MPs reject sugar probe report
Bribery claims yesterday rocked Parliament again as MPs ganged up to trash the report on sugar that had implicated Cabinet secretaries Henry Rotich [Treasury] and Adan Mohamed [EAC].
Members from across the divide closed ranks to jettison recommendations against Rotich, Adan and former Agriculture CS Willy Bett.
National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale asked MPs to desist from initiating impeachment motions to intimidate Cabinet secretaries.
Uhuru's order on riparian land
As demolitions rock Nairobi, President Uhuru Kenyatta has told state agencies to prosecute officials found culpable of allocating riparian and public utility land to private developers.
Last evening, DPP Noordin Haji directed DCI Geoffrey Kinoti to immediately start investigations to establish the circumstances, procedures and persons who irregularly and/or illegally issued the approvals for the construction of any building or structure on riparian land.
Kidero's day in court
Former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero has denied three counts of corruption-related offences.
Kidero was taken to court at about 9am on Thursday, but took plea to the charges at 3.17pm because the prosecution was trying to arrest other suspects to be charged together with the former Governor.
His son Ronald was arrested last evening in unclear circumstances, just moments after the court released his father on bail.
Mombasa factory on the spot over 'lethal dust'
In a classic case of blessing turned curse, a business venture formed to create jobs, eradicate poverty and lift the living standards of shantytown dwellers in Mombasa has instead been linked to pollution, sickness and more than 10 deaths.
For eight years, residents of the Kambodia Kikaangoni ghetto in Mikindani have inhaled clinker dust spewed by Motrext Transporters Limited. Motrex hosts Corrugated Sheets Ltd, which loads and offloads clinker for transportation.
Clinker is a nodular material produced during the production of cement. It is dangerous and may cause severe skin irritation, chemical burns as well as damage to human tissue, including eyes and other organs.
Dozens of residents have also been hospitalised and a costly treatment is ongoing. The breathing of some is so laboured.
In another case of environmental poisoning, residents of Owino Uhuru slum in Jomvu, Mombasa, are in court seeking compensation following lead poisoning.
Kiambu hospital pig heads
People going to Kiambu Level 5 Hospital yesterday morning found six heads of pigs placed outside the main gate with tags written ‘Kiambu hospital thieves’. The heads were placed strategically for all to see.
The hospital, in the past one month, has been in the news for the wrong reasons. There have been claims that the hospital has been offering poor services, many patients sharing one bed and others sleeping on the floor, and lack of bedding, food and drugs.
Editorial
The Senate and National Assembly are locked in a simmering turf war over their roles. Yet, to borrow the cliché, the law is very clear on the functions of the two Houses of Parliament.
The Star editors are of the view that the friction that is being portrayed as a case of overlapping mandates is false. It is about the penchant for MPs to ingratiate themselves on the public purse which they are unlikely to resolve on their own.
Your weather
Nairobi: Partial sunshine with highs of 25 and lows of 11. WInd speed of 10 km/h.
Mombasa: An early shower followed by partial sunshine. Highs of 28 and lows of 21. Wind speed of 13 km/h.
Kisumu: Partly sunny with highs of 30 and lows of 16. Wind speed of eight km/h.