Top news items in major Kenyan media outlets

The following are news highlights in Kenya's media outlets on Friday.

-- The Kenyan government wants to be allowed to listen to citizen's calls, read texts and review mobile money transactions starting next Tuesday. The government, through the Communications Authority of Kenya, has ordered mobile phone companies to allow it to tap their computers through a third-party company contracted by the agency.

Though the reason given for the tapping is tracking counterfeit devices, the minute it starts, 40 million Kenyans will lose their privacy. (Daily Nation)

-- A new report on public universities has revealed shocking levels of academic theft in some institutions. The universities audit report released Thursday detailed how students and institutions conspire to go round the set standards of quality. (The Standard)

-- Kenya's savings and credit co-operatives are operating without effective accounting and control systems, putting billions of savers' funds at risk, the Financial Sector Development Trust has warned. (Business Daily)

-- Ruling Jubilee Party identified 13 swing-vote counties it believes will help it win the election on August 8. Strategy documents show the party has also established 17 counties as core Jubilee zones, and the remaining 17 as Opposition zones as it works on plan to ensure President Uhuru Kenyatta is re-elected. (The Star)

-- Uncertainty over adherence to the August 8 general election date by the electoral commission loomed larger when the High Court Thursday again extended the mass voter registration by another three days and allowed continuous registration at the constituency level. (People Daily) Endit