The Star 01/06/2017

Fourteen people were killed and seven others critically injured on Thursday morning in a matatu accident on the Katito-Kendu Bay road in Kisumu. Nyanza Traffic Commander Andrew Naibei said 11 died on the spot at Daima —a black spot — during the 6.15am accident. The driver, said to be speeding, lost control at the blind spot where the matatu veered off the road and crashed into a culvert at Pap Onditi. Three people succumbed to the injuries at Nyabondo Mission Hospital. Four others are in stable condition. The Sirare-Kisumu-Nairobi bound 14-seater matatu carried 18 passengers. Passersby and bystanders were among the dead and injured. The deceased included the driver, a high school student heading back to school, an infant, an 11-year-old and eight adults. A woman, Rebecca Juma and her…

OUMA OLUGA KMPDU secretary general Governors will meet in Nairobi on Monday to consider the salary increment offered to striking medics by President Uhuru Kenyatta.On Wednesday, the government offered the striking medics an additional Sh4 billion to be shared among the country’s 5,000 doctors every year. This would pump up the salary of a intern from Sh126,000 to Sh196,000. See Page 12 EUGENE WAMALWA Torn between CS, governor job The Water CS is said to be torn: Run for governor in Nairobi, run for governor in Trans Nzoia or keep his Cabinet job. Running in Trans Nzoia against a JP rival could cost Jubilee the governor’s office. Those who supported his changing base to Nairobi argued persuasively. He was told getting the Nairobi governor’s seat is not a walk in…

The International Fund for Animal Welfare has called China’s ban on domestic ivory trade by December 31, “a tremendous victory for elephants”. On Friday last week,China, the world’s largest consumer of ivory, bowed to international pressure and said it would ban all produciton and sales by year’s end. Smuggling and underground workshops and sales will be difficult to eradicate, however, as rich Chinese have a big appetite for ivory. Still, the decision aids the war against poaching. The first group of factories and traders will close by March 31. IFAW President and CEO Azzedine Downes yesterday said the move showed “decisive action and leadership”. “IFAW has been a leader in efforts to save elephants — from work on the ground preventing poaching to efforts to stop the trafficking and changing…

POLITICAL GOSSIP Who is doing what and where in the world of politics QUESTIONS are being raised about whether some influential positions in this country are the preserve of two communities at the expense of highly qualified and experienced Kenyans from the other 40 tribes. A senior Cord MP’s remarks about a senior appointment at Kenya Power has come to pass. On Wednesday, Kenya Power chairman Kenneth Marende unveiled Kenneth Tarus as acting managing director to take over from outgoing MD Ben Chumo. Complaints about the delay in the naming of Chumo’s successor and speculation that Deputy President William Ruto was scheming to have an ally from his backyard assume the position have been rife. Our mole has told Corridors a vocal opposition MP was late last year heard questioning…

THE SENATORS ALSO OPPOSED THE EXCLUSION OF THE SENATE IN THE NEXT REVIEW OF ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES, CALLING FOR DELETION OF CLAUSE 32 OF THE BILL The Senate yesterday passed the contentious amendments to the Elections Act allowing manual voter verification in the August election. Jubilee senators outvoted their Cord counterparts 24 to 19 after heated debated that extended past 8pm to pass the amendments through the second reading. Senators retreated to their party cocoons as they debated a divisive report on the contentious Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015. A joint committee of the Senate that had been tasked to carry out public hearings on the Bill failed to agree on whether the electoral agency should use manual backup or not, leading to the vote. Jubilee members in the Committee carried…

THE seemingly sober intervention by the Senate on the electoral laws amendments has earned senators great praise. Their approach may be a result of having come to the issue after the disappointing performance of the National Assembly on the same matter. There is also the factor that there are a number of members of the Senate who are pretty experienced parliamentarians. But it was not necessarily the less experienced MPs who were behind the events in the National Assembly. Perhaps senators are a little less divided on party lines than the National Assembly members. One might even hypothesise that a smaller body (the 68-member Senate) can develop a greater sense of collegiality than the bigger National Assembly (with 350). The greater impartiality and maturity of the Senate Speaker compared with…