News POST

A woman killed her three children
Wednesday before hanging herself in
Bungoma.
Following the incident, a sombre
mood engulfed Namisi village,
Siritanyi Location within Bungoma
County.
The woman reportedly went into a fit
of rage, killing the children before she
committed suicide by hanging herself
in their family bedroom.
A fourth child, a girl aged eight
escaped death by a whisker and is
admitted at the Bungoma District
Hospital with deep cuts on her neck.
The woman identified as 31 year old
Christine Nangila is reported to have
committed the heinous act following
disagreements with her husband, 32
year old Luca Lunani.
The deceased woman is reported to
have attacked the children
Wednesday night while they were
sleeping.
The woman slit the throats of her
children using a sharp sword which
was later recovered from the house.
Her husband was not at home when
the incident occurred.
The bodies of the children, two boys
and one girl aged 10, 6 and 4
respectively alongside that of their
mother were taken to the Bungoma
District Hospital mortuary.
SHOCKED
Villagers wailed uncontrollably as the
bodies were being removed from the
house by police officers and loaded
into police vehicles.
Shocked relatives and neighbours
milled around the house of the
deceased.
Several others collapsed in shock
upon seeing the bodies of the three
children.
Her husband seemingly overwhelmed
by grief mumbled to himself in low
tones unsure of what to do next.
Relatives tried to comfort him and
kept watch over him after he
threatened to commit suicide.
There was a pool of blood in the
children’s bedroom with blankets and
other personal effects scattered on
the floor.
A neighbour Ms Silvia Nekesa who
was among the first to arrive at the
home of the deceased recounted how
she had come to buy sugar from the
house of the deceased, not knowing
that the four were already dead.
OPERATED KIOSK
“She used to operate a kiosk at her
house so I had come to buy sugar. I
knocked on the door repeatedly but
there was no response,” she said.
A man who rides the family boda boda
motorbike Anthony Wafula said he
found Ms Nekesa at the home of the
deceased waiting to buy sugar.
“I had come to pick the motorbike
after I returned it last night as usual.
She was quietly preparing food for
the family when I brought it back last
night,” he said.
Mr Wafula said when he arrived
Thursday, morning he went behind
the house and knocked on the
children’s bedroom repeatedly after
which he heard one of the children
crying.
“I broke the window after which she
told me her brother was dead.
She attempted to lift the body of the
dead child but it was too heavy for
her,” he said.
The two then moved to the main
bedroom and forced open one of the
windows and they saw the body of the
woman hanging on a rope tied to the
roof.
“We raised alarm and more
neighbours joined us but we were
warned not to break the door until
the police arrived since it was a scene
of crime,” he said.
Police arrived minutes later and took
the injured child to hospital.
LAUNCHED INVESTIGATIONS
Two of the children were found lying
in a pool of blood in their bedroom
while the younger child’s body was
found lying on the family bed.
Bungoma OCPD Mr Kirunya Limbitu
confirmed the incident and said police
have launched investigations into the
matter.
He said no suicide note had been
found in the house and the husband
who was still in shock could not be
interrogated immediately.
Police were still reviewing
neighbours' accounts to unravel the
motive of the murder, he said.
But neighbours told the Nation that
the couple had been having serious
conflicts for close to four months after
the man moved in with another
widowed woman.
A neighbour who didn’t want to be
named said the woman was very
distressed after her husband of nine
years moved to the house of the
widow.
“She kept threatening to do something
very bad. We never thought this is
what she had been planning all
along,” said the neighbour.
Another neighbour said the woman
was worried that her husband could
have infected her with HIV/Aids since
the husband of the widow was
rumoured to have died of the disease.
The neighbour added that the
deceased had recently visited a
Voluntary Counselling and Testing
(VCT) centre to know her status.
“We do not know if for sure she was
HIV positive but she has been very
distressed since that day," the
neighbour added.
ADVE

Six girls from Loreto Girls High School
in Limuru were on Thursday morning
arrested following night riots on
Wednesday.
The school was also closed after the
students engaged in running battles
with regular and anti-riot police.
All students in forms one to three
classes were sent home by the school
administration through a directive
from the county director’s office.
This comes only 13 days before the
official school closing date of
November 20.
A text message sent to parents at
11pm, Wednesday night read: ‘The
county director has closed the school
today. Pick your daughter together
with all her luggage tomorrow
Thursday November 7 by 7.00am.’
Students who come from far flung
areas like Mombasa, Lamu and
Bungoma complained that their
parents were in no position to report
on short notice to the school to pick
them.
However, guards at the gate said they
had received strict instructions that
all forms 1-3 students must leave the
school in the company of a parent or
guardian.
“How will I carry my mattress, metal
box and other personal belongings
from Limuru to Mombasa?” wondered
one student.
FEES INCREASE
Area police boss Michael Mbaluku
said the students complained of an
increase in school fees from Sh75,000
to Sh90,000 while they were not
served chicken and snacks twice a
week as promised.
They also complained that they did
not go for a half-term break and that
their parents were being mistreated,
searched and abused on visiting days.
Mr Mbaluku added that police were
forced to shoot in the air when the
girls became unruly in the night
destroying the locks of a police van.
They also broke the windscreen and
car lights of the administration police
(AP) commander's vehicle and broke
windows at the principal's office.
“We have arrested six form three
students who will be arraigned in
court. We will also arrest more
students since we have identified
them and are waiting for them here
at the gate as they leave,” said Mr
Mbaluku.
By noon Thursday, many students
were still within the school compound,
not knowing where they would spend
the night.
They also demanded for an audit of
the school's books of accounts and
transfer of the principal.
The principal Ms Margaret Ruinge
was spotted in her office speaking to
the police but declined to speak to the
press.
LEADERSHIP PROBLEMS
A parent to a form three student who
was among hundreds of parents who
arrived at the school alleged there
was a big problem in the leadership
of the school.
School fees was being raised
arbitrarily almost every end of the
term and parents who complained
were victimised, he said.
“In Loreto, when a parent speaks out,
they are victimised and branded as a
bad parent while the school
administration continues to increase
school fees every end of the year,” the
parent said.
She added that it was unreasonable
for parents living far from Limuru to
receive a message in the middle of the
night asking them to come and pick
their daughters early in the morning.
“We don't what happened because all
parents and guardians received only a
text message asking them to pick their
daughters with no explanation over
what happened prior to the early
closure of the school,” said Arnold
Magina who arrived in the school to
pick up his sister.
Form four students were worried that
the chaos in the school would affect
their performance in the on-going
KCSE exams.
They said the night running battles
with the police which started
Wednesday from 6pm, had affected
their revision for the Chemistry Paper
2 scheduled for Thursday morning.
There was however no disruption of
the form four national exam.
NOT EATEN
Students leaving the school claimed
they had not eaten supper or
breakfast, and that the last meal they
had was lunch on Wednesday
afternoon.
There were also claims that one of the
teachers suspected to have been
sympathetic with the students'
complaints was also arrested and
later released.
OCPD Mbaluku said that problems in
the school started on Sunday, a
visiting day, when the school
administration insisted that parents
must undergo thorough searches
before they could see their daughters,
an act that angered the students.
Later, after the parents and guardians
left, the students were also searched
to ensure they had no illegal
substances on them like drugs, added
OCPD Mbaluku.
“The searches were normal routine to
ensure the school remained secure
especially during this time in our
country when there are security
concerns,” said Mr Mbaluku.
Officials from Kiambu County
education office and the sub-county
security committee arrived in the
school in an attempt to calm the
situation.
But the students reportedly attacked
them.
Anti-riot police with sniffer dogs were
seen standing guard in the school as
students left.
“We had a peaceful demonstration
and it was wrong for the police to use
force on us and beat us,” one of the
students said.

China’s ambassador to the United
Nations has said that his country
supports the Africa-backed resolution
calling for deferral of the ICC cases
against Kenya’s leaders.
“We fully understand the concerns of
the African Union and also the
concerns of the Kenyan government,”
ambassador Liu Jieyi said at the UN
headquarters in New York. “China
supports the Security Council in
actively and positively responding to
the call of the AU and the Kenyan
government.”
VETO POWER
Mr Liu is also serving as the president
of the security council this month. His
country is one of the five permanent
members of the security council.
(READ: China backs African bid to
suspend ICC Kenya case )
“Kenya’s leaders, who were
democratically elected by the Kenyan
people, and their dignity, should be
fully protected and respected,” he
said, and asked the council to “ensure
that the Kenyan leaders can
concentrate on discharging their
constitutional duties, including
playing a very constructive regional
role in peace and security.”
China’s position puts it at odds with
the position taken by the US, Britain
and France, which are also permanent
members with veto power over
council resolutions.
Russia, the fifth permanent member,
is believed to favour a resolution
seeking a one-year deferral of the
proceedings against President
Kenyatta and Deputy President
William Ruto.
Mr Liu did not indicate specifically
when the resolution will be taken up
by the 15-member council.
“The usual practice,” he said, “is that
council members will have
consultations on a draft resolution
and decide on what course of action
the council will take.”
At a news conference outlining the
council’s programme of work for
November, the Chinese envoy framed
the effort to defer the ICC cases as
consistent with the need to maintain
international peace and security.
The council is legally able to initiate a
deferral of ICC prosecutions only
when it judges such an action to be
consistent with maintenance of
international peace.
“We believe the security council,
according to the Charter of the United
Nations, should support efforts of
regional organisations to maintain
peace and security,” he said. “As an
important country in Africa, Kenya
plays a significant role in maintaining
regional stability, mediating regional
issues and countering terrorism.”
The ICC said it excused Mr Ruto from
the courtroom because the reasons
his defence gave met the exceptional
circumstances threshold.
While giving the reasons for the
excusal yesterday, presiding judge
Chile Eboe-Osuji said the chamber
was satisfied with the reasons in Mr
Ruto’s application, which was largely
made in a private session.
Mr Ruto was on Friday excused from
being in the courtroom for the whole
of this week. (READ: Ruto flies back
home as talks on ICC falter)
“The chamber is satisfied that the
circumstances are exceptional. The
meetings for Mr Ruto and President
Uhuru Kenyatta were planned when
the schedule did not foresee extension
of the current session,” he said.
The chamber also held that the
criteria for excusal set in the
judgement of the Appeals Chamber of
October 25 were met.
The chamber agreed with the Ruto
defence that adjournment, which is
one of the alternatives available to it,
would not be feasible since there is
witness 268 on the stand whose
testimony cannot be disrupted.
MEETING WITH REFUGEES
President Kenyatta left for an official
visit to South Africa and Botswana on
Monday and is expected home today.
And Mr Ruto is required to chair a
meeting on refugee and drought on
Thursday and Friday.
Both the prosecution and the victims
had opposed the Ruto request arguing
that granting him the excusal would
make his absence the general rule
rather than the exception.

Panic has gripped Nanyuki Town and
its environs after an unknown powder
was dumped into a river on
Wednesday evening.
Water in Nanyuki River, stones and
plants on its banks turned deep blue
after the blue powder which was
wrapped in a large paper seeped into
the river.
Fearing that it could be a poisonous
chemical, Water Resources
Management Authority (WRMA)
officers in the area issued an alert
warning people living downstream
against using water from the river.
“We have agreed with the National
Environment Management Authority
(Nema) and public health officials to
put our heads together to find out
what this chemical is and who
dumped it into the river," a WRMA
official Mr Dominic Kibaya said.
"We have already collected samples
and we will know whether to send
them to the government chemist,”
Kibaya added.
Residents operating along the river
alerted government officials who
traced the source of the strange
colour to a big parcel weighing
several kilogrammes at a temporary
dumpsite on the river bank.
NOT CONSUME WATER
“As of now we don’t know what it is.
People downstream must be
prevented from consuming water
from this river because it could be
heavy metal.
The best action is not to take the
water,” Mr Kibaya said.
The vice-chairman of Nanyuki River
Water Users Association Mr David
Irungu mobilised the residents to look
for the pollutant after people started
complaining about the colouration of
the water.
He said the powder which was
irritating to the skin was found near a
residential plot where an
unauthorised garbage site was
developing.
Nanyuki town residents accused some
government officers charged with the
responsibility of fighting pollution of
sleeping on their jobs.
“We have good laws to prevent
pollution but the government officers
who are supposed to enforce them
are not doing their job.
That is why unauthorised garbage
dumps are developing on river
banks,” a resident Mr Danson Mumba
said.
He urged government agencies to
streamline laws on pollution in order
to keep the rivers clean.
Nanyuki River serves thousands of
farmers and pastoralists in Laikipia
county.

DODOMA: Tanzania will never quit
the East African Community and will
do everything in its power to make
sure the community survives and
becomes prosperous despite efforts
by Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda to
side-line it, President Jakaya Kikwete
told the Parliament Thursday.
“We are in the EAC to stay. We have
come from so far. We have sacrificed
so much to give up now. We will do
everything in our power to make sure
the EAC survives and achieve its
ultimate goal of political federation,”
President Kikwete told the Parilament
with President of Zanzibar Dr Ali
Mohammed Shein, Vice President Dr
Ghalib Bilali, Prime Minister Mizengo
Pinda and Chief Justice Othman
Chande in attendance.
Mr Kikwete who is just back from
meetings in South Africa where he
met Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of
Kenya and Yoweri Museveni of
Uganda said he has started engaging
his counterparts to find out exactly
what the problem is and try to
improve relations.
He said allegations that Tanzania was
an impediment in the integration
were not true despite the fact that
they have been repeated several
times.
“Tanzania is an active participant in
the integration process and is
fulfilling its part of the bargain,” he
said.
But he added that Tanzania will not
agree to fast racking the political
federation by jumping other key
integration processes such as the
Monetary Union.
Speaking with an intensity rarely seen
on the ever smiling President, Mr
Kikwete told a fully packed House
that he was, however, highly puzzled
and deeply saddened by efforts to
sideline Tanzania even in issues that
have all along been discussed at the
level of the EAC summit meetings.
He said he was asking himself
countless questions on why Tanzania
is being side-lined.
“Is there a conspiracy to push
Tanzania out of the EAC? Is it that my
counterparts from Kenya, Rwanda
and Uganda hate me personally? It is
difficult to even imagine the answers,”
President Kikwete said.
He said Tanzania had every reason to
ask what has happened.
“We met in April 28 this year at
summit in Arusha. Two months later
they meet again alone to discuss how
to implement the same issues that we
discussed in April, and without
inviting me. This is a sign to isolate
Tanzania. How can we integrate
through isolation?” he wondered.
Mr Kikwete’s reaction comes after
Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya,
Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul
Kagame of Rwanda held a series of
three meetings this year, the latest
being October 28 in Kigali where they
discussed and agreed to start the
implementation several issues
including infrastructure projects, the
political federation and the single
customs territory.
President Kikwete affirmed that he
has never been invited in the three
tripartite meetings.
“They call the tripartite ‘the coalition
of the willing’. My question is ‘who,
then, is not willing in the EAC
integration process?’ Why don’t they
invite us and see if we are willing or
not?” Mr Kikwete asked.
Kikwete said he is of the view that
Tanzania is being sidelined because of
its avowed stand on the political
federation, land, immigration and
movement of labour.
“I might be wrong, but my guess is
that we are being sideline because we
insist that we should not jump key
integration steps such as the
Monetary Union for the political
federation. But in this and all other
issues we have the EAC Protocol to
back us,” he noted.
He said despite the fact that two or
more countries are allowed to meet
over bilateral or trilateral issues they
are allowed to do so only to discuss
issues that are not in the EAC protocol
or which have not been decided upon
in the EAC Summit meetings.
They can also decide to meet and
decide on taking over implementation
of issues agreed upon by the EAC only
after permission from the secretariat,
Kikwete said.
“However the ‘coalition of the willing’
has met and deliberated on issues
under the auspice of EAC integration.
These include the political federation
and the single customs territory,”
noted Kikwete.
Despite the fact that the three
countries can go forward with the
infrastructure projects without
Tanzania the decision to sideline the
country was against the spirit of the
integration since Tanzania had shown
interest in participating in all the
projects being undertaken.
It was expected that the Mombasa-
Kampala-Kigali standard gauge
railway line would branch to
Tanzania; the Eldoret-Kampala-Kigali
oil pipeline would branch to Mwanza;
Tanzania was invited, and in fact
wanted, to invest in the Uganda oil
refinery; the electricity issue was
agreed together through the EAC
Power pool project.

The government will lease most
critical assets necessary for faster and
efficient service.
President Kenyatta Thursday that
apart from leasing of government
vehicles, many other essential assets
will be acquired through leasing,
starting with medical equipment.
Mr Kenyatta was speaking at Uhuru
Park, Nairobi, during the launch of
1,200 vehicles that the government
leased for use by police. The Sh3
billion tender was won by Toyota
Kenya.
“It is the first time ever for any
administration to acquire, all at one
go, over one thousand motor vehicles
for a single department in
government,” he said.
The President regretted that
corruption was rife in the President’s
Office and the police service, and
warned that stern action would be
taken against those found to be
corrupt.
“For those who are not ready to
change, we shall not plead with you
any more,” the President said.
In addition, the President said the
government was committed to
transforming Kenya to a middle
income country in line with the Vision
2030 blueprint.
“We are taking a number of
measures, like the single port
community window, and reforming
company laws, all meant to reduce the
cost of doing business,” he said.
The President added that the
government was striving to improve
security. Police would be reformed
and modernised it efficient, well-
equipped, competent, and motivated,
he said.

Kenyans will now easily access
government services and obtain
crucial documents from at least 10
government agencies from one place.
Services such as renewal of drivers’
licences, duplicate ID cards,
registration for the National Hospital
Insurance Fund and processing NHIF
claims, will now be offered at the
Huduma centres, launched by
President Kenyatta in Nairobi
Thursday.
The Huduma Centre, also referred to
as a ‘one-stop shop’, will initially
provide 18 services from 10
government agencies.
Other centres will be set up at 47
county headquarters, then across the
country at sub-county level, through
partnership with the private sector.
The Nairobi centre is located at the
Telposta Towers on Kenyatta Avenue.
IMPROVEMENT OF WELFARE
Mr Kenyatta said efficiency of the
public service was important in
enhancing the business environment,
and for sustained improvement of the
welfare of Kenyans.
“The centres are expected to provide
convenient, expeditious, high quality
and relevant public services that
would go a long way in the
actualisation of devolution and
realisation of Kenya Vision 2030,” he
said.
The public will also be able to obtain
NHIF member statements, have their
stamp duty assessment conducted and
pay at the centres.
They can also have their single
business permit and Nairobi City
County seasonal tickets processed and
issued there.
Other services include registration of
searches and registration of business
names, registration of welfare groups,
filing reviews or addressing
complaints on procurement and
disposal, and even applying or
repaying student loans.
The services will be provided online
through the Huduma Web Portal and
on mobile phones through the
Huduma Mobile Platform, the
Huduma Call Centre and the Huduma
Payment Gateway.
The Devolution ministry, in
collaboration with the Interior
ministry, spearheaded Huduma.
At the same time, Mr Kenyatta
warned corrupt and inefficient
officers that their days were
numbered.
“The public service became the
epitome of inefficiency. This
inefficiency bred corruption,
initiating a cycle of vice, which has
tormented many and cost the country
billions,” he said.
At another function at Uhuru Park,
the President warned corrupt police
officers; “The time for transformation
has come and those who are not
ready to change should leave and give
a chance to others willing to serve.”
In subsequent phases, the
government will not be asking citizens
to provide copies of documents issued
by “the same government” since
enterprise systems will enable
government departments to share
citizen data.
The President said that the public
service played an integral role in
economic growth. In order to
accelerate and consolidate national
transformation, the entire public
service has to first be transformed, he
added.
“The attitude of public service
providers, the systems and processes
of service delivery and the quality of
public services must experience a
serious turnaround. Public servants
are not rulers to lord over citizens.
They are servants,” he said.

Pressure Thursday piled on President Uhuru
Kenyatta to reject the controversial media law
passed by Parliament last week with the
Charles Nyachae-led Commission for the
Implementation of the Constitution (CIC)
describing it as “unconstitutional”.
The Commission has written to the President
urging him to send the Bill back to Parliament
for review.
“The Bill contains provisions which are
unconstitutional and if enacted in its current
state will inadvertently erode the gains made
in the Constitution to ensure freedom of the
media,” said Mr Nyachae.
He, however, called for patience among
journalists and media owners, saying it was too
early to seek legal redress without giving Mr
Kenyatta a chance to exercise his Executive
authority to reject the contentious Bill.
Among other things, the Bill sets up a powerful
Communications and Multimedia Appeals
Tribunal with wide-ranging powers over the
media.
The Kenya Editors Guild, the Kenya
Correspondents Association (KCA) and the
Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) had threatened
“drastic measures with far-reaching
consequences” to protect media freedom,
including seeking redress in court and
launching major protests across the country as
was done in 2007 when another Bill that had
threatened press freedom was passed in
Parliament.
President Kibaki declined to sign the Bill into
law.
Thursday, consultations between the Editors
Guild and the correspondents association and
proponents of the Bill hit a stalemate.
Mr David Ohito, the Editors’ Guild vice-
chairman said his organisation would not relent
until President Kenyatta sends the dictatorial
Bill back to Parliament for the contentious
issues to be resolved.
The law allows the President to return the Bill
to Parliament within 14 days with a
memorandum stating the clauses that should
be revised. Parliament needs a two-thirds
majority to overrule such a memorandum.
On Wednesday, National Assembly Speaker
Justin Muturi said the Bill was already “on the
conveyor belt” to be delivered to Mr Kenyatta.
He told MPs who had said they were willing to
consult on the Bill that it was too late in the
day.
BROADCAST CONTENT
And Thursday, Mr Ohito said: “We are going to
fight any attempts to cripple media freedom in
this country.”
Among other things, the law stipulates that 55
per cent of all broadcast content, including
advertising, must be local and be aired
between 6am and 10pm.
It also provides that media companies and
individual journalists can be fined up to Sh20
million and Sh1 million respectively for
flouting the journalism code of conduct or
provisions of the Act. The fines will also be
converted into debt.
Further, it gives the tribunal the power to do
anything to enforce its decisions in the event of
a dispute involving the media and a third party.
The tribunal also will have the power to
“recommend the suspension or removal from
the register of the journalist involved”.
Yesterday, Mr Nyachae told journalists to first
petition the President not to sign the Bill into
law. Mr Kenyatta has already indicated that he
would not sign the Bill and would give room for
consultation. He has also cautioned the media
to use their freedom responsibly.
The CIC chairman said journalists should only
go to court if the President signs the Bill into
law or if Parliament overrules his
memorandum.
CIC, which is charged with overseeing the
implementation of and adherence to the
Constitution, said several clauses in the Bill
contravened Article 34 of the Constitution
which guarantees media freedom.
It said MPs had also contravened Article 33(2)
of the Constitution which expressly provides
that the State shall not exercise control over or
interfere with any person engaged in
broadcasting, production or circulation of any
publication or dissemination of information.
Mr Nyachae also said MPs had infringed on the
Constitution by purporting to enact laws that
seek to penalise journalists for their opinion or
content of their broadcast.
He was referring to the harsh penalties that the
Bill seeks to impose on journalists who violate
the Code of Conduct for Journalists, which is to
be written by a government-appointed body.