Author: Wycliffe Nyamasege

Three students who went missing after a forest adventure in Mt Kenya, Karatina, Nyeri County, were finally rescued on Saturday after four days in the jungle. Four days without food, the boys told members of the press that they survived by the grace of God. 17-year-old Anthony Muhoro, Jackson Karuri, 17, and David Mukoma Kinyua, 20, went missing on May 4. Muhoro is a Form Three student at Gitunduti Secondary School, Karuri is also a Form Three but at Ihwagi Secondary School while Kinyua is a student at Nyeri National Polytechnic. Also found alive were two dogs that were in…

Police in Kisumu County have arrested three senior health officials over disappearance of mosquito nets worth Ksh6.8 million. The over 17,000 mosquito nets were meant for free distribution to families in Nyando to curb the spread of malaria in the area. The nets were distributed to the county by the national government with support from the Global Fund to protect families, especially those in the flood-prone areas, from mosquito attacks. Read: Togolese Top League Top Striker Kossi Koudagba Dies Of Malaria at 25 Kisumu County Police Commander Samuel Anampiu told members of the press that 181 bales were missing from…

Dr Chibanzi Mwachonda has been voted out as the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary-General. Dr Mwachonda lost the plum position during elections held on Thursday. He will be replaced by Dr Ouma Davji, who secured 36 per cent of the votes cast. In the hotly contested election, Dr Mwachonda came in third with 15.5 per cent of the votes. Further, Dr Abidan Muchuma was elected KMPDU’s new national chairperson. The medic secured 36.6 per cent of the votes cast. Read: Doctors Call Off Nation-wide Strike After Reaching Deal With Gov’t Benjamin Magare came in second with…

The impeachment of Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi will be considered by an 11-member special committee of the Senate. This was resolved on Thursday after the Senators took a vote. A total of 28 Senators voted in favor of a committee, 14 voted in favor of a plenary, while 1 abstained. Governor Abdi was impeached by Wajir Members of County Assembly (MCAs) on April 27. 37 MCAs voted in favour of the motion to kick out the county boss, while 10 voted otherwise. He is accused of financial impropriety, abuse of office, gross misconduct and violation of the Constitution. Read: Wajir…

Dominic Ongwen, a former Ugandan child soldier who became the commander of the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has been sentenced to 25 years in prison over crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Ogwen was in February this year convicted of more than 60 crimes including murder, torture, rape and sexual enslavement during a reign of terror in the early 2000s by the LRA, led by fugitive Joseph Kony. The Hague-based court prosecutors had asked for a 20-year prison term for Ongwen, saying his own history justified a lower sentence than the maximum 30 years to life…

A middle-aged man died on Wednesday night after the vehicle he was driving rammed into a lorry on the Southern Bypass in Nairobi. According to police, the BMW X5 driver crashed into the lorry that was on the fast lane. Photos circulating on social media show how the vehicle was badly damaged. The driver’s compartment was damaged completely and stuck under the underride guard of the commercial truck. “We suspect the driver was speeding on the fast lane when he crashed into the rear part of the loaded lorry,” said Lang’ata OCPD Benjamin Mwanthi. There were claims that the lorry…

Unionised workers, who were this week laid off by the Nairobi Hospital, had attempted to stop their sacking at the Labour Court. The workers, who are among more than 200 staffers dismissed by the hospital, filed the case through the Kenya Union Of Domestic Hotels Educational Institutions Hospitals & Allied Workers (Kudheiha), their union. In court documents seen by this writer, the union had protested notices from the hospital’s management dated March 24 and March 10 notifying the staffers of a restructuring process and imminent loss of jobs in some departments. “In response to the emerging business environment, the Board…

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has nominated Court of Appeal Judge William Ouko for the position of Supreme Court Judge. Addressing members of the press at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, JSC vice-chairperson Olive Mugenda said the commission unanimously settled on Ouko, 58, from seven candidates interviewed for the position this week. “We congratulate Justice Willaim Ouko, and we wish him well. To the other [Supreme Court Judge] candidates, the Commission has had the privilege to know you better and appreciate your hard work in the capacities in which you are serving the nation,” said Mugenda. The interviews were held…

Kenya has detected the Indian variant of the novel coronavirus, becoming the second country in the East Africa Community (EAC) to confirm the strain after Uganda. The Health Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that five cases of the Indian variant were confirmed in Kisumu County. The five, Acting Director-General of Health Patrick Amoth said, are Indian nationals working on a fertilizer plant in Kisumu. He added that the cases were reported last Thursday before the government imposed a ban on flights from India. “This variant has been picked in Kenya and because of connectivity, it was just a matter of time.…

A consignment of bhang with a street value of about Ksh4 million was on Tuesday destroyed in Embu in an event presided over by officials from the Judiciary. Embu Chief Magistrate Maxwell Gicheru witnessed the destruction of the illegal substance at Tenri hospital incineration chamber. Gicheru said the move was in line with the law as such exhibit ought to be destroyed completely. The marijuana was seized early this year in Embu town. Read: Cops Destroy Acres Of Bhang Plantation In Naivasha, 14 People Found Weeding Crop Arrested Two individuals nabbed with the substance were arraigned in court and charged.…

Utility firm Kenya Power will be forced to compensate consumers for losses incurred during power outages if a proposal by the Energy Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) is approved. In the new regulations published on Tuesday, May 4, the regulator seeks to compel the power utility to compensate consumers for financial losses, equipment damage, physical injuries and death due to power outages. According to the strict regulations that are, among others, meant to ensure consumers get value for their money, power should be interrupted for planned maintenance purposes and emergency cases only. If the proposal is adopted, Kenya Power…

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has threatened punitive action against Kenyans who fail to file returns as required by law. In a notice published in the local dailies on Monday, the taxman issued a 30-day ultimatum to all persons eligible to remit Value Added Taxes as well as income taxes to file their returns or lose their Personal Identification Numbers (PINs). “Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) would like to notify the public that taxpayers who are registered under the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, 2013, and the Income Tax Act, CAP 470 Laws of Kenya are required to file their returns…

Former Matungu Member of Parliament Joseph Wamukoya has died at the age of 78. Speaking to a local media, Wamukoya’s family said the former lawmaker breathed his last on Monday morning after a long illness. He had occasionally been receiving treatment at a Bungoma hospital. “The MP has been sick for years and today he rested peacefully at our home,” the deceased’s widow Elizabeth Wamukoya told The Standard. Wamukoya served as the first MP for Matungu Constituency between 1997 and 2002. Elected on a Kenya African National Union (KANU) party ticket, Wamukoya was appointed into late President Daniel Arap Moi’s…

Police in Makueni County are holding five terror suspects nabbed with explosives in Mtito Andei. The five were arrested by Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) who were patrolling Mtito Andei Township. Acting on a tip-off from a member of the public about the suspicious individuals, the detectives flagged a Nissan Salon vehicle registration number KBR 142L with five occupants packed outside an eatery. The five include the driver of the vehicle, 52 years old Cyrus Wamwea Thiongo, Abdinassir Hirsi Hapicha, 34, Ali Gibaba Hapicha, 42, Omar Halake Jillo, 60 and Administration Police Officer Ali Gollo Garaqo who…

The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Kenya rose to 160,422 on Sunday after 369 more people tested positive. In a statement, the Ministry of Health said a total of 4,469 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. The country’s positivity rate dropped to 8.3 percent from 12.8 percent announced on Saturday. From the new cases, 329 are Kenyans and 40 are foreigners. 211 are males and 158 are females. The youngest is a 9-month-old baby and the oldest is aged 90. The Mutahi Kagwe-led ministry said a total of 1,679,779 tests have been conducted so far. 72…