WOZAA!

Missed your KUCCPS slot? The door just reopened

If you missed placement or your institution still has room, there's new movement this month: KUCCPS has reopened applications for the September 2026 intake, and KMTC confirmed reopened applications for select certificate and diploma programmes with available vacancies. Government has also extended the application window for university and TVET funding.

Worth checking even if you assumed you'd missed it — apply directly through the official KUCCPS portal rather than waiting to hear about it secondhand.

Sources: Pulse Kenya, Eastleigh Voice

Mobile money is now Kenya's #1 fraud channel

A government cybercrime review (NC4, presented by Interior PS Raymond Omollo) found mobile money was used as the payment method or destination in 51 of 102 reported computer fraud cases between February and July this year — half the total. On its own, direct mobile money fraud was the single largest scheme, at 18.6% of all cases, ahead of investment/forex scams and crypto schemes.

Cases rose sharply from May onward — July alone logged the highest monthly count in the six-month review.

The practical takeaway: treat any request for your M-Pesa PIN outside the M-Pesa app itself as a red flag, no matter who appears to be asking.

Source: NC4 report via Eastleigh Voice, Kenyans.co.ke, KBC

What you're actually paying at the pump this cycle

EPRA's current pricing cycle (15 August–14 September) has Super Petrol at KSh 214.03 per litre in Nairobi, Diesel at KSh 222.86, and Kerosene at KSh 191.38 — with diesel down roughly 2.2% from last cycle across major towns. If you're budgeting for a boda, matatu fare, or a delivery hustle, diesel easing slightly is the one small piece of good news this month.

Source: EPRA official pump price index

What SHIF actually takes out of your pay

SHIF, the fund that replaced NHIF, charges 2.75% of gross monthly pay with a KSh300 minimum and no upper cap — mandatory if you're formally employed, voluntary (but strongly encouraged) if you're not. For someone earning KSh50,000 a month, that's about KSh1,375 deducted, versus the old NHIF flat rate of roughly KSh500 for the same earner — a real jump for mid-level earners, not a rounding error.

If you're informally employed or self-employed, registering with SHA is what makes you eligible for outpatient and inpatient cover if you ever need a hospital bed — worth doing before you need it, not after.

Source: SHA/SHIF public guidance, cross-checked via multiple 2026 payroll guides

Kenya lost its top spot for startup funding — but a deadline is still open

Kenyan startups raised $126 million in the first half of 2026, a 4% dip that knocked Kenya from Africa's top VC destination (a title it held in 2025) down to third, behind Egypt and Nigeria, according to Africa: The Big Deal and AVCA data. It's a real slowdown, and investors say capital is increasingly going only to startups that can already show a path to profit.

That's discouraging if you're bootstrapping, but grant money hasn't vanished: the Jasiri Talent Investor Cohort 9, open to food-systems entrepreneurs in Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia, closes applications on September 30 — one concrete door still open this month if that's your lane.

Sources: Eastleigh Voice, Business Daily, FundsforNGOs