The Nation (Kenya) articles from February 2011

The Nation (Kenya) archives from February 2011

Country on Alert Over Threats From Somalia's al Shabaab.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Dominic Wabala Commissioner of Police Mr Mathew Iteere has urged shopping mall, hotel owners and Public Service Vehicles (PSV) operators to be more vigilant following the threat by Somalia based radical Islamic group al Shabaab...

Mobile Banking And Security Risks.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Michael Mbuthia Looking back, a prolific chief executive once mentioned that Kenyans have peculiar habits and second to their peculiar calling habits is the love of their cellphone handsets. The astute CEO read the Kenyan...

Equity Bank Profit Surges to Sh7.1 Billion.(Financial report)
February 28, 2011... Byline: Joseph Bonyo Equity Bank has reported a 69 per cent increase in its profit after tax for the financial year ended December 31, 2010. The bank, reported Sh7.1 billion in the period compared to 2009 when it recorded Sh4.2 billion in...

Bankers Happy With Renewal of Ndung'u's Tenure At CBK.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Nation Reporter Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta has said the re-appointment of Prof Njuguna Ndung'u as Central Bank of Kenya governor is good for the economy because it will create stability. "The governor's reappointment is good...

Country to Seek Parliament Approval On Sh11.4 Billion in Fighting Drought.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Kaburu Mugambi Akuburu The government will be seeking Parliament's approval in two weeks time to spend Sh11.4 billion in tackling the drought ravaging most part of the country as well as setting up county governments. The highest...

Cost of Living Stays On an Upward Trend.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Justus Ondari The rising cost of living in the country became clear on Monday when the government's statistics showed that the overall inflation rate hit a four-month high in February this year. According to the Kenya National...

Turkey Speaker Urges Country to Enforce Law.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Correspondent Turkish speaker Mehmet Sahin on Monday encouraged Kenya to implement its new Constitution to benefit the people. Speaking in Istanbul when he met his Kenyan counterpart Kenneth Marende, Mr Sahin praised Kenya for...

Mombasa Chaos Over Port Privatisation.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Antony Kitimo Police on Monday used tear gas to disperse hundreds of dock workers who were heading to a Mombasa hotel to storm a port privatisation workshop convened by the Kenya Ports Authority. The KPA stakeholders' meeting at...

Citizens Escaping Libya Chaos Arrive in Nairobi.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Lucas Barasa Ninety Kenyans fleeing unrest in Libya arrived in Nairobi on Monday - three days after being evacuated from Tripoli. The Kenya Airways plane carrying the Kenyans also helped evacuate citizens of South Sudan, Zimbabwe,...

PSVs Use Fake Sacco Stickers.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Mwaniki Wahome Government efforts to return sanity in public service transport are facing hiccups, with some operators using fake savings and credit cooperative societies (saccos) stickers to stay on the roads. Cartels have...

Nation to Start Planting Biotech Crops.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Kaburu Mugambi The government says it will publish biotechnology guidelines in two months, setting the country on course to join developing countries planting genetically modified crops. President Kibaki signed the Biosafety Act in...

It's Sour Grapes for Fruits Traders.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Winsley Masese Apples at Mr Samson Maina's stand on the outskirts of Nairobi recently retailed at Sh10 apiece. Three days later, a packet of three fetched Sh20, an average price of Sh6 or a 40 per cent decline. "Demand is low and...

Four More Years for Prof Ndung'u at CBK.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Justus Ondari and Luke Mulunda Prof Njuguna Ndung'u, governor of the Central Bank of Kenya who got a second tenure on Friday, did not seem bothered as the clock ticked to the end of his first four-year term. He still worked as if...

Address Plight of Those Who Will Miss University.
February 28, 2011... The public discourse changes this week with the release of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination results on Monday. This is because exams have been turned into high-stake game, no longer considered just a measure of learning...

Use the Law to Tame These Warmongers.
February 28, 2011... Byline: George Marenya In a commentary published in these pages on February 16, Dr Mzalendo Kibunjia seemed to be grappling with the complex issue(s) of promoting language and diversity without stoking the embers of tribalism. He asked: "I...

Move Over Bulky Ballot Boxes and Long Queues - The Era of E-Democracy is Here.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Esmond Shahonya Uganda was among 17 African countries going to the polls this year. In all these states, the mere mention of electronic voting sparks a debate that portrays Africa as not being ready for digitalised elections. The...

KPL Must Smoke Out These Gor Hooligans Now.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Odindo Ayieko Shame on you hooligans who messed up an otherwise great kick off to the 2011 Kenyan Premier League! You who threw stones onto the pitch, causing the abandonment of the game between Rangers and Gor Mahia. You have...

Two Children Killed in Slum Inferno.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Sammy Kimatu and Lillian Onyango Two children died after an inferno razed more than 5,000 shacks in four slums in South B, Nairobi on Monday. More than 15,000 people were left homeless and property worth millions of shillings...

Girls Take Top Honours in the Languages.
February 28, 2011... Girls took the top two positions in English, according to the 2010 Form Four exam results released on Monday. Nakuru's Bahati Girls was the best school with a performance index of 11.31. It was followed by Precious Blood Secondary School,...

Schools Proposed for Elevation Miss Top 100.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Barnabas Bii Most schools proposed for elevation to national status in the North Rift did not it make among the top 100 nationally in last year's Form Four exams. However, some of the schools to be elevated to provincial status...

Top Boy and Girl With Big Dreams in Science Careers.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Ashley Lime and Jonathan Manyindo Albert Kamau Wandui from Moi High School Kabarak is this year's Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education top student. Albert, who was on Monday celebrating his achievement at home in Kasarani,...

Two Wanted in DR Congo Over Robbery.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Richard Munguti A couple accused of stealing cars is wanted in the Democratic Republic of Congo for robbery. Prosecutor Idleh Sheikh on Monday urged Nairobi chief magistrate Gilbert Mutembei to remand the suspects in police custody...

Starehe Boys Down But Not Out.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Samuel Siringi and Mike Mwaniki Perennial star performer Starehe Boys Centre and School recorded one of its worst results last year. The national school failed to post a candidate among the top 50 nationally. Its leading candidate,...

Top Schools Do It Again in Provinces.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Stella Cherono, Lillian Ochieng and Valentine Obara Nyanza and western province schools which have been performing well in KCSE have once again triumphed in the just released results. Maranda Boys School, Maseno School and Kanga...

Diplomatic Cable Reveals Fears of a Raila Presidency.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Patrick Mayoyo Fears of Prime Minister Raila Odinga ascending to the presidency after the 2007 General Election by close confidantes of President Kibaki have been revealed in a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks. A Cabinet...

Chief Justice Job Opened to Foreign Judges.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Jillo Kadida Foreign judges can now apply to become Kenya's Chief Justice. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the body mandated to initiate the process of finding a replacement for Mr Justice Evan Gicheru, has decided to open...

Wikileaks Says Artur Brothers Were Shielded By Top Officials.
February 28, 2011... "Very interesting people, indeed. They seemed to have it their way," was the observation by then Speaker Francis ole Kaparo in June 2006 when he allowed Parliament to debate a report on the activities of the infamous Artur brothers. And in a...

Schools Adopt Dirty Tricks to Cheat in National Exams.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Samuel Siringi Candidates have invented new dirty tricks of cheating in Form Four national examination whose results were released on Monday. Some schools recruited university students and former Kenya Certificate of Secondary...

Alliance Boys and Precious Blood Top.
February 28, 2011... Byline: David Aduda Alliance High School topped last year's Form Four exam results, which were released on Monday, with a performance index of 11.2570 out of a possible 12. But Albert Kamau Wandui of Moi High School Kabarak was the best...

Only Three More Awaited in Camp As Komon's Axing Raises Eyebrows.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Chris Musumba Only three athletes - Vivian Cheruiyot, Sylvia Kibet and Geoffrey Mutai - are missing from Kenya's World Cross Country Championships' training camp in Kigari, Embu. The team is preparing for the global championships...

Kibaki Aides Feared Odinga Presidency - WikiLeaks.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Patrick Mayoyo Fears of Prime Minister Raila Odinga ascending to the presidency after the 2007 General Election by close confidantes of President Kibaki have been revealed in a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks. A Cabinet...

Bid to Defer Hague Trials Suffers Setback.
February 28, 2011... Byline: Walter Menya The UN Security Council's failure to discuss Kenya's request for deferral of ICC cases now paves the way for chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to proceed with The Hague process. But in Nairobi, it set into motion a...

Judicial Team Drafts Chief Justice Job Advert.
February 27, 2011... A select committee of the Judicial Service Commission is meeting on Monday to craft the advertisement for the positions of Chief Justice, his deputy and five other judges of the Supreme Court. Once the team that consists of Attorney-General...

Local Leaders Escalate Public Verbal Wars.
February 27, 2011... The war of words between three senior politicians intensified over the weekend with across-section of leaders calling for an end to the use of insulting language against fellow leaders. Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru...

KNEC's Instant Results System On the Spot.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Benjamin Muindi The examination council's relay of instant results will come under fresh scrutiny on Monday when Form Four results are released. There are fears that Kenyans could be losing millions of shillings in their attempts...

New Bid for Consensus On Local Polls Body.
February 27, 2011... The country's efforts to modernise its electoral system will pass an important milestone if a multi-sectoral conference agrees on a draft Bill to be presented to Parliament. The three-day conference kicked off on Sunday at Naivasha's Simba...

Sex Abuse Bishop Was Quietly Retired.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Walter Menya and Giuseppe Liguori A Missionary order has pledged to cooperate with the authorities in investigations into a bishop who left Kenya after being accused of sexual abuse. Responding to questions by the Nation into the...

Local Coalition Principals Pledge United Front in Reform Agenda.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Harry Misiko and Dave Opiyo The civil society has trashed the government's reforms scorecard, as the nation marks three years since the signing of the National Accord. Apart from reform agenda number one -- stopping bloodletting...

Cohesion Team to Unveil Report On Tribalism.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Galgalo Bocha The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) is set to launch a report next month that will unearth the extent of tribalism and nepotism within Kenya's public sector. The report, according to, commissioners...

80 Citizens Safely Evacuated From Tripoli.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Emmanuel Onyango 80 Kenyan nationals were safely evacuated from troubled Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Saturday and are expected to touch down in Nairobi on Sunday afternoon aboard a Kenya Airways flight. The national carrier...

Kibaki Vows Not to Let Nomination Row Block Reforms.
February 27, 2011... President Kibaki on Sunday assured Kenyans of his commitment to the National Accord and vowed not to let the recent row over nominations to key posts to block the reform agenda. In his message marking the third anniversary of the Grand...

Saccos Seek to Grow Earnings Via Cross Sector Investments.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Muchiri Gitonga The country's co-operative movement is eyeing investments in key areas of the economy. Sectors of focus are manufacturing, information and communication technology, warehousing, among others. According to...

Nation Set for Full Membership of Global Tax Firm.
February 27, 2011... Kenya is expected to be formally admitted as a full member of the Inter American Centre of Tax Administration (CIAT) during the 45th General Assembly to be held in Quito, Ecuador from 4th to 7th April this year. The Kenya Revenue Authority...

Iran Seeks to Double Its Credit.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Juma Namlola Iran has said it is willing to double its credit facility to Kenya. Visiting Iranian Foreign ministry spokesman Mr Ramin Mehmanparast told journalists in Nairobi that the country was, however, monitoring the...

Energy Ministry Floats Diesel Import Bid.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Kennedy Senelwa The Ministry of Energy has floated an emergency tender for the importation of diesel to avert a shortage due to a State firm's failure to deliver. Bids for importing 45,490 metric tonnes are set to be opened on...

Airways to Acquire Freighter.
February 27, 2011... Kenya Airways has announced plans to develop its cargo division to boost capacity by acquiring a freighter. Speaking while opening the Africa Air Cargo Conference in Nairobi, group managing director Titus Naikuni said that the airline was...

Bamburi Profit Takes Beating From Cheaper Imports And Competition.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Jevans Nyabiage Increased cement stocks in the market brought about by new entrants and existing players expanding their capacity, has seen the country's largest cement maker's profit after tax dip by 24 per cent drop. Bamburi...

Help Students Make Good Life Decisions.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Victor Oluoch The results of last year's Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination will be announced on Monday. The minister for Education will fulfil his ceremonial duty with a pragmatic, albeit platitudinous...

Tatu City Represents Vision of Urban Living Where Doors Are Wide Open to All.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Vimal Shah In her column last week, Rasna Warah criticised Tatu City, the self-contained urban development to house 62,000 people in the outskirts of Nairobi. (Read: WARAH: Cities are meant to be open spaces for interaction) Ms...

Politicians Be Warned - Nation Now Belongs to Wananchi, Not 'Wenye Nchi'.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Rasna Warah Exactly three years ago, on 28 February 2008, a Grand Coalition government was formed to end the violence that threatened to tear this country apart after the botched elections of 2007. Kenyans celebrated because the...

Gaddafi in Last Kicks And UN in Usual Moves.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Chege Mbitiru Whatever happens to Libya's Muamar Gaddafi, this is clear. His experimental governance flopped, and if he can't rule Libya, there will be none. In less than ten days, Gaddafi had lost control of several towns and...

Shivam Charges to Cross Country Win.
February 27, 2011... Shivam Vinayak won the bikes category of the opening round of the Ganatra/Garmin Cross Country Championship in Selenkay on Sunday. Altaf Ganatra won the buggy class, beating legendary Ian Duncan to second position, while Jim Heather Hayes in...

Egyptian Revolution At Parklands.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Ayumba Ayodi Mai El Kamash weathered a first set assault to earn sweet revenge victory over fellow Egyptian Mayar Sherif in the girls' final of the International Tennis Federation East Africa Circuit on Sunday. El Kamash rallied...

Tusker Make Leopards Groggy As Sofapaka Claw Past Mathare UTD.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Odindo Ayieko Former AFC Leopards star Dennis Mukaisi returned to haunt his former club as 'Ingwe' fell 2-0 to Tusker in the Kenyan Premier League on Sunday. On a day day that Sofapaka's and Tuskers' season got off to a great start...

Marakwet, Where Steeplechase Starts.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Jonathan Komen With the track season beckoning, Kenyans will be looking up for a podium sweep in the water and barriers race, the 3,000 metres steeplechase, in the World Championships in Daegu Korea, later this year. Having...

Football Candidates in the Dark As Poll Dates Awaited.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Sammy Kitula With the country eagerly awaiting the national football elections, contenders for the chairmanship have been crisscrossing the country positioning themselves for the top seat. But the Independent Electoral Board (IEB)...

Terrible Start to 2011 Premier League Season.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Elias Makori The 2011 Kenyan Premier League's kick-off was the most eagerly anticipated in years. Thanks to live television coverage and a sober Kenyan Premier League Limited management, the interest in the game grew in leaps and...

Don't Allow Wrangles to Undo Peace Deal.
February 27, 2011... "We have a deal". Those were the immortal words uttered by Dr Kofi Annan as he walked out onto the steps of Harambee House accompanied by presidential elections rivals Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. A nation that had held its breath heaved a...

Beware of Fake Car Insurance, Warns Association.
February 27, 2011... Kenyan motorists have been alerted to the existence of fake motor insurance certificates. Executive director of the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) Tom Gichuhi said vehicle owners should be on the lookout for fraudsters. Mr Tom Gichuhi...

Party Launches Move to Expel Ruto Allies.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Peter Leftie ODM has put in motion steps to have the party's rebel MPs lose their seats in Parliament. In a precedent setting move, the party wrote to the Registrar of Political Parties, Ms Lucy Ndung'u, last week asking her to...

Al-Shabaab Warns of Terror Attack.
February 27, 2011... Byline: Abdulkadir Khalif Radical Islamist group al-Shabaab has warned of a "revenge" attack against Kenya for aiding the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia. Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Raghe alias Sheikh Ali Dhere, the al-Shabaab...

Herd Mentality is a Threat to the Democratic Future of This Nation.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Dominic Wamugunda The other day I had a long discussion with a close friend of mine. The subject of our discussion was the tricky subject of the unity of communities in view of national leadership. The fact of the matter is that we...

Leases for Farming Land Need Renewed Attention.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Mwenda Makathimo Talking about agricultural land leases may not ring a bell in the minds of most Kenyans. Most of the large agricultural land parcels were leased before independence and others within the two decades that followed...

Nation, Nigeria Shine With Choice Films.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Tim Kamuzu Banda Nigerian film industry dubbed Nollywood cemented its top position in Africa with 50 nominations for the Africa Movie Awards on Friday night. During the nomination gala dinner held at Ole Sereni Hotel, Kenya bagged...

Why the World Won't Forget 42 Years of Muammar Gaddafi.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Philip Mwaniki In 2007, besieged Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi travelled to Paris, France, in an entourage of five planes. He brought along a camel, his 40 female bodyguards -- who are all said to be virgins -- and, of course, his...

Bring Cricket Boys Back, They Are Out of Their Element.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Charles Nyende This is an SOS. Who can travel to India right now and get our national cricket team back home? Quite clearly, they are out of sorts, out of their depths and out of the running for even a modicum of respectability. ...

Process to Fill Chief Justice Post Begins.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Dave Opiyo The process to fill the position of Kenya's next Chief Justice begins in earnest next week. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has said it will advertise the position of the CJ, his deputy and that of five Supreme...

Raila Starts West Country Tour.
February 26, 2011... Prime Minister Raila Odinga has started his tour of western Kenya. The PM will attend the burial of Hudson Isagi, the ODM vice chairman, Sabatia Branch in Vihiga County. After the burial, Mr Odinga will address his supporters at the Muliro...

Raila Blames Coalition Wrangles On Anti-Reformists.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Benson Amadala Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said leaders who opposed the new constitution were fuelling wrangles in the coalition government in an attempt to scuttle its implementation. But he told Kenyans to be watchful of the...

It'll Take Long for Citizens to Change Mindset.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Lukoye Atwoli As a professional working in the mental health field in this country, I am slowly coming to the conclusion that our politicians are cleverer than we give them credit for. They have their finger firmly on the pulse of...

Here's Food for Thought for the Electorate.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Mukhisa Kituyi Monday, February 28, is the National Accord day. This date marks the anniversary of the peace agreement between President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga. It was a promise of hope as Kenya set out to retrace...

Born of Adversity to Reconcile the Nation.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Kalonzo Musyoka The third anniversary of the Grand Coalition Government is a time to take stock of the achievements and progress made, review challenges faced and missed opportunities and targets, and renew our resolve to forge ahead....

Abject Disregard for Fair Play Retards Society.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Sunny Bindra So said the Deputy Speaker of Kenya's Parliament last week, and many of us applauded. He was blocking MPs from attempting an infringement of Parliament rules, and doing so with ironclad certainty that neither he nor the...

In Gicheru, a Chief Justice Who Was Beyond Reproach.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Ahmednasir Abdullahi Justice Evan Gicheru is on Sunday serving his last day as Chief Justice. In a public service career spanning four decades that took him from a lowly district officer in Wajir to Chief Justice, Justice Gicheru had...

Triumph for Katiba, But Don't Celebrate Just Yet.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Ababu Namwamba It is one-nil in favour of the forces of the new order. I declared in this column last week that the standoff over the ill-fated nominations to four crucial constitutional offices was inherently a duel between the new...

Payback Time for Recipients of Gaddafi's Generosity.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Sara Bakata Africa has been caught flat-footed by the events in Libya. Reports of Black African mercenaries fighting civilians in the streets of Tripoli on the side of beleaguered Col Muammar Gaddafi are chilling. Unconfirmed...

Parliament is God's Own Gift to Dictatorship.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Otieno Otieno Simon Jenkins, the respected British journalist, hasn't always had kind words for his country's parliament during his decades-long career. As the editor of the Times of London between 1990 and 1992, Jenkins ended the...

Three Years On, Agenda IV Issues Not Tackled.
February 26, 2011... It will be three years on Monday that the national accord was signed to bring an end to post-election violence. And three years on, it is a good time to reflect on the record of the governing coalition. There have been some notable successes....

Turf Wars a Recipe for Economic Lockdown.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Kwendo Opanga Good people, we are headed for political volatility and turbulence throughout this year. This shakiness and unpredictability could impact negatively on the implementation of the Constitution and, worse, on the economy,...

It's Not Too Late for Angry Uhuru to Redeem Himself.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Philip Ochieng As a presidential candidate facing Moreno-Ocampo, Uhuru Kenyatta has until recently behaved with admirable wisdom. He seemed to know that -- no matter how passionately and how many times you repeat it -- no amount of...

High Stakes Game As Date With ICC Draws Near.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Makau Mutua No one - alive or dead - can remember a time of such undignified and pathetic panic among the political class in Kenya. That's why the name Luis Moreno-Ocampo will forever be seared in the minds of Kenyan "lords of...

Revolution of the Mind, Not of the Streets, is What Nation Needs Most.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Murithi Mutiga A common response by online bloggers to the stories on revolts sweeping across the Arab world has been: Can it happen here? Why can't Kenyans unite and topple "this regime" as one poster put it? In fact, Kenya does...

Farmers Hard Hit By Rising Cost of Feeds.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Mwaniki Wahome Dairy farmers are feeling the pinch of the escalating cost of animal feed, forcing some to revert to homemade provisions to stay afloat. The rise in the cost of animal feed has also pushed up milk shelf prices by...

Cost of Food to Rise Further As Met Forecasts Delay of Rains.
February 26, 2011... Byline: Kaburu Mugambi There are fears of further price increases for main foodstuffs, especially maize and wheat flour, as the Kenya Meteorological Department warns of unbalanced and late onset of long rains. While most parts of the...