Hot News
From Kenya
This
page will only be carrying
headlines of hot news
from Kenya!
Nairobi, August 26, 2001
President Moi said that there will be major political changes in Kenya towards the end of this year. The President said that from now onwards, he will work closely with nationalistic young leaders to map out the country’s future political direction.
Police in the city yesterday shot dead four robbery suspects in a fierce exchange of fire with gangsters in Industrial Area. Witnesses said the four were stopped by police officers on patrol but they opened fire. The Embakasi police base commander, Mr Alfred Ouma, told journalists that three pistols, four live bullets and four spent cartridges were recovered.
Just what is in the offing in the Kanu-National Development Party (NDP) merger? It appears there is no let-up in the surprises the consummation between the two governing parties will bring forth.
Thousands of people in Central Province will not vote in the General Election because they had been barred from replacing their lost voters' cards, Democratic Party chairman Mwai Kibaki said.
Gangsters have killed three people in Kisii, among them a former policeman. Mr Michele Kwaro, a former regular, was shot dead at Bonyaoro sub-location when he went to rescue neighbour Jackson Mauti, whose home had been attacked.
Opposition MPs are planning a constitutional amendment to reduce the President's powers to dissolve Parliament whenever he wished.
Should the ambitious Kanu-National Development Party power-sharing strategy take root, Kenya will be divided into 10 to 15 regions reportedly determined mainly on ethnic basis.
Three pilots have been arrested for flying to Somalia in defiance of a presidential ban on trade with the war-ravaged nation.
Four suspected members of a terror gang have been arrested in Laikipia District and an AK-47 rifle and five rounds of ammunition recovered from them.
About 1.3 million school and college children have lost their parents to Aids, a regional conference has been informed.. This represents about 18 per cent of those in schools and colleges. Currently, there are 5.6 million children in primary schools, 700,000 in secondary schools and more than 100,000 in tertiary institutions.
Horticulture farmers earn over Sh1.6 billion every year from exports. Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary, Ms Margaret Chemengich, disclosed that the sector is growing at 20 per cent a year.
Aids kills 18 teachers a month, says PS.
Former Finance Minister Simeon Nyachae yesterday angrily denied President Moi's allegation that he has purchased a political party. Describing himself as the President's "fierce opponent", Mr Nyachae also detailed the history of his differences with the Head of State, whom he accused of doing little to end corruption in government.
Kanu and the National Development Party are to merge, delegates finally decided on Friday. "Kanu and NDP merger is now a formidable force," President Moi declared at the close of a historic joint meeting. "I want new blood," he said. "I have seen these wazees (old people) are leading Kenyans in the wrong direction."
The secretary to the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission has resigned, a day after he was sent on leave. Mr Arthur Okoth-Owiro has tendered his resignation to the President after a dispute between him and the commission was settled out of court on Thursday.
Tragedy struck yesterday at the Githurai roundabout, Nairobi, where a speeding car ploughed through a crowd of vegetable hawkers, killing five people.
Kenya will soon begin receiving an additional 50 megawatts of electricity from Uganda.
President Moi made a spirited pitch for the anti-corruption Bill yesterday as its critics stepped up their campaign to ensure its rejected by Parliament again tomorrow. As he spoke, the business community rallied to lobby MPs in favour of the proposed law. They were alarmed at the prospect of an economic crisis arising from a cut-off in IMF funding if the Bill is rejected. But a coalition of groups to be represented on the Kaca board warned that the Bill was flawed and must be shut out. The President issued a statement from State House ahead of tomorrow's crucial parliamentary vote on a constitutional amendment entrenching Kaca in the constitution. He highlighted the grim fate awaiting Kenya if it failed to revive Kaca : It would be denied at least Sh25 billion in external funding and would lose vast amounts in private sector investment, leading to economic decline.
A secret visit to State House by MPs from North Eastern Province last Wednesday ended prematurely when a disagreement arose over a nomination to the East African Community Parliament, a source has claimed
Two people were killed and eight others seriously injured in a weekend clash along the Trans Mara and Gucha districts border. Samuel Onyuok Buge, 24, and David Okiagera Ontita, 18, were shot dead at Iyenga by armed raiders who were masquerading as police officers as Maasai and Kisii youths engaged in a four-hour fight.
The left leg of a four-month old girl who was involved in the grisly road accident where four people died on the spot at Maji Ya Chumvi was on Saturday amputated as doctors tried to save her life. Doctors said that Brenda Ekomwa's leg was crashed on impact and had no alternative but to amputate it to save her life. The accident which occurred at 7.30 pm on Friday evening iinvolved the accident prone Inter States Bus Company formally known as Tawfiq and a semi-trailer belonging to Kioko Investments along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway on Friday evening.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has launched independent investigations into the violence and indiscipline that rocked schools recently leading to closure of some of the institutions.
The Democratic Party of Kenya (DP) yesterday de-whipped rebel Councillor Dick Waweru, who was elected Mayor of Nairobi on Wednesday . The DP said the party disowned Waweru for pledging to work with President Moi and the ruling party Kanu in his acceptance speech .
The race to succeed President Moi is each day getting more and more curious. In some respects, it is living up to its billing as a titanic political battle, not to be joined by the faint-hearted, the bleeding hearts or the saintly moralists.
Kenyan runners won gold at the double in the world athletics championships at Edmonton, Canada. First Olympic champion Reuben Kosgei took gold in the 3,000 metres steeplechase, beating Morocco’s Ali Ezzine. Then, less than one hour later, Embu policeman Charles Kamathi became the first man to beat Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie in the 10,000 metres since 1993, to make it a glorious golden day for Kenya. "Beating Gebrselassie would be any athlete’s proudest moment," Kamathi said, "but I knew when I came here I could win the gold." Kamathi won the race in a time of 27 minutes, 53.25 seconds.
A public row between members of the Cabinet has nothing to do with the principle of collective responsibility, according to Trade minister Nicholas Biwott. The war of words between Mr Raila Odinga, Mr William Ruto and Mr Joseph Kamotho is a sign of democracy and there is nothing wrong with ministers expressing divergent political views, he said.
MP Charity Ngilu yesterday refused to record a statement with the police after claiming she could prove Kilome MP Tony Ndilinge was assassinated. "I have no faith in the Kenya police," she said, adding, "I have enough evidence why Ndilinge was killed but I can only table it before a Parliamentary Select Committee."
Kenya's hopes of receiving IMF funding receded yesterday when MPs blocked the anti-corruption Bill by voting out a key constitutional amendment. The Bill, which was to entrench the Kenya Anti-Corruption Authority (Kaca) in the Constitution, was thrown out after it failed to attract the 145 votes needed; that 65 per cent of the 222 votes in the House. Instead, it gained only 112 votes for, with 61 against and one abstention - far short of the overwhelming majority needed to pass any amendment to the Constitution.
Thirty five villagers were yesterday admitted to Maua Mission Hospital, Meru North District, after eating mandazi (buns) suspected to have been poisoned. Twenty people, including the owner of the food kiosk, two cooks and five pupils at Karuruni primary school, were admitted in a critical condition. Another 15 were treated and discharged.
MPs are pushing for the appointment of a Select Committee to investigate the murder of their colleague Tony Ndilinge. They want it set up before Parliament breaks for a two-month recess next Thursday. It would start work at once and be able to report to the House on its return in October, MPs said.
Gunmen held bank workers hostage for 30 minutes before escaping with Sh6.5 million yesterday. They burst into Paramount Universal Bank at Chester House, Nairobi, at 8.10 am and waited for the workers to arrive. Unaware they were walking into a trap, the bankers streamed into the bank only to be confronted by the gangsters. All of them were seized and led into an office and ordered to lie on their stomach.
