The Star 04/25/2017

Safaricom risks being fined up to 0.1 per cent of its gross annual turnover for poor quality of service after its network failed yesterday. The Communication Authority said it has sought an explanation from Safaricom over the outage experienced on its network affecting its voice, data, SMS, M-Pesa and enterprise services for more than two hours. CA director general Francis Wangusi said the regulator will take action on Safaricom if the downtime was a result of its technical failure. “We are waiting to get an explanation of what happened. We should not have a communication breakdown in the country. If it was a deliberate move, we are going to take action,” Wangusi told journalists at the CA headquarters. Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said, “Our engineers identified the root cause of…

CLEOPA MAILU Plans anti-malaria programme Thousands of Kenyan children will receive a malaria vaccine next year in a carefully controlled pilot programme. The children will be selected mostly from malaria-endemic zones in the Western region. Health CS Cleopa Mailu yesterday said Kenya has made great strides against malaria. The three-year pilot phase will also investigate safety issues. See Page 11 ROSEMARY ODINGA Bows out of Kibra race Opposition leader Raila Odinga’s daughter Rosemary Odinga has bowed out of the Kibra constituency race, citing poor health. Rosemary, who has campaigned for the seat for two years, thanked Kibra residents for supporting her family for more than 30 years. Rosemary was diagnosed with a noncancerous brain tumour, meningioma, in February. See Page 9 YUSSUF HAJI Unsure of reelection Garissa Senator Yussuf Haji…

At least 941 Kenyans have died in road accidents since the year began, compared to 1,025 who died over the same period last year. The National Transport and Safety Authority noted that the 8.2 per cent reduction is due to enforcement of transport regulations. In the latest statistics, NTSA says the only increase was in the number of boda boda riders who died. The report shows the majority of people killed on the roads continue to be pedestrians. Up to April 23 this year, 361 pedestrians were killed, compared to 394 last year. “Pedestrians cross at non-designated areas and easily get knocked [down] by speeding vehicles,” the authority says. Since January to April 23, some 85 boda boda passengers were killed in accidents, compared to 79 in the same period…

POLITICAL GOSSIP Who is doing what and where in the world of politics NASA seems to have shifted its focus from the IEBC. The NASA chiefs went quiet on their onslaught on the commission the moment the first batch of the Kenya Integrated Electoral Management System landed. Is the IEBC getting it right this time? Sources whisper to Corridors the Wafula Chebukati (pictured) team is going flat out to correct the mistakes of 2013. Maybe Chebukati is simply burning the midnight oil. THE party primaries are a painful moment for the big guns of politics. Vocal allies of President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition chief Raila Odinga have disappeared from the national limelight. Reason? Their political careers are on the line. A good example is a senior ODM MP from Siaya…

 MORE than 1,200 aspirants have sought clearance to contest various seats as independent candidates, the highest number ever and expected to rise in the coming days. ‘I WILL BE ON THE BALLOT WHETHER ON ODM OR NOT. I WILL APPEAL TO THE PARTY BECAUSE I HAVE VIDEO AND PICTURE EVIDENCE [OF MALPRACTICE]’ Many cite the spate of shambolic or unfair nominations across parties as the reason for the last- minute decisions to quit. But as disgruntled aspirants rushed to the Registrar of Political Parties to effect the changes, a court in Malindi issued orders extending the party nominations deadline by two weeks. In another ruling that interferes with the IEBC’s election calendar, Justice Weldon Korir agreed with the Director of the Angaza Empowerment Network, George Mirigu, that it was important…

FOR PEOPLE WHO FEEL THAT NATIONAL POLITICS HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITY, INDEPENDENTS MAY PROVIDE A GENUINELY LOCAL ALTERNATIVE THAT STANDS FOR RELEVANT LOCAL ISSUES AT the 2013 General Election, it was somewhat a challenge for independent candidates because it was a new concept altogether in Kenya. Only three of us were elected as independent candidates – the other two being Wesley Korir (Cherangany) and Patrick Musimba (Kibwezi East). At first, it was near-to-impossible, because people were highly entrenched in a political party, but I went out of my way and shared with the people of Buuri Constituency, Meru county, my vision and how I was going to implement it. As time went by, they bought my idea, my record as a volunteer teacher for seven years…