Outgoing Mombasa governor Hassan Joho has ended speculations over his whereabouts after making a public appearance at the swearing in ceremony of Kilifi governor Gideon Mung’aro.

Joho was conspicuously missing during the latest tour of ODM party leader Raila Odinga and his deputy Martha Karua in Mombasa, sparking speculations over his whereabouts.

Joho had gone underground since the Independent Election and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati announced William Ruto as the winner of the presidential election. 

His supporters argued that he should be actively helping ODM candidate Abdulswamand Nassir who is seeking to succeed him in the August 29 polls.

On Wednesday his supporters were also left curious after the ODM deputy party leader snubbed the meeting attended by his party leader Raila Odinga in his county.

Joho has been pivotal in supporting Raila Odinga and matters of the ODM party. He was one of  Odinga's front soldiers during the campaign

But on Thursday, governor Joho resurfaced and was seen joyfully interacting with outgoing Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi during Mung’aros swearing in ceremony held at the Karisa Maitha ground.

This comes at a time when his political future remains in the hands of Odinga, should the Supreme Court nullify the August 9 election results.Odinga lost the race against president elect William Ruto in the disputed election.

Joho was promised a Cs docket should Azimio La Umoja One Kenya form the next government, but as it stands, his Cs dream remains pegged on the outcome of the Supreme Court verdict.

Nigerian singer, songwriter and actor Chike today released his highly anticipated album, The Brother’s Keeper via Brothers Records, making it his second studio sophomore album. 

Symbolizing the space that Chike sees himself in life, The Brother’s Keeper sums up the sounds of courage, bravery, self love and confidence in the person he has become, and centers on the importance of growth, shedding expectations from people around him, and throwing oneself into the unknown. 

This album, comes through after his wildly accepted album, Boo of the Booless, which was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2020 Headies Awards, holding tracks like, "Insecure", "Running", "Roju" just to mention a few.

He reflects on the journey thus far, basks and sails in the present but is weary of an uncertain future.

Speaking of being a ‘Brother Keeper’, Chike highlighted instances of fellow artists Simi and Mayorkun showing up for him, African music royal Flavour collaborating on the album, and urged everyone to strive to be one, whether boy or girl, man or woman.

With collaborations including Ycee, Azana, Flavour, this album solidifies Chike’s place amongst the greats and furthers the evolution of his sound, his songwriting, and his production.

Says Chike of what the album represents for him in his creative journey: “We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers,”.

Chike remains one of the most prolific, popular, and elegant artists to come out of Nigeria. The Brother’s Keeper reflects the breadth of natural beauty and dignity of love, heartbreak, rejection, acceptance, grief experience across art and style.

The Brother’s Keeper Album tracklist:

1. On The Moon
2. Tell Am
3. Spell
4. My Africa feat. Azana
5. Hard To Find feat. Flavour
6. Winner
7. Bad
8. Zamo
9. Pour Me a Drink
10. You Deserve ft Ycee
11. Enough
12. Moving On
13. Good Things
14. God Only Knows
15. Nothing Less, Nothing More
16. Please

A section of members of the Kamba community in Mombasa have endorsed Hassan Omar as the next county government.

The members led by their Chairman Luka Mbati accused the outgoing governor Hassan Joho of neglecting them for the ten years.

The kamba community is the second largest vote bloc in Mombasa county after Mijikenda with over 40,000 votes.

"As members of the community we feel left out especially with the previous government, we now want to be in the government and we know you are the only person who can make this happen" said Mbati.

Speaking on Thursday during a meeting held at Omar's residence in Nyali, Mbati challenged Omar to ensure that the community gets two positions of county executive committee member.

"We are going to stand with you and ensure that you win this seat, in return we ask you to spare at least two CEC positions for our community" said Mbati.

On his part Omar who is the UDA party candidate for the Mombasa governor seat promised to work closely with members of the community if elected as governor.

"You have always stood with me, in 2013 you supported, in 2017 you also supported and I don't take this for granted. On the issue of CECs  I don't want to promise that since I will have to balance between all communities but I promise not to let you down" said Omar.

Adding "I'm one of your own, I was even given the name Mutuku when I was in Wiper party so I cannot let you down".

Omar called on members of the Kamba community to avoid being divided by politicians.

Omar charged "You need to be united, it is very sad that you are the second largest voting block in the county but cannot produce even an Mp".

Omar further stated that the community was the most affected by the transfer of port operations from Mombasa to Naivasha stating "I promise you that we will bring back the services to Mombasa nad you will continue with your businesses like before".

Speaking at the same time former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko pleaded with  Kambas in Mombasa to support Omar.

"As my brothers and sisters, the only favour I can ask from you is to please support Omar and make sure that he forms the next government" said Sonko.

Sonko called on Azimio presidential candidate to stop 'interfering' with the independent electoral and boundaries commission (IEBC).

He charged "Yesterday you heard Raila telling Chebukati to stay away from Mombasa and Kakamega elections, they have already censored defeated and I would like to tell Mr Odinga to stop interfering with IEBC infact he should accept defeat"

Adding " We have faith in IEBC and are confident of winning the Mombasa governor seat.

The election for Mombasa governor is set for next week, Monday

All day schools in Mombasa will close on Monday, next week, to allow voters to take part in the governor election.

According to Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, IEBC can use both the Primary and Secondary Schools.

"The IEBC has prounced itself with regards to elections basically in Kakamega and Mombasa and parliamentary ones and MCAs ones but ones that concern us in education are the big ones in Kakamega and Mombasa." said Magoha.

Adding "As far as day schools are concerned, we think one day is not bad enough, the children can stay at home on Monday the 29^th and report back to school on Tuesday the 30th. For those mixed schools, the same will apply. "

Speaking in Nairobi, Magoha noted that boarding schools will not be closed.

He noted “In terms of our children because I don’t want them to miss any more time, we have also agreed as a government that the boarding schools shall not be closed, interfered with"

For tallying centres, Magoha revealed that the ministry has advised IEBC to use tertiary institutions as tallying centres and not primary and secondary schools.

On Monday. IEBC announced August 29, 2022 as the new date for the postponed elections in various parts of the country.

The gubernatorial elections will be held in Mombasa and Kakamega counties, while four constituencies of Pokot South, Kitui Rural, Rongai, and Kacheliba will hold Member of the National Assembly polls.

Elections for Member of County Assembly Wards will be held in Kwa Njenga (Embakasi South Constituency - Nairobi County) and Nyaki West (North Imenti Constituency).

The Kenya maritime Authority (KMA) has refuted reports of an alleged recruitment for seafarers to work on Royal Carribean cruises.

According to KMA, the post that has been making rounds on social media is fake.

According to the post, Kenyan youth are invited for interviews for jobs on the Royal Carribean Cruises at the Kenya Coast National Polytechnic and other venues from as from 23rd August.

"As the government body with the mandate over employement and welfare of Kenyan, Seafarers, the Authority wishes to warn and alert the public that the said information is false and has no factual basis" reads a statement form KMA acting director general John Omingo.

 The statement adds " While the company undertook a recruitment drive at key locations in the country, which ended on 4th August 2022 in Kisumu, the scope of jobs as advertised in the fake social media post is not true".

The Authority further stated that recruitment for seafarer positions is free of charge and any demand for payment of any fee to facilitate the recruitment is and act of fraud.

Mombasa governor Hassan Joho has led several leaders in mourning the death of prominent Mombasa businessman and philanthropist Mzee Salim Bin Ahmed Bajaber.

Mzee Salim who was the founder and owner of Kitui Flour mills limited died on Monday and later buried at his Kikambala home, according to Islamic culture.

Kitui flour mills limited is the producer of Unga wa Dola, Jahazi flour among other brands.

In his message of condolence  Governor Joho eulogised Salim as a philanthropist and a fountain of wisdom.

"It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing on of Mzee Salim Bin Ahmed Bajaber. He was a great philanthropist and well known as a fountain of wisdom. May the Almighty Allah SWT grant him Jannatul Firdaus and give his family the strength and patience to endure the grief, Amin." said Joho

Adding "Indeed a sad day for Mombasa. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un (Indeed, to God we belong and to God we shall return)."

On his part Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said "I'm deeply saddened to learn of the passing on of our elder Mzee Salim Bin Ahmed Bajaber, founder and owner Kitui Flour Mills Ltd.May the Almighty God rest his soul in peace and give his family the strength at this time of grief."

The late was instrumental in putting up mosques, madrassas, orphanages and other philanthropic projects.

Many who interacted with him during his days described him as a down to earth and man of people.

"May Allah have mercy on him, the mercy of the righteous, and forgive him, and dwell him in the highest Paradise with the Prophets, friends, martyrs, the righteous, and those who are good companions," posted Mombasa Muslim cleric and scholar Izudin Alwy Ahmed.

The ODM team in Mombasa has exuded confidence that it will the Mombasa governor's election next week, despite the governor’s elections being postponed twice.

The team led by the party candidate for the governor seat Abdulswamad Nassir has sent a message to their main rival party UDA whose candidate is Hassan Omar that the county will remain an ODM zone.

Addressing supporters outside the Mombasa law court, the leaders accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of deliberately postponing the election in favor of UDA.

Last Wednesday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chair Wafula Chebukati postponed the Mombasa and Kakamega elections indefinitely citing harassment and intimidation of his staff. This led to Nassir to go to court to challenge the action.

On Monday. IEBC announced that the election in Mombasa , Kakamega and other constituencies will now be held next week, 29 August.

Mombasa county has 642362 voters. Azimio la umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga garnered 161,015 votes in the presidential election with his main rival William Ruto of Kenya Kwanza receiving 113,700 votes.

ODM party managed to win 5 out of the 6 Mp seats in the county. The party also won the Senator and Woman Representative seats.

Shazam turns 20 today, and as of this week, it has officially surpassed 70 billion song recognitions.

A mainstay in popular culture, the platform has changed the way people engage with music by making song identification accessible to everyone. For more than 225 million global monthly users, to “Shazam” is to discover something new.

To mark the occasion, Shazam invites fans to take a trip down memory lane with a special playlist comprised of the most Shazamed song of each calendar year for the past 20 years.

Featuring everything from Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister” to Sia’s “Cheap Thrills,” the playlist is a true reflection of the music fans across the globe actively searched for over the past two decades.

Listen now exclusively on Apple Music.

Over the years, Shazam’s global charts have played a crucial role in helping to identify breaking new talent like Masked Wolf, who was one of Shazam’s 5 Artists to Watch in 2021 and ended up having the most Shazamed track globally that year with “Astronaut In The Ocean.”

“The fact that people all over the world took time out of their day to pull out their phone and Shazam my songs is a huge honor for me as an artist,” said Masked Wolf. “You know you’ve got something special if you see the Shazam stats moving.”

Shazam’s charts have also become a barometer for unexpected pop culture moments.

Kate Bush’s 1985 song “Running Up That Hill” being featured in “Stranger Things” led to an all-time peak in Shazams of the singer, and the track took No. 1 on the Shazam Global Top 200 for 10 days.

It ended up reaching the top of 25 national charts — more than any other song in 2022.

Keeping its finger on the pulse of music, Shazam has also played a key role in bringing local artists to a global audience.

The longest-running global No. 1 song of 2021 was “Love Nwantiti [Remix]” by Nigerian artist CKay, which became the second song to ever surpass one million Shazams in a week.

“Shazam has played an impactful role in my career,” said CKay. “It allowed millions of people all over the world to discover me and my unique Nigerian sound. It made me a global sensation even before I started to perform all over the world. The story of CKay cannot be told without Shazam connecting me to the world.” 

With its continued commitment to innovation over the past two decades, Shazam is pioneering new ways to bring fans closer to the music and artists they love with new tools like the concert discovery feature, which spotlights concert information and tickets on sale for shows nearby, simply by Shazaming a song, or by searching for it in the Shazam app or website.

While Shazam remains focused on the future of music discovery, today’s anniversary offers an opportunity to look back at the notable moments and milestones that make up its two-decade history.

Important Dates

• August 2002: Shazam launches as a text message service based in the UK. At the time, users could identify songs by dialing “2580” on their phone and holding it up as a song played. They were then sent an SMS message telling them the song title and the name of the artist.

• July 2008: Shazam launches on the brand-new App Store. Shazam later launched its Android version in October 2008.

• April 2015: Shazam becomes available on the first Apple Watch.

• September 2018: Shazam joins the Apple family.

• June 2021: Shazam surpasses 1 billion Shazams per month.

• May 2022: Shazam surpasses 2 billion lifetime installs.

• August 2022: Shazam celebrates 20 years of music discovery and hits 70 billion all-time Shazams.

 Notable Firsts

• First-ever Shazamed song: “Jeepster” by T. Rex (April 19, 2002)¹

• First Shazamed song on the iOS app: “How Am I Different” by Aimee Mann (July 10, 2008)

• First track to reach 1,000 Shazams: “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” by Eminem (September 2002)

• First track to reach one million Shazams: “TiK ToK” by Ke$ha (February 2010)

• First track to reach 10 million Shazams: “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye feat. Kimbra (December 2012)

• First track to reach 20 million Shazams: “Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Radio Edit)” by Lilly Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz (October 2015)

• First artist to hit 1 million Shazams: Lil Wayne (February 2009)

• First artist to hit 10 million Shazams: Lil Wayne (June 2011)

• First artist to hit 100 million Shazams: David Guetta (May 2015)

Fastest Tracks to Accumulate Shazams

• Fastest track to reach 1 million Shazams: “Butter” by BTS (nine days)

• Fastest track to reach 10 million Shazams: “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran (87 days)

• Fastest track to reach 20 million Shazams: “Dance Monkey” by Tones And I (219 days)

Most Shazamed of All Time

• Drake is the most Shazamed artist of all time with over 350 million Shazams across songs the artist has led or featured on. “One Dance” is Drake’s most popular track at over 17 million Shazams.

• “Dance Monkey” by Tones And I is the most Shazamed song ever with over 41 million Shazams.

• “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley was the most Shazamed song using the “2580” text service.

Top Shazamed Songs by Genre

• Top Hip-Hop/Rap: “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton

• Top Dance: “Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Radio Edit)” by Lilly Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz

• Top R&B/Soul: “All of Me” by John Legend

• Top Latin: “Mi Gente” by J Balvin and Willy William

• Top Pop: “Let Her Go” by Passenger

• Top Alternative: “Dance Monkey” by Tones And I

• Top Singer/Songwriter: “Take Me to Church” by Hozier

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati has come under sharp criticism from Mombasa County gubernatorial candidates.

Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir of ODM and former Mombasa senator Hassan Omar have castigated Chebukati for postponing the Mombasa governor elections.

On Wednesday, Chebukati announced that the governor elections in Mombasa and Kakamega counties together with six other parliamentary elections had been indefinately suspended.

While addressing the media Wednesday evening, Nassir said he will go to court to compel IEBC conduct the elections on Tuesday next week.

"I will go to court to ensure we go to the ballot on Tuesday. We expect an order that the elections will be held on the stipulated date," said Nassir.

He stated that the law was very clear about postponing elections adding that there was no valid reason to postpone the elections.

"Chebukati cannot just wake up one morning and decide to postpone the elections, we wont allow this," Nassir said.

He said that only a security threat, a natural calamity or a breach in how an election should be conducted warrants the postponement of an election as outlined by 2010 constitution.

Nassir further alleged that the initial postponement was purposely orchestrated to have low voter turnout in our Azimio strong holds.

"The elections were illegally postponed. Chebukati is the worst chair of a commission that the country has seen. He needs to be removed from that office," he said.

He added that the decision to postpone the elections will delay service delivery and development in Mombasa.

Omar on the other hand stated that in as much as they understand the pressure IEBC had, they shouldn't continue postponing the elections.

He said that it was draining them both financially, physically and emotionally and creating unnecessary tension and anxiety to the people.

"I am asking Chebukati to be bold enough and announce to us the new date. He was bold enough to announce the presidential results on Monday despite the tension," said Omar.

He said that Chebukati cannot postpone the election to a further notice, without giving out an exact date for the repeat exercise.

"These elections must move on, you can't continue doing this to Mombasa people. The country needs to move on," he said.

He also asked the electoral commission to deploy it's permanent staff to oversee the remaining elections.

Omar cited misconduct and alleged that they were compromised to assist his opponents win.

Former Nyali MP Hezron Awiti also threatened to sue the independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for postponing the Mombasa gubernatorial elections.

Awiti said that he had spent resources preparing for the elections, only for it to be suspended for a second time.

He was addressing the media at a Mombasa hotel as he said that the message caught him by surprise since there was no official communication from IEBC.

Awiti is taking a second shot at the county boss seat on his Vibrant Democratic Party (VDP) ticket.

On Wednesday, IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati announced that the the governor elections in Mombasa and Kakamega counties together with six other parliamentary elections had been indefinately suspended.

Chebukati cited threats and harassment of his officials as reason to postpone the elections for a second time.

Awiti sensed malice on the part of the commission alleging that some officials were in cohort to favour his opponents.

"I am really shocked with what is happening, I thought that the commission was independent," said Awiti.

He said that Chebukati was taking the country the wrong direction.

"We cannot allow one individual to disrupt the elections and be allowed to get away with it. Chebukati has to be serious"

He said that the delay will affect service delivery in the county and also stall the transition committee from carrying out its mandate.

He however reiterated that he was ready for the elections as he appealed to his supporters and Mombasa residents to remain calm.