Court has given the struggling Nairobi Hospital green light to fire over 200 employees in a move aimed at reducing costs, uprooting under performing staffers and those involved in mega scandals within the facility.
Justice Nzioki wa Makau dismissed a petition filed by Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels Educational Institutions Hospitals and Allied Workers (Kudheiha). The judge ruled that it was premature to challenge the hospital’s move given that the letter by the management was only meant to initiate talks between the parties before the restructuring plan.
“Since courts loath to interfere with the managerial prerogatives, the matters at play are within the purview of the parties to deal under the resolution mechanisms provided for in the CBA and through the conciliatory process at the Ministry of Labour,” Justice Makau ruled.
KUDHEIHA Secretary- General, Albert Njeru [p/courtesy]Kudheiha had moved to the Employment and Labour court to block the retrenchments arguing that the scheme saying it was targeting its members for a complete removal and not restructuring as purported. The union also complained that the plan was reached without strict adherence to the mandatory procedures set out in the Employment Act.
Nairobi Hospital is financially limping with bulging operational costs and losses in the wake of an economic slowdown occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak.
But Kudheiha Secretary- General, Albert Njeru, stated that it was business as usual at what should be the country’s premier healthcare facility except the shortage of beds which is blamed on surge in Covid-19 patients admission.
Nairobi Hospital had written to the Cabinet Secretary for Labour, Simon Chelugui, about their intention to fire a section of their staff as it also admitted that it was overwhelmed by new admission of patients and is incurring losses.
In May 2020 medical workers union also went to court to challenge the hospital move that forced employees to work overtime in order to cope with the rising numbers of Covid-19 patients.
The troops serving under the AMISOM have been granted a mandate to continue staying in the country, days after they began drawing back to their barracks to return back to their respective countries.
The existence of African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) troops was extended by two weeks from end of February to March 14 as the country’s leaders pushed for a political pact. But the situation in Somalia got tensed when President Mohamed Farmaajo attempted to extend his term by two years.
Farmaajo has since reversed that decision after Somalia senators voted on Saturday to overturn the two-year presidential term extension they had initially approved. The decision resulted to chaos after heavily armed troops for and against the president clashed.
The situation led to fears that the crisis could lead to a power vacuum that the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants could use to split the country along clan lines and attack each other. Amisom had to stay and even the agreement reached with the prime minister over the violence and the president’s term could not send AU forces out of Somalia.
Former Kenyan Defense Secretary Raychelle Omamo when she made a surprise visit to KDF troops in Somalia [p/courtesy] AU Peace and the Security Council agreed to extend their mandate to end of December 2021 in a decision that is expected to sail before the UN Security Council at the end of May.
The decision was arrived at during the meeting between 15-member AU Peace and the Security Council held on Tuesday. ”At today’s AUPSC meeting , the Council reached a consensus to extend the mandate of Amisom until 31st Dec 2021,” the statement reads.
The AU Council comprises of 15 members who are elected for a three year term on rotational basis. Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Algeria and Ghana are some of the current members. It is AU’s standing decision making organ for prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.
Amisom troops have been in Somalia since to 2007 when it was formed but its mandate has always been extended by a year after it failed to stabilize the governments of Somalia.
Kenyan Defense Forces also set their boots in the country in October 2011 under the ‘Operation Linda Nchi’ with an aim to exit in March 2012 but are still in the war-torn country. KDF extended their stay in Somalia beyond 2012 after it’s forces joined the AMISOM to boost efforts to eliminate the Al Shabaab insurgents.
Detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) have unearthed a paper trail of how the former Nairobi governor Dr. Evans Kidero swindled money from City Hall and used in refurbishing his luxurious apartments in Nairobi’s Riverside Drive.
Kidero used fake legal contracts to loot from City Hall using his former chief of staff, one George Wainaina who sent him money through a company identified as Cups Limited.
The embattled governor received money from Wainaina’s firm on January 14 2014 and a day later, the ex-governor transferred his share of Sh14.4 million to Virji Meghji who built his Gem Suites Riverside apartments. The luxurious apartments attract a monthly rent of Sh540,000.
EACC is now seeking to recover the Sh14.4 million from Kidero as it aims to seize one of the apartments to be held in trust on behalf of the county government of Nairobi.
“In the alternative and without prejudice, a declaration that the plaintiff (EACC) is entitled to trace the aforesaid amount… into serviced apartments (known as Gem Apartments) on land parcel known as LR. No 205/46 within Riverside Area, in Nairobi County and that the 1st defendant holds the property in trust for the county government of Nairobi,” EACC documents filed in court read.
Nairobi County lost Sh58.8 million in the looting spree where monies were wired to 10 individuals who are now under the radar of the EACC that wants a refund or seizure of their assets including plots and high-end cars.
George Wainaina, Kidero’s former chief of staff who was part of the looting scheme [p/courtesy]EACC found that the former governor looted through a ghost company known as Kyavee Holdings which sued the defunct Nairobi City council over a botched land sale.
Dr Kidero and his looting gang used a law firm, Wachira Mburu Mwangi & Company Advocates to represent City Hall in the case and later used the same law firm to demand millions from City Hall in the name of legal fees.
Documents filed in court confirmed that Sh58 million was paid to late Stephen Mburu the managing partner of the law firm who retained Sh11.5 million then wired to Sh15 million to Cups Ltd and Sh7 million to John Ndirangu Kariuki.
Wainaina’s Cups Ltd then sent Sh14.4 million to Kidero who paid later Mr Meghji the same amount to upgrade his apartments. Mr. Wainaina claimed to have sent the money to Kidero to buy a Toyota Lexus but EACC detectives have learnt that the car belongs to Kidero.
“The legal fee claim was a fraudulent scheme set to defraud the county government of Nairobi as the said fee claim was founded on false claim, by a non-existent company and intentionally filed by an unqualified person with the intention of rendering the suit incompetent,” the EACC said in a statement.
Dr Kidero is a big man in the real estate business who boasts of well-off tenants such as staffers of the United States embassies, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and expatriates. He owns land and buildings in Nairobi estimated to be worth over Sh9 billion.
Somalian president Mohamed Fermaajo and his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir are spending the night in Kampala ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of President Yoweri Museveni scheduled for May 12 2021.
Museveni will be taking an oath for his sixth term in office after suppressing his opponent to win the shady elections held on January 14 2021. The long serving leader of Uganda was announced the winner by the country’s electoral body after he purportedly garnered 5.85 million votes against Robert Kyagulanyi’s 3.48 million votes.
Media outlets in Uganda have reported that some eleven heads of states are expected including Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta are expected to attend the fete that will mark another fresh term for the dictator who has ruled since 1986.
Only the two President from the countries which have not seen stability and democratic elections in decades are already in Kampala for the event that will be skipped by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Fermaajo who rules Somalia which has been in war since 1990 recently had to climb down from his previous stance in which he defended the decision to extend his term by two years after public and opposition outcry.
Fermaajo is also believed to have backed from the dictatorial move to extend his term after his allies including the federal states of Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West shifted allegiance and demanded an immediate election to resolve the impasse. Opposition camps like National Salvation Forum was also piling pressure on him to reverse the move.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, R, and his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir in a past courtesy photo.
President Fermaajo is also at conflicts with his Kenyan counterpart, Mr Kenyatta, after their countries were engaged in a dispute over the maritime boundaries for years. Mogadishu further accused Nairobi of meddling in her internal affairs leading to call up of their respective ambassadors last December.
The two countries mended their diplomatic ties last week but the pact was today dealt a blow after Kenya suspended all flights to and from Somalia with immediate effect.
South Sudan’s Salva Kiir also flew to Kampala on Tuesday, barely 24 hours after reconstituting parliament he dissolved two days ago. The move made on Monday night will now pave way for the formation of the Revitalized Transitional Legislative Assembly as stipulated in the 2018 peace agreement he signed with his former foe, Riek Machar.
Through a presidential decree read on state-run television, South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, Kiir appointed 550 lawmakers from all parties that signed the revitalized peace accord.
Machar was was sworn into office in February 2020 to mark an end to their rivalry after the two leaders of the young nation fell out in 2013 leading to a conflict that claimed more that 4,00 lives and displaced millions.
In 2016, a report commissioned by American Actor George Clooney showed that Kiir, Machar and high ranking military generals heavily profited from the war.
Also in Kampala ahead of the ceremony is the Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye, Sudanese vice president Malik Agar Eyr, South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation Naledi Pandor, and the executive secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), João Samuel Caholo who landed in Kampala on Tuesday afternoon.
The ceremony will be boycotted by the opposition who accused Museveni of using the state machinery to rig the January elections. On Monday night, Opposition leader, Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine and former presidential aspirant Kizza Besigye tweeted that their homes were surrounded by police. Besigye has also critized african leaders for attending Museveni’s oath taking bash.
The guilty are afraid! I’m now abroad; yet…
Foreign “guests” who come to attend such an imposition of a Junta become accomplices to the NRM/M7 Junta crimes.
Siaya County Governor Cornel Rasanga is on the spot for spending more money from the county emergency fund than the amount that was allocated to the county emergency fund to fight Covid-19.
Rasanga who was questioned by the Senate Standing Committee on Health fumbled to explain where he got the Sh115 that he spent in fighting Covid-19 yet the money allocated to the fund was Sh100 million.
The Auditor General’s special audit report on how the devolved units spent the Covid-19 funds shows that Siaya’s emergency fund was flagged over over-spending of the county emergency funds. But the governor claimed that his administration only spent Sh100 million and not Sh115 million as indicated in the special report.
“It was established that as of 31 July 2020, Sh115,884,928 had been committed for Covid-19 related activities which was against the approved budget allocated to the county emergency fund for Covid-19 purposes,” the report reads.
The Auditor General’s office had confirmed that there was enough evidence to prove that Siaya county made the payments amounting to Sh115 million. Rasanga who was questioned via remote gave conflicting statements with the team from the AG’s office.
“There may be an error but I can confirm that we did not spend more than Sh100 million. I can confirm that all commitments were charged within the funds. There was no over expenditure,” Rasanga claimed.
Sen. Fred Outa, Chairman, Senate Standing Committee on Health [p/courtesy]Kisumu County Senator, Fred Outa, who chairs the committee directed the controversial governor to provide proof of his expenditure after he gave him one week to provide evidence that he did not overspend.
Siaya spent Sh270 million in Covid-19 related emergencies where Sh100 million was from the county emergency fund with the county receiving Sh60 million on July 3 and another Sh40 million a week later.
The county also received Sh97 million as government conditional grant, Sh6 million from Danida , national government health workers allowance of Sh36 million and Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KSDP) Sh30 million.
The AG’s special report comes after a section of Rasanga’s senior staff were recently exposed over rampant looting in the county. The assembly Speaker George Okode was found to be leading a cartel that is also swindling county funds through suspect deals.
Police in Uganda have surrounded the homes of the opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu popularly known as Bobi Wine and that of the former presidential aspirant Kizza Besigye as the country prepares to swear in President Yoweri Museveni for a sixth term tomorrow.
Museveni won the flawed elections in January 2021 after the country’s electoral commission dismissed all the allegations of vote rigging and intimidation claims made by opposition candidate Bobi Wine.
Wine and Besigye took to their Twitter handles on Monday night where they expressed concerns over heavy police presence around their homes. The two including their supporters have been harassment by law enforcement officers for challenging Museveni’s long dictatorial rule.
Bobi Wine, a pop star turned politician termed Museveni’s action as “cowardly” as Besigye maintains that Museveni’s swearing-in for the sixth time is “illegal”.
The situation around my home is still tense. Dozens of soldiers are surrounding my home, checking every vehicle that comes in or goes out. All this to suppress the citizens' voices as the emperor crowns himself for a 6th term! In this I am confident- WE SHALL OVERCOME pic.twitter.com/IDiTfEIoEz
But Uganda’s National Army Deputy Spokesperson, Deo Akiiki, defended the heavy deployment of police as a move to avert possible chaos during the swearing in ceremony.
“With credible evidence from intelligence, we shall not hesitate to arrest more of these schemers as and when we detect,” said Akiiki.
The long serving president has always ensured that his inaugurations are marred by heavy security presence especially in urban areas and their surroundings.
Ugandan media has reported that close to 4,000 people, including 11 Heads of State, have been invited to Museveni’s oath taking which will be held at the Kololo Grounds in the capital Kampala.
Museveni grabbed power in 1986 after overthrowing General Tito Okello, who had only ruled the country for 181 days but since then he [Museveni] has rigged and ‘won’ all presidential elections in Uganda.
He got 5.85 million votes which represents 58.64 % of the total votes cast in the January 14, 2021 presidential election, while his closest challenger, Wine, got 3.48 million votes (34.83 %). But Bobi Wine said the results were doctored to hand Museveni an illegitimate win.
Election monitors also reported that the confidence in the count was damaged by a three-day internet outage and dozens of people who were killed during violence in the run-up to the election.
But opposition politicians including Besigye who unsuccessfully challenged Museveni in three elections have always been harassed by Museveni’s officers. He wondered why the state deployed police to his home yet he was out of the country.
The national treasury has allocated close to Sh1 billion in gratuity payments for President Uhuru Kenyatta and the 416 MPs when the current Jubilee administration’s term comes to an end in August 2022.
Budget estimates for the financial year 2021-22 tabled in Parliament show that gratuities to the retired presidents and MPs will be hiked by Sh844 million. President Kenyatta is set to pocket Sh72 million in gratuity payment as records indicate that the bill will increase to Sh79.2 million by June 30, 2025.
The Treasury has also dramatically increased allocation for the retired presidents’ pension from the current Sh34.4 million to Sh42.42 million starting July next year.
The increase translates to a monthly pension of Sh666,700, the amount that former president Mwai Kibaki enjoys and will also be due to President Uhuru according to the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act, 2003.
Retired presidents are entitled to fuel, entertainment, a house allowances and a monthly pension set at 80% of his pensionable salary, which is equivalent to 60% of Sh1.44 million monthly pay to the sitting president.
They also enjoy four cars, medical cover, an office, two personal assistants, secretaries, messengers, drivers, bodyguards – all paid by struggling taxpayers.
/courtesy
The benefits for the deputy president and other designated state officers including the two speakers will increase by Sh150 million and raise the payout to Sh1.1 billion as the next financial year’s payout is poised to increase by Sh40 billion.
This will cater for the gratuity for retired Chief Justice David Maraga and other state officers who retired this year with monthly pensions for senior military officers also set to increase to Sh16 billion in 2022 from this year’s Sh10.7 billion.
The revised allocations will push the overall benefits to a retired president above the salaries and allowances offered to top chief executives of State agencies like KenGen, Kenya-Re and Kenya Power.
The allocation comes amid a heated debate on whether Uhuru’s term could be extended beyond August 2022 though the president has maintained that he will go home upon expiry of his term.
State and public officers have different types of pension schemes. MPs and public servants for instance have their own pension scheme, which is contributory. But taxpayers shoulder 100% pension paid to civil servants – teachers, the police, and military since their perks are not contributory.
The President and Deputy President are the only state officers exempt from contributory schemes by virtue of their offices but offices like Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and heads of directorates are on gratuity.
After ‘bagging’ the position of the next Chief Justice where Justice Koome was nominated last week, power brokers have now shifted their attention to ensure that Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is handed to a ‘puppet’ to ensure a 2022 general elections win for the system.
The strategists are scheming to have current IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati pushed to resign after passing the BBI referendum and replaced by a member from a minority community in Kenya.
They are considering Taib Ali Taib, the former mayor of Mombasa who lost to Chebukati in 2016 though he has not made clear his intentions to go for Chebukati’s position but the recent swearing in of a six member selection panel chaired by Elizabeth Muli is part of plan to oust Chebukati.
The panel will advertise the positions for IEBC commissioners in the Kenya Gazette, receive applications within 14 days then shortlist successful candidates by May 24.
The electoral body only has three commissioners at the moment including Chebukati, Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu after three ocommissioners resigned citing frustrations from the chair and his inability to lead the commission.
Former vice chair Connie Maina, Margaret Mwachanya and Paul Kurgat resigned after Chebukati sent the then chief executive officer Ezra Chiloba to give room for investigations into 2017 general election financial mess.
Embattled IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati [p/courtesy] The selection panel will conduct interviews for formalities but they have already been instructed on who should fill the vacant slots. The new commissioners will then show the chairman the door. Chebukati has been surviving at the helm due to lack of enough quorum since the two remaining commissioners, Guliye and Molu are his allies.
Those streamlining IEBC might spare the acting chief executive officer Hussein Marjan and have him confirmed since he has also been doing a good bidding job for the regime and therefore considered a safe pair of hands to head the commission’s secretariat.
But the scheme to have IEBC led by a member of a minority community is informed by the fact that such communities don’t field serious presidential candidates and therefore they will have little tribal allegiance to popular candidates.
Already a pro-establishment individual is going to head the the top court of the land and manipulable commissioners will also be recruited by the recently formed selection panel.
The panel comprises of nominees from the Public Service Commission, representatives from the legal profession, the Christian and Muslim faith and one from the academia.
All were sworn in except one Dorothy Jemator whose name was forwarded to the panel by Law Society of Kenya which is engaged in a push and pull with the executive. Jemator was not sworn in after Justice Antony Mrima issued orders suspending her appointment to the panel until a ruling is made on a case challenging her position. She is considered anti-establishment.
Other than Taib Ali Taib, the Supreme Court Judge Isaac Lenaola is also seen as a proper candidate to succeed Chebukati but he is reluctant to go for the position after he rubbed the regime of the day the wrong way when sided with ex-CJ David Maraga, DCJ Philomena Mwilu, and Justice Smokin Wanjala to nullify President Uhuru Kenyatta’s win in 2017.
The office of the IEBC chairperson or a member only becomes vacant if the holder dies, resigns from office by notice in writing addressed to the President or is removed from office under any of the circumstances specified in Article 251 and Chapter Six of the constitution.
Cable and internet suppliers are a prime example of companies that enjoy monopolies on their markets in many areas but with poor internet provisions and customer service. Liquid Telecom which should be country’s top internet provider has been giving trashy services to customers who have little choice but to suffer through poor support experiences when they need help.
This company has been providing terrible services even before it re branded from KDN (Kenya Data Networks) to Liquid Telecom. Dissatisfied customers are left with no option but to look for other alternatives which is a nightmare in areas only covered by reluctant Liquid Telco.
One social media user has bursted the company over poor services and a series of lies despite making timely and full payment of his subscription for months without any internet.
One customer care staff only identified as John has been taking the client on rounds prompting him to travel from upcountry to have his internet fixed but upon arrival at the company headquarters, John lied that he was on leave and other staffers are working from home.
nimechoka kutukanwa over the phone so nikasema nikuje waniambie in person iyo upuzi wamekuwa wakiniiambia.
The bad customer service stories have created PR nightmares for the Liquid Telecom which is now losing a huge share of the market to to new entrants that are keen to avoid similar situations of that usually end up in the limelight.
In October 2020 another client busted the company for installing him WIMAX to provide 5 mbps but the internet that turned extremely slow after succesful installation to an extent that his kids could not to connect to the online classes and web pages took longer to load.
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He raised his complaints to Liquid Telecommunications Kenya Ltd through their +254205000000 and raised complaints several times but in all cases, the customer support team lied that they were resolving the problem.
The internet speeds were too low than 5 mbps as agreed in the Contract which the company admitted was on their side but completely ignored solving.
The large family of the late ex-cabinet minister Simeon Nyachae is fighting over the control of vast business empire the Gusii leader left behind. A section of the family is accusing Nyachae’s younger widow of stamping authority over prime properties both in Kenya and abroad.
Nyachaes heavily invested in real estate, banking, transport, agriculture,and manufacturing in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisii, Kisumu, Narok, Kisii, Kericho, Sotik and Nyeri and Nairobi. He also had a stake that was worth Sh300 million in NCBA bank.
The family is struggling to keep their feud off the media but it all started during the burial of the former cabinet minister when Margret Kerubo Chweya– his secret wife who lives in the US showed up with a 47-year-old son of Nyachae.
The 65 year old woman also told the family that they were blessed with another son, Nyandusi Nyachae who did not travel to Kenya for his father’s burial. The emergence of the two sons is messing the math for hungry heirs.
The late former cabinet minister Simeon Nyachae [p/courtesy]The late Nyachae’s daughters and grandchildren also want a share in the vast estate. Tensions within the family are purely over the wealth with the sons set to benefit over daughters. Nyachae’s late wife Nyaboke gave birth to many daughters and two sons while the second wife died shortly after giving birth to Nyachae’s daughter Mary.
But his third wife Mwango is the mother of the popular kids from the large family including Charles Nyachae who roughed up the US based wife, Kenneth Bitange, Ndemo, Mike Noah, and Nyandusi.
Charles is the former chairperson, Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) who was in the news over baby mama drama. A college girl he impregnated and dumped popped out claiming that Charles does not support their child. He is disrespected by a majority of the family members due to his weird marriage life, alcohol abuse and wastage of family resources.
Another issue deepening the rifts is talk that one of the beneficiaries of the estate is not late Nyachae son by blood. Nyachae’s known family included six known wives and 35 children.
The incoming Chief Justice Martha Koome’s first assignment upon assuming office will be to overhaul the Supreme Court bench by executing the plot to kick out Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu and Justice Smokin Wanjala.
The two including the retired CJ David Maraga and Justice Isaac Lenaola rubbed the system the wrong way through a majority ruling which annulled the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2017 and ordered IEBC to conduct fresh presidential polls.
But the then ruffled Uhuru vowed to revisit the issue and fix the Judiciary by uprooting the judges who reversed his win after the repeat polls which his main challenger Raila Odinga kept away from.
The bad blood between the president and the Judiciary was showcased in the run up to Maraga’s retirement including starving the judiciary of funds and the refusal by the president to swear in judges appointed by Maraga.
DCJ Mwilu has also been embroiled in multiple charges of corruption which pundits have argued was a plot to bar her from succeeding Maraga who retired on January 15 2021.
In December last year activist Okiya Omtatah petitioned the High Court to stop Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu from ascending to the position of Chief Justice despite meeting a nice cut to succeed Maraga.
Omtatah wanted the court to stop Mwilu from assuming the seat even in an acting capacity, until she is cleared of the graft allegations and abuse of office charges she is facing.
Reliable sources now reveal that Supreme Court will undergo a major f’therapy’ where only Justice Njoki Ndung’u is expected to survive because she is pro-system and Justice Isaac Lenaola because he comes from a minority community.
Troubled Mwilu and Justice Mohammed Warsame are also linked to cartel of lawyers including Paul Muite, Makau Mutua, Ahmednassir Abdullahi, and Law Society of Kenya president Nelson Havi who are backing William Ruto’s presidential bid.
Koome who is already in a war of words with the LSK president will be tasked to tame the gang which has been in the corridors of justice since the days of former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.
Martha Koome, incoming chief justice of Kenya [p/courtesy]JSC Chairperson Olive Mugenda was to ensure that Koome ‘beat’ all other candidates including her boss at the Court of Appeal, Justice William Ouko who is expected to become a supreme court judge to please Raila Odinga and his ODM luminaries.
But once Mwilu is removed, Justice Ouko can be nominated for the DCJ position to calm the Luo community which is yet to reap the fruits of the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.
The math was deliberately complicated in favor of Koome after Justice Ouko was betrayed by JSC commissioner AG Paul Kihara who awarded him 46% while commissioner Njeru Macharia awarded him some 42% to lock him out
But as a sitting Chief Justice, Koome can ask Mwilu to resign or she can advise the president to form a tribunal to investigate and remove her from the DCJ position.
Koome will also represent Supreme Court at the JSC which will have a majority of Uhuru allies to approve the removal of Mwilu over the graft cases she is facing.
Supreme Court Judge Smokin Wanjala [p/courtesy]Embattled Mwilu was recently denied powers to chair the panel which interviewed the CJ in preference of Mugenda who is pro -establishment while Justice Wanjala’s troubles emanate from annulling Uhuru’s win and his bad conduct.
In February 2021, a video of a visibly intoxicated Wanjala giving his speech and bragging over his academic qualifications at the burial of Rtd. Justice Lawrence Peter Ouna in Busia County made rounds on social media.
“I am well learned. I went to university and attained a degree. I also undertook my masters at Columbia University. I learnt English and I am a fluent speaker,” Wanjala said.
But the hasty announcement of Koome as the nominated CJ and the president’s move to quickly forward her name for rubber stamping by the parliament looks suspect. The president who had refused to appoint judges wanted Koome’s name to sail through before anyone could challenge her nomination in court.
Uhuru claimed that the judges nominated by Maraga were corrupt but did not say the same of Koome who has been accused of being part of a judicial conspiracy that defeated electoral justice in 2017.
Regulatory filings in the United States show that Chinese nationals living in Kenya used seven planes to send Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) back to China before Kenya reported its first coronavirus case last year.
China Southern Airlines did seven trips, each ferrying 3,000 boxes of PPEs and surgical masks from Nairobi to Guangzhou on February 3, 2020 which led to the acute shortage inn the country at the onset of the pandemic.
“Chinese citizens and overseas Chinese living in Kenya collected more than 3,000 boxes of medical supplies. When the cargo warehouse was filled, the flight crew and the passengers worked together to move these precious life-saving supplies” the airline reported.
“From the outbreak of the pandemic to the temporary suspension of the Nairobi route, there are seven such ‘mask flights’ that have provided valuable supplies for the front line in the fight against the pandemic,” the carrier added.
Jack Ma, the Chinese billionaire who later donated PPEs to Kenya [p/courtesy]China Southern Airlines also claimed in the report that the move was due to the situation in China deeply impacted the hearts of her compatriots overseas at the onset of the pandemic outbreak.
“Every mask, glove, and protective suit in the cabin seems to have a heartbeat. They come from Chinese compatriots who are separated by mountains and rivers,” the report reads.
Kenya reported it’s first coronavirus case on March 12, of a Kenyan who had returned from the United States through London on March 5, 2020 but the numbers rose pushing Kenya to beg Chinese tycoon Jack Ma to donate PPEs and medical supplies.
Through his foundation, Jack Ma donated 100,000 face masks and 20,000 testing kits which arrived in Kenya on March 24 but would later go missing after they were stolen and sold by rogue state officials.
A second donation which came from the Chinese government and arrived in Nairobi on April 20 2020 also went missing. Health ministry officials colluded with unscrupulous businessmen in Nairobi and Chinese business owners to steal the consignment and escape arrest.
Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) launched investigations into the two incidents but officials have remained tight-lipped about the progress that has been made.
Former Tottenham Manager Jose Mourinho has spoken for the first time since he was sacked by the club last Monday after a 2-2 draw with Everton on April 16. The result followed poor performance by the Portuguese manager was in charge for the last 17 months in North London but faced criticism for failing to transform the star studded Spurs into aggressive attackers and title winners.
But barely two weeks after the dramatic sack, the celebrated football tactician will be joining radio station talkSPORT for their coverage of this summer’s European Championships.
He will be with the station’s listeners across the schedule, from it’s live GameDay programming to regular slots on the Breakfast shows. Mourihno described his new role as incredible when footballers lovers believed it was a wrap in Premier league and expected him to move to international roles.
“As a football man I always look to football. I look very much forward to the new job because I believe it is going to be something new and something incredible. I am totally absorbed by football, I just love to work. In this moment I have not been working for a week and I am missing it already. Let’s enjoy.” he said.
TalkSPORT boss Lee Clayton added that “Jose Mourinho is a box office signing for talkSPORT. I can’t wait to hear his views on England, Scotland and Wales as well as the other giants of the tournament.
“His experience and insight will be fascinating for talkspor listeners who will also get an exclusive opportunity to put questions to him in post-match phone-ins.”
Lee Clayton, Head of UK’s TalkSport Radio [p/courtesy]Mourinho will be part of the team for all three England group games, one last-16 game, two quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final. He brings in rich experience having managed close to 1,000 games and winning 25 trophies, including eight league titles and four major European honours.
He will be joined by former England stars Stuart Pearce and Trevor Sinclair and the SJA Sports Presenter of the Year, Laura Woods to give listeners all the latest news and live updates from the tournament.
Mourinho has also managed top European top clubs including Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea.
As the race to succeed Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya hots up, political parties with dominance in the region have taken their battles to the next level. Instead of aspirants being sycophants to popular parties, the inverse is the case in Kakamega.
Respective parties are in a silent fight to have the corrupt Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) C.E.O Fernandez Barasa as their flag bearer in the 2022 gubernatorial race. Baraza has not officially declared his candidature but he ‘meets’ what it takes to venture into Kenyan politics. He enthusiastically corrupt.
With an eye on his bag, political parties are salivating for Baraza’s heavy pockets to help fund their campaigns, money that he has amazed from looting the public coffers and in the public limelight. The media loving Ketraco boss, has also contracted media houses and bloggers to praise and worship him allocating him airtime to be seen as a saint.
Many looters of state agencies like Kirinyaga Governor Ann Waiguru and suspected drug pushers got into active politics like that. But they are becoming attractive to political parties with lowered leadership thresholds because of their deep pockets. They can oil their campaigns and market the party sponsoring them at the same time.
Barasa runs Ketraco, a state agency mandated to plan, design, construct, own, operate and maintain high voltage electricity transmission grid and regional power inter connectors which the National Transmission Grid heavily relies on.
He has swindled taxpayers billions of shillings through Ketraco through shady contracts including the Ksh14 billion meant for the 450-kilometre, 1,500-megawatt Mombasa-Nairobi power line whose huge percentage was paid to fake land owners.
Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya, the current governor of Kakamega County [p/courtesy]Investigations revealed a case in Kajiado County where one landowner was paid 10 times more than the value of his land and that was repeated in hundreds of times during the construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi transmission line.
Barasa was also implicated in a $240M contract between Ketraco and China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Company Limited (CET) which was signed in February 2018 to electrify the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) but got lost in the air.
He brought the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) to its knees before joining Ketraco which he has siphoned enough to bankroll his way to Kakamega County coffers.
Though he downplays his political interests, Barasa has used his loot well to prepare the ground ahead of 2022 election. Kakamega seat will fall vacant when Oparanya’s term expires next year and Baraza has already won hearts of residents of the vote rich Mumias West and Matungu constituencies.
The battle for the corrupt man has seen Raila Odinga led ODM party ditch Oparanya’s deputy Phillip Kutima who was thought to be the party’s man to watch but he’s no longer trusted.
An audit report tabled at the Nandi County Assembly has implicated my officers in Governor Stephen Sang’s kitchen cabinet. Nominated MCA Teresa Maiyo led the special committee that probed how funds meant for combating Covid-19 funds were spent.
The report reveals massive misappropriation of emergency funds, breach of procurement laws and incriminating facts on abuse of office. It was unanimously adopted by the assembly and will have serious implications on Sang’s administration that has been rocked by looting scandals since day one.
The report recommends immediate suspension and investigation of CEC Ruth Koech of health over missing ICU beds, acquisition of malfunctioning oxygen plant and theft of Covid-19 emergency funds. Also accused for stealing the funds and concealing evidence is Finance CEC CPA Alfred Lagat.
Finance CO Meshack Malakwen and Health chief officer Paul Lagat are also facing suspension for colluding with suppliers to inflate prices for kickbacks.
The report dated April 21 2021 that took three months to compile, uncovered theft of millions taxpayer’s money through shady deals that fattened the pockets of rogue county officers.
Nandi Health CEC Ruth Koech [p/courtesy]Findings also show that up to Sh52 million was irregularly spent to buy face masks which would mean 10 million masks for 2000 health workers with each getting 33 masks to cover March to July but that was not the case.
The rogue officers further defrauded the county when the same firm that supplied faulty ventilators and ICU beds was also contracted to build Nandi Hills Hospital mortuary.
“You can imagine even at the height of Covid-19 pandemic thieves holed at Governor Stephen Sang’s office had the courage and audacity to deny doctors, clinical officers and nurses PPEs and other equipment so as to line their pockets,” Kapsabet ward MCA Fred Kipkemboi said.
MCA Kipkemboi blamed Sang for the mess in Nandi County as he wondered why the governor was reluctant to reshuffle his ailing administration.
North Regional director Japheth Baithalu has directed the county secretary to provide documents related to Covid-19 funds and construction of the mortuary immediately to facilitate investigations.
“You are kindly but urgently requested to provide us with certified copies of documents with respect to procurement, supply and distribution of ICU covering the entire supply chain from identification, delivery, payments and physical distribution,” the letter reads in part.
The Senate Finance and Budget Committee investing businessman Naushad Merali has unearthed alarming details about his role in the collapse of Spire Bank. The Committee found that actions by Merali before and after the sale of the bank he once owned to teachers represented in the Mwalimu National Sacco was criminal.
The investigations which are focusing on the root cause of the bank’s financial woes that have left it at the brink of a total collapse come as the teachers rush to complete payment for their 25% stake which were owned by the tycoon.
The management of Mwalimu National Sacco confirmed that the sinister move by Merali to withdraw his deposits led to the financial woes the bank is currently facing.
“Merali had huge deposits which he withdrew in 2016 to the tune of Ksh.1.7 billion. In the aftermath, there were panic withdrawals from customers given what happened to Imperial and Chase banks,”Mwalimu Sacco Chairman Wellington Otiende told the committee.
Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula accused Merali of taking away the money which would have been used to cloud the true financial health of the bank to hide in his businesses even after audit by Ernst & Young recommended otherwise.
“Once can say that due diligence on the financial health of the bank could have been substantially predicated on deposits held including Merali’s. If Merali goes on and withdraws the money leaving the bank as a hollow shell, this is quasi criminal,” Wetangula said.
[p/courtesy]Senator Charles Kibiru who leads the committee echoed Wetangula as he pressed bank and Sacco officials over the poor state of the bank which he attributed to the change of ownership.
“It is surprising that all over sudden, after Merali sold his shares, we have a situation where you as the bank are looking for a strategic investor. Is it that due diligence was not done?” he asked.
Teachers bought the bank back in 2014 at a Ksh.2.4 billion taking up a 75 stake but it has been making huge losses in six year including in December 2020 when it returned a Ksh.1.3 billion loss. The loss was three times wider than Ksh.472 million negative earnings in 2019.
They are now keen on abandoning the bank which has eaten up their initial investment savings in Mwalimu National Sacco which sunk to negative Ksh.8.4 billion from six years of accumulated losses.
Spire Bank Chairman David Ndegwa claims they are shopping for potential investors to lift the lender but the numerous woes are dimming their chances of recovery.
“Negotiations have proved to be extremely difficult. Three potential investors have for instance exited even after giving us timelines. We are hoping to meet someone serious who is willing to fulfill prudential guidelines before the end of the year,” he said.
Merali’s actions have left the interest expenses by Inspire now exceeding it’s earnings from lending activities while loan defaults are equal to the bank’s entire loan book. Punishment is also looming from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as the bank’s capital and liquidity ratio continues to fall in breach of regulatory provisions.
Siaya County Assembly Speaker George Okode is leading a ring of cartels that is siphoning public funds through dubious procurement deals with the assembly. Okode tightened his looting games after the court reinstated Felix Olwero as the county assembly clerk-a move that exposed the real struggle to control the county coffers.
Olwero was suspended in March 2019 after he irregularly allocated himself Sh2 million car loan in 2015 and was quickly replaced by Eric Ogenga who has been holding the position in acting capacity for two years.
But Ogenga is the speaker’s first cousin who was only planted in the position to facilitate Okode’s looting schemes and to keep Olwero at bay as 2022 fast approaches.
The corrupt speaker has also managed to pocket a good number of MCAs who are fed on per diems. Okode has also penetrated into operations of the county assembly service board which cannot make decisions without his authority. He also ensured that Siaya county’s board vice chairman Maurice Aringo brought in Mr Nyangidi who is his close relative to take charge as the senior internal auditor and cover up their dirty deals.
Siaya governor Cornel Rasanga [p/courtesy]Speaker Okode is using Nyangidi to fight Olwero after it emerged that Nyangidi wrote a damning audit report on him (Olwero) just two months after being planted in the office. Nyangidi who is now presiding over dubious transactions of millions took over from David Okumu who was promoted to the rank of director of finance.
Okode’s cartel is known for minting millions through exaggerated budget funds, legal services and through purchase of Hansard equipment. He has been using Ogenga (acting clerk) to siphon county funds for his selfish gains and to handle the MCAs through fictitious meetings which are organised to justify allowances at the expense of tax payers.
He is deeply interested in Siaya politics but he is mostly using his influence to silence his perceived enemies including pushing for fresh charges against Olwero who has been reinstated to his job by the court.
The speaker wrote a letter on the same day the ruling was delivered where he argued that the court decision did not prohibit the board from proceeding with fresh disciplinary procedures against Olwero.
“To facilitate further investigations on alleged gross misconduct and pursuant to the provisions of the county assembly Act No 24 of 2017 Section 23, the county assembly service board during its meeting held on April 14 2021 vide minute no MIN/CASB/08/14/21, resolved to interdict you for a period of three months with effect from the date of this letter’’ the letter read in part.
Powerful tycoons and elites from the Somalia community managed to neutral a plan by members of the system to have the current Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji ousted under the guise of succeeding his late father Yusuf Haji as Garissa senator.
The tycoons prevailed over businessmen, elders, politicians and religious leaders from Garissa to rally behind the DPP’s younger brother Abdulkadir Haji who was elected unopposed after the death of his father on February 15, 2021.
Ranking elements within deep state were plotting to have the DPP Haji uprooted from his current position and thrown into politics. The death of the senior Haji was seen as a perfect chance to force Noordin to quit his position but Somalia fat-cats who have infiltrated the system ensured that their son retained to the useful and prestigious position.
The tycoons had panicked that losing the DPP’s position would have them exposed to investigative authorities. Recent crackdowns on corruption have concentrated on individuals allied to the Deputy President William Ruto, mostly from the Kalenjin community but individuals from the Somalia community are also targeted.
Garissa Senator Abdul Haji [p/courtesy]Garissa Township MP and former majority leader of the national assembly Hon. Aden Duale led the political front in ensuring that Abdul bagged the seat through a negotiated democracy as he termed anyone who attempted to oppose their move as enemies of the community.
The embattled Garissa Governor Ali Korane also requested the community to have Abdul succeed his father unopposed. Korane was last September barred from accessing his offices until his Sh233 million corruption case is determined but he used the opportunity to please the community and the DPP who should be on his neck.
Power brokers within the system were restless to have Noordin’s position taken by a Kikuyu as political realignments towards 2022 take shape. The Director of Public Prosecution serves an eight year term and enjoys authority over all criminal investigations and prosecutions.
The DPP also has powers to order the Inspector General of Police to probe any crime but the proposed constitutional amendment Bill, BBI aims to repeal Article 158 have the DPP to work under the president.
The former Chief Justice David Maraga criticized the move as a lose towards the fight on corruption since any sitting president will use the DPP to fight his adversaries.
Directors at Coast Water Works Development Agency are ruthlessly looting to raise money to finance their their 2022 election campaigns. Most of the directors are politicians who were rejected in previous polls including the board chair, Omar Boga who was recently defeated in Msambweni by-elections where he ran for the parliamentary seat.
Boga who vied on ODM Party ticket and backed by the system lost to independent candidate Faisal Bader but was later be gifted with the government job following the death of the former chair Mustafa Idd.
The political rejects at the helm of the state owned agency are lobbying for rogue contractors to win tenders and give them kick backs.
Coast Water’s acting chief executive officer Martin Tsuma has raised concerns over the looting appetite of the directors as he threatens to return to his former position if nothing is done. He wants serious changes effected in the Coast water board to tame selfish interests and safeguard donor funds.
Tsuma held the position of technical services manager but was elevated to a CEO position in an acting capacity after Boga fired the former CEO Jacob Torrut.
The former Msambweni aspirant has only been targeting individuals perceived to be politically aligned to the Deputy President William Ruto who dominated the top positions.
Individuals like Torrut were appointed when Simeon Chelugui (Rutao man) was the Water and Sanitation Cabinet Secretary but he remained without a ‘godfather’ after Chelugui was moved to the Labour and Social Services ministry.
Chelugui was replaced by Cecily Kariuki, a system friendly CS who appointed Boga the Chairperson of Coast Water Works Development Agency for a 3 year term.
“IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by section 66 (1) of the Water Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Water and Sanitation appoints—
OMAR BOGA to be Chairperson of the Coast Water Works Development Agency, for a period of three (3) years, with effect from the 26th February, 2021,” the notice read.
The family of Simon Waweru Njoroge, the owner of Windsor Motors Limited is pleading with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to engage with Ethiopian authorities for the release of their son who is held hostage by an Ethiopian businessman he conned over a Sh25 million.
Njoroge defrauded Neto Godana the said amount after they agreed through a proxy, Ali Dida Abakula, that he would import 500 motorbikes from China and deliver to Neto at a cost of Sh45 million.
Neto paid Njoroge a down payment of Sh25 million for the motorbikes through a forex bureau in Nairobi’s CBD and another in Eastleigh. The money was paid in three batches of Sh5.4 million, Sh5.6 million and Sh14 million. Njoroge has not delivered the bikes.
The tycoon’s point man in Kenya, Abakula, told police that 90 days passed without Njoroge showing signs of fulfilling his end of the agreement yet he had pocketed Sh25 million.
Ali Dida Abakula. He aided the abduction of Simon Waweru [p/courtesy]
Neto then used Abakula to lure Njoroge to Shakiso, Southern Ethiopia where he had laid a trap to abduct him. Njoroge traveled with Abakula to Ethiopia on February 13 under the guise of a business trip. He even told his wife, Molly Muthoni Waweru about the trip.
Njoroge was to return to Kenya on February 17, 2021 but after his arrival in Ethiopia, he called his wife claiming that Neto was demanding his Sh25 million to set him free.
“On February 19, 2021, my husband called me at 6am, saying his life was in danger as his host, Neto, had turned hostile towards him,” said Muthoni told police.
She informed Njoroge’s immediate family and filed a report with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) which she has accused of acting slow forcing her to engage a lawyer who advised her to “escalate the matter to higher police authorities”.
Njoroge’s distressed family has since sent Sh500,000 to Neto as part of the Sh25 million settlement meanwhile Abakula who aided the abduction was arrested at his Isiolo home on Monday.
