The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) held a youth summit with members drawn from more than 15 African Countries at the Maanzoni Safari Lounge in Machakos County today.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Stephen Mbaya Kimwele, Bishop Dr. Nzomo and Joyce Mutua, the County Ministers in charge of Agriculture from Kitui, Machakos and Makueni Counties respectively.
AFSA is a broad alliance of civil society actors who are part of the struggle for food sovereignty and agroecology in Africa.
These include African food producer networks, African CSO networks, indigenous people’s organizations, faithbased organizations, women and youth groups, consumer movements, and international organizations that support the stance of AFSA.
It is in simpler definitions a network of networks, currently with 40 active members in 50 African countries.
AFSA aims at transitioning to agroecology for climate, strengthening farmer managed seed systems, strengthening community voices for land rights.
The Agriculture and Livestock CECMs and AFSA discussed on possible areas of collaboration between the three counties to promote and safeguard agricultural production through creation of healthy policies and legislation.
To mark this year’s Lover’s day on the 14th of February, The Woods Restaurant – Kaveta, known for it’s Live Rhumba nights and delicious meals is hosting a special Valentines Candle light Garden dinner.
Going for only 750 kshs per person and a free glass of wine for the ladies, this promises to be one of the best highlights of Valentines day this year.
Lovers will have an exquisitely wonderful menu to choose from.
For the starter, there will be a variety of soups to choose from: ranging from the normal bone soup and chicken soup to the chef’s special butter nut soup.
The Main course has been specially designed to fill up and revellers will choose from four types of meats, namely: chicken, fish, mutton and beef.
The special chef brought in just for Valentines day has prepared a special surprise for desert and promises that everyone will leave with stomachs fully content and all hearts fully powered with love.
Be ready to be wowed by the special Rhumba and Romantic ballads from the Dj and Live performances
For early bookings and reservations, please call Warda and Meshack on tel numbers 0795737135 and 0740305093
A cross section of the larger Mwingi leaders and key opinion shapers have pledged to work hand in hand with the youth activist Job Mbeta (popularly known as JB) to ensure that their fight for water security in the region.
Speaking during a consultative meeting held in Mwingi West on Saturday, the leaders affirmed that they are in full support of activist JB’s idea of poverty elevation by liasing with the county government to have water bills passed in county government and senate.
Addressing the press after the meeting, the team confided that they have fathered a revolution that will help Kitui County and Kamba nation at large solve the perenial water problem predominant in the lower sahelian regions of the three Ukambani counties.
Mr Nyenya, a senior Knut official stressed on the importance of a water-secure community, adding that water scarcity contributes negatively to education in the region. “Water and education are are directly related,” he said, “One of the main factors contributing to poor performances in our schools is water scarcity.”
The Kitui Senator and senate Deputy Minority Leader hon. Enoch Kiio Wambua addresses a mamoth crowd at the Azimio’s mega rally at the Jacaranda grounds in Nairobi.
The Kitui Senator and Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Senator Enoch Kiio Wambua has passionately beseached the Azimio Principal Hon. Raila Odinga to release the controversial IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati’s video.
Speaking today during the mega Azimio rally held at Jacaranda grounds in Nairobi city, the senator stressed that the public are eargerly waiting for the video, to a satisfying roar of the crowd.
The senator also added that the public were tired already of a corrupt government. He attacked also the spectator role the government has taken as the entire country is starving.
“Any government that can’t feed its people then has no business being in office,” Senator Kiio added.
The Jacaranda mega rally is the second of a series of planned rallies by the Azimio political wing, which is challenging president William Ruto’s win in the 2022 general elections.
Senator Enoch Kiio Wambua shares a moment with fellow Azimio leaders during today’s rally.
The Kitui Rural Constituency Returning Officer Winfred Ndoti hands over the IEBC clearance certificate to the Kisasi MCA Hon. Emeritus Kasee Musya after being cleared to defend his seat in the August polls.
Kisasi Ward MCA Emeritus Kasee Musya has been cleared by the IEBC to defend his seat during the August 9 General Election.
In a less-hyped event that happened today at the Kitui Rural Constituency IEBC office in Kwa Vonza town, the former Kitui County Assembly deputy speaker and two-time MCA was cleared to defend his seat for the third time on a Wiper Democratic Movement ticket.
Speaking to our reporter after the event, the popular MCA vowed to continue his good work for the Kisasi Ward people, and urged them to vote for Dr. Malombe as their next Governor, terming him as the best governor he can work with for the next five years and deliver his manifesto to the electorate.
Hon. Kasee Musya is famous for his hard political stands and lack of compromise on integrity matters.
In a gazzette notice dated 16th January 2018, the outgoing governor Charity Kaluki Ngilu banned the sale and transport of sand and charcoal in Kitui county.
The move was largely touted as a solution to environmental degradation in the region. However, what most people did not realize then, it was the birth of another cash cow for her, her ‘Super minister’ Patrick Koki Musau aka Kuvasila, and a few individuals on the top of her cartels.
The Kitui Newspaper sleuths have been undercover since then, and we boldly present to you the hidden secrets behind the sly ban and the scrupulous individuals involved in the sand harvesting racket in Kitui County.
The Tiva River is located barely 20km from the county HQs, along the Kitui- Kwa Vonza highway. To any guest in Kitui, this looks like the ultimate place the ministry of environment and natural resources should be most vigilant in enforcing the sand ban. However, this is the biggest sand harvesting hub, closely followed by Tyaa river in Mwingi Central, and the dubiously ‘gazzetted sand harvesting area’ of Kiromboko dam in Mwingi West. Here, more than 50 lorries leave for Thika ladden with sand, to the full audience of both the public and county enforcement officers! What’s even more; the cess point at the Kanyonyoo junction does not stop them either.
In one instance when our sleuths followed the lorries from the river to the Kitui-Machakos border at Kanyonyoo, we noticed that the lorries’ drivers only showed the enforcement officers manning the cess point a simple hand-filled reciept and they were let through without even an inspection. They were also escorted by a toyota probox number plates KDA 757L ferrying a handful of goons to handle any community unrests along the way.
The reciepts they produced read Sand Transporters & Environmental Conservation Group, and every lorry we saw had allegedly paid 1,000 shillings for ‘sacco cess’ at the loading zone in Tiva or Tyaa Rivers.
We did further digging into the Sand Transporters and Environmental Conservation Group, and what we found was even more intriguing: There doesn’t exist such a community group, and there are no other active members in the ‘group’! Some of the purpoted members of the group are not even aware there exists such a group in the first place! Only one name kept popping up, one of Ngilu’s cartels’ kingpin from Kitui West named Kalungu. For those who might not know who Kalungu is, well, the former Kithumula/Mutonga ward MCA is the hardy man for Ngilu. He pops up money when the county accounts have run dry, and there is a sum needed for either a funeral here or a wedding there. Of course, he is also among waziri Kuvasila’s main confidantes.
So, a question popped up: how did a lone ranger manage to be selling between 80 to 100 lorries of sand per day, in a county where commercial harvesting and transportation of sand is illegal?
It was not easy at first to connect the dots, but our moles at the ministry of environment and mineral resources came at hardy! We managed to lay our hands on a purpotted sand mining permit from the ministry, issued by one Josephine Malusi under instructions from the very minister or environment Patrick Kuvasila Musau. We also established that the minister owns and operates an account with Equity Bank on the name: Patrick Koki Musau, where the most interesting daily transactions happen.
The permits indicate that the lorry owners pay Ksh. 10,000 for up to five lorries per year. Funny though, the Finance minister Bernard Katungi however denied his ministry ever issuing such permits nor being aware of any cess being generated from sand sales since it was already illegal by the time he took over the docket from his predecessor Mary Nguli.
A source close to the governor, who sought annonymity whispered to us at one point that the Sand Transporters and Environmental conservation group; or should we just say Kalungu; bribe the minister up to 1 million for the permit, and a flat rate of 200,000 shillings to the governor for the illegal permits to be issued. The lorry drivers also have to pay 10,000 shillings per lorry per year to the environment minister too, to be allowed to cart away the sand. In the sand pits, county enforcement officers and revenue collectors issue the ‘sacco’ reciepts to the lorry drivers for 1,000 per truck per trip. The collected money is then handed over to a representative of Kalungu, who takes it to his boss, who later banks waziri Kuvasila’s share in his Equity account.
Now here’s the sweetening pot: not one of the revenue collectors or enforcement officers can dare question the authority behind these drivers. On one instance, our sleuths questioned a senior revenue officer why they were allowing lorries full of sand through their cess point while they knew it was illegal. Somehow, the word spread to the cartel boss and minister, and it took both our driver’s speed-driving skill and the border police to save us from being lynched by hired goons in the earlier mentioned probox and motorbikes.
EACC, NEMA, and Environmental conservationists should dig into the forementioned Equity account and find all the transactions there.
Coming soon: how the Kitui County treasury has been losing your money
The Kitui County governor is among the top 100 most influential women in the continent, per a survey done by Africa’s leading media and public relations agency.
According to the survey done by Avance Media, HE. Charity Ngilu was placed among the most influential women in Africa on the governance category.
Others in the category include HE. Aja Jallow-Tambajano, the former Gambian Vice President; Angeléle Makombo, The President, League of Congolese Democrats; Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru; Athaliah Malokomme, the Parmanent UN Rep of Botwana; Emma Theofelus, Namibia Deputy Minister; Eve Baziaba, Deputy Prime Minister DR Congo; Jeannette Kagame, First Lady Rwanda; Filsan Abdullahi, Ethiopian Minister of Gender, Children and Youth; HE. Jessica Rose Epel Alupo, the Vice President Uganda; Kaba Nialé, Minister for Planning and Development Ivory Coast, HE. Miriam Talanta, Vice President Benin; Kenyan Chief Justice Martha Koome; HE. Sahle-Work Zewde, President Ethiopia; HE. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President Tanzania; and Victoire Dogbé, the Prime Minister Togo.
The list, which featured women who have climbed the corporate ladder, started their own successful businesses, or have been in the forefront of decision making both locally and internationally; also included among others: Graça Machel (wife to the late Mozambican freedom fighter and pan-africanist Samoa Machel), Founder Graça Machel Trust; HE. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former Liberian President and Board Chair EJS Center; Pumzile Mlambo, the Executive Director UN Women; Dorothy Ghettuna, the NetFlix Content Manager for Africa; among other renown public figures.
According to their survey report, the criteria Avance Media used in settling for the 100 most influential women in the continent included:
Excellence in leadership and performance
Personal accomplishments
Commitment to sharing knowledge
Breaking status quo, and
Being an accomplished African Woman.
The survey report features 100 women, drawn from 28 countries in Africa, and classified into 8 categories.
Kenya’s political graft has again revolved around its own axis sending its long tentacles to Kitui MCAs and thrusting them into a tumultuous centre of public glare.
The confetti of MCAs flocked for dinner hosted by the deputy president at his Karen residence. This comes as a surprise to many Kitui stakeholders, grass roots leaders and professionals because alot has been said about the DP, and a lot remains in question about the influence (if any) of the MCAs.
While the MCAs expressed their commitment to work fully and closely with Ruto for a sound partnership tailored to a balanced development, a cross section of embittered Kenyans feel that Ruto has already started his strategic campaign plans for his top seat come 2022. This is evidently shown by other series of meetings the deputy president has been having in the recent past with civil society and other stakeholders in other parts of the country. However, what Hon. Nimrod Mbai forgot to mention to the DP is that he actually presented to him a circus of politically barren legislators, most of them who can’t even retain their seats come 2022!
The 15 faces of confusion included Hon. Wangunze, Philma, Ndoo Mbaki Mbaki, Nzamba, Kyene, Luusa, Masaku, Kivali, Katheke, Sammy, Kawaya, Mbiti, and Hon. Ndile. The purported mobilizer was Hon. Mbaki, the former minority leader and a man whom it seems bad omen really loves to follow!
In Yatta/Kwa Vonza ward, Mbaki has over five strong competitors, including his first runners up Mr. Nding’o and the former MCA Hon. Kililiku. The once flamboyant legislator has totally lost his taste with the people, after he tried to blackmail the county stone crusher project into including him as a direct beneficiary. The distraught chap has resulted to yapping on radio and social media about the crusher, yet he has never raised a single question on the issue in the county assembly! A deeper look into the past of Mbaki reveals that he has lost all his political battles on the floor of the house. He failed to see an impeachment motion he’d tabled against the governor come true. He fought the PSB nominees list, yet the assembly still passed the names. Looking back to when he was the minority leader, the opposition successfully passed THREE impeachment motions! Solely driven by a desire akin to that of a jilted lover, the former minority leader, who was dropped from the post because of misadvising the governor has nothing worth the name to bring into the DP’s camp; save for drama and immature emotional tantrums. Oh, did I forget to mention that he actually pocketed all the “chai” the DP gave him to share with his fellow clowns after the dinner?
Surprisingly, the deputy president who is not in the same political league with the most powerful kamba leaders like Charity Kaluki Ngilu and Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka is the same man who the MCAs went to see. This has raised eyebrows of many. If really meeting the deputy president was done by the MCAs for the interest of the Kitui people, then why were people like Charity Kaluki Ngilu and other prominent leaders not involved? Who is in a better position to meet the deputy president to discuss with him on matters related to development of their county? Were the MCAs betraying the governor or sabotaging her? Not at all. Atleast not the 15 in this picture. There are only a few personalities in the county assembly of Kitui that can impact on the direction of Kitui County Politics: The Speaker Hon. Ndoto, The Majority Leader Hon. Tangawizi, The Minority Leader Hon. Nganga, Majority Whip Hon. Kivunzi, Minority Whip Hon. Katumo, and the former Deputy Speaker Hon. Kasee Musya.
Besides,why did the meeting take place at The deputy president’s residence? Where are such matters supposed to be discussed? And if the Deputy president is ready to change the phase of development in the whole country as he alleges, why is he targeting counties that have greater number of people? The development plan he is talking about is part of the strategies that the jubilee government promised to deliver to people.Why is the deputy president acting on his own without involving the president? Who is the head of state? Is Ruto the acting president or president in waiting?
All persons detect dubious games and graft. Ruto’ is initiating his campaign process in the name of discussing revolutionary measures. Kenyans are aware that the MCAs left the deputy president’s residence with a handsome package meant to oil their ambitions and strengthen them to derail the politics of kamba community. But although Hon. Mbaki pocketed it all and left them high and dry, the truth should be told to the DP; Hon. Nimrod Mbai brought you a basket of destitute future failures, who leave alone influencing your political direction in Kitui County, can’t even salvage their own skins in the next general elections!
The Kitui MCAs must stop their dirty games of lying to Kitui people that they went to discuss socio – economic transformation of Kenya with the Deputy president. Why didn’t they discuss it with the president? Or is it because the term of the current president is almost over and they are lobbying for more profitable posts in the coming government that is likely to be Ruto’s?
The DP was proudly presented with what can be termed figuratively as a loud political fart. But the day of recon is nigh, and the truth of the misfire shall gradually dawn on him as 2022 approaches.
A primary school girl is still a long way from getting justice, with the court never having started hearing proceedings, over two years since she was defiled by her teacher. This here is her story:
A primary school deputy head teacher in Kitui County has been charged with defiling his Standard six pupil.
The former Kaunguni Primary School deputy head teacher, Waita Zone in Mwingi Central, Justus Muli, was charged with defiling a 13-year old schoolgirl within the school’s compound on July 31, 2018.
Mwingi Resident Magistrate, Israel Ruhu, granted Muli a Sh300,000 bond with a surety of a similar amount. The case is set to be heard on October 27.
The teacher faced an alternative charge of indecent assault by touching the adolescent’s private parts.
After the plea was taken, the family of the pupil raised concern why the accused was still serving as a teacher in a neighbouring Itheng’eli Primary School when he still faces the sexual offence case.
The girl’s father, Elijah Kilinge, said he hoped that in due course, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) will seal all the loopholes to ensure truth is not suppressed and justice is fulfilled.
The matter had failed to kick off after the police slugged for years in arresting and charging the accused. Earlier, the DPP had turned down a decision by its lower Kitui County office to close a police case file of the complainant over flimsy excuses.
In a tense letter, the DDP said the decision by its lower office to order close of the defilement police case file No. 491/148/2018 against the juvenile was unjust.
In an equally verbatim letter, the head of children, victims and witnesses support at the DDP’s office, Caroline Kirimi, said it would be unjust to fault the complaint for not reporting the incident to her sister and opting to report to her parents.
“Long periods of silence cannot be construed as a suppression of truth or to mean that the incident did not happen,” Kirimi said in the letter.
She said there is sufficient evidence to prove all the elements of the defilement, the age of the victim, positive identification and a proof of penetration. Ms Kirimi observed that section 124 of the evidence act allows the court to convict on the uncorroborated testimony of a victim if found to be credible. Consequently, the DPP directed Kitui office to file a case of defilement contrary to section 8 (1) as read with section 8 (2) of the sexual offence act against the suspect.
“Proceed to prepare the charge sheet and present the suspect to court for plea taking,” Kirimi concluded.
Interesting enough, the case hearing also failed to begin on Monday 27th July because the defendant sought more time to consult with his lawyer,whom he claimed he had just acquired that same day. However, our reporter was able to unearth that the hearing date had been fixed three months prior to, and subsequent summons served, so the defendant had sufficient time to acquire himself legal representation and prepare his defense. Three of the four key witnesses are school going children, and with every postponement of the hearing coming with a heavy toll on the already squeezed education calendar.
It was joy and jubilation for the Mwingi women as Wamama Na Essie was launched . The launch took place at Mwingi township on Thursday 15th July 2021.
Wamama na Essie is a brainchild of Hon Ndile and a platform for women empowerment. The event was attended by hundreds of women from all over Mwingi sub county.
HON NDILE who is aspiring for KITUI WOMEN REPRESENTATIVE in 2022, also revealed her working agendas which will govern her leadership and top on the list is “ Women Empowerment and Leadership trainings “.
With Ndile it can only get better for the Kitui Women!
Hon.Esther Ndile is the Former Vice-Chairperson to the County Assemblies’ Forum (CAF), A Member of the Kitui County Assembly, and a Passionate Activist for Women empowerment.
Kitui county governor Charity Ngilu and Assembly speaker George Ndoto shake hands during a past event. The two have been MPs for Kitui Central during the Umaa Dam mega scandal.
On the slopes of the Kavonge Hills, barely 10km from the county head quarters Kitui Town, skeletons of stalled heavy machinery litters the shrubby overgrown banks of River Mukolekya; forgotten effigies of a ghost dam that cost the country billions of shillings in the past decade. Designed in 1992, the 2500 cubic meters capacity Umaa Dam was conceived as the ultimate solution package to the county’s chronic water shortages.
Twenty nine years down the line and over 1.2 billion shillings spent, there’s nothing to show for it, and the county is still grappling with water scarcity and droughts due to poor rainfall. Kitui Newspaper takes you back in time, to the very beginning of the mega dam project that turned into one of the mega looting sprees for powerful individuals in the government, who today drive around in posh cars and even government bodyguards.
Part 1: Politics, Politicians and the Paper
Construction works for the Umaa Dam project kicked off in 2007, after over a decade of political tussles between the former Kitui Central MP Hon. Ndoto, now current speaker of the county assembly of Kitui; and the then sitting MP Hon. Charity Ngilu, now the Kitui County governor.
The ground breaking was warmly welcomed by the locals, who had great hopes that finally their perennial water problems would get a parmanent solution. Things however didn’t go as smoothly as anticipated and the project stopped after barely a year, with the contractor citing lack of funds to complete the project.
From National Assembly archives, in a hansard dated 10/09/2009, while responding to a question by Mr. Kaino on the status of the construction of Arror and Chesuman dams in Marakwet; the then assistant minister for water and irrigation Mr. Kiunjuri went on record stating: “…..the Umaa Dam will cost the government another Ksh. 700 million….” In another hansard, while replying to the issue raised by Hon. Charles Nyamao and Kiema Kilonzo on the acute water shortages within the old Kitui District (now Kitui County), the then Minister for Water and Irrigation Charity Ngilu(current governor) went on record saying: “… We also have another project,namely Umaa Dam, that can serve those areas(Mutitu and Kitui Rural constituencies). Once the dam is complete, all these people will get water….”
Also, on Thursday 12tth May 2011, the then Kitui West MP Hon. Charles Nyamai raised the issue again in parliament, citing acute shortage of water in Mutonguni and Matinyani districts(National Assembly hansards).
Upon disatisfaction of the responses given on the floor of the house by minister Ngilu, and following allegations of corruption during the procurement process, whereby the assistant minister for public works Kiunjuri accused the Water and Irrigation’s minister Charity Ngilu of influencing the tender awarding; two engineers, Wilberforce Odhiambo and Zablon Oonge were hired as private consultants to investigate the matter and report to the Parliamentary Lands and Natural Resources Committee. The committee was chaired by then Gachoka MP Hon. Mutava Musyimi. (Read more of this in Part III: The Stall and the Law suits)
The contractor, Draft and Development Engineers fully pulled out of site in the year 2011, two years after the project had stalled due to political and financial pressure. The contractor had been paid Ksh. 824 million earlier, but launched a claim demanding Ksh. 1.6 billion, and a further Ksh. 97 million for “works completed”, although in some instances, the contractor had only managed 20% of the contract specifications. The contractor also moved to court stopping National Water and Pipelines Corporation (NWPC) from evicting him from the site.
NWPC had decided to take over the dam and complete it, after the afore-mentioned private consultants disclosed that by the time they met the parastatal’s tender Committee, the contractor had already been pre-qualified. NWPC had declared that it could complete the project with a budget of Ksh. 824 million, plus a 15% index margin as allowed in the contract. The Mutava Musyimi led committee however cleared Draft and Development Engineers to be “… responsible and capable of completing the works…(when they) evaluated his bid…”
Later on, in 2018, a report by the Government Parastatals General Manager for Construction Eng. Ali Hassan, presented to the National Assembly Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (chaired by Hon. Kareke Mbiuki) cleared the contractor for payment: after “…long-drawn negotiations and verifications, the 1.6 b claim (by the contractor) was eventually downgraded to Ksh. 536 million…” The amount was paid to the contractor in 2018.
The Mwingi North MP Hon. Paul Nzengu, who is currently a member of the committee visited the dam, in company of other Committee members, that same year. The report from their findings had still not been made public by the time of going to press, but that nailed the last nail on the project’s coffin, and both the media and political class shifted their focus to other matters; turning a blind eye to the apparent runaway embezzlement of public funds and a multimillion shillings ‘dam’ that can’t even hold a gallon of water today.
Could powerful figures in the government have been complicit to this mega scandal? Why would IEBC clear the then Water and Irrigation’s Minister Charity Ngilu to run for a gubernatorial post in the 2017 general elections, with all evidence of the role she played in the Umaa Dam plunder contained in the Kiunjuri Dossier which the government possesses? Find out that and more in the next episode; Part II: Japhet Rutere,The Cowboy Engineer behind Mega Dam Scandals.
Award winning Kamba gospel maestro Stephen Kasolo has apologized to his fans for the foul language he used in the audios circulating on social media, claiming that co- singer Fortune Mwikali provoked him to extremes with her insults.
In an exclusive interview with the Kitui Newspaper this morning, Kasolo shared exclusive screenshots of threats and insults by Fortune, that range from accusations of being gay to rather personal insults on his family and his physical looks. In one of the shared conversations, Fortune appears to be blackmailing Kasolo; and she further confesses of being ‘an agent with a mission that only prayers and real prayers can stop’!
“As a man of God and a born again christian, I feel obliged to own up to my audios and apologize to both my fans and fellow artist for letting anger get the better of me,” admitted Kasolo. “Am only human, and anyone would have snapped too, under the weight of such deep insults,” he added. “Even our Lord Jesus Christ once lost his temper too.”
He further called upon fellow musicians to be wary of singer Fortune Mwikali as ‘she is an evil agent who’s out on a mission’.
“We really need to get down on our knees and pray hard,” beseeched Kasolo. “This lady is apparently on an evil mission, and if we don’t pray hard, the devil will disintegrate our ministry,” he added.
Fortune Mwikali broke into the limelight after she did a collabo with Kasolo, and since then, the gospel maestro and Kitole hit-maker has nurtured her musical career till they fell out a week ago.
Below are screenshots of some of the insults and messages (Viewer discretion advised: Extreme Language and content!)
On 7th February,2020 , the governor summarily dismissed the then CECM Environment & Natural Resources. The reasons for the dismissal were not stated.
Aggrieved with the decision, the CECM moved to the Employment & Labour Relations Court in Nbi and obtained orders barring the filing of the position until the matter is heard and determined. See a copy of the order below.
However, our sleuths have dug out and unearthed serious issues which transpired in the course of the hearing of the case.
First, forged affidavits were filed in court by Mbee Nzei, supporting the governor’s application to be removed from the case. This prompted the advocate of the CECM to refer the affidavits to a document examiner at the Cid HQs. The sleuths visited kitui and took signature specimens from the governor . Fearing criminal repurcussions, the affidavit and the attendant application were promptly withdrawn. See letter to the Cid hqs, Kiambu road.
The games of Mbee Nzei nzei did not end there. Whilst the matter was awaiting judgment and during the pendency of the stay orders, the regime filled the vacancy barely seven days to the day of judgment. This was strange for various reasons among them: 1. How did Mbee Nzei know that for sure the judgment would be delivered within the 7 days without delay? This is because a delay in reading the judgment would have automatically exposed the regime to be cited for contempt of court.
2. How did the regime know that the issue of reinstatement, which was one of the prayers, will not be considered by the court?
In its judgment delivered on 28/1/2021, the high court ruled that the dismissal was unlawful because due process was not followed and awarded kshs 1,005,000.00 plus unpaid leave. Aggrieved by this judgment, the CECM lodged an appeal in the court of appeal in March and served it on the regimes’ advocate on 15/3/2021. Incidentally, our sleuths have unearthed a letter written to the CECM, not from the Mbee Nzei advocate as the case should be, but from the disgraced CS, who was declared persona non grata by a court in Kitui, asking the CECM to collect the court award!
When will Mbee Nzei get proper counsel to avoid these gaffes?
The above information, among others can be obtained from both the high court and court of appeal files.
A copy of the letter written to former environment minister by the county Secretary asking him to collect his dues.A copy of the filed appeal. Take note of the acknowledged receipt date(bottom right corner)
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Kitui Deputy Governor Dr. Wathe Nzau and the Agriculture Minister Emmanuel Kisangau inspect the roosting site of one of the locust swarms. Desert locusts have now invaded all sub counties in Kitui. [File Photo]
The desert locusts invasion has intensified in Kitui county, with swarms now reported in every sub-county in the region; the latest being Kitui West.
According to the latest data, locust swarms have been spotted in Areas surrounding Kathiani, nzalae, kitula, kyeni-katutu; in Kauwi and Mutonguni wards, Kitui West.
In Mwingi Central Sub County; the swarms have been roosting at Nganga area in Maai Village since last week, but have migrated and roosted at Yumba Ndei in Imba Village, Nguni Ward.
In Kitui South Sub County; the Swarms spotted in Mutomo/Kibwea Ward, which were roosting at Muliru area in Uae Village migrated and roosted at Yimuu which is at the border of Mutomo/Kibwea and Ikanga/Kyatune Wards.
In Kitui Rural Sub County; the swarm reported to have been roosting at Kenze in Thongoni Village migrated and roosted at Mwakini hills towards Kivunga and Katothya.
In Mumoni Ward, Mwingi Central; the swarm which was roosting at Kwa Musya in Mukonga Village migrated and roosted at Mumoni hills near Musosya.
In Kyuso Ward, also in Mwingi Central; the swarm which was roosting at Katuka in Mivukoni Village migrated and roosted at Kalole area in Kimangau Village.
In Kitui East sub County; they are still roosting at Kaliluni in Kaimu/ Itiko Village, Mutitu/Kaliku Ward.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with the Kitui Newspaper today, the County Minister for Agriculture Emmanuel Kisangau confirmed that the locusts have indeed created a crisis, but the County government of Kitui, through his ministry, were doing all they can to control the pests. He revealed to our reporter that they have already partnered with National Youth Service(NYS) to send in a trained team of personel and specialized equipment for the spraying exercise.
A swarm of Desert locusts feeding on crops in Kathiani area, Kitui West. The pests invaded the area this morning.
“Last week on Tuesday, on-ground spraying was done in Kitui Rural Sub County on the swarms roosting at Kanyonyo in Yatta/Kwavonza Ward, using Motorized Pumps mounted on Vehicles,” asserted Mr. Kisangau
“However, the special personel team from NYS will be expected to arrive in the County anytime this week to enhance hand spray in the areas which aerial and mounted vehicle spray cannot be done due to thick bushes and human settlements,” he added.
The ministry of agriculture, in conjunction with the office of the Deputy Governor,have called upon the public to remain calm; assuring them that the situation is tightly under control. The government has also made a clarion call to all Kitui residents to promptly report any new sightings of the desert locusts to the authorities so as to help eradicate the pests before they cause any serious damage to their crops and pastures.
Saturday, November 21, 2020, Kitui. By Our Reporter
A Kitui Police Station cruiser responds to a past crime scene in Kitui town. The police are fighting hard to suppress news of a prisoner who succumbed to breathing difficulties while in their custody in the wee hours of the morning today. [File photo]
The Kitui County Security Council is fighting to suppress news of a prisoner who succumbed to breathing difficulties inside the Kitui Police Station cells today, in the early hours of the morning, just a few hours after an officer from the same station succumbed to similar symptoms!
The Kitui Newspaper sleuths have established that the prisoner had been in custody for several days, and had reported chest pains and breathing difficulties on Tuesday this week. However, it is not clear whether the prisoner recieved any medical attention or not.
The story took another twist however, when officers from the station drove the body to the Kitui Level 4 Hospital morgue and booked him only as a resident of Majengo, Kitui Township. According to mortuary reports, the body was brought in at around half past one in the morning, and the police never gave any further details as to the nature and suspected cause of death. They also omitted to mention that the deceased had died in their custody.
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Trusted sources have informed the Kitui Newspaper that an emergency meeting was held at the Kitui County Commissioner’s office between 3am and 6 am to deliberate on the matter. All the top security officers were in attendance, according to our sources.
Our investigations have revealed that the deceased had been detained at the Kitui Police cells, pending his plea for a defilement suit. The Kitui Township sub-chief Mr. Kabede, speaking to us over the phone, confirmed the news of the death; identifying the deceased as Mr. Abubakar Yusuf, who had been in police custody for some days prior to his death.
The Kitui Level 4 hospital mortuary staff have denied having any prior knowledge of the circumstances leading to Mr. Yusuf’s death, arguing that the police did not give them much details about the deceased, apart from the entry on the official morgue book that the deceased hailed from Majengo in Kitui Township. They expressed shock in the fact that such a mysterious death would just be booked as any other body, especially during this period of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We don’t have PPEs, we don’t have body bags either,” disclosed one morgue staff who sought anonymity for job security’s sake, “In the unfortunate event of a covid-19 case, we can’t even safely handle the body here!”
Kamala Harris made global news just the other day when she became the first woman Vice President of the United States of America, a country that has boasted male domination since time immemorial!
With Kenya now on the verge of a possible referendum for new constitutional reforms, there are several leaves we can borrow from the Americans as one of the best models of democracy globally.
First; The role of women on the global political arena.
Globalization has made Women to suddenly come up & demand equal representation in leadership positions, as compared to the past where the woman’s position was traditionally in the kitchen & was only to be heard and never seen. The otherwise unexpected act by the American voter to vote in the duo with a woman Vice President is alone a big statement in itself! We have come of age and it is high time for us as Kenyans to accept that gender has no role to play when it comes to leadership qualities, & that no gender is more superior than the other.
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Let’s also shun away from the caveman’s mentality that feminine is the ultimate synonym for weakness. How I long for the day when the Kenyan president shall be female or if it’s a mn, then we have the Vice President from the opposite gender; Am deeply disturbed by events at a recent press conference where the governors were up-in-arms against the BBI recommendation that “ If it’s a male governor then the deputy should be a woman & vice versa”! We should also borrow a leaf of the US and endeavor to have the male presidential aspirants choosing women as their running mates and the other way round.
There’s so much we can pick from the U.S. in regards to equal opportunities for women, but I can’t outline it all in a single write-up. However, it is worth noting that leadership and gender are in no way synonymous; just like Carl Max once said about capitalism and democracy.
I believe that a day will dawn someday, here in our great country of Kenya and the Kenyan voter shall experience their wake-up call in realizing that both women and men can lead this beautiful country regardless of the archaic belief that one gender is “weaker”.
Lastly; in conclusion, I wish to specifically salute the Kenyan women who have gone ahead of us & made great sacrifices to create space and platforms for posterity’s sake. For now, I remain hopeful that only time will tell. The future is bright for the women leadership, and the future is now!
Hon. Esther Ndile is the former vice-chair to the County Assemblies’ Forum (CAF), A Jubilee nominated MCA, a member of the Kitui County Assembly, and a passionate activist for women empowerment in Kenya. She recently also unveiled her bid to vie for the Kitui County Women Representative Post in 2022.
A section of leaders and community members in deliberations during today’s meeting to resolve the Kiromboko Dam sand harvesting dispute between the community and the County Government of Kitui.
Elected leaders from Mwingi West Subcounty, Kitui have today held a consultative meeting between the Kitui County Government and the community in a bid to resolve the long-existing wrangles over sand harvesting in the area.
The meeting, which was held at the Kiromboko Sand Harvesting Zone along the Tyaa River in Mumoni/Kiomo Kyethani Wards, which borders the Mwingi North/Mwingi West Sub-Counties; was attended by the Kitui County Minister for Tourism, Sports and Culture who is also the Ag. Minister for Environment and Natural Resources; Mwingi North MP Hon Eng. Paul Musyimi Nzengu a.k.a Malili; Mwingi West MP Hon Charles Ngusya Nguna a.k.a CNN, Mumoni Ward MCA Hon Johnson Kanandu; Kiomo/Kyethani MCA Hon James Musyoka; and Kyome/Thaana MCA Hon Alex Wambua; and officials from the Kiromboko Sand Base Leaders’ Forum who are the representatives of the community.
The residents have for long of called for public participation on the issue of sand harvesting in the region, ever since the County Government of Kitui banned sand harvesting and the charcoal trade two years ago.
Others in attendance were the Mumoni Deputy County Commissioner madam Hellen Chege, Sub-County Administrators, and administration and security details from all the neighbouring Sub-Counties in the region.
Senator Kiio compares notes with the KWS deputy director when he visited his office yesterday to deliberate on the issue of stray wildlife in Kitui County
Senator Enoch Wambua has assured the victims of stray wildlife in Kitui county that he’s pushing for full and speedy compensation by the Kenya Wildlife Services for the losses incurred.
Speaking after meeting with the KWS Deputy Director Mr. Dickson yesterday, the senator guaranteed the residents that he is in the process of pressuring KWS to prioritize the compensation process.
Senator Kiio had met the KWS boss to discuss the extent of loss occasioned by a marauding lion to livestock farmers in Mutonguni and Miambani Wards, and the life lost when a stray buffalo goarded a man to death in Kanziku earlier this week.
“Yesterday I visited the KWS headquarters to fast track the process of demobilizing and removing the lion and push for speedy compensation to the affected people,” said the senator. “The deputy director has guaranteed me that they’ll increase their vigilance to control the animals from straying into our lands, and speed up compensation for those affected,” he added.
The stray lion was gunned down by KWS officers in Mutonguni Ward Kitui West yesterday, and the buffalo was also killed in Kanziku Ward of Kitui East. The slain man was laid to rest in a tearful funeral yesterday, that was attended by the Kitui County governor Charity Ngilu and the CECM for tourism Patrick Musau.
Photos of the stray lion that was shot down by KWS officers in Mutonguni Ward, Kitui West Subcounty
[Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are entirely those of the author. The Kitui Newspaper team and it’s associates do not bear in any way, the liabilities that may arise from the contents herein.]
Those accusing WIPER DEMOCRATIC PARTY MOVEMENT of the failed Ngilu Regime must rethink and ask themselves what has she done with billions allocated to kitui County over the last two fiscal years. I wish to state that Political parties are organs that are supposed to draw best policies for citizens on way forward in making their lives better. Such institutions ought be articulate focused and more so citizens friendly as their ideas and challenges must be the guiding factor in planning and implementation. They must be true to what they stand for and not just tools to gain power to misuse.
WIPER DEMOCRATIC PARTY MOVEMENT of KENYA (WDP-K)is your ideal party that has the interest of all Kenyans as its core foundation. We strive to balance the social equation by seeking to maintain equality, Intergrity, justice and freedom to every member of our society. Our approach to issues has been holistic encompassing everyone and every sector of our lives, for the sole purpose of building a more united and prosperous Kenyan as well as kitui County. I promise to fight and protect the interests of kitui County no matter the cost i will bear. Thank you. God bless kitui County.
PETER MWIKYA KILONZO ALIAS TANGAWIZI, IS THE MCA ELECT ATHI WARD AND MAJORITY LEADER COUNTY ASSEMBLY OF KITUI
Kitui Newspaper 