Teachers and pupils of Urim primary school in Siaya are caught between a rock and a hard place as they have to endure humiliation while answering calls of nature that comes their way during lesson time or count their luck if they avoid jigger infestation.
To this school community, one of the two things is likely to hound you out of the school for alternatives.
Lack of basic infrastructure at the school situated in the outskirts of Siaya town has seen teachers and pupils develop an unwritten silent rule where one has to stealthily study the environment before dashing in to the shared latrines to answer calls of nature.
And woe unto any teacher who by chance experiences a running stomach during the day as he or she will either be forced to dash to nearby thickets, or bravely ignore broken doors and persistent knocks from equally pressed pupils rushing to relieve themselves.
As a result of lack of toilets and classrooms, the school, situated in Central Alego ward in Alego / Usonga constituency has been experiencing a mass exodus of pupils and teachers who cannot stand the shame of exposing themselves while answering calls of nature.
When the media visited the school today, more shock was in store. It is not just lack of sanitary facilities that has seen teachers share the dilapidated toilets with the pupils that affect the school.
Few classrooms available are over the verge of collapse, forcing the management to improvise a system that has seen single rooms meant to host one classroom partitioned with old iron sheets to accommodate two classes – all using one door hence interfering with pupils’ concentration.
Teachers at the school lament that concentration amongst pupils becomes difficult when classes with artificial partition are on.
A parent at the school, Patricia Akech Ger laments that it has been difficult to keep teachers at the institution as most opt for institutions with better environment.
Mrs. Ger says that apart from lack of proper toilets, jigger menace is also a threat that the pupils and teachers have to contend with because of the mud floor classrooms.
She says that pupils have to, every now and then, carry cow dung to smear the floors in a bid to control the parasites.
The parent says that children from the neighbourhood prefer trekking long distance to attend other schools to avoid the shame of poor infrastructure and risk of jigger infestation.
“It is a pity that some parents from the community and their children prefer trekking long distance to other schools,” says Mrs Ger, adding that this has contributed to the dropping of academic standards.
According to the school chairman, Mr. Joseph Omondi Odima efforts to improve the infrastructure has over the years failed owing to high poverty levels within the community.
Odima, flanked by other parents called on local leaders and well-wishers to help them improve infrastructure so as to retain teachers and attract more pupils.
A senior teacher at the school, Peter Onyango Wanyang’ says it is always a nightmare for teachers whenever they feel calls of nature as a pupil may pop in at any moment while equally pressed.
Wanyang’ who is also a Kenya National union of Teachers (KNUT) Siaya branch official says that most teachers posted to the school opt to work elsewhere because of the environment.
He gave an example of two head teachers who failed to take up the position last year because of lack of facilities.
“The situation at the school has not been good. We are praying that we get well-wishers so that teachers and pupils can be comfortable,” he says adding “a comfortable teacher will definitely teach better and post good results. That is what KNUT stands for”.
Urim primary school head teacher, Pamela Otondo who is hardly five months in the institution laments that the school may be closed unless well-wishers urgently come in to help construct classrooms and toilets.
She says that the school, with a population of 120 pupils, has nine teachers who were determined to work but feel let down by poor infrastructure.
The county government of Kisumu has launched a Sustainable and Resilient Mobility Plan to promote equitable and convenient transport system for the city.
The ten-year plan developed in partnership with the Institute for Transport and Development Policy (ITDP) and United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) also seeks to decongest the city which is third largest in the country.
The plan, according to ITDP representative Eng. Meshack Kidenda calls for equitable allocation of road space and greater investment in walking, cycling, and public transport.
Kidenda said the plan also incorporates development of a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system for the lakeside city to decongest the city which is experiencing rapid growth.
Speaking during the launch of the plan and the inaugural Kisumu Car Free Day, Governor Prof. Anyang Nyong’o said the plan targets to ensure that pedestrians go about their business within the Central Business District (CBD) without unnecessary interruption or danger from motorists.
The plan, he added will help Kisumu to grow into the best intermediate city in Africa by ensuring that the right infrastructure is in place.
The county, he added, has partnered with an electronic motorcycle assembly firm to supply e-motorbikes for boda boda operators in the area to help decarbonize the city.
“This company is now here and if you want the e-motorbike you bring the one you are using then they lease you a new one to continue with your business,” he said.
UN-Habitat Representative Rehab Mudala lauded the initiative saying besides mobility, the plan will also address pollution and other challenges brought about by congestion in cities.
The introduction of electronic motorbikes and e-mobility vehicles, he said will help decarbonize the city at the same time ease movement of people to and from the city.
“We need to embrace a public transport system that does not punish people by embracing regular car- free days, to ensure people walk within the city uninterrupted,” Mudala said.
Mudala urged the county government to take advantage of the Covid-19 containment measures to negotiate with stakeholders in the transport sector to develop designated parking lots to ease congestion.
Kisumu Acting City Manager Abala Wanga said the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Triangle has been demarcated for the rollout of the project.
Traders along the busy street, he said, are now expected to park their vehicles at designated areas backstreet while those dropping off passengers will be allowed only 15 minutes.
All passenger buses, he said, have been banned from operating within the CBD with firm instruction to vacate by the 30th of March to help decongest the city.
Tracks, he added, have also been banned from the CBD apart from those ferrying fuel and goods which must have authority from the city management before gaining entry.
Trackers who flout his regulation, he said, are liable to a fine of Sh 7, 000
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has shortlisted 10 candidates for the position of Chief Justice ahead of their interviews from 12th to 30th April 2021.
The commission says in an advert in the local dailies that it received 13 applicants for the position of CJ and shortlisted ten.
They include Justice Said Chitembwe, Professor Patricia Gathiru, Lady Justice Martha Koome, Justice Marete Njagi, Philip Murgor, Justice Nduma Nderi, Fred Ngatia, Justice William Ouko, Dr. Wekesa Moni, and Alice Yano.
All the current Supreme Court judges including acting Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu kept off the race to replace former Chief Justice David Maraga.
While nothing is definite, walls have ears and there has been murmurs that the race for Maraga’s successor could shrink down to three who’re the leading contenders; Fred Ngatia SC, Philip Murgor SC and Justice William Ouko.
The office has attracted a lot of interest not only in the political affiliations but in the legal fraternity. According to an article on local whistleblower newspaper, Citizen Weekly, there is a plot by so called Karen Gang to impose Ngatia as the CJ.
“A plot has been hatched by power brokers in the legal fraternity to have senior counsel Fred Ngatia become the next Chief Justice to replace David Maraga who has since retired.
Weekly Citizen has information the lawyers commonly known as the Karen Gang were instrumental in convincing Supreme Court judges not to apply for the CJ positions since majority of them had nullified the presidential 2017 elections and the powers be were not comfortable with them. The Karen Gang has lawyers Paul Muite, Ahmednassir Abdullahi, New York-based Makau Mutua and Tom Ojienda. The group has also brought on board Law Society of Kenya president, Nelson Havi.
The gang boasts to be able to influence members of Judicial Service Commission to appoint CJ favourable to them.” The newspaper is quoted.
It then goes further to explain why the ‘Karen Gang’ have resorted to endorse and install Ngatia as the CJ. “Why Ngatia? one may ask. First, Ngatia was Uhuru Kenyatta’s lead counsel together with Ahmednassir during the nullified presidential elections. To them, Ngatia has political connections in the corridors of power to help him be the next president of Supreme Court. Second is the fact, age is on his side. To the gang, Ngatia will be a stop gap CJ as one of them accumulates years and then takes over when time is ripe.”
Murgor in his thoughts.
The article largely downgraded Ngatia and why he wasn’t suitable candidate and a puppet of the ‘Karen Gang’ it also brought in the tribal balancing aspect which dropped at the door of another candidate.
“Source within the judiciary have divulged that power brokers within both the judiciary and State House are keen on having an outsider take over the top judiciary position. It has since emerged that the popular feeling is that a member of the Kalenjin has never held the position of Chief Justice. Further, the community is not represented in Supreme Court. Regional balancing has in recent years taken centrestage in the appointment of state officers and constitutional office holders in the country.” It read.
However, in a quick rejoinder, Ahmednassir Nasir who was amongst those names in the ‘Karen Gang’ swung into action pointing fingers at Philip Murgor for sponsoring the story which he terms as propaganda on a tabloid.
Omwanza Ombati an associate lawyer with Ahmednasir replied, “Philip should just face the interview the old school way. Let him come with his CV and thoroughly prepare. No short cuts!” From this point, it became apparent that Murgor was under attack.
LSK President Nelson Havi whom was also named as member of the gang, hit back terming the attempt as deplorable.
And put your mugshot there for all to discern how gullible you are! Deplorable! https://t.co/K9DH2hKZTD
Havi has not been holding back his horses and the two have had nasty exchanges before.
We may need to retrieve and review the record of your conduct as a state prosecutor under Bernard Chunga to determine who and what you really are. The case of Honourable Gitobu Imanyara, who you arraigned in Court at 7.30pm may be a good starting point to quieten you forever. https://t.co/mrcSuR1Uk1
Mr. President, don’t forget when an innocent soul who was resting peacefully in his grave was exhumed in a framed murder charge!
— Donald B Kipkorir (@DonaldBKipkorir) May 13, 2020
The case in reference is Criminal Case 229 of 2003, REPUBLIC V KAMLESH MANSUKLAL DAMJI PATTNI [2005] eKLR where Pattni was accused of murdering his bodyguard Fredrick Wilhem on March 24th 1994.
Pattni was arrested for the murder as the suspect on 13 Nov 2003. Murgor was personally pursuing the case and the body was exhumed for autopsy. The case would later die and Pattni acquitted of murder.
The defeat of the prosecution in the Kamlesh Pattni murder trial did not come as a surprise to those who keenly followed the proceedings. Director of Public Prosecutions Phillip Murgor had presented witnesses who liberally contradicted each other.
Perhaps the most prominent case in the recent times that Murgor has handled is that of Sarah Wairimu for the murder of Tob Cohenmurder of Tob Cohen, a Dutch National.
Another case that is likely to arise during the interviews is how Murgor defended President Daniel Moi during the petitions filed after the first multiparty elections in 1992. Moi who ruled for 24 years with iron fist, was viewed as a ruthless dictator who jailed, maimed his dissidents.
Another case that will be giving Murgor hard times to explain is that of Nation cameraman Clifford Derrick Otieno who filed the criminal proceedings against the First Lady on 16 May alleging assault and malicious damage to property at the Nation Media Group’s newsroom.
According to the facts of the claim, the First Lady entered the Nation’s offices on 2 May and assaulted Otieno and damaged his digital video camera recorder valued at Sh. 180,000. The First Lady had apparently gone to the offices to complain about the portrayal of her family in the media. This case was unceremoniously terminated despite protests. Murgor was by then the DPP and signed to expunge the case. With threats to his life and family, Otieno was forced to go into hiding in South Africa.
How many newspaper interviews have we seen Murgor sponsor since Maraga left?
It now seems he's very desperate for the job and that will make it hard for him to get the job.
Critics allege that Murgor has been on PR overdrive sponsoring articles to sell his agenda but that really shouldn’t be an issue. In an interview with The Star, Murgor says he’s the best man suited for the job.
In Mr Murgor’s bag of successes, the Master of Law holder from the University of Nairobi, cites major cases, including the Goldenberg, represented the government and the Central Bank of Kenya in these cases, Kenya recovered billions of shillings that had been stolen while the perpetrators were also brought to book.
In another interview with Business Daily talking about his ability to fit into CJ’s foot, Murgor was asked about his short lived stint in the ODDP and if they were his proudest moments, “That’s where I made a mark in my career. I took over at a time when public prosecution in Kenya was considered dead.” He says.
Murgor attracts praises as much as he attracts criticism.
Philip Murgor; one of few fearless, selfless and rule of law driven Senior Lawyers around town. I would put him in the same category with Dr Khaminwa, Hon Orengo, Hon Omogeni and Hon Dr Otiende. Of course, there are more others but the space is not sufficient to list them all. pic.twitter.com/wphTzsx4tT
Boni Khalwale: I know Philip Murgor very well, he is not a corrupt man; you cannot pay him to get a particular outcome in a case #DayBreakpic.twitter.com/ABO3zv2sO1
Murgor served under Kibaki as DPP between 2002-2005, in his tenure, he undoubtedly went hard on corruption cases, it now remains in the hands of JSC and whether his anti-corruption profile would propel him to the country’s next Chief Justice.
Facebook has rolled out a product that practicing journalists in Kenya can voluntarily register as the social media giant seeks to curtail misinformation on the platform.
The firm says the platform allows registered Kenyan journalists to receive features and tools designed to support them including safety and security features that help further secure their Facebook and Instagram accounts.
“Journalists serve an essential role of keeping us informed and connected with the communities we care about. In the course of doing their jobs, journalists can face threats both in the physical world and online. We know that journalists and news media professionals are at a higher risk of online harm because of their occupation, and we want to provide better account protections for them,” said Janet Kemboi, Facebook Communications Manager for East Africa.
However, the firm has barred journalists who are currently candidates for political office, are campaign staffers working for a candidate for political office, or for a government employee from registration.
The decision to bar journalists affiliated with politicians is seen as move to curb politically charged hate and misinformation which is rife especially during elections.
Journalists are required to verify the news organization they work for which should also be registered as a news page on Facebook besides submitting five bylined news articles, a link to your biography on a news organization’s staff directory page, or by providing a professional email address.
“Journalist registration is a continuation of our work to better identity and support journalists on our platform. While we’re starting with account protections, in the future registered journalists may also be eligible for other news-specific benefits, tools, and features. We’ll continue working with news organizations, academics, and industry groups to explore other ways to support registered journalists.” added Kemboi.
According to Kemboi, once a journalist has registered, their personal Facebook accounts will be added to an internal list of accounts that will receive safety and security protections geared towards keeping vulnerable groups safe.
Applicants may also be eligible to receive Facebook Blue Badge Verification and access to Crowd Tangle Search – a platform which allows for searches across social media platforms.
Journalists can either register through an in-app quick promotion (QP) sent proactively by Facebook to accounts who are likely to be journalists, or through Help Center page where anyone can access the registration flow.
Jones Ochieng Mbogo will be cooling his heels in Industrial Area Remand Prison until March 3, 2021, when his sentencing will be read. Ochieng pleaded guilty attempting to extort Ksh200,000 from Lamu Senator Anuar Loitiptip after recording the lawmaker allegedly smoking shisha at a Nairobi restaurant.
Ochieng also had with him explicit videos of Aedah Bambi pleasuring herself. In his accusations, Ochieng sent the video and photos to the Senator saying the girlfriend had sent to another man begging for Sh10,000. In her defense, the lady in question refuted the claims and piled it to the list of alleged blackmail tacts.
Ochieng told the Milimani Law Courts that he recorded Loitiptip because he (Mbogo) knew shisha-smoking was illegal, as the consumption of the water-pipe tobacco was banned in Kenya in December 2017. The shisha video was recorded on February 12, 2021.
Mbogo told Milimani Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku on Wednesday that he had in his possession a video of Loitiptip’s partner pleasuring herself in public.
“I did not share that [nude] video on social media out of respect for the senator’s right to privacy,” he said.
Ochieng according to the Senator had threatened to release both videos to the public if he didn’t send him the Sh200,000, he instead reported the letter to police who tracked and arrested him on 15th.
Prior to the arrest, Ochieng and Anwar engaged in wild chat on WhatsApp, the Senator alluded that the accused was sent by his former girlfriend Saumu Mbuvi the daughter to former Nairobi Governor Sonko whom they had a bitter breakup with.
In the conversations, Senator kept on referring to Saumu as bipolar and referred to her father Sonko as ‘impeached imbecile’. Below are screenshots of the conversations Ochieng and Anwar had before his arrest.
Not until November last year when Kakuzi announced changes to its board in a shake-up following allegations of human rights violations in the firm that saw Kimani appointed as a non-executive director did many start paying attention to the one man who’s probably amongst the top ten wealthiest men in Kenya. In the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed Kakuzi, Dr. Kimani is the second-largest shareholder with a 32.2 per cent stake.
Dr John Kibunga Kimani though not a new name in the big business circles, here’s a major investor in Kenya and worth billions but his low profile nature made him faceless, not so many people would put a face to the reclusive billionaire who don’t allow cameras pointed to his face. In fact, he would pass just like any other normal person in the streets, he preferred his life that way.
If you’re reading this while using Safaricom data bundles, just made a call, text using Safaricom chances are you just made Dr. Kimani more richer. His shares in Safaricom are worth Sh500 million making Kibunga the second largest individual shareholder- after Ramaben Patel.
By April 2020, Safaricom shares cost Sh20 a throw when lockdowns started, but found legs when the telco proved to be one of the few pandemic proof local companies: Share prices are now sprinting past Sh40 meaning Kibunga has doubled his paper wealth in 10 months!
Dr Kimani is one of the single-largest investors in most blue-chip stocks at the NSE, with his shareholding in these companies alone valued at more than Sh1 billion. Besides Kakuzi, he has shares in East African Breweries, Safaricom, Nation Media Group and Centum.
Mr. Kibunga sold his three million Total Kenya shares worth Sh80 million ($800,000), which he held for years and was the second-largest investor in Total Kenya after French conglomerate Total SA which is the controlling shareholder with a 93.96% equity.
Having maintained his anonymity for long and for personal reasons, Dr Kimani appears to have yielded to public pressure on his identity.
As Kakuzi came under pressure and international focus mounted on the company that was now battling a lawsuit in the UK over human rights abuse, a new board where Dr. Kimani was appointed the chairman was put in operation.
While the Seven members of the board of directors had photos of their faces uploaded on the Kakuzi website, Dr. Kimani’s photo icon on the company’s website remained a stock image silhouette, which fuelled public speculation about what the shrewd investor looked like.
As a listed entity, shareholders prefer to be able to put a face to those involved in overseeing the affairs of the company.
It is perhaps against this backdrop that Kimani recently yielded to having his photo uploaded on the firm’s website.
With his face now in the public, just how much is Dr. Kimani worth, and how has one of Kenya’s wealthiest men been able to evade the capture of roaming cameras.
How Kimani born into a squatter family rose from the woods to became the second largest shareholder in the 39,000 acres land in the south of Murang’a is perhaps the story that need to be told.
Kibunga Kimani’s family were squatters in Kakuzi which sits on 39, 000 acres in Makuyu, Murang’a County. Kibunga now holds 32 percent which translates to owning 12, 480 acres of Kakuzi land minus other assets when time comes for asset stripping.
Kakuzi is majority owned by British multinational Camellia Plc which is listed at the London Stock Exchange. He now sits on Kakuzi board and plans on dishing out 300, 000 of his own shares (trading at Sh370 a piece) to Kakuzi squatters!
Kibunga’s disposable income is creamed from international consultancies from the likes of the World Bank and Danida and then pumped into the NSE where Kibunga has relentlessly pursued the Kakuzi stock.
In a letter to Business Daily in 2018, Kibunga, 73, said he uses one investment strategy: buy big, hold long: “I started buying Kakuzi shares when the original colonial settlers were the majority shareholders. Since then, I have consistently built the stake to the current level.” The letter read.
He continued: “My association with Kakuzi transcends being a shareholder. I was born in Kakuzi and so were my parents. Kakuzi is the only place I can call home as I grew up there. As a young boy, I worked in the company’s coffee and sisal plantations. Inevitably, Kakuzi influenced my education as well as career orientation.”
By April 2020, Safaricom shares cost Sh20 a throw when lockdowns started, but found legs when the telco proved to be one of the few pandemic proof local companies: Share prices are now sprinting past Sh40 meaning Kibunga has doubled his paper wealth in 10 months.
Kibunga Kimani is the largest individual shareholder at Nation Media Group but the pandemic pitched tent here in March last year and his Sh348 million stake took a hit as Nation Media shares nosed south from Sh100 in 2017 to the current Sh13 which is severe, migraine inducing investment haircut!
Kibunga was for years the second largest investor at Total Kenya before offloading three million shares at Sh80 million and vrooming out of the oil and gas marketer last year. He invested the windfall in agricultural firm, Kakuzi.
With no limits to investments, Kimani’s umbrella is large such that if you’re a Safaricom subscriber, a diehard drinker of EABL and KWAL products or prefer fueling at Total petrol stations, you make or made him filthy rich.
So do those who buy locally assembled Isuzu vehicles, tenants at Two Rivers Mall and all parents and schools who buy books from Longhorn Publishers. Or get loans from Platinum Credit. Add too the over 30 airlines serving meals to passengers from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.
Kibunga’s investments at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) kiss the Sh4 billion ceiling from significant stakes in East African Breweries and Centum which has quotable stakes in Isuzu East Africa, Longhorn, NAS Servair and Two Rivers.
But a story doesn’t end without hitches and bad decisions, in 2013, Kimani was dragged to court by an investor who he had shortchanged. According to African Cotton Industries Limited v Rural Development Services Limited [2014] eKLR ELC CASE NO. 212 OF 2013 before a Nyeri Court, Kimani entered into agreement to sell Salim Hussein Anjarwalla a parcel of land LR NO. KAKUZI/KIRIMIRI BLOCK 7/ 281 located within Makuyu measuring 51.28 ha.
In a gentleman’s agreement, sale price set at Kshs.205, 360,000 and as per their agreement of 10% deposit, Salim went ahead and paid Kshs.20, 536,000 before car and mouse games ensued
Turned out that after deliberations with his wife Lilian Wanjiku who’s also a co-director, Kimani had a change of heart and refused to sell the land giving back the Cheque, feeling that the contract was breached, Salim sued Kimani. His wife told the court that they rescinded the sale because Kimani made the decision with unsound mind. She argued that he had just suffered brain damage in an accident in Sudan that had him flown to Nairobi and that by the time of agreement signing, he was mentally incapacitated. The court overruled the argument as an afterthought given that the decision to sell the land was made by Kimani before the accident.
He paid the suit damages but court allowed him to retain his lady that the wife said was their matrimonial home that he wanted to sell in order to raise Capital for investment in real estate like his peers.
Kimani holds an undergraduate degree in agriculture from Makerere University in Uganda, and a master’s of science degree in agricultural economics from Reading University in the UK.
He also holds a PhD in development studies, economics and socio-anthropology from the University of Sussex, which is also in the UK.
“He has extensive experience in the agricultural sector (public and private), including planning, development and administration of smallholder agricultural extension programmes at county level, developing and managing smallholder irrigation projects, and preparing long-range plans for land and water resources across Kenya,” says his bio-data on the Kakuzi website.
Kimani is a member of the Agricultural Society of Kenya, the Avocado Exporters Association of Kenya and is also a fellow of the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank, according to his profile.
An unexpected call comes to a financial adviser or agent: “I have some Sh10 million in cash and a couple of cheques and would like to deposit them into my unit trust account and use some to purchase a life insurance product ASAP. I am travelling early tomorrow, could you urgently send me the paperwork I finalise the transaction before I leave?”
Eyes focused on the potentially huge commission that will be realised soon after this deal, this agent will do anything to ensure the transaction is finalised in the quickest way possible. A couple of days later, the client calls in again: “I have an emergency! My car was shipped earlier than planned and I would like to urgently access my cash right away. What do I need to do? Can I cancel my policy? I have not done my medicals yet, so that shouldn’t be a problem right? Can I also redeem my unit trusts?”
The client is advised and within a couple of days, he receives his refunds less some minuscule transaction costs and early redemption fees depending on whether it was an investment or insurance product.
The client walks away with a seemingly “clean refund” from the company. The above could be one of the many ways insurance and investment companies can be used by criminals to launder illicitly acquired funds.
Many life insurance products, though not likely to be the first vehicle of choice for money laundering, are becoming increasingly popular for money laundering. High-risk life assurance products include unit-linked policies, whole-life policies, fixed and variable annuity, among others. Life insurance products can also be bought as an investment or saving vehicles, some allow clients to borrow against premiums already contributed, some products support estate planning or pension plans while special products are designed for High Net Worth individuals.
Criminals are increasingly using these products to integrate proceeds of crime into the financial system by layering transactions to make the monies to appear as having been “innocently” earned and in the process rendering the tracing of the source of funds and their subsequent confiscation difficult.
According to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that sets international standards that aim to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, specific typologies for money laundering include criminals purchasing life insurance policies using illicitly obtained funds and terminating them during the free-look through the period.
This is the grace period, usually one month, within which clients can terminate their policies if they so wish. Once the policies are terminated, the criminals are able to receive a refund from the insurance company. There is also a risk, that funds withdrawn from life insurance contracts can be used to fund terrorism. With banks now relatively advanced in establishing sound anti-money laundering (AML) controls, criminals are seeking alternative avenues where their funds can be easily cleaned without being detected. The insurance sector, therefore, remains particularly vulnerable due to weaknesses in the enforcement of AML controls.
Being an integral part of the financial services industry, this sector cannot afford to be the weakest link in the chain. This calls for insurance companies to not only establish robust anti-money laundering programmes but also to continuously sensitise their staff on money laundering and terrorism financing risks. Kenya’s insurance companies and intermediaries have a moral and legal obligation to help in combating crimes related to money laundering.
Financial services’ regulators in Kenya are working hard to promote strong anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism controls. The Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) and Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) are steadfast at promoting a strong and comprehensive insurance industry that is committed to combating this risk.
The IRA, for example, issued revised guidelines in February last year aimed at further tightening the monitoring and reporting of money laundering and terrorism financing risks within the insurance industry.
Unlike the banking sector, however, insurance faces unique challenges in fighting money laundering and other financial crimes. The insurance value chain has three key players — the insurance company or underwriter, the insurance intermediaries (brokers and agents who interact with clients and introduce clients to them) and the reinsurers who ordinarily provide balance sheet protection to insurance companies by handling risks that are too large for insurers to handle.
These players have a very close and interdependent relationship. Failure by any of these parties to take effective measures in combating money laundering and terrorism financing may render the entire sector vulnerable.
While most of the insurance and reinsurance companies in Kenya are putting efforts at establishing strong money laundering fighting programmes, challenges arise from the intermediaries’ side.
Being in the first line of defence in terms of having direct access to customers, it is paramount that they too have certain obligations on incorporating and deploying AML/CFT programmes within their institutions.
The Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2009 defines financial institutions that have FRC reporting obligations and that includes “any person or entity, which conducts a business, activities or operation that include underwriting and placement of life insurance and other investment-related insurance falls under that definition.”
As such, insurance brokers placing life insurance business with insurers or reinsurers have statutory obligations that include registration with the FRC as reporting institutions, conducting proper customer due diligence on onboarding clients, commonly known as Know Your Client procedures, reporting of large cash transactions (Sh1 million and above) as well as reporting suspicious transactions in relation to the clients that they deal with.
They are also expected to appoint an anti-money laundering reporting officer and invest in staff training programmes and controls aimed at detecting and deterring financial crimes. Failure to comply with this law exposes them to the risk of fines and penalties.
In spite of these seemingly onerous expectations, complying with the requirements of the law does not have to be a daunting task. Three factors are bound to make it successful for all players within the industry.
One, all industry players must have common standards for compliance without any of them distorting the playing field by cutting corners. Each party should play their active and consistent role in deploying and enforcing money laundering and counter financing of terrorism controls. Due diligence and KYC measures, for example, are a key step in this process and should be enforced by all parties including insurance intermediaries. A concerted and coordinated effort by all players is key.
Two, timely implementation of the AML/CFT programme is vital. Any delays in its implementation will further compound the problem and the industry may miss the golden opportunity to place the risks within this sector under control.
Third, a strong compliance-oriented culture driven by the leadership of an institution (board and senior management play a significant role in the success of any anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism programme.
Kiragu is a compliance consultant and a faculty at Strathmore Business School. Maseke is the Group Risk and Compliance Manager at ICEA LION Group.
African Development Bank (AfDB) has blacklisted a local civil engineering firm for 36 months over fraudulent practices in a Sh6.3 billion project.
In a statement yesterday, AfDB said an investigation found Global Interjapan (Kenya) Ltd engaged in fraud in a five-year project meant to support poverty eradication.
“The African Development Bank Group announces the 36-month debarment of Global Interjapan (Kenya) Ltd with effect from August 24, 2020,” said the bank in a statement.
“An investigation conducted by the Bank’s Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption established that Global Interjapan (Kenya) Ltd engaged in fraudulent practices during a tender for the bank-financed small-scale irrigation and value addition project in Kenya.”
The debarment means the firm and its affiliates cannot participate in AfDB funded projects during this period.
The firm may also face similar action by other multilateral development banks such as the Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and World Bank Group.
The small-scale irrigation and value addition project was launched in 2016 to reduce poverty through enhancing agricultural productivity, income and food security among residents in 11 counties in Kenya.
The project’s total funding was pegged at Sh6.8 billion, with the AfDB providing a Sh3.8 billion loan and an additional Sh2.3 billion grant, while the Kenyan government chipped in with Sh690 million.
According to AfDB’s list of awarded contracts, Global Interjapan was awarded a Sh73.3 million tender in 2017 for construction works at the Kalacha Irrigation Scheme in Marsabit County.
An audit report by the Auditor General on the AfDB-funded project released last week raised questions over irregular payments of Sh12 million made by the Kenyan government, as well as a balance of Sh385 million in loans and grants that could not be explained.
The audit that included visits to sites where construction of irrigation systems was ongoing, unearthed millions of shillings in payments made even in the face of substandard work. “Significant shortcomings were observed in the execution of some of the works,” said the Auditor General in a report. “These included delays in completion of works, alleged flawed designs, stalled works and unearned payments made to consultants and contractors.”
In 2019, Global Interjapan won a Sh20 million Kenya Power tender to supply motor vehicle paints and related consumables. The firm is also listed as one of the prequalified suppliers at several State agencies, including the National Youth Service and the Kenya Forests Service.
At the expiry of the debarment period, Global Interjapan (Kenya) Ltd will only be eligible to participate in AfDB-financed projects after implementing an integrity compliance programme approved by the bank.
Last year AfDB blacklisted Chinese firm Sinotec, a contractor for Kenya Power, for misrepresenting its expertise in bidding documents. A year earlier the lender blacklisted Chint Electric, another Chinese firm that previously won tenders at the State energy firm.
After being acquitted in the second impeachment trial, US former President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) called his former ally and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell “a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack”.
Trump’s response comes days after McConnell had voted to acquit Trump during the latter’s impeachment trial. “Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again,” he said.
“He (McConnell) will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our Country. Where necessary and appropriate, I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First. We want brilliant, strong, thoughtful, and compassionate leadership,” he added.
Recently, McConnell, who had worked together with the former President for four years, had targetted Trump over the Capitol riot that took place on January 6.
“January 6th was a disgrace. American citizens attacked their own government. They used terrorism to try to stop a specific piece of democratic business they did not like,” he had said.
“They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth — because he was angry he’d lost an election.”
On January 6, a group of Trump’s loyalists stormed the US Capitol building, clashing with the police, damaging property, seizing the inauguration stage and occupying the rotunda.
The unrest took place after Trump urged his supporters to protest what he claims is a stolen presidential election. The outgoing President has since been blocked on all major social networks at least until after he is out of office.
Five people — four protesters and a police officer — were killed in the riots. The last time the Capitol was stormed was when British troops marched into Washington and set fire to the building in 1814. The deadly attack prompted the House Democrats to move to impeach Trump. The Senate trial that ended this weekend acquitted Trump.
Heated campaigns for Murang’a governorship is expected to be witnessed in the county after eight individuals express their interest to take over after Governor Mwangi wa Iria finishes his tenure.
Among those who will be eying to clinch the seat include current political leaders who want to shift from current positions to be custodian of devolved funds.
Irungu Kang’ata, the Murang’a senator has indicated he will vie for the seat come 2022. Kang’ata served as Kiharu MP before ascending to senatorial position in 2017. The senator who has been removed as Jubilee majority whip in the Senate has claimed he will direct his efforts in wooing the locals to elect him as their next governor.
The County Woman Representative Sabina Chege is also said to be eyeing the same seat though she has not publicly declared so.Her supporters are out rallying locals to consider her for the seat. Chege intends to ride on scores of development projects she has been implementing especially among women groups.
The Woman rep who has vowed to stand with President Uhuru Kenyatta is among leaders in the county championing the Building Bridges Initiative which a section of leaders’ claim is not popular in Mount Kenya region.
Former Planning Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera has announced he will go for gubernatorial seat next year.
For the last two years, Nyakere has been advocating for reforms in the tea sector which in recent past has suffered due to international fluctuation of prices.
Mr Nyakera has been meeting tea farmers every week educating them about the newly assented Tea Bill 2020 which is expected to change operations of tea farming in the country.
Speaking to farmers at Kangari township two weeks ago, Nyakera said tea reforms need to be put in place so farmers can get more returns from their cash crop.
Others in the list who want to be the next Murang’a governor include former Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau, Philanthropist Stanley Kamau, Moses Mwangi who last election was floored by the current governor and rumours are rife that Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia is also in the race to succeed Governor Wairia.
In the last election, Jamleck Kamau failed to clinch the Jubilee ticket after he was defeated by Wa Iria. Kamau opted not to vie as an independent candidate but supported the will of people.
Stanley Kamau has been involved in various charitable works in the county. Kamau who is known for his tireless fight against jiggers will ride on various initiatives he has taken to uplift lives of less fortunate in the county.
Transport CS, Macharia may bank on increased tarmacked roads in the country to woo voters to give him an opportunity to lead the devolved government.
During his tenure as minister for transport, infrastructure, housing and urban development, many roads in Murang’a have been upgraded to bitumen standards enhancing transportation of people and goods.
Candidates for Senatorial seat are yet to come out but rumors are that Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro is among those willing to take over from Mr Kangáta.
Governor Wa Iria will be remembered for bringing changes in the dairy sector.Under his leadership, the county government established a dairy firm in Maragua area which saw milk prices shoot from Sh. 23 to more than Sh. 35 currently.
Other remarkable achievements include establishment of an Intensive care unit at Murang’a Level-5 hospital. The facility that was constructed in a record 21 days is louded for handling complicated health issues especially this time the country is faced by Covid-19 pandemic.
The devolved administration also established an Eye and Dental hospital at Kenol town in Murang’a south. The hospital is set up in a rental building.
A daughter of Dubai’s powerful ruler who tried to flee the country in 2018 only to be detained by commandos in a boat off India has re-emerged in new videos published Tuesday, saying she doesn’t know if she’s “going to survive this situation.”
The videos released by the BBC show Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum at a “jail villa,” apparently located in the skyscraper-studded city-state in the United Arab Emirates. Her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, also serves as the prime minister and vice president in the hereditarily ruled UAE.
“I’m a hostage,” the sheikha says in one video. “This villa has been converted into jail.
“I can’t even go outside to get any fresh air,” she also said.
The government’s Dubai Media Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The BBC said Sheikha Latifa recorded the videos in a bathroom at the villa over months on a phone she secretly received about a year after her capture.
“I don’t know when I’ll be released and what the conditions will be like when I’m released,” she says in a video. “Every day I am worried about my safety and my life.”
In 2019, Latifa began to send secret messages to her friends, via a smuggled phone
The videos, part of an episode of BBC’s “Panorama” investigative series being broadcast Tuesday, also include an interview with Mary Robinson, a former president of Ireland and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Robinson appeared in photos with Latifa published by Emirati officials after the sheikha’s return to Dubai in 2018.
Robinson told the BBC that she had been misled by Emirati authorities who told her Latifa was a troubled young woman safe in the care of her family.
“I was particularly tricked when the photographs went public,” Robinson told the BBC. “That was a total surprise…. I was absolutely stunned.”
The dramatic would-be sea escape and its aftermath intruded into the carefully controlled image maintained by the family of Sheikh Mohammed, who is believed to have several dozen children from multiple wives. Some of his sons and daughters figure prominently in local media and online, but others are rarely seen. Sheikha Latifa was widely known for her love of skydiving prior to 2018.
Sheikh Mohammed’s family life again became a public matter in 2020. Then, a British judge ruled the sheikh had conducted a campaign of fear and intimidation against his estranged wife and ordered the abduction of two of his daughters, one of them Sheikha Latifa. The ruling came in a custody battle between Sheikh Mohammed and estranged wife Princess Haya, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan.
Sheikh Mohammed is the founder of the successful Godolphin horse-racing stable and on friendly terms with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. In 2019, he received a trophy from the queen after one of his horses won a race at Royal Ascot.
Fraudster Arafat Ikumu Omar who is charged with being in possession of over half a million fake US dollars has told the court that he intends to call ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna as his defense witness.
Omar told Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku that Sifuna was his lawyer when he was arrested and charged and witnessed harassment from the police.
During his defense hearing, Omar told the court that on 2nd September 2018, he was around Wilson airports, when he saw a man standing by the side of a car. He approached him and asked him if he was a taxi driver but he said he was not. However, when he was about to walk away, the man and others tried to force him into the car and he tried to resist but they succeeded.
They then started driving at a very high speed.
He assumed the men were police officers as there was a another car in front of them and there were walkie talkies.
“They had not informed me whether I was under arrest. I was taken to Kilimani police station,” added the accused.
Omar further testified that the police took his phone away from him and some 47,000 shillings. He went on to say that he was later put in another van at Kilimani and took him to the Central Business District where they parked there for a while before taking him to Muthaiga Police station.
“I was booked in and left at the station. The next day I managed to talk to the officer at the OB who assisted me with a phone and I called my lawyer who came to the station,” testified Omar. That was on 3rd September 2018.
He went on to tell the court that on 4th September 2018, the same officers who took him to Muthaiga police station picked him and drove him to Milimani Courts to be charged.
The court heard that when they got to the court they filed a miscellaneous application where they sought to continue detaining him for 14 working days to enable the investigating officer to complete investigations.
In addition, Omar said there was another miscellaneous application on the same at around 2pm where they sought to detain him for 21 days.
The court did not grant them the orders sought and he was granted a bond of Sh 300,000 or a cash bail of 200,000. He was also ordered to produce one contact person and remain within the jurisdiction of the court.
“We paid and waited for the release order and when it came, instead of releasing me they started pushing me towards the parking lot,” added the witness.
The court heard that when they got to the police cells at Milimani Law courts, they had already been given the release order and cash bail receipt but proceeded to push him towards the parking and in the process his clothes got torn.
“When we got to the basement they started pushing me to the parking area and not cells.
They tore my clothes in the scuffle. I was pushing myself back to the court because I felt it was a safe haven for me. I kept asking them where they were taking me but they did not answer but I heard one say in Kiswahili, “hii mtu tutaua” (we will kill this person).” He said.
He went on to say that the three officers overpowered him and bundled him in the boot of a waiting car. His then lawyer Edwin Sifuna followed them and he managed to jump into the front seat of the car.
According to him, the car was being driven at a very high speed and he ended up at Muthaiga police station where I was put in the cells. Sifuna tried to talk to the OCS but he told him that there was nothing he could do as it was past working hours and the said officers who were responsible for his case had already left.
Omar testified that he spent the night in the cells and on 5th September, he was brought back to Milimani law courts and charged with the same counts the officers had requested 21 days to complete investigations on. “I wondered how the 21 days turned to 1 day,” he said.
The court heard that the then investigating officer filed an affidavit objecting bail but the accused was granted a cash bail of Sh 500,000 and since he had already paid Sh 200,000, he topped up the remaining amount and provided two contact persons.
The court also heard that his lawyer protested in writing about the treatment he received to the court and the Director of Public Prosecution.
Omar also refuted claims that he escaped from lawful custody saying he complied with the court orders but the police officers did not as they detained him even after securing his release.
He told the court that he feels the charges against him are just malicious and do not understand where they came from.
During cross-examination by the prosecution, when asked what time he got to the courts he said it was around 7am on 4th September while the hearing of the application commenced at around 1 pm and the second application at around 2 pm.
He also stated that after the proceedings at around 3.30pm, he stayed in the courtroom and paid the cash bail at 4.28pm before being bundled in the boot of a probox vehicle and driven to Muthaiga.
The ODM SG is expected to testify on 13th April 2021.
Omar was accused of being in possession of fake 523,900 US dollars, firearm certificate and attempting to escape from lawful custody.
In other counts, Omar is charged with unlawfully being in possession of substances for making US dollars, a firearm without a certificate, possession of live ammunition without a certificate among others.
The police alleged that they were in possession of millions of money in different currencies seized in the house of the accused at Sapphire Heights Apartments during a raid and other currencies in the possession of the accused. However, during investigations, the accused could not give a justifiable explanation as to the source of the said monies.
Other items found in Omar’s house include 12 mobile phones, communication gadgets, CCTV DVR, a firearm certificate, travel documents, one magazine, 98 rounds of ammunition, several log books for motor vehicles KCF 455 Y Toyota Lexus, KCM 328 J Toyota Axion, KCL 143 D Toyota Axion, KCA 393 E Toyota Mark X, KCD 900 C Toyota among others.
Separately, Omar was charged last for obtaining over Sh8M by false pretense. Arafat Ikumu Omar alias Rashid koweh Omar appeared before Kiambu senior resident magistrate Grace Omodho charged that on diverse dates between 2nd July 2020 and 5th August 2020 at village market in Nairobi with intent to defraud, obtaining sh 8,258,830 from JedidahThotho by falsely pretending that she had a package at UN headquarters Nairobi that required to be cleared.
Arafat is also a person of interest in the case by DPP Haji against DCJ Mwilu of being unfit for office.
DPP alleges that Ms Mwilu engaged in inappropriate communication with one Omar Ikumu Arafat, who was a suspect in two cases before the Nairobi Milimani Chief Magistrates’ Court. In the first case, the suspect had been charged with the offence of obtaining money by false pretence and being in possession of forged papers. In the second case, he had been charged with giving false information to a person employed in the public service.
Haji says Mwilu engaged in inappropriate communication with one Omar Arafat, an accomplice of individuals charged with mimicking President Uhuru Kenyatta and defrauding Sameer Africa Finance Director Akif Hamid Butt of Sh10 million, and also engaging in fake currency business.
Arafat, according to the DPP, is the principal suspect connected to Docta Peter and Joseph Waswa alias Henry Wafula in a criminal case pending at the Magistrates’ Court.
The two were charged in court in 2019 with being in possession of papers of forgery intended to resemble and pass as special paper used in making currency notes. They were also charged with giving false information to a person employed in the public service. The DPP said the communication between Mwilu and Arafat was a clear indication that she was either complicit in the commission of the offences or was engaged in acts of aiding the accused person to evade justice.
“She was out to use her office to ensure that the accused persons are shielded from the due process. Clause 14 (2) and (3) of the judicial code of conduct demands integrity from judicial officers and requires them to ensure that their conduct is above reproach in view of a reasonable observer,” the ODPP’s petition read.
In February 2019, Waswa was also charged alongside six other for mimicking President Kenyatta while defrauding Hamid.Photo: DCI. Source: Twitter.
Haji said he was ready and willing to avail witnesses and documentary and other evidence in camera if called upon to do so. In February 2019, Waswa was also charged alongside Duncan Muchai, Isaac Wanjekeche, William Simiyu, David Luganya, Gilbert Kirunja and Anthony Wafula. They were accused of mimicking President Kenyatta while defrauding Hamid.
The seven allegedly used mobile number 0722208842 and called the chairman Sammer Africa to facilitate the release of the money while mimicking the voice of the President.
A university graduate and a land broker were today charged with stealing Sh2.8 million from a dead man’s bank accounts. Eutycus Muguna Mutembei and Ayugu Eugene Shivachi were charged at Nairobi’s Milimani Law Courts with using the late Amos Ngatia Muiruri’s credentials to steal from his various bank accounts.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku released the two on a cash bail of Sh500,000 each and directed them to provide two contact persons.
In the second related file, Mutembei and Shivachi were charged alongside Morris Koome Riungu and Jane Wacuka Gathogo with stealing 39 SIM cards from different mobile phone subscribers. They were released on a cash bail of Sh200,000 each.
In the first case, Mutembei and Shivachi took plea on 12 counts of stealing, conspiracy to commit a felony, unauthorized access and preparation to commit a felony. Mutembei is a Bachelors of Arts in Economics and Statistics graduate from the University of Nairobi, while Shivachi is a taxi driver. Both men are land brokers.
The four were arraigned in court following high-profile investigations by our detectives who unraveled a major SIM swap scam in which high-tech phone scammers hijack the victim’s cell phone number and use it to gain access to his/her sensitive personal data and bank accounts through the Mobile Banking Apps available on Android and other smartphones.
It’s through Ngata’s theft that detectives made a breakthrough in the major SIM-swap fraud through which the dead and the living have lost millions of shillings. Ngata was a businessman in Nairobi.
The syndicate mostly targets wealthy individuals – especially those who have died and their families placed their death announcements in newspapers. They also target telephone lines of the elderly and those who have travelled abroad.
In yet another expected and a normal occasion once a prominent person dies in Kenya, a 65-year-old Margaret Kerubo Chweya has come out to claim she was customarily married to the late Simeon Nyachae who died on 1st February.
According to Kerubo address to the media, the then Forn Two dropout had met with Nyachae while working as a casual worker in 1973. She then opened up to him and he agreed to help further her education. By then, Nyachae was a powerful administrator.
Kerubo said what began as a plutonic relationship advanced to a romantic one in subsequent years, resulting in Kerubo moving in with Nyachae at his Njoro Farm home in Nakuru County.
“In 1984, whenever he visited his Njoro wheat farm, he would ask me to tag along,” she said.
“1984 marked the beginning of what I considered a formal relationship between Nyachae and I.
“While in Nairobi, he and I would drive to work together and leave for home in the evening together,” said Kerubo, who claims that Nyachae bought her a house adjacent to his in Loresho.
“He was really supportive; he paid for my food, clothes, utilities and every other kind of bill that I incurred.”
She insists the two got married under Kisii customary laws and it was Nyachae who organized for her travel abroad to further her studies. She told reporters that the former minister would fly often to visit her in America as his wife.
Kerubo with one of her sons.
Even though they don’t physically look the part, Kerubo says they both had two sons Rodney Chweya Nyachae whom she said was in his 40s and Brian Nyandusi in his 30s. From appearance, they don’t look anywhere close to 40s.
Kerubo says together with her sons traveled back from the US in November 2020 when the news of the getting sickly came out. She says efforts by the boys and herself to see their father was thwarted by Nyachae’s immediate family of five wives who blocked them on several occasion.
Speaking to reporters from her rural home in Kitutu Central in Kitutu Chache South Sub-County, Kisii County on Tuesday, February 16, she says she wants to be recognized as one of Nyachae’s legitimate wives and her sons recognized and their share of the estate be slotted.
Kerubo said they had both sons in Kenya before traveling abroad.
And in why she took so long to come out and waited till the death of Nyachae, she says, “My attempts to seek an out-of-public settlement with Nyachae’s wives have hit a snag,” she said, adding: “that’s why I have resorted to speak publicly.”
You can now dress like world champion Eliud Kipchoge himself thanks to the new capsule collection by Nike. In colours inspired by his Kenyan roots, the collection includes the latest innovations in running footwear and apparel to help you find your unlimited potential.
The range features the Alphafly Next% in the Kenyan colours, which Kipchoge was seen wearing at the elite-only London Marathon and the Ineos-1:59 Challenge in Vienna last October. Speaking about the shoe, Kipchoge said, “I was really involved in the making of the Alphafly Next%. My work was to test the shoe, to test how it feels, to compare the new sole to the old one, to feel how it responds when I’m running and give all my feedback to the technicians.”
There is also a ‘Pegasus 37’ shoe in the collection and a range of kit featuring the words ‘Eliud’ and 1:59.
Justice Ngugi will receive the award during a webinar at noon, Tuesday, Feb. 16. She will be interviewed by her friend the Honorable Ann Williams, retired U.S. Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, about the justice’s life-long commitment to human rights, marginalized populations, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Global Jurist of the Year Award is designed to honor a sitting judge, whether in an international or national court, who has demonstrated in his or her career courage in the face of adversity to uphold and defend fundamental human rights or the principles of international criminal justice. Jurists from all nations and tribunals are eligible for consideration.
“It is important that we bring to our University community distinguished practitioners and scholars who not only speak and write, but those who courageously work to implement human rights on the front lines,” said Thomas F. Geraghty, interim director of CIHR, about why Justice Ngugi was chosen to receive this award. “Without them, little progress would be made in implementing human rights protections. She is a role model for our faculty and for students who aspire to be future Justice Ngugis.”
Justice Ngugi also will be available to meet via zoom with members of the Northwestern community at noon on Feb. 18, allowing the community to engage in a conversation with the justice about pressing human rights issues in the U.S. and abroad. Justice Ngugi also will provide advice to students about the various ways in which human rights advocates can make a difference.
Prior to her present posting, Justice Ngugi served as the Presiding Judge, High Court of Kenya, at Kericho and in the Constitutional and Human Rights Division in Nairobi. In the last nine years, she has been involved in the emerging human rights jurisprudence in Kenya, particularly in relation to the social economic rights guaranteed in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.
Justice Ngugi is a long-time advocate of human rights in Kenya. She has been involved in advocacy work for the rights of women and children, as well as the housing rights of the urban poor. She has also been a prominent activist for the rights of persons with albinism in Kenya.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, Justice Ngugi was a prolific writer and researcher on human rights issues and was, for six years, the lead researcher and compiler of the Kenya Human Rights Commission Bi-annual Human Rights Report. She was also a long-time columnist for Kenya’s leading newspapers, the “Sunday Nation” and “The Standard,”on social and legal issues. She also engaged in private practice for 17 years, which primarily focused on civil litigation and family law.
Justice Ngugi holds a bachelor of laws degree (LLB) from the University of Nairobi and a master of laws (LLM) in commercial and corporate law from the London School of Economics, University of London.
Justice Ngugi received the 2013 International Commission of Jurists-Kenya Jurist of the Year Award, the Brand Kenya Ambassador Award in 2013, the Law Society of Kenya Distinguished Service Award 2017, the C.B. Madan Award 2018 and the Transparency International Judicial Integrity Award 2019.
Justice Ngugi is also a member of the Africa Regional Judges Forum (ARJF) on HIV-AIDS and chairs the ARJF Steering Committee on Judicial Education.
Past recipients of the CIHR’s Global Jurist Award include Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, president of the International Criminal Court and a national of Argentina; Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella of the Supreme Court of Canada; the Honorable Gloria Patricia Porras Escobar, president of the Guatemalan Constitutional Court; and Justice Shireen Avis Fisher, presidentof the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Acting chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke of South Africa’s Constitutional Court received the award in 2013 as the first recipient of the Global Jurist Award.
DCI officers have arrested Cyrus Kinyanjui 32 and his accomplice Alexander Kuria 30, in connection with a robbery where a Chinese national lost Ksh 15M.
According to the DCI, the two are the prime suspects in the Lang’ata robbery three days ago.
“Acting on intelligence, DCI’s Special Service Unit (SSU) detectives trailed the duo to Mombasa, where the 1st suspect on board a KDB 181P Toyota Vanguard was intercepted, and Ksh 2M recovered.
The second suspect who had no cash on him was also found to have deposited a million shillings in his Equity Bank account, which is believed to be part of the stolen money.
The officers have detained the Toyota Vanguard vehicle which is believed to be the one captured on cctv at the scene and is kept as exhibit.
Chinese National Wang Daoli, had left the cash in a safe inside his house in Langata on Thursday evening, before joining friends at a party to celebrate China’s new year.
There is an intricate web of relationships stretching between City Hall and Dandora dumpsite, connecting politicians, private waste companies and gangs. In interviews in January 2020, the GI-TOC was told that the waste-management tender process was used to influence members of the county assembly to ensure their support for leading political figures.
Some assembly members make arrangements with the companies who win tenders in exchange for personal or campaign donations, and request that these companies hire certain young people to act as rubbish collectors. These young people are typically the same men who have worked for the assembly members as ‘security’ during their election campaigns.
They largely just move waste from households to a central collection point, where it is collected by trucks belonging to either the county or private companies to go to the dumpsite. ‘Some of the criminal groups here were started by some particular members of the county assembly who had during election campaigns promised the because they demand fees from residents for the job that is really undertaken by the county government,’ says an official of a residents’ association in Buru Buru Estate, Nairobi.
This picture of corruption is consistent with the findings of a recent study on the waste management sector in Nairobi and Mombasa, which reported that ‘recurrent in the discussions [with respondents was the idea that] corruption within the Nairobi County Council was to blame’.
‘Procurement in [the waste-management sector] is fraught with so many irregularities. And this has been going on decades on end, and keeps defying every change in the leadership at City Hall,’ says a veteran news reporter embedded at City Hall. A senior official in the Revenue Department of the Nairobi County Government highlighted the risks of challenging the status quo, saying ‘you don’t ask questions about the management and operations at the dumpsite unless you want to be eliminated’.
The corrupt way in which waste is managed in Nairobi has sapped the county of resources to provide wasteremoval services and left neighbourhoods to be extorted by criminal service providers. According to the senior official in the Revenue Department, City Hall used to collect ‘millions of shillings in revenue in a month from the dumpsite about five years ago but now all it gets is KSh50 000 [US$460] per week’. The fraud and lack of oversight that accompanies the criminalization of the waste-management sector is so severe that Nairobi does not even know how much rubbish it actually produces, and so how much needs to be collected.
Some reports indicate Nairobi produces 2 500 tonnes of rubbish per day, while others show 3 500 tonnes. The level of procurement irregularity such as double invoicing, and the proliferation of illegal an unofficial dumpsites as transporters avoid Dandora due to its poor access, the dysfunctional weighbridge and the fines levied by gangs makes exact estimates nearly impossible.
An International Phenomenon Borne Out Of Local Political Factors
The complex ecosystem of criminality and corruption seen at the Dandora dumpsite is a reflection of the systemic vulnerabilities seen in the waste sector elsewhere in the world, but it has also been driven by local factors.
Nairobi, like other cities in Kenya, has seen rapid urban growth over the past 30 years. Over that time, waste production has grown massively, while political developments paved the way for violent actors to enter the waste sector. The austerity measures of the 1990s which resulted in the City Council (now the City County) retreating from service provision led to the informalization of the economy of Nairobi and the entry of private actors into urban service provision and increased competition for clients and control competition that in some instances became violent.
This became an entrenched problem in the first decade of the new millennium as political actors offered impunity for illicit enterprises to criminal gangs who worked for them during campaign periods. The failure to deal with more ‘white collar’ forms of corruption in the city administration also allowed corrupt political actors to operate with impunity. Gangs and other groups have, in some cases, become wealthy through providing informal services or taxing residents for transport, waste removal and electricity and water provision services that the state has failed to provide.
Neither is this trend likely to change in the near future: Nairobi is continuing to urbanize, but this expansion now comes at a time when waste management an economy that is critical to the environmental and population health of the city has become deeply criminalized.
(GI-TOC)
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime is a global network with 500 Network Experts around the world. The Global Initiative provides a platform to promote greater debate and innovative approaches as the building blocks to an inclusive global strategy against organized crime.
Around the world, waste management has proven to be a sector vulnerable to organized crime and corruption. The Dandora dumpsite – the only designated dump for the thousands of tonnes of rubbish produced daily in Nairobi – has become the hub for criminal groups and corrupt figures who have infiltrated the waste-disposal sector at a number of levels, from household-rubbish collection to waste transport. The dump itself has also become an insecure and violent area.
New research by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crimes (GI-TOC) shines a light on the symbiosis between criminal and corrupt figures who combine to leech illicit profits out of Dandora and Nairobi’s waste sector at large.
The Dandora dumpsite, a sprawling 30-acre area in the north-east suburbs of Nairobi, is the only designated dump for the thousands of tonnes of rubbish produced daily in the city.
Located in the middle of an informal settlement that is home to thousands of people, the dumpsite has long been acknowledged as a dysfunctional and highly dangerous part of Nairobi’s municipal infrastructure.
Dandora has also become a hub for criminal groups and corrupt figures who operate in the city’s rubbishcollection industry. The criminalization of Dandora follows both international trends and local factors. Internationally, the waste sector is a prime target for organized crime.
In August 2020, INTERPOL reported an alarming global increase in the illegal trade of plastic waste since 2018 and pointed to the environmental threat posed by poor (and criminal) management of the world’s waste.
Even rich countries with strong bureaucracies are struggling to keep the waste sector free of criminal penetration. An independent review published in 2018 by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs found that ‘industrial-scale organised waste crime has emerged as an increasing problem’ in recent years.
The waste-management sector is vulnerable to criminal exploitation because it can offer high profit margins at low risk of getting caught for involvement in illegal activities, particularly as the main regulatory agencies involved in the sector are generally not part of the criminal justice system.
Furthermore, attempts to regulate hazardous materials often create a breeding ground for cutting corners and exploiting legislative loopholes.
The various stages of processing waste from collection from businesses and houses to the transport of waste and management of the dumpsites themselves all offer opportunities for criminal rentseeking and territorial control, and for corruption in the management of municipal contracts awarded to companies.
The Complex Criminal Interests In Kenya’s Waste Sector
The Nairobi City County collects only a portion of the city’s waste itself mostly from markets and factories and hires other ministries, state companies and private collectors to do the remainder on its behalf.
These organizations then often charge residents additional fees to collect their waste. It is lucrative work: according to an official of the Kenyan Alliance of Resident Associations, about 900 000 households pay private collectors an average 500 Kenyan shillings (KSh), or US$4.60, per month to collect their rubbish.
Officials in the county government say that these private levies amount to an annual turnover of KSh5.4 billion (US$45 million). Criminal groups and corrupt figures have become involved at several points in the waste-removal process. In some neighbourhoods of Nairobi, house-to-house rubbish collection (and the profits of the additional fee) are controlled by criminal gangs, who use violence to ensure that their services are contracted and paid for.
In Kayole, in the eastern suburbs, each household pays rubbish collectors a KSh150 (US$1.35) fee. According to one member of Gaza (a gang operating in Nairobi), if this is unpaid, gangs will pour raw sewage on your doorstep or rob your compound. If you insist on refusing their services, they send people to threaten you.
Criminals also profit when the trucks come to the dumpsite to unload waste. About 100 trucks deposit waste at Dandora dumpsite every day, many owned by the approximately 150 private-sector waste operators. These operators are paid per truckload delivered to Dandora dumpsite, as measured at the weighbridge.
However, according to interviews with a number of gang leaders, some of these trucks arrive empty but are still invoiced, while others are invoiced multiple times for a single load of rubbish. The Dandora dumpsite weighbridge is most times non-functional, yet trucks are paid for non-existent ‘clocking’ into the weighbridge.
To ensure corruption runs smoothly, members of dumpsite-based gangs are stationed at the weighbridge to look after the interests of their patrons. In July 2018, a report by the auditor-general’s office revealed a number of stark irregularities in rubbishprocessing contracts, including a case in which a private rubbish vehicle was weighed twice within four minutes for transporting rubbish from the city centre to Dandora – a 5.4-kilometre journey that can take up to an hour in Nairobi’s traffic jams. (Even clearing rubbish from the truck and cleaning it before the next trip takes longer than half an hour.) Another waste-management company was paid for working ‘29 hours a day’ based on odometer readings.
According to an official working in the Nairobi City County Revenue Department, there were cases in the auditor-general’s report where companies were paid for collecting waste from areas where they were not contracted to operate, and others where companies invoiced for work that had never been done.
Sometimes the county government uses its own resources to collect waste in areas where tenders have already been awarded to private entities. These private entities, which are linked to county government officials, then do not have to do any work, but still get paid.
Violence Amid The Waste
Groups of waste pickers work the dumpsite, reclaiming metals and other materials to sell on, but the line between an informal subsistence economy and criminal organizations is blurred. Informal waste picking is a service often undertaken by the most vulnerable and that can reclaim far more materials than formal recycling processes, but these waste-picking groups have also been implicated in violence at the dumpsite.
In addition, they charge an illegal fee for entry into the dump. In October 2013, a youth was shot dead and his body hacked apart, doused in fuel and torched when gangs clashed in Dandora over control of the dumpsite. Police from a nearby station who reportedly are often less well-armed than the gangs themselves merely watched from a distance.
That same month a gang member by the name Mulusia (alias ‘Daddy’) was stabbed to death in a turf war. During this clash, gang members exchanged fire for almost five hours as officers from the nearby Kinyago Police Station looked on, afraid of intervening in case they were robbed of their guns. Two people lost their lives in the turf war that followed.
In 2014, the then area MP James Gakuya claimed that gangs were causing insecurity and argued that the Dandora dumpsite be relocated, forcing the High Court to direct the National Environmental Management Authority to undertake an audit of the dumpsite. But vested interests have made it impossible for the dumpsite to be relocated.
Police oversight was subsequently withdrawn from the dumpsite, which has become a no-go area for police. ‘We used to guard the place until 2016, when we were inexplicably removed from the dumpsite without reason,’ says a police officer who was once deployed at the dumpsite. ‘Now it’s an insecure area. We can only walk through the area, but we cannot risk making any arrests.’
Interviewees report that the removal of the police presence has meant that the dumpsite has become more violent. Clashes often break out for control of rubbish, in most cases between youth from Dandora and Korogocho, two neighbouring informal settlements.
The lack of police intervention also makes the dumpsite an attractive location for storing contraband such as guns and drugs.
Interviewees told the GI-TOC that f irearms are hidden in waste transported to the area because rubbish is hard to physically check and there are no scanners at the toll station. ‘You can call it [Boma Village, a settlement in Dandora dumpsite] a stock exchange for guns, if that’s the best description.
The garbage isn’t screened. Police cannot hazard a swoop down on the village. We don’t know what happens there,’ says a police officer who once served at Kinyago Police Station. In 2018, police attempted to ransack Boma Village in search of firearms, but were repulsed in an exchange of fire with criminals.
There have been allegations that gangs are allowed to deal guns at the dumpsite as long as they protect the interests of private waste-management companies allied to powerful people in the government.
(GI-TOC)
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime is a global network with 500 Network Experts around the world. The Global Initiative provides a platform to promote greater debate and innovative approaches as the building blocks to an inclusive global strategy against organized crime.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) now wants the military subjected to audit to enhance accountability.
EACC Chairperson Dr Eliud Wabukala says failure to audit the billions of shillings allocated to the military could lead to massive misuse of the funds.
While admitting that the use of the funds was protected on grounds of national security, Wabukala called for strong and preventive measures to protect the funds.
“Billions of shillings allocated to the military are not audited unlike other State agencies raising suspicion of malpractices within the uniformed forces,” He said.
Wabukala argues that the military faces other forms of corruption such as kickbacks as well as skewed recruitment exercises.
“Military resources are managed behind a veil of secrecy, justified on grounds of national security and such resources can easily be wasted or stolen if strong preventive measures are not put in place,” he said.
While acknowledging that the commission did not have the mandate to investigate the use of the funds, Wabukala called for strong measures within the forces to protect the public funds.
“Other forms of corruption risks in the defense sector include bribery, collusion in promotions, bid rigging, influence peddling, theft of funds, embezzlement and fraud,” he said.
The retired cleric was speaking in Lake Naivasha Resort during a workshop organized by the National Integrity Academy for senior KDF officers.
“It’s imperative that armed forces are prepared to prevent or mitigate the extent, severity and impact of corrupt practices in their operational theatres,” he noted.
During the workshop, Wabukala admitted that graft remains a challenge in the Country adding that concerted efforts are needed to win the fight.
“Our experience is that a number of public institutions entrusted to offer services are continuing to perpetuate embezzlement of public resources, even after being trained on matters of ethics and integrity,” he said.
He noted that a survey EACC conducted indicated that corruption still tops the list of major challenges facing the country at 49.4, while the others are unemployment at 36.8 and poverty at 27.2 percent.
“In our communities, 67 percent of Kenyans do nothing in the fight against corruption and unethical conduct with only 5.8 percent reporting graft incidences,” he said.
Despite the challenge, Wabukala noted that the commission had in the last five years concluded investigations into 824 corruption and related cases.
“In close collaboration with the DPP, we have secured convictions in 153 cases out of the 244 corruption cases in various courts and we have recovered corruptly acquired assets worth around Sh19.9B,” he said.
