THIKA: 2017 Year in Review (PART III)
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May 2017
Police forced to lob tear gas canisters to avert an ugly
political clash.
Makongeni police were on 26th May forced to lob
teargas canisters to break up a violent clash between two opposing
political outfits at Madaraka Market Makongeni in Thika Town Constituency.
Violence erupted at around 4pm after a team of Eng.
Patrick Wainaina (Wa Jungle) started leveling the road separating the market
and Makongeni Phase 4. A group of people emerged from the market chanting the
name of area MP Alice Wambui Ng’ang’a, confronted the other group and demanded
them to “disappear” as that “was not Wainaina’s zone”.
The Wainaina group is said to have resisted and insisted
that the road was a public infrastructure and they were entitled, as residents
too, to answer the cries of the people of Makongeni who had suffered for long
over the poor state of the road.
It was at this moment the group from market attempted to
violently evict the Wainaina team but were outnumbered and repulsed back into
the market, forcing the deployment of the police to avert bloodshed.
Drivers Fume as KeNHA Blocks Usage of Chania Footbridge
by vehicles.
Motorist getting out of Thika town got a rude shock on 20th
May when the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) officials blocked
the usage of the Chania footbridge sighting potential danger as a result of
vehicles accessing the Thika superhighway via the bridge.
Drivers getting out of town through the now famous “Baba
Yao Mama Tena” exit road had to drive all the way to the Thika flyover near
Ngoingwa Estate to access the Murang’a-bound lane of the superhighway unlike
initially when they just made a U-Turn across River Chania using the bridge.
KeNHA had earlier in the morning deployed its workers and
erected concrete road stock barriers to prevent any vehicle from using that
part of the bridge.
A C-section gone wrong - Mother falls into a seven
months comma.
Sophia Wairimu’s joy
of delivering a set of twins ended up in a seven-month comma after what her
husband Joseph Ndirangu described as a C-Section gone wrong.
When he came to
Thika Town Today on 20th May for a press brief, his twin sons were seven
months old but had never seen their
mother who immediately fell into a comma after the C-section in one of
the local hospitals on the 13th of October 2016.
Ndirangu faced a
myriad of challenges taking care of their sons, moving from one hospital to
another in search of help.
April 2017.
Thika Decides: Mama Tano Tena.
Jubilee Party’s
Constituency Returning Officer Ann Kamiti on April 25th announced
the results of the party nominations in Thika Town Constituency.
Incumbent Alice
Wambui Ng’ang’a was declared winner with 15,880 votes against her closest
rival Eng. Patrick Wainaina Wa Jungle who garnered 14, 731 votes. Morris Mburu
came third with 3,127 votes.
The wave of change seemed
to have swept across the populous Thika Town Constituency after voters sent
home all the sitting MCAs except one during the just concluded party primaries.
Among the 5 MCAs who constitute Thika Town Constituency, only Gatuanyaga Ward
Representative Cecilia Wamaitha survived the primaries in the race that saw her
colleagues given a vote of no confidence.
However, Wainaina
later disputed the results and accused powerful officials at the Jubilee Party Headquarters,
Thika security personnel and some goons of rigging him out.
He later registered
for the August 8 General Elections as an Independent Candidate.
Scores Injured In Freak Accident Near KVM, Thika.
A head-on collision
near Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Limited (KVM) on April 10 left scores injured,
several of them with serious injuries after a 2TS matatu was involved in a
head-on collision with a Mitsubishi canter belonging to Mini Bakeries,
the makers of supa loaf bread.
The accident, which
occurred at around 3pm, is said to have occurred when the truck slammed into
the matatu that was heading towards Makongeni from Thika
Town.
Renowned Thika Businessman Passes On.
William Gatuhi
Murathe, a renowned businessman in Thika for over four decades passed on April
8 at the Aga Khan Hospital where he was undergoing medication.
The late Gatuhi
Murathe was the father to former Gatanga MP David Murathe and the proprietor of
Murathe Plaza behind the former December Hotel.
He was a renowned Wines
& Spirits trader, Coffee farmer and also ventured heavily in transportation
and housing construction. He was one of the founding African businessmen in
Kenya and amongst first pioneer beneficiaries of the Africanisation programme
of the Kenyan government.
Pro-Gakuyo Demos Paralyse Thika Town.
Business in Thika
Town was temporarily paralysed on April 4th after a section of
Gakuyo Real Estate/ Ekeza Sacco workers and investors staged a demonstration
protesting what they referred to as ‘political attacks’ on the two
institutions.
While holding
placards and banners, the demonstrators walked around the town streets chanting
in support of Rev. Dr. David Kariuki Ngare (Gakuyo) whom they claimed was being
targeted by his political rivals for his resolve to vie for Kiambu
gubernatorial seat.
They accused KTN and
the Standard Media Group of meddling in Kiambu County politics by airing a
damaging report against Rev. Gakuyo.
March 2017.
Thika Businesswoman Arrested After
‘Kidnapping’ Herself To Raise Ransom From Relatives.
Thika police arrested
a 45-year-old businesswoman for allegedly making a false report of a crime and
trying to swindle through a self-scripted kidnap plan.
Rachel Charity
Wangui had lied that she had been kidnapped with intent to illegally solicit
money from close friends and relatives.
The mother of one
was reported missing from Thika Town on February 28th, prompting the
police to launch a search. However, Ms. Wangui was on Wednesday March 29th,
smoked her out of her hideout in a guest room in Kitui Town, where she
been regularly making calls to her relatives in a brittle voice, claiming that
her kidnappers had given her an ultimatum for a ransom.
(Related story: Thika: 2017 Year in Review (PART II).
Key Schemer To Mrs. Githitu’s Murder Arrested In Maua,
Meru.
Detectives from
Makuyu Flying Squad arrested another suspect following the murder of Thika
businesswoman Joyce Wambui Githitu.
Alex Musee Ngui, 34,
was arrested on March 21 in Maua Town where he was reported to have been
hiding, bringing to nine, the number of suspects arrested and questioned by the
police over the murder.
Musee who was a
Standard Three dropout and unemployed. He was believed to have played a pivotal
role in the planning and execution of the murder plot.
Drama As Residents Parade Woman For Allegedly ‘Selling’
Minors To Older Men.
There was drama in
Thika’s Majengo Estate on March 20th after a woman in her 40s was
frog-matched across the streets carrying a placard for allegedly luring young
girls into the traps of older men for sexual exploitation.
This woman
identified as Mary Wanjiru Karume was cornered in her house, jerked out and
parading her along the streets before attempting to force her to confess her
evil deeds publicly.
According to the
victim who is not yet 18, the woman, who was a personal friends and business
neighbour to her mother, lured her to the said man a week earlier where they
were bought some soft drinks. Two days later, she and her auntie (still a
minor) were invited to a Thika Hotel where they were supposed to have a good
time.
Two Middle-Aged Women Arrested For Attempting To Steal
From A Women Using 'Dawa'.
Thika police on 17th
March arrested two middle-aged women for sedating and attempting to steal from
another woman within the CBD. The two were arrested near Family Bank along
Uhuru Street where they had been spotted by a security gourd working nearby as
they tried to trick the victim into releasing her possessions to them.
Their arrest
attracted a huge crowd who were baying for their blood forcing the police to
use force to disperse the irate crowd before whisking them to a waiting police
van and straight to Thika Police Station.
When word went round
that two women had been arrested trying to 'medicinally' con another woman,
several previous victims went to identify the culprits. Two among them
positively identified the suspects, confirming that they were responsible for
the loss of their money and possessions worth over a hundred thousand shillings
on separate but similar circumstances.
Primary School Teacher Commits Suicide In Makongeni.
Police in Thika on March
15 retrieved a body of a 48-year old Primary School teacher after he allegedly
committed suicide in his house in Makongeni area.
David Mbuthia a
teacher at Gitiri Primary School in Thika was found hanging in his bathroom
with a rope on his neck.
His neighbours had
earlier reported to the area chief after they noticed the deceased hadn’t woken
up early as usual to report to his teaching duty. They knocked his door
severally in vain.
The circumstances
leading to the suicide was still unknown by then.
February 2017.
Businesslady Slain by unknown people at her home.
Joyce Wambui Githitu
or Mama Mercy was February 27th murdered by unknown people at her
Maki Estate home near Jogoo Kimakia Hotel in Murang’a County between 8pm and
10pm after arriving from work.
Unidentified people
barged into her compound before attacking her with a crude weapon that killed
her instantly. Her killing was unknown to her neighbours until the
following morning when her house help raised alarm.
The murder scene was
stained in blood, an indication that the victim may have tried to run away
before she succumbed to the blow.
Four Dead, Two Hospitalised After Drowning In Factory's
Effluent Pit.
Four people died on after
drowning in an effluent pit they were unclogging at Leather Industries Limited
in Thika on February 22nd. Two others were transferred to a Nairobi
hospital in critical condition.
Five of the victims
had been assigned to unclog some refuse that had blocked waste water from
flowing away when one of them accidentally fell into this deep manhole at
around 12:30pm. It was as his colleagues attempted to rescue him that they too
got chocked by gases emitted by the solution and followed suit.
One of the dead was
a security guard who rushed to the scene, fifteen minutes later, when word went
round that some workers had perished into the septic hole.
Sources who sought
for anonymity for fear of reprisal said that the victims might have been
overwhelmed by the strong gases emitted by the waste water causing them to get
dizzy and fall off.
They added that some of the chemicals used to preserve the
hides as well as those used to break the waste for disposal could have
contributed to the accident.
Thika schools attacked by the Stomach Bug Norovirus.
Virtually all the
local primary schools and several other government and private institutions recorded
cases of some stomach virus. The Thika branch of the Gertrude's Children’s
Hospital plus several other private health institutions confirmed receiving
several cases within the week, expressing fears of the outbreak.
Several officers
especially in government offices went on sick leave after the attack. The
situation was a replica in many offices more so those that are frequented by
members of public.
Some sources from
the Ministry of Health pointed out that the situation could be as a result the drought
situation that had brought about water scarcity.
January 2017.
President Uhuru Cancels Makongeni, Ngoliba Visit due to political
hooliganism.
The residents of
Makongeni Estate, Gatuanyaga and Ngoliba Wards in Thika Town Constituency on January
27th went home a dejected lot after the much anticipated visit by
His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta was prematurely cut short and diverted
elsewhere.
This was after ugly
incidents that were perpetuated by local politicians. The president was infuriated
by the manner in which some Thika leaders organised some youth to shout down
each other in a battle of supremacy with the aim of catching the president’s
eye especially at the Gatitu Junction.
Several attempts by the president to
cool off this temper yielded no fruits but instead worsened as supporters of
other candidates confronted this group.
Intelligence reports
at the time indicated that the situation in Makongeni was very volatile as
different politicians had organised a political match ups for a similar reason,
probably prompting the president to cut short his Thika visit without notice.
Seven Suspects In Police Custody Over Boy Kelson’s Kidnap
Seven kidnapping
suspects on January 6th were arrested following the kidnapping of 4-year
old Kelson Kimani in their home at Section 9 estate.
The suspects, five
women and two men, were arrested in Kasarani area, Nairobi as they were
attempting to transfer the victim to another destination.
Kelson, who was
found alive and unharmed, had been held in Ruaka, Kiambaa Constituency but on
suspicion that the kidnappers were being trailed, they suspects attempted to
transfer him to Mwiki Kasarani Constituency where they were intercepted before
they could board a vehicle.
Thika Businessman Dies In A Hotel After An Affair With A
Young Lady.
A prominent Thika
businessman died in a hotel room after an escapade with a young lady in her
mid-twenties.
The deceased (names
withheld), who was in his late 60s, died on arrival at a nearby private
hospital after allegedly committing adultery with his clande of four years. According
our sources, the man checked into the hotel at about 4:00pm on 3rd January
2017 and booked a room. He was joined by the young lady a while later.
The woman is said to
have raised an alarm a couple of hours later after the man complained of severe
headache and was foaming at the mouth. The hoteliers and
sympathisers, who were attracted, made frantic effort to resuscitate the man
and rushed him to the hospital where he was confirmed dead by doctors.
Kiandutu Girl Beats All Odds To Top County
With Straight As.
Juliet Akinyi from
the sprawling Kiandutu Slums in Thika Sub-County managed to get perfect scores
in this year’s KCSE exams, igniting jubilation from both Kiambu and Murang’a
Counties.
Akinyi emerged KCSE
2016 leading candidate in Murang’a County after scoring straight As of 81
points. Her scores were as follows; English B, Kiswahili A,
Mathematics A, Biology A-, Physics A, Chemistry A Geography A and CRE A.
Despite constantly
being sent home for school fees throughout her high school life, the 18 year
old student at Mugoiri Girls high school remained focused to excel. Her resolve
was driven by the urge to succeed in life and eventually be in a position to
support her family of six siblings.
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