The Murang'a government will facilitate a common examination in all the 560 primary schools in a bid to boost education in the county. The 240,000 primary school pupil sat for the common examination for the first time last year. The county government will pay Sh15 for every pupil for the exam. Education advisor to the governor Njai Mwangi says the examination is standardised through the support of the county government and technical personnel. Last year, department of education charged at least Sh25 per pupil to facilitate the setting and distribution of the examination. Governor Mwangi...
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Murang'a pupils to sit common examination
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Duale owes governors apology - Kachapin
WEST Pokot Governor Simon Kachapin has asked National assembly majority leader Aden Duale to apologise to governors for disrespecting them. He said Duale's remarks could incite Kenyans against governors. Speaking to the press in his office in Kapenguria on Sunday, Kachapin said Duale is drunk with power and should not use his position to fight governors. Duale said the national assembly will make amendments to reduce governors' privileges including flying a national flag on their vehicles and using the title his excellency. "Duale is behaving in a retrogressive manner with a lot of sycophancy...
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Young farmers cash in on vegetable growing
Kinyanjui Kahunya is barely 19 years old but is already making a niche for himself in farming — growing vegetables for sale. His first crop was coriander, 'dania' in Swahili. He started the project with only Sh750, but after selling the produce he got Sh9,000. At only 17 years and having just cleared form four, this was good money. Since then Kinyajui has not looked back. "My grandmother quit teaching to try her hand in farming and after seeing how well she was doing, I decided to try farming too. I got inspiration from her and I started with the corianders which did not disappoint,” says...
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Grenade attack survivor's quest to get her life back
The impact of terror attacks are not only felt on a national level but also on a personal one. From loss of loved ones to health consequences, bomb and grenade attacks have adversely affected people's ways of living and their financial standing. One such person is Caroline Wanjiru Njuguna, 23, who is still coming to terms with her situation after a grenade attack at Assanads House on Moi Avenue. Monday April 28, 2012 was just a normal day for Caroline as she reported to work, as a sales lady at Sasa Exhibition. After cleaning up and arranging the stall, Caroline was ready for customers, and...
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Witch doctors told not to advertise
The Mombasa government has warned witchdoctors against putting up signposts advertising their services. The county inspectorate yesterday conducted an operation in which they removed hundreds of the signposts in and around the central business district. The department’s island divisional commander, James Kinara, who led the operation, said the signposts are illegal and portray the county as a witchcraft zone. He said apart from making the county dirty and untidy, the signposts are not paid for. “No one is allowed to put up any signpost on the road without paying for it,” Kinara said. “Any...
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Mombasa hawkers told to keep off CBD
HAWKERS have been ordered out of the streets by a Mombasa High court. Mombasa judge Edward Muriithi yesterday said the hawkers had misinterpreted a ruling he made last week on Tuesday in which they(hawkers) used to get back to the streets. Muriithi yesterday said no hawker should sell their wares in any of the streets including their previous spots until a meeting by their lawyer and the County government agree on a number of issues. The hawkers had misinterpreted the orders by the court and engaged riot police and county council askaris in running battles over the weekend. “We have to have...
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Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan brings down the house
Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is a show-stopper, a really dedicated artiste with a huge fan base in Kenya. His concert on Saturday night at the KICC's Tsavo Ballroom was sold out. Organised by Ranee Productions, the show also brought together the who's who of Kenya including the Hon Sunjeev Kaur Birdi,Cabinet Secretary Dr Hassan Wario Arero, Ministry of Sports, Culture and the Arts, Hon Irshad Sumra, Embakasi MP Rafiuzzaman Siddiqui and Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal. The title sponsor of the show was Crown Paints Kenya, co-sponsors East African Breweries Ltd, Prime Bank and supported by Dr...
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Vihiga youth make money from water harvesting project
A youth group in Emuhaya village in Vihiga county is making money from rainwater harvesting, a clear indication of how local solutions can solve one of the most pressing issues in Kenya. The youth investment and welfare group has invested in water tanks that store rainwater which is then distributed to households in the area using pipes at a small fee. “We have piped water to 25 homesteads and about 125 people are benefitting from it,” said Wycliffe Odongo, the leader of the Emuhuya Youth Village Bunge group. Villagers who used to walk up to five kilometres to fetch water from the river are...
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Why I've Signed Uganda Anti-Gay Bill Into Law
I have seen the statement H.E President Obama of the USA made in reaction to my statement that I was going to sign the anti-homosexual Bill, which I made at Kyankwanzi. Before I react to H.E. Obama’s statement, let me, again, put on record my views on the issue of homosexuals (ebitiingwa, bisiyaga in some of our dialects). Right from the beginning of this debate, my views were as follows: 1. I agreed with the MPs and almost all Ugandans that promotion of homosexuality in Uganda must be criminalized or rather should continue to be criminalized because the British had already done that; 2...
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Mandera plans to expand its water supply
A motion seeking new ways of managing water sources in Mandera county will be tabled soon. Speaking at the county assembly hall in Mandera town, Shimbirfatuma MCA, Ibrahim Wario said for a long time water sources in the county have been mismanaged by a few individuals who have been pocketing the outcome of such sources. “The management of water sources in the county has been so poor and with the new governing system, its time we put this in order,” said Wario. He is the assembly’s water, sanitation, energy and natural resources department chairman. He said in the new water law, the county...
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Manhunt on for Mwingi 'serial killer' - police
POLICE in Mwingi district have assured residents of Nyanyaa village that the hunt for serial killer Kilonzo Musyoka alias Karunyu is still on. Mwingi police boss Joshua Kiptoo said police will no relent in the search for Musyoka. He was speaking to journalists in his office in Mwingi town yesterday. “Karunyu is linked with the killing of 18 people at Nyanyaa area in last year. Three of the 18 were suspects lynched by residents after they lost their way escaping from killings in the area," Kiptoo said. "They even admitted that they were among the killer group led by Karunyu. The rest were...
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Protect Migingo, Parliament told
The Kenya Parliament has been petitioned to immediately approve the establishment of a permanent Naval Base in Lake Victoria to protect Kenyans living and working in the islands of Migingo and Ugingo from external aggression. In a petition filed at the office of the Clerk of the National Assembly Justin Bundi yesterday, Africa Human Rights Bureau Executive Director Dan Alila claims that Uganda security forces stationed in the two islands that fall within the Kenyan waters in Migori County, have been harassing Kenyans. Acts of human rights abuse including torture, arbitrary arrests, rape,...
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I can't afford to let Ababu go, says Raila
ODM leader Raila Odinga has wished well all party candidates for various seats ahead of the Friday and Saturday elections. Raila moved to deny having any preferred list of candidates ahead of the elections. He disclosed that all the candidates cleared by the party’s elections board are qualified for the positions they are vying for. “I therefore have no reason to support a particular candidate. I am fully behind all the contestants as they all belong to the orange family,” he said. He allayed fears that Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba is a mole within ODM party. Odinga described Ababu as one of...
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Cheap Fertiliser Will Boost Food Output
The move by the Government to reduce fertiliser prices will relieve farmers the high cost of farm inputs and empower them to increase production and address the current food insecurity witnessed in some parts of the country. This comes as farmers in the bread basket areas are preparing to plant their crops during this season. Reduction of fertilizer prices will help farmers increase crops under agricultural land. High cost of farm inputs especially fertilizers has been impediment to grain farmers alongside high soil acidity that has led to decline in yields. As hundreds of thousands of people...
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We Need A Modern Plan To Enrich Soil
Over 95 percent of smallholder farms in Kenya show severe depletion of essential soil nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Moreover, Kenya’s agricultural soils have dangerously low soil organic matter and exhibit worrying trends of acidification. This is according to a report by the National Accelerated Agricultural Input Access Programme (NAAIAP) released February 18, 2014. The report reveals that all the farms surveyed require an average of 8 tons of manure per hectare, in addition to about 200 kilograms per hectare of different compound inorganic fertilizer. The NAAIP soil...
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5 Minute interview: It took me four years to realise my dad was gone
I’m good at........teaching, talking, cooking and singing. I’m very bad at..........hiding my emotions and tolerating sloppiness. I guess it comes with the package The last book l enjoyed reading is............Shepherd Boy In Pursuit of Virtue , Maina Wanjigi's autobiography. The most surprising thing that happened to me was........getting a client – a multinational pharmaceutical firm - in the first week of launching my company. A common misconception of me is........I'm too serious and aloof. Scratch the surface, and you find a laid back and engaging woman. One of my worst childhood fears...
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Kisumu Protests Over Sikh Statue Speak Of Intolerance
We, the members of the Kenyan Asian Forum, are outraged and deeply disappointed about the desecration of a beautiful sculpture put up by the Sikh community in Kisumu city. According to press reports the fracas was instigated by some Christian pastors who declared the sculpture as ‘evil’ and a form of ‘idol worship’. Did those fanatics even know that the Sikh religion expressly forbids idol worship? And in any case since when has Christianity become the state religion? No doubt a strong underlying factor in the youth's frenzy was anti-Asian racism. Are the Sikhs Kenyans or not? Do they pay...
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Transport CS unveils new number plates
The Ministry of Transport has announced a strategic plan to face off old number plates by the end of this year. This is after the ministry received two number plate manufacturing machines worth Sh15 millon at Kamiti Maximum Prison. Speaking at the prison yesterday, Transport Secretary Michael Kamau said the ministry plans to enhance security and reduce crime. He said the two machines will begin operations by mid next month. Each machine is expected to manufacture 200 number plates at a 10-hour shift. “We expect to have changed all the old number plates with the new ones, which have better...
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Supreme Court failed the test - lawyers
EAST African lawyers have concluded that the Supreme Court of Kenya's presidential petition judgment failed the legal test. In their report on “emerging electoral and constitutional trends” published yesterday, the lawyers faulted Supreme Court's handling of the petition including failure to rule on the “ever-fluid totals in multiple voter registers.” They said the court also failed on use of dissenting legal precedents, acceptance of technological failures and use of subsidiary legislation to limit the meaning of “votes cast”, an otherwise unambiguous phrase in the constitution. The lawyers...
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Binyavanga blasts M7 over anti-gay law
GAY activists in Kenya reacted angrily to the decision by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to sign into a law a controversial bill that provides for life imprisonment for gays. Led by writer Binyanavanga Wainana, the gay community said the the Ugandan law was unacceptable and retrogressive. "The law is a desperate act by a desperate dictator to find relevance in any way possible," said Binyavanga. Eric Gitari, a Human Rights Lawyer and co-founder of National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, condemned the Anti Homosexuality Bill as an abuse of human rights. "Some Ugandan gays and...
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