Author: Francis Muli

The National Lands Commission (NLC), Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC) and Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) have said that Kibera residents will not be compensated to pave way for construction of Ngong Road-Kungu Karumba-Lang’ata link road. The commissions gave the reason that land belongs to the government and the development of the proposed link road will proceed as planned. “The transport corridor is on public land. Most of the residents built structures on the land and NLC will not compensate for that. All we shall do is to pay the occupiers in good faith,” said NLC Vice Chairperson Abigael Mbagaya. KNCHR’s Kagwiria…

ODM Party leader Raila Odinga, Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu meet today in public for the first time since the historic handshake of March 9. The three shared a podium during the launching ceremony of multi million Kitui Villa Hotel at Ngiini Vilage in Kitui town which is owned by US based scholar Prof Makau Mutua. Since the handshake, there have been perceived divisions amongst the three leaders, with Kalonzo having been quoted telling off Raila for betraying the opposition. Read: Lie Low And Become Boss – Mutahi Ngunyi Tells DP Ruto Recently, the two parties,…

Egyptian development expert Hafez Ghanem has been appointed the new vice-president for Africa. Mr Ghanem, whose appointment is effective from July 1, succeeds Mr Makhtar Diop, who has been named the bank’s Vice- President for Infrastructure. He is expected to lead a regional portfolio consisting of over 600 projects totaling more than Ksh7.1 trillion ($71 billion). “Under Granem, the World Bank will continue to support inclusive growth and poverty reduction by financing projects that boost human capital, support private sector development, raise agricultural productivity, improve access to infrastructure, build resilience to climate change and promote regional integration,” said World Bank…

The National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs committee has dismissed a petition that sought to have the age of presidential candidates capped at 69. The bill which was filed by Garissa resident Mohamed Mohamud’s was  anchored in ‘scientific argument’ about productivity of older people. “The rights of the older members of society to fully participate in affairs of the society, pursue personal development, live in dignity and respect free from abuse as enshrined in the Constitution ought to be upheld in equal measure as those of the youth,” the committee chaired by William Cheptumo (Baringo North) said in a report…

Three students from Siakago Boys in Embu have been jailed for one year on probation and have since cleared from the school. They can only attend a day school as they report to the local chief. Other 125  from various schools affected by student unrest have been arrested as police intensify the crackdown on all masterminds of the recent cases of student unrest. This was announced by Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, Who confirmed that seven cases so far on student unrest in schools are cases of arson. “Since last week, 10 boarding secondary schools have experienced cases of unrest. Of…

State Bank of Mauritius, through its Kenyan subsidiary SBM Kenya has started acquiring assets and assuming liabilities of defunct Chase Bank. Central Bank of Kenya approved the takeover on June 13, allowing SBM Kenya to acquire certain assets and liabilities. Subsequently, Cabinet Secretary for  National Treasury Henry Rotich endorsed CBK’s approval on June 28. “The acquisition and assumption process will be completed on August 17, 2018. SBM Kenya will assume 75 percent of the value of deposits under moratorium at CBLR, all non-moratorium deposits at CBLR, and will take-up over majority of CBLR branches and employees,” CBK statement read. Read:…

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is in discussion with Facebook over starring in a 13-part documentary series about his life, which could earn the Portuguese footballer $10 million (approximately Ksh1 billion). The docu-series will be aired on Facebook Watch, Facebook’s video platform for TV-style content, according to a New York-based Magazine, Variety. According to sources, the Ronaldo reality show would be patterned on Tom Brady docu-series “Tom vs Time,” which follows the 40-year-old New England Patriots QB both on and off the field in his 18th season in the National Football League (NFL) – highest professional level of American football. Read: Grace Msalame Make…

The Jubilee Party has expressed discontentment with the way NTV Journalist Mark Masai interviewed Deputy President William Ruto. In a tweet on the party’s official twitter handle, the party said that Masai was interviewing DP Ruto on a wishful thinking that the party (Jubilee) was disintegrating. https://twitter.com/JubileePartyK/status/1016046656654069760 Despite Ruto saying that he was not the automatic candidate for the party come 2022, the party later tweeted confirming that he (Ruto) is the automatic presidential candidate come 2022 since no other candidate had expressed interest. https://twitter.com/JubileePartyK/status/1016046924246454273 Other tweeps who watched the interview expressed their disgust over how Masai conducted the interview,…

Former television personality Grace Msalame has made a media comeback as a lifestyle host at NTV. The 32-year old started her career at KTN where she hosted a youth show dubbed Straight Up from 2005 to 2007. Afterwards, she left the station to pursue her degree at Daystar University. A year into her studies, KTN called her to come and host Art Scene. When the show ended, she moved to Capital FM, where she worked as a radio presenter. Since August 2015 she has been the Content and Acquisitions Manager of Bamba Tv. Read: Bungoma Fans Left Hanging After Octopizzo…

ODM Leader Raila Odinga’s political wars are yet to be over, according to Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi. The legislator was responding to DP Ruto’s allies, who have been quoted says that Raila’s nine political lives have been written off. “Raila will retire from politics at his own volution and that is why we in ODM can’t entertain reckless statements from any quarter about his retirement,” Atandi said. Atandi asked Ruto and his allies to mind their business and stop plunging Raila in cheap politics of 2022. “Raila will be on the ballot come 2022 whether he (Ruto) like it or…

Kenyans working at the much hyped Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) have been forced to cope up with neocolonialism, prejudice, poor pay and job insecurity at the hands of the Chinese masters. In an investigative piece published by the Sunday Standard, the Kenyan staffers are discriminated against from the smallest aspects of basic facilities to salaries, the Chinese taking the best of all. Kenyans are not allowed to use Chinese tables in the staff cafeteria. This divide runs to the staff vans as well where even if only one Chinese is on board, Kenyans will not use them when time for…

July 5 marked 49 years since Thomas Joseph Odhiambo “Tom” Mboya breath his last in a well-choreographed assassination move. Tom, as Kenyans were used to calling him, was a trade unionist, educationist, Pan Africanist, author, independence activist, Cabinet Minister and one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Kenya. A part from being a civil servant, Mboya was also a man of the people. On the fateful day of Saturday July5, 1969, Mboya was talking to one of his friends, Mrs Chani in her Chemist, Chani’s Chemists. Unknown to him, gunmen had been trailing and this was the best…

High Court judge John Mativo has quashed a decision by the Public Procurement Administrative and Review Board (PRAB) awarding UAP Life Assurance a multimillion-shilling tender for civil servants’ insurance. In the case filed by Britam and Pioneer Assurance, Mativo ruled that PPARB acted in excess of its powers by deciding that UAP’s bid was the best option. The judge added UAP was only an interested party in the initial appeal hence the PPARB was wrong to declare it the lowest evaluated bidder for the cover for more than 400,000 civil servants. Read: Ksh7 Billion Scandal Crumbling KBC “By purporting to…

The owners of the Solai dam that collapsed and killed 47 people in Nakuru in May, have been detained until Friday after being charged with 47 counts of manslaughter in a Naivasha court. The two, Perry Mansukh Kansagara and Vinoj Jaya Kumar will spend the night in police cells pending bond ruling tomorrow (Friday). Read: The Ksh7 Billion Scandal That Is Crumbling KBC Nakuru County Water Director Johnson Njuguna was also arraigned in court over the dam tragedy for neglect for failing to present an environmental impact assessment report of the killer dam. Prosecutor Catherine Mwaniki asked the court to …

Top managers at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) have revealed that they lost Ksh7 billion in the last financial year. Speaking to the Senate Committee for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), Mr Samuel Otieno – who represented the managing director – revealed that the company was spending double of what it earned in the last financial year. Despite earning Ksh90 million a month, the corporation has been spending Ksh180 million monthly on recurrent expenditure. It was further revealed that the state broadcaster had not paid Ksh127 million for satellite operations. Read: Tuskys Shuts Down Two Nakuru Branches KBC has also defaulted…