Executive Walkway

Ruto’s Charm Offensive in Nyanza

President Ruto will this week, beginning Wednesday, camp in the Nyanza region seeking to popularize his agenda.

Taking advantage of the newly-found dalliance with ODM Leader Raila Odinga, President Ruto is expected to drum up support for his broad-based government in the expansive Nyanza region as he strives to regain his political popularity.

A number of political events have been lined up by the President in Migori, Kisumu, Homa Bay and Siaya counties, including the homecoming events for National Treasury Cabinet Secretary, John Mbadi and his Energy counterpart, Opiyo Wandayi.

Apart from dangling various development projects, the President is expected to make attempts to endear himself to the region that overwhelmingly voted against him by publicly backing the former premier’s AU Chairperson bid.

President Ruto to officially launch Raila’s AUC bid

President William Ruto is set to officially launch Opposition leader Raila Odinga’s candidacy for the position of Chairperson of the African Union Commission. The launch, scheduled for Tuesday, will also include the unveiling of a joint campaign secretariat tasked with driving the AU campaign. In July, Kenya formally submitted the ODM leader’s bid for the African Union chairmanship. He faces competition from candidates from Djibouti, Mauritius and Madagascar. Raila has visited various leaders across the continent who can support his bid such as the President of DRC, Sasso Nguesso who wields significant power in French speaking countries.

Parliamentary Aisle

Recess still on, Tax Laws Amendment Bill to take center stage on resumption

The National Assembly is still in recess and will resume on September 17, 2024. The Senate is also in recess and will resume on September 03, 2024.

It is however expected that upon the resumption of the National Assembly, the conversation on the mooted Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 is likely to heat up.

In other related news, the National Assembly Speaker has written to the Education Principal Secretary seeking information on all the bursary and public scholarship programmes in the country to guide the House in coming up with a legislative proposal harmonizing the bursary and scholarship programmes.

Corridors ofJustice

Supreme Court to prioritise Finance Act 2023 matter during vacation

While the Supreme Court and courts of equal status are currently on vacation till September 15th, the Court has directed that it will prioritize the hearing of the Finance Act, 2023 matter pitting the Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury and petitioners led by Okiya Omtatah.

The matter has since been fixed for hearing on September 10 and 11, 2024 with pre-trial directions having been fixed last week on Friday.

Talking of Which

The Africa Data Law Festival

The Africa Law Tech Festival 2024 will mark the 5th edition since its inception in 2020. It will be a three-day summit scheduled for August 26th to 27th, 2024. The Festival will commence with the AI Policy summer school, which will be held in person at Riara University from August 26th to 27th, 2024, followed by the conference on the 27th.

Under the Theme: AI & the Year of Education, the festival aims to;

Empower African stakeholders in crafting responsible and effective AI policy frameworks for the continent.
Foster knowledge exchange between legal professionals, policymakers, innovators, and civil society on AI governance.#
Champion responsible AI innovation within the African AI ecosystem.

Watch out for

Africa Food Systems Forum 2024 annual summit

The AFrica Food Systems Forum 2024 will be held in the first week of September in Kigali, Rwanda. The overarching goal of the African countries is to build productive, nutritious, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable food systems that have the power to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. While substantial progress has been made, overall, action to transform is not yet advancing at the speed or scale required and considerable challenges remain.

The Africa Food Systems Forum 2024 annual summit will be a timely opportunity to convene diverse stakeholders, including world leaders, investors, academia, farmers’ organizations, and the private sector, to spotlight innovations, technologies, best practices, business models, policy delivery mechanisms, and investments to accelerate food systems transformation in Africa and beyond, with youth and women at the helm.

MovingUp

Mr. Moses Okoth Nyabanda Acting Managing Director, Equity Bank (Kenya)

Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited, a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc, has appointed Mr. Moses Okoth Nyabanda as the Acting Managing Director, subject to approval by the Central Bank of Kenya. Mr. Nyabanda, currently the Group Chief Finance & Strategy Execution Officer, takes over from Mr. Gerald Warui, who has opted for early retirement. The Board expressed its gratitude to Mr. Warui for his dedicated service, including roles in operations, customer service, HR, and as the Managing Director of Equity Bank Kenya.

Mr. Nyabanda brings extensive experience from his previous role as Managing Director and Country Senior Partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Rwanda. His leadership in strategic planning, business growth, and operational efficiency across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and the UK has been widely recognised.

Playbook

26th August 2024