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Cord principals have lost a bid to stop a case in which a woman had sued them over her matatu that was burnt during anti-IEBC protests.

Opposition supporters in Mathare had on June 6, 2016 burnt down the matatu along Juja road during anti-IEBC demonstrations called by the Cord principals.

The owner, Ms Agnes Macharia, a single mother in Nairobi, and Prime City Transporters Sacco moved to court seeking to have Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula barred from holding further anti-IEBC protests and that they should be compelled to compensate her.

However, through lawyer Antonny Oluoch, the Cord leaders objected to the suit arguing that the incident was of a criminal nature and cannot be handled by a constitutional court.

But Justice Joseph Onguto on Monday ruled that his Court has the jurisdiction to hear and determine the matter.

GENUINE GRIEVANCES

“There is a likelihood that these are genuine grievances and this court has the jurisdiction to hear and determine matters which rights have been violated, the preliminary objection is hereby dismissed,” Justice Onguto said.

The judge ruled that Cord leaders’ arguments opposing the suit lacked merit.

According to the opposition leaders, Ms Macharia and the matatu sacco wrongly listed them in the suit yet they had no direct responsibility in the burning of the public service vehicle registration number KCE 441E.

“The responsibility of maintaining law and order for any individual or classes of people including during legal demonstrations rests with the Inspector General and other law enforcement agencies, not Mr Odinga, Mr Kalonzo or Mr Wetangula,” said Mr Oluoch during the hearing.

HELD LIABLE

But Ms Macharia and the matatu sacco through their lawyer Mr Wilfred Lusi insisted that the three opposition leaders should be held liable over the loss since it is their supporters who allegedly burnt the vehicle during demonstrations which they had called for.

The judge said he will make his determination on merits of the case and whether the court will award Ms Macharia compensation after a further hearing later this month.

Matatu Owners Association Chairman Simon Kimtai was present with Ms Macharia in court.

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Want-away Tusker midfielder Humphrey Mieno is between a rock and a hard place even as he pushes for a move to Kenyan Premier League champions Gor Mahia.

Mieno’s head has been turned by alleged interest from Kogallo and has in the past one week unsuccessfully tried to push for a move.

The lanky playmaker, who previously turned out for Sofapaka , AFC Leopards and Azam in Tanzania, was last week spotted at the federation’s offices where he had gone to pitch his case. But our sources intimate that he was told in no uncertain terms to follow the laid down football procedures.

Mieno joined Tusker from AFC Leopards in January last year on a three- year deal.

MORE MONEY

Nairobi News has learnt that Mieno, who still has 18 months left on his contract, earns in the range of Sh 80,000 a month at Tusker but has been unsettled by a reported offer of Sh 130,000 a month at Gor plus sign on fee of Sh 1.5 million.

However, Gor’s acting secretary general Ronald Ngala poured cold water on the whole thing.

“We have never talked to Mieno and we have never made official bid,” he said.

“Of course we will go for him if he’s a free agent and everybody would want to do so because he’s a good player. We are not tapping him because no representative of the club has been in talks with him.”

Ngala added: “We made official approach for the players we wanted. We made an approach to Western Stima for Baron Oketch and we got him. It was the same with Muhoroni Youth for Wellington Oketch. We also made an approach to Mathare United for Eric Johanna but they never replied, while Bandari rejected our approach for Anthony Kimani.”

Tusker’s director Charles Obiny said that there is no just cause for Mieno to terminate his contract.

“He (Mieno) wanted to terminate his contract but the rules are there to be followed and there is no tangible reason why he should do that.”

“The rules are clear and everybody knows it. Gor Mahia has not made any offer to us.”

According to article 16A of Fifa rules on players transfer, a contract cannot be unilaterally terminated during the course of a season.

However, for footballing reason, a player can only terminate his contract if “in the course of the season, appeared in fewer than ten per cent of the official matches in which his club has featured in. In such a case, sporting sanctions shall not be imposed, though compensation may be payable”.

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A tourist visiting the Maasai Mara had a unique chance to find out how true the saying ‘curiosity killed the cat’ is after an inquisitive pride of lions decided to chew up his Ksh192,400 worth camera.

The tourist had set up his Canon DSLR on a tripod to take close up pictures of a pride of lion using a remote control, when a lioness and her pride decided to move closer and investigate the machine.

The pride eventually turned it into a plaything, toying with it from mouth to mouth.

Fortunately the photographer got his possession back after the lioness had strutted around with her spoils. But it was all chewed up and the lens was destroyed.

According to an interview with the Daily Mail, Engineer Thomas Selig, 28, was able to capture some hilarious images of lions in the game reserve.

He said: ‘In the morning I took the photographs, we were watching the lions and they started to move and play. This was the moment another photographer on the safari got the idea to try to take a picture of the lions from very close with a landscape lens.

‘But the photographer didn’t anticipate how curious the lions are. When they saw the strange thing they all moved towards it. When the first one took the camera with the tripod, they all really wanted to play with the camera, thinking ‘it seems so funny’, so the camera changed many times from mouth to mouth.”

The whole scene lasted at least one hour, until the lions finally got bored with the camera and they went off to do something else, he said.

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Transgender people in Kenya have submitted a memorandum on the 2016 Health Bill, currently with the Senate, seeking to be legally recognised and stop the stigma associated with the gender identity.

They say there is a national stigma associated with transsexuality and that they face a number of challenges when seeking healthcare in the country.

The submission follows a request by the Senate Committee on Health, currently sitting at Parliament.

“Transgender people are not Homosexuals (gays and lesbians), hermaphrodites, cross dressers or prostitutes,” the memo reads.

GAP IN LAWS

They say there is a gap in the current health laws on providing sex reassignment therapy by medical practitioners among the healthcare providers.

“We propose inclusion of sex reassignment therapy to be permitted by this Act and inclusion in the Health Bill to solve these challenges,” Audrey Mbugua, the head of Transgender Education and Advocacy, states in the memo.

The transsexuals want sex reassignment therapy to consist of psychiatric, endocrine and surgical procedures to bring about desired behavioural and medical outcomes.

They have spelt out the criteria to be met by those seeking sex reassignment therapy, including provisions that “the individual must be diagnosed with gender identity disorder; a persistent discomfort with assigned sex and an uncontrollable drive to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by the wish to make his or her body as congruent as possible with the preferred sex through surgery and hormone treatment.”

They also say that a person who wants a sex change “shall be at least 16 years of age to access psychiatric and endocrine interventions.”

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The head of the anti-counterfeit authority has been caught up in a storm after it emerged that the private number plates for his official car were forged in Kirinyaga Road, Nairobi.

The senior State official was also found to have altered the tracking gadget in one other vehicle assigned to him. However, he defended the move, saying he took the decision for “private and security” reasons.

Ironically, the revelations that a vehicle assigned to the Anti-Counterfeiting Agency (ACA) had fake number plates would never have been brought to light had the car not been involved in an accident on December 21, 2014.

MISUSE OF RESOURCES

A report on the investigations of how the accident occurred revealed the wanton misuse of a government resource and raised the probability that there could be other government cars on the roads fitted with fake number plates and being used for private errands with impunity.

A committee investigating the circumstances of the crash heard how the acting ACA director, Mr John Akoten, gave his driver money to procure the fake set of civilian plates to replace the blue ones assigned to his official car, a Volkswagen Passat, registration number KBQ 633D. The car was valued at Sh3.6 million.

“Due to police check units in Isiolo, Nakuru and Kitale, the acting executive director instructed his driver to make private number plates after the initial set was withdrawn. The acting ED gave the driver Sh2,500 and he went to make it on Kirinyaga Road in Nairobi,” the committee’s report reveals.

“The transport officer also had his controls over the Passat withdrawn after the Mr Akoten instructed him several times to remove the vehicle from tracking, but he declined.”

The Transport Officer, whose job was to manage the authority’s 14 vehicles, suddenly found himself unable to track Mr Akoten’s two official vehicles. He was also unable to explain how one of the cars suddenly had civilian number plates.

DESTROYED NUMBER PLATES

The officer’s predecessor, Mr Titus Kipchumba, had destroyed the initial number plates in line with a circular from the Government Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service, Mr Joseph Kinyua, who had instructed all parastatals to ensure all government vehicles have the required blue number plates.

The circular was issued in April 2014 and Mr Kipchumba duly complied with the instructions. Curiously, he resigned shortly thereafter under unclear circumstances.

Sources within ACA intimated that Mr Akoten was furious after Mr Kipchumba fitted the blue number plates on the cars.

Once Mr Kipchumba resigned, Mr Akoten’s driver acquired sweeping powers emboldened by being the custodian of the secret behind the private number plates. He also knew how his boss used the car to run private errands. He would even drive the Passat while on leave and during weekends.

All this time the car would be fuelled by the taxpayer. In fact, a day before the car was involved in accident, Mr Akoten’s driver had used it to attend the graduation ceremony of a relative at Kenyatta University.

He later admitted signing for the release of another vehicle to ferry 19 of Mr Akoten’s relatives to attend yet another graduation ceremony.

ON LEAVE

On the Sunday when the car was involved in an accident, the driver, Mr Reuben Makokha, was on the fourth day of his Christmas leave — just like his boss.

Mr Makokha was to pick up Mr Akoten’s wife, who was arriving from Mombasa that day. However, because he was unwell, he called one of his colleagues to run the errand. As fate would have it, the vehicle crashed on Forest Road. The driver said he had swerved to avoid hitting a motorcyclist.

Unfortunately, the car’s gear box was damaged and the vehicle was immobilised from the impact that also destroyed the front left wheel and deployed both the front airbags.

The man who was driving the car at the time could not report the accident, first, because the vehicle had fake number plates and secondly because he was not the designated driver.

“There was no work ticket signed and the accident happened on a Sunday,” the committee investigating the incident wrote in its report, a copy of which was seen by the Daily Nation.

A high-ranking official at the State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC), whose responsibility is to oversee conduct for state corporation officers, acknowledged having received the report, but wondered why the board had not met to deal with the culprits.

“It is not that we have abandoned the case but we want to allow the board to run the corporations as provided in Section 15(1) of the State Corporation’s Act,” he said in a recent interview.

POLITICAL PROTECTION

“Obviously someone does not want the board to sit and the CEO seems to have some political protection. I think the entire body started on the wrong foot with each board member bringing their relatives there.”

The ACA board has not met since January 28. It is, itself, embroiled in a leadership dispute after Mr Polycarp Igathe was appointed chairman. His appointment has been contested twice in court over allegations of conflict of interest. With no full board sitting, such matters are unlikely to be addressed unless the SCAC intervenes.

The high probability that the impunity rampant at the agency could be replicated in other government institutions raises fears that Kenyans could be footing fuel bills and repair costs for government vehicles being used for private errands.

In 2014, the government leased 2,700 vehicles in a Sh6.7 billion deal with firms such as Toyota Kenya, CMC, Ecta Kenya, Land Rover dealers RMA Kenya and General Motors East Africa.

The government is still implementing the multibillion-shilling motor vehicle lease plan, which was first mooted in 2010.

The deal also involves repairs and fuelling of the cars to promote service delivery.

DENIED FAKING PLATES

Confronted with the allegations that he misused the government car, Mr Akoten denied faking the number plates and told the committee investigating the case that he had not even realised that the vehicle had private number plates although he had used it for more than eight months before it crashed.

The committee doubted his account, including his denial about sending his driver to pick up his wife. He had, however, admitted before the committee that he had wanted the tracking privileges changed.

“When people can view and see where you are, it can actually create a lot of problems,” Mr Akoten had told the committee.

Asked why he had not taken responsibility for the incident and stepped aside or even resigned, Mr Akoten directed the Nation to ask Trade and Industrilisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed about the case.

Mr Mohamed dismissed any questions on the matter, referring them back to Mr Akoten.

“Those are questions you should ask the acting Executive Director. How can I answer about a vehicle in one of my parastatals?” Mr Adan asked when contacted for a comment.

It has been six months since investigations were completed and CMC — which has been holding the car at its Lusaka Road premises — has sent a Sh2.8 million bill for keeping the car in its custody. After the accident, the car was not taken into government premises for two months, when it was eventually towed to CMC Motors.

REPAIRS IN GARAGE

Interestingly, that the car was involved in an accident would never have come to light had the two drivers not found the bill for repairing it too costly for their modest incomes. The report says that they had taken the car for repairs at a garage on Baricho Road but could not afford to pay for repairs.

It is also possible that the car — which was not being tracked — could have been used for any activity, including illegal ones.

The committee found the two drivers guilty of operating the vehicle while on leave and making a fake number plate for the Passat as well as conspiracy to cover up an accident that had severely damaged a government car.

The two drivers were temporally suspended but Mr Makokha was cleared while the accident driver was dismissed.

However, he has since obtained a court order re-instating him. Mr Akotem was also reprimanded for encouraging impunity with his driver becoming so bold as to use the car during holidays without authority.

“Respect for government property is not an option for any individual regardless of their status. The public has entrusted us to serve them while managing their resources with diligence, utmost professionalism, honesty and integrity,” the committee noted.

Mr Akoten has been acting for more than three years since the parastatal was formed in 2010 to deal with the multibillion-shilling toxic industry of counterfeits. His position — like that of the board chairman — has been advertised twice.

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The anti-drugs agency wants bar attendants licensed.

The National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) has made the proposal to curb the drugging of revellers and theft of their items.

The agency said it wants the workers licensed for easy identification.

“We have seen cases of men being drugged at popular nightclubs and alcoholic joints. If the bar attendants are licensed, it will be easy to trace them and hold them culpable of such incidents,” Nacada Chairman John Mututho said.

According to the Nacada boss, the move will also make the attendants responsible and careful with clients.

“It will be very difficult for them to mishandle a client because they will know they are liable for anything wrong that happens to customers. They will, therefore, handle customers with utmost care,” said Mr Mututho.

He said there is also a need for bar attendants to undergo training on personal finance, HIV and Aids, besides customer care.

“We want to make waiters to be proud of their jobs by professionalising their industry.”

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The wife of Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero wants the anti-graft team to urgently respond to her petition challenging her investigation alongside her husband for alleged corruption.

Dr Susan Akello Mboya filed a constitutional petition seeking to protect the rights of married women when their spouses are under investigation for offences such as corruption.

Through lawyer Tom Ojienda, Dr Mboya on Monday told the High Court that her petition raised very fundamental issues touching on the Constitution, hence the need for the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to urgently respond so that the hearing could commence.

“We cannot proceed as the EACC has neither filed submissions nor a reply,” said Prof Ojienda.

Dr Mboya wants the investigation against her declared unconstitutional as it is tantamount to discrimination on the basis of sex and marital status.

“The EACC victimised me for being the governor’s wife when it sought court orders to investigate my bank account at Commercial Bank of Africa in relation to an ongoing probe against Dr Kidero,” says Dr Mboya in her court papers.

FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT

Dr Mboya describes herself as a financially independent woman who has built her wealth over the years through hard work and prudent investment in real estate and stocks.

She also says she is a highly respected philanthropist who has worked tirelessly to mentor and uplift the well-being of thousands of girls in Africa by assisting them with their education.

“I am a victim of my sex and that is why I am being subjected to these illegal investigations,” she says in her court papers.

The Director of Public Prosecutions said the warrants to investigate the accounts were lawfully issued.
Justice Joseph Onguto has directed the anti-graft commission to respond. The hearing resumes on July 25.

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Shirleen Wangari, better known for her character as Shish in the TV series Tahidi High, has decided to switch to behind the cameras and take up a role as a producer.

Nairobi News caught up with her to find out the motivation for the career move.

“I want to be like Brad Pitt acting and producing films at the same time, a jack of all trades,” said Shirleen Wangari.

She now owns Blackwell Film Limited and has recently co-produced a short film titled ‘Confessor‘ that stared Nick Ndeda, Jay A, Eddy Peter and herself.

She was also recently in Tanzania to shoot a documentary.

The ‘Confessor‘ has been nominated for this year’s Mashariki African film festival.

“Acting and producing is what most international actors are doing, and having had my share as an actress and the experience in the field it was only inevitable for me to venture into production,” she said.

‘Confessor‘ is not the only ace on her sleeve. She recently starred in the short film titled ‘Captain of Nakara‘ which was screened at the European film festival, as well as ‘Matriach‘, a short film directed by Dancurf Brown that has also been selected to be screened at this year’s Zanzibar Film Festival.

In addition the actress also won the best screen writer in this year’s 48hr film project.

So is this the end of us seeing her on TV? She gives an emphatic no.

“I am quite flexible. If a good opportunity comes up I will definitely do it, but at the moment I feel that Kenya has a lot of great stories to tell, so I will be doing a lot of production work and screen writing,” said Shirleen.

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A baby airlifted to Nairobi from Samburu County on Sunday following a snake bite will undergo dialysis to rid his body of toxins after his kidneys failed.

According to the baby’s father, Mr Leadilia Ebby, the attending doctor said the child would need at least three or four dialysis sessions to remove the accumulating waste in his body.

The baby will go through peritoneal dialysis where a catheter will be put in his stomach that will introduce a sterile cleansing fluid in his body to help filter the waste.

NATURAL FILTER

The baby’s stomach lining will act like a natural filter. The fluid containing toxins will then come out through the tube, the attending doctor explained.

This is different from the normal dialysis where blood is pumped out of the body to an artificial kidney machine, and returned to one’s body by tubes that connect one to the machine, also called haemodialysis.

On Monday, a catheter was fixed to mechanically drain urine into a bag, but was only filling up with blood and thus the dialysis was urgently required. He has also been given anti-venom to neutralise the snake poison.

The four-month-old baby — called Mperesi — from Wamba Town, Samburu was airlifted by Amref Flying Doctors to Kenyatta National Hospital where he is currently receiving treatment.

Initially, doctors were uncertain of the snake bite but further physical examination showed two tiny marks — where the snake fangs went in — on the baby’s left palm.

BODY SWELLING

According to Mr Ebby, the baby was bitten by the snake nearly two weeks ago but they were not aware of it until his body began swelling.

“His leg became swollen and his mother massaged it, then one arm started swelling and then the next and soon, he would not breathe properly. That’s when we rushed him to Wamba Mission hospital before we were referred here,” he said.

However, it is not clear the type of snake involved or how the baby survived given how lethal some snake bites are.

“It is a miracle that he is doing better today and his breathing has stabilised. They are also giving him some painkillers. There are many snake attacks in Samburu and just last week, three snakes were killed in my homestead,” the father of 10 said on Monday.

He sat next to his second wife, who was chanting prayers as she nursed the baby in ward 3B. The baby is breathing through an oxygen mask and every so often stirs from his sleep and opens his eyes.

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A two year-old toddler died in a morning fire on Tuesday in Mathare slums.

The cause of the 7:30 am fire remains unknown, but it gutted over 50 tin-sheet houses located opposite the Moi Air Base Eastleigh on Juja road.

The Kenya Red Cross says the fire was extinguished by Nairobi city fire brigade and local residents.

“The fire was one of the most fatal we have had in Mathare. One child was burnt dead and a woman fainted and was rushed to the hospital,” Mathare Peace Community Secretary Mr Patrick Lumumba told Nairobi News.

He said three fire brigade trucks arrived on time to contain the fire that  had spread quickly due to congestion in the slum.

Efforts to reach the Starehe OCPD Alice Kimeli were futile as her phone went unanswered.

The post Two year-old baby dies in Mathare fire appeared first on Nairobi News.

Kericho county governor Paul Chekwony reconnected with his teaching profession on Monday at a Form Four Chemistry lesson in his county.

Governor Chepkwony, a Professor in Organic Chemistry, on Monday posted photos of his moment in class at Kipsigis Girls High School.

PHOTO | COURTESY

The governor said that the topic of the lesson was Moles and Molarity.

Among the photos he posted was a close up of him writing on a white board and another of one of the students calculating moles.

The girls at Kipsigis Girls High School looked attentive in the photos that showed them taking notes, as well as listening keenly to the governor turned Chemistry teacher.

PHOTO | COURTESY

Prof Chepkwony has a Bachelor and Masters degree in Chemistry with a Ph.D in Organic Chemistry.

He was a lecturer at Moi University since 1999 after starting out as a graduate assistant and assistant lecturer at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

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Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria on Tuesday kept Opposition leader Raila Odinga waiting on a lunch date at Ranalo restaurant in the city centre.

Also invited for the lunch date were legislators recently charged with incitement including Senator Johnson Muthama (Machakos), MPs Junet Mohammed (Suna East), Aisha Jumwa (Kilifi), Kimani Ngunjiri (Bahati) and Florence Mutua (Busia)

Mr Odinga making his way to the Ranalo restaurant. PHOTO | LEONARD ONYANGO

Mr Kuria strolled in about 20 minutes late amid whispers from the Cord brigade who kept inquiring on his whereabouts.

Kuria’s arrival prompted a quick change of sitting positions to have Mr Odinga sandwiched between Mr Kuria and Mr Ngunjiri.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria arrives for the lunch date. PHOTO | LEONARD ONYANGO

PHOTO | LEONARD ONYANGO

Cord co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka, Moses Wetangula and Siaya Senator James Orengo were also in attendance.

PHOTO | LEONARD ONYANGO

PHOTO | LEONARD ONYANGO

After being served with bottles of drinking water, the politicians chatted freely as Mr Mohammed occasionally shook his head when explaining the conditions at Pangani police station to Mr Wetangula.

Mr Odinga chatted with Mr Ngunjiri for a while before turning to Mr Kuria for a short talk.

When the individual orders were brought, Mr Muthama devoured his fish even before the rest of the members were served.

The politicians eat with occasional bursts of laughter before quickly joking that they had started eating before praying.

Mr Odinga devoured his fish with sorghum ugali and vegetables while chatting up Mr Kuria.

Mr Kuria struggled with his fish, removing the bones one by one

Mr Mohammed and Ms Jumwa, who are on the Ramadhan fast, were on phone chatting as their colleagues devoured their food.

Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu did not join the group for lunch because he was attending a funeral in his constituency.

Timothy Bosire joined the team outside the restaurant for the final media briefing  just after they had finished their lunch.

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A woman who stabbed her husband to death two years ago in Starehe, Nairobi, after he accused her of infidelity has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Charity Wambui Chege confessed to killing Peter Kinyanjui on May 29, 2014 in Huruma, Kambi Moto.

The court heard that the husband returned home drunk and claimed that a man had been answering her phone when he called.

The woman is said to have picked up a kitchen knife and followed him into the bedroom, where she stabbed him in the back.

Ms Chege’s lawyer told the court that the mother of three is remorseful having spent two years in remand.

The lawyer said the accused had also graduated with a diploma in Theology and Counselling. She will be sentenced on July 5.

The post Nairobi woman admits to killing drunk husband over infidelity claims appeared first on Nairobi News.

The four-month old baby flown on Sunday to Nairobi from Samburu County following a snake bite has died.

Baby Mperesi succumbed on Tuesday morning at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), two days after he was admitted at the facility.

He was bitten by the snake in their home 10 days ago in Waso West, Samburu County.

Doctors at KNH had recommended that the baby be taken through dialysis to rid his body of toxins after his kidneys failed.

The attending doctor said the child would need at least three or four dialysis sessions to remove the accumulating waste in his body.

The post Four month-old baby bitten by snake dies at KNH appeared first on Nairobi News.

The heavily pregnant police officer pictured last week wearing a teargas necklace at Pangani Police Station where politicians had been detained has received surprise baby shower at the station.

Aspiring Nairobi Women Representative Millicent Omanga on Tuesday paid a visit at the station where she threw the surprise party for Police Constable Agatha Wairimu.

PHOTO | STELLA CHERONO

Other female police officers joined in the surprise which was held in an office usually used for taking statements from suspects and witnesses.

The office was decorated with balloons before Constable Wairimu was ushered in by her colleagues. She then cut and shared a cake that was brought by Ms Omanga.

PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA

The overjoyed officer received baby presents including a pram, a baby cot and other gifts from the aspirant who was accompanied by her friends.

“This is just a gesture to appreciate our female police officers. This officer has done us proud and showed us that women put in a lot of effort to their work,” Ms Omanga said.

PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA

Ms Omanga presented the gifts to Ms Wairimu in the presence of her boss, Officer Commanding Station Benjamin Kisela who said Ms Wairimu was a dedicated police officer who had made the station proud.

Constable Wairimu graduated from the Kenya Police Training College in Kiganjo in 2009 and while serving as a police officer, enrolled for an undergraduate degree at the Egerton University.

PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA

“I graduated last year June with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology – Forensic Investigations option and I hope to start my Masters next year after I deliver my first child,” she said.

Her estimated date of delivery is in September

She said she loved her job and hoped to advance her knowledge in the security field.

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Four people died on Saturday morning after a car they were travelling in lost control and rammed into stalls at Kariokor market.

Traffic was momentarily disrupted as an angry crowd placed burning tyres and other obstacles on the road to protest over regular accidents that have been recently occurred at the area.

Members of the public watch as a bonfire burns on General Waruinge road following demonstrations by traders at Kariokor market over increased cases of road accidents around the market. PHOTO | COURTESY

The protesters said there has been an increased cases of accidents in that section of the road which they said were endangering the lives of traders at the market.

As a result of the protests, Race Course road, General Waruinge road, Kirinyaga road and a section of Thika road from Pangani were inaccessible. Heavy traffic was experienced as motorists sought alternative routes to gain access into town.

The post Four die after vehicle rams into stalls at Kariokor market appeared first on Nairobi News.

He withdrew all his savings, sold his car and his bar in April to raise Sh300,000 to bribe a senior police officer to secure him a place in the General Service Unit.

But three months down the line, he is jobless, penniless and risks being homeless if he does not get a source of money soon.

Mr Peter Barasa cannot narrate the story without shedding tears. The 31-year-old wept as he narrated his story to Nairobi News on Wednesday.

For a start, Mr Barasa is not your ordinary ‘hustler’. He holds a degree in Medical Laboratory sciences from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, which he obtained in 2009, and is currently pursuing a Master’s at the same institution.

For the police job, the minimum qualification is a D+ but Mr Barasa had reached a point where joining the police service was the best option.

“There are medical specialisations within the GSU. Once I got in, I would work my way up,” he said.

The push came from his high school friend who is currently a GSU sergeant and who was then operating from Vigilance House.

M-PESA STATEMENTS

He encouraged him to join the force and organised the meeting with a man believed to be a senior official, who is also his friend’s boss at Vigilance House.

In a complaint letter that Mr Barasa wrote to the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU), which was received on June 30, he says that the friend introduced him to his boss and they arranged for a meeting three days before the nationwide police recruitment that was held on April 4.

“Having gone through my resume, the boss demanded Sh300,000 to help me secure the job,” wrote Mr Barasa.

He says that when he visited Vigilance House on April 1 to see the boss, he was asked to pay a commitment fee.

They agreed that he would send the amount to his friend at the GSU through M-Pesa, who would then withdraw it and take the cash to his boss at Vigilance House.

M-Pesa statements attached to his letter to the IAU show that between 12:36pm and 12:42pm on April 1, he sent Sh100,000 to the friend.

He then prepared to travel to Bungoma where, according to their initial plan, he would attend the recruitment in Kanduyi knowing that his interest had been taken care of.

SOLD HIS BUSINESS

“But later the boss informed my friend (name withheld) that there is no need of us travelling as he was to give us our letters at Nairobi,” he states, referring to another man who his friend had also linked to the boss.

He made another payment of Sh100,000 on the day before the recruitment.

On April 6, he says, he sold a bar he had bought five months earlier and a second-hand Mercedes car he had owned for a year. He told Nairobi News that he sold them at throwaway prices.

“I was forced to sell my business at Umoja Tena estate (Beirut Lounge/Bar) and my car to raise money to settle my family,” he states, adding that he set aside Sh40,000 of the money raised to settle his balance with the boss.

He asked the friend to top up the amount with Sh50,000 “which I would pay him once I started earning”.

But to his shock, he was not in the final recruits’ list that was released on May 6. When they inquired about it, he says his friend was transferred from Viligance House to Marsabit.

“His wife and children were thrown out of their house at GSU residence,” he states.

Mr Barasa adds that the transferred officer has received a call from an unknown caller who warned him against reporting the matter to authorities.

BLEAK FUTURE

“It is at this point that I realised my life is also in danger and visited Buru Buru Police Station where I was accorded assistance and advice,” he states.

He admits that he knew it was an offence for him to give a bribe to be recruited.

However, he says, he had run out of options due to lack of job after taking a course that many organisations can’t hire him because they find cheaper labour among certificate holders.

He is now learning that the person he met at Vigilance House may not have been a police officer after all and he suspects there is a senior officer who is using civilians to con the public.

Mr Barasa hopes that if the story is published, it will deter officers who have threatened the life of other parties in the deal.

But he is still hopeful of getting back the Sh300,000 from his friend, who he believes was duped by his bosses. A father of two, Mr Barasa is now facing a bleak future as he is unable to pay rent and school fees for his children.

Efforts by Nairobi News to get a response on the matter from police spokesman Charles Owino proved futile.

The post How desperate varsity graduate lost Sh300k in search of police job appeared first on Nairobi News.