Author: KahawaTungu Reporter

Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director Irungu Houghton formally resigned from President William Ruto’s Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Protests and Riots with immediate effect. He lamented what he described as a material alteration of the legal basis for the panel’s continued existence. Houghton’s decision, communicated in a letter to Prof. Makau Mutua – chairperson of the panel – on Friday, followed Ruto’s January 5, 2026 extension of the panel’s mandate by 180 days. This despite a December 4, 2025 ruling by the Kerugoya High Court that declared the panel unconstitutional and affirmed that compensation for human rights…

DCP Party Leader and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua reiterated that all students who perform well academically must be placed in national schools based on merit. He emphasized that Kenyans must confront the ongoing issues with the quota system, especially since the introduction of devolution. He has pointed out that the main purpose of devolution was to highlight and address the plight of marginalized counties, ensuring equitable development and opportunities. Gachagua criticized the practice where parents invest in community schools, only to see their children admitted to distant schools. He argued that it does not make sense for parents to…

President William Ruto took formal steps to comply with a High Court ruling directing the establishment of a mechanism to compensate victims of demonstrations and public protests, the Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Protest and Riots has said. In a statement, the panel’s Chairperson and Principal Coordinator, Prof. Makau Mutua, said Ruto implemented the court’s decision through Special Gazette Notice No. 259 dated January 5, 2026, following a judgment delivered by the High Court in Kerugoya on December 4, 2025. The ruling arose from Constitutional Petitions Nos. E10, E11 and E14 of 2025, in which the court…

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has summoned Roy Sasaka Telewa, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), to record a statement regarding allegations of possessing unexplained wealth valued at approximately Sh1 billion. The summons follows a search operation conducted at Telewa’s residence and office on January 8, 2026. According to the Commission, the operation is part of ongoing investigations into alleged corruption, procurement irregularities, and the accumulation of unexplained assets estimated at Sh1 billion, reportedly acquired between January 1, 2021, and January 8, 2026. EACC is also probing procurement-related irregularities linked to Telewa’s previous…

A night guard was found murdered at a school he was guarding in Bondeni area, Nakuru County. Police identified him as Josephat Onyango, 55. His body was found lying in a classroom long after he had been murdered on January 8 dawn. Police said the body had injuries in the head and that both hands and legs were tied using a rope when it was found. A panga was found at a place the guard was seated before he was attacked at the Harambee Khalsa primary and junior secondary school. Police said indications were that he was killed outside the…

Two people drowned in two separate incidents in Kilifi and Nyandarua Counties. The incidents were reported on January 8, 2026, police said. In the first incident, one Wright Mbaru Sifa, 23, drowned in the Indian Ocean at the Vidazini beach as he and his friends ventured there for swimming sessions. The deceased was with his cousins when the incident happened, police said. He had ventured to the deep sea when he suddenly drowned. A rescue team from the local county arrived at the scene hours later and retrieved the body from the rough water. The body was moved to the…

Detectives are investigating the murder of a 70-year-old man whose body was found lying in a thicket in Ngerenya area, Kilifi County. The man is believed to have been murdered after being assaulted. The body had decomposed when it was discovered on January 8 in the Tezo area, long after his suspected murder, police said The motive of the murder was not established immediately. An identification card found in his pockets identified him as Emmanuel Randu Hare. The body was moved to the mortuary pending an autopsy, police said and added they were pursuing the killers and motive. Elsewhere in…

A mason was electrocuted as he worked at a construction site in Kioi area, Kayole, Nairobi County. Police said Benedict Owoko, 30, was among the masons at the site when the incident happened on January 8 afternoon. A second mason was seriously burnt and rushed to the hospital, police said. The deceased was pulling metal square tubes from the second to the third floor when they accidentally touched live naked wires. This caused an electrocution on Owoko. His colleague rushed to his rescue and was left with serious burns, police and witnesses said. The body of the mason was moved…

A 30-year-old woman was found dead in her house after she had been clobbered to death in a domestic fight in Kerina, Kisii County. Police said the deceased, identified as Dorcas Kerubo had an altercation with her husband in their house on January 8 when she was fatally hit. Her body was found lying in a pool of blood with injuries on the head, face and back of her lower limbs when the police visited the scene. According to the police, the couple’s ten-year-old daughter was concerned her mother was lying in a pool of blood and unresponsive. She told…

Federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people outside a hospital in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, a day after an officer shot and killed a driver in Minnesota, authorities said. The FBI’s Portland office said it was investigating an “agent involved shooting” that happened around 2:15 p.m. According to the the Portland Police bureau, officers initially responded to a report of a shooting near a hospital. A few minutes later, police received information that a man who had been shot was asking for help in a different area a couple of miles away. Officers then responded there and found the…

Minnesota officials said the FBI has blocked their access to an investigation into the fatal shooting of a woman by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. People have taken to the streets of Minneapolis to protest the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good, who died on Wednesday after being shot in her car. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has accused the Trump administration of blocking state officials from involvement in the case, but the US vice-president said the investigation is a federal issue. Officials have offered differing accounts of the incident, with the Trump administration claiming the ICE agent was…

The prosecution formally closed the Prosecution case against Shakahola massacre mastermind Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 96 co-accused persons, bringing to a close a painstaking and evidence-heavy trial phase that laid bare an elaborate, long-running scheme of religious radicalization that culminated in one of Kenya’s gravest tragedies. The accused are facing Radicalization and Organized Crime related charges at the Shanzu Law Courts. This is the second case involving the controversial preacher that the DPP has concluded. The other, involving crimes against children, ended in September 2025. Two other cases, involving charges related to murder and manslaughter are ongoing in Mombasa. Today,…

President William Ruto launched the second phase of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) business support programme for six counties in the North Rift. Speaking at the event at the Eldoret Sports Club, Ruto said the programme is one of the government’s efforts to grow the businesses of young people across the country. During the meeting, Sh250 million was disbursed to 9,500 young entrepreneurs from Turkana, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Nandi, Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties via mobile phone. Under the Nyota Business Start Up Capital programme, each beneficiary received the initial KSh22,000 of the total KSh50,000 deposited into…

A woman was admitted in hospital in serious condition with two bullet wounds in a failed suicide mission in Kyuso, Kitui County. The woman is said to have been a girlfriend to a senior police officer at the Kyuso police station. The officer said he left his Jericho pistol loaded with ten bullets in a suitcase in his house and left for a local shop for shopping on January 7, 2026 evening. He also left the woman in the house while sleeping. While on the way back, he heard gunshots from his house, he told police. He knew something was…

A woman was found murdered and his body wrapped in a bedsheet in the Muthurwa area, Nairobi County. The victim was identified as Resa Lumbasi, 40, police said. The body had decomposed when it was found on January 7 by locals. They had complained of being disturbed by a foul smell from the house when they went to check the source. Police who visited the scene said the body had visible injuries in the head and that the door had been locked from outside. The motive of the murder was not immediately established. The body was moved to the mortuary…