A landmine-detecting rat in Cambodia who received a prestigious award for his life-saving duty has died in the retirement of the charity for which he had worked.
“All of us at APOPO is feeling the loss of Magawa and we are grateful for the incredible work he’s done,” said an announcement on the website of APOPO, a Belgium-headquartered non-profit group.
The organisation trains rats and dogs to sniff out land mines and tuberculosis said Magawa, an African giant pouched rat, passed away last weekend.
Magawa was born in November 2013 in Tanzania, where APOPO maintains its operational headquarters and training and breeding centre.
A metal scrap dealer was last evening arrested after three vehicles that had been stolen in the city were driven to his yard in Kariobangi and hurriedly dismantled.
The suspect was arrested as a lorry carried away parts of the dismantled cars out of his yard following a tip off from locals.
Police say they suspect the yard has been the main point of dismantling cars for scrap metals.
Police had been tipped off that three vehicles; a Toyota DX 102, Toyota 110, and a Pajero had been driven into the scrap metal yard before they were hurriedly dismantled by a standby pool of mechanics.
Investigations are ongoing into the trend for more recoveries.
A police officer on interdiction was yesterday arrested after being saved from an irate members of the public following a failed extortion ring in Thika Town.
The officer had earlier been interdicted for impersonating Kenya Revenue Authority officials. He and two other officials had approached a wines and spirits shop and demanded cash for alleged operation without an ETR document.
The owner of the shop raised alarm after doubting the group’s genuineness alerting a mob that caught up with the officer as his other accomplices escaped.
It was established that Inspector David Simiyu of Kikuyu police station is facing three court cases for the offences of impersonating KRA officials in Nakuru law Court and two others in Milimani law Court.
He is today expected to be charged for the offences of impersonation, extortion, forgery and allied offences.
Nairobi and Rift Valley regions have gotten new Regional Commissioners in changes announced by Office of the President.
Also affected were Western, Eastern, Central and North Eastern regions.
The new Nairobi RC will be William Kangethe Thuku who was two weeks ago named the Chief Administrative Secretary for Correctional Services.
The new Rift Valley RC will be Makueni County Commissioner Mohamed Maalim.
This follows the resignation of George Natembeya from Rift Valley as the RC to seek to be elected as Trans Nzoia County governor.
Eastern RC Isaiah Nakoru was moved to Western in the same capacity and replaced by Narok County Commissioner Evans Achoki on a promotional basis.
Western’s RC Esther Maina was moved to Central in the same capacity while Nairobi’s James Kianda was sent to North Eastern to replace Nicodemus Ndalana who was recalled to Harambee House.
Central RC Wilfred Nyangwanga was recalled to Harambee House.
Even though he resigned, Natembeya was moved to Harambee House where he will clear his way out.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday made day-long impromptu working visits of Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD), Kisumu Shipyard and the new Mbita Bridge.
At the ICD, the President witnessed the trans-shipment of container cargo from the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to the Meter Gauge Railway (MGR) and took a train ride from Naivasha to Longonot.
President Kenyatta, who was accompanied by Chief of Defence Forces General Robert Kibochi, hailed the partnership between Kenya Railways and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) for the successful execution of the SGR to MGR container cargo trans-shipment project.
From Longonot railway station, the Head of State flew to Kisumu Port where he toured the Kisumu Shipyard and inspected the ongoing construction of MV Uhuru II wagon ferry, dry dock and slipway.
The construction of the wagon ferry was commissioned by President Kenyatta and his Burundi counterpart Evariste Ndayishimiye in May last year during the inauguration of the Kenya Shipyards Limited.
In Mbita, President Kenyatta inspected the new bridge which replaced the 1983 causeway. The Government is dredging the area to remove the massive siltation that has been a hindrance to human activities on the lake including fishing and maritime transport.
Speaking to Mbita residents who turned up to welcome him, the President called for peace and tranquility as the country heads to the forthcoming polls saying national unity was one of the reasons for his ‘handshake’ with former premier Raila Odinga.
“We want to continue having peace. We want to continue having unity as Kenyans. This political year, we want Kenyans to be united,” the President said.
A Nairobi Court has suspended a directive by insurers to increase motor vehicle premiums.
Justice James Makau issued the order stopping insurance companies from implementing an unnatural increase.
He has also stopped the insurance companies from excluding motor vehicles that are more than 12 years in service.
The increase also targeted blocking vehicles whose value is Ksh 600,000 and below from their comprehensive cover hearing and determination of the case.
The matter is due for mention on 14th April 2022.
The Court permitted COFEK to be enjoined in the case as it also ordered all the respondents to file and serve their responses to the petition within 21 days from today.
Kenyans seeking motor vehicle insurance were faced with high rates and increases that were as high as 50% above the normal rates.
The businesses claimed that the increase in insurance rates was caused by an increase in the number of claims as a result of an increase in accidents.
Certain insurance companies that offered a Ksh 47,000 private motor vehicle cover have increased it to approximately Ksh 72,000 as of January 1, 2022.
Another Nairobi-based company increased its premiums from Ksh 51,000 to Ksh 74,000.
Two suspects were charged today over allegations of stealing a firearm from the late Tapata O. Lengues.
The offence is said to have been committed on 6th November 2020 in Industrial Area, Nairobi.
The accused persons are said to have stolen a Ceska Pistol serial NO. CZ 75 B606494 which is valued at Ksh 200,000.
Wosken Ndombi Makokha and Joseph Ochieng Barasa are also charged with making a document without authority.
According to the charge sheet, on 21st November 2019 the two made a firearm certificate number 00347 for pistol serial number B 606494.
The forged certificate was purported to be genuine and issued to Wosken Makokha by the chief licensing officer of the firearm licensing board.
The two denied the charges and were released on a bond of Ksh 500,000 with an alternative cash bail of Ksh 200,000 pending hearing and determination of the Case.
When a nationwide blackout caused by multiple engineering flaws hit the nation, Kenyans with Twitter accounts meted their anger at the power company or did they.
Meet KPL Communications, a media strategy and communications firm which is on Twitter under the tag @KPLC.
Their bio states: “Hi! I’m a Dallas, TX Communications Consultant. (Not in Kenya)”
The firm is owned by one Karla Lárraga, a public relations expert.
Since joining the social media, the texas-based firm has been on the receiving end of angry tweeps who blast at the power firm.
“So, it would seem, based on the volume of notifications we’ve received after securing @KPLC… that we have often been confused with the Kenya Power & Light Company, a company that has apparently had a lot of trouble offering power (or light) to their clients”
Another victim is a Weather reporter in the USA.
Ben Terry, according to his bio, is a Midday Meteorologist working for the KPLC-TV 7 (NBC) – Lake Charles, Los Angeles.
The nationwide blackout caused Ben to accumulate followers, the majority of them being angry Kenyans concerned about the power blackouts.
“I just gained several Twitter followers from Kenya over the past 24 hours. Just so you know, I am not associated with the KPLC that is Kenya Power and Light Company for future reference. However, I hope you do like weather updates for Southwest Louisiana. Welcome aboard!”
As a result most of these firms have decided to take up the challenge, sharing and associating with Kenyans while assuring their support during the outage.
A good takeaway is to always take a good tag when the opportunity is available you never know when your initials will cause a national catastrophe.
Women in Kilifi county have vowed not to be used by politicians especially during this campaign period to cause chaos and violence before, during and after the general election.
The women said they will instead be going down to the grassroots level to sensitize women and youths about the importance of maintaining peace and security and also being the peace ambassadors in the villages.
Speaking at Kibaoni Social Hall in Kilifi town during the launching of She Builds Peace Campaign, Kilifi County Executive Member in charge of Gender Culture and social Services Dr Anisa Omar said peace and security start with you, the family and finally to the community.
Dr Omar said many women are used and later dumped by politicians after they lure them with cheap money and also with the commonly known dress called madera.
She said the time has come for women to use the different social media digital platforms like WhatsApp groups, Facebook and Twitter to post peace and security messages as one way of spreading the gospel of peace and security in the country.
She challenged the women to make a correct choice by electing the leaders who can serve their interests.
Kilifi county Peace Educators Centre director Halima Mohamed said they want the county government of Kilifi to ensure women peacebuilders their safety by protecting their work and their lives.
Mohamed said they also want the government to fulfil its obligation to improve women peacebuilders in peace processes and security policymaking and need for them to be recognized and appreciated by both the national and county government for their good work.
She said as the country approaches the general election, women will desist from the divide and rule politicians who want to use them for their own political interest.
Kilifi Mums county Chairlady Kibibi Ali said most politicians in Kilifi county are using divide and rule way for their own political interest hence putting women and youth at risk of peace.
She said they will not be used by politicians to cause chaos during the campaign and election period.
Kilifi County Peace and Security chair Merabu Shibuyanga called upon Kenyans to maintain peace and security during the campaign period.
She urged the politicians to conduct peaceful campaigns in order to maintain peace and security.
Shibuyanga challenged the women to use the social media platform to spread peace and security messages.
Kilifi county is experiencing political heat as Kilifi governor is expected to launch his new political party (PAA) in January 2022.
An MP has decried a shortage of teachers as an impediment to the goals of The Competency-Based Curriculum.
Kilifi North MP Owen Baya now says that the ministry of education might not achieve the desired results of the CBC in Kilifi County due to the shortage of teachers.
Mr Baya said Kilifi county stands disadvantaged due to a shortage of teachers to implement the curriculum.
Speaking when he issued bursaries worth Sh18.8 million to 2,673 students from Kilifi north, Baya said his constituency alone has a deficit of 2,000 teachers.
“8.4.4 messed the education system in Kenya. CBC is here to fix it but as a county we may not get the intended results. Our students may not compete fairly with other regions because we have a big shortage of teachers. To make this a success we need more teachers,” he said
He urged TSC to deploy more teachers to the county if the county is to compete fairly with other regions.
He further said education in the county is expensive than in other areas because parents are forced to employ more teachers through the Board of Management.
Baya said a school like Bahari girls’ high school has employed 10 teachers who are being paid by parents.
“If a national school has such a big deficit what about the extra county schools. The burden of employing these teachers is now pushed to the parents. This should be a wake-up call to TSC to employ more teachers in Kilifi,” he added
The county also has a shortage of infrastructure to accommodate the Junior high school classes.
According to one of the parents Mr Birya Menza, he said that parents have been forced to shoulder other levies which are sometimes illegal but because they want to see their children to succeed, they have no option but to pay.
“Right now we have children who are still at home because of lack of fees. The government is paying some amount but students are still sent home,” he said.
Education CS George Magoha last week said the government had released Ksh 16 billion to school to make CBC a success.
As the clock ticks towards the August General Election, the issue of shared democracy in Kilifi pitting dominant tribes in the region for the top seat is expected to take center stage.
The word shared democracy in Kilifi has since 2013 used to determine who is going to be the Kilifi Governor, The Senator, and the Deputy Governor.
Since 2013, the Governor seat has been held by the incumbent Governor Amason Kingi who hails from Magarini, one of the large regions occupied by the Giriama tribe of the Mijikenda Sub tribes.
In the first regime, he was deputized by the late Kenneth Kamto from Rabai and is currently being deputized by Gideon Saburi who is also from Rabai.
The Chonyi subtribe has been the main dominator in the Senate seat, with the incumbent Stewart Madzayo still holding into the seat since 2013 following his reelection in 2017 under the Orange Democratic Movement(ODM) ticket.
But in this election, this matrix might have some headwinds with the Chonyi and the Rabai Subtirives also lining their sons for the top seat.
In Chonyi subtribe, for example, there are two aspirants who have declared to go for the Kilifi gubernatorial seat.
Jumuiya Ya Kaunti Za Pwani(JKP) CEO Emmanuel Nzai and businessman Dzombo Mbaru come from the Chonyi sub-tribes and both have declared their intention to go for the seat after the exit of Governor Kingi.
Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja, Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi, Chairperson of Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani Governor Salim Mvurya, and the JKP Secretariat led by the CEO Emmanuel Nzai.
While Mr Nzai, the former Thirdway Alliance Aukur Aukot’ s running mate in 2017 has said that he will vie for the seat on a Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) ticket, Eng Mbaru has remained silent on the party he will use for the seat.
Recently Mr Nzai met with the Chonyi Council of elders who endorsed him for the top seat.
In Rabai, Eng Saburi is also going for the top seat, meaning that there is a big possibility of not having a Deputy Governor coming from Rabai this time.
The other gubernatorial aspirants in Kilifi are Gideon Mungaro, Aisha Jumwa, Jimmy Kahindi, Dan Kazungu and Baha Nguma. These five contestants are from the larger Giriama sub-tribe.
But with the entrance of lawyer George Kithi at the Senate Race has complicated the arithmetic for the Chonyis that have dominated the seat since devolution.
George Kithi or mostly referred to as GK comes from the Giriama community.
His highly charged campaigns that have so far stretched wide and long in Kilifi is expected to change the situation.
But apart from Senator Madzayo who is out to defend his seat in an ODM ticket, there is still the presence of Ben Kai from the Chonyi, Fikirini Jacobs and several other aspirants for the Senate seat out to give him a run for his money.
Whether “Shared Democracy” will work or not, time is of the major essence in these elections.
