Author: Muindi

Kenya’s largest retailer by branches, Naivas, says it will roll out a programme to increase the capacity of food businesses towards improving standards of food safety in its 71 stores. This will be executed through a partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) focusing on the environmental health and food safety department to monitor the quality of meat, milk and vegetables in all its outlets. Under the deal, IFC will support Naivas to attain ISO 22000, which is an internationally recognized food safety management system in some of its outlets. https://khusoko.com/2021/06/12/upfield-kenya-achieves-global-food-safety-certification/ According to IFC, contaminated food causes over 91 million…

Dr Christopher J. Kirubi, EBS, was a prominent businessman, investor and entrepreneur in Kenya and the East Africa region. Dr. Kirubi was a significant shareholder and long-serving director of Centum Investment Company PLC and Chairman of the company’s Board Finance and Investment Committee. He was affectionately known to all of us simply as “Chairman”. As an investor, Dr Kirubi was invested in the Manufacturing, Media, Real Estate, Insurance and Investment Sectors of the economy. He was the Chairman of Haco Industries, and is recognised as one of Kenya’s first indigenous manufacturers having entered the manufacturing sector in the 1970s and…

Journalists from Bungoma County took to the streets Monday to protest persistent attacks against journalists and media independence.  The 41 journalists were calling for more protection and freedom to carry out their work and demanded that cases of harassment and violence of journalists be investigated. In a memorandum to the County Commissioner and Clerk of the County Assembly following threat to Mr Jimmy Simiyu, a journalist with Sulwe Fm, part of Royal Media Service, said they “were displeased with the conduct of the Bungoma County Governor Mr Wycliffe Wangamati.” “The threats coming from a person from the Governor’s rank need…

Travellers need a Covid-19 Negative Test Certificate Kenya has lifted its ban on passenger flights to the United Kingdom albeit under strict measures by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs presents its compliments to the British High Commission and has the honour to convey the decision of the government of Kenya to lift all flights restrictions between Kenya and the United Kingdom effective immediately,” read in part the letter from Kenyan officials. Kenya banned flights from the UK, effective April 9 in retaliation to a move by the UK to add the country on its travel ‘red list’.…

Kenya’s tea exports rose 18.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year as compared to a similar period in 2020, according to the latest data released by the Tea Directorate. In the review period, 153.2 million kilograms of tea were exported, up from 128.8 million in the same period in 2020.  Pakistan remains the top market accounting for 40 per cent of the total shipments. Other destinations include Egypt, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Yemen, Sudan, Kazakhstan, Iran and China. Consequently, the directorate projects the country’s cumulative tea production to decline in the year. This is due…

Plant-based spreads producer Upfield Kenya has achieved the coveted Food Management System Standard certification, FSSC 22000, an indication of the quality of its products. FSSC 22000 focuses on certifying the Food Safety Management System of an organization thereby assuring an end-to-end robust management of the systems by defining, evaluating, and controlling food safety hazards, minimizing risks and guaranteeing the production of safe food in the whole supply chain.  This includes processing, manufacturing, packaging, storage, transportation, and distribution, with checks on the suppliers too. “Our Nairobi based Blue Band manufacturing plant meets the requirements of an internationally recognized best practice approach…