Fica News · Kenya and East Africa news, China

A brightly painted roadside shop with an M-Pesa sign in Iten, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya (file photo, 2023).

Leaving Kenya for months: will my number and M-Pesa be recycled, and how do I keep them?

A Kenyan line can be recycled only after three months with no calls, SMS, data or top-ups and three more months of notices, and using it once stops the process, under Communications Authority rules in force since 19 September 2026. M-Pesa is separate: Safaricom's terms provide for an account to be suspended once its SIM has been inactive for 90 days, TechTrendsKE reported.

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📍 Fica on the groundReported in person by Fica News.

The World Boxing Africa Elite Championships at the Kasarani Indoor Arena, Nairobi, 19 October 2026.

Sports 4d ago

Kenya's boxers win seven straight, then lose two, at World Boxing Africa Elite Championships in Nairobi

Kenya's boxers had won seven bouts in a row at the World Boxing Africa Elite Championships in Nairobi by the time the Fica News reporter left the Kasarani Indoor Arena on 19 October; the two Kenyans who fought later that day both lost 3-2.

📅 This week in Kenya All events →

Kenya International Theatre Festival (KITFest) 2026
Theatre & dance · Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi
My Son, My Sin (KITFest)
Theatre & dance · Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi
The Masks (KITFest, South Africa)
Theatre & dance · Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi
Octopus Garden (Jardin de Pulpos) (KITFest, Venezuela)
Theatre & dance · Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi
Polish Heritage in Motion (KITFest)
Festival · Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi
Musical Maasai Market at The Junction Mall (Thursdays)
Market & food · The Junction Mall (3rd-floor parking), Nairobi

Kenya More →

1d ago

Kenya asks Saudi Arabia to review its Ebola ban on visas and arrivals from Kenya

Kenya's foreign ministry told Riyadh in a note dated 30 October that the ban on anyone who was in Kenya in the past 21 days is disproportionate, The Star reported on 31 October.

7h ago

US charges five, seizes US$750,000 in 'ghost student' aid fraud linked to Kenya

1d ago

IOM says about 50,000 people fleeing Ethiopia have reached Moyale, Kenya; aid planned for up to 80,000

2d ago

Nairobi's Eastleigh building collapse: woman's body recovered on day eight of search

China–Africa More →

A winding highway with a wide view over the Rift Valley plateau in central Kenya (file photo, 2013; not the Rironi–Mau Summit road).

7h ago

Kenyan Rironi–Naivasha road section built by China Road and Bridge Corporation: opening slips from the end of October to December

Roads and Transport CS Davis Chirchir has moved the opening of the Rironi–Naivasha section of the Rironi–Mau Summit road, built by China Road and Bridge Corporation, from the end of October to December 2026, the Daily Nation reported on 31 October. Chirchir has blamed a shortage of bitumen for delays on the road.

The skyline of central Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at dawn (file photo; not from the workshop).

20h ago

Kenya among Horn of Africa countries invited to Chengdu think-tank workshop with Xinjiang visit

A reception in Nairobi marking the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, 30 September 2026 (file photo).

1d ago

Kenya's Turkana governor thanks China for zero tariffs in meeting with Chinese Ambassador Guo Haiyan

Olkaria V Geothermal Power Station in Hell's Gate National Park, Kenya, in the same geothermal field as Olkaria I (file photo, 2019; not the plant in this story).

3d ago

SEPCOIII upgrades KenGen's Olkaria I geothermal plant in Kenya from 45 MW to 63 MW

Business More →

Office towers and a telecom mast on the Nairobi skyline (file photo).

2d ago

Airtel Kenya buys 100 MHz of 3500 MHz spectrum for US$65m; parent's profit up 20.5%

Airtel Kenya bought 100 MHz of spectrum for US$65 million on a 25-year term, and group profit after tax rose to US$452 million in the six months to 30 September, its parent Airtel Africa said on 30 October 2026.

A dual carriageway with streetlights and traffic heading into a Kenyan town (file photo, 2022).

3d ago

Kenya roads department says KSh 208.6 billion disbursed through securitisation

Cars and a heavily loaded lorry on Old Mombasa Road, Embakasi South, Nairobi, at dusk (file photo, 2023).

4d ago

Kenya: KRA says consolidators must declare importer PIN, ID and item values

4d ago

Banks in Kenya begin charging 16% VAT on digital payment fees; the Finance Act provision has been in force since 1 July

Tech More →

An M-Pesa mobile money agent in Nairobi, Kenya (file photo, 2016).

26 Oct 2026

KCB M-Pesa maintenance in Kenya runs past its 25 October deadline; bank gives no restoration time

KCB said on 25 October that KCB M-Pesa maintenance due to end at 6am that day was still underway and gave no time for the service to return, The Kenya Times reported on 25 October.

4d ago

Do Kenyan traders paid by M-Pesa till or Pochi have to issue KRA eTIMS invoices?

6d ago

Airtel Money half-year revenue rises 34% to US$830m; East Africa region, which includes Kenya, brings in US$615m

Aerial view of central Libreville, the capital of Gabon, at night (file photo, December 2024).

25 Oct 2026

Gabon's media regulator lifts social media suspension in force since 17 February

Culture More →

Installation view of Sanaa Gateja's earlier solo show "Radical Care" at Afriart Gallery, Kampala, 2022 (file photo, not from the current exhibition).

6d ago

Uganda's 'Bead King' Sanaa Gateja shows paper-bead tapestries in Kampala until 21 November

Sanaa Gateja's solo show 'They Too Are the Earth' opened on 19 September at Afriart Gallery in Kampala and runs until 21 November, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm.

3d ago

Tingatinga lion painting sells for KSh 7.63 million at Nairobi auction; 61 of 68 lots sold

6d ago

Art Auction East Africa offers 68 lots at Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi on 28 October

The collective EA Wave performing at Nyege Nyege Festival in Jinja, Uganda (file photo, 2016; not from this year's edition).

26 Oct 2026

Nyege Nyege Festival runs 19–22 November at Kalagala Falls, Uganda; buyers in Kenya can use Tag Ticketing Kenya

Africa More →

The skyline of central Kigali, Rwanda (file photo, 2025).

6d ago

Rwanda makes its mines and petroleum board independent of RDB again

Rwanda's Cabinet approved a new structure on 26 October that lets the Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board operate as an independent institution, Rwanda's The New Times newspaper and the Rwandan news site KT Press reported.

The terminal of Entebbe International Airport, Uganda (file photo, 2025).

26 Oct 2026

Uganda says citizens returning from DRC must pay for 21-day quarantine

25 Oct 2026

Uganda discharges 60 contacts of Kenya's first Ebola case after 21-day monitoring

23 Oct 2026

First Ebola patients in Kenya and Nigeria may have crossed paths at Entebbe airport on 3 October

Sports More →

Scotland play England at the Kabaddi World Cup in England on 22 March 2025 (file photo; not from the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship).

3d ago

Kenya's kabaddi men and women lose Commonwealth Championship semi-finals on 30 October; both had won every group match

Kenya's women lost 23-21 to Uganda and the men lost 28-24 to Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship semi-finals in Ahmedabad on 30 October; both teams had won all their Group B matches, the men finishing with a 76-27 win over Australia on 29 October.

3d ago

Kenya's Junior Starlets lose 3-1 to Japan in U-17 World Cup last 16 in Rabat

3d ago

Kenya's U15 boys lose 25th-place match 3-1 to Korea Republic in Baku

The Hovsan Competition Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan, venue of the FIFA U-15 Youth World Cup & Festival, photographed on 8 October, before the event (file photo).

4d ago

Kenya's U15 boys beat Bulgaria 3-2 and Algeria 4-3 in Baku; Korea Republic next

Chinese-in-Africa More →

Apartment blocks and the skyline of Kilimani, Nairobi (file photo, 2023).

6d ago

Three Chinese nationals held hostage and robbed at Kilimani construction site in Nairobi

Three Chinese nationals were held hostage and robbed at a construction site in Kilimani, Nairobi, on the night of 25 October, and police are investigating, Nairobi News reported on 27 October.

Nairobi's skyline beyond tree-covered neighbourhoods, seen from Kilimani (file photo, December 2022). It does not show the scene of the incident.

14 Oct 2026

Chinese man, Vietnamese woman found dead with suspected gunshot wounds in Nairobi flat

10 Oct 2026

Kenya Wildlife Service and Chinese youth group hold wildlife photo show in Nairobi

9 Oct 2026

Chinese Embassy in Kenya tells citizens to avoid Ebola-affected areas

Travel More →

Boats and a ferry moored in the harbour off Mizingani Road, Zanzibar (file photo, 2025).

6d ago

Zanzibar from Kenya: US$44 insurance, US$90 return air fee, cheapest one-way fare about KSh 40,000

Foreign visitors to Zanzibar pay US$44 for compulsory insurance and US$90 in a return-ticket air levy, and airlines have raised fares by up to 20%, Business Daily reported on 26 October.

4d ago

Kenyans pay KSh 3,000 for a single-entry China visa; reduced fees run to 31 December 2026

5d ago

Kenyan visa applicants: false papers can mean a 1–5 year China ban

6d ago

US-bound passengers, including from Nairobi, must sign Ebola declaration from 3 November

Science More →

A female Aedes aegypti mosquito, the main carrier of dengue virus, feeding on a hand (file photo, 2006; not taken in Kenya).

3d ago

Kenya's KEMRI becomes first African institutional member of the Dengue Alliance

The Kenya Medical Research Institute's membership of the dengue treatment research group, the first for an African institution, was announced at the group's 27 October meeting in Kuala Lumpur, KEMRI said.

2d ago

Do travel bans like Saudi Arabia's on Kenya stop Ebola from spreading?

A volunteer is inoculated on the opening day of PREVAC, a Phase 2 Ebola vaccine trial, in Monrovia, Liberia, 3 April 2017 (file photo; not from the Tumaini trial in Congo).

5d ago

Does the Ebola vaccine being tested in DR Congo protect against the strain in Kenya?

Dusk over Lake Victoria from the shore of Rusinga Island, Homa Bay County (file photo, 2025).

6d ago

Why Kenya's Lake Victoria region gets so much lightning, and what officials advise

Education More →

School buildings in the foreground with the Nairobi skyline behind (file photo, 2022).

3d ago

Kenya: no date for 2026 KJSEA results or Grade 10 placement; 2025 results came 11 December

The Ministry of Education and KNEC had announced no date for 2026 KJSEA results or Grade 10 placement as of 30 October; last year's cycle ran from results on 11 December 2025 to reporting day on 12 January 2026.

6d ago

Kenya's KCSE 2026: main papers 2–20 November, 1,048,355 candidates, phones banned

A tree-lined path on the campus of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Juja, Kiambu County (file photo, 2025).

6d ago

Ruto pledges no Kenyan university, TVET or KMTC student sent home over fees from January

26 Oct 2026

Kenya exams: KUPPET keeps boycott threat, seeks KSh 4,000 a day for exam officials; KPSEA and KJSEA began on 26 October

Latest news

Kenya 3d ago

Kenya says 46 Ebola contacts go home on 3 November; releases expected to end by 11 November

Yellow-barked fever trees near Lake Naivasha, Nakuru County (file photo, 2023).

Kenya 3d ago

Kenya to review public comments on draft environment policy in Naivasha, 2–7 November

Plastic and other rubbish washed into a mangrove creek in the Lamu archipelago (file photo, June).

Kenya 4d ago

Kenya circular economy strategy launch scheduled for 3 November; draft targets 30% plastic recycling by 2032

Kenya 4d ago

Kenya: Eastleigh building collapse search nearly 80% complete; spots where life was detected may be out of reach, official says

Ship-to-shore cranes and a container ship at Lamu Port, Kenya (file photo, 2026).

China–Africa 5d ago

Maersk sets peak season surcharge on China–Kenya cargo at US$1,000 per 20-foot container from 9 November

Business 5d ago

Kenyan government spending runs KSh 154 billion over target by end-August, Treasury draft shows; budget statement due in Parliament by 16 November

Freight containers lined up along Mombasa Road, Kenya (file photo, 2023).

Business 5d ago

Kenya to block imports without local marine cargo insurance from 1 November, KRA says

A straight gravel track across the flat desert near North Horr, Marsabit County, northern Kenya (file photo, December 2022; not from Moyale or from this event).

Kenya 5d ago

Fica News · Kenya and East Africa news, China–Africa

Leaving Kenya for months: will my number and M-Pesa be recycled, and how do I keep them?

📍 Fica on the groundReported in person by Fica News.

Kenya's boxers win seven straight, then lose two, at World Boxing Africa Elite Championships in Nairobi

Kenya asks Saudi Arabia to review its Ebola ban on visas and arrivals from Kenya

US charges five, seizes US$750,000 in 'ghost student' aid fraud linked to Kenya

IOM says about 50,000 people fleeing Ethiopia have reached Moyale, Kenya; aid planned for up to 80,000

Nairobi's Eastleigh building collapse: woman's body recovered on day eight of search

Kenyan Rironi–Naivasha road section built by China Road and Bridge Corporation: opening slips from the end of October to December

Kenya among Horn of Africa countries invited to Chengdu think-tank workshop with Xinjiang visit

Kenya's Turkana governor thanks China for zero tariffs in meeting with Chinese Ambassador Guo Haiyan

SEPCOIII upgrades KenGen's Olkaria I geothermal plant in Kenya from 45 MW to 63 MW

Airtel Kenya buys 100 MHz of 3500 MHz spectrum for US$65m; parent's profit up 20.5%

Kenya roads department says KSh 208.6 billion disbursed through securitisation

Kenya: KRA says consolidators must declare importer PIN, ID and item values

Banks in Kenya begin charging 16% VAT on digital payment fees; the Finance Act provision has been in force since 1 July

KCB M-Pesa maintenance in Kenya runs past its 25 October deadline; bank gives no restoration time

Do Kenyan traders paid by M-Pesa till or Pochi have to issue KRA eTIMS invoices?

Airtel Money half-year revenue rises 34% to US$830m; East Africa region, which includes Kenya, brings in US$615m

Gabon's media regulator lifts social media suspension in force since 17 February

Uganda's 'Bead King' Sanaa Gateja shows paper-bead tapestries in Kampala until 21 November

Tingatinga lion painting sells for KSh 7.63 million at Nairobi auction; 61 of 68 lots sold

Art Auction East Africa offers 68 lots at Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi on 28 October

Nyege Nyege Festival runs 19–22 November at Kalagala Falls, Uganda; buyers in Kenya can use Tag Ticketing Kenya

Rwanda makes its mines and petroleum board independent of RDB again

Uganda says citizens returning from DRC must pay for 21-day quarantine

Uganda discharges 60 contacts of Kenya's first Ebola case after 21-day monitoring

First Ebola patients in Kenya and Nigeria may have crossed paths at Entebbe airport on 3 October

Kenya's kabaddi men and women lose Commonwealth Championship semi-finals on 30 October; both had won every group match

Kenya's Junior Starlets lose 3-1 to Japan in U-17 World Cup last 16 in Rabat

Kenya's U15 boys lose 25th-place match 3-1 to Korea Republic in Baku

Kenya's U15 boys beat Bulgaria 3-2 and Algeria 4-3 in Baku; Korea Republic next

Three Chinese nationals held hostage and robbed at Kilimani construction site in Nairobi

Chinese man, Vietnamese woman found dead with suspected gunshot wounds in Nairobi flat

Kenya Wildlife Service and Chinese youth group hold wildlife photo show in Nairobi

Chinese Embassy in Kenya tells citizens to avoid Ebola-affected areas

Zanzibar from Kenya: US$44 insurance, US$90 return air fee, cheapest one-way fare about KSh 40,000

Kenyans pay KSh 3,000 for a single-entry China visa; reduced fees run to 31 December 2026

Kenyan visa applicants: false papers can mean a 1–5 year China ban

US-bound passengers, including from Nairobi, must sign Ebola declaration from 3 November

Kenya's KEMRI becomes first African institutional member of the Dengue Alliance

Do travel bans like Saudi Arabia's on Kenya stop Ebola from spreading?

Does the Ebola vaccine being tested in DR Congo protect against the strain in Kenya?

Why Kenya's Lake Victoria region gets so much lightning, and what officials advise

Kenya: no date for 2026 KJSEA results or Grade 10 placement; 2025 results came 11 December

Kenya's KCSE 2026: main papers 2–20 November, 1,048,355 candidates, phones banned

Ruto pledges no Kenyan university, TVET or KMTC student sent home over fees from January

Kenya exams: KUPPET keeps boycott threat, seeks KSh 4,000 a day for exam officials; KPSEA and KJSEA began on 26 October

Latest news

Kenya says 46 Ebola contacts go home on 3 November; releases expected to end by 11 November

Kenya to review public comments on draft environment policy in Naivasha, 2–7 November

Kenya circular economy strategy launch scheduled for 3 November; draft targets 30% plastic recycling by 2032

Kenya: Eastleigh building collapse search nearly 80% complete; spots where life was detected may be out of reach, official says

Maersk sets peak season surcharge on China–Kenya cargo at US$1,000 per 20-foot container from 9 November

Kenyan government spending runs KSh 154 billion over target by end-August, Treasury draft shows; budget statement due in Parliament by 16 November

Kenya to block imports without local marine cargo insurance from 1 November, KRA says

Kenyan rights body says about 40,000 fleeing Ethiopia unrest have reached Moyale, calls for urgent aid

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