The Star 10/13/2017

Dubai-based Al Ghurair has yet not started printing presidential ballot papers for the October 26 rerun, the IEBC said yesterday. The electoral agency issued the statement to put to rest rumours the printing is almost complete. NASA flagbearer Raila Odinga said on Wednesday that some ballots have already been printed and are stored in Industrial Area. Speaking to the Star on the phone, commissioner Roselyn Akombe said the IEBC will accommodate all August 8 candidates who want to run again. Those expected to be on the ballot are Jubilee’s Uhuru Kenyatta, NASA’s Raila Odinga, UDP’s Cyrus Jirongo, Ekuru Aukot (Thirdway Alliance), Michael Wainaina (independent) and Japhet Kaluyu (independent). The others are Abduba Dida (Alliance for Real Change) and Joe Nyagah (independent). On Tuesday, Raila sent a letter of withdrawal from…

PENINAH MUKABANE Men to care for nursing mothers Kakamega men will learn how to care for their breastfeeding wives and ensure they get a proper diet. They will be educated about biology and nutrition and encouraged to see their wives attend ante- and postnatal clinics. Health executive Peninah Mukabane said men are crucial in ensuring mothers are healthy and newborns survive. See page 36 CHARITY NGILU County to surcharge landowner The owner of land where toxic asbestos was dumped in Kiongwe Hills is expected to be surcharged at least Sh5.5 million to clean up the carcinogenic materials. Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu said the county and landowner Maluki Kitili last month agreed he would pay for excavation, removal and disposal of the asbestos. He has not done so. See page 34…

NASA has not submitted names for crucial House committees and MPs only appear to sign the register. Only Suba South MP John Mbadi of NASA has been named as the Minority Leader in the National Assembly. Among the key positions that NASA is yet to nominate members are the Deputy Minority Leader, the Minority Whip, the Deputy Minority Whip and the House Business Committee. A good number of opposition legislators have been showing up in the House just to sign the attendance register. On Wednesday, Majority Leader Aden Duale said, “They troop in just to sign the attendance register and leave. It is a confirmation they are attending the House, contrary to the directive issued by their leader Raila Odinga,” he said . When President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed a joint…

WHAT has happened to the vocal Leader of the Majority in Parliament, Aden Duale (pictured)? The man has conspicuously been missing from many high-profile presidential events and he has not been issuing statements attacking NASA as he has always done. People close to him have whispered to Corridors that the man is worried by the petition filed by Farah Maalim and has decided to talk Maalim out of the petition. Maalim, we are told, wants to quickly conclude discussions with Duale, so that he can launch a fresh fight with Senator Yusuf Haji. WHAT happened to NASA MPs’ vow to keep off Parliament until issues surrounding the presidential election are sorted out? Well, our moles have discovered a pattern developed by the opposition legislators of sneaking in to sign the…

RAILA’S INITIAL PLAN, BEFORE IT WAS SCUTTLED BY THE COURT, WAS TO USE PARAGRAPH 290 OF THE 2013 SUPREME COURT RULING WHICH SAID IF A CANDIDATE WITHDRAWS FROM THE RACE, THE POLL IS POSTPONED Intense pressure yesterday was mounting on obdurate President Uhuru Kenyatta and intransigent NASA leader Raila Odinga to pull the country out of political crisis and steer a course towards peace. When an irresistible force meets an immovable object, a miracle might be required to achieve progress. Meanwhile, NASA’s new strategy is to block elections in as many as 22 constituencies, thus nullifying any election – and pushing for secession. Religious leaders, trade unions and the African Union urged both leaders to rise above partisan and personal interests and put Kenya first. Western diplomats in Nairobi were…

NASA have extended their disingenuous political and forensic mischief to frontiers that we must all now agree are untenable and unacceptable. Two instances of this absurdity will suffice to bear me out. Somehow, NASA has managed to locate persons claiming to act as lawyers who have proceeded to produce truly alarming interpretations of the Constitution. An entire brigade of NASA lawyers now asserts the position that it is feasible to constitutionally secede from the Republic of Kenya. From a political and legal standpoint, this is utter nonsense. Even without expounding Article 3, a recapitulation of the first principles of constitution making exposes the fatal defects of the secession narrative. A constitution constitutes its referent entity. The Constitution of Kenya sets out the principles and institutions that make up the Republic…