Author: Wycliffe Nyamasege

Al Shabaab militants on Sunday morning attacked Manda-Magogoni naval base in Lamu County. The base known as “Camp Simba” hosts both US and Kenyan forces. “They have attacked Manda airstrip in Lamu, which is just next to the military camp that hosts military personnel from many countries including Kenya and the U.S.,” a military source told Reuters. The source said the fighters were trying to access the base from the airstrip. Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia confirmed the incident saying the militants invaded the camp at around 4 a.m adding that Kenyan security teams have responded to the scene. “It’s…

Kibos Sugar factory located in Kisumu County risks closure if the management doesn’t heed to calls to relocate neighbouring Kibos Special School to another location within Kisumu town. Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha gave the directive on Saturday saying children with special needs continue to suffer due to environmental hazards they are exposed to by the factory located barely 20 metres from the school. He was speaking at Chemelil Academy in Kisumu. The school is the only learning centre for the blind and children with albinism in Western Kenya. Reports from locals and environmentalists indicate that the company emits polluted…

A Tanzanian court on Thursday denied journalist Erick Kabendera a chance to pay his last respect to his departed mother, Verdiana Mjwahuzi. Kisutu Resident Magistrate Magistrate Janeth Mtega ruled that it wasn’t in her jurisdiction to allow Kabendera to attend the burial as economic crimes, which the scribe is charged with, are not bailable. She also stated that the court lacked jurisdiction to grant Kabendera his request. Kabendera’s lawyer Jebra Kambole had requested the court to grant his client leave under escort saying he had not made any attempt to escape and the charges levelled against him do not involve…

At least 50 passengers escaped death by a whisker in the wee hours of Friday morning after a bus they were travelling in burst into flames in Gilgil on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway. The passengers boarding the Greenline Services operated bus were safely evacuated by police who were patrolling the area. They, however, lost all their luggage during the incident. Reports indicate that moments before the incident, the ill-fated bus had a tyre burst. Read: 3 Killed As Suspected Al Shabaab Militants Hijack Bus In Lamu The driver parked the bus on the roadside to change the tyre but saw smoke…

Exiled lawyer Miguna Miguna has lauded Kandara Member of Parliament Alice Wahome for what he termed acts of fearlessness following the lawmaker’s utterances on President Uhuru Kenyatta alleged plot to cling to power after the end of his term in 2022. Addressing a press conference on Thursday in Malindi, Wahome hit out at President Kenyatta accusing him of being a threat to the country’s democracy. In a lengthy Facebook post, the self-styled National Resistance Movement (NRM) general, stated that Wahome’s “bold” move shows just how determined she is in defeating tyranny hence can’t be locked out of the revolutionaries camp.…

Three people were killed and three others injured on Thursday after a bus they were travelling in was attacked by suspected Al Shabaab militants at Nyongoro area within Lamu County. Reports indicate that the Lamu-bound bus christened “Mombasa Raha” was coming from Mombasa. It had 44 passengers. Heavy gunfire was reportedly heard from the scene as some passengers fled into nearby bushes. Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia, who spoke to Nation, confirmed the incident. “I have heard of such an incident but I am headed to the scene…I am also liaising with officers on the ground. Details on injuries, casualties…

In the wake of a somewhat dramatic online feud on who played which role during Dennis Okari and Betty Kyallo’s daughter Ivanna’ sickness, the former has remained mum. On Wednesday after sharing what many termed as an explosive Facebook post slamming NTV’s Ken Mijungu, Betty’s sister, Mercy, has maintained that she will not be silenced. Mercy claimed that Dennis used Ken to pass a disrespectful message targeted at her sister after she failed to acknowledge his support in her recent thanksgiving post. In the post, Mercy accused Dennis of neglecting her daughter just weeks after showing up at the hospital…

On Wednesday, January 1, 2020, turnover tax for traders operating Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) came into effect. The re-introduction of the levy, which was suspended in 2018, will see traders whose annual sales are below Ksh5 million start paying a three percent tax on their sales to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). The levy was reintroduced after President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Finance Act 2019 into law in November last year with the aim of boosting tax collections. The Treasury had dropped the turnover tax due to its poor performance as most traders failed to make revenue disclosures. It…

Detained journalist Eric Kabendera has now appealed to his family members to give his late mother a befitting burial. Verdiana Mjwahuzi died on Tuesday morning at the age of 80. By Wednesday, the family was unsure if Tanzanian authorities will allow the freelancer to attend Mjwahuzi’s burial set for late this week. “Most of us know the sadness of losing a mother but to Kabendera it was too difficult because he wasn’t by her bedside and isn’t sure if he could attend her funeral,” a family member said. Speaking to the media, Kabendera’s lawyer Jebra Kambole stated that his client…

The Immigration Department was on Wednesday forced to respond to mistreatment claims by a Nigerian national, an incident said to have taken place last week at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). Michael Ernest on December 27, 2019, took to micro-blogging site Twitter to castigate the immigration officials at the JKIA citing discrimination and harassment. Ernest, a marketing and communications professional, had been in Kenya for about six days to celebrate Christmas and had booked a Kenya Airways flight to Maputo, Mozambique, for new year celebrations. “I arrived Kenya 21st and today 27th I was to get to Maputo from…

K24 Television presenter Betty Kyallo’s sister Mercy has come out guns blazing to defend her sibling over recent remarks made by  NTV anchor Ken Mijungu. Ken had on Tuesday reprimanded Betty for allegedly driving a narrative that his colleague, Dennis Okari, who happens to be the TV girl’s ex-husband, was as an irresponsible father in her post over their daughter Ivanna’s illness. In a lengthy Facebook post on Wednesday morning, Mercy accused Ken of disrespecting her sister. “Ken, you cannot force a thank you, Maybe that is why the old Swahili Saying “ Tenda Wema nenda Zako” You wrote her…

Kenya declined to vote either for or against a proposal on the United Nations adopting resolution condemning Myanmar‘s human rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims, Kahawa Tungu has learnt. In the vote that was conducted on December 27, 2019, the UN approved the resolution that includes condemning arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and deaths in detention of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in the Southeast Asian nation The 193-member world body voted 134-9 with 28 abstentions in favour of the resolution. Other African countries that abstained include Eritrea, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Cameroom and Central African Republic. Zimbabwe is…

Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria is not your ordinary politician. His wild behaviour on social media, political rallies and in other functions have earned him enemies and friends in equal measure. The vocal lawmaker on Wednesday night, as he welcomed the new year 2020 just like many Kenyans and the world at large, took his social media to share some of his new year resolutions. He stated that he will be deactivating his social media accounts save for WhatsApp until 2021. His resolution number two would be to stop drinking throughout 2020. The post left many confused and…

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday hinted at a possibility of the government granting firebrand lawyer Miguna Miguna unconditional entry into his motherland, Kenya. Speaking during the funeral service of Charles Rubia in Kandara Constituency, the President stated that Kenya is a free state and every citizen has freedom of speech that the country’s founding fathers and the likes of Rubia fought for. Rubia, who was the first African mayor of Nairobi, together with the late Kenneth Matiba, led the calls for multi-party democracy and was subsequently detained by President Daniel Arap Moi for months. He died on December 23 at…

As vocal lawyer Miguna Miguna will be attempting to enter Kenya in a weeks time, the government has maintained that he will only be allowed into the country if he presents valid travel documents. The self-styled revolutionary, who has in the past been deported to Canada twice announced recently, through his social media handles, that he will be jetting into the country on January 7, 2020. Speaking to a local media, Government Spokesperson Col. Cyrus Odhiambo Oguna stated that immigration officials at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport will be governed strictly by travel regulations when processing Miguna’s entry on arrival.…