Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has asked Kenyans to be careful over what he terms as politics of whipping up emotions being propagated by Deputy President William Ruto.

Speaking during the official launch of the Mombasa early childhood robotics programs at Buxton estate, Joho accused Ruto of being deceitful and trying to divide Kenyans, saying he cannot be trusted.

"You have someone who has been the Deputy President for eight years and he is now coming back to you trying to tell you that your worth is only a wheelbarrow, are you even serious" said Joho.

Adding" We need leaders who can help us solve our problems but not reminding us how poor we are''.

Joho also accused Ruto of trying to mock Kenyans through his style of politics.

Joho charged "Let us open our ears, let us open our eyes. They are trying to mock us. Why would someone go all over the country trying to remind people that they are poor".

The ODM Deputy party leader further stated that his 2022 presidential ambition is unstoppable lashing out at his critics.

"You are judging me because my only crime is being born in Mombasa, Am I not a Kenyan like any other Kenyan?!. This time round we are also going to be counted in the presidential ballot, just watch this space" charged Joho.

His sentiments were echoed by Mvita Mp Abdulswamad Nassir who also attacked Deputy President William Ruto over his style of politics.

"You have been in the government for all those years and you have just realised now that there are mama mbogas, watu wa mkokoteni in Kenya. What were you doing all those years?!" posed Nassir.

Nassir called on other Coast leaders to rally behind Governor Hassan Joho and support his presidential ambition.

"For a very long we have been used as the pillars, let them now become the pillars as we go up" he said.

Kenyan hit-maker Arrow Bwoy releases a new banger Fashionista - off his next album.

In Fashionista, Arrow Bwoy celebrates the African woman’s beauty and diverse fashion style through catchy lyrics laid on an upbeat track that's blended with classic guitar melodies.

Watch Fashionista on YouTube: http://bit.ly/FashionistaYouTube

Download Assets here: Audios | Press Pictures | Artworks | BTS Images 

Fashionista’s production was a collaboration between upcoming producer Sifa and the seasoned iLogos Music.

The video that features models in contrasting fashion against colorful and artsy backdrops, was directed by prolific director Jordan Hoechlin (Morgan Heritage, Ali Kiba) assisted by Trey Juelz.

Arrow Bwoy remarks that Fashionista is just the first of more releases in 2021 leading to the launch of his second album featuring top Pan-African collaborations. 

This will be a follow-up to Hatua (2019) - Arrow Bwoy’s debut album that gained popularity both locally and beyond leading to an album tour in Kenya, Ethiopia, and ten states in the USA.

Mombasa based production house 001 music is set to unveil a new talent this week.

According to a source, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho is expected to grace the event which will also include a listening party.

"We expect to have a listening party for our new artist who has already recorded several songs, only the invited guests will first get the opportunity to listen to the songs" said the source.

The source further went ahead to reveal that the production house has also lined up several artists who will be unveiled this year.

"We have alot lined up for this year, there are several talents in store. Music fans should just wait and watch this space" stated the source.

Last year, 001 music unveiled another artist, KO.

Celebrated Ugandan singer Spice Diana has team up with rapper Fik Fameika in a new song titled 'Ready'.

Fik Fameika brings his enegry to the song produced by Daddy Andre.

The video was shot by  Zyga Phix 

Watch the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaTAUTRo69Q

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has said community health workers play a crucial role in the health sector as they reach out to those who are unable to access health facilities.

She said it is in recognition of their pivotal role that her Beyond Zero organization decided to finance the training of over 5,000 community health volunteers to assist in the National fight against Covid-19.

“In recognition of the pivotal role community health volunteers play in fighting the pandemic, and to complement Government's response to protect health workers against COVID 19, Beyond Zero financed the training of 5,154 community health volunteers,” the First Lady said.

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta spoke Friday evening at the 25th Ordinary General Assembly of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) steering committee meeting which was held virtually.

At the meeting running under the theme ‘‘Showing resilience in the face of COVID19 by building on past gains and learning from the challenges of the present’’, member states gave an account of the measures they are taking to assist the marginalised groups in the fight against COVID-19.

To complement Government recovery program, First Lady Margaret Kenyatta said Beyond Zero will continue to support socioeconomic initiatives, especially those benefiting the elderly, orphans and other vulnerable members of the society.

She expressed optimism that through collaboration and partnerships, African nations are overcoming challenges brought about by COVID-19.

“We are optimistic that through resilience, our continued collaboration and partnerships, together, we as a nation and as continent we shall live the promise of a better year in 2021,” the First Lady said.

She outlined various initiatives taken by Beyond Zero to cushion the most vulnerable groups from negative impacts of COVID-19  saying she will continue to pursue objectives which will ensure that the most vulnerable segments of society have access to basic services.

“Beyond Zero’s Strategic Framework 2018 to 2022 focuses on among other interventions, improving access to comprehensive health care and social protection for targeted vulnerable groups.

“The welfare of mothers and children and the elderly remain a priority to our work, and in 2020 we supported 20,000 households from vulnerable families by providing medical and food supplies,” the First Lady said.

She said that in partnership with stakeholders, her organization will this year, offer screening for cervical and prostrate cancer and scale up advocacy work to sensitize communities on preventive healthcare access through the Beyond Zero Medical Safaris.

“We shall also enhance efforts to fast-track Kenya’s commitment to reduce the cases of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis to 50 per 100,000 live births.

“We will continue to advocate for accelerated policy uptake supporting eMTCT business plans to help galvanize resources for the implementation of programs,” said the First Lady.

Other speakers included the First Lady of the  Republic of Congo who is also the President of OAFLAD, Antoinette Sassou N’guesso  and African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs Amira ElFadil Mohammed Elfadil.

Nigerian award winning singer and songwriter Joeboy has released a new single "Focus" off his latest studio album- Something Between Beauty and Magic. 

Watch:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8NGfvelGy4&feature=youtu.be 

Focus has been doing well in East Africa since its release and is currently topping charts number 16 on Top 100 in Kenya, 2 on Top 100 in Nigeria, 5 on Top 100 Ghana and 11 on Top 100 Zibambwe. 

Focus is about unreciprocated love that we all go through at some point in our lives. It encourages one to accept its totally okay to love someone who doesn't love you back.

The audio has been produced under Banku Music/Empawa Africa by MOG - John Kwesi Dosunmu-Mensah. Video was directed by Dammy Twitch of Polar Films. 

This release comes hot on the heels of Joeboy's first studio album - Something Between Beauty and Magic this was released early this month and has been receiving great reviews as a body of work to behold 

Speaking about the album, Joeboy says "It has always been my resolve to spread good vibes through music and put a smile on people's faces. Happiness in my opinion is looking into your lovers eyes, a child's smile, laughter, memory of the first kiss, marriage to the one you love or ruining with the family members."

Adding “This album is all about love a perfect blend between beauty and magic, I hope anyone who  gets to listen to it will experience the vibes and share it with others,

The album has 14 tracks and a bonus documentary and is a collaboration of various producers on each song. 

Joeboy is the first successful artiste to participate in Empawa Africa, the talent incubator and mentorship program founded by afropop superstar Mr. Eazi.

With over 500 million streams across major platforms and a success story to boot, Joeboy has been featured on International media platforms-Rolling Stone, CNN, Complex, Pitchfork and Billboard among others. 

Tanzanian singer Mimi Mars makes a glorious return with "Wenge" her first solo record of 2021.

The song has been produced by S2kizzy.

Listen to the song here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZxN_EFSoy8

Latino themed evenings hosted by Circolo.life are back at Mawimbi. 

#Baila seeks to bring together salsa enthusiasts at a show that showcases the best of Latin America.
                                       
The show which is hosted every Wednesday from 4.00pm is the brainchild of Colombian Artist Alvaro Daza who seeks to create an experience that combines live music, food, drinks and a master class climaxing in a journey through the history of music, its relation to culture and its influence in Latin America.

Every week, enthusiasts will enjoy a fused jam session courtesy of Dan the Dj from Industry Veteran Denasi Entertainment, showcasing the differences between Merengue, Salsa, Bachata  full of vibrant flavors, magical realism, , music, creativity and innovation. 

Alvaro Daza is a Colombian entrepreneur, musician, dancer, visual artist, writer, architect, chef and traveler. For the past 2 years, Alvaro has travelled to 71 countries, bringing to audiences and people from all over the world shows in different formats. 

He is also the Founder of Circolo.life a social enterprise that operates worldwide.

The Kenya Ports Authority(KPA) has taken over SGR operations at Port Reitz yard previously undertaken by Kenya Railways and reorganized all railtainer operational process with logistics partners, increasing end-to-end efficiency in port operations.

According to a statement from the Authority, this is among a raft of strategic operational changes meant to improve productivity at the Port of Mombasa.

"Dangerous cargo loading which previously experienced delays due to a single dedicated loading zone at CT1, has now been improved following an addition of loading point at Portreitz yard." reads the statement.

Adding "This has significantly reduced the transfer distance from CT2 to CT1, lowering evacuation time of DG Containers."

Similarly, centralization of the cargo handling processes and the recently introduced double deck wagons on the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) have notably increased deliveries to the Inland Container Depot.

KPA Acting Managing Director Eng. Rashid Salim said a total of 10,072 TEUs have so far been evacuated in the past two weeks compared to 9,774 in the first two weeks of the year.

"These initiatives have so far contributed to the reduction of cargo dwell time from an average of 5.6 days in December 2020 to 4.6 days in January 2021." said Salim.

The statement further states that, as at Tuesday this week, the port only had one container ship waiting and four bulk carriers (Wheat) on the queue with the numbers expected to drop in the coming week.

Umra Omar is an award-winning social entrepreneur, community leader, and the founder of Safari Doctors, a mobile medical clinic serving underprivileged communities in Kenya.

Omar and the Safari Doctors travel by boat, road and air to bring medical care to people living along a remote area of islands, the Lamu Archipelago, near the Kenyan-Somali border.

She spoke to CNN International’s African Voices Changemakers programme about how the organisation has grown from humble beginnings.

“When we first started it was mainly about getting immunisations out to rural areas and making sure that a woman who wanted access to family planning could get it. " she said.

Adding "So just providing that primary care of your cough syrups, your pain medication, and then advancing from going to about a hundred people a month to now up to like 2,500 people every month.”

Their work has been internationally recognised, with Omar winning the UN-Kenya Person of the Year Award in 2017, and also being named a Top 10 CNN Hero in 2016. She describes how the company went from serving one village to an award-winning mission covering twenty-four villages.

 “It started as a 'by the way' and it ended up being a full-time and full-blown entity. We ended with a CNN Heroes Award which kind of put that strong stamp of accreditation on the work that we're doing. And kept us going financially, network wise, and really amplifying the voices of change coming from the ground going up,” she recalled.

Having started with the distribution of vaccines and other medical services using dhows and motorbikes, the Safari Doctors initiative has expanded to a network currently using its own speed boat and medical vehicle and offering improved facilities including veterinary services. Omar talks about their future expansion.

“The idea now is expanding to preventative health. So, we train a cohort of community health workers, especially the youth, to address issues around population health, environmental awareness, and getting it into that model of mobile primary and preventative healthcare that comes to the last mile doorsteps of the communities in need.” she revealed.

Omar is full of praise for the Safari Doctors team and she explains how young people form the centre of this group, “We cover the whole of Lamu County with a team that is out of this world, absolutely mind-blowing, young, energetic. Actually, out of a staff of 12, I'm the second oldest staff member. I look around and I'm like, Safari Doctors is run by people under 35 and a lot of them actually under 20.”

This network has also been instrumental in disseminating information on COVID-19 and tracking possible causes in the communities they serve.

Omar details their work during the pandemic, “What the pandemic did, it really solidified our outreaches. It was us really putting a face to the pandemic when we went out to the community, from issues around social distancing, handwashing and getting the communities to see that, okay, this is not something that's just happening in the city. These are the precautions that we need to take on the ground as well.”

Omar and her team remain passionate about helping their communities.

She sums up the Safari Doctors’ goal, “It's a peaceful change opportunity and tapping into I would say an underrated resource which is human power. It's a beautiful feeling to work at home with my people especially the younger people and play our part in transforming our own communities and actually feeling like you're making a difference.”