KBC Channel 1

Author: Jared Ombui

  • China’s five-year roadmap bets big on innovation in strategic leap

    China’s five-year roadmap bets big on innovation in strategic leap

    Inside Beijing’s conference rooms, the final draft of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan is being scrutinized. A centerpiece of the top-level roadmap sets out a profound internal gear shift to transform the world’s factory into a global innovation powerhouse by 2030.

    Building a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as its backbone and moving fast to achieve greater sci-tech self-reliance have emerged as high-stakes components of this blueprint, which was submitted to the ongoing national legislature’s annual meeting for examination. At a moment of geopolitical fracturing, the forward-looking plan is set to offer something in short supply in the world today: confidence in long-term growth.

    STRATEGIC DESIGN
    The five-year plan calls on China to seize the historic opportunities presented by the latest technological revolution and industrial transformation wave, continuously creating new quality productive forces. The country is now poised to place big bets on technology. In late February, Beijing’s Haidian District — known as “China’s Silicon Valley” — pledged over 9 billion yuan (about 1.3 billion U.S. dollars) for industrial innovation this year.

    Leading AI model firm Zhipu AI and chip designer Moore Threads have been early bets for the district government — prime examples of China’s strategy to back up hard tech for the long haul. This massive funding drive is part of China’s sweeping long-horizon tech investment. A national venture guidance fund established last December is geared toward attracting trillion-yuan-level capital. This month, authorities followed up with plans for a national mergers and acquisitions pool to unlock another trillion-plus-yuan market. “The government is not just talking about research and development; it is backing it with cash,” Shirley Yinghua Shen from Ernst & Young (China) Advisory Limited, told Xinhua.

    Once overlooked in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, quantum tech investing has become so intensely competitive that VC funds can’t even get a seat at the table without a recommendation, even for small startups. Racing to seize historic opportunities in frontier tech, both state and private capital have moved swiftly, said Ding Hong, a national political advisor and scientist at Shanghai Jiaotong University. Over the next five years, China has pledged to pour more money into original innovation, preparing to raise the share of basic research funding in total R&D spending significantly, and mapping out a new batch of mega-science facilities.

    Last year, its basic research investment came in at a record-high 7.08 percent of total R&D expenditure. China’s regional economic policymakers are also encouraged to carve out distinct niches based on their unique strengths. The brain-computer interface (BCI) sector, which has been designated a future industry in this year’s government work report, is a priority for Shanghai. Pairing hospitals with firms is the city’s go-to move for tech translation, given its access to top-tier medical resources nationwide.

    Shanghai startup NeuroXess is pressing ahead with clinical trials of an invasive BCI product. A breakthrough came when a local hospital implanted the company’s wireless device into the skull of a man who had been paralyzed for eight years, and he now races on “Mario Kart” using only his mind. While Shanghai has planted flags with futuristic technologies, Shenzhen farther south is leveraging its vibrant ecosystem of innovative smart hardware. The southern tech hub has created a dense electronic supply chain concentration where the move from prototyping to assembly can happen in as short a time as a single day. Zheng Yongnian, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, has reframed China’s economic engine around what he terms the new three drivers, mirroring the familiar trio of exports, investment and consumption. These three pistons are foundational research, applied tech commercialization and long-cycle financial support.


    INNOVATION PREMIUM
    A plausible but flawed take warns that China’s tech splurge risks cannibalizing household spending. Yet while America’s sprawling, power-hungry AI data center build-out still awaits a clear payoff, China is playing a different game. Armed with a vast market, superior digital infrastructure and commercially agile tech firms, China is well-positioned to be among the first to profit from the new tech revolution. In the government work report, creating new smart economy forms has been highlighted as a key task. Over the Chinese New Year break, China’s tech heavyweights vied to unlock AI’s commercial potential, eager to turn their raw computing and algorithms into real returns. A simple “I want to watch a movie nearby” browser search triggers chatbots to handle recommendations, booking and payment, all within a single interface.

    Alibaba’s AI model Qwen released recently small AI model series — a compact package that can be deployed on smartphones as an intelligent assistant — immediately drawing praise from Elon Musk, who lauded its “impressive intelligence density.” China-designed tech gadgets like smart glasses, 3D printers and home robots are seeing a strong uptake on overseas platforms. TIME’s “Best Inventions of 2025” list, featuring over 40 Chinese entries among a total of 300, showed that these products are winning on merit, not just price. These commercial successes are underpinned by China’s comprehensive manufacturing ecosystem, leaving the country well-placed to move faster in translating technology into vertical applications. To amplify this edge, the new five-year plan doubles down on bridging technological innovation with industrial application.

    China’s AI-plus push in the coming years is set to fast-track digital innovation into the real economy. Engineers at Xiaomi and XPeng have designed humanoid robots for use on their own assembly lines. The founders of both tech firms are serving in the national legislature, championing embodied AI for manufacturing. Additionally, regulators are relaxing restrictions to open new markets for tech. Drones now shuttle goods across cities and waterways, robotaxis are allowed to cruise certain highways, and private rockets are flying more frequently to launch more satellites.

    Exploring “sandbox regulation,” or testing new tech in a controlled, isolated environment to foster new businesses, has also been written into the plan. China’s emerging pillar industries are expected to break the 10-trillion-yuan benchmark by 2030, while frontier technologies like quantum computing, BCI, embodied AI and 6G are poised to mushroom into an entirely new high-tech sector over the next decade. The country, Zheng said, is now maneuvering to vault past the “middle technology trap” — an innovation ceiling that separates emerging economies from advanced ones.

    GLOBAL BONUS
    On the sidelines of this year’s political advisory session, leading quantum scientist Pan Jianwei recounted how an export blockade on dilution refrigerators — critical for quantum computing — compelled his team to develop world-class alternatives. Core technologies cannot be begged for or bought, said Pan, who is also a national political advisor and a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC).

    The 15th Five-Year Plan has elevated tech self-reliance and the mastery of homegrown, risk-controllable core technologies to unprecedented strategic prominence. Now, a wave of innovation is breaking the foreign chokehold on semiconductors. In 2025, China unveiled multiple high-performance AI chips featuring indigenous design, and Huawei’s Ascend ecosystem is fueling the pre-training of 43 mainstream large language models. Tech sovereignty is not about isolation. High-standard opening up to the outside world has earned its own chapter in China’s five-year blueprint. Open-source AI models from Chinese firms have topped global usage charts, and their rapidly expanding global adoption underscores the fact that China’s tech rise is expanding the pie rather than taking slices from others.

    Additionally, the country’s clean energy technology plays a leading role in the field of global carbon reduction, producing 80 percent of the world’s solar cells, and 70 percent of both wind turbines and lithium batteries — achievements Nature magazine cited among its “feel-good science stories to restore your faith in 2025.”

    To date, China has inked 120 government-to-government sci-tech cooperation agreements, a significant portion of which are with developing countries. “For the Global South, China is no longer just a buyer of raw commodities. It is becoming a critical partner in digital infrastructure and green energy,” geostrategic analyst Imran Khalid wrote in a recent op-ed for Eurasia Review.

    Now, China’s quantum breakthroughs that Pan and his colleagues spearheaded are gaining global reach, signaling China’s embrace of international collaboration. Last March, a Chinese team and its South African counterparts used China’s quantum communication satellite to achieve quantum-secured communication spanning over 12,900 kilometers. Plans to build an open science ecosystem include opening research facilities to global scientists, as well as leading international mega-science initiatives, have been incorporated in the broader five-year plan.

    Highlighting China’s open-source AI ecosystem during the political sessions, Wang Jian, a national political advisor and computer scientist at Zhejiang Lab, said: “If your technology is not accessible to people around the world, it lacks persuasive power.”

  • What to know about impact of U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict on regional energy supply

    What to know about impact of U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict on regional energy supply

    The ongoing conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran is creating increasingly widespread ripple effects across the Middle East.

    As a key hub of global energy supplies, escalating tensions in the region are forcing major oil producers to cut production or halt exports, sending shockwaves through the global energy market. The following outlines how key oil producers in the region are being affected by the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict.

    Iran
    As a direct participant in the conflict, Iran’s oil production and transport have been severely disrupted since the outbreak of hostilities. The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company has said that the country’s energy infrastructure came under U.S.-Israeli attacks since Saturday night, with several oil depots in Tehran and Alborz provinces struck by missiles and set on fire. In a post on social media platform X on Sunday, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that the continuation of the war could severely disrupt oil production and exports in the West Asia region. Ghalibaf added that if the war continues, oil exports and production in the region could be severely affected, warning that not only U.S. interests but also those of other countries could be harmed by what he called the “delusions” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Despite Iran’s denial of closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil shipments pass, recent attacks on multiple tankers in the strait have sharply curtailed shipping traffic, heightening concerns for the global energy market.

    Saudi Arabia
    Several oil-producing countries have also been affected by Iran’s strikes on U.S. military bases in the region. Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Aramco shut down a refinery as a precautionary measure after it was hit by a drone on Monday.– On Saturday, Aramco announced that crude oil shipments are being temporarily redirected to Yanbu Port to enhance safety and the continuity of supplies for customers unable to access the Gulf, according to local Al Ekhbariya TV.

    Kuwait
    Kuwait’s major national oil company the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) announced Saturday a precautionary cut in crude oil production and refining.Citing escalating regional tensions, the KPC said in a statement that the adjustment is “strictly precautionary” and that the company “remains fully prepared to restore production levels once conditions allow.” According to media reports, the company has declared force majeure due to threats against the passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, continued attacks on Kuwait, and the “near-total” absence of available ships to transport crude oil and petroleum products from the Gulf.

    Qatar
    Qatar’s state-run energy firm QatarEnergy has announced force majeure following attacks Wednesday on two of its main facilities during the ongoing conflict between Iran and the U.S.-Israeli coalition. “Further to the announcement by QatarEnergy to stop production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and associated products, QatarEnergy has declared Force Majeure to its affected buyers,” the company said in a statement. On Monday, Qatar halted LNG production after Iranian strikes prompted precautionary shutdowns. Qatar supplies roughly 20 percent of global LNG. Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi has said that ongoing Mideast conflict could force Gulf exporters to halt production within days if the Strait of Hormuz is closed, driving oil to 150 U.S. dollars per barrel within two to three weeks and severely damaging global economies.

    The United Arab Emirates
    The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), an oil giant of the United Arab Emirates, announced on Saturday that it is “managing” offshore output levels to address storage requirements amid the regional conflict.”This approach preserves operational flexibility and will enable the company to resume normal operations without prolonged delay,” ADNOC said in a statement.

    Iraq
    Iraq’s oil production has dropped by nearly 60 percent due to the regional conflict, an Iraqi official said on Sunday. Production currently stands at about 1.3 million barrels per day, down from around 3.3 million barrels before the outbreak of the conflict, Kazem Abdul Hassan Karim, an official from the Iraqi Oil Ministry, said in a statement. On Friday, the ministry of natural resources of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region said that a “terrorist attack” on an oil field in the region’s Duhok province has led to the suspension of its production. A ministry statement said the facility, operated by the U.S.-based HKN Energy Company in the Sarsang area, sustained damage during the attack.

  • Kenya’s e-TIMS and the New Digital Tax Lifeline Revolution

    Kenya’s e-TIMS and the New Digital Tax Lifeline Revolution

    When Kenyans hear “new KRA system,” the first reaction is usually anxiety, not applause. Yet the electronic Tax Invoice Management System eTIMS is quietly scripting a different story: one where tax is less about fear and forms, and more about visibility, fairness, and digital convenience.

    Think of eTIMS as the black box of Kenya’s business transactions. Every time a compliant business issues a receipt, the system records the invoice digitally and transmits its key details straight to KRA often in real time. No more shoeboxes of fading receipts, no more guessing games at filing time. For a small hardware shop in Kisumu or a wholesale in Eastleigh, the sales history lives in the cloud, organised and searchable.

    What makes eTIMS different is its flexibility. You don’t need a fancy fiscal gadget bolted to your counter. A smartphone, tablet, laptop or simple desktop will do. Service-only businesses can use a web portal; traders dealing in goods can download a client application; larger firms can integrate their ERP directly via virtual controls. In other words, a jua kali artisan and a listed company are finally playing on the same digital field just with different gear.

    For businesses, the upside is bigger than they first imagine. Proper eTIMS invoicing is becoming the passport to key tax benefits: clean expense claims, smoother audits, and faster VAT refunds where applicable. Because the system already “knows” both sides of a transaction, disputes over whether an expense is legitimate become easier to resolve. At scale, that can mean less time arguing with revenue officers and more time actually running the business.

    The real drama, though, is in the data. Once eTIMS reaches critical mass, Kenya will, for the first time, have a fairly high-resolution picture of who is selling what, where, and for how much. Policy makers can see sectors that are thriving but under-taxed, regions where formalisation is taking root, and patterns of under-reporting that merit closer attention. If this information is used wisely, it could support more targeted incentives, not just tighter enforcement: think tax breaks designed from real transaction patterns rather than guesswork.

    Of course, any system this ambitious carries friction. Some traders worry that every tap on their phone is now a tap on the taxman’s shoulder. Others fear the cost and complexity of on-boarding, even though KRA’s core eTIMS solutions are offered free and designed to reduce compliance costs, not raise them. The real test will be whether support keeps pace with the mandate—whether there are enough helpdesks, tutorials, and on-the-ground champions to translate policy into practice.

    There’s also a deeper social contract question. eTIMS makes it harder to hide income, but technology alone cannot make people willing citizens in the tax system. Trust is built when people can connect the dots from their digital invoices to better roads, stocked clinics, functioning schools. The same data that powers audits could also power public dashboards showing, in simple language, how tax is turning into visible services.

    Kenya has taken bold digital leaps before: M-Pesa, iTax, eCitizen. eTIMS is the next layer in that stack a quiet but powerful re-wiring of the country’s fiscal nervous system. If businesses lean in, and if government matches enforcement with service, then the humble electronic receipt may turn out to be one of the most transformative documents in Kenya’s economic future.

    The writer is a Senior Lecturer and a Consultant.

  • Annual session of China’s national legislature to run from 5th to 12th March

    Annual session of China’s national legislature to run from 5th to 12th March

    The National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s national legislature, will hold its annual session from March 5 to 12 in Beijing, a spokesperson for the session said on Wednesday.

    The fourth session of the 14th NPC is set to begin on Thursday morning and conclude on the afternoon of March 12, spokesperson Lou Qinjian said at a press conference.All preparations have been completed for the session, which has 11 items on its agenda, Lou added.

    AGENDA OF 4TH SESSION OF NPC

    The preparatory meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) on Wednesday adopted the following agenda of the session:

    — Deliberate the report on the work of the government;

    — Examine the draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for national economic and social development;

    — Examine the report on the implementation of the 2025 plan for national economic and social development and on the 2026 draft plan, and the draft plan for national economic and social development in 2026;

    — Examine the report on the execution of the central and local budgets for 2025 and on the draft central and local budgets for 2026, and the draft central and local budgets for 2026;

    — Deliberate the bill put forward by the NPC Standing Committee on reviewing the draft environmental code;

    — Deliberate the bill put forward by the NPC Standing Committee on reviewing the draft law on promoting ethnic unity and progress;

    — Deliberate the bill put forward by the NPC Standing Committee on reviewing the draft law on national development planning;

    — Deliberate the work report of the NPC Standing Committee;

    — Deliberate the work report of the Supreme People’s Court;

    — Deliberate the work report of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate;

    — Deliberate the report of the NPC Standing Committee on the work of the overhaul of laws and the proposed handling of certain laws and decisions.

  • What to watch at China’s “two sessions” as new five-year plan begins

    What to watch at China’s “two sessions” as new five-year plan begins

    This year’s “two sessions” — the annual meetings of China’s top legislature and top political advisory body — are set to open at a pivotal moment. As the world’s second-largest economy embarks on the inaugural year of its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) period, these gatherings in Beijing will serve both as a review of past achievements, and as a strategic compass guiding the nation’s future development.

    The fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference commenced on Wednesday, one day before the opening of the fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC).

    Lawmakers will deliberate on the central government’s annual work report, and review the draft government budget and development plan for 2026. This year, they will also examine a draft outline of the new five-year plan, which will anchor policy priorities until 2030. This year’s legislative agenda is particularly robust, signaling a focus on long-term institutional development. NPC deputies are set to deliberate on three important pieces of legislation covering areas including the environment, ethnic unity, and national development planning. China’s top legislator, top political advisor, chief justice and top procurator will also present work reports. Beyond the plenary meetings, ministers and heads of various government departments as well as national legislators and political advisors will hold press conferences, where they will elaborate on policies related to the economy, social development, and foreign affairs to domestic and foreign media. As China enters a fresh planning cycle, the “two sessions” offer a window into how the country aims to advance its high-quality development and sustain the momentum of its reform in an ever-changing global landscape. Outlined here is a selection of highlights at this year’s “two sessions.”

    NEW PLANNING CYCLE
    In China’s governance system, five-year plans function as strategic frameworks for economic and social development. As lawmakers review the draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, they are effectively setting priorities that will guide fiscal policy, industrial transformation and social progress through 2030.

    This new cycle is beginning on solid ground. The 14th Five-Year Plan period came to a close with China’s economy surpassing 140 trillion yuan (about 20 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025. International media outlets have noted that key targets, including economic growth, labor productivity, research and development spending, urbanization and average life expectancy, broadly met or exceeded expectations during the period. However, the development environment China now faces is increasingly complex. External headwinds, including trade tensions, geopolitical frictions and insufficient global growth momentum, pose a great challenge for China’s development. Domestically, China must deftly navigate long-standing structural issues while responding to ever-emerging technological and industrial challenges. Against this backdrop, the new five-year plan will offer a strategic roadmap — not merely a list of tasks, but a framework guiding how the country will navigate its development priorities, ranging from strengthening its supply-chain capacity to advancing its low-carbon transformation.

    GROWTH TARGET
    China’s 2026 GDP growth target will be one of the most closely watched numbers at the “two sessions.” Early indicators from provincial-level regions suggest a broad consensus: Expansion remains essential, but it must be anchored firmly in quality and structural upgrading. In 2025, China achieved its growth target of 5 percent as the country spared no effort to boost domestic demand and innovation, propelling its economy toward structural rebalancing and continuing to serve as one of the most stable and reliable engines for world economic growth. This year’s target, therefore, will align with the country’s high-quality development imperative, which centers on fostering new quality productive forces, boosting consumption, upgrading the manufacturing sector, and advancing the green and low-carbon development. For international investors and trading partners, this focus signals both policy continuity and substantial opportunities.

    NEW LEGISLATIONS
    Chinese lawmakers are set to deliberate on a draft environmental code, a draft law on promoting ethnic unity and progress, and a draft law on national development planning. The proposed environmental code seeks to embed the principle of green development more firmly within the rule-of-law framework by systematically integrating and revising existing environmental legislations. It comes at a crucial time — China has pledged to peak its carbon emissions by 2030. NPC deputy Zheng Haijin, who is from east China’s Jiangxi Province and an expert on the environment, said the “encouraging” environmental code provides clearer guidance for ecological restoration and related sectors. The law on promoting ethnic unity and progress is intended to strengthen social cohesion and forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, while the law on national development planning will serve as a basic law to regulate the formulation of national development plans and ensure their implementation.

    INDUSTRIES OF THE FUTURE
    Five-year plans have long been central to how China steers its development, charting its strategic course and laying out blueprint for its future-oriented industries.

    In January, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee devoted its first group study session of the year to forward-looking industrial development, underscoring its priority for the new planning cycle. Quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion power, brain-computer interfaces, embodied AI and 6G mobile communications, have been highlighted as new growth drivers in the recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan, which were adopted at a key meeting of the CPC Central Committee. This emphasis on quantum technology in the new plan reflects a shift from laboratory validation to industrial application, said NPC deputy Guo Guoping, a quantum science professor at the University of Science and Technology of China. The Chinese leadership has urged core technology breakthroughs, as well as a more strategic approach to basic research and the accelerated commercialization of innovation. Greater emphasis is being placed on the role of enterprises — leading tech firms, in particular — supported by enhanced fiscal measures, sci-tech finance and talent policies. These strategic moves are expected to be high on the agenda of this year’s “two sessions,” as lawmakers and political advisors map out pathways to secure long-term development momentum.

    MESSAGES TO THE WORLD
    China’s “two sessions” have long served as a window into the country’s external stance. When Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the press during last year’s “two sessions,” he answered 23 questions from Chinese and international journalists covering a wide range of topics from major-country ties to global governance. Certain themes stood out, with mentions of “cooperation,” “openness” and “multilateralism” recurring throughout. The prominence of references to “the Global South” and “a community with a shared future” highlighted partnership and multilateral coordination. During this year’s “two sessions,” regional hotspot issues, such as the latest escalating military conflict in the Middle East and the strained diplomatic ties between China and Japan, are set to be in the spotlight. The year itself carries weight, as 2026 marks the 70th anniversary of the start of diplomatic ties between China and African countries. China will also hold the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November. For investors and governments alike, China’s positions on international relations will be watched particularly closely during this year’s “two sessions” amid a rapidly evolving and increasingly complex global landscape.

  • X-Raying Public Spending: Kenya’s eGP and the Power of Data Revolution

    X-Raying Public Spending: Kenya’s eGP and the Power of Data Revolution

    When Kenya quietly flipped the switch on electronic Government Procurement (eGP), it didn’t just digitize tendering it began rewiring how public money moves, how citizens watch, and how businesses compete. In a country where procurement has long been both a growth engine and a governance headache, eGP is emerging as a bold experiment in trust, transparency, and technology.

    At its core, Kenya’s eGP platform turns what used to be a paper-heavy, relationship-driven process into a structured digital marketplace. Instead of chasing physical tender documents in government corridors, suppliers now log into a portal, download opportunities, submit bids, and track evaluations online. This shift seems simple, but it changes power dynamics: information asymmetry shrinks, deadlines become clearer, and audit trails are created automatically.

    For micro, small, and medium enterprises the hustlers of Kenya’s economy eGP is a potential game-changer. A young entrepreneur in Kakamega, Garissa or Turkana can now see the same tenders as a large firm in Nairobi, on the same day, at the same time. Built-in categorisation for AGPO groups (youth, women, and persons with disabilities) can make set-asides more visible and verifiable. Over time, data from the system can show whether these groups are actually winning and performing on contracts, rather than just being mentioned in policy speeches.

    The real magic of eGP, however, lies in the data exhaust it produces. Every advert, clarification, bid, evaluation decision, contract award, and payment can be captured in one digital ecosystem. With the right analytics, this becomes a live X-ray of public spending: who keeps winning, which sectors see the most competition, which agencies delay evaluations, and where cost overruns cluster. Imagine dashboards where oversight bodies, media, and citizens can see patterns at a glance—red flags no longer buried in dusty files, but blinking on a screen.

    Of course, technology alone doesn’t cure old habits. A corrupt process conducted faster is still corrupt—just more efficient. The creativity Kenya needs now is not only in coding features, but in rethinking rules, incentives, and behaviours around the platform. That means embedding strong workflows (no skipping steps), role-based approvals, mandatory publication of key documents, and randomised audits triggered by risk algorithms. It also means protecting whistle-blowers and ensuring that attempts to game the system leave visible fingerprints.

    Then there’s the human layer. eGP will only be as transformative as the people who log in every day. Procuring entities need practical training, not just manuals: scenario-based exercises, simulations of common mistakes, and peer-learning between counties and national MDAs. Suppliers need help navigating registration, bid submission, and digital signatures. If the system feels like an elite club for the tech-savvy, it will quietly recreate old barriers under a new interface.

    Looking ahead, Kenya’s most exciting opportunity is to connect eGP with the broader digital state: IFMIS, e-citizen platforms, company registries, and beneficial ownership data. That’s when the country can start asking powerful cross-cutting questions: Are we paying on time? Are companies with tax issues still winning tenders? Are politically exposed persons clustering in certain sectors?

    Kenya’s eGP story is still being written. If the country leans into transparency by design, data-driven oversight, and inclusive access for businesses from Lamu,Meru to Mandera, eGP won’t just be another government system. It will be a living public ledger where every click, every bid, and every contract brings citizens a little closer to seeing how their money is used and to demanding better when it isn’t.

  • Explainer: What to know about latest US – Israeli strike on Iran?

    Explainer: What to know about latest US – Israeli strike on Iran?

    Iran’s state media confirmed Sunday that its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Saturday, prompting Iranian missile strikes on Israel and U.S. targets across the region.What happened in the past 24 hours? Why did the United States and Israel take action now? How will Iran retaliate? Will this conflict escalate?

    WHAT HAPPENED?
    Israel announced a “preemptive” strike on Saturday morning, sending about 200 fighter jets in simultaneous airstrikes on missile and defense systems in western and central Iran.Shortly after the Israeli announcement, U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that U.S. forces are “undertaking a massive and ongoing operation” targeting Iran’s missile industry.Iran retaliated swiftly, declaring all U.S. military bases in the region legitimate targets and striking Israel and U.S. assets across the Gulf, with explosions reported in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, among other countries.

    Iranian media reported that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps had closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, declaring the vital oil and gas waterway unsafe due to U.S. and Israeli attacks.The Iranian Red Crescent Society said that the strikes hit at least 24 of Iran’s 31 provinces, with 201 deaths and 747 injuries reported so far.Up to 160 people could have been killed as airstrikes struck a school in southern Iran, said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. Iran’s president condemned the incident as “inhumane.”

    In Tehran, missiles struck near the offices of Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian.Trump said Saturday that Khamenei was killed in the strikes — a claim later confirmed on Sunday by Iran’s state media, after which the government announced a 40-day mourning period.

    WHY NOW?
    Trump said in an eight-minute video that the objective “is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats” from Iran. Echoing his remarks, the Israeli Defense Ministry said the action aims to “remove threats to Israel.”

    Analysts suggest the rhetoric indicates a broader objective: government change in Iran through military force.Unlike the June 2025 strikes targeting underground nuclear facilities away from civilian zones, this operation hit multiple cities and leadership sites.The timing was chosen to maximize chances of eliminating top Iranian leaders while they were at their command posts, Syrian international relations researcher Mohammad Nader al-Omari said, adding that both the United States and Israel sought a swift, decisive outcome with minimal losses.

    The Pentagon has named the operation “Operation Epic Fury,” and U.S. officials told news outlets that it could continue for days or weeks. According to Israeli media, planning had been underway for months, with the final date set weeks ago.Before launching the strikes, the Trump administration built up the U.S. military presence in the Middle East to its largest level since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Meanwhile, Israel operates around 300 advanced fighter jets and maintains a multi-layered air defense system designed to counter short-range rockets, medium-range threats and ballistic missiles.Liu Chang, an expert at the China Institute of International Studies, said that the strikes aim to paralyze Iran’s high-level command structure and weaken domestic resistance while using military pressure as leverage in potential negotiations.

    HOW WILL IRAN RETALIATE?
    There are no “red lines” for Iran after the U.S.-Israeli strikes, Al Jazeera reported, citing an unnamed Iranian official. Anything is possible, the report said, including scenarios never before considered.

    “We are not surprised by this aggression. Our response will be full and open-ended, without time limits,” the official said.While the United States and Israel maintain a significant military advantage, Iran retains potent retaliatory options, particularly its ballistic missile arsenal.

    According to Al Jazeera, the exact size of Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal is unclear. Still, it is widely considered one of the largest and most advanced in the Middle East, with some missile types capable of reaching Israel in roughly 12 minutes.Diplomatically, Iran called on the United Nations to act against the strikes. Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, in letters to the UN secretary general and Security Council, reaffirmed Iran’s right to self-defense, vowing to respond “decisively and immediately” until the aggression “completely and unconditionally stops.”Experts warned that continued U.S. and Israeli escalation could prompt Iran to coordinate with regional allies — including Yemen’s Houthis, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiite militias — to strike U.S. and Israeli targets across the Middle East.

    WILL CONFLICT ESCALATE?

    After announcing Khamenei’s death, Trump said that “the heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”

    Analysts cautioned that what begins as a calculated military action could spiral into an uncontrollable regional conflagration.Adel al-Ghurairi, an Iraqi political analyst and professor at Baghdad University said, “The diplomatic track had already failed,” adding that the strike “is an admission that they believe the military option is the only remaining tool to roll back Iran’s nuclear progress.”Gulf countries may face pressure to take sides, “exacerbating existing rivalries or triggering new security dilemmas,” said Palestinian political analyst Hussam al-Dajani.

    Syrian researcher in international relations Mohammad Nader al-Omari noted the timing of the strikes reflects domestic political considerations. A rapid resolution, whether through systemic collapse in Tehran or its significant weakening, would benefit Trump ahead of the U.S. midterm congressional elections and bolster Benjamin Netanyahu’s prime ministerial bid, creating incentives for escalation, he said.William Jackson, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, warned that prolonged conflict could push Brent crude to 100 U.S. dollars per barrel, adding up to 0.7 percentage points to global inflation.Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which handles 20 percent of world oil, risks immediate supply disruptions. Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies may face pressure to raise production, he added.

  • China warns Japan against “reckless” moves toward neo-militarism

    China warns Japan against “reckless” moves toward neo-militarism

    China’s defense ministry on Saturday accused Japan of taking “reckless” steps toward neo-militarism and called on the international community to remain “highly vigilant.”

    The remarks were made by Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, in response to the Japanese government’s plans to revise its three key security documents this year, and to accelerate discussions on amending principles governing the export of defense equipment.

    Zhang said China had carried out relevant military operations to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and security interests. He described the actions as fully compliant with both domestic and international law, and “entirely legitimate and justified.”

    Referring to Japan’s wartime history, Zhang said the past has not been forgotten. He accused Japan of previously using claims of threats to its survival as a pretext for launching wars of aggression, which resulted in Japan committing heinous crimes against its Asian neighbours and the world.

    He added that right-wing forces in Japan were now reviving similar rhetoric about so-called external threats, attempting to justify military expansion and pursue a hidden political agenda.

    Zhang called on the international community to remain highly vigilant, resolutely oppose Japan’s reckless moves toward neo-militarism and uphold the victorious outcome of World War II and the post-war international order.

    He also warned Japan against “barreling down the wrong path or reversing the wheel of history,” saying such a course would suffer a speedier and greater defeat.

  • Sovereign Data, Empowered Citizens: Kenya’s Roadmap to a Data‑Driven Society

    Sovereign Data, Empowered Citizens: Kenya’s Roadmap to a Data‑Driven Society

    On 5 February 2026, in a conference room overlooking Nairobi National Park, Kenya quietly took a bold step into its next frontier: treating data not as exhaust from government systems, but as a strategic national asset that can transform services, protect rights, and power a digital economy for everyone. At the Public Sector Stakeholder Validation Workshop for the National Data Governance Policy, officials, regulators, counties, private sector, academia, and civil society sat around the same table to answer one big question: how do we turn scattered data into shared progress?

    For years, Kenya’s data story has been one of islands. Ministries and agencies collected their own datasets in silos, built parallel data centres, and kept information locked away in spreadsheets, emails, and shared drives. Different institutions used different definitions, standards, and formats, making it hard to “see Kenya” in one coherent picture. The result was duplication, inconsistent statistics, and policy decisions that relied more on intuition than evidence. Citizens rarely knew what data government held about them, how it was used, or how to exercise their rights apart from Kenya Integrated Agricultural Management Information System (KIAMIS) data governance framework supporting the agriculture sector data in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development that soon will be also in line with the proposed national data governance policy.

    The draft National Data Governance Policy flips this script. Its vision is clear: position Kenya as a data-driven society and a leading digital and knowledge economy, governed by modern data principles. At its heart is a simple but powerful shift: every organisation that holds public data must treat it as a shared national asset, managed in trust on behalf of the Kenyan people. That means common standards, single sources of truth, and citizens only giving the same information once, instead of filling the same details on every form they encounter.

    To make this real, the policy proposes a new National Data Governance and Emerging Technologies Council, backed by law and supported by a professional Data Governance Office led by a Chief Data Officer. This is not another talk shop. The Council will set the strategic direction, align data initiatives with national priorities, and hold ministries, counties and even private players to account for how they manage and share data. The Data Governance Office will do the heavy lifting: building a national data lake, defining interoperability standards, coordinating data officers across MDAs and counties, and turning dusty datasets into usable, high-impact data products.

    The policy goes further by centering people and rights. It anchors data governance in the Constitution, the Data Protection Act and the Access to Information Act, insisting that dignity, privacy and autonomy of data subjects must guide every stage of the data lifecycle. It calls for national campaigns on data rights, special protections for vulnerable groups, and clear rules for surveillance technologies, algorithmic decision-making and whistleblower data. Trust is treated not as a slogan, but as an outcome of transparency, accountability and meaningful public participation.

    Recognising that culture eats strategy for breakfast, one of the most ambitious pillars is Data Culture and Change Management. The policy bluntly acknowledges low data literacy, resistance to sharing, and “gatekeeping” behaviours inside institutions. Its response is equally bold: embed data literacy and ethics in schools, public service training, and national campaigns; tie data governance competencies to performance contracts; and design incentives for public-private collaboration and ethical data monetisation.

    The roadmap is already on the table. After validation workshops, online public participation and technical refinements, the policy is slated for approval, launch and adoption in 2026, with implementation from 1 July 2026. If Kenya follows through, 2026 may be remembered as the year the country stopped treating data as a by-product of bureaucracy and started using it as new gold fuel for better services, smarter policies, digital innovation and a more empowered citizenry.

    The writer is a Senior Lecturer and a Consultant

  • Opposition headache: Ruto Unassailable in the battle for 2027

    Opposition headache: Ruto Unassailable in the battle for 2027

    Recently, the opposition has been trying to smart out of the absence of the doyen of opposition politics Raila Odinga, by coming up with different formations to oppose President William Ruto.

    On one hand, is a group led smarting out of the impeachment defeat, who have been pouring out vitriol against any great development work by a government that they were once part of. The second group comprises of the remnants of Azimio, after ODM joined President Ruto to form the Broad Based government. The third group comprises of those disgruntled by the success of the government, such that they feel that it’s them who should have occupied the plum positions within the executive.

    Their message is devoid of unity, to the extent that after unveiling their spokesperson, nothing much has come from their speaking as one, thus, exposing their soft underbelly, despite the bravado that is displayed in the public. Each of the many outfits is singing their own chorus, joined together by the incoherent hymn song of wantam vs tutam, without giving any alternative ideas on how they would run the country.

    It is also true that most of them are reminiscing their days in the government, when their track record is unclear. What most Kenyans are grappling with is, what is it that they would do different, having previously occupied senior positions such as Vice and deputy president, ministers of key dockets such as interior, education, justice, Agriculture, foreign affairs etc. their track record including where they come from is dismal. One can clearly see that the focus is not so much about delivering to Kenyans, but to pursue power for the sake of it.

    Their tactics include the employment of maandamano (demonstrations), since they know very well that if there is confrontation between the citizens, especially the youth and the police doing their constitutional duty of maintaining law and order, they will use this political fodder in their ever predictable character of seeking for sympathy and whipping up emotions. What they have resulted into is open lies and propaganda as recently witnessed in Kisii whereby one of the leaders alleged a plot to kill one of their own without any substantiation. They are relying on sentiments to create a false narrative with the view of confusing the public into voting them without a clear agenda for the nation.

    At the core of it, is the desire to obscure the people from seeing the tremendous work that the government has done thus fur within a limited period of slightly more than 3 years, noting very well that the economy was on its deathbed when President William Ruto took over on 13th September 2022.

    To them, they can’t countenance a situation whereby their rather dismal performance during their tenure, can be eclipsed by the unassailable track record of the Kenya Kwanza, turned Broad-Based government. Off all the winnable candidates who are all angling to be the flag-bearer, non can match the vision, clarity, focus, determination, energy, international appeal, yet the local touch that President Ruto embodies and espouses.

    It is absolutely clear to them that there is tangible evidence of the fulfilment of promises as enshrined in THE BETA PLAN especially the 5 pillar. There is something to show in the manner in which SHA has helped many to avert medical poverty.

    Recently at Karatina open air Market, I met Joseph, who told me that despite his wife not being fully recovered, he doesn’t pay a single coin when he takes her to the clinic, with his Ksh 5,000 salary as a watchman? This is just but one of the little miracles happening across many little villages and places in the country.

    The little sparks of transformation happening ubiquitously in the mundane of life. In the hustle and bustle that is the rat race that defines our present day struggles. This is what visionary leadership can do to this great country towards the first world Singapore dream.

    The same story has been replicated in the NYOTA program. When there was hue and cry about bringing the youth onboard during the GenZ protests, the government took note and now we hear the same opposition complaining after the successful roll out of the NYOTA program. This initiative is empowering 121,800 entrepreneurs nationwide, equally distributed with a minimum of 84 in each of the 1,450 wards across the country. Another 90,000 will be engaged for apprenticeship complete with a monthly stipend. The program is highly transformational and many youth are already giving positive stories on how their lives are transforming.

    If you look at affordable housing, over 41 professions have benefited from the project, with the houses being built across many counties without discrimination. It’s amazing how Kenya has become a construction site, now that over 6,000 kilometers of roads are being constructed, thanks to the government paying Ksh 177 billion in pending bills.

    Clearly, President Ruto is way ahead of his competitors.

    The Writer is the Government Spokesperson of the Republic of Kenya