Kenya Newspapers Review: Kirinyaga Widow Dies After Neighbouring Storey-House Collapses On Her House

On Thursday, May 2, the local papers widely reported on President William Ruto's promise to workers and plea to doctors as he led Kenyans in marking Labour Day celebrations at the iconic Uhuru Gardens.

The papers also reported on Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mithika Linturi's troubles as MPs vote on forming a probe team.

1. The Star

The paper reported a 40-year-old woman died after a house that was under construction collapsed at Karia in Kerugoya town.

Lydia Wawira was asleep in the house with her two children, aged 16 and 10, when a neighbouring four-storey building that was under construction collapsed.

Her third child was not home at the time of the accident. The rubble of the collapsing building landed on Wawira's house.

A section of her house collapsed following the impact of the rubble, killing her.

"The children survived as they were in a different bedroom," said Kirinyaga Deputy Governor David Githanda, who addressed the media at the scene.

The deputy governor said county engineers and officials from the Department of Land and Public Works had started investigations to establish the cause of the collapse.

"Though it is a public holiday, all these officials have been summoned back to work so that they can launch investigations. They will thereafter compile a report as quickly as possible on what led to the collapse," he said.

The three children have now been orphaned, as their father died about a year ago.

2. The Standard

A supremacy battle unfolded in Mathioya as six relatives from two neighbouring families mourned their kin buried alive by a landslide.

The rivalry between Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro played out as area leaders showed where their hearts were.

A visit to Kiganjo village saw Gachagua's officers deployed to prepare the venue ahead of the trip.

In the meantime, the DP headed to Ihithe in Nyeri for the burial of retired African Independent Pentecostal Church of Africa (AIPCA) clergy Amos Kabuthu.

However, moments before noon, MPs Nyoro (Kiharu), Edwin Mugo (Mathioya), Betty Maina (Woman Rep), and Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu landed using a chopper causing confusion among locals who mistook them for the Deputy President's entourage.

The leaders announced they had visited to offer their condolences to the mourners and financial and material support.

Nyoro gave KSh 1 million and another donation of a similar amount from President William Ruto.

The other legislators donated KSh200,000 each to boost the contribution and hailed the MP for mobilising support to assist the residents.

The leaders showered praises on Nyoro, whom they described as the link between them and the President. They asked residents to pray for him against his political enemies.

Thirty minutes before the DP arrived, the MPs boarded their chopper and left the venue.

3. Daily Nation

The paper reported that the fate of besieged Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi will be determined in plenary in the National Assembly.

The daily said there are plans to save Linturi from impeachment over the fake fertiliser scandal.

National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah called the impeachment motion a political sideshow meant to derail ongoing investigations into the scandal.

"The government's position is that we should allow the parliamentary committee of agriculture that is already conducting an inquiry and other investigative agencies that are also seized of the matter to conclude their investigations," he said.

The Kikuyu MP said the motion's mover, Bumula MP Jack Wamboka, had failed to prove a link between the CS and procurement processes at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).

Efforts to scuttle the motion were still facing opposition, even among President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza side, who say the allegations facing the former Meru senator are grave and indefensible.

4. Taifa Leo

The Kiswahili paper reported the daughter of the owner of several companies, who was being sought by the police for forging a will left by their father to defraud her two sisters, surrendered in court on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Dinta Devani and her husband, Abhay Singh Pathiana, appeared before Bernard Ochoi, the Chief Magistrate of Milimani Court.

Dinta and Abhay were accompanied by lawyer Danstan Omari, who sought forgiveness on their behalf.

"Dinta and her husband Abhay were not aware they were required to appear in court to answer charges of forging the will of Balkrishna Harubhai Devani (Dinta's father) and inheriting some of their family companies," Omari hinted.

The lawyer said the two had read that a warrant for their arrest had been issued by Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi.

Shitubi ordered Dinta, Abhay, and Addah Nduta Ndambuki to be arrested for obtaining shares in Pelikan Signs Limited through fraud.

5. People Daily

Over 1,000 secondary school students have been denied education bursaries in Lurambi constituency, Kakamega county, because their parents or guardians vote elsewhere.

Area Member of Parliament Bishop Titus Khamala revealed that he had rejected applications from the students because their parents' identity cards indicated that they were non-voters in Lurambi.

He said bursaries would be strictly disbursed to children whose parents or guardians vote in the largely cosmopolitan constituency.

"We have rejected over 1,000 applications from students whose parents do not vote in Lurambi. Every constituency in Kenya has its allocation of bursary funds and I urge them to benefit from where they cast their ballots at election time," he said.

Bishop Khamala said the students in tertiary institutions who had attained the age of 18 should equally be voters in his constituency if they expected to benefit from the bursaries.

"I have no regrets about this decision because people should benefit from where they determine leadership. You cannot call Lurambi your home yet always vote in another constituency then still expect service from here," he added.

Proofreading by Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.CO.KE