Mt Elgon MP got SLDF backing

A report on human rights abuses in Mt Elgon reveals that area Member of Parliament, Fred Kapondi, won the seat after rivals were threatened with death by the Sabaot Land Defence Force. However, Mr Kapondi’s electoral tactics were not unique. The report adds that in the past 15 years, all legislators from the constituency have [...]

Violence in Western against foreigners on the rise

Excessively violent attacks against foreign aid workers in Western Kenya could result in the closure of charity projects, and completely crush the hopes of thousands of poor families in the area.
On the night of 24th July, 12 Dutch nationals were attacked, robbed and three of them gang-raped in Kakamega. According to the Standard newspaper, the [...]

Development efforts frustrated by environmentalists

An irrigation project that would have turned 20,000 hectares of the Tana River delta into sugarcane fields for biofuel production, appears grounded by protests from environmental conservationists. Environmentalists insist that the present state of the Tana Delta is the best way of improving the economic status of area residents  – through tourism.
The use of the [...]

Nairobi winter bites harder

Nairobi has experienced unusually chilly weather in the past week, as the Southern Hemisphere winter gets to a climax. With daytime temperatures at only 14 degrees centigrade (14C), city residents have to dress warmly or else succumb to chest infections common at this time of year. At night, temperatures drop to a low of 8C.
The [...]

Near disaster at Likoni ferry

Thousands of people escaped death narrowly after two overloaded ferries that had stalled at the Likoni channel were caught in ocean currents.
News footage from KTN television showed thousands of panicked people on a ferry drifting on rough seas. The incident evoked memories of the Mtongwe ferry disaster of 1994, where hundreds drowned. Mtongwe is just [...]

Raila attacks African presidents

Political leadership in Africa is typified more by grotesque examples than by positive role models, said Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, during his trip to the United Kingdom.
Raila also criticized the African Union for welcoming Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe to its summit in Egypt. “The African Union singularly failed in condemning the sham elections in Zimbabwe [...]

Presidential race begins 5 years early

With an insatiable appetite for intrigue, Kenya’s politicians are already re-aligning for the next presidential election, even though the polls are 5 years away.
A highly charged political atmosphere contributed to the chaos of Kenya’s elections in December 2007. Five years of campaigning had whipped up violent emotions among the country’s 42 ethnic groups, with each [...]

Schools unrest sign of changed society

The ongoing unrest in boarding high schools exemplifies the changed Kenyan society, manifested in a national student rebellion against outdated systems, failed authority and derelict facilities.
Those who have visited Kenyan boarding schools in recent years will not be surprised at ongoing events. If anything, what should surprise observers is why it took so long for [...]

NSSF staff angry over wasteful computerization

As Kenya finally starts to embrace e-government, officials at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) seem to have discovered a new loophole for siphoning pension funds by over-doing computer projects.
The NSSF has spent hundreds of millions on computer servers, hardware and software upgrades with little to show for it. In many cases, information technology (IT) [...]

Cable thefts reach worrying levels

Increased theft of electricity and telephone cables is a threat to economic development even as it reaches new depths of impunity with law enforcers watching helplessly.
Last week, a major electricity transmission line linking Nairobi with Mombasa was brought down by vandals at the coast. A report by the Standard newspaper says the thieves brought down [...]