Author: Wycliffe Nyamasege

In a few days time besieged Kirinyaga County Governor Anne Waiguru will know her fate as the Senate select committee works around the clock to scrutinize evidence on her proposed impeachment. As the sittings continue, it has now emerged that some of the evidence the county boss tabled before the 11-member committee led by Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala are not legible. Waiguru is accused of among other issues having received Ksh10.6 million as an imprest for a foreign trip to the US and Italy, which she never made. She is alleged to have received Ksh2.6 million in imprest on June…

The National Assembly has rejected proposals by the National Treasury to raise taxes from pensioners and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). National Treasury Cabinet Secretay Ukur Yatani had on June 11 while reading the 2020-2021 budget proposed to end part of tax exemptions by levying taxes on income from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and move LPG gas into the VAT-able category. But in a vote subjected to the committee of the whole house yesterday, the MPs noted that the move would be counterproductive. On levying pensioners, the lawmakers while voting to pass the 2020 Finance Bill stood with the…

Police in Nairobi have arrested five people accused of breaking into houses in Parklands area. During the operations carried out today by detectives from the Crime Research & Intelligence Bureau(CRIB), a number of stolen laptops and jewellery were recovered. Other items recovered from the suspects include mobile phone chargers, hard drives and keys. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) identified the suspects as Susan Wambui Njoroge, Kennedy Aluoch, Kilibe Justin, Samson Wanjohi and James Mwangi. According to the DCI, residents had filed several complaints in the area forcing the detectives to launch investigations into the theft. “The suspects are in…

Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has announced that 10 counties will experience a power outage for eight hours on Wednesday, June 24. A notice issued on Tuesday evening indicates that the power interruption will begin between 8-9am, depending on locations and end at around 5pm. The counties that will be affected are Nairobi, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Murang’a, Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kisii, Migori, Mombasa and Kilifi. In Nairobi, Runda area will be affected with parts of Rosslyn Estate and adjacent residents experiencing blackouts from 9am. Targeted areas in Nyandarua County are Mawingo, Tigoni, Machinery, Miharati, Manunga Girls, Mubao, Foothills Academy…

National Assembly Minority Whip Junet Mohamed now says that being loyal to the ODM party that sponsored him to Parliament has helped him to remain in Raila Odinga’s good books. The Suna East MP made the remarks on Tuesday while commenting on the Monday ouster of his Garissa Township counterpart Aden Duale as majority leader by the Jubilee party. In a meeting attended yesterday by President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), Duale was replaced by Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya after being accused of being disloyal to the party leader. “As for Duale, when you see us…

The wave of lay-offs has hit the Kenyan media again with Royal Media Services (RMS) sending home some of its members of staff a day after Mediamax Network Limited sacked nearly the entire K24 TV’s editorial team. Multiple sources intimated to this writer that a number of employees in the media house’s radio department have received redundancy letters. Top on the list of radio personalities alleged to have been sent home recently include Radio Citizen presenters Syombua Osiany, John Maloba, Himenigilder Mugeni. Hot 96 FM Presenter Nancy Wanjiku Karanja popularly known to her fans as Shix Kapienga is also said…

Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Director-General Mohammed Abdalla Badi has reconstituted the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company board. In a gazette notice, the NMS boss appointed Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Andrew Ikenye to chair the board for a period of three years. Ikenye takes over from ODM leader Raila Odinga’s sister Beryl Okumu who has been appointed as the chairperson of the Governing Council of Kenya Water Institute. This further raises concerns over the militarisation of the city by the national government. President Uhuru  Kenyatta has over the recent past been accused of militarising civilian agencies after he picked Badi to head…

59 more people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) raising the number of cases in the country to 4797. Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Mercy Mwangangi said the cases are from 2,354 samples that were tested in the last 24 hours. This is a drop in the daily tests that the government has been conducting in the past few days. Total cumulative samples tested so far stands at 142,366. The 59 new cases are distributed as follows: Nairobi (28), Mombasa (21), Kilifi (3), Kiambu (2), Machakos (1), Kisii (1), Bungoma (1) and Webuye (1). The cases in…

Tuskys Supermarket intends to layoff more employees to stay afloat amid downfall reports, Kahawa Tungu has learnt. Details on the new layoffs targeting at least 80 staffers emerged after the Kenya Union of Commercial Food and Allied Workers (KUCFAW) moved to court to block the intended redundancies. In the petition before the Employment and Labour Relations Court, the union details that Tuskys management is planning to sack the employees over the effects of Covid-19 on its business. “That pending hearing and determination of this matter, this honourable court be pleased to issue and order restraining the respondent from declaring eighty unionisable…

Details have emerged on today’s Jubilee Parliamentary Group meeting that saw Garissa Township MP Aden Duale stripped of his role as Majority Leader. Duale, who has served as majority leader for seven years since Jubilee took power in 2013, was kicked out after a section of MPs allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta signed a motion to oust him for being sympathetic to Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential ambitions. Kieni MP Kanini Kega, who collected the signatures on behalf of his Kieleweke group, argued that Duale had failed the loyalty test. Uhuru replaced the man credited for tirelessly pushing the…

Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale has been relieved of his duties in the new House leadership changes. President Uhuru Kenyatta replaced Duale with Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya in a Jubilee Parliamentary Group meeting held at Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) on Monday morning. Deputy President William Ruto, whose allies have been the major casualties in the party shake-up,  also attended the meeting. Duale survived the ongoing purge in the ruling party in a PG meeting held at State House on June 2. The axe, however, fell on majority whip Benjamin Washiali and his deputy Cecily Mbarire. Filling…

K24TV anchors and reporters have been dealt a blow after they were shown the door to create room for a new team that has been unveiled today. This writer understands that the Mediamax owned TV station fired over 90 per cent of its editorial team after opposing up to 50 per cent pay cut that had been announced by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ken Ngaruiya. A source familiar with the developments intimated that only two members of staff working at the production department were spared in the mass layoff. The two are said to have consented to the huge pay…

Residents in many parts of Nairobi are experiencing a power outage. Some of the areas affected include Langata, Kiserian, Matasia, Ngong, South B, South C, Syokimau, Nyayo Estate, Pipeline, Villa Franca, Upperhill, Ngumo, JKIA, Mombasa Road, Nairobi West, lmara Daima and Athi River. Earlier, Kangemi, Kabete and neighbouring residents also experienced a blackout that lasted for hours. In a statement on Sunday night, the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) confirmed that many parts in the county are experiencing power interruptions. Read: #SwitchOffKPLC: Kenyans Irate After Experts Unearth Kenya Power’s Flawed Billing System KPLC urged the residents to be patient…

The novel Coronavirus disease cases in the country rose to 4,738 after 260 more people tested positive in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of cases to be recorded since the first case was confirmed in the country 100 days ago. Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced on Sunday that a total of 3,651 samples had been tested in the last 24 hours. Cumulatively, 140,012 samples have been tested so far. At the same time, CS Kagwe announced that two more patients have succumbed to the disease raising the death toll to 123. 21 more patients have…

Kirinyaga county residents were on Sunday left in shock after waking up to leaflets calling for the ouster of embattled governor Anne Waiguru. The leaflets with the message “Waiguru Must Go” were widely circulated on Saturday night. They were dropped at Ngurubani, Makutano, Kagio,Kerugoya ,Kagumo,Kibingoti,Kibirigwi, Thiba, Wamumu and among other areas in the county. Some parts of the anti-Waiguru leaflets were written in Kikuyu and called on residents to participate in demonstrations against the county boss on Monday, June 22. The people behind the leaflets are unknown but locals suspect it’s a campaign against Waiguru as the Senate hearing on…