leader in TV subscriptions in the country, has announced price cuts for its various bouquets with the lowest package,

The move comes as the Rio Olympics kick off on August 5th. GOTV and DStv will be carrying the games.

Zuku and Startimes won't have coverage of the Olympics owing to lack of TV broadcast rights.

GOTV Lite is now going for Sh160 (US$1.58) for access to 16 channels including Supersport Blitz.

Subscribers can pay Sh840 ($8.29) for a full-year subscription.

GOTV Value package also drops in price from Sh650 to Sh470 per month.

The premium package GOTV Plus remains at Sh920 a month and will feature three additional Supersport Channels, 5,7 and 12 dedicated to covering the Rio Olympics.

Supersport 12 will be a 24-hour Olympics news channel produced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The GOTV decoder and antenna will now retail for Sh2999 down from Sh3999.

Olympic coverage begins on August 5 while the new bouquet prices take effect from August 20.

The Lite package is the cheapest in the market as GOTV which has more than 50 per cent of all TV subscriptions in the country, looks to extend it market share,

Also in the market is Bamba TV which recently was bought by KTN ( Kenya Television Network), Azam, Citizen ADN among others.

Zuku and DStv are currently renegotiating their licenses with the regulator, Communications Authority of Kenya while some new entrants will be expected.

SUPERSPORT TO CARRY OLYMPICS ON SEVEN CHANNELS

SuperSport will dedicate seven of its channels on DStv to 24 hours Rio Olympics coverage with another three on GOTV showing the games, Multichoice Africa has announced.

Kenyan reporter James Wokabi, will be a roving reporter for Supersport in Rio accompanying Carol Tshabalala and Rui de Oliveira who will do the Portuguese coverage.

Because Kenya is six hours ahead of Brazil, DStv will archive a lot of the action in its Catch Up service as well for viewers to recap the action as it happened.

Supersport has the widest global coverage of sports and this time it will be covering the Olympics on more channels than any other outlet except Sky Sports.

BBC  is carrying the games on just three channels while ESPN is doing about 12-15 hours a day as network  NBC carries the bulk of prime time coverage for the US market.

Supersport 4, 5, 6 and 7 as well as Supersport 11, 12, 13 will be dedicated to the Olympics

Overflow content like Sevens rugby, soccer and golf, will be carried on Supersport 1 and 3.

Kenya has sent its Rugby sevens team to the games in addition to the track and field athletes.

UPPER HILL, KILIMANI MOST EXPENSIVE LAND IN NAIROBI

An acre of land in Upper Hill is going for Sh517million (US$51.7m), data from property manager Hass Consult indicates.

The rapidly growing financial district leads the list of most expensive real estate in Nairobi. Kilimani at Sh430m ($43m) comes in second as it continues to see an upsurge of apartment complexes and commercial developments.

Parklands at Sh402m ($40m) an acre is the third most expensive location with Westlands at Sh398m closely behind.

Rounding off the top 10 are:

	Location	Cost (KES)
1	Upper Hill	517,000,000
2	Kilimani	430,000,000
3	Parklands	402,000,000
4	Westlands	398,000,000
5	Kileleshwa	278,000,000
6	Eastleigh	268,000,000
7	Lavington	224,000,000
8	Gigiri	210,000,000
9	Spring Valley	147,000,000
10	Muthaiga	120,000,000

Of Satellite towns around Nairobi, Ruaka is the most expensive at Sh68m an acre followed by Kiambu at Sh38/acre and Mlolongo at Sh23m/acre.

This is Hass's second report on the Land sector this year.

The UAP Tower in Upper Hill

PROFILE OF THE SIX CANDIDATES FOR CHIEF JUSTICE

Six distinguished officers of the court have been shortlisted by the Judiciary Service Commission to interview for the position of Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court. We profile them here...

Smokin Wanjala, 56, was born in Machakos  in 1960 and is a judge of the Supreme Court. Appointed in 2011, he was part of the seven judge bench that heard the presidential election petition of 2013. He was seen as a close confidant of retired Chief Justice Willy Mutunga. A scholar who has over 15 years teaching experience at the University of Nairobi Law School, Dr. Wanjala has in the past served as a director at the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission where he served under rtd. Justice Aaron Ringera and was in charge of research. He is one of four remaining judges on the Supreme Court bench following the retirement of CJ Mutunga, DCJ Rawal and Justice Tunoi. He holds a Ph. D from the University of Ghent, Belgium, a Masters degree in Law from Columbia University and an LL. B from University of Nairobi.

Nzamba Kitonga was born in 1956 and is aged, 60 years. This would make him CJ for a full term of 10 years. A past chairman of the Law Society of Kenya (elected in 1997), he has also served as the Judge President of the COMESA court. He is best remembered as the chairman of the Committee of Experts that steered the process of delivering the Constitution of Kenya 2010. He previously served as a Commissioner on the Goldenberg Commission chaired by (rtd) Justice SEO Bosire. He is a past chairman of the East African Law Society and a past recipient of the Jurist of the Year award from the International Commission of Jurists (2010).

Justice Mbogoli Msagha was born in 1953 (aged 63) in the then Coast province of Kenya. He is the Principal Judge of the High Court of Kenya. Appointed judge at the young age of 34 years in 1987, he has served on the bench for close to 30 years. He has presided over landmark cases such as the Mwai Kibaki petition against the election of President Moi in 1997 and the suit challenging the laying off of 1800 workers from Kenya Airways in 1990. He has sometimes in the past been accused of avoiding making hard decisions when issuing rulings and judgements.

Justice Alnashir Visram who is in his mid-sixties sits in the Court of Appeal. He is famously remembered as having been appointed to be the next Chief Justice to replace the retiring Evans Gicheru in 2011 by President Mwai Kibaki. But the ensuing uproar raised by coalition partner Raila Odinga over the manner of the appointment led to the withdrawal of this appointment and the JSC was tasked to vet candidates for the post. Willy Mutunga emerged the choice candidate and became the CJ. Visram is an Ismaili Muslim who has served as the CEO of the Aga Khan Fund in Kenya and as High Court judge for many years having been appointed to the bench in 2001.

Interviewing for the post of CJ for a second time, Visram is likely to face the same problems he faced last time when he failed to explain decisions and rulings he made in past political cases. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000034450/visram-s-past-judicial-rulings-haunt-his-bid-for-cj-post

Justice Roselyn Nambuye, 64, is a judge of the Court of Appeal. The resilient Justice who has twice fought forced retirement, first by the Ringera Commission’s so-called radical surgery in 2003 and secondly by the Sharad Rao vetting board in 2012 is seeking a Supreme Court seat for the second time. She became the third woman in the country appointed judge of the High Court in 1991. She is married to rtd Justice Daniel Aganyanya who served on the Court of Appeal. In 2011 she was appointed to the Court of Appeal after she unsuccessfully applied for the position of Deputy Chief Justice. In a race against Martha Koome, Mary Kasango, Hannah Okwengu, Mary Ang’awa and Joseph Nyamu, all justices, and lawyers Nancy Baraza and Gladys Shollei, she lost out to Nancy Baraza. Justice Nambuye has spoken frankly about how her inability to have children led to the breakdown of her first marriage and how she and her second husband have raised numerous step children and adopted many orphans whom they have educated and nurtured. A crusader for gender inclusivity in the judiciary, she delights at more women being appointed to the bench.

Justice David Kenani Maraga, 64,  is the Presiding Judge of the Court of Appeal in Kisumu. He was appointed to the High Court in October2003 and to the Court of Appeal in 2011. A holder of both an LL.B and an LL.M from the University of Nairobi, he also chairs the Judiciary Committee on Elections tasked with overseeing election petition hearings that may arise after the 2017 elections within the prescribed period in the constitution. He successfully underwent the vetting board fending off accusations of tribalism and bribery seeking and was unanimously endorsed to continue to serve in 2012. An avowed Seventh Day Adventist, he startled the board proceedings when he invoked God’s name loudly and went on to swear that he had never taken a bribe in his life.

THE SECOND CLASS

This is the second time the position of Chief Justice is being contested through a vetting process. In 2011, the candidates who sought to make the inaugural Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court included.

1.       Willy Mutunga

2.       International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Judge Lee Muthoga

3.       Justice Alnashir Visram JJA (Court of Appeal)

4.       Justice Joseph Nyamu JJA

5.       Justice Riaga (RSC) Omollo JJA

6.       Justice Samuel (SEO) Bosire JJA

7.       Justice Paul Kihara J (High Court)

8.       Justice Msagha Mbogoli

9.       Justice Mary Ang’awa

10.   Justice Kalpana Rawal

CJ Mutunga is now retired as is Kalpana Rawal who was later to become Deputy Chief Justice and only left the bench after a bitter judicial fight ended at the Supreme Court. Visram is a candidate once again. 

J

Justices Joseph Nyamu, Riaga Omollo, Samuel Bosire and Mary Ang'awa were found unfit to serve by the Sharad Rao led vetting committee of the judiciary and have since exited. Justice Kihara is now the President of the Court of Appeal.

SAFARICOM PILOTS MPESA CARD WITH STAFF

Listed telco Safaricom is said to have piloted its LIPA NA MPESA (PAY WITH MPESA) card with it staff as it prepares to launch it to the public.

The card is to be used at merchants for purchase of goods and services and will have its own Point of Sale System, the machines used to swipe popular payments cards.

This is likely to launch an intense battle for the local payment market which has recently seen fast rising uptake of Visa card services particularly at petrol stations and bars and eateries.

However, the move by Safaricom to introduce this card, which it has previously sought to bring to the market, is seen by some as being more of a reaction to plans by local banks to introduce a interbank switch allowing cash transfers within the banking system without going through MPESA.

However, that threat was significantly hobbled when the two largest banks in Kenya, KCB and Equity Groups, instituted demands before signing onto the switch including the fact that the switch would not allow merchant banking.

This means it cannot be used for payment of goods and services like MPESA.

SPORTSPESA POURS IN HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS FOR KENYA RUGBY SPONSORSHIP

Mover over Safaricom, EABL. There is a new sheriff in town. Sports betting platform Sportspesa will announce a deal to sponsor all of Kenyan rugby for the next five years to the tune of Sh1billion.

The deal will see Sportspesa become the sponsor of the popular Kenya Rugby 7s, the fast-rising Rugby 15s, the Women's rugby and the Development of talent.

The deal dwarfs other long-drawn out contracts with local companies that The Kenya Rugby Union has had to engage in.

Sportspesa has recently ramped up its sports marketing presence appearing on Stadia and other  sports related collateral pointing to the billions it is bringing in from bettors.

Some estimates place Sportspesa's weekly revenues before deduction of costs at Sh9billion and rising.

The company will also announce partnerships with the English Premier League where it already has some projects with the popular league's teams.

EQUITEL'S Q1 TRANSACTIONS HIT SH64BILLION

Payment platform Equitel has announced a 38 per cent jump in quarter on quarter transactions for the first three months of 2016.

According to figures released by the Communications Authority of Kenya, 44.7m transactions were handled through the platform as compared to 42m transactions between September 1 - December 31st, 2015.

The fast growing platform is a subsidiary business of grassroots lender, Equity Group.

CAK figures also show that with a 19.6% quarter on quarter growth in mobile traffic, Equitel is by far the fastest growing mobile telephony service in the country.

Operator	March 2016			December 2015			Variation
	Pre-Paid	Post-Paid	Total	Pre-Paid	Post-Paid	Total
Safaricom	24,230,310	931,126	25,161,439	23,556,656	852,278	24,408,934	3.1
Airtel	6,580,141	142,271	6,722,412	7,088,360	148,164	7,236,524	-7.1
Equitel	1,683,362		1,683,362	1,407,172	-	1,407,172	19.6
Orange	4,800,445	8995	4,809,440	4,654,190	9,124	4,663,314	3.1
Sema	158	-	158	-	-	-	0.0
Total	37,294,419	1,082,392	38,376,811	36,706,378	1,009,566	37,715,944	1.8

While Safaricom and Orange both grew at 3%, and Airtel fell 7%, Equitel users rose to 1.6 million from 1.4m the previous quarter a growth of 19%.

Its voice traffic totalled 39.4m minutes with 4m in on-net and 35.3m minutes in off-net traffic.

CJ MUTUNGA ANGRY EMAIL EXCHANGE WITH JUSTICE NJOKI NDUNGU OVER RAWAL RULING

The Star is reporting that Confidential emails between the CJ Willy Mutunga and Justice Njoki Ndung'u have emerged showing supremacy wars at the apex court.

The crisis threatens to tear apart the Supreme Court as the country heads to the 2017 polls.

The emails exchange started a few minutes on Friday after a bench of five-judges of the Court of Appeal ruled that Deputy CJ Kalpana Rawal and Justice Philip Tunoi should retire at 70.

The two, however, rushed to the Supreme Court and Judge Njoki Ndung'u granted them orders suspending the Court of Appeal decision.

The Judge, sitting as a single judge, stopped the Judiciary Registrar from recruiting a DCJ until the matter is heard on June 24. CJ is expected to retire on June 16.

The two judges exchanged bitter emails using their personal email addresses with the CJ admonishing Judge Ndung'u for acting unilaterally in a very important matter.

Here is the chronology of events:

On May 27, 2016, at 2:26 PM, Willy Mutunga wrote:

Colleagues:

The CA (Court of Appeal) has decided.

I am told there are applications and appeals already filed.

I have instructed Hon Lucy Njora (Supreme Court Deputy Registrar) to place the applications before me for directions.

I will deal with the applications as a single judge.

--

Dr. Willy Mutunga, D.Jur,SC,EGH

Chief Justice/President, Supreme Court of Kenya

"The poor need Justice; others need the Law." Professor Dani Nabudere

"The rich don't need the law, they've got wealth and power. It's the poor who need the law." Albie Sachs.

"The Supreme Court of Kenya neither has friends nor enemies among Kenyans. All the Court cares for is Justice for and to all Kenyans."

Judge Njoki's reply

On Fri, May 27, 2016 at 3:32 PM, Njoki Ndungu wrote:

CJ,

I saw your email very late. It would have been better if you had called on phone directly if you had directions for me. I assure you I have followed the provisions of our rules and Act strictly.

As duty Judge for today I already heard 2 certificate of urgency applications by Justices Rawal and Tunoi. I have already disposed of them, given interim orders and given dates for interparties hearing. I think that is in order.

Sincerely,

Njoki

Mutunga reply

On May 27, 2016, at 3:46 PM, Willy Mutunga wrote:

I counseled against copying the applicants in any mail coming from us!

I thought, given the history of this matter, you would have considered that those of us who are around could be involved in some brief conferencing. Even as a duty judge, isn't there a standing guideline that after the files are given to judges is either the CJ or the DCJ who does the allocation?

I am surprised you suggest I should have called you? Did you think of calling me?!

From: Njoki Ndungu

Date: May 28, 2016 at 8:42:37 AM EAT

To: Willy Mutunga

Cc: Mohammed Ibrahim , jbojwang , swanjala

Subject: Re: The Decision of the CA

With utmost respect CJ, I do not understand your angry tone - which I find inappropriate - to me in this email, for the following reasons:

1. I did not know you were in the country to begin with as your earlier email communication to us indicated you would be out of the country from the 22nd may. (How would I know to call you when you are out of the country? You never pick my calls anyway.)

2. You did not copy any email to ME asking not to copy our colleagues.

3. The first email from you to me arrived in my inbox at 2.31 pm when I had already started listening to the matters, and I was not online at that time. I only saw your email AFTER I had disposed of the applications.

4. Justice Ojwang who was the only other Judge not affected by the matter who was in chambers at the time and we consulted and agreed I should proceed hear the matters.

5. The matters were exparte and took a short time. I communicated to you immediately I saw your email and got your message from The DR.

5. I am not aware that there is anything wrong or untoward with the manner I handled the matters.

6. Did you have a specific outcome in mind? It appears to me, that once again you are having issues with the decisional independence of Judges in your court, particularly myself. This is a subject that has been discussed before. How do you suggest we handle this?

Njoki.SCJ.

The exchanges emerge after CJ Mutunga on Monday morning directed that the hearing on the retirement age of DCJ Rawal and Justice Philip Tunoi be heard on Thursday, June 2.

Justice Njoki Ndung'u, while suspending the Court of Appeal decision on Friday, initially directed the case to be heard on June 24.

Rawal has dismissed Mutunga's move terming it as "outrightly illegal unlawful directions".