The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has directed Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku and Mukurweini MP John Kaguchia to withdraw and correct remarks it found capable of fuelling ethnic and political divisions. The commission issued separate determinations concerning the two leaders, ordering Mr Ruku to stop repeating or promoting remarks it characterised as collective ethnic blame, while Mr Kaguchia was directed to retract his statements, apologise publicly and affirm the right of Kenyans to support political leaders of their choice without intimidation or exclusion. NCIC chairman Bishop Kepha Omae said Mr Ruku’s remarks, made in Tharaka-Nithi, went beyond…
Author: Davin Muthoni
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised Kenya against imposing travel or trade restrictions following the country’s first confirmed Ebola case, even as President William Ruto convened the National Security Council Committee to assess the situation. “WHO advises against any restriction of travel to, or trade with, the affected countries based on the currently available information,” the organisation said. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency was closely monitoring developments and commended Kenya for its swift and transparent handling of the case. “I thank the Government of Kenya for its transparency and for promptly sharing information about this imported…
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has said Kenya does not have an Ebola outbreak, describing the country’s first confirmed case of Bundibugyo virus disease (BDBV) as an imported infection that health authorities are working to contain. According to the CS, the patient contracted the virus in Eburu in northwestern DRC, where he initially sought medical attention. He later travelled to Beni before making his way by road to Kinshasa. From Kinshasa, he flew to Kampala on October 1. Duale said the patient bought a ticket to Kenya the following day but did not disclose his illness while travelling. “When patients…
Kenya has confirmed its first case of Ebola, with the patient, a Kenyan citizen who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through Uganda, dying while receiving treatment at Nairobi Hospital. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale confirmed the case on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, saying the patient arrived in Nairobi on Saturday after travelling by road from the DRC to Kampala before boarding a Jambojet flight to Kenya. The patient, who had been living in the DRC, underwent routine public health screening at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) before being picked up by a relative and taken to…
A Bill seeking to give the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ownership of election technology and direct access to election result servers has passed the debate stage in the National Assembly. The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which progressed through the House last week, proposes that election servers be hosted in Kenya and made accessible for scrutiny by candidates, courts and other persons authorised under the law. It would also require the IEBC to provide access to information on election technology without charging a fee where the requested material is supplied electronically. Any scrutiny would be subject to the Constitution,…
President William Ruto has unveiled a fresh package of measures for teachers, expanding promotion slots, pledging more funding for career progression, and promising action on housing, healthcare and retirement benefits, in what he described as the largest single-year teacher promotion exercise in Kenya’s history. Speaking at World Teachers’ Day celebrations at Kasarani Gymnasium in Nairobi on Monday, October 5, Ruto said the government had doubled the teacher promotions budget from Sh1 billion to Sh2 billion for this financial year. “This year we doubled the budget for teacher promotions from Sh1 billion to Sh2 billion. Third, the Commission has already advertised…
The United States Senate has confirmed Henry Wooster as the country’s new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Kenya, ending months without a confirmed envoy in Nairobi. Wooster, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service at the rank of Minister-Counselor, was President Donald Trump’s nominee for the position. His confirmation was approved by the Senate through unanimous consent, filling a diplomatic post that had remained vacant at a time when Kenya remains one of Washington’s key strategic partners in Africa. During his confirmation hearing in September, Wooster outlined an approach that differed from some of the more confrontational language associated…
Public university lecturers across Kenya walked off the job on Friday, October 2, 2026, after last-minute talks between their union and university employers collapsed, bringing teaching to a halt across the country’s public higher education institutions. The strike, called by the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), came after negotiations with the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) failed to reach an agreement, with lecturers rejecting an offer of a 4 per cent salary increase. The industrial action also draws in the Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA),…
The High Court has dismissed an application by Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi and several other defendants seeking to have an Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) asset recovery case involving Sh813.1 million struck out. Justice Rose Ougo rejected the applications, allowing the civil suit seeking recovery and forfeiture of alleged proceeds of graft to proceed. The commission is seeking to recover Sh813,145,532.40 from Wamatangi and 13 other parties. Wamatangi had argued that the case was sub judice because a separate constitutional petition involving him was already before the court and had resulted in conservatory orders. However, Justice Ougo found that he…
Kenya’s leading universities have fallen behind some of their regional counterparts in the latest Times Higher Education global rankings, with the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University the country’s only institutions placed in the 2027 rankings. The University of Nairobi was ranked in the 1,601-1,800 band, while Kenyatta University was placed in the 1,801-2,000 bracket. UoN remains Kenya’s highest-ranked university, but its position is significantly below Uganda’s Makerere University. “Tanzania fields the next most universities, three, led by Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in the 1,601-1,800 band. Botswana, Kenya and Uganda each have two representatives. The highest ranked…
