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Author: Kenyaleo Editorial Team

  • Arsenal transfer news: Martin Odegaard close to move, Aaron Ramsdale having medica

    Arsenal transfer news: Martin Odegaard close to move, Aaron Ramsdale having medica

    Arsenal have taken a step closer to signing Martin Odegaard after the player completed his medical, while Aaron Ramsdale is also having a medical at the club.

    Norwegian international Odegaard is expected to join Arsenal from Real Madrid for an initial £30m fee plus bonuses of around £4m.

    Although personal terms have been agreed already, the 22-year-old is unlikely to take part in Sunday’s game against Chelsea as his visa application process is ongoing.

    Players arriving from an EU country require a Governing Body Exemption (GBE) before they can register.

    Odegaard spent the second half of last season on loan with the Gunners after failing to break into the Real Madrid team under Zinedine Zidane.

    He made 20 appearances across all competitions, with one of his two goals coming in the north London derby win over Tottenham in March.

    Meanwhile, Arsenal are keen to get a £24m deal done for Ramsdale from Sheffield United so the goalkeeper can be part of the squad for Sunday’s game.

    The fee could rise by another £6m in add-ons depending on whether Ramsdale becomes the Gunners’ long-term No 1.

    Ramsdale has been on boss Mikel Arteta’s radar this summer, having originally joined Sheffield United from Bournemouth in 2020.

    Bournemouth are entitled to a 15 per cent sell on of anything over £19m, and the 23-year-old’s arrival at the Emirates Stadium would likely see back-up goalkeeper Alex Runarsson allowed to leave the club.

    Ramsdale, capped at U18 to U21 level by England, re-joined Sheffield United last summer in an £18.5m deal from relegated Bournemouth.

    He was Sheffield United’s player of the season despite their relegation last term and the same was the case in his final season at Bournemouth in 2019/20.

    Ramsdale was part of England’s Euro 2020 squad which reached the final, but is yet to make his full international debut.

  • Denis Law: Man Utd and Scotland legend diagnosed with mixed dementia

    Denis Law: Man Utd and Scotland legend diagnosed with mixed dementia

    Denis Law has said he wants to be open about his dementia diagnosis

    Manchester United and Scotland legend Denis Law has been diagnosed with mixed dementia.

    Law, 81, said he wants to be open about his condition and address the situation before his health deteriorates.

    “It is an incredibly challenging and problematic disease and I have witnessed many friends go through this,” said Law, who was diagnosed with both Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.

    “You hope that it won’t happen to you, even make jokes about it whilst ignoring the early signs because you don’t want it to be true. You get angry, frustrated, confused and then worried, worried for your family, as they will be the ones dealing with it.

    “However, the time has come to tackle this head on, excuse the pun. I recognise how my brain is deteriorating and how my memory evades me when I don’t want it to and how this causes me distress in situations that are beyond my control.

    “I do understand what is happening and that is why I want to address my situation now whilst I am able, because I know there will be days when I don’t understand, and I hate the thought of that right now.”

    Law’s diagnosis comes a year after his former Manchester United team-mate Sir Bobby Charlton was also diagnosed with dementia. The pair make up two-thirds of the United Trinity statue overlooking Old Trafford along with fellow great George Best.

  • 1,263 test positive as 26 succumb to Covid 19 Pandemic

    1,263 test positive as 26 succumb to Covid 19 Pandemic

    1,263 people have tested positive for Covid-19, from a  sample size of 8,680 tested in the last 24 hours bringing total confirmed positive cases to 225,663.

    The positivity rate  is now 14.6% while cumulative tests  so far conducted are 2,287,443.

    According to a statement by the Ministry of Health, out of the new cases 1,234 are Kenyans while 29 are  foreigners with 640 males and 623 females.

    The youngest is an eight-day-old infant while the oldest is 101 years.

    26 patients have succumbed to the disease, all of being late  deaths reported after conducting facility record audits in the month  of August 2021 pushing the cumulative fatalities to 4,404.

    ´´719 patients have recovered from the disease with 607 from the Home-Based Isolation and Care program while 112 are  from various health facilities countrywide.Total recoveries now  stand at 208,169 of whom 167,484 are from the Home-Based Care and Isolation program, while 40,685 are from various health  facilities.´´ Read the statement.

    A total of 1,982 patients are currently admitted in various health  facilities countrywide, while 9,845 are under the Home-Based  Isolation and Care program.

    146 patients are in the Intensive Care  Unit (ICU), 79 of whom are on ventilatory support and 67 on  supplemental oxygen. No patient is under observation.

    Another 782 patients are separately on supplemental oxygen with  720 of them in general wards and 62 in High Dependency Units  (HDU).

    Vaccination

    As of August 18th, 2021, a total of 2,221,704 vaccines have so far  been administered across the country. Of these, total first doses  are 1,454,102 while second doses are 767,602.

    The uptake of  the second dose among those who received their first dose is at  52.8% with the majority being males at 55% while females are at  45%. Proportion of adults fully vaccinated is 2.8%.

    The uptake of the second dose by Priority Groups is as follows:  Aged 58 years and above 233,005, Others 227,334, Health  Workers 129,202, Teachers 114,705 while Security Officers are  at 63,356.

  • Makueni devolution conference postponed over Covid 19 Pandemic

    Makueni devolution conference postponed over Covid 19 Pandemic

    Chairman Council of Governors – Gov Martin Wambora

    The 7th Annual Devolution Conference that was to take place in Makueni County next week has been postponed indefinitely.

    This follows a review of Covid-19 containment measures announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta Tuesday banning physical and in-person public gatherings and meetings, including political rallies and campaign meetings for impending by-elections for a further 60 days.

    The conference was to start on Monday, August 23, and close on Thursday, August 26 at  Makueni Boys High School.

    “The Steering Committee of the 7th and final Annual Devolution Conference hereby notifies members of the public on the inevitable postponement of the Devolution Conference. This is premised on the Presidential directive issued on 18th August 2021, vide Public Order No. 5 of 2021 on Coronavirus Pandemic suspending all public gatherings and in-person meetings. The Steering Committee shall communicate on the new dates in due course” announced the Council of Governor’s chair Martin Wambora.

    The Council urged Makueni residents to take advantage of the ongoing mass vaccination exercise to safeguard their health in the wake of soaring infection and death rates.

    “We urge all residents of Makueni County and the neighboring Counties to continue with the vaccination exercise in readiness for the conference” stated the committee.

  • OKA Principals disown reports of 2022 deal with Raila Odinga

    Meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta

    One Kenya Alliance (OKA) Principals have dismissed media reports that they had agreed to support ODM leader Raila Odinga’s candidature in next year’s presidential election.

    In a statement, OKA Principals Musalia Mudavadi of ANC, Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka, KANU Chairman Gideon Moi, and Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetangula cautioned a section of the media against peddling what it termed as falsehoods about their recent meetings with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

    They claimed a local media house had been fabricating stories in favour of one invitee to the meetings who is also a presidential aspirant.

    They said at no time have they ever been summoned to State House, dismissing the news reports as a complete fabrication.

    They clarified that their Wednesday meeting with President Kenyatta in Mombasa was cordial and consultative which deliberated on national matters, in particular, the Covid-19 crisis and not succession politics as reported.

    “We hereby state categorically that our visits to State House aren’t summons to browbeat us into supporting one candidate or the other, as the distorted narratives suggest. These have been very cordial consultative meetings deliberating on national matters”.

    “Indeed, yesterday’s meeting was one such conference where a new Covid-19 surge and containment measures were the subject of extensive discussion. No one asked or even suggested that we support anyone for anything” the leaders added.

    They called for accurate reporting arguing Kenyans deserve factual, verifiable, and balanced reporting of events and not fiction about manufactured events that didn’t take place.

    “Kenyans deserve correct, factual, verifiable, attributable, and balanced reporting of events and not fiction about manufactured events that didn’t take place; sanitized through the veneer of creative realities, deceptive facts, opaque shadowy sources and twisted logic. We call upon news media and especially the print media to remain focused on reporting facts as they are and not what their wishes are,” they pointed out.

  • Kayole Under Siege As Protests Against Alleged Extra-Judicial Killing Turns Violent

    Kayole Under Siege As Protests Against Alleged Extra-Judicial Killing Turns Violent

    Photo Courtesy

    NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 19-Uncertainty has hit the Kayole area in Nairobi, as protests against the killing of youth turned violent.

    The man was allegedly shot dead by police after he was arrested for flouting curfew rules.“He had sent a text message to his wife saying he has been arrested,” a friend to the deceased told Crossfire News. He did not want his name to be mentioned.“Cases of police brutality have increased so much in this area. We are tired,” he added.

    During the protests, businesses were closed, patients holed up in hospitals and students held up in learning institutions despite police efforts to calm the situation.

    Journalists who went to cover the protests were not spared either, and some were forced to seek refuge at the Kayole Police station.“I have spent Sh500 to cover a distance of fewer than two kilometers for me to hide at the police station,” one of the journalists told Crossfire News.

    All these killings have occurred during operations to enforce curfew hours and other COVID-19 preventive measures like wearing a face mask while in public.

    Statistics by human rights organizations indicate that more than 30 people have been killed since March 2020, when stringent restrictions were put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 disease.

  • Government seeking urgent evacuation of Kenyans in Afghanistan

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has Thursday confirmed that there are 12 Kenyans working for different international organizations in Afghanistan and is seeking for their urgent evacuation.

    According to MFA, this information was established through the Kenya High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan which is the nearest Mission to Afghanistan.Through a presser to newsrooms, the MFA said that through diplomatic channels they wrote to the concerned organizations with a clear request to evacuate stranded Kenyans as a matter of urgency.

    Further, the Ministry communicated to respective foreign Missions in Nairobi where the said organizations originate to urgently intervene to ensure evacuation of the Kenyans to safety.

    As of Thursday, 19th August 2021, three (3) Kenyans have been evacuated.

    One (1) working for the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) arrived back in Kenya on Wednesday, while (2) working for Action Contre la Faim (ACF) have been evacuated.

    The two are expected back home tonight at around 9 pm.The statement in addition noted that the Government of Kenya is closely monitoring as events unfold in Afghanistan following the takeover of the capital city Kabul, by the Taliban on 15th, August 2021.“The safety of Kenyans is of utmost importance to the Government of Kenya,” the statement read in part.

    The international organizations the 12 Kenyans working for include:

    Swedish Committee – 2Supreme Audit Office (World Bank)

    – 2International Rescue Committee -1International Development Law Organization (IDLO)

    – 1Danish Committee for Aid to Afghanistan Refugees -1MEDAIR -1Action Contre la Faim (ACF)

    -2Handicap International (HI)

    -1Intersos

    -1The Government has since directed two other Kenyan Missions in Beijing and Tehran to urgently reach out to the host governments, foreign diplomatic missions, partners, and friends of Kenya for assistance in evacuating any stranded Kenyans to safety because Kenya has no diplomatic presence in Afghanistan nor accreditation to Afghanistan.

    Women with their children try to get inside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 16, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

  • Ksh 12b Judiciary Performance Improvement Project nears completion

    Chief Justice Martha Koome says the Ksh 12 billion Judiciary Performance Improvement Project (JPIP) initiated in 2014 will come to an end in October.The project funded by the World Bank has played a key role in the transformation of the Judiciary in meeting the aspirations of the public as envisioned in the 2010 Constitution.“It has been the single largest investment in the development budget of the Judiciary.

    To date, the project has disbursed over 84 per cent of the funding with the balance committed in ongoing contracts,” Koome said.The CJ spoke during a meeting with Keith Hansen, the World Bank Country Director for Kenya.

    The project has increased access to justice for Kenyans with construction of 13 new High Courts in Kitui, Chuka, Vihiga, Nyamira, Nanyuki, Isiolo, Kakamega, Nakuru, Kajiado, Siaya, Kapenguria, Maralal and Makueni, a new Court of Appeal in Nakuru as well as eight Magistrates Courts.

    CJ Koome pointed out that the project has improved and enhanced efficient service delivery through effective change management for the entire Judiciary.

    The project supported the first and most comprehensive assessment of the Judiciary’s workload, which helped determined the total caseload in the institution which was previously unknown“The project introduced and entrenched performance management which has enhanced transparency, accountability, and overall service delivery.

    The courts are measured against indicators such as case clearance, backlog reduction and timely delivery of judgements,” CJ Koome said.

  • Government extends nationwide curfew for another 60 days to curb the Situation

    President Uhuru Kenyatta in a past Event

    President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced the extension of the nationwide curfew for another 60 days to mitigate transmission of Covid-19.

    In Public Order No. 5 of 2021 on the Coronavirus Pandemic, the President announced that the dusk to dawn curfew will continue from 10:00 pm to 4:00 am.

    The Head of State noted that the extension of curfew hours was followed upon the advice of the National Security Council and recommendations of the National Emergency Response Committee on Covid-19 in the country.

    Curfew hours in thirteen counties in Nyanza and Western Kenya that were identified as Covid-19 hotspots has been lifted and will now observe the nationwide curfew prescriptions.

    All forms of physical/in-person public gatherings and meetings, including political rallies and campaign meetings for impending by elections have been also suspended with immediate effect for a period of 60 days.

    The President also directed that places of worship shall continue to strictly adhere to the one third rule for in person worship and congregational worship, and protocols on hygiene and social distancing in accordance with the guidelines of the Inter Faith Council.

    The new directives will also see funerals and interment ceremonies be conducted strictly within 96 hours of confirmation of death.

    Operations of bars, restaurants and eateries shall continue as guided by the Ministry of Health guidelines, failure to which appropriate action against management, staff, patrons, and premises shall be taken.

    President Kenyatta directed the National Government Administration Officers to secure compliance of these directives without fail.

    “In enforcing these measures all security sector agencies are directed to ensure that organizers and/or individual leaders, including senior public sector officials and political leaders take personal responsibility and are held to account for any violation of the measures,” said President Kenyatta.

  • Jubilee Members calls for Party Overhaul

    Jubilee Members calls for Party Overhaul

    Led by Kiambu Town MP Jude Jomo, Kieni MP Kanini Kega, Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu and Murangá Woman Rep Sabina Chege, the leaders said there is need to replace the current party leaders with fresh, youthful and vibrant leaders who will spearhead a vigorous grassroots campaign.“In this regard, we have agreed to clean our grassroots party leadership by replacing those that have betrayed the course and abandoned the ship with those that are royal to the party and the Party Leader President Uhuru Kenyatta,” They said.

    Section of Jubilee Party Members at Windsor Hotel

    The MPs under the Central Kenya Jubilee Caucus further resolved that the Party undertakes a grassroots mobilization exercise targeting Nyeri, Murangá, Kirinyaga, Nakuru, Nyandarua, Laikipia and Kiambu Counties and that they open party offices in the 7 Counties immediately.

    They have also agreed to cover each ward and constituency in the 7 Counties with Coordinators to consolidate party activities.“We wish to reiterate that the priority of the Jubilee Party is to strengthen, rejuvenate and rebrand itself and the party structures. This will help the Party Leader as he engages other like-minded parties and party leaders to build winning alliances and deliver victory in the 2022 general elections,” They said.

    The Caucus said they could no longer ignore recent developments within the party saying it has lost its vibrancy especially after losing recent by-elections in a region it used to enjoy unrivalled support.“Following the Kiambaa by-election, we took time to engage our party members and supporters in the grassroots, to understand their views on the direction of the party ahead of 2022,” They said.