Parliament has approved Douglas Kanja’s nomination for Inspector General of the Police Service, even though he is 60 years old.

This decision bypasses the usual regulations that require public servants to retire at age 60 or 65 for those with disabilities.

President William Ruto had previously directed that public servants must retire at 60 as part of cost-cutting measures. Despite this, Kanja will serve a four-year term as allowed by law. 

In July, Ruto announced that there would be no extensions for public servants over 60. Nonetheless, Kanja, who graduated from Inoorero University in 2014, has been confirmed for the role despite being over the age limit. 

“They are directed to do this with no extensions to their tenure of service,” Ruto said when addressing the nation, at the peak of Gen Z demonstrations.

The nomination followed a vetting process by a joint parliamentary committee last week.

Both the National Assembly’s National Administration and Internal Security Committee and the Senate’s National Security Committee endorsed Kanja for the role. 

Kanja, who was nominated by Ruto, was serving as the acting IG following the resignation of Japheth Koome on July 12. As per the Constitution, Ruto’s nomination required parliamentary vetting.

Kanja began his career as a Police Constable in 1985 and has risen through the ranks to his current position. His previous roles include General Service Unit Commandant since 2018, Deputy Inspector General of the Kenya Police Service, Director of Criminal Investigations, and Commandant of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit. 

Sh46m net worth

During his vetting, Kanja declared a net worth of Sh46 million. He detailed his assets, including land, agricultural ventures, a house in Nairobi, and a rural home. He clarified that his Nairobi house is a bungalow located in the Kamiti area of Kiambu County.

The vetting was overseen by the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security and the Senate Standing Committee on National Security, Defence, and Foreign Relations. 

The process was co-chaired by Senator William Cheptumo of Baringo County and Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo.

“Members and Kenyans want to know your worth because you go to a big office with a big budget, and that’s when some people enrich themselves instead of serving the public,” said Mr Tongoyo.

During the vetting, Kanja addressed challenges within the police service and vowed to leverage technology to combat crime. He also promised to seek additional funding and improve the police communication team, which he criticised for poor information dissemination. Emphasizing the need for better training, Kanja acknowledged the issues affecting the police’s image and service delivery.

He highlighted that the National Police Service (NPS) receives only a fraction of its budget requests, with current allocations being about a third of what is needed. “We face serious budget constraints. If appointed, I will push for additional funding,” Kanja said, responding to concerns about police effectiveness amid austerity measures.

Senator Okong’o Omogeni urged Kanja to address the issue of police officers concealing their faces during arrests, which he argued violates the law.

“Why should the police hide their faces while making arrests? Are they criminals? Anyone arresting me should be identifiable, and I should have the right to notify my lawyer,” Omogeni said.

Kanja will face immediate challenges as Inspector-General, including persistent banditry, cattle rustling, extrajudicial killings, corruption, and conflicts of interest within the police force.

The nation will closely watch how he addresses issues such as porous borders, road accidents, police reforms, human trafficking, illicit brews, drug problems, failed community policing, and strained police-public relations. By Benjamin Imende, The Standard

By JULIUS MBALUTO 

In a landmark move reinforcing the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) burgeoning role in Africa's digital transformation, Raxio Group today inaugurated its state-of-the-art data centre in Kinshasa, marking the country’s largest data centre, with Tier III accreditation by international industry body, the Uptime Institute.

Known as Raxio DRC1, the cutting-edge facility is backed by a $30 million investment, and represents a pivotal milestone in the nation’s Plan National du Numérique to drive digital inclusion, foster private sector growth, and transform public services through digitalisation.

Located in Limete on the southeast of Kinshasa, the two-storey Raxio Data Centre spans 1,542 square meters. Its modern design can house up to 400 racks and can reliably deliver 1.5MW of IT power to customer equipment. The 24/7 “always-on” facility is ideally located along key fibre routes, delivering best-in-class colocation and connectivity services. Multiple paths for power and cooling systems underpin the centre’s Tier III certification, while the usage of cutting edge components, guarantee unmatched levels of efficiency and a strong commitment to sustainability principles.

The project was completed in record time since breaking ground on construction in early 2023, a testament to Raxio’s proven track record of designing and constructing data centre facilities in Africa, and the support of government authorities in fast-tracking priority national projects.

“The inauguration of our Kinshasa data centre marks a significant achievement for Raxio and a pivotal moment for the DRC's digital landscape,” said Robert Mullins, CEO of Raxio Group. “DRC is one of Africa’s largest and fastest-growing markets with an existing latent demand for digital products and services that is forecast to soar in the coming years. With this facility, we are providing the critical infrastructure essential to supporting the digital economy and enhancing connectivity – and we expect to expand our presence in DRC through additional capacity and new facilities in years to come. Our investment reflects unwavering confidence in the DRC's immense potential and our commitment to sustainable digital development across Africa.”

With the widest footprint of any data centre provider on the continent, Raxio's strategy is to address the significant demand for high-quality data infrastructure across Africa. Since opening its first data centre in Uganda in 2021, Raxio has expanded this year into Ethiopia and Mozambique. The launch of the DRC marks the opening of Raxio’s fourth facility this year with 1.5MW being the group’s largest Day 1 capacity to date.

Pan-African digital backbone

Raxio continues to see strong momentum behind the roll-out of its pan-African digital backbone. Appetite for data centre capacity is growing not just amongst local enterprises and the public sector, but increasingly from some of the world’s largest hyperscale Cloud Service Providers, Content Delivery Networks and Mobile Network Operators as they strengthen their networks and market presence on the continent.

The DRC launch aligns with the government's Plan National du Numerique to make expansive digitalisation a catalyst for economic growth, competitiveness and social inclusion, while enabling a range of public and private sector cloud-based digital services. The Provision of data centres is one of the key pillars of the government plan, improving the digital landscape through reduced latency for real-time applications and providing a reliable backbone for mobile and internet connectivity. 

“Closing sub-Saharan Africa’s connectivity gap is no longer a pipe dream – it is happening now and we are extremely proud to be among the key enablers that are driving digital inclusion,” said Yannick Sukakumu, General Manager Raxio DRC. “The commitment and pragmatism of the government has been a key enabling factor in spurring our project from inception to completion in record time and stands as an inspiration for the wider region in grasping this incredible opportunity for a broad-based digital economy expansion. We are looking forward to welcoming customers into an international-standard data centre environment.”

Raxio Group is Africa’s leading carrier-neutral Tier III data centre operator. We are dedicated to delivering world-class co-location and connectivity services with a commitment to supporting Africa's digital transformation through the provision of state-of-the-art efficient, reliable and sustainable data infrastructure solutions that support and catalyse economic growth and digital inclusion across the continent. Raxio Group now has operational facilities in Uganda, Ethiopia Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and will soon be operational in Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and Angola. We are constantly expanding our footprint and are on track to build several new facilities over the coming years, establishing a network of interconnected data centres servicing the active and latent demand across the African continent.

Journalists across Africa have been urged to re-strategise and embark on an in-depth and objective reporting on environmental and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues currently affecting the continent.

During a media engagement and training meeting held in Zambia, on promoting environmental and SRHR rights and justice, stakeholders recognized the critical role that journalists play in creating awareness and influencing public conversation and policies.  

Among the key issues discussed was the increased environmental and SRHR challenges and crisis that Africa is currently facing.
In recent years, Africa has been experiencing profound challenges including shifting weather patterns, rising temperatures, and frequent extreme events like floods and droughts, all of which are threatening the environment, livelihoods, socio-economic stability, and health risks particularly reproductive health.

Critical among the challenges identified was also the nexus between SRHR and environmental and climate change.
“We want to understand the connection between SRHR and environment because the two are greatly connected. We hope that by the end of this workshop we will be able to connect the both and report on the same,” emphasized Lester Lozari Phiri, SRHR Expert in Zambia. 

Climate change has direct implications for SRHR. According to the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA), increase in air pollution and rising temperatures worsen maternal and neonatal health outcomes. For instance, an increase of one degree Celsius in the week before delivery corresponds to a six per cent greater likelihood of stillbirth.

Increase in poverty and food insecurity caused by loss of lives as a result of climate change is also having a significant impact on maternal health. This is because reduced yields affect the availability of highly nutritious foods which in turn results in poor nutrient take which is essential for mothers.

More notably, climate-related emergencies can severely disrupt access to supply network for essential commodities such as contraceptives and health services. The two-day conference, organized by Hivos, brought together journalists from Southern and Eastern Africa also emphasized on the need for journalists to learn and understand the science behind the environment and climate change, conservation measures, and SRHR. 

“We need to interpret and make it simple for our audience to understand these issues. We need to analyze them and understand that our opinions also matter,” said Roberta Mchangwe. Lecturer Media and Communications Studies at the University of Zambia. By Cynthia Atuo, People Daily