CLUB DA PLACE MAMBOLEO TO HOST AN APPRECIATION SHOW ON THE 26TH OF MARCH FEATURING OHANGLA KING EMMA JALAMO.

The Lake side city of Kisumu comes alive this long Easter weekend with social places and clubs lining up various entertainment packages for their loyal patrons.

After constant street demonstrations and revolt on the authorities, there has been much improvement on security giving ‘Night runners’ every reason to party and even visit outskirts clubs like Da Place in Mamboleo.

And this coming weekend the 26^th of March will not be an exception as all roads will lead to the most talked about club in town, club Da Place where Ohangla Maestro Emma Jalamo will be entertaining revelers the whole night.

Club CEO Kennedy Angwen told this blog that his management team decided to organize this particular show as a way of appreciation to their fans for their outstanding support throughout years they have been in operation.

“I want to assure our fans that we will continue to offer above board services complete with professional customer care and the best competitive prices for our drinks and food”

He appealed to the relevant authorities to fast track the process constructing the Mamboleo-Miwani Road, which he said has really humped business and accessibility not only to his club but to the larger Mamboleo residents.

“I cannot take for granted the continued support from our fans thus I want to assure you that the Saturday show will be value for money, plus improved security and ample parking  is guaranteed” said Angwen.

He called upon his competitors to shun the ‘kangoro’ tactics and compete with him on an equal footing but not discredit his image by alluding that his club sells substandard alcohol.

Recent ratings on social places and clubs in Kisumu, puts club Da Place on top and that could be the reason this particular facility has hosted high profile events like the Miss Bum Bum competition and the All White Party that was attended by the Boss lady herself Hudda and co-hosted by top MC Jaleng’o.

ENDS.  

MEDIA HOUSES SACRIFICING JOURNALISTS FOR BUSINESS INTERESTS.

The chilling revelation that over 10 journalists from different media houses have been sacked over flimsy reasons in just under 90 days since the beginning of the year has elicited sharp reactions from across section of different stakeholders within and outside the media industry.

The Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) the body charged with responsibility of looking into the welfare of journalists has threatened to seek legal redress if Nation Media Group and other giant media houses do not give valid reasons to why Mugumo Munene and Andrew Teyie were sacked last week under unclear circumstances.

The dismissal of Teyie and Munene came within 72 hours after Royal Media Services parted ways with four of their senior reporters, Kendagor Obadiah, Evelyne Wambui, Pheona Kenga and Patrick Injendi over what they termed as huge wage bill following the introduction of digital platform even as others think otherwise.

The laying off of the two comes at a time when there is still an uproar over unfair dismissal of scribes bearing in mind that NMG sent packing its special projects editor Denis Galava for penning an article that put on the spot Uhuru Kenyatta’s leadership style.

Galava was sacked by Nation for an editorial content of January 2^nd 2016 that was perceived to be critical of Uhuru Kenyatta titled “Mr. President get your act together this year”

Some of the hard hitting punch lines in Galava’s piece that rubbed the jubilee administration the wrong way were;

“We reject the almost criminal resignation and negligence with which your government has responded to our national crisis this past year’’

"With the exception of a few family businesses and tenderpreneurs who raked in billions of shillings thanks to largely political patronage, but everyone else is losing money in this country’’

The NMG through its Editor in Chief Tom Mshindi responded to Galava’s sacking and said, 

“We asked Denis the Managing Editor special projects to take some time off and allow us review the circumstances under which the piece found itself in the press without following the due process. It also endangered our business interests with our trusted partners”

That statement indeed confirms our fears that media houses are more interested in the revenues being generated from advertisements rather than keeping professionalism within their editorial departments.

A source privy to the happenings at these giant media houses but sort anonymity for fear of being victimized confirmed to this blog that the government is keen on working with only media houses that are considered to be ‘friendly’.

“The Jubilee administration is dogged with a lot of scandals and is carefully reviewing its survival tactics that includes going into the next general election with an already ‘Compromised’ media in terms of business exchange” said my source.

Denis Onyango the spokesman for Cord leader posted on his facebook page after the dismissal of Teyie and Munene and said,

“The media purge at NMG has 3 dimensions; the company is determined to get rid of reporters and editors who have written boldly and consistently on corruption and bad governance in this country.

These two (Teyie and Munene) who were sacked an hour ago have been in the past been labeled Raila Odinga’s sympathizers’’

My sources at RMS intimated to this blog that the same fate of business interest versus professionalism could have befell Patrick Injendi who hails from western Kenya and Kendagor Obadiah who is a Masaai as we head to the general elections.

                      Denis Galava sacked in January by NMG for criticizing Uhuru Kenyatta.

                 

Andrew Teyie sacked last week by NMG under unclear circumstances.

ENDS.

HAS HOMABAY COUNTY FINALLY FOUND THE LATE KAJWANG'S REPLACEMENT.

When the news of the death of the then Homa Bay County Senator Gerald Otieno Kajwang broke out, many Kenyans saw it as a huge blow to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader, Raila Odinga.

A huge blow it was indeed since Kajwang was the former Prime Minister’s right hand man and astute defender. His “Bado Mapambano” tunes ecstatically excited crowds whenever he rose to address any gathering.

Kajwang’s death undoubtedly left a very big gap in the politics of Homa Bay County.  Many asked the million dollar question, “Who will fit into the shoes of Kajwang”.

In terms of the empty seat at the Senate, a replacement in Kajwang’s brother, Moses was found. An eloquent and gifted orator with a good grasp of Kenya’s political twists and turns. But did he replace his brother’s personality? No. So who did?

Parliamentary Service Commissioner Gladys “Nyasuna” Wanga, the Homa Bay County Women representative fits that bill according to residents of Homa Bay County and serious political pundits.

Wanga, arguably the most vocal and active of the 47 county women representatives has presented herself as a charismatic and vigorous politician, earning herself friends and foe in equal measures.

In the national politics, she is known to take on the Jubilee mandarins with a lot of zeal and fearlessly, often earning her criticism and even scathing scorns from her colleagues in the government benches.

Her support and loyalty to ODM and CORD and particularly to the former PM is relentless and ruthless, to say the least.

More than once, she has found herself on National Assembly speaker Justin Muturi’s wrong books and many times she has been a top defender of MPs and their huge perks.

She was one the most vocal and consistent legislators in talking passionately about SRC's intentions to cut down on the MPS' salaries. The move, for obvious reasons, drew attacks from the public and praises from her colleagues.

In the just concluded ODM party elections, Gladys withered the storm and towered above her main challenger and made minced meat of Homa Bay Town legislator Peter Opondo Kaluma.

Despite the loser boasting of having the entire county machinery behind him as well as support from other political leaders who feared that Wanga would leave them brutally wounded, she still came out even much stronger after everything was done and dusted.

Political pundits have opined that in a scenario where the constitution is reviewed and the number of women reps reduced, Gladys Wanga has the muscles to represent two counties in Luo Nyanza combined.

Her eloquence and prowess in strategic planning and mobilization has seen her win hearts and supporters across all the four counties of Luo Nyanza and indeed the entire country.

Since her election as ODM chair for Homa Bay County, she has traversed the county by and large, giving hope to the dream of a Raila Odinga presidency in 2017. A dream that she insists must come true this time round.

She has been the face of the reinvigorated voter registration exercise in the county.

It is worth noting that even the ODM party leader has made note of the kind of pillar that he has in Gladys Wanga.

Recently, at a function in Homa Bay during the official launch of the Kabunde airstrip, Raila asked all the county ODM leadership to rally behind her as they prepare the final bullet and the final gun, for the final stab at the presidency.

Moving forward, Gladys Wanga will be the political play maker, the Lionel Messi of Homa Bay County politics. With support from other Raila Odinga stalwarts like Kasipul MP Oyugi Magwanga, Kabondo’s Sylvance Osele and the Orange House machinery behind her, Nyasuna will deliver the county into the party’s basket.

Though her critics have argued that Wanga has used her closeness with the Odinga family to steadily rise to where she is now, but political analysts dismiss the same saying that the Homa Bay women representative has built her own empire through grass root mobilization like her well crafted Homa Bay women Sacco that envisages to empower low incoming women.

During the long parliament recess that ended last week, Wanga had a well coordinated ID registration program that saw her attend ward open days and managed to visit 36 out 40 wards in Homabay County.

The decision to come up with this program was informed by the low intake of IDs in this region as the ODM party prepares for another stab to the presidency.

She managed to register 22,000 new applicants for IDs and she will strive to ensure that these IDs are ready in time for the voter registration program that kicked off last week on the 15th of Feb.

In the entire Nyanza, Gladys is the only women representative who has no competitor at all and it’s not a question of if but when she will be re-elected.

ENDS.

MEDIA PURGE; RMS FIRES OVER 15 STAFF, EDITORS REPORTERS, CAMERAMEN AND TECHNICIANS.

Traditional powerful media houses like Nation, Standard and Royal Media are grappling with huge wage bills following the entry of digital platform that has given birth to a number of tv stations which means revenue is being shared among many entities.

Media owners have in the recent past been caught in a delicate balancing act that requires them to cut cost so as to remain afloat in business and at the same retain talent within their web.

The rising wage bill owing to shared resources is seen to be competing with the regular income, thus media owners who are businesamen have adopted the early retirement option as the most effective way to curb the ever rising wage bill.

This can only be approached by one painful method of getting rid of those considered to be earning higher salaries, which the company can do without so as to bridge the gap and Royal Media Services is at it again laying off over 15 staff that include reporters, cameramen and technicians.

A source very close to the company but chose to remain anonymous told this blog that those retrenched were earning between 150,000 to 250,000 shillings had earlier declined to take a pay cut of 50% that had been tabled to them.

It would be interesting to see how Kenya Correspondents of Association (KCA) and Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) will react to this new development because it is coming barely under 12 months after MediaMax company fired over 50 journalists who were mainly poached from Royal Media Services just before the 2013 general elections.

Among those sent on early retirement include Evelyn Wambui who had earlier been earmarked to head the new Inooro tv but the idea was shelved after it emerged that she can’t speak fluent Kikuyu.

Others are swahili guru Patrick Injendi, Senior Political reporter who was recently poached from the National broadcaster KBC Kendagor Obadiah, Fiona Kenga, desk editor Daniel Korir. Cameramen were not spared either Lawrence Munene and Ngei Musomba were fired too.

The features desk has been greatly affected with the exit of Evelyn Wambui who has been holding the docket following the departure of Sally Mbilu and Judy Kosgei who left the company last year under unclear circumstances.



ENDS......

CORD TAKES A SWIPE AT JUBILEE FOR INTIMIDATING JOHO THROUGH CLOSURE OF BUSINESS.

Government’s decision to close two firms at the Port of Mombasa related to Governor Ali Hassan Joho’s family has continued to draw divergent views between the ruling coalition and Cord, the latest being sentiments from the ODM chairman John Mbadi who insists the move is politically instigated.

  

Speaking in Seme constituency, Kisumu county during the handing over of school buses to four schools, Mbadi said the move by the government to clump down Joho’s business is enough prove that the Jubilee administration is committed to take the country back to the oppressive KANU regime ways.

Mbadi alleged that they have information that the closure of the business was a directive from the president because governor Joho refused to join and support the Jubilee coalition during the president’s one month tour of the Coast region.  

Seme legislator Dr. James Nyikal and his Nyando counterpart Fred Outa on their part maintained that the Jubilee government has already started rigging 2017 presidential elections in the CORD strongholds through the bio-metric registration of NYS cohorts.

The host, Dr. Nyikal expressed his discontent in the IEBC’s 

decision to register new voters per word arguing that most Kenyans will be left out since very few people would be reached.

He said the commission should agree to the formula proposing registration by polling stations which he said will give unregistered Kenyans equal chance of registration.

Ruaraka legislator TJ Kajwang discredited the Supreme Court’s decision that saw Uhuru Kenyatta win an election petition filed by the CORD coalition following allegations of election irregularities in the presidential poll, saying that the recent corruption allegations against the Supreme court judge Philip Tunoi is prove enough that the court did not have a free hand in the delivery of its ruling.

ENDS

CORD MPS' LED BY THEIR PRINCIPLES VOW TO PUSH THROUGH WITH THE ELECTORAL REFORMS BEFORE 2017 ELECTIONS

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is an institution that will continue to remain on the spot with barely 19 months to go into the next general elections owing to the magnitude of the work it’s expected to undertake.

Kenyans have lost faith in the commission with renewed calls to reconstitute it after a majority of the population raised concerns in the manner in which it conducted the 2013 polls.

Leaders from across the political divide and various stakeholders in the field have supported suggestions to adopt the famous IPPG system where political parties were required to nominate persons to the commission according to their strength in Parliament.

Before the disbandment of the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) nominated commissioners that conducted the 2002 elections that was considered the most credible then and oversaw a peaceful transition of power from the then ruling party KANU to NAR-C.

The CORD fraternity has always maintained that a democratic election is a process and not an event thus it involves institutions, rules and regulations that must be strengthened within an applicable framework of law.

Following what was seen as not a more credible process by the Isaac Hassan led team, Cord will continue to push for reforms of IEBC so that we go into the elections on a level playing ground.

Kisumu County Senator Anyang’ Nyong’o noted in one of his Sunday columns in the local dailies that the key arbiter or referee (The IEBC) was not fully prepared to run the game and even if it were, it was determined to run the same under other rules manufactured outside the framework of law.

The good Prof went on to elaborate that “When one player was dissatisfied and sort the interpretation of the Supreme Court, the case was thrown out/dismissed on technical grounds and those are the technicalities we want to look into”

Just last week a strong team of ODM legislators led by National chair John Mbadi, Senator Anyang’ Nyong’o, Homabay Women Representative Gladys Wanga and Kabondo-Kasipul MP Silvance Osele vowed that they will continue to mount pressure so that IEBC is overhauled before 2017 elections.

Senior counsel Hon Olago Aluoch of Kisumu West questioned the credibility of the current commissioners, since the last election in 2013 arguing that they will not be partisan in future processes and instead of forcing Parliament to amend the electoral laws to throw them out of office they should just resign and give way to afresh team that everybody has confidence in.

We are all privy to the fact that a mismanaged electoral process has tremendous negative consequences on the political economy of a developing country just like Kenya.

If our like minded leaders can agree to reason and come to a consensus on issues of national interest like the IEBC, then our country can desist from producing “Hand to Mouth” regimes that inspire little or no confidence in their people locally and in the globalized world.

ENDS……

POLICE AND THE HOTEL MANAGEMENT MOVES IN FAST TO DISPEL RUMORS ON THE DEATH OF A FOREIGNER AT ACACIA HOTEL LAST NIGHT

Police in Kisumu and the management of the Acacia Premier Hotel have dispelled rumors that a guest at the hotel died following a shoot out drama last night. 

Regional Police Commander Willy Lugusa said preliminary investigation into this incident established that the deceased could have succumbed to a health condition after assorted drugs were found in his room clearly indicating that he could have been under medication.

According to the police, the guests, one diplomat from one of Asian Countries and a Ugandan citizen checked into the hotel yesterday and had documentations indicating they were scheduled to travel abroad to seek further medication for the diseased. 

The diplomat is said to have left the hotel shortly to run some errands but when he came back, he found his colleague lying unconsciously in the bath tab, he immediately called the front office who called in a doctor, unfortunately by the time the doctor arrived, the diseased had passed on.

The Regional Command confirmed that the body of the diseased was found with blood oozing from his mouth and nose, but there was no sign that an altercation had occurred neither were there signs that a firearm had been used in the 10pm incident.

The body of the diseased was rushed to Kisumu District hospital mortuary for further autopsy as police pursue diplomatic procedures that will help them get deeper into this matter.

Earlier during a press briefing at the Hotel, the General Manager Mr. Duncan Mwangi re-emphasized that the hotel followed the right procedure in quickly responding to the matter and he further refuted claims of laxity on the party of the hotel.

 

 

ENDS......