Author: David Indeje

Seven in ten married women of reproductive age in Kenya want to control when, or whether, they have children.  The National Update on Family Planning shows that 76% of married women under 49 need contraception, either to space their pregnancies or stop having children altogether. Specifically, 46% say they do not want more children, and 30% want to delay their next pregnancy. Compiled by the Division of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH), the report maps both the progress Kenya has made and the distance it still needs to travel. The Urban-Rural Divide Still Shapes Who Gets Help…

Uganda has named Citibank as lead arranger for the syndicated debt financing of its €2.7 billion Standard Gauge Railway, bringing the long-stalled Malaba–Kampala line within reach of construction. A Limited Notice to Proceed has been issued, and an initial US$83 million tranche released. Full financial close remains pending, but momentum is building. Lead contractor Yapı Merkezi targets a construction start on the 272-kilometre Eastern Line before the end of May. Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Transport, Bageya Waiswa, acknowledged that lenders are proceeding cautiously. “The lenders are taking their time, but we have a Plan B,” he said, pointing…

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has petitioned the Supreme Court of Kenya, challenging a Court of Appeal ruling that struck down Sections 22 and 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act on March 6. Those two sections criminalised the publication of false or misleading information online. The drafting was so loose it could have ensnared a satirist, a blogger who made an honest factual error, or a journalist whose source turned out to be wrong. The Bloggers Association of Kenya, which first challenged the law in 2018, argued precisely this. Both the High Court and the…

Kenyans filling up from today will pay significantly more for petrol and diesel, after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced its largest single-month diesel price increase on record and the government executed a last-minute policy reversal on how to cushion the blow. The timing could hardly be worse. The fuel shock lands on an economy already dealing with severe flooding, underperforming tax revenues, and a fiscal deficit that leaves the government with limited room to absorb the pain. For the period running from 15 April to 14 May 2026, EPRA has set the maximum retail price of super…

Kenya’s mainstream advertising market contracted sharply in 2025, recording a 22% year-on-year decline to Ksh 66.3 billion and the industry faces a steeper drop ahead. The fall, documented in Reelanalytics’ 2025 Kenya Media Landscape Report, marks the second consecutive year of significant decline after spending peaked at Ksh 135.5 billion in 2022. Tighter government regulations on betting and gambling advertising drove much of the retreat, stripping one of the highest-spending categories of its promotional reach across television, radio, and print. What Pulled the Market Down The betting and gambling sector had for years ranked among the biggest buyers of airtime…

Kenya’s mobile network added 75,000 new SIM subscriptions in the three months to December 2025, pushing the total to 78.4 million and lifting the penetration rate to 149.5% of the population, according to the Communications Authority’s Second Quarter Sector Statistics Report for the Financial Year 2025/2026. The figures cover October to December 2025 and track supply-side performance across mobile, fixed, postal, broadcasting, spectrum and cybersecurity. Table 1: Kenya ICT summary indicators — Q2 vs Q1 FY2025/26 Indicator Q2 Oct–Dec 25 Q1 Jul–Sep 25 Change (%) Total mobile SIM subscriptions 78,390,421 78,315,384 +0.1 Mobile money subscriptions 51,356,425 48,630,797 +5.6 Mobile money…