Category: News

16 people killed and several injured in  a highway pile-up in central china, authorities said Sunday, with footage aired on local media showing burning trucks and smashed cars.

At least  50 vehicles were involved in multiple collisions along a highway in Hunan province within the span of 10 minutes on Saturday evening, “with some vehicles catching on fire”, local traffic police said in a statement.

Footage republished online by the state-owned People’s Daily showed multiple burning trucks bearing the logos of delivery companies, crushed and overturned cars, and a dark cloud of smoke rising from the crashes.

Traffic police said 16 people were killed in the pile-up, including seven in a single collision, while 66 others were injured.

“The injured were promptly sent to hospital for thorough treatment, including eight whose injuries were relatively severe, whose vital signs are currently stable,” the traffic police said.

People’s Daily said the pile-up took place in the provincial capital Changsha, and that more than 180 rescue workers were dispatched to the scene on Saturday.

China’s emergency management ministry on Sunday said it had called for an investigation into the cause of the accident.

Fourteen people were killed and 12 others sustained injuries in a road accident along  Loswar-Kakuma road in northwest Kenya’s Turkana County on Saturday night, the police confirmed on Sunday.

Turkana Central Sub-County Police Commander Lemmy Njiru said that the accident occurred at around 10 p.m. when a truck driver lost control of the vehicle while avoiding hitting a camel on the Lodwar-Kakuma highway.

The investigation of the accident is underway.

“Unfortunately, due to the heavy weight of the vehicle from the goods and the passengers onboard, the driver lost control of the vehicle. As a result, the vehicle overturned and landed in a culvert on the right side of the road occasioning injuries to the passengers and the vehicle extensively damaged,” wrote NPS on Twitter.

“The heavy impact of the accident resulted into the death of 14 passengers on the spot while the remaining 12 passengers sustained various injuries.”

The injured were  rushed to Lodwar County and Referral Hospital by the County ambulance for treatment.

The bodies were moved to the same facility’s mortuary awaiting autopsy.

Popular reggae DJ Benson Ogweno Ouma, popularly known as DJ Lastborn, is dead.

According to the sister Lillian Anyango, Lastborn died on Friday 3, 2023 in his sleep at the age of 43.

She narrated how they had a good chat on Thursday night and the veteran DJ was in high spirits before he requested to go to bed.

“I was with him on Thursday and we talked about so many things. He seemed so energetic and after having dinner he requested us to take him to bed.

“Ever since he suffered a stroke in 2017 I have been taking care of him and there had been tremendous improvement,” she said.

Early on Friday morning, Lillian’s son, Ian, went to check on Lastborn as he often did but thought he was asleep so went to a nearby shop to buy him some toiletries.

A few minutes later, his caregiver walked in and realized the DJ had not moved from his initial position the previous night and she immediately alerted Lillian who rang a medic.

It was at this point that he was pronounced dead and his body was taken to the Jocham Funeral Home in Mombasa.

“It is painful to lose my brother but I believe it was God’s will. Let him rest. He will no longer be in pain. His time had come,” said Lillian.

DJ Lastborn has been ailing for several years now after suffering two bouts of stroke. The second stroke, which he suffered in 2019, affected his speech and eyesight.

The National Treasury has released Sh2.7bn to support university students’ loans and bursaries.

This is according to a statement sent out by Education CS Ezekiel Machogu on Friday.

Machogu said the government is keen on helping students coming from vulnerable families.

“I wish to announce that the National Treasury and Economic Planning has released Sh2.7bn for 180,000 eligible students,” Machogu said.

This disbursement of funds now allows Helb beneficiaries to register for their exams.

This comes after university students have been decrying the delayed release of funds by the exchequer, in the past few months.

Kenya University Students Organization has urged President William Ruto to intervene in matters HELB.

Kenya University Students Organization chair Anthony Manyara wrote to President Ruto on September 26, saying needy university students were suffering.

“It is our request that an intervention or directive is issued to settle the blame-shifting games between HELB and the treasury,” Manyara said.

A Thika-based businessman was on Thursday evening shot dead by unknown assailants outside his home in Kimathi Estate.

Thika Police Commander Daniel Kinyua confirmed the incident, he  said James Mwangi was attacked by a gang of two armed men who approached him as he was alighting from his car and opened fire.

Mwangi, 47, who is a motor vehicle dealer in Thika town, was shot twice at close range; in the chest and on the leg, before the assailants fled on a waiting motorcycle during the 7:30pm incident

The businessman was thereafter rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

“We have established that he was alone in the car at the time of attack and we are not sure whether anything was stolen from him. His wife was in the house and we have since launched investigations into the matter.” Kinyua told

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has accused former President Uhuru Kenyatta of meddling with the Kenya Kwanza administration.

Gachagua says the former President wasted his two terms playing dirty politics and sabotaging the farmers fertilizer subsidy program during his tenure.

“People who sabotaged farmers, undermined food security for parochial politics, have no business telling us how to work. And if they want to know how work is going, they should come here and see what’s going on,” he said.

“People are working day and night to make interventions to bring the cost of food down and they’re here trying to introduce politics of telling people how they should work. They had their own opportunity to work and they brought this country to its knees economically, let them give us time and see how we build this economy through practical interventions of increasing production in agriculture.”

The DP spoke on Friday at the Mombasa Railway Terminus when he flagged off thousands of bags of cheap fertilizer destined for the country’s agricultural breadbaskets.

Gachagua said the government has hastened the distribution of the affordable farm input so that farmers could access them in time for the planting season set to start next month.

He said they expected most of the farmers in the 12 pilot counties to get the fertilizers by mid next month.

“The administration is focused on boosting agricultural productivity to ensure the cost of food comes down and ultimately we reduce the cost of living,” said the DP.

The first batch of 17,840 bags carried by Kenya Railways wagons are destined for Nakuru County, while another 17,840 bags are headed to Webuye in Bungoma.

Other counties set to benefit from the subsidy programme are Narok, Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, West Pokot, Migori, Kakamega, Bomet, Kericho, Elgeyo Marakwet and Nandi.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has interdicted five teachers from Itumbe DOK Primary School in Kisii County for allegedly coercing six Grade Two pupils to perform an indecent act.

In letters addressed to the five teachers; Everlyne Moraa, Angelica Joseph, Catherine Mokaya, Moraa Nyairo and William Isuka, TSC said the teachers had been suspended from duty effective immediately.

The sixth teacher, Gladys Kenyanya, was served with a show-cause letter to explain why she should not be deregistered over the disturbing incident.

According to TSC, the six teachers breached Clauses 9 (1) and (c) (11) of the Third Schedule of the TSC Act, 2012 as well as subjected the minors to psychological torture and embarrassment by sharing the video clip.

“I am directed by the Teachers Service Commission to say that it is alleged that you breached clause (c) (11) of the Third Schedule of the TSC Act No. 20 Of 2012 …you instructed and/or coerced learners of Itumbe DOK Primary School to engage in on indecent/inappropriate acts depicting homosexuality within the School compound,” read a section of the statement.

“You actively participated, aided and/or abated the recording of a video footage of the minors who pursuant to your coercion were engaged in acts depicting homosexuality and circulated the same on social media hence causing trauma psychological/mental torture and embarrassment to the minors.”

TSC directed the interdicted teachers to immediately vacate office and submit their defence responses within 21 days.

“You are invited to make a defence statement/response to the Commission in writing within 21 days from the date of this letter; you will be given an opportunity to be heard by the Commission in person,” stated Mitei.

“Indicate the nearest TSC Sub County office where you will be required to report once a month; present any other evidence including documents in support of your case, vacate office and continue to be away. Provide your contact address, email and telephone number and forfeit your annual leave.”

The six who were detained at the Nyamache Police Station were arrested on Wednesday following an uproar from the public regarding the clip.

Plans for the reopening of the Kenya-Somalia border in Mandera are nearing conclusion, with the renovation of the Customs Border Control Point set to begin soon.

This follows a series of high-level consultations between the two countries with the intent to advance new spheres of shared interests, particularly cross-border trade and regional security.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki intimated that the move is one of the strategic interventions that will be deployed to curb illicit cross-border trade, including the smuggling of goods, illegal firearms, counterfeits, and drugs.

Our border with Somalia has been closed for about ten years,” the CS said of Mandera Border Control Point, which ceased activity in 2012.

“The governments of Kenya and Somalia have agreed to designate a border point to facilitate legal movement of people and goods for the benefit of the people of Mandera and Bula Hawa,” he added.

The CS addressed elected leaders and community elders during a security tour in Mandera and Wajir and directed the county security team and the relevant government agencies to conduct a joint needs assessment for the makeover of the offices and draw up a comprehensive plan detailing the financial and logistical requirements for the undertaking.

While vouching for the potential utility of the border post, Kindiki tasked the team to come up with the report in the next one week to set off the rehabilitation works, which will be executed based on a time-bound apprapproaches.

“Let us know whatever infrastructural work is required to make our border point operational.

The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) will soon be replaced by the National Social Health Insurance Fund (NSHIF) in a bid to enable every Kenyan to access medical services throughout the country under Universal Health Care.

Health Cabinet Secretary Wafula Nakhumicha says the national government is currently looking for funds and will engage partners in a robust funds drive to raise billions of shillings which will be used to register Kenyans into the new insurance fund so that Kenyans can access medical health whenever they need it.

CS Nakhumicha was speaking on Thursday during the first-ever National Cancer Summit where health practitioners disclosed that Cancer continues to be a huge burden to millions of Kenyans.

“Currently, NHIF is already running some schemes that take care of different cohorts of people. We have the one for the elderly, orphaned children, Linda Mama and Edu Afya,” CS Nakhumicha said.

“What we are going to do with the NSHIF is we want to bring the funds together so that we no longer have them in silos. When we have the schemes together, we do fundraising that gives us almost Ksh.12.6 billion.”

According to the CS, the new mode of insurance will be similar to putting up national fundraising that ensures any capable individual or person contributes to the scheme for the betterment of the other.

She likened the scheme to raising funds in a WhatsApp group or a social media platform saying the government was consolidating different agencies to raise the required funds.

“We are now doing the Math to see how much more should the government add so that each and every Kenyan can be able to access health care. We have done a costing and we know with this fundraising, we want to look for funds from elsewhere such as Tobacco Funds, Sports Funds, the money that comes from betting…a fraction of it and put them together to form the basis of NSHIF,” she explained.

“You and I can afford healthcare, when our people are sick, it is you and I in WhatsApp groups raising funds; what about if we do one major fundraising rather than having WhatsApp Groups?”

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has urged ODM party leader Raila Odinga to call off planned protest rallies against President William Ruto’s presidency.

During a press briefing, NCIC chairperson Samuel Kobia said political rallies by the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Leaders were fueling animosity among Kenyans.

According to Kobia, recent rallies organised by Azimio were taking the country back to election mode which could easily disrupt the country’s stability

“Hate speech and ethnic  is as a result of the recent political rallies. In this respect we call on former prime minister to cease holding these political rallies because he is really the critical leader when it comes to now taking the country back to election mode. We cannot afford that as a country,” Kobia said on Thursday, February, 2.

NCIC warned that it would not spare leaders who utter inciteful remarks in political gatherings irrespective of their political affiliations.

“Leaders who speak at these political rallies must be aware that they will be held personally responsible for their utterances while at political rallies. This is the stance that the commission has taken and will execute without fear or favour,” he added.