The Star 03/25/2017

Nyeri governor aspirant Mutahi Kagwe named Kieni MP aspirant Njoroge Wainaina, alias Ebeneza, as his running mate, raising the political temperatures a notch higher. He named his running mate on Friday at a function in his Karichen home, Kieni East, that was attended by more than 1,000 delegates from Kieni. Wainaina, a politician and businessman, has been Kieni MP Kanini Kega’s fiercest rival. Kega buried the hatchet and now backs Wainaina and Kagwe. Senator Kagwe hopes to get 12,000 votes from Kieni, as he and his running mate come from the area. The constituency had 82,265 registered voters in 2013. Kieni, which is 52 per cent land mass of Nyeri county, is considered vote-rich. Wainaina said he will ensure Kieni benefits from the Nyeri government when elected deputy governor. “It…

WAFULA CHEBUKATI Aunthenticate aspirants’ papers The IEBC has set up a technical team to verify the credibility of aspirants’ education papers. The chairman says the team will have representatives from the Education ministry and other state agencies. The commission will bar politicians with fake certificates. Education CS Fred Matiang’i says next week they will announce how the process will work. See page 6 ACCIDENT Increased claims sink insurers A rise in claims and increased management costs have led to reduced profits in insurance firms. The IRA report for the fourth quarter 2016 states that loss from underwriting business increased to Sh390.84 million compared to Sh69.97 million in the previous year. However, in the life insurance business, underwriters posted a growth in profit of 216.92 per cent. See page 12 STARVING…

Safran Identity has been appointed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to supply the equipment for the August 8 election. The France-based firm, formally known as Morpho, was one of the vendors who supplied BVR kits for the 2013 general election and was the sole supplier of the kits in the January 16-February 19 mass voter registration. IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati yesterday said it will deliver within statutory timelines the Kenya Integrated Management System for results transmission. Chebukati said the commission settled on the firm based on the need to comply with legal timelines for the deployment of ICTs ahead of the general election. “Adequate time is required for configuration, testing, training and deployment for purposes of voter verification exercise by May 10,” he said. The other reason was…

POLITICS can be hilarious at times. A Nyanza MP perceived to be a Jubilee mole is in trouble. The lawmaker, who is defending his seat on an ODM ticket, was advised to follow Raila Odinga on his recent visit to South Africa. Raila was visiting his daughter Rosemary who had been in hospital. The idea was to find an opportune moment to offer an apology. The man had been openly flirting with Jubilee and at one time denigrated the former PM on national TV. It is said Raila has flatly rejected his overtures to win ODM primaries. The man is finding it rough on the ground. Aspirants are using unorthodox methods in NASA strongholds, throwing Raila’s name around to win the ticket. A senior Jubilee politician burst into laughter in…

If Kenya voted today, President Uhuru Kenyatta would defeat opposition chief Raila Odinga by 51 per cent to 24 per cent in the first round, a Star survey indicates. However, the poll by the newspaper’s research department indicates Raila remains by far — 51 per cent — the preferred opposition presidential flagbearer on August 8. According to the poll, the former Prime Minister’s NASA comrades — Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka and his Amani National Congress counterpart Musalia Mudavadi — would garner three per cent and two per cent, respectively. Ford Kenya Leader Moses Wetang’ula who is also the Senate minority leader would not get any votes, the survey indicates. In February, the same poll put Uhuru at 48 per cent against ODM chief Raila’s 28 per cent. At that time,…

With the latest poll showing Raila Odinga trailing President Uhuru Kenyatta by a big margin, alarm bells are going off. NASA principals must move fast, now and with the greatest urgency. They must agree on a flagbearer and running mate so they can start playing catch up with the winning team. If they manage to stick together, rally their troops and agree on a ticket, then NASA numbers will start going up. If not, the numbers will remain static at best. Jubilee’s non-performance has not made the opposition’s numbers go up. Jubilee are at 51 per cent, despite campaigning for the last four years. That means they have not been able to get even one per cent more on top of what they scored in 2013. So if JP strongholds…