Hot on the heels of his recent global collaboration deal with Italian luxury auto manufacturer Maserati, Olakira releases his latest single 'Fall'.

This is an expression of total commitment to LOVE. 

Produced by the seasoned multi-instrumentalist himself, Olakira dares to reveal a creatively vulnerable side to him in 'Fall', which takes the form of a slow, highlife sound with drizzles of Afrobeats.

In a love song that talks about reassurance and dedication to one's love, Olakira harnesses rich African sounds to create this original sound that's full of rich melodies.

'Fall' is a testimony to the slower groovy sound that boasts of rhythms from the west of the continent — slow, sweet, and sensual.

The internationally recognized singer and producer who has a huge following in Europe, Nigeria, East and Southern African countries, has managed to stay rooted in that element where confidence meets creative direction and delivery, positioning him to be one of the outstanding African Musicians who continues to shape the new Africa sound.

Listen to 'Fall' by Olakira HERE and on all digital platforms 

https://empawaafrica.lnk.to/OlakiraFall

The entertainment industry in Kenya has yet again been thrown into mourning following  the death of Popular actress Rehema Rajab who died on Sunday Night.

The late Rehema used to play mama Jinale on the popular Tv series, Pete, hosting the mermaids.

The news of her death was announced on Monday by her colleagues who eulogized her as a talented actor who had mastered her prowess.

“It is with great grief and sorrow that I got to learn the death of one of our actors,Rehema Rajab,who I happened to work within our recent Maisha Magic Last project ‘Pete’,As CEO of AR films and producer of Pete,I am deeply broken and sorrowed,” said Daud Anguka AR film production CEO.

She was also praised her for helping grow acting talents. It was reported that the latter succumbed to pressure and diabetes disease. She was laid to rest on Monday afternoon, in Likoni.

“Inna Lillahi Wa Ina Illayhi Rajiun,,we had plans for our upcoming project but Allah had better plans for you..we will truly Miss you ‘Bi Salama.” wrote Citizen Tv journalist Lulu Hassan on her instagram page.

Both Lulu and her husband Rashid Abdalla expressed their sadness to the fallen actress praising her for the exemplary work she did in latest’s projects she took part in.

#sisemikitu Nenda salama Bi Salama. Mola akailaze roho yako pema salama Bi Salama. Kwa pigo hili hakika hujatuacha salama Bi Salama lakini tunashukuru uwepo wako na mchango wako katika uhai wako." posted Rashid Abdallah

Her death comes just a few days after that of Savalas Otieno who played Telly the mermaid hunter. He died on February 5 and was laid to rest over the weekend at their home in Siaya county.

Last year, the Pete cast crew also lost another member, Gillie Owino popularly known as Mzee Siri.

https://ommydalla.co.ke/buzz/item/2192-veteran-mombasa-based-actor-gillie-mzee-msiri-is-dead

Chaos broke out at the Azimio La Umoja Rally in Tononoka grounds on Sunday when supporters of Mombasa governor Aspirants Abdulswamand Nassir and Suleiman Shahbal clashed in a show of might.

The duo who are set to square it out for the Orange Party nominations ODM ,have escalated their rivalry that has attracted the attention of top party leadership.

It took the intervention of Mombasa governor Hassan Joho who intelligently asked both supporters to stop their rivalry, for the respect of ODM party Raila Odinga who was present during the Chaos.

Chaos started when several aspirants in Mombasa were making their speeches.

Joho expressed his disappointment by the level of division brought about by the two leaders' supporters exhibited in the presence of the party leader Raila Odinga.

“This is a meeting of Raila Odinga, let's respect that,” said Joho as the supporters of the two candidates threw stones, empty water bottles and sticks against one another at the Tononoka grounds.

The angered Joho grabbed a microphone from Shahbal and asked both Nassir and Shahbal to sit at their respective seats while he continued to rally the group of youth to calm down.

Shahbal was seen begging the youth not to disrupt the Raila Odinga rally saying he is a peaceful person who would not allow chaos to disrupt Odinga rally.

“I urge you please, this rally is for Odinga, don’t disrupt it, we are united as Mombasa people.” said Shahbal before his microphone was grabbed by governor Hassan Joho. Joho could be seen identifying the youth by names saying he knew their homes.

ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna was forced to read the riots act to the aspirants threatening to disqualify aspirants who promote violence and hatred.

"I'm here with my pen and paper just taking notes of what is going on. Some of you will come to my office seeking clearance to vie through our party, I will remind you of what you did at Baba's rally. You will have yourself to blame" said Sifuna.

Odinga who later moved in to quell the tension assured both candidates that the party will conduct a free, fair and transparent nomination in the party primaries.

Odinga cautioned the leaders against inciting their supporters, saying the electorates will suffer if the two leaders continue to exhibit their supremacy in public.

“They say when two oxes fight, the grass suffers most, and we don’t want grass to suffer most, we want this nomination to be friendly, there is no need for chaos, these two are friends, one will pass the other will fail and support each other.” said Odinga.

 “All of them are our party members and we don’t what to see war between two party candidates.” assured Odinga while holding Nassir and Shahbal hands high to show friendliness.

Skyward Express has today held its first ever curtain raiser league tournament in Lodwar.

The event dubbed Skyward Express League Curtain Raiser Edition 1 is set to run today the 19th and tomorrow the 20th.

The event will run at the Prisons play ground.

“As Skyward Express, we are here to nurture talent and empower the youth in Lodwar, one of our key destinations” Abdinasser Mohamed Remarked.

Filmmaker Cynthia Abdallah is set to unveil her one of a kind documentary titled Inyumba yu Mulogooli.

Ms Abdallah says the “aim of the documentary is to educate and to preserve stories from the Maragoli community. To create dialogue about the origins of our communities and how we ended up where we are.”

Watch Preview :

https://youtu.be/zK8Bo8R3xyI 

She added, “The project was inspired by the incessant tales from my grandfather. His knowledge of Muraguri (Mulogooli) and his insistence that this story be told so that the future Maragoli generation can understand how they came to be, and who they really are. 

Their journey, their customs, their traditions. His belief in the timelessness of the story and his cultural efforts within the cultural society in Vihiga county.”

So raw and real is the documentary that it is told in the local language, Kilogooli (Lulogooli), it brings together the Maragoli community and sparks debate about Mzee Lubang'a s account.

Ms Abdallah notes, “We have watched numerous other documentaries on other tribes in Kenya. But we are yet to see one that explores this particular community.”

She continued, “Preserving our indigenous languages is key and this documentary does exactly that. It is also the first of its kind to speak about who we are as people, where we come from and where we are headed. 

Other documentaries tend to generalise the luhya community. The second largest tribe in Kenya. This one singles out the second largest luhya sub tribe and delves deeper into its culture.”

To watch the documentary, you will need to pay Ksh 100 to access it on video streaming site Sharaha Videos.

“The documentary will be 40 minutes long. A lot of work has gone into the project and these funds will go towards documenting even more local communities. Tell more stories and appreciate the tales that the old generation keeps so well preserved,” she said.

Ms Abdalla said she opted to partner with Shahara in the distribution of the video because, “Shahara is setting the pace for digital content in Kenya. It is accessible and has made it easy for local content producers to get their products out into the market. The transparency and accessibility of the people in charge are quite appealing and it makes it easy for content creators to speak directly and openly about the vision for our content. Not to forget the fact that content creators can finally get paid for their hard work.”

The making of the documentary came with its own challenges.

Ms Abdallah explained, “Translating kilogooli (Lulogooli) into English has been the most challenging part. We have spent almost three months ensuring that this is done to a good standard as we would like to create credible translations for the rest of the listening tribes in Kenya. Our viewers should be able to understand the story with the meaningful translations that will be provided and simple voiceovers.”

Adding, “Another challenge would be the travel and weather conditions. It took the crew a few hours to access the burial site of Mulogooli. It was also quite rainy during this period but the crew managed to overcome this.”

Despite the challenges, Ms Abdallah pointed out that the greatest highlight of producing the documentary was “the journey to the villages. The interactions with the elders and the immersion into the Maragoli way of doing things.”

She continued, “Many members of my crew are not Luhya. So traversing the plains into unknown territory was not only exciting but also eye-opening.”

ABOUT CYNTHIA ABDALLAH

Cynthia Abdallah is a Kenyan author of the poetry chapbooks, My Six Little Fears and The Author's Feet and the short stories collection titled The Musunzu tree and other stories. Her work has appeared in numerous online magazines and print in Kenya and abroad.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured global investors that Kenya is open and safe for business. 

Speaking when he launched celebrations to mark the Kenya National Day at the Expo 2020 Dubai, President Kenyatta said his administration has put in place a legal framework for investment that provides adequate investor protection in line with most international standards including safeguards for property rights.

He added that Kenya enjoys political and economic stability, a fully liberalized economy, a large domestic consumer market, a youthful, skilled and productive labour force as well as a modern infrastructure network.

“These attributes have made Kenya the location of choice for multinational companies and a leading destination for foreign direct investment in the region,” the Head of State said as he kicked off activities to showcase Kenya’s rich cultural and economic diversity at the global exposition.

A total of 192 countries are participating in the six-month world exposition in Dubai, with every country allocated a national day of honour.

At the same time, President Kenyatta reiterated that Kenya is keen to build new trade relationships with the Gulf Cooperation Council states and other countries participating in the expo.

“We seek to harness the opportunities offered by this expo to build new business partnerships, attract new investments and bring tourists to Kenya to enjoy our world-renowned attractions,” the President said.

Noting the goals Kenya’s Vision 2030 which include transforming Kenya into a newly industrializing middle-income country by the year 2030, the President said trade, investment and strong partnerships with the private sector are key in realising the vision. 

He expressed confidence that as the largest economy and business hub with sufficient capacities in trade facilitation and logistics to service over eleven hinterland countries in the Eastern and Central Africa region, Kenya is in a strong position to expand its trade and economic horizon for the benefit of its people.

“It is against this background and in the spirit of Vision 2030, that we are here, to promote business-to-business partnerships and establish linkages between private and public sector institutions,” President Kenyatta.

In his speech at the Kenya flag-hoisting ceremony, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan who is also the and Commissioner General of the Expo 2020 Dubai said Kenya and the UAE enjoy boast of a strong relationship based on shared values and vision since its establishment in the early 1980s.

“We are pleased to be among Kenya’s top trading partners globally,” Sheikh Al Nahyan said, terming President Kenyatta’s presence at the exposition as a reflection of the strengthen of the close ties between the two countries.

The UAE Minister welcomed ongoing discussions to establish a new framework for cooperation in a wide range of areas of priority to the two countries including food production, infrastructure, digitization and renewable energy.

Sheikh Al Nahyan commended Kenya’s pavilion at the expo, saying under the theme “feel the energy of Kenya” the pavilion provides an opportunity for the world to discover Kenya’s economic potential and gives an insight into key sectors such as agriculture, innovation and tourism.

Later at an interview at the Expo 2020 Dubai grounds, President Kenyatta expounded on the available opportunities for global investors in Kenya ranging from agriculture, green energy and manufacturing.

University degree qualification for gubernatorial aspirants has once again sparked debate in Mombasa with a section of aspirants calling for thorough scrutiny of academic papers for all contestants.

Mombasa governor aspirant Suleiman Shahbal has asked the Independent electoral and boundaries commission to do a thorough check of all academic papers of his opponents to ensure their validity.

Without mentioning names, Shahbal said a degree qualification was significant for all governor candidates and thus the need to ensure his opponents have the right papers to qualify for the governor seat.

“There are many leaders, who are vying today, and they have problems with certificates, you can’t have masters without a bachelor’s degree as some are claiming, but they should know that the days of forging degrees have long gone, they should know that,” posed Shahbal.

His sentiments were echoed by Kisauni Member of Parliament Ali Mbogo, who is also vying for Mombasa governor, raising concerns over questionable degree academic qualifications for some of aspirants.

“You can’t be a governor without a degree, people should stop misleading others, they know themselves and they should fear God and tell people the truth,” claimed Mbogo.

Addressing political aspirants at a separate event last week, Mvita Mp Abdulswamad Nassir said that he is currently undergoing his masters degree.

"I know this is going to give some people heart attack. As we speak, I Abdulswamad Sharrif Nassir despite preparing for the coming elections, I'm currently undergoing my masters. Education is something that is continuous" said Nassir.

 On Wednesday, while addressing Mombasa county political aspirants, Shahbal also warned his political opponents to brace for a bruising political battle in his quest to quest to succeed Mombasa governor Hassan Joho

Speaking at Wesley Methodist hall in Mombasa, Shahbal said he was confident of winning the ODM party primaries and be the party's candidate for the post of Mombasa governor in the main election.

The two time Governor Contestant who lost in 2013 and subsequently in 2017 to governor Joho, asked his main rival, Mvita Mp Abdulswamad  Nassir to stop bragging about his closeness to party leader Raila Odinga, instead, prepare for fair defeat in when the party holds its primaries.

“Those bragging that they already have party certificates should prepare for defeat, this time round nobody should take us for a ride, we will be there to ensure we get the ticket because we mean well for this county,” said Shahbal.

The businessman rallied the aspirants to stage an extensive grassroots campaign for him so that electorates can put into leadership leaders with vision to steer ahead Mombasa development.

"This is my third time to vie, and I believe I have a vision that can change the lives of residents of Mombasa, if we put the right leadership in Mombasa, the experience we got in 2013 and 2017 is enough to win the seat,” added Shahbal.

Shahbal says residents of Mombasa have long suffered from lack of services owing to what he termed as bad leadership in Mombasa County.

 "Mombasa has various problems which need to be addressed as they come, and leaders should take responsibility where they can, we have a  big problem of  lack of jobs, if as a leader you are unable to produce jobs, what else can you offer,” said Shahbal,in reference to his opponents.

The Azimio La Umoja Brigade has planned a series of political rallies at the expansive coastal region to rally for support in the August 9 2022 general elections.

The brigade will traverse the coastal counties in a campaign blitz to drum up support for Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga.

According to a schedule released by Raila Odinga presidential campaign secretary Dennis Onsarigo ,the Azimio brigade will kick off with a rallies in Kilifi county on Saturday before proceeding to  Tononoka grounds Mombasa on Saturday 20^th.

The team will then head to Kwale on Monday and later to Taita Taveta county on Tuesday February 22.

Odinga has been marketing his Azimio La Umoja initiative, imploring Kenyans to foster unity and peaceful coexistence ahead of 2022 general elections.

Mombasa governor Hassan Joho is set to lead the campaign team in the coastal tour after a successful stint in the Western and Nyanza region.

The return to coastal tour comes as the former premier seeks to consolidate his base that backed his three previous presidential bids.

However,the political supremacy has been dampened by the infiltration of the united democratic Alliance UDA. During the tour, the Azimio team is set to instill confidence ahead of the party primaries.

Earlier this Month, deputy president William Ruto toured the coastal region where he held series of political rallies to popularize his Kenya Kwanza political faction. Ruto enjoys the support of Mps Aisha Jumwa( Malindi ),Benjamin Tayari (Kinango),governor Salim Mvurya Kwale,Khatib Mwashetani of Lungalunga among other legislators.

In an interview with this blog, Kilifi county ODM youth leader and Senator aspirant Fikirini Jacobs said "This is our time as ODM Kilifi not as AZIMIO. When we mention Azimio in Kilifi we also embrace those who stabbed Mzee in our presence the other day and went out to form their own party that has always stood against ODM."

Adding "If Mzee is coming for AZIMIO well and good but me and my people we will welcome him and participate as ODM and any slight opportunity we will get will be to remind our people that we are in ODM."

ODM leader Raila Odinga has finally released his much awaited campaign song, 'Leo ni Leo'.

The song is a rendition of the popular Luhya song Lelo ni Lelo composed by Benga star Emmanuel Masindi.

The song has consistently featured in Raila’s campaign rallies.

In the video, Odinga, cladded in a bomber jacket with Kenyan flag colours is seen singing and dancing surrounded by band members who are  also dancing to the tune.

The audio was recorded at FP Records in Kawangware by upcoming producer Festus Papai aka Papa FP  and video shot in Karen and Kawangware, directed by Nezzoh Montana.