Kenyan Newspapers Review For August 29: Fresh Headache For Kenyans In Worldcoin Crypto Project

On Tuesday, August 29, the daily newspapers reported on the controversial activities of Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project, in Kenya.

The papers also reported that all eyes will be on the Senate today, Tuesday, August 29 as the lawmakers reconvene for a session that is meant to formally establish the 10-member National Dialogue Committee.

1. The Standard

The newspaper reports that Kenyans who scanned their irises for KSh 7,000 may have a reason to worry as fresh details filed before the High Court indicate that the firms behind the exercise are not registered as data controllers or processors.

The case filed before Justice Jairus Ngaah now raises questions about how the government let Kenyans scan their irises as the fine print of the agreement that Worldcoin had for Kenyans' data is rather an atomic bomb.

One of the curious but shocking revelations before the court is that by Kenyans agreeing to have their irises scanned, they signed an agreement that in case of a dispute, they can only pursue the firms behind the project outside Kenya.

"Worldcoin has no appropriate safeguards and does not offer enforceable data subject rights or effective legal remedies. The privacy policy subjects all disputes to arbitration out of Kenya. Worse, Tools for Humanity's privacy notice as of today does not show that they collect biometric data through the Orb," court documents read in part.

2. Daily Nation

According to the daily, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi recalled the House last week for a special sitting to consider a motion to establish the team that is tasked with finding a political settlement following a hotly contested 2022 elections.

This is after the National Assembly two weeks ago approved a similar motion to provide legal backing to the bipartisan team.

This comes against the backdrop of enhanced political posturing between the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance and the opposition outfit Azimio La Umoja One Kenyan Coalition Party.

The approval of the motion by both Houses of Parliament would grant legal support, enabling the MPs to authorise any legislative or constitutional interventions suggested by the negotiating team.

3. Taifa Leo

In this paper, former Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya has accused the Kenya Kwanza administration of using graft allegations to get him to switch his political allegiance from Opposition leader Raila Odinga to President William Ruto.

Oparanya claimed the government asked him to abandon Raila during last week's raids by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officials and help President Ruto market himself in the Western Kenya region ahead of the 2027 polls.

EACC raided Oparanya's homes in Nairobi and Kakamega over alleged mismanagement of KSh 1.3 billion when he was the Kakamega county boss.

"No amount of intimidation will make me abandon my loyalty to Raila Odinga," Oparanya said.

4. People Daily

The publication reports that three days after the nationwide power outage, the government is still grappling with a blackout, which caused significant shocks to the economy.

Despite the widespread impact, the government is yet to definitely ascertain what triggered the massive blackout, with Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum Davis Chirchir saying the ministry is turning to data analysis to pinpoint the exact cause of the crisis.

Chirchir insisted that an imbalance in the power system was triggered by the loss of the Turkana wind plant, which was generating 250MW. This imbalance led to a tripping of major generation units and stations, culminating in a complete blackout across the grid.

"Our technical teams are analysing the time stamps, the system logs to look at what happened exactly because these logs are captured in mini seconds. Every activity is captured," Chirchir explained.

5. The Star

The newspaper reports that state officials are constantly ignoring warning signs on flood disasters leading to deaths and injuries and destruction of property that would have otherwise been saved, an audit report shows.

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu said that government's response is haphazard and poorly coordinated.

"Consequently, floods led to loss of lives and property in the affected areas which would have been affected if action had been taken following early warnings," he report says in part.

The auditor attributed the lack of action on the warnings to lack of a framework for 'early warnings to lack of a framework for 'early warning early action' in the country.