Kenya Insights

Tag: Saudi Arabia

  • Ronaldo Reaches Deal With Saudi Club Al Nassr To Extend Contract

    Ronaldo Reaches Deal With Saudi Club Al Nassr To Extend Contract

    The official said the sides have agreed on the renewable extension of Ronaldo’s contract, “but it has not been signed yet. An announcement will be made over the coming days”.Ronaldo turned 40 last week with his current contract due to end in June 2025.

     

    The former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus star joined Al Nassr in January 2023 and has since scored 82 goals in 90 matches.

    In August, Ronaldo said he would stay with Al Nassr through the end of his professional career, which may be “soon or in two or three years”.

    “But it’ll most likely happen with Al Nassr, in the team that makes me happy… and where I feel good.”

    The Portuguese great appeared to trade an end-of-career payday for football obscurity when he moved to Riyadh’s Al Nassr two years ago in a deal said to be worth $250 million.

    But his influence became clear when he was followed by a parade of ageing superstars to the big-spending Saudi Pro League.

    Saudi Arabia was then awarded the 2034 World Cup in December, the crowning glory for the oil-rich kingdom’s strategy of revamping its image through sports, tourism and culture.

    When Ronaldo launched his YouTube channel in August, he gained one million subscribers in just 90 minutes and 20 million within 24 hours. He currently has 73.5 million.

    Although World Cup glory has probably eluded him, unlike his Argentine rival Lionel Messi, records still dangle in front of the five-time Ballon d’Or and Champions League winner.

    Despite his prodigious form as he closes in on 1,000 professional goals in official matches, Ronaldo is yet to win a Saudi or continental trophy with Al Nassr, with the Arab Club Champions Cup of 2023 his only triumph with the club.

    (AFP)

  • Netanyahu Suggests Saudi Arabia Create Palestinian State on Its Land

    Netanyahu Suggests Saudi Arabia Create Palestinian State on Its Land

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the condition of establishing a Palestinian state as part of normalisation with Saudi Arabia, proposing instead that the Kingdom create a state for Palestinians on its land.

    In an interview with Israel’s Channel 14, Netanyahu responded to a question about Saudi Arabia’s demand for a Palestinian state as part of the deal, saying, “The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there.”

    Netanyahu argued that a Palestinian state would pose a security threat to Israel, citing Gaza, which he described as a Palestinian state controlled by Hamas, as an example of the risks involved.

    He emphasised that peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not only possible but likely.

    Despite Netanyahu’s assertion, Saudi Arabia’s official stance, reiterated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, remains firm on the establishment of a Palestinian state as a prerequisite for normalisation with Israel.

    The Saudi Foreign Ministry reaffirmed this position last week, making it clear that Riyadh’s demand for a Palestinian state is non-negotiable.

    Netanyahu also claimed that Israel had engaged in secret negotiations with Saudi Arabia over the past three years, stressing that he would not make any agreement that would endanger the state of Israel.

  • State To Update On A ‘New Development’ On Kenyan Facing Execution In Saudi

    State To Update On A ‘New Development’ On Kenyan Facing Execution In Saudi

    The government has said it is actively pursuing the matter involving Stephen Munyakho, who is facing execution in Saudi Arabia for the murder of a Yemeni man in 2011.

    This, as the family continues to appeal for support to raise Sh150 million required for Munyakho’s blood money, known as “Diyah” under Islamic law, is necessary to secure a pardon from the victim’s family.

    As of July last year, the family had managed to raise just Sh11 million.

    Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV, Munyakho’s mother, Dorothy Kweyu, a veteran journalist, said his son is remorseful and continues to plead for forgiveness.

    He has been in jail for the last 13 years.

    “Stevo has asked for forgiveness, and he is still asking for it for the death of his friend and workmate. Stevo needs assistance, and we are requesting anything small that you may have so that we can bring him back home,” she said.

    However, in a brief post in response, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei acknowledged the situation, saying they will soon provide an update regarding the matter.

    “I am pleased to inform you that we shall provide a progress report to the public on this matter in the next few days,” he wrote.

    He was scheduled to be executed on November 26, 2024, but this was postponed following consultations with Saudi authorities.

    Munyakho, 50, was a warehouse manager.

    He is said to have engaged in a fight with the colleague Abdul Halim Mujahid Makrad Saleh- at his office on April 9, 2011. Saleh, who was stabbed in the left thigh and thumb, walked himself to a hospital where he later died.

    A Saudi Arabia court convicted Munyakho of manslaughter in October 2011, a sentence that was overturned by a Shariah court, which enhanced it to murder in June 2014.

    Since then, Munyakho has been a state guest in various Saudi prisons.

    According to Sharia law, Munyakho is a candidate for being led to a butchering field for beheading by the sword.

    The execution was delayed because one of the victim’s sons was a minor and had to attain the age of majority to give consent as per the Shariah law.

    The execution date was initially set for May 13, but after a reported diplomatic engagements by government officials, it was postponed.

    After negotiations, in 2019, the Yemeni family agreed to blood money amounting to 10 million riyals, equivalent to Sh352.2 million.

    Further negotiations reduced the amount to 3.5 million riyals last November, equivalent to Sh123 million at the current exchange rate.

    Information given to the family indicates that the family scoffed at the SAR231,685 (equivalent to Sh8 million) that was put on the renegotiation table.

  • Trump Says He May Consider Rejoining World Health Organization

    Trump Says He May Consider Rejoining World Health Organization

    US President Donald Trump said Saturday that he may consider rejoining the World Health Organization (WHO).

    “I withdrew from the World Health Organization, where we paid $500 million a year, and China paid $39 million here, despite a much larger population. … but maybe we would consider doing it again,” Trump said at ‘No tax on tips’ rally in Las Vegas.

    After Trump was sworn in Monday for a second term, he signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the WHO.

    “World Health ripped us off. Everybody rips off the United States, and that’s it. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump told reporters Monday while signing executive orders. He said the US paid $500 million to the UN agency. “Seemed a little unfair to me, so that wasn’t the reason, but I dropped out … China pays $39 million, and we pay $500 million, and China’s a bigger country.”

    Turning to Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to expand investments and trade with the US by $600 billion in the next four years, Trump said he would ask the Saudis for more investment.

    “I believe they’ll make it a trillion. I’m going to ask him to make it 1 trillion. What the hell the money means? Nothing. You know, where they made their money from liquid gold, right? They got a lot of liquid gold,” he said.

    During his first tenure (2017-2021), Trump made his first abroad trip to Saudi Arabia, reflecting warm bilateral ties. He earlier told reporters that he would repeat the visit to the kingdom if it agreed to purchase American products worth up to $500 billion.

  • ‪Saudi Arabia To Invest $600B In The U.S. Over Next Four Years, Crown Prince Salman Tells Trump‬

    ‪Saudi Arabia To Invest $600B In The U.S. Over Next Four Years, Crown Prince Salman Tells Trump‬

    Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Thursday the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, comments that came after President Donald Trump earlier put a price tag on returning to the kingdom as his first foreign trip.

    Trump’s 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia upended a tradition of U.S. presidents first heading to the United Kingdom as their first trip abroad. It also underscored his administration’s close ties to the rulers of the oil-rich Gulf states as his eponymous real estate company has pursued deals across the region as well.

    The comments from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reported early Thursday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, came in a phone call with Trump.

    “The crown prince affirmed the kingdom’s intention to broaden its investments and trade with the United States over the next four years, in the amount of $600 billion, and potentially beyond that,” the report said.

    The readout did not elaborate on where those investments and trade could be placed. The U.S. in recent years has increasingly pulled away from relying on Saudi oil exports, which once was the bedrock of their relationship for decades. Saudi sovereign wealth funds have taken large stakes in American businesses while also looking at sports as well.

    Saudi Arabia does, however, rely predominantly on U.S.-made weapons and defense systems, which could be a part of the investment.

    There was no immediate readout from the White House on the call. It also wasn’t immediately clear if Trump’s call with the crown prince was his first with a foreign leader since re-entering the White House. However, it was the first reported abroad.

    The crown prince, the de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, also spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio early Thursday.

    On Monday after his inauguration, Trump talked about possibly heading to the kingdom again as his first foreign trip, like he did in 2017.

    “The first foreign trip typically has been with the U.K. but … I did it with Saudi Arabia last time because they agreed to buy $450 billion worth of our products,” Trump told journalists in the Oval Office. “If Saudi Arabia wanted to buy another $450 billion or $500 — we’ll up it for all the inflation — I think I’d probably go.”

    The 2017 visit to the kingdom set in motion a yearslong boycott of Qatar by four Arab nations, including the kingdom.

    Trump maintained close relations with Saudi Arabia, even after Prince Mohammed was implicated in the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. The kingdom also had been talking for years with the Biden administration about a wider deal to diplomatically recognize Israel in exchange for U.S. defense protections and other support.

    The $600 billion pledge, which dwarves the gross domestic product of many nations, also comes as the kingdom faces budgetary pressures of its own. Global oil prices remain depressed years after the height of the coronavirus pandemic, affecting the kingdom’s revenues.

    Meanwhile, Prince Mohammed also wants to continue his $500 billion project at NEOM, a new city in Saudi Arabia’s western desert on the Red Sea. It also will need to build tens of billions of dollars’ worth of new stadiums and infrastructure ahead of it hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

  • Kyle Walker Linked With Saudi Arabia Move After Leaving Man City

    Kyle Walker Linked With Saudi Arabia Move After Leaving Man City

    Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has revealed captain Kyle Walker has asked to leave the club.

    Walker, 34, was not included in City’s team for their 8-0 FA Cup victory over Salford on Saturday.

    Since moving to City in 2017 for £50 million from Tottenham, Walker has helped the team win 17 trophies, including six Premier League crowns and the Champions League.

    After City won the treble in 2023, he was on the verge of joining Bayern Munich, but he signed a contract extension that would keep him with the team until 2026.

    He joined us eight years ago, and we immediately began winning.

    He has been crucial to both our club and the national team, of course.

    The England international has been linked to a move to Saudi Arabia and has seen his playing time cut this season, starting only nine Premier League games.

    Given the obvious waning of the England international’s influence this season, the club’s decision-makers are unlikely to oppose Walker’s request to go.

    It is now simple for opposition wide players to take advantage of a player who has made his career out of being nearly invincible in one-on-one matches.

  • Ombudsman writes to state on mistreatment of Kenyans in Saudi Arabia

    Ombudsman writes to state on mistreatment of Kenyans in Saudi Arabia

    Uproar continues to greet recent revelations of mistreatment of Kenyan migrant workers in Saudi Arabia amid demands for answers from state agencies concerned.

    The Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) has weighed into the matter, expressing concern over the plight of Kenyans facing exploitation in the oil-rich Gulf states.

    CAJ chairperson Florence Kajuju wrote to the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection Simon Chelugui asking him to clearly indicate his position on the matter and the ‘steps taken if any, or intended actions and time-frames,’

    “Regrettably….distress calls of Kenyan workers in Saudi Arabia have been ignored with fatal consequences,” Kajuju lamented.

    In the letter to the CS Thursday, the Ombudsman further indicated that it is in receipt of complaints to the effect that attempts by victims and their families to pursue justice have been frustrated.

    “We look forward to hearing from you with a view to remedy lapses in the administration of migratory labour,” Kajuju told Chelugui.

    And she did not stop there. She further took issue with the National Employment Authority over the presence of rogue recruitment agencies who abandon workers as soon as they arrive in the Middle East.

    In her letter to NEA Director-General, Kajuju wants to know the status of regulation of private employment agencies sending Kenyan workers to Saudi Arabia.

    “Section 8 of the Commission on Administrative Justice Act, 2011 mandates the Commission to look into complaints on maladministration including delay, ineptitude among others,” Kajuju noted in her demand letter.

  • Saudi-Owned Almar Water To Build Sh10 Billion Water Desalination Plant In Turkana

    Saudi-Owned Almar Water To Build Sh10 Billion Water Desalination Plant In Turkana

    For starters, over seven years ago, the government announced that they have discovered aquifer water in Turkana County. The county has now partnered with Almar Water— a Saudi Arabia-based firm— to erect a desalination plant.

    The UK-based Guardian newspaper quoted Tito Ochieng, the director of water services in Turkana, stating that the county has contracted Almar Water to put up the desalination plant.

    According to the Guardian, Alma Water will construct the plant at a cost of between Sh10 billion. The PPA is expected to be finalized in a few months.

    “The national government is not aware as that could be the arrangement between the county and the investor as water is under devolved units,” Water Secretary Simon Chelugui said.

    Tito Ochieng was quoted saying that the plant will be erected on top of the Lotikipi aquifer in  Nanam village. A relief to Turkana household who have been slitting each other’s throats over the years or had to walk long distances in search of water.

    “We want to see if Tullow can help us to build a line from Turkwel to Lodwar so that the residents can benefit from this important resource,” Chelugui said.

    n 2013, contained in an aquifer, which is believed to be the largest in the world, was discovered

    In 2013, Hydrologists revealed that Mt Mogila in Lotikipi in the larger Lokichoggio along the Kenya-South Sudan border is sitting on a 250 billion cubic meters of water aquifer. The aquifer was projected that it could meet Kenya’s water needs for 70 years.

    The Lotikipi aquifer is located between Lokichogio and Lokitaung. The other aquifer is 16 kilometres from Lodwar and is partly fed by the Turkwel River. Waters in this aquifers has, however, not been of use since then because of high levels of salinity which makes it unsuitable for humans and animals.

    The National Government had earned 5,000 acres of land in Lodwar for irrigation using water from the aquifer which covers a surface area of 4,164 square kilometres. A move that has since been criticized by scientists who led the discovery of the large aquifers. The hydrologists cautioned the drilling of water wells stating that overexploitation could lead to depletion.

    This comes at a time when the same Saudi-owned Almar Water had signed a contract with Mombasa County to put up a similar facility—which they dubbed as the largest water desalination plant in Africa.