Author: KahawaTungu Reporter

Senior government officers could be barred from sharing certain information or using the popular Chinese social App TikTok on government gadgets. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said the matter is actively being discussed at the National Security Council. He said the social media is posing a huge security risk for the country. He spoke before the Public Petitions Committee of the National Assembly on Thursday. Kindiki said they are mulling forming another layer of defence forces to guard the country against the threats of cyber security. “Today cyberspace is the theatre of risk, and therefore going forward we should invest…

Kenyans will continue paying 1.5% of their monthly dues after a High Court declined to stop the implementation of the Affordable Housing Act. The Act was signed into law by President William Ruto on Tuesday. On Thursday, Justice Chacha Mwita instructed that the matter of the pleadings be served to all parties immediately. However, the court noted that the matter raises fundamental questions and should be heard urgently. “That the respondents and interested parties do file responses to the application and petition within 7 days after service,” the court directed. Read: Activists Move to Court to Block Operationalization of Affordable Housing…

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said Thursday that Kenya is set to receive two new passport printers by the end of March. This will see applicants get the traveling documents within 21 days of application from April 2024, he said. The directorate Wednesday received 112,700 passport booklets comprising 92,400,50-page (B-series) and 20,300,66-page (C-series). This consignment is in addition to 50,000- 50 -page booklets received, he said. “Additional booklets, including the 34-page (A-series), have already been procured and are expected in the country from next month,” he said. Bitok said the issuance of passports will be prioritised on…

A German national was Tuesday detained at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport over claims of trafficking bhang. Police said Afhakama Hassan aged 59 was detained after being found in possession of dry greenish plant material suspected to contain narcotic drugs. He was expected in court over the claims. The man was headed to his country when he was stopped. Trafficking and possession of bhang is prohibited in Kenya. But many traffickers defy the punitive measures in the crime and engage in the same. Dozens of people are rotting in jail for the crime, police say.

A 64-year-old man’s venture onto a tree to harvest macadamia turned tragic when he fell off and died in a village in Embu North. Police said Harun Kariuki had gone to harvest macadamia nuts where he slipped and fell from the tree. The deceased had no visible injuries when police arrived at the scene to pick up the body to the mortuary for autopsy. Macadamia are popular in the area. The body was moved to Gakwegori Funeral Home awaiting postmortem. Meanwhile, the decomposed body of a woman was found in a house in Jamhuri Phase One Court, Jamhuri in Nairobi.…

There was anxiety at an ABSA ATM along Moi Avenue, Nairobi when the dispenser was found partially open. This was hours after money had been loaded there. Guards at the at the building housing Nairobi Aviation College along Moi Avenue noticed the loading door was not securely locked. He called police who asked the ABSA officials to respond to the scene. A security agency that serviced and loaded the machine with money was also contacted and rushed there. They later announced there was no money that had been stolen. The company and police are investigating the incident. Meanwhile, a Nigerian…

Four people were Tuesday convicted to five years in prison for possession of two elephant tusks valued at Sh1.6 million in Makueni County. Senior Principal Magistrate at Makindu Benson Ireri convicted and sentenced Joshua Mwengea Mwanzia, Mashuba Ivuti, Tito Munguti, Muema Kamuti to pay a fine of Sh1 million and, in default serve five years imprisonment each for being in possession of the tusks without a permit. On June 18, 2017, Kenya Wildlife Service officers were alerted that four people in Kibwezi township were looking for a buyer to sell elephant tusks, after which they were ambushed and arrested. The…

President Joe Biden announced the strictest regulation on vehicle exhaust emissions ever introduced in the US in a bid to accelerate the auto-industry’s shift to electric cars. It includes a goal for 56% of all new US vehicles sold to be electric by 2032 – a huge increase from current levels. In a concession to car plants, the rule was softened from last year’s draft. But the Biden administration says it will still dramatically reduce planet-warming gases. Wednesday’s regulation will prevent 7bn tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 30 years, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental groups…

More than 1,200 officers died by suicide in the seven-year period studied. More than 1,200 of the nation’s public safety personnel died by suicide over a seven-year period, according to a report released by a nonprofit organization that tracks law enforcement suicides. From 2016 to 2022, there were 1,287 public safety personnel — identified in the report as law enforcement and corrections officers — who died by suicide, according to the First HELP and CNA Corporation report obtained by ABC News. First HELP is an organization that tracks law enforcement and first responder suicides. It partnered with data scientists from…

New York Attorney General Letitia James is pushing back on Donald Trump’s “extraordinary” request for a stay of his Sh62 billion civil fraud judgment arguing the former president’s recent request was unreliable, procedurally improper and based on a flawed premise. “There is nothing unusual about even billion-dollar judgments being fully bonded on appeal,” Senior Assistant Solicitor General Dennis Fan said in a filing this morning. “Defendants object to a possible ‘fire sale’ if they were to sell assets to generate cash to use as collateral for a bond or as a deposit —but the alternative would be to shift the…

A 35-year-old man was Wednesday charged in a Kibera Court for extorting over Sh240 million from Kakamega Governor Fernandes Odinga Barasa. William Simiyu Matere alias Elijah appeared before Kibera Senior Principal Magistrate Ann Mwangi where he was charged with two counts of demanding property with menace and conspiracy to commit a felony. According to the prosecution, it is alleged that on diverse dates between December, 2023 and 18th day of March, 2024 at unknown place within the Republic of Kenya, jointly with others not before court, with menaces demanded a total sum of Sh240,000,000 from Fernandez Odinga Barasa. The other…

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki Wednesday unveiled new equipment to be used in the fight against crime and in particular terrorism and banditry.  He said it is part of the government’s ambitious plan to modernise security equipment over the next five years at a cost of Sh37 billion. Kindiki said the government remains focused on complete suppression and neutralisation of terrorism, banditry, livestock rustling and other organised criminal activities as the sure way of turning around our National Security and putting Kenya on a firm path to equitable development and shared prosperity. He said equipment and kitting of frontline officers…

A retired prison officer from Transmara, Narok County who allegedly set up his two colleagues to be killed was Tuesday arrested in the Maasai Mara National Park.  Police said he has been hiding in the park with wild animals. Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) found Pius Lemiso Ndiwa, alias Shonimeu, at 11 pm on Tuesday after he evaded the police dragnet for days. Ndiwa was taken for interrogation in Kilgoris. Last week, two prison officers were killed in Olemismis village after they were invited to solve a debt they had with the suspect. The deceased identified as…

Kenya’s counter-terrorism efforts against al Shabaab are bearing fruits and have earned global recognition. Global Terrorism Index 2024 shows Kenya’s impact of terrorism decreased from high in 2022 to medium in 2023. This is attributed to ongoing Multi-Agency Security Operations against Al-Shabaab in Lamu and Northeastern Region, which resulted to killing of terrorists, destroying Al-Shabaab makeshift camps and successful arrest/prosecution of terrorists. The report by the Institute for Economics and Peace appreciates Kenya’s efforts in fighting al Shabaab in the country as well as offering an helping hand to Somalia, where the terrorist group is domiciled. Terrorism deaths attributed to…

A second royal photograph issued to the media by Kensington Palace, the office of Prince William and his wife Kate, was digitally altered in eight places, Reuters said on Tuesday after an analysis of the picture by the news organization’s photo editors. The picture, released in April last year to mark what would have been the 97th birthday of the late Queen Elizabeth, showed the former monarch surrounded by some of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It had been taken by Kate, 42, at the Scottish royal residence Balmoral Castle the previous summer, Kensington Palace said at the time. Earlier on…