US President Obama holds Kenya dear, says official

US President

Barack Obama and his daughter Sasha disembark from Air Force One at Berlin Tegel airport on June 18, 2013. Kenya's omission from President Obama's Africa itinerary does not signify a downgrading of Washington's relationship with Nairobi, a White House official said June 21, 2013. AFP

"The Kenyan people just hold a very special place in the president's heart," declared Ben Rhodes, ..........Does it mean Obama cant be able to say so personally?

By KEVIN KELLEY, NATION Correspondent in New York

Posted  Saturday, June 22   2013 at  11:59

In Summary

• President Obama is due to visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania next week in an Africa tour that will bypass Kenya, his ancestral homeland.

Kenya's omission from President Obama's Africa itinerary does not signify a downgrading of Washington's relationship with Nairobi, a White House official said on Friday.

President Obama is due to visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania next week in an Africa tour that will bypass Kenya, his ancestral homeland.

"The Kenyan people just hold a very special place in the president's heart," declared Ben Rhodes, spokesman for the US National Security Council.

The untold story of Bungoma Killings; We were paid Sh10,000 for every human head

"We were paid Sh10,000 for every human head"

June 21st 2013, http://www.standardmedia.co.ke
 
The gangs that recently terrorised villagers in Busia and Bungoma counties were hired before the March 4 elections and trained on Lake Victoria islands.
Three men alleging they were hired to do the killings have spoken to The Standard on Saturday for the first time revealing previously unheard details of how dozens of youth were turned into killers. Their shocking claims have rocked the uneasy calm that descended on the two counties, after a month-long orgy of killings.
The killer gangs had struck in the wake of the March 4 polls, with a series of murders that sparked reprisals and left many people dead. They then went underground when police launched a crackdown to smoke them out.

Designer "Privates" the new fad

June 21st 2013, By Gardy ChachaIn pursuit of mind-blowing pleasure, some women are going to crazy extents to have ‘a nip here and a tuck there’. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly of cosmetic vaginal surgery
Going under the knife to have ‘a nip here and a tuck there’ to achieve a perfect ‘V’ is becoming common as the world turbines at a furious pace.
Vaginoplasty or cosmetic vaginal surgery is the new fade among some women who desire maximum sexual pleasure.

Facebook admits accidentally releasing phone numbers and email addresses for SIX MILLION users in year-long data breach

Social networking site blames technical glitch for huge data leak

Anyone who downloaded contact data obtained additional information

Facebook 'upset and embarrassed' by privacy breach

By Steve Robson
PUBLISHED: 13:24, 22 June 2013 
Facebook has admitted accidentally giving out the phone numbers and email addresses of six million users in a data breach which has been going on for around a year.
The social networking site blamed the data leak on a technical glitch in its massive archive of contact information collected from its 1.1 billion users worldwide.
As a result, Facebook users who downloaded contact data for their list of friends obtained additional information that they were not supposed to have.

Vast minerals under their feet, but Taita Taveta still languish in poverty

 June 21st 2013 By  Joe Kiarie
NAIROBI, KENYA: Is this the country’s best example of the resource curse? This  question haunts me after a tour of Taita Taveta County, which overflows with natural wealth.
The county boasts some of East Africa’s richest mineral deposits. It is also hemmed in between Kenya’s largest national parks, Tsavo East and Tsavo West, which earn the country billions of shillings annually from tourism.
Agriculture also thrives in Wudanyi and Taveta areas. But nothing in Taita Taveta, the third poorest county in Kenya, shows signs of this wealth.
Many residents live in poverty as labourers in sisal plantations and private farms or small-scale miners. The majority are squatters.

Weatherman raises warning as cold bites in Nairobi

June 20th 2013, By Nanjinia Wamuswa Nairobi’s cold ‘July’ season has come earlier than expected and could last until August, with temperatures expected to plunge to as low as 10 degrees centigrade.  

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“This time weather genetic systems established fairly early and now the wind we are getting all over Kenya is from the south. And whenever we have systems that align in Southern Africa we get very cold conditions,” said Peter Ambeje, the Kenya Meteorological Department Deputy Director.  

Ambeje said most areas in the Central highlands and Nairobi are expected to experience cool and cloudy conditions with occasional light morning rains or drizzles, and average highs of 17 and lows of 10 degrees.

Banda, the hero dog that snared Nigerian Anthony Chinedu

June 20th 2013 The alleged dark side of the man at the centre of a diplomatic row between Kenya and Nigeria was unmasked by an11-month-old police dog known as Banda.
Even though ranting from the comfort of his homeland miles away, Anthony Chinedu must be ruing that night when the robust Banda caught the suspected drug kingpin following years of suspicion.

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Were it not for the male canine, then Chinedu probably could still be in Kenya and would not have been arrested on drug related charges.

Kisumu County Assembly passes Sh72 million for Prados

June 21st 2013, By Dennis OnyangoKisumu,Kenya: Kisumu County Assembly has passed a report recommending the purchase of Toyota Prados worth Sh72 million.

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This will now see the County executives allocated 12 brand new Prados to enable them serve the area effectively.

MPs plot blackmail on former Prime Minister Raila Odinga over perks

June 20th 2013, http://www.standardmedia.co.ke 
 
Kenya: A plan to secure former Prime Minister Raila Odinga a retirement package looks set to become a new source of friction between the Jubilee and CORD coalitions.
Heading into the weekend, it emerged that CORD Members of the National Assembly are to seek an amendment to the Presidential Retirement and Benefits Act enjoyed by former President Kibaki.
They want to confer similar State-funded retirement benefits on the former Prime Minister and ex-Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka. 

ICC pushes Uhuru trial to November 12

(FILES) This picture taken on May 7, 2013 shows Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta turning to speak to a member of his delegation at Lancaster House in London. The International Criminal Court on June 20, 2013 postponed until November 12 Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's crimes against humanity trial in connection with deadly post-election violence.

By BY WALTER MENYA wmenya@ke.nationmedia.com , June 20  2013

In Summary

• “Scheduling conflicts, logistical and other constraints, including availability of courtrooms, arising from the other ongoing cases before the Court prevent the Chamber from setting this date,” judges Kuniko Ozaki, Robert Fremr and Chile Eboe-Osuji said.
• They rejected the defence’s request to postpone the trial to January 2014.

The ICC has postponed the start of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s trial for crimes against humanity from July 9 to November 12.

Most Kenyans welcome free maternal healthcare

Cabinet Secretary for Treasury Henry Rotich during the reading of the 2013/2014 budget at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi on June 13th, 2013. The majority of Kenyans have welcomed free maternal healthcare being offered by the government, a new opinion poll has shown. FILE 

By NATION REPORTER, June 20  201

In Summary

• The second most popular proposal was the money for the youth to set up business enterprises, which was backed by 12 per cent of the respondents.  

The majority of Kenyans have welcomed free maternal healthcare being offered by the government, a new opinion poll has shown.

State recalls envoys ahead of shake-up

Cabinet to the secretary nominee Francis Kimemia before the committee on administration and national security chaired by Asman Kamama at Continental house on May 24 2013. Some 39 ambassadors and high commissioners have been recalled as President Kenyatta prepares to assemble a new diplomatic team to champion Kenya’s foreign policy. PHOTO/PHOEBE OKALL   NATION

By ISAAC ONGIRI iongiri@ke.nationmedia.com AND EDITH FORTUNATE efortunate@ke.nationmedia.com
Thursday, June 20  2013

In Summary

• Kenya’s ambassador to Washington DC, Mr Elkanah Odembo, Consular-General in Los Angeles, Dr Akinyi Odinga and High Commissioner to Canada, Mr Simon Nabukwesi are among those ordered to return home.
• The posts are reportedly reserved for those who lost in the elections. Former Cabinet Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere and Eugene Wamalwa are among those who could benefit from the diplomatic postings.

Some 39 ambassadors and high commissioners have been recalled as President Kenyatta prepares to assemble a new diplomatic team to champion Kenya’s foreign policy.

I hope you will learn from my mistakes

PHOTO | FILE Caroline Bongo, her husband George and their daughters.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By KINUTHIA MBURU kinuthiamburu@gmail.com, June 19  2013

 

In Summary

• After surviving an abusive relationship, Caroline Bongo talks about the mistakes she made, and finding true love second time round

Caroline Nkirote–Bongo, 36, comes across as a self-assured and responsible woman. And she is. But this was far from the case six years ago.

Then, she was in an abusive relationship, living with a man who had no qualms about calling her names or beating her up. She knew she should have packed up and left before he did more than take away her self-esteem or give her a few bruises, but she hang on for six painful years.

Pay demands will ruin economy, warns Uhuru

President Uhuru Kenyatta speaking during this year’s National Prayers Breakfast at Safari Park hotel in Nairobi on June 20, 2013. President Kenyatta Thursday warned that the incessant clamour for higher pay by MPs, teachers, nurses and other civil servants would adversely affect the country’s development plans. PHOTO/BILLY MUTAI   NATION 

 

By AGGREY MUTAMBO amutambo@ke.nationmedia.com, June 20  2013 

 

In Summary

• He was categorical that pay demands by public servants was exerting pressure on the government and threatening financing of basic services and development projects.
• The President spoke as the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) prepared to meet with a mediator appointed by Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi after launching a strike three days ago.
• Kuppet acting secretary-general Moses Nthurima confirmed they had been invited to meet the mediator at the at the Ministry of Labour offices.

President Kenyatta Thursday warned that the incessant clamour for higher pay by MPs, teachers, nurses and other civil servants would adversely affect the country’s development plans.

Family stunned as grandmother ‘returns from the dead’

June 20th 2013, By Vincent Mabatuk Nakuru, Kenya:  It is the tragic story of an elderly woman who was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital only for mortuary attendants to discover she had a pulse. She, however, died hours after she was taken back to the emergency room.
Now, her family from Subukia in Nakuru is fighting with authorities at the Rift Provincial General Hospital over alleged negligence.
Relatives said a doctor instructed that Hannah Wanjiru Chege, 78, be placed at a temporary room awaiting transfer to the mortuary on Tuesday.

Kenyan architecture sits at crossroads

  June 19th 2013, By Mkala MwagheshaEver wondered why all the new buildings in and around major urban centres look the same? Architects say it is because Kenya lacks architectural identity, something they attribute to clients’ obsession with things foreign.
Kenya is full of exciting, posh, exquisite and warm architecture for both residential and commercial purposes. But the architecture in most construction works that stand out can all be traced somewhere else — not Kenya.

Horror tale of Kenya's graduate gangster

June 20th 2013, By Standard teamNAIROBI, KENYA: He graduated four years ago with big dreams, holding out with pride his crisp university graduation certificate.
But the young graduate’s wait for a job soon stretched into months and then years.
Back in the Nairobi slums where all his friends were doing well from crime, his reluctance to be a gangster faded slowly. Tim, not his real name, started small, he says, stealing small items and selling them. He calls it “hustling”, in the slum slang. Before he knew it, he had been sucked into armed robbery where guns were involved.

Karen’s gradual fall from glory

May 22nd 2013  Known for its opulence and serenity, this pristine neighbourhood is the home to who is who in Kenya. But a combination of factors are threatening to ruin its good reputation, writes PETER MUIRURI
The mere mention of Karen conjures up images of affluence, tranquility and security. The leafy Nairobi suburb is perhaps one of the most sought-after neighbourhoods. It is actually where the who is who in Kenya’s political and corporate world resides.

The suburb also plays host to a number of internationally acclaimed organisations such as the Giraffe Centre, Karen Blixen Museum, Brookhouse School, Banda School and Hillcrest School.
Indigenous forests such as Ololua, Ngong’ and Kibiku combine to purify the air around the vast residential area. Like other parts of the city, however, population increase with its attendant problems threaten to cast a pale shadow in this piece of paradise.

John Garang’s ‘State House’ in Lavington

June 16th 2013, The late John Garang’s house. (Photo:Jeckonia Otieno/Standard)

By Jeckonia Otieno
Nairobi, Kenya: Never in his wildest dreams did Henderson Magare imagine he would be playing host to an iconic African leader in a house he had initially intended to be a home for him and his children.
John Garang’ de Mabior, the late first vice-president of Sudan, lived in the abode, which is currently known as Lavington Hill House, now a boutique resort perched majestically on a slope overlooking Kileleshwa in Nairobi.