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[Nairobi News] Kenyans suffering from cancer will no longer need to travel abroad to seek in search of specialized treatment starting March next year.
South Africa is one of the hardest-hit countries in Africa with over 740,000 infections.
The country recorded 60 more virus-related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 20,011.
In terms of numbers, the staff in the administrative university are four times more than the teaching staff.
Although their core business is not teaching, in the 1990s the administrative staff compelled the university councils to give them ‘professor-equivalent’ and ‘lecturer-equivalent’ titles and salaries.
And because they are derided by the administrative staff, the teaching staff do not bother to ask their universities to fix any problem.
Some of them hope they will end up in the administrative university as principals of colleges, deputy vice-chancellors, or the teaching staff who are appointed to the senior administrative positions tend to fast forget about the academia.
Many will be distressed at this request because not all staff in our universities provide essential services – teaching, research and engagement with the community of scholars.
The fangs recently bared by President Uhuru Kenyatta that stung the DP’s allies in the Senate and the new-found camaraderie with ODM leader Raila Odinga now present the DP with a headache as he crafts his plan B to ascend to the house on the hill.
Close allies of the DP confided in the Nation that he does not want to make the same political mistake Mr Odinga made in taking the government head-on after elections, as he has little chance of succeeding, hence the studious silence.
In a meeting with his lieutenants over the weekend, the DP reportedly told his troops to back down on attacks on the government for now, saying there is a clear scheme among the major political players in the country to bring him down.
It emerged in the meeting that the planned formation of the Government of National Unity and the axing of his allies from lucrative Senate positions are a clear indication that the DP’s political wings are being clipped ahead of 2022.
HANDSHAKE
However, the DP’s ally Hillary Koskei (Kipkelion West) told the Nation that the current political happenings were pre-planned before the last general election and powerful men around President Kenyatta were only waiting for him to win the second term in order to execute it.
With rumours abound that lockdown restrictions could be tightened in South Africa, Professor Salim Abdool Karim has given his take on any potential changes.
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A swarm of desert locusts following a poor harvest season has added to fears about a lack of food for millions in Kenya, as the country grapples with the effects of COVID-19.
“We mainly farm millet, sorghum, maize, green grams and peas, and in a good harvest we do about 20 bags of each crop, but because of the locust invasion, getting a bag was a challenge,” Mutinda said.
“There is no maize,” said Regina Kasyoka, a 36-year-old farmer from the food basket region who did not harvest enough crops compared with past seasons.
“We will avail planting materials that will go a long way in improving food security for farmers and the country in general during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
The post Locust swarm destroys crops in Kenya as millions face hunger appeared first on Zenger News.
72 more people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing total confirmed cases in Kenya to 1,286, Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi has said in the latest update.
Nairobi has the highest number of new confirmed cases at 52 while Mombasa has 11 and Kiambu 7.
Isiolo County recorded one case, while Turkana becomes the latest devolved unit to record a case as the virus continues its march across the country.
Turkana's Covid-19 case was recorded at Kakuma.
29 counties have now confirmed coronavirus cases.
The desert locusts—in the worst invasion in Kenya in 70 years, according to the United Nations—have destroyed huge swaths of crops and pasture in the region, said farmer Joyce Mutinda, but the extent of the damage cannot yet be determined since new swarms are spreading.
Swarms of desert locusts can stay in the air for very long periods, traveling up 130 kilometers, or 80 miles, each day, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the swarms can vary in size, covering from 1 square kilometer to several hundred square kilometers, with up to 80 million adult locusts in each square kilometer.
In the eastern food basket region, the crops play a vital role in cushioning the country’s food shortage.
Nairobi — The government has written to Fairmont Hotels seeking clarification on its justification to sack all staff over what it attributed to the uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter addressed to the Country General Manager, Mehdi Morad, Solicitor General Ken Ogeto says the move by the hotel has generated a lot of public interest especially after some of the employees petitioned his office saying due process was not followed.
\"This matter is of public importance and great concern to the government and in view of the Attorney General's mandate to promote, protect and uphold the rule of law and defend the public interest, this office will be very grateful if you would provide it with clarification regarding the reports including on the veracity and the justification for taking such action,\" he said on Friday.
The Attorney General's office noted the move to declared all positions redundant would have far reaching consequences on the welfare of the employees and the country's economy.
The Attorney General's letter is seen as a warning to the private sector to avoid dismissing staff and instead employ other recovery measures.
Faf du Plessis is among 21 overseas players to agree to take part in the PSL playoffs which start this weekend in Karachi.
It seems Brackenfell in the Western Cape will become the next target of EFF anger, after protesters were attacked on Monday. Julius Malema was watching...
[Nation] National carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) has resumed local flights today.
Raila Odinga , in full Raila Amolo Odinga (born January 7, 1945, Maseno, Kenya), Kenyan businessman and politician who served as prime minister of Kenya (2008–13) following the contentious presidential election of December 2007.
Of Luo descent, Odinga was the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the first vice president of independent Kenya. After earning a master’s degree in mechanical engineering in East Germany in 1970, Odinga returned to Kenya to become a lecturer at the University of Nairobi. During his time at the university, Odinga also engaged in engineering-related business ventures, including one that would later become East African Spectre, Ltd. He left the university in 1974 and was soon employed by the Kenya Bureau of Standards, where he attained the position of deputy director in 1978.
In the 1970s and ’80s Odinga was politically active and supported government reforms in Kenya. In 1982 he was accused of plotting against Pres. Daniel arap Moi and was imprisoned without trial for six years. After Odinga’s release, he was twice arrested for campaigning against one-party rule, and in 1991 he sought refuge in Norway. He returned to Kenya in 1992, however, and was elected a member of the National Assembly that year under the banner of the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy–Kenya (FORD–K), the party led by his father. After his father’s death in 1994, Odinga became embroiled in a leadership struggle within the party and in 1996 left FORD–K and joined the National Development Party (NDP).
In 1997 Odinga stood unsuccessfully as the NDP’s candidate for election as president of Kenya but was able to retain his seat in the National Assembly. He and the NDP thereafter gave their support to Moi and the ruling Kikuyu-dominated Kenya African National Union (KANU). Odinga joined Moi’s cabinet as energy minister in 2001, and the NDP was absorbed into the ruling party the following year, with Odinga becoming secretary-general of KANU.
Odinga’s hope of succeeding Moi as KANU’s candidate for the presidency in the
EDITORIAL: Increase isolation centres
Monday, June 22, 2020 0:01
By EDITORIAL
A health professional holds a swab test for the Covid-19 at a drive through testing site outside the Lancet Laboratories facilities in Johannesburg, South Africa on March 19, 2020.
PHOTO | MARCO LONGARI | AFP
As the country battles the Coronavirus disease, it is refreshing to learn that health institutions are now opening up treatment and isolation centres for the virus in areas outside the major urban centres.
According to reports, the Nairobi Women’s Hospital has opened a 34-bed Covid-19 isolation and treatment centre in Ongata Rongai, which is set to boost Kajiado County’s preparedness in tackling the pandemic.
With hospital bed space fast running out as the government steps up testing for the disease and the number of cases and deaths rising, the quest to ensure that there is enough accommodation for serious cases is timely.
For example, the Machakos County government in April converted its local stadium into a field hospital in readiness for an increased number of Covid-19 patients.
Gloria Kawira, 21, is a fourth year medicine and surgery student at Egerton University.
The filmmaker, actress and human rights activist is soaring high with her acting that has seen her film titled Pear nominated for Best Scene Shot By Phoneaward in the Film Scene Festival in the United States.
\"We named the film PEAR in scrabble form which can be reorganised to symbolise the scrabble of life and how things happening around us can change who we end up becoming.
Pear also is a representation of 'Peer 'which also brings about the aspect of peer pressure which shapes us in so many ways
Kawira is also pursuing an acting course at Nairobi Performing Arts founded by Stuart Nash and her coach is Nice Githinji.
She has as well participated in human rights activism: Sexual and reproductive health in Egerton University, Gender based violence education, and she is the conference director - Kenya Model United Nations Egerton Chapter, and as a member of the gender committee in Egerton, she has helped in setting up several health camps.
Nairobi — Rowdy fans have been warned that they will be jailed for vandalizing stadium property, with the Nyayo National Stadium nearing completion and opening set for May 31.
The Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani has been a victim of frequent vandalism, with the plastic seats especially in the lower tier of the sitting area often being plucked off and thrown all over the pitch.
With Nyayo getting a similar seating facelift and the VIP area being glassed all round, there has been fear that the facility will fall victim to easy target during highly volatile matches like the Mashemeji Derby.
Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, the country's top two most supported clubs have always been fined by Sports Kenya for cases on vandalized seats and other infrastructure, while national team matches have not been spared either.
But Sports Kenya Director General Pius Metto while speaking to Capital Sports says he hopes there won't be more cases especially after the last derby which witnessed a peaceful atmosphere and was even attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.
A group of 7 Kenyan contractors who had been stationed at Kismayu, Somalia before the order to have the border shut indefinitely have their government for being locked down in Somalia.
They are demanding that CS Matiang'i and the Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai, who was also mentioned in the case as a petitioner, to let them back into the country.
Kenyan authorities at the border town have been thwarting their efforts to make their way back home in adherence to President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive to have the border closed on May 16.
On their part, the 7 Kenyans stuck in Somalia revealed that they had travelled to the country in pursuit of job opportunities and that they were authorised and allowed to proceed to Kismayu by the Kenyan Immigration Department between January 6 and January 25 for a short-term contract.
Kenya on Sunday recorded 22 new Covid-19 cases bringing the national tally to 1,214.
During a press briefing at Afya House in Nairobi, Kenya's Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Rashid Aman said that of the 22 new cases aged between 24 and 73 years-old, 17 were men while five were women.
Nairobi had 10 cases, Mombasa nine while Kwale, Nakuru and Taita Taveta had one case each.
On a positive note, Dr Aman said that three patients were discharged from hospital, bringing the total number of recoveries to 383.
He said that one patient who tested positive in Mathare in Nairobi, succumbed to the virus, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country to 51.
Alvin Jeremiah Lidede, who goes by the stage name Young Aldister, is a young budding rap artistes from Nakuru.
Alvin Jeremiah Lidede is my real name, but I use Young Aldister as my stage name and I'm 20 years old.
I remember when I was still in primary school my class teacher caught me singing for other students during lesson time and told me if I wouldn't reach a certain mark during the coming exam, I would repeat that class the following year.
Some musicians in the school requested me to join their music groups and from there I started recording songs.
My music style right now is rap, I'm a rapper.
Kenya overtakes Angola as third-largest economy in Sub-Sahara Africa
Friday, June 5, 2020 14:47
By ELVIS MBOYA
An aerial view of Nairobi CBD.
FILE PHOTO | NMG
Kenya has overtaken Angola as the third-largest economy in Sub-Sahara Africa, International Monetary Funds’ (IMF) fresh estimates released Friday has shown.
The East Africa’s largest economy, that has been the fourth largest economy in the Sub-Sahara Africa, has surpassed Angola to become third-largest economy in dollar terms.
The coronavirus pandemic and restrictions to limit its spread will probably see Angola’s gross domestic product contract 1.4 percent in 2020, while Kenya’s is projected to grow by one percent, according to the IMF report.
While Kenya has earmarked Sh40 billion (0.4 percent of GDP) in funds for additional health expenditure and funds for expediting payments of existing obligations to maintain cash flow for businesses during the crisis, among other tax relief incentives.
Vegetable and fruit vendors will be tested for Covid-19 as the Health ministry strives to arrest spiralling infections, which crossed the 1,000-mark Wednesday.
Kenya recorded the highest daily rise in new infections since March 13, with 66 cases.
In Nairobi, Kibra had the biggest spike with 15 infections, followed by Langata (three), Starehe and Dagoretti (two each), while Westlands, Eastleigh, Dandora and Mathare recorded a case each.
“With the increase in the number of infections, we have been able to keep our fatality rate at 5.6 per cent against the global average, which stands at 6.6 per cent,” Mr Kagwe said, adding that eight patients had left hospital, bringing the total recoveries to 366, while deaths continue to stagnate at 50.
Mr Kagwe said the laboratories have modern equipment that can diagnose most pathogens that cause non-communicable diseases, including Covid-19 and Ebola, and have the capacity to test 2,000 people per day.
Dr Rashid Aman, the Chief Administrative Secretary for Health, said during his daily update in Nairobi that 50 of the new cases are male and 22 female.
The new cases are spread in eight counties, with the capital Nairobi taking more than half (39), Busia (13), Mombasa (eight), Kajiado (four), Migori (three), Kiambu and Garissa (two each) and Kisumu (one).
Dr Aman Tueswday admitted the delay in remitting results is because of the temporary shortage of the testing materials.
“We have a backlog of samples that we need to test but we will clear them with time,” Dr Aman said.
“We are running low on materials and we will have to scale down on the number of tests that we are doing so that we don’t completely stop testing as we wait for the consignment that we have ordered,” he said
Despite the delay, Dr Aman assured Kenyans their samples were well kept.
The government Wednesday launched protocols for home-based isolation and care, anticipating to discharge asymptomatic Covid-19 positive cases.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Rashid Aman said the implementation of the protocols would start “immediately\", meaning that, from Thursday, Covid-19 positive patients who do not have any symptoms will start getting discharged.
He noted that it had become untenable to isolate all Covid-19 cases in hospitals due to the increased number of infections, and the challenge in capacity at health facilities.
Many of those reported positive Wednesday were truck drivers most from various border points, the highest being 18 from the Malaba border point in Busia
Turkana also registered seven cases, all of them truckers, at the Nadapal entry point.
Currently, the total number of positive Covid-19 cases in the country is 3,094 and the total number of samples tested is 102,956.
Architectural Association of Kenya(AAK) president Mugure Njendu said post-Covid, major changes must be made within private and public buildings to create spaces that enable people to observe social distancing to deter new Covid-19 infections.
Speaking at the same event, AAK’s Town Planners Chapter chair Juliet Rita called for a fresh examination of all public spaces from markets, bus stages and termini as well as public offices, health centres, educational and sports facilities to inform mitigation measures that enhance healthy living within urban areas.
AAK’s honorary secretary Marylyn Musyimi called for increased investments in social public infrastructure to ease queues at watering points and reduce jostling for space along footpaths used by bodaboda operators as well as pedestrians.
Restaurants and retail chains are already taking steps towards making their spaces safe, having installed plexiglass in key service areas to minimise human contact while allowing operations to go on
Fast-food restaurant operator Simbisa Brands has opened a takeaway section at its latest outlet at a petrol station on Eastern bypass, Ruiru that incorporates Pizza Inn, Chicken Inn and Creamy Inn awaiting inspection and advises on the sitting arrangement on its first floor dining area.
Ms Njendu said future construction designs of buildings will have to incorporate larger spaces and more doors as well as new restroom designs to accommodate the social distancing rule, while buttonless elevators might become the norm with more people preferring to walk up and down the stairs.
But if they are not, then there is a high likelihood that we will register more cases and deaths,” he said.
The new cases are spread in seven counties, with Nairobi accounting for 41, Mombasa 20, Siaya seven, Kwale six, Garissa three, Kajiado two and Taita Taveta one.
In Nairobi, Kibra had the biggest spike with 13 infections, followed by Westlands (nine), Lang'ata (five), Ruaraka (three); while Embakasi East, Embakasi West, Starehe, Kasarani and Dagoretti North recorded two cases each.
In Siaya, the seven cases were found in Ugenya, while in Kwale the six cases are in Msambweni (five) and Matuga (one).
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe gave details of how mourners from Nairobi took the virus to Siaya.
[Nairobi News] The late comedian Ben Maurice Onyango alias Othuol Othuol, who passed on while receiving treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), will be laid to rest on Saturday at Got Gaga village, Ndere in Alego, Siaya County.
Kaizer Chiefs have been drawn against the Cameroonian Champions in the preliminary CAF Champions League round. Draw in full below
One unit of blood can make the life-saving difference for as many as three persons, acting director of the National Blood Transfusion Service, Dr Alisha Tucker, has said. Tucker was speaking last Friday during a drive to ramp up supplies. COVID-19...
Centum Investments can breathe easy after repaying the Ksh16.14 billion ($161.4 million) debt which had, in the past five years, affected its cash flow and eroded shareholder earnings, restricting its options for new debt for growth and investments.
“As we enter the economic recovery cycle, Centum’s strong liquidity and balance sheet position has put it in a strong position to take advantage of investment opportunities that will emerge given the significant corrections that have taken place on valuations of even very strong companies, and the growing need by companies to shore up their equity capital positions and the general capital flight from frontier and emerging markets to developed markets.”
With the debt out of the way, the company expects to use the excess cash to boost its shareholder kitty and buy back its shares.
The huge debt on Centum’s balance sheet had weakened the firm’s debt-service coverage ratio, a measurement of the cash flow available to pay current debt obligations, to a low of 1.7x in 2019 from a high of 9.3x in 2015.
Last June, Centum suspended further capital expenditure and put key investments on sale as part of a grand plan to pay off mounting debts amid a shaky cash flow position and deteriorating debt-coverage ratio.
B-Club on Sunday published a social media post welcoming back Felix Orinda, popularly known as DJ Evolve, who was reportedly shot by Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino in January.
Welcome back home KING @dj_evolve (lowkey assasin, we cant wait to dance to your vibe once this lockdown is over #bclubnairobi #bclub2020 #nairobinightlife #nairobi #kenya
A post shared by B-CLUB Dining & Entertainment (@bclub.
nairobi) on May 16, 2020 at 9:43am PDT
Late last month, Babu Owino - real name Paul Ongili - said DJ Evolve has already been discharged from hospital and was waiting to be taken home.
\"I, Babu Owino, on humanitarian or moral grounds I decided to settle the bill, DJ Evolve is a personal friend so I settled the bills just as a friend,\" he said.
