🇰🇪Week of October 26

Rights groups have gone to court over political violence ahead of the 2027 General Election, suing Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, National Intelligence Service director general Noordin Haji and Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja. A report on the same day warned that Kenya's democratic backsliding is deepening ahead of the 2027 vote.123

The report counted 284 incidents and 46 deaths as warning signs of poll violence, according to the Daily Nation. The Star reported that the study warns of deepening democratic backsliding before the 2027 General Election.14

Kenyans have been arrested in connection with a $130m ghost student scam in the United States, in which fake enrolments and stolen identities were used to obtain student aid. The US Justice Department uncovered the scheme, which also involved Kenyan networks, and the figure has been put at as much as $200m in some accounts.123

Investigators flagged hundreds of thousands of suspicious accounts potentially tied to the student aid, and the crackdown targets Kenyans and Nairobi. The US has praised Kenya for its role in the investigation.45

Attributed claim: Accounts differ on the scale of the losses: the BBC reports a $130m scam, while Business Insider Africa describes a $200m student-aid scam uncovered by the US Justice Department. Both describe the same mechanism of fake enrolments, stolen identities and Kenyan networks.12

A Kenyan court has given Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Directorate of Criminal Investigations head Amin Mohamed three days to produce Tanzanian activist Twaha Mwaipaya, whose reported abduction in Machakos is under scrutiny. The order was issued as the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights pressed the authorities for answers about the disappearance.12

The KNCHR demanded answers over the reported abduction in Machakos, and rights lobbies called for the activist's release. The lobby groups linked the disappearance of Mwaipaya to an abduction squad.234

The case has raised concern about Kenya's standing as a place of refuge for dissidents, with cross-border abductions described as a threat to that status.5

Rights groups publicly demanded answers after the reported abduction of the Tanzanian activist in Kenya, keeping pressure on the police leadership named in the court order.64

Kenya Railways has launched a special SGR train service carrying cars from Mombasa to Nairobi, aimed at car dealers moving vehicles inland. The service runs on the standard gauge railway between the port city and the capital.123

Shipping firm CMA CGM introduced a dedicated weekly block train for imports, running 108 TEU from Mombasa port to the Nairobi-Embakasi depot. The company described the service as strengthening its presence in East Africa.456

The rail freight push is presented as a way to expand cargo volumes moved by train rather than road between Kenya's main port and its largest city. Kenya Railways is marketing the car-carrying service directly to vehicle dealers.37

Safaricom dismissed 118 employees over fraud and sent 14 of the cases to the police. The company also recovered $7.3 million in funds tied to the fraud.1234

The dismissals came even as fraud incidents at the company fell 82 percent. The crackdown covers Safaricom's operations, including its M-Pesa mobile money service, which the company says it is working to keep secure.156

M-Pesa active users reached 41.7 million. Separately, Safaricom's sustainability efforts were credited with creating Sh1.25 trillion in societal value.78