Thursday 14 March 2024
No let up as Maeke is axed from assembly committees
Sunday 10 March 2024
Why weak politicians seek endorsements to clinch power
Mr Musyoka |
New Kitui agribusiness project
Saturday 9 March 2024
Group targets Climate Action
Sunday 3 March 2024
MPs' dooms day message for democracy
By John Bosco Muia
in Machakos
Raila Odinga's bid for Africa Union Chairmanship has triggered a plethora of theories and wish lists that are exposing perverted minds of Kenyan politicians.
To many local politicians affiliated to the Wiper Democratic Movement of Kalonzo Musyoka, Odinga's accession to AU leaves no one else to benefit other than Kalonzo.
Those affiliated to the ruling Kenya Kwanza are equally blinded that Raila's absence from local politics would essentially benefit President William Ruto.
Such theories, misplaced or truthful as they eventually may become, is tragically,the menu that Kenyans, afflicted by a high cost of living, are being served with.
It was no surprise that six MPs affiliated to Kenya Kwanza unashamedly predicted that the appointment of Raila Odinga to OAU would mark the end of opposition in Kenya, a very sad situation for Kenya's democracy.
They had attended an event hosted by Machakos town constituency MP Caleb Mule.
Without evidence, the legislators alleged the move would pave the way for the election of President William Ruto without hitch come 2027.
They supported President Ruto's alleged initiative of pushing for Raila's election to OAU. They claimed that the alleged move may somewhat mend Ruto's and Raila's past political differences.
The event was the launch of Mutituni Market that was built under the Economic Stimulous Programme. It would have been the ideal place and time to expound on their legislative plans to revive the economy and people's livelihoods, rather than delivering dooms day messages for democracy.
The host, Caleb Mule, who was elected under Maendeleo Chap Chap that campained under Raila- led Azimio La Umoja coalition, made the most astonishing call- that all leaders in the ukambani region, irrespective of their political affiliations, should to join the Kenya Kwanza band wagon which, he alleged, would rule beyond 2032!
The MPs included Mukunji Gitonga (Manyatta), Johana Ng'eno (Emurrua Dikirr), Jane Kagiri (Woman Rep. Laikipia), Fabian Kyule (Kangundo) and Joshua Mwalyo (Masinga).
In a country that holds elections every five years, Mr Gitonga gloated ..." Now that opposition is done, it is high time the akamba led by Kalonzo join the Government for prosperity." What pretence, coming from an MP whose region was in opposition for much of the 24 years the late Daniel Arap Moi was in power!
Another crazy idea came from Johana Ngeno, who mockingly proposed that after Raila joins AU, Kalonzo should seek the non existing East African Regional leadership to 'match' Raila and then Ruto remains the man in charge of Kenya.
Another jibe came from the Laikipia's Woman Representative Jane Gitau, who said "it is high time Musyoka joins Ruto's Government since without Raila Odinga opposition will not be vibrant and kambas will gain nothing out of it"
Observers are questioning what exactly is driving the minds of the representatives of Kenyan people.
None of the six MPs spoke about high taxation, spiralling cost of living, cost of education, or provision of health care.
Saturday 2 March 2024
Updates: Katangi crash toll hits 11
Wednesday 28 February 2024
Nurse charged with abortion
State: 'He inserted needle into the womb of a girl of 15 years'
in Makindu
The Makindu nurse who allegedly inserted a niddle into the womb of a girl to abort has been remanded in custody.
Mr.Muthoka-Senior Nurse |
The Senior Nurse, Mr Benjamin Muthoka, who is pictured in this story, is alleged to have forcefully carried out the illegal action to the 15- year old Kyaani Secondary School girl.
The State contends that on January 19, 2024, Mr Muthoka, together with another person who was not in court, performed an abortion exercise to the minor. They are alleged to have injected drugs to her body without her consent and killing the unborn baby of the expectant minor .
He appeared before Makindu Resident Magistrate Mr. Arnold Omurwa. The accused are faced with three charges under Section 8 of the Children's Act that, in their totality,are an infringement of children's rights.
Muthoka denied the charges, and the magistrate gave directions to the investigation agencies to file a report of the case within seven days.
The accused will remain in police custody until March 5, 2024, when the case will come up for mention.
The Magistrate will also determine whether the accused will be freed on Bond or to remain in police custody.
Mr. Muthoka is a long-serving and respected nurse at Makindu Sub County Hospital.
The other suspect, who is still at large, is also a well-known member of the Kyaani community. Makindu Court Prosecutor No 4 Derrick Kamau brought the charges under public pressure.The offence took place in January and police have been foot-dragging in investigations, amid widespread fears that powerful people, including politicians,were keen to defeat justice for the minor.
Tuesday 27 February 2024
Examining the horror of Katangi
Final term blues for varsity students
A leap into the unknown by a finalist
By Jacinta Museo
People will always say that the four campus years are the best in your life, which is such a fairy tale!
All through, you face so many challenges - financial constraints, missing marks by stubborn professors who can't even reply to an e-mail, 378 heartbreaks by over 400 trial boy/girl friends, five sneaky links, roommates' incompatibility- just to mention a few.
I personally feel like campus is one of the most depressing places you'll ever be. You come here so fresh, but by the time you are getting your degree, it's accompanied by a number of traumas.
You can't be at peace here, it's either you've been heartbroken, your Nicodemus has left for a fresher, you are hustling for missing marks or maybe your Mpesa got nothing. Something, something must be disturbing.
But regardless, we keep hopes that things will get better once school is over. Something that I've not been believing in lately. I am a final year Journalism and Media student at Moi and let me say that this last semester is depressing. As I hit that "Register courses" button, I sighed and felt so relieved, but then nolstagic. Did I just register for my last semester?
Thoughts of finishing school started sucking. Everybody is asking what are your plans, what's your exit strategy, how many personalities do you know in the media industry. Then there you are, your background? A pain in the xxx. Your mother a peasant farmer, your father a mason, you've nobody in the field to call a relative, and the school is ending. Depressing, right?
Again, this semester feels so emotional. It carries a melancholic melody, echoing the bittersweet symphony of farewells. The once bustling halls now will whisper tales of memories etched in time. It's hard to accept the fact that this is the last dance before the curtain falls on this chapter of our lives.
Just as these campus trees shed their leaves, that's how we will shed the familiarity. We are leaving behind the cocoon of academia to face the unknown. The excitement of what lies beyond is tinged with the realization that the comforting routine of campus life is coming to an end.
Each lecture I'm attending and every CAT I'm going to do feels like a farewell to a version of myself that I'll never fully reclaim. How many times will I shout depressing?
Now, the pressure to secure a future competes with the desire to savor the present. I'm personally terrified. Scared of what the next six months of my life after school will look like. Scared that the reality might be sad but I'll have to face it, it's time now I start distributing my 2-page Carricullum Vitae and have it ignored (maybe). This semester? It is a delicate dance between academics and the bittersweet nostalgia of every "last" – the last lecture, the last coffee at the campus cafe, the last sunset over the familiar skyline. I wonder if anyone else is feeling like this.
But, I've written this for you and me. We have to be beginners at times in this life. Hang in there, the universe will align.
Adieu!
Why WB project remains stalled
By Martin Masai
Details have emerged on what led to the stalling of a World Bank funded project in Machakos Central Business District.
The nameless backstreet of Machakos CBD set for pavingThe Anchor has established that the project stalled after the County Government of Machakos awarded a tender for paving a 130 meter stretch to a firm- Turin Contractors at a cost of Kes 88 million, ignoring another bidder- Seluk Investment Limited that was the lowest bidder at Kes 79 million.
Director of Seluk Investment Mr Abdi Seluk confirmed yesterday that he petitioned the National Procurement Authority, which resulted in the cancellation of the tender." They were told to re award the tender but they have not awarded", Seluk added When the Machakos County Government opened its IFMIS system to advertise for re-tendering, Mr Seluk went to court and obtained an injunction to halt the process and compel the county to follow due process from the initial process.
Mr. Seluk said yesterday, " I'm still waiting. The IFMIS system says we are still waiting, and that is where the matter stands to date.
The stalemate continues as the county stands to miss out on Kes 2b from the World Bank fund for improvement of its municipalities.
The county has missed out funds for two years, running first being 2022, the last year under former Governor Alfred Mutua, and second in 2023, being the first year under current Governor Wavinya Ndeti.
It is likely to miss out again in 2024 if the foot dragging persists.
At the centre of the funding row is Kes 89m lying unused, which the Machakos Municipalities Board earmarked for the that road runs from Kimutwa Workshop and rips behind Lauh Hotel,Women Finance Trust, KFA and links to the road facing Equity Bank.
Our sources say Mutua wanted the funds used for construction of an air strip at the still born New Machakos City, but the Board chaired by Mr Malcom Kateta resisted, and Mutua ran out of time.
The board, sources say, is fighting for autonomy to be able to run its programmes without interference from central or the county government.
Matters have not improved after the arrival of Governor Ndeti at the Machakos White House. Since May, when bids were floated for construction of the road by use of cabro, the tender has not been awarded.
Tired of this administrative dithering, the World Bank has given an altimatum to recall the Kes 89m and pull out of funding the needy Municipalities of Machakos County.
WB donates Kes 1b annually to Machakos County under the Kenya Urban Transport Improvement Programme(KUTIP) to be shared between Machakos,Mavoko and TalaKangundo urban areas.
The programme targets the improvement of urban roads to bitumen standards to make the municipalities dust free and boost standards of living.
Sources tell The Anchor that the current stalemate is a result of cartels that are opposed to the contractor who won the tender.
" Since May, the winner has not been announced, and we suspect that a tooth and nail fight is being conducted so that those allied to the current administration are awarded the works," the source added.
This development exposes an administration that failed to deploy a single shilling to development in the last quarter as indicated by a report by the Controller of Budget.
When The Anchor first published the story, Majority Leader Nicholas Nzioka wrote a message to the editor that the story of the stalled project was not factual. When challenged to present his set of facts, the MCA for Machakos Central has remained quiet. We publish the relevant messages here.
The stalemate continues as the county stands to miss out on Kes 2b from the World Bank fund for improvement of its municipalities.
Friday 23 February 2024
Do you want blood from MCAs?
By Anchor Reporter
Members of County Assemblies allover the country have gained notoriety for all sorts of reasons.
Instead, the notoriety has grown in leaps and bounds, making them a competotors with Members of Parliament who have earned themselves their derogatory monicker- Mpigs- underlining their legendary greed, selfishness and penchant for taking bribes and trampling on public good legislation.
When they are not absent from their respective assemblies at the national or county level, they are hopping from one office to another hawking their votes to line-up their pockets.
Others get busy in physical fights in their assemblies. At times, the assemblies are turned into theatres of the absurd where unprintable expletives are uttered in high decibels.
True,these assemblies become auction halls where wads of notes are dished out by the highest bidder in competition with their consciences to influence the fate of bills anf motions.
It is not a surprise that legislators will be sponsored by cartel leaders to ask questions or table motions to advance personal interest or entrench partisanship or even ridicule national interest.
This notoriety has no bounds. So this has put these legislators in permanent ridicule because citizens no longer trust that they are trully representing their interests in the assemblies. If ever one asked whose interests the legislators represent, public interest would never be the answer.
This is true on anything- whether pay perks, retirement benefits,taxation, health, trade, security, education- name it. The list in endless.
This is not to say that all legislators are terminally useless. No. But you will struggle if you will build a long list of who truly stand for what they were elected to do within these legislatures
So this week, Machakos MCAs took three days to donate blood, led by the Acting Clerk, Mr. Denis Mutui.
Members of staff also joined the to annual blood donation drive organized by the Rotary Club of Stoni Athi and Kenya Tissue Transplant Authority (KTTA).
This campaign continued through to Wednesday, February 21, 2024.
It is billed as en effort by MCAs to donate blood to save lives. Really? How many lives have legislators failed since the last elections?
And what thoughts will one have when told their blood donor is that greedy, selfish and notorious war- monger legislator?
Come to think of it...For legislators to donate blood, this could be the only good act the people can bank on.
Thursday 22 February 2024
Kitui Assembly approves Sand management policy
Wednesday 21 February 2024
Mbilu freed as State eats humble pie
By Muuo Mutuku
Acts of State harassment were pulpable yesterday at a brief court session in Makindu township in Makueni County when the County Assembly speaker Douglas Mbilu was discharged from framed charges.
Mr Douglas Mbilu |
This unfolded as the office of Office of Director of Public Prosecutions) withdrew the charge of planning Azimio demonstrations along in Emali Township, along Mombasa Road. The demonstrations were aimed at forcing the government to lower the cost of living, among other grievances.
Mbilu was arraigned at Makindu law court on July 25,2023 at the height of the demos on allegations that he was involved in planning demos, a charge he denied and was released on Kes 70,000 cash bill.
The case came up for hearing at the Makindu Law Courts yesterday when Catherine Ngare, representing the ODPP, rose to say that the State could not proceed with the matter.
She explained to the Makindu Senior Resident Magistrate Ms. Maurine Kibe that there existed no evidence to support the charge and was therefore applying to withdraw the case.
Ms Kibe allowed the application to withdraw the charge under section 82A of Criminal procedure code .
Addressing Journalist after the judgement Douglas Mbilu criticized the government for failing to address issues affecting Kenyans indicating that he will not sit and watch the government fail Kenyans.
Tuesday 20 February 2024
Folks, pregnancy audit and accountability idea is here!
Friday 9 February 2024
FIFA, FKF and Corruption
Steffany making her presentation |
Thursday 8 February 2024
Kitui Teachers Sacco rebrands,amid huge growth
Inside Kangundo Hospital today...
Wednesday 7 February 2024
10 Machakos Inspectorate suspects released on bond
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