Officers at Embakasi subcounty AP headquarters have accused their boss of high-handedness and arrogance.

Elizabeth Mbogoro allegedly scoffed at a junior officer who asked permission to take her two-year-old baby for cleft palate surgery.

She allegedly told the officer: “Mambo na viwete zako sitaki kusikia [I do not want to hear anything about your crippled child].”

Contacted for comment Mbogoro said: “Where did you get my contact? My number is private.”

She called later and a man who identified himself as Nairobi AP boss Francis Mburu told this reporter: “Nyakundi, why are you harassing my officer? I will take this to a higher level.”

The junior officer, Doris Wako, was accompanied by Mbogoro’s deputy when she went to seek permission.

Wako said Mbogoro asked her whether she is now her deputy and if she is having an affair with her deputy.

Junior officers who witnessed the incident said Wako left the office crying, cocked her G3 rifle and locked herself in a cell.

Mbogoro allegedly told Wako: “I have seen many tears before.”

Wako’s baby girl has had three unsuccessful operations and is scheduled for a fourth one at Kenyatta National Hospital on January 15.

Junior officers who spoke on condition of anonymity said Mbogoro boasts she has AP boss Samuel Arachi “in her handbag” and the Nairobi AP boss “in her armpits”.

Wako, who is attached at the headquarters near Mama Lucy Hospital, requested to be moved to Embakasi Village AP post after the baby’s operation so she can be closer to her.

The child’s health has been deteriorating since birth.

Wako’s husband is a GSU officer.

She was recently transferred from Kasarani on grounds of her baby’s health.

Wako is appealing for help from Arachi.

Mbogoro allegedly went to see Mburu to initiate transfers of junior officers who criticise her management style.

The incident created tension, with the officers accusing their boss of disrespect and arrogance.

A man stabbed his wife in the cheek, striking a bone, in a family dispute at Khorof Harar, Wajir county, on Wednesday evening.

Doctors at Wajir General Hospital said they could not remove the knife from Fatuma Ibrahim's cheek as this would likely result in complications.

They said chances were that the complications would endanger the life of the 32-year-old woman stabbed by her husband Mohamed Deeq.

Fatuma will be flown to Nairobi by Amref flying Doctors for treatment.

In an attempt at mediation before the stabbing, Deeq's brother had confiscated knives and gone to a police station to seek assistance.

The police and medics secured Ibrahim an ambulance in which she was rushed to the hospital.

The mother of four is scheduled to be airlifted to Nairobi for an operation at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Women who turned up in large numbers in Ibrahim's support lampooned the government for ignoring their rights.

"The rights of women must be upheld to prevent attacks by these beasts. We want the government to be serious about gender-based violence," said one identified as Sahara Keynan.

Wajir East OCPD Benson Makumbi said Deeq was placed in police custody and will be charged with causing grievous bodily harm on Friday.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has been advised to start packing up to allow a new body to conduct the 2017 elections.

The Ombudsman has told the commission that the expiry of its term conflicts with the election cycle and this may plunge the country into a constitutional crisis.

The term of the current IEBC team led by Issack Hassan ends on November 9, 2017, three months after the next election.

The IEBC commissioners’ six-year term can only be extended through a constitutional amendment via a national referendum.

The Ombudsman said the various timelines related to a contested Presidential poll, including a possible run-off, would take the election cycle to December 2, 2017.

“By this time, there would be no substantive chairperson or commissioner at IEBC. The foregoing creates the possibility of a constitutional crisis due to the role of the IEBC chairperson in Presidential elections,” the Ombudsman said in a statement signed by chairman Otiende Amollo.

He added, “the IEBC Commissioners should be encouraged to voluntarily and honourably leave office...to enable appointment of their successors in good time to prepare for the 2017 General Election.”

The advisory by the Ombudsman comes at a time when Jubilee and Cord are in a war of words over the IEBC.

The IEBC has insisted that it is ready to conduct the 2017 elections and has even published an operational plan to this effect.

“The Commission is committed to delivering free, fair and credible elections in 2017 and beyond. We urge all stakeholders to play their part to ensure that this is realized,” IEBC chairman Issack Hassan said.

The IEBC says that it has come up with a strategy to deal with the deficiencies that challenged the commission at the 2013 elections.

It plans to establish a backup system that will help to avoid the disastrous breakdown in the transmission of election results witnessed in the last election.

According to its 2015-2017 Election Operation Plan, the IEBC notes that during the election in 2013, application of technology faced challenges as a “result of late procurement and delivery of equipment”.

The IEBC says this affected the training and testing of the technologies, leading to the collapse of the systems.

The IEBC says it will develop a results accountability plan as fatigue among polling officials hampered the voting and tallying process.

Cord leader Raila Odinga has said the IEBC, as currently constituted, should not conduct the next elections and asked for its reconstitution.

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero’s influential Chief of Staff George Wainaina was on Wednesday night arrested in a church and detained overnight in a police cell.

Anti-graft police officers found him at All Saints’ Cathedral and drove him to Integrity Centre, the EACC headquarters, and afterwards to the Kilimani police station, under tight security.

Earlier on Wednesday, EACC officers first stormed City Hall and went into Wainaina’s office, where they carted away documents and wads of cash, wrapped in polythene and paper bags, along with his secretary.

County workers who witnessed the incident said that the officers carted away crucial documents.

Wainaina’s secretary was only identified as Roseline.

Wainaina was not in the office at the time.

At All Saints’ Cathedral, he was reported to have attended a harambee at night.

“They arrived at around 2pm and stormed into the office. They carried away documents, huge files and cash money in wads of notes. It looked like at least a million shillings. They also took away two ladies with them,” a county employee who witnessed the raid said.

Wainiana is reported to have been in his office earlier that morning at around 10am, but left shortly before the EACC officers arrived.

“He came and he is lucky the EACC came when he was not there. Come see his office, it’s in a total mess,” another county worker said.

After Wainaina's night arrest, the police yesterday ransacked his Karen house in search of more documents.

An EACC official privy to the arrest and ongoing investigations disclosed that Wainaina was being investigated on several allegations, including the sale of the Loresho Water Reservoir land.

“The Loresho Water Reservoir land was mysteriously transferred to a private developer, but the EACC reclaimed it,” our source said.

The land was recently repossessed from a private developer, who had already started construction just a few metres from the reservoir that serves the Nairobi populace with clean water.

This was after the intervention of Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko, who first led a demonstration before reaching out to President Uhuru Kenyatta for help.

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet led other senior officers, including EACC Chief Executive Officer Halakhe Waqo, in effecting the orders after the private developer ignored court orders barring development of the land.

The Jubilee Coalition is out to prove it can win votes at the Coast ahead of the 2017 general election by clinching the Malindi parliamentary seat in the March 7 by-election.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto are said to be following every move in the Malindi campaigns through their lieutenants, including Kilifi North and Ganze MPs Gideon Mung’aro and Peter Shehe respectively.

Uhuru's week-long stay in the Coast began in Malindi, where he is said to have met local leaders, including Jubilee-friendly aspirants, at a hotel on December 24, before moving to Mombasa, where he has been operating from since.

Speaking at his Marere rural home on Thursday, Shehe said the Malindi seat interests everybody, but insisted that the residents ought to vote in a Jubilee candidate in appreciation of the elevation of area MP Dan Kazungu to Cabinet.

“President Kenyatta’s giving Dan a ministerial post indicates that he has the interests of the Malindi people at heart,” said Shehe.

Ruto on the other hand hosted a meeting with Kilifi County leaders over the weekend at the Kilifi town-based Pwani University, before pitching tent in Watamu to show just how much time and effort Jubilee can dedicate to the campaign.

The Coast leaders present from the county’s seven constituencies endorsed the ruling Jubilee as the coalition residents ought to vote for after proving it has their interests at heart by addressing the squatter problem.

Jubilee has a number of candidates, with banker Philip Charo, who enjoys Mung’aro’s backing, being touted as the frontrunner of the pack, followed by former MP and Ruto close ally Lukas Maitha. Mung’aro, who is considered a key player in Malindi politics, having been MP and mayor for a decade, is said to be treading carefully to ensure the ruling coalition gets the most popular candidate and wins the seat.

Shehe said President Uhuru and DP Ruto have left local leaders to handle the Malindi campaigns, though they are monitoring the situation from a distance.

“Both the president and his deputy have left the matter to us on a principle of respect for home-grown solutions to this issue. We are urging our opponents to respect them because they are our leaders,” said Shehe.

Shehe said the local leaders tasked to ensure a government-friendly candidate wins will organize the people to vote in a candidate who has a vision for the constituency.

DEPUTY President William Ruto has urged the Kalenjin community to “stop herding cows” and register as voters in Nairobi.

The DP was speaking at Kabianga High School during the thanks giving cum homecoming ceremony of former Kericho Senator Charles Keter who was appointed the new Energy CS.

Ruto last month hosted 6,000 Rift Valley leaders at his Sugoi home to sell the Jubilee Party.

The DP and President Uhuru Kenyatta will use JP to seek re-election in 2017.

In a six-minute clip in possession of the Star, the DP addresses the residents in Kalenjin.

He said Nairobi is critical as it generates 50 per cent of the GDP.

“Some communities have MPs and we have none. What are we doing?” Ruto says.

The DP has been facing challenges in the Rift Valley selling JP.

Bomet Governor Isaac Rutto and Baringo Senator Gideon Moi have teamed up with MPs, MCAs, professionals and businessmen to challenge Ruto.

Rutto has registered a new political party — Mashinani Development Party of Kenya.

He said he will not join JP.

The DP, while referring to the March 4, 2013, general election, said his preferred candidate Nixon Korir lost the Lang’ata MP seat by a whisker.

“We missed by 2,000 votes in 2013. We want votes in Lang’ata,” Ruto says.

He said no Kalenjin should register to vote at home.

“We want everyone who is in Nairobi to register there,” Ruto said.

His ally Korir of URP was second behind TNA and ODM candidates.

ODM’s Joash Olum won with a landslide and is the current MP.

The DP is keen to capture the seat after Uhuru’s tenure ends in 2022.

The man accused of stabbing his wife pleaded not guilty in a Wajir court on Friday.

Mohamed Deeq denied stabbing Fatuma Ibrahim and told the court he was trying to save his wife from attempting suicide.

Prosecutor Meroka Riech requested more time to await the medical report.

Resident Magistrate Bildad Rongocho ordered Deeq be remanded until January 13, when the case will be mentioned.

The knife used to stab Fatuma Ibrahim.Photo/knh

Deeq, who hails from Wajir East, appeared composed when brought to the courtroom which was packed with women and human right activists.

He was accused of stabbing his wife on the cheek following a domestic squabble.

Ibrahim, who was flown to Kenyatta National hospital on Thursday evening after the knife got lodged in her cheek, also suffered stab wounds to her thigh, abdomen and arms.

The doctors have already removed the knife after she was airlifting to Nairobi by Amref.

The attack went viral on social media as Kenyans called for justice via hashtag #justiceforfatuma, and the maximum sentence for Deeq.

Surgeons after doing the surgery.Photo/knh

Deputy President William Ruto so far has spent an estimated Sh100 million hosting more than 12,000 delegates at his Sugoi home in Uasin Gishu to campaign for the Jubilee Party.

Inside sources tell the Star the money comes from a Sh500 million budget to entertain delegations from all 47 counties before JP is launched in March.

The source of the cash is not clear, though the DP is a man of means.

Costs include transport, accommodation, food, drink and handouts to delegations.

On December 21, Ruto started by hosting more than 6,000 delegates from his Rift Valley backyard, followed by 1,000 from Bungoma and Trans Nzoia and another 1,000 from Samburu and Turkana counties.

Yesterday the DP welcomed 1,000 Kakamega delegates, a day after almost as many came from Kisii region. Several private delegations have visited.

Before delegates came calling, the DP bought about Sh3 million goats for the feasts from the famous Kimalel goat auction in Baringo.

Sources privy to entertainment deatils said each 'ordinary' delegate got Sh3,000-Sh5,000 "as bread and milk for their families.”

Delegation leaders — governors, senators, MPs, MCAs and prominent figures — merited more.

They get Sh50,000-Sh100,000, depending on their status.

On Thursday some Kisii delegates were openly showing and boasting about their gifts outside Eldoret's Hotel Sirikwa. A political activist escorted by security officers carried heavy bags to a vehicle used by prominent Kisii politicians.

“This is a total waste when even dispensaries next to his home don't have facilities for patients. It’s unreasonable and we demand to know the source of the funds," ODM chairman in Uasin Gishu county David Songok said.

"No matter how many delegations Ruto wines and dines and treats, rejection of the Jubilee government is growing," he said.

Governor Jackson Mandago is among those supporting the meetings.

“We discussed many things, including farming, tourism, trade and strengthening devolution. It’s not just politics, though we agreed the best way forward is for everyone to join JP,” Mandago said.

Cord leader Raila Odinga and allies call for a lifestyle audit of the DP to determine the source of money spent on fundraisers and political meetings to “buy support for jubilee”.

“What kind of hustler spends that kind of money?" Senator Anyang Nyong’o asked.

Rift Valley Kanu officials led by Paul Kibet and Jonathan Bii have protested against the meetings.

“Farmers suffer low pay at NCPB for maize, yet nearby someone is busy dishing out money to buy political support,” Kibet said.

Sources said at least four governors individually supported the mass meetings with cash from undisclosed resources.

Ruto will host delegations from Busia, Mt Elgon, Vihiga, Nyanza and Nakuru, before moving to Nairobi, Central, Eastern, Northeastern and Coast regions ahead of the JP launch in March.

At a hotel in Eldoret, a Kisii MP from Kitutu went on a drinking spree and was heard shouting the run-up to next year's polls would be the harvest of a lifetime.

“There's no need to hurry back to Kisii since we have the money. We can spend part here and take the balance home. After all, the political harvest has just started," the MP said.

Another Kisii politician said the wads of bills are timely since "pockets are torn from carrying coins.

The Tanzanian High Commission in Nairobi has denied its country's Operation Timua Wageni is a move to free up jobs for locals.

The High Commission told the Star on Friday the operation that began this month is routine enforcement of the Tanzanian Immigration Act of 1995 and does not target any nationality.

“What I can tell you is that this is not something new. It has always been there,” said an official who did not want to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the press.

The government has launched a crackdown on foreign nationals who do not have both work and residence permits.

Only 680 foreigners have work permits, according to the country's immigration department and only 66 have applied for residence permits.

“The Immigration department through this notice would like to remind all individuals, companies institutions and employers that it is illegal for any foreign citizen to continue working or doing any activity without residence permits...anyone who will go against this law, strict legal action will be taken against them,” the notice warned.

Tanzania's move triggered outrage in Kenya and complaints that many Kenyans, especially private school teachers, have fallen victims after authorities failed to renew their permits.

It was not immediately clear how many Kenyans have been affected as Kenyan Ambassador to Tanzania Chirau Ali Makwere did not answer phone calls.

This is not the first time Tanzania has launched a crackdown on foreigners.

In September 2013, the government cracked down immigrants, fuelling doubts about its commitment to the East African Community

It also launched numerous measures, including requiring all foreigners apply for work permits, pay $2,000 and wait five months.

The measures were announced as the East African Community continued to seek common ground from member states on issuing work permits.

Currently each country decides how to treat EAC citizens because there is uniform binding requirement.

Tanzania has the region's most expensive work permits. Uganda charges $250 per year for missionaries, volunteers and students and $1,500 for business people and consultants.

Kenya, which initially waived fees for East Africans, has reintroduced a $1,976 charge for job seekers aged under 35.

Rwandan work permits are free for EAC members, while Burundi charges three per cent of the annual gross salary of its foreign workers, including EAC partner states.

With the 2017 elections less than two years away, three governors have announced the launch of political movements that will play a role in the polls and after.

Governors Peter Munya (Meru), Isaac Rutto (Bomet) and Alfred Mutua (Machakos) have all said that they are launching their own political movements.

The move by the three is not only seen as a political manoeuvre for 2017 but also as a launch pad for their entry into President Uhuru Kenyatta's succession battle, if he gets a second term.

All three governors have said their political movements are aimed at championing the interests of devolution and development.

However, a closer look at the three shows they are all interested in joining the race to succeed President Kenyatta, who will be seeking reelection in 2017.

Munya and Rutto, who got elected under the Jubilee coalition, have declared their support for Uhuru in 2017, while Mutua, who was elected on a Cord ticket, is perceived to be an ally of the President.

All three are distancing themselves from the plans by their original parties for the 2017 elections and focusing on giving their supporters an alternative political route.

For Munya and Rutto, their 2013 parties, the Alliance Party of Kenya and the United Republican Party respectively, are part of those dissolving to form the Jubilee Party.

For Mutua, Wiper remains in the opposition Cord with its leader Kalonzo Musyoka trying to wrestle ODM's Raila Odinga for the coalition's 2017 ticket.

County chiefs eye Uhuru Succession in 2022

Mutua has yet to formally announce whether he will be running for the Presidency in 2022, unlike his other two colleagues, but the grapevine has it that he is a likely candidate.

Deputy President William Ruto is perceived as the automatic replacement for Uhuru, who will not be eligible to run in 2022 if he wins the Presidency in 2017.

Munya is said to be working hard to compete with Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi to be Ruto's running mate in 2022, with the DP expected to get his number two from the Mt Kenya region.

Kiraitu has already positioned himself as the most senior Mt Kenya politician after Uhuru by virtue of his position as the co-chair of the steering committee in the President’s new outfit, the Jubilee Party.

“It is a turning point in Mount Kenya East politics. We have made a wise decision to dissolve our parties, as we support President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto in 2017 and 2022," Kiraitu said.

The Star has established that as part of the new Jubilee Party structure, Kiraitu would be the deputy party leader, with Uhuru as patron and Ruto as the party leader.

Kiraitu is said to be preparing to use this as his stepping stone to becoming Deputy President under Ruto, on the assumption that the DP will run and win in 2022.

Munya is said to also be interested in the same position and sees a political party as the best bargaining tool once the time comes in 2022.

Munya said he will not be forming a new party but will instead pick an existing one and rebrand it once the Alliance Party of Kenya dissolves to join the Jubilee Party.

“It’s going to be a big party with support from across the country. It will be a party that can be joined by those who want to lead the country. Its key leadership will be from Mt Kenya East and it will carry the vision of the region in leading the country because we are not lacking in talent,” Munya said.

Last October, Munya was endorsed by some Meru and Tharaka Nithi APK delegates to vie for President in 2022, and tasked to form a new party that he would use to seek reelection in 2017.

The Rutto and Keter factors without Ruto

Rutto, a former ally of Ruto’s now turned his fiercest critic has already acquired the Mashinani Development Party of Kenya, which he is planning to use to build himself as the Rift Valley kingpin.

The DP, by virtual of his position, is considered the Rift Valley kingpin but with the ICC case still hanging over his head, the region is cautious on who replaces him, if need be.

Allies of Ruto are said to have concluded that Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter is the second-most senior politician from the region.

This has led the Bomet Governor to register the new political outfit as a way of boxing in the South Rift vote bloc where he draws much of his support from.

The registration of Rutto's political machine, the Mashinani (grassroots), has ended months of speculation about the governor’s political game plan.

Governor Rutto named influential former Bomet Mayor David ‘Socrates’ Sang as the party's national chairman, with Samburu political activist David Lemeketo as secretary general.

In December, the governor welcomed the move to dissolve the Jubilee affiliate parties, saying they had outlived their usefulness.

Rutto, however, said he will not join the new Jubilee Party as the affiliate parties were not consulted.

“I’m happy the President has seen the wisdom to dissolve these parties and thus freed us to join parties of our own. I’m not joining the Jubilee Party because, just like JAP, its formation is devoid of consultation,” the governor said.

Meeting Kipsigis professionals and former councillors in Kericho town last Saturday, Rutto said he will run for President.

“I will only declare my interest at the right time, which probably could even be in 2022. It is the electorate who will decide in 2022 who will be their President, leave alone the succession rhetoric we hear every other day. We actually need a break from that and leave Kenyans to decide for themselves,” he said.

Rutto's party already has a candidate in the February 12 by-election in Nyangores Ward, where he will test his popularity against the Jubilee wave.

MDPK is also expected to field a candidate in the Kericho senatorial by-election, which would be an acid test for the Jubilee Party in the March 7 mini-poll.

The Raila and Kalonzo factors

There are indications Cord leader Raila Odinga’s ODM brigade may back out of the Kericho race to support Governor Rutto’s candidate as part of a deal to weaken the DP’s influence in the region.

Amid earlier indications that URP would fold up before the end of last year, Governor Rutto entered into a deal with the little-known People’s Patriotic Party of Kenya, whose name was changed to the Mashinani Development Party of Kenya.

Rutto formed the party in the expectation that Uhuru and Ruto were planning to clip Jubilee rebels’ wings and force them into the Jubilee Party, or push them out of office through amendments to the Political Parties Act.

Mutua, who appears to have fallen out with Kalonzo, launched the Maendeleo Chap Chap movement last weekend, promising to make it national.

Kalonzo has called a Wiper meeting next week to discuss how to deal with Mutua, who the party says appears to have jumped ship.

Mutua said that his Maendeleo Chap Chap is not a political party but a rallying call for Kenyans who are development- oriented to join hands.

“I am a good member of the Wiper Democratic Movement and I have struggled a lot to remain in it. I cannot understand why I am being pushed. All I have done is steer development. Maendeleo Chap Chap is a political, social-economic movement. We urge Kenyans to join the development-based movement so we can spread it across the country,” Mutua said.

Though Mutua has not publicly declared his future political intentions after Machakos, there are those in Jubilee who are keen to have him as the Ukambani point man.

Mutua is seen as the replacement for former Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu, who was forced out of government after she was charged for alleged corruption.

Those close to the Governor say that his “development chorus” is aimed at portraying him as one who is interested in transformation.

State House operatives close to the Uhuru see Mutua as a likely replacement for Ruto, in the event that the DP’s ICC case becomes a hindrance in 2017 or 2022.

However, the Star has also learnt that this suggestion is not going down well with the Ruto allies, who believe that the DP, if need be, can only be replaced by someone from the Rift Valley.

ODM chairman John Mbadi has accused Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo of insulting him.

During Friday morning Radio talk show on Nam Lolwe FM, Mbadi declared that Gumbo has created a personal difference with him.

“Gumbo abused me for having attended Rasanga’s state of the County address in Rarieda. He insulted my family. He abused my wife who hails from his Constituency that she is not blessed with children, he is lucky his wife has got children. That’s alright,” said Mbadi.

The Suba MP added; “Even if my wife has no children, she is my wife and I love her.”

Mbadi told Gumbo to tread carefully on his statements noting that there are utterances leaders should make and others they should desist from.

Gumbo asked for forgiveness to all leaders he may have offended in any way.

Gumbo said; “Let us forget all the past in 2015 and focus ahead as a united people. I do apologize for any leader whom I may have wronged in one way or another.”

Mbadi said Gumbo’s apology does not wipe away whatever he said against him.

“He made personal statements against me. I don’t like them and that has created a personal difference between me and him. He must know that Siaya is not his garden where I have to consult him before I visit,” said Mbadi.

Police in Bomet are trying to unravel the mystery behind a cold blood murder of a Kalenjin musician Diana Chemutai Musila popularly known as Chelele and her body dumped inside her deserted house in Bomet County.

The body of Chelele was found early Saturday morning at her Kapkwen residence, some five kilometers away from Bomet town with several wounds on her hands and deep cuts on her body.

Confirming the incident Bomet police OCPD Abel Sande said they were informed by the sister after several unsuccessful attempts to trace her.

Sande said police went to the scene of the incident where they found the body with blood stains spilled all over the floor of her former house.

It is suspected that she may have been killed elsewhere and the body dumped in the abandoned house.

Chelele, according to the younger sister-Cheche, has been missing for the last three days.

It is reported that she was last spotted on Monday night at a popular joint in Kericho town.

“I met her in Kericho at around 3pm on Monday on my way since it was late I decided to call her sister to inquire from her on what she was doing at such time but she did not pick,” explained a friend who asked not to be named.

Chelele has had numerous family and legal disputes with her husband Eric Musila, a police officer, who disappeared with their two children and has been living with them.

A case is also pending at the children’s court in Bomet over the custody of the two twin kids the husband lives with.

The deceased has previously tried to commit suicide.

Chelele has released several music hits including those flattering her family as ‘mpenzi wangu’, ‘binti osama’, ‘osupchongwony’ but the recent album lamenting on marriage seems to depict a break up between the two.

In 2012, Musila, the husband was also charged in a court over the death of an Eldoret businessman suspected to be having an affair with the singer. The case is, however, yet to be concluded.

Hundreds of grief-stricken residents continued to troop to the home of the late singer for the better part of the day as they tried to come up with the loss of the famous artiste.

Cord leader Raila Odinga has given DPP Keriako Tobiko a three-day ultimatum to name those behind Eurobond saga.

Raila said it is against the spirit of fighting corruption when Director of Public Prosecutions declares Eurobond file closed before any information.

EACC on Friday said it found no evidence that part of Sh250 billion raised from Eurobond has been stolen by government officials.

Raila said Kenyans are not fools to be tossed around like tennis when it is clear the money never landed in the Central Bank account.

"I have given you three days to mention those thieves behind Eurobond graft and if you don't, I will name them," said Raila.

He said the Jubilee government is comprised of extra ordinary thieves that are geared to destroy the country's economy.

Raila said the Eurobond loan has made the currency fall by allowing the dollar to go up from Sh82 to Sh100.

"If the money could have been channeled to Central Bank, the foreign exchange could have reduced instead of increasing, said Raila."

He said he is aware that the government is planing to get another loan without explaining to Kenyans what the previous loan has done.

"When I expose corruption scandals in the government to save the public money, other people start talking ill of me," he said.

The Cord leader said Kanu orphans have started returning the county back to the leadership of 90s.

"The money Deputy President is walking with in sacks, dishing left right and center should be directed to other meaningful issue like paying teachers," Raila said.

OPPOSITION leaders have lauded Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho for “a principled stand against a moneyed government” that allegedly buys loyalty from Cord’s elected leaders.

On Saturday, Joho told off Jubilee in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s presence, saying that he was ODM’s deputy party leader and could not be expected to hit the campaign trail for their opponents.

“Sonko let me tell you, I am in ODM, you do not expect me to campaign for you when you are in Jubilee. That is the price of democracy. Don't get mad when I speak about ODM. You speak about Jubilee and me ODM,” the governor told Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko.

Yesterday Cord politicians who spoke to the Star said Joho demonstrated that the Coast is still in opposition chief Raila Odinga’s grip, despite Uhuru’s aggressive charm offensive.

Raila's spokesman Dennis Onyango said the Cord fraternity witnessed Joho take a stand against what he termed “a bullying and corrupt government that has a billion for every turncoat”.

He went on: “We assure the governor we noticed his principled stand and we don't take it lightly. It takes guts and faith in what Kenya can be to stand up against the moneyed, rejuvenated children of Kanu.”

Joho and Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya are Raila’s ODM deputies and also considered key point men in Coast and Western respectively.

Suna East MP Junet Mohammed said Joho was pushed to the wall to speak frankly to Uhuru after the President snubbed him for 16 days in his own county.

“We commend him for being forthright. Joho is Raila's deputy and governor for Mombasa and he must be respected,” Junet said.

Mbita MP Millie Mabona also praised Joho.

“For the sake of some, let me be clearer: Governor 001 Ali Hassan Joho, you have my respect! You have stood against mafisi alone. Ingawaje Deputy President anakuita ‘a fool never changes his mind,’ you have shown him you can hold your own. You are my hero of the day!" said Mabona.

There is anxiety in Mombasa over allegations that Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar is plotting to battle it out with Joho for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat.

The contest, which is likely to precipitate a falling out, will most likely be beneficial to Jubilee.

Already, a number of ODM elected MPs from the Coast have shifted their allegiance to Jubilee amid allegations that some were paid to switch loyalties.

President Kenyatta on Saturday distributed thousands of title deeds in Mombasa as DP Ruto insisted he would continue hosting cross-party delegations.

DEPUTY President William Ruto begins the fight of his life at the ICC tomorrow in what will be a make or break battle for his political career.

Ruto is seeking an acquittal without having to mount a defence – a laborious process that would be likely to distract the DP's focus on the 2017 presidential contest.

Together with his co-accused Joshua Sang he will be in The Hague courtroom from tomorrow until Friday, to orally argue why the case should be terminated at this stage.

The oral arguments are meant to buttress Ruto's 95-page written submissions in which he accuses Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of seeking to nail him on a “case built almost entirely on hearsay”.

Ruto's legal strategy is to discredit Bensouda's case, which he insists stands on unreliable witnesses, poor investigations and irrational conclusions.

He says for example the ICC failed to prove the existence of a multifaceted network composed of political, media, financial, tribal and military components whose aim was to expel the Kikuyu from the Rift Valley.

“The organization dubbed the 'Network' by the OTP [Office of The Prosecutor] is the keystone of the case . . . Without it, the case must fail,” Ruto argues.

But in her 140-page rebuttal, Bensouda maintained Ruto’s trial cannot be terminated because she has presented enough evidence to convict both the DP and Sang.

“The Prosecution submits that the evidence presented, taken at its highest, is sufficient to satisfy a reasonable Trial Chamber that the Prosecution has proved all of the essential elements required to secure a conviction of both accused. Accordingly, the Defence Motions should be dismissed,” Bensouda said.

If the no-case-to-answer motion is rejected, Ruto will be a man under siege.

He will have to face the 2017 polls as a suspect with the ICC Sword of Damocles still hanging over his head.

The trial will also be a distraction to the high-octane campaign politics that have already begun 18 months to the polls.

However, should the judges terminate the charges, Ruto's political star is likely to shine even brighter.

He will not have the ICC baggage and will be free to hit the campaign trail to market President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election with his own eyes trained on the 2022 polls and the succession.

When many people think of the heart, what comes to mind first are probably the arteries, and the heartbeats.

But one may not realize that the heart also has a unique electrical system to help it pump blood. Without this system, heart would lie motionless and serve no useful purpose.

Any defects in this electrical system can cause the heart to beat too slowly, a dangerous condition called heart block.

Dr Carsten Israel performs final checks on Joel Makokha at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, after changing the battery of his eight-year-old pacemaker

Joel Makokha, an 84-year-old mechanic from Mumias, started tiring easily ten years ago. “I thought that’s how it feels to be 70 years old,” he says. He also experienced shortness of breath when he stood, and extreme dizziness, to the point of fainting.

Dr Carsten Israel and other doctors prepare Joel Makokha for the minor surgery. They successfully fitted him with a new pacemaker.

“This mostly affects about one in 1,000 Kenyans above 60 years. Many people dismiss it as old age, but it may be a heart condition that is rectified by inserting a small gadget called a pacemaker in the body,” says Dr Bernard Gitura, a cardiologist at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

He says patients carry the pacemakers for life. Otherwise, they remain unproductive because of extreme fatigue and some eventually die of cardiac arrest. He calls on the counties to buy equipment to diagnose this condition and stop unnecessary deaths.

The wound on Joel Makokha's left shoulder is being covered after the surgery. He only paid Sh20,000 for the highly subsidised operation.

Makokha received a pacemaker at Karen Hospital eight years ago. He paid Sh500,000. At KNH, the cheapest pacemaker costs between Sh250,000 and Sh300,000.

Most of them can go for about 10-14 years before the battery is replaced. Makokha’s battery was changed last week in a free programme by the East African Heart Rhythm Project. Forty patients benefited this year.

Image of a pacemaker with the lead wires threaded into the heart. The operation costs up to Sh300,000 at Kenyatta National Hospital, yet pacemakers are sold for less than Sh50,000 in Europe.

German cardiologist Carsten Walter Israel, who is married to a Kenyan, started the charity programme in 2011 after learning that many heart block patients in Kenya were dying because they could not afford pacemakers.

He brings in a team of heart specialists every year and have so far installed more than 250 pacemakers. Patients only pay Sh20,000 – the cost of using the KNH facilities. The 45-minute surgery is done under local anesthesia.

The pacemaker – the size of a matchbox – is connected mostly to two or three lead wires that are threaded through the veins and implanted into the heart muscle.

Joel Makokha shakes hands with Dr Carsten Israel after the surgery. A total of forty patients were fitted with new pacemakers at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi.

The battery sends electrical pulses through them to prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate. “We have to test it to make sure it works properly, before sew up the cut,” he says.

Makokha’s heartbeat slumped to 22 a minute when Dr Carsten removed the old box. He says he felt tired, because the blood could not flow properly in the body. The heartbeat rate then jumps to 60 with the new battery.

Dr Carsten says the pacemaker is safe and one can resume hard work in 10 days. There’s also no risk from mobile phones.

Eighty four-year old Grace Koskei has had the pacemaker for one year. Here she is attended to by Dr Carsten Israel from German at the Kenyatta National Hospital. The medic will confirm the remaining battery charge.

A team of doctors from Germany lead by Dr Carsten Israel perform check-ups on a seven year old girl who developed heart block after a past heart operation disrupted her electrical system.

I get it. The Aga Khan was here in December; he got a huge state commendation. We all know if the watchdogs of the powers that be call and start making noise and being shrill, it’s easier to make them go away by simply backing down. But I’m sorry, you are The Nation – you do not back down. You do not pander and you do not self-censor.

This is not your newspaper, it is ours. It is not your media space it is ours. For those of us who can remember, The Nation is the calvary of media freedom, boldness and truth. The NATION took so long to get a TV and a radio license because during the Moi era they pulled no punches and for that they were well punished. But they stayed the course and because they did, we have always rewarded the media with support, revenue and goodwill that says, “even when you goof, we will forgive you”.

Even when the radio brand you launch ain’t all that, we will support you. Even when your TV station isn’t as powerful as your newspaper, we will grant you audience and revenue because you are The Nation. The cornerstone of media excellence in Kenya and in the region.

But our disappointment is more about the yellow-belly nature in which the Galava issue was handled. By all means apologise for the undiplomatic manner the editorial was written. By all means, apologise to those who may have been offended – heck I shared your piece on my Facebok page and got trolled on YOUR behalf. I didn’t care – it was a good piece of brutal writing. It was a sharp knife with a jagged edge. Those who were unhappy got no response from me. I shared it because in my case a retweet is indeed an endorsement.

Self-censoring practices are and have always been a serious threat for the future of journalism.

Journalists around world are always forced into self-censoring by power players. Governments are the major players who force journalists to censor their news stories.

In history, governments always wanted to control the media and made laws and regulations to put journalists under control. Journalists who dare not to obey the rules are severely punished.

Using advertising as a weapon privately owned companies also put pressure on journalists.

In some countries gangs put pressure on journalists to prevent them from writing about their illegal activities. They threaten journalists with death. Although it changes from country to country, these are the main reasons which force journalists self-censoring. As a result of this, journalists choose not to write against the interests of any power players.

The self-censoring practices may be threatening the future of journalism. This invisible threat seems to lower the credibility of journalism and journalists.

Censorship has a long history. It has appeared in different ways in different cultures. In some cases, writers were beheaded, imprisoned, tortured and books burned in other instances.

From the very beginning of writing, the established power players have always found ways to impose bans, restrictions on writers.

Censorship and self-censoring are two different terms in respect of meaning. In censorship, boundaries are drawn about what to write or not by the outside powers, such as governments and companies, so journalists or publisher have no choice but write or publish as they are directed.

On the contrary, in self –censoring issue, journalists are not told to do things openly but they censor themselves, hide some facts that they think would be dangerous to write.

Official or private, all power players have always used censorship as a pressure tool to defend their interests, to increase their profit and their influence on the public for years.

• Self-censorship is a common problem among journalists and widely practiced in many countries in the world.
• The main reasons that force journalists to censor their news stories are political, economic pressures and life threats.
• Self-censorship practices of journalists put in danger the future of journalism.
• Preventing self-censoring practices seems to be difficult. Educating journalists on the ethical rules of journalism, laws and government regulations and values of the society may be useful.

In Galava’s editorial, the truth was told. It may not have been told diplomatically. It might not have been told elegantly. It may not even have been told politically correctly, but the truth was well told and that is what The Nation stands for. Sadly last week, The Nation butchered their own brand and betrayed the rest of us. We have had a failure in courage from the leading light; I’m not sure where that leaves the rest of us as we go into an election year.

Sources: https://pkimaru.wordpress.com/ and the Huffington Post

Anne Waiguru has declared she is worth Sh160million, dismissing claims she enriched herself with proceeds from fraudulent transactions at the NYS.

The former Devolution CS, who stepped aside amid corruption claims in November 2015, said she owned most of what she has before becoming a government official.

“I lived in Runda before I joined government and I own a house there. I also drove a Mercedes Benz so there is no way I could have benefited from transactions at the NYS," she said.

“In terms of assets, including the house which is on loan, I am worth Sh160 million... liabilities total Sh80 million. The net value is nothing significant."

She also noted during a Citizen TV interview on Sunday that she worked at the World Bank and as Citi Group assistant vice president before joining the government.

Waiguru denied owning malls in different parts of the country as reported by media, saying she is frugal with her spending.

“I do not pay more than Sh2,500 for my shoes and I bargain for every delivery," she said. She added that her photos as shared several times on social media show she has worn the same jewellery for the last six or seven years.

"We declared our wealth after every two years in government; we did it when we were appointed so my records are available,” she said.

Waiguru said she was saddened by personal attacks on her children, her son in particular, whose pictures next to an Aston Martin vehicle surfaced.

“My son is an ordinary teenager and would get rides from people. We do not own the car, we cannot even dream of owning it because it is very expensive," she said.

"People go to motor shows and take pictures next to cars; it does not mean they own them".

Panic has gripped Auditor General Edward Ouko’s office over an alleged plot to kick him out and have one of his senior deputies take over.

The details emerged just days after Parliament and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission independently ordered Ouko’s office to conduct a special audit on the Sh250 billion Eurobond cash that the latter later gave a clean bill of health.

In what is shaping up as a fierce succession strategy, sources told the Star the government is determined to have Ouko’s deputy John Kagondu take over as the next Auditor General.

Kagondu is said to be a close buddy of senior Jubilee leaders, amid reported tensions between top government officials and the Kenya National Audit Office.

“He is a close friend to those who matter in this government,” a source told the Star.

Part of the scheme to topple Ouko is said to have been executed through the Public Audit Act – a controversial law the opposition has already challenged in court.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s memorandum on the Public Audit Bill provides that when a vacancy occurs in the office of the Auditor General – including through suspension – the senior-most officer at KENAO takes over.

“The Public Service Commission shall recommend the most senior officer in the office of the Auditor General to the President to designate such a person as the acting Auditor General,” Section 11 of the Act states.

Kagondu is the most senior among Ouko’s six deputies.

Jubilee leaders believe Ouko, a former Auditor General at the African Development Bank, is a close friend of opposition chief Raila Odinga.

However, those in the know say Ouko is apolitical and is hardly known to Raila, despite his 30 years’ experience in matters of auditing, accounting and investigations.

The ruling coalition’s disapproval of Ouko and Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo emerged late last year, when a section of MPs led by Majority leader Aden Duale accused the two of sabotaging the government.

They blamed increased whistleblowing on cases of graft in government on “opposition moles” and unnamed powerful brokers.

“We have noticed a trend of powerful brokers/vendors trying to use public officials to drive a corruption narrative against the Government,” Duale told a news conference at Parliament Buildings.

Last year, the Auditor-General raised the red flag on the questionable spending of Sh66.7 billion by 17 ministries and state departments in the previous financial year.

The money is part of a massive Sh450 billion in unsupported expenditures.

After the disclosures, President Kenyatta summoned Ouko to State House, where he read him the riot act, accusing him of plotting to bring down the government.

“With the new loopholes in law, they can easily force him out as they did the EACC commissioners,” our source said.

It was after the audit feud that State House authored the memorandum that critics say is intended to erode the independence of the office.

Cord yesterday claimed that officers from the National Intelligence Service are being recruited to preside over the 2017 general election.

The coalition said the IEBC is training NIS officers in batches of 100 to participate in the elections, but warned the conspiracy tilting the electoral landscape will backfire “and the cost may be too high for the country”.

Cord said the NIS agents are targeted for recruitment as Presiding Officers, Returning Officers and Registration Clerks with the sole aim of manipulating numbers and names in Jubilee’s favour.

In a press statement, the leaders of Cord’s constituent parties challenged the Electoral and Boundaries Commission to come clean and explain the NIS’s role in the voter registration scheduled to start next month.

“We sense a nasty plan to aid the registration of under-age voters, particularly in parts of the country where virtually every eligible voter was registered in 2013 and now has no new voter to add,” the statement said.

It was signed by representatives of the ODM, Wiper and Ford Kenya parties.

But when contacted, the IEBC chief executive officer, Ezra Chiloba, rubbished the claims, saying the commission was “utterly dismayed” by the statement.

“The commission will be issuing a detailed response to the country on the issues,” Chiloba said.

The IEBC in December announced it will conduct a mass voter registration exercise starting February 4 to March 4, in which it targets to recruit four million new voters.

Yesterday Cord opposed the IEBC proposal to conduct registration at the Ward level and demanded the exercise be conducted at the polling stations.

“We demand clarity, well aware that in the run-up to 2013, the IEBC presided over an overwhelmingly skewed distribution of voter registration kits,” the statement said.

It was signed by John Mbadi, chairman ODM; David Musila, chairman Wiper; and Esseli Simiyu, secretary general Ford Kenya

The three said while Central Kenya had at least one registration kit per polling station in 2013, other parts of the country had one kit shared by four to five polling stations.

“The IEBC should clarify on the number of registration centres for the February voter registration exercise, how those centres have been selected and their distribution across the country and the various constituencies.”

The coalition says it is privy to information the IEBC plans to deploy one registration kit per ward in parts of the country perceived to be supportive of the opposition.

The parties said this will not work and described it as “a window dressing exercise” meant to create an impression that registration of voters did take place when in reality nothing happens.

“IEBC should read the mood of the nation and act accordingly. These acts of opacity, manifestations of involvement in a conspiracy to tilt the electoral landscape will backfire.”