Author: Wycliffe Nyamasege

The People’s Empowerment Party candidate in the Juja by-election George Koimburi has alleged threats to his life as candidates work around the clock to seek support ahead of the exercise scheduled for May 18. In a press conference at a Ruiru hotel, the candidate claimed that he has been receiving threatening calls from anonymous callers. Koimburi, a Jubilee member who defected to the party associated with Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria on Sunday, said he believes some people have been contracted to monitor his moves. “I am asking the government to provide me with security because I believe…

Wafula Chebukati, the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), has criticized a proposal by the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) team to distribute 70 new constituencies to 28 counties. Appearing before the joint Justice and Legal Affairs Committees of Parliament on the BBI Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020 on Wednesday, Chebukati termed the proposal on the allocation of the additional constituencies as unconstitutional. According to the IEBC boss, while BBI promoters are right to create the constituencies, they erred in allocating them to specific counties. He told the MPs that the distribution of constituencies in the devolved…

Alfred Mutua’s Maendeleo Chap Chap (MCC) has pulled out of the Machakos Senatorial by-election scheduled for Thursday, March 18. In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the Machakos Governor said MCC candidate John Katuku had agreed to step down following a consultative meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta. In the virtual meeting yesterday, which was also attended by ODM, ANC, KANU, Ford Kenya, Narc and Wiper leaders, Mutua said the President urged friendly political parties in the region to find a peaceful, amicable and uniting way forward ahead of the Thursday by-election. Mutua’s party will now back Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Party…

Tanzania’s opposition party ACT Wazalendo is now mounting pressure on authorities in Tanzania to come clean on who is in charge of running the country as President John Pombe Magufuli’s absence from the limelight continues to draw mixed reactions. Magufuli has not been seen in public since February 27 when he swore in Dr Bashiru Ali at the Dar es Salaam State House, replacing John Kijazi, who died of a heart attack. In a statement issued on Tuesday, ACT Wazelendo party leader Zitto Kabwe said that the opposition had confirmed beyond doubt that Magufuli is ill amid reports that the…

Deputy President William Ruto has declared support for late Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji’s son, Abdul Haji, in the by-election scheduled for May 18. This comes days after his allies in the Jubilee party, who are associated with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), said the party won’t field a candidate in the by-election. Ruto endorsed Abdul for the seat after a meeting with Members of Garissa County Assembly from Jubilee, ODM and KANU at his Karen Office on Tuesday. Also present were MCAs from the Party of Development and Reform (PDR) that rebranded recently to UDA. Read: Why Ruto-linked UDA Party…

Activist Okiya Omtatah has launched a fresh bid to have Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja declared unfit to hold the office over lack of academic qualifications. This comes barely a week after the High Court dismissed a similar application over lack of jurisdiction to hear and determine the matter. In the new application, Omtatah wants the court to quash the governor’s academic documents including a degree certificate which he claims are fake. A degree certificate is one of the mandatory documents one is required to have before being cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to run for…

The High Court has nullified a decision by the Tana River County Assembly to pass the BBI Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Tana River is among 43 Counties that recently voted to pass the proposal to amend the Constitution through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). In the verdict delivered on Tuesday, the court ruled that there was no public participation and inclusivity in the process. The ruling, however, has no effect on the ongoing BBI process as the Bill has already attained 24 counties required for it to be presented to Parliament for debate before it’s subjected to a…

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party associated with Deputy President William Ruto has officially pulled out of the Juja Parliamentary by-election scheduled for May 18, avoiding a direct battle with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee party. UDA Secretary-General Veronica Maina confirmed on Monday that the party had resolved to shelve plans to field a candidate in the mini-poll occasioned by the death of Francis Munyua Waititu ‘Wakapee.’ https://twitter.com/UDAKenya/status/1371497723900399627?s=20 “We are officially out of the race. That means we will not be fielding any candidate,” Maina confirmed without giving reasons for the decision. This writer understands that a number of hopefuls had…

Ugandan opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi was on Monday arrested just hours after taking to the streets to protest alleged human rights abuses by security agents in the country. The National Unity Platform (NUP) party leader popularly known as Bobi Wine was arrested as he led other leaders and members of the public to protest over what he termed as abduction, torture and murder of his supporters. The protest was taking place at City Square, Kampala. “The right to protest peacefully is a fundamental human right. We are protesting for hundreds of missing Ugandans whose families have not heard from them…

Authorities in Tanzania have confirmed arresting two people for reporting on social media that President John Pombe Magufuli is battling Covid-19. The two are Peter Pius Silayo, 30, a resident of Tegeta Dar es Salaam and 36-year-old Melchiory Prosper Shayo who hails from Rombo District. Acting Kilimanjaro Regional Police Commander (RPC) Ronald Makona told members of the press on Monday, March 15, that the two, who are still in police custody, were arrested on different dates for spreading rumours that the President had been taken ill. The police boss said the suspects will be arraigned once investigations are complete. He…

Kwale County Assembly has been closed after five MCAs tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Speaker Sammy Ruwa has confirmed the cases further directing the assembly staffers to work from home to allow fumigation of the facility and other Covid-19 protocols to be effected before the resumption of services. Kahawa Tungu understands that the affected MCAs are in self-isolation at their homes. Kwale is the latest assembly to be temporarily closed over Covid-19 fears as the third wave continues to ravage the country. Last week the Judiciary was forced to suspend operations at Thika’s Environment and Land Court…

City lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has been ordered by court to release three vehicles he seized from the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) in a bid to recover Ksh750,000 owed to him. Ahmednasir seized the state agency’s vehicles in October last year after the management failed to honour a decree to compensate him for damages caused to his luxurious car’s windscreen. The vehicles seized included two Toyota Prados KBW 919E and KCP 535K and a Pick-up bearing registration number KCT 764Y. But in a recent ruling Justice Chacha Mwita stopped the lawyer from auctioning the vehicles ruling that the law restricts attachment…

Five more patients have succumbed to Covid-19 raising Kenya’s fatalities to 1,913, the Ministry of Health has announced. In a statement to newsrooms on Sunday, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said 431 more people have also tested positive for the virus. The new cases are from a sample size of 4,627 tested in the last 24 hours. The number of positive cases confirmed in the country so far stands at 113,236. “Cumulative tests so far conducted are 1,369,326, ” the statement reads. From the new cases, 414 are Kenyans while 17 are foreigners. 272 are male while 159 are female.…

Kenyan authorities have deported a Czech fugitive who has reportedly been on the run for 15 years. Miroslav Brazda, according to immigration officials, was extradited over the weekend following his arrest about a month ago at the at the Loitoktok border point. The 61-year-old , who is wanted over fraud, was flown from Jomo Kenyatta International Aiport (JKIA) and received at the Prague airport by local police. Kahawa Tungu understands that Brazda was arrested on February 16 as he tried to cross from Tanzania to Kenya without requisite documents. He told authorities that he had been living in Boma Ngombe…

Kenya has, in an unprecedented move, pull out of the maritime border case with neighboring country Somalia that was scheduled to kick off tomorrow at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Kahawa Tungu has learnt. Reports indicate that Kenya won’t participate in oral submissions that would have allowed the two countries to present evidence in the border row that has led to strained diplomatic relations. The court had on March 9 announced, in a press statement, that the hearings would be conducted from Monday, March 15 to Wednesday, March 24. Due to the Covid-19 threat, the court said…