Kenyan Women Held Hostage inthe Middle East Cry Out forHelp

By John Wanjohi  Sun, 06/28/2020 @ 05:59pm 188 views 4 comments

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Two Kenyan women allegedly held hostage in Lebanon after they lost their jobs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic are crying out for help. 

In a video shared by Daily Nation on Sunday, the two ladies claim they were locked in a house by their agent together with other women of different nationalities.

One of the two Kenyan women says those locked in the house receive only one meal per day and they are asked to part with huge amounts of money when they demand to return home.

"Due to Corona, there are no jobs, when we ask them to take us to work, they claim that there are no openings. When we asked them to take us home if there are no jobs, they demand us to give them money. They want us to pay Ksh100,000.”

"The food we receive only comes for a day. For example, when you are given a slice of sandwich, that is breakfast, lunch, and supper for that day. We are many girls here and the food is not enough," she adds.

She further notes that there are many Kenyans in Lebanon who were rendered jobless by the pandemic and are presently living in the streets. 

"We have colleagues who were thrown into the streets and have no help. They have phones but lack the internet and there is no way they can get to us," she quips.

The second woman reveals that she was destined for Qatar when she left Kenya in 2019 but she found herself in Lebanon, where she first worked for a harsh employer before being transferred to another agency.

"After I complained, they sent me to another employer and they kept my money claiming that if I did not send the money home, I should let them keep it for me," she says.

Barely three months into her new job, ugly protests broke out in the Middle East nation, and by the time the situation normalized, the Covid-19 pandemic set in.

Tanzania passes Bill to give leaders immunity - The East African

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/ea/Tanzania-leaders-immunity/4552908-5580022-format-xhtml-wdxtaez/index.html

Meet the Kenyan Man Who Led'Haki Yetu' Chants During#BlackLivesMatter Protests inthe US

By John Wanjohi  Thu, 06/25/2020 @ 11:02pm 1408 views 10 comments

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A Kenyan-born man who was recently filmed leading ‘haki yetu’ chants during #BlackLivesMatter protests in the US has spoken out.

Last month, a video showing an unidentified Kenyan man psyching up a crowd that took to the streets to protest the killing of unarmed civilian George Floyd went viral online.

The protestors were demanding justice for Floyd, who died in the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25th after a cop kneeled on his neck. 

In the video, the Kenyan man is heard telling the crowd to chant ‘haki yetu’, a Swahili slogan popularly used in Kenya during demonstrations.

"We can say it in Swahili, we say haki yetu," he says as protestors repeat after him.

The man in the video has been identified as Joseph Ng’ang’a Wanjiku, alias Bishop Ngash, of Seattle, Washington.

Ng’ang’a, a native of Thika, Kiambu County, says he joined the protests to fight for the rights of people of color and ensure they get equal treatment.

“The video of a black man under a white man’s knee and his desperate call to his late mother was painful to watch. This could have been me, my brother or my child.”

“As a black man, I have faced racial discrimination many times. Most white clients cancel their trip request when my black photo pops up on their phones. We have to do this for our children… If we don’t join the fight, they could be tomorrow’s victims,” said Ng’ang’a.

Ng’ang’a takes care of young men suffering from Down Syndrome and is currently pursuing a degree in leadership.

Kenyan Woman Killed in a CarCrash in Jacksonville, FloridaIdentified

By John Wanjohi  Tue, 06/23/2020 @ 08:30am 3114 views 6 comments

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The identity of a Kenyan woman who died after crashing her car into a ditch in Jacksonville, Florida last Saturday has been revealed.

The woman, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital after she was removed from the submerged car, has been identified as Jane Njeri Ngugi.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said they received a 911 call at around 2:42 am from a person who said they drove into a ditch, their car was filling with water and they could not get out.

With the help of GPS, police located the car near a condominium complex off Eclipse Circle, just east of Bartram Park Boulevard.

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) responded immediately and managed to remove Njeri and another occupant from the submerged vehicle.

The two were rushed to Baptist South for treatment but Njeri was pronounced dead after efforts to resuscitate her failed. Police did not reveal the condition of the passenger.

The deceased’s family said she had recently moved to Florida from Washington, DC, and acquired the ill-fated car to start a new job. She was driving to work from her friend’s house when the accident happened.

“She was a brand new driver who gave us worry sometimes but she needed to drive to work and that car ended her life,” her sister said.

Njeri leaves being a 13-year-old son. Jacksonville police are investigating the circumstances leading to the accident.

Africa Disease Centre Rejects Tanzania's Allegation That Its Coronavirus Tests Faulty

PHOTO: John Nkengasong, Africa's Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), speaks during an interview with Reuters at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo   By: REUTERS  Posted: May,29-2020 00:42:28   ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) -The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday rejected an assertion by Tanzania's president that coronavirus tests it supplied are faulty. Tanzania's government spokesman said a team was conducting investigations on the laboratory that conducted the tests, and the outcome will be made public once complete. The World Health Organization expressed confidence in the tests. On Sunday, Tanzanian President John Magufuli said the imported test kits were faulty after they had returned positive results on a goat and a pawpaw--among several non--human samples submitted for testing, with technicians left deliberately unaware of their origins. The next day, the head of the national health laboratory in charge of testing was suspended. The president did not say why the authorities had been initially suspicious of the tests. "The tests that Tanzania is using, we know they are working very well," John Nkengasong told journalists. The Africa CDC, along with the Jack Ma Foundation, a charity founded by the Chinese billionaire, supplied the tests, Nkengasong said. Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, has donated thousands of tests kits, masks and protective gear to African nations and the equipment is being used across the continent. No other countries have made public complaints about the tests. "We are very instrumental in training, providing training to nearly all countries and providing them with test kits. We've also in the last couple of weeks and months distributed tests from the Jack Ma Foundation that have been validated and proven to be very, very reliable," Nkengasong said. Hassan Abbas, Tanzania's chief government spokesman, said the government had formed a team of experts to examine the lab that conducted the tests, and it would give the outcome of the results once completed. "What the president said was based on initial tests run by using animals...to test the veracity of the test results," Abbas said. "Our worry was based on empirical findings. Once the team finalises its work we will know the gravity of the lapses in the machines." Tanzania, where places of worship remain open, has at least 480 confirmed cases and 18 deaths, the fourth highest case load in Eastern Africa. But the data is from Sunday, the most recent day the government released figures. Almost all other African nations release daily reports on the latest tallies on infections, fatalities and recoveries. Tanzania's lag has prompted criticism from the country's opposition that the government is being secretive. Asked about Tanzania's questioning of the tests, WHO Africa head Matshidiso Moeti said on a teleconference with the media: "We are convinced that the tests that have been provided...both through procurement through WHO and those that came through Jack Ma donations, were not contaminated with the virus." Africa's testing capacity has expanded sharply but it has still carried out only around 685 tests per million people, according to a Reuters tally of figures from the Africa CDC. By comparison, Europe has carried out nearly 17 million tests, or just under 23,000 per million. (Reporting by Giulia Paravicini; Additional reporting by Ayenat Mersie and Nairobi newsroom; Writing by Katharine Houreld and Ayenat Mersie; Editing by Gareth Jones and Alison Williams)

I Will Not Extend My Stay inPower, Uhuru Says

By John Wanjohi  Fri, 06/19/2020 @ 09:32am 247 views 2 comments

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President Kenyatta insists he has no intention to extend his stay in power beyond 2022 when his constitutional two-term presidential limit will expire.

While responding to questions during a virtual meeting with US think-tank the Atlantic Council, Uhuru confirmed he does not intend to cling to power by amending the constitution.

“It is unfortunate that some people have interpreted the scenario of a referendum to change the Constitution, to mean that certain individuals want to change that Constitution to extend the presidential term,” said Uhuru.

“I can tell you, if there is one thing that Kenyans are very, very clear about is the two-term limit. Kenyans are very clear about it and they have been clear about it since 1992 when we introduced multipartism. And there’s been no single president that has broken that and I don’t intend to be the first.”

He clarified that his quest for a referendum to introduce changes to the constitution is meant to achieve national cohesion and end recurrent divisive elections.

Uhuru further dismissed claims that he will seek to serve as the country’s Prime Minister once his term as president ends.

“In our time of multiparty politics, we have had tremendous tensions every election cycle. My partnership with Hon. Raila was to see if we can get to understand the issues that drive these tensions through the consultative BBI forums,” he said.

“I have no clue whether there is going to be a premiership in the Constitution. You see, these are the questions that people are now posing. I gave you a very clear synopsis of the areas where people are interested in. They are interested in the value of their vote, they are interested in the distribution of resources, and they are interested in inclusivity in government.” 

“All I can say is that the office that exists today, is the Office of the President. The President of the Republic of Kenya. Our constitution is very clear: that a President serves for two terms. I am now in my second term. No president has broken that; I don’t intend to do it,” he added.

Kenya Secures Slot in thePowerful UN Security Council

By John Wanjohi  Thu, 06/18/2020 @ 03:28pm 434 views 1 comments

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Kenya has secured the powerful United Nations Security Council (UNSC) seat as a non-permanent member after defeating Djibouti.

Kenya and Djibouti faced off in the second round of voting on Thursday after both failed to garner enough votes in the first phase on Wednesday.

In the first round of voting, Kenya got 113 votes from the 193 countries that participated in the election while Djibouti scored 78, forcing a run-off between the two.

On Thursday, Kenya garnered 129 votes against Djibouti’s 62, thereby meeting the required two-thirds majority to secure the slot.

Kenya returns to the UN’s most powerful organ from January 2021 after 23 years. Kenya, who has served twice previously as a member of the Council in 1973-74 and 1997-98, will replace South Africa for the 2021-22 period. 

Kenya joins other non-permanent members India, Mexico, Ireland, and Norway who were elected to the council earlier on Wednesday.

UNSC has five permanent members; Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, and France, all of who have veto powers.

The victory means Kenya will be involved in making key decisions such as sanctions, authorizing the use of force to preserve peace and electing judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The UN Security Council is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security.

“The President has termed Kenya's win as a demonstration of the country's growing profile and influence in the community of nations as a steadfast and dependable development partner,” State House said in a statement.

“The Head of State thanked Kenya's competitor in the election, the Republic of Djibouti for being a worthwhile opponent and the African Union for the endorsement as the continent's flag bearer in the contest.”

Uhuru added that Kenya “will endeavor to consolidate and voice Africa's position in the Security Council and will advance its 10-point agenda as outlined during the campaign period.”