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February 3, 2025: Top news events to look out for today

February 3, 2025: Top news events to look out for today
Supreme Court Building in Nairobi. PHOTO/Charles Mathai

Here is what you need to know to get up to speed with today’s happenings.

Business Registry data breach

Investigations into the potential hacking of the business registry of Kenya are expected to continue today following a suspected data breach on the Kenya Business Registration Service (BRS) on the night of January 31, 2025.

In a statement on Sunday, February 2, 2025, BRS Director-General Kenneth Gathuma indicated that the service had launched a probe into the matter and had equally notified all relevant authorities to look into the suspected breach of the systems.

A statement from the business registration service. PHOTO/@BRS_Kenya/X
A statement from the business registration service. PHOTO/@BRS_Kenya/X

“The Business Registration Service (BRS) is aware of reports regarding a potential data breach affecting the company registry’s information. Upon receiving this information, we immediately activated our Incident Response Plan, launched a comprehensive investigation, and notified the relevant regulatory authorities,” Gathuma stated.

Gathuma observed that they were still verifying the extent and nature of the breach and that the service would provide a detailed outlook once the investigations were complete.

“We want to assure all stakeholders that the security and integrity of the company registry remain our top priority. As a precautionary measure, we have strengthened our security protocols to safeguard our systems and prevent future incidents,” he assured.

Supreme Court to rule on IEBC boundaries Delimitation

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether the IEBC secretariat can proceed with a delimitation of boundaries exercise despite its lack of commissioners.

IEBC selection panel members were sworn into office in January 2025 to begin the process of recruiting commissioners and the commission’s chairperson.

Chief Justice Martha Koome. PHOTO/@CJMarthaKoome/X
Chief Justice Martha Koome. PHOTO/@CJMarthaKoome/X

With the constitutional deadline of delimiting boundaries having lapsed on March 6, 2024, the apex court will be expected to provide clarification on whether IEBC can still review the boundaries of wards and constituencies for the upcoming General Election of 2027.

The last boundaries review was conducted in 2012 and the quota for the minimum population set for constituencies was 72,000 people. In the new review, the number has been set at 164,000, with urban areas given a 40 per cent allowance to have more while rural areas can have 40 per cent less.

Reactions after probe is launched on petrol quality

Reactions are expected after Vivo Energy launched investigations following concerns over the quality of petrol across fuel stations in Nairobi.

In a statement on Sunday, January 2, 2025, the energy-distributing company informed its customers that it had also called for independent testing of its product following a viral video that raised concerns over Shell V-Power quality.

This was after a video published by content creator Tanuki Garage (Testing Petrol Quality in Kenya), who tested fuel quality at various Nairobi petrol stations, went viral on various social media platforms.

“We take these claims seriously and have initiated a comprehensive investigation, including independent laboratory testing. We will provide further updates once our review is complete,” the statement read in part.

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