The Nation (Kenya) articles from April 2011

The Nation (Kenya) archives from April 2011

Offices Raided Over Play.
April 29, 2011... Byline: Kitsepile Nyathi Zimbabwe police have raided the offices of the country's largest arts festival after it opened with a play depicting dictatorship in Africa. Four organisers of the Harare International Festival of the Arts were...

Mugabe Meets Raila Despite Earlier Refusal.
April 29, 2011... Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Friday held talks with Zimbawe's President Robert Mugabe. Mr Odinga arrived in Harare on his way to the city of Bulawayo, where he is to open the third national conference of the Movement for Democratic Change....

KCB Q1 Profit Up 32 Per Cent.(Financial report)
April 28, 2011... KCB Group on Thursday announced a 32 per cent increase in its profit before tax for the first quarter of 2011 to Sh2.5 billion up from Sh1.9 billion over the same period last year. The bank's operating income went up by 35 per cent to stand...

Minister - Harmonise EA Market Trade Rules.
April 28, 2011... Byline: Jonathan Manyindo A Cabinet minister has said the East African Common Market would only be successful if member states harmonise trade rules across the border. Gender and Children Affairs minister Naomi Shaban said the Common...

Honour Summons, House Team Tells Mudavadi.
April 28, 2011... Byline: John Ngirachu Parliament's Equal Opportunity Committee has demanded that Local Government minister Musalia Mudavadi appear before it to explain ethnic imbalance in employment at the Ministry. Mr Mudavadi had sent the ministry's...

India-Kenya Ties to Create Jobs, Says VP.
April 28, 2011... Byline: Vpps Economic cooperation between Kenya and India is aimed at creating jobs and ending the perennial food shortage in the country Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has said. Mr. Musyoka said whereas Africa was a continent of abundance...

Shock of Bodies On Magadi Road.
April 28, 2011... Byline: Aggrey Mutambo Three charred bodies of middle-aged men were discovered Thursday beside a road near Olepolos on the Nairobi-Magadi highway. Residents said they saw the bodies dumped by the roadside early morning before notifying the...

Police Recruitment Was Fair, Says Rights Group.
April 28, 2011... Byline: Fred Mukinda The joint Kenya police recruitment has been given a clean bill of health by one of the independent observer groups. Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) chairperson Florence Jaoko Thursday described it as...

House Team Wrangles Persist.
April 28, 2011... Byline: Njeri Rugene and John Ngirachu Parliament's Justice and Legal Affairs Committee has once again failed to resolve a deadlock over its leadership. A meeting held Thursday and chaired by Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim, ended without a...

New Measures to Alleviate Cost of Living.
April 28, 2011... Byline: Peter Leftie The price of kerosene is set to reduce by an extra Sh2 as the government started implementing tax waivers to address the rising of living Thursday. The government also unveiled a raft of immediate interventions to...

Ex-Kpa Chief's Bank Accounts to Stay Frozen.
April 28, 2011... Byline: Philip Muyanga Former Kenya Ports Authority managing director's bid to have the High Court lift interim orders freezing his account has been rejected. On Wednesday, Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC) lawyer Oscar Angote...

CMA Lifts Uchumi Supermarkets Suspension.
April 28, 2011... The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday finally lifted the suspension of share trading by Uchumi Supermarkets from the bourse. CMA suspended the supermarket chain in 2006 from trading at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) following its...

Political Reforms Will Attract Investors - U.S. Envoy.
April 27, 2011... The United States Government wants the business community to push for political reforms to attract foreign investment. There was need for massive reforms to achieve economic development, outgoing ambassador Michael Ranneberger told a...

Call to Adopt Ligale Report On Vote Zones.
April 27, 2011... The proposals of the defunct Interim Independent Boundaries Commission should be used as a guide in establishing 80 new constituencies, MPs said on Wednesday. Suggestions to adopt the controversial recommendations of the Andrew Ligale-led...

Five Cleared for Kamukunji By-Election.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Peter Mwai Five aspirants were on Wednesday cleared by the interim electoral body to vie for the Kamukunji parliamentary seat. "We have not received any notification on whether he intends to contest the seat and on which party's...

Terror Suspect in Country, Police Warn.
April 27, 2011... A suspected terrorist has sneaked into Kenya from Somalia and is planning attacks in Nairobi, police warned on Wednesday. The police report, that includes his photograph, identifies him only as "Abdullahi from Central Kenya". In the...

MPs Join Forces to Probe Reports of Bad Maize.
April 27, 2011... Three committees of Parliament will investigate fears that poisoned maize could be on sale in the Kenyan market. The committees of Agriculture, Foreign Affairs and Health picked up reports from the Daily Nation and are following up several...

Speaker Directs Treasury to Set Up Equality Fund.
April 27, 2011... Treasury has been directed to set up a constitutional fund to speed up development in marginalised areas. Speaker Kenneth Marende did not take lightly remarks made by Finance assistant Minister Oburu Oginga on Wednesday, that the Equalisation...

Millions Face Hunger After Money Runs Out.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Mwakera Mwajefa With soaring prices of fuel and food hitting the roof, hunger beckons for an estimated 2.4 million people in Kenya. Even World Food Programme is worried it might be unable to supply relief food for the needy unless...

Team Barred From Probing Kiplagat.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Jillo Kadida Questions over the human rights record of the boss of the Truth Commission will have to wait until a case he has filed in court is determined. Mr Justice Aggrey Muchelule has issued a temporary order stopping a...

Indians Form Bulk of Foreign Workers.
April 27, 2011... Byline: John Ngirachu Expatriates from India top the list of foreigners issued with work permits in the past four years. A total of 10,581 Indian workers had been issued with work permits since 2007, with 3,264 getting the document last...

Rawal - Solid Past But Puzzling Rulings.
April 27, 2011... Byline: George Kegoro Justice Kalpana Rawal, one of the two women short-listed for the position of Chief Justice comes from a family of lawyers. Her father was judge of the High Court of India, where he served with distinction and received...

Safaricom's Stand On Interlink Fee Triggers New Battle With Regulator.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Jevans Nyabiage Safaricom has indicated it will oppose further reduction in interconnection rates, setting itself up for fresh battle with the industry regulator over control of calling charges. The country's leading mobile...

Big Field At Royal for National Ladies' Team.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Larry Ngala A field of 200 golfers will on Thursday converge on Royal Nairobi Golf Club course for a fund-raising tournament in aid of the Kenya national Ladies team for the 2011 Gilberson and Page trophy in Lusaka Zambia next month....

Elite Runners Head to Mumias Ahead of Doha.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Chris Musumba It is the last call for elite runners to turn up in Mumias for the Athletics Kenya weekend meeting on Thursday ahead of next week's season debut of the IAAF diamond League in Doha. The highlight of the event will be...

U-23 Camping in Lodge Ahead of Eritrea Tie.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Odindo Ayieko In what can simply be described as a national shame, the Under-23 team is camping in a Ngara lodge at the goodwill of its manager. The players, who do not even have training kit. On Wednesday, they had breakfast on...

Quins' Yahuma Joins Coast Bulls.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Ayumba Ayodi Kenya Harlequin utility back Jotham Yahuma and Nondescripts winger Bobby Oyugi have bolstered debutantes Coast Bulls ahead of the 2011 Bamburi Rugby Super Series that starts this Saturday. Both Yahuma and Oyugi have...

Karua Officially Launches Bid for Presidency.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Joy Wanja Gichugu MP Martha Karua launched her presidential bid with a pledge to resettle IDPs, and improve food security and education. She also promised to work for better health care and living conditions for Kenyans. "For...

Anti-Graft Agency Clears 10 for Chief Justice Post.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Peter Leftie And Jillo Kadida Ten candidates eyeing the job of Chief Justice have been cleared by the anti-corruption agency. A source at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which is tasked with filling the post, said the...

Peace Deal in the North Catches a Big Reward.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Barnabas Bii Peace is paying off at Lake Turkana - where fish farming is netting big dividends. The Turkana and their neighbours the Merille from Ethiopia have resumed fishing after reaching a peace deal so they could increase...

Poor State of Roads a Major Hurdle in Survival Struggle.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Barnabas Bii Four women traders with one thing in common - disgust at the state of the roads that link them to their clients. Ekadeli Eru is a charcoal dealer on the Lodwar-Lokichoggio highway... a business that has been her main...

Schooling Stays Bottom of the Class.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Barnabas Bii A nomadic lifestyle and schooling do not marry easily for the pastoral Turkana. Most of the school-going children in the semi-arid land spend their time either looking after animals or walking long distances in search...

Turkana - Political Landscape.
April 27, 2011... This vast county has three constituencies - Turkana North, Turkana Central and Turkana South. No single party has dominated politics here since John Munyes of Ford Kenya ended Kanu's monopoly in 1997 when he won in Turkana North. Turkana...

Boom And Bust for the Town That Thrived On War.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Charles Omondi And Barnabas Bii Life blossomed in the border town of Lokichoggio as the civil war in Sudan caused untold misery and hardship. But after the war ended in 2005, peace brought not a dividend for the town, but the start...

They Fled From Misery to a Home of Hope.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Barnabas Bii Far from being a place of misery, Kakuma refugee camp is a home of hope. For although its 72,000 people have fled from chaos, they have settled down to a normal life, doing business, falling in love, marrying and...

7,000 Youth Join Police Force in Day of Firsts.
April 27, 2011... Seven thousand youth were enlisted in the Police on Wednesday in an event marked with many firsts. The recruitment was carried out in 286 centres and aimed at enrolling 700 university graduates and 2,300 women among the fresh entrants. ...

Nation Too Broke For Elections.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Kitsepile Nyathi Zimbabwe does not have the $400 million needed to organise elections this year, Finance minister Tendai Biti has said. Mr Biti said the coalition government also faces a $150 million deficit this year because it...

Co-Op Bank Profit Rises to Sh1.64 Billion.(Financial report)
April 27, 2011... Byline: Justus Ondari Co-operative Bank of Kenya has recorded a 57 per cent growth in net profit for the first three months of this year, with its management acknowledging that the economic developments during the year remains a challenge. ...

Talent Search Takes Top Spot in What CEOs See Vital.
April 27, 2011... There is a major shift in what chief executive officers consider prime in their companies in Kenya with talent management taking a higher rank than risk management. Risk management formed the second most important priority. Change talent...

Karua Promises to Change Nation.
April 27, 2011... Gichugu MP Martha Karua has launched her presidential bid with a firm promise to change Kenya. The former Justice minister told a charged audience at the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi Wednesday that the fist step would be to clinch the...

Co-Op Bank First Quarter Profit Up 57 Per Cent.(Financial report)
April 27, 2011... Co-operative Bank of Kenya announced a 57 per cent increase in after tax profits setting the tempo in reporting the first quarter results among the top-tier peers on increased lending. The bank, Kenya's fourth-largest by assets, says net...

Kenolkobil Acquires New Depot in Tanzania.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Nation Reporter KenolKobil has acquired a modern depot complex in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from World Oil Limited on a 25 year long term lease deal. The depot will be under the firm's management from July 1, 2011. "The new high...

Court Blocks Kiplagat Probe.
April 27, 2011... A court has blocked a tribunal investigating former Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission chairperson Bethuel Kiplagat from probing into his past. High Court judge Aggrey Muchelule ruled Wednesday that the tribunal should not inquire...

Kenyans Outraged Over Explicit Web Material.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Daniel Wesangula Outrage has greeted proceedings at two events in Nairobi during the Easter weekend after revelations of lewd acts became an internet sensation. Reactions by Kenyans on social media over the explicit videos and...

Ministry - Indians Get Most Work Permits.
April 27, 2011... Byline: John Ngirachu Expatriate Indian workers form the bulk of foreigners issued with work permits in Kenya over the last four years, according to documents tabled in Parliament Wednesday. Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang' revealed...

Former Police Boss Found Dead.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Fred Mukinda A former commandant of the Kenya Police College, Kiganjo, was found dead at his Nairobi home Wednesday. Mr Bernard Kimeli Kemey was found with stab wounds to the chest in Muguga Green estate, Westlands. He retired in...

PNU Alliance to Go All Out for Hassan.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Lucas Barasa The Party of National Unity Alliance has resolved to back and campaign vigorously for its candidate Yusuf Hassan in the Kamukunji parliamentary by-election. The party held a parliamentary group meeting at County Hall...

Karua Set to Launch Presidential Bid.
April 27, 2011... Gichugu MP Martha Karua is expected to launch her presidential bid Wednesday. The former Justice minister is set to announce her bid to clinch the top seat come the next General Election, due in 2012, at the National Museums of Kenya,...

Govt Acts to Cut Grain, Fuel Prices.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Bernard Namunane Taxes on kerosene, maize and wheat have been removed in further measures to fight the rising cost of living in Kenya. This is expected to bring down the price of maize flour, a staple for many families, as well as...

How to Cutback On Spiralling Fuel Costs.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Paul Letiwa With petrol prices rising to an all-time high, many people are feeling the considerable dent in their pockets. Expensive fuel has influenced increase in prices of most products, making life difficult. Mr John...

First Woman to Start Private Practice Aspires for Judge.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Jillo Kadida The first woman to start private practice in Kenya now wants to rise to the position of top judge in the country. High Court judge Lady Justice Kalpana Rawal who comes from a family of lawyers established her private...

Country Waives Tax on Essentials.
April 27, 2011... The Kenya Government has waived taxes on kerosene, maize and wheat in cut-back measures meant to ease the burden of escalating cost of living. It also waived secondary school fees in drought hit areas as President Kibaki and Prime Minister...

Style Advisory.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Francis Ayieko In February, B.K. Terer was involved in the sale of three luxurious villas situated along Westland's Peponi Road, Nairobi. Sitting on 0.6 acres, each villa was going for Sh63 million. Initially, he thought potential...

Will CfC Stanbic's New Financing Option Shake Market?
April 27, 2011... On July 1, 2010, Wilberforce Oundo stood up during a post-Budget seminar organised by the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya in Nairobi and asked an official from a leading mortgage lender, who had just made a presentation, why they were not...

When Honey Bees Attack.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Kenneth Oigo If you have built your house among trees or have chimneys and exposed eves, bee infestation is an ever present threat. This is because bees love building their hives in dark, warm, and hollow places... and chimneys...

'Decolonise' Our Media.
April 27, 2011... For years now, the heavy reliance on Western news agencies has shaped the worldview of Africa. That is why complaints abound that the only news emanating from the continent is that of drought, starvation, war, disease and poverty. We, in...

Why Are We Donating Our Jobs to Foreigners?
April 27, 2011... Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang's response to a question in Parliament on Wednesday about the number of foreigners granted work permits was baffling and needs further interrogation. Between 2007 and last year, the minister said, some...

State Agencies on the Spot Over Seized Vehicles.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Githua Kihara A row is simmering between Container Freight Station operators and two government agencies on the fate of vehicles seized in the past two years. CFS operators say there are no sufficient measures to compel importers...

Safaricom's Stand on Interlink Fee Sets Off New Battle With Regulator.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Jevans Nyabiage Safaricom has indicated it will oppose further reduction in interconnection rates, setting itself up for fresh battle with the industry regulator over control of calling charges. The country's leading mobile...

Social Justice for the People of Northern Kenya is Still a Mirage.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Billow Kerrow In the past one week, the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) has been in North-Eastern Kenya getting a first-hand account of over 45 years of official neglect, deprivation and social injustice visited...

Target Politicians, Not Youth on Facebook.
April 27, 2011... Byline: Evan Mwangi By putting Kenyan youths on notice over their alleged use of social media to spread hate messages, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission chair Mzalendo Kibunjia might be targeting the wrong people. Among...

Innovate for Growth, Urges Science Team.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Winsley Masese Kenyans might not realise their objectives under the country's long-term economic development plan, if they do not invest adequately in research, science and innovation. National Council for Science and Technology...

Country's Pay TV Entrant Maps Affordable Service for Wananchi.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Jevans Nyabiage The race for control of Kenya's Pay-TV market is expected to intensify with the entry of Wananchi Group next month. The group, 51 per cent owned by the ATMT Fund and 49 per cent by Emerging Capital Partners has been...

Govt Launches Labour Laws Taskforce.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Nation Reporter The government on Tuesday launched a technical committee that will oversee the harmonisation of existing labour laws to the new constitution. The taskforce will review workers plight at workplaces as manifested in...

National Oil Corporation Cuts Oil Price By Sh2 Per Litre.
April 26, 2011... The National Oil Corporation of Kenya has reduced its pump prices in a move it says is aimed at bolstering the government's efforts to reduce the price of fuel in the country. The State-owned oil marketer cut its pump prices by Sh2 effective...

COTU - Govt Must Honour Wage Demand.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Dave Opiyo The Central Organisation of Trade Union (Cotu) deputy secretary general George Muchai warned that if the government fails to honour the wage increase on Labour Day, they would have no option but call for a major industrial...

Cashew Nut Firms May Close Due to Shortage of Supply.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Githua Kihara Cashew nut processing factories are facing possible closure due to lack of raw materials following the drought that hit the Coast Province last year. Production of cashew nuts has been at a record low as a result of...

Old Thinking Behind Hiring Imbalance, Says Minister.
April 26, 2011... Byline: John Ngirachu Nairobi Metropolitan Development minister Njeru Githae has attributed the regional imbalance in hiring staff at his ministry on old thinking. Mr Githae told Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee the Public...

Raila Hints At Cabinet Shuffle.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Peter Leftie Kenya Prime Minister Raila Odinga has hinted at a looming cabinet reshuffle that may determine the fate of suspended Higher Education minister William Ruto. The PM told a news conference Tuesday that a reshuffle would...

Raila Back Home, to Issue Brief.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Pmps Prime Minister Raila Odinga returned to the country Monday evening after a two-week mission abroad to woo investments and seek support in various fields. Mr Odinga is expected to brief the country Tuesday, particularly on the...

Over Rising Drug Resistance.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Gatonye Gathura Kenyans, like their livestock, are getting more difficult and costly to treat as a result of increased misuse of medicines. The situation has been worsened by incompetent and, in some cases, greedy heath care...

Are Traffickers Winning?
April 26, 2011... Kenya's war against drug trafficking appears to have lost steam. New cases of drug traffickers passing through our airports and border points appear with worrying frequency. At the weekend, for example, three people were arrested at Jomo...

Banning Travel Abroad Can Hardly Be Enough.
April 26, 2011... Maybe assistant ministers Kabando wa Kabando and Ndiritu Murithi have a salient point when they say that ministers and MPs should not be gallivanting all over Europe and Asia at a time when their people at home can no longer make ends meet. ...

We've Plenty of Maize Within Our Borders.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Booker Owuor Rising food prices are causing suffering to poor people in the world, driving 44 million people into extreme poverty in recent months. Efforts have been made in various countries to combat these dehumanising situations...

Feminism Vs Gender Agenda - It's Time Women Recognised Their Political Rights.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Nyokabi Kamau In a recent opinion poll during this year's International Women's Day, it came out that if Kenya was to go to the vote then, 60 per cent of the electorate would vote for a woman president. That was, indeed, welcome...

Man Denies Sh9.6 Million Cocaine Haul Charge.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Paul Ogemba A man allegedly found with narcotics outside a city market as he tried to board a taxi was yesterday charged with trafficking in cocaine worth Sh9.6 million. Mr Franco Ouma Sande is said to have trafficked in 2.6 kg of...

Media Asked to Prevent Western Dominance in Information Flow.
April 26, 2011... The media in developing countries have been asked to be more proactive to prevent Western dominance in the global information flow. "For decades, developing countries have fought what appeared to be a hard battle against Western dominance in...

Kirima Sons Back in Court Over Estate Row.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Paul Juma Two sons of the late Gerishon Kirima are back in court as legal battles over the property of the former Starehe MP continue. Mr John Kamau Kirima and Mr Samuel Ndei Kirima want to control their father's property in Njiru...

Security Officers 'Killed 330 People' in 1982, Truth Commission Learns.
April 26, 2011... More than 330 people were killed during the 1982 Malkamarre Massacre in Mandera, the Truth commission has been told. Survivors, testifying before the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission at its hearings in Mandera Town, on Tuesday,...

15-Year-Old 'President' With Big Dreams.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Muchiri Karanja At 15, "Her Excellency" is already rubbing shoulders with international diplomats. Today, she is showing Japanese ambassador -- His Excellency Tokihisha Takata -- around the Wash projects in her "country". But first...

'Wenger Needs to Get Cheque Book Out And Sign Big Names'.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Elias Makori Ray Parlour doesn't have an inkling on Kenyan football, but is well aware of the fanatic following the country has for the Barclays English Premier League clubs, especially his former employers, Arsenal FC. That a fan...

Gor Rally to Hold Mathare UTD in Thriller.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Odindo Ayieko and Charles Nyende Gor Mahia and Mathare United settled for a 1-1 draw in a thrilling Kenyan Premier League match at the Nyayo National Stadium Tuesday night. Andrew Tololwa gave Mathare the lead in the 12th minute...

Raila Hints At Cabinet Changes.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Peter Leftie Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Tuesday spoke of a looming Cabinet reshuffle that may determine the fate of suspended Higher Education Minister William Ruto. The PM told a news conference the that reshuffle would be...

Sugar Racket 'Raising Funds for 2012 Poll'.
April 26, 2011... Byline: Peter Leftie MPs from sugarcane growing areas on Tuesday linked the multi-billion shilling sugar importation racket to the elections. They called for thorough investigations to unearth the sugar barons and politicians involved. ...