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SEPTEMBER 2005 - PART ONE

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A teenager for his 13th wife

About 50,000 bare-breasted women took part in the August Reed Dance                         King Mswati reportedly spotted his new bride at the ceremony

King Mswati of Swaziland has chosen a teenager to be his 13th wife. Phindile Nkambule, 17, was revealed to the public when she took part in a traditional Reed Dance ceremony, in which girls perform before the king. The announcement comes just weeks after Mswati III ended an official ban on sex for women under 18. The ban was aimed at curbing the spread of HIV/Aids. According to custom, King Mswati, 37, will marry Phindile Nkambule once she becomes pregnant. She is reported to have caught the king's eye during the main annual Reed Dance in late August, when tens of thousands of bare-breasted girls took part in a traditional rite of Spring. Ms Nkambule is younger than the king's first daughter, Princess Sikhanyiso, who turned 18 this month. She will now wear royal loin cloths when she appears in public and has dropped out of school in order to be groomed as the monarch's wife.

Unpopular ban

Days earlier, the king had rescinded a ban on sexual relations for girls younger than 18. The ban was started by the king in 2001 to fight Aids in a country where some 40% of the population is HIV positive. But the move had been unpopular with Swazi youths and its implementation had sparked controversy. Just two months after imposing the ban, the king fined himself a cow for breaking it by taking a 17-year-old girl as his ninth wife. The Swazi monarch married his 12th wife, aged 18, in June. He has one other fiancée and 27 children. Some Swazis are critical of King Mswati - an absolute monarch whose lavish lifestyle and many wives contrast with the poverty of many of his subjects.

Hurricane Rita lashed the southern coast of the US when she made landfall on the Texas-Louisiana border on Saturday. The Texas town of Abbeville was one of the worst affected.	In New Orleans, already battered by Hurricane Katrina a month ago, the work to repair breached levees continues.
The rising water levels even disturbed the dead in some areas, lifting coffins from graveyards.	Many farmers in the Texas beef counties managed to get their livestock to higher ground before the storm struck. But not all.

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"If the new Kenya constitution goes through,

Kenyans abroad should be voting in 2007"

President Mwai Kibaki addressed Kenyans in the UK in a London hotel on Tuesday evening 20th September, 2005. The President who was in a jovial mode when he arrived was welcomed at The National Royal Hotel in Central London by the High Commissioner HE Joseph Muchemi and his wife Mrs. Cecilia Muchemi, several Cabinet Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Senior Government Officials. He was escorted into the hotel by Kenyan women Dancers well known as London Kenyan Women Voices who caught up with nice Kenyan patriotic songs reminding most people at the venue the way the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta used to be welcomed. President Kibaki was quite excited by the group and he took time to see them dance as they escorted him into the hotel. In the hotel a Kenyan representative read the speech to the president and several  cabinet ministers were given a chance to greet the congregation. The president delivered the speech and later answered several questions from the Kenyan community. He took his time to explain and to answer the questions as he was quite in control throughout his stay. The meeting was well attended.

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Senior Embassy staff Mrs. Kamau head of immigration and Mrs. Salome Gichura the Education attaché arrived early to took up their seats ready for the head of state	London Kenyan Women Voices (LoKeWoVos) posing for a photo as they get themselves ready to welcome the president outside the hotel
Minister for Land and Housing Hon. Amos Kimunya (left) chatting with the High Commissioner and his wife as they wait for the president to arrive	Margaret (right) and her friend arrived early to welcome the man from his village

"Duo Citizen is included in the new Kenyan Constitution" - Attorney General Amos Wako

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Jomo Gechaga (right) a grandson of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta having a light moment with David Muchemi son of the High Commisisoner	Kenya London Women Voices welcoming the president into the hotel
The high Commissioner HE Joseph Muchemi and his wife escorting the president into the hotel	Two sisters - Kimberley and Elena presenting a bunch of flowers to the president. They are daughters of Mrs. Mark Marble Mururi

"Lamu town in Kenya is to be upgraded into a port to serve the Eastern part of the country with a road being constructed from Lamu to Ethiopia then Sudan" - President Kibaki

Agape choir entertaining the president. They are Ugandans living in South East London - To entire choir consists of about 500 members	The meeting was well attended from all walks of UK
Mrs. Mercy Kamau (front) as they make a step during their performance	Being escorted into the hotel

"99 per cent of school age children are now going to school in Kenya. We shall now be arresting and charging the parents of the children who miss to join school as it is the right of every child  to be educated" - President Kibaki

ALL THE CABINET MINISTERS PRESENT GAVE A SHORT SPEECH

Hon. Munyao was the favourite speaker as he narrated that his ministry has taken a keen interest in promoting the fish industry as fishes does not require medical treatment to the applause from the congregations

Hon. Amos Kimunya Minister of Lands and Housing	Hon. Watangula assistant minister ministry of foreign affairs	The Attorney General Amos Wako
Hon. Munyao minister of Livestock	Hon. Kombo minister of Local Government	Prof. Karega Mutahi PS ministry of Education

THE PRESIDENT CROWNED IT ALL WITH A SPEECH AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS

 

President Mwai Kibaki addressing the Kenyans at the hotel

A teenage Kenyan student, Master Eddie Njenga chats to President Kibaki in London on Tuseday. Njenga had earlier quizzed Preident Kibaki on the state of education in Kenya. - Photo by Gitau wa Njenga

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A church turned into a pub

A church in Western Road in Glasgow, Scotland has been turned into a pub. Now the church displays outside a number of advertising posters some of them reading "welcome for a pint". Inside the church where the congregation sits is where the tables has been arranged while the counter is located at the alter. The vestry has been turned into a toilet and a store. A quick look inside the pub where the customers have no idea what has been going before. Many  churches in the UK are being turned into different uses of late. This has been caused by the absence of worshipers in those churches as only 15 per cent of the UK population goes to church. You would find a big church with a capacity of 500 people with an attendance of 10 worshippers. A church in Romford Road, in East London has been on sale for almost two years and ended up being bought by the Muslim community. A church in Dulwich in South East London has been turned into lodgings. As it has been declared in the Holy Bible when you see such things, you should now that this are the signs of the end times.

This is the church in Western Road in Glasgow, Scotland which has been turned into a pub

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Nameless and Wahu ties the knot

Music celebrities “Nameless” and Wahu kiss after they tied the knot at the lush Lake Naivasha Country Club in Nakuru District, yesterday. Family and friends attended the private wedding before the couple proceeded for their honeymoon in South Africa.  - Sunday Standard.

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A city under water

The breakdown of the relief operation in New Orleans was the result of multiple failures by city, state and federal authorities. There was no one cause. The failures began long before the hurricane with a gamble that a Category Four or Five hurricane would not strike New Orleans. They continued with an inadequate evacuation plan and culminated in a relief effort hampered by lack of planning, supplies and manpower, and a breakdown in communications of the most basic sort. On top of all this, there is the question of whether an earlier intervention by President Bush could have a made a big difference. Before Hurricane Katrina struck, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) was confident that it was ready. Its director, Michael Brown, said: "Fema has pre-positioned many assets including ice, water, food and rescue teams to move into the stricken areas as soon as it is safe to do so." Mr Brown even told the Associated Press news agency that the evacuation had gone well. "I was impressed with the evacuation, once it was ordered it was very smooth," he said. Yet on Saturday 28 August, the day before the evacuation was ordered, Mr Brown did not say that people should leave the city. All he said was: "There's still time to take action now, but you must be prepared and take shelter and other emergency precautions immediately." This has made Fema appear complacent in the period immediately before the hurricane arrived. If it did not expect the worst, it would not have prepared for the worst.  The Brown statement went out on the same day that the National Hurricane Center was warning that Katrina was strengthening to the top Category Five. Everyone knew the dangers of a Category Five. A Fema exercise last year called "Hurricane Pam" had looked at a Category Three, and that was bad enough.

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London Notting Hill Carnival - the

biggest carnival in Europe

London Notting Hill Carnival - the biggest carnival in Europe was held in London as from Saturday 27th August 2005 to Monday 29th August 2005. A colourful event which saw display of fantastic colourful costumes some of which have taken some participants more than a year to make.  Some of the costumes are worth more than £1,000 (Kshs. 134,000) each. Displays, some of which your eyes have never seen before - a human being looking like a peacock in the streets of London. An estimated one million people attended the carnival. Security was tight as police patrolled every corner of the event. The ceremony which took place in West London was like a "mutego wa panya"  kuingia ni rahisi kutoka ni matanga. All the underground stations leading to the venue was inward only - no going back. Some guests took the whole day on Monday trying to trace their way home. The Notting Hill Carnival comes in all its colours and splendour to the streets of London over the August Bank Holiday weekend each year. Although running for more than 40 years, Carnival has stuck to doing what it does best: drawing on tradition.

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Police were in full patrol at the carnival	All sorts of dressing including the eagle dressing
A man walks at the carnival to the excitement of many	A lady at the carnival display her costume
Large trucks and tractors acted as the moving music house	Some costumes took time to make
The queen of the carnival a disabled lady displaying her costume	One of the most colourful costume of the day

There was no shortage of styles at the carnival	Green costumes caught up well at the ceremony
One was of the participants at the carnival requested the policeman to dance with him - the policeman declined but two ladies took time to show him how it is done to the amazement of the funs	Flamingos were seen around
A team from Caribbean	A costume to note at the ceremony
Birds were in plenty at the ceremony	Bush dressing took attention of many funs

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Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!

Guilty, Guilty, Guilty! Raymond Victor Jalland,58 ,British man found guilty  today of killing his Kenyan wife, Ann Wambui Jalland, 40, leaves The Old Baily on Thursday. Tonight (23rd June 2005) he's in custody waiting a to be sentenced on Monday next week. Ann went missing from her west London home on 6th February 2004 and the body has never been recovered since then. - Pictures by GITAU wa NJENGA / NDEIYA IMAGES

FACE OF A COLD BLOOD KILLER

MISSING SINCE FEBRUARY 6, 2004

Pic of Ann Wambui Jalland with her 13 months daughter Vicky. Wambui went missing on February 2 2004, she is now presumed dead, though her body was never recovered. The deceased hails from Rungiri village in Kabete, Kiambu district

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