Author: Wycliffe Nyamasege

A section of lawmakers in the National Assembly has raised concerns over an incident where Deputy President William Ruto was blocked from flying to Uganda from Wilson Airport on Monday. In what has been interpreted as an escalation of the DP’s fallout out with his boss President Uhuru Kenyatta, the second in command was made to wait at the airport for more than five hours for clearance that never happened. The security agencies at the airport cited orders from above even as they cleared MPs who were in the company of Ruto after they contacted the National Assembly Speaker. The…

Once formidable coalition, the National Super Alliance (NASA), stands dissolved, three affiliate parties have announced. In a joint press statement on Tuesday, party leaders Musalia Mudavadi (Amani National Congress), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper) and Moses Wetagula of Ford Kenya announced that they had written to the Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu formally informing her of their decision to pull out of the coalition over mistrust issues. https://twitter.com/KTNNewsKE/status/1422476477048762372?s=20 According to the NASA agreement, the coalition stands dissolved if three affiliate parties leave. Other parties that formed the coalition include Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party and Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) of…

Leadership wrangles in the Ford Kenya party have escalated with one of the warring factions blocking ODM party from sharing political parties funds with the ‘Simba’ outfit. The ODM party recently announced plans to share funds received from the parties registrar to its National Super Alliance (NASA) affiliates after a protracted row. Ford Kenya, one of the NASA partners, was to receive Ksh36 million from Ksh308 million that the Raila Odinga-led party decided to share. In the sharing formula used by ODM, Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper party received Sh70.4 million, Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC Sh43.8 and Isaac Ruto’s Chama Cha Mashinani Sh3 million…

Two suspected thugs were on Sunday night shot dead in a shootout with police following an attempted carjacking in Nairobi’s Kilimani area. The gunmen had subdued a taxi driver and his client at Kilimani’s Chania Avenue, before robbing them of their mobile phones and taking over their Toyota Vitz at around 10pm. As they were about to flee the scene after what they thought was a successful mission, the thugs were confronted by the police who were responding to the victims’ distress call. According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the suspects were ordered to surrender but instead engaged…

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi has accused the state of interfering with the management of the society as internal wrangles persist. Taking to Twitter on Monday, Havi called out the National Police Service (NPS) for allegedly being used to fight him. He claimed that police officers stormed LSK offices in Nairobi and disrupted a scheduled meeting. In a video shared on Twitter, Havi is seen confronting the two officers, a female and male cop, asking them to leave the venue. “What really, is the interest of the OCS Muthangari Police Station in the internal affairs of the…

The Ministry of Education has extended the deadline for the listing of the 2021 KCPE and KCSE candidates by two weeks. The registration exercise that was scheduled to close on July 31, 2021, will now end on August 14, 2021. Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said the extension is aimed at ensuring no candidate misses a chance to sit for the primary and secondary school national examinations. “This is to give an opportunity to schools to ensure all candidates are registered, in the spirit of leaving no child behind in the education sector,” the CS said on Monday. Read: #KCPE2020 Results:…

Four suspects are cooling their heels in police cells over illegal possession of 100Kgs of elephant tusks in Kangari town, Murang’a County. The suspects were nabbed on Sunday afternoon with 19 pieces of jumbo tusks estimated to be worth Ksh10 million in the underworld business. They are Martin Mungai Nginya aged 58, Peter Macharia Njuguna, 32, Edward Mwambura Kamau, 55 and 43-year-old Samuel Njuguna Mwirigi. According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the suspects were arrested by a multi-agency team dubbed ‘Interpol Usalama 7’ that has been pursuing criminals in the illegal business of ivory. Read: Five Elephants Allegedly Killed…

The Ministry of Health has announced 467 new Covid-19 cases from a sample size of 5,217 tested in the last 24 hours. This represents a 9 percent positivity rate, a drop from 15.6 percent announced on Saturday, July 31. In a statement to newsrooms on Sunday, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said from the cases 454 are Kenyans while 13 are foreigners. 242 males while 225 are females. The youngest is a two-month-old infant while the oldest is 90 years. Total confirmed positive cases are now 203,680 and cumulative tests so far conducted are 2,137,572. The cases are distributed in…

The late self-declared Tanzanian miracle healer Ambilikile Mwasapile, popularly known as Babu wa Loliondo, was suffering from severe pneumonia. The retired Lutheran Church priest died on Friday, July 30 at the age of 86. Authorities in Tanzania have revealed that Babu developed respiratory problems and fever before he was declared dead at Digodigo Health Centre. Initial reports indicated that he died after a ‘sudden illness’. Ngorongoro district commissioner Raymond Mangwala told Eatv.tv. that medical reports indicated Babu had pneumonia. Read: Self-declared Tanzanian Miracle Healer Babu wa Loliondo Is Dead According to the Tanzanian news outlet, Babu had been ill for five…

Nyama Choma, a popular term in Kenya used to refer to grilled meat, has found its way into the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (OALD). The word is among 53 terms from local dialects included by the Oxford University Press (OUP) in its 10th edition of OALD. Other commonly used words added to the dictionary include isikuti, kayamba, Maasai, majimbo and zeze. The word isikuti, for example, is a local word used to refer to a dancing style common with the Luhya community. It’s characterised by a quick movement of parts of the body, especially shoulders, and is often accompanied by…

Police in Rongo, Migori County, are pursuing drug traffickers who abandoned a vehicle carrying sacks of bhang after being cornered by authorities. The seized bhang, according to Rongo sub-county police commander Peter Okiring, weighs 194Kg and has a street value of Ksh1.94 million. The narcotic was packed in five sacks. It was being ferried to an unknown destination. The suspects were flagged by police manning a roadblock along the Awendo-Rongo highway. They ignored police orders to stop forcing the officers to pursue the vehicle for over an hour. Read: Kenyan Rastafarian Community in Court Seeking to have Bhang Legalized Upon…

Former Nairobi County Deputy Governor Jonathan Mueke has joined Deputy President William Ruto’s political team nicknamed ‘hustler movement’. The Co-Secretary General of the United Green Movement party paid the DP a visit at his Karen home in Nairobi on Friday. Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Mueke expressed his support for the second in command’s bottom-up economic model amid the ongoing storm over its viability. “Caught up with William Ruto and got to hear first hand how his bottom-up economic model will uplift the majority of Kenyans and grow our economy to a point where we can compete with other well-established…

A section of the Outer Ring Road will be closed on Sunday, August 1, 2021, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) has announced. In a notice issued on Friday, KURA said a section of the road at Taj Mall/Pipeline will be closed as from 8:00am to 4:00pm to allow the Contractor on site to install Footbridge Trusses. Due to expected traffic disruption, motorists have been advised to use alternative routes. Motorists heading to Nairobi are advised to use Mombasa Road and Quarry Road, while those heading to Thika Road to use Eastern Bypass. Read: KURA To Implement Huawei’s Intelligent Transport…

The Judiciary has announced the transfer of High Court judges. In a list released by the office of Chief Justice Martha Koome, a total of 23 judges have been affected by the transfers which take effect on October 1, 2021. In the reshuffle, Justice John Mativo of the Commercial Division in Milimani, Nairobi, has been moved to Mombasa. Similarly, Justice James Wakiaga of the Milimani Law Courts has been moved to Murang’a High Court. Justice Chacha Mwita has been transferred to Milimani Law Courts Commercial Division from Kajiado. Read: President Uhuru Appoints 34 Judges, Rejects Six from List of 40…

Police in Nairobi have launched investigations after a woman was allegedly killed in Kahawa West by her boyfriend just three days before leaving the country for Qatar in search of greener pastures. Joyce Wanjiru Nyambura, 34, is said to have differed with her lover identified as Golden Nyakundi on her decision to leave the country. According to Wanjiru’s family, the deceased was scheduled to leave for the country in the Middle East on Friday, July 30. However, she met her untimely death in the hands of her boyfriend before actualizing her dreams. The family told a local news outlet that…