Kenya Insights

Tag: Kwale County

  • A Tragic Road Accident Claims Five Lives In Kwale

    A Tragic Road Accident Claims Five Lives In Kwale

    At least five people were Sunday September 15 morning killed in a road accident in Denyenye area in Kwale County.

    The victims were all pillion passengers on a motorcycle, police said

    The police said the accident involved a lorry and a motorcycle.

    According to police, one person sustained serious injuries in the 1 am incident along Likoni-Kombani Road.

    Police said the rider of the motorcycle was carrying five pillion passengers at the time of the accident

    The lorry had stalled on the road when the rider who was speeding rammed onto it from the rear side.

    As a result, five people died on the spot.

    Coast Regional Police boss George Sedah said the number of pillion passengers on the motorcycle were many and the move was illegal.

    He said the motorcycle was being ridden from Kombani towards Likoni when the incident happened.

    “It seems there were six people on the motorcycle because one survived and was rushed to the hospital,” he said.

    “These are too many people to be on a motorcycle at a time. We are looking into it.”

    Police visited the scene and moved the bodies to the Kwale Hospital Mortuary for identification and autopsy.

    The injured was rushed to the Diani Beach Hospital in serious condition.

    Dozens of people have been killed in the accidents in a worrying trend.

    This month alone, more than 20 people have died and dozens injured in the accidents.

    Last week on September 13, six school-going children were killed by a speeding car along the Kitui-Kibwezi road, Kitui County.

    Police said the victims included three primary school children and three from secondary school.

    The driver of the vehicle involved in the accident was later arrested and is facing serious charges, police said.

    Up to 4,000 people are killed annually in separate accidents.

    Many others are left with injuries in the incidents that have a negative impact on families.

    Some of the accidents remain unsolved, officials say.

    There are efforts to address the accidents.

    The National Transport and Safety Authority says the leading causes of fatal crashes included hit-and-runs, tyre bursts, and vehicles and motorcycles losing control.

  • UDA’s bad boy sent back to the drawing board

    UDA’s bad boy sent back to the drawing board

    The dirty past has come to haunt Lunga Lunga Mp Khatib Mwashetani who has shelved his 2022 gubernatorial ambitions in favor of Kenya Ports Authority engineer Lung’anzi Chai as he resorts to the drawing board.

    Mwashetani is backing Lung’anzi who has swindled from NG/ CDF like him and they both members of UDA, a fast rising political party associated with the Deputy President Dr. William Ruto. But he has not only chickened out of the Kwale gubernatorial, Mwashetani is technically taking a break from politics, may be to clean up and reinvent himself after he became unpopular for misusing CDF funds.

    He wants Kwale to end in the hands of Lung’anzi, a man who pocketed bribes while serving as the CDF manager for Kinango constituency where he selected by Hon. Gonzi Rai. Lung’anzi used his top position to hawk CDF bursaries at Sh10,000 and Sh20,000 to poor parents in Kinangop.

    That is the man who Mwashetani is not showing signs of defending his Lunga Lunga seat  wants to become the Kwale boss. A corrupt man who will dish out lucrative tenders to individuals like him [Mwashetani] who wants to hide from the limelight.

    Lung’anzi Chai [p/courtesy]
    He is not focused on defending his Lunga Lunga seat but he is instead planning to campaign for the DP Ruto who is eyeing presidency in the 2022 elections. His tainted image has seen him shiver from a race that is attracting big wigs and seasoned politicians like former cabinet minister Ali Mwakwere.

    Mwakere recently pulled an old school stunt when he refused to hand over microphone to Agriculture PS Hamadi Boga during the burial of former Kwale Women MP Zainab Chidzuga.  Boga, Mwahetani’s partner in crime is also in the race to succeed Salim Mvurya whose term will expire in August 2022. Kwale Deputy governor Fatuma Achani and one Daniel Gereza Dena are also running.

    Mwahetani and PS Boga were found to have orchestrated the irregular payment of Sh1.8 billion to controversial firms that imported maize during the drought of 2017. Investigations by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) also revealed that they colluded with Procurement chiefs, accountants at the Agriculture docket and directors of Blackstone Investment in the scam.

    Noah Wekesa who chaired the Strategic Food Reserve Fund (SFR) at the time only raised an alarm after Sh1.8 billion had been withdrawn and paid to the Commodity House without approval from the board.  The rafters of the scam claimed that the payment was meant to clear pending bills for grain imports.

    But upon further investigations, EACC also found that Blackstone Investments which associated was paid Sh792.5 million is associated with Mwashetani who benefited from the proceeds though the company was not even invited to tender.

    “Blackstone Investment had not been invited to tender, yet it was contracted to supply maize contrary to the Public Procurement and Assets Disposal Act (PPDA),” said Twalib Mbarak, the EACC chief executive.

     

  • Desperation pushing Mvurya to form own party

    Desperation pushing Mvurya to form own party

    The outgoing Kwale governor Salim Mvurya is poised to form his own political party that would carry the hopes of the Coastal people after his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi was coerced to abandon a similar move.

    Mvurya’s counterparts at the coastal region including Mombasa governor Hassan Joho were convinced after a tea session with President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House in April.

    The meeting aimed at locking out Deputy President William Ruto who has made serious inroads into the region that voted with opposition chief Raila Odinga in the past three elections. Confused Mombasa governor had hinted at going for ODM’s presidential ticket but has since made a weak u-turn with his political star going dim ahead of 2022.

    Mvurya who is DP Ruto’s pointman in the country is struggling to influence the election of his successor where he has shown strong support for his deputy Fatuma. But other Ruto’s men in the county like Lunga Lunga MP Khatib Mwashetani are proving to be hard nuts for him to crack as he advances at taking over from the diminishing Mvurya.

    To succeed in pushing his agenda and support for DP Ruto, Mvurya has chosen to be the champion behind the formation of a political party with coastal roots to avoid competition with Ruto’s UDA where Mwashetani is also a force to reckon with.

    Information is still scanty if he will buy some small party and build or if he will form a new one from scratch.

    Kilifi governor Amason Kingi. He abondoned quest to form a coastal based party [p/courtesy]
    Umoja Summit Party of Kenya and KADU Asili have been mentioned as parties that can be revived to carry the dreams of the coastals even before the confused Kingi abandoned the push to form a coastal based party.

    Mvurya’s push is also formed by the noise that people from the coast are fed of clinging on parties owned by outsiders and that time could be ripe for the region to have party where they can call shots.

    Though he is Ruto’s sycophantic follower, Mvurya was conspicously mising from a meeting at the Sun and Sand Hotel where Ruto met professionals from the region to advance his 2022 journey.

    But other leaders like Mombasa’s Joho who was bought by KANU’s Gideon Moi just after the handshake have also opposed formation of a coastal party because he comes from the minority Arab extract.

    Joho has been under scathing attacks from other coasltal leaders who have accused him of letting the region down and only benefiting his family since he became governor nine years ago.

    The push to form a regional party had also been dismissed by leaders including Owen Baya of Kilifi North and Magarini’s Michael Kingi who expressed opposition to Kingi’s quest for a regional party.