The Star 12/23/2016

Deputy President William Ruto on Wednesday night said former Devolution CS Anne Waiguru was fired over the theft of Sh791 million at the National Youth Service. She did not resign for medical rasons, as she claimed, Ruto said in an interview on Citizen TV. The amount of the theft has since been placed at about Sh1.6 billion. The DP said Waiguru was sacked from the Cabinet, when it was discovered she was involved in the scandal. “Waiguru was running the programme when it was discovered she had something to do with the mess and the theft. We are very clear, we work with people and when it comes to our knowledge they are not implementing the programme we sent them to implement, we remove them. We take action. We prosecute…

NAJIB BALALA Tourists bookings rise above 70% Hotels at the Coast have recorded a significant increase in bookings as numbers of domestic guests push up occupancy to more than 70 per cent this festive season. This is up from an average of 40 per cent in December last year. The Tourism CS has been pushing for more investments in traditional markets to grow tourist’ numbers. See Page 14 MOHAMUD SALEH Wants non-Kenyans in UN list Government officials have been warned against accepting bribes and told not to strike off non-Kenyans from the UNHCR refugee database. The Northeastern regional coordinator yesterday said, “Some individuals may want to hijack the exercise and use it to extort innocent Kenyans who should get services for free. We will not allow this to happen.” See…

President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday honoured the widow of freedom hero Field Marshall Dedan Kimathi. Elois Mukami was awarded the Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear for the role she played in the war for independence. A similar award was presented to Fatuma Hirsi, a peacemaker from Wajir county. The President, who was joined by Deputy President William Ruto at the function at State House, said Kenya is proud of Mukami and Fatuma. “Mama Mukami, thank you for the role you played in our independence war. And thank you Mama Fatuma for fostering peace between our communities,” he said. Uhuru also presented awards to Health CS Cleopa Mailu (Elder of the Golden Heart) and Ogeto Kennedy (Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear). Ogeto was one of the…

THAT Deputy President William Ruto (pictured) is eloquent is not in doubt. But it’s interesting that the DP said a few things during an interview with Citizen TV that clearly were not true. For example, the DP, in his bid to extol Jubilee achievements since 2013, said the government had built and equipped 93 referral hospitals across the country. Those in the medical world have been making fun of the DP and wondering where, exactly, these referral facilities are! SENIOR Jubilee officials gave their leadership in Parliament a thorough bollocking after the ruling party was frustrated in Parliament on Tuesday. Cord employed every trick in the book, and then some, as they successfully thwarted attempts by Jubilee to introduce amendments to the election laws. We are told that some of…

THIS IS A LEGAL COUP. THE JUBILEE COALITION HAS DECIDED TO DENY KENYANS FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS, JUST AS HAPPENED IN BURUNDI Opposition protesters plan to pour into the streets in mass action starting January 4 to protest what they call Jubilee’s “legal coup”. Yesterday Jubilee lawmakers passed amendments that Cord says weaken electoral laws and enable rigging and election theft. Cord leaders Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka yesterday said the demonstrations would be peaceful but more intense than their weeks of anti-IEBC protests in May. At least six people were killed. Cord had stormed out of Parliament yesterday as Jubilee with its ‘tyranny of numbers’ passed the contentious amended electoral laws. Notably, they allow a manual backup if electronic voter registration, identification and transmission systems fail on August 8,…

THE country is witnessing unwarranted grandstanding among political players on key issues that touch on the electoral process. This is not helpful and will not be helpful. It is eight months to the next General Election. It is the duty of each actor, especially the political leaders, to give Kenyans reasons to be hopeful about the elections. This will require sobriety in debates, tolerance and respect for the rule of law. In the last few weeks, the IEBC has attempted to reach out to the key players in this process. What is evident is there are issues of concern that must be addressed. However, there is no unanimity on the mechanism of addressing them. We have listened to neutral voices on this matter. We support the proposal that a team…