The Star 04/20/2017

Police officers will no longer be vetted in public due to “serious security concerns” posed by the general election. National Police Service Commission chairman Johnston Kavuludi said the ongoing vetting of officers will be conducted in-camera until the election is over. Kenyans have a constitutional right to attend the vetting sessions. “As we go towards the election and as the country settles down and focuses on the same, there are certain serious security concerns that may arise in the course of vetting and which might compromise the country’s security and that of the officers by the fact of having them vetted in public,” he said. Kavuludi spoke at the Embu county police headquarters in Majimbo on Tuesday, where he launched the vetting of 90 traffic officers from the former Eastern…

HIGH COURT Stops hiring of TZ doctors At the moment, the government cannot implement its decision to hire 500 doctors from Tanzania as the court has already issued temporary orders. Yesterday, Justice Nelson Abuodha (pictured) extended the orders. Four doctors have sued arguing that 1,000 jobless Kenyan doctors be considdered before hiring foreigners. See Page 12 LETHAL NECROSIS DISEASE Makes a comeback First, the drought delayed the planting season. Then there was an outbreak of armyworms. The problem has yet to be solved. Yet again, another problem has emerged. The Maize Lethal Necrosis disease that was first reported in Bomet county in 2011 is back. The Kenya Seed Company is, however, in the process of releasing two MLN-resistant varieties See Page 11 LENKU/TOBIKO Call each other prostitute Two Kajiado politicians…

The terror suspect whose body was found dumped near a national park was murdered, a postmortem carried out by the government pathologist indicates. Suspect Fareed Omar Awal and Fatuma Mohammed were hit on the back of their heads with a blunt object. The bodies were found dumped last month near Mt Longonot National Park off the Naivasha-Mai Mahiu road by a group of herders. The bodies were identified by the families at the weekend before they were handed over and later interred at the Naivasha Muslim cemetery. A medic involved in the postmortem said the two were murdered elsewhere and later dumped in an abandoned field. The source said there were indications that the assailants doused the duo with corrosive chemicals on their backs and hands to conceal their identities.…

SOME ODM enthusiasts are celebrating the attack on nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura (pictured). They are retaliating for an alleged verbal assault on their party boss by Mwaura, who has branded ODM the party of violence. Mwaura said he was shot at on Tuesday and his ear was injured. He also said his car was sprayed with bullets. Immediately his timeline on Facebook was awash with comments. Some consoled him but many ridiculed him for allegedly “biting the finger that fed him”. One of the comments read, “At least I’m sure in Jubilee it is by bullet, not ballot. If you survive the bullet, you lose an organ.” Mwaura, nominated to Parliament by ODM after officially serving as adviser in Raila Odinga’s office for five years, accuses the former PM of…

NASA’S five principals — including Bomet Governor Isaac Rutto — have agreed to allocate themselves four Cabinet positions each, if they win in August. They say no tribe will dominate, the face of Kenya will be represented. Fresh details emerged yesterday on how the opposition alliance plans to share power. Only broad sharing of Cabinet posts has been decided, but not which party will get which portfolios, according to multiple sources, including trusted lieutenants. “They are sure of the 22 Cabinet positions provided for in the Constitution. Anything else that cannot be guaranteed will be agreed after elections,” a source award of the discussions told the Star. The Bomet governor will be introduced today as the fifth NASA principal at the Bomas of Kenya. He too gets a slice of…

NASA is deluding itself that it has any voters in Governor Isaac Rutto’s Bomet county. The region and most parts of Rift Valley believe in Jubilee leadership. There is little or no chance the opposition will make inroads. DP Ruto has the respect and legitimacy to continue leading the region to harness the development spirit of our people. We will continue to support him and President Kenyatta in the August election and beyond. I reiterate Bomet remains firmly in the Jubilee Party, despite Rutto’s move to join NASA. Recent scientific polls and development projects initiated by Jubilee demonstrate that we will not be swayed into gambling with our future. And while it is everyone’s democratic right to join any party or alliance they choose, it is reckless and unwise to…