Author: Wycliffe Nyamasege

Vote tallying at Mang’u High School in Juja Constituency, Kiambu County, has resumed after being suspended on Tuesday night. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) suspended the vote tallying yesterday at about 10:20pm after a rowdy group led by Kiambu Governor James Nyoro stormed the premises causing chaos. The group alleged electoral malpractice. Kahawa Tungu has learnt that the tallying resumed on Wednesday morning shortly after IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati visited the centre. The IEBC boss met with the County Election Manager, the Returning Officer, and the county security team, and revealed that four polling stations had witnessed attempted…

The Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association (KMJA) has condemned verbal attacks against five of its members who made the BBI judgement on Thursday, May 13. The five-judge bench of the High Court comprising of Justices Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, Chacha Mwita, and Teresia Matheka declared the process to amend the 2010 Constitution through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) unconstitutional, null and void, a ruling that caught many including the BBI proponents by surprise. A section of the political class took to the mainstream and social media to criticize the judges, accusing them of judicial activism. But in a…

Several officials affiliated with the ODM and UDA parties have been arrested in the ongoing Bonchari by-election. In separate statements released on Tuesday afternoon, the parties protested the arrests accusing police of intimidation. According to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, its Youth League President John Ketora and Director of Youth Affairs Benson Musungu are among four members arrested on “flimsy grounds”. The party said the Youth League officials were arrested as they were headed to Suneka Baraza Hall Polling Station to deliver food to our party agents. The four are currently being held at Central Police Station in Kisii.…

Wajir Deputy Governor Ahmed Ali Muktar is set to be sworn in today, May 18 as the county boss following the impeachment of Mohamed Abdi. Abdi was removed from office after the Senate upheld his impeachment yesterday. In a gazette notice seen by this writer, Abdullahi Maalim, the Chairperson of the Assumption of the officer of Governor Committee, said the swearing-in ceremony will take place at Wajir County Headquarters. In a special sitting held on Monday, 25 Senators out of 47 upheld the impeachment of the governor over alleged gross violation of the Constitution, as recommended by an 11-member Special…

Two polling agents for United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Francis Muraya have reportedly been arrested in the ongoing Rurii ward by-election. UDA, in a statement on Tuesday morning, claimed Brian Mbugua and Daniel Githinji were arrested by police outside Rurii Polytechnic and taken to Ol Kalou police station. “This was moments after their car was detained and their phones confiscated by the police,” the statement reads. The party associated with Deputy President William Ruto protested the arrest accusing the police of being used by certain state officials to intimidate its officials. https://twitter.com/UDAKenya/status/1394542900143341568?s=20 According to UDA Secretary-General Veronica Maina, UDA agents…

Viviana Hyline, a female police officer whose video went viral recently following claims of sexual harassment, now says she has not received any help from the National Police Service (NPS). The Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai had on May 9 directed the Gender and Children directorate to look into the matter and give a report within seven days. The seven days, the 27-year-old, who is attached to the Trafic Department in Mombasa County says, have lapsed and nothing has been done so far. It is, however, not clear if the Gender and Children directorate has submitted the report to…

An 11 member committee of the Senate has recommended the impeachment of Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi. The committee chaired by Nyamira Senator Okong’o O’mogeni found the embattled governor guilty of gross violation of the Constitution; County Government, Public Procurement and Asset Disposal and Public Finance Management acts. In the report tabled in the House on Monday afternoon, the committee, however, said the Wajir Members of County Assembly, who impeached Abdi on April 27, failed to substantiate the second charge of abuse of office and gross misconduct. The Committee found the governor violated the right to health of the people of Wajir…

Members of the Rastafarian community in Kenya have moved to court seeking to have marijuana (bhang) legalized. In a petition filed at the Millimani Law Courts on Monday, the community represented by, among others, lawyer Shadrack Wambui argue that believers of the Rastafari faith use the substance by either smoking, drinking, eating, bathing and/or burning of incense for spiritual, medicinal, culinary and ceremonial purposes as sacrament to manifest their faith. By criminalizing bhang, the petitioners argue, the government discriminates against the marginalized group. According to the petitioners, the Rastafari members continue to face intimidation and arbitrary arrests for using marijuana…

Embattled Wajir Governor Mohamud Abdi will today know his fate as the Senate reconvenes to consider a report by an 11-member committee that considered his proposed ouster. The committee chaired by Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni concluded the county boss’ impeachment trial on Friday after two days of intense grilling. The committee retreated to an undisclosed location after the Friday session to compile a report on the matter. The report will be tabled before the House today afternoon for consideration. “The business to be transacted at the sitting shall be the consideration of the report of the Special Committee on the…

Kenya’s Covid-19 positivity rate has dropped to 3.1 per cent from 6 per cent recorded on Saturday, May 15, 2021. In a statement released on Sunday, the Ministry of Health announced 86 new cases from a sample size of 2,789 tested in the last 24 hours. From the new cases, 84 are Kenyans and two are foreigners. 44 are females and 42 males. Total confirmed positive cases are now 165,465 and cumulative tests so far conducted are 1,744,393. The new cases are distributed in the counties as follows: Nairobi 27, Uasin Gishu 8, Kilifi 8, Mombasa 7, Busia, Migori, Kisii &…

The government has discontinued payment of land rent via the popular e-citizen portal, the gateway for all government services. In a notice released by Lands Cabinet Secretary Faridah Karoney, the ministry announced that all payments will now be made on the newly launched National Land Information Management System (NLIMS) platform dubbed ‘Ardhisasa’. “Payments on e-citizen are therefore discontinued with immediate effect and any further payments made on this platform will be ineligible for processing,” the notice shared on the ministry’s Twitter page reads. CS Karoney noted that a number of transactions had not been completed by April 27, 2021, when the…

President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed Court of Appeal Judge William Ouko to the Supreme Court following his nomination by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on May 5. “In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 166 (1) (b) of the Constitution, I, Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint — Ouko William Okello to be a Judge of the Supreme Court of Kenya,” a gazette notice dated May 11 reads. The appointment paves way for Ouko’s swearing-in as Judge of the apex court. Ouko, who has been the President of the Appellate…

Utility firm Kenya Power has announced blackouts in Nairobi following heavy rains experienced last night. In a statement released on Friday, Kenya Power said its Nairobi West Sub Station was flooded following the rains. Customers affected include those residing in Nairobi West, South C, parts of Langata Road, parts of Mbagathi Way, Dam Estate, Civil Servants Estate, Five Star Estate, Parts of Lower Hill and environs. The company has assured those affected that its engineers are working to restore power supply. “We would like to assure affected customers that restoration work is currently in progress and our teams are working…

Two suspected thugs were on Friday morning gunned down by police in Ukunda, Kwale County. According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the two armed and dangerous criminals were preparing to stage a robbery in the area when they were spotted by the officers on patrol. The two, police said, were armed with all manner of weapons including knives, machetes and an ‘imitation of a firearm’ which ballistic experts are currently examining to determine whether it is capable of firing. They were ordered to surrender but defied the directive forcing the officers to shoot them. Read: Police Gun Down…

Collins Pamba, the man accused of helping former Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) major Peter Mugure dispose of bodies of his wife and two children in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, has been sentenced to five years in prison. The ruling was delivered on Thursday by Nyeri High Court Judge Florence Muchemi. The judge ruled that she was convinced, through evidence tabled by the prosecution, that Pamba who worked as a casual laborer at the Laikipia Air Base, had acted under the instructions of the former military man who is the prime suspect in the three murders. She also noted that there was…