CANDLE NEWS KENYA

JOEY KIMEU A section of parents and board members of Karamugi Girls Secondary School in Tharaka-Nithi County want the school principal Elizabeth Wanja transferred for alleged mismanagement of the institution. They claim during her tenure performance index has been on the decline, she has created disharmony with the former board and also with parents, misused school resources and practiced favouritism of some teachers and students while discriminating others. John Ndung’u, a parent In a letter authored by three parents, John Ndung’u, Jamleck Mutembei and Peter Njuguna, who are class representatives and which is addressed to TSC Tharaka Nithi County Director Abukar Hassan, they accused her of conducting a Parent Associations elections contrary to the Education Act, 2013. They claimed she acted as the returning officer and a voter in addition to coercing two teachers to vote for the candidate that she wanted, in her intentions to have a chairperson that she would manip...

BY EMMA MUGECHI Njeru Mbugi  and Taratisio Kawe at  Siakago law courts on Tuesday   The family a young man from Kariru village, Kiang’ombe location, Embu County who was killed in an alleged mob injustice is on a quest to find justice. Andriano Mugendi Njiru and his younger brother were headed to Magacha miraa market at around 6am on December 14, 2017 when people known to them stopped them, checked their miraa and beat them up. The victim's brother survived. They accused the two brothers of having stolen the stimulant the previous night at Kariru village, Kiangombe location, but Mugendi’s family dispute the claim saying he was killed by people known to him owing to a business rivalry. The family through the assistance of Taratisio Kawe, a former senior police officer and human rights activist, is seeking to have the suspects charged with murder, even though the Director of Public Prosecutions recommended a public inquest. The prosecution has lined up 1...

BY EMMA MUGECHI New toilet Sanitation at Malikini Primary School in Mbeere South sub-county, Embu County has received a boost after an alumnus sponsored the construction of two state of the art washrooms. Pupils have been using dilapidated, iron sheet-walled latrines that had seen better days, their doors had fallen and were a health hazard to users. old latrines Michael Mutinda, an old pupil of the school, financed the construction of new modern toilets for boys at Sh800,000 as a way of giving back to the society. Another washroom for girls is underway and will cost about a similar amount. Mutinda who is based in USA in a chat with a journalist said he was informed the school faced toilet crisis. Michael Mutinda “I was told that the latrines had no doors and a pupil would stand outside to hide a colleague answer a call of nature. The community also feared that the public health department might close down the schools for lack of proper toilets. I decided to ...

Man buried alive after latrine collapses BY EMMA MUGECHI Rescuers at work A middle-aged man has been buried alive while digging a pit latrine at Gichugu Primary school in Embu County after the earth caved in. The victim James Kinyua was digging together with his brother Paul Savania and they had reached 34 feet when the accident happened on Tuesday. Savania says he worked his shift inside the hole from 7.30 until 12.30 when they left for lunch. “In the afternoon Kinyua was digging when the hole just collapsed when we had just met that day’s target. I screamed to alert the people,” he said adding that work started on Tuesday last week. He said they had been working together since year 2000 and could dig a 30ft toilet in just four days, but even with their experience they had not seen signs of collapse. They had been contracted to dig the latrine, which is funded National Government Constituency Development Fund. Gaturi North location chief Nicasio Nyaga sai...

Nominated MCA Edna Muisyo Members of the County Assembly of Embu have strongly defended the proposed budget estimates, claiming the matter was overly politicised and exaggerated to provoke public outcry. Led by Majority Leader Michael Njeru, the MCAs sought to state that the County Assembly’s proposal to set aside a Ksh 11 Million sports and fitness kitty was meant to cater for inter-county games and sports tournaments, but not solely to fund gym subscriptions. He dismissed the insinuation that MCAs were misusing public funds as mere political rhetoric from detractors who had no agenda for the county. The Kithimu MCA added that on completion, the ultramodern County Assembly office complex would have an equipped gymnasium for MCAs and the legislature’s staff members to exercise in, and pointed out that all MCAs were involved in various sporting activities aimed at maintaining their fitness. He said MCAs in football, rugby and tug-of-war teams needed to exercise regularly to ...

Pupils from various schools participate in a procession during the Day of African Child celebrations in Embu County. More than 80 cases of defilement, sodomy and abuse of children were reported in Embu County in a span of four months late last year. According to the children’s department, the 80 cases were reported between July and December with abuse, both psychological and physical, and defilements the most common. Children stakeholders have raised alarm that the number has increased this year with the most recent being a sodomy case last week where the offender has already been charged in court. Last week still, Paul Mureithi, 40, was sentenced to 105 year’s imprisonment after a court found him guilty of sodomising three boys aged between nine and 10 years in Kanjau village, Embu West sub-county in May last year. In another ugly incident two weeks ago, an eight-year-old girl from Kithimu area, Embu West was defiled and murdered with residents concerned since no arres...

A businessman from Embu County has announced plans to vie for the presidency in 2022, citing dissatisfaction with the current crop of leaders. Eng Mugo Kinyua, a contractor, said he will soon start a drive to popularise himself in all the counties as he familiarises himself head on with the challenges the people face. Kinyua, who vied for Embu senatorial post in 2013 but lost to Lenny Kivuti and was also the county ODM chair, said he has what it takes to become the president who will address the issues the citizens face. He says he will first marshal the people from Eastern, Coast and North Eastern regions to support him, so that he has a strong backyard support as he moves into other parts of the country. “With President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga’s handshake, I expected the country to realise concerned efforts in uniting the people and development. However, we are being treated to a series of political gimmicks by people close to them angling for the pres...