Kenya Newspapers Review For January 2: Nairobi Lady Stabs, Kills Man Under Unclear Circumstance

On Tuesday, January 3, the national newspapers recapped the events that happened across the country as Kenyans ushered in the new year.

The dailies also covered the increased pressure on President William Ruto to lower the cost of living in his second year as the head of state.

1. Daily Nation

The publication reported that police are holding a woman who reportedly stabbed a man to death at a slum in Nairobi.

Makadara deputy police chief Dennis Omuko said Jackson Kisa died after he was stabbed in the chest by the woman.

Omuko said she attacked Kisa inside a house in Mukuru-Fuata Nyayo slum located in South B division, Starehe Sub-county.

"The police managed to arrest the suspect after she committed the crime and escaped. She is being detained in Industrial Area police cells pending further investigations," Omuko told Nation.

At the same time, detectives are investigating an incident where the body of Justus Katuka was found hanging from a mango tree outside his rural home in Makueni.

Benson Masyo, Katuka's brother, said they were together last week during a family meeting. He said his brother operates a posho mill in Mukuru-Kaiyaba, Nairobi.

Masyo said he was shocked by the incident in Usalala village, Mbumbuni Kisau, in Mbooni East Sub-county.

2. Taifa Leo

The Swahili daily reported that Busia senator Okiya Omtatah petitioned the court to compel Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome to direct officers to record his statement over alleged threats for successfully prosecuting a petition challenging the Housing Levy.

Omtatah said in the petition filed at the High Court in Nairobi that he is apprehensive about the threats by President William Ruto during a Thanksgiving mass service in Kisii.

And despite going to report the matter at Lang’ata police station in Nairobi and Nyanchwa police stations in Kisii, police officers allegedly declined to record his statement.

"Consequently, the petitioner has been forced to move to this Honourable Court seeking, among others, an order of mandamus compelling the respondents (the police) to record his statement of complaint regarding the insults and threats," he said in the petition.

He said Ruto made the remarks on Saturday, December 16, 2023, terming him and other litigants who successfully prosecuted the case as crooks.

The Busia senator said the matter is of utmost urgency since police officers have declined to grant him the state services he is entitled to, specifically the opportunity to record a statement of complaint to initiate criminal investigations.

Omtatah said he tried to complain on Sunday, December 17, over what he termed undermining the courts' authority, but he was not accorded the service.

3. The Standard

According to the publication, Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary-General Francis Atwoli predicted better days ahead for workers, promising to push for better pay at county and national levels.

Atwoli said the organisation would push for an increment in workers' wages and income at both the county and national levels.

"Due to the struggling economy that was inherited by the Kenya Kwanza government, which it is trying to revive, workers have suffered a lot, and this year, we will be pushing for workers to be compensated by the employers and the government for the hard time they have gone through," said Atwoli.

Atwoli said Kenyan workers had lost their purchasing power due to the high cost of living, adding that COTU wrote a letter to Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore seeking a meeting to discuss better terms and conditions for them.

"We know workers have lost their purchasing power because of the high cost of living, and on 27th December 2023, we wrote to the Ministry of Labour to convene a meeting between the ministry, Federation of Kenyan Employers, and the trade unions to review our Collective Bargaining Agreement," said Atwoli.

He said they have a CBA that had been rendered useless for the last two years because of the high cost of living.