The Star 10/31/2017

A KCPE candidate shot by police last week in Homa Bay county will sit his exam in hospital. Titus Odhiambo, 15, is admitted at Homa Bay County Referral Hospital. He was shot in the chest by riot police during protests against the repeat presidential election last Thursday in Sindo Township, Suba South sub-county. Odhiambo is a pupil at Sindo Baptist Academy. He underwent surgery to remove the bullet on Friday. Yesterday hospital matron Ruth Otieno said Odhiambo sustained serious injuries in the respiratory tract. “The bullet interfered with his respiratory system, hence he had difficulty breathing. We put him under oxygen for 24 hours before we conducted the operation,” she said. Otieno said the boy’s condition is improving and he will be able to sit the exam. “His health is…

ROBERT GODEC Probe claims of police brutality The US government yesterday called for speedy investigations into allegations that police officers used excessive force when quelling anti-poll protests last week. US Ambassador Robert Godec in a statement to the media condemned use of excessive force. He urged the security apparatus to uphold constitutionalism. See Page 9 FRED MATIANG’I Mobbed by Kawangware rioters The ugly face of defiance came to the fore yesterday with the acting Interior CS being the target during an impromptu visit to Gatina Primary School, Kawangware. There has been violence in the area for four days. He escaped the wrath of the rioters suspected to be NASA supporters after his security detail whisked him away. See Page 7 LUHANGA MPINA Tanzania auctions Kenyans’ cows Veterinarians have condemned the…

Standard eight candidates today begin the KCPE exam amid political tension following the repeat presidential election last Thursday. There has been tension and violence in Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori and parts of Nairobi county. Some 1,003,556 candidates are expected to sit the exam in 28,566 centres for three days. The first papers will be English language and composition, followed by science, Kiswahili lugha and Kiswahili insha on Wednesday, and finally social studies and religious studies on Thursday. The government has said it will ensure violence and the political fever do not disrupt the national exam. Education CS Fred Matiang’i said security measures have been put in place. He said yesterday the examination materials were already in the safety storage containers across all the subcounties. Speaking in Githurai Primary School,…

WHAT is NASA leader Raila Odinga (pictured) up to? A post by his spokesman Dennis Onyango has upset business people. Onyango said, “To those so-called businessmen like Patrick Obath, Vimal Shah and Chris Kirubi who are crying about losses, get this right: 1:The age of normalcy and innocence is over. 2: This country is going where Congo went when the West decided that Mobutu Seseseko was better than Patrice Lumumba. 3: Like Congo after Lumumba, Kenya will never be the same again. Business losses will be the new normal”. IT seems the political rejects — a term used by NASA chief Raila Odinga against politicians who lost in NASA strongholds and who now support Jubilee — have resorted to pressers to remain relevant. Raila has also called them ‘tumbocrats’ or…

President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday was declared winner of the controversial presidential rerun marred by isolated clashes and a boycott by NASA. It was the second time in 81 days the 52-year-old Kenyatta had been declared victor. His first win was overturned on September 1 by the Supreme Court, which cited illegalities and irregularities and ordered a rerun. Uhuru ran virtually unopposed in the rerun on Thursday last week, as NASA’s Raila Odinga had withdrawn and called for opposition supporters to boycott the poll. Most of them did. The IEBC declared Uhuru reelected with an 98.26 per cent of the votes — a record since the advent of multi-party democracy — which translates to 7,483,895 votes. It announced the outcome — without the vote from four Nyanza counties where the rerun…

The voter turnout in Kenya on October 26 was one of the lowest on the African continent since the reintroduction of multiparty elections in Kenya in 1992. Analysis of the results forms has thrown up several reasons why the IEBC’s figures lack credibility. First, the number of registered voters in Kenya is in flux. In fact, it has changed three times since the Register of Voters was gazetted in June. Without a credible number of registered voters, it is impossible to calculate voter turnout definitively. Second, the calculation is based on tallies that lack results from the majority of polling stations in certain constituencies. For instance, the IEBC has published results from Kisumu West, but the form from that constituency has results only. KYSY deployed approximately 2,000 observers in 44…