Author: KahawaTungu Reporter

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…

Police and officials from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority are investigating an incident in which a suspect died by suicide inside an office at the Bomburia police station, Marani, Kisii County. The suspect identified as Kennedy Mongarek, 50 had been arrested from Tabaka village for the offence of threatening to kill. The suspect was placed in custody in one of the offices pending transfer to Kegogi police station for further investigations. Later he was found hanging from the window grill with a piece of cloth, police said. Police visited the scene and moved the body to the mortuary pending autopsy…

At least 11 cars were burnt down in a fire incident at a garage in Dagoretti area, Nairobi. The fire broke out along Wanyee Road Wednesday morning at the Best Make Auto Motors burning down the assorted cars that were there for repairs. The cause of the 1 am incident is yet to be known, police said. Police revealed they were alerted about the fire and rushed there joining locals who were busy fighting to control the spread. A fire engine from the county government arrived minutes later and managed to contain the spread of the fire. It was then…

Police are investigating an arson incident that left one man dead and two others in hospital in Huruma area, Nairobi. George Omondi succumbed to his burn injuries in hospital on Tuesday following the Sunday night incident. Two others are in hospital with serious burns, police said. Police said they are investigating a case of arson and no arrest has been made so far. Those in hospital are in critical condition with higher percentage of burns. Police said they are investigating the motive of the arson. Meanwhile, a family drove the body of their loved one to the Muthangari police station…

Two former Mississippi police officers were sentenced to a total of 37 years in prison for torturing two black men in their own home.  Hunter Elward and Jeffrey Middleton are the first of six officers being sentenced this week. Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker were beaten, shocked with stun guns and sexually assaulted by the officers. Elward, who shot one of the victims in the mouth during a botched mock execution, was sentenced to 20 years. Middleton was sentenced to just over 17 years. The other four – Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Daniel Opydke and Joshua Hartfield – will be…

There was drama at Parliament when members of a Parliamentary committee tried in vain to establish how the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spent Sh135 billion.  This is after the Ministry of Defence declared that revealing such details equates to risk to national security. Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale refused to give a breakdown of the expenditure of how KDF spent the billions in the 2022/2023 financial year when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations on Tuesday. Duale is a former MP and served as Majority Leader of the National Assembly. Duale was adamant that…

Brazil’s federal police indicted the country’s former president Jair Bolsonaro for suspected fraud on his vaccination records, two sources related to the matter said on Tuesday. An investigation by the country’s comptroller general’s office had already shown that Bolsonaro’s vaccination records were false. In addition to Bolsonaro, one of his former aides, Mauro Cid, who was arrested in May last year as part of the investigation, was also indicted. Bolsonaro was indicted on charges of entering false data into the country’s Unified Health System (SUS) and forming a criminal organization. The former president reiterated that he had not taken the…