20100629
allafrica

Nairobi — The leadership of the 'Yes' camp met in Nairobi on Monday to lay strategies for the referendum campaign and deal with internal wrangles said to be hurting its effectiveness.

20100627
reuters

Higher interest rates in Kenya will be "a recipe for recession" as the recovery in east Africa's largest economy is still fragile and inflation is not a threat, the central bank governor said on Sunday.

20100626
africanews

President Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan, will host a 50th anniversary celebration of 18 African nations' independence in Washington this summer, senior U.S. officials said on Friday.

A contract has been awarded for feasibility studies on the proposed Dar es Salaam-Mombasa natural gas pipeline.

The East African Community secretariat has picked the COWI Group to carry out the US$561,700 (Ksh40 million) survey funded by the African Development Bank. The Denmark based consulting group will work with COWI Tanzania Limited and Runji & Partners of Kenya.

EAC director for productive and social sector Mr. Caleb Weggoro said the project’s aim is to establish the commercial viability of building the proposed pipeline from Dar es Salaam through Tanga to Mombasa. The pipeline has been proposed to supply natural gas along the route as well as to Mombasa for power generation and other industrial applications. MottMacDonald Ltd of Britain is currently carrying out a study on the viability of Kenya building bulk import, storage and distribution facilities of liquefied natural gas in Mombasa.

Tanzania made commercial discovery of natural gas and Uganda discovered oil. Kenyan remains the only country in the region that has not found fossil fuels despite exploration efforts recently showing possibilities.

Kenya Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang’ula appears to have misled a parliamentary committee watch dog on the buying of a building that houses Kenya’s embassy in Japan.

Former Kenyan ambassador to Japan Dennis Awori said yesterday that Kenya lost Ksh1billion in the deal when he appeared before the committee on Defence and Foreign Relations. Former envoy added that he never chaired an evaluation meeting that turned down a “better” land offer from the Japanese government as was earlier testified by the minister.

The committee heard that the Kenyan taxpayers lost the money when the ministry decided to buy the current premises measuring about 1,100 square metres. This was after an evaluation team sent by the Kenyan government rejected an offer of a 700-square metre plot that had been identified by the envoy, with the assistance of the vice-chairperson of Africa-Japan parliamentary League, Senator Yano, who is known for his aggressiveness in pushing for African interests.

Over Ksh1.5 billion was paid for the land on which stands a concrete chancery on a 698-square metre and a wooden house of 402 square metres. However, Mr. Awori said the premises should not have been bought for more than Ksh500 million

President Mwai Kibaki received credentials from four envoys.
Ambassadors Luis Javier Campuzano of Republic of Mexico, Ghurum bin Said bin Ghurum bin Milhan of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Emmerence Ntahonkuriye of Burundi and Kosit Chatpaiboon of Thailand.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony at State House, Nairobi President Kibaki urged the new envoys to travel freely and interact with Kenyans across the country so as to effectively discharge their duties.

20100622
africanews

The Kenya government has ordered the registration of all mobile phones and sim cards to cut mobile phone crimes. Mobile phone subscribers have until the end of July to register their numbers or will be disconnected from their networks.

20100621
reuters

A Kenyan court acquitted and freed a policeman on Monday caught on camera apparently firing his rifle at two youths who were killed during post-election violence two years ago.

20100621
africanews

A man from Nyamira has confessed killing four women in Rift valley and Nyanza provinces in Kenya. He was arrested in Kaplong town, Sotik, while apparently on the run after killing a woman lodging in Keroka town, Nyamira District, some 45km away.

20100621
africanews

A police constable Edward Kirui accused of killing two demonstrators in Kisumu during the 2008 post-election violence has been acquitted. High Court judge Fred Ochieng on Monday ruled that the bullets found in the victims' bodies did not match the gun used by Kirui hence his innocence.

Flow Energy of Australia is set to explore for oil and gas in the block L6 along Kenya’s coast, pending National Environmental Management Authority’s approval. ]

The company, formerly known as Gippsland Offshore Petroleum Ltd, has submitted to NEMA an environmental impact assessment report on the proposed oil and gas exploration.

NEMA’s Director General Muasya Mwinzi, said submission by the firm of the report on exploration work in Lamu and Tana Delta Districts is in compliance with environmental regulations. He however added that, Flow Energy in partnership with ministry of energy intends to explore for hydrocarbon resources. Where successful, commercially produce for local consumption, power generation and export excess.

This comes as China National Offshore Oil Corporation is preparing to quantify the commercial viability of gas deposits in block 9 near Merti in Isiolo North.

The Constitution Review Opposing campaign team has told off the United States of America over alleged meddling in Kenya’s constitution making.

Red Card Centre “The NO Team” or the opposition side chief Executive Tom Namwamba said it was “contemptuous” of US Vice-President Joe Biden to peg President Barrack Obama’s visit to Kenya and the pouring in of aid on the passing of the proposed constitution. He added that, Kenyans are making constitution for themselves and not for Americans. Kenya is a sovereign state and not a colony of any nation.

He however said section 27(4) of the Bill of Rights, which stipulates that the State should not discriminate against any person on the grounds of sex, legalizes same-sex marriages meant to open floodgates for American investors, some of whom are professed homosexuals and lesbians, to come to Kenya.

His remarks came a day after reports of heated debate in the US Congress over abortion provisions in the proposed constitution.

Plans are underway to establish the first Islamic University in Kenya. The Kshs. 1 billion Umma University on Islamic Law, among other faculties, is sponsored by the Kuwaiti government with construction set to begin next month. This is the second attempt by the Muslim community in Kenya to find ways of establishing Islamic university after attempt in starting first Mombasa Islamic University which has not been started due to lack of sponsorship from Islamic states as well as the government.

The institution will have its main campus in Kajiado in the Rift Valley Province and a constituent college in Thika where the College of Shariah is currently situated. Board chair Abdulrahman Al-Muhailan announced the plans during an inaugural graduation of the first batch of students at the Thika College for Sharia and Islamic Studies.

20100618
africanews

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has suspended Assistant Roads Minister, Wilfred Machage, over hate speech during the campaign for a new constitution. This comes a day after he was being charged along with other MPS for inciting hatred.

20100615
africanews

Self-confessed serial killer Philip Onyancha has been levelled with murder charges in a Kenya court on Tuesday. The 32 year old Kenyan security guard, who confessed to 19 murders and intending to kill 100 people in five years has been charged alongside two other accomplices, Tobias Nyabuhaga and Douglas Obiero Makori.

The World Bank could be headed for a fresh row with Mombasa port stakeholders for allegedly not consulting them in a recent report on how to improve efficiency at the facility.
Stakeholders now claim that the report is skewed in favour of the bank and is meant to push its agenda, especially through the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the bank’s lending arm.
Kenya Shippers Council (KSC) chief executive officer Gilbert Langat said although the highlights of the report are good and correct, the recommendations do not represent the interests of all players. He added lack of consultation by the bank is not unusual but its recommendations are already inclined towards its own interests.
The report, Kenya Economic Update; Running on one Engine: Kenya uneven economic performance with a special focus on the port of Mombasa rated it the most important East Africa’s infrastructure. It emphasises the need to convert it into a landlord one, where cargo handling operations will be carried out by private players.
But Kenya Transport Association (KTA) secretary Paul Maiyo said that although the World Bank report findings highlighted key changes needed at the port to improve efficiency, there were no consultations.
Similar sentiments were expressed by the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa) with its national chairman Peter Mambembe claiming that the bank only consulted foreign multi-nationals with vested interests in Kenya.
The bank also dismisses the port’s 2004 master plan which was revised last year for not “effectively looking at the complementary hard and soft infrastructure needed to transform Mombasa into a world class port.”
The plan cites concessioning of berths 11 to 14 as a short term measure to create more container handling capacity although the project was thrown into confusion when dockworkers protested saying that they were not consulted.

The government called for calm as it investigated the cause of three explosions at the Referendum opposing side teams’ rally at Uhuru Park in Nairobi.
A flurry of high level meetings were held and Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere swiftly appointed a team of detectives to unearth those behind the grenades attack which killed six people and wounded 109 others.
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga described the attack on church leaders and politicians in the ‘No’ camp as a “heinous crime” and said security at public rallies will henceforth be tightened. He said its a crime against Kenya. The nation’s security and other agencies have launched urgent and detailed investigations to uncover those behind the crime. The PM described it as a “first ever incident” at a public meeting and said security will be enhanced at public rallies. He however, said ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaigns for the referendum and civic education meetings on the proposed constitution will continue. The attack, he said, should not be linked to the August 4 referendum.
The police are pursuing the matter as a serious crime, and they are placing on the team the best investigative minds in Kenya.

20100614
voanews

The chairman of Kenya’s National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has called for the investigation and prosecution of politicians who propagate hate in their speeches thus escalating tensions in the country.

20100614
africanews

Kenya's Church leaders have blamed the government for a grenade attack at a rally on Sunday that led to six deaths.

20100614
africanews

At least five people are said to have been killed on Sunday after a grenade attack hit a packed park in Nairobi where politicians and religious leaders opposed to Kenya's draft constitution were holding a rally. Five more are said to be in critical condition. The blast also injured more than 70 who are undertaking treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital.