Tag: Investigations

  • Kenya’s Peculiarity: Koffi Olomide Deported, Ruto’s Pilot Is Back In The Air #WhatAboutWenjie

    Kenya’s Peculiarity: Koffi Olomide Deported, Ruto’s Pilot Is Back In The Air #WhatAboutWenjie

     DP Ruto's Pilot, Mr Alistair Patrick Llewelyn assaulting a policewoman
    DP Ruto’s Pilot, Mr Alistair Patrick Llewelyn assaulting a policewoman

    For a better part of Friday, the internet went berserk following the surfacing of a coral video showing Congolese Lingala star Koffi Olumide reigning on one of his female dancers with kicks. The assaulting video grasped the internet, elicited anger with users unanimously calling for his arrest and immediate deportation.

    The pressure was coming from all corners that the police has no option but to jump in. Koffi was arrested outside Citizen TV’S studios where he had attended an interview show. Later detained at JKIA police station where he spent the night. Olomide has since been deported from the country with double tragedy of permanent visa ban.

    Kenyans have a peculiar habit of forgetting things as soon as they relegate from the trends. The impunity forces are aware and take advantage of the this. Earlier this year, DP Ruto’s Pilot, Mr Alistair Patrick Llewelyn was caught on tape assaulting a policewoman.

    Expectedly, the video drew hostile reaction accompanied with #DeportRutoPilot, and he was taken to courts, and before we knew it, the chap was back in the skies with the same chopper under the same company.

     DP Ruto's Pilot, Mr Alistair Patrick Llewelyn(Middle) as seen back in action with him his client Lawyer Donal Kipkorir. Notice the registration of the chopper remains the same. (Pic Courtesy)
    DP Ruto’s Pilot, Mr Alistair Patrick Llewelyn(Middle) as seen back in action with him his client Lawyer Donal Kipkorir. Notice the registration of the chopper remains the same. (Pic Courtesy)

    Kwale Island Development Limited, who run the helicopter 5Y-DSN, said they had terminated the services of Mr Llewelyn whom they had contracted, but they lied. Knowing nature of Kenyans, they duped us with PR statement that he was fired, bought time and sneaked him right back.

    Olomide, as some have argued, didn’t survive not because Kenya has strict moral policies but because he didn’t have powerful connections in the government to cushion him. Wenjie Li a Chinese millionaire doing business in Kenya also a declared illegal immigrant by an office of the president is a good example. According to an expose done by Nyakundi, the illegal immigrant is receiving protection from aides to Interior CD Joseph Nkaiseery. The expose would later see the blogger getting police summon and arrest.

    What’s so exceptional about Wenjie Li that he can’t be deported with the glaring facts that he’s in the country illegally. The culture of impunity is deeply rooted in the system, and you can nearly get away with anything as long as you have money and know people who know people. If we’re sincere in securing our borders and abiding by the law, then Wenjie Li and any other illegal immigrant should be bundled out of the country.

  • 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.

  • Cornered: Julie Gichuru’s Father-In-Law Planning to Flee Kenya

    Cornered: Julie Gichuru’s Father-In-Law Planning to Flee Kenya

    Samuel Gichuru Former KPLC Boss
    Samuel Gichuru Former KPLC Boss

    Things are going haywire for Samuel Gichuru, according to sleuths in contact with Kenya Insights, Gichuru is secretly planning to flee Kenya to avoid extradition to Jersey Island where he is supposed to Face money laundering charges. Samuel Gichuru Robbed Kenya Power and Lighting Company when he was the Managing Director. The crook stashed Billions in the island.For those not in the know, Samuel Gichuru is the father to Former Media Icon Julie Gichuru’s husband Tonny ” Flash ” Gichuru.

    It is alleged that part of the money Samuel Gichuru Looted from Kenya power was used to launch the Mcheza failed experiment that the likes of Carol Radul were publicising. Together with Julie Gichuru and some corporate women, Carol Radul have made the huge percentage of deluded youth believe that betting is an economic activity.

    Julie Gichuru has been in the recent past, opened as a compromised Journalist hence dealing a considerable blow to her credibility. After doing a scripted interview that aimed at doing PR for Nairobi governor Evans Kidero, Julie was fired from Citizen TV.

    Journalist Julie Gichuru and her husband Anthony Gichuru, son to the embattled Samuel Gichuru
    Journalist Julie Gichuru and her husband Anthony Gichuru, son to the embattled Samuel Gichuru

    That is why we request Kenyans to expose these Nairobi Cartels that are choking our system before the situation gets out of hand. Back to what brought you here.

    Samuel Gichuru together with his partner in crime Chris Okemo is to be extradited after a ruling by two high court judges that dismissed their application that was challenging the extradition orders.

    The question that many Kenyans are asking is – Why is Samuel Gichuru and his partner crime Chris Okemo still free men? Why is the order demanding that they are to extradited not being affected? Who has been bribed by their dirty money to protect them? Indeed, Kenya is a bandit economy.

    We now request the security officials to be extra careful as looters plot to flee the country and leave the country in debts the latest being Former National Bank of Kenya CEO Munir Hassan, who attempted to escape to Dubai but was nailed by Anti-Banking Fraud Unit officers.

  • Secret Deals: How Ruto Came To The Rescue Of Taj Mall Owner And Stopped Its Demolition

    Secret Deals: How Ruto Came To The Rescue Of Taj Mall Owner And Stopped Its Demolition

    taj
    Taj Mall

    In 2008, Nakumatt Chain Stores woke up to a rude shock when their Thika Road unit was brought down with all their goods inside. They lost billions in the demolition exercise. The store stood on the road reserve, and constructors were making way for the Thika Superhighway construction.

    In 2013, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) wrote to the National Lands Commission(NLC) to investigate the legality of the section of land where Taj Mall sits. September 2015, NLC in a letter to Ramesh Gorasia, the Taj Mall owner, revoked the title of part of the land on which the mall sits. It had been earmarked for demolition to pave the way for Outering Road expansion.

    In an unusual move, Lands ministry quickly revoked the NLC’s directive on the mall’s title deed stating that it can only be revoked by court’s order. This gave Ramesh a reprieve. Taj Mall sits at the roundabout of Outer Ring Road, North Airport Road and Airport South Rd.

    With a street value of $5M or Sh.5B, the mall’s owner Gorasia couldn’t stomach the thought of losing this valuable property and threatened to sue the government for compensation were they to effect the demolition order.

    Taj Mall owner Ramesh Gorasia speaking to the media
    Taj Mall owner Ramesh Gorasia speaking to the media

    The history of the 3.7acres piece of land where the mall sits goes back to 1991 when Gorasia bought the first phase 1.75 acres and another two acres in 1995, both from Abuja Ltd before joining the two parcels. He bought this land when Former President Moi was still in power and irregularities in lands acquisitions were at an all time high.

    From what Kenya Insights gathers, Moi personally facilitated the sale of the property to Gorasia whom you can bet exchanged unknown amounts in return for the favours. The then Lands Commissioner Wilson Gachanja on instructions from Moi issued him with the title deed. The issuance was done in the presence of then deputy principal registrar of titles J M Okungu.

    Faced with the horrible possibility that his Sh.5B mall would be brought down, Gorasia went on tears mode lamenting he was having problems even repaying the Pan African mortgage. He claimed Shelter Afrique loan was still withstanding. He also disclosed that he had other loans at Fidelity and Standard Chartered banks and an overdraft facility at Diamond Trust Bank.

    However, her sympathy seeking please seemed to have fallen on dead ears, and KURA maintained the order and mall remained marked for demolition. Miraculously, in January earlier this year when the demolition was only weeks to be brought down, a change of tone signalled from the National Lands Commission. NLC Chairman Dr Mohammed Swazuri retracted earlier stand saying the Taj Mall property would remain unscathed.

    Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) overhauled everything, the road structure and map was redesigned. In this new fishy development, Taj Mall was left out of the Outering Road expansion plan. Unluckily, bordering Oil Libya in Embakasi, Safeway Supermarket, Jogoo Petrol Station in Outering and Gulf Energy among others, were gazetted for demolition.

    Deputy President William Ruto
    Deputy President William Ruto

    The question in many people’s minds is how this could have possibly happened given the known pattern of the apparent demolition of earmarked structures on road reserves. Any sharp eye would see or even sense something unusual was cooking beneath the scenes.

    Now Kenya Insights can authoritatively reveal that Deputy President William Ruto had a secret hand in saving the Sh.5B structure from being brought down. A highly rated lawyer privy to the details of the deal confided to us that Ruto got into a blurry detailed deal with the Taj Mall proprietor Gorasia.

    Even though our source speaking on strict anonymity conditions tactically withheld finer details into the nature of the agreement between the two, he affirms, “they entered into a contract, and you can leave it at that, it was. As a result, KURA was forced to redesign the road. This alone tells you executive influence had to come in. It’s not on a typical day that a road plan is changed for a small building.”

    Like most of such alike deals, it is nearly impossible to link him directly as an art of proxy reigns. The DP is not a surprise guest in property and lands turmoils. His Weston Hotel along Langata Road sits on a contested land piece said to be a property of Kenya Airports Authority and was accused of being the unseen face behind the private developers who had plotted to grab a piece of Langata Primary School playing ground to create a parking lot for the suffocated Weston Hotel.

  • The Wolves Of Umoja: How West African Sex Pests Are Abusing Nairobi Women

    The Wolves Of Umoja: How West African Sex Pests Are Abusing Nairobi Women

     

    The obsession of Nairobi women to the Naija Men is only comparable to uncontrollable love for Ingokho amongst our Luhya brothers. The notion that the fellas from West are monied and romantic is just but that, a notion. Most of the times, it’s a fallacy, a wet dream

    A distressed fan contacted Kenya Insights, a week ago to highlight her monstrosity ordeal she went through the hands of the Naija brodas. These ladies blinded with the fancy lifestyle and hunting instincts for money will go to towering heights just to win the fake it till you make it fellas.

    There are Instagram-filtered pictures and then the Oga brodas, and it’s never what it seems like when the reality smacks you in the face. For confidentiality purposes, we shall call her Miss X, she frequents Hornbill, the famous club in Umoja estate, Eastlands part of Nairobi where skimpily dressed ladies flock with the hope of luring a ‘rich’ brother into their honey jar.

    Wolves or Mafisi as it’s the referral in the streets, too put up their best acts, dressing, cologne, buying most expensive drinks and what have you. It’s a hunting ground for both species.

    On this particular Friday night, Miss X had her lucky day or she thought so and thought to herself ‘I just hit a lotto’ or maybe Pambazuka jackpot, what’s with all these betting companies everywhere like mitumba? Back to the point.

    Miss X was treated to the drinks of her choice, expected of ladies who drink Kibao with their friends behind scenes, eat githeri sukuma wiki at home but will swear they only eat pizza, chinekee! So Miss X doesn’t go for the obvious knickers dropper, Guarana, instead, single malt whisky. ‘No problem baby, you can order everything, in fact, you can even take di whole bar and drink it,moni isn’t di problem Nah ” I swear I could hear him say that miles away.

    People who were strangers minutes ago were now turned decades lovers, getting high and high, they danced and ground each other as tight as the brake pads in a steeply ground. After the drinks, it’s home, fellas you know the drill right? So the newly met lovers leave the club and yes they’re not catching a cab but hiking on their ride.

    Like a cow taken to the butchery, Miss X showered with honey manenoz slides herself into the car with his ‘investment’ going home to seal their contract. Unknown to her, the happy moments were over, and terror awaited her. “It was all good until we got to his house, I was shocked and terrified to death, in his house there were five other heavily built men, they were staying together, being the only woman I felt being in danger.” She narrates to Kenya Insights.

    “This one is fine than that one last night broda, we’re gonna have a good evening,” said one of the five men. Contrary to her thoughts that she was only coming to be with the Prince Charming alone, it was a whole pack of wolves plotting to have a piece of her. She attempted to scream but was threatened. They ran a train on her, rather took turns raping her severally.

     

    Numerous alike cases have been heard of, but many of these ladies are too ashamed to speak out instead they die with shame inside as the wolves continue to prowl on unsuspecting preys. They can’t even report to the police for the fear of slut shaming. Kenya Insights has established that this barbarous scheme has been in play for a time now and the most notorious instigators, the West Africa foreigners living in the semi-middle-class estates.

    On to a ranting phase, it’s inexcusable and with strongest terms possible horrific and perverting acts by these swindlers must be doomed. Ladies need just to take a damn chill pill on this Oga brodas craze, just because one has Naija accent doesn’t replicate to his pockets depths. Most of these guys are shams, faking lifestyles, can’t even afford to pay Sh.20,000 rent so they group and stay in one house, ten people as if it’s a refugee camp.

    None of these guys if not 1:10 isolated cases that they live one person in a house, they’re always in packs like PK. It’s known worldwide not just a theory that most of the Nigerian guys engage in fraudulent activities, and they come second in cyber crime after China. You know of the Yahoo boys, sending emails to preys how they have millions of dollars stashed wherever, play along and get conned.

    Drugs. Most of them living in Kenya don’t have any formal job but always doing ‘business’, no sugarcoating, most and not all, do dirty business deals.

    Many ladies have been duped into their drug selling syndicate, many Kenyan women with the thirst for quick cash have fallen to their traps, facilitating drug peddling, ending up in jail. Most recently a socialite by the name Pesh, who filled the internet with her bare humongous posterior pictures and stash of banknotes, flashy lifestyle, was arrested in Ghana and in jail for drugs trafficking. She was caught, she had been recruited in.

    The immoral breed of celebrities so called socialites or glorified prostitutes as some call them are being financed by drugs money according to underworld sources, most of them deal with the syndicate either directly or indirectly. But all these besides the point, ladies put your house in order, Fort Jesus wasn’t built in a day.

    Life’s about taking risks but don’t take too much risk in this line. Most of the West Africa guys living in Eastlands are plain broke, keep that in mind, and the rich ones are with their counterparts in Runda. They’re parasitic or romantic as you prefer to call them, will help you unstrap your bra when you get home even wash your lungs to have you at their mercy. The wolves of Umoja and Eastlands advances to their unending preys.

  • Toothless EACC Fails To Tackle the Sh.52M Chickengate Scandal as Deadline Lapses

    Toothless EACC Fails To Tackle the Sh.52M Chickengate Scandal as Deadline Lapses

    Integrity House, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters in Nairobi
    Integrity House, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters in Nairobi

    The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has apparently embarked on a cat and mouse games in dealing with the Chickengate probe- the Sh.52M bribery scandal involving National Exams Council and the electoral commission. The EACC Chairman Philip Kinisu in February promised that the investigations into the matter would be concluded in under a month.

    On March 18, the EACC boss Halakhe Waqo appearing before a parliamentary committee said that the report was finished, and he would forward the files to DPP Tobiko for the prosecution of those involved by 30th June. As it turned out, this was all a bluff, and the commission seems to have done zero investigations or is sitting on the report.

    The scandal involved inflation of ballot papers prices as part of the kickbacks from the UK’s printing firm, Smith and Ouzman Ltd in the heights to 2013 elections. IEBC Chairman Issack Hassan tops the list of Kenyan officials who ‘ate’ the chicken. Others named in the scandal Davis Chirchir, an IEBC Commissioner then (he was rewarded with Energy CS post in Jubilee and was later sacked over graft allegations), James Oswago, Gladys Boss Shollei.

    While the Kenyan counterparts are roaming free with no fear, a London court sentenced two directors of the printing company involved in the bribery scandal to jail. UK government even handed over the files and pieces of evidence they used to imprison the bribing US firm to the Kenyan authorities. EACC was tasked to investigate then forward files to the DPP.

    Mentioned in the Chickengate scandal. From left: Mr Davis Chirchir, former Energy CS; Paul Wasanga, former KNEC
    Mentioned in the Chickengate scandal. From left: Mr Davis Chirchir, former Energy CS; Paul Wasanga, former KNEC

    EACC is yet to do what they were mandated to do. Less can be written home about EACC effectiveness, countable or no prominent graft case that they’ve successfully solved. In the latest budgetary allocations, EACC got Sh. 2B more to their kitty. Kenya loses approximately Sh. 700B annually to corruption and most, if not all of it, is never recovered.

    The anti-graft commission has been actively viewed as a pro graft body with critics saying it’s not free from executive control.

    In the height of NYS scandal, EACC did ‘investigations’ and gave the then Devolution CS Ann Waiguru a clean bill of health. It later turned out money was lost in NYS and the ‘clean’ Waiguru was named as the mastermind of the nearly a billion-shilling rip off scheme.
    Some people jokingly refer to EACC as the clearing commission, a quick refuge for the graft kings.

    They rush here for clearance after looting. The legitimacy, reputation and integrity of the anti-graft body is highly questionable and leaves more to desire. The CEO Halakhe has also been named in several scandals with many critics accusing him of being subject to compromise by the corruption cartel.

    Why is it taking EACC long to act on the Chickengate scandal, what more do they need when the UK government already made work easier and handed them over the evidence for the prosecution and nailing the suspects.

  • How Kisumu MP Ken Obura and His Briefcase NGO Frustrated a Ksh.30M Medical Equipment Donation

    How Kisumu MP Ken Obura and His Briefcase NGO Frustrated a Ksh.30M Medical Equipment Donation

    Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura
    Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura

    John Odullah, a lawyer from Karachuonyo n Homabay County, met and struck a rapport with Mr Hans Frederick Dydensborg- the president of Global Medical Aid and an advocate for the Danish Supreme Court, in 2014. Mr Hans was in the country for a conference.

    Being a Kenyan of goodwill, Odullah asked Mr Hans if he could make a donation of medical equipment to his home county, to which Mr Hans obliged. Mr Odullah contacted his friend, Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura to be the consignee for the container Mr Hans was going to ship in.

    Obura agreed to this and used his NGO (Ken Obura Foundation) to bring it into the country. Being a charitable organisation, they thought it wouldn’t attract huge tax rates. When the shipment docked in Obura’s name, port authorities demanded up to Sh.7M for clearance.

    The amount was too huge for the MP so they asked the county government of Homabay to chip in and help. The county government later backed off leaving off the charity project in limbo.

    Gutted with impediments and constant demands for money, Mr Hans recently flew in the country to try and get the container cleared. His efforts to get in touch with the consignee, Mr Obura, bore no fruits as the legislator embarked on cat and mouse games. He lied that he was out of the country but was seen in Parliament buildings on the same day.

    Well-wishers loading medical equipment as donations destined for Africa
    Well-wishers loading medical equipment as donations destined for Africa

    On deeper investigations, Mr Hans realised that the said Ken Obura Foundation only exists on paper with no physical address. Obura, according to the frustrated donor, was plotting with port officials to buy time for the container to be declared late for clearance and put up for auction. He would then swing in, buy it at a reduced value and then sell the consignment to the counties at the market price.

    Items in the container included endoscopy devices, a fundus camera, two x-ray developers, 363 disinfection scopes, eight washing and disinfection machines, a dexa scanner, 30 microscopes, a paraplegic laboratory and 120 infusion single and triple pumps.

    Homabay County and it’s neighbours are faced with high HIV/AIDS prevalence, not to mention water-borne diseases and other infections. Add that up with the averagely low income of the residents, and the medical donation would have gone a long way in improving the health and livelihood of the residents, but greed and personal interest have gotten in the way.

    For 19 months, the container with medical equipment donation valued at Sh.30M meant for poor Kenyans who are unable to afford quality healthcare lay at the Mombasa port.

    Corrupt officials at Mombasa port demanded that Mr Hans pay a Sh.2M bribe to have the container cleared, but he wouldn’t oblige. He turned to Mombasa county to pay the clearance fee and take ownership of the donation, but they too declined the offer.

    Defeated and frustrated, Mr Hans redirected the shipment back to Denmark. That’s how Homabay County residents lost out on a Sh30M medical donation.

  • How a Barclays Bank Customer Lost Sh.600,000 in a Click, A Usual Insider Fraud Scheme

    How a Barclays Bank Customer Lost Sh.600,000 in a Click, A Usual Insider Fraud Scheme

    Barclays Bank HQs in Nairobi
    Barclays Bank HQs in Nairobi

    A stressed fan of my investigation pieces approached me with what is not shocking since I’ve heard such cries before. Because of security reasons and on her request, her identity shall remain anonymous. The names used in this article are fictitious with the story continuing as it was narrated.

    Marion works with Qatar Airways as an air hostess and lives in a Gulf city where she mostly spends most of her times on land notwithstanding the fact that nearly all her time she’s afloat the air.

    With her career catching up and the pay smiling on the other side, she thought wise to make savings back home. After consolidation, she chose on Barclays bank as the right prospect to use given its worldwide presence, and since she’s a trot, that would present a better option.

    Two weeks ago, she flew back to Kenya, opened a savings account with Barclays made a deposit of over a million bob. Considering her investment was in better hands, she continued with her work, flew to the US almost immediately after opening the account.

    Unfortunately, while in the US, she was mugged and lost her purse plus her phones too. Being precautious, she almost immediately called Barclays Bank back home as a security measure on her account. Travelled back to her residential Gulf country where she renewed her line she was initially using.

    This was when the cat and mouse games with the staff in Nairobi started. Marion originally opened the account with her Kenyan phone number linked to it, and now that she wasn’t in a position to access that line which went along with her stolen items, she filed to have contact number changed to her present’s.

    cash

    She intended to access the money in her account, and the only way of doing this was by activating internet banking. A pin is supposed to be sent to her number to activate the system. Before this could happen, the staff were to send her forms via email to fill for the internet banking system to be activated.

    Concealed to her, a fleecing scheme was in its primary stages with the communication spark. Instead of promptly, sending the forms, they bought time and only sent them to her days later and this when she discovered the shock of her life.

    Someone had fraudulently accessed her account and withdrew Sh.600,000 in an unexplainable transfer. Faced with the bitter reality and shocking discovery, she called the bank to inquire how this possibly happened while herself hadn’t made any transfer transaction. As usual, they told her to give them time as the fraud unit worked to establish how this could’ve happened.

    From my investigations, there are minimal incidences that this could’ve happened, and all pointers take the directions at an insider plot at the bank. When Marion lost her items, she didn’t have her Barclays ATM card in it. In fact, she’s yet to collect the card from the bank. This rules out cybercrime instance by stealing bank details by blackhat criminals.

    airhostess

    She was yet to activate internet banking service so there were nearly zero percent chances of effecting internet transactions by fraudsters or herself unless the bank had activated this service without her consent. Which in that case is criminal.

    As she would later come to realise, the transaction was enabled via mobile banking, a service that again she hadn’t subscribed for. The only person who activates this, the bank. A basic explanation here, someone inside the bank enabled this services, accessed her account, transferred the cash without her knowledge.

    The bank would’ve locked down her account the moment she called to inform them of her items lost and asking to switch contact numbers. They took a time to send her the internet banking activation emails in what now looks like a strategy to buy time for them to cook ways of accessing her account and making the illegal transfers.

    The bank insists, they’re investigating the matter, but these developments expose what could be a bigger scandal going on within the bank. You can bet this isn’t an isolated case and that the staff could be actively involved in this fraud plot. If this amount is anything to go by then billions could be lost to rogue bankers schemes annually.

    The bank must come out and weed out the criminal elements in the desks, crippling many people’s incomes, unless, its party to the larger syndicate. Marion is patiently waiting for answers, as she waits the fraudsters could be preying on another victim. Are you a victim of this same scheme or any fraudulent deals going on at any local bank? Email me ([email protected]) I will investigate the matter and expose the evil elements.

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  • Cheap Tilapia From China Sold In Kisumu Bred on Feces and Laced With Chemicals

    Cheap Tilapia From China Sold In Kisumu Bred on Feces and Laced With Chemicals

    The cheap tilapia imported from China being sold in Kisumu
    The cheap tilapia imported from China being sold in Kisumu

    The news of cheap tilapia fish sold in Kisumu and environs has in the past days been the topic of debate. Being a delicacy of the lake community, a smart but rather conniving businessman saw the opportunity to import fish from China.

    There has been a steady decline in fish supply in the region with fishermen citing a decrease in fish population in Lake Victoria. Fish population in Africa’s biggest freshwater lake has been the downfall in the recent times due to some reasons. With the supply being unable to meet the demand for fish, businessmen resorted to importing tilapia from China.

    The most shocking part is the imported fish is way cheaper than the local ones. Tilapia, locally known as Ngege, goes at a market price of Ksh.300 while the Chinese tilapia is just a mere Sh.30, a 100% reduction in price. The fish is transported and kept frozen in boxes where they’re sold and distributed to different market zones. Local leaders have come out saying this is a sabotage of the local economy in which fishing is the primary economic pillar. But that’s not even the worst.

    A fish farm in China
    A fish farm in China

    In a random research conducted by Kenya Insights, we’ve established that the cheap tilapia being sold to the locals come with dangerous repercussions with them. Most of the fish being sold are bred and fed on raw sewage as a way of cutting costs and contaminated with microbes like salmonella.

    Fish farming is a thriving venture in China. However, there are set fish feeds that the government allows farmers to use, but most farmers do not adhere to this standards. In several disgusting videos we viewed on the internet of fish rearing, farmers opt for raw sewage to feed the fish claiming the government-recommended manure is too expensive.

    Demand for fish imports from China continues to go up worldwide with US alone consuming over 30% of seafood from China. Feeding the fish with faeces isn’t even half of it, the tilapia are frozen before package, and the ice used in this process is also made from sewage water according to a Bloomberg report in 2012.

    Given the health risks posed to the farmers themselves, they’re adding chemicals like illegal and powerful pesticides and antibiotics to fight off and calm down stressed fish to the fish feed and water to counter bacterial and fungal infections.

    A common anti-bacteria they use is nitrofuran which was banned in animal husbandry in China itself, USA, and Europe as lab tests proved that it caused cancer in rats.

    A fishmonger sets up her merchandise at the famous fish retail market in Kisumu, Oile.
    A fishmonger sets up her merchandise at the famous fish retail market in Kisumu, Oile.

    As the poisoned and faeces bred tilapia continue to fill plates given its economic reprieve, consumers must look forward to a future of unexplainable illnesses. The pandemic isn’t closed to Kisumu alone, given the market pyramid in Kenya, there’s a high probability this Cheap China tilapia has gotten its way to most parts of the country including the leading cities as Nairobi, Nakuru and Mombasa.

    In our next piece, we will expose and explain the persons behind this health risk venture in Kisumu. Next time you order for that tilapia, you might want to ask the seller kama ni ya China

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  • Why Detained Killer Officers Must Be Given Maximum Protection.

    Why Detained Killer Officers Must Be Given Maximum Protection.

    DCI Muhoro, Head of Flying Squad John Kariuki when they appeared before the court on Tuesday
    DCI Muhoro, Head of Flying Squad John Kariuki when they appeared before the court on Tuesday

    The murder of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwendwa and their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri by suspected police officers has in the past days clutched not only local headlines but also international attention. Human rights bodies led by the supreme UN have come out in full gear to condemn the brutal murder of the three.

    In a quick progress, four officers suspected to have been behind the killings have been held behind bars for days now as investigations continue. The officers suspected of carrying out the killings are Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet, Leonard Maina Mwangi and Silvia Wanjiku.

    According to autopsy results, the victims were painfully tortured before being killed. Uniformly, they were hit with blunt objects with the most impact to their heads and chest. According to the report, lawyer Willie’s testicles were crushed, showing extreme pain they endured in their last moments.

    Traditionally, such high-profile executions are expected of the elite unit of police like the flying squad. However, the killing of the three is being blamed on the perceived inferior Administration Police, which brings to focus a new face of the AP. The Parliamentary Security Committee is envisioning disbanding the unit and merging it with the Kenya Police following constant complaints on their rogue inclinations.

    When the news of Fredrick Leliman’s arrest reached Mlolongo residents, they went in a celebratory mood. According to a resident talking to me on anonymity conditions, the officer known by the nickname Maasai, is a dreaded figure in the locality. The officer, according to my source, is known for ruthless eliminations. “He is ruthless and fears no one, and he kills at will. He has killed so many young men here, and nobody dares to raise a voice. If you try, he comes for you.”

    Another credible source tells me the dreaded officer in the month of June alone has executed over 25 young men in Mlolongo area where he is stationed. Most of these men are either suspected criminals or in some cases feigned. A good number of complaints about him are being processed according to my source at IPOA.

    Leliman’s latest victim is a woman currently nursing gunshot wounds at Kenyatta National Hospital. She, in a company of another woman who unfortunately succumbed, were passersby and witnessed an execution. The trigger happy Maasai pulled the trigger on the women.
    The three suspects operate as a team, according to reports, with their female counterpart Silvia Wanjiku being their designated driver in any of their operations. They are stationed in the same camp.

    The suspected officers; Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet, Leonard Maina Mwangi and Silvia Wanjiku appeared at the Milimani Law courts on Monday
    The suspected officers; Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet, Leonard Maina Mwangi and Silvia Wanjiku appeared at the Milimani Law courts on Monday

    If these signs are anything to go by, then the suspects hold crucial information on extra-judicial killings which would easily implicate their seniors. In most extra-judicial executions, a source who requested anonymity for security reasons, tells me that junior officers must get the green light from the top brass before carrying out a killing.

    With FBI now handling the case, the senior officers who issued out instructions for the executions and had dirt on their hands must be very scared. Being a devil’s market, to protect themselves and avoid falling into FBI net, one can get to the detained officers to silence them before they spill any bean.

    If the FBI investigations focus on the larger dragnet of extrajudicial killings, then the suspects are technically witnesses who are crucial to the investigations, and we know what happens to witnesses in this country.

    Extra-judicial killings have robbed the country of great people and if the lawyer’s case is going to be the breaking point then let it be, let mountains shake and the Eskimos sweat if that’s what it will take. Keep these officers safe, and they’re the asset to the prosecution which needs to do excellent investigations and unravel the mystery murders and let Willie Kimani and his compatriots be the last victims of rogue officers.

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  • US Government Threatens to Review Aid to Police Force, Flew in FBI Agents to Pursue Lawyers Murder

    US Government Threatens to Review Aid to Police Force, Flew in FBI Agents to Pursue Lawyers Murder

    Slain lawyer Willie Kimani
    Slain lawyer Willie Kimani

    On the 23rd of June, Human Rights advocate Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwendwa and their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri disappeared after Kimani and Mwendwa had attended court in Mavoko over police brutality on Mwendwa, who had been shot by police earlier. Having received many threats on his life, Kimani braved to assist his client in the case.

    The last that it was heard, Kimani had dropped a ‘we’re in danger’ note to be delivered to his wife, whose number he had written on the note. A boda boda operator allegedly picked the note near Syokimau police container and reached the wife via phone. The boda boda operator and the note remains the only relevant links to the story

    Immediately the news hit the airwaves, and pressure started pilling coming from both the civil society and lawyers’ association in which Kimani was a member, the Flying Squad, which is widely suspected of engaging in extrajudicial killings, in the past took up the case. This move doesn’t seem to have gone well with the US envoy.

    FBI Agents
    FBI Agents

    The Flying Squad has been checking phone records and looking at footage from roadside surveillance cameras to identify where the three might have been taken. Human rights activists predicted that several officers, including the one connected to the first shooting, would soon be arrested.

    The International Justice Mission, the American legal aid group that employed Mr Kimani and had been representing Mr Mwenda in his court cases, is a well-connected Christian organisation. Within hours of the three men vanishing, the American Embassy in Nairobi received several messages from Washington asking diplomats to look into the case.

    US envoy, Godec unitedly with other foreign diplomats in Kenya piled pressure on the state to speed up investigations and that no loophole should be left untouched. In the meantime, FBI agents stationed in Kenya had hit the ground running and led the investigations and search for the missing three persons. An extra troop of detectives were sent from Washington to join their colleagues.

    DCI Muhoro when he appeared before the court on Tuesday
    DCI Muhoro when he appeared before the court on Tuesday

    The US government funds the police in millions of dollars of security assistance to Kenya each year, including training and equipment to police officers.

    One American official, talking to New York Times, said the Kenyan police clearly still had problems and that continued cooperation would be influenced by how much improvement the Kenyans make.

    An estimated sixty people were killed by the police in the month of June alone, with the numbers going up instead of reducing, according to several NGO reports. UN has also added their voice to the worrying rate of extra-judicial killings in the country. They’ve called upon the government to ensure perpetrators are brought to book.

    Noticeably, the West hasn’t been as vocal on extrajudicial killings until the latest event. According to sleuths in Statehouse speaking to Kenya Insights, the pressure is like never before. White House is stopping at nothing and committed to seeing those involved brought to books.

    The suspected officers; Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet, Leonard Maina Mwangi and Silvia Wanjiku appeared at the Milimani Law courts on Monday
    The suspected officers; Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet, Leonard Maina Mwangi and Silvia Wanjiku appeared at the Milimani Law courts on Monday

    As a consequence, the Director of Criminal Investigations amongst other senior officers were forced to appear before a Nairobi court to give sureties that other extra-judicial killers will be arrested. Many contributors have pointed fingers at Muhoro’s department as being responsible for such killings. The Law Society is calling for his resignation together with the Police Inspector General Joseph Boinnet.

    The US government and Western community are so determined to pursue the course. FBI agents are leading the investigations and a comprehensive report tying Mavoko three killers and the killer unit expected to be available in a fortnight.

    A fourth suspect, an AP was arrested on Monday now making the number of officers arrested to be four. Prosecution applied for the speedy start to the case of the murdered and appointed four prosecutors to guide investigations.

    One wonders if the outstanding efforts to unravel the murderers of the three would have happened without Western intervention and more specifically the US. Ironically, when the DCI Muhoro appeared before the court on Tuesday to answer on the extra-judicial killings, he was with a purple ribbon. The ribbon is tagged on activists and lawyers to signify their support for the unlawful killings by the police.

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  • How Western Countries Including Israel Contribute to Kenya’s Killer Squad and Extra Judicial Killings

    How Western Countries Including Israel Contribute to Kenya’s Killer Squad and Extra Judicial Killings

    Visiting Israel PM Netanyahu inks his signature in Statehouse
    Visiting Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu inks his signature in Statehouse

    Anti-extra-judicial killings demonstrations were staged in most parts of the country on Monday following the gruesome murder of lawyer Willie Kimani alongside his client and a taxi driver. The three bodies were found floating at Oldonyo Sabuk river where they had been dumped.

    The three are suspected to have been kidnapped by police officers before being tortured and eventually brutally murdered. Willie was working with IJM and IPOA with the primary focus being on police brutality cases.

    The latest killings have rattled the country and incited the wrath of the majority of the civil society and law society together with leaders from across the board. The killings have been widely condemned, and calls for the disbandment of the killer squad by the state suspected to be behind extrajudicial killings have been renewed across the country.

    Kimani’s murder comes only two months after businessman Jacob Juma was fell by mysterious gunmen along Ngong Road. The state-owned hit squad has been widely blamed for the assassination. As of now, three administration police officers are being held over the killings of the lawyer while the Public Prosecution Office is expected to open a public tribunal that will look into the murder of Jacob Juma. Director of Criminal Investigations had written to the DPP to open public tribunal after their initial investigations failed to bear fruits. The piling cases of extrajudicial killings hence elicited maximum condemnation.

    The blood-stained Mercedes-Benz where Jacob Juma was shot dead. Police hit squad has been blamed for the murder
    The blood-stained Mercedes-Benz where Jacob Juma was shot dead. Police hit squad has been blamed for the murder

    According to reports, as of 2015, over 500 extra judicial killings had been executed by the police. A 12-member hit squad nicknamed the Kwekwe Squad drawn from the elite forces, is allegedly constituted with one aim; eliminating elements that the state deems as troublesome. Kwekwe squad was highly blamed for the killings targeting Mungiki members, and most human rights bodies put the number of killings in this operation at a triple digit.

    A good number of Muslim clerics and followers suspected of being linked to Al-Shabaab have also been fell by unknown assailants. The killings have been blamed on the hit squad, a claim that the government has been denying.

    Leading to his death, Abubakar Shariff Ahmed aka Makaburi in series of interviews with Western media predicted his death. In one instance, he told UK’s Daily Mail that he was living on borrowed time, and his killing was a forgone conclusion. In an interview with Al Jazeera, he singled out the Anti-Terrorism Unit as the ones who’d execute him. In April 2014 Makaburi was shot dead by hitmen on a motorcycle while leaving Shanzu Law Courts where he had attended his terrorism charge mentions.

    In April 2014 Makaburi was shot dead by hitmen on a motorcycle while leaving Shanzu Law Courts where he had attended his terrorism charge mentions.

    How did Kenya establish such a lethal terror squad?

    A hit squad member remains anonymous in an interview with Al Jazeera opening up on the extra judicial killings
    A hit squad member remains anonymous in an interview with Al Jazeera opening up on the extra judicial killings

    Aljazeera, in an investigative documentary, unearthed the existence of Kenya’s killer squad. The international outlet exclusively managed to talk to members of the lethal squad and conducted anonymous interviews with them.

    Speaking to Al Jazeera, the four men – all members of Kenyan intelligence and special police units – said they had all been involved in the assassination of terror suspects, with one claiming to have killed more than 50. ‘We don’t arrest,’ a gunman from the Radiation Unit of the Kenyan General Service Unit’s (GSU) elite Recce Company told the Al Jazeera Investigative Unit.

    The gunman appeared in the programme ‘Inside Kenya’s Death Squads’ alongside a commando from Recce Company, a member of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) and a spy for the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS).

    According to Al Jazeera, all of the officers play an integral part in Kenya’s counter-terrorism strategy and all have had a hand in assassinating suspects.

    Kenyan police have assassinated nearly 500 terrorism suspects in the context of an extrajudicial killing program supported by intelligence provided by Israel and the United Kingdom, Al Jazeera investigation revealed.

    Slain Cleric, Makaburi in an heated interview with UK's Daily Mail reporter Paul Bentley
    Slain Cleric, Makaburi in an heated interview with UK’s Daily Mail reporter Paul Bentley

    According to the officers who talked to Al Jazeera, Israel and the U.K. provide training, equipment and intelligence to Kenyan officers on how to “eliminate” suspects targeted by Kenyan security forces.

    Both Israel and the U.K. denied involvement. The U.K. Foreign Office added that it had “raised concerns” with the Kenyan government over such “serious allegations.”

    The police killings, according to the ATPU officer speaking to Al Jazeera, are ordered by Kenya’s National Security Council and run into hundreds every year. “Day in, day out, you hear of eliminating suspects,” the officer said. “Since I was employed, I’ve killed over 50. I do become proud because I’ve eliminated some problems,” said another officer.

    Kenyan police put the lifeless body of slain Muslim cleric Abubakar Shariff Ahmed into the back of a police pickup truck on a highway in Mombasa, Kenya, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. Attorney Mbugua Mureithi, attorney for radical Islamic leader Abubakar Shariff Ahmed, who had been sanctioned by the United States and the United Nations for supporting the al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group al-Shabab, said his client has been assassinated Tuesday along with another man whose identity has not yet been established, near the Shimo la Tewa prison in Mombasa, Kenya. (AP Photo)
    Kenyan police put the lifeless body of slain Muslim cleric Abubakar Shariff Ahmed into the back of a police pickup truck on a highway in Mombasa, Kenya, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. Attorney Mbugua Mureithi, attorney for radical Islamic leader Abubakar Shariff Ahmed, who had been sanctioned by the United States and the United Nations for supporting the al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group al-Shabab, said his client has been assassinated Tuesday along with another man whose identity has not yet been established, near the Shimo la Tewa prison in Mombasa, Kenya. (AP Photo)

    The ATPU officers contend that Kenya’s weak judicial system forced them to resort to assassinations, as police have failed to produce strong enough evidence to prosecute terrorism suspects.

    “If the law cannot work, there’s another option … eliminate him,” an officer explained.

    Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and National Security Council members denied the allegations.

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  • Study, 70 per cent of Water Consumed in Nairobi and Kisumu Contaminated with ARVs

    Study, 70 per cent of Water Consumed in Nairobi and Kisumu Contaminated with ARVs

    Nairobi Governor, Evans Kidero, commissions a water vending machine in Mathare slums.
    Nairobi Governor, Evans Kidero, commissions a water vending machine in Mathare slums.

    24 pharmaceuticals- the highest concentrations being antibiotics and ARVs, used to treat HIV and malaria are found in rivers, waste and ground water in Nairobi and Kisumu counties.

    This is according to a study, Occurrence Patterns of Pharmaceutical Residues in Waste Water, Surface Water and Ground Water of Nairobi and Kisumu, Kenya, conducted by the University of Eldoret in collaboration with Ghent University, Belgium.

    The concentration of these prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines while minuscule — as they are far below the levels of a therapeutic dose — are worrying scientists like Mr Kenneth K’oreje, one of the authors.

    “There is a 70 percent chance that the surface and even treated water may still have traces of the drugs. In fact, some ARVs have resistant products that may be isolated in water long after treatment is done.” He says.

    Water flowing from a tap in Nairobi
    Water flowing from a tap in Nairobi

    These drugs, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, include nevirapine and zidovudine (for HIV treatment) and antibiotics like metronidazole, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim.
    Kisumu has higher concentrations of the antibiotic sulphadoxine, which is a combined drug with Fansidar that is used to treat malaria.
    Poorly managed pharmaceutical disposal mechanisms a possible attribute to this hazardous development.

    Elsewhere, in 2013 a study on foodstuff had established that farmers in Kiambu and Murang’a counties were using ARVs to fatten chicken. The farmers reportedly added ARVs to broiler feed to ensure they were ready for sale at four weeks.

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  • Murdered Lawyer Was To Release Damaging Information on Police Brutality

    Murdered Lawyer Was To Release Damaging Information on Police Brutality

    Willie sharing a moment with his son
    Willie sharing a moment with his son

    Following days of the relentless search for the missing lawyer Willie Kimani, his client and a taxi driver, our worst fears were confirmed when their bodies were found decomposing in Oldonyo Sabuk river.

    Lawyer Willie Kimani and his client Josephat Mwendwa had filed a complaint alleging that Mwendwa had been shot and injured by police in April. Mwendwa was then charged with a range of offences, including possessing drugs, gambling in public and resisting arrest, Human Rights activists said.

    The two went missing along with Joseph Muiruri, a driver who picked them up after a court hearing on June 23.
    The 32-year-old lawyer Willie Kimani was admitted to the bar in 2011 in his five-year tenure as an advocate of the High Court; he specialised in human rights organisations and the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA).

    Josephat Mwendwa, Willie's client
    Josephat Mwendwa, Willie’s client

    Police brutality in Kenya has continued to heighten with the oversight body receiving heaps of complaints from the public on rogue police. As an investigator, according to his colleague speaking to Kenya Insights, Willie had a lot of dirt on rogue cops and was set to release information that would put senior officers, including the one implicated in his fatal end, in deep trouble.

    Another complainant contacted K.I lamenting on inaction and treachery at IPOA, he claims some of the officials are easily compromised and would sell out those who lodged complaints against any brutal police officer.

    Willie remained a pain in the neck and a stumbling block for most rogue cops, and he couldn’t be compromised. His daring will and dedication towards fighting for human rights and enthusiasm against police brutality put him in trouble and a target for the brutal police force. He was an investigator at International Justice Mission (IJM) for one and a half years before joining IPOA, where he majored in investigations on police brutality and sexual violence against children.

    Joseph Muiruri, the taxi driver
    Joseph Muiruri, the taxi driver

    The 32-year-old started his career as an intern at Release Political Prisoners, now the Rights Promotion and Protection Center and later took up the position of a legal officer. He was also a board member.

    His passion for fighting for the protection of victims of torture and extrajudicial killings drew him to the Independent Medico Legal Unit before he joined IPOA.

    His murder now brings to light the elite killer squad that many agree are in the police force. Extra-judicial killings have taken the toll in the near past with the latest victim being businessman Jacob Juma whose shooting was attributed to the killer squad too.

    Lawyers and Civil Society have both joined hands in the wake of Willie’s murder and are now not only calling for the disbandment of the killing unit but also the dismissal of top police leadership from the Inspector General Joseph Boinnet and Criminal Investigations Director, Muhoro to the Interior Security CS.

    Increasing extra-judicial killings have also rattled the foreign envoys who’ve jointly issued a stark warning to the government to look into the matter which is now getting out of hand.

    IG Joseph Boinnet identified the cops being held over the murders as Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet and Silvia Wanjiku.

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  • How Broke Nation FM Preyed On and Exploited, Young Fame Thirsty Campus Students to Cut Costs

    How Broke Nation FM Preyed On and Exploited, Young Fame Thirsty Campus Students to Cut Costs

    Some of the Vocal Nation participants
    Some of the Vocal Nation participants

    On 30th June, in a memo the Nation Media Group announced a bulky lay off the scheme of its staff. Hundreds of employees were caught off guard with the directive that has seen Nation FM, Q FM and TV both shut. The TV stations will be incorporated into one channel. According to the management, the decision to layoff its employees is to harmonize and strengthen its operations.

    Sources privy to the decision divulges to Kenya Insights that the shut outlets have been running at a loss and siphoning the group’s revenue. The situation got so bad that most of the times Nation FM, QTV and Radio would on numerous occasions run dry adverts. Free adverts just to give the impressions that the situation was normal wand they were getting revenue.

    The problem extends to NTV as well. “Print unit has been the holding factor,” a senior source at Nation Media Group tells Kenya Insights. Daily Nation remains the most profitable venture in the media group as its electronic media department numbers in losses.

    Things couldn’t hold up anymore, and NMG was running at a loss, a crisis meeting that would see his Highness Aga Khan order for immediate deposition of additional employees and shut down of three channels was reached. Aga Khan, who owns preponderance stakes in the media group, was furious over under performance in the City Center’s media house.

    Ciru Muriuki, Sanaipei Tande, Antoneosoul who were both Sacked by Nation FM
    Ciru Muriuki, Sanaipei Tande, Antoneosoul who were both Sacked by Nation FM

    Nation FM’s downfall started as far as last year when they laid off approximately 50 employees at a go. Celebrity presenters who had shot up the station’s ratings as Singer Anto Neosol, Sanaipei Tande, comedian Obinna, Ciku Muiruri among others were kicked out in what one of them describes as “being chased out like dogs.” The dismissal wasn’t like any other, Nation FM was insolvent and couldn’t manage to pay the high demanding celebrities.

    The management with Munene Nyagah as the head of radio coined a scheme to cut down cost and keep the wheels running.
    The project, which became popularly known as “Vocal nation,” was packaged as a mentorship course. They drew two students each from campuses with the opportunity to present on the station.

    The script sold to participants was that they would compete, and the best would be given employment opportunity at any of NMG’s outlets. Unknown to them, everything would turn out to be a bluff.

    The senior source speaking on condition of anonymity to Kenya insights opens up more, “The plan was to target fame hungry guys from these campuses, and DJs were also brought in. Maximize production and minimize expenditure.” The station was breaking into a new audience of young people, so they needed relevant presenters.

    Those who were recruited into the Vocal Nation program received zero remunerations. However, they were contented, being fame hungry, the mileage of being on the radio was good enough. This was to the advantage of the management. “We had a variety of content generation, and our online presence went up and above all minimized spending” one of the managers was overheard by a source, during drunk stupors at the Nation Lounge, located only meters away from the central premise.

    Being tactful, the management didn’t announce specific timeline that the program would run, and this was meant to drowse on any queries and eyebrows that would become in due course.

    As fate would prescribe, the lie suffered sudden death with the indefinite cessation of the station together with its sister station QFM and TV who employed similar tactics. As at the time of closure, there wasn’t a clear winner, neither did any of the Vocal Nation participants get even close to an internship opportunity at the media house. Contrary to other employees, Vocal Nation’s participants will walk out the same way they walked in, with empty pockets.

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  • Why Journalist Yassin Juma and His Family Went Into Hiding Immediately After Jacob Juma’s Assassination

    Why Journalist Yassin Juma and His Family Went Into Hiding Immediately After Jacob Juma’s Assassination

    On the 5th day of May, vocal businessman and new age anti-corruption crusader Jacob Juma was fell in the spray of bullets. The incidence shocked the country, one person who had all the prints and fingers pointing at over the heartless murder was the state. From CORD leader Odinga to friends, the killing was attributed to a lethal police hit squad.

    As Kenyans were grasping with the news, one person who thought he was next in line from his intelligence sources or basic instincts, went into hiding. Freelance journalist, Yassin Juma on getting the news of Juma’s death amassed his family, and both went into hiding. He cringed for his life.

    Yassin was in January arrested for ostensibly posting classified information on the number of KDF soldiers that were killed in the El Added attack by the Al Shabaab militia group. According to Intel that Juma got, a total of 103 soldiers died in the massacre. He went ahead and posted on his blog, shells of the destroyed KDF armory that were released by the militia’s propaganda unit.

    Publishing of this ‘sensitive’ information angered the authority principally Interior Ministry led by CS Nkaiserry. He was later picked up from his house in Nairobi’s Donholm estate. 16 CID officers effected the arrest in what looked like a terror suspect apprehension.

    He was accused of posting photos of dead soldiers on his blog, claims he say were being peddled by PSCU based on hearsay. He would remain locked up at Muthaiga police as police embarked on investigations that would yield no fruit, they didn’t find the said photos on his site.

    Yassin Juma was a victim of the prohibitive law that has since been disbanded- section 29 of the Information and Communication Act, which prohibits the “improper use of a licensed communications system”. Interior CS Nkaissery warned that anyone publishing any information on the attack without KDF approval is a sympathizer of Al Shabaab and would be treated as one.

    After fruitless attempts to have him locked up, Juma would later be released and just before his eyes would pass away, another scheme to have him locked up was in the offing. On leaving the cells, he posed for a picture with his friends outside the police station flashing a one finger salute.

    The photos were quickly used in an endeavor of linking him to terror group leaders who often flash similar one finger salute, an attempt to make him look like one of them. Juma said the index finger signified his reliance to one God.

    Juma attributes his woes to Mwenda Njoka, Dennis Itumbi (directors at PSCU, who have since been fired) and CS Nkaissery. He believes they are hell bent to see him go behind bars or worse still dead. Juma is a freelance journalist with the specific interest in war documentaries that he distributes to international publications. A course that has seen him travel to Somalia frequently.

    He’s also a darling of the KDF troops who bring him on the warfront to cover the war on Al Shabaab. His movements and information sources in Somalia have been a headache to those behind his arrest.

    The journalist has dismissed reports that he’s hiding in Somalia insisting he and family are in Kenya to stay despite the death threats. “Yes I have received death threats (including my family members) in the past, and it still continues to date from people who think I am prior to sensitive information that should not be relayed to the public or people who perceive to be more patriotic more than you and me. Yes I’ve been trailed, and my phone calls tapped, but I will continue to do what I do right here in Kenya.” Said Yassin.

    He contends he’s in Kenya to stay and will not run away to any country to seek refuge. The defiant journalist is sending a message to his enemies, “to be born by luck but death is definite, I fear the Creator, not the Creations, if my day to die come it will and will be an honor to die a Shaheed if they( in ref to those baying for his blood)decide to kill me.”

    In conclusion, Juma firmly say he’s in Kenya to stay and those grumpy by his work which he conducts with set ethics standards, “must be prepared to put up with me, this country is for us all, just because I am a Muslim, doesn’t make me subordinate of a Kenyan.” Declares Juma.

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  • Kenyan Doctors Aiding ISIS Recruitment Through Their Private Clinics

    Kenyan Doctors Aiding ISIS Recruitment Through Their Private Clinics

    fake-doctor-busted_650x350

    By Nicholas Olambo & Kenya West

    Every child growing up wants to be a doctor, lawyer or an engineer. These professions have been for a long time been regarded as lucrative, but medicine and law have turned into conmen’s den. Doctors despite being well paid are making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

    Coercing with pharmaceutical companies, giving prescriptions of drugs not stocked in their respective hospitals and even writing medical reports to questionable individuals just to make quick bucks unlawfully. Med reps from leading pharmaceutical companies to throng doctor’s plaza to market their products alongside people (mostly of Somalia origin) lining to buy medical reports.

    Early this year Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPPDU) through its Secretary General Oluga Ouma raised a red flag over doctors referring their patients to India despite treatments being available locally.

    In what seems like a cartel made of 15 companies belonging to influential politicians, doctors and even the patients, Kenya is said to be losing 10 billion shillings which can be used to improve infrastructures in medical facilities across the country.

    Lobby claimed that over 880 doctors in public and private practice risk losing their licenses if investigations confirm that they intentionally misadvise patients to seek treatment abroad in exchange for kickbacks.
    The findings of the investigations have never been made public, and the rogue doctors are still on, fleecing patients millions of their shillings and draining the country’s hard currency reserves.

    Busted fake doctor Mugo Wairimu
    Busted fake doctor Mugo Wairimu

    Doctors are reported to pocket up to Shs. 200,000 for every referral; mainly of kidney, cancer and cosmetic. Health Principal Secretary Dr Nicholas Muraguri noted that Kenyatta National Hospital for instance conducts at least 30 kidney transplants every month and some of Kenya’s private hospitals have the capacity to carry out heart transplants. Meaning that these cases can be treated locally. Only very delicate conditions that local experts can not treat should warrant overseas care.

    This fight is made complicated by the fact that top government officials ignore the official policy in favour of local healthcare, opting instead for treatment in Europe and US even for a slight cough. Doctors don’t end their illegal trade of unwarranted medical referrals here; Kenya Insights can authoritatively report that Kenyan doctors provide dubious medical reasons to many peoples of Somali origin seeking travel to Europe or the United States.

    It’s no secret that terror activities conducted by ‘Islamic groups’ have proven bigger threats to every nation globally. Groups such as Al Shabaab, Boko Haram, ISIS, Al Qaeda and many more hide behind unsuspicious events to carry out their attacks. Kenya and East Africa, for instance, has suffered numerous attacks due its porous borders, corrupt immigration officials and now doctors are the new entrants into the list.

    ISIS militia group
    ISIS militia group

    Kenya is struggling in its fight to end terrorism and has for a long time asked for support from other countries to help in the support by sharing intelligence and collaborative reaction. Rogue doctors who are working to make Kenya a terror hub belong nowhere but jail. Foreigners in perfect health without genuine reasons buy medical reports at 2000 dollars.

    Al Shabaab is known to have changed its fighting tactic from conventional to asymmetric, a hit and run method that can be best carried out when unethical practices such as these are not controlled.
    Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, a toothless bulldog with an incredible bark, is doing its best, sleeping with its head buried deep in the sands. Scandals touching on the ‘big fish’ are certified to go scot free.

    Terrorism is the greatest threat Kenya is facing at the moment, and Kenya has been accused of sitting on intelligence and in the process suffering severe terror attacks that have had the negative impact on the economy. One of the biggest foreign exchange earners, tourism, is down on its knees and struggling to pick up. Will the country sit back and watch rent seeking doctors aid the movement of questionable characters or crack the whip on the rogue professionals?

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  • Are Fire Incidences In Kenyan Schools Orchestrated By Some Unseen Forces?

    Are Fire Incidences In Kenyan Schools Orchestrated By Some Unseen Forces?

    Education CS Fred Matiang'i during an assessment of Itierio boys' dormitories that were burned down
    Education CS Fred Matiang’i during an assessment of Itierio boys’ dormitories that were burned down

    In a single night, Itierio boys managed to reduce to ashes seven of their dormitories and then extend the destruction to public property. Reason? They were denied a chance to watch a Euro match because it was past the time allocated for entertainment.

    That would make sense, since we are an intolerant country and deal with vengeance anything that does not favour us, except there are a few questions that beg to be answered.

    For one, each day has seen a match being played past 10 pm ever since the Euros started. Why didn’t they go on a rampage to watch these other games that were being played past ‘lights off’? Secondly, and interestingly, you need more than just a box of matchsticks to bring SEVEN dormitories down to the ground in a single night.

    We will begrudgingly accept the fact that our children experiment with drugs and therefore would be well equipped with a box of matchsticks for their bhang escapades, but it is almost impossible to raze down seven buildings in a fit of anger if it is not pre-planned. There’s little we can do apart from waiting for the investigations to be concluded.

    Thirdly, and upon which this article is based, is that over 10 Kenyan schools have experienced fire incidents in the past three months plus numerous reports of student unrest. Is it a mere coincidence or there is some dark unseen forces inciting our students to turn against their institutions? If we are to go to the second school of thought, there is one fundamental question that must be asked- what do the dark forces stand to gain by having students burn down their schools? Or what message are they trying to send to the major players in the Kenyan education sector?

    Let us look at one of the cancerous problems engulfing the Kenyan education system and us as a country are almost accepting and moving on- exam cheating. In 2015, cases of exam cheating rose by over 70% from the previous year and saw the Kenya National Exams Council (KNEC) disbanded. Over 5,000 students had their results cancelled and most of them have re-registered to take the exams this year.

    Blame games sufficed and nobody seemed ready to accept responsibility for the scam. We were playing Ping-Pong with a generation’s future. But it would be stupid to claim that there are aggrieved exam cheats out there going around burning schools in a revenge mission. So let’s go deeper into the scam and look at the source of the problem, exam racketeers.

    Remains of Iterio Dorms after burning by students
    Remains of Iterio Dorms after burning by students

    The education ministry has shown enthusiasm in curbing exam cheating and has come up with punitive measures to deal with the menace. Prayer days have been banned, no half-terms in the third term, visiting days are not allowed, and there will be no social activities for boarding schools in the third term.

    While this doesn’t bother the big fish in the racket as they deal directly with the schools and teachers, it is atrocious news to the small time crooks (mostly university students) who use such forums to establish links with their targets.

    The bans are bad for business. To add salt to an injury, the exam period has been shortened from six weeks to four weeks, thereby giving the little time between papers to look for leakages for the next paper and send it to the candidates.

    In an ‘eye for an eye’ move, this group of people are travelling around the country inciting students to go on a rampage at the slightest provocation by their institutions. They do this during visiting days when schools open their gates, and there is little or no regulation as to who gets in.

    On the eve of Butula Boys’ visiting day for this term, a guy posted in a Whatsapp group- SONU Secretariat, that he was going to incite the students to strike the prayer day ban and wanted to know if anyone else would be going. There may be no hard evidence (for now) to prove this trail of thought, but it is a trail worth investigating.

    When people call themselves names such as ‘Bishop of Violence’, you must not underrate the extent of the damage they can cause.
    We can only speculate on how many schools have been checked into. For now, let’s hope that Education CS Fred Matiangi’s ban on transfers will be a deterrent on any yet to be carried out an arson attack on our schools.

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  • ARCHIVES:  Did Dennis Itumbi Engage in ICC Witnesses Interference

    ARCHIVES: Did Dennis Itumbi Engage in ICC Witnesses Interference

    Director of Digital communication Mr.Dennis Itumbi
    Director of Digital communication Mr.Dennis Itumbi

    Following the New York Times article that the Statehouse fiercely criticised for painting the President in the wrong image by linking him to Mungiki network that led to the Post election massacre, Itumbi has not been left out.

    The Government’s Digital Strategist has threatened to sue the international publication for naming him in the article in a bad light. In the item, Dennis was mentioned as having been part of a network that ICC prosecution accused of interfering with witnesses.

    In the collapse of all the six cases, the prosecution argued their investigations and evidence collection was dealt a blow with massive witnesses’ interference.

    Most witnesses recanted testimonies either from intimidation, bribery and some disappeared mysteriously while some died in unexplained circumstances, this is according to the ICC prosecution.

    In his defence to New York Times, Itumbi argues he was given a clean bill of health by the ICC over witnesses’ interference, and the prosecution accused and filed for his arrest for the same offence but he was exonerated. In the onset of the circus, Itumbi was alleged to have hacked the ICC portal and gained entry into the witnesses’ database and used the obtained information to coordinate witness interferences.

    President Uhuru and his Deputy Ruto were amongst the six suspects accused of orchestrating the 2007/8 Post Elections Violence that left nearly 2000 people dead and hundreds of thousands persons displaced.

    In a research conducted by Kenya Insights online, we managed to retrieve some posts made by Itumbi that dates back to 2011 when he allegedly revealed identities of witnesses publicly contrary to international standards of witness protection and right to remain anonymous.

    itumbi1

    itumbi2
    Meshack Yebei was found dead under unclear circumstances, Prosecution said he was a crucial witness

    itumbi10 itumbi3 itumbi4 itumbi5 itumbi6 itumbi7 itumbi8 itumbi9

     

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  • Burial of Truth As DCI Muhoro Recommends Public Inquest into Jacob Juma Murder

    Burial of Truth As DCI Muhoro Recommends Public Inquest into Jacob Juma Murder

    juma car
    Juma’s car that he’s body was recovered at Karen Police Station

    The Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro has recommended that there should be a public inquest into the death of prominent business person Jacob Juma. This seems to indicate that the investigations by police have hit a dead end hence a public hearing to gather more information.

    Given that the death of the business person is of public interest, the inquest that will be done in public will gather questions and possible answers to unravel the mysteries behind the killing.

    Juma’s body was recovered in his car around Lenana School along Ngong Road on the 6th of May. Initial police reports said the businessman’s car was blocked by a car in front before assailants riding a motorbike sprayed his car with bullets that killed him.

    This theory has since been dismissed with glaring facts that the bullets impact on his body and the vehicle state couldn’t add up. According to postmortem results, Juma was killed with two bullets to his chest, and his car windscreen couldn’t support the theory of assailants shooting in his vehicle. General view from several analyses seems to endorse the theory that he was killed elsewhere and body later on planted at the scene.

    The slain businessman Jacob Juma
    The slain businessman Jacob Juma

    Historically, in Kenya public inquests have been put on controversial murders, and there’s yet a positive result from the investigations that can be written home. Most have only served as grounds for innuendos, dramas, washing of dirty linen. In the case of Juma, you can anticipate seeing his love for women overshadow the course.

    From Robert Ouko, Julie Ward and recently Mercy Keino, public inquests haven’t led to a positive end, closing in on murders but avenues for push and pull dramas. The police managed to capture Juma’s last movements using the Automated Number Plate Recognition cameras, and video clips from the Intelligent Surveillance cameras.

    The cameras were however suspiciously off at strategic points which would’ve helped majorly in revelation. Cameras are off at Trattoria Restaurant, here there are ten cameras, Juma allegedly dropped the woman Cheryl Kitonga he was last seen with here.

    Police said they had recovered AK47 rifle that was used to kill Juma. Four thugs were gunned down during the incident.

    Will Juma’s public inquest be different from the rest that has been established before? The ODPP is reviewing the files from the CID and will give the decision later. He made a name for being the most vocal and powerful anti-corruption crusader something that made him create enemies in high places. Jacob was a fierce critic of the Jubilee government whom in his Twitter rants he accused of being behind his assassination plot. His close ally and CORD leader, Raila Odinga has publicly accused the state of being behind the assassination.

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