The Mombasa public beach (Pirates) is set to host some scintillating beach football action this weekend.

The Mombasa beach football tournament dubbed #ShibeFestBeachSoccer is expected to kick off on Saturday and end on Sunday.

The event is sponsored by Unga wa Dola maize millers and Mombasa county government.

"We have alot of talents when it comes to football and as you are aware the beach/ ocean is our main advantage so we want to showcase the talents at the beach" said Ali Kubo, the organiser.

Speaking to Ommy Dallah, Kubo revealed that a total of 16 teams, 2 from each sub county will participate in the tournament.

"The Coast media team is among the teams that will participate. The winner will walk away with kshs 70, 000, jerseys, medals and balls with the second winner walking away with kshs 30,000, medals, balls and jerseys" said Kubo.

Beach football is currently played in 75 countries within the six FIF A confederations zones.

Afro classic hitmaker, Kizz Daniel continues to break musical boundaries as he releases compelling visuals for his newest trending single, 'Cough (ODO)'.

The 'Cough (ODO)' visuals — a different direction from the typical Kizz Daniel visuals, brim with colour, style and unique choreography as the talented singer croons away with engaging lyrics of the hit tune, perfectly captured in each visual frame.

Shot in Lagos and directed by seasoned Nigerian director, Director K (PriorGold), these riveting visuals which show unbridled affection, romance and the true essence of Love, are a clear reflection of the King of Love's lyrical prowess when he sings: “I want to flex my love, I wan impress, and I want to carry my love away, to a place she loves”.

The Afro Classic pioneer who has been on fire this year, churned out one of the biggest hits of the season — the internationally recognized sound, ‘Buga’, and now, ‘Cough(ODO)’  which has dominated social media platforms within and outside Nigeria.

With the incredible success of his sold-out 2022 Afroclassic Tour which took him to the UK, US, Canada and select African countries including Rwanda, Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania and parts of South America, Kizz Daniel truly has the whole world listening.

Kenya Tong IL Moo Do Federation will face a ban should it fail to host the 10th edition of the Mombasa Open Tong -IL-Moo Do championships at the Agah Khan Academy in Mombasa.

Despite the arrival of international teams the hosting of the sport hangs in a balance after the delayed disbursement of funds by the government through the Ministry of sports.

So far, twelve countries that are at the coastal city of Mombasa to battle for the title held by Jasiri of Kenya include Japan USA, Korea, Philippines, Zambia, Brazil, Paraguay, Denmark, Cote D'ivoire and Dominica Republic. 

According to the Federation chairman Clarence Mwakio failure to host the event will embarrass the country and will lead to a hefty fine and a possible ban.

"As a country we have built an international relationship over the last 35 years," he said.

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According to Mwakio to bid for the international championships in the calendar for Africa as a country was a great honour to the country. 

Mwakio said it is regrettable to see that a decision will be reached to cancel the event after countries are in Kenya.

At the moment, the Federation has been in consultation with the government but funds are yet to be released.

"We are in crisis. But hopeful that those concerned will rescue the tournament from the ban," he said.

The event that will take three days to be a success and not to be scuttled needs immediate intervention.

To conclude, he said the World president is in the country and has been at the training camp to horn the skills of the players.

The sport in Kenya has for years promoted talent development and marketed the country as a destination for tourism.

 Some officials, international referees and judges are still in their country of origin due to luck of the necessary facilitation to enable them travel to Mombasa for officiating.

“We are calling on the president to kindly intervene as save us from this situation, since it is a shame” said Mwakio.

A delegation of players and officials from Korea, India and Japan are the latest to land in Mombasa ahead of the much awaited Mombasa Open Tong-IL-Moo-Do international martial arts competition to be held at the Agha Khan Academy.

The India delegation that will be making their first appearance in the competition is led by Raunak Singh,Erica J De Sequiera and Karan Pandit,while Japan team is led by captain Megumi Nabeshima.

Speaking after arrival at the Moi international Airport (MIA), Sign expressed confidence that his charges will make a mark in the Mombasa tournament touted as the most competitive since its inception 10 years ago.

“We are very confident that we will emerge victorious, we have prepared thoroughly hoping we will crush all our opponents who we will face,” said Singh at the Moi international airport.

Cho Yu Mi,one of the dependent players of team Korea expressed confidence that her team will perform exemplary in all categories of the competition despite finishing among top four in the 2021 competition.

This happens as officials of the Kenya Tong Il-Moo-Do federation have expressed disappointment with late disbursement of funds for the sponsorship. 

 Kenya Tong IL-Moo-Do federation assistant secretary Elvis Malipe said more foreign participants have continued to arrive despite budget constraints after the ministry of sports delayed facilitation funds.

“Currently we have the USA, Cote D’ Ivoire,Japan, Korea,India and we are expecting more teams before the competition starts, hopefully this year we are hoping for a very competitive tournament due to new entrants, “said Malipe.

He said the annual international championships in the World calendar have succeeded with the support of the Ministry of Sports. 

 "This year, the event is expected to have the backing of the government since it promotes sports and tourism,"he said.

The Kenyan team,Jasiri is camping at the Light Academy international school where it has been training hard in their quest to defend the title they have won for the past 9 years.

“Team Kenya is in high spirits, they are sharpening their skills and we are hopeful that they will reign again and defend the title,”said Malipe.

Among senior officials who have also jetted in the country include the World Tong-IL Moo-Do Federation President Master Takamitsu Hoshiko as preparations gather momentum ahead of the international competition.

This year’s event has attracted four new participants namely Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Italy and the Commonwealth of Dominican who will be among 28 who are set to take part.

The players will participate in team and individual categories in form, sparring and special techniques in both men and women.

Kenya national team popularly known as Jasiri is the defending champions. In the 2021 event Kenya won a total of 39 gold, 33 silver and 52 bronze medals. Kenya will be seeking to defend the title but expects a tough duel against rival opponents.

Kenya’s main challengers in the world’s Tong-IL Moo-Do, Philippines, who  finished a distant second with 19 gold, 16 silver and seven bronze medals in the 2021 event.

Third position went to DR Congo who completed the event with 27 medals, 12 gold and another five silver and 10 bronze. 

The war against Malaria in the Coast and Nyanza regions has been boosted with a new drive to avail solar-powered insecticide-free mosquito trapping systems to households. Dubbed MTego, the innovative solution to fight one of Africa’s major killer diseases was introduced into the Kenyan market this year by global energy and services group Engie Energy Access and Dutch-based social enterprise PreMal. 

The innovative outdoor mosquito trap is designed to capture the Malaria carriers without using insecticides before they enter the home. 

“Malaria causes an enormous drain on African economies, with countries spending huge sums of resources for the control of malaria - resources that could have been devoted to other productive sectors,” said Engie Energy Access Kenya Country Director Fredrick Noballa. 

Kenya’s coastal areas near the Indian Ocean and the Lake Victoria region are Malaria prevalent with insecticide-treated bednets being the main preventive tool.

Noballa said that the new vector control technology is affordable, leverages clean energy and is a game-changer for livelihoods in rural areas where the disease is prevalent. 

Kenya has been over the years spent billions on the war against Malaria. Of the Sh146.8 billion given to the health sector this current financial year, Sh16.2bn was allocated for Malaria, AIDS and TB.

The latest report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that the number of deaths caused by Malaria in Kenya increased from 11,768 in 2020 to 12,011 in 2021.

This even as the number of Malaria cases in the country rose by over 100,000, said the WHO findings named World Malaria Report which also further showed that Kenya’s malaria load accounted for about 1.3 per cent of the world’s malaria cases, the bulk of which emanate from Nyanza and Coastal regions.

“To achieve malaria elimination in the country, we must empower households to acquire long-term sustainable solutions. MTego is a critical innovative enabler with a sizeable effectiveness radius that will keep the insects away and in effect end malaria and help Kenyans focus on income-generating activities and their welfare,” said Noballa.

PreMal co-founder Lorenzo Fiori explained that the odour-baited trap replicates human characteristics to attract mosquitoes. The technology employs a counter-airflow principle which uses an electric fan to create suction and emit a plume of odour. 

“What this technology does is that it mimics human odour to lure host-seeking malaria mosquitoes which prevents them from flying indoors. The mosquitoes follow the odour plume to the source and, on approach, are sucked into a catch-pot and killed by dehydration,” said Fiori.

When optimally placed, the 12V-powered MTego has an attractive range of 100m2.

The bio-inspired environmental solution is a synthetic odour based on components present in human sweat. It is highly attractive to all human-biting mosquitoes, but imperceptible to human beings.

“Cutting down mosquito population and fewer mosquito bites reduces the risk of transmission of malaria,” added Fiori.

A Kenyan shooter master Ibrahim Ndungu of Bamburi Rifle Club was declared second position in the master stock service pistol (SSP) category at the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) championship in Thailand.

The reigning Kenyan champion competing against the best in the world at the event held at 333 shooting range in Bangkok on Sunday proved that the standard of players in the country was world-class.

During the event that attracted 160 shooters from the military and civilians, Kenya, Japan, China, Philippines, and Thailand participated respectively.

Communicating to the media, Bamburi Rifle Club Chairman Abdulhakim Daud said the win was important for the nation and particularly for the club.

“We are delighted for him to show exemplary performance at the international level. This shows that our standards are high and Kenya can compete with top performers worldwide,”he said.

Daud added that Ndungu is a highly experienced shooter and he was in high spirits he left the country for the tournament.

At the local scene, during the master two-day tier one 2021 International Defence Pistol Association (IDPA) competition Ibrahim Ndung’u emerged as the overall winner in the SSP division.

Meanwhile, the Discipline Forces challenge competition will be held on Saturday at the Bamburi Rifle Club range in Mombasa with 217 round count stages.

The event at its third edition at the venue has attracted 172 competitors and preparation are in high gear.

 Daud said that BRC is proud to support and associate with our discipline forces who are at the forefront of taking care of our nation at different level to make Kenya a safe country internally and externally.

 He said the club will ensure that it organizes an event that will meet international standards and the club will host it for a long time.

Further, he said the 2023 sports shooting will be taken a notch higher with quality training and competition taking in mind a squad of Kenyans went to the ultimate International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) world shoot in Thailand.

In this 3^rd edition, the competitors will participate in the (IPSC) stages and team challenge.

The categories for individuals are production division (men), production division (ladies), standard division (men), standard division (ladies), PCC division (men), and PCC division (ladies). For the team, each team must have a lady shooter.

The Volunteers are taken through five weeks of Pre-Service Training built around experiential learning to empower and equip them with the skills and mindsets that they will need to be successful at their sites.

The Volunteers integrate into the communities they operate in and facilitate community meetings to identify and address changing and complex local needs in education, health, small business development, urban planning and infrastructure, agriculture, the environment, and more.

“This is the first cohort of Volunteers, and we look forward to having many more in the future. We believe that they will integrate into their communities, and by the time one-year elapses, the positive impact will be visible and measurable, on both the Volunteer and the communities at large,” said Dr. Patricia Kingori-Mugendi, the Founding Country Director of CorpsAfrica/Kenya.

CorpsAfrica’s vision is to be in all 54 African nations – with 250 Volunteers in each country each year – that’s 13,500 Volunteers a year across the continent by 2030.

Former Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has travelled to his ancestral home in Yemen after 17 years.

Balala who was recently appointed as the Vice-President of a global wildlife conservation charity Fauna and Flora International (FFI)  tweeted about his visit to Seiyun - Republic of Yemen to visit his ancestral land to see family and friends.

Balala was received by the D.G of Security Brig. General Abdulla Salmeen Bin Habish, D.G Ministry of Tourism Ali Muhammad Al Saggaf, Seiyun International Airport and Airforce staff led by Brig. General Sadiq Bakhit and Clan Chief Sheikh Saleh Mabkhout Balala, community leaders, friends, and family. 

"Received by Under Secretary of the Governate of Hadhramouth Eng. Hisham Al Saeedi, "the tweet reads.

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Wine lovers had a rare experience to test and sample wine brands during the first ever East Africa Wine fair edition to be held in Mombasa.

As part of their effort to expand wine market scope, the importers are optimistic that Mombasa fair will open doors for more business, especially during the end of year festivities.

According to the event organisers led by Ian Gituku, the wine exhibition will provide an opportunity to vendors and wine consumers to get to understand more about wine brands.

"We bring exceptional experiences on them, there will be a lot of wines that you can't find in supermarkets. We really got to Mombasa vibes because it's part of our market target," said Gituku.

Those in attendance were also taken through a master class teaching where an in-depth analysis of wine is taught so that consumers can be able to identify the best quality and make wise decisions before purchasing wine products.

The event which took place at the English point Marina attracted all wine consumers, vendors and importers to share their experience. Some from as far as Nairobi and Rift Valley

"We chose Mombasa because we had receive a lot of requests from consumers and we felt it was necessary for us to do it so that the people of Mombasa can also have that experience." said Judy Ngene, one of wine importers and a member of the organisers.

She said in future the wine fair will turn to aa annual event bringing together diverse importers so that their consumers can have an opportunity to learn and get education about the wine trading.

"We have had a lot of these in Nairobi before and we felt that the Mombasa people have not been exposed to the quality wine we import in Nairobi. We expect people will be able to learn about wine etiquette, how to scout for a quality wine and how to drink wine as well," she added.

"We need more of this in Mombasa, we have alot of wine lovers here but they have been exposed to such events which are very insightful and helps us know the new wines and how they test" said Esther Macharia one of the wine lovers.