Daily Nation August 12th 2014
Daily Nation August 12th 2014
Daily Nation August 12th 2014
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Nairobi | Tuesday, August 12, 2014
No. 18026
PARALYSIS | Mombasa ocials say salary hitch is a national government budget problem
Coast health crisis as
sta strike over pay
County government helpless as doctors and
nurses at the Coast General Hospital, who
say they havent been paid their July salaries,
are on a go-slow and vow to stop work
starting today, putting the lives of patients
across the region at risk Story on Page 4
LABAN WALLOGA | NATION
National Nurses Asso-
ciation of Kenya chair-
man Jeremiah Maina
addresses journalists
yesterday at the Coast
General Hospital in
Mombasa. He warned
of a strike over de-
layed July salaries.
We cannot be working
under strain and at the
same time, not get paid
our hard-earned wages
Nurses association chairman
Jeremiah Maina
COUNTY NEWS
Governors goodies wont sway us, say MCAs
County representatives say they are intelligent enough and plan meeting for later this
month to discuss referendum issue. Story Page 19
Health:
Kenya ready to
deal with Ebola
outbreak, assure
authorities amid
global panic P. 3
News P. 2-11, 16, Back
Opinion P. 12-13
Letters P. 14
County P. 19-30
World P. 31-35
Business P. 36-39
Sport P. 56-59
INDEX
ON OTHER PAGES
TENDER ROW HITS COAL PLANT
Two Chinese rms and a local company in
ght for critical power project Back Page
ENERGY
BY GALGALO BOCHA
@gallgallo
[email protected]
AND KALUME KAZUNGU
@KalumeSamuel
[email protected]
A
man suspected to be the leader
of the gunmen who have been
terrorising residents of Lamu
County has been captured.
Sources said yesterday he was among
16 other suspects wounded in the joint
police and Kenya Defence Forces op-
eration in Tana Rivers Ozi forest that
neighbours Lamu.
The man, described as tall, light
skinned and bearded, is said to be from
Kiunga village on the Kenya-Somalia
Lamu terror
gang leader
captured in
forest raid
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
border. Police say he is a member of the
Somali insurgent group Al-Shabaab and
he commanded the attackers who have
killed nearly 100 people in two months of
mayhem in Mpeketoni, Poromoko, Maleli
and Hindi/Kibiboni and Gamba.
Witnesses said the gunmen burst into
homes, shooting dead any man they en-
countered and slitting the throats of others
as their families watched.
The Nation has learnt that the suspects
were arrested in the forest after ground
troops entered it following days of aerial
bombardments that targeted training
camps and hideouts.
An undetermined number of bodies have
also been collected from the forest for DNA
analysis to establish their identities.
Weapons, including grenades and auto-
matic ries have been recovered.
Some gunmen who escaped dur-
ing the onslaught are being pursued to
Shikiko beach South East of Ozi village
where Kenya Navy personnel have been
deployed along the Indian Ocean, said a
source in KDF.
We are pursuing a second suspect who
was injured during the Tahmeed Bus at-
tack last month. We visited his home at
Shirikisho village in Chara but we havent
seen him, said another source.
KDFs information officer Willy
Wesonga yesterday declined to comment
and referred the Nation to Lamu county
commissioner Njenga Miiri.
There are people on the ground capable
of giving you information. Talk to Lamu
county commissioner who is the only
person authorised to speak to you,Col
Wesonga said.
Mr Miiri is in charge of the joint KDF,
General Service Unit, Rapid Deployment
Unit and Rural Border Patrol Unit opera-
tion.
But when contacted, he was non-com-
mittal on the issue.
He said he had not been briefed on casu-
alities, injuries and recovery of weapons
but conrmed that the operation had been
extended to the neighbouring Tana River
County.
However, he conrmed that drugs sto-
len at a dispensary when gunmen attacked
Pandanguo village had been recovered in
Boni forest.
Other sources indicated that a suspect
wounded during an attack on Gamba Police
Station in which nine people were killed had
been arrested. He was captured at Ngumo
village on the outskirts of Garsen town.
Meanwhile, Lamu leaders led by Gover-
nor Issa Timamy have criticised what they
described as arbitrary arrests of people in
the security operation.
Mr Timamy and MPs Ali Athman (Lamu
East), Julius Ndegwa (Lamu West) and
Woman Representative Shakila Abdalla,
accused the security ocers of arresting
people without informing them of their
crime.
They urged Mr Miiri to ensure that his
ocers do justice to the residents. They
also expressed concern that the wherea-
bouts of some people who had reportedly
been arrested are unknown. Addressing a public meeting at the
Mkunguni Square at the weekend, the
leaders threatened to go to court if security
ocers, and especially KDF soldiers, do
not stop the torture of innocent people.
Mr Timamy said it was unconstitutional
to arrest someone without explaining to
him or her the reasons for the action.
As a lawyer, I condemn the acts by our
security ocers. If someone is a suspect,
you should arrest him but rst, you have
to explain to him why and where you are
taking him. Suspects also have a right to
be protected. The same happened to me
recently and it was unpleasant, said Mr
Timamy.
And yesterday, the Independent Police
Oversight Authority asked the residents to
report any cases of brutality or harassment
to them for action. Ours is not an NGO
but a government authority which is out
to ensure justice for all and I request the
people who are aggrieved to come to us,
said Mr Hared Hassan, IPOAs director in
charge of inspection and monitoring. His
ocers have been in Lamu monitoring the
joint security operation.
Mr Ndegwa said the government should
ensure suspects are arraigned in court on
time instead of holding them incommu-
nicado.
LAMU KILLINGS | Suspects were arrested in forest when ground troops entered it after days of aerial bombardments
Gang leader seized as KDF
steps up search for raiders
Some gunmen who escaped
during the onslaught are being
pursued to Shikiko beach South
East of Ozi village where Kenya
Navy personnel have been
deployed
KDF source
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
FILE | NATION
Security Team during the search for attackers at Pandanguo Lamu County in June.
A City advocate accused
of obtaining money by false
pretence yesterday appeared
before Chief Magistrate Dan-
iel Ochenja.
The court was told that Fran-
cis Kinyanjui falsely obtained
Sh1,025,000 from Alexandria
Wanjohi following the sale of
her apartment in Parklands.
The complainant said she
approached Kinyanjuis law
firm for help in selling the
house as she needed money
for treatment.
The prosecutor said the
house was sold and 10 per
cent of the money amounting
to Sh1,325,000 was paid to the
accused while the remaining
90 per cent or Sh11,925,000
was to be remitted to the com-
plainants account. However,
the lawyer delayed to remit
the money.
Ms Wanjohi who is a teacher
at Millennium school in Nai-
robi said the accused gave
her Sh300,000 and prom-
ised to settle the remaining
Sh1,025,000 by April.
She said since she was
not getting her money, she
requested another lawyer
to nalise the Sh11,925,000
transaction as she needed the
money urgently.
She added that she took the
step because the appointment
date with her doctor was ap-
proaching yet Kinyanjui was
nowhere to be seen.
The prosecutor requested
for an adjournment of the
case as other witnesses were
not in court.
The magistrate fixed the
mention date for September
29.
City advocate on
Sh1m theft charge
The amount of money in shil-
lings that the complainant,
Alexandria Wanjohi, says Kin-
yanjui gave her promising to
settle the Sh1,025,000 balance
by April this year. She says the
lawyer disappeared after that
300,000
DAILY NATION
Tuesday August 12, 2014
2 | National News
BY MIKE MWANIKI
[email protected]
K
enya is prepared to deal with
an outbreak of Ebola, the
deadly viral disease which has
sparked a world wide panic, medical
authorities said yesterday.
Isolation beds have been set up
at the Kenyatta National Hospital,
diagnostic areas have been prepared
at the Kenya Medical Research In-
stitute and 50 health and mortuary
workers have been trained to handle
Ebola patients.
And Kenya was by yesterday one
of the countries still allowing direct
ights to countries in Western Africa
where Ebola has now been declared
out of control by the World Health
Organisation.
Yesterday, Ivory Coast banned all
ights from countries hit by Ebola
as part of steps to prevent itself from
the deadly disease. British Airways,
Emirates Airlines, Pan African air-
line Aruj and ASKY and Chad have
all suspended ights to and from the
aected destinations.
At the weekend, Nigeria stopped
the Gambian national carrier, Gam-
bia Bird Airlines, from ying into the
country, alleging unsatisfactory
measures by the airline to contain
the spread of Ebola.
The current Ebola outbreak started
out in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Libe-
ria. Kenya Airways maintains direct
flight to Monrovia, Conakry and
Freetown, the capital cities of the
disease-hit countries respectively. The
airline says there is little risk of the
disease making its way to Kenya.
The disease was spread to Lagos
by a man from Liberia who ew into
the Nigerian capital on July 20. He
died ve days later but had already
infected eight people one of whom, a
nurse, died last week. In total Nigeria
now has 10 conrmed cases but of
great concern is the people who came
into with them, and other secondary
contacts. The country has 177 people
under observation and has declared a
medical emergency. So far, 961 peo-
ple have died in the four countries
with Ebola and more than 1700 are
infected.
Africa has had many outbreaks
of Ebola in the past, but they have
mainly been in remote villages where
the virus makes the jump from wild
animals to human beings. This out-
break is in the cities where there is
heightened contact between people
and where a patient can travel virtually
the entire globe in a matter of days.
Yesterday, the Director of Medi-
cal Services Dr Nicholas Muraguri
said the isolation ward at KNH has
a capacity of 16 beads ready for any
Ebola cases. In one weeks time, he
said it will be expanded to 30 beds.
We have 20 doctors trained to deal
with Ebola at Kenyatta National Hos-
pital. We want, in the next few weeks,
to train about 100 health workers, he
said by phone.
They will include, doctors, nurses
and even mortuary attendants since
information we have from West Africa
shows that if it is not the doctor who
dies, then even guys at the mortuary
who handle bodies of Ebola victims
die, he said.
The DMs said that they have also
come up with a plan B in case KNH
is overwhelmed. We are looking
at county facilities here in Nairobi,
Mombasa and Eldoret.
At Kemri, he said, there is an ad-
vanced viral diagnostic laboratory
which was a built a few years ago after
the country was ravaged by Rift Valley
Fever. We learnt a lesson at that time
and resources were invested to build
the laboratory. We also have our won
trained virologists, he said.
Dr Muraguri said the govern-
ment has formed a multi-agency
task force which has been meeting
since the Ebola outbreak was con-
rmed. It draws membership from
the Ministry of Health, Department
of Immigration, Kenya Airways and
Kenya Airports Authority.
We will have a brieng on Wednes-
day (tomorrow) and after that we will
go to the JKIA to see the measures the
government has taken, he said.
Dr Muraguri said they had trained
an adequate number of doctors,
bought enough drugs and protec-
tive gear and installed a surveillance
systems.
We have the required capacity
to deal with any Ebola case if such
(an) eventuality was to occur in this
country, Dr Muraguri assured.
As he sought to assure the public, a
43-year-old passenger who arrived on
Friday was discovered to have food
poisoning and not Ebola. The passen-
ger was admitted to KNH in Nairobi
after arriving from Uganda.
Were ready to handle Ebola, State says
OUTBREAK | Kenya among the countries with direct ights to Western Africa countries where it is declared out of control
Ebola causes u-like symptoms
including fever. In the worst
cases, it causes unstoppable
bleeding.
It spreads among humans via
bodily uids including sweat,
so can be spread by simply
touching an infected person.
With no vaccine, patients be-
lieved to have caught the virus
have to be isolated to stop fur-
ther contagion.
MORE INFORMATION
How deadly virus
is transmitted
Kenyatta hospital has
set aside isolation beds
and morgue attendants
have also been trained
TIM BRAKEMEIR AND PIUS EKPEIEKPEI | AFP
Infectious disease specialist Florian Steiner (left) and quarantine oce leader
Thomas Klotzkowski disinfect themselves during a demonstration at Berlins
Charite Hospital yesterday. Right: Airport security wearing masks and gloves
search passengers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos
yesterday.
DAILY NATION
Tuesday August 12, 2014
National News 3
BY SYLVANIA AMBANI
[email protected]
AND MOSES ODHIAMBO
@AliwaMoses
[email protected]
C
oast General Hospital
was yesterday grinding
to a halt as doctors and
nurses went on a go-slow in
protest over unpaid salaries as
well as a shortage of drugs and
essential equipment.
Interns at the Coast regions
main public referral hospital in
Mombasa County have also been
on strike for the past week over
unpaid allowances.
Nurses and doctors in Kisumu
County also went on a go-slow
over delays in payment of their
July salaries.
In Mombasa yesterday, medical
sta gave a one-week notice of a
full-scale strike if their salaries
are not paid.
Yesterday, the Senate Com-
mittee on Health, which was on
a dierent mission in Mombasa
County, visited the hospital and
held a closed-door meeting with
the administration, including
the Mombasa County Director
of Medical Services Khadija
Shikely.
After the meeting, Migori
senator Wilfred Machage told
journalists that the hospital
was faced with real problems
such as the salaries issues and
shortages.
Chairman of the National
Nurses Association of Kenya
Jeremiah Maina said the hospi-
tal was grinding to a halt and yet
there was no response from the
county government.
He said, the county was giving
inconclusive responses on the
question of delayed salaries.
Kenyans are dying. We cannot
be working under strain and at the
same time not get paid our hard-
earned wages, said Mr Maina.
One nurse is currently man-
ning a whole ward, which in time
of emergencies is dicult.
The hospital needs around 600
nurses so individual patients can
get maximum care.
The hospital now has 300
nurses.
However, Dr Shikely said: We
know there is a big sta shortage
and we have not started hiring
yet.
The human resource depart-
ment is undergoing a cleansing
and by November it will be
through. Then we will start the
process of hiring.
And a doctor told the Nation
that the staff were infuriated
further when they were brought
forms to ll out details on their
ethnic origin, but with no word
their salaries.
However, Ms Binti Omar, the
county Health Executive, said the
forms were issued by the depart-
ment of cohesion, which is trying
to ensure that employment is
given to all ethnic groups.
She blamed the salary issue
on budgetary constraints at the
national level, which the county
government can do nothing
about.
There is a budgetary problem
being experienced at the national
level and it is not only Mombasa
but all the 47 counties. We hope
that the issue will be solved soon,
she said.
In Kisumu, health services were
paralysed as nurses went on a go-
slow protesting non-payment of
their July salaries.
The workers staged a peaceful
demonstration to governor Jack
Rangumas oce.
The doctors and nurses said
that they will not accept further
negotiations with county govern-
ment.
The go-slow was staged even as
their unions raised concerns on
understang, and lack of drugs
and equipment.
Through Kenya Medical Practi-
tioners Pharmacists and Dentist
Union (KMPPDU), Kenya Pro-
gressive Nurses Association
(KPNA) and Kenya National
Union of Nurses (KNUN), the
health workers said they wanted
an end to the problems.
KPNA chairman Thaddeus
Mayaka decried the blame game
between national and county
governments.
There is not one time we have
received ocial communication
on where our salaries get stuck
and therefore cannot be paid at
the right time, he said.
Mr Mayaka said if payrolls are
not seen by close of business on
Wednesday, there will be limited
options.
Hospitals grind to
a halt as workers
demand salaries
HEALTH | Services at Coast General Hospital and health centres in Kisumu aected by go-slow
Doctors
and
nurses
neglect
duty in
demand
for pay
We know there is a big sta
shortage and we have not
started hiring yet. The human
resource department is under-
going a cleansing and by No-
vember it will be through.
Mombasa County Director
of Medical Services Khadija
Shikely
REACTION
Shortage is real,
ocial admits
LABAN WALLOGA | NATION
Senator Godliver Omondi ad-
dresses public health workers
from Mombasa County yesterday.
Medical workers at the Coast
General Hospital threatened to
go on strike over delay in salary
payments.
DAILY NATION
Tuesday August 12, 2014
4 | National News
BY SAMWEL BORN MAINA
@bornmaina
[email protected]
T
he Director of Public Prosecu-
tions will press fresh charges
against the top management of
Malili Ranch Limited who had earlier
been acquitted of duping farmers into
selling their plots at low prices.
This comes after a report by an in-
dependent investigator showed some
anomalies. Lawyer Paul Muite was
appointed by Mr Keriako Tobiko to
delve deeper into the scandal.
There had been a public outcry over
the matter.
A number of witnesses have been
lined up and they say they were duped
into selling their land in Malili cheaply,
only to realise later that the govern-
ment had already paid a much higher
price for it.
The land was for development of the
Konza City Technopolis, one of the
Vision 2030 agship projects.
Letters of sale between the farm-
ers and the Malili directors conrm
that the sale was done after the gov-
ernment had paid a Sh400 million
deposit for the 5,000-acre property.
According to the agreements, the
farmers at Malili were getting as low
as Sh400,000 for a 7.8-acre plot, but
the government was paying Sh1.56
million for the same size.
Most of those implicated in the
scandal include directors of the Malili
ranch who bought hundreds of plots
from unsuspecting farmers.
Ocials in the Ministry of Lands
could also be in trouble for giving the
green light for a deal that saw the
government buy the property from
Malili Ranch Limited rather than from
individual shareholders.
The government should have dealt
with the owners of the land directly
because the letters of allotment were
already out. It beats logic that the
parcels of land were sold by Malili
Ranch Limited, with the farmers not
involved, said Mr Muite, a former
MP for Kikuyu.
Some people will definitely be
charged. Farmers were duped. We
must protect their interests, added
the lawyer
Malili chiefs to face fresh charges
SCANDAL | Companys top management had earlier been acquitted
Farmers were duped into
selling land to rm at
low prices yet ministry
was paying more,
investigation reveals