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A photo of First Lady Rachel Ruto and former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i on Monday, March 13, emerged online, hours after the latter's case was dropped by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

A debate later ensued on whether a deal was being brokered between President William Ruto and the embattled CS.

However, Kenyans.co.ke, established that the photo was taken on October 22, 2019, and not in 2023, as alleged.

The First Lady first posted the photo after she hosted Matiang'i for a meeting regarding projects undertaken by women prisoners.

A screengrab of First Lady Rachel Ruto's post in 2019 after meeting former Interior CS Fred Matiang'i.

File

At the time, Rachel was serving as the Second Lady.

"We would like to thank our CS, Dr Fred Matiang'i, Interior Cabinet Secretary, for the great support and visiting the Cross stitch International Exhibition at the Michael Joseph centre this morning.

"Together, we continue to support our ladies in prison and give them hope and dignity," the first lady stated. 

The reemergence of the photo on social media came hours after Matiang'i met Ruto's allies, including Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu.

Various reports intimated that in the meeting, Gusii leaders, intervened in the former CS's woes before Ruto toured the region.

Additionally, a number of Kenyans likened the meeting to reports that a number of leaders from the Gusii region were working on plans to reconcile the duo following their fallout post the 2018 handshake.

This followed the decision of the ODPP directing the DCI to drop charges against the former CS and his lawyer, Danstan Omari. 

Matiang'i was facing charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and publication of false information over an alleged raid at his Karen home on February 8.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu (right) in a meeting with former Interior CS Fred Matiang'i at a Nairobi hotel on Sunday, March 12, 2023.

The Standard

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok on Friday, March 10, announced that Kenyans could apply for marriage certificates on the eCitizen platform in a move aimed at streamlining government services.

The PS, in a statement, noted that the application of marriage certificates was among 5,000 services that had been digitised.

Kenyans.co.ke details the process and the costs involved during the application as below;

A photo of a couple exchanging wedding rings.

Kenyans.co.ke

How to Appy

The first step in the application is to visit the eCitizen platform: www(dot)eCitizen(dot)go(dot)ke(slash)ecitizen-services and click on the marriage services option.

The landing page will be provided you with five options including notice of marriage, solemnisation of marriage, commissioning of affidavits, issuance of a registrar’s certificate, and issuance of a marriage certificate.

Click on the marriage certificate option and fill out the online form.

During the application, one is also required to upload a number of official documents to support their background.

They include a copy of the birth certificate, ID, and coloured passport-size photos – one for each applicant. Proof of no other existing marriages is also required. 

"Submit sworn affidavit to state marital status (swear separate affidavits if not married or joint affidavit if married under customary law);

"Also attach a copy of the death certificate (if widow or widower)or a copy of divorce decree absolute (if the partner had been married before and divorced)," the State Law Office stated.

Upon completion, the applicant will also be required to book an appointment with the Registrar. 

"Book an appointment on the online platform and appear before the Registrar for submission of original documents and interview," read the statement in part.

Costs Involved

After completing the application, applicants part way with Ksh7,200 if the wedding is to be conducted at a licensed place of worship.

Planned weddings conducted outside a place of worship attract a fee of Ksh14,200.

A photo of the e-citizen platform

File

Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen wowed Kenyans on Thursday, March 9, by making announcements while on board a plane.

Murkomen was heard over the intercom giving instructions to the passengers as the plane landed at the airport.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), do not alight until the aircraft has come to a stop," he advised. 

The CS was seen reading a script while the purser held the microphone up for him.

Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen (seated) making announcements in a plane on Thursday, March 9, 2023

Kenyans.co.ke

Unknown to many, a plane purser is different from a flight attendant. However, a purser can serve as a flight attendant.

 

An aircraft purser is part of the cabin crew and takes responsibility for cabin safety, passenger experience, and much of the paperwork.

Once onboard, the purser conducts all announcements over the PA system and updates the pilots on any information that they should know from the cabin. 

Other duties include contacting the gate agent to coordinate the boarding procedure, they deal with high-level incidents that might take place inflight including medical emergencies, and passenger complaints.

After landing at their base airport, the purser is tasked with writing and submitting incident reports, submitting the flight attendant performance assessments, submitting the flight's final sales receipts, and returning any filled-out paperwork to the crew operations centre.

Qualifications

To be a flight purser one must be a crew member for an average of five to ten years. This may vary between different airlines.

Additionally, all applicants need to have experience in all class cabins (economy, business, and first-class).

Furthermore, considering the extra roles of purser and interaction with the passengers, they are required to have proficiency in the English language and good communication skills.

The purser is also required to be computer literate, have good leadership skills, and be attentive to details among other interpersonal skills.

Conclusively,  a purser is a crucial part of the flight, working behind the scenes to ensure you get to your destination safely and comfortably.

Planes landing at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA)

File

A vehicle with GK number plates pictured in Poland on Thursday, March 9, went viral as social media users wondered whether the car belonged to the Kenyan government and how it got to the foreign land overseas.

The Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) - of the Volkswagen model - had registration number GKA 74099.

However, Kenyans.co.ke, through an image reverse search technology, established that the car did not belong to the government and was owned by a private citizen in Poland.

The research also showed that the GK series of number plates was legal in Poland.

A photo of a Volkswagen model car with a GK number plate out the National Treasury.

Photo

Treasury

Unlike Kenya where the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has reserved the K** number plate series for private vehicles, Poland issues different number plates depending on the provinces in the European country.

Poland has 16 provinces and the GK number plate series is issued to vehicles from the Pomorskie Province.

Additionally, the number plate had a European Union (EU) logo - 12 stars put on a blue strip on the left side of the number plate.

The addition of EU logo was introduced in 1988 in Europe and was aimed at helping in the identification of vehicles.

"This format was widely known and used because it certainly satisfies all the requirements in Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. 

"The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic states that cross-border cars or vehicles must always display distinguishing symbols or signs of the exact country of the registration on the rear part of that certain vehicle," Fuwong, a number plate maker, stated on its website.

On the other hand, the polish vehicles had five numbers after GKA. Kenyan vehicles have three numbers after GKA and an alphabetical letter at the end.

Questions about the vehicle's country of origin emanated from the fact that a number of government agencies use the GKA number plate series.

Additionally, given that the car was of the Volkswagen model, many believe that the car belonged to Kenya Government. A number of government institutions have settled for the German model following the government's directive on using low-fuel-consuming vehicles.

A photo collage of GKA and GKB number plates photographed on October 20, 2022. The registration numbers are used by the Kenyan National Government.

Photo

Ma3Route

Crash landings result in damage to an aircraft and at times, turn fatal. Much as such incidents are unprecedented, it is important to be aware of the course of action to take in the event they occur.

Despite the widely spread notion that crash landing denotes all types of emergency landings, the term refers to a landing where the aircraft's body is damaged due to the pressure emanating from the impact. 

 Other types of emergency landing include forced landing, where the plane is forced to make an emergency landing due to technical hitches and precautionary landing where the pilot makes a landing to avert risks posed by unprecedented factors midway.

Kenya-owned Fokker 50 registration 5Y WFC that crash-landed in Bardere, Somalia on Sunday 5 July 2020.

Twitter

 Aviation bodies and trainers across the globe have developed drills aimed at guiding passengers and the larger part of the crew on how to respond to such emergencies. 

The main priority in such a case is to protect passengers from deceleration forces which have the potential to inflict injuries caused by collision with the aeroplane’s interior equipment.

There are specific guidelines that target pilots while others are designed to guide both cabin crew and passengers. 

Aviation guidelines stipulate that pilots should notify passengers of the impending emergency landing upon detecting an impending risk. Such announcements are usually verbatim according to the standards set by aviation regulators. 

Further, aviation standards advise passengers to maintain a brace position in such incidents.

This implies a position where passengers sit with their heads forward by the knees, with hands wrapped over the head, and feet firmly planted behind the knees.

This, according to the rules, prevents the possibility of shooting forward on impact due to the force of inertia. 

The rationale for maintaining the brace position is to protect the passengers from deceleration forces that are caused by the impact of a sudden halt of motion. 

In addition, the brace position prevents legs from being broken against the seats and the interior surface of the aircraft.

The wreckage of a plane crash landed in Mogadishu on Monday, July 18, 2022.

Twitter

Kenya's number plate system dates back to the colonial era when the first-ever vehicle registration system was established. The colonial era administration introduced the system with the prefix "K" followed by an alphabet representing the various regions. 

However, the system evolved over time owing to the increase in the number of vehicles in the country. The letters “O” and “I” are, nonetheless, not used due to their resemblance with digits 0 and 1. 

Kenya currently uses the system LLL NNNL- three letters with the prefix “K”, followed by three digits and a letter at the end.

This system was adopted in 1989 - to replace the older sequence of LLL NNN. The change to the current system was adopted after the first sequence was exhausted. 

A display of the new generation number plates after they had been commissioned in Nairobi on August, 30, 2022

File

Why “O” and “I” Are Not Used

According to the Traffic Act (Registration Plates) Rules, 2016- number plates should be "optically recognizable characters" which means alpha-numeric Eurofonts with simple, distinct features identifiable using cameras. 

The rules were set to ensure ease in identifying vehicles through the registration numbers embossed on the number plates. 

Another regulation set in the Traffic Act was that every letter or digit be at least 75 millimetres high and at least 15 millimetres broad. 

The number plate was to be made either of a white reflective material (for the front number plate), or a yellow reflective material (for the rear plates). 

Rules governing Kenya's number plate system have also been applied in various countries across the world where the aforementioned letters do not feature in vehicle registration. 

KAF

In addition, Kenya's number plate system skipped "KAF" in its sequence despite having the letter in the "KB" and "KC" series. 

The "KAF" is used in the special car registration numbers issued to vehicles owned by the Kenya Defence Forces-KDF's Kenya Air Force Wing (KAF).

Kenya Air Force uses the three letters as its identity, embedded on its aircraft, installations and other paraphernalia. 

The letter "D" in the KD" series was also excluded. After the "KDE" series, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) proceeded to the letter "G"- which explains why there is no "KDF" in Kenyan number plates. 

In the latest generation of number plates introduced by the NTSA, the number plates have a new font and additional features including an imprinted national flag, hologram, watermark, and unique serial numbers for the rear and front plates. 

An image of some of the Kenyan number plates used in yester years.

World Plates International

Welcome to this week's edition of LISTED where we chronicle a list of those little pleasures you know you love. 

Innovations have been touted as the gateway to economic growth and solutions to challenges facing humanity in the world. 

Like in other countries globally, Kenya has made significant steps in terms of spurring innovations, some of which have materialised a great deal. 

Some of Kenya's innovations have been so worthwhile to an extent of warranting recognition internationally. In addition, some of the minds behind key innovations have attracted accolades and prizes to the tune of millions. 

This story has summarised some of Kenya's most notable innovations that earned international recognition in the recent past. 

American businesswoman Emma Grede (left) and Kenyan entrepreneur and founder of Kahawa 1893 Margaret Nyamumbo (right) on Friday, February 17, 2023

Instagram

Margaret Nyamumbo-Kahawa 1893

Margaret Nyamumbo, a Kenyan entrepreneur based in New York made headlines after a video of her astute presentation on her business idea promoting Kenyan coffee before Shark Tank investors went viral.

Nyamumbo, who is the owner of Kahawa 1893, was one of the participants in the Shark Tank, a popular show in the United States which gives entrepreneurs a chance to pitch business ideas in anticipation of securing capital from the investors who sit as judges. 

With her impeccable courage, Nyamumbo took the Shark Tank by storm with her presentation about her coffee company through her concept centred on empowering Kenyan women economically through her Kenyan-grown products. 

After her presentation, the US-based entrepreneur received accolades from all over the world and subsequently announced that she had landed a deal with a United Kingdom-based investor. 

"We source our coffee directly from women farmers in Africa, but that’s not all, we go one step further, our customers can tip the coffee farmers and we match the tips," she stated during her presentation- promoting her coffee as the best in the world. 

Peninah Wanja - DigiCow(Ksh187 million)

In February 2022, a group of three Kenyans was feted in the AYuTe Africa Challenge held by Heifer International after their innovation of a digital platform aimed at helping small-scale farmers to increase their production. 

The three, Peninah Wanja, Vincent Kimani, and Jemimah Wanjiku were part of the winning group which scooped Ksh187 million prize money. 

DigiCow provides mobile phone apps and virtual platforms that offers free livestock management advisory services for African dairy farmers.

In addition, the technology gives farmers fast and easy access to skilled and approved veterinarians, artificial insemination providers and feed supply services.

Eco-bana Ltd- Sanitary Pads From Bananas

In September 2022, a group of four students from Kenya's St Paul’s University won the 2022 Hult Prize for their business innovation of manufacturing sanitary pads from banana leaves.

The four namely, Lennox Omondi, Keylie Muthoni, Dullah Shiltone and Brian Ndung’u, won a Ksh120 million prize as capital to boost their business in the awards held in the United States of America. 

Since then, the innovation has received praise from Kenya abroad- including a special mention in President William Ruto-s led innovation week in December. 

Weed Removing Robot- JKUAT Students 

The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT)  has also established itself as an innovation hub in various fields.

In 2020, two students from the university won the 18th edition of Microsoft’s annual Imagine Cup Championships with their innovation of an automated robot designed to use artificial intelligence to identify and remove weeds from rows of crops.

The duo left with a Ksh2 million prize for their outstanding innovation and contribution towards enhancing agricultural production. 

Michael Mwaisakenyi and Ken Gicira showcase their innovation of an automated robot using artificial intelligence to identify and remove weeds from rows of crops.

JKUAT

Joseph Nguthiru- Water Hyacinth Remover

In May 2022, two students from Egerton University won Ksh1.6 million for their innovation of a machine designed to remove water hyacinths from water bodies. 

The two, Joseph Nguthiru, 24, and Charles Rugendo, 25, were recognized for their concept that had the potential of solving the problem of the stubborn weed encroaching on key water bodies in Kenya. 

Joseph Nguthiru (left) displaying an award and Charles Kinyua (Right).

Twitter

Paukwa Stories

Kenya Power and Lightning Company (KPLC) runs a credit service allowing customers to get power connections and clear the remaining balance for a specific period.

The credit product, allowing families to get power connections is known as Stima Loan.

While responding to a query on Wednesday, March 1, the utility firm stated that the service allows Kenyans to get electricity by paying 20 per cent of the upfront connection fee.

According to KPLC, beneficiaries of Stima Loan are expected to clear the balance within 24 months.

A Kenya Power technician during routine transformer maintenance.

Photo

Kenya Power

“Good Evening, we have Stima Loan  where  you pay 20 per cent upfront, with the balance payment being spread out over a period of 24 months,” KPLC responded to a query on Wednesday, March 1.

Customers are also expected to pay a 5 per cent administration fee.  An administration fee is an expense charged to cover costs associated with opening, maintaining, and changing materials used in installing electricity.

To further apply for the Stima Loan, KPLC advised customers to visit their branches nationwide to understand their requirements and other processes involved.

“We advise you visit our commercial office nearest to you for further guidance regarding the loan,” Kenya Power maintained.

Kenya Power launched the Stima Loan initiative in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD).

The product was introduced in the market to benefit low-income families that cannot afford the connection fees upfront.

According to the utility firm, over 49,000 families have benefitted from the initiative.

Kenya Power staff attending to a transformer during a past maintenance exercise in Nairobi County.

Photo

Kenya Power

In the latest updates by WhatsApp, users can now add audio as part of their status updates on the app.

With the new feature, users can add an audio message of up to 30 seconds as an update that expires after 24 hours and can be deleted before this period.

According to the Meta-owned messaging app, users sent about 7 billion voice messages daily in March 2022 prompting the need for an audio status update.

"Voice status can be used for sending more personal updates, especially if you feel more comfortable expressing yourself by talking rather than typing," the messaging app stated on its website on February 7, 2023.

An image of social media icons on display on a mobile phone.

Anadolu Agency

The feature was introduced alongside other updates including private audience selector, status reactions, status profile rings, and link previews.

To record a voice message for your WhatsApp status,  open the status tab and click on the pencil-shaped icon. On the right side press on the microphone icon to record your message.

After being satisfied with the content, you can press the arrow icon to send it to those on your contact list.

With the new feature, users were expected to add more personal touch to their interactions on the popular messaging app. It may also save on time spent typing a status update.

According to several users, the feature has helped them express their emotions in a message while recommending it to those with little time to spare.

Furthermore, like the normal status update, the user has the option of selecting who gets to listen to the audio. This is included in the status privacy settings.

However, since the feature is in the development phase, some users may not have access to the feature until it is fully rolled out.

The messaging app has worked to ensure it is user-friendly by incorporating features that save on it. For example, the status reaction feature allows users to react by swiping up on the status updates.

File image of Kenyans using smartphones

File

A Land Cruiser with Netherlands number plates pictured under the elevated section of the Nairobi Expressway elicited debate on social media as many queried whether the motorists took six days to arrive in Kenya.

In the viral post that emerged on social media on Tuesday, February 21, it was claimed that it took the adventurer six days from Amsterdam to Nairobi.

The off-road vehicle was also fitted with a rooftop tent that allows travellers to enjoy a good night's rest during their journey.

Kenyans.co.ke. established that it was indeed possible to travel between the two countries in 6 days only if one travelled non-stop or with minimal stops at an average speed. However with traffic disruptions, one could take more than 6 days.

A signpost of the Kenya-Ethiopia border in Moyale town.

File

The average speed ranges from 80 kilometres per hour to 120 kilometers per hour given that most of the roads are highways.

A detailed travel guide by Google revealed that it would take approximately 150 hours (6 days and 22 hours) to transverse the 9,617 kilometres journey - the fastest route.

"This route has tolls, includes a ferry, crosses country borders and involves different time zones," read directions by Google Maps.

To cross to the European country, one would have to travel through Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.

The Journey

For a start, a motorist would take the Nairobi - Meru Highway to Marsabit before crossing over to Ethiopia through the Moyale border.

To cross Ethiopia to Sudan - Egpyt border, one is required to use the Adis Adama Expressway on a journey estimated to be 2400 km. Driving through would take roughly 40 hours.

Crossing from Wadi Alfa (Sudan) to Egypt requires one to take a ferry which takes 30 hours to cover 351 kilometres.

After disembarking from the ferry take  Al Sad Al Aali Highway to the Luxor Aswan Highway all the way to Hurghada to take a  ferry to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt.

Another ferry is then taken to help one cross to Jordan.

The rest of the journey involves driving through Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovakia, Czechia, and Germany before crossing over to the Netherlands for 52 hours in a 4951-kilometre journey.

A photo of a section of the Netherlands' capital city Amsterdam.

Photo

Guardian