Brown Ondego has today been officially unveiled as the new chairman of the Mama Ngina Waterfront management board.

The former Managing Director of the Kenya Ports Authority was unveiled by Tourism cabinet secretary Najib Balala during a tour of the waterfront.

The management board was gazetted on Septermber 13th, 2019 by Balala. Details contained in a Kenya Gazette notice number 8552 stated the the new board shall have chairperson appointed by the Minister himself.

Members of the board shall include  Principal Secretary,State Department of Tourism,  County Secretary, Mombasa County Government, Director General- National Museums of Kenya, chaiperson Kenya Coast Tourism Association (KCTA),representative from the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry,chairperson Kenya Tourism Federation, chairperson  Mombasa Golf Club and a representative  of the Law Society of Kenya, Mombasa branch.

"Brown Ondego is a highly respected individual of this town, he is part of this town, a boy of this town" said Balala

Balala revealed that the title deed of the waterfront will be handed over to President Uhuru Kenyatta during the Mashuja day celebrations expected to take place at the waterfront next month.

During the tour, Balala also unveiled the new logo of the waterfront.

Balala charged "This will no longer be called light house or Mama Ngina drive as it used to be, it is now Mama Ngina waterfront" 

Ondego has also served as the Chairman of the Rift Valley Railways.

The new board shall provide effective oversight over the development of the Mama Ngina Waterfront. The board shall also prepare and submit to the Cabinet Secretary a sustainability plan for the Mama Ngina Waterfront and also solicit support from development partners for the development of Mama Ngina Waterfront.

A former confidant to Mombasa governor Hassan Ali Joho has been replaced as the Mombasa county assembly majority chief whip.

The controversial Freretown member of county assembly [MCA] Charles Juma Kitula  who shifted his loyalty to Nyali MP Mohamed Ali alias Jicho Pevu was replaced by his Ganjoni/Shimanzi Ward counterpart, who is county assembly transport chairperson, Priscilla Mumba.

The changes were contained in a letter to the county speaker Harub Khatri from ODM county secretariat signed by Geoffery Busaka.

But there was drama at the county assembly when Deputy Speaker Fadhili Makarani, who was chairing the day's session, skipped the day's session paper in which he was supposed to communicate the ODM letter to the county assembly.


He instead adjourned the assembly until October 9 to enable  members to travel and attend this year’s County Assemblies Sports Association (CASA) games in Uasin Gishu County.

The move prompted women MCAs to protest and forced the day's sitting to end prematurely.

Hell broke loose with the deputy speaker being accused of taking sides instead of being neutral to an extent of ignoring the ODM letter to effect the change.

Led by nominated MCA Amriya Juma Boy they demanded the county assembly to recognize their colleague's leadership.

She was flanked by her colleagues who wanted the county assembly  to respect party changes and decisions.

They displayed the ODM letter outside the county assembly while dancing and chanting party slogans bringing operations at the county offices to a standstill.

According to a copy of the letter which replaced Kitula as county majority chief whip the move will address the gender issue at the county assembly leadership.

ODM county boss has accused embattled Kitula of not being effective in his position and that on several occasions he failed to whip the party members towards party agenda.

Busaka said in his letter he regrets the party was forced to come with the painful decision to replace Kitula with immediate effect.

The Women leaders today held a meeting with Governor Joho, it is still not yet clear what they discussed. 

The newly appointed chief whip was flanked by the National Women caucas chair Milka Moraa Ngare who is also a nominated mca at the msa county assembly on an ODM ticket during the meeting with Governor Joho.

In a bid to stamp his authority as the King of Bongo music 'Simba', Diamond Platnumz has now gone a notch higher to beef his security detail.

In a video shared online, Diamond is seen walking out of his office to a location to shoot a new video with Jux accompanied by 11 bodyguards fully dressed in professional attires.

Yesterday the artist left staff and visitors at a city hotel in Daresalaam in surprise after he showed up at the hotel accompanied by his Men in black.

He arrived at the hotel with 11 bodyguards who walked in a V formation. 

This comes just days after Harmonize who has since left Wasafi (WCB) showed up at an event accompanied by over 5 bodyguards.

After a first very successful collabo with Wasafi's Lava Lava 'Warembo' which currently enjoys over 1 million  views on you tube, popular Mombasa artist, Susumila has returned to the label (Wasafi) for another collabo.

Susumila is now set to release his new collabo with Mbosso.

The audio of the new song has been produced in Tanzania by producer Moko genius with the video expected  to be shot in Mombasa.

Just like the previous song 'Warembo', this new song has also been sponsored by Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.

"Just can’t wait for you to listen to this one...Susumila X Mbosso...Wasafi X 001 Music ???Sultan kwa hii God Bless You my Governor" posted Susumila.

A section of leaders from Lamu County have called on the government to make sure that youths from the county are given priority when it comes to employement at the Lamu port.

The leaders mainly county assembly members (MCAs) argue that it will  only be fair if the youths from the area benefit directly from the project.

"It's our resources that have been used in this project including land  so it will only be fair if we als benefit from it" said nominated MCA Amina Kale.

On his part Faza MCA Fahad Dini called on the government to stick to their promise of providing jobs to 1,000 youths from the county arguing that the number of those who have so far been employed have not reached 1,000.

"When the President comes here to officially open the port let him also flag off the jobs and empowerment for our youths. We also want the managing director (MD) of this port to be from Lamu" said Kiunga MCA Abdallah Babadi.

Early this month, President Kenyatta visited the port and announced that the first berth of the new Lamu Port will be opened in October.

The President who expressed satisfaction with the progress of the ongoing construction works at the seaport said the mega project would create the much-needed jobs for Kenyan youth.

"Since I was here last year, it is true you have worked hard. Very soon, next month, we will be here to open the first berth which I am told you will have completed," said president Kenyatta.

Adding ""We will launch by seeing a ship dock here to offload cargo. Offloading of cargo will be the beginning of jobs not just for you alone but also for the youth of Lamu and the entire Kenya".

The Government of Kenya has signed a Communique with the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California, Berkeley, along with The Rockefeller Foundation, and the United Nations to inspire future action and support for the delivery of Kenya’s Big Four agenda.

The agreement brings together strategic partnerships work with the Government of Kenya to build SDG focused partnerships to drive financing and innovations that help tackle complex development goals.

The Government of Kenya also announced the launch of a co-created SDG Accelerator Lab, that will leverage on the recently initiated UNDP Accelerator Lab Network, as a strategic development platform for Kenya that will bring together the government, private sector, civil society, philanthropy, academia, and young people to reimagine development for the 21st century.

Speaking during the signing event, ICT CS Joseph Mucheru  stated t“As a government, we recognize that innovation and technology will be at the heart of job creation, the manufacturing industry, guaranteeing food security for the country and ensuring universal"

Adding "The partnerships signed today will harness the ongoing initiatives in our tech community to accelerate the actualization of our National Development goals”.

At the heart of the Lab is to re-imagine how development work is done, promoting a culture of innovation and experimentation.

The capacity to adapt in a rapidly changing environment will become key for the UN to stay relevant and provide effective support to Kenya to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"We are excited to be part of this journey, and look forward to advancing Kenya’s strategies and partnerships to achieve the Kenya Big Four Agenda,” said Christine Heenan, Senior Vice President for Global Policy and Advocacy, The Rockefeller Foundation.

Tapping into the UNDP Accelerator Labs network, the Kenya SDGs Accelerator Lab aims to leverage and advance knowledge and learning from others through the global network and enrich developmental thinking and implementation through exploration and experimentation of multiple possible ideas and find contextualised solutions that can be deployed rapidly and sustainably.

“How development actors respond to the fast-changing realities of the 21 Century will be based on the ability to harness homegrown solutions and formation of strategic partnerships from global to grassroots levels, that guarantee endless possibilities of ideas and multiplicity of solutions" said Ahunna Eziakonwa, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa.

She added "UNDP Accelerator Labs initiative is one such vehicle that can potentially help to align strategic partnerships with emerging innovations.”

In collaboration with local actors including the Private Sector and the Academia, the SDGs Accelerator Lab will endeavour in identifying and harnessing homegrown solutions that have proof of concept, with the aim of bringing them to scale, while creating an enabling environment for young innovators to conceptualise, test and deliver interventions that best work for their communities . 

“We are delighted by this opportunity to inspire positive social change in Kenya by supporting the Lab with rigorous research and connecting partners to our Silicon Valley enterprise ecosystem,” said Carson Christiano, Executive Director, Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), University of California, Berkeley

Together with the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of ICT, the SDGs Accelerator will build on and complement government led initiatives such as the Ajira Program, Digitalent Innovation Program, the Whitebox Platform and harness the power of tech-innovation to empower youth in becoming solution oriented and employment creators; focusing on women, youth, vulnerable and marginalized groups, underpinning the ambition of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda.

UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya Siddharth Chatterjee noted “as the UN in Kenya we strongly believe in the power of partnerships and stand ready to deliver as one our finest support to making the SDG Accelerator Lab a ground-breaking success.”

Multi-talented singer and one of Kenya’s best live performers - SERRO releases twin videos for her viral single 'Kasyoki wa Mitumba' , a witty love song dedicated to her love interest Kasyoki, a clothes seller.

The release comes after a clip of SERRO performing a raw acoustic version of the song went viral garnering over 200,000 views across her social media platforms.

The clip elicited exciting reactions from Kenyans including Churchill, Bien of Sauti Sol and veteran presenter FredObachi Machokaa, who all shared the clip and applauded SERRO’s songwriting, vocals and guitar playing skills.

Both versions of the song were produced by Mutoriah of Me & My Cousin Entertainment and videos shot by renowned director Johnson Kyalo.

Watch “Kasyoki wa Mitumba” Videos: http://bit.ly/KasyokiTwinVideos 

Buy/Download “Kasyoki wa Mitumba” Audios: http://bit.ly/2mlL6ZI 

Speaking on the release, SERRO says, “I’ve always wanted to write a song inspired by Kamba pop but it had to be not too serious, so I decided to go with a cheeky love story. When people listen to this song, I hope it will make them smile, maybe leave them in stitches, and remind them of that special someone.”

In the first version, SERRO borrows heavily from Kamba Benga – a genre that is synonymous with fast-paced rhythmic beat and bouncy finger-picking guitar sounds, to create an infectiously danceable track.

Its video incorporates a comical script that sees SERRO stalk and seek attention from Kasyoki, who seems unbothered at first before finally giving in to her advances. The video which was shot at Toi Market in Nairobi also features dancing cameos by traders from the market.

In the mellow version, SERRO turns the rather upbeat song into a slow tempo romantic tune with a soothing guitar line. Its minimalistic video focuses on SERRO dressed in African-themed attire, serenading lovers while playing an acoustic guitar under a spotlight.

“Kasyoki Wa Mutumba” is SERRO’s second release in 2019, following the release of “Ya Dunia” in May, and the 4^th single off her soon to be released album “KUWE”- a collaborative project with the young musical genius - Mutoriah.