Author: Wycliffe Nyamasege

Deputy President William Ruto has downplayed a recent purge in Parliament that saw his key allies kicked out of plum positions saying the leadership changes should not be a recipe for anarchy. In a tweet on Thursday, the DP, who is on record saying the lawmakers were targeted because of being his friends, said that the leadership changes are now over and asked the affected MPs to work together with the rest of their colleagues to serve the people. “With the changes in Parliamentary leadership including committee membership & leadership now concluded, I urge all MPs NOT to be divided…

Governors have threatened to impose lockdowns in counties if the Coronavirus situation gets dire. According to the Council of Governors Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya, the statistics recorded in the past one week are worrying and the lockdown option will be considered in counties that record a spike in cases following the lifting of movement restrictions in Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera counties. The Kakamega Governor said the numbers being witnessed since the President announced phased reopening of the economy are alarming. The governor expressed concerns also on the increasing number of deaths as a result of community spread of the contagious disease.…

John Babtist Kanga, a member of Kirinyaga County Assembly (MCA), is in trouble after he was arraigned over alleged land fraud. The Wamumu ward representative was on Wednesday charged with four counts of forging land documents in an alleged bid to defraud four families of their parcels of land worth millions of shillings in 2013. The charge sheet read that on December 1, 2013, Kanga while at Wanguru township in Kirinyaga and jointly with Samson Theiru, forged an allotment letter for Plot No. Wanguru/160 purporting to have been issued by Commisioner of Lands, Nairobi. The suspects were charged with making an…

The Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) has stopped charging for issuance of Compliance Certificate to non-beneficiaries. Helb has been issuing compliance certificates to non-beneficiaries of student loans at a fee of Kshs 1,000 to meet the “cost of the certificate and other administrative expenses”. In a statement on Thursday, Helb Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Charles Ringera stated that the waiver followed numerous complaints from Kenyans who perceived the charges for non-loanees as punitive. “Given the foregoing issues raised by Kenyans, HELB has stopped charging Kshs. 1,000 for issuance of the Compliance Certificate with effect from 15. July 2020, ” said…

Nairobi County Governor Mike Sonko now wants the Nairobi Metropolitan Services office to be placed under his leadership saying it is operating outside the law. The governor, who appeared before the Senate Public Accounts and Investment Committee on Wednesday, cited a strained relationship with NMS Director General Maj. General Mohammed Badi. Sonko claimed that the NMS boss has been blackmailing him with impeachment threats and even barring him from attending NMS functions. Sonko told the Senators that even though he supports the President’s agenda of transforming Nairobi County, he is appalled that NMS wants to portray him as a failure.…

461 more people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease raising the number of infections in the country to 11,252. Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Rashid Aman said on Wednesday that a total of 4,261 samples had been tested in the last 24 hours. Cumulative tests carried out so far stand at 225,495. In a press briefing at Afya House, Dr Aman said that seven more patients have succumbed to Covid-19. The death toll now stands at 209. 51 more patients have recovered from Covid-19 bringing to 3,068 the number of recoveries recorded in the country so far. Of…

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has ordered former Kenya Pipeline Managing Director Charles Tanui to present himself at EACC headquarters, Integrity Centre, in Nairobi, immediately over alleged involvement in irregular payments amounting to Ksh30 million. In a statement on Wednesday, EACC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Twalib Mbarak stated that investigations had revealed that Kenya Pipeline paid Redline Limited for supply, installation, testing and commissioning of three auto-transformers procured from M/s Agecelec of France using false documents for services not rendered. “The EACC established that a total sum of Kenya Shillings Thirty Million (Kshs. 30,000,000/=) was paid to M/s Redline Limited…

National carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) has halted a downsizing exercise that was set to affect hundreds of staffers. This is after the staffers through the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) obtained orders from the Employee and Labour Relations Court temporarily stopping the exercise until a petition challenging the mass layoffs is heard and determined. Reports indicate that the airline had plans to send home 182 pilots and more than 400 cabin crew members over dwindling fortunes due to effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the aviation sector. In a memo to the staffers on Wednesday, KQ CEO Allan Kivuka, however,…

High Court Judge James Wakiaga has announced that he is stepping down from hearing the murder case of former Kabete Member of Parliament George Muchai. Daily Nation reports that Justice Wakiaga succumbed to pressure from suspects in the case to recuse himself over alleged bias. The judge said on Tuesday that the five people accused of killing the ex-MP had filed a complaint against him at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) accusing him of gross misconduct and incompetence. Justice Wakiaga detailed that the environment made it difficult for him to conduct a meaningful trial hence the decision to disqualify himself…

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) based in Nairobi on Tuesday arrested a 29-year-old Kenyan man accused of stealing from unsuspecting members of the public by posing as a senior official from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). According to the DCI, Paul Mwangi Njihia, a former computer technology student at a local university is suspected to have created an online profile purporting to be the General Manager USAID Rift Valley Region. Using the profile, the suspect went ahead and started obtaining facilitation fees from members of the public seeking employment. “His Job seeking victims who…

Exiled Kenyan lawyer Miguna Miguna’s Wikipedia profile was on Tuesday changed to indicate that he is not a Kenyan national. In the changes made by unknown people, Miguna’s profile was edited to read that he is a Canadian citizen and advocate of the High Court of Canada. Previously his profile indicated that Miguna holds dual Kenyan and Canadian citizenship. The changes angered Miguna who took to social media accusing individuals in government of attempting to erase his Kenyan roots and citizenship. “When an illegitimate regime hires an army of hungry ruffians to edit my Wikipedia page and ILLEGALLY tries to…

On Wednesday, October 10, 2018, Kenyans woke to heartbreaking news that at least 55 people had lost their lives after a bus accident at Fort Tenan in Kericho County. The grisly accident involving a Home Boyz Kakamega-bound Bus was on Tuesday the topic of discussion on social media after the plates of the bus emerged online roping in Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya. The governor had shared photos from the launch of a county water project and hawk-eyed netizens couldn’t help but notice a lorry bearing the plates of the ill-fated bus. In the photo, the governor, who was in the…

Just a day after Bungoma residents laid to rest Dr Doreen Lugaliki who lost the battle to Covid-19, the respiratory disease has claimed the life of a senior lecturer hailing from the region. Professor Maurice Kizito Mangoli from Bumula died of Covid-19 related complications at the Nairobi Hospital. He was Senior lecturer at the department of electrical and information engineering, University of Nairobi. Bungoma governor Wycliffe Wangamati mourned the fallen professor as “a seasoned teacher, a well-travelled scholar and an expert engineer who has his name and handprint on several building projects dotting the city.” “As a county we have…

Deputy President William Ruto allies in the National Assembly have been dealt a blow after the Jubilee party leadership bowed to ODM pressure to eject them from plum committees ahead of the much anticipated Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitutional reforms. Pro-President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga handshake MPs now dominate the crucial committees to pass the reforms as envisioned by the two leaders. In a calculated move to tame the influence of the perceived anti-BBI MPs, the Committee on Selection chaired by National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya yesterday moved the Ruto allies to less influential committees following complaints from…

The fight for control of the ruling Jubilee party continued on Monday with the Secretariat locking horns over party funds. Deputy Secretary-General Caleb Kositany had today written to his boss Raphael Tuju demanding financial reports from 2016 to date after weeks of accusing the party of misappropriation of membership fee. Kositany, who said he was acting on behalf of the over 100 MPs and over 500 ward reps who are members of the party, gave the Tuju seven days to send information on the audited accounts to his email. He threatened to take legal action against the party should it…