Dispatch from Mombasa

A drug addict injects himself with drugs Source: www.kenyancollective.com Recently, the coast of Kenya and particularly Mombasa witnessed heightened activity on what police claimedwas a major crackdown on drug traffickers. The crackdown ended up in total embarrassment as police did not make any major arrest and even those they arrested were released by the courts for the lack of evidence. At one time, the Mombasa County Police Commander Johnstone Ipara was seen briefing the media bragging how they had seized three thousand shillings in coins from one of the suspect's houses as if there is any law that prohibits anyone from holding coins. This must have been the most kneejerk reaction to combating drugs that I have ever come across and from the outset it was doomed to fail. Let me state why. I have lived in the coast of Kenya for the last two decades and I can attest that since getting here, there is nothing that grips the people of Pwani than talk about drugs popularly r...

Music fans in Eldoret went berserk when a Tanzanian artist failed to show up for a much routes musical concert. Harmonize is the artist behind the local radio anthem Kwangwaru. Disappointed fans started throwing litter the moment they realised Harmonize was no show. Reports indicate that the artist who was in Eldoret may have failed to perform over disagreements on pay. Hawa mapromoter watatuonyesha maneno.. See what the fans did. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10217582251217905&id=1526613181

Farmers drying maize in Eldoret Town Credit: www.businessdailyafrica.com By Judy Matu The revelation by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri that 60% of maize with a value of over Kshs 9 Billion which was imported last year is unfit for human consumption is both confusing and shocking. That the CS told the Parliamentary Select Committee on Agriculture that the country ordered for only six million bags yet maize cartels imported ten million bags in total contravention of the government's gazette notice is maddening. The revelation brings to the fore issues of national agricultural policy and how efforts of corrupt individuals in government undermine President Uhuru Kenyatta's food security agenda. The food security agenda is one of the four key pillars of Government's development agenda, the others being food security, affordable housing, manufacturing, and affordable healthcare for all. It is unacceptable that the Government is staring at such waste...

Gov. Joho and Kingi in a past press conference Last week two out of the six governors of the coast region declared that they would set in motion processes for the secession of the coast region. Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho popularly known among his supporters as “ Sultan ” and Kilifi Governor Amasson Kingi declared that they wanted the region to secede based on the fact that the area “has been marginalized by successive governments and the only way to get out of the marginalization was to determine own destiny.” Secession talks are not a new thing at the coast of Kenya. In 2008, a separatist organization called the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) pushed for the secession of the coast region citing an agreement between the Kenyan government and the Sultan of Zanzibar for the administration of the region for a period of 50 years. According to a Reuters(2012) report, the MRC claimed that they had “ … documents of a 1963 accord signed by then Kenyan Prime Minister and late...

Safari ya Bamba ni machero (The journey to Bamba is tomorrow) is an old Giriama childhood song that is sang by children when they gather in the evening as they wait for their mothers to cook. Though innocently sang, it’s a song that tells you that if you want to travel to Bamba, you must be adequately prepared both psychologically and physically because going there is not a journey for the faint. It requires both stamina and determination.    As a young reporter working in the District Information Office Mariakani  in the late 90s, the assignment I dreaded most was to be sent for coverage in Bamba, some thirty kilometers north of Mariakani in Kilifi County. Going to Bamba meant that you would have to leave early and come back late. You would swallow all the dust on the road and brace yourself for the scorching sun and thirst. There was no assurance that you would come back the same day and if you would it would not be later than midnight. It would be worse if ...

Deputy president William Ruto raided CORD co-principal vote turf and made fleeting donations that might make the principal curse in envy. The DP toured Akamba handicraft in changamwe, Kalonzo Musyoka's vote basket  where he assured the crafter's of government's support in improving their business. The crafter's had petitioned the government over tax returns, land rates, construction of a show room and sheds and salary arrears to employees. The DP said he had requested the taxman to recompute the tax arrears for the artisans. "However, we have paid the Kshs 300,000 land rates. I also pledge Kshs 5 million for salary arrears and today I present to you Kshs 2 million," he said amidst claps of joy. He observed that the NYS will he involved in the rehabilitation of the area at a cost of Kshs 10 million. "The NYS will in the next two weeks bring their architect to work with management on the designs. We will also fence the premises," he said. The mo...

Source: World Vision Zambia Many years ago when I used to work as a Government reporter, we used to accompany the long serving Cabinet Minister Katana Ngala and MP for Ganze for relief distribution efforts in the Constituency of the then Kilifi District. Hon. Katana was not particularly known to keep time. He was the kind of a guy who would slot a meeting for 2.00.p.m. but would not appear until the sun was setting in the west. What particularly touched were the very many helpless women and children who would wait for eons on end for the hallowed Minister. They would have to brave sweltering heat and dust as they waited for “ Mubomu ” (The Leader). Many women with strapped little frail children in their backs hid under scanty brush and would only come to life when the perennially late Minister would put two two-kilogram “ Gorogoros ” of maize into their baskets. It used to be heart wrenching moment witnessing frail old women and sometimes men open their bags expectantly for ...