The Nation (Kenya) articles from October 2008

The Nation (Kenya) archives from October 2008

Global Recession to Affect Country.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Kevin J Kelley Financial links among the world's capital cities will bring the global recession to Kenya, a Harvard professor of international development told the United Nations on Thursday. Noting his Kenyan citizenship,...

Will a Sierra Leone-Type Tribunal Work Here?
October 31, 2008... Byline: Peter Mwaura Situated on Jomo Kenyatta Avenue in the middle of Freetown is a lavish and sprawling purpose-built courthouse surrounded by a 12-foot-high concrete wall with razor wire. Patrolled by UN troops, it is the Special...

Deadlock Driving Country Into Violence, Says Opposition.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Kitsepile Nyathi Zimbabwe's opposition has warned that violence is flaring up in volatile townships following the deadlock between the country's two major political parties over the allocation of cabinet positions. The main...

Poll - Support for Coalition Drops.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Anthony Kariuki Support for the Coalition Government has declined within the last three months, a new opinion poll shows. The results released by pollster Steadman Group shows that Kenyans are less supportive of Government...

Pay Raise for Judicial Officers.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Alphonce Shiundu Magistrates and State Counsels have been awarded a 21.5 per cent salary increase, Public Service minister Dalmas Otieno has announced He has also recommended a pay raise for the Attorney General, Chief...

Why the Hague is Likely to Reject Waki Envelope.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Donald Kipkorir The Waki report, which is a reasonable basis for national healing, will not be accepted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) when Mr Kofi Annan takes it to The Hague. When ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno...

Waki Probe Report - More Critical Voices Ought to Be Heard.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Cabral Pinto A joke doing the rounds in Nairobi is that one of the suspects on the Waki list of shame has had great love for the whisky Hague, but not any more. The last time he saw the bottle he started shaking and shouting...

Ok to Demolish Kiosks But Offer Alternatives.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Njuguna Mutonya A coastal adage warns against praising the palm wine tapper lest he should dilute the drink. The Mombasa municipal council has recently been on a roll, and could be said to have even gone beyond public...

Court Frees 66 SDLF Suspects.
October 31, 2008... A Bungoma court on Friday released 66 people suspected to be members of the Sabaot Land Defence Force for lack of evidence. Chief magistrate Reuben Nyakundi ordered the release of the suspects, who were arrested in July in Mt Elgon...

Murder, Lost Examination Certificates And a Chief.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Billy Muiruri A brother's life is cut short by a bandit's bullet. His education certificates are stolen soon after his burial. A case to reclaim the lost documents is thrown out by a court on a technicality. This is the...

Boost As Judiciary Employees Get Raise.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Alphonce Shiundu Magistrates and State counsels have been awarded a 21.5 per cent salary increase, Public Service minister Dalmas Otieno said on Friday. The minister also recommended a raise for the attorney general, chief...

In the Face of Somali Piracy, All Eyes On Kenya Army.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Dominic Wabala Last month Somali pirates seized a Ukrainian ship, the MV Faina, and demanded a huge ransom - which has not yet been paid. The vessel was carrying arms, including 33 tanks belonging to Kenya (and not the...

Don Says Country Cannot Escape Global Recession.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Kevin J. Kelley Financial links among the world's capital cities will bring the global recession to Kenya, a Harvard professor of international development told the United Nations on Thursday. Prof Calestous Juma, a Kenyan...

Team Probing Rape Cases Opens.
October 31, 2008... A taskforce to investigate sex crimes committed by security personnel in the North Rift region during the post-election violence has set up its offices in Eldoret town. The team will be operating from the Teachers Advisory Centre. "The...

Country Fights for Health Funds.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Caroline Wafula Whether Kenya will continue receiving financial support to fight the three major killer diseases -- malaria, tuberculosis and Aids -- will be known soon. Kenya will be arguing its case at the Global Fund in...

Traders Say Robbers Are Highly Organised.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Jami Makan New details have emerged about organised gangs carrying out daylight robberies in the Nairobi city centre. According to business owners who met with the Nairobi Central Business District Association (NCBDA) on...

PM's Office Scores Top Marks.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Muchemi Wachira Most Kenyans trust the office of the Prime Minister than that of the President, a new opinion poll says. But, according to the poll released on Friday, most people support the power-sharing agreement and...

Mama Ngina Loses Land After 27-Year Battle.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Sam Kiplagat Former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta on Friday lost a 27-year-old land battle to some 1,600 members of a housing company. The Appellate Court also ordered Mama Ngina and her daughter Kristina Wambui Pratt, both...

Sugar Firm's Managers Sent Home in Tax Probe.
October 31, 2008... Chemelil Sugar Company has suspended four senior managers to pave way for an investigation into an alleged tax evasion scandal. The decision to immediately suspend the executives was reached by the Board of directors in a meeting held at...

Teachers Told to Stop Salary Strike Threats.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Alphonce Shiundu Teachers must stop threatening the Government over salaries, Public Service minister Dalmas Otieno said on Friday. "It is not right to negotiate your pay through the media," the minister said, adding that...

State Can Only Be Sued in Nairobi, Court Rules.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Jillo Kadida A decision by Chief Justice Evan Gicheru that all cases against the Government be filed in Nairobi is here to stay, a constitutional court has ruled. A two-judge bench comprising Mr Justice Joseph Nyamu and...

MPs Accept Terms.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Lucas Barasa And John Ngirachu Somali Federal Transitional Government MPs have welcomed the conditions by regional states to ensure peace and stability returned in the country. Led by Awad Ahmed Ashareh, the MPs however...

Cost of Power to Come Down After Tax Cut.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Justus Ondari And Oliver Mathenge Kenyans will now pay less for electricity after the Government took the first step in addressing runaway costs that have rendered industry unprofitable and affected many households. Acting...

Mulewa Confirmed As New Port Boss.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Alphonce Shiundu Mr James Mulewa has been confirmed as the new Managing Director of Kenya Ports Authority. Until his appointment by Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Mr Mulewa held the same position in acting capacity...

MPs Demand Waki's Secret Envelope.
October 31, 2008... Byline: David Mugonyi And Bernard Namunane Politicians opposed to the Waki report on post-election violence are making fresh demands, which if not met will lead them to kick the document out of Parliament. After a meeting on Friday,...

Explosives Land Man in Court.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Richard Munguti A man arrested on a Wajir-bound bus on Thursday with 600 detonators was on Friday charged with being in possession of explosives and acquiring blasting materials without a permit. Mr Mohammed Osman Aden, who...

Women in Kibera Slums Still Amazed By Obama's Visit.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Elly Wamari Ms Zam Obed has decided that on November 4, she and her family will put on "Barack Obama T-shirts" in readiness for an Obama win in the US presidential election scheduled for the same date. That will be on Tuesday....

AK Official Cautions Local Athletes.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Joseph Kanyi Athletics Kenya has warned runners to be wary of bogus sponsors who are out to lure them with fake contracts. Speaking at Nyahururu Stadium on Friday, the newly elected AK Nyandarua sub-branch secretary, Lawrence...

Raila-Ruto Rivalry Threatens to Slice Orange Party in Two.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Kipchumba Some Prime Minister Raila Odinga's portrait, engraved in limestone at Kamelilo village, on the Eldama Ravine-Nakuru road, was defaced this week. The orange-coloured portrait was carved by Mr Shadrack Cheruiyot during...

Formidable Alliances That Obama Built in the Reform Crowd.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Jo Becker And Christopher Drew Barack Obama strolled amid the floats and bands making their way down Martin Luther King Drive on Chicago's South Side. This was in August 1999. Billed as the largest African-American parade in...

Desperate Fight for Survival in Weekend Ties.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Charles Nyende Second-from-last Red Berets host Thika United at Greensteds School, Nakuru on Saturday in a must-win affair to rescue their tenure in the Kenyan Premier League. Three other clubs are also involved in survival...

Kilifi Drivers Set for Slippery Race.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Chris Musumba Unforeseen rains in Mombasa have added a new dimension to the drivers' challenge in the Kenya Commercial Bank Visa Card Rally on Saturday and Sunday. The rally, the seventh round in the eight-leg Kenya National...

Aspire Scouts for Local Talent.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Sammy Kitula Kenya has the ability to challenge top African nations in football talent. A football promoter on Friday said the country could produce players capable of playing for the biggest clubs in the world. "Kenya...

Leopards Appeal Not Decided, Says KFF.
October 31, 2008... Byline: John Ashihundu Kenya Football Federation secretary Sammy Joel Obingo has clarified that AFC Leopards' appeal against Homegrown FC would be decided according to the 2008 KFF rules and regulations governing the Nationwide League....

Trackside.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Martin Keino Last weekend's Standard Chartered Marathon was a great success, in terms of the number of participants, quality of competition and organisation. It brought together the world's best athletes and ordinary people...

Waki Report - Nobody Cares What Citizens Want Done.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Gikonyo Gitau The die seems to be cast; there is no intention to implement the Waki commission recommendations. On Thursday, ODM rejected the report, saying that its leaders would resist attempts to charge any of the...

Why Citizens Should Choose Their Country.
October 31, 2008... It is heartening to see that, finally, a large number of PNU and ODM MPs are agreeing on something. They have spent so much time fighting nasty wars against each other, and dividing the country, that we should be delighted to see them...

Thika Draws Record Field.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Larry Ngala A record field of 250 golfers, the largest in the 2008/2009 Johnnie Walker Golf Series, will converge on Thika Sports Club's par 72 course this weekend for the sixth leg in the series. This is the first event to...

When I Made a Trip to Obamaland.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Chris Ayres America's supplies of tissues must have been exhausted during Barack Obama's 30-minute election broadcast late on Wednesday night. It had been billed as a "closing argument" by the Democrat's seemingly unstoppable...

Public is Fast Losing Faith in the Coalition.
October 31, 2008... It is seven months since the formation of the coalition government and Kenyans are getting exasperated. The enthusiasm that followed the historic signing of the power-sharing deal between President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga in...

KCB Lions Go Down to Rwanda's APR in Fiba Zone Five Games.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Philip Onyango APR Rwanda defeated KCB Lions 66-56 to shut them out of the Fiba Africa Zone Five club championships title race in Ethiopia on Thursday. The loss meant that the best KCB Lions can finish is runnersup in this...

Try Other Fuel Sources.
October 31, 2008... It sounds strange that the price of crude oil stood at $27 a barrel in 2000. But what is more baffling is that the Government continued taxing industrial oils even as the benchmark price touched a $137 high four months ago. In...

Tunisia, Namibia Feel Country's Wrath in Tunis.
October 31, 2008... Byline: The Punter Uganda and Senegal stood in Kenya's path to the semi-finals of the Africa Zone of the 2009 Rugby World Cup qualifiers. Kenya on Friday defeated Tunisia II 45-0 and Namibia 31-12 in the opening two matches in Tunis,...

League Play-Offs Begin Today.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Caxton Apollo The 2008 national basketball league play-offs begin on Saturday with four matches in Mombasa and the Nairobi's Nyayo National Stadium. The best-of-three series contests which will determine the 2008 men and...

Tourism Earnings Drop 30 Percent.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Joseph Bonyo Tourism earnings have declined by 30 per cent for the third quarter in a row this year. Earnings dropped to Sh34.5 billion compared to the Sh49.3 billion recorded over the same period last year. According to...

Provide Tax Incentives for Local Development Projects, State Told.
October 31, 2008... The Government has been urged to extend tax incentives to financiers of infrastructure projects. If the proposal is accepted, it would mean that lenders would demand lower interest returns on their investments making it cheaper for firms...

Keep Personal Data Safely, Lest Crooks Take Advantage.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Andrew Limo It feels nice to be on the receiving end of technology, especially when it is helping you solve some problem. The other day, I lost a slip the camera repair shop had given me and I did not know how they were going...

SA Fertiliser Firm Seeks Import Deal.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Mwaniki Wahome A South African fertiliser manufacturer is seeking to ship the input directly to Kenya, in a move that could lower prices. Foskor, the largest fertiliser manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa, was among a...

The Cutting Edge.
October 31, 2008... Politicians can be quite interesting, as Elly Kadala has just found out, recalling the heated arguments during the swearing in of the members of the 10th parliament, when led by Ugenya MP James Orengo, a lawyer, a group of ODM politicians...

We Talk of Amnesty, But Who is Seeking Our Forgiveness?
October 30, 2008... Byline: Lucy Oriang' MANY YEARS AGO, AT THE start of my journey in the women's movement, I sat in the audience as a young woman I remember only as Jane sized up the situation. The process of change, she said, is littered with many...

Country Has No Reason to Bend Too Low for Acceptance.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Peter Wanyonyi THE EAST AFRICAN community region is a rarity in the contient -- five contiguous countries sharing a pre-colonial and colonial history, and presently with a dream to unite their economies and, eventually, as a...

All Matches On Free-to-Air TV.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Charles Nyende All the 64 matches at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be broadcast live on free-to-air television and radio in sub-Sahara Africa, Fifa has announced. This arrangement, at a time when broadcast rights...

Jay Z Stages Obama Concert As TV Campaign Runs.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Macharia Gaitho The latest African-American music icon Jay-Z and basketball superstar LeBron James hosted a free concert in Cleveland on Wednesday night, but the real star of the show was a thousand miles away campaigning in the...

Eldoret Mahakama in Tricky Home Match.
October 30, 2008... Eldoret Mahakama FC have a tricky home assignment on Sunday against visiting Kisumu Black Stars at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret. The judiciary-sponsored side is currently at the top Zone 'B' of the Nationwide and close to promotion...

The Cutting Edge.
October 30, 2008... Kenyans are not just sitting back as Tanzanians promote their tourism as Hellen Wambui claims, says Munene Goko, citing a new charter flight to Mombasa from Austria, which brought 178 tourists and will continue to do so every two weeks....

ODM Rejects Waki Report.
October 30, 2008... Byline: David Mugonyi The Orange Democratic Movement has rejected the findings of the Waki Report on post-election violence in their entirety. The party also said they would resist any attempts to charge any of the suspects named in...

Prime Minister Reshuffles Cabinet.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Argaw Ashine And Agencies Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has reshuffled his 15-member cabinet, including key ministries of Defence, Justice and Agriculture. Mr Zenawi, who returned on Wednesday from an...

Fuel - We Shouldn't Celebrate Too Soon.
October 30, 2008... Kenyan motorists may soon start smiling again as they head towards petrol stations with the announcement that the Government is determined to impose controls on fuel prices. This, in the short term, will be good news, especially if the...

Can We Afford All These Luxuries?
October 30, 2008... Byline: Joseph Kamotho AFRICA IS A CONTINENT OF contrasts and unparalleled confusion. It is home to many hungry people amongst a few conspicuous spenders of foreign loans on luxuries. This is no exaggeration. Former Central African...

Mitchel Out of Mombasa Race.
October 30, 2008... One of Kenya's youngest driver Quentin Mitchel has pulled out of this weekend's KCB Visa card Rally citing financial constraints. "We regret to announce that we have just decided we will not be competing in the KCB Visa Card Rally in...

Judge Kariuki Replaced in Kericho.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Sollo Kiragu The fate of Justice G B M Kariuki who is facing a charge of attempted murder hangs in the balance after a new judge was posted to his Kericho work station. Justice Mary Ang'awa, formerly in Nairobi, has taken...

Country Needs Help.
October 30, 2008... For years, the international community has watched as Somalia steadily degenerated into a failed state. And with the Islamists launching attacks against the government every day, there appears to be no hope in sight for the people of...

V-P Opposes Report on Polls Violence.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Muchemi Wachira Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka is against the full implementation of the Waki report. He has said that doing so will open up old wounds that had started to heal adding that the move will take the country...

Committee On Ministry Funds to Give Report.
October 30, 2008... Byline: John Ngirachu The 11-member committee formed to investigate the disappearance of an estimated Sh13 billion in donor funds to the Health ministry has two weeks to present its report. The report is expected to inform members of...

Police Hold Man With Detonators.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Casper Waithaka A suspect has been arrested with 600 electric wire bomb detonators following a police ambush on Thika road, Nairobi. He was travelling in a Wajir-bound bus from Nairobi. The area Officer Commanding Police...

Secret List May Take the Hague Option.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Sam Kiplagat Experts contacted by the Nation indicated that a secret list handed to Chief Mediator Kofi Annan was headed to the International Criminal Court in The Hague following ODM's rejection of the Waki report. Speaking...

Zain Unveils New Service.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Mwaniki Wahome Mobile phone firm, Zain, has introduced yet another service targeting the youth. The new offer will enable subscribers to send unlimited text messages (SMS) at a flat rate of Sh20 for 24 hours. Known as...

Egypt Donates Equipment to Army.
October 30, 2008... Two Egyptian military aircraft landed in Kadugli, southern Kordofan yesterday, with a donation of two generators, 50 tents and kitchen equipment for the Sudan's Joint Integrated Units (JIUs) from the Egyptian Government. The cargo is the...

Bomas Law Held Key to Peace, Says Ghai.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Alphonce Shiundu The violence that rocked Kenya could have been avoided if the Bomas Draft constitution had been adopted in 2005, Prof Yash Pal Ghai said on Thursday. The legal expert also called for the full implementation...

Official Warns Civic Leaders.
October 30, 2008... Area councillors risk being surcharged for rejecting two chief officers posted in Nyeri. The deputy Central Provincial Local Government Officer, P. M. Malombe, maintained that the council was under obligation to pay salaries for the...

Kenya Airways Earnings Decline.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Joseph Bonyo National carrier, Kenya Airways, has recorded a 62.7 per cent decline in its profit before tax in half year financial results. The airline returned Sh1 billion compared to Sh2.8 billion it made over the same...

Tension As Officer Killed.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Nation Team Tension is high among members of two communities in Narok South District following the killing of a General Service Unit officer on Sunday. The incident sparked a row between the communities before several houses...

Team Aim for Place in Sevens World Cup.
October 30, 2008... The Kenya seven-a-side rugby team launches its bid to qualify for the Rugby World Cup Sevens when the Africa Zone qualifiers begin in Tunis on Friday. The 2009 rugby World Cup sevens will be held in Dubai. Three African teams will...

Great Lakes Region Call for Unity to End DRC Crisis.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Paul Amoru Interstate security experts attending a two-day meeting in Kampala have called for immediate intervention from the international community to end the crisis in Eastern Congo. On Thursday, the escalating insecurity...

Task Force Moves to Revive Tourism.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Githua Kihara A task force on how to upgrade infrastructure at the Coast to revive the tourism industry has started its work. The team, which is working with the Mombasa, Malindi and Kwale municipalities, was formed by...

Mathare Win to Inch Closer to League Title.
October 30, 2008... Mathare United inexorably marched towards their first Kenyan Premier League title with a commanding 3-0 win over Western Stima at Bukhungu Stadium on Thursday. All the three goals were scored by the red-hot Kenyan international striker...

Army Torture Claims Rejected.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Kibiwott Koross The Government has denied claims that security personnel tortured residents during a crackdown on illegal arms in Mandera. Mandera Central District Commissioner Ole Tutuithe told the Nation that the injuries...

ICT Firm to Sign Promotion Deal With Nakumatt.
October 30, 2008... AccessKenya Group will on Friday launch a partnership with Nakumatt to promote and sell the internet service provider's residential broadband product, Access@Home. The move is seen as a means of increasing penetration of the internet for...

Act On List, Demand U.S. And Germany.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Bernard Namunane The US and Germany on Thursday demanded full implementation of the Waki report. They reminded the Government that the international community was watching keenly how it handles the Waki and Kriegler reports,...

Optimism As Bank's IPO Opens.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Wachira Kang'aru The Co-operative Bank initial public offering launch on Thursday was met with optimism that a full subscription would be achieved. Despite the currents stock price fall, the bank advisors, management and...

Avoid the Hague, Says Think-Tank.
October 30, 2008... A pan-African think tank on Thursday faulted the Waki report for ordering the submission of a list of shame to an international court if a local tribunal is not formed by a set deadline. The Africa Policy Institute, which has offices in...

Police 'Bungled Rape Probe'.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Sam Kiplagat A police constable on Thursday blamed her bosses, a rights organisation and the media for her inconclusive investigations in a defilement case. Constable Caroline Kanyamkur admitted that some of the evidence she...

Teachers to Strike As Pay Talks Fail.
October 30, 2008... Byline: Benjamin Muindi Teachers will go on a strike after talks with the Government over a pay raise collapsed on Thursday. "TSRC (Teachers Service Remuneration Committee) talks have failed and we have pulled out," said Mr Lawrence...

Kenya On the Spot Over Seized Ship.
October 30, 2008... The US has asked Kenya and Ukraine to disclose the actual destination of the 33 T-72 tanks and ammunition aboard the hijacked Ukrainian ship moored off the coast of Somalia. "Kenya should say what is the destination of the weapons and...