The Star 10/18/2017

The IEBC is free to meet NASA’s demands as long as the October 26 poll is not derailed, DP William Ruto has said. He was addressing Foreign Correspondents Association of East Africa members in his residence in Nairobi yesterday. Ruto said Jubilee is ready for the poll and won’t interfere with the electoral body. “If they chose to have a discussion with our competitors on firing a member(s) of staff or changing a supplier, it is fine. As long as there is an election, we will participate,” the DP said. He accused NASA leader Raila Odinga of giving the IEBC tough conditions and misinterpreting the Constitution. “In my honest assessment, Raila is running away from a humiliating defeat. But we have rolled up our sleeves. Whether he participates or not…

Anti-corruption detectives yesterday arrested a Nairobi county workers’ union official after he was allegedly caught soliciting a bribe from Governor Mike Sonko’s aide. Benson Oliang’a, the branch secretary of the Kenya County Government Workers’ Union, was arrested at an unnamed hotel in the city. Sources told the Star Oliang’a had asked for a kickback from the governor so as not to call a workers’ strike over delayed September salaries. But the union dismissed the claims, and accused Son-do of intimidating union officials. “The governor called Oliang’a yesterday (Monday) for a meeting, but he refused to go because he was called alone. Then today, he told Oliang’a to meet his personal assistant in a hotel,” secretary general Roba Duba said. “When he went, the PA gave him lunch. That’s when he…

THAT the NASA chiefs have fallen out with some powerful Western diplomats is now an open secret. What is unknown is the level of mistrust. Well, it appears the relationship between an influential Western envoy and opposition chief Raila Odinga is irreparable. Sources whisper to Corridors that just a day before Raila announced his dramatic withdrawal from the presidential race, the diplomat tried in vain to reach the ex-Prime Minister. He is reported to have called six times, but Raila declined to pick up his phone. The envoy has been profiled by NASA as a Jubilee sympathiser, feeding his bosses with the status quo narrative. His alleged dalliance with the state – always talking about peace and stability rather than the root cause of the current political crisis – is…

‘OFFICERS HAVE, THEREFORE, BEEN DIRECTED TO TAKE FIRM ACTION AGAINST ANYONE OR GROUP OF PERSONS AT-TEMPTING TO INTERFERE OR PREVENT IEBC OFFICIALS FROM CARRYING OUT THEIR LAWFUL DUTIES’ IEBC is facing its biggest hurdle yet in pulling off the presidential rerun on NASA’s turf where many opposition supporters are determined to block the voting. This week they disrupted training of poll officials in parts of all Luo Nyanza counties. Some recruits backed out and fled, fearing for their lives. The clock is ticking ... nine days to the October 26 rerun, and Raila says he won’t run. His battle cry is no reforms, no election and it’s sweeping his strongholds like wildfire. Even as the crisis deepened, Raila yesterday said he is ready to engage President Uhuru Kenyatta on conducting…

As you are all aware, NASA was set to visit Laare in Meru county today. We have had to cancel that visit because of the poor security and outright violence that rocked that place ahead of our visit. The violence and the deterioration in security were not spontaneous: They were all sponsored by Jubilee Party and the State. In fact, police openly provided protection to youths who had been ferried to the venue while lobbing teargas at NASA supporters. We have campaigned in Meru for decades. We know the people well and we know our level of support among the residents. In fact, the visit planned for today had been requested by the residents, and we thank them wholeheartedly for their continued support, despite intimidation and blackmail. But Jubilee, ever…

Police yesterday used hammers and axes to break into businessman Jimmy Wanjigi’s palatial home in Muthaiga, where they recovered guns in the ceiling. As the besieged businessman sought court protection, the police said they were determined to find and arrest Wanjigi after they recovered guns in a Malindi house and in his Muthaiga house in upmarket, Nairobi. One of the guns was an M4 — described “as the gun the US Army can’t do without”. The M4 is a short, light, air-cooled, gas-operated and magazine-fed rifle. It is extensively used by the US Armed Forces, especially the combat units, as the primary infantry weapon. The M4 is also capable of mounting grenade launchers. Earlier in the day, Wanjigi, who is suspected to be hiding in a banker in his house,…