The ongoing cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto and Journalist Joshua Arap Sang at the International Criminal Courts (ICC) has damaged Kenya's local and international reputation, Foreign Affairs Cabinet secretary Amina Mohamed has said. Speaking yesterday at press-briefing at her office, Amina said having the three Kenyans before the court was not good for the country as it was destructive to Kenya's reform and development agenda. However she was quick to deny that the cases had eroded relationship between Kenya-especially some Western countries. "It is true...
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ICC cases 'bad for Kenya'
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Balancing Act Over Minerals
IT is probably one of the most unfortunate revelation to be made by a local newspaper this year. That Turkana residents were paid by local politicians to storm into Tullow Oil blocks late October last year. Tullow was forced to suspend operations at the two blocks for a few days. The revelation only confirms existing fears that the protests were not called to fight for the rights of the locals but for the interest of the moneyed politicians. Such an action must not be tolerated. The government needs to investigate the claims and necessary action taken against those found culpable. The guns...
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Open Qorner demystifies life and death
Tazim Elkington is a motivational speaker credited with motivating, stimulating and encouraging many groups and individuals in society today with her unconventional strategies to living a more fun filled and rewarding life. Last Wednesday at the Tribe Hotel in Nairobi, Elkington held her Open Qorner session. The night's talk was on death and how do you deal with the loss of your loved one? Can we escape death? Is it possible to overcome the death of loved ones? Are we able to accept that this is an inherent part of life? As the session came to an end, it was evident that there had been a...
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The burden of witchcraft in African villages
“‘I have smelled a rat’, Gwako firmly made his announcement in his croaked voice before a gathered crowd of villagers outside the house of Senta’s parents. ‘Senta will be alright, but the evil and ruthless spirits have half-broken the eye of Mayenga as I speak.’” This truncate is lifted from Jaspher Rori’s new novel, The Eye of Mayenga, 2013 (Nsemia Publishers). The novel is set in a fictionalised underdeveloped African village. Mayenga has a beautiful landscape crisscrossed with streams, reeds, rocks, lush bushes and hills on which young boys skate on banana groves. But it is a ‘sleepy’...
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Taveta government to desilt Kishenyi dam
Taita Taveta County government has moved in to save the Kishenyi dam in Wundanyi constituency which is under threat of extinction following continued encroached by farmers. The dam which serves a population of more than 30,000 people has reduced its water levels drastically following continued encroachment by farmers cultivating around it. Governor John Mruttu on Thursday last week held a meeting at the dam and assured the residents that the dam will be de-silted by the County government. The governor said that surveyors will visit the dam to mark the boundary with local farmers before...
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Mob steals evidence from Ngong thief
Ngong town residents yesterday morning beat up a man suspected to have stolen money from an M-Pesa outlet. The man was beaten senseless and undressed in public. He is alleged to have walked into Avenda Beauty World M-Pesa shop and left with more than Sh50,000 in cash and two phones worth Sh60,000. A middle-aged woman who was manning the shop had left to draw water from a tap behind the business premises only find the man leaving with the loot. “He slapped me on the face as he took off but I alerted members of public who caught up with him,” the woman, who did not want to be named, told...
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Creation Of Jobs Is The Real Challenge
If you are not one of the reported “thousands” of Kenyans who took loans or put down all their savings, in order to get into the “quail breeding” business in 2013, then you must have found the recent revelations terribly amusing. For how really is it possible that so many people were firmly convinced that if they would only get a few dozen quail eggs; let them hatch; and begin to breed the exotic birds in much the same way that many others breed chickens; they would soon become seriously rich? (Reports had it that the successful quail farmer could obtain up to Sh100 per egg sold.) The real...
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Jica water plant to supply Mombasa city
THE Mombasa county government plans to have a water desalination plant, Governor Hassan Joho has said. He said the Japan International Cooperation Agency is currently carrying out a viability study of the project in the Indian Ocean. He said Jica has pledged Sh1.6 billion towards the project which will solve water shortage in the region. Joho was speaking at Serena Hotel in Mombasa on Tuesday. He said Mombasa has been depending on water from Kwale, Taita and Kifili counties since the colonial period. "The water supply from the three regions is less than 30 per cent of what Mombasa region...
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80 students fail to get places in Iftin
More than 80 students on Tuesday stormed Garissa County Education Director's office accusing him of stopping them from joining Iftin Girls' Secondary School. The students said Abdullahi Sheikh instructed the school's authorities not to admit them despite sitting for and passing an entrance interview. They paid the required school fees of Sh15,000 and purchased other requirements like books and uniform. The students, who were accompanied by their parents, were set to join the school as new students on Monday. They were turned away by the school authorities when they reported for admission. The...
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Keiyo ex-MP in trouble for attacking Eldoret newsman
Former Keiyo North MP Lucas Chepkitonyi attacked a journalist in Eldoret after he was charged in a court with traffic offences. Ckepkitonyi was rearrested in the traffic mobile court after he attacked a journalist Peter Ochieng of the Standard Newspaper who was taking his photographs. Resident magistrate Barnabas Kiptoo had fined Chepkitony Sh20,000 for speeding. While on his way out of the court, Chepkitonyi hit Ochieng's camera in anger to stop him from taking his pictures. He hit the camera three times as the magistrate watched. Police rushed in and stopped Chepkitonyi from molesting the...
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Tackling The Indigenous Forest Dweller Issue In Kenya Once And For All
To the Chairman, National Land Commission, Nairobi January 20 2014 Dear Dr. Swazuri, Tackling the Indigenous Forest Dweller Issue in Kenya Once and For All. The current eviction of Sengwer hunter-gatherers, along with recent settlers, from Embobut Forest Reserve brings to the fore a thorny problem which is yet to be successfully addressed in Kenya. This is the apparent conflict between – the human rights of traditional forest dweller communities who want and need to retain at least core areas of their ancestral territories in order to sustain their culture and livelihoods; and the need to...
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Traders protest Murang'a new county levies
TRADERS in Murang'a have been protesting against new rates proposed by the county government. The demonstrations began late Tuesday and continued yesterday. The traders took to the streets after a meeting called by the budget committee at the Anglican Church of Kenya Mothers' Union Hall to discuss the news rates failed to "cool" the traders. Some of the new charges the traders are protesting include a Sh10 levy on a bale of hay and lucerne. Religious leaders are objecting to charges on outdoor advertisements the bill boards will be charged sh20,000 per month. They said the advertisements are...
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Cleric backs eviction of Mombasa hawkers
TOURISM stakeholders in Mombasa have praised the county government for evicting hawkers out of the town's streets. Kenya Muslim National Advisory Council chairman Sheikh Juma Ngao said the hawkers should be moved to markets including Kongowea, Majengo, Majengo Sega, Markiti and Mwembe Tayari. “The hawkers should appreciate the fact that the Mombasa government is trying to put law and order in the county. He said the hawkers are responsible for the mess in Mombasa streets. Ngao was speaking at a press conference in Mombasa town yesterday. He said Mombasa is a tourist town and must be clean and...
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Security boost in Machakos town
The Machakos county government has installed CCTV cameras in Machakos town in a bid to enhance security and boost investors' confidence. In the first Phase, the government has completed installing 40 cameras in and outside the recently rehabilitated Kenyatta stadium. By Tuesday, most of the main streets had been installed with the cameras. "We started on Saturday and we will complete this exercise by next week," a technician who did not wish to be named said. He said the cameras will cover all the main roads in the town and major installations including banks and super markets. Governor...
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Malala 'removed' as Kakamega ODM chair
A section of ODM delegates on Tuesday ousted Kakamega county chairman David Malala terming him an impostor ahead of the ODM national elections. The group produced a letter written in March last year by the former party secretary general Anyang’ Nyong’o acknowledging Majanja Ligabo as branch chairman. “I want to take this opportunity to ask some people who have been purporting to be chairman to stop immediately because they are causing a lot of confusion within the branch,” Ligabo said. Speaking to journalists after a meeting at Tingiza Club, Ligabo dismissed resolutions passed at a party...
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Intricacies Of Polygamy Exposed
Title: The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives Author: Lola Shoneyin Publisher: Harper Collins Year: 2010 (First edition) Reviewed by: Nduta Waweru Polygamy has been practised for the longest time, and just like monogamy, it comes with its ups and downs. It also comes with boundless secrets that should be protected to the letter. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives gives an insight into the life of Ishola Alao, well known as Baba Segi, and his four wives. The entry of Baba Segi's fourth wife, Bolanle, does not sit well with the other wives — Iya Segi, Iya Tope and Iya Femi. The situation is...
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Free live shows hurting Kenya's music industry
Last year was great for the entertainment industry. The good tiding is expected to spill over to the New Year. Comedy and theatre were the two new genres to draw from the insatiable thirst for entertainment and the growing liberalism to explore non-traditional areas of the arts is expected to extend the thrift. The road shows and product promotion concept have taken more space in the arena with more corporates jumping into the bandwagon that has seen shows on trucks traverse the country’s urban centres using known acts to increase visibility of mainly consumer products. Previously, radio and...
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Issue Base Titanium With Export Licence
BASE Titanium, an international mining company, has invested Sh25 billion ($300 million) to develop mineral sands in Kwale. The first shipment is now waiting for export at its new Sh2.5 billion port facility in Likoni. The Treasury has predicted that the Kenyan economy will grow at 5.6 percent this year, partly because there will now be Sh17 billion of titanium exports annually. The government should be applauding Base Titanium. Mining Secretary Najib Balala should go to Likoni to publicly flag off this first shipment by Base Titanium. Instead Balala, for unclear reasons, has blocked the...
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Embu leaders meet clergy to solve row
Embu county MPs on Tuesday met with religious leaders to resolve a crisis which has led to tabling of a notice to impeach Governor Martin Wambora. Senator Lenny Kivuti, MPs Joseph Muchiri (Manyatta), Charles Njagagua (Mbeere North), Mutava Mutava (Mbeere South) met with the clergy from different churches. During the two-hour meeting which took place at the Embu University College, Kivuti said they discussed how to reconcile the county executive and the county assembly. He said the differences between the two arms of government led to the motion of impeachment against the governor and the...
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Ruto had the chance to stop the violence earlier - ICC witness
DEPUTY President William Ruto had the power to stop the violence in the Rift Valley if he had asked the Kalenjins to stay calm at the onset. The violence erupted as soon as Mwai Kibaki was announced the winner of the presidential election on December 29, 2007. Witness 356 told the court yesterday that the violence stopped as soon as Ruto went on TV and radio in January and asked people to stop the causing trouble. He told prosecution lawyer Lucio Garcia that once Ruto spoke directly to the Kalenjin, the violence stopped and the roads blocked by young men were opened. "It came to my mind that...
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