Ebola frightens Eldoret residents

Moi Teaching and Referal Hospital admitted a patient with a viral disease Ebola on thursday.
The patient who had travelled from Juba in Southern Sudan through Uganda to Eldoret was put in isolation as doctors attending to him put on protective gear to avoid possible infections.

Mr Ojode described as a friend to all

Government leaders during the requiem mass for the late Mr Ojode
Kenyans are suddened by the death of  Mr Ojode(the assistand minister for internal security).
He has been described as a friend to everyone in the nation. During his requiem mass in Nairobi attended by President Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, senior government officials, MPs and ordinary Kenyans, president Kibaki told the congregation at the seventh day adventist church in Nairobi that Mr Ojode was a friend to every one and the two major parties in Kenya.
“His brand of politics was moderate, making friends across political divide,” said President Kibaki.

The President said the late Ojode was a “highly regarded leader” who through “great sacrifice and effort” promoted peace in the country.

"This is sad day for Kenya. We have lost a leader, a patriot, selfless individual and a servant of the people," said President Kibaki.

"His death is a tremendous loss to his family, friends, the people of Ndhiwa and Kenyans."

Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka echoed the President's sentiments.

Image Gallery

Mr Odinga said the late Ojode did not take sides in the politics of ODM and PNU.

"He was the bond that held both sides of the coalition and never played partisan politics," said the PM.

He described the late minister as a "passionate, very committed government official".

"He was dedicated to duty," Mr Odinga mourned.

Mr Musyoka said the late Ojode's politics went "beyond party affiliation".

Burrial dates for Saitoti and Ojode finally sett

A government team has set tentative dates for the burial of the late Internal Security minister George Saitoti and the late assistant minister Orwa Ojode.The decision was made in a meeting chaired by the vice president Kalonzo Musyoka.
Prof Saitoti will be burried on Sarurday and Mr Ojode will be burried on Sinday.

The commettee is expected to announce the the formal dates on Wednesday

The meeting also deliberated on the burial dates for the pilots and bodyguards who died in the Sunday morning crash.

The committee is later expected to visit the homes of the two pilots at West Park Estate next to Carnivore and the two bodyguards’ homes at Highridge Estate in Parklands at 4.00 pm.

Those present at the meeting included: Cabinet ministers James Orengo, Amos Kimunya, Naomi Shabaan, Dalmas Otieno and Wycliffe Oparanya, Assistant ministers Gideon Konchellah and Joseph Nkaissery, acting head of public service Francis Kimemia and Permanent Secretaries Bitange Ndemo, Ludeki Chweya, Mutea Iringo and Andrew Mondoh.

Friends and Families recall last moments with loved ones

It was an emotional account of her last conversation with her husband.

On Tuesday, the wife of Inspector Joshua Tonkei, Internal Security Minister George Saitoti’s personal security officer who died with him in a helicopter crash on Sunday, said she spoke to him about two hours before the accident.

“I called him at around 7.30am to tell him he had left his other mobile phone at home,” she said. “He told me to either switch it off or receive his calls,” Mrs Tonkei said.

But a little later, their son, Joseph Tonkei, became the first to suspect that all was not well when he saw an update on social media while browsing on his mobile phone.

“I saw an update on Twitter of a helicopter crash and I replied to it, asking for details,” he said. “She tweeted back, saying it was breaking news on TV.

“But I prepared for the worst an hour later after the TV broadcast that Prof Saitoti was involved,” he said.

Mother and son gave their accounts on Monday at their Highridge home in Nairobi when the Nation visited.

Relatives mourning

A few blocks away, relatives were mourning the death of Sgt Thomas Murimi, Insp Tonkei’s colleague.

His widow Leah Murimi said when her husband left home at 7am, he was not sure whether he would travel with the minister. “He told me that he would be back because probably there wouldn’t be enough space to take everybody on board,” she said.

“I hoped he would come back so that we could go to church.” But later, she said, he sent an SMS saying he was on the helicopter so I should go to church,” she told the Nation.

She learnt of her husband’s death through TV broadcasts. “I called his phone, and there was a tone suggesting that the line was busy.

“I tried several times and the line went dead; it was out of reach. I then called one of his colleagues. He did not give me the bad news immediately until he came to the house later,” Mrs Murimi said.

Sgt Murimi is survived by two sons, Nicholas Chacha who is in Form One at Kakamega High School and Nicholas Nkoya, a pupil at Spring Valley Academy.

And Supt Luke Oyugi’s wife, Patricia, said they last spoke on Saturday when she went to visit their second-born at school.

“He did not tell me that he was to fly dignitaries the following day, but I got concerned when someone called and told me to watch the breaking news,” she said.

Supt Oyugi joined the GSU before being transferred to the airwing; between 2002 and 2005, he trained at the Kenya School of Flying before he joined the Kenya Air Force where he trained further as a helicopter pilot. Last year, he attended a specialised pilot training in Ukraine.

Police Supt Nancy Gituanja was the pilot of the chopper that went down in Ngong Forest, killing Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and assistant minister Orwa Ojodeh.

In pictures..the Mlolongo scene

A photo indicating Mlolongo where building collapsed

A building collapses at Mlolongo

One person has been killed in a biulding that collapsed at Mlolongo on Saturday evening.
Many people still feared to be trapped in the building.
The disaster response team are at the scene.Further information from Kenya Redcross says that eight people have been rescued.
The story building was under construction and collapsed at around 6.45 Pm
 The same tragedy happened in Nairobi's Westlands killing one person.

10 people killed in an earthquake

 

A new earthquake has struck the Emilia region in northern Italy, killing at least 10 people and burying several others under rubble, local media say.

All the deaths were in the Modena area.
Three were killed when an industrial shed collapsed in Medolla. Three died in San Felice, two in Mirandola and one in Cavezzo.
Tuesday's tremor, estimated at magnitude 5.8, hit the same region where a quake 10 days ago killed seven people and destroyed many buildings.
Milan and Bologna were shaken too.
Some people fled from buildings when they felt the tremor, which struck at 09:03 local time (07:03 GMT).
Italian media report that some buildings damaged by the larger 20 May quake have now collapsed in Mirandola, Finale Emilia, San Felice and Cavezzo. That quake measured 6.0.
Many historic buildings now lie in ruins in Cavezzo, where the roof of a church, damaged by the earlier quake, collapsed on Tuesday, Il Messaggero news website reports.
Calls to emergency services have overloaded the telephone network in some areas, causing a system blackout. Train services have been halted in some parts of northern Italy.
'A feeling of waves' Office workers were evacuated in Bologna and there are reports of evacuations elsewhere too.

The quake struck 40km north of Bologna and 60km east of Parma, at a depth of 9.6km (six miles), Reuters reports. It was felt as far away as Venice, the Austrian border and Piedmont.
Chris Brewerton, living in Mantua, told the BBC that Tuesday's quake appeared stronger than the one on 20 May. Mantua is 58km (36 miles) north of Modena.
He described how "the chair starts shaking and there's a feeling of waves below me. I rush out into the garden; the shutters and garage door are banging, the ground below me swaying. It lasted about 15 seconds - it was frightening."
A Londoner living in Modena, Christopher Gilbert, said he felt "a rolling earthquake lasting around 15 seconds - people were quite frightened.
"I was having a coffee when the quake struck and felt a swaying motion so I clutched onto a bar in the cafe to steady myself. Schools and offices were evacuated," he told the BBC.
The 20 May quake destroyed many centuries-old buildings of cultural value. It was the worst to hit Italy since the L'Aquila tremor that killed nearly 300 people in 2009.
About 7,000 people who fled that quake are still living in dozens of tented camps erected in public spaces, AFP news agency reports. There have been many tremors in the region since that quake.

Nairobi blast: Was it a bomb?

Explosive experts were on Monday poring over evidence to find out the cause of a blast that injured 35 people in downtown Nairobi, leaving the government divided on what sparked it.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga termed the blast “an attack” on Kenya, contradicting Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere who had attributed it to an electric fault.

“From preliminary investigations, we can rule out that it was either a grenade or a bomb. It was probably an electrical fault,” Mr Iteere said.

Later at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Internal Security minister George Saitoti appeared to cast doubt on the electrical fault theory.

Instead, he pleaded with Kenyans to be patient as investigations into the cause of the explosion are conducted.

“I believe what the Police Commissioner said was right from immediate investigations at the scene. The information I have doesn’t indicate the actual cause of the explosion.

“This is why I am urging Kenyans to be patient as investigations to find out what the cause was are carried out,” he said.

And added: “People should not rush to conclusions; one should not be involved in speculations

The Kenya Power and Lighting Company also discounted the possibility that the blast could have been caused by an electrical fault.

“The affected building has no ground mounted transformer inside or outside that would explode,” said a statement from the power firm.

“All the electrical connections to the building including the cut-outs (fuses) on the Kenya Power side that would otherwise blow in the event of a short circuit inside the building were intact.”

However, in a statement sent to newsrooms on Monday night, Mr Iteere said though the cause of explosion had still not been established, investigators were exploring the possibility that the blast could have been caused by criminals using an improvised explosive device.

The blast occurred at about 1.15 pm, ripped off a section of the roof and shattered glass windows, though the front glass facade of the adjacent Mount Kenya University (MKU) building was unaffected. (SEE IN PICTURES: Blast rocks Kenyan capital)

Assanand’s House is a building between the MKU Tower and Krep Bank and used to be a music shop before it was converted to stalls.

The building has over 20 such stalls, called exhibitions, stocking all types of wares, including clothes, mobile phones, computers and stationery.

Witnesses said there was a blast before a fire broke out. Smoke billowed out and the flames quickly spread to highly flammable goods such as clothes and shoes.

The blast shook nearby buildings and most of those injured suffered from burns, broken limps and bruises.

Doctors were attending to 16 others for minor cuts and soft tissue injuries.