Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah Friday castigated President William Ruto saying there was little to praise his administration for two years office. The combative Senator, now a 2027 presidential hopeful, further decried the spiralling cost of living adding that already the situation was getting out of hand for millions of Kenyans . “Our people are hurting ,many of them suffering silently, we can only change the course through good and effective leadership,” Omtatah said in a speech read on his behalf by Mary Muthomi in Kisii early Friday. Muthomi is chair Omtatah Exploratory committee and the members had been going round…
Author: Magati Obebo
A mysterious fire razed down a dormitory housing 140 students at Ritembu Mixed Boarding in Kisii’s Magena area, Bomachoge Borabu. No student was injured in the Thursday morning incident, school official said. The school principal Rose Oroko said fire started around 8.00 in the morning. The students had already reported for morning studies, she added. . “What is still baffling us is that there was no electricity then, i just saw huge smoke billowing out and quickly alerted others who rushed and quickly put the fire out,” she said. Most affected were the students’ personal effects among them mattresses and…
Nominated Senator Essy Okenyuri Wednesday tasked the government to explain the existing disparities in tea bonus payments in the country. Some farmers, especially in Kisii and Nyamira Counties she said, continue to reap dismal bonuses over the years in comparison to other regions. “We want the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture Mutahi Kagwe to explain why the disparity, the farmers in that region should enjoy the fruits of their labour just like their peers elsewhere ” Okenyuri told the Senate during a session Wednesday morning. . Tea farming is considered major source of livelihoods for many farmers in Kenya Kenya Tea…
Shabana football club officials have absolved the club from the weekend chaos that rocked Gusii Stadium at a function attended by ODM leader Raila Odinga. Club Secretary General Elizaphan Kerama also sent apologies to the former Prime Minister and other officials for the fracas. The drama caused Odinga to leave the event as a precautionary measure. “As a club we categorically distance ourselves from any isolated incident that may have occured during or after the event,” stated the official in a letter penned and signed Monday. Shabana, he said, upholds the highest standards of respect, unity and appreciation for its…
Kisii Governor Simba Arati and his Narok County counterpart Patrick Ole Ntutu Monday urged for an end to the weeklong border skirmishes between the Kisii and the Maasai communities in Kiango area. The conflict, both leaders said, has fractured peace and separated a people that had been peacefully living together for decades. At least four people – two from each side – have died since the skirmishes broke out a week ago. . “We must bring these senseless skirmishes to an end today and allow our people to resume their normal activities,” stated Arati. Arati said lives have been lost…
Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka and Kitutu Chache South MP Anthony Kibagendi Monday denied, terming them as thrash, the accusations charging them with inciting protests against Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga. Odinga and a host of leaders faced walk out at the Gusii Stadium on Sunday March 9 over his deal with president William Ruto. Onyonka said he was in Mombasa while Kibagendi was on a foreign trip to France and were unaware Odinga was coming to Kisii. “Violence and chaos have never been my cup of tea for the more than two decades that I have actively participated in…
Security agencies in Kisii Monday said they have taken a man into custody for suspected cattle rustling incidents along the Kisii-Narok County border. At the same time, Kisii and Narok County leaders met to solve the issue. Kisii Governor Simba Arati and Narok’s Patrick ole Ntutu met as part of efforts to solve the attacks. Kisii County Commissioner Joseph Kibet said the suspect Joel Maguni was seized Monday morning in South Mugirango. He has already been handed to the DCI for further interrogation, Kibet said at Kiango ahead of a peace meeting between the Kisii and the Maasai. “We are…
At least two people have succumbed to arrow injuries in the last two days as ethnic violence continue to engulf most parts of the common border between Kisii and Narok Counties. By Sunday locals still reported tension amid the escalation of the violent skirmishes. . At least four people have died from both communities embroilled in the conflict that entered the second week Sunday. Chitago Borabu Ward Rep Felix Ombati said they lost one Okemwa Sokoine, 25, to an arrow injury to the chest. The second victim was reported as hailing from the neighbouring Bokimonge Ward. Five other people are…
Some farm hands were injured Friday as ethnic violence escalated from Kiango into Mosocho areas in South Mugirango along the Kisii-Transmara border. Those injured had been recruited to cut cane at a farm in Enosaen area, in Transmara West Sub-County, Narok County, witnesses and police said. Some fled into the vast sugarcane farms to evade attacks from marauding youth armed who attacked. One person suffered injuries, officials said. He sustained minor injuries to the head, legs and hands and has already been discharged from hospital. The skirmishes were particularly intense at Mosocho area, a restive region stretching from Geteri, Nyamaiya…
Nyamira County Senator Okongo O’Mogeni Friday asked President William Ruto to be more swiftly and make the Social Health Authority and the Social Health insurance schemes functional to stem spiralling deaths of patients. With the choruses of objections being raised against the scheme it could be proper that Ruto does some soul searching and amend it once and for all, the Senator stated. “We cannot say we are moving forward as a nation in the face of a bungled health insurance scheme like SHA, already we are losing too many lives unnecessarily,” stated Omogeni. He said the problems afflicting the…
Police in Marani, Kisii shot and killed four suspected robbers at Sombogo area in Kitutu Chache North. The deceased included one woman, police said. At least two others fled on foot in the Thursday March 6 morning incident. The gang had attempted to rob a bakery owner of cash Thursday at 1 am when he alerted the police who responded and gave chase. The gang of six had stormed Progress Bakery at around 1.45am, armed with a firearm, axes and knives. They demanded the day’s sale, but the owner managed to alert police officers at the Marani camp. Upon arrival…
ODM Raila Odinga Thursday downplayed the bid by former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi to go for presidency. He said at the moment he was not aaware Matiangi was interested in the country’s top political seat. He said it would be fool hardy for him to rely on the Mount Kenya vote to catapult him to presidency. “You cannot run for presidency on the basis of the Kisii vote, the Luo vote or even the Mount Kenya vote. You would be elected by Kenyans across the board,” the former Prime Minister said. Odinga had landed in Kisii to hear views…
Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka and his nominated counterpart, Essy Okenyuri , Wednesday called for dialogue as means to ending cross border squabbles between communities living along Kisii-Narok border. The two issued statements hours apart as one cow and its calf that were stolen Friday from Kiango area, sparking skirmishes, were recovered and handed back to their owners. Two more cows are however, yet to be recovered, officials said. The single recovery early Wednesday appeared to revive fresh hopes of the recovery of two more others still on the loose. Earlier, elders from both sides had agreed that all three cows…
Nyamira’s West Mugirango MP Steve Mogaka called on the government to give immediate salary increases to teachers in newly gazetted municipality zones of Nyamira County. Raising it in the National Assembly, Mogaka requested that the government roll out the 2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with improved house allowances for teachers working in urban areas. In 2021, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) signed a CBA that provided for better allowances for teachers in municipalities. However, even after Nyamira County gazetted new municipalities in 2024, which include Nyamira Town, Tinga, Nyamaiya, Miruka, Kebirigo, Ekerenyo, and Keroka, teachers in these municipalities have not…
Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni Tuesday said investigations into the mysterious disease ravaging some parts of South Mugirango were still going on. At least 56 people have since been treated in various health facilities in the region of the infection. On Tuesday, Muthoni ordered for a temporary closure of a spring at the epicenter of the epidemic as samples go through further lab analysis. Some preliminary samples already taken from the spring early in the week had returned positive of fecal deposits raising suspicion that it helped trigger the break out. “We have established that this water is contaminated and…