This is the story of Silvia Nashipae, a first born to her mother. Living in poverty, Sylvia had odd to overcome. But as it may be, lady luck was not on her side. At the age of 18 years, Sylvia joined the crime world and was later arrested and thrown into the Lang’ata Womens prison.

Kenyan gospel artist Ruth Wamuyu will be visiting the Dallas area next weekend-Mothers’ Day weekend.

Wamuyu of the popular “Amukira Ngatho” hit song will be at the Neema Gospel Church in Richardson, Texas on May 11th. She will be performing during the English service which starts at 10.30 am. She will also be performing during the Kigocho service which begins at 2.30pm.

Homa Bay MP Peter Kaluma who has been sued by a woman for child upkeep has filed his payslip in court to prove he can only cater for the child’s education andhealth.

The MP has told the children’s court he is unable to cater for other needs of the child under the care of the woman who has sued him. The other child whom he sired with the same woman, has been living with the MP for the last seven years. Kaluma’s payslip for January shows his gross salary, Sh899,025 was deducted leaving him with nothing to take home.

In his response, to the case filed against him, Kaluma argues he is unable to pay for upkeep because he only earns less than Sh51,000 due to deductions for loans andmortgages. “I have a family and other children to provide for. I am unable to provide for the child under the plaintiff’s custody beyond catering for her health andschool fees as I already do,” says Kaluma.

The MP who is also an advocate says he ensures that the school fees are timely remitted beginning of each term. The MP in response argues that he has been paying for the upkeep of the child living with the woman contrary to claims that he had failed to pay school fees. See also: Traffic court hit by ‘funny’ jam According to the MP, the mother of the child also has equal responsibility. Martha Ojera who filed the case is seeking Sh1.6 million as expenses she has used for upkeep of the children. She claims that she cohabited with Kaluma between 2003 and 2007. They had two children. The first child was born in 2005 while the second in 2007. Ojera says she discovered in 2007 that the MP had been unfaithful to him and was planning to marry another woman.

She accuses the MP of physically assaulting him when she was expecting the second child after she refused to move out of their house. She travelled to Homa Bay to seek help from Kaluma’s parents, but found that the MP had moved out of the house with the child she had left behind when she came back to Nairobi.

She is seeking custody of the first child plus the maintenance. The MP was in 2008 ordered to pay Sh20,000 per month to the woman as upkeep for the child. He was further ordered to pay school fees for the child as soon as she joins school. Ojera recently filed an urgent application seeking to have Kaluma to obey the court order directing him to pay school fees, medical cover and utility bills.

- The Standard

For the benefit of full and complete disclosure, let me, at the very outset, indicate that I know almost every Kenyan interviewed in the ‘explosive’ KTN’s Jicho Pevu programme that aired two weeks ago about alleged electoral malpractices in the March 13 presidential election.

Although I can’t claim to be their close friend, I know both the dare-devil investigative journalists, Mohammed Ali and John Allan Namu.

I know of their solid professionalism and work. (Please note that I bestow upon both gentlemen the genteel and much sought after moniker – “journalists” – not mere reporters).

As they say in the West, the two kahunas have more than earned their keep. They have been consistent and focused on unearthing many murky issues in Kenya. As such, they cannot be ignored or dismissed as irritants because they are not.

It’s unfair, unfounded and completely gratuitous for some critics to disparage these fine journalists’ reputation on account of political partisanship.

I’m, of course, alive to the fact that KTN is an arm of The Standard Group, which is said to be owned by Gideon Moi – or by the Moi family.

I’m also conscious of the fact that The Standard Group, especially the KTN and The Standard Newspaper have been part of a vicious pro-ODM and pro-Raila Odinga confederacy that have engaged in the most vile and reprehensible journalism before, during and after the 2013 elections.

They – and many of their former and present reporters (not Ali and Namu) – have been serial slanderers of many people including this writer.

However, ownership and scurrilous reportage aside, we must get to the emblematic and larger question: was the 2013 presidential election stolen from Mr Odinga and the Cord Coalition?

Did President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto and the Jubilee Coalition win the 2013 elections fair and square?

That’s the pith and substance of the Jicho Pevu investigative piece and it is these core questions that should be addressed by all Kenyans of good will – whether one is Corded, Jubilant, politically atheistic or agnostic.

Despite our collective amnesia and repugnant sectarianism, we must be capable of judging professional work from a fair, neutral and equidistant basis.

I seriously doubt that Messrs Ali and Namu place calls to Mr Moi every morning or evening for instructions on which issues need investigation, which questions to ask those they are seeking answers from, and the amount of vigour they must adopt while pursuing a story. Admittedly, the Jicho Pevu exposé – by virtue of its very nature, budget and the time the investigation took – must have required prior approval. That’s elementary common-sense.

It’s also true that had the higher ups within the KTN power chain felt disinclined to fund the issue of the 2013 elections, they wouldn’t have approved Jicho Pevu’s budget, which, I admit – again – must have been quite steep.

Nor am I suggesting that one, some or all the interviewees are telling the truth in the Jicho Pevu programme. I don’t own a crystal ball.

In other words, there is some basis for the suspicion that whoever paid the piper also called the tune. However, that said, let’s interrogate some of the most controversial and salient points made by the programme.

For the record, I’m also well acquainted to many of the main characters interviewed in the programme: those for or against the electoral commission – people like ODM’s James Orengo, Narc Kenya’s Martha Karua and TNA’s Dennis Itumbi.

But more significantly, I have very good knowledge of James Oswago and some acquaintance with the IEBC chairman, Ahmed Issack Hassan.

In fact, on August 4, 2011, the former Prime Minister purported to suspend me as his senior adviser on account of manufactured allegations that Mr Oswago and I had conspired to undermine the IEBC and Mr Issack Hassan.

(Those days, Mr Odinga was desperate and blinded by his self-consuming ambition to become president that he mistakenly considered Mr Issack’s and Mr Oswago’s manipulative tendencies alluring. He would turn a blind eye to and participate in some of the shadiest IEBC procurement deals – and he assiduously courted and pampered the duo to his peril!)

In the ensuing cynically and maliciously engineered controversy, Mr Oswago’s personal assistant was also suspended. Mr.Oswago himself was ordered to return from the Philippines where he had ‘travelled on official duty.’ Eventually, Mr.Oswago’s PA’s contract was terminated.

Between July and December 2011, Mr Oswago kept communicating with me. He expressed full support for my cause. He also informed me that he had told Mr Odinga – then still Prime Minister – that the allegations against me were false and contrived.

Apparently, Mr Odinga confided to Mr Oswago that I was being “sacrificed in order to protect him because he [Mr. swago] was crucial to ODM’s fortunes in the 2013 Presidential elections.”

“I told Jakom that I was ready to be fired rather than be used to victimise you unfairly. They cannot use me to get rid of you for nothing,” Mr Oswago had fumed to me on the telephone before adding, “You know thura, if this is the way Jakom is, let him not cry later…”

Although the Prime Minister later half-heartedly acknowledged that I had been accused wrongly and announced my reinstatement, I had had enough of his serial hypocrisy. I publicly declined to accept the reinstatement and eventually published my memoirs.

Why am I telling you all this?

Well, as a prelude to saying that I know Mr Oswago extremely well. I know his voice. I understand his vocal intonations, his lexicon and his general attitude.

Based on my experience and personal knowledge, I can state without any fear of contradiction that the voice, words, tonal quiver and attitude I listened to on the Jicho Pevu documentary is none other than Mr Oswago’s.

As with the unwarranted victimisation and humiliation of both his PA and I previously, Mr Oswago routinely privately tried to cleanse his conscience but publicly maintains his ‘innocence.’

The content and context of both the recorded conversation and his half-hearted denials are significant. To begin with, Mr Oswago has not unequivocally stated that he had not spoken with anyone from ODM who might have audio-taped their conversation around March 2013. Neither has he strongly stated that the 2013 presidential election wasn’t rigged. Instead, he has asserted that “if there was any conspiracy to rig them, I wasn’t part of it and I had no knowledge of it.”

Neither has he expressly stated that all the allegations in the Jicho Pevu report are false. The only thing he has strongly protested against is being singled out and ‘outed.’ “Why hasn’t everyone been identified? Why have they distorted the voices of the other IEBC staff and the purported ODM official?” he has loudly protested.

He has justifiably demanded that the identities of all the IEBC personnel and the ODM official caught on tape should also be exposed; not just him alone. In other words, he doesn’t want to die alone.

Those are certainly neat legal quibbles. But they are not outright denials. Which begs the question: is Oswago telling the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Secondly, it’s true that audio-taping him without his knowledge and consent is deemed unlawful, except that the ODM Deep Throat’s surreptitious wiring (was it Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o?) wouldn’t have ensnared the wily rabbit had his consent been sought.

But the main questions are these: Was there a man working in the IEBC’s IT section who had once worked at the Kenya Revenue Authority?

Was this man also a double-agent for the National Intelligence Security agency and the TNA party? If so, who had hired him at the IEBC? Was it Mr Oswago? Is the alleged double-agent still working at the IEBC? If he is still at the IEBC, has he managed to destroy or taint all evidence that could uncover his nefarious acts? If he hasn’t, why can’t we get to the bottom of all this mess and put the 2013 presidential electoral controversy to rest once and for all?

Secondly, Mr Itumbi makes intriguing disclosures in the broadcast portion of his interview. He states that TNA hired both Kencall’s facilities and personnel. If I understood his assertions correctly, Mr Itumbi stated that TNA paid for and used suites located in Kencall’s offices and had Kencall staff monitor, receive and dispatch their election results – essentially the same services Kencall was providing to the IEBC.

In his Presidential Petition, Mr Odinga had alleged that Kencall had used a single IP address 196.1.26.40 for both the IEBC and Mr Kenyatta’s TNA. Mr Odinga’s lawyers asserted that Kencall director, Alexander Nesbitt, “did not deny the fact that both the IEBC and TNA were hosted and operated on a single IP address.”

When asked about this in the Jicho Pevu interview, Mr Itumbi retorted that it is akin to saying that “just because both Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga have Gmail emails provided by Google doesn’t mean that they can read each other’s mail.”

However, what he omitted to say is that Google can actually read both gentlemen’s emails. Now, considering the fact that Kencall – purely out of pecuniary interest and greed (or was there something more sinister?)- had allowed itself to become an employee or contractor of TNA by not just ‘contracting out consulting services’ but by having some of its staff work for TNA out of its offices where it was also rendering the same services to the IEBC, why wouldn’t it be reasonable for anyone to have a reasonable apprehension that Kencall’s twin roles smacked of serious conflicts of interests?

I supported Jubilee in 2013. As such, I’m contented with the presidential election outcome. However, it would be unconscionable for me to refuse to acknowledge legitimate points raised by Jicho Pevu.

It’s much better to do everything in our power to retire all lingering doubts about the credibility of the elections rather than let it fester like a running sore. Unlike Mr Odinga and his Cordless colleagues, my quest for answers isn’t premised on the basis that both he and Cord won the 2013 presidential contest.

My assessment is that they did not. I’m fortified in that position by the fact that the Supreme Court ruling on Mr Odinga’s petition has settled that issue and rendered the question moot.

Yet the political rumblings and credible questions still remain on the role Kencall, the identified double agent, Mr Oswago and other IEBC officials played or did not play during the elections.

Elections are political and civic exercises more than they are legal. It’s in the best interests of both the winners and the losers of the 2013 presidential elections to accept to live with the results even if they cannot both embrace them.

Consequently, these political questions must first be answered fully before any tangential targeting of specific IEBC commissioners may be considered legitimate. After all, didn’t Mr Odinga and his choir condemn the entire commission as both rotten and worthless?

If so, it’s a pity that the bumbling bumpkins at ODM are purportedly trying to dissolve the IEBC through a petition to Parliament (where they cannot win) for the removal of nine IEBC commissioners.

Not only is that an exercise into futility; any intelligent person knows that IEBC commissioners aren’t the ones that conduct elections in Kenya. IEBC commissioners only use figures and documents relayed to them from “the field” – as it were.

If ODM is interested in substantive electoral reforms as they claim – and not the recruitment of commissioners they can manipulate – let them overhaul the entire institution. If they don’t, everything else they are busy doing is a waste of time, money and effort.

-By Miguna Miguna

 Miguna Miguna is a lawyer and author of Peeling Back the Mask: A Quest for Justice in Kenya and Kidneys for the King: Deforming the Status Quo in Kenya. Migunagowok@gmail.com

- The Star

Kenya’s decision to pull out of a global counter-terrorism agency may have unwittingly made the country a choice target for terrorist attacks, The People Saturday has learnt. Sources within security circles now contend it was a serious error of judgement for Kenya to have disengaged from the global anti-terror agent known as the Joint Counter-Terrorism Task Force (JCTTF), nine years ago.

Security experts say that Kenya’s unexplained decision to walk out of the multi-lateral agency largely contributed to making Kenya vulnerable to global terrorist organisation, the al Qaeda and its local surrogate, the al Shabaab. The JCTTF is a caucus of top-level officials in the intelligence, military, immigration, and prosecution from, among other nations, the US, UK, Israel, Italy, Canada and Germany. Closer home, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia are signed up members of the global anti-terrorism agency.

Through JCTTF, member countries share intelligence on counter-terrorism. Member countries share intelligence on defusing would-be terrorist attacks as well as sharing information on nailing down culprits on attacks already staged. The People Saturday has established Kenya had joined the multi-lateral agent in 2004 at the prompting of the US. Subsequently, three highly placed Kenyan officials travelled to Washington to familiarise themselves with the working of JCTTF.

They were then head of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, Michael Gichangi (now the director-general of the National Intelligence Services), then Director of Public Prosecutions, Philip Murgor, and then Commissioner of Police Hussein Ali. The three-week learning tour was arranged by then US ambassador to Kenya, William Bellamy. The agreement was that Kenya set up a JCTTF training facility, which was to be fully-funded by Washington.

It was to be constructed on the piece of land now occupied by Ole Sereni Hotel on Mombasa Road. It was further agreed that then desolate Kenya School of Law buildings on Valley Road be renovated and used for training of prosecutors on terrorism and related crimes of money-laundering and piracy. The overall objective was to train and equip a special counter-terrorism unit that integrated officers from the intelligence, anti-terror police, the military, immigration and the judiciary.

A preparatory induction course was subsequently held at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies. But shortly after the preparatory seminar, Kenya abruptly pulled out of the JCTTF initiative. We have reliably established that some highly placed officials feared that JCTTF initiative would unearth their links with criminal cartels involved in drug trafficking, illegal issuance of immigration documents and piracy. On quitting the JCTTF initiative, say security experts, Kenya has had a disjointed counter-terrorism strategy.

Security experts who spoke to The People Saturday are of the opinion that it is possible Kenya may not have benefitted from shared intelligence within member countries in the JCTTF initiative just before last year terrorist attack at the Westgate shopping mall.. Unbeknown to many, Westgate Shopping Mall was until the September 21 attack, the meeting place for international spies based in the Eastern and Central African region.

The anti-terrorism agents had been meeting there twice a month, which raises questions as to just how Kenya’s security agents failed to predict and take precautionary measures to secure such a vulnerable facility. Westgate was also the choice shopping centre for the diplomatic community in Kenya because of it’s proximity to UN offices at Gigiri. Most diplomats also have their private residences in the neighbourhood estates of Muthaiga, Spring Valley, Kitsuru, Westlands, Loresho and Kyuna.

There is a possibility, say experts, that advance warning about an impending attack on Westgate was made but not shared across the board to effect a pre-emptive strike. The Westgate situation was more or less like the case in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack in the US, where intelligence was made available prior to the attack but not shared across various security agencies in the country.

It was in the aftermath of September 11 attacks that the US came up with the idea of a combined multi-national security agency to combat international terror from any corner of the world. Because of Kenya’s strategic location and its historical ties with the US and Israel, and proximity to terrorist haven of Somalia, argue experts, it would have been wise to have the country as part and parcel of the JCTTF initiative.

Chronology of terrorist attacks across the country

1998: On August 7, between 10:30 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. suicide bombers in trucks laden with explosives parked outside the embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, and almost simultaneously detonated.In Nairobi, approximately 212 people were killed, and an estimated 4,000 wounded; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.
2002: On November 28, 2002 there were missile attacks on an Israel Plane after take-off at the Mombasa airport. Subsequently there was an attack on Kikambala Hotel when it was receiving Israeli tourists. The blast occurred just after some 60 visitors had checked into the hotel, all of them from Israel, hotel officials said with 13 being killed and 80 injured.
2011: Monday, October 24, 2011 The first attack by al-Shabaab was on a blue-collar bar known as Mwaura’s in downtown Mfangano Street in Nairobi, at around 1:15 am. The hurled grenade left one person dead and wounded more than 20. Police said that the weapon used was a Russian-made F1 grenade.[8] A second blast occurred later the same day, when a grenade was tossed out of a moving vehicle into the Machakos bus terminus. Fight nine men and 10 women were subsequently hospitalised,  two  in intensive care. Five people were confirmed dead.
 2012:  January – June: On Sunday, April 2012 29, at around 8:50am, an attack took place at God’s House of Miracles Church at Ngara Estate in Nairobi.One person died and 11 others were admitted to Kenyatta National Hospital.
 On Tuesday, May 15, three hand-grenades were hurled at the Bella Vista nightclub in Mombasa, Kenya, killing one and leaving five others injured.
A woman died as a result of a gunshot to the chest the two guards were injured. A suspect, who had sustained injuries in the attack was arrested in connection with  the assault.
 On Monday, May 28, a blast went off from inside the Sasa Boutique located within Assanand’s House on Nairobi’s Moi Avenue. 27 people were injured in the blast, and it was reported that four were in critical condition.
 On Sunday,  June 24 at around 10 pm, another grenade attack was reported at a Jericho Beer Garden in Mishomoroni, Kisauni Constituency in Mombasa, Kenya. The grenade killed one person on the spot while two more died due to injuries while  receiving treatment at the Coast General hospital.
This attack happened on the same day the Kenyan Navy had taken away two explosive devices that had been found floating in the Indian Ocean.
 July – December:  On  July 1 at around 10:15 am, masked gunmen attacked two churches (the Central Catholic Cathedral and AIC churches) simultaneously in Garissa, about 140 kilometres from the Somali border. The assailants killed 17 people and left 50 injured.
Four people were reported injured on July 18 when two hand grenades went off at a barbershop in Wajir. In addition, three police officers were injured on July 25 when their patrol hit a landmine.
On the evening of August 3, one person was killed and six more were left injured at the Eastleigh neighbourhood near the Kenya Airforce headquarters in Nairobi.
 On August 28, three Kenyan policeman are killed and over a dozen wounded in a grenade attack during riots in the port city of Mombasa over the killing of Islamist cleric Aboud Rogo Mohammed.
 On September 30, at around 10:30am, a nine-year-old boy was killed when a grenade was hurled at Sunday School children at St Polycarp Anglican Church in Juja road Nairobi.

-The People

Every major city in the world has some semblance of a ‘Chinatown’, whether it is a residential or a commercial zone, where the population or commerce is predominantly Chinese.

And Nairobi’s Chinatown is starting to take root with an incredible array of Chinese restaurants, hotels and supermarkets cropping up in a stretch between Hurlingham and Kilimani.

A couple of the supermarkets are incredibly well–stocked with a huge variety of ingredients, including fresh meat, vegetables and seafood, most of which are half the price of their counterparts in Nakumatt or Chandarana.

In one of my favourite supermarkets there’s even a section with plastic chairs and tables where you can eat steamed buns and big soups at a much cheaper price than any restaurant in Nairobi — and it’s delicious, you just have to put up with a bit of a funky aroma from the meat counter and the shouting of the owners as they rudely boss their staff about.

One of my favourite Chinese restaurants is hidden down Jabavu lane, never has any ‘foreign’ clients and doesn’t even have a sign. The menus are only in Mandarin so I tend to point and order to get my meal which never disappoints.

This is what surprises me the most though – when Chinatowns in other cities became established, the Chinese came on trading vessels, looking to trade goods.

In Nairobi’s case it doesn’t seem like they want to trade much with anyone but the local Chinese population. The supermarkets sometimes only have product labels in Mandarin so it’s impossible to know what things are…and the Chinese owners will not go out of their way to help you out.

But this will not deter me on my quest for delicious cheaply priced food. In a city where the cost of living is rising rapidly, Nairobi’s new Chinatown is offering a great alternative; you just have to be willing to get past barriers of trade on your own.

-Nairobi News

K24TV spotlights Teresia Mumo, a woman who married another woman over thirty years ago and have lived together all this while. Such marriages are common place not just among the Akambas, but also the among the Kuria, the Kalenjin, and other African communities.

Though the union is recognized traditionally are they recognised by the recently enacted marriage act ? Our reporter violet otindo visited Kamanyi village , in Kitui, where such marriages are common place.

President Barack Obama’s half-brother, Malik Abong’o, has defended the US leader against accusations that he skipped his aunt’s funeral service to play golf.

Mr Abong’o said the President attended a family meeting, which preceded the funeral service before excusing himself as he had a state engagement in Asia.

“The President left for Asia the following day after our meeting on April 16 in the White House where he gave his contribution.

Therefore, media and press reports that he was golfing are unfair and malicious. He made time to meet and discuss with us the arrangements for her funeral,” said Mr Abong’o, who has just returned from Boston, US.

Ms Zeituni Onyango, the US President’s aunt, died in a south Boston nursing home last month after a battle with breast cancer.

Mr Abong’o, who unsuccessfully contested the Siaya gubernatorial seat last year, said President Obama cited commitments and asked him to chair all family meetings in Washington and Boston.

“He gave me the full mandate to represent him in all these meetings as his elder brother. People should stop reading mischief over his absence at the memorial service. My brother has done much for the Obama family. You do not expect him to climb on a watchtower or on top of a tree to talk about it. And remember that he is the US President,” he said.

He accused the media of seeking to portray Mr Obama, whose father Hussein Obama was born in Kenya, as being out of touch with his extended family.

“The Obama family is united in sadness and grief over the loss of our aunt and all we wish for is for her to be buried with the dignity, honour, and respect that she deserves without unnecessary drama,” he said.

CONDOLENCE NOTE

Mr Abong’o was reacting to reports in international media, including the Daily Mail and New York Times, that Mr Obama had skipped the memorial service to play golf.

It was The Weekly Standard which first reported that Mr Obama was playing golf at the time of his aunt’s memorial.

“On that day, Obama was at his regular golf course at Joint Base Andrews with frequent golfing buddies Marvin and Walter Nicholson and Joe Paulson,” the paper said.

UK’s Daily Mail stated: “In 2001 when then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama’s first child was born, it was Obama’s Kenyan aunt Zeituni Onyango who stepped in tohelp new parents Barack and Michelle. Onyango, who had moved to the United States the year before on a visa, took care of baby Sasha and kept the Obama’s Chicago home in tidy order.

“After Onyango, 61, died at a Boston, Massachusetts nursing home after battlingbreast cancer and respiratory issues earlier this month, President Obama returned the favour by helping to pay for her funeral expenses. He did not attend the funeral. He hit the links and sent a condolence note.”

Mr Abong’o told the Sunday Nation that Ms Onyango’s remains would be buried in a Muslim cemetery in Kisumu in the next few days.

“The family is finalising arrangements to rest our lovely auntie at the Muslim cemetery in Kisumu. The body will be flown into the country any time from this week,” he said. This revelation may set the stage for a duel with Mr Ebel Mboya Okoko, 69, from Homa Bay County, who claims that Ms Onyango was his wife and that he should be allowed to bury her according to Luo traditions.

Mr Okoko has indicated that he would be moving to court to be granted the right to bury her.

“Let the courts decide whether I am an impostor or the legal husband to the late Zeituni,” he said, arguing that he had four children with Ms Onyango.

According to him, the fact that the dowry he took to Kogelo (Ms Onyango’s birth place in Siaya County) was never returned means their marriage still holds. Mama Sarah Obama, the President’s grandmother, has also said that she wants to see Ms Onyango’s remains flown and interred at home.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

Observers reckon that Mr Obama did not bother with Ms Zeituni while she was living in the US to avoid being seen as sympathetic to illegal immigrants, which would have cost him the second term in office and she had no money.

But perhaps what has kept Mr Obama from closely associating with his Auntie in the US is her immigration status which almost marred his re-election campaigns in 2012 when it emerged that she was staying in the US illegally. He had to come out and state that the due legal process should take root and that he was not going to intervene to help her out.

It suffices to mention that weeks to her death, Ms Onyango had been successful in obtaining asylum on the US soil and was lined up to be granted citizenship in the next five years.

- Daily Nation

Wajir South MP Abdullahi Diriye was charged and fined at Makadara Law Courts on Friday for insulting officers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Mr Diriye, who asked for forgivenness, appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Timothy Okello.

He was fined Sh50,000 for breach of peace on March 27 soon after landing.

The MP had earlier appeared in court on March 31 after his arrest and denied the charge.

- Nairobi News

Car and General (C&G) has launched a new range of three wheeler (tuk-tuk) model. The model, Piaggio City Petrol, has a consumption of 32 kilometres per litre, making it a fuel efficient mode of transportation.

Cleon Oguya, the C&G national sales manager for Piaggio said the City Petrol model has an electric starter and the advantage of a lower noise level ideal for taxi services in towns.

“It has a strong suspension system which makes it very stable,” said Mr Oguya.

Launch events

The Piaggio three-wheeler trucks have room for three passengers and a luggage space at the rear. The new  vehicles can be re-modelled for various functions, including being used as delivery trucks.

Mr Oguya urged firms to partner with C&G in adopting the use of petrol engine tuktuks in delivery and distribution of products to retail stores and other consumers.

Nestle Kenya, for instance, now uses the Piaggio City Petrol tuktuks in delivery of company’s products to retail stores in the northern parts of Nairobi and Mount Kenya region.

“The three wheelers are very economical as taxis, van and pick-up models good for delivery work, courier services, laundry and and fast food operations,” Mr Oguya.

Besides, the running costs for the petrol engine models are far much lower than those of pick-ups and cars.

The growing need for urban transport which is driven by the rapid expansion of cities and towns offers bigger opportunities for the buyers of these three wheelers.

The tuktuks may also be the transport solutions needed to unclog traffic jams around the country as they easily penetrate narrow paths and occupy small parking areas.

The motor company is the process of launching the tuktuks in all counties. The Piaggio petrol tuktuk team toured various parts of the country for launch events.

They were held in Thika, Machakos, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu, Kakamega and Bungoma counties.

C&G regional sales agent for Piaggio three wheelers has a workshop on Lusaka Road in the Industrial Area. There are repair and service workshops scattered all over the country which also sale a full range of genuine spares.

The petrol-engine tuktuk retails at Sh335,000 while its diesel counterpart goes for Sh399,000.

Since the petrol-engine tuk-tuk is slightly cheaper, Mr Oguya encouraged buyers to go for it, saying they were environment-friendly.

-Nairobi News

President Barack Obama on Saturday night took shots at Birthers and conservative TV station Fox News during his well received speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

“It’s only fair since a Kenyan has been president for the last six,” Obama said.

Turning to Fox News which has been friendly territory for the birthers, Obama did not hold back.

“Let’s face it, Fox, you will miss me when I’m gone,” he said. “It will be harder to convince the American people that Hillary was born in Kenya.”

Also in attendance was Kenya’s 2014 Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o.

A Kenyan fraudster living in Birmingham stole more than £26,000 in benefits – after being denied permission to stay in the UK.

Lucy Mbugua had already been ordered to leave the country when she launched the four-year scam.

Then – after being charged over her crimes – she was allowed to stay in the UK.

The 40-year-old mother was convicted of three offences of dishonestly claiming taxpayers’ cash while having no right to remain in the UK.

She was found guilty in her absence and also failed to turn up to be sentenced at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.

A warrant was issued for Mbugua’s arrest – but the Mail tracked her down to herhome in Westminster Road, Selly Oak, before police caught up with her.

She told our reporter that she failed to attend court because of childcare issues, but would not comment further on the case.

Her convictions were welcomed by Birmingham City Council.

But the Home Office refused to explain how Mbugua was allowed to remain in the UK to commit the crimes despite having exhausted all her legal appeal options.

Magistrates heard she fraudulently claimed £24,479,09 in housing benefit and £1,829.48 in council tax benefit between September 17, 2009 and August 13, 2013.

But the court was told she was not granted permission to stay in the country until last December.

She secured the three-year visa on the grounds of having a right to a family life.

Joe Millington, prosecuting, said Mbugua ticked a box on a claim form to make it appear she had the right to live in the UK.

The Mail understood that she lawfully entered the country on a visa but exhausted all appeals to stay in 2009, after claiming to be a victim of domestic abuse.

Her crimes were detected through the use of data matching methods, which see council fraud investigators trawl through information shared by other government departments.

Magistrates found Mbugua guilty in her absence on April 11. The court received a letter during that hearing to say she had childcare problems.

The case was adjourned for sentencing but Mbugua failed to attend for the second time last Friday and the arrest warrant was issued.

The Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases.

Council deputy leader Coun Ian Ward said: “Given the pressures we face as a result of central government funding cuts, it is essential we ensure every penny goes to those with a rightful claim.

“I hope this conviction sends out a clear message that we will pursue those who set out to defraud the system.”

- Birmingham Mail

Chinese firms are participating in Kenya’s real estate sector, which is among the fastest growing sectors in the East African nation.

The over 3.5 billion U.S. dollars industry had been mainly dominated by local firms and a few from Europe. However, with Chinese companies’ involvement, the market is becoming diversified.

The Chinese firms have entered the industry in several ways. First, they are massively investing in housing projects on the outskirts of Nairobi, providing buyers with various choices. Second, the houses are being sold at fairly affordable prices compared to others in the market. Third, they are offering some of the cheapest mortgages in the East African nation and fourth, the companies are manufacturing and selling building materials sourced from their home country, which Kenyans are embracing.

These materials include wall panels, tiles, glasses and doors. Analysts noted that Chinese firms’ entrance into the real estate sector is coming with a lot of gains for Kenyans seeking to own homes.

“I have checked around and one of the things that stand out with the Chinese companies in this sector, as in others where they have presence like roads, is that they are offering some of the best prices,” said real estate analyst Antony Kuyo.

Prices of houses in Nairobi continue to rise as cost of building materials and value of land appreciates due to increased demand.

“Most Chinese companies are offering houses fair prices compared to the local ones, including in high-end districts of the capital. In high-income areas, a two-bedroom apartment constructed by the Chinese is going for 151,162 dollars, but others are selling it for up to 186,046 dollars,” said Kuyo.

He added that this shows if more Chinese companies enter the sector, then prices of houses in Kenya can drastically come down.

“The companies can leverage from their experience back home to build affordable houses in Kenya using low-cost technologies, which we lack here,” said Kuyo.

Banks in the East African nation are charging mortgage interest rates between 13.9 percent and 19 percent, which have discouraged developers. But Chinese investors charge lower mortgage rates.

“With mainstream lenders hanging on with tenacity to such high margins on their lending, the delayed take-off in Kenya’s mortgage market is distorting the country’s housing range, discouraging private developers, and locking out many Kenyans from home ownership,” noted Carole Kariuki, the MD of The Mortgage Company (TMC) while releasing a report for quarter one of the sector’s performance last week.

The report showed only 1 percent of Kenyans living in urban areas can currently afford mortgage repayments for a house priced at 66,279 dollars, and a further 4 percent for a house priced at 45,358 dollars.

Kariuki further noted that half of all Kenyans living in urban areas, specifically Nairobi, cannot afford loan repayments to buy a house at 8,139 dollars.

However, while she called for government’s intervention either through supporting mortgage-backed securities to stimulate the secondary mortgage market, or through the creation of housing funds and even mortgage subsidies, she acknowledged the low mortgage rates charged by some Chinese investors.

“We have seen some Chinese investors offering interest rates of less than 10 percent because of their financial muscle and support they get from home, this is a good thing.”

One of the investors is offering Kenyans a mortgage rate of 8.5 percent per annum for 25 years for a house going for 69,767 dollars. This is the lowest in the Kenyan market today.

There are currently a paltry 20,000 mortgage accounts in Kenya, and this has been attributed to high rates of most lenders.

“To make a real difference for the average Kenyan, mortgage rates need to reduce from the current 16 percent to between 6 percent and 9 percent a year. This will be a major shift, but it is still not enough to allow for universal home ownership,” said Kariuki.

-Shanghai Daily

SENIOR Police officers yesterday said that warnings of possible attacks from the National Intelligence Service were far too vague.

“If you are told that there are people planning attacks in Nairobi in two days, and there are no specific details of where or even who, where do you start from in a city that has more than four million people? The intelligence being gathered is wanting,” a senior police officer told the Star.

An NIS brief circulated last week to senior police officers in Nairobi warned of attacks targeting many areas including shopping malls.

Two bus attacks on Thika Road in Nairobi on Sunday killed three people and injured 80 others.

Senior Police officers at Vigilance House told the Star that the information from the National Intelligence Service about impending attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa was very vague and difficult to act on.

Investigators with the Anti Terrorism Police said they are being forced to rely on briefings from Military Intelligence.

The KDF has officially been part of the war on terror since last October when President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned a military brigade to patrol the borders and reinforce police operations.

The police officers spoke to the Star as Deputy President William Ruto called a press conference to blame the judiciary for releasing terror suspects on bail.

“Every institution of government must appreciate the situation the country is in and work out a mechanism that will make us deal decisively with the threat of terrorism,” said Ruto.

“There is more that the judiciary can do to ensure that terrorists do not find their way into society,” Ruto said

Yesterday Ruto, flanked by the country’s top security chiefs, rejected calls for the withdrawal of the KDF from Somalia saying ” we will not be intimidated by the kicks of a dying horse”.

The Deputy President defended the performance of the security chiefs and rejected calls for them to be sacked.

“We are not interested in a game of musical chairs,” said Ruto.

Ruto was flanked by NIS boss Gen Micheal Gichangi, Interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku, and Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo.

Ruto said at least 22 terror suspects on bail have absconded and put themselves beyond the reach of the law.

He mentioned Fuad Abubakar Mwaswab who fled to Somalia while on Sh10 million bond, and Jamal Mohammed Awadh and Suleiman Mohammed Sayyed who died on Saturday at Mwembe Tayari while carrying out a bomb attack.

Ruto pointed out that Fuad is a co-accused with Jermaine John Grant who was arrested in possession of explosives.

“The security agencies will pursue, apprehend and bring the perpetrators to account. For this reason we call on the judiciary to be a strong partner in the war against terror,” Ruto declared.

” If every Kenyan becomes vigilant about personal security, there will be little or no room for opportunists seeking to harm to execute their evil schemes. Every Kenyan must take keen interest in what is going on around them and must be ready to provide information to security agencies on anybody and anything with a suspicious appearance,” Ruto said.

The opposition ODM party dismissed Ruto’s statement as inadequate and asked the government to do more to protect Kenyans.

“Ruto can afford to say that his government cannot be intimidated because he does not take matatus and has no relatives in Somalia. The ordinary Kenyan is intimidated by increasing insecurity in the country,” said Anyang’ Nyong’o, acting ODM leader.

- The Star

After Sauti Sol’s new single “Nikushike” caused ripples in the Kenyan music industry, a Kenyan has decided he can also do the video minus the six pack and the skimpy ladies attire. You’ve got to love his humor.

Kenyans of all backgrounds responded with disapproval.

And there were some calls for wider action – by Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and by ordinary Kenyans.

-Buzz Feed

Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko on Monday posted his March payslip on his Facebook account.

The payslip showed that the Senator earned a net salary sh532,705.

Mr Sonko claims his earnings are distributed to various churches in form of offerings and harambee contributions.

Among the deductions in the payslip include a loan that he said was taken to pay for the plastic surgery and hospital bills of the Sinai tragedy victims.

Here is the list of church contributions which Mike Sonko made in March:

• Nairobi calvary temple Buruburu Ksh 50,000

• Pentecostal church eastleigh (kiambio) Ksh 50,000

• AIC Jericho Ksh 100,000

• PCEA bahati Ksh 100,000

• PCEA Kangemi Ksh 30,000

• FPFK Church Kibera Ksh 30,000

• Kawangware Methodist Ksh 30,000

• PCEA Lunga Lunga Ksh 30,000

• St. Francis Assis Mombasa Ksh 30,000

• Sister Vivenzia memorial foundation Ksh 50,000

• PCEA Umoja Ksh 30,000

• PCEA Kangemi Ksh 30,000

• Jesus winners ministry Roysambu Ksh 30,000

• Makongeni SDA Kshs 40,000

• St. Joseph Catholic Church Mumbi Muranga Ksh 200,000

• AIC Yakamete Ngelani Ksh 100,000

• Free Medical Camp in Deep Sea Slum Ksh 450,000

• Teen Challenge Kenya rehab center Ksh 200,000

-Nairobi News