Author: Web Desk

The corpse of a woman, Mme Kuissu Wouaffo Clarisse disputed for over two years by her son and a certain Eric Nodou she was married to for over 16 years has finally been removed from the Aluchem hospital mortuary on Thursday, May 25, 2023, and laid to rest.

A bill of about FCFA 6 Million was settled before the removal.

According to the deceased’s son, the delayed burial was due to Eric Nodou’s refusal to let her corpse be buried on his piece of land.

“The main issue is that he wants to absolutely bury his mother on my land, which is impossible. Again his mother tricked me to pay her bride price to another man she lied to and presented as her father. The man I paid the bride price to was instead her mother’s boyfriend (lover). She also lied to me about her age and so many things. I had no idea and only learned of these afterward. I had to file for annulment of the marriage but she died in the process.” Explained Eric Nodou, the deceased’s husband.

Son of the deceased insisted that his mother was the one who ensured the construction of the house she was living in with her husband for 16 years, with little contribution from the man.

“He claims, the money used to construct the house was his, presenting documents of expenses. It was my mother’s money in his possession. He only had access to those documents. It is my mother’s house he can’t dispute that. My mother must be buried in the bedroom of this house,” he said.

It was after the intervention of the Police and Gendarmes that Mme Clarisse was finally laid to rest in the bedroom of the said house in Logbessou, Douala V. sub-division.

Eric Nodou in question has no child with his late wife.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The ongoing heavy rains in Nakuru County have cut off roads in Rongai Sub-county, affecting transport in the area.

The County Executive Member (CEC), Infrastructure, Engineer Michael Kamau, said the County Government has begun installing High-Density Polyethylene pipes (HDPE) at Visoi Ward in Rongai Sub-county to allow optimal water movement, amid heavy rains.

Engineer Kamau revealed that the installation of HDPE pipes, has been occasioned by the formation of gullies at the Moricho-Bongoloia road, which has affected transport in the area due to the heavy downpour.

He added that the pipes will ensure all the storm waters are channeled through them and, in turn, maintain roads that connect schools, including Mawe Day Secondary, Moricho, Kanga, and Ng’esumin Primary Schools.

Engineer Kamau suspected that the area might have an underground fault line, emanating from the Menengai Crater, adding that there was a need for a thorough study to pinpoint the exact cause of the continued formation of gullies in the area.

However, the villagers blame the Geothermal Development Company (GDC), which has been excavating geothermal steam for electricity generation at the floor of the crater, for the continued formation of gullies across their sub-county. But the GDC Company has often dismissed the assertions of the villagers.

Over the weekend, Rigogo Village in the Rongai Sub-county got flooded, and over 40 families were affected, necessitating the County Disaster Management team to donate food for the victims.

Early last month, deep gullies that drew the attention of the entire country formed at the Kiamunyi Estate, which is also located in the Rongai Sub-county.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Quacks masquerading as journalists will soon have nowhere to hide if a proposal by the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) to rope in county governments to weed out such individuals’ sails through.

North, Eastern, and Central MCK Regional Coordinator Jackson Karanja says discussions between the Council and Governors are at an advanced stage in coming up with stringent measures that will ensure only accredited journalists are allowed to cover government functions.

In the proposed sweeping changes, which may finally address the menace posed by quacks who infiltrate important public functions and even end up misreporting facts, journalists will now have their accreditation cards scanned at a common desk before they can be allowed to cover any such functions.

Karanja says unlike previous accreditation cards that lacked tamper-proof security features, the Council is now issuing cards with special bar codes embossed with an individual’s vital details and a unique number.

“The previous accreditation cards did not have a QR (Quick Response) code, and therefore, anyone could come up with one. So what we are doing as an institution to mitigate this challenge is to have journalists who have this card (with a QR code) access County Government and County Assembly functions. It’s something we are doing and that is ongoing, and we want to start at the very basic level.

Only journalists that have an accreditation card that can be scanned and shows a journalist belongs to a recognized media house will be allowed access to government information,” said Karanja during a courtesy call at the Nyeri County Information Offices.

The Official further said the Council had also received complaints of rogue journalists storming public functions, while under the influence of alcohol and conducting themselves in an unbecoming manner, before the full glare of cameras, but added that they are in the process of conducting trainings for media practitioners on the need to uphold the tenets and ethics of their professionalism as espoused in the Code of Conduct.

“We are telling accredited journalists to be professionals and conduct themselves with decorum. Be different from quacks who masquerade as journalists. Cases of journalists coming to functions drunk portray a bad image for the profession,” he added.

The Official similarly said the Council was also partnering with the Communication Authority (CA) in a bid to inject professional standards of reporting by media houses and ensure those responsible for managing such entities are people who have undergone proper training in matters of reporting.

Karanja noted that the liberation of the airwaves in the year 2000 had opened floodgates in the media industry with an entry of radio, TV, and print media outlets, which ended up creating an avenue where professionalism and integrity were sacrificed at the altar of pursuing bipartisan interests.

“We are approaching the Media Owners Association to address the matter of professionalism, which also touches on welfare matters. We shall involve the Communication Authority in ensuring that anyone working in a media house, is an individual who is accredited to do the job. That way it will be easier than allowing someone to open a media station and then going to check out whether those working there are accredited,” he stated.

Any individual intending to work as a journalist in Kenya must first get clearance from MCK before he can be cleared to operate, pursuant to Sections 4, 6(h), 23(c), and 46 of the Media Council Act No. 46 of 2013.

Among the things required before such clearance are professional certificates—either a degree or diploma in communication from a recognized training institution.

Similarly, one must produce a proof of work done either in print or broadcast, together with a reference letter from the media house or organization that publishes such work.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Onion traders in Gakoromone market in Meru County are grappling with high prices of onions, which have been triggered by the shortage of the commodity from farms.

Fridah Gatwiri, an onion trader at the market, said at the moment there had been a worrying reduction in the quantities of onions in farms, especially in Isiolo County, where they buy the product, as compared to the last few months.

She added that this shortage has been the major cause of the price hike of the onions in the market.

She further said that there is less harvest compared to the size of the farms and other seasons.

“Previously, we would buy onions at around Sh35 per kilogram from the farmers and sell them at Sh45, while the small onion dealers who would buy from our customers would sell the commodity at about Sh55 per kilogram,” she informed.

She added that in recent months, they have been purchasing the exact quantities of the commodity at around Sh60 from the farms and selling them at about Sh70 per kilo.

Consequently, the small onion dealers are selling it at Sh80 per kilo.

George Muthee, another onion trader, attributed the shortage to heavy rains that persisted even after the maturity of the commodity.

“It rained heavily when onions had already reached maturity while in the plantation, leading to rotting,” he said.

Mr. Muthee noted that it is challenging to purchase soaked onions because they go bad very fast if not dried.

Everlyn Kairuthi, another trader, said, “It has not always been profitable selling the onions at the high prices because of the expenses incurred.”

She explained that there are also a lot of costs incurred, especially in the transportation of the commodity, purchasing the packaging materials, and paying brokers.

Miss Kairuthi said that consumers of the commodity are irritated at the drastic hike in prices and sometimes fail to buy the onions, forcing them to lower prices for them to buy, leading to a massive loss.

Agnes Nkirote, a consumer of the commodity, complained: “We forcefully have to ditch the onion from our recipes since we can no longer afford the commodity with the high cost of living bedeviling the country.”

Source: Kenya News Agency