Author: KahawaTungu Reporter

President William Ruto and some of his Cabinet Secretaries made changes in a section of parastatals in latest moves seen to be politically motivated. In a gazette notice dated August 15, 2025, Ruto appointed ODM youth leader John Antira Ketora as the Non-Executive Chairperson of the Board of the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation. His term will run for three years, effective immediately. At the Kenya National Shipping Line, the Head of State re-appointed Lt Gen (Rtd) Levi Franklin Mghalu as the Non-Executive Chairperson of the Board of Directors. Mghalu, who has previously served in the same capacity, will continue for another…

The Kenya Meteorological Department issued a heavy rainfall advisory warning of intense downpours expected to hit parts of the country from Sunday, August 17, with potential flash floods, lightning strikes, strong winds and property damage. According to the advisory released on August 15, 2025, rainfall pounding parts of the Lake Victoria Basin, Rift Valley and the Highlands West of Rift Valley will intensify to over 20mm in 24 hours, gradually spreading eastwards into the Central and Eastern Highlands. The weatherman projected the heavy rains to persist until Tuesday, August 19, before gradually reducing in intensity from Wednesday, August 20. A…

President Cyril Ramaphosa urged South Africans to come together to find solutions to the country’s many problems, launching Friday a months-long “national dialogue” dismissed by critics as a costly talk shop. The nationwide public consultation comes with Africa’s most industrialised nation still grappling with massive poverty and inequality 30 years after the end of apartheid. “We all agree that there are many things that are broken in our country,” Ramaphosa told a convention of more than 1,000 people that will draw up a roadmap for local-level meetings across the country over six to nine months. “By getting together, talking to…

A teller with Equity Bank was arraigned over allegations of stealing more than Sh1.2 million from the bank and one of its customers. Gilbert Kiptoo Lelon, stationed at Equity Bank’s Kahawa Branch, appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego, where he was charged with stealing by servant contrary to Section 281 of the Penal Code. Prosecutors alleged that on August 11, 2024, while serving as a teller, he stole Sh800,000 from the account of Mary Kanini Kamuya, a customer of the bank. He is also accused of committing a second theft just a day later. On August 12, 2024, he…

Mali’s military-led government arrested two generals and a French national, accusing them of participating in an alleged plot to destabilise the West African nation, according to a government statement and state-owned media. Mali has endured over a decade of turmoil marked by Islamist insurgencies in its arid north, along with political instability that culminated in a series of coups in 2020 and 2021 that brought the current president, General Assimi Goita, to power. Sources told Reuters earlier this week that more than 30 soldiers and military officials had been taken into custody on suspicion of attempting to destabilise Goita’s government.…

The Milimani Law Court Friday sentenced Nigerian national Alabi Tunde Lateef to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of trafficking narcotic drugs valued at Sh890,800. The court heard that on September 11, 2017, at the General Post Office (GPO) area in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD), Lateef was found trafficking by conveying 75.4 grammes of cocaine with a street value of Sh377,000. On the same day, at Kasarani’s Mwiki area, he was also found trafficking by storing 102.7 grammes of cocaine worth Sh513,800. Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi handed him eight years’ imprisonment for each of the two counts,…

The Trump administration rescinded an order replacing the District of Columbia’s police chief after an emergency court hearing. Washington DC’s police chief Pamela Smith will retain control of the force after the city sued over US Attorney General Pam Bondi naming the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as the district’s “emergency police commissioner”. The lawsuit asked a judge to void Bondi’s order and stop the DEA head from taking any position of command in the force. After the hearing, the justice department agreed to remove the DEA head as the emergency police chief, filing a new order that…

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin left Alaska without reaching an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine. After an almost three-hour meeting, the leaders delivered a joint statement to the media before leaving without taking questions. Three BBC correspondents who are in Anchorage for the summit assess what it means for the US and Russian leaders as well as what happens next in the war in Ukraine. “There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Donald Trump said early in his post-summit remarks here in Anchorage. It was a roundabout way of conceding that after several hours…

Liverpool struck twice in the final minutes through Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah to overcome a battling Bournemouth 4-2 in a thrilling start to the Premier League season on Friday. Antoine Semenyo looked to have rescued a point for the Cherries by scoring twice, after he had reported an incident of racial abuse from a fan, to cancel out Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo’s strikes for the defending champions. But on an emotive night as Anfield remembered Diogo Jota, Chiesa was the unlikely hero as the injury-hit Italian fired the home side back in front before Salah rounded off the…

Washington DC is suing the federal government over its takeover of the police force, after US Attorney General Pam Bondi named the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as the district’s “emergency police commissioner”. The city’s attorney general, Brian Schwalb, wrote on X that the US government had illegally declared a takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and was “abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law”. The lawsuit asks a judge to void Bondi’s order and stop the DEA head from “assuming any position of command within MPD”. President Donald Trump on Monday declared he would use…

At least 194 people died in heavy monsoon floods and landslides in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Most of the deaths, 180, were recorded by disaster authorities in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in north-west Pakistan. At least 30 homes were destroyed and a rescue helicopter crashed during operations, killing its five crew. Nine more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, it said. Government forecasters said heavy rainfall was expected until 21 August in the northwest of the country, where several areas have been declared disaster zones. In Buner, one survivor told AFP…

The US health agency is reviving a task force on childhood vaccine safety after pressure from anti-vaccine activists to re-establish the panel. In a statement, Health and Human Services (HHS) said it was reinstating the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines – which was disbanded in 1998 – “to improve the safety, quality, and oversight of vaccines administered to American children”. The task force will provide recommendations on childhood vaccines “that result in fewer and less serious adverse reactions than those vaccines currently on the market”, the agency said. It is the latest move from Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy…

Kericho Governor Erick Mutai was Friday impeached for the second time. The embattled Governor was ousted after putting up a spirited defense throughout the day before the County Assembly. All 33 Members of County Assembly (MCAs) voted to send him home for the second time, after the impeachment motion was moved by Sigowet Ward MCA Kiprotich Rogony. The Governor was accused of, amongst other things, misappropriation of public and donor funds and abuse of office. He had obtained a court order to stop the process. Rogony, with the backing of a majority of his counterparts, accused the Governor of allowing…

Rapper Sean Kingston was sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison in a million-dollar fraud scheme. The “Beautiful Girls” singer was convicted earlier this year, along with his mother, in a wire fraud scheme where they stole luxury items including watches, a 232-inch LED TV, a bulletproof Cadillac Escalade and furniture, exceeding $1m (£738,000). Prosecutors said Kingston – whose legal name is Kisean Anderson – and his mother used the rapper’s celebrity status to get victims to give them products and when payment was due would send them fake wire receipts. The singer apologised to the court…

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted Friday in what prosecutors called a years long scheme to hide a romantic relationship with her bodyguard, who is accused of being paid as if he was working even when they met alone in apartments and traveled to vineyards for wine tasting. Cantrell faces charges of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction, less than five months before she leaves office due to term limits. The first female mayor in New Orleans’ 300-year history was elected twice but now becomes the city’s first mayor to be charged while in office. “Public corruption has crippled us for…