The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers has pledged to paralyse learning in private schools in Kiambu county. The teachers demonstrated in Kiambu town yesterday as the strike entered its eighth day. Kuppet Kiambu branch secretary general James Muchori said teachers will not allow public schools students to stay home while their colleagues in private schools continued with their classes. “We will paralyse learning in private schools because even our children are at home and parents should bare with us,” said Muchori. He said teachers will not negotiate with Education Cabinet...
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Kiambu branch kuppet vows to paralyze learning in private schools
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Embu tea farmers demand a refund
FARMERS in two Embu tea factories have demanded a refund of more than Sh200million they contributed for a hydro power project. The farmers from Mungania and Kathangariri Tea Factories met in two separate annual general meetings on Thursday and Friday. They said each incurred Sh4 deductions per kilogramme of green tea leaves they delivered to the factories daily in the year 2010 and 2011 to fund the project. They said they had discovered that the project, which was to be carried out on Thuci river, was no longer viable. Mungania tea factory Chairman Jimmy Muthungu said the factory cannot make...
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Jama denies he runs a ‘briefcase government’
Garissa Governor Nathif Jama on Saturday made a mini-reshuffle of his cabinet. Hubi Hussein will now be in charge of the Health and Sanitation Services department. He switches office with Sophia Omar, who was moved to the Agriculture and Fisheries department. Hajir Dahiye was moved to Livestock and Pastoral Economy, which was hived from the Agriculture department. The county affairs directorate is now under the Finance department and will be run by Abdihakim Dayib. Idriss Mukhtar will take over the Youth, Sport, Trade, Investment, Enterprise Development and Cooperatives department. Ahmed Hire...
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Huduma Centre for Meru in 18 days
RESIDENTS of Meru will get Huduma Centre services by the end of this month, county women's representative Florence Kajuju has said. Handing over the Postal Corporation buildings on Friday for renovation into the centre , Kajuju said the Devolution ministry and the county commissioner's office in Meru have identified the staff who working in the offices. She said the delays witnessed after Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru promised to set up the Huduma Centre last year were caused by the process of finding a suitable venue. “The ministry officials were around and inspected the site to...
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Jama denies he runs a ‘briefcase government’
GARISSA Governor Nathif Jama has defended his government against claims of truancy by his officials. Launching the distribution of wheelchairs, sanitary pads and sewing machines on Friday, Jama denied that whenever when he goes out of the county operations are paralysed. “People are talking of a briefcase government, but that is not true. If there is any official absconding duty without any genuine reasons, let me know,” Jama said. He asked members of the public to report to him directly if they encounter any office which is not in operation at official working hours. Jama said his...
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Machakos medics strike over tax dues
Health services at Machakos Level 5 Hospital were yesterday paralysed after more than 750 health workers went on strike. The outpatient department and several wards remained closed as health workers protested the county government’s failure to remit their salary deductions. Machakos County Nurses Union secretary Halima Aden told journalists at the hospital's compound that their NHIF, NSFF, KRA and loan deductions go for three months to a year without being remitted despite being reflected on their payslips. “I have two letters from the Finance chief executive indicating they have paid the...
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Njuri Ncheke asked to build city
NKOMO ward representative Kithinji Ethaiba has urged the Njuri Ncheke Council of Elders to withhold plans to establish a national museum at their headquarters. Instead Ethaiba said the land should be set aside for satellite city. He said investors from Malaysia have expressed interest in the land. Ethaiba was addressing residents of Uringu village yesterday. He said the investors have requested the Meru government to save the land for a mini city. “This will provide employment for residents and boost our economy,” Ethaiba said. He said the investors want 10 acres to build the city while the...
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Conmen target kitty for the old
Conmen have invaded post offices targeting money released by the government for old people. Women’s representative Florence Kajuju says the brokers station themselves at post offices where old people receive monthly stipends from the Aged Persons’ Welfare Kitty. She called on police to arrest the suspects. Kajuju spoke on Saturday at Urru Stadium, Tigania West, when she disbursed Uwezo Fund cheques.
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Baby dies of heart problem
The four-month-old baby whose plight was published recently by the Star newspaper has passed on. Khaira Khakasi’s mother, Naomi Syomiti, 21, said the child died at the Mwingi District Hospital. Syomiti, who hails from Kavaini, Mwingi, had appealed for financial assistance to seek medication for Khakai, who suffered congenital heart defect.
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MP Mutambu put to task over ambulances
MWINGI Central MP Joe Mutambu has been asked to explain the source of three ambulances rejected by the Kitui government. The ambulances were allegedly bought using the CDF kitty. The Kitui government reportedly rejected the ambulances on grounds they did not meet set operations standards. Lack of a structured partnership and formal handing over contributed to the rejection. Yesterday the coordinator of Mwingi professionals group Campell Munyambu said the manner in which the ambulances were acquired is questionable. “Statements from the Mwingi Central CDF says the ambulances were bought at a...
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Women’s representative decries high suicide rate in Embu county
EMBU women’s representative Rose Mitaru has decried high suicide cases in the county. “Too many young, energetic men and women and a few old persons are taking away their lives over domestic, land and other issues,” she said. Mitaru said most deaths result from domestic quarrels. “It is a big loss to the county when people die unnatural deaths,” she said. Mitaru appealed to religious, political leaders and counsellors to intervene and stop suicides. “The high suicide cases have left many orphans. Religious leaders should pray and preach to end this practice,” she said. She was speaking on...
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Chuka elders charged for camping in forest
MEMBERS of the Chuka elders, the Atiriri Bururi, were on Friday arraigned in a Chuka courts and charged with encroachment into Kiamuriuki, Mount Kenya East Forest. On December 22, the Star carried a story on the elders who went to pray in the forest to seek God’s intervention after they lost a case in which they want to be allowed to harvest the trees they planted in 1973. The elders claimed the trees, ready for harvesting, may be cut down by four individuals, who have conspired with the authorities. They then camped in the forest to stop illegal logging and were arrested by forest rangers on...
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Cord's calls for dialogue breeding disunity, Jubilee senator says
Nominated Senator and Majority Whip in the senate Beatrice Elachi has said the calls for dialogue by Cord are dividing Kenyans even after the opposition has gotten the goodwill of Kenyans. Elachi while speaking in an interview on Citizen TV's prime time segment The Big Question, said that the calls for dialogue were poorly timed by the leaders and that they should have instead sought to use other mechanisms. "Where Cord went wrong is that they used a different platform to just destroy the whole trust that we had just gained at that point. Look at what happened in Kisumu. And then you come...
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Yebei mystery deepens: police say body found is Yusuf Hussein's
The mystery surrounding the death of an ICC witness deepened on Wednesday after a family claimed the retrieved body is that of their kin. Yusuf Hussein's family said the police informed them that the fingerprints collected from the body match his. Hussein disappeared during the Christmas season from his home in Nandi. The family is currently camped at the Moi Teaching and Referral hospital in Eldoret. Meshack Yebei's family agreed to a DNA test last week after Deputy President William Ruto's lawyer requested for one. The results will be released on Monday. Karim Khan issued another statement...
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New UoN VC Prof Mbithi promises world class institution
New University of Nairobi VC Prof Mbithi has promised to turn it into a "top-ranked, sustainable, world-class institution". Mbithi said his four priorities are nurturing holistic graduates, improving research, building academic and social facilities and professionalising resources management. "I am determined to ensure that the University of Nairobi becomes the ultimate," he said. He was speaking during his inauguration as the 7th VC at the university on Wednesday. Mbithi added that he will see to the construction of a hostel housing more than 5,000, school of law towers, a teaching and...
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Orengo to blame for chaos at Fidel's burial, says Rarieda MP Gumbo
Siaya Senator James Orengo is to blame for the chaos at Fidel Odinga's funeral, Rarieda MP Eng Nicholas Gumbo has said. Gumbo accused Orengo, who was the master of ceremony, of failing to control the mood of the crowd at the beginning of the ceremony. He said Orengo should have made it clear that the occasion was for mourning, not addressing differences in political opinion. “I respect the Senator but he ought to have told the public to keep their perceived grudges to themselves,” he said on a Ramogi FM talk show on Tuesday night. Gumbo said Orengo charged the crowd more by supporting certain...
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Super petrol down to Sh92, Diesel Sh83, Kerosene Sh65 in Nairobi as ERC releases February pump prices
Motorists have reason to celebrate after the Energy Regulatory Commission released the new price estimates for petroleum products in the January - February price review. Effective mid-night Wednesday, motorists will now pay Sh92.88 for Super Petrol after ERC slashed the pump price by Sh9.30 to the current price down from Sh102. Under the new price schedule Diesel Petrol will retail at Sh83.35 after a Sh7.50 price reduction down from Sh90.85. Domestic households that still rely on Kerosene will now pay a new low of Sh65 down from Sh71.37 in the December 2014 to January 2015 period. These...
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Kieni MP Kanini Kega's cousin shot dead
Kieni MP Kanini Kega's cousin was shot dead when three gangsters stormed his shop in Mweiga town, Nyeri county at 5am on Wednesday. Nathaniel Mutitu, a prominent 51-year-old businessman, had just opened his 'Mweiga corner shop' when the robbers attacked. They ordered his customers to lie down before shooting him in the ear at close range. The gangsters who came in a Sienta with a concealed plate number stole an unknown amount of money and two cartons of cigarettes. Residents who jammed the scene feared for their safety despite the location of Mwiga police station about 50 metres away from the...
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Logic and reason protect us from miracle healers
As we move deeper into 2015 and 2014 recedes into the past, it helps to review the lessons of the past year. With respect to religion, 2014 was a year that will forever stand out as one marked by intrigue and unexampled revelations of fraud and deception. Yet notwithstanding, the religious contours of Kenya remain virtually unchanged in 2015. Evangelical preachers still draw colossal crowds and our thirst for miracles is as strong as at any time in the past. Perhaps the most important event in this regard was the revelation of the intrigue perpetrated by Evangelical pastor Victor Kanyari. The...
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Modi Hindu zeal may derail India's economy
As the New Year dawns, it has become increasingly clear that India’s new government faces a dilemma entirely of its own making – one that its predecessor never had to confront. Narendra Modi’s election as Prime Minister in May 2014 was initially hailed worldwide as marking the advent of a more business-friendly government in the world’s largest democracy. Encouraged by Modi’s pro-market sound bites – he vowed to “replace red tape with a red carpet,” declared that the government has “no business” in business, and campaigned on the slogan “Make in India” – investors rushed to praise him as a...
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