January 21, 2015 - Today's News In Gazetikenya

10 schools in City lose prime land to grabbers.

CORRUPTION | Officers brought tear gas and automatic rifles to a primary school

"The chairman of the Nairobi County Early Childhood Education and Vocational Training committee David Kitavi accused the County government of ignoring a report showing that More than 10 primary schools in Nairobi county have lost their land to grabbers."

The report was compiled last year.

Corruption Thrives but Kenya is lucky to have patriots like Boniface Mwangi

More than 10 primary schools in Nairobi county have lost their land to grabbers according to a report presented to Governor Evans Kidero but which is yet to be acted upon.
A report by a task force he appointed says the grabbing of Lang’ata Road Primary Schools is just a tip of the iceberg as more educational institutions have lost their property to private developers using fake documents.

The chairman of the Nairobi County Early Childhood Education and Vocational Training committee David Kitavi accused the County government of ignoring the report which was submitted last mid last year. He said the task force recommended that the County government moves with speed to secure land of all public schools to keep off grabbers.

“The report is gathering dust at the governor’s office,” he said. He listed the schools as Kinyanjui Road Primary School, Riruta Road, Aga Khan Primary, Catholic Parochial, Ngong Primary, Olympic Primary, Kibiria, Uhuru Gardens, Our Lady of Mercy and Kamukunji Primary.
“This report, which was prepared after spending millions in investigations, has never been brought to the County Assembly because some of the MCAs are working with the grabbers,” he said. “Some of the county officials are also colluding with grabbers and politicians to grab public land and tough action should be taken to stope them,” he said.

“The members of the County Assembly wish to condemn in the strongest terms possible the brute force used on the pupils by the police as they exercised their right to protest against grabbing of their land,” said Kitavi. Kitavi urged the National government to transfer the management of primary school infrastructure to counties to effectively protect buildings and other public property.

“We also urged all Nairobi leaders to stand firm and say no to these cartels whose work is merely to derail the progress we are making to ensure that our children get the best education,” said Kitavi.

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23:18 - By Kenya Newspapers 0

Tetanus vaccine unsafe, say Catholics

The disputation close the tetanus vaccine resurfaces when a recent argument over the credibility of results of a joint take a look at between the ministry of Health and therefore the church. Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday later issued a press release questioning the style during which the tests were conducted by the ministry. This comes despite the very fact that each parties had given the vaccine a clean bill of health previous Sunday once they each released the result of the joint testing.

The statement was signed by Cardinal John Njue demanding that no additional mass tetanus vaccination campaigns ought to be administered before the vaccine is correctly tested and tested to be safe. The Church accuses the government of presenting forty vials for testing from its stores without previous consultation with the joint committee overseeing the tests.

“The results were loaded onto nineteen alternative vials bestowed by the joint committee,” the statement notes. in line with them, the aim was “to produce a dilution and bias of the 3 vials” out of a bunch of 9 that had been presented by the church.
They additionally fault the govt. for what they term as its reluctance to receive the results from the laboratories. “It finally accepted to try when the Cardinal threatened that Catholics would pull out of the exercise,” the statement says.

“In read of those facts, we the Catholic bishops would like to tell the vaccine used for the mass tetanus vaccination in March and Oct 2014 contained some vials laced with beta HGC. we are asking that no additional vaccinations to be undertaken before the vaccine has been properly tested and fully tested that it’s safe,” the statement added.

However, Health cabinet Secretary James Macharia reiterated that the vaccine was safe. “This issue has been confirmed by the joint committee,” he told the state on phone he said all vaccines by WHO and United Nations International Children\'s Emergency Fund were adequately tested for safety before being administered in fifty two countries.

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December 5, 2014 - Today's News In Gazetikenya

Major changes in laws to fight terrorism

PARLIAMENT | Among radical proposals are clauses allowing prolonged detention and removing security of tenure for police boss

Terrorism suspects may be held by police for longer periods before being taken to court, held incommunicado and denied bail once charged if tough new security laws are passed to aid the war against terrorism. The proposals have been made by a team appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in the wake of two successive terrorist raids that killed 64 people in Mandera County.

The changes will, among other things, allow the police to take far-reaching measures to combat terrorism, including giving them more powers to search premises. If adopted, they will also pave the way for the removal of security of tenure for top security officers such as the Inspector-General of Police, his two deputies and the intelligence boss. A team of MPs and another comprising security chiefs have been working on Bills that will lead to the changes to be presented to Parliament for approval. President Kenyatta last evening received a report on the amendments agreed on by the two teams. “The President has received the report and will apply his mind before submitting his recommendations to Parliament through the laid down procedures,” said State House spokesperson Manoah Esipisu.

The President had on Tuesday asked MPs to delay their Christmas break to debate and pass the laws. They will also vet his nominee for Cabinet Secretary for the Interior and Coordination of the National Government , retired Maj-Gen Joseph Nkaissery, who is Kajiado Central MP. The ODM legislator was on Tuesday nominated to replace Mr Joseph ole Lenku. Parliament has the next 14 days to consider his nomination. Mr Lenku’s fate still hangs in the balance because the President did not outrightly say that he had sacked the Cabinet Secretary who, like Inspector- General of Police David Kimaiyo, had been under public pressure to resign or be sacked over security failures.

Although Mr Esipisu’s press release did not provide details, the Nation learnt from an MP familiar with the discussions that Mr Kenyatta would ask Parliament to approve changes to the National Intelligence Service Act, the National Police Service Act, the National Police Service Commission Act and the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Crack the whip Removing security of tenure for security chiefs is expected to give the President a freer hand to crack the whip on those who fail to do their job. Changes to the Prevention of Terrorism Act are expected to set new rules on the handling of suspected terrorists, including allowing the police to hold them for longer than the current 24 hours before taking them to court. Police could also be allowed to hold terror suspects incommunicado. It will also be harder for suspected terrorists to get bail, which the police argue sets dangerous suspects free to commit other acts of terror or evade court or even flee the country.

The House has passed the Persons Deprived of Liberty Bill but it was not clear whether it, too, will be taken back to the House for further amendments. Ordinarily, Bills on publication have to wait for 14 days to mature and then be scrutinised by committees before they can be debated in Parliament. However, the President’s wish that the Bills be fast-tracked might not be easy, especially if some of the tough proposals flout constitutional guarantees on civil rights. “They might have to wait until February. All these stages take time,” an MP said. Members of the Administration and National Security Committee have suggested changing the National Police Service Act to provide for clarity on who would become a commander in cases where the regular and Administration Police bosses in a county are of equal rank. This year, the National Assembly changed the National Police Service Act to give the President a free hand in the appointment of the Inspector- General.

He is now expected to name a panel to select Mr Kimaiyo’s replacement. The panel will pick three finalists and submit their names to the President, who will then nominate one for vetting by Parliament. On Wednesday, the Head of State officially presented his nomination of Maj-Gen Nkaissery to Parliament for MPs to start the vetting process. The vetting starts when the Committee on Appointments invites public submissions on the nominee.

The team then meets the nominees for interview and scrutiny of their documents before compiling a report on their suitability for the position. The report is then submitted to the National Assembly where MPs take a decision. Mr Justin Muturi, the Speaker of the National Assembly, referred the President’s message to the Committee on Appointments yesterday. Although smooth-sailing was expected for Maj-Gen Nkaiserry, the red flag has been raised over adverse mentions in the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission hearings, where he was accused of human rights violations while leading military operations against cattle rustlers and bandits in West Pokot and other parts of northern Kenya.

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13:34 - By Kenya Newspapers 0

December 4, 2014 - Today's News In Gazetikenya

Worker feared dying far from home

FINAL MOMENTS | They had gone to work in Mandera as the pay was better

Brothers Wellington Katimu, 27, and David Ingwana, 54, had called their family with the good news that they would be travelling home on December 21, to celebrate Christmas. David’s eldest son, Joseph Maanjai, 24, would accompany them on the journey to Turbo in western Kenya.

It was the day their employer at a quarry in Koromey in Mandera had promised to release them for the Christmas holiday. “We spoke on Friday evening and he told me that they were already planning to book transport, as there were very few buses to Nairobi from Mandera and he did not want to miss it,” said David’s wife, Tabitha Mutonyi. On Monday evening, David called his younger brother, Daniel Katimu, and told him that he was not feeling well. He had tried to reach his wife, but her phone was off. Chest complications “He told me that he had been having some chest complications and wanted to inform his wife that he might be travelling earlier than planned.

He said he needed medical attention and asked me to pray for him because he feared dying in such a far-flung area,” he said. Unknown to him, David would face death in a way he so dreaded only four hours later — from a bullet fired by the Al-Shabaab. He would also be killed together with his youngest brother Wellington and his son, Joseph. The quarry workers were ambushed as they slept early Tuesday morning by the militia and asked to line up on the ground with their faces to the ground. They were then sprayed with bullets and their bodies left on the spot.

Their family was part of a grieving crowd that turned up yesterday to identify the bodies of their loved one at City Mortuary in Nairobi. The bodies had been flown to Nairobi on Tuesday evening by the military. The Katimu family positively identified the bodies of their three relatives. “My two brothers had constantly been telling us that they were planning to move away from Mandera, and Wellington had told us that he would not go back next year,” Daniel said, adding that after the hijacking of a bus in Mandera two weeks ago, the family became worried about their safety. “We kept asking them to return home, but they told us that they stayed in a safer place.

They also told us that it was safer to stay in Koromey than to travel, as it was riskier on the road,” said Daniel. David, Wellington and Joseph worked for one contractor at the quarry. David has been working at the quarry for the past four years. He recruited his brother, who was working at a different quarry in Rongai, in January this year, since the pay was higher in Mandera. “After every three months, the three would come home together and spend time with us for about two weeks and go back to work. They were last at home in August,” said Daniel. Mrs Katimu said her husband was very concerned about his family’s welfare and worked hard to ensure that his wife and their three children were comfortable. “He kept sending money home and always asked us to use it well.

He was very hard working” she said. Apart from Joseph, David and his wife have three other children aged 20, 16 and 14. “I have seen their bodies. My husband, my bother-in-law and my son have bullets in the rib, neck and chest respectively. Their bodies are in a very bad state,” said Mrs Katimu. “I have always been hearing about the Al-Shabaab on radio and reading about them in newspapers, but I never knew that one day, they would kill my family. My family has not interacted with the Al-Shabaab. ‘‘We have not denied them anything. We have not crossed their path.

We have not done anything wrong and we are sad that they had to talk to the government by killing our innocent loved ones,” Mrs Katimu said in tears. The family will conduct one burial at their home next week. The postmortem exam on the bodies of the 36 people killed that fateful night is expected to begin today and will go on for three days.

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