Thika Town Today

Police in Juja are investigating an incident where the bodies of two unidentified middle-aged men bodies were retrieved from a dam in Juja.

According to Juja OCPD Dorothy Migarusha, the police were notified by members of the public about the two dead bodies found floating along the edges of Titanic dam.

The discovery was made by one person who had gone to the dam to do some laundry.

Migarusha suspected that the two might have gone there to swim as their clothes were found near the dam with no visible signs of struggle.

The bodies of the deceased were taken to City Mortuary.

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is investigating 20 governors and 227 MCAs over corruption related incidences the cases involving looting of county funds, abuse of office and conflict of interest.

Speaking on Tuesday during the fourth Legislative Summit in Kisumu, EACC Director of Preventive Services Vincent Okong’o said the culprits would be charged soon after investigations are complete.

Okong’o said the list is dominated by serving governors and MCAs. A few former county chiefs and ward legislators are also being probed.

“Of the 227 cases involving the MCAs – some who have left office – we unearthed unethical behaviour like conflict of interest, abuse of office and falsification of documents. Some are doing business with the county governments,” Okong’o said.

The governors under probe include Samburu’s Moses Lenolkulal, Okoth Obado (Migori) and Busia’s Sospeter Ojaamong. Lenolkulal is facing prosecution over a Sh2 billion suspected fraud.

Some of the sitting and former governors who have already recorded statements with the Eliud Wabukala-led commission include Alfred Mutua (Machakos), Martin Wambora (Embu), Okoth Obado (Migori), Cyprian Awiti (Homa Bay), Mwangi wa Iria (Murang’a), Evans Kidero (Nairobi), Samuel Ragwa (Tharaka-Nithi), Godana Doyo (Isiolo) and Nathif Jama (Garissa).

98 programmes offered by at least 40 universities have been snubbed by 2018 KCSE candidates with at least nine degree programmes failing to attract any applicant at all in what could spell doom to these courses.

Data from the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) shows that the 69 public and private institutions admitted 89,486 students against available space for 145,338.

This means that 55,852 slots have been left unfilled after candidates who sat the national entrance exams last year were selected for degree courses.

Kisii University leads with 12 unpopular courses followed by the University of Embu with programmes, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and Karatina University have five unwanted courses each.

Bachelor of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science (Aquatic Resource Conservation and development with IT) and Bachelor of Science (Natural Products) at Kisii University failed to attract any student.

Laikipia University, Maasai Mara and the University of Eldoret have three courses each that did have any placements.

Meru University's Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science and Resource Management) was snubbed and so was Bachelor of Theology at the Presbyterian University of East Africa.

At African Nazarene University Bachelor of Theology did not attract even one applicant while Cooperative University had its Bachelor of Social Work and Community Development snubbed.

It was the same trend in Kirinyaga University where students never applied for the Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Ventilation and Air Conditioning.

The situation prompted Education CS Prof George Magoha to call for a review of the courses universities offer.

He warned university vice chancellors against introducing new programmes which are irrelevant to the economy.

The official data shows that the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) leads in the number of students selected at 5,901, representing 93.2 per cent of its 6,326 capacity for freshmen.

It is followed by Kenyatta University, with 5,432 freshmen against a declared capacity of 6,227.

The University of Nairobi took 192 of the 314 or 61 per cent of ‘A’ students that sat last year's KCSE exam. Medicine, dental science, law, quantity surveying, civil engineering and architecture were the most popular courses due to the relative attractiveness of their graduates in the job market.

As usual, it was booming business for the unsuspecting conmen who numbered about 20 as the strategically stood at various positions along Commercial Street near the Thika Telcom Shop.

One by one, they waylaid innocent wananchi as they walked to their different destination and lured them to a particular vehicle that was parked at the parking lot.

Upon arriving at the scene, the victims would be convinced that these were genuine company agents who were selling mobile phones and tablets on promotion and those who were interested would be entered into a raffle draw that they are to win very great prices.

Once the victims were convinced, they are presented with fake raffle tickets and asked to open for them to see their prize item.

“They tell that you will not pay anything if you do not win any prize but all these tickets have a prize inscribed inside and therefore no matter what, they will demand money from you in exchange to your prize item,” explained one woman in her 40s who complained to have lost sh. 7,000 in exchange for a tablet worth sh. 15,000.

It was in this state of business that a group of youth blowing whistles raided the place and flashed the conmen out.

Pandemonium broke as everyone scampered for safety fearing the worst.

Upon checking on the merchandise being sold to the people, none of them had any phone inside and those that had, contained faulty phones.

Was it not for the intervention of some neighbouring traders, the vehicle in question would have be set on fire by irate public who complained of suffering for a very long time in the hands of these fraudsters.

According to the people conversant to the affairs of these conmen, these fraudsters have set camp in the area for the last one month. They claim that they operate under police protection who occasionally went there to collect “protection fee”.

“In fact today there has been three sets of police officers who have come here and collected money from these people. They are also protected by the county government (of Kiambu) officials who have given them licences to con people,” explained on trader who operates in that vicinity.

He added that a woman yesterday lost sh. 15,000 to this group as she received an empty box as a token prize of a tablet.

The residents have vowed that the next time these conmen set camp in Thika, they would lynch them and set their vehicle on fire.

“Since the police and the county government have failed to protect us from daylight thugs like these once, we will not spare them next time. Thika will never be a safe haven for criminals who swindle our elderly parents their hard earned money,” vowed another young man who claim that his own mother has been a victim.

For a long time, these fraudsters have infiltrated Thika town, mostly targeting visitors from upcountry who come to town either for shopping, to pay school fees or withdraw money from the bank.

They set camp on busy streets frequented by upcountry people, especially near banks and financial institutions as well as supermarkets.

They are usually very smartly dressed and at times in uniform and have branded receipt books and books “to register their clients who buy SIM Cards’.

   

Speaking during a live show on Inooro’s Tv Kiririmbi at Edgewood Country Club in Thika, the residents, drawn from various parts of Kiambu Country said that the country was worse of now due to poor leadership by their local leaders.

“We are tired of this ‘Kieleweke’ and ‘Tangatanga’ thing. What wananchi want from our leaders is service delivery and not this unending political tussles,” said one of the residents.

The residents put to task the leaders present to explain what they were doing about various matters of concern especially on corruption, insecurity, education, unemployment and the poor state of the economy.

Responding to their concerns, Thika Town MP Eng. Patrick Wainaina distanced himself from any of the warring factions within Jubilee Party saying he was only focused on the development agenda he promised the people of Thika.

“Kenya is a very unique country where politics go on forever. If you look at the matters as they are now, majority of our leaders are very busy politicking about 2022 (General Elections) instead of initiating development programmes that are of benefit to the people who elected them,” he said.

He challenged Kiambu County leaders to emulate Kitui and Makueni counties whose unity of purpose had attracted the national government attention to the benefit of the residents of the two devolved units.

“Kiambu is very rich in resources. If only we as Kiambu leaders exhibited the kind of synergy demonstrated by Kitui and Makueni Counties, this region can make great strides in development. Otherwise, this politics of ego and bossing around will never take us anywhere,” said Wainaina.

He urged people to register in large numbers for the National Integrated Identity Management system (NIIMS) or HUDUMA NAMBA as well as in the national census scheduled for August this year as this was the only way to guarantee themselves a proper government allocation of resources. 

His sentiments were echoed by his Gatundu South counterpart Moses Kuria who said that the politics of 2022 was draining the country at the expense of development.

Kiambu Senator Kimani Wa Matangi called of Kiambu leaders to unite and ensure they took advantage of the existing resources to revive the collapsed industries in both manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

He appealed to the leaders to work in synergy and put up a class in every national secondary school in the area to cater for local students who were disadvantaged when selections of Form One students was done.

Kiambu Women Representative Gathoni Wamuchomba  promised to follow up the matter of college students who got murdered by either their boyfriends or thugs noting that within a span of few years, the county had lost 9 students and yet none of these cases had come to a logical conclusion.

Commercial vehicle assemblers have initiated talks with Trade Ministry in an effort to increase commercial vehicle production in the country.

The assemblers want the government to adopt policies that will ensure a drop in production cost so as to effectively compete with the second hand imports.

Speaking during the unveiling of a start of the art show room by Chinese stated owned FAW and Transafrica motors limited in Nairobi, Automotive Manufacturers chairman Ashit Shah welcomed the move by the government to drop the age limit for imported second-hand cars from eight to five years starting July but proposed a total ban of second hand commercial vehicles into the country.

Shah argued that local assemblers had the capacity to produce commercial vehicles to meet the local demand and had already agreed to increase their production.

They now want the government to come up with policies that will guide and streamline the automotive industry.

Commercial vehicles sales rose 17.46 % between 2016 and 2017 to stand at 9,632 units.

He urged local assemblers to form partnerships with international brands to produce quality vehicles for both local market and regional markets.

The art room is part of the Transafrica motors expansion plan as it seeks to produce 2000 units of heavy commercial tracks every year.

The Environment and Land Court in Thika has ordered the Kiambu County Government to process building approvals submitted by Tatu City within the next 30 days.

The directive came after the developer sought the court’s intervention under certificate of agency in which they accused Governor Ferdinand Waititu of blackmail after they declined to surrender a portion of land in order to facilitate approval of architectural designs in 22 land parcels within the county.

In court papers filed on March 12, the applicant sought an expedited ex-parte hearing after the county reportedly disregarded a court order issued on April 18, 2018, which directed the Land, Housing, and Physical Planning department to consider architectural plans within the 90-day period provided for under the Physical Planning Rules of 1998, pending determination of the case.

The applicant had also moved to commit the Chief Executive Committee member and Chief Officer in charge of Land, Housing, and Physical Planning to civil jail over contempt of court.

Tatu City told the court that intimidation by county officials was prejudicial to its business operations.

“The developers will no longer be able to preserve, promote, and enhance land value through sustainable development within Tatu City by guaranteeing development control which minimizes negative impacts of developments through enforcement of design guideline compliance,” lawyers representing Tatu City told the court.

The matter will be heard on May 8 to confirm compliance with the order. Waititu and developer have been locked in a row after the investor declined to surrender 10 per cent of its 5,000-acre land to the county.

The court will give further directions on the matter upon confirming compliance on May 21.

Meanwhile, Tatu City has installed its first solar power plant to generate at least 1.4 million kilowatt-hours per year, the same amount of energy consumed by 8,500 people.

The panels by Equator Energy are part of the mixed-use development ambitious 30MW solar power generation. The installation comprises of 2,880 solar modules that have been mounted on 5,700 square meters of roof space at Dormans Coffee’s global headquarters at Tatu Industrial Park.

Tatu City’s strategy is to install solar panels on all rooftops at the industrial park, producing up to 30 MW, said Nick Langford, Head of Utilities for Rendeavour, Tatu City’s owner and developer.

“The power will be distributed for use by homes and businesses within the city,” said Langford.

“Solar power allows us to contribute to clean energy, which is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” Langford said.

“The power produced from the solar panels will be distributed for use by homes and businesses within the city. We are proud of this milestone and pleased to know that residents will enjoy sustained power supply at very minimal costs.”

Equator Energy CEO Sebastian Noethlich said, “This is our latest, and one of Kenya’s largest solar power plants. We are excited to see it in operation and delivering cheaper and cleaner power to an entire city. We look forward to rolling out more solar power as Tatu City grows.”

Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom Youth Tournament heads to Thika Stadium this weekend for the Central region finals set to kick off at 8:00am on Saturday. 

Eight teams will battle it out for the region’s supremacy and a chance to represent the region in the national finals set for June 2019 in Meru. 

Defending champions Euronuts from Kiambu will take on Irigiro boys from Maragua while Laikipia’s Lufa Graduates will face Tetu Boys from Nyeri in the boy’s semis. Barcelona from Laikipia will play Dynamos from Kirinyaga as JYSA from Thika take on defending champions Limuru Starlets from Kiambu in the girl’s category.

“We are ready for the weekend and we expect very entertaining matches with the reigning team Euronuts fighting to defend their title. The giants from Mt. Kenya region are ready to display their football prowess for a chance to advance their football careers. I urge the fans to come out in large numbers and support their teams,” said Naman Amboka, Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom Central Region Coordinator.      

Winners in both the boys and girls category will receive a cash price of KES 200,000 each and an opportunity to represent the Central Region in the national finals. The runners-up will also receive KES 100,000 each among other individualized prizes.

Already, Mombasa’s Shimanzi youth and Changamwe ladies, Kajiado’s Al Ahly and Kitale Queens from Rift Valley, Bishop Njenga Girls and Lugari Blue Saints from Western, Manyatta Boys and Ndhiwa Queens from Nyanza as well as Super Solico and St Mary’s Ndovea from Eastern have booked their tickets for the national finals where KES 1,000,000 is at stake.

This year, an all star team will be selected to attend a training camp in Spain during which they will play against local youth sides.

The competition aims at scouting for youth talent, developing grassroots football, and ultimately propel gifted players to the national team.