Pupils drown

Grief engulfed Samitsi village in Malava Sub County after two children drowned in swollen river Sivilie over the weekend.

The two,Harom Juma, 11 and Watumbukha Murambi, 13 who are brothers had gone to collect firewood when death beckoned.

The deceased were standard six and eight pupils at Sambuli primary school respectively.

An eye witness Lenah Imbogo, who was at a crowded scene that came to witness the catastrophe said the boys had taken a break to swim when strong currents overcame and swept them to their demise.

“It rained heavily on Saturday and the river was swollen as the weather was windy. I believe the two boys could have been overcome by the winds and currents which kept pushing them back as they struggled to save their lives,” Imbogo said.

A village elder told residents to be on the lookout especially that schools have closed so as to prevent further unnecessary loss of lives for children.

 “I pledge with parents to keep track of movement of their children because we have rivers whose bridges have been swept away by swollen rivers, this poses danger,” he stated.

Confirming the incident Samitsi Chief Zachariah Shiyungu, said he received the news on Saturday evening and reported to police.

A villager who had gone to bath at the river saw two bodies of children had drowned and he informed the area chief.

“Parents living close to water bodies should ensure a close eye to their kids to avoid tragic incidences as witnessed. Children should also desist from swimming in rivers and dams as a past time during this holidays” Shiyungu advised

 With government ban on holiday tuition parents have a daunting task to see over their kids.

The bodies were retrieved by villagers who sported them floating and taken to the Kakamega County General Hospital mortuary.

Is referendum for real of fear of accontability

A section of Western MPs have dismissed the calls for a referendum and called on governors to give the national government time to implement the constitution saying Kenyans need to enjoy the fruit of new dispensation.
The legislators said the county bosses should instead invest in laying a strong foundation for devolution that will ensure devolution succeeds.
MP John Bunyasi (Nambale-UDF), Arthur Odera (Teso North-URP) and Alfred Agoi (Sabatia UDF) admitted that governors have genuine concerns but faulted their renewed bids for referendum terming it ill-timed and out of touch with the political mood.
"The problem is not lack of funds but poor management of funds allocated to devolved governments. Even if we increase the allocation to 60 per cent and most of the money still goes to recurrent expenditure, we are not going to achieve any development in the counties," Bunyasi declared.
Nambale MP asked the governors to utilize their current budgets as intended in the law and let Kenyans audit if the funds disbursed is not enough after five years.
He wondered why most Governors have been unable to collect revenues as the defunct local authorities despite increasing taxation avenues in the devolved structures.
"What we need in counties is a proper management of public resources. We need to ensure money is used for its intended purposes and not as governors want," said Bunyasi.
Odera explained that devolution was meant to improve lives of Kenyans by democratizing the process of development through public involvement but bemoaned that has failed terribly.
"Before we think of increasing budgetary allocation to counties, we should first review how governors have been using the money earlier send to them. If the core intention of devolution has not been achieved, then we need to correct what's ailing devolution before we increase the money," Odera told The Standard.
"Governors have refused to be accountable for the little they are given yet they want funds to be increased; that's unacceptable. If someone cannot account for sh5 billion, how will he be accountable for more money?" posed Odera.
Odera asked governors to accept the County Government Amendment Act saying that was a noble idea that will bring together all elected leaders to foster development in counties.
"It's time governors accept to be accountable to senators because they (senators) are constitutionally empowered to play an oversight role. This is not meant to demean any person, it is for purposes of transparency and accountability in county governments, "said Odera.
Agoi said though he supports increased allocation of money to counties, he differed with the approach governor are fronting. Saying they should instead use the national assembly to push for higher allocation to counties.
"There is no need for referendum because governors can easily use the parliament to compel the national government to increase Counties budgetary allocation through a mere legislation. This will save money, time and ease tension in the country," he said.
Last week, governors named a team to spearhead their push for referendum.
The 15-members team chaired by Meru governor Peter Munya will work with a 6 member technical committee to be chaired by lawyer Wachira Maina and are tasked to draft a bill on referendum issues.
....ENDS....

The Bar of justice

August 11, 2014

An 18 year old man was yesterday released on a Sh200, 000 bond with one surety by Kakamega Chief Magistrate Court for defiling a minor.

 The Court heard that Victor Barasa alias Vicky raped Linda Nasimiyu a 10 year old on the night of 7^th this month in Bunyala.

Victor accepted the charge even after Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi took time to explain to him the gravity of the charge he faced,

“Victor, the law provides that I take you clear on the charges you are facing which call up to life imprisonment. It is thus prudent you understand every step of your charges so that you be guided,” said Mrs. Shitubi.

The panicky Victor was also accused of a second count of engaging in an indecent act by making his male part enter that of a minor female, a charge which he denied. The court ordered Victor’s case be heard on the 2^nd of October 2014.

In the same court Jean Claude Francis a middle aged man was charged with being in possession of illegal drugs.

The prosecution said that they arrested Claude in his home with two rolls of bhang with a street value of Sh.20 in his trouser pocket.

“Mr. Dismus Musee a village elder and an Administration police were on regular patrol when they heard the accused hauling from his house a matter that prompted them to check what was happening. They found the accused looking suspicious and on frisking his trouser pockets they recovered two rolls of bhang. The accused was escorted to Navakholo Police station,”read part of the charge.

A repentant Claude pleaded with the court to forgive him saying he was a brick layer who used bhang specifically for psyching up because his manual job was too tasking.

Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi ordered a probation report be done on Claude to see whether to jail him in Government correctional facility or take him on community work.

Later on,Cyrus Alumasi was fined Sh.7, 000 or spend two months in jail by the same court on his own plea of guilt for selling Changaa without a license.

Mr. Alumasi was found with 200 litres of the illegal liquor in his house in the town’s Shirere estate on Saturday.

ENDS

Scramble for 'free wives' lands Busia Men in a ditch

August 7, 2014

By KENNEDY OKWACH

Ladies in Busia County are up in arms against men in the county following last month’s scramble by the county bachelor’s for free wives in Nambale town.

The ladies feel aggrieved by their male counterparts whom they accuse of disrespecting them by thronging the town to receive free women.

“How many single, beautiful, young and learned women do we have in Busia? Why have men in this county refused to marry us? The way they were rushing in Nambale for free wives was like there were no single women in this county. It was shameful and disrespect to single ladies and we will not forgive them for this,” declared Claire Asega, a single lady.

The ladies have refused to date any man from Busia and they are said to be crossing the border to the neighbouring country Uganda.

“Because all of our men likes free things and we believe they are all hooked up by now following the last week’s event in Nambale, we have decided to go international. We feel we are more superior to these local cockerels,” declares a self-confessed international lady Auma Beatrice.

Men in this part of the country are finding it hard to seduce women as there advances are rebuked with sneers and contempt it deserves.

“Imagine nimeendA kuvibe totos, halafu ananishow na madharau eti ningoje wa Mutua. (Imagine, I went to seduce a lady and she arrogantly tells me to wait for Mutua women (in reference to free wives believed to have been brought from Ukambani Governor Alfred Mutua’s turf). Its time our women understands that not all men went to Nambale for free goodies,” bemoans Vuvuzela Khasindu, a bachelor in Busia.

Last month, over 200 men thronged Nambale Sub County in the County to receive free wives and free goodies that included sh10, 000 in cash, a sack of maize and utensils.

The free wives were believed to have been ferried from Ukambani by a local NGO and were being offered to unmarried men willing to quit bachelorhood.

“Where do they expect we will get husband if they fall for free women from nowhere yet we live in their midst and they understand us better? I will never accept a man form Busia County, over my dead body. They are such losers,” cursed violet Mudanda.

Married men have also been thrown in the mess amid claims that wife of men who left their homes early that day accusing them of having gone to look for free wives.

It said, the situation is tense that any man who spend a night out since that day has to give proof that he did not sleep at  another wife bed, a woman stashed somewhere in the expansive county.

“I am a business man who deals with livestock and as the norm, I left my home early to the market and when I came back, there were fireworks. My wife was claiming that I had also gone to look for a free wife, something I was not aware of,” said Moses Opondo, a local.

“Whenever I travel, I have to drag my wife along because she now suspects I may be having another wife somewhere. I wonder where this mess came from,” questions Josphat Sigomere.

The animosity between single men and women and suspicion between husbands and wives is so tense in this county and there are no signs that it will end soon.

..ENDS…