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Kilifi County

Deputy President William Ruto was recently taken on a wild goose chase by Kilifi governor Amason Kingi, who, it is claimed, had agreed to meet the DP, but changed his mind at the eleventh hour without prior notice.

On the morning of Thursday, June 19, Ruto left Nairobi for Kilifi in a private jet and landed at Vipingo Airstrip. He was accompanied by his wife, Rachel, and one Farid Sheikh, a former banker who is in charge of the DP’s projects.

It is said before going to Coast, the DP had a phone conversation with the Kilifi governor, and there was an agreement for a secret meeting on the day of his arrival.

However, to the surprise of Ruto, Kingi was nowhere and his phones were switched off. Attempts by one of the DP’s aides, Farouk Kibet to trace Kingi through close contacts, did not bear any fruit.

It was not immediately clear why Kingi snubbed the DP whom he had promised to work with ahead of 2022 general elections. At a public rally in Kilifi early last year attended by Ruto, Kingi had declared he would team up with the DP and go round the country to gauge who between them was more popular to be a presidential candidate and the other will offer his support.

Political observers claim that Kingi, who is on his second and final term as governor, may have developed cold feet on Ruto for fear that associating with him now, could have provoked fresh investigations of corruption claims in his administration.

It is claimed Kingi has managed to weather many corruption storms in his administration, courtesy of interventions by his Mombasa counterpart Hassan Joho, who is said to be well connected within the investigative agencies and the system.

At the same time, the Kilifi county secretary Arnold Mkare is a bossom friend of a top detective, and it is claimed, this could have helped to hold files for a while. But insiders claim, the rot in the county government is unbelievable.

During the 2017 general election campaigns at Mariakani, Kilifi county, Uhuru Kenyatta had vowed that if reelected, Kingi was to be among the first bunch of governors to be locked in prison over corruption allegations.

Even though an ODM governor, Kingi has at many times been perceived as wanting to chart his own political destiny outside the Raila Odinga led party.

The governor, it is claimed, privately laments that despite the near 100% support Kilifi residents gave to ODM, there was no reward from the party in the form of a nomination slot either to the national assembly or Senate, leave alone the East African Legislative Assembly in Arusha.

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A 30-year-old man is reported to have collapsed and died while traveling to Mombasa aboard Chania Cool bus of REG. NO. KCU 756C , SCANIA model.

According to multiple reports, the man is said to have collapsed after coughing severely at around 0240 hrs.

The incident is said to have occurred at Teleh Hotel Mutito-Andei, in Makueni County.

Police have identified the deceased as FREDRICK MBACHU MWAKIMA TAITA.

Reports doing rounds on social media indicate that Public Health officers are making arrangements to remove the body and fumigate the bus.

The incident happens as the nation struggles to contain the now most dreaded coronavirus pandemic.

Other passengers are said to have fled the scene after noticing the deceased’s severe coughs, leaving him to die helplessly.

On Sunday March 22, 2020, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe confirmed eight more COVID-19 cases in Kenya, bring the total number of cases to 15.

Addressing a press conference from Harambee House, CS Kagwe noted that one of the confirmed coronavirus patients was in a critical condition in Kilifi and there were plans to airlift him to Nairobi for further treatment.

Kilifi County Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi has also tested positive for the virus.

He was picked by state officers and forced into isolation after he refused to self-quarantine the moment he came from an international trip.

Governor Amason Kingi has resorted to self-quarantine himself, with CS Kagwe vowing to charge his deputy for going against Government’s Health Act.

Meanwhile, the government has put in some measures to contain the virus.

All international flights have been suspended, with all bars remaining close until further notice effective Wednesday 25th March.

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Raila Odinga-led Orange Democratic (ODM) party will be facing another by elections in Kilifi County just weeks after securing Ganda ward MCA seat.

This is after Kilifi County assembly member from the orange party lost his seat after the Speaker Jimmy Kahindi declared the seat vacant following a protracted legal battle that ended in the nullification of his August 8, 2017, victory.

The anticipated by-election is expected to spark a renewed rivalry between ODM and its estranged NASA ally the Amani National Congress.

Although the Court of Appeal nullified Dabaso Ward MCA Emmanuel Changawa’s election about three months after he exhausted all his appeals; the declaration of a vacancy was delayed because the court document was wrongly classified as having been declared in the Environment and Land Court in Malindi.

Changawa will now be going to seek reelection.

“The person ceases to be a member of the County assembly from today,” said the speaker in the gallery.

The declaration came after the court of appeal sitting in Mombasa ruled that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) erred in declaring Changawa the winner in the 2017 General election.

Changawa who addressed journalists outside the assembly premises said that he was confident of being reelected in the by-election set to be announced by the IEBC.

“I am confident that my party ODM will give me a direct ticket having been a loyal life member and I am also confident that I will be re-elected to serve the people of Dabaso ward.

Malindi chief Magistrate Julie Oseko had upheld the election of Changawa and absolved the IEBC of electoral malpractices during the polling period but the petitioner Dickson Karani of Amani National Congress (ANC) party appealed to the high court where Judge Weldon Korir overturned Oseko’s ruling.

Korir cited documented evidence in forms submitted by IEBC which were ignored by the lower court when sustaining Changawa’s victory.

Changawa appealed the decision at the Court of Appeal in Mombasa and the court upheld the ruling of Justice Korir.

Speaker Kahindi added that he received a letter from the appeal court but had to return it because it lacked the requisite rubber stamp.

“I received a letter from the court early this year but I had to return it because it a had a stamp of the Environment and Lands court and being a lawyer by profession I could have landed in legal trouble if I had used it to declare the seat vacant,” he said.

He said that he received another letter with the correct corresponding stamp 18 days ago and declared the seat vacant.

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