Author: Wycliffe Nyamasege

A Member of County Assembly in Marsabit wanted by police over arms dealings has surrendered to authorities. Halkano Konso, who represents Sololo ward, turned himself in on Monday evening after allegedly being on the run since Saturday. He was interrogated for hours by Marsabit DCI officers on his alleged role of arming locals in the conflict-hit areas of Turbi and Sololo. Kahawa Tungu understands that the MCA has been transferred to Nairobi where officers from the Anti-Terror Police Unit will take over the case. Eastern regional police boss Noah Mwivanda had threatened to declare the ward rep armed and dangerous…

Controversial Member of Parliament Oscar Sudi has written to the Clerk of the National Assembly seeking to have his monthly contribution to Jubilee party slashed by 99.5 per cent, as the rift in the ruling party widens. In an unprecedented move, the Kapseret MP wants Michael Sialai to reduce his monthly subscription fee from Sh10,000 to Sh50. Sudi said he will channel the balance to Kazi Ni Kazi Welfare Group. Read: MP Oscar Sudi Wants Security Reinstated, Claims Life Is In Danger “I hereby Instruct that a monthly deduction of Ksh9,950 from my salary account be done In favour of…

Sameer Africa has announced a return of its tyre business after exiting the market in May 2020. The company, in a communiqué on Monday, said demand for its tyre brand ‘Yana’ in the local market has necessitated the decision to revive the business. The decision was arrived at during a board of director meeting held last month. During the meeting, the top brass agreed on a four-year strategic plan anchored on both its real estate portfolio and the extensive tyre industry experience. The company has also confirmed the appointment of Peter Gitonga as the firm’s Managing Director with effect from…

A total of 320 British soldiers in Nanyuki, Kenya, for Exercise Askari Storm have been placed under isolation after four colleagues tested positive for coronavirus, Kahawa Tungu has learnt. The Mirror reports that the four military personnel arrived in the country last week for training. The camp commander reportedly ordered the cookhouse shut and banned local staff including chefs from the camp for their own safety, forcing at least 1,000 soldiers to eat in rations. The Ministry of Defence confirmed to the UK publication that the camp at British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) had been split into isolating groups…

Tanzania’s unconventional approach to fighting the global coronavirus menace continues to draw mixed reactions with the government encouraging its citizens to embrace traditional “healing” methods as opposed to vaccines. In the latest attempt to convince Tanzanians to embrace steam therapy, the country’s Health Minister Dr Dorothy Gwajima and her lawyer husband are seen, in a video that has been shared on social media, inhaling steam “to keep the virus at bay”. https://twitter.com/mshambuliaji/status/1358430538986569734?s=20 The two were also photographed enjoying a run to keep fit as recently advised by President John Pombe Magufuli. Speaking during the launch of a public forest in…

Details have emerged on why the family of the late Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso is opposed to a court order granting widower Edwin Abonyo rights to manage her vast property. Kahawa Tungu understands that the late governor’s sisters, Mary Chepkurui and Judy Cheptoo, accuse their brother-in-law of an attempt to disinherit them of their parents’ property as he seeks to administer the estate of his late wife. The two have already filed a petition objecting Abonyo’s plans to administer the late governor’s estate valued at Ksh100 million. In filings made before the Family Division of the High Court in Milimani,…

129 more people have tested positive for Coronavirus, out of a sample size of 4,797 tested in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health has announced. In a statement to newsrooms, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said total confirmed positive cases are now 101,819. “The cumulative tests so far conducted are 1,214,742. From the cases 96 are Kenyans while 33 are foreigners, ” the CS said. The new Covid-19 cases are distributed in Counties as follows: Nairobi 87, Uasin Gishu 12, Kiambu 11, Machakos 4, Kisumu 3, Isiolo 2, Kajiado 2, Laikipia 2, Bungoma 1, Kericho 1, Kilifi 1, Meru…

Suna East Member of Parliament Junet Mohamed has apologized to persons living with albinism over his Saturday remarks against Senator Isaac Mwaura that elicited an angry reaction from a section of Kenyans. Junet had claimed that the Senator, who is affected by the genetic disorder that causes the skin, hair, or eyes to have little or no colour, bleached his skin to secure ODM and Jubilee nomination slots to represent people with disability in Parliament. However, in a tweet on Sunday, the vocal ODM lawmaker said his comments did not in any way reflect his opinions of people born with…

Persons with disabilities in Kenya on Sunday demanded an apology from Suna East Member of Parliament Junet Mohamed over what they termed as derogatory remarks against Senator Isaac Mwaura, who is living with albinism. Junet, a vocal ODM MP, had on Saturday claimed that the Senator, bleached his skin to secure ODM and Jubilee nomination slots to represent people with disability in Parliament, remarks that sparked mixed reactions on social media. In a press briefing on Sunday, the organisation of Persons with Disabilities condemned the remarks saying they amount to an abuse of dignity of persons with disability. “Junet Mohammed…

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations now say that they have made progress in cracking the murder of Margaret Muchemi who was found killed at her house in Nairobi’s Njiru estate last month. In an update on Saturday night, DCI said sleuths based in Kayole had recovered the deceased’s phone hidden at a Wines and Spirits outlet in Umoja owned by the prime suspect Charles Oluenyi. https://twitter.com/DCI_Kenya/status/1358108723038855168?s=20 Oluenyi is Muchemi’s ex-lover. He was arrested on January 27 in connection with the murder, after being on the run for about a week since the killing was reported on January 21.…

Proponents of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) continue to traverse the country to sell the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2020, that is now at the County Assembly level. Exactly a week after President Uhuru Kenyatta toured his Mount Kenya backyard to rally support for the draft Bill, his handshake partner Raila Odinga has also begun aggressive campaigns ahead of a referendum expected to be conducted this year. Today, Raila kicked off a three-day tour of Turkana County to marshall support for the Bill, that continues to face resistance from Deputy President William Ruto’s Tangatanga camp. “Today he is expected to hold…

Kenyan lawyer Paul Gicheru has dismissed as false claims that he surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands in an attempt to fix Deputy President William Ruto in the failed crimes against humanity case. Gicheru, who surrendered to Dutch authorities on November 2, 2020, despite a High Court order freezing a warrant of arrest against him, returned home on Tuesday after spending about three months in ICC custody. In an interview with The Standard at his Nairobi office, Gicheru said surrendering to The Hague-based Court was a personal decision to clear his name following a warrant of arrest…

Police in Nairobi are holding a Nigerian man for allegedly defrauding a US national Ksh17.6 million. According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Yussuf Daniel Masara had convinced the victim that he would sell him 50Kgs of gold valued at Ksh17.6 million but failed to keep his end of the bargain after receiving the money. After realising that he had been conned, the US national reported the matter to detectives based at Kilimani. The DCI sleuths moved swiftly and corned Masara in Kilimani and took him into custody. Detectives believe that the Nigerian man is part of a wider…

The process of distributing Huduma Namba cards began in Nairobi on Thursday, exactly two weeks after the government announced that mass production is underway. The Ministry of Interior said the first batch has been dispatched to Huduma Centres across the Nairobi Metropolitan Area and its 17 sub-county offices. Any person who registered will be notified via SMS on when and where to collect their card. In November last year, Information Communication Technology (ICT) Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru announced that Huduma Namba cards will replace National Identity (ID) cards. Mucheru said ID cards will cease operation in December this year. The swearing-in…

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga has expressed his reservations over the National Cohesion and Integration Commission’s move to name and shame Dagoretti North Member of Parliament Simba Arati over a recent scuffle in a Kisii event he attended. Arati and his South Mugirango counterpart Silvanus Osoro were captured on camera engaging in a fistfight during the burial ceremony of Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi’s father on Monday. Osoro confronted the Dagoretti North MP, who was addressing mourners after he called out his ally Deputy President William Ruto over association with corrupt and “fraudsters” from the Gusii region.…