The highly anticipated Africa Nations Championship (CHAN), initially set to be hosted in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania in February 2025, has been postponed to August 2025 due to infrastructure delays.

The tournament, intended for locally-based players, was scheduled to take place from February 1-28, 2025. However, on Tuesday, January 14, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the delay to allow more time for the host countries to complete the necessary infrastructure and facilities.

“CAF Technical and Infrastructure experts, some of whom have been based in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, have advised that additional time is needed to ensure that the infrastructure and facilities are at the required levels for a successful African Nations Championship (“CHAN”) in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda 2024,” a statement from CAF read.

Despite the postponement, the draw, which was scheduled for Wednesday, January 15 in Nairobi, will proceed as planned.

CAF President Patrice Motsepe expressed his appreciation, stating: “I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to President William Ruto of Kenya, President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda for their leadership, commitment, and the significant progress made in upgrading the stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals, and other facilities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda for hosting a successful African Nations Championship (CHAN) Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2024.”

He further stated, “I am impressed with the ongoing construction and renovations of the football infrastructure in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. I am confident that the stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals, and other facilities will meet the necessary CAF standards, ensuring a successful African Nations Championship (CHAN) Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2024 in August 2025.”

Kenya has been racing against time to complete the two competition stadiums, Moi International Sports Center Kasarani and Nyayo National Stadium, ahead of the tournament. The latest development is welcome news for Kenya, as the facilities are still under construction.

At Kasarani, the canopy roof remains unfinished, while at Nyayo National Stadium, the floodlights are yet to be installed. By Alex Isaboke, Capital  News

The government is getting ready to publish the amended draft of the ICT Authority Bill, 2024 for another round of public hearings.

This is even as the nation scrambles to set up barriers to protect the citizens, State and business entities from cybercrimes and cyber-attacks. 

In July last year, the government called for public comments on the Bill, which critics say aims to regulate the ICT industry by licensing and registering ICT companies and professionals. 

However, the ICT Authority says the Bill is good despite stiff opposition from some ICT experts, who fear the government wants to stifle the sector. 

“The comments from the public were taken into consideration by the Committee and some clauses of the Bill amended for conformity,” says the ICT Authority chief executive Stanley Kamanguya.

“We want to assure the public that the ICTA Bill is fashioned as a catalyst for sector growth rather than stifling innovations. There shall be another session of validation for both the public sector and private sector in January 2025 before it goes to Cabinet and the Attorney General for finalisation.” 

He said the ICT Authority Bill 2024 was aimed at anchoring the ICT Authority under an Act of Parliament. 

“The ICT Authority Bill 2024 is not a re-introduction of the ICT Practitioners Bill. The ICTA Bill does not in any way seek to regulate ICT Practitioners but encourages responsible development and use of ICT tools and platforms especially in the wake of increased cyber threats,” noted Kamanguya.

He said the government’s digitisation agenda requires a robust regulatory framework to prevent cases of cybercrime and protect infrastructure that supports the digital space.

“One of our challenges is vandalism of infrastructure, there is also destruction of infrastructure by other utility installations such as roads, electricity, water and rail,” he noted. 

“The OFC (Optical Fibre Cables) network deployed across the country is critical infrastructure that is installed to ensure connectivity for the citizenry.” 

The Authority is also keen to see the development of a policy on infrastructure sharing – this seeks to ensure the utilisation of existing public infrastructure to cut costs and connectivity to the unserved and underserved areas of the country.

Digital Super Highway

The Authority is also implementing several projects in the meantime. They include the Digital Super Highway, whose purpose is to increase the fibre network coverage across the country, reduce cost of internet connectivity and enhance the delivery of e-government services, including health services, agricultural services and financial services.

“The key components of the project include the deployment of 100,000 km of fibre cable, Installation of 25,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots, the establishment of 1,450 Digital Village Smart Hubs and Studios, establishment of three (3) data centres and data protection and cyber security management,” says Kamanguya. 

Another project is the Digital Skills Programme, which aims to train 20 million Kenyan citizens and equip them with relevant and necessary skills. “So far, 114,038 citizens have trained on Basic skills and Cyber Security and more than 10,000 Public servants have so far been trained in ICT and emerging technologies,” says the CEO.

Under the Presidential DigiTalent Programme (PDTP), he said the State agency has trained 2,900 Interns who graduated in ICT by placing them in various institutions in the public sector for 12 months.

Of these 1500 of the interns are gainfully employed. 

 In early December last year, the Authority onboarded 400 interns to Cohort IX. The interns shall be deployed across Ministries, Counties, Departments and Agencies) to support critical government services.

Further, they shall undergo training and mentorship from captains of industry and stakeholders in the digital space. 

Partnerships with universities 

The Authority in collaboration with Konza is implementing the Jitume labs programme in TVET institutions to install digital labs with connectivity and devices for the students to have access to digital opportunities and training. 

And in a partnership with JKUAT, the agency is also seeking to minimise the impact of e-waste. “We are cognizant of the fast evolution of digital devices and the millions of obsolete devices we have laying around. JKUAT established an industrial park to see to the rehabilitation of these devices and the safe dismantling of the same. Through the ambitious program, The Authority has been receiving obsolete devices from MCDAs for destruction,” notes the CEO. 

The Authority also partners with Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT) for scaling innovations and incubation of innovators for proposals received through the Huduma Whitebox program.

The university holds innovation boot camps and hackathons to link innovators with angel investors and train the youth on the sustainability of the innovations, mentorship from industry players and access to financing opportunities. By Nanjinia Wamuswa, The Standard

A sitting Cabinet Secretary has issued the strongest indication that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) is behind the wave of abduction witnessed in the country since the Gen Z demos last year.

 Public Service Justin Muturi yesterday blamed the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and its boss Noordin Haji for the abduction of his son Leslie Muturi.

 According to the CS, it took the intervention of President William Ruto to have Leslie freed after Haji ignored his calls and those of Deputy President Kindiki Kithure when he served as Interior CS. 

 As of this time, Muturi was the country’s Attorney General.

 Leslie was abducted at around 9:30 pm by hooded gunmen from his vehicle on his way to a party in Lavington along with Embakasi West MP Mark Mwenye and Marangu Imanyara on June 22, 2024. 

 Muturi says that he called then Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome and Principal Secretary Raymond Omolloasked for their help in tracing Leslie, who assured him they would.

 “I also attempted to reach the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Mr. Mohamed Amin, but his phone went unanswered. I tried calling the NIS DG Nordin Haji, but he did not answer either,” reads Muturi’s statement to the DCI.

 After an hour, he called Koome, who told him that he had alerted all personnel on all routes as the police suspected it was a robbery incident. 

 “However, I told him that based on the information provided by Mwenje, the abductors appeared to be security personnel rather than robbers. He seemed unconvinced, stating that there was no planned police operation that night.”

 Muturi said that he called Omollo, who said they were looking for him but insisted it was a carjacking incident. 

 In the statement to the police, Muturi says that they called Citizen TV to release CCTV footage that captured two vehicles that followed his son’s car.

 According to the CS, he sent WhatsApp messages to the President at around 3 am, informing him that his son had been abducted.

 Armed with information on the vehicles they believed had taken Leslie, Muturi says he contacted the head of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, Said Kiprotich, who did not answer his calls. 

 He also contacted Amin’s deputy, John Onyango, who said he did not know of any police operation that night but would look into the matter.

 The ATPU boss, Kiprotich, called back, saying that his officers did not have Leslie in custody and there was no ongoing operation.

 After getting no information on his whereabouts, Muturi says that he decided to call Haji after information from the NIS friend that they were holding his son.

 “Despite multiple attempts, he did not answer.”

 Muturi said that he decided to call Kindiki, who expressed shock over the allegation that NIS was holding Leslie but promised to get back and when he did, he said that Haji told him they did not have Leslie.

 “Despite my insistence that I had confirmed information from a NIS officer, Prof. Kindiki maintained that the DG could not be lying.”

 The following day, on Sunday, June 23, President Ruto had not read the message Muturi sent him, and when he saw choppers that he assumed were carrying him, he rushed to State House.

 When he got there, he found out that the head of state had been in a meeting with MPs, including Mwangi Kiunjuri and John Kawanjiku.

 He said he informed him about the message and his belief that NIS held Leslie.

 “The President joked, asking why anyone would want to arrest a young person over the GenZ demonstrations. He even mentioned that Kiunjuri's son and the sons of other officials had been involved in similar demonstrations.”

 He said that Ruto complained about his phone not functioning properly due to the number of messages he was receiving.

 “Standing outside the pavilion, I heard the President ask Noordin Haji if he was holding my son, Noordin confirmed that, indeed, he was holding my son, and the President instructed him to release Leslie immediately. Noordin responded that Leslie would be released within an hour,” said Muturi.

 “Slightly over an hour later, Leslie called me to say he had been released and was at home. I then went home to see him.” By Fred Kagonye, The Standard