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Hold Your Horses
Barely 24 hours after the late Chief of Defence Forces Francis Ogolla was laid to rest, reports began swirling around that his replacement had already swung into action.
On Monday morning, a video clip made rounds purporting that Kenya Army Commander Lieutenant General David Kimaiyo Tarus had been sworn in to take the deceased's position.
On the sidelines, a heated debate over the likelihood of a team gazetted by Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen to handle plane accidents was cleared to investigate the Thursday crash.
First Things First: My colleague Brian Muuo first caught wind of a questionably doctored video depicting Tarus taking an oath of office for the senior-most job in the military circles.
His subsequent fact-check showed that the video's captions were fake and traced the clip back to March 8, 2024. At the time, Kimaiyo was taking the oath of office after President William Ruto promoted him to the position of commander of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
Quick Profile: Tarus who hails from Uasin Gishu County was enlisted in the Kenya Army in 1988 and has risen through the ranks to become one of the top military officers in the republic.
Tarus has served as an Instructor at the Peace Support Training Centre, Joint Command and Staff College for Grade Three Staff Course and as Senior Directing Staff at the Joint Warfare Centre.
He has also served as a Staff Officer at Western and Eastern Commands Headquarters as well as Kenya Army and Defence Headquarters.
Closure: Ruto is yet to appoint a replacement for Francis Ogolla but assured that merit will be employed during recruitment.
Ruto on Why He Hired Ogolla: "I had been told to be careful who I appoint into those offices because they mean a lot and they are sensitive. I was told not to be shy about appointing people from my tribe as it was safer, but we were taking a different trajectory as a country, where merit matters."
The difference in years of military experience between the late CDF Francis Ogolla and Kenya Army Commander Lieutenant General David Kimaiyo Tarus. Tarus joined the force in 1988 (serving for 36 years) while Ogolla, his senior, was recruited in 1984, effectively completing 40 years.
Proxy Conflict
On the sidelines, rumors emerged that a team to investigate the Thursday crash that claimed Ogolla and 9 others was already underway forcing Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen to come clean over his Ministry's overall role in the matter.
On Friday, Murkomen appointed a seven-member aircraft investigation team to assess the recent reports of accidents involving Kenya-registered or operated aircraft.
Shortly after Ogolla's burial, chatter erupted that the team's main Ogola was to probe the cause of the crash, which the CS vehemently denied,
What Murkomen is Saying: "As a department of transport, we don’t investigate military planes. Our work is strictly restricted to civilian airplanes."
Earlier, Lawyer Miguna Miguna had also chided the rumour-mongers telling them that the team to probe Ogolla's chopper crash could only be appointed and gazetted by the Head of State.
"Remember that no one except the President of the Republic has the mandate to set up a team investigating the death of Kenya’s Chief of Defence Staff. Not a cabinet secretary," the lawyer argued.
"Moreover, the military will not cooperate with that purely civilian team, honour its summons and comply with any directives from or findings by it."
Catch Up Quick: Murkomen appointed Captain Peter Maranga to chair the committee whose members include Captain Herman Nduati, Retired Lieutenant Mike Mulwa, Ephantus Kamau, Captain Valentine Wendoh and Captain Martyn Lunani. Brenda Mwango was appointed as the joint secretary.
Murkomen tasked the team to conduct four key functions. First, review all the preliminary accident reports for accidents involving Kenya-registered or operated aircraft presented by the Republic of South Sudan and the Federal Republic of Somalia for the last five (5) years.
Investigate any other matter relating to or consequential to the accidents and make appropriate recommendations for the prevention of recurrence and to improve aviation safety in Kenya.
Crawling to Cleaner Future
Nine years after the government banned the use of single-use plastic bags, the state has extended the directive to plastic garbage bags used in households.
The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) announced that it will mount a crackdown on all Kenyans using biodegradable bags instead.
What NEMA wants: "To ensure environmentally sound management of the organic waste fraction, the Authority hereby directs that within 90 days from the date of this notice; All organic waste generated by households, private sector and public sector institutions, religious institutions, private and public functions and events; shall strictly be segregated and placed in 100 per cent biodegradable garbage bags/ bin liners only,"
Strict Rules: In the wake of the directive, all households will be required to collect organic waste separately and have it transported to a designated Material Recovery Facility for further processing.
As a result, all homeowners and households were directed to label and colour code their bins, containers and bags of their segregated waste.
All county governments and private waste service providers licensed by NEMA will also be required to provide their clients the 100 per cent biodegradable garbage bags/bin liners.
Hefty Penalty: Kenyans who do not obey the directive upon conviction will be fined a sum not exceeding Ksh20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.
Catch Up Quick: Kenya's journey to a cleaner future kicked off in 2017 after then President Uhuru Kenyatta banned the use of single-use plastic bags.
In 2019, after tracking the success of the directive, he promised to ban use of plastic bottles which was expected to take effect in June 2020.
The ambitious plans were, however, likely curtailed by a mix of lobbyists from manufacturers and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Several establishments and state agencies, however, took up the challenge and switched from plastic bottles to glass versions which are more environmentally friendly.
The Numbers: NEMA celebrated that as of 2019 after the ban, 500 arrests had been effected yielding to 300 prosecutions.
"There has been visible cleanliness in most towns that previously used to be dotted with plastic carrier bags hanging loosely on buildings and trees. 80 percent compliance with the plastic ban has been recorded," a report released at the time showed.
The untouchables: The ban was not blanket and exempted flat bags used for primary industrial packaging. (Garbage bags had all through being a part of the category.) Users had, however, been required to have a take-back policy on the plastic bags and have the industry label visible.
The take-back policy was largely ignored.
Here are five other stories we are keeping tabs on for you.
- A Kenya Air Force Officer dies after being involved in a head-on collision involving two motorbikes.
- Kenya Power is expanding the uptake of electric vehicles with the set up of 10 more charging spots across the country. A single car charges for approximately an hour.
- After a stellar performance at the London Marathon, Peres Jepchirchir is set to pocket northwards of Ksh28 million for breaking a world record.
- Kipchumba Murkomen published the particulars of the owner of a Mercedes Benz captured on video breaking rules along Mombasa Road.
- The Kenyan passport is the fifth cheapest worldwide, a recently released report by Compare the Market, a research firm, has shown.
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This newsletter was written by Derrick Kubasu and edited by Brian Muuo.
Washington Mito contributed to the content.
Graphics prepared by Adongo Kyalo.
