Stanbic H1 profit Sh6.6bn, Kitui fraud arrest, ChatGPT free chats

EACC has arrested Kitui County Chief Officer Gladys Mami Kivoto and five company directors over alleged conflict of interest and procurement irregularities in Sh17.48 million county contracts. The suspects are accused of directing work to firms connected to officials, a familiar pattern in county procurement fraud. County suppliers and staff now face more scrutiny as EACC presses its anti-corruption drive into devolved units, and Kitui taxpayers are left holding the cost either way.

Stanbic Holdings' H1 net profit rose to Sh6.6bn as customer loans grew 24 per cent to Sh290bn, with the bank lending more to businesses and key sectors. The numbers show corporate credit demand in Kenya is still strong even as household budgets tighten. For companies hunting finance, the growing loan book is a signal that banks are willing to lend, though rates remain the deciding factor. Stanbic joins NCBA in reporting a strong first half this week.

Three Kenyans, Francis Asanyo, Peter Omari and Elvis Obaigwa, are to be extradited to the US to face charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The three are wanted under US law for alleged hacking operations. The case shows Kenyan cybercrime suspects are now being pursued by American prosecutors, not just local police. For Kenyan firms, it is a reminder that insider access and hiring decisions carry cross-border legal weight, and that scrutiny of local cyber talent keeps growing.

Senators are probing KUSCCO, the umbrella body for savings and credit cooperatives, over governance and oversight failures after major financial irregularities went undetected. Lawmakers questioned how the problems slipped past the Commissioner's office despite it being represented on KUSCCO's board. For the millions of Kenyans whose savings sit in saccos, the hearing asks whether the regulator was doing its job. Expect pressure for tighter cooperative supervision and, possibly, changes at the top of KUSCCO.

Peach Cars has secured Sh517.6mn in financing from Japan Finance Corporation and Shoko Chukin Bank, adding to the Sh1.42bn Series A it raised in June 2025, one of the largest in Africa's mobility sector. The Kenyan car marketplace will use the funds to expand. For buyers, the backing means more structured supply and inspection-backed sales in a market that mostly runs on informal trade. For competitors, it shows international capital is betting on platforms that professionalise car buying in Kenya.

OpenAI is lifting rate limits on ChatGPT's free and Go tiers: from next week, users get unlimited text chats, plus a new think button for complex queries. The move removes the nudge that pushed heavy users onto paid plans. For anyone building on or competing with ChatGPT, the practical effect is more free usage, more load on OpenAI's infrastructure, and a harder sell for the basic paid tier. Free-tier quality caps will stay, but the signal is clear: OpenAI is commoditising basic chat to keep users inside its ecosystem.

Connor Moucka has pleaded guilty to hacking more than 165 Snowflake customers and stealing their data in the campaign that also hit Ticketmaster, AT&T and other major firms. The breaches netted him and an accomplice more than $2.5mn in ransom payments. The plea closes one of the biggest cloud data theft cases on record. For companies, the takeaway is cheap and unchanged: the attacks started with stolen credentials, so enforce MFA everywhere, rotate keys, and assume the vendor's perimeter is not your perimeter.