Author: Wycliffe Nyamasege

An Assistant Chief in West Pokot County is under investigation over disputed land that led to the killing of one person last Wednesday. The assistant chief and his two brothers are said to own at least 3,000 acres, nearly a quarter of Katikomor Sub-location, which is 12,355 acres. As an individual, authorities say, he owns up to 2,569 acres, in the sub-location he serves. The authorities are investigating among other things how he acquired the land. The person, who died on Wednesday, was identified as 26-year-old Longiro Lwokwasit. He died after being shot with a poisoned arrow. The Standard reports that…

74 more people have tested positive for the novel Coronavirus in the country raising the national tally to 1,962. Addressing the nation on Sunday during the daily Covid-19 briefing from Afya House, Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Rashid Aman said 1574 samples had been tested in the last 24 hours. At the same time, Dr Aman said a Covid-19 patient has died in Kayole Nairobi. This now raises the national Covid-19 death toll to 64. 14 Covid-19 patients have also been discharged after making full recovery. This brings to 474 the total number of recoveries. The distribution of the new…

Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula says he is still the Ford Kenya Leader after a group of the party members said he had been ousted. The party members led by Secretary-General Esseli Simiyu said on Sunday that Wetangula had been removed from office during a special meeting by the National Executive Council (NEC) members on account of gross violation of the Constitution, the law and moral impropriety. Esseli said Wetangula was replaced by Kanduyi Member of Parliament Wafula Wamunyinyi on an interim basis during the meeting held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Nairobi. But reacting to the developments after the…

Ford Kenya National Executive Council (NEC) has ousted Moses Wetangula as party leader. In a special meeting on Sunday at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Nairobi, the council voted to replace Wetangula with Kanduyi Member of Parliament Wafula Wamunyinyi. Addressing the press after delegates meeting, Ford Kenya Secretary-General Esseli Simiyu said  Wetangula was removed on account of gross violation of the Constitution, the law and moral impropriety. Simiyu said the party had lost its ideals under Wetangula’s leadership. According to Bungoma Governor Wycliffe Wangamati, who attended the meeting, Wetangula was stripped of his role over failure to foster unity in…

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale and a perceived Jubilee party rebel owing to his close relationship with Deputy President William Ruto might survive the ongoing purge targeted at Ruto allies in Parliament. Sources in the know have revealed that President Uhuru Kenyatta’s men, Jubilee party Vice-chairman David Murathe and Speaker Justin Muturi, are keen to save Duale from losing his seat despite calls from the President’s Kieleweke allies to kick him out for supporting Ruto’s 2022 ambitions. According to Murathe, despite being sympathetic to the DP’s 2022 ambitions, the Garissa Township MP has been effective in pushing the government’s…

31 prisoners who tested positive for the novel Coronavirus on Saturday at the Nairobi Remand and Allocation Prison are under treatment. In a statement on Sunday, the Kenya Prisons Service commissioner general Wycliffe Ogallo said the inmates were evacuated to various hospitals by health officials from the ministry of health. The 31 cases were part of 59 samples taken from remandees and prisoners on Thursday, May 28 in the ongoing targetted mass testing. “From the results received on Saturday, 31 samples had tested positive for coronavirus after which the Nairobi County Emergency Response Team promptly moved in and evacuated the…

South Sudan’s Vice President James Wani Igga has tested positive for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). Igga becomes the third Vice President to contract the contagious disease in a span of two weeks, or at least go public about the status. Igga, Vice President in charge of the economic cluster, announced his test result while speaking on state television in Juba on Saturday. “My samples were taken for testing some few days ago and today it has been found positive,” Igga said. Last Wednesday, Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi also revealed that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Read: South Sudan Vice…

The High Court has suspended the Law Society of Kenya’s decision to revoke a list of 24 names proposed for conferment of the rank of senior counsel. In a ruling delivered on Friday, Lady Justice Pauline Nyamweya stopped the Nelson Havi-led council from effecting the decision which had dealt a blow to key figures in the legal profession including former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and former Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua pending “hearing and determination of the Applicants’ substantive Notice of Motion,” or until further orders of the Court. The 24 applicants, who were selected by the Committee on Senior…

A Nairobi Court has frozen Mathira Member of Parliament Rigathi Gachagua’s three bank accounts in an ongoing investigation into alleged money laundering. Milimani Senior Resident Magistrate Muthoni Nzibe ordered Gachagua’s three bank accounts at Rafiki Microfinance Bank be frozen for a period of seven days following a request filed by the Assets and Recovery Authority (ARA). The three accounts are registered under two companies, Wamunyoro Investment and Technical Supplies and Services Limited, both owned by Gachagua. During the period, the MP won’t be able to access the bank accounts under his name. The vocal Deputy President William Ruto’s ally is…

Homa Bay County fisheries department on Thursday destroyed illegal fishing gear estimated to be worth Ksh3 million. The fishing nets, which the county officials said threaten aquatic life in Lake Victoria, were set on fire in Mbita town. According to County Agriculture and Fisheries Executive Aguko Juma, the nets totalling to 134 were confiscated last week by officers from his department who were on patrol in Lake Victoria. The nets were seized in Gembe and Rusinga Island where the department flagged illegal fishing activities. The operation to get rid of the illegal gear, Juma said, began in 2019. Read: Water…

Malindi Member of Parliament Aisha Jumwa and her Kiminini counterpart Chris Wamwalwa have been dealt a blow after the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition stripped them of House roles. Jumwa a perceived ODM rebel was removed from the Parliamentary Service Commission where she served as a member and will be replaced by Likoni MP Mishi Mboko. Jumwa was also kicked out of the Service Facility Committee for a period of six months. Wamalwa, a member of the Ford Kenya party, was voted out as deputy minority and replaced by Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu, the Ford Kenya secretary-general. The MPs were…

Kenya’s total number of confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus disease rose to 1,618 on Thursday, with the announcement of 147 new positive cases. Addressing the nation during the daily Covid-19 briefing from Kiambu County, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said 2,831 samples had been tested in the last 24 hours. So far, a total of 70,172 samples have been tested. All the new cases are Kenyan nationals with the youngest patient being a one-year-old baby. The oldest is 87 years old The distribution of cases in the leading counties is as follows: Nairobi (90), Mombasa (41) and Kiambu (3).…

Three-quarter (75%) of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises would be in a critical state by the end of June due to the effects of the novel Coronavirus on the economy, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge said on Thursday. This, Njoroge said, is according to a survey which was conducted at the end of April. Speaking during a virtual press conference, Njoroge said there is need to come up with ways to cushion the businesses as they contribute greatly to the country’s employment and GDP. The businesses, the CBK boss said, risk shutting down their operations due to…

A disturbing video of police assaulting a man has surfaced online eliciting an angry reaction from a section of members of the public. In the video that has since caught the attention of the Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi, a cop in the company of two others was filmed squeezing private parts of the unidentified young man as they attempted to force him to board a police vehicle. Havi said he had received information that the incident took place in Nakuru at the entrance of the National Library Services. According to Havi, the three policemen are attached to…

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has vowed to deal with “criminals and mad cases” at Afya House involved in several cases of fraud. Addressing the nation during the daily Covid-19 update from Afya House on Wednesday, Kagwe admitted that officers from the Ministry of Health are under investigation over fake tenders and corruption. “This building has some very hard working Kenyans…. but this building also has its fair share of criminals and mad cases,” said Kagwe. The CS said some officials in the sensitive departments like procurement had even refused to be transferred. “…Just like any other ministries, we have…