Category: News

  • Why Kenyan Athletes Will Be Given 72 Condoms Each in Their Hotel Rooms When They Get To Rio

    Why Kenyan Athletes Will Be Given 72 Condoms Each in Their Hotel Rooms When They Get To Rio

    RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JULY 23: A general view of the Olympic and Paralympic Village for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Barra da Tijuca. The Village will host up to 17,200 people amongst athletes and team officials during the Games and up to 6,000 during the Paralympic Games on July 22, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
    RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL –  A general view of the Olympic and Paralympic Village for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Barra da Tijuca. The Village will host up to 17,200 people amongst athletes and team officials during the Games and up to 6,000 during the Paralympic Games on July 22, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Getty Images)

    Despite the damning doping claims that threatened the chances of Kenyan athletes participating in the Rio games, the country eventually escaped the ban and sent its team of athletes. While we anticipate trophies from the countrymen, they should as well expect a welcome with a record number of condoms allocated and air-conditioners in every bedroom, Rio’s athletes’ village starts welcoming Olympians on Sunday.

    The new apartment towers built to house 11,000 athletes and 6,000 coaches during Rio’s Games are being called basic, even austere.

    But when you step out on the balcony of one of the 3,604 apartments, the complex — with its swimming pools, tennis courts and bike lanes — looks downright five-star.

    The rooms are furnished with single beds and wardrobes made of recycled materials, as well as air-conditioning units to allay fears over the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

    Inside of the rooms where the athletes will be sleeping
    Inside of the rooms where the athletes will be sleeping

    Organisers describe the 31 17-story towers as a “city within a city” complete with a 24-hour cafeteria, beauty salon and florist.

    The rooms themselves are furnished with the basics: metal beds, bedside tables and disposable wardrobes made with recycled fabric.

    Ramler said the idea was to make the furniture sustainable but also inexpensive in keeping with Rio’s bid to provide low-budget Games. The complex was built with private money, and the developers are already looking for buyers post-Olympics.

    The main entrance is heavily guarded and equipped with metal detectors. Unlike in recent Games, there are no TVs in the apartments. Organisers did finally agree to install air conditioners in the bedrooms to allay fears over the mosquito-borne Zika virus, despite the expected cool temperatures during the games, which fall during Rio’s winter. The opening ceremony is scheduled for August 5.

    The apartments are equipped with 13,000 toilet seats, 275,000 clothes hangers and 18,500 beds that can be extended in length for taller athletes. The spartan bathrooms sport plastic shower curtains and a single oval mirror, but no drawers or cupboards to store the 450,000 condoms that will be distributed to athletes — equivalent to 42 per person.

  • Koffi Olomide Sent To Jail For 18 Months Over Assaulting A Female Dancer At JKIA

    Koffi Olomide Sent To Jail For 18 Months Over Assaulting A Female Dancer At JKIA

    Koffi Olomide when he was picked up from his home by police in Congo this morning
    Koffi Olomide when he was picked up from his home by police in Congo this morning

    Embattled Koffi Olomide was arrested on Tuesday at his home in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    According to reports the singer was held shortly before being arraigned in court and charged with the assaulting . He was found guilty and sentenced to a year in jail.

    This followed uproar from a video captured in Kenya’s main airport JKIA of the maestro raining in one of his Female dancers with kicks.

    Olomide denied assaulting one of his dancers identified as Pamela. His lawyer George Wajackoyah
    also accused Kenyan police of manhandling the musician during his deportation.

    The singer apologised in a Facebook post on Monday, terming the incident a “moment of madness” but not after facing widespread condemnation and outrage since the video of the incident at JKIA was shared on social media.

    The latest blow comes barely a day when his scheduled concert in Zambia was cancelled and Kenya government revoked his visa permanently.

    Could this be the premature end to an era of the Lingala star. He will be out of freedom for the next year.

  • NGOs Coordination CEO Fazul Mahamed Summoned By CID, Threatened Life Of Staff Who Questioned His Fake Degree

    NGOs Coordination CEO Fazul Mahamed Summoned By CID, Threatened Life Of Staff Who Questioned His Fake Degree

    The NGO Coordination Board chairman Fazul Mahamed
    The NGO Coordination Board chairman Fazul Mahamed

    The ghost of forgery continues to haunt NGOs’ Coordination Board chairman Fazul Mahamed. Earlier in the year, Fazul was grilled by EACC about the authenticity of the degree he used to gain employment, following complaints from the board.

    According to information reaching Kenya Insights, a senior staff member sitting in the NGO’s board has been threatened with harmful consequences from the CEO, Fazul. The staff member according to a source speaking to us had questioned the credentials of the CEO. This isn’t new as it is in the public domain that he forged his academic papers. Fazul, who according to several reports has been defensive and easily pissed off at anyone who dare, question his papers.

    Fazul served in NACADA, has been accused, and detectives followed trails of his questionable education trail. With the accusations, the CEO has been fraudulently earning the salary with forged documents.

    According to files he presented to the boards during NACADA and NGO’s Coordination interviews; Fazul stated he was a Biochemistry graduate from Egerton University in 2009. Contrarily, in 2015, Egerton University Registrar of academic affairs, Prof SFO Owido said Mahamed Yusuf, as Fazul was known in college, was discontinued on academic grounds in his third year of study by the Senate on August 26, 2010.

    In a letter to the National Council of NGOs dated September 10, 2015, Owido said Mahamed was admitted as a regular student in 2007 to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. He changed the course through an inter-faculty transfer on September 27, 2007, Owido said. He said Mahamed was discontinued for failing 50 percent or more of all the credit factors taken in the regular exams of one academic year.

    fake2
    Letter from Egerton University denouncing Fazul’s supposed certificate

    Police detectives who were trailing his roots at one point interrogated his father in Naivasha, where he admitted his son had dropped out of Egerton University and the next thing he knew, Fazul was working in the government. Some sources also say he transferred to UoN, but there’s no evidence to ascertain this claim neither himself. He doesn’t point that out in his CV.

    So where did Fazul get his papers when the university he claims to have graduated from disowned him. Why should taxpayers continue paying someone who’s legitimately not qualified to occupy the position
    Critics have reiterated that the due process wasn’t adhered to during the CEO’s recruiting and flawed vetting process.

    Apparently, there’s no evidence that he underwent vetting in the first place. One such fundamental requirement that Fazul didn’t meet calls for The board’s executive director to have served for ten years in public service and held a master’s degree which he clearly doesn’t measure up to.

    Fazul is not new to controversy, in 2014 when the country was faced with severe terrorist attacks, by then an NACADA official, he blamed the opposition for working with Al-Shabaab to destabilise the Jubilee government a floppy blame that has been doing rounds amongst government’s proponents whenever Kenya is hit.

    In his reign in the NGOs’ board, Fazul shocked many when he deregistered nearly 6000 NGOs he primarily accused of funding terror activities.

    MUHURI, HAKI Africa were just but some of the many organisations that were suspended and accounts frozen. Fazul accused them of working with terror elements and funding their activities. After investigations, the groups were found stain free and resumed activities of fighting for human rights.

    Fazul has insisted questions on his academic credentials rose as a result of what he calls transformative actions in the sector by banning some organisations. To date, Fazul is yet to convince anyone entirely how he acquired his certificates. The threats case is being handled by detectives based in Nairobi’s central police, and the temperate CEO would face charges in court.

  • #NyakundiArrested: Dramatic Scene As Armed Officers Storm Blogger Nyakundi’s Home During Arrest

    #NyakundiArrested: Dramatic Scene As Armed Officers Storm Blogger Nyakundi’s Home During Arrest

    At around 2PM today, a group of 8 armed police officers rounded up Blogger Nyakundi’s car at a petrol station in Rongai. Occupants of the car, his friends were quickly whisked out to waiting car before heading to the bloggers home.

    In what seems like a well premeditated scenario, the police led the rest to Nyakundi’s house. They must have collected tight intel prior. They stormed into his house ordered everyone inside to surrender. They unanimously tell me they were lightly assaulted with slaps. They say,the officers were armed and brandished their guns.

    Nyakundi was immediately held and house ransacked, phones and laptops were confiscated by the police. They were dissatisfied as they missed another target, KinyanBoy, a writer who has been working close with Nyakundi on a number of impunity and corruption exposing topics. It’s still unknown why they wanted KinyanBoy arrested as well.

    Nyakundi was bundled into the police car before they sped off to undisclosed location. They didn’t mention reason for arrest neither the station that they were taking him to. Officers eight in number, came in two vehicles, a standard Police land cruiser van and another car.

    The blogger had been summoned to record a statement by the CID on an article he posted on his website claiming Interior CS’s officers has been helping a Chinese millionaire Wenjie Li, a once declared illegal immigrant by office of the president stay in Kenya illegally.

    He also questioned DCI Muhoro’s links in extra judicial killings and land grabbing. In his ranting posts,the blogger threw blows on the DCI credibility.

    As of the time of this blog, Nyakundi’s location where he’s being held is unknown. Friends who has gone to Muthaiga police station to check if he was booked in say they were turned away and two of their phones confiscated in the process.